• Democrats are unlikely to try and suspend or raise the debt ceiling via their forthcoming reconciliation bill, a Democratic aide close to budget negotiations said, and instead will look to tie the measure to bill funding the government past Sept. 30. Such a reliance on GOP votes to address the debt ceiling would raise the prospect of a government shutdown. (Politico)
• The Biden administration approved its first arms sale to Taiwan amid rising tensions with China. The agreement, which is potentially worth as much as $750 million upon completion of the congressional review process and negotiations between Taiwan and British security contractor BAE Systems PLC, drew a rebuke from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which said Beijing would respond in some form. (Bloomberg)
• Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected to seek authorization to mandate vaccination for COVID-19 among active-duty troops, according to an unnamed Pentagon official, with several officials saying a decision could come as soon as this week. (CNN)
• Attorneys for former President Donald Trump asked a federal judge to block the Treasury Department from providing his personal tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee, arguing that turning over the records would be a violation of his privacy and other constitutional rights. (The Hill)

Rising Delta Variant Cases, CDC Indoor Mask Guidance Are Taking a Toll on Consumer Comfort Levels
Morning Consult

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White House trying to beat back bipartisan Cornyn infrastructure amendment
Alexander Bolton, The Hill

The White House is pushing back on a bipartisan amendment sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) that would give state and local governments broad latitude to tap unspent federal COVID-19 relief money to use on infrastructure projects. The amendment, which has Democratic support, would allow states to spend tens of billions of dollars in relief money allocated by the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which Congress passed in March, to fulfill state matching requirements for federal-state infrastructure projects.

Biden Sets U.S. Goal for Clean Cars to Be Half of 2030 Sales
Ari Natter and Keith Laing, Bloomberg

President Joe Biden plans to call for half of all vehicles sold in the U.S. to be capable of emissions-free driving by the end of the decade, an ambitious goal that automakers say can only be achieved with bigger government investment in charging stations and other infrastructure. Biden will be joined at the White House Thursday by representatives of Detroit automakers and the United Automobile Workers union as he unveils an executive order establishing the the goal for half of all cars sold to be battery-electric, plug-in hybrid or fuel cell-powered by 2030, according to senior administration officials and a White House fact sheet.

Immigration detentions soar despite Biden’s campaign promises
Philip Marcelo and Gerald Herbert, The Associated Press

Alexander Martinez says he fled from homophobia, government persecution and the notorious MS-13 gang in El Salvador only to run into abuse and harassment in America’s immigration detention system. Since crossing the border illegally in April, the 28-year-old has bounced between six different facilities in three states.

White House pushes back against WHO’s call for moratorium on COVID-19 vaccine booster shots
Joseph Guzman, The Hill

The White House on Wednesday pushed back against the World Health Organization’s (WHO) call for wealthier nations to halt booster shots until more of the world becomes vaccinated against COVID-19. The United Nations health agency called for a moratorium on boosters until at least the end of September to allow 10 percent of the population of every country to be vaccinated.

Psaki blames Republicans for holding up ATF nominee
Maeve Sheehey, Politico

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday accused Senate Republicans of “moving in lockstep” to block the Biden administration’s pick to lead the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. But that nominee, David Chipman, has yet to secure the support of all 50 members of the Senate Democratic caucus, which would allow him to be confirmed without any Republican support.

$5,800 Whiskey Bottle, a Gift From Japan to Pompeo, Is Missing, U.S. Says
Michael S. Schmidt, The New York Times

The State Department is investigating the whereabouts of a $5,800 bottle of whiskey the Japanese government gave to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2019, according to two people briefed on the inquiry and a document made public on Wednesday. It was unclear whether Mr. Pompeo ever received the gift, as he was traveling in Saudi Arabia on June 24, 2019, the day that Japanese officials gave it to the State Department, according to a department filing on Wednesday in the Federal Register documenting gifts that senior American officials received in 2019.

As Infrastructure Bill Inches Forth, a Rocky, Slow Path Awaits in the House
Emily Cochrane, The New York Times

As senators grind through votes this week on a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, discontent about the legislation is building among progressive Democrats, signaling a potentially bitter and prolonged intraparty fight to come over the package in the House. Liberals who have bristled at seeing their top priorities jettisoned from the infrastructure talks as President Biden and Democrats sought an elusive deal with Republicans have warned that they may seek to change the bill substantially when they have the chance.

Liberals look to build off successful effort on eviction moratorium to shape Democrats’ agenda in coming months
Marianna Sotomayor et al., The Washington Post

House liberals buoyed by their successful push to get a moratorium on evictions extended said they plan to keep pressuring the Biden administration to chart a leftward course while vowing to hold party leaders to their promise to move an infrastructure plan only if it is accompanied by trillions of dollars in new social-safety-net spending.

Senators Pitch More Targeted Crypto Measure in Infrastructure
Laura Davison, Bloomberg

A bipartisan group of lawmakers released an alternative cryptocurrency revenue-raising plan that could replace a current section in the infrastructure bill now under consideration in the U.S. Senate. The amendment, filed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden and Republican Senators Pat Toomey and Cynthia Lummis, offers a more targeted approach to requiring cryptocurrency exchanges and other virtual currency entities to report information to the Internal Revenue Service.

How one Republican is struggling to get to yes on Biden’s big deal
Burgess Everett, Politico

The microscope on Jerry Moran reflects the ongoing push-and-pull between Mitch McConnell’s Republican Party and Donald Trump’s.

Debate Over Presidential War Powers Sets Up Test for a Divided G.O.P.
Catie Edmondson, The New York Times

A growing bipartisan consensus to repeal decades-old military authorizations is driven partly by a shift among Republicans toward Donald J. Trump’s “America First” approach.

Senate panel advances Texans tapped to lead Census Bureau, ICE
Benjamin Wermund, Houston Chronicle 

The Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday advanced the nominations of two Texans tapped by President Joe Biden to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Census Bureau. While San Antonio native Rob Santos, Biden’s nominee to lead the Census, advanced easily on a 10-3 vote, Republicans on the committee unanimously opposed Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez’s nomination to lead ICE — a sign Democrats may need to bring in Vice President Kamala Harris to break a tie in the Senate and get him confirmed.

Top Republican wants even ‘more money’ for defense
John M. Donnelly and Jennifer Shutt, Roll Call

The top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee said Tuesday he wants more funding for defense next year than the Armed Services Committee recommended last month, a glimpse at how the debate about fiscal 2022 spending levels could play out over the coming weeks.

Let down by infrastructure bill, climate hawks eye reconciliation
Benjamin J. Hulac and Joseph Morton, Roll Call

With significantly less funding for climate programs than the White House requested in the Senate’s nearly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, climate advocates are pinning their hopes on a budget reconciliation bill likely to pass only if Democrats can hold disparate wings of their party together. And even as Democrats are struggling to maintain party unity in support of the tandem bills, conservative Republicans are trying to peel away support for the infrastructure bill among GOP moderates, comparing it to progressive Democrats’ 2019 Green New Deal, which they derided as a socialist manifesto.

Rep. Mo Brooks seeks immunity from suit accusing him on inciting Jan. 6 insurrection
Eugene Scott, The Washington Post

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) asked a federal judge to grant him immunity from a lawsuit accusing him of inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol that resulted in five deaths and hundreds of people being injured.

Lawyers sanctioned for ‘conspiracy theory’ election fraud lawsuit
Katelyn Polantz, CNN

Lawyers who attempted a class action lawsuit claiming voter fraud in the 2020 election were sanctioned by a federal judge in Colorado on Wednesday for the frivolous, meritless case, a major condemnation of pro-Donald Trump allies’ attempts to use the courts to vet right-wing conspiracies.

Sturgis bike rally revs back bigger, despite virus variant
Stephen Groves, The Associated Press

Crowds of bikers are rumbling their way towards South Dakota’s Black Hills this week, raising fears that COVID-19 infections will be unleashed among the 700,000 people expected to show up at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. The rally, which starts Friday, has become a haven for those eager to escape coronavirus precautions.

CNN’s Cuomo Conundrum: A Star Anchor With a Brother in Trouble
Michael M. Grynbaum, The New York Times

Chris Cuomo, the top-rated host, left some colleagues confused after he did not acknowledge the calls for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation during his Tuesday show.

A recap of a very special election season
Kirk A. Bado, National Journal

The dust has all but settled on the last blockbuster special elections, with just one competitive House contest remaining in 2021 along with two perfunctory general elections in safe Ohio districts that just selected their nominees Tuesday. Although the special elections aren’t a useful litmus test of President Biden’s agenda more than a year before the midterms, they did allow Democrats and Republicans an opportunity to test their messages and provide influential political figures a chance to reaffirm their kingmaking powers.

In String of Wins, ‘Biden Democrats’ See a Reality Check for the Left
Alexander Burns, The New York Times

Progressives are holding their own with moderates in fights over policy. But off-year elections suggest they need a new strategy for critiquing President Biden without seeming disloyal.

House GOP Campaign Chair Won’t Rule Out Backing Candidates Who Attended Jan. 6 Riot
Amanda Terkel, HuffPost

At least two Republican congressional candidates were part of the mob that went to the Capitol to overturn the election results.

Sexist comments followed by silence mar Alabama Senate race
Nathan L. Gonzales, Roll Call

While Republicans are still celebrating electing a record number of women to the House in 2020, former President Donald Trump and a sitting member of Congress have resorted to sexist attacks in a Senate primary that won’t take place for another 10 months. Yet no one seems to care enough to condemn the comments publicly.

Tennessee could withhold millions from schools found to violate guidelines on teaching critical race theory
Andrew Jeong, The Washington Post

Tennessee has laid out plans to withhold millions of dollars in state funding from schools found to violate a recently passed state law that regulates the teaching of critical race theory, an academic framework examining how policies and laws may perpetuate systemic racism. The potential penalties were listed in guidance recently released by state education officials, which are open for public comment through Aug. 11.

Newsom can reference Trump in argument against recall, judge says
Jeremy B. White, Politico

Gov. Gavin Newsom can keep references to Republicans and former President Donald Trump in his official argument against the recall, a judge tentatively ruled Wednesday. Recall proponents argued that Newsom’s allusions were misleading and asked a court to strike them from the state’s official voter information guide.

Opposition grows to DeSantis school mask edict. ‘One size does not fit all.’
Jeffrey S. Solochek, Tampa Bay Times

District officials call for local control to contain the delta variant as pro-mask parents increase pressure.

How Cuomo’s office sought help from prominent liberal advocates as it pushed to discredit an accuser
Michael Scherer and Josh Dawsey, The Washington Post

Days after the first accusation of misconduct surfaced last year against New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D), his staff began reaching out to a prominent advocate for sexual harassment victims and the head of the largest gay rights group for guidance as they mulled how to discredit his accuser.

Trumpworld is being tormented by this tiny legal office that almost nobody’s heard of
C. Ryan Barber, Insider

When Brandon Van Grack left the Justice Department in January, stepping down from a top role policing foreign influence, his government colleagues sent him off with a curious going-away present: a pink cat piñata. Before becoming a gag gift, the piñata sat in the office as a mascot of sorts for the Justice Department unit tasked with enforcing a decades-old federal law requiring the disclosure of foreign lobbying.

Let the moratorium on evicting renters die. Trump should not have let the CDC enact it
Scott Jennings, Louisville Courier-Journal

A lot of us were left scratching our heads at some governmental proclamations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the strangest was the decision to cede national housing policy authority to the unelected bureaucrats at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who again this week have well overstepped their constitutional bounds.

A permanent Child Tax Credit expansion will yield dividends to taxpayers
Reps. Rosa DeLauro and John Yarmuth, The Hill

Wednesday, July 15, was a historic day for our country. For the first time, the United States joined our peer nations, sending tax relief to poor, working, and middle class families in the form of an Advanced Monthly Child Tax Credit: $250 per child, $300 for younger children, each month.