The News Roundup — Domestic

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Published May 8, 2020 at 6:22 AM CDT

Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) looks on during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

On Friday morning, the Labor Department released grim unemployment figures from April.

NEW: The U.S. unemployment rate soared to 14.7% in April — the highest level since the Great Depression.

The Labor Department says 20.5 million jobs were lost last month, wiping out most of the gains of the past decade.https://t.co/dj8oyIar7M

— NPR (@NPR) May 8, 2020

The Senate returned to work on Capitol Hill this week. The congressional doctor, Brian Monahan, announced that he doesn’t have enough tests for all the returning congresspeople, however. Only senators showing symptoms will be tested.

House Democrats are working on a fifth coronavirus-related stimulus package that could be passed with or without Republican supportas early as next week. They plan to allocate funds for rent deferment, testing, the U.S. Postal Service and more.

A model cited by the White House on Monday projects that the U.S. coronavirus death count will rise to more than 130,000 by August as cities begin reopening businesses and lifting stay-at-home orders.

And the Department of Justice said it would drop the criminal case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

We cover the biggest stories from around the country on the News Roundup.