Axios

The House voted 305-113 on Wednesday to remove Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol building.

Why it matters: The bipartisan vote comes amid a broader national movement to eliminate symbols of racism and oppression that has led to the removal of Confederate statues across the country.

Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs committee sent a letter on Wednesday to the acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) — 15 hours before he is set to testify before the committee — demanding he fire Merritt Corrigan, an aide with a history of making homophobic comments.

Why it matters: The letter escalates pressure on acting administrator John Barsa to address criticism — including from several of his employees — that the agency's recent hires have created a hostile work environment.

The House approved the Great American Outdoors Act on Wednesday, setting aside $900 million in federal oil and gas revenues for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, The Hill reports.

Why it matters: The bipartisan legislation comes with President Trump's support, even though he previously proposed cutting LWCF's budget by roughly 97%, The Hill notes. His reversal comes as the 2020 election inches closer.

President Trump said Wednesday that the reason health experts like Deborah Birx and Anthony Fauci no longer attend his coronavirus press briefings is because they brief him on "everything they know as of this point in time" and he passes the information on to the public.

Why it matters: Before they were canceled in April, Trump's daily briefings grew infamous for being rife with misinformation, which his health experts would be forced to carefully contradict.

Over 3,000 public health officials signed an open letter to President Trump, criticizing the efforts of White House officials to discredit Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Why it matters: Signatories include two former directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two previous commissioners of the Food and Drug Administration, a former secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and a former U.S. surgeon general.

Joe Biden claimed that President Trump is the first racist to be elected to the White House during a virtual town hall on Wednesday, The Washington Post reports.

Why it matters: Biden has previously said that Trump stokes racism, but this marks the first time Biden has directly called Trump a racist, the Post notes.

48% of polled registered voters in Texas disapprove of Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) handling of the coronavirus pandemic, while 47% approve, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

Why it matters: Abbott's net approval rating for his administration's COVID-19 response has slipped by 21 points since early June, when 56% of voters approved of his response and 36% disapproved.

President Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr announced on Wednesday that the Justice Department will "immediately surge" federal law enforcement officers to Chicago and Albuquerque in an effort to combat violent crime.

The big picture: The deployment is an expansion of Operation Legend, which the Justice Department launched on July 8 in Kansas City, Mo., as a coordinated initiative "across all federal law enforcement agencies working in conjunction with state and local law enforcement officials to fight the sudden surge of violent crime."

President Trump has promised to send federal law enforcement agents to Democratic-led cities around the country, moving his strategy beyond Portland, Oregon, and staking his re-election hopes on a law-and-order message even as the coronavirus pandemic surges nationwide.

Why it matters: These liberal cities now find themselves in the topsy-turvy position of having to resist federal government action — threatening recourse via both the courts and law enforcement.

The Trump administration told China to close its diplomatic consulate in Houston "in order to protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information," State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus confirmed to Axios on Wednesday morning.

The latest: Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday that President Trump directed the State Department to withdraw its consent for China to operate its consulate in Houston due to a litany of abuses in the bilateral relationship.

Senate Republicans and negotiators from the Trump administration are considering a short-term extension of supplemental unemployment benefits, which are set to expire on July 31, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) confirmed to reporters Wednesday.

Why it matters: A chaotic Senate Republican lunch on Tuesday revealed that the White House and GOP senators remain far apart on key priorities in the next economic package and that it's unlikely a bill will be passed by the end of next week.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced a bill with the support of 47 co-sponsors on Wednesday that would fully restore the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 in the name of the late civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.).

Why it matters: The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act aims to counter the Supreme Court's controversial 2013 ruling in Shelby County v. Holder, which gutted voter protections that had required states with a history of racial discrimination to gain federal approval before changing voting laws.

Kim Kardashian West on Monday released a statement via her Instagram story regarding the mental health of her husband, Kanye West, who has bipolar disorder.

Why it matters: While it might be easy to write off West's attention-grabbing yet erstwhile presidential bid as a publicity stunt or joke, Kardashian West's statement highlights that his family and friends are genuinely concerned about his well-being.

Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) apologized on the House floor Wednesday for "the abrupt manner of the conversation" he had with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on the steps of the Capitol, but denied reports that he used "offensive name-calling words."

Catch up quick: The Hill reported on Tuesday that Yoho called Ocasio-Cortez "disgusting" and a "f--king b-tch" during and after a conversation about the correlation between rising crime and current levels of unemployment.

Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama sat down in-person to discuss systemic racism, the coronavirus pandemic and President Trump's handling of those issues for a new campaign video that will be released Thursday.

Why it matters: You'll only see more of Obama in the months leading up to the election as he helps sell Biden's pitch to voters that he's better suited than Trump to help the country get past a slew of national crises.

To get back on the campaign trail this summer and fall, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy has procured dozens of WHOOP fitness trackers — which monitor respiratory rate as a clue to COVID — for his political and fundraising staff in D.C. and across the country.

Why it matters: McCarthy, who represents Bakersfield and works closely with California's tech community, will wear a WHOOP sensor and band himself, harnessing wearables to help keep aides and supporters safe. 

In a new book 10 days before the inauguration, former FBI Director James Comey will take aim at politicization of the Justice Department under President Trump, who fired him.

"Saving Justice: Truth, Transparency, and Trust," out Jan. 12, is a follow-up to Comey's No. 1 New York Times bestseller, "A Higher Loyalty." A press release from Comey’s publisher, Flatiron, says he'll also discuss his career prosecuting mobsters in New York. Comey famously compared Trump to a mob boss in his last book.

Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Georgia are the battlefronts for voting rights advocates and election lawyers in a year one national expert says could make Bush v. Gore look like "a walk in the park."

The big picture: What these states share in common are three overlapping factors that could create a perfect storm for legal challenges: competitive elections, surging coronavirus numbers and little experience historically with voting by mail.

A nurses' union placed shoes on the Capitol lawn Tuesday in memory of all their colleagues who've died of the novel coronavirus and to demand the Senate pass House Democrats' $3 trillion pandemic recovery package.

The big picture: The nurses say the HEROES Act would provide necessary workplace protections, per ABC News. Nurse Stephanie Simms told AFP union members lay 88 pairs of shoes at the White House two months ago to represent colleagues killed by COVID-19. "Today we have 164 pairs of shoes," she said. "They clearly show how this administration and this Congress has failed nurses who continue to die." Republicans are preparing their own coronavirus stimulus bill this week.

Go deeper: What health care workers are going through in the coronavirus pandemic

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf pushed back on Tuesday against criticism of federal agents' conduct during massive protests in Portland, Oregon, following calls for an investigation into their conduct.

What he's saying: Wolf said at a news conference in Washington, D.C., that what's occurring in the city "is not peaceful protesting." "We have been forced because of local law enforcement presence to take measures such as arrests to protect our officials," he added.

Protests persisted in Portland, Oregon Tuesday night as federal law enforcement officers in camouflage again discharged tear gas in response to ongoing civil unrest following the May 25 death of Minneapolis man George Floyd.

Why it matters: While most of the U.S. has seen a slowdown in demonstrations after weeks of Black Lives Matter protests, Portland has shown continued momentum for the cause.

At least 14 people were wounded in a mass shooting at a funeral home on Chicago's South Side on Tuesday night, police said at a news briefing.

The big picture: The shooting happened one day after President Trump threatened to send federal law enforcement into other cities run by Democrats — including Chicago, where Homeland Security was reportedly drafting plans to send some 150 federal agents this week.

President Trump answered onscreen questions at the White House on Tuesday night during his campaign's first virtual fundraiser, which raised more than $20 million from 300,000 donors, the campaign said.

The state of play: Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle, national chair of the Trump Victory Finance Committee, were hosts.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Retail Federation and National Association of Manufacturers filed a lawsuit in San Francisco against the Trump administration on Tuesday over federal immigration restrictions.

Driving the news: The suit comes in response to the administration's move to ban entry into the U.S. through the end of this year for foreigners on certain temporary work visas — including high-skilled H-1B visas that are relied on by big U.S. tech companies.