Congress has completed three phases of its economic recovery plan as the United States reckons with the novel coronavirus pandemic, but not everyone is confident the momentum that carried the legislative branch through the previous rounds will last long enough for number four.
Per The Wall Street Journal, big spending bills often fill members of Congress with doubts, and this one may be no different. "My guess is that this bill won't wear well over time, and Congress isn't going to be inclined to do another big package," Andy Laperriere, a policy analyst for investor advisory firm Cornerstone Macro, told the Journal. "There will be fraud, companies getting money going into bankruptcy, things that people on the left and right won't like."
Stephen Moore, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, doesn't think there will be much bipartisanship going forward, even if it's based on mutual disappointment. He says the next round of debates over new spending will re-open ideological splits. "The left is going to want to do infrastructure, welfare payments, and food stamps," he said. "Our side will want to do tax cuts and deregulation."
Despite such pessimism, lawmakers and Trump administration officials, as well as lobbyists, economists, and think tanks, are already back at working trying to set the framework for the next stage, as all sides look to once again find some sort of common ground. Read more at The Wall Street Journal. Tim O'Donnell
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has shared with several people his surefire way to catch suspected leakers: give them specific information and see if it later shows up in print.
Multiple officials told Axios Meadows has been "unusually vocal" about his technique, yet his tactic has only netted one person for a minor leak. President Trump has been adamant about how important it is to him that leakers get caught, and he was clear in letting Meadows, his fourth chief of staff, know that one of his duties is hunting down the perpetrators.
Axios reports that Trump was especially enraged by reports that during anti-racism and anti-police brutality protests in Washington, D.C., he was rushed into a bunker. A person close to Meadows told Axios he is "focused on national security leaks and could care less about the palace intrigue stories."
His predecessor, Mick Mulvaney, was always trying to find leakers, a former White House official said. He requested that the White House IT department take a close look at phone records and see if any officials were calling reporters. Mulvaney already had a tense relationship with White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, Axios reports, when he saw that Cipollone had called journalists, he raced to tell Trump about his suspicions. A former official said Trump — who had asked Cipollone to speak with the media — saw no reason to believe Cipollone was guilty of leaking, and dismissed the information.
Presidential historian Chris Whipple told Axios this is a level of paranoia "that we never even saw in the Nixon White House." To prevent leaks, staffers need to feel as though their "voices are heard" and they have "a stake in the process and there's some integrity." A good chief of staff, Whipple said, "knows that the best way to prevent damaging leaks is to stop doing illegal, stupid stuff." Catherine Garcia
The Washington Redskins will announce on Monday morning plans to change their 87-year-old team name, three people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post on Sunday night.
Corporate sponsors, including FedEx, Bank of America, Nike, and PepsiCo, have been calling on the team to change the name, which is considered a slur against Native Americans. Owner Daniel Snyder and Coach Ron Rivera have been working together to select a new name, and on July 4, Rivera said there were two names they both liked, and they planned to discuss the possible replacements with Native American and military organizations.
It's unlikely the new name will be revealed on Monday, the Post reports; two people familiar with the matter said the name Snyder and Rivera prefer is in the middle of a trademark battle. Rivera has said he wants to see the replacement name in place by the beginning of the NFL's upcoming season. Catherine Garcia
When Kolton Conrad found a U.S. Marine's dog tag in the Hocking River, the 12-year-old knew he had to track down its owner.
The Lancaster, Ohio, resident was kayaking with his dad and brother on July 4 when he made the discovery. He could make out the name "Rhonemus" on the tag, and at home, his mom, Ashley, helped him clean it. On Facebook, she asked her friends if they knew anyone with the last name Rhonemus, and within six hours, she was in contact with Kimberly Greenlee.
Greenlee's brother, Steven Rhonemus, was a Marine who died in 1974 following a motorcycle crash. She had no idea how Rhonemus' dog tag got into the river, but he was fond of the outdoors, and Greenlee thinks he likely lost it while out with friends. The Conrads met Greenlee at her brother's favorite park to give her his dog tag.
"It's just amazing to think about, this tag was lost for 46 years, and for this little boy to find it on Independence Day, of all days," she told the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. "And for him to realize the meaning behind the tag, and to hold onto it, to help a stranger's family, it's amazing." Her brother died before his daughter, Danielle, was born, and Greenlee knew the dog tag needed to get to her, especially since not long after Rhonemus' death, a fire destroyed many of his belongings. "It was emotional when she got it," Greenlee said. "She said it felt like God was letting her know her dad was with her and watching over her." Catherine Garcia
Doctors at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, are hoping that by sharing one patient's story, it will discourage others from attending "COVID parties."
Dr. Jane Appleby, the hospital's chief medical officer, said that a COVID party is a gathering held by a person who has tested positive for the coronavirus and wants to see if the virus is real and spreads to guests. A 30-year-old patient was recently hospitalized after attending a COVID party, and just before dying, "they looked at their nurse and said, 'I think I made a mistake, I thought this was a hoax, but it's not,'" Appleby said.
Appleby sad the rising number of infections is "concerning," with up to 22 percent of tests now coming back positive in San Antonio, compared to about 5 percent of tests a few weeks ago, The Guardian reports. "I don't want to be an alarmist, and we're just trying to share some real world examples to help our community realize that this virus is very serious and can spread easily," she said.
The hospital has seen an increase in critically ill patients in their 20s and 30s, and Appleby is imploring Texans to "please wear a mask, stay at home when you can, avoid groups of people, and sanitize your hands." On Sunday, state health officials reported 8,196 new COVID-19 cases and 80 additional deaths. There are 10,410 Texans hospitalized with the virus. Catherine Garcia
A section of the southern border wall that was privately built in January, using funds raised by supporters of President Trump, is showing signs of erosion, and Trump is taking it personally.
"I disagreed with doing this very small (tiny) section of wall, in a tricky area, by a private group which raised money by ads," Trump tweeted on Sunday. "It was only done to make me look bad, and perhsps [sic] it now doesn't even work. Should have been built like rest of Wall, 500 plus miles."
Trump was responding to a ProPublica and Texas Tribune report on a three-mile section of the fence built by Fisher Industries in South Texas, about 35 feet away from the Rio Grande. The riverbank is starting to erode, ProPublica and the Texas Tribune say, and a judge on Wednesday ordered lawyers for Fisher Industries and opponents of the fence to inspect the area.
The group We Build the Wall was established during the government shutdown in 2018, when Trump was demanding Congress fund his border wall. The group raised more than $25 million to privately build fencing, but the South Texas project turned into a showcase for Fisher Industries, The Associated Press reports, and the organization only contributed $1.5 million. Steve Bannon, Trump's former chief strategist, is on We Build the Wall's board, and staunch Trump ally Kris Kobach, Kansas' former secretary of state, is its general counsel.
Experts cautioned that building the fence so close to the river would cause a break in the fence or flooding, AP says, but Fisher Industries still put it up. In May, the company won a $1.3 billion contract from the federal government to build 42 miles of wall in Arizona. CEO Tommy Fisher told AP on Sunday he has "complete respect" for Trump, and thinks he "just got some misinformation on this stuff." Fisher also said rain and the river's natural flow caused some erosion, and if it continues, the gaps will be filled with rocks. "The wall will stand for 150 years, you mark my words," he declared. Catherine Garcia
Benjamin Keough, Lisa Marie Presley's son and the grandson of Elvis Presley, has died. He was 27.
A representative for Lisa Marie Presley told NBC News on Sunday the family does not know how or where Keough died, adding that his mother is "completely heartbroken, inconsolable, and beyond devastated, but trying to stay strong for her 11-year-old twins and her oldest daughter, Riley. She adored that boy. He was the love of her life." Keough's father is Lisa Marie Presley's former husband, singer-songwriter Danny Keough.
Benjamin Keough was a musician, and his mother — the only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley — noted in 2012 that he strongly resembled her dad. While appearing at the Opry, "everybody turned around and looked when he was over there," she told CMT. "Everybody was grabbing him for a photo because it is just uncanny. Sometimes I am overwhelmed when I look at him." Catherine Garcia