Happy Friday! To all of our readers employed by the federal government: We are very glad that you aren’t going to be furloughed or asked to work without pay!

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

• President Biden signed into law Thursday evening a bill funding the government through December 3 and averting a partial shutdown. The legislation—which passed the House 254-175 and the Senate 65-35 earlier in the day—also includes about $30 billion for emergency disaster relief and resettling allies evacuated from Afghanistan.

• House Democratic leadership delayed a vote on the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill last night as progressives dug in on their pledge to tank it unless they received assurances that the larger reconciliation bill would pass the Senate. Negotiations will continue today.

• The daily average of confirmed new coronavirus infections has fallen 26 percent nationwide over the past two weeks in a sign that the summer’s Delta surge may have peaked. COVID-19 hospitalizations have fallen 17 percent over the same time period, while daily COVID-19 deaths—a lagging indicator—have remained more or less steady around 2,000.