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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Sam Levin in Los Angeles, Joan E Greve and Martin Pengelly

Republican proposal slashes weekly unemployment benefits to $200 – as it happened

Republican Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, in Washington DC, on 23 July.
Republican Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, in Washington DC, on 23 July. Photograph: REX/Shutterstock

Summary

That’s all for our live coverage today, thanks for following along. Some key events and links from the day:

Updated

When Trump said the New York Yankees had invited him to throw the first pitch next month, he had not actually been invited, according to a new report in the New York Times.

His public announcement came as a surprise to both the White House staff and the Yankees, the paper reported, citing a person with knowledge of the president’s schedule. The president was reportedly irritated that Anthony Fauci was due to throw the first pitch at the season opener between the Yankees and the Washington Nationals when he falsely announced he was schedule to throw a pitch.

The president later tweeted, “I won’t be able to be in New York to throw out the opening pitch for the Yankees on August 15”, citing the “China Virus”, his preferred racist term for Covid-19.

Big corporations accused of driving environmental and health inequalities in black and brown communities through toxic and climate-changing pollution are also funding powerful police groups in major US cities, according to a new investigation.

Some of America’s largest oil and gas companies, private utilities, and financial institutions that bankroll fossil fuels also back police foundations – opaque private entities that raise money to pay for training, weapons, equipment, and surveillance technology for departments across the US.

The investigation by the Public Accountability Initiative, a nonprofit corporate and government accountability research institute, and its research database project LittleSis, details how police foundations in cities such as Seattle, Chicago, Washington, New Orleans and Salt Lake City are partially funded by household names such as Chevron, Shell and Wells Fargo.

More from the Guardian’s Nina Lakhani here:

Trump is launching unsubstantiated attacks about Twitter, this time criticizing the social media site’s “trending” feature. He tweeted this evening that it’s “so disgusting” that “sooo many trends are about me, and never a good one” and suggested, without any evidence, that the feature is “illegal”:

The Trump administration has continued to spend time and resources attacking Twitter, which earlier this year started putting label warnings on his tweets with lies about mail-in voting.

Earlier today, his administration petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to clarify regulations on the extent to which federal law provides protection for social media’s content moderation decisions, Reuters reported. That move was following through with the president’s executive order targeting Twitter in May, though it’s unclear if anything meaningful will come of this effort.

Experts in law and technology have noted that Trump has repeatedly misunderstood basic principles of the laws that govern social media moderation and that his orders have appeared to be legally toothless. He passed the order in May just after the US passed a grim milestone of 100,000 Covid deaths. At the time, he tweeted, “This will be a Big Day for Social Media and FAIRNESS!”

Trump has announced his plans to nominate Douglas Macgregor, a retired Army colonel who regularly appears on Fox News, as the next US ambassador to Germany.

Macgregor retired from the Army in 2004 and has written extensively on military force design and strategy, Reuters notes. He also frequently talks about the military on Fox anchor Tucker Carlson’s show, which the president is known to closely watch.

Since his retirement, Macgregor has also worked as a defense consultant. Politico notes that he lacks former diplomatic experience.

The position became vacant when Richard Grenell stepped down earlier this year to become Trump’s acting director of US national intelligence.

Updated

Democrats say GOP coronavirus relief 'totally inadequate'

The Senate Democrats are criticizing the Republican’s coronavirus relief plan as “totally inadequate”.

“It won’t include food assistance for hungry kids whose parents can’t feed them, how hard-hearted, how cruel,” said the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, also calling out the lack of hazard pay for essential workers and funding for state, local and tribal governments.

Housing groups also raised concerns about the GOP’s proposal, which advocates and experts say would not address the massive rent crisis across the US. Republicans proposal for only $3.3bn to cover lost income for current housing and rental assistance programs was “a drop in an ocean of need among unsubsidized renters and people experiencing homelessness”, the National Low Income Housing Coalition said in a statement.

“Without immediate action, millions of people in America will be evicted from their homes during a pandemic. Senate Republican proposals would do next to nothing to avoid this predictable and preventable disaster,” the group’s statement added.

Updated

Majority of House backs new bailout for airlines

A majority of the US house has called for a six-month extension of a $32bn payroll aid program for US airlines, Reuters reports.

In a letter made public today, the representatives called for the continuation of a a program that was originally set to expire in September. They argue that the aid is needed to keep hundreds of thousands of aviation workers employed through 31 March.

Congress awarded $25 billion in payroll assistance to passenger airlines in March.

In recent weeks, some have compared the bailout for airlines to lack of the support for some of the most critical services in the US during this crisis. In a recent interview with Politico, economist Betsey Stevenson noted that the US gave less money to the entire child care sector than to one single airline, Delta:

Trump's lawyers fight tax records subpoena

Trump’s lawyers have filed new arguments in court today in an effort to block a criminal subpoena for his tax records, calling it harassment of a president, the AP reports.

Lawyers filed an updated lawsuit in Manhattan federal court to challenge the subpoena by state prosecutor on grounds they believe conform with how the US Supreme Court said the subpoena can be contested. The attorneys asked a judge to declare it “invalid and unenforceable”.

The high court ruled earlier this month that a Manhattan prosecutor could subpoena tax records from Trump’s accountant over his objections. Trump’s lawyers have argued that the president could not be criminally investigated while he was in office. In their new court papers, Trump’s lawyers said the subpoena of his tax records was “wildly overbroad” and “amounts to harassment of the President”.

They said the subpoena seeks detailed information about all of Trump’s assets in the US and abroad for a 10-year period: “Simply put, it asks for everything.”

For more on the subject, our latest reporting on the case:

Joe Biden pays respects to John Lewis

Joe Biden and his wife Jill have just paid respects to John Lewis at the US capitol building. Here are some photos from that moment:

Joe and Jill Biden.
Joe and Jill Biden. Photograph: Shawn Thew/AP
Biden honoring John Lewis.
Biden honoring John Lewis. Photograph: Getty Images

Nancy Pelosi was nearby:

GOP plan cuts unemployment insurance to $200

The Senate GOP’s proposed plan on unemployment insurance cuts the benefits from $600 a week to $200 a week, as earlier reports had suggested. That will continue through September, and starting in October, it would be replaced by a system meant to replace 70% of lost wages (when combined with state unemployment insurance).

Democrats have argued that the unemployment relief should continue at $600 a week.

Updated

Herman Cain, the former 2012 Republican presidential candidate who tested positive for Covid-19 after attending a Trump rally, remains in the hospital undergoing oxygen treatment, according to an update from his team:

This comes three weeks after he was first hospitalized. He was diagnosed with Covid after he posted photos of himself at the president’s Tulsa rally without a mask on.

Hi all – Sam Levin in Los Angeles here, taking over our live coverage for the rest of the day. The US Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, has said Senate Republicans will shortly introduce a new coronavirus relief program to address health, economic assistance and schools:

McConnell said the package would include direct payments of $1,200 each and help for the unemployed, Reuters said.

It would also include “strong legal liability protection”, over $100bn for schools, more money for a small business program and a program to incentivize PPE manufacturing. More details are expected soon.

Updated

Today so far

That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague Sam Levin will take over the blog for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • The national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, tested positive for coronavirus, making him the most senior administration official known to have contracted the virus. The White House said he has been isolating and working from home in recent days.
  • Trump said he had not recently seen O’Brien. “I haven’t seen him lately,” Trump told reporters before leaving for North Carolina. “I heard he tested. Yeah, I have not seen him. I’m calling him later.”
  • Dr Anthony Fauci said a coronavirus vaccine could be developed by October but more likely by November. The infectious disease expert’s comments came as the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which Fauci leads, and Moderna started a large phase 3 trial for its vaccine candidate. If a vaccine were approved in October, the news could come shortly before the presidential election.
  • Trump addressed the progress in vaccine development during his trip to North Carolina today. Asked when he expected a vaccine to be approved, Trump said: “I heard very positive things, but by the end of the year we think we’re in very good shape to be doing that.”
  • Civil rights icon John Lewis laid in state in the Capitol rotunda. Members of Congress held a ceremony this afternoon to honor their late colleague. Mike Pence and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden are expected to pay their respects to Lewis later today.

Sam will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

Updated

Trump deflects question about Putin conversation

While speaking in North Carolina, Trump also deflected a question about his recent conversation with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

The US president was asked whether he pressed Putin on reports that Russia offered bounties to Taliban insurgents to kill US troops.

Trump replied: “We don’t talk about what we discussed, but we had plenty of discussion, and I think it was very productive.”

There was no mention of the reported bounties in the White House readout of the two leaders’ conversation, and the press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, similarly dodged questions about the issue last week.

McEnany told reporters at a briefing: “That intelligence is unverified still to this day. There are dissenting opinions within the intel community. I won’t get into the president’s private discussions with a foreign leader.”

Updated

Trump talks on vaccine progress

Donald Trump says the US is mass-producing “all of the most promising vaccines” for coronavirus that are under development in the US, and producing them “in advance”, ie before it is known which, if any, will be proved successful.

The president said this would be the best way to ensure that any successes will be available for the US “immediately” and possibly available for other countries.

Trump is visiting Morrisville, North Carolina, and is talking in a biotech facility where potential coronavirus vaccine components are being developed. He’s discussing the public-private partnership between the US government and companies as part of Operation Warp Speed to develop a Covid-19 vaccine.

He said a vaccine will be developed “very soon”. “We will defeat the virus,” he said.

The leading US public health expert Dr Anthony Fauci, of the White House coronavirus taskforce, has said there may be a vaccine by the November or even October. Emphasis on may.

Asked in a brief press Q&A when was the soonest he expected a vaccine to be ready, Trump said: “I heard very positive things, but by the end of the year we think we’re in very good shape to be doing that.”

Updated

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General said today it will evaluate the agency’s rollback of Obama-era vehicle emissions requirements.

In May, Senator Tom Carper, a Democrat who sits on the Senate Eenvironment and public works committee, asked the inspector general’s office to investigate whether EPA officials improperly circumvented the Clean Air Act, regulatory and other procedural requirements, citing documents obtained by Carper’s office, Reuters reports.

The inspector general’s office said it would conduct an evaluation to determine if EPA actions were “consistent with requirements, including those pertaining to transparency, record-keeping and docketing, and followed the EPA’s process for developing final regulatory actions”.

The EPA did not immediately comment.

In March the EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finalized revised rules requiring 1.5% annual increases in fuel efficiency through 2026.
Under the Obama rules, automakers were to average about 5% improvements per year through 2025.

The new requirements mean the US vehicle fleet will average 40.4 miles a gallon rather than 46.7 mpg under the Obama rules.

The administration says the new rules will result in the consumption of about 2bn additional barrels of oil and the emission of 867m to 923m additional metric tons of carbon dioxide and will cut the future price of new vehicles by about $1,000 and reduce traffic deaths.

Environmentalists dispute that the rule will reduce traffic deaths and say higher fuel costs will surpass any future new vehicle price reduction.

The inspector general wants numerous documents including briefing materials on the final rule.

Carper said the documents obtained show “significant inaccuracies and technical errors in the final rule” that the EPA apparently asked the transportation department to correct.

“According to these documents, EPA officials believed the failure to correct those inaccuracies and errors would make the rule legally vulnerable to challenge,” Carper wrote.

Traffic jam on the approach to New York City.
Traffic jam on the approach to New York City. Photograph: Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images

Updated

The Guardian’s Kari Paul reports:

Google will keep its employees home until at least next July, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday, marking the largest tech firm to commit to such a timeline in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The chief executive officer of parent company Alphabet Inc, Sundar Pichai, made the decision himself last week after debate among an internal group of top executives that he chairs, according to the report, which cited unnamed insiders.

Google did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Google had earlier said it would begin reopening more offices globally as early as June this year, but most Google employees would probably work from home until the end of this year.

Most tech companies have had employees working remotely since the Covid-19 outbreak escalated in early March, and several have expressed plans to continue such policies indefinitely.

In May, Twitter announced it would let employees who wish to do so work from home “forever” and Facebook said it expects at least half of its employees to work remotely for the next five to 10 years.

These announcements come as Covid-19 makes open floor plans and shared spaces untenable for the foreseeable future, forcing companies across a variety of industries to reimagine what office work looks like.

Trump says he hasn't recently seen his national security adviser

Trump said he hasn’t recently seen the national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, who tested positive for coronavirus.

“I haven’t seen him lately,” Trump told reporters before leaving for North Carolina. “I heard he tested. Yeah, I have not seen him. I’m calling him later.”

The White House confirmed earlier today that O’Brien had tested positive for the virus, and the senior economic adviser Larry Kudlow said O’Brien’s daughter also has the virus and probably transmitted it to him.

According to reports, O’Brien was in his office last Thursday before abruptly leaving the White House. He has since been isolating and working remotely from home.

Updated

The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, delivered remarks about John Lewis as part of a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda to honor the late congressman and civil rights icon.

McConnell recalled hearing Lewis speak at the 1963 March on Washington, saying lawmakers should “pray for fraction of John’s strength”.

Pelosi said it was fitting that Lewis should join the “pantheon of patriots” who have received the honor of lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda. The speaker noted Lewis was “revered and beloved on both sides of the aisle, on both sides of the Capitol”.

She then played a clip of Lewis delivering a well-known 2014 speech in which the congressman said: “You must find a way to get in trouble, good trouble.”

Updated

A military honor guard carried John Lewis’ casket into the Capitol Rotunda, where members of Congress will hold a ceremony to honor their late colleague.

One member of the military honor guard was not able to participate after he collapsed from the heat while waiting to transport Lewis’ casket.

Updated

Trump said he would not be paying his respects to John Lewis, the civil rights icon who will be lying in state in the Capitol rotunda today.

Leaving the White House for a trip to North Carolina, the president told reporters he would not be visiting Lewis’ casket at the Capitol today or tomorrow.

Trump and Lewis had a tense relationship, to say the least. Lewis refused to attend the president’s 2017 inauguration because he questioned the legitimacy of Trump’s election victory.

Trump responded to that snub by describing Lewis’ Atlanta district as “crime infested,” sparking allegations of racism.

Mike Pence, who served in Congress alongside Lewis, is expected to pay his respects to the longtime lawmaker later today.

Updated

Lewis's casket arrives at the Capitol

John Lewis’s casket has arrived at the Capitol, where the late congressman and civil rights icon will lie in state.

A hearse carrying the casket of John Lewis arrives outside the US Capitol.
A hearse carrying the casket of John Lewis arrives outside the US Capitol. Photograph: Leah Millis/AFP/Getty Images

Lawmakers will hold a ceremony this afternoon to honor Lewis, and his casket will then be moved to the Capitol steps.

Lewis is the first African American lawmaker to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda, and he is only the second African American citizen to do so, after Rosa Parks.

Updated

John Lewis’ casket has just made its way through Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House, as the late congressman makes his final journey to the US Capitol.

Lewis made his final appearcance at BLM Plaza last month, shortly after DC’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, renamed the street in honor of the anti-racism movement.

Updated

Today so far

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • National security adviser Robert O’Brien tested positive for coronavirus, making him the most senior administration official known to have contracted the virus. The White House said he has been isolating and working from home in recent days.
  • Dr Anthony Fauci said a coronavirus vaccine could be developed by October but more likely by November. The infectious disease expert’s comments came as the National Institutes of Health and Moderna started a large Phase 3 trial for its vaccine candidate.
  • John Lewis will soon lie in state in the Capitol rotunda. The civil rights icon’s casket is now making its way to the Capitol for a ceremony with lawmakers this afternoon. Lewis’ casket will then be moved to the Capitol steps to allow members of the public to pay their respects to the longtime congressman.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

The Miami Marlins’ home opener has been postponed because of a coronavirus outbreak in the clubhouse.

From the Associated Press:

The Marlins postponed their flight home on Sunday night after their series finale against the Phillies. ESPN reports that the Phillies have cancelled their game against the New York Yankees too, and that seven Marlins players and two of their coaches have tested positive for Covid-19.

Marlins pitcher Jose Urena was scratched from his scheduled start in Sunday’s game, and catcher Jorge Alfaro went on the injured list Friday. No reasons were given for the moves, but manager Don Mattingly said those who tested positive would be quarantined in Philadelphia.

The MLB is reportedly holding an emergency meeting to discuss the latest developments, which raise serious doubts about the ability to play baseball safely amid the pandemic.

The news comes just four days after the MLB started its shortened season without fans in attendance.

National security adviser Robert O’Brien likely contracted coronavirus from his college-aged daughter, senior White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said.

During a gaggle with reporters at the White House, Kudlow said O’Brien’s daughter also has the virus and likely passed it on to her father.

O’Brien’s positive test result comes as Trump pushes schools, including colleges and universities, to reopen this fall despite concerns about the spread of coronavirus in the classroom.

A number of public health experts have warned about the possible transmission of coronavirus between college students and their potentially more vulnerable family members.

White House reporters also noted Kudlow wore a mask during his press gaggle today, which he had not been doing in recent weeks.

When asked about the change, Kudlow said, “You know why? You were all wearing one. Look, I’ve been emphasizing masks for a good two weeks, three weeks.”

Kudlow added, “We’re not going to keep the economy open, we’re not going to get the V-shaped recovery, we’re not going to get kids back to school unless we follow simple guidelines: masking, distancing, testing.”

Updated

Leaders of the Moderna vaccine trial acknowledged one of the most important aspects of the effort will be to enroll diverse participants, including African Americans, Latinos and native Americans, as well as the elderly and disabled, all populations which disproportionately suffer from Covid-19.

However, finding diverse participants will be challenging. African American, Latino and Native American people may be less likely to enroll in the trial, because of mistrust of government science based on a history of abuse. The elderly and disabled may be less likely to enroll because of fear of the virus.

“We really are going to depend on that sense of volunteerism,” said NIH director Dr Francis Collins. “We’re going to be tracking this every week to see what the distribution [of diversity] looks like in the trial to make sure we’re achieving that kind of diversity.”

Dr Anthony Fauci said results of the trial were most likely going to begin being released in November, but would not rule out the possibility of an “October surprise”. Such a surprise would be proof of a safe and effective vaccine in the midst of the most highly anticipated presidential election in generations.

At 6:45am in Savannah, Georgia, the first American participant in a large experimental Covid-19 vaccine trial received a shot in the arm, the National Institutes of Health announced.

Researchers at Moderna, Inc. and the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (a branch of the NIH) hope to enroll 30,000 people for the final phase of safety and efficacy testing for the vaccine, including 15,000 people by the end of this week.

The trial will take place across 89 sites across America, with the potential for sites in South Africa and Brazil. The activated American sites will be focused in places with current Covid-19 outbreaks.

NIAID director Dr Anthony Fauci described the initiation of the Phase 3 trial as historic, and one of the fastest vaccine developments ever.

“We’re beginning a Phase 3 trial that is very quick – it certainly is the world’s record – when one thinks from the time of the sequence to a Phase 3 trial,” Fauci said.

He added: “There is no compromise at all in safety or scientific integrity.”

At Joint Base Andrews just outside Washington, a military honor guard transferred the casket of John Lewis to the hearse that will carry him to the Capitol.

The late congressman and civil rights icon will lie in state in the Capitol rotunda this afternoon, making him the first black lawmaker to receive the high honor.

After a ceremony in the rotunda with lawmakers, Lewis’ casket will be transferred to the Capitol steps to allow members of the public to pay their respects.

Republicans are reportedly looking to cut additional unemployment benefits from $600 per week to $200 per week, although Democrats will likely reject that proposal as inadequate.

Bloomberg News reports:

Senate Republicans propose cutting supplemental unemployment benefits to $200 weekly from $600 until states are able to create a system that would provide 70% of a laid-off worker’s previous pay, according to two people familiar with the plan.

The plan, which was agreed to by the Trump administration, calls for a two-month transition and then allows states to apply for a waiver for up to two additional months if they can’t implement the new calculation, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan hasn’t been made public.

There are many roadblocks ahead for this proposal. For one thing, a number of Senate Republicans have signaled they will not back another massive coronavirus relief bill, likely giving Democrats more leverage in the negotiations. Democrats have called for continuing the additional benefits at their current level of $600 per week.

Many states also have outdated systems for distributing unemployment benefits, which makes the transition timeline of two months seem very optimistic.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi greeted the family and friends of John Lewis at Joint Base Andrews, as the late congressman’s casket arrived to lie in state at the Capitol.

Lewis’ family will accompany his casket as it makes its way to the Capitol, passing places in Washington that were signficant to the civil rights hero.

Lewis will lie in state in the Capitol rotunda this afternoon, and vice president Mike Pence and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, among others, are expected to pay their respects.

After the rotunda ceremony, Lewis’ casket will be moved outside to the Capitol steps to allow members of the public to mourn the loss of the longtime lawmaker and civil rights icon in a socially distanced fashion.

Downtown Portland saw fresh clashes early on Monday morning, between anti-racism protesters and federal officers using teargas, flash-bangs and crowd control munitions.

For a 60th night in succession, protesters gathered to mark the killing of George Floyd by demanding action against police brutality. A peaceful demonstration of about 1,000 people began on Sunday evening, the crowd chanting “Black Lives Matter”, at a steel fence erected around the federal courthouse after two earlier barriers were torn down.

The US agents, drawn mainly from border patrol, were dispatched to Portland by Donald Trump ostensibly to protect the courthouse. Far from quelling unrest, Trump’s actions have also lit a fuse under demonstrations in other cities. Protesters reconvened in Seattle on Sunday night in support of fellow demonstrators in Portland.

The Seattle gathering remained peaceful. The previous night, protesters had clashed with local police officers, with rocks and bottles thrown according to the authorities.

The clashes in Portland broke out shortly after midnight, according to the Oregonian newspaper. The federal forces turned out lights illuminating the courthouse and over loudspeakers ordered protesters to disperse on the grounds that they were holding an unlawful assembly.

Confrontations erupted after the US agents began to clear the area. According to the Associated Press, the officers deployed several rounds of what appeared to be teargas, flash-bangs and pepper balls. Protesters responded by igniting fireworks and beaming lights on to the courthouse, with some scaling the fence.

Dr Anthony Fauci made the comments as he announced Moderna and the NIAID, the institution he leads, had started phase 3 trials of a vaccine candidate in the US.

The AP reports:

The world’s biggest COVID-19 vaccine study got underway Monday with the first of 30,000 planned volunteers helping to test shots created by the U.S. government -- one of several candidates in the final stretch of the global vaccine race.

There’s still no guarantee that the experimental vaccine, developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., will really protect.

The needed proof: Volunteers won’t know if they’re getting the real shot or a dummy version. After two doses, scientists will closely track which group experiences more infections as they go about their daily routines, especially in areas where the virus still is spreading unchecked.

Updated

Fauci says vaccine is possible by October but more likely by November

Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr Anthony Fauci, refused to rule out the possibility of “October surprise” news of an effective vaccine.

Fauci made the comments as he announced Moderna and the NIAID had started a Phase 3 trial of a vaccine candidate in the US.

If a vaccine were developed by October, the news could come in the midst of the most highly anticipated election season in generations.

Fauci said an October approval “is certainly conceivable, if we have a real blast of a rash of infection in those sites in which we do have active enrollment, that you might get an answer earlier than November. I doubt that, but we’re leaving an open mind that that might be possible.”

He added: “Likely November, but it is possible it could be earlier.”

Updated

Democratic congressional leaders are calling on their Republican colleagues to quickly release a proposal for the next coronavirus relief bill.

“We have stood ready to negotiate for more than two months. Unfortunately, it still remains unclear if Republicans will produce a proposal today,” House speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a new statement.

“I call upon the Republican leadership of the House and Senate and representatives of the President to come to the Speaker’s Office and join Leader Schumer and me within a half an hour of releasing their plan today to negotiate and get the job done.

“If Republicans care about working families, this won’t take long. Time is running out. Congress cannot go home without an agreement.”

Additional unemployment benefits are set to expire on Friday, and Democrats are pushing to continue the benefits at their current level of $600 per week.

However, Republicans have signaled they intend to reduce the additional unemployment benefits, which have been a lifeline for many American families amid the pandemic.

Democrats have criticized Republican proposals as “woefully inadequate” to address the country’s financial struggles.

National security adviser Robert O’Brien traveled to Europe earlier this month to meet with some of his foreign counterparts, and several photos from the trip showed O’Brien not wearing a mask and not social distancing.

According to Bloomberg, O’Brien is believed to have contracted the virus at a family event, not from his travels.

However, the lack of social distancing still raises concerns about the potential spread of the virus to other top-ranking officials.

In addition to national security council staffers, members of the White House coronavirus task force are also apparently learning about Robert O’Brien’s positive test result from the press.

From a New York Times reporter:

According to CNN, national security council staffers were not told of Robert O’Brien’s diagnosis in any kind of officewide email.

CNN reports:

A senior administration official told CNN that O’Brien has been working from home since last week. A source familiar said O’Brien was last in the office last Thursday, when he abruptly left the White House.

Several National Security Council staffers told CNN that they weren’t informed that O’Brien tested positive and learned of the news from media reports.

O’Brien recently traveled to France with his deputy to discuss China and other foreign policy issues with some of his European counterparts. CNN notes:

The National Security Council chief was accompanied on the trip to Europe by Secret Service agents, staffers and multiple reporters. Multiple pictures released from the trip showed O’Brien neither practicing social distancing nor wearing a mask.

National security adviser tests positive for coronavirus, White House confirms

The White House has confirmed reports that national security adviser Robert O’Brien tested positive for coronavirus.

“National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien tested positive for COVID-19. He has mild symptoms and has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off site,” the White House said in a statement.

“There is no risk of exposure to the President or the Vice President. The work of the National Security Council continues uninterrupted.”

But according to CNN, O’Brien was on the White House grounds last Thursday, raising questions about potential exposure to other officials.

The White House has not yet commented on reports that national security adviser Robert O’Brien tested positive for coronavirus.

A CNN reporter noted the White House has made efforts to keep coronavirus cases among staffers quiet since one of the president’s valets tested positive in May.

Bloomberg News has more about national security adviser Robert O’Brien testing positive for coronavirus:

O’Brien has been out of the office since late last week, one [person] said.

O’Brien came down with the coronavirus after a family event and has been isolating at home while still running the National Security Council, doing most of his work by phone, according to one of the people. ...

O’Brien is the closest official to Trump to develop the novel coronavirus, as the pandemic continues to surge with infections and deaths on the rise in many U.S. states.

The news will likely intensify scrutiny over Trump’s refusal to consistently wear a face mask in public, despite mounting evidence that masks help to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.

The president strongly urged Americans to wear masks for the first time last week, but Trump has since been seen in public not wearing a mask.

National security adviser Robert O’Brien and his deputy, Matthew Pottinger, traveled to Paris earlier this month to meet with European officials to discuss China and other foreign policy issues.

However, according to Bloomberg, O’Brien is believed to have contracted coronavirus at a family event, not from his travels.

National security adviser tests positive for coronavirus - report

National security adviser Robert O’Brien has tested positive for coronavirus, according to Bloomberg News.

O’Brien appears to have contracted the virus at a family event and has been working remotely from home, Bloomberg reported.

O’Brien assumed the role as national security adviser last year, after the resignation (or termination, depending on who you ask) of John Bolton.

The news comes more than two months after two White House staffers -- one of the president’s valets and the vice president’s press secretary -- tested positive for the virus.

Several members of the president’s campaign also tested positive in the days leading up to and immediately after his June rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Good morning, live blog readers. This is Joan Greve in Washington, taking over for Martin Pengelly.

Starting today, the Distict of Columbia is requiring travelers from 27 states to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.

DC mayor Muriel Bowser announced the order last week, as many states grapple with a surge in cases of coronavirus.

The order affects travelers from states in every corner of the country, with Delaware being the closest to the District. Travel from nearby Maryland and Virginia is exempted from the order.

“We know, unfortunately, that there are states that are seeing significant spikes and new cases,” Bowser said last week. “We know that there are places where people are not being as cautious or making the sacrifices that we’re making here in DC.”

However, those traveling to Washington for essential activities are not required to self-quarantine, indicating lawmakers are also exempt from the order.

Fox News host: QAnon has 'uncovered a lot of great stuff'

In conversation on Saturday night with Eric Trump, Fox News host Jesse Waters said followers of the rightwing conspiracy theory QAnon had “uncovered a lot of great stuff”.

Jesse Watters.
Jesse Watters. Photograph: Tom Brenner/Reuters

Criticising Twitter for taking action against QAnon accounts, which he said might be an attempt to “interfere in an election” – but which the Daily Beast summed up as a move against “QAnon believers who claim Democrats, Trump critics, and many influential figures are Satanic child sex traffickers and cannibals” – Watters said: “Q can do some crazy stuff, with the pizza stuff, and the Wayfair stuff, but they’ve also uncovered a lot of great stuff when it comes to Epstein and it comes to the deep state.

“I never saw Q as as dangerous as antifa but antifa gets to run wild on the internet. What do you think is going on there?”

Trump essentially dodged the question, so here’s some further reading on the “pizza stuff” and the “Wayfair stuff”, both baseless conspiracy theories about supposed child-trafficking rings.

Jeffrey Epstein was a convicted sex offender who killed himself in custody in New York last year while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. His former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell is currently being held, awaiting trial. Links between the two and influential people including Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew are the source of constant speculation.

According to former White House counselor Steve Bannon, a key propagator, the “Deep State” theory, which holds that a permanent government of spies and bureaucrats exists to thwart the Trump agenda, is “for nutcases”.

It should also be noted that QAnon has started to infiltrate Republican state parties and could even (though likely won’t yet) make it to Congress this year.

In the fallout from Watters’ comments, Fox News issued a statement from the host, which said: “While discussing the double standard of big tech censorship, I mentioned the conspiracy group QAnon, which I don’t support or believe in. My comments should not be mistaken for giving credence to this fringe platform.”

Regarding Watters’ comments about “antifa” being more dangerous than a conspiracy theory which has led to acts of violence, meanwhile, here’s Lois Beckett:

On Friday, the US supreme court ruled against a Nevada church which said coronavirus-inspired limits on attendance were unconstitutional. Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the court’s four liberals on the case, causing further angst on the right.

Now, the Associated Press reports that “more than 40 people were infected with the coronavirus after attending a multi-day revival event at a north Alabama Baptist church, according to the congregation’s pastor.

“The whole church has got it, just about,” Al.com quoted pastor Daryl Ross of Warrior Creek Missionary Baptist Church in Marshall county as saying.

The pastor says the churchgoers, including himself, tested positive after the congregation held a series of religious services featuring a guest pastor over several days last week.

Ross said the services were shut down by Friday after learning that one of the members who attended had tested positive. The member presented no symptoms, but got tested when several of his coworkers received positive tests, according to the pastor.

Over the weekend, dozens more fell ill, Ross said, adding: “I’ve got church members sick everywhere.”

“We knew what we were getting into,” he said. “We knew the possibilities.”

Ross said only two members’ cases were serious, and as of Sunday nobody had been hospitalized, though many had reported having fevers, headaches and respiratory issues.

He said some social distancing measures were in place during the services, which were held multiple times a day, and most members skipped the events out of concern for the virus. Those that attended sat with their own families. Masks were not required, the newspaper reported.

“We let everybody do what they felt like … If you were comfortable shaking hands, you shook hands. If you didn’t, you didn’t,” the pastor said.

The church is located in a small community called Strawberry, about 60 miles north-east of Birmingham.

Molotov cocktails and magazines found in Portland, police say

There has been another night of trouble in Portland, where protesters for policing reform and against structural racism have been out every night since the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis at the end of May.

Once again, confrontations centered on the federal courthouse in downtown Portland, where agents sent in by Trump are based.

According to the Associated Press, “the protest late Sunday started peacefully, but intensified early Monday. US agents declared an unlawful assembly and deployed several rounds of what appeared to be teargas, flash bangs and pepper balls. Some protesters climbed over the fence surrounding the courthouse, while others shot fireworks, banged on the fence and projected lights on the building.

“Just after 1am, federal officers confronted protesters on the street and worked to clear the area. Several people were seen being detained, but it was unclear how many may have been arrested. Law enforcement deployed more gas and less-lethal munitions, and formed a line to push back demonstrators. Many dispersed, but a few protesters remained around 2am.”

This is of course the kind of confrontation Donald Trump wants, as he centres his re-election campaign on a law and order message.

Portland police, in a tweet that might have pleased the White House, said they found “a bag containing loaded rifle magazines and Molotov cocktails at a park near the protests”.

“The discovery came just hours after two people were arrested following reports that a shot was fired in the same park. Officers responded just before 7.30pm. A person believed to be the gunshot victim arrived later at a hospital via a private vehicle with non-life threatening injuries, police said.

“It wasn’t clear if either incident was connected to the demonstrations.”

The majority of protests in Portland remain peaceful and local media say the city is not in the grip of a crisis. For most in the largely progressive city, life goes on as (un)usual. Here’s an explainer I wrote with Chris McGreal, who is in Portland, and here’s Chris’s report from Sunday. Like all his dispatches from the city, it’s powerful stuff:

Good morning...

…and welcome to another day of coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in the US, the election campaign, protests in Portland and other cities and a lot more besides.

According to Johns Hopkins University, the US has now recorded more than 4.2m cases of Covid-19 and nearly 147,000 people have died. According to the Covid Tracking Project at the Atlantic, the seven-day average for deaths across the US is back above 900, where it was in early June.

In Washington, Senate Republicans say they will present their proposals for stimulus and relief legislation today. In the succinct words of the Politico Playbook, a well-informed guide to DC, “the two sides are pretty far apart on everything”. Republicans are proposing $1tn, Democrats want closer to $4tn and have rejected a proposal to replace enhanced unemployment payments – now running out – with an unemployment extension based on 70% of wages.

Trump spent the weekend at his golf course in New Jersey.

Also from the Playbook: “There has been no contact between the administration and congressional Democrats since Friday. This week will be the beginning of bipartisan talks, not the end. You should expect this to drag into the first or second week of August.”

There has been more trouble in Portland overnight, around the federal courthouse where agents sent by Donald Trump confront protesters for policing reform nightly. Ed Pilkington, our chief reporter, has an extraordinary look at one federal unit involved:

Yesterday, meanwhile, marked the start of the 100-day countdown to the election – the networks marked it with a flurry of polls which almost all showed very bad news for Trump and good news for Joe Biden. You don’t need us to counsel caution about taking polling numbers as gospel.

But here’s a cautionary note about another 100-day countdown: the US withdrawal from the Paris climate deal which Trump has ordered:

Updated

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