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Tonight's newsletter is 1,635 words, a 6-minute read.
Welcome to Sneak Peek, our weekly lookahead from both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, plus our best scoops.
Tonight's newsletter is 1,635 words, a 6-minute read.
Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios
The White House coronavirus task force had its biggest fight yet on Saturday, pitting economic adviser Peter Navarro against infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci. At issue: How enthusiastically should the White House tout the prospects of an antimalarial drug to fight COVID-19?
Behind the scenes: Trump's coronavirus task force gathered in the White House Situation Room on Saturday at about 1:30pm, according to four sources familiar with the conversation. Vice President Mike Pence sat at the head of the table.
Toward the end of the meeting, Hahn began a discussion of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, which Trump believes could be a "game-changer" against the coronavirus.
Navarro's comments set off a heated exchange about how the Trump administration and the president ought to talk about the malaria drug, which Fauci and other public health officials stress is unproven to combat COVID-19.
Fauci's mention of anecdotal evidence "just set Peter off," said one of the sources. Navarro pointed to the pile of folders on the desk, which included printouts of studies on hydroxychloroquine from around the world.
Navarro started raising his voice, and at one point accused Fauci of objecting to Trump's travel restrictions, saying, "You were the one who early on objected to the travel restrictions with China," saying that travel restrictions don't work. (Navarro was one of the earliest to push the China travel ban.)
Between the lines: "There has never been a confrontation in the task force meetings like the one yesterday," said a source familiar with the argument. "People speak up and there's robust debate, but there's never been a confrontation. Yesterday was the first confrontation."
The bottom line: The way to discuss the drug's potential has become a fraught issue within the Trump administration.
Surgeon General Jerome Adams made a chilling statement on "Meet the Press" and "Fox News Sunday" today:
Screenshot of a virtual campaign broadcast.
The Trump campaign is now doing online broadcasts seven nights a week — filling a void in physical events and field organizing due to the coronavirus.
Why it matters: So far, these online broadcasts, which have not yet featured the president, have regularly gotten more than 1 million views across all social platforms, according to the campaign.
Sources on the campaign said they are doing a mixture of live streaming and pre-recorded videos. Their plan is to broadcast every night on Trump's social media channels at 8pm ET to create the effect of a nightly show.
Behind the scenes: On a conference call on March 13, top Trump campaign officials decided they needed to move to an all-virtual campaign, according to two senior campaign officials. That decision affects more than 1,000 staff around the country, they said.
Carr had to move entirely to virtual in 24 hours because the campaign was heading into a "national week of training." The Trump campaign does a week of training volunteers each month and ends with a national "day of action."
The stats: The campaign says it has signed up more than 275,000 new volunteers since the switch to all-virtual on March 13. A senior campaign official said this is significantly higher than normal.
The Supreme Court canceled all oral arguments through early April due to COVID-19. Photo: Ting Shen/Xinhua via Getty Images
Here's an under-the-radar side effect of the coronavirus pandemic: It might spare President Trump from having to release his tax returns before the election, Axios' Sam Baker writes.
Why it matters: The Supreme Court was supposed to hear arguments last month over whether House Democrats had the legal authority to subpoena Trump's financial records.
Those arguments had been scheduled for March 31 — which, on the court's usual timeline, would most likely set up a ruling in the last few days of June.
What happens next is unclear. The court said it would "consider" rescheduling some of these postponed arguments for later this term, if circumstances allow, and would "consider a range of scheduling options and other alternatives" if the court building isn't available.
Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
The House and Senate are on recess, Alayna Treene writes.
The White House did not provide a copy of President Trump's schedule, but the coronavirus task force is expected to continue its daily briefing through next weekend, Easter weekend.