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STATE OF PLAY -- Get ready for the toughest round of coronavirus negotiations yet. The next — and perhaps final — recovery package was always going to be the hardest one to muscle over the finish line, as Republicans weren’t even initially sold on the idea of another bill. And now lawmakers are up against the clock, with Congress under pressure to cut a deal before they leave for the August recess.
But so far, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell haven’t even started privately talking about the next relief bill. And right now, the two sides are pretty far apart: Republicans are pushing to shield businesses from being sued and make school funding contingent upon reopening — two ideas Dems are against. And Democrats, meanwhile, are calling for as much as $1 trillion in state and local aid and want to renew the expiring unemployment benefits — two priorities that the GOP disagrees with.
Both sides, however, have signaled they are willing to make some trade-offs in the next package. And Pelosi also suggested she’s willing to compromise with the GOP on the issue of unemployment insurance. "That pillar is about putting money into the pockets of the American people. One piece of it is unemployment insurance and the benefit you are talking about, and another part of it is how we put direct payments into the families," Pelosi said. “We'll see how it goes with the conversation about that, but some of it depends on what they're willing to do on the direct payments as well.” The latest from Marianne, Heather and Bres: https://politi.co/3fCzet9.
Related read: “Trump administration, congressional Republicans eye tying school aid to reopening in next funding bill,” via WaPo’s Laura Meckler and Erica Werner: https://wapo.st/2WofEtd.
MITCH DEFENDS FAUCI -- The White House and other Trump allies might be trying to undermine Dr. Anthony Fauci with a smear campaign, but Mitch McConnell has a different take on the nation’s top infectious disease expert. When asked how much confidence he has in Fauci, McConnell replied: “total.”
For McConnell, this is just the latest example of him breaking with Trump during the pandemic. Not only did McConnell defend Fauci, but he has also been pleading with the public to wear face masks — something Trump did not do publicly until very recently. The latest from Morgan Watkins of the Louisville Courier Journal: https://bit.ly/2WlQnQc.
Meanwhile … House Republicans held a conference call yesterday with Vice President Pence and FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn to discuss the administration’s efforts to combat coronavirus and safely reopen schools this fall, sources tell your Huddle host. Specifically, Pence talked about progress on expanded access to testing and personal protective equipment, while Hahn provided an update on “Operation Warp Speed”, the initiative to develop and distribute a coronavirus vaccine.
Related read: “Dr. Fauci Says, 'With All Due Modesty, I Think I’m Pretty Effective,'” by CBS’ Norah O’Donnell for InStyle Magazine: https://bit.ly/2Zwdx8t.
STICKS AND STONE -- Trump said he’s getting rave reviews for commuting the sentence of his longtime ally Roger Stone — but apparently not everyone in his inner circle cheered the move. During a recent podcast interview, Stone claims House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) — two of Trump's top Hill allies — urged the president to not grant Stone clemency ahead of the 2020 election. “I know that Kevin McCarthy and Elise Stefanik were lobbying the president against any act of clemency,” he said. “They, I guess, wanted me to die in a fetid, squalid hellhole in Georgia of coronavirus."
McCarthy and Stefanik were also among a group of GOP lawmakers who shared a ride with Trump on Air Force One in late May, where the debate over Stone came up. This is notable, since we haven’t heard from a whole lot of Republicans about Stone’s commutation yet. But McCarthy has a press conference today, where the issue is sure to come up. The dispatch from Kyle: https://politi.co/30ffkhx.
GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, July 16, where your host kinda thinks we should have forced mandatory Twitter outages at least once a month (if only for the hilarious memes).
WEDNESDAY’S MOST CLICKED: Axios’ report on how more Republicans say they’re wearing face masks was the big winner.
GEORGIA ON MY MIND -- Trump met yesterday with both Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) and Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), who are locked in a nasty intra-party battle for the Georgia Senate seat this fall. Trump flew on Air Force One with Loeffler and met with Collins on the tarmac in Georgia. Although Trump initially lobbied for Collins to be appointed to the seat when it opened up last year, he has not endorsed in this race.
While in Georgia, Trump gave both candidates a shoutout. He called Collins “an incredible spokesman, incredible man, incredible friend,” and praised Loeffler for being “so supportive of me and the agenda.” The public remarks come as Collins’ camp released an internal poll this week that shows him up by 9 points. The latest on the jockeying in Georgia from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: https://bit.ly/30jetMu.
Related read: “Alabama, Texas Primary Results Show Power of Trump Endorsements,” by WSJ’s Natalie Andrews and Lindsay Wise: https://on.wsj.com/3j7PHHW.
BATTLE FOR THE SENATE -- Vulnerable Senate Republicans seem to have a common theme in their campaign ads. CNN explains: “In North Carolina, Sen. Thom Tillis uses his commercials to reacquaint voters with his life story, highlighting his time working as a short-order cook while attending college at night. In her ads, Maine Sen. Susan Collins reminds constituents about the federal money she secured for diabetes research. And in one ad, Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner's family loads up an SUV with outdoor gear as he touts the new law he helped write to fund maintenance projects at national parks.
“But, so far this year, one topic has been off the table for these endangered Republican incumbents: the elected official at the top of the ticket this fall. It's a stark illustration of President Donald Trump's declining poll numbers and the danger they could pose to the Republican majority in the Senate.” More from Fredreka Schouten and David Wright: https://cnn.it/2WscC70.
Related read: “House Democrats' campaign arm rakes in nearly $40 million in second quarter,” by ABC News’ Kendall Karson and Soo Rin Kim: https://abcn.ws/2OwXGjC.
FEELING BLUE -- Last night, a number of high-profile Twitter accounts — including Barack Obama and Joe Biden — were hacked and used for a bitcoin scheme, which then caused all accounts with a blue check mark to be temporarily locked out. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is now calling on Twitter to work with the DOJ and FBI to answer questions like whether the attack threatened the security of the president’s own Twitter account.
From the letter to Twitter’s CEO: “I am concerned that this event may represent not merely a coordinated set of separate hacking incidents but rather a successful attack on the security of Twitter itself. As you know, millions of your users rely on your service not just to tweet publicly but also to communicate privately through your direct message service. A successful attack on your system's servers represents a threat to all of your users' privacy and data security." More from NBC News’ Dartunorro Clark: https://nbcnews.to/3fAUa3Q.
POMPEO TO TESTIFY -- Mark your calendars: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is coming to Capitol Hill later this month. The story from Bloomberg: “Secretary of State Michael Pompeo is set to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee later this month after Republican lawmakers agreed to schedule hearings for his top three nominees over Democratic opposition, according to a letter from the panel’s chairman.
“The decision by Senator James Risch, the Idaho Republican who controls the committee, appears to break a deadlock with the State Department. Pompeo had defied bipartisan requests to appear for the customary hearing to answer questions about the State Department’s 2021 budget until it considered department nominees he said were crucial.” More from Nick Wadhams: https://bloom.bg/2WrCC2t.
BATTLE BREWING? … “Rep. Steve Watkins not giving up committee posts amid felony charges on voter fraud,” from Roll Call’s Lindsey McPherson: https://bit.ly/30iLUPo.
TRANSITIONS
Lauren Dikis has joined New Blue Interactive as managing director. Dikis most recently served as Sen. Cory Booker’s (D-N.J.) national finance director on his presidential run and also remains on his team as a senior advisor.
TODAY IN CONGRESS
The House and Senate are out.
AROUND THE HILL
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will hold her weekly press conference at 10:45 a.m. in HVC Studio A.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) holds his weekly press conference via conference call at noon.
TRIVIA
WEDNESDAY’S WINNER: John Sullivan was the first person to guess that Sen. Patrick Leahy wrote the foreword to Detective Comics: 80 Years of Batman.
TODAY’S QUESTION: From John: Who was the first U.S. president to hold a patent in their own name? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess to [email protected].
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