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Democrats push reconciliation as tool to fight fight inflation

Some Democrats are arguing that a revival of President Biden’s legislative agenda, parts of which aim to raise taxes on some high-income individuals and cut prescription drug costs, could help address the highest inflation in decades.

Recent data released by the Labor Department shows prices up 9.1 percent over a year ago, the highest rise since 1981 and significantly worse than economists’ expectations.

The figures drew swift response from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who expressed caution as he and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) look to find common ground on components of the president’s economic agenda after talks unraveled last year. 

“Everyone should be extremely cautious, because you cannot do a thing right now that’s going to add or be inflammatory to inflation,” Manchin told The Hill on Wednesday.

However, a number of Democrats say they think passing a reconciliation bill that increases taxes on some high earners would help reduce inflation.

“What we’re doing is cutting costs for consumers. That has a real anti-inflationary impact, cutting medical costs, cutting energy costs, paying down debt,” Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) argued. “That is the anti-inflationary ‘cutting costs for consumers point’ of our bill.”

“When problems are paid for, that doesn’t mean more dollars have been pumped into the economy,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). “And when rich people have to pay taxes to help fund programs that help people go to work, that puts more workers into the economy, more productivity and that drives prices down, not up.”

Schumer has been closely negotiating with Manchin on a pared-down bill, and has signaled progress in recent weeks on proposals ranging from prescription drug cost reform, shoring up Medicare’s solvency, as well as raising taxes on some high-income individuals. 

Manchin seemed to express optimism about the possibility of reaching a deal on drug prices and Medicare, but said of additional items, “I don’t know, but I am very, very cautious.” 

He has also said he wants any bill Democrats aim to pass by budget reconciliation, which allows the party to approve legislation in a 50-50 Senate without GOP support, to also reduce the deficit, telling reporters that “deficit reduction is going to be 50 percent.”

Republicans have been quick to push back against Democratic claims that a reconciliation package could help curb soaring inflation. 

“​​Anytime you’re spending more money, you’re creating more demand and that causes prices to go up,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said. “So, if they come up with a bill that spends more money, it’s going to be inflationary.”

“If they’re going to raise taxes on small business, they’re going to make it harder for small business to provide the products that people want and therefore that causes prices to go up,” he added.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) also cited the latest inflation data to knock the Democratic-led reconciliation effort, saying: “It’s not a great time to be spending a lot more money and raising taxes.”

Cornyn also told The Hill he’d spoken to Manchin on Tuesday, and said, “It sounds to me like there’s no real agreement,” noting that a deal has supposedly been in the works for more than a year. “So, I just don’t know how to assess how serious the reconciliation threat really is.”

GOP leadership is seeking to tank the tax and spending bill by threatening to pull support from a separate bipartisan China competition bill.

Schumer has set sights on passing a reconciliation bill in the coming weeks, as Democrats stare down what election forecasters expect to be a tough midterm cycle. Congress is also closing in on an end-of-September government funding deadline, and the Senate has yet to unveil any of its annual appropriations bills.

And while many Democrats are prepared to accept a much narrower reconciliation bill than what passed the House last year, there is still an appetite for tackling additional party priorities, including childcare, in the same vehicle.

At the same time, Congress is coming under pressure to help the Federal Reserve fight soaring inflation rates, particularly rising costs across food and energy sectors.

Marc Goldwein, senior vice president and senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said reports signaling Democrats are progressing toward a reconciliation bill that could reduce the deficit and provide prescription drug cost reform wouldn’t “solve inflation,” but called it “a positive for inflation.”

“The main job for fighting inflation is the Federal Reserve, and they’re raising interest rates. But fiscal policy should be making their job easier, especially if you want to avoid a recession,” Goldwein said in an interview Wednesday. 

“There’s a lot of things we could do on a bipartisan basis to fight inflation, but I don’t think, for example, that the tax increases and the drug pricing are necessarily going to fall there, and they’re gonna take a lot longer,” he said.

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Energy & Environment — Dems push for climate deal, but Manchin skeptical

Congressional Democrats are pushing for a deal on climate spending before the August recess, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland defends the administration’s actions on leasing and Texans are asked to conserve energy — again. 

This is Overnight Energy & Environment, your source for the latest news focused on energy, the environment and beyond. For The Hill, we’re Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk. Someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Inflation a hurdle as Dems target climate agreement

Democrats are scrambling to salvage an agreement on climate change through reconciliation, as Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) raises renewed concerns about their spending package broadly. 

The Democrats push after a few weeks away from Washington comes as their time for a deal runs short. They said this week that they’re working to sell Manchin on a slate of clean energy tax credits and a fee on methane emissions.

But, a new report Wednesday on inflation throws their efforts into question. 

For months, lawmakers have been negotiating a package that would seek to limit climate-warming emissions, lower prescription drug costs and raise taxes on high-income individuals.  

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.) told reporters on Tuesday that he is still working with Manchin on a program aimed at cutting methane emissions from the oil and gas sector.  

He said that the two sides had reached a “pretty good agreement” a few months ago, and added, “We’re looking at it now, tweaking it a little bit.”

Carper said Tuesday that he was feeling “encouraged” and believed that a deal can be reached. 

• Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported early Wednesday that the White House is considering another approach to secure Manchin’s support: approving fossil fuel projects.
• The Post reported that the Biden administration is considering approving more drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and a massive project in Alaska — as well as a pipeline that runs through West Virginia.

Inflation throws a wrench: After a new report showed that annual inflation hit 9.1 percent in June, Manchin pumped the brakes on negotiations, saying that the bill  “needs to be scrubbed much better”

Manchin told reporters Wednesday he’s not sure if he can agree to anything beyond the prescription drug reform component of the bill, which has already been sent to the Senate parliamentarian’s office and has the support of all 50 members of the Democratic caucus.  

• “We know what we can pass is basically the drug pricing, OK, on Medicare,” he told reporters. “Is there any more we can do? I don’t know, but I am very, very cautious.”
• “And I’m going to make sure that I have every input on scrubbing everything humanly possible that could be considered inflammatory,” he said.

Read more about the Democrats’ efforts here and more about Manchin’s comments here.

Haaland defends Interior, cites unused leases

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland defended the Biden administration’s progress on federal fossil fuel leasing at a hearing Wednesday of the Senate Appropriations Committee, emphasizing the industry’s unused leases on federal lands.  

Questioning Haaland, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) invoked the recent five-year leasing proposal issued by the Interior Department, asking about the likelihood that the administration would hold zero lease sales, which the plan identifies as an option.  

Haaland did not offer an estimate, only saying the department would factor in public feedback received in the 90-day public comment period and pledging a “balanced approach.”   

• What about offshore drilling? Responding to a follow-up question from Hyde-Smith about offshore drilling, Haaland responded, “There are about 9,000 approved drilling permits across the country currently that are not being used, 10.4 million acres of offshore federal waters already under lease.”
• “I know there’s a lot that goes into considerations with the price of fuel but I want to assure you that at the Department of Interior, we’re doing our jobs and following the law to move any of these issues forward,” she added.   

In January 2021, President Biden signed an executive order temporarily pausing new oil and gas leasing on federal lands.

Today’s high gas prices are due to a number of factors, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and production that has struggled to keep pace with the demand, but the administration has frequently cited the number of unused leases as a counter to criticism of its energy policies.  

Read more about the questioning here.

Texans get second power conservation request

The Lone Star State’s grid operator asked Texans to voluntarily conserve electricity Wednesday during a major heat wave, just two days after issuing a similar warning for Monday. 

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) issued a “conservation appeal” asking customers to reduce their electricity use from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. 

Monday’s appeal cited “record high electric demand” and low wind to power turbines.

Wednesday’s appeal adds two new issues: cloud cover reducing solar power in West Texas and a number of forced thermal power outages that “exceeds ERCOT forecasts.” 

ERCOT said that Texans complying with Monday’s ask — by turning down thermostats and refraining from running major appliances — reduced energy use by 500 megawatts.  

The state’s struggle with its power grid has been a pillar of Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke’s campaign against Gov. Greg Abbott (R). 

Read more from The Hill’s Julia Mueller.

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Dangerous heatwaves engulf parts of China, US and Europe (The Guardian) 
• EU top court backs operator of shelved Nord Stream 2 pipeline (Reuters) 
• Republicans threaten Wall Street over climate positions (The Washington Post) 
• Meet EPA’s team behind the next power plant rule (E&E News)

And finally, something offbeat and off-beat: Good for her. 

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s Energy & Environment page for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.

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Spectrum auction authority must be extended

One of the federal government’s most successful policies has been the auction of spectrum. Since 1994, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has held 111 auctions that have generated more than $258 billion in net proceeds for the U.S. Treasury. The spectrum made available through these auctions has been critical to the $1.9 trillion that the private sector has invested in broadband since the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, with the wireless industry alone cumulatively investing more than $600 billion.    

Some spectrum auction proceeds have been used to fund special projects like FirstNet, which was created in 2012 to operate and improve the nation’s first secure and interoperable wireless public safety broadband network. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has recommended that some future auction proceeds should be used to help pay for Next-Generation 911 services, which support 911 call centers across the country with voice, text, data and video communications. 

But unless Congress acts, the FCC’s authority to auction spectrum will expire on Sept. 30, 2022. The first step to reauthorize this authority occurred on June 15, 2022, when the House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee reported three bills favorably to the full committee. The bills would extend the current auction authority to March 31, 2024, increase the frequencies available in the 3.1-3.45 GHz band, and facilitate the sharing of spectrum between federal and non-federal entities. The committee should move quickly to get these bills to the floor and over to the Senate, as the House has only 26 legislative days and the Senate has only 47 legislative days left until the November elections. 

Once the FCC’s authority is reauthorized, the allocation of spectrum must continue to be balanced between licensed and unlicensed use. The deployment of 5G through licensed spectrum (noting that 6G is already in development) offers faster transmission speeds with lower latency or delays from point to point. This use of spectrum enhances educational opportunities, telemedicine, and automotive safety, among many other benefits, while providing increased cybersecurity and data protection capabilities. Transmission of 5G spectrum by small cells requires more spectrum than cell towers or similar points of transmission, and while 5G technology uses low-band, mid-band, and millimeter wave high-band spectrum, increasing the availability of mid-band spectrum for 5G is important for the U.S. to maintain it global leadership status. 

Unlicensed spectrum provides the bridge to connect many devices to the new 5G networks that allow for increased connectivity using either Wi-Fi or Bluetooth technologies. A January 2022 Consumer Technology Association report estimated that the economic value of Wi-Fi and other unlicensed devices is $98.5 billion annually just from the sale of new devices. These devices include wearable health monitoring devices, home security systems, and devices that monitor and adjust lighting, heating, and cooling, with many others under development.   

A Feb. 22, 2022, GSMA Intelligence report cited the socio-economic benefits of creating more 5G networks across the country for education, health care, manufacturing, and public administration. The report noted that 5G technology is expected to increase the global gross domestic product by $960 billion by 2030, with mid-band spectrum producing almost 65 percent of overall socio-economic value through 5G. Unless more mid-band spectrum is allocated, up to 40 percent of those expected benefits will be lost.  

Combining both unlicensed spectrum devices with licensed spectrum for 5G deployment will enable the U.S. to remain the global leader in telecommunications. This requires a smart, forward-thinking spectrum policy.  

It also requires the elimination of federal agency barriers to deploying next generation technology, like the Department of Transportation tried to do with both the c-band spectrum and the 5.9 GHz spectrum band. On Feb. 15, 2022, the FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced the creation of the Spectrum Coordination Initiative. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two agencies is the start of a process of coordinating and evaluating federal spectrum allocations that is long overdue. The FCC and NTIA should encourage other agencies to join the MOU to ensure that the federal government does not impede the release of sufficient spectrum for future technological advances like 6G wireless technology and Wi-Fi 6.0.   

To achieve the socio-economic benefits that 5G and other new technologies will bring, the FCC must be enabled to create a balanced spectrum pipeline that meets the needs of both licensed and unlicensed spectrum. The first step is for Congress to quickly pass legislation to reauthorize the FCC’s auction authority before it expires on Sept. 30, 2022. 

Deborah Collier is Citizens Against Government Waste Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs. 

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Trump, DeSantis both would beat Biden in Nevada: poll

Both former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) would beat President Biden among Nevada voters in hypothetical matchups, according to a KLAS TV/The Hill/Emerson College poll released on Wednesday.

When respondents were asked who they would vote for between Biden and Trump if the presidential election were held today, 43 percent said Trump while 40 percent said Biden, the poll found. Roughly 13 percent said they would vote for someone else.

When respondents were asked the same question with regards to DeSantis and Biden, the Florida governor received around 43 percent while Biden received 38 percent. Roughly 11 percent said they would vote for someone else.

“A demographic Biden is struggling with are Hispanic voters: in potential general election matchups Trump leads Biden 45% to 37% and DeSantis leads Biden 38% to 34% among [Hispanic] voters in Nevada,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said in a statement.

Biden continues to suffer lagging approval ratings, but recent polling also suggests that an overwhelming majority of Democrats would like to see someone besides Biden run in 2024 despite the fact that the White House has maintained that the president will run again.

A New York Times/Siena College poll out on Monday found that 64 percent of Democratic primary voters polled would like the party to nominate someone other than Biden as the party’s 2024 presidential candidate.

The New York Times/Siena College poll also shows that close to half of Republican primary voters would like to see someone other than Trump run in 2024.

RootsAction, a progressive grassroots group that has previously supported presidential bids in 2016 and 2020 by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), announced yesterday that would be launching efforts to stop another Biden presidential bid.

The KLAS TV/The Hill/Emerson College poll was conducted between July 7 and July 10 with 2,000 registered voters surveyed. The credibility interval of 2.1 percentage points. 

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Cortez Masto, Sisolak lead GOP rivals in Nevada: poll

Nevada Democratic incumbents Gov. Steve Sisolak and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto lead their Republican challengers, according to a KLAS TV/The Hill/Emerson College poll released Wednesday. 

Forty-four percent of Nevada voters said they plan to support Cortez Masto, while 41 percent said they planned to support Republican Senate nominee and former Attorney General Adam Laxalt. Nine percent said they were undecided and six percent said they planned on supporting someone else. 

The poll also found Cortez Masto polling favorably with the state’s Hispanic population, which is a powerful voting bloc in Nevada. 

“Cortez Masto holds the support of minority voters in Nevada: 61% of Asian voters, 51% of Black voters, and 46% of Hispanic voters support Cortez Masto while Laxalt holds the plurality of support among White voters at 46%,” said Spencer Kimball, the executive director of Emerson College polling. 

Meanwhile, in the governor’s race, Sisolak leads his GOP rival Joe Lombardo 44 percent to 40 percent. Nine percent said they plan to vote for another candidate and seven percent said they were undecided. 

Nevada is becoming one of the most closely watched midterm states. The non-partisan Cook Political Report rates its Senate and gubernatorial races, along with its first, third, and fourth congressional district races, as “toss-ups.”

While many of the Democrats have an incumbency advantage in the race, Republicans stand to benefit from Biden’s poor approval ratings in the state. According to the poll, only 33 percent of voters say they approve of the job the president is doing. Fifty-seven percent say they disapprove.

However, the poll also shows Sisolak appearing to outperform Biden in the state. Forty percent said they approved of the job the governor was doing, while 48 percent said they disapproved.

The KLAS TV/The Hill/Emerson College poll was conducted July 7-10, 2022, among 2,000 registered voters in Nevada. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 2.1 percentage points. 

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WSJ editorial board adds editor's note over abortion story it called 'fanciful'

The Wall Street Journal added an editor’s note on Wednesday to its recent editorial that had cast doubt on the story of a 10-year-old Ohio girl crossing state lines for an abortion after being raped.

The Journal’s editorial, which called the abortion story a “fanciful” tale and an “unlikely story” after it was cited by President Biden, was updated on Wednesday afternoon after the The Columbus Dispatch confirmed an arrest in the case earlier in the day.

“The Columbus Dispatch reported Wednesday, a day after this editorial was published, that a Columbus, Ohio, man has been charged with the rape of a 10-year-old Ohio girl who traveled to Indiana for an abortion,” the editor’s note reads.

“The Dispatch reports that Columbus police were made aware of the pregnancy through a referral to local child services by the girl’s mother on June 22, though no public confirmation of the referral or arrest was reported until the Dispatch story on July 13.”

The original editorial did not definitively say the story was false but questioned its authenticity, saying “all kinds of fanciful tales travel far on social media.”

The piece instead suggested a different theory, writing that the obstetrician-gynecologist who relayed the girl’s case to the Indianapolis Star, which first reported the story on July 1, had a “long history of abortion activism in the media.”

“What we seem to have here is a presidential seal of approval on an unlikely story from a biased source that neatly fits the progressive narrative but can’t be confirmed,” the editorial read.

The Journal’s editorial board also cited Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R), who told Fox News’ Jesse Watters that his office hadn’t heard “a whisper” of a report being filed for such a young victim, despite regular contact with prosecutors, police and sheriffs in the state.

Columbus police became aware of the case 19 days before Yost’s appearance but did not make an arrest until the day after the interview, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

“My heart aches for the pain suffered by this young child,” Yost said in a statement on Wednesday.

Many Democrats have latched onto the story in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Vice President Harris mentioned the case during a roundtable discussion with state legislators on abortion on Friday, hours after Biden had referenced the story when signing an executive order aimed at protecting abortion access.

“Ten years old,” Biden said. “Raped, six weeks pregnant. Already traumatized. Was forced to travel to another state. Imagine being that little girl.”

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Senate confirms Michael Barr as top Fed bank watchdog

The Senate confirmed President Biden’s pick for a key Federal Reserve position on Wednesday with broad bipartisan support, giving the central bank a full board of seven governors for the first time since 2013.

The Senate approved Michael Barr to be a member of the Fed board and the Fed vice chair of supervision, with more than a dozen Republicans joining Democrats in support of the nomination. 

Barr was confirmed to finish out the remainder of a term on the Fed board lasting through 2032 and a four-year term as the Fed’s pointman on financial regulations in two separate votes Wednesday, each ending 66-28.

“Today’s confirmation of Michael Barr as Vice Chair for Supervision of the Federal Reserve is important progress for my plan to tackle inflation and for sound oversight as we transition to steady and stable growth,” Biden said in a statement.

Barr will join the Fed from the University of Michigan, where he served as a dean of public policy and a law professor. He was also an assistant Treasury secretary during the Obama administration and played a key role in crafting the Dodd-Frank Act, the 2010 financial reform law that created the position of Fed vice chair of supervision.

Biden was expected to nominate Barr in early 2021 to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), an independent bank regulator with less influence over the economy and broader financial system than the Fed. But progressive Democratic senators quashed Barr’s potential nomination over concerns about his role in the Obama administration’s housing crisis relief efforts.

Barr succeeds former Fed Vice Chair of Supervision Randal Quarles, who was nominated and confirmed to the position in 2017 under former President Trump. Quarles left the Fed in December after his term as vice chair of supervision lapsed in October.

As vice chair of supervision, Barr will be responsible for overseeing the Fed’s regulation of major banks operating in the U.S., including the stress tests conducted under Dodd-Frank for banks deemed “too big to fail.” He will also play a critical role in the Fed’s approach to cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, which the central bank sees as both innovations as serious risks to financial stability.

Barr additionally will join the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the panel of Fed officials responsible for setting interest rates and other monetary policy tools, through his role as a member of the Fed board of governors. The FOMC includes the Fed board, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and a rotation of voting and non-voting presidents of other Fed regional reserve banks.

Barr is Biden’s third addition to the Fed’s board of governors following the Senate’s confirmation of Fed Governors Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson in May.

The Senate also confirmed Fed Chair Jerome Powell for another four-year term leading the Fed and Vice Chair Lael Brainard as the Fed’s No. 2 on Biden’s appointment earlier this year.

Barr was not Biden’s first pick for the position. The president initially nominated former Fed Governor and deputy Treasury Secretary Sarah Bloom Raskin to serve as vice chair of supervision, but she withdrew her nomination after a blockade led by Senate Republicans and opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.)

“Professor Barr is well-qualified to serve as the Fed’s Vice Chair for Supervision based on his prior government service and distinguished career focused on financial services and regulation. While I disagree with Professor Barr on a number of policy issues, he has pledged to fight the record high inflation that’s hurting American families,” Sen. Pat Toomey (Pa.), ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, said in a Wednesday statement.

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Health Care — HHS: Don't refuse contraception, abortion meds

The biggest supermoon of this year will be rising tonight — the “Buck Supermoon” — so not only will the night sky be shinier, but the moon will also be ever so slightly closer to us. 

In health news, the Biden administration is reminding pharmacists they can’t refuse to fill prescriptions for contraception or abortion medications.  

Welcome to Overnight Health Care, where we’re following the latest moves on policy and news affecting your health. For The Hill, we’re Peter Sullivan, Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi. Someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Feds tell pharmacists to provide prescribed meds

The Biden administration on Wednesday said retail pharmacies and pharmacists must provide patients with the medication they were legally prescribed even if it could be used in an abortion. 

The guidance to about 60,000 retail pharmacies from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) comes amid reports of pharmacists turning away women seeking abortion medication, or even medication used primarily to treat other ailments but that can cause abortions. 

“The Department is committed to improving maternal health—including for individuals who experience miscarriages—and vigorous enforcement of our civil rights laws is one way in which we plan to do so,” the guidance stated. 

• This can include mifepristone, used in combination with misoprostol, to assist with a first-trimester miscarriage. Those drugs are also used in medication abortion, which is now illegal in some states.  
• Pharmacists must dispense methotrexate, a common drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis or other autoimmune conditions. The drug is also used
  off-label to end ectopic pregnancies, causing it to be restricted in some states.  

Guidance only: HHS is reminding pharmacists of existing law; they’re not making any new policy, only interpreting what’s already on the books. But as states move to outlaw and restrict abortion, federal and state laws will diverge, and the result will likely be determined on a case-by-case basis. 

Read more here.

BA.5 ups concerns about spread, hospitalizations

Concerns are rising over a new omicron subvariant that is even more highly transmissible, called BA.5. The new subvariant has risen to be a majority of COVID-19 cases in the United States and is sparking concern about an increase in hospitalizations.    

The White House held a press briefing with its top health experts on Tuesday to address the rise of the subvariant and urged people to get booster shots if they have not yet.    

What’s new about it? BA.5 causes concern because of its increased contagiousness and because of its greater ability to evade the protection from vaccines and prior infection.    

Importantly, though, the vaccines still provide crucial protection against severe disease and death, especially for people who have received their booster shots. 

The trends so far: 

• Hospitalizations are already increasing amid the rise of BA.5, to around 37,000, according to a New York Times tracker, though are still relatively low compared to other points in the pandemic.  
• Deaths and intensive care unit stays have stayed largely flat so far despite high levels of cases, which experts attribute to the protection of vaccines and treatments. 

Read more here.

WHO: DON’T ACT LIKE THE PANDEMIC IS ENDING

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) director-general this week issued a word of caution to countries and people who have ceased practicing COVID-19 safety measures, saying the pandemic is far from over. 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday expressed his concerns that the international response to the coronavirus pandemic was now lagging, pointing to an observed reduction in virus surveillance and the mismanaged deployment of vaccines and treatments. 

“The virus is running freely and countries are not effectively managing the disease burden based on their capacity, in terms of both hospitalization for acute cases and the expanding number of people with post COVID-19 condition — often referred to as long COVID,” Tedros said. 

The WHO leader noted how the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants — now dominant in many countries, including the U.S. — have recently driven waves of hospitalizations and deaths globally. 

“New waves of the virus demonstrate again that the COVID-19 is nowhere near over,” Tedros said. 

Read more here.

MONKEYPOX VACCINE APPOINTMENT WEBSITE CRASHES IN NYC

New York City’s monkeypox vaccine appointment website crashed on Tuesday “due to overwhelming traffic,” the city announced as the nation sees an uptick in cases. 

• “All available monkeypox vaccine appointment slots have been booked. Due to overwhelming traffic, as soon as appointments went online this afternoon, the site delivered error messages for many people who were unable to make appointments,” the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene tweeted on Tuesday afternoon. 
• The city said that it would alert residents when more appointments could be scheduled and noted that the technical difficulties experienced on their website “is just further proof that demand is very high.” 

Earlier this week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) wrote a letter to
President Biden asking that the interval between vaccine doses for monkeypox be lengthened so more people could immediately receive their first dose. 

CDC data as of Tuesday afternoon shows that there are 929 monkeypox cases nationwide. 

Read more here.

FDA authorizes COVID vaccine from Novavax

The Food and Drug Administration authorized Novavax’s COVID-19 shot for emergency use on Wednesday, adding a fourth vaccine to the U.S. arsenal. 

The agency cleared the vaccine for adults aged 18 and older. The shot will be administered as a two-dose primary series, three weeks apart. 

• Novavax’s vaccine could appeal to people who have been reluctant to receive one of the mRNA vaccines, as the protein-based shot was manufactured using a fundamentally different process.
• But about 77 percent of adults have already received two doses of an mRNA shot, so the potential market is small. 

Novavax’s shot “provides another alternative for adults and adds another vaccine to the COVID-19 vaccine supply for the United States. The American public can trust that this vaccine, like all vaccines that are used in the United States, has undergone the FDA’s rigorous and comprehensive scientific and regulatory review,” said Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s vaccine division. 

Once the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signs off, vaccination can begin. The agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is scheduled to meet on July 19. 

Read more here.

WHAT WE’RE READING

• In a post-Roe world, the future of digital privacy looks even grimmer (The New York Times) 
• COVID-19 reinfections may be common—but they’re not harmless (Time) 
• Officials urge Americans over 50 to get Covid-19 booster right away, but younger adults have to wait (CNN)

STATE BY STATE

• A New Mexico clinic that offers abortions later in pregnancy braces for more patients (NPR) 
• Why Planned Parenthood wants ‘medical emergency’ defined in Missouri’s abortion ban (KTVI) 
• Georgia lawmakers demand UGA end support for pregnancy crisis center map (The Current)

OP-EDS IN THE HILL

• The domino effect of overturning Roe goes well beyond abortion 
• Opioids and the Supreme Court’s understated opinions 
• With abortion access limited, protecting Title X is critical

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s Health Care page for the latest news and coverage. See you tomorrow.

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NotedDC — Democrats face economic messaging crisis

Democrats are poised to deal with an even bigger obstacle in touting a strong labor market and recently dropping gas prices following the report that annual inflation hit its highest rate since 1981.

A 9.1 percent increase over the past 12 months is not welcome news to Democrats who are trying to fend off attacks from Republicans about rising daily costs, especially when voters consistently rank inflation as a No. 1 or 2 priority issue in polls. 

Some party strategists are worried that the high rate is all voters will see — marking almost all the headlines Wednesday morning — despite some good news about a July decline in gas prices and signs of supply chain issues easing.

“The problem right now for Democrats is that Americans feel like things are getting worse,” Democratic strategist Matt McDermott told NotedDC. “They’re communicating against a tsunami wave.” 

As our colleague Sylvan Lane noted, the White House is pushing back on the inflation report and calling it outdated since it doesn’t reflect the full impact of the past 30 days.

“Until we have better inflation data, it’s going to be hard for the best message guru in the world to figure out how to handle this,” Jason Furman, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama White House, told us.

Welcome to NotedDC: Your guide to politics, policy & people of consequence in D.C.

In today’s issue: We’ll look at how inflation is impacting Democrats’ last-ditch push for a reconciliation bill, and how the White House is treating the new COVID-19 variant.

Plus: What are the best jobs in government?

Inflation threatens Build Back Better revival

As if Democrats aren’t already having enough trouble corralling Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to revive the stalled budget package, the latest inflation report is further threatening their efforts.

“No matter what spending aspirations some in Congress may have, it is clear to anyone who visits a grocery store or a gas station that we cannot add any more fuel to this inflation fire,” Manchin said Wednesday.  

It’s a dangerous threat for Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), leading the negotiations with Manchin on a slimmed-down version of the “Build Back Better” bill, since the only provision they’ve agreed on so far is the prescription drug pricing reforms. 

Everything but the kitchen sink is still on the table: Tax credits for electric vehicles, money to subsidize the cost of the Affordable Care Act and funds for renewable energy. 

“Getting a reconciliation bill done is now more important than ever,” Democratic strategist Doug Gordon told NotedDC. “Show voters in this moment of economic pain you want to make the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share.” 

If Manchin has his way, at least half of the revenue raised by the tax hikes in the bill would go toward reducing the federal deficit. But on Wednesday, he signaled he is now wary on tax reform measures.

“I’m going to make sure that I have every input on scrubbing everything humanly possible that could be considered inflammatory,” he told reporters. 

Not only would this risk killing the bill for good since Democrats aren’t guaranteed a majority in the House or Senate in the new year, but strategists said it would sink the possibility of a solution to inflation when Democrats need it the most. 

“It’d be really unfortunate if the best thing Congress could do to lower inflation ended up not happening because there is inflation,” Furman said. 

Read more from our colleague Alex Bolton.

THE HILL’S EXCLUSIVE WITH SEN. PAT TOOMEY

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who is leaving Congress after this year, spoke about a retirement savings bill at The Hill’s Securing America’s Retirement event on Wednesday.

• “For most Americans, their wealth is tied up in their home, which that’s not something you trade,” Toomey told contributing editor Steven Clemons about the Retirement Savings Modernization Act.
• “But the other big category is retirement savings … for me this is just a really, really important part of allowing ordinary Americans to have a better life and a comfortable retirement,” he said.

The bill would encourage the diversification of the average American’s investment portfolio. Toomey is attempting to find a Democratic co-sponsor to introduce the bill before he ends his term in January after more than a decade serving in the Senate.

Read more about the bill from Paige Kupas.

White House shakes off new variant

COVID-19 cases are on the rise again, but the White House is pressing ahead with public events, even as public health officials warn that the pandemic is far from over.

President Biden hosted the first White House Congressional Picnic since the start of the pandemic on Tuesday night, snapping selfies and shaking hands with members of Congress and their families hours before jetting off to Israel for his Middle East trip.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Wednesday that Biden would try to “minimize” physical contact while on his trip overseas.

The question over whether the White House is changing its policies or schedule comes after it expressed concern over the high transmissibility of the virus on Tuesday, urging people to get booster shots if they haven’t already.  

Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious diseases expert, suggested people shouldn’t “let it disrupt our lives” but urged individuals to take it seriously, saying it is a “reality that we need to deal with.”

Read more from The Hill’s Morgan Chalfant.

Biden makes first trip to Israel as president

WHEN PRESIDENT BIDEN walked off Air Force One in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, instead of shaking the hands of the politicians who were greeting him, he was doling out fist bumps.

• The move set off speculation that Biden is setting up a chance to avoid shaking the hand of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman when he meets him later this week.
• White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed such speculation, telling reporters: “There are precautions that we are taking because this is up to his doctor.” 

Coming up: Biden will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday. After that meeting, the president will take part in the first leaders meeting of the “I2U2” group with the leaders of Israel, India and the United Arab Emirates. 

TV time: Biden pre-taped an interview at the White House before heading out that will air on Israel’s Channel 12. 

Next stop: Biden will travel to Saudi Arabia on Friday, landing in Jeddah to meet with King Salman and the crown prince.

Read more: Biden’s Saudi trip sparks backlash at home

PROGRESSIVES TAKE STAND AGAINST BIDEN’S SAUDI TRIP

Some House Democrats are voicing their disappointment with Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia, scheduling a vote on constraining arms sales to the nation. 

• The amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act — driven by progressives — would temporarily limit the sales of weapons to the Saudis.
• It would also require reports related to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and require the U.S. to develop guidance for investigating indications that its weapons were used in Yemen.  

What’s underscoring this: As we reported, Biden is receiving backlash for meeting with the Saudis after he promised during his White House campaign to make it a “pariah” state, or an international outcast, over the murder of Khashoggi in 2018.

“Justice is still waiting,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who represents the district Khashoggi lived in, told our colleague Jordan Williams. “And to me, that means you suspend normal relations with a country whose leader did that.” 

And via our colleagues Hanna Trudo and Alex Gangitano, this is just one of the many divides present between Biden and progressive activists ahead of the midterms.  

Keep reading: “On the outside, progressives are getting louder and louder as they grow increasingly tired of seeing the president’s campaign promises be cut down to size, only to have the midterms fall further out of their grasp.”

The best jobs in government

The results of the 2021 “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government” survey, conducted by the Partnership for Public Service and the Boston Consulting Group, were released Wednesday. 

In the top five: 

• NASA  
• Department of Health and Human Services 
• Department of Commerce 
• Intelligence Community 
• Department of Veterans Affairs 

….and in the bottom five: 

• Department of State
• Department of Agriculture
• Social Security Administration
• Department of Justice
• Department of Homeland Security

WASHINGTON MOVES

The Hill’s Karl Evers-Hillstrom has a weekly roundup of where people are moving in the lobbying world (and you can send us your professional updates, too!). Here are some highlights: 

• Former Sen. Mo Cowan (D-Mass.) joined startup accelerator MassChallenge as chairman of the board
• Lindsay Kryzak and Caitlin Canter are headed to Subject Matter as senior vice president of policy communications and lobbyist, respectively. 
• Laurie Rubiner joined Kelley Drye & Warren LLP as a member of the firm’s government relations and public policy practice, leaving her role as special counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee 
• Andrew Lock will head Monument Advocacy’s government relations practice, departing the House Homeland Security Committee

One last thing: Bolton defends ‘coup’ comments

John Bolton, ex-national security adviser to former President Trump, defended his comments about helping plan coups in other countries after he sparked a flurry of media attention this week.

“There are a lot of snowflakes out there that don’t understand what you need to do to protect the United States,” Bolton said on Wednesday while appearing on Newsmax. 

The initial quote: “As somebody who has helped plan coup d’état, not here but other places, it takes a lot of work …”

Have some news, juicy gossip, insight or other insider info? Send us tips: Elizabeth Crisp and Kelsey Carolan. And encourage friends to sign up here: thehill.com/noted.

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