President Trump claimed at a press briefing on Wednesday that CDC director Robert Redfield was wrong when he testified to Congress that a coronavirus vaccine won't be available for widespread distribution until the second or third quarter of 2021.
Why it matters: Trump has already faced criticism for allegations that his administration has politicized the coronavirus response and is seeking rapid approval and distribution of a vaccine in order to boost his re-election campaign.
The National Postal Mail Handlers Union endorsed Joe Biden on Wednesday, issuing a statement that noted the former vice president "has a history of supporting the United States Postal Service and postal workers."
Why it matters: NPMHU president Paul Hogrogian encouraged the union's roughly 45,000 members to back Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris, warning that postal workers have faced "direct threats on their livelihood" from the Trump administration.
In remarks in Delaware on Wednesday, Joe Biden made clear that he trusts the scientists on a coronavirus vaccine but not President Trump, laying out a list of three criteria he wants the administration to meet to ensure the process is not politicized.
Why it matters: Republicans have been criticizing Biden and other Democrats as being anti-vaccine in the wake of recent comments about whether they’d take a vaccine approved by the Trump administration on an expedited timetable.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) plans to terminate a Trump program that supports unemployment benefits for out-of-work Floridians because the state's jobless program doesn't have the resources to qualify for the federal assistance, Politico reports.
Why it matters: Florida is among the first states to stop the program because of the cost. The state doesn't pay its unemployed workers enough to meet the 25% matching requirement, so people will lose out on an extra $300 a week made possible by President Trump's executive order, Politico notes.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) face rising odds in their high-profile re-election bids, according to a Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters that "herd immunity has never been a strategy" for the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus, after the president claimed on Tuesday that the coronavirus would disappear when people develop "a herd mentality."
Why it matters: A state of herd immunity, in which widespread outbreaks are prevented because enough people in a community are immune to a disease, would likely cause mass death if not pursued by way of a vaccine. The magic number often cited for herd immunity is a minimum of 60% of the population.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday that all employees in his office, including himself, will be subject to a one-week furlough sometime between October and March.
The big picture: The pandemic is on pace to hit cities' finances even harder than the Great Recession. Many face no choice but to cut services, layoff or furlough workers and freeze capital projects.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Wednesday criticized his Republican colleagues on the Senate Homeland Security Committee for their probe into Joe Biden and his son's dealings in Ukraine, saying that it has the "earmarks of a political exercise."
Why it matters: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who is leading the investigation, told supporters on Monday that "in about a week we’re going to learn a whole lot more of Vice President Biden’s unfitness for office." The committee is investigating Hunter Biden's work for Ukrainian gas company Burisma at a time when Joe Biden was leading the Obama administration's Ukraine policy.
American democracy faces what could be its greatest test in a lifetime as signs mount that Russia is working to interfere in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, while the Trump administration and its allies systematically minimize those efforts, in the process becoming an accessory to them.
Why it matters: It's becoming ever more difficult to find any boundary between foreign meddling and domestic disinformation.
A pair of new reports argue for greatly expanding American research and development into climate-friendly energy tech at a time when the political terrain for big spending increases could soon become more fertile.
Why it matters: Joe Biden is vowing a major investment push if elected and the report could influence the scope and specifics of those research, development and demonstration plans.
The stock market has shown limited reaction to changes in polling on the presidential election and PwC's latest survey of top executives show most have largely similar plans for the future regardless of who wins in November.
Watch this space: The PwC survey also showed that execs are almost uniformly in support of additional stimulus measures, with 95% saying some type of fiscal policy is needed and 78% saying their own business needs further fiscal policy support.
The House Transportation Committee on Wednesday released a scathing report, highlighting "repeated and serious failures" by Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration that preceded two deadly 737 MAX jet crashes in 2018 and 2019.
The big picture: The 239-page report says the crashes, which killed 346 people, were the result of a "horrific culmination" of poor technical assumptions by Boeing’s engineers, a lack of transparency by Boeing’s management and insufficient oversight by the FAA.
Activists are urging Joe Biden to turn his focus to a recovery plan for the gig economy, saying there's a moral and political imperative to help Americans who rely on short-term, on-demand contract jobs for their livelihoods.
Why it matters: "You're missing voters that would be aligned with Biden," said María Teresa Kumar, CEO of Voto Latino, who's engaged the Biden campaign on this. "It’s not just young voters — it’s millions of African American and Latino voters that if you mention they’re part of this economy, it’d go a long way."
President Trump said during an ABC town hall Tuesday evening that he did not downplay the coronavirus, adding "in many ways, I up-played it in terms of action."
Reality check: The president told journalist Bob Woodward during an on-the-record interview in March that he intentionally understated the severity of COVID-19 in public statements to avoid inciting panic.
Top House Democrats including Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) requested Tuesday an emergency investigation into allegations of mistreatment at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center.
Why it matters: The investigation comes after a nurse at the ICE Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia alleged in a whistleblower complaint filed Monday there had been "jarring medical neglect" and "red flags regarding the rate at which hysterectomies are performed on immigrant women" by a doctor at the facility.
