In Washington

• Senate Republicans delayed the release of their trillion dollar coronavirus relief package Thursday as they grapple with smoothing out policy disputes. Senate leadership said late Thursday that the series of bills they are writing won’t be released until Monday at the earliest. Meanwhile, unemployment benefits are set to expire at the end of the month. The White House opposed a Senate proposal to temporarily extend the benefits until the plan could be worked out. The current draft would offer unemployed workers the equivalent to 70 percent of their wages but Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia has told Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) that benefits can’t be efficiently calculated to each worker’s salary to be administered in a timely manner.
  • Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) says there’s a possibility that a liability protection provision will be added to the package. Some Republicans are examining the idea of imposing a cap on liability awards.
  • Democratic leaders continue to signal that they only see the Senate Republican proposal as a start to bipartisan negotiations and the delay in language amounts to a delay in negotiations for a final deal. In a 23 July joint press conference, House Majority Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that Republicans had wasted two months doing nothing while the pandemic continued to rage across the country. "They didn't use the pause to prepare and what we've seen so far falls very short," the California Democrat said. "The delay, the denial have caused deaths," Pelosi said. "Even after all this time, it appears the Republican legislative response to COVID is ununified, unserious, unsatisfactory," said Schumer (D-NY).
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published new guidance calling for children to fully return to school and repeatedly said evidence indicates that COVID-19 poses relatively low risks to school-aged children. The guidance lists the benefits of returning children returning to school and comes just two weeks after President Trump criticized its earlier recommendations on school reopening as "very tough and expensive." The New York Times reports that the new guidance is a "stark departure"” from the 69-page document it had obtained earlier this month that said the full reopening of schools as the "highest risk."
• President Trump announced Friday he will sign four executive orders aimed at lowering the high cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. The orders, which are subject to the regulatory review process, are designed to bring U.S. drug prices at least on par with their costs overseas. "The four orders I’m signing today will completely restructure the prescription drug market in terms of pricing and everything else to make these medications affordable and accessible for all Americans," Trump said at the White House. "Under my administration, we’re standing up to the lobbyists and special interests and fighting back against a rigged system." One order targets insulin prices, requiring federal community health centers to pass discounts they receive on the drug and EpiPens directly to patients. Another order would allow states, pharmacies, and wholesalers to import drugs from Canada where they typically cost less than in the U.S.
• President Trump canceled the public portion of the Republican National Convention (RNC) that had been scheduled for next month in Jacksonville, FL, citing public health concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. The parliamentary work of the convention will go on in Charlotte, NC, where Republicans were originally planning to hold the gathering until a spat with state officials over public health restrictions.
• Vice President Mike Pence is in Indianapolis, IN, today where he participated in a roundtable about reopening schools. The discussion comes a day after the (CDC) released guidelines on child care and education.
• Former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said the U.S. could see upwards of 300,000 deaths from COVID-19 if the country doesn't change its trajectory. "In the United States, probably, you know, by the end of the year, we could have upwards of 300,000 if we continue on the current trajectory. Right now, we have close to a thousand casualties a day, so if we don't change that trajectory, you could do the math and see where we are at towards the end of the year," Gottlieb said during an interview on CNBC's Squawk Box.
• Democratic senators introduced a bill Thursday that would allow people to cancel student loan debt in bankruptcy if they can show income loss tied to economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
• Seven Senate Republicans, including three facing toss-up reelection races, urged Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) yesterday to include clean energy provisions in the next coronavirus recovery bill. The signed letter calls for "policies that will bolster jobs and innovation" around renewables, nuclear, carbon capture, transportation, and storage. Signatories include Sens. Cory Gardner (CO), Susan Collins (ME), and Martha McSally (AZ), all locked in tight reelection races. But despite the political upside these incumbents perceive, nine GOP senators earlier this week signaled opposition to extending the availability of tax credits for building new wind projects.

In the News

• In Florida, at least 55 hospitals have reached ICU capacity and show zero ICU beds available, according to data released by the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) early this morning. American medical experts are urging political leaders to shut down the U.S. and start over to contain the pandemic after the U.S. surpassed 4 million COVID-19 cases.
• Nearly half of Americans whose families experienced layoffs during the coronavirus pandemic now believe those jobs will not come back, a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found. Forty-seven percent think that a lost job is definitely or probably not coming back, down from 78 percent in April.
• The World Trade Organization (WTO) said global trade has been hit with new and accumulated import restrictions, just as economies seek to rebuild during the crisis, according to Reuters, citing a mid-year report issued by the organization. "Although the full impact of the pandemic is not yet reflected fully in trade statistics, it is expected to be very substantial," WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo said.
• Quest Diagnostics, one of the largest lab testing companies, expects demand for coronavirus tests to surge over the next two months as students, workers, and patients return to campuses, workplaces, and doctors’ offices, and as more people use retail testing locations. This increase could further strain testing capacity. Universities, in particular, will see "a lot of testing required in the month of August," Quest Diagnostics CEO Steve Rusckowski said on an investor call Thursday.
• Southwest and American Airlines tightened their face covering requirements for passengers and employees this week, ending exemptions and stepping up enforcement. Effective 29 July, American will require all customers over the age of 2 to wear face coverings on board and at airports. Southwest implements a similar policy on 27 July.
• In a poll released Thursday the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 63 percent of parents prefer opening schools later in order to minimize risks of coronavirus infection. By contrast, about 32 percent said it's better to open schools sooner so parents can work and kids can get services, even if there's some risk of infection.

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