WHAT'S BREWING
SENATE STARTS LONG WEEKEND WITH NO DEAL IN SIGHT Senators left town Thursday with nothing to show for days of negotiations between Democrats and Trump administration officials on another round of coronavirus pandemic relief. “We might not get a deal,” Senate Appropriations Chair Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) told reporters. “We’re at an impasse right now.” The Senate is technically still in session and members have been told to be ready to return to the Capitol next week, when they were supposed to begin their August recess, in case there’s a last-minute breakthrough. [AP]
DEMOCRATS CALL ON U.S. POSTMASTER TO REVERSE COST-CUTTING MOVES Democratic leaders are urging the U.S. postmaster general to reverse changes in the agency’s operations as mail delivery has suffered delays during the coronavirus pandemic and as millions of Americans are expected to vote by mail in the fall election. In a letter to Postmaster Louis DeJoy, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer note that DeJoy confirmed changes in operations since he was appointed to the job in May. [HuffPost]
UPDATED FORECAST WARNS OF 'EXTREMELY ACTIVE' HURRICANE SEASON Federal forecasters updated their outlook for the ongoing Atlantic hurricane season, predicting an “extremely active” period as the nation continues to struggle with the coronavirus pandemic. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is now forecasting between 19 and 25 named storms, seven to 11 hurricanes, and three to six major hurricanes of Category 3 or stronger. The adjusted outlook is worse than NOAA’s May prediction of an “above-normal” season with 13 to 19 named storms, six to 10 hurricanes, and three to six major hurricanes. [HuffPost]
OHIO GOV. TESTS NEGATIVE FOR COVID-19 HOURS AFTER TESTING POSITIVE The office of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he took a second coronavirus test that came back negative, just hours after his office said the governor had tested positive for COVID-19. DeWine, 73, initially tested positive just ahead of a planned meeting with Trump, adding he was experiencing no symptoms but would quarantine at home for 14 days. His office said that while that test was part of the protocol the White House has instituted in order to meet with the president, it was a rapid-result antigen test rather than a more sensitive PCR test. [HuffPost]
CHILDREN WILL BEAR THE BRUNT OF A LOOMING EVICTION CRISIS Mikaela Johnson has a vague notion of a home she’d like to live in with her mother and her younger brother and sister. “A four-bedroom house,” she said. “A backyard for sure. Maybe a house that has no mold, no pests, no cracks, no floor that sinks.” She paused. “Maybe I’m asking for too much.” Mikaela, 14, is one of hundreds of schoolchildren in the Kansas City region who live on the brink of homelessness. “We think there’s going to be a wave of evictions if Congress doesn’t act on another relief package," says Mike Koprowski, national campaign director for the National Low Income Housing Coalition. [HuffPost]
REALITY WINNER'S MOM SAYS DAUGHTER GOT COVID-19 WHILE CONVICTED TRUMP AIDES WENT FREE Reality Winner’s mom is blasting the fact that felons who worked for Trump are free while her daughter is still behind bars and caught COVID-19 last month. Winner, 29, was sentenced in 2018 to five years in federal prison for leaking a classified National Security Agency document to the media that exposed Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The former U.S. Air Force linguist and intelligence specialist who worked as an NSA contractor was denied compassionate release from a Texas medical prison in April. [HuffPost] | 
