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Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday

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Poll: Voters want to know Trump's SCOTUS nominee before midterms

President Trump said he will announce his SCOTUS nominee on July 9. Photo: Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images

A new NBC News/SurveyMonkey poll shows 62% of voters want the Senate to vote on President Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the November midterm elections.

Why it matters: Democrats have been calling for the exact opposite, but this doesn't mean they're in peril — 66% of Democrats across the country said the nominee is an important factor in their vote, which could fire up the Dem base even more.

But, but, but: Less than half of Independents view the SCOTUS nominee as an integral part of their vote in the midterms. President Trump said he will announce his pick on July 9.

One more thing: A majority of voters (61%) on both sides said they just want a SCOTUS justice who will uphold Roe v. Wade.

Go deeper

Marisa Fernandez
7 mins ago - Health

OIG: HHS misused millions of dollars intended for public health threats

Vaccine vials. Photo: Punit Paranjpe/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel alerted the White House and Congress on Wednesday of an investigation that found the Department of Health and Human Services misused millions of dollars that were budgeted for vaccine research and public health emergencies for Ebola, Zika and now the COVID-19 pandemic.

Why it matters: The more than 200-page investigation corroborated claims from a whistleblower, showing the agency's violation of the Purpose Statute spanned both the Obama and Trump administrations and paid for unrelated projects like salaries, news subscriptions and the removal of office furniture.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Zachary Basu
8 mins ago - Energy & Environment

John Kerry: U.S.-China climate cooperation is a "critical standalone issue"

President Biden's special climate envoy John Kerry said Wednesday that the U.S. must deal with China on climate change as a "critical standalone issue," but stressed that confronting Beijing's human rights and trade abuses "will never be traded" for climate cooperation.

Why it matters: The last few years have brought about a bipartisan consensus on the threat posed by China. But as the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, China will be a vital player if the world is going to come close to reining in emissions on the scale needed to meet the Paris Agreement goals of limiting warming to 2°C above pre-industrial levels.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Zach Dorfman of the Aspen Institute, author of Codebook
45 mins ago - World

In cyber espionage, U.S. is both hunted and hunter

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

American outrage over foreign cyber espionage, like Russia's SolarWinds hack, obscures the uncomfortable reality that the U.S. secretly does just the same thing to other countries.

Why it matters: Secrecy is often necessary in cyber spying to protect sources and methods, preserve strategic edges that may stem from purloined information, and prevent diplomatic incidents.

Go deeper (2 min. read)Arrow

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