Overnight Defense: Army Corps turning DC convention center into hospital | Veterans will automatically get stimulus checks | Pompeo talks arms control with Russia

Happy Friday and welcome to Overnight Defense. I’m Rebecca Kheel, and here’s your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. CLICK HERE to subscribe to the newsletter.

THE TOPLINE: The Army Corps of Engineers’ effort to build popup hospitals during the coronavirus crisis is coming to the nation’s capital.

The Corps will transform the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in downtown Washington, D.C., into a 500- to 1,500-bed hospital, Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, the head of the Corps, told reporters at the Pentagon on Friday.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser confirmed the project in a press conference, saying that the hospital will be used for coronavirus patients in a “worst-case scenario,” but the goal is “to never have to use the convention center.”

The D.C. project is expected to cost upward of $18.6 million and be completed by May 30, according to a Pentagon contract announcement on Thursday.

In other coronavirus news…

Latest numbers: The Pentagon said Friday it has had a total of 4,849 coronavirus cases.

That includes 2,986 service members, 88 of whom are hospitalized or have been. Another 837 civilians, 675 dependents and 351 contractors have been infected.

There were no new deaths reported Friday, keeping the Pentagon’s death toll at 19.

Meanwhile, the Navy said Friday that 660 sailors from the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier have tested positive for the virus.

Seven of those sailors are in the hospital, with one still in intensive care for what the Navy says is increased observation because of shortness of breath. 

A total of 4,059 sailors from the ship have been moved to shore.

Vets will automatically get stimulus checks: The Trump administration announced Friday that recipients of benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will automatically receive $1,200 coronavirus rebates without having to file tax returns.

The announcement applies to veterans and their beneficiaries who receive compensation and pension benefits from the VA and who did not file a tax return in 2018 or 2019. The IRS said that the timing of the automatic payments has yet to be determined.

VA benefit recipients will automatically receive $1,200, the maximum amount per adult. Benefit recipients with children under 17 can use a tool on the IRS’s website, called “Non-filers: Enter Payment Info Here,” to provide the IRS with information so that they can also receive the $500 per child disbursement.

The Treasury Department and VA said that some VA benefit recipients have already started to use the IRS tool to input their information and that there won’t be any interruption to payments processed through this tool as a result of Friday’s announcement. The departments encouraged veterans with Internet access to continue to use the tool.

“Many have expressed concern that veterans and their beneficiaries would be overlooked during the distribution of Economic Impact Payments from the CARES Act simply because they don’t file an annual tax return,” VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said in a news release. “This collaboration will ensure our veterans receive CARES Act payments without any additional action or paperwork required.”

IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said in a separate news release that “additional programming work remains, but this step simplifies the process for VA recipients to quickly and easily receive these $1,200 payments automatically.”

MEANWHILE … IN ARMS CONTROL: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his Russian counterpart discussed arms control Friday, according to statements from both countries.

In a call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Pompeo “emphasized that any future arms control talks must be based on President Trump’s vision for a trilateral arms control agreement that includes both Russia and China,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.

The New START Treaty that caps U.S. and Russian deployed nuclear warheads expires next year, and Trump has said he wants a new treaty that includes China. Beijing, though, has repeatedly rejected joining talks.

Lavrov, for his part, reiterated Russia’s offer to extend the existing treaty, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in its statement. Lavrov also told Pompeo that Russia is “ready to work on possible new nuclear weapons agreements” but that in interim, “it would be important to preserve” New START as a “cornerstone of global security,” according to the statement.

ICYMI

— The Hill: New Air Force One instruction manuals cost $84 million

— The Hill: France investigating more than 1,000 coronavirus cases on aircraft carrier

— Reuters: Photos capture North Korea ships’ sanctions busting in Chinese waters: U.N. report

— The Drive: The Air Force abruptly ends its continuous bomber presence on Guam after 16 years

— Wall Street Journal: Department of Veterans Affairs supply chain interrupted by pandemic

— C4ISRNET: Key defense committee members consider legislation to block FCC’s Ligado move