World News: The waiting is the hardest part

Friday, April 3

President Donald Trump pauses as he speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Thursday, April 2, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

OnPolitics: The waiting is the hardest part

There's money available to help, but when will Americans be able to get access to it?

Hello from Day 3 of our socially distant April.

One week after Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed a multi-trillion-dollar coronavirus relief bill, the country is now wading through how those benefits will get into citizen's hands.

If you qualified for a direct cash payment from the government, you might be waiting a while: If you don't have direct deposit set up from previous tax filings, Democrats warned it could take 5 months. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin later said it wouldn't take that long, and checks would be going out in "weeks."

If you are a recipient of Social Security or haven't filed tax returns for other reasons in the past two years, there was worry earlier this week that you might have to file a tax return to get your stimulus money. But the Treasury Department reversed course Wednesday , saying the money would come with no additional steps needed.

And if you're filing for unemployment? Several states have reported overwhelmed systems and long wait times. The director of Florida's Department of Economic Opportunity even apologized for the state's issues Thursday.

"From my heart, I apologize for what you're going through," said the agency's executive director, Ken Lawson.

And as Americans wait for financial relief, the government was dealing with a variety of its own issues:

•	The Navy fired the captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt after he pleaded for help as the coronavirus ravaged his crew.
•	The Federal Emergency Management Agency asked the Pentagon for 100,000 body bags, a chilling request as the COVID-19 pandemic spirals.
•	The growing group of lawmakers who have contracted coronavirus has underscored the dangerous predicament that Congress has found itself in as lawmakers aim to keep themselves healthy while working on vital legislation to keep families and businesses afloat across the country.
•	President Trump hasn't ordered any ventilators from GM, despite saying he was using wartime powers to force production, according to USA TODAY sources.