House proxy voting extended through mid-August

House proxy voting extended through mid-August-rollcall: Proxy voting has been extended through mid-August in the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi alerted members in a Dear Colleague letter. House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul D. Irving, in consultation with the Office of the Attending Physician, notified Pelosi that the public health emergency due to the coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic remains ongoing.

A Sun Belt time bomb threatens Trump’s reelection

A Sun Belt time bomb threatens Trump’s reelection-politico: The explosion of Covid-19 cases in Sun Belt states is becoming another albatross for President Donald Trump’s reelection hopes — and creating a new opening for Joe Biden and Democrats in November.

States need money. The Fed has it. Politics may be an obstacle

States need money. The Fed has it. Politics may be an obstacle-rollcall: Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell hasn’t wavered in his warnings to lawmakers since the coronavirus crisis hit: Congress needs to bail out state and municipal governments to avoid an anemic economic revival.

Black Caucus has more power than ever. Can it deliver?

Congressional Black Caucus has more power than ever. Can it deliver?-politico: This may be the most pivotal moment for the Congressional Black Caucus in its nearly 50 years of existence. The group has never been more influential in Washington, now playing an outsize role among House Democrats and the broader party.

Mailing it in: No calls in key Kentucky and New York races-

Mailing it in: No calls in key Kentucky and New York races-rollcall: The winners of some of the most closely contested primaries in Kentucky and New York Tuesday may not be known for several days, thanks in part to a surge in absentee ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump team weighs a CDC scrubbing to deflect mounting criticism

Trump team weighs a CDC scrubbing to deflect mounting criticism-politico: White House officials are putting a target on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, positioning the agency as a coronavirus scapegoat as cases surge in many states and the U.S. falls behind other nations that are taming the pandemic.

Hill recoils at proposed cut to Pentagon anti-pandemic effort

Hill recoils at proposed cut to Pentagon anti-pandemic effort-rollcall: In February, as the coronavirus pandemic gathered steam worldwide, the Trump administration asked Congress to slash by more than a third the Pentagon’s spending on a program that helps other countries — and ultimately America — prevent, detect and respond to disease outbreaks.

California enacts November mail-ballot law — with surprising GOP support

California enacts November mail-ballot law — with surprising GOP support-politico: Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday bolstered his plan to mail every voter a ballot for the November election by signing legislation that passed earlier the same day with support from several Republicans, belying months long criticism of absentee voting from President Donald Trump and other GOP leaders.

Key GOP senator endorses permanent telehealth provisions

Key GOP senator endorses permanent telehealth provisions-rollcall: Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Lamar Alexander on Wednesday called on Congress to make permanent two temporary telehealth changes enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contact tracing, essential to fight against coronavirus, hits roadblocks

Contact tracing, essential to fight against coronavirus, hits roadblocks-thehill: One of the most crucial parts of the fight against the spread of COVID-19 relies on significant cooperation from the public, and so far, the results are mixed.

Newsom defends widescale California reopening as positive tests continue to climb

Newsom defends widescale California reopening as positive tests continue to climb-politico: Gov. Gavin Newsom offered his most vigorous defense yet Monday for reopening California’s economy even as thousands of residents each day test positive for Covid-19.

Pandemic survey results suggest risk of ‘huge eviction surge’

Pandemic survey results suggest risk of ‘huge eviction surge’-rollcall: Food scarcity and concerns about making rent remain high, according to a Census Bureau survey that found those struggles sometimes hitting black and Hispanic communities twice as hard.

Trump health official’s approach to contracts faces scrutiny

Trump health official’s approach to contracts faces scrutiny-rollcall: A company that won a $628 million contract from the Department of Health and Human Services last week is one Robert Kadlec, the official who leads the agency's pandemic response, knows well.

Voting delays in Georgia primary spur calls for federal action before November

Voting delays in Georgia primary spur calls for federal action before November-rollcall: Georgia election administrators were working their way through hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots Wednesday as advocates argued the long lines that kept polls open past 10 p.m. in some places the previous night reinforced the need for more action in Washington to ensure November’s election goes smoothly.

Georgia, Nevada still counting ballots after day of voting problems

Georgia, Nevada still counting ballots after day of voting problems-politico: Vote counting stretched late into the night in Georgia and Nevada on Tuesday, after both states grappled with long lines for in-person voting and a surge of mail ballots that slowed the tabulation process.

Contact tracing for COVID-19 is hybrid of old and new technologies

Contact tracing for COVID-19 is hybrid of old and new technologies-rollcall: The truth about the coronavirus and contact tracing — finding out who is infected, who else might have been exposed by an infected person and then isolating those people — is that national and local public health departments have had to cobble together old and new technologies to track the spread of COVID-19.

Almost half concerned about COVID-19 exposure at work

Almost half concerned about COVID-19 exposure at work: poll-thehill: Nearly half of the Americans questioned in a new survey said they are concerned about the prospect of being exposed COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, as they return to work.

Democrats: CDC ‘sidelined’ by Trump during pandemic response

Democrats: CDC ‘sidelined’ by Trump during pandemic response-rollcall: House Democrats criticized the Trump administration for politicizing the response to the COVID-19 pandemic during an appropriations hearing Thursday, while Republicans focused their questions on the economy and the prospects for longer-term funding.

FDA struggles to remain independent amid race for virus cure

FDA struggles to remain independent amid race for virus cure-politico: Peter Marks was a natural fit for a new White House project tasked with developing a coronavirus vaccine. The cancer specialist spent nearly a decade at the Food and Drug Administration, most recently overseeing the office that approves vaccines and gene therapies.

Steve King goes down, and other top takeaways from Tuesday's primaries

Steve King goes down, and other top takeaways from Tuesday's primaries-politico: Iowa Republicans drove Steve King out of office on a primary day marked by civil unrest. King's defeat was the top headline in Tuesday's primaries. The nine-term congressman with a history of racist and anti-immigrant remarks was ousted after the GOP establishment offered his opponent both material and symbolic assistance.

CBO: Democrats’ latest virus aid bill to cost nearly $3.5 trillion

CBO: Democrats’ latest virus aid bill to cost nearly $3.5 trillion-rollcall: House Democrats' massive pandemic relief bill would cost nearly $3.5 trillion, according to an official estimate, dwarfing the previous record-setting March package aimed at preserving the coronavirus-battered U.S. economy.

Why Politics Keeps Tanking a Bailout Idea that Works

Why Politics Keeps Tanking a Bailout Idea that Works-politico: The last time the American economy tanked and Washington debated how to revive it, White House economists pushed one option that had never been tried in a big way: Send truckloads of federal dollars to the states.