Axios

White House senior adviser Stephen Miller has tested positive for the coronavirus, he confirmed in a statement on Tuesday.

Why it matters: Miller's diagnosis adds to the long and growing list of Trump administration officials who have contracted the virus as the White House scrambles to respond to the outbreak.

The senior vaccine scientist who said in a whistleblower complaint last May that he was demoted for political reasons resigned from his position at the Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday, the New York Times reports.

Why it matters: Rick Bright, who was chief of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), told Congress in May he believes he was demoted after trying to limit the use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to treat the coronavirus.

A grand jury in St. Louis Tuesday indicted a couple on charges of unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with evidence on Tuesday, more than three months after they confronted anti-racism protesters marching by their mansion with guns, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Why it matters: Mark and Patricia McCloskey, both attorneys, became heroes in conservative circles after the event went viral. They were invited to speak and endorse President Trump at the Republican National Convention in August.

Joe Biden on Tuesday traveled to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, home to the Civil War battlefield where Abraham Lincoln once called for national unity, to ask Americans to come together to defeat racial injustice and the coronavirus.

Why it matters: Pennsylvania, a swing state that was crucial to President Trump's 2016 win, could deliver the election to Biden next month. A new Monmouth University poll out Tuesday shows Biden expanding his lead over Trump in the state.

The White House said Tuesday it has had "hospital-grade disinfection policies" since March, as it outlined the residence's health and safety precautions in a new memo that follows President Trump's return from Walter Reed Medical Center on Monday.

Why it matters: The memo comes amid a botched response to the cluster of cases within the White House, which jeopardized the health of the president and his staff and set a poor example in a country that's already done a terrible job handling the virus, writes Axios' Caitlin Owens.

President Trump's coronavirus infection and the outbreak among his allies has become the biggest storyline of the election on social media through the first three days, according to exclusive data from NewsWhip.

Why it matters: All of a sudden, the country's central storyline is the threat of the virus and the Trump administration's approach to dealing with it — topics that the president wanted to deflect attention from in the campaign's homestretch.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams received a citation for violating coronavirus policies while in Hawaii, where he was helping the state respond to its outbreak.

The big picture: Honolulu police have issued tens of thousands of coronavirus citations in recent weeks, notes Civil Beat. Hundreds of those cases have already been dismissed.

The Trump administration announced new, long-anticipated restrictions for the H-1B high-skilled visa program on Tuesday, some of which will go into effect this week.

Why it matters: The rules are "far and away, one of the most significant reforms made to the H-1B program in the past 20 years," deputy secretary of Labor Patrick Pizzella told reporters on a call.

President Trump was not experiencing coronavirus symptoms Tuesday and is doing "extremely well," according to a memo released by White House physician Sean Conley.

The state of play: Trump was discharged from Walter Reed Medical Center on Monday evening and returned to the White House to continue his treatment. Conley said in a briefing on Monday that while the president's condition is improving, he "may not be entirely out of the woods yet" and the next few days will be critical to the course of his recovery.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced Tuesday the state will extend the voter registration to 7 p.m. tonight after its online system crashed on Monday from an uptick in volume.

The big picture: The state is investigating the crash, which may have prevented thousands from registering before the original deadline, AP reports. Investigators are now working to determine if the crash was a "deliberate act."

Facebook on Tuesday removed a post from President Trump in which he falsely claimed that COVID-19 is less deadly "in most populations" than the flu. Twitter labeled the tweet for violating its rules about "spreading misleading and potentially harmful information," but left it up because it may be "in the public's interest."

Why it matters: Facebook has been criticized for not removing posts that violate community guidelines in a timely manner, yet the company sprung to action when Trump posted misinformation about the virus that "could contribute to imminent physical harm." Twitter took action about 30 minutes later.

Joe Biden now has a 12-point lead over President Trump in Pennsylvania, according to a Monmouth University poll out Tuesday, which also found that a majority of voters in the battleground state think Biden better understands their daily concerns.

Why it matters: It's more bad news for Trump, whose re-election efforts have hinged on winning Pennsylvania and its 20 electoral votes. Biden's current lead is a significant improvement from his four-point lead in last month's Monmouth poll.

Conventional investor wisdom is to steer clear of next month's election, due to its inherent uncertainty and consequential volatility. But, this morning, Chamath Palihapitiya bet big on a company whose fortunes may be significantly impacted by the presidential victor.

Driving the news: Clover Health, a tech-enabled provider of Medicare Advantage plans, agreed to go public via a reverse merger with a Palihapitiya-led SPAC called Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings III (NYSE: IPOC).

Former first lady Michelle Obama is making her closing argument for Joe Biden this morning, arguing that President Trump has mismanaged the pandemic while "stoking fears about Black and brown Americans."

The big picture: In a video message, the former first lady, who remains wildly popular in the Democratic party, testifies to Biden's personal qualities while sharply criticizing Trump's handling of the racial unrest that has been roiling the country.

Joe Biden's campaign will begin airing a TV ad in Michigan markets today about climate-related harm and risks to farmers.

Driving the news: The ad running in the Traverse City–Cadillac media market shows a family of fruit farmers discussing the topic.

Axios' Margaret Talev interviewed Dr. Anthony Fauci yesterday during a Partnership for Public Service Zoom ceremony awarding him the top honor of the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals.

Fauci had this advice to doctors, scientists or aides in government who may be under pressure to give upbeat or politically helpful assessments: "Whenever you walk into the White House, or to a congressional chamber, tell yourself that 'this might be the last time that I'm walking into that place ... I might have to say something that's going to get people to not like what they're hearing, and might have them not ask me back.'"

Former Vice President Joe Biden has gained a more than 20 point lead over President Trump among voters ages 65 and older, two separate polls — one from CNN and one from NBC News and the Wall Street Journal — found.

Why it matters: Senior citizens are America's most reliable voters — and a group that's been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Biden's gains with seniors just weeks before Election Day could give him an edge in voter turnout.

White House aides have advised President Trump to avoid the Oval Office while he's still infected. But they’re making arrangements for him to work out of the Diplomatic Reception Room, and use it as a backdrop for future televised remarks, two White House officials tell Axios.

Why it matters: The preparations show that far from bunkering down in the residence until he's well, Trump is considering remaining active while he recovers from COVID. Any Trump movement in the West Wing would create a series of risks for his staff.

Misinformation related to President Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis has swarmed social media and the broader web since Friday, with claims that Trump is faking his illness gaining particular traction, according to data provided to Axios by social intelligence firm Zignal Labs.

Why it matters: Moments of national urgency are now becoming flashpoints in digital information wars, with misinformation being spread far and wide by malicious actors, conspiracy theorists and earnest dupes.

White House reporters are increasingly anxious and angry about the Trump administration's handling of COVID-19 cases within its own building.

State of play: Several White House reporters have tested positive and many are trying to figure out whether they and their families need to quarantine.

To try to revive the online frenzy of 2014's Ice Bucket Challenge, Joe Biden's campaign today launches the #ImVotingFor social media campaign, led by high-profile surrogates who have a combined 150 million followers.

How it works: The partners — elected leaders, digital creators and celebrities — will tag three people with #ImVotingFor, and ask them to do the same.

Some Americans say they're more likely to wear masks or social distance in the aftermath of President Trump's coronavirus diagnosis, but there's no evidence in any big shift in attitudes toward Trump himself, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

Between the lines: The early polling numbers, taken right after the news broke that Trump had tested positive, suggest that the public's attitudes toward Trump are so deeply settled that even the shock of an event like this can't shake them.

The Supreme Court on Monday sided with South Carolina officials and the state's Republican Party by mostly restoring a legal requirement that absentee ballots must be signed by a witness.

Of note: Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in the judgment that ballots cast before the ruling or received within the next two days would be exempt from the order.

Florida Democrats are demanding Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) launch an investigation after the state's voter registration website for November's election crashed Monday hours before enrollment closed at midnight.

Driving the news: Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee tweeted Monday evening, "Due to high volume, for about 15 minutes, some users experienced delays while trying to register. We have increased capacity." Several people replied to her post saying the site was still down and asked for the deadline to be extended.

Joe Biden said in an NBC town hall Monday night that he was not surprised President Trump contracted COVID-19.

What he's saying: "Quite frankly, I wasn't surprised," the Democratic presidential nominee said when asked by MSNBC's Lester Holt if he was surprised Trump had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Attorneys for writer E. Jean Carroll filed a motion in a New York court Monday contesting the Department of Justice's notice seeking to replace President Trump's private lawyers in her defamation lawsuit against him.

Details: "There is not a single person in the United States — not the President and not anyone else —  whose job description includes slandering women they sexually assaulted," Carroll's lawyers said in response to the DOJ's argument that Trump was "acting within the scope of his office" as president when he said in 2019 that she was "lying" about claims that he raped her in the 1990s.

President Trump's son Eric Trump was questioned under oath Monday as part of New York's investigation into the Trump Organization's financial dealings, Bloomberg first reported and Axios can confirm.

The intrigue: The deposition comes less than a month out from Election Day, after a judge denied Eric Trump's motion to have it delayed until after Nov. 3. The 36-year-old Trump Organization executive vice president had argued he did not want the questioning to be used "for political purposes," per the New York Times.

President Trump, who is still infected with the coronavirus, declared in a video released to his Twitter account: "Now I'm better and maybe I'm immune."

Reality check: Though Trump was discharged from Walter Reed Medical Center on Monday evening, White House physician Sean Conley said that the president "may not be entirely out of the woods yet."