• Senators working to reach agreement on a bipartisan infrastructure plan blew past an informal Monday deadline amid disagreements on funding for transit and water projects, prevailing wage rules and the use of unspent COVID-19 money. Senate Republicans rejected an offer from the White House and Democrats, but all parties expressed confidence that an eventual deal would be reached as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) threatened to keep the Senate in session over the weekend or delay the chamber’s August recess over the issue. (Bloomberg)
• The Department of Veterans Affairs said it will require frontline workers to receive COVID-19 vaccines, becoming the first federal agency to do so as California and New York City said they would require workers to get their shots or undergo weekly testing. (The Washington Post) As the contagious delta variant continues to spread across the United States, the Biden administration is also considering whether to recommend that states and localities reimpose indoor mask mandates in communities with low vaccination rates. (Politico)
• The ​​Department of Homeland Security said it would impose an expedited removal policy, a fast-tracked screening process that will allow the government to deport migrant families that immigration officials say do not qualify for asylum after initial screenings at the U.S.-Mexico border. (The New York Times)
• Two U.S. Capitol police officers and two District of Columbia police officers will testify this morning at the first hearing of the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack by a mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters. (The Associated Press)

Cleveland Indians’ Rebrand Divides Americans Along Familiar Cultural Fronts
Morning Consult

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White House officials tell lawmakers they will need $1 billion in emergency funding for Afghan visa effort
Jeremy Herb and Phil Mattingly, CNN

The Biden administration has informed lawmakers it will need roughly $1 billion in emergency funds as it moves to quickly evacuate Afghan translators and other personnel who worked with the US military and are trying to leave the country, according to multiple officials familiar with the matter.

Biden says US combat mission in Iraq to conclude by year end
Robert Burns et al., The Associated Press

President Joe Biden said Monday the U.S. combat mission in Iraq will conclude by the end of the year, an announcement that reflects the reality on the ground more than a major shift in U.S. policy.

US to keep existing Covid-related travel restrictions
Jeremy Diamond and Kate Sullivan, CNN

The White House has decided to maintain existing coronavirus travel restrictions amid surging cases triggered by the Delta variant, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.

FDA asks Pfizer, Moderna to test their vaccines in more children to help rule out safety issues
Laurie McGinley et al., The Washington Post

Federal regulators have requested that vaccine companies expand their trials to test coronavirus shots in several thousand school-aged children before seeking authorization — a move intended to assess whether a rare inflammation of the heart muscle that has been seen in young adults shortly after vaccination is more common in younger age groups.

Biden says long-term effects of covid-19 can be considered a disability under federal civil rights laws
John Wagner, The Washington Post

President Biden said Monday that long-term symptoms of covid-19 could be considered a disability under federal civil rights laws, an announcement timed to coincide with the 31st anniversary of the landmark Americans With Disabilities Act.

8 US attorney picks by Biden would include historic firsts
Eric Tucker, The Associated Press

President Joe Biden is nominating eight new leaders for U.S. attorney positions across the country, including in the office overseeing the prosecutions of hundreds of defendants charged in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

Democrats Eye Legal Path for Some Undocumented Immigrants
Laura Litvan, Bloomberg

Senate Democrats plan to seek a way to provide legal status for as many as 8 million undocumented immigrants in a broad economic package they want to pass this year, according to a Senate Democratic aide familiar with the plan.

Senate bill leaves military sexual assault debate unsettled
John M. Donnelly, Roll Call

The Senate Armed Services Committee approved a defense authorization bill last week with seemingly contradictory instructions to the Pentagon on how to overhaul the military justice system in order to combat sexual assault and other crimes in the ranks.

Pelosi’s new COVID plans
Hans Nichols, Axios

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is expected to extend proxy voting through the fall — and potentially until the end of the year — Democratic lawmakers and aides tell Axios.

What the Congressional Black Caucus Lost When It Won Power
Zak Cheney-Rice, New York Magazine

It was fall 1986, and the Congressional Black Caucus was riding high. The then-15-year-old organization and self-styled “conscience of Congress” had spent its early years at the margins of influence, antagonizing leaders of both major parties and feeling very much like the outsider clamoring to be heard.

How Jim Jordan went from ‘legislative terrorist’ to inside operator
Olivia Beavers, Politico

Jim Jordan was working out in the House gym in late November 2018 when Kevin McCarthy called him with a peace offering in the wake of their battle for the GOP conference’s top job.

Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville violated federal transparency law by failing to properly disclose stock transactions worth up to $3.56 million
Dave Levinthal, Insider

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the junior Republican from Alabama, failed to properly disclose stock and stock-option trades together worth at least $894,000 and as much as $3.56 million, according to an Insider analysis of newly filed Senate records.

Former senator Mike Enzi dies after being injured in bike accident
Paul Kane, The Washington Post

Former senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), the onetime chairman of two Senate panels crucial to domestic policy, died Monday after suffering serious injuries in a bicycle accident. He was 77.

‘Shocking and so unsuspected’: Barbara Boxer assaulted, robbed of cellphone in Oakland
Seema Mehta and Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times

Former U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer was assaulted and robbed of her cellphone in Oakland on Monday afternoon. Boxer, 80, a Democrat who represented California in the U.S. Senate from 1993 to 2017, said in an interview with The Times that she was robbed while walking near her apartment in the area of Jack London Square.

South, North Korea reopen hotlines as leaders seek to rebuild ties
Hyonhee Shin, Reuters

South and North Korea have restored hotlines that Pyongyang severed a year ago when ties deteriorated sharply, and the two countries’ leaders are renewing efforts to rebuild relations, Seoul’s presidential office said on Tuesday.

A 2nd New Nuclear Missile Base for China, and Many Questions About Strategy
William J. Broad and David E. Sanger, The New York Times

In the barren desert 1,200 miles west of Beijing, the Chinese government is digging a new field of what appears to be 110 silos for launching nuclear missiles. It is the second such field discovered by analysts studying commercial satellite images in recent weeks.

New York City Says Canceling Contract With Trump Golf Course Was Justified
Corinne Ramey, The Wall Street Journal

Lawyers for New York City argued Monday that the city’s decision to end the Trump Organization’s contract to operate a Bronx golf course was lawful because attracting top tournaments wasn’t possible after the Capitol riot.

‘It Failed Miserably’: After Wargaming Loss, Joint Chiefs Are Overhauling How the US Military Will Fight
Tara Copp, Defense One

A brutal loss in a wargaming exercise last October convinced the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. John Hyten to scrap the joint warfighting concept that had guided U.S. military operations for decades.

In Official Washington, Chasten Buttigieg is a stranger in a (very) strange land
Ellen McCarthy, The Washington Post

Chasten Buttigieg put on a few pounds during quarantine. So in April, with pandemic restrictions easing and two doses of vaccine safely in his arm, he set about looking for a gym to join in the city where he had relocated after his husband, Pete, became the secretary of transportation.

Susan Wright, Jake Ellzey make final pitches to voters in runoff to replace Ron Wright in Congress
Gromer Jeffers Jr., The Dallas Morning News

North Texas voters on Tuesday will elect a replacement for the late Ron Wright, who died in February shortly after winning a second term. Wright’s widow, Republican activist Susan Wright, is running for the District 6 seat in Congress against state Rep. Jake Ellzey.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton gets all-important endorsement from Donald Trump over fellow Republican George P. Bush
Patrick Svitek, The Texas Tribune

Former President Donald Trump has backed Attorney General Ken Paxton for reelection, passing over primary challenger George P. Bush in bestowing the highly sought-after endorsement.

Left goes all-in for Nina Turner in tightening Ohio race
Ally Mutnick, Politico

One of the more important moments in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s transformation from waitress to a political giant-slayer came when she saw Nina Turner on television while cleaning glasses behind a bar.

A political bogeyman of Silicon Valley
Lachlan Markay, Axios

Tech billionaire Peter Thiel is injecting huge sums into some crucial 2022 midterm contests — and drawing fire from Republicans eager to tie their rivals to the GOP’s Silicon Valley bogeymen.

The rise of the Indian American candidate: How Kamala Harris and a new generation are changing the face of politics
Swetha Kannan et al., Los Angeles Times

In a sign of the group’s growing sway, more Indian Americans than ever are running for Congress. In the last six years, nearly 80 candidates made it on the ballot, soaring far beyond numbers seen in past elections.

States that cut unemployment early aren’t seeing a hiring boom, but who gets hired is changing
Heather Long and Andrew Van Dam, The Washington Post

The 20 Republican-led states that reduced unemployment benefits in June did not see an immediate spike in overall hiring, but early evidence suggests something did change: The teen hiring boom slowed in those states, and workers 25 and older returned to work more quickly.

Texas House speaker signs first warrant for Democrat who fled to block voting bill
Eva Ruth Moravec and Elise Viebeck, The Washington Post

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) has signed a warrant for the arrest of a Democratic legislator — the first one he has signed since dozens of Democrats fled the state earlier this month in a bid to prevent Republicans from passing new voting restrictions.

‘Sellout’: Anti-vax conservatives come for DeSantis
Matt Dixon, Politico

Florida’s Covid crisis has wedged Gov. Ron DeSantis between two competing forces: public health experts who urge him to do more and anti-vaxxers who want him to do less.

Cuomo questions credibility of attorney general’s investigators
Bill Mahoney, Politico

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is questioning the trustworthiness of the lawyers leading state Attorney General Tish James’ investigation into several allegations made against him in recent months.

Brother of top Biden advisor lobbied Executive Office of the President on behalf of GM
Brian Schwartz, CNBC

The brother of one of President Joe Biden’s closest advisors lobbied members of the National Security Council for General Motors in the second quarter, according to a new disclosure report reviewed by CNBC.

Big Pharma Quietly Pushes Back on Global Tax Deal, Citing Covid-19 Role
Jenny Strasburg and Laura Cooper, The Wall Street Journal

Big drug companies and their lobbyists have a message for Congress: Don’t raise taxes on the industry that brought you fast-tracked Covid-19 vaccines.

Thomas Barrack, a Trump ally and former fund-raiser, pleads not guilty to illegal lobbying charges
Astead W. Herndon, The New York Times

Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a billionaire private equity investor and close ally to former President Donald J. Trump, pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of illegal lobbying for the United Arab Emirates.=

Billionaire Charles Koch On Why Cannabis Should Be Legal
Will Yakowicz, Forbes

Depending on whom you ask, Charles Koch is a titan of industry, dark money political bogeyman, or the Marcus Aurelius of the libertarian movement. But soon Koch might be known as the billionaire who persuaded Republican and Democratic holdouts to legalize cannabis at the federal level.

We have started investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Nothing will be off-limits.
Bennie G. Thompson, The Washington Post

On Jan. 6, a violent mob attacked the citadel of our democracy — the U.S. Capitol — in an attempt to prevent Congress from doing its constitutional duty to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

How to Avert Disaster in Afghanistan
H.R. McMaster and Bradley Bowman, The Wall Street Journal

The situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating rapidly. As the U.S. and its international partners withdrew military forces over the past few months, the Taliban roughly tripled the territory under its control.