topics

politics-policy

epstein-files

donald-trump

2026-midterm-elections

immigration

behind-the-curtain

race-and-equity

technology

privacy-tech-regulation

automation-and-ai

tiktok-news

big-tech

social-media

cybersecurity

economy

social-security

inflation

tariffs

federal-reserve

jobs

transportation

business

stock-market-news

retail-news

crypto

media

elon-musk

dealmaking

health

rfk-jr

drug-prices

axios-explains-abortion

public-health

world

israel

axios-explains-ukraine

iran

russia

china

energy-climate

nuclear-energy

climate-energy-policy

climate-change

extreme-weather

alternative-energy

electric-vehicles

science

emerging-tech

biomedicine

newsletters

pittsburgh

atlanta

san-diego

charlotte

boulder

washington-dc

kansas-city

dallas

denver

detroit

des-moines

austin

boston

chicago

cleveland

columbus

houston

indianapolis

miami

nashville

new-orleans

nw-arkansas

philadelphia

phoenix

portland

richmond

salt-lake-city

san-antonio

san-francisco

seattle

tampa-bay

twin-cities

raleigh

huntsville

colorado-springs

axios-local

axios-pro

axios-live

the-axios-show

National

Frustration among many Senate Republicans, not to mention Democrats, toward the White House has hit a fever pitch, with many lawmakers — including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — admitting they could break for the August recess without a stimulus bill.

The latest: The Senate left for the weekend Thursday evening without even circulating a draft bill that McConnell says will be used as a starting point for negotiations — and many blame the White House.

Behind the scenes: Multiple GOP Hill aides involved in the stimulus negotiations tell me they feel Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows have undermined the legislative process.

"They came in at the back end with a ton of unrealistic requests, like zeroing out funding for testing and forcing the FBI building into the package," one congressional aide said. (The president initially wanted a line in the bill to build a new FBI headquarters in downtown Washington, D.C. )

There was also early skepticism among GOP lawmakers about their role in the talks, according to conversations with seven Republican Hill staffers involved in the crafting of the bill.

Mnuchin, the White House's key negotiator during the passage of the CARES Act, was criticized by members for his willingness to cut deals with Democrats and "give away the store," as one lawmaker put it.

He's also been given vast powers under the CARES Act on how the implementation is done. "He can make a lot of decisions unilaterally, and that has added to the skepticism on the Hill," a GOP staffer said.

Meadows has taken a bigger role in stimulus talks this time around and is viewed as Mnuchin's foil, two administration officials told Axios. But it's taken him a while to get the president on the same page as GOP senators.

The other side: "Meadows and Mnuchin have been working closely with Senate GOP leadership. They spent the afternoon on the Hill yesterday working on priorities the White House and Senate R’s can unite around. They’ll be back on the Hill today. They’re also in constant contact with McConnell and [House GOP Leader Kevin] McCarthy," a White House official told Axios.

The bottom line: Republican leaders privately admit that if negotiations are a failure, the White House and Republicans will take the political hit since they're running the show. 

Senate Republicans grow weary with White House over stimulus bill

Multiple GOP aides say they feel Steven Mnuchin and Mark Meadows have undermined the legislative process.

Politics

Senate Republicans

Politics & Policy

Top stories & latest news on the Federal Reserve, real-time data, plus the biggest shifts happening in the U.S. and global economy.

Economy

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

The consensus within the White House over the weekend is that they should turn their attention toward passing a smaller, bifurcated stimulus bill, focused on their main priorities.

The state of play: Chief of staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were discouraged after their meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday, GOP congressional aides involved in the negotiations told Axios.

The two now think a more targeted bill has a greater shot at passing before key benefits from the CARES act, namely the unemployment benefits, expire at the end of this week.

Meadows told Axios: "I think [President Trump] made a pragmatic decision to say let's focus on unemployment insurance, schools and liability protection as the most important aspect of the larger package and deal with anything else later."

But Pelosi has repeatedly said she is against any short-term extension bill, and most Republicans think the strategy is a losing one.

 The White House's primary areas of focus, per a White House official:

Back-to-work tax credits (which the official said is essentially a retention credit).

Extending unemployment insurance to 70% of a person's average wage before the COVID-19 crisis. This is a stark change from the $600 per week benefit unemployed Americans were receiving under the CARES Act.

School funding: Schools will get $105 billion. That would include roughly $70 billion for K-12, but only half would be for all schools — the other half would only be for schools that are opening in person. 

Widespread liability insurance, including for restaurants, hotels, hospitals, universities and school districts. 

The GOP bill, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to roll out on Monday, is expected to include all of them. But it will be a broader, $1 trillion package that contains other priorities as well, such as: 

Stimulus checks, which would be doled out under the same guidelines as in the CARES Act, meaning Americans who make $75K or less would receive the full benefit.

Extension of the Paycheck Protection Program. Small businesses with 300 or fewer employees that show a revenue loss of 50% would be able to apply for a second loan. 

The White House, including Trump, has signed off on the bill with the hope they can negotiate it down to a "skinny" bill later on . 

What’s next: Once the bill drops, negotiations with Democrats will begin in earnest. 

Where coronavirus stimulus talks stand

But Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly said she is against any short-term extension bill.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, left, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Capitol Hill. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images

Economic stimulus

Business

Policymaking

Top Trump advisers and GOP leadership have told the president in recent weeks that he needs to switch gears on the coronavirus and go all in on messaging about progress on vaccines and therapeutics.

The big picture: The goal is to try to shift the focus of the election conversation to who would be better at reviving the economy. Administration officials say this is a key reason Trump restarted his briefings this week and that this rhetoric will only accelerate in the weeks to come. 

Why it matters: White House and Trump campaign officials have been in panic mode over recent polls showing Trump trailing Joe Biden in swing states just 100 days away from the election. 

They see this new strategy of leaning hard into the progress on therapeutics and vaccine R&D as the fastest way to restore confidence in Trump and avoid having the election be a referendum on his handling of the pandemic.

The plan: When scientists and health care researchers make big strides on vaccine and therapeutic development, the White House wants Trump at the podium, delivering the good news himself.

He'll also largely continue to deliver these messages alone.

Two administration officials said this is a deliberate choice. The White House wants Trump to speak directly to the American people and have them make no mistake that this is coming from him — not Dr. Deborah Birx or Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The message: Trump will assert that, under his leadership, the coronavirus task force has helped make major advancements in the ability to treat COVID-19.

On therapeutics: "If you get ill from COVID, you have a significantly lower chance of getting seriously ill or dying since we have remdesivir, convalescent plasma, and steroids to treat the virus — which we didn’t have in the early stages of the outbreak," a White House official said.

On vaccines: "We are making significant progress on a vaccine and working simultaneously on a distribution plan so that when we reach it we can get it to hundreds of millions of people immediately," the official told Axios.

What we're hearing: "I think it's pretty clear to everyone that getting a vaccine, getting therapeutics that work is the golden key to unlocking the economy and stopping the crisis," a source close to the Trump campaign told Axios.

"The polling has been clear on this stuff. People want Trump to take it seriously. And I do think this past week was probably the first week in a couple of months since the [George] Floyd protests started where I thought Trump won every single day of the week."

Reality check: It's nearly impossible that a vast majority of the public will have access to a vaccine by 2021, let alone before the election. And that assumes a vaccine proves to work, Axios' Bob Herman writes.

Therapeutics are still in development, and many have shown promising leads. But the timeframe for getting these to market before Nov. 3 is a very ambitious goal, and none — including remdesivir — have come close to presenting a cure to the virus. 

In the absence of a vaccine or more effective treatments, the main way to save lives and slow the spread of the virus is still through masks, social distancing, avoiding large gatherings and a slow approach to reopening businesses or schools — the steps Trump has resisted, Axios’ Sam Baker notes. Unless those gain more traction, cases and deaths will continue to pile up.

The bottom line: "If he can keep having these types of weeks, where he stays on message and offers people a light at the end of the COVID tunnel, he's gonna be in a lot stronger position to win reelection than I think a lot of people think right now," an administration official said. 

But keeping Trump on message has never been an easy feat, and a lot can happen between now and November.

Trump goes all in on vaccines and therapeutics

He'll continue to appear alone and try to offer a light at the end of the tunnel.

Photo Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Coronavirus treatments

The U.S. health system faces critical questions about cost, access and equity. Technological advances and new discoveries about diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s are transforming patient care and reshaping public health.

Health

ProPublica on Sunday released a searchable database consisting of thousands of New York Police Department disciplinary records that state law had shielded from public view for decades.

The state of play: State lawmakers voted to repeal the statute in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, but a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the release of the records after unions for police officers, firefighters and corrections officers sued the city. ProPublica is not a party to the lawsuit and chose to move forward with releasing the records.

What they're saying: "We are making this information public, and, with it, providing an unprecedented picture of civilians' complaints of abuse by NYPD officers as well as the limits of the current system that is supposed to hold officers accountable," wrote ProPublica's deputy managing editor Eric Umansky.

"We understand the arguments against releasing this data. But we believe the public good it could do outweighs the potential harm,” added editor in chief Stephen Engelberg.

"The database gives the people of New York City a glimpse at how allegations involving police misconduct have been handled, and allows journalists and ordinary citizens alike to look more deeply at the records of particular officers.”

The big picture: The database names active-duty officers who have had at least one allegation against them substantiated by New York’s Civilian Complaint Review Board. That's about 4,000 officers out of 36,000.

303 active-duty officers have had at least five substantiated allegations against them, according to the database.

The data describes almost 5,000 allegations of “physical force,” nearly 2,000 of “frisk” and more than 600 of “gun pointed," ProPublica points out.

The other side: "This is not a challenge to the public right to know. This is not about transparency. We are defending privacy, integrity and the unsullied reputations of thousands of hard-working public safety employees," said union spokesman Hank Sheinkopf.

ProPublica releases thousands of NYPD disciplinary records

A state law had kept the records private for decades.

Photo: Vusale Abbasova/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Police

Race and Equity

Am Joy-11 53 38 Am - 11 58 43 Am-2020-07-26

The body of the late Rep. John Lewis was transported Sunday across the famous Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., where the civil rights icon first helped lead a march for voting rights in 1965.

Why it matters: The march, in which Lewis and other activists were beaten by police officers who attacked them with clubs, became known as "Bloody Sunday" and was a critical turning point in the civil rights movement. The event helped lead to the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.

At 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, networks broke in with special coverage to show Lewis traveling across the Edmund Pettus Bridge for the final time.

The bridge is named for a Confederate general and KKK leader. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) is among those calling for the bridge to be named for Lewis, but some in Selma are opposed.

The big picture: Sunday's event is part of a six-day memorial ceremony honoring Lewis, who died on July 17 at age 80 after battling with pancreatic cancer.

This story will be updated with more coverage.

John Lewis carried across Edmund Pettus Bridge for final time

The civil rights icon was brutally beaten by police officers on the bridge in 1965.

John Lewis (georgia politician)

Face The Nation-10 38 17 Am - 10 39 53 Am-2020-07-26

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on CBS News' "Face the Nation" Sunday that Democrats will not support liability protections for employers of "essential workers" in the next coronavirus relief bill.

Why it matters: Senate Republicans' stimulus proposal is expected to include widespread liability insurance for schools, businesses, hospitals and more, which Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has called his "red line."

Companies have said they could be vulnerable to a wave of lawsuits if their workers get sick during the pandemic.

Pelosi argued that such a measure would fail to make employers responsible for ensuring workplaces are safe while also providing no recourse for workers who do get sick.

What she's saying: "What they're saying to essential workers, 'you have to go to work because you're essential. We've placed no responsibility on your employer to make that workplace safe,'" Pelosi said. 

"And if you get sick, you have no recourse because we've given the employer protection. And if you don't go to work because you're afraid of being sick and you have that job opportunity you don't get unemployment insurance. This is so unfair."

The big picture: Pelosi said that the House "can't go home" until a deal is struck and rebuked Senate Republicans for delaying the release of their stimulus proposal. She also criticized the idea of reducing supplemental unemployment benefits to 70% of individuals' lost wages.

"This is an emergency. Maybe they don't understand. I don't know what they have against working families in America."

Go deeper: There's a second wave of "essential workers" on the frontlines

Pelosi rules out liability protections for employers of "essential workers"

Senate Republicans have said liability protections are a red line.

Coronavirus

Health Care

State Of The Union With Jake Tapper-9 42 49 Am - 9 44 50 Am-2020-07-26

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that her city is being "inundated with guns" from outside states, and that President Trump could push for gun control measures if he truly cared about helping Chicago.

Why it matters: At least 414 people have been murdered in Chicago through July 19, putting the city on track to have one of its deadliest summers since 2016, according to CNN. Trump said on Fox News Thursday that he's willing to deploy 75,000 federal agents to help cities struggling with protests and violence.

What she's saying: "The fact of the matter is our gun problem is related to the fact that we have too many illegal guns in our streets — 60% of which come from states outside of Illinois. We are being inundated with guns from states that have virtually no gun control, no background checks, no ban on assault weapons," Lightfoot said.

"That is the thing that if the president really wanted to help, that and the other things I identified in my letter he could do today, tomorrow. But he's not really interested in helping in that way.

The big picture: Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr announced last week that the Justice Department would "immediately surge" law enforcement to Chicago in an effort to quell the violence. Lightfoot has said she's received assurances that the federal agents deployed would be focused on dealing with gun violence, not targeting protesters like officers have been doing in Portland.

"No troops, no agents that are coming in outside of our knowledge, notification and control that are violating people's constitutional rights. That's the framework," Lightfoot said.

Chicago mayor: City is "inundated with guns" from states with loose gun control

Lightfoot said Trump would push for gun control if he truly cared about Chicago.

Axios

Sunday's top stories

Senate Republicans grow weary with White House over stimulus bill

Where coronavirus stimulus talks stand

Trump goes all in on vaccines and therapeutics

ProPublica releases thousands of NYPD disciplinary records

John Lewis carried across Edmund Pettus Bridge for final time

Pelosi rules out liability protections for employers of "essential workers"

Chicago mayor: City is "inundated with guns" from states with loose gun control

Mnuchin: White House to propose reducing unemployment benefits to 70% of wages

Top HHS official concedes turnaround time for testing is still too long

Poll: 100 days from election, 80% say country is heading in wrong direction

Underrepresented groups step into the 2020 spotlight

Protests intensify across U.S.: Portland and Seattle police declare riot