National

Despite a tense recent phone call with President Trump — first reported by the New York Times — the most important mega-donor in the Republican Party, Sheldon Adelson, has signaled he is poised to spend big to support the president.

Behind the scenes: Last Monday morning a group of top Republican Party donors gathered at the Four Seasons resort in Jackson Hole, Wyo., for a Trump campaign fundraiser.

The donors gathered in a hotel ballroom, set up like a Silicon Valley retreat,  with a yogurt parfait station, according to sources in the room. 

A select few of the party's biggest donors sent aides in their place — and this was the case with casino billionaire Adelson and his wife, Miriam.

Adelson's top adviser Andy Abboud entered the room late, toward the end of the meeting. He raised his hand for a question, and they gave him the mic, according to two sources who were there. 

"I just want to say that I just spoke to the Adelsons," Abboud announced to the room. "They are 110% behind the president. And that's going to become apparent shortly."

Why it matters: The Adelsons have the biggest checkbooks in Republican politics. They spend tens of millions of dollars each cycle, and the recent New York Times story — which reported that in a recent phone call Trump "upbraided [Adelson] for not donating more to support his reelection" — made some Republican officials nervous that Trump had alienated the party's most important donor.

Sheldon Adelson makes nice with Trump

The Adelsons have the biggest checkbooks in Republican politics.

Sheldon Adelson and his wife Sandra at a Trump rally in February

Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam at a Trump rally in February. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Politics

Campaign finance

2020 election

President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

Politics & Policy

Sneak Peek

Axios Sneak Peek

The "campaign plane" is becoming another casualty of the pandemic.

Driving the news: Joe Biden's team hasn't booked any air travel — and thus has no need to lease an aircraft with the Democratic nominee's name and logo emblazoned on the side, a candidate tradition for decades, people familiar with the plans tell Axios.

 The big picture: Biden is betting that following public health guidelines is the most strategic as well as responsible path to the presidency.  Eschewing large events and staying grounded allows him to draw yet another contrast with President Trump, who is gassing up Air Force One to hit outdoor “hangar” rallies in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Arizona this week. 

Most swing states have set limits on the size of any gatherings — though the campaigns may interpret them differently. 

Officials with the campaign and in the states say Pennsylvania's limit for gatherings is 25 indoors and 250 outdoors; Michigan's are 10 and 100; Wisconsin has county-by-county rules. 

Campaign spokesman TJ Ducklo contrasted Biden's approach with Trump in a lengthy statement that charges Trump with "gambling with American lives for his own political gain."

Biden aides say he hasn't completely ruled out flying between now and November — and that the campaign could change course if individual states change their guidelines.

Flashback: Presidential (and VP) campaigns typically unveil their planes over the summer, marking the final phase in the race. These aircraft take on looks, smells and stories of their own as they hurtle through the sky — sites for moving press conferences and private huddles with advisers through the highs, lows and decision points of every race.

Photographers traditionally snap photos of candidates waving from the steps and then scramble up into the back with the traveling reporters. Staff and U.S. Secret Service agents fill the middle section of the plane. The candidates (as well as their families and any VIPs) sit up front. 

Over the years, photos have captured candidates' sometimes emotional reactions as they behold the glistening beasts that will transport them and embody their political status. 

John McCain reacted with a look of surprise to see his name stenciled onto the side of his 737 on June 30, 2008.

Barack Obama boarded his “Change We can Believe” 757 on July 20, 2008.

Mitt Romney stepped onto his “Believe in America” plane August 31, 2012.

When Hillary Clinton let reporters onto her “Stronger Together” plane Sept. 5 2016, she called it “the last moment before the mad dash.”

Trump was an exception. In 2016, he said no thanks to a traditional campaign plane since he already had his own: He rode “Trump Force One" while the press corps followed on a separate charter, which sometimes got left behind. 

Be smart: Some campaign veterans have been arguing for years for a permanent ground stoppage — and now there's an excuse.

“The days of the traditional campaign plane loaded with lots of press traveling around the country are over, even after the pandemic ends,” predicted Steve Duprey, a prominent New Hampshire Republican who had served as a senior adviser to  McCain’s 2008 campaign. “The planes and the effort to staff and move them are expensive and time consuming."

No plane for Biden campaign

Eschewing large events and staying grounded allows him to draw yet another contrast with Trump.

Credit: (Clockwise from left) Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, David Greedy/Getty Images

2020 elections

2020 conventions

Joe Biden

To the alarm of some government health officials, President Trump has expressed enthusiasm for the Food and Drug Administration to permit an extract from the oleander plant to be marketed as a dietary supplement or, alternatively, approved as a drug to cure COVID-19, despite lack of proof that it works.

Driving the news: The experimental botanical extract, oleandrin, was promoted to Trump during an Oval Office meeting in July. It's embraced by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and MyPillow founder and CEO Mike Lindell, a big Trump backer, who recently took a financial stake in the company that develops the product.

Lindell told Axios that in the meeting, Trump "basically said: …'The FDA should be approving it.'" 

The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Why it matters: A senior administration official familiar with the internal conversations told Axios, "The involvement of the Secretary of HUD and MyPillow.com in pushing a dubious product at the highest levels should give Americans no comfort at night about their health and safety during a raging pandemic."

The big picture: It's part of a pattern in which entrepreneurs, often without rigorous vetting, push unproven products to Trump — knowing their sales pitches might catch his eye. Trump will then urge FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn to "look at" or speed up approval.

In March, Trump personally lobbied Hahn to authorize hydroxychloroquine's emergency use to treat COVID-19.

The FDA obliged. But in June, after a large trial, the agency revoked that authorization and warned of the "risk of heart rhythm problems" in COVID-19 patients treated with the drug.

Behind the scenes: Senior administration officials familiar with the internal conversations around oleandrin have raised concerns about the way this botanical extract — pushed by Andrew Whitney of Phoenix Biotechnology — is being promoted at the highest levels of the Trump administration.

There is no public data showing oleandrin has ever been tested in animals or humans for its efficacy against COVID-19, but the extract has shown some evidence of inhibiting the virus in a non-peer reviewed laboratory study.

In an interview on Saturday, Whitney told Axios that oleandrin has been tested on humans for its efficacy against COVID-19 but said the study has not been published yet. He also said the lab study is in the process of being peer reviewed.

HUD Secretary Carson has enthusiastically promoted oleandrin to Trump administration officials and to the president himself.

MyPillow CEO Lindell, who is a major advertiser on Fox News and a personal friend of Carson and Trump, helped Whitney get an Oval Office meeting with the president in July to discuss oleandrin as a potential COVID-19 cure. (The Washington Post first reported this meeting.)

Lindell said that he, Carson, at least one lawyer and, briefly, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, joined Trump and Whitney for the meeting. Notably absent was Hahn, the head of the agency that studies and approves medical treatments.

Asked why the HUD secretary was promoting an unproven botanical extract to cure COVID-19, a Carson spokesperson emailed the following statement to Axios: "Secretary Carson is a member of the Coronavirus Task Force, he has been directly involved with the Administration's response to this disease from the very beginning."

"The Task Force is looking at a plethora of therapeutics to fight COVID-19," the statement also said. "To suggest that Secretary Carson, who is a world-renowned expert in the medical field, shouldn't be involved is not only absurd but unhelpful in our collective fight to eradicate the pandemic."

A senior official familiar with Carson's involvement noted that while Carson is a world-renowned expert in pediatric neurosurgery, he is not a world-renowned expert on antiviral drugs or infectious diseases.

What's next: Whitney said he is pursuing multiple paths to getting oleandrin to market.

The first path is as a COVID-19 drug, which would involve a rigorous process that includes clinical trials.

But to hedge his bets, Whitney said he is also pushing the FDA to allow oleandrin to be sold off the shelf as a dietary supplement — a move that could be made immediately, Whitney has told administration officials.

Whitney has claimed to administration officials that oleandrin cures COVID-19 in two days, according to a source familiar with his private comments.

But if the FDA allows oleandrin to be sold as a dietary supplement, the company would not be allowed to make medical claims about its ability to treat or cure COVID-19.

Asked about this claim about oleandrin being a "cure" for COVID-19, Whitney said he stands by it "100%."

What they're saying: "Now, there are all sorts of lawyers who would tell me I can't say things like that, because you know you need to have years of studies, and you need to have this, that, and the other, and so forth," Whitney said. "But as an American with a right of free expression, I'm telling you, I've seen it with my own eyes."

Whitney said that by "cure" he means the symptoms go away quickly "in the vast majority of cases."

A source briefed on the situation said Whitney has so far provided no evidence to give the administration confidence about his claims.

Whitney disputed that. "Actually, we have provided that," he said. Asked what human clinical evidence he has provided to the FDA to support his claim that oleandrin cures COVID-19, Whitney did not provide any additional evidence, saying, "At this stage it's probably best left at that. The data is compelling." 

"We have something that we believe will address the problem and we want to make it available," he added. "We believe we should be given the opportunity to demonstrate that in a hospital clinical trial setting and we believe that must happen now and not a month from now."

What we're hearing: Hahn appears to be resisting Whitney's efforts — at least so far — despite Trump expressing his enthusiasm for the FDA to approve oleandrin. In a sign that has reassured some administration officials worried about the oleandrin campaign, Whitney has privately complained that the FDA has been dragging its feet.

In response, Whitney described Hahn as "immensely professional" but added: "The process is too slow. ... We ought to be given an opportunity to test this. Call my bluff!"

Whitney has invoked his meeting with the president to apply further pressure on administration officials to approve or authorize oleandrin. (Whitney responded, "If I was the president I would want a solution to this situation. And if our solution is perceived as an effective one, or a potentially effective one, I would want to see it tested.")

The science: Oleandrin is an extract from the oleander plant. Researchers have suggested that it could be useful to treat cancer because of the way it affects cells, and that it could enhance the effects of other cancer therapies.

Professor Sharon Lewin, the director of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity at the University of Melbourne, is an international authority on antiviral drugs and has a laboratory working on COVID-19.

Asked about oleandrin's potential efficacy as a COVID-19 treatment, Lewin told Axios, "Oleandrin looks to have antiviral activity at high doses in a test tube model. You'd certainly want to see more work done on this before even contemplating a human trial."

A July 2020 study from the University of Texas at Galveston shows, in a laboratory setting, that oleandrin can inhibit the coronavirus in monkey kidney cells. This study has not been peer reviewed and one of the authors of the study, Robert Newman, is chairman of Phoenix Biotechnology's scientific advisory board — the company developing the oleandrin product.

Phoenix Biotechnology's website listed Newman as the president of the company and a member of its board of directors until quite recently (Google's cache shows he held both roles as of August 12th). 

When Axios checked the website on Friday night, Newman was still listed as president. But on Saturday evening, after Axios had emailed questions to Whitney, Newman was no longer listed as president of the company; the website listed him only as a scientific adviser.

Asked why the company made this change on Saturday, Whitney texted, "He recently stepped down as president to focus purely on science. This is a small company that has relatively few personnel and is going through acceleration and reorganization."

Asked when had Newman stepped down as president given that he was listed as president the night before Axios' email, Whitney replied, "Conversations about reorganization have been ongoing this week."

Citing the University of Texas study and HUD Secretary Ben Carson's belief in oleandrin, Whitney said regulators ought to take his product seriously. "This isn't whipped up in a bucket in someone's back garden," he said. "There's support for this."

Between the lines: Whitney enlisted Lindell in his effort to speed up approval of the botanical product. 

In an interview with Axios on Saturday, Lindell spoke passionately in support of oleandrin and said he was such a believer in the botanical that he now has a financial stake in Phoenix Biotechnology and wants to ensure every American has access to this COVID-19 "cure."

Lindell said he first became aware of oleandrin when Whitney called him on Easter Sunday and said it could cure COVID-19. 

Lindell said he then took the information to Carson, who got on board. 

Lindell said he has been taking the unapproved botanical and has shared it with his family and friends. He said he believes it has kept him from getting COVID-19 and has cured other people. (No published clinical studies show the botanical cures or prevents COVID-19. Nor has the FDA said the product is safe or fit for this purpose.)

Told about the alarm inside the administration regarding his promotion of oleandrin, Lindell said, "This is the most amazing miracle thing I've ever seen in my life, so I went all in.... If you want to know what I think, I think it's being suppressed because somebody doesn't want this out there because it works."

"Why wouldn't the guy that's on the task force [Carson] bring the cure to the president if it's getting stopped at other places?" Lindell added.

Lindell said that in July's Oval Office meeting, he was joined by President Trump, Carson, Whitney, and briefly White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Lindell said that Stephen Hahn — the head of the FDA, which studies and approves medical treatments — wasn't there.

"There were two other people in the room, one of them was not Steve Hahn because I've seen a picture of Steve Hahn before and it wasn't him,” Lindell said.

Whitney said he approached Lindell because he thinks he's one of the country's greatest businessmen and was impressed that Lindell mobilized MyPillow to make face masks.

Another influential Trumpworld figure also touted Whitney's product. The first example I could find of a media outlet floating oleandrin as a potential treatment for COVID-19 was an April 23 article on John Solomon's website "Just The News."

In his article, Solomon described oleandrin as "a rising star in the biomedical world" and quoted Dr. John Dye of the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, saying his laboratory planned to test what effect oleandrin would have on "tissue culture assays" for COVID-19.

Caree Vander Linden, a spokesperson for the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, emailed the following statement to Axios: "In May 2020, USAMRIID performed some preliminary testing of oleandrin against SARS-CoV-2 [the virus that causes COVID-19]. Our results were inconclusive."

"Additionally, USAMRIID was contacted by University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, indicating that they were also testing it," Vander Linden added. "Given our inconclusive results, and having other high priority therapeutics to assess, we did not continue with this line of research."

Solomon is a frequent on Sean Hannity's Fox News show and is close to Rudy Giuliani. President Trump has waxed lyrical about Solomon, saying he deserves a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Russia investigation. A story from Solomon can carry extra weight in the Oval Office.

The bottom line: Scientists around the world are in a race for cures, treatments and vaccines for COVID-19. Government regulators are investigating hundreds of products. When a biotech executive like Whitney can take his case directly to the president, it casts doubt over the scientific rigor of the drug development process.

Trump eyes new unproven coronavirus "cure"

It's part of a pattern in which outside allies push unproven products to Trump.

Illustration of a medicine bottle tipped on its side with oleander flowers spilling out.

Coronavirus treatments

Health Care

Donald Trump

Coronavirus

The U.S. faces a range of health care flashpoints — unaffordable drugs, opioids, vaping — as we debate whether to adopt universal care. For now, the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land, but Republicans want to issue it a final death blow.

Health

Tens of thousands of protesters rallied in the Belarus capital of Minsk on Sunday as President Aleksandr Lukashenko, the man known as "Europe's last dictator," rejected calls to hold a new election and accused NATO of massing at the country's western border.

Why it matters: It was the eighth day of demonstrations since Lukashenko proclaimed a landslide victory over pro-democracy opposition in an election widely viewed as rigs, and likely the largest protest in the history of the former Soviet republic, according to the New York Times.

The state of play: Lukashenko's claims of a military buildup by NATO, which the Western alliance denied, came after the authoritarian leader revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had pledged "comprehensive security assistance" if necessary to fight back foreign forces.

Condemning anti-government protesters as "rats" controlled by "puppeteers" and "outsiders," Lukashenko warned at a rally that Belarus would "perish as a state" if the election were rerun, according to AP.

Many of the supporters at the rally, which was dwarfed by upwards of 300,000 people who turned out to protest, had to be bused in from towns and villages outside of Minsk — reflecting Lukashenko's dwindling support, according to the Times.

The protest took on a lighter and more celebratory tone than the nightly demonstrations, which have resulted in over 6,000 arrests and an untold number of injuries as protesters violently clash with riot police.

The big picture: The European Union's foreign ministers agreed on Friday to prepare sanctions against Belarusian officials for "violence, repression and the falsification of election results."

The U.S. has condemned the election as "not free or fair," but it's unclear if the Trump administration plans to take any punitive steps.

The foreign minister of neighboring Lithuania, where main opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is in hiding, has referred to Lukashenko on Twitter as the "former president of Belarus."

Lukashenko speaks at his own rally. Photo: Valery Sharifulin\TASS via Getty Images

Protesters near the Minsk Hero City Obelisk. Photo: Valery Sharifulin\TASS via Getty Images

Protesters former white and red flag of Belarus. Photo: Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images

Belarus draws largest protest yet as Lukashenko rejects election do-over

It was likely the largest protest in the history of the former Soviet republic.

Belarus opposition supporters attend a demonstration in central Minsk on Aug. 16. Photo: Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images

World

Belarus

Russia

China is becoming the most formidable rival America has faced, and the risk of confrontation with Russia, North Korea or Iran still looms. Authoritarians are rising, the chaotic Afghanistan exit revealed the limits of U.S. power, and the pandemic, climate change and other critical challenges continue to pose grave threats.

58% of registered voters who support Joe Biden in the 2020 election say their vote is more in opposition to President Trump than in support of Biden, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll out Sunday.

Why it matters: The Trump campaign has long insisted that the president's supporters are far more enthusiastic than Biden's, and that this will manifest in higher turnout during the election. Nearly three-quarters of Trump's supporters say their vote is more in support of the president than against Biden.

Yes, but: Biden overall maintains an 8-point lead in FiveThirtyEight's average of national polls, including a 50%-41% lead in the WSJ/NBC News poll.

By the numbers: 39% of respondents said they had positive views of Joe Biden's new running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, while 35% said they viewed her negatively. Her net approval of +4 is higher than that of Vice President Mike Pence (-5), Biden (-6) and Trump (-12).

The poll indicates Harris is more popular among women and voters of color. 45% of both groups said they view the senator positively, while men and white voters were less likely to have positive views on Harris, at 32% and 36% respectively.

A separate ABC News/Washington Post poll out Sunday finds that 54% of Americans approves of Biden's choice of Harris as his running mate, including 25% of Republicans, while 29% of Americans disapprove.

The big picture: Trump's approval rating in the WSJ/NBC News poll increased 2 points since July to 44%. But 53% of respondents still disapprove of his performance and 58% disapprove of his handling of the pandemic.

Methodologies: The WSJ/NBC News poll was conducted Aug. 9-12 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.27% for the full sample of 900 registered voters. The ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted Aug. 12-15 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 for a random national sample of 1,001 adults.

Go deeper ... Axios-SurveyMonkey poll: Harris boosting Biden ticket with key voters

Poll: 58% of Biden voters say vote is more "against" Trump than "for" Biden

But Biden still has a 50%-41% lead nationally.

Photos: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images; JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

2020 election polls

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White House senior adviser Jared Kushner defended the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic on Sunday, telling CBS News' "Face the Nation" that the current rate of deaths is "still below" the May peak of 2,500 per day and that "we know a lot more than we did five months ago."

Why it matters: The U.S. is one of the few wealthy countries that has failed to suppress the outbreak, reporting a total of over 5.3 million confirmed coronavirus cases and nearly 170,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic — by far the highest death rate in the world, according to Johns Hopkins.

The state of play: Other wealthy countries have seen terrifying coronavirus peaks, but the U.S. is one of the only ones to remain trapped near the summit.

Over the past several weeks, the coronavirus has killed Americans at six times the average rate in other rich countries. And the U.S. is recording about eight times more infections.

Daily case counts in the U.S. have declined, but still remain second-highest in the world after India.

What he's saying: "I believe the rate was about 2,500 deaths a day, so we're still below the peak. We have seen over the last two weeks that hospitalizations have come down," Kushner said.

"The president has taken a very aggressive approach, not just in the hotspots, but also what we call the ember cities, to push all the different measures we can take like wearing a mask, social distancing, using best practice."

"But most importantly, the president's really advanced the use of a lot of therapeutics, which is bringing the case fatality rate down. And obviously accelerating a vaccine — the fastest vaccine ever to a phase three trial was 13 months, and President Trump did it here in four months."

"At some point we'll get to the other end of this pandemic. ... We need to find a way to use the resources we need in order to live as normal a life as possible, while taking the restrictions that will help us save as many people as possible and to keep our economy as healthy as possible. So that when this is over, we haven't destroyed our country in order to get through it."

Go deeper: Coronavirus cases are falling, but don't get too comfortable

Kushner defends COVID response: "We're still below the peak" of 2,500 daily deaths

"At some point we'll get to the other end of this pandemic."

Jared Kushner

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Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said on CNN's "Reliable Sources" Sunday that Republican leaders must denounce QAnon now that a supporter of the far-right conspiracy theory has won a congressional runoff and is set to enter Congress in the next election.

Why it matters: Very few, if any, Republicans have been outspoken against QAnon, which baselessly claims that a powerful cabal of sex traffickers within the "deep state" is fighting to take down President Trump.

 The president has yet to condemn the theory and refused to answer a direct question last week about whether or not he supports QAnon.

The FBI identified fringe conspiracy theories, like QAnon, as domestic terrorist threats in 2019, according to Yahoo News.

The state of play: Kinzinger spoke out about the conspiracy theory last week, saying it has "no place in Congress" after vocal QAnon supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene won Georgia's 14th district congressional runoff.

Greene has previously been condemned by GOP leadership after videos of her making offensive remarks about Black people, Jews and Muslims surfaced on Facebook.

Now that she is poised to enter Congress, however, a spokesperson for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said that she will be welcomed into the House GOP conference if she wins in November.

Green is one of at least 11 GOP congressional nominees who have publicly supported or defended the QAnon conspiracy theory movement.

What he's saying: "Up to maybe about a week ago, there wasn't a reason to denounce it because it didn't need the attention," Kinzinger said.

"But now that it's made mainstream — we have a candidate that embraces it that won a primary. I supported her primary opponent, the president hasn't fully denounced it or denounced it at all. Now it's time for leaders to come out and denounce it."

"The key here isn't Democrats denouncing it. It's Republicans denouncing it. Democrats and Republicans have to denounce extremism in their own party. That's where it's effective. It's not going to be effective from the other side denouncing it. It just emboldens them."

Go deeper: Read more about QAnon's 2020 resurgence

GOP congressman: Republicans must denounce QAnon now that it's mainstream

A vocal QAnon supporter won a congressional runoff in Georgia last week.

QAnon

Axios AM

Top Democrats in the House and Senate called on Sunday for Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to testify at an "urgent" hearing before the House Oversight Committee on Aug. 24.

Why it matters: Democratic lawmakers say they're being inundated with complaints that changes to the Postal Service, which the Trump administration says are aimed at efficiency, could sabotage ballot-handling. DeJoy was previously scheduled to testify before the committee on Sept. 17.

Ahead of the Aug. 24 hearing, the Democrats are demanding DeJoy produce a "host of key documents and information" related to the USPS crisis by Aug. 21.

They are also urging the Republican-led Senate Homeland Security Committee to "immediately begin vigorous and urgently-needed oversight" by holding hearings with DeJoy and the chairman of the USPS board of governors.

What they're saying: “The President has explicitly stated his intention to manipulate the Postal Service to deny eligible voters access to the ballot in pursuit of his own re-election," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Oversight chair Carolyn Maloney and Senate Homeland Security ranking member Gary Peters said in a statement Sunday.

"Alarmingly, the Postmaster General – a Trump mega-donor – has acted as an accomplice in the President’s campaign to cheat in the election, as he launches sweeping new operational changes that degrade delivery standards and delay the mail."

"The Postal Service itself has warned that voters – even if they send in their ballots by state deadlines – may be disenfranchised in 46 states and in Washington, D.C. by continued delays. This constitutes a grave threat to the integrity of the election and to our very democracy."

What to watch: House Democrats will hold a members-only conference call Sunday at 11:30 a.m. to discuss an early return for the whole House to respond to "the attack on the Postal Service," Democratic sources tell Axios.

Speaker Pelosi raised the idea on a 5:30 p.m. call Saturday with House leaders.

"Everyone had a story" about the impact of DeJoy's changes, a source told Axios.

The House has no votes scheduled until the week of Sept. 14, according to Politico, which first reported the possibility of cutting the August recess short. 

The source told Axios the starting point will be Maloney's "Delivering for America Act," which "would prohibit the Postal Service from dialing back levels of service it had in place on Jan. 1, until the pandemic ends.

During a news conference Saturday evening at his club in Bedminster, N.J., Trump defended Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a former RNC fundraising official: "He wants to make the post office great again."

Democrats call postmaster general to testify at "urgent" hearing next week

House Democrats are discussing an early return to Washington to address the crisis.

Nancy Pelosi. Photo: Ting Shen/Xinhua via Getty

United States Postal Service (USPS)

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New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) defended his decision to send ballots to all active registered voters, telling "Fox News Sunday" that mail-in voting during the state's July primary was "overwhelmingly successful."

Why it matters: President Trump and his campaign have sought to undermine universal mail-in voting, claiming it will lead to a "rigged election" and a delay in results. 

The president has repeatedly pointed to a local election in Paterson, N.J., where four men were charged with voter fraud for tampering with mail-in ballots, as evidence of widespread issues with the system.

But Murphy argued that the Paterson case should be viewed as a "positive data point," saying: "People tried to screw with the system and failed. The primary in July — I'm not suggesting you always bat a thousand, you don't do that in in-person elections either. ... Our hope is to expand democracy and we believe this is the right way to do it."

The state of play: New Jersey is now one of four states, plus the District of Columbia, that have moved to universal mail-in voting due to the pandemic.

Five states already proactively mail ballots to registered voters: Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

What he's saying: "We've actually had a pretty deep history with vote by mail and we just had a primary which was a little bit different, only because it was a primary, but we learned a lot from it and we liked what we saw," Murphy said.

"Ensuring voter security is completely understandable. I've spoken to the president about it. ... But we've got enough experience to believe between the option of vote-by-mail, to drop your ballot into secure boxes that we will have all around the state, to show up actually on Election Day and hand your ballot over — or failing all that, to actually vote in person. It's a hybrid model, actually."

"Again, folks including the president who have concerns about voter security, we all want to make sure that every vote counts, that every person gets to vote once. We've got checks and balances for all of that, Chris. Again, this is an iterative reality."


New Jersey governor defends decision to move to universal mail-in voting

"Our hope is to expand democracy and we believe this is the right way to do it."

Sunday's top stories

Sheldon Adelson makes nice with Trump

No plane for Biden campaign

Trump eyes new unproven coronavirus "cure"

Belarus draws largest protest yet as Lukashenko rejects election do-over

Poll: 58% of Biden voters say vote is more "against" Trump than "for" Biden

Kushner defends COVID response: "We're still below the peak" of 2,500 daily deaths

GOP congressman: Republicans must denounce QAnon now that it's mainstream

Democrats call postmaster general to testify at "urgent" hearing next week

New Jersey governor defends decision to move to universal mail-in voting

Mark Meadows clashes with CNN's Jake Tapper over mail-in voting

Bernie Sanders demands Congress return to address USPS crisis

USPS inspector general reviewing policy changes by chief Louis DeJoy

UAE unblocks direct phone lines with Israel following normalization deal

The U.S. is far behind other rich countries in coronavirus response

Far-right groups clash with anti-racism protesters in U.S. cities

Robert Trump, the president's younger brother, dies at 71

Belarus president: Putin promises security assistance amid protests

Pelosi considers recalling House for Postal Service vote