| | | | | |  | | By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun | Presented by |  | | | NEW … W.H. DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS ALYSSA FARAH and W.H. PRESS SECRETARY KAYLEIGH MCENANY have brought on MORGAN ORTAGUS from the State Department to assist with the White House's coronavirus communications. ORTAGUS will give a hand as cases spike in the South and Southwest. After the two-week detail, she'll return to Foggy Bottom. BRIAN MORGENSTERN has also recently joined the White House comms operation from Treasury. REALITY INTRUDES … SAY WHAT YOU WANT, pretend all you'd like that things are getting back to normal, but OUR COUNTRY IS STILL PARALYZED by the coronavirus: -- BLOOMBERG'S JENNIFER JACOBS and SALEHA MOHSIN scooped this morning that ROBERT O'BRIEN, the president's national security adviser, tested positive for Covid-19. "O'Brien, 54, the closest person to the president known to have contracted the disease, has been out of the office since late last week … O'Brien caught the virus while taking a few days off from work, spending time with his family, according to people familiar with the matter. He suspects he got the virus from a college-age relative who started to develop symptoms." OFFICIAL, FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, per pooler Chris Johnson of the Washington Blade: "He has mild symptoms … There is no risk of exposure to the president or the vice president." (White House economic adviser LARRY KUDLOW later said during a gaggle that O'Brien contracted the virus from his daughter while on vacation.) -- BASEBALL MAY BE OVER AFTER ONE WEEKEND … ESPN'S JEFF PASSAN: "Eight more players and two coaches with the [Miami] Marlins have tested positive for coronavirus, as an outbreak has spread throughout their clubhouse and brought the total of cases in recent days to at least 14, sources familiar with the situation told ESPN." -- GOOGLE WILL BE AT HOME FOR ANOTHER YEAR -- UNTIL SUMMER 2021 … WSJ'S ROB COPELAND in San Francisco: "Google will keep its employees home until at least next July, people familiar with the matter said, making the search-engine giant the first major U.S. corporation to formalize such an extended timetable in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. "The move will affect nearly all of the roughly 200,000 full-time and contract employees across Google parent Alphabet Inc., and is sure to pressure other technology giants that have slated staff to return as soon as January." -- WAPO'S @CleveWootson: "1 out of every 52 Floridians has [had] coronavirus." SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI called on Republicans to come to her office within 30 minutes of releasing their Covid bill. They're expected to put it out around 4:30 p.m. AND … … WE WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED if a familiar administration face shows up at PELOSI'S second-floor Capitol suite later this afternoon. MARK MEADOWS, the White House chief of staff, and Treasury Secretary STEVEN MNUCHIN met with PELOSI last week. Senate Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL has not yet met with PELOSI during this phase of negotiations. | | | | A message from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network: Congress addressed the affordability of Covid-19 testing and treatment. Cancer care needs the same. It's time to reduce out-of-pocket costs and ensure cost-sharing assistance benefits cancer patients. Congress: cancer patients need you to act quickly to remove hurdles to quality care. | | | THE JOHN LEWIS RUNDOWN … THE HOUSE is now out until Wednesday to allow for the late Rep. JOHN LEWIS (D-Ga.) to lie in state. Votes on Thursday have been pushed back to 6:30 p.m. Good Monday afternoon. LAFAYETTE SQUARE FALLOUT -- "National Guard commander says police suddenly moved on Lafayette Square protesters, used 'excessive force' before Trump visit," by WaPo's Tom Jackman and Carol Leonnig: "An Army National Guard commander who witnessed protesters forcibly removed from Lafayette Square last month is contradicting claims by the attorney general and the Trump administration that they did not speed up the clearing to make way for the president's photo opportunity minutes later. "A new statement by Adam DeMarco, an Iraq veteran who now serves as a major in the D.C. National Guard, also casts doubt on the claims by acting Park Police Chief Gregory Monahan that violence by protesters spurred Park Police to clear the area at that time with unusually aggressive tactics. DeMarco said that 'demonstrators were behaving peacefully' and that tear gas was deployed in an 'excessive use of force.' … DeMarco is scheduled to testify Tuesday before the House Natural Resources Committee." WaPo SCOOPY SCOTUS STORY from CNN'S JOAN BISKUPIC (first in a four-part series!): "Inside John Roberts' surprising streak of liberal wins": "When Roberts joined liberals on the Supreme Court to preserve an Obama-era program shielding young undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children, he surprised some of his colleagues by voting against the Trump administration from the beginning … "Roberts exerted unprecedented control over cases and the court's internal operations, especially after the nine were forced to work in isolation because of Covid-19. … Roberts also sent enough signals during internal deliberations on firearms restrictions, sources said, to convince fellow conservatives he would not provide a critical fifth vote anytime soon to overturn gun control regulations." CNN HUNT FOR A VACCINE -- "First Phase 3 clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine in the United States begins," by CNN's Elizabeth Cohen, John Bonifield and Jamie Gumbrecht: "The investigational vaccine was developed by the biotechnology company Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases … The trial is to be conducted at nearly 100 US research sites, according to Moderna. The first patient was dosed at a site in Savannah, Georgia. "The trial is expected to enroll about 30,000 adult volunteers and evaluates the safety of the Moderna/NIH vaccine and whether it can prevent symptomatic Covid-19 after two doses, among other outcomes. Volunteers will receive either two 100 microgram injections of the vaccine or a placebo about 28 days apart." CNN WAPO'S ERIC YODER: "About 4,000 federal employees are seeking disability compensation on grounds that they contracted the novel coronavirus at work, while survivors of 60 deceased employees are seeking death benefits for the same reason. "The total number of claims is expected to increase to 6,000 within weeks, according to a report that amounts to one of the first accountings of the pandemic's impact on the health of the federal workforce." WaPo … The report | | | | BECOME A CHINA WATCHER: Across the globe, America's allies are pushing back hard on Beijing as evidence of human rights abuses against Uighurs pile up. How should the U.S. and its allies approach the China challenge? Join the conversation and gain expert insight from informed and influential voices in government, business, law, tech, and academia. China Watcher is as much of a platform as it is a newsletter. Subscribe today. | | | | | THE REOPENING -- "For HBCUs, the coronavirus pandemic hits especially close to home," by Nolan McCaskill and Maya King: "Leaders of historically Black colleges and universities are grappling with a challenge others in higher education don't fully share: how to reopen their campuses to a population that has proven especially vulnerable to Covid-19. … "Black students who lack sufficient access to resources for online learning could drop out or fall deeper into debt by transferring to a more expensive university closer to home. At the same time, traditionally underfunded HBCUs could lose even more revenue if fewer students enroll for the fall, and private polling shows that HBCU students are especially feeling the weight of a pandemic that has disproportionately infected, killed and laid off Black Americans." POLITICO BEHIND THE SCENES -- "Urgent Care from the Army Corps of Engineers," by The New Yorker's Paige Williams: "Between late March and the end of June, the Corps built thirty-eight alternate care facilities nationwide, adding more than fifteen thousand hospital beds. More may be coming in states that initially declined the Corps's help but are now facing coronavirus surges. … "Once there is a vaccine, the Corps may be asked to help distribute it. During the initial build-out phase, state leaders often thanked the Corps for standing out as competent and prepared at a moment when many Americans felt otherwise abandoned by the federal government." New Yorker P-P-P-PROBLEMS -- "PPP was intended to keep employees on the payroll. Workers at some big companies have yet to be rehired," by WaPo's Peter Whoriskey -- PROPUBLICA'S LYDIA DEPILLIS: "The Small Biz Double-Dip: Temp Companies Got Cheap Government Money, Got Paid by Clients for the Same Workers: One of the biggest beneficiaries of the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses were temp agencies. Many have been able to turn the government loans into profits." SURE, WHY NOT -- "Melania Trump Will Revamp White House Rose Garden," by NYT's Katie Rogers: "The project, which includes electrical upgrades for television appearances, a new walkway and new flowers and shrubs, is meant to be an 'act of expressing hope and optimism for the future,' according to remarks Mrs. Trump delivered to the Committee for the Preservation of the White House on Monday morning. … "Mrs. Trump's project is taking place as Mr. Trump is employing the so-called Rose Garden strategy, coined by political strategists to describe the tactics incumbent presidents use to bolster their campaign efforts: ceremonial signings, dedications, executive announcements and, yes, press availabilities in the Rose Garden. But with his campaign-rally-like appearances, Mr. Trump has pushed the boundaries further than his predecessors." NYT VEEPSTAKES -- "Karen Bass walks back Castro comment amid VP vetting," by Quint Forgey THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION -- "Education Dept.'s Civil Rights Chief Steps Down Amid Controversy," by NYT's Erica Green: "[Kenneth] Marcus, who came to the job as a fierce champion for Israel and a critic of anti-Zionist movements on college campuses, is credited with overseeing the completion of sexual misconduct rules and expanding civil rights for Jewish students amid rising anti-Semitism. In announcing his departure, he said he had restored the office's status 'as a neutral, impartial civil rights law enforcement agency that faithfully executes the laws as written and in full, no more and no less.' "But in recent months, two separate complaints that have been filed accuse Mr. Marcus of abusing his authority by forcing through cases that furthered his personal and political agenda." NYT | | | | DON'T MISS - POLITICO'S NEW "FUTURE PULSE" NEWSLETTER: The coronavirus rapidly accelerated the onset of telemedicine, but after an initial boom, the wave of virtual visits is quickly fading. What does the future look like? From Congress and the White House, to state legislatures and Silicon Valley, Future Pulse spotlights the politics, policies, and technologies driving long-term change on the most personal issue for voters: Our health. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | HAPPENING TUESDAY ... ABC'S JOHNNY VERHOVEK (@JTHVerhovek): "INBOX: Tomorrow @JoeBiden will deliver remarks in Wilmington, Delaware on the fourth plank of his 'Build Back Better' economic plan. 'Biden will outline how his plan will address systemic racism and advance racial economic equity in America,' per his campaign." AD WARS -- "Biden takes aim at Trump over coronavirus in new ad blitz courting seniors," by Fox News' Paul Steinhauser and Madeleine Rivera: "Biden's campaign says they'll spend more than $14.5 million to run TV and digital spots in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin … And the Biden campaign says it's expanding the ad buy into Nevada … The commercials – shared first with Fox News – target the president over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic." Fox … TV ad … Digital ad THE CORONA CAMPAIGN … MICHAEL KRUSE: "Trump's Summer of Love Is a Distant Memory Now: Can the president win in November without the rallies that first drove his supporters wild four years ago?" VALLEY TALK -- "Jeff Bezos Cast in a Role He Never Wanted: Amazon's D.C. Defender," by NYT's David McCabe and Karen Weise: "He has jumped at opportunities to cast himself as a statesman — the savior of The Washington Post, who holds court among the country's elite. At the same time, he has eschewed the day-to-day grind of bolstering Amazon's influence with policymakers. "But that changes on Wednesday , when Mr. Bezos testifies before Congress for the first time. He will be joined by the chief executives of Alphabet, Apple and Facebook as part of lawmakers' investigations into the power of the largest tech companies. He is expected to face an onslaught of critiques." NYT -- WAPO'S TONY ROMM: "Congress has battled airlines, banks, tobacco and baseball. Now it's preparing to clash with Big Tech" -- ACROSS THE POND: "EU effort to tax tech giants falters under pressure from U.S.," by Melissa Heikkilä and Elisa Braun: "Hard-line advocates of the tax, like France, have agreed to pause its application under direct threat of sanctions from the United States. Lukewarm supporters of an EU-wide deal, like Germany, have proved happy to defer to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development for a global agreement that may never materialize. "The fact that Europe's digital tax has gone from hot topic — avidly embraced by France and a majority of EU countries — to a quasi-taboo in two years offers a cautionary tale on the limits of Europe's ability to impose technological sovereignty via taxation." POLITICO BOOK CLUB -- "The underbelly of impeachment: A tangle of principles, politics and personalities: Norm Eisen, who served as a Democratic impeachment counsel, gives an insider account of the effort to remove Trump," by Kyle Cheney MEDIAWATCH -- Jyoti Thottam is moving up to be deputy op-ed editor at the NYT. Announcement … Katherine Landergan is moving up to be New Jersey bureau chief for POLITICO. … Clint Smith is joining The Atlantic as a staff writer. Announcement TRANSITIONS -- Heather Swift is now VP for risk and reputation management at Syneos Health Communications. She is a former spokesperson for DHS and Interior. … Rich Ashooh is now VP of global government affairs at Lam Research. He most recently was assistant secretary of Commerce for export administration. | | | |   | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
