First Edition: June 26, 2020

Kaiser Health News: Lost On The Frontline 
America’s health care workers are dying. In some states, medical personnel account for as many as 20% of known coronavirus cases. They tend to patients in hospitals, treating them, serving them food and cleaning their rooms. Others at risk work in nursing homes or are employed as home health aides.“Lost on the Frontline,” a collaboration between KHN and The Guardian, has identified 697 such workers who likely died of COVID-19 after helping patients during the pandemic. (6/26)

Kaiser Health News: Sweeps Of Homeless Camps Run Counter To COVID Guidance And Pile On Health Risks
Melody Lewis lives like a nomad in the heart of downtown.Poking her head out of her green tent on a recent June day, the 57-year-old pointed a few blocks away to the place where city crews picked up her tent from a sidewalk median earlier this spring and replaced it with landscaping rocks, fencing and signs warning trespassers to keep out. (Rodgers, 6/26)

Kaiser Health News: Seniors In Low-Income Housing Live In Fear Of COVID Infection 
Davetta Brooks, 75, who has heart failure, a fractured hip and macular degeneration, is afraid. Conditions in her low-income senior building on Chicago’s Near West Side — the Congressman George W. Collins Apartments — are “deplorable,” she said. Residents are not wearing masks or gloves to guard against the coronavirus, she said: “They’re touching everything on the elevator, in the laundry room. And anybody and everybody’s relatives and friends are coming in and out with no scrutiny.” (Graham, 6/26)

Kaiser Health News: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: The Pandemic Shifts; The Politics, Not So Much
President Donald Trump caused a stir when he said at his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last weekend that he wanted less testing for COVID-19. While aides denied that, it didn’t help when on Wednesday the administration announced it would cut off federal funding for a number of state testing sites, including several in Texas, which is in the midst of a large spike in cases. (6/26)

Kaiser Health News: Packed Bars Serve Up New Rounds Of COVID Contagion 
As states ease their lockdowns, bars are emerging as fertile breeding grounds for the coronavirus. They create a risky cocktail of tight quarters, young adults unbowed by the fear of illness and, in some instances, proprietors who don’t enforce crowd limits and social distancing rules. Public health authorities have identified bars as the locus of outbreaks in Louisiana, Florida, Wyoming and Idaho. Last weekend, the Texas alcohol licensing board suspended the liquor licenses of 17 bars after undercover agents observed crowds flouting emergency rules that required patrons to keep a safe distance from one another and limit tavern occupancy. (Rau and Lawrence, 6/25)

Kaiser Health News: Watch: Fauci, Other Health Officials Weigh California’s COVID Response 
Samantha Young, California Healthline’s California politics correspondent, helped moderate a discussion hosted by the Sacramento Press Club about California’s response to the coronavirus crisis. The discussion touched on the reopening of the economy, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order requiring Californians to wear face coverings and whether hospitals are ready to handle a surge in cases as infections continue to rise statewide. (6/25)

The Washington Post: CDC Chief Says Coronavirus Cases May Be 10 Times Higher Than Reported 
The number of people in the United States who have been infected with the coronavirus is likely to be 10 times as high as the 2.4 million confirmed cases, based on antibody tests, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. CDC Director Robert Redfield’s estimate, shared with reporters in a conference call, indicates that at least 24 million Americans have been infected so far. (Sun and Achenbach, 6/25)

Reuters: Coronavirus May Have Infected 10 Times More Americans Than Reported, CDC Says 
If true, the estimate would suggest the percentage of U.S. deaths from the disease is lower than thought. More than 120,000 Americans have died from the disease since the pandemic erupted earlier this year. The estimate comes as government officials note that many new cases are showing up in young people who do not exhibit symptoms and may not know they have it. (Holland, 6/25)

Politico: CDC Chief: Covid-19 Infections Could Be 10 Times Higher Than Confirmed Cases 
[Redfield] added that with cases spiking across the country, Americans should continue social distancing and wearing face coverings. He particularly singled out younger people, under the age of 50, who have accounted for an uptick in cases as states began to reopen. “I’m asking people to recognize we’re in a different situation today than we were in March and April where the virus was disproportionately being recognized in older adults,” he said. (Ehley, 6/25)

The Hill: CDC: Coronavirus May Have Infected 10 Times More Americans Than Known 
Most people who contract the SARS-CoV-2 virus show few if any symptoms, and only a small percentage require hospitalization. But while the number of potentially infected people is multitudes higher than the number of confirmed cases, Redfield also said the relatively low percentage of Americans who have been infected means hundreds of millions more remain at risk. (Wilson, 6/25)

AP: US Health Officials Estimate 20M Americans Have Had Virus
The news comes as the Trump administration works to tamp down nationwide concern about the COVID-19 pandemic as about a dozen states are seeing worrisome increases in cases. The administration also looks to get its scientific experts back before the public more as it tries to allay anxieties about the pandemic while states begin reopening. Since mid-May, when the government began stressing the need to get the economy moving again, the panel’s public health experts have been far less visible than in the pandemic’s early weeks. (Miller and Marchione, 6/25)

CNN: US Coronavirus: Millions Of People May Have Been Infected In The Past 
Between 5% and 8% of Americans have been infected with the coronavirus, with the numbers varying by region. New York, once the epicenter of the pandemic, will have a higher percentage of people with past infections than some states in the West, Redfield said. That means 90% or more have not been infected and are susceptible to the virus, highlighting the need to act aggressively to combat rising infection rates, he said. Some cases went unnoticed partly because testing was at first limited to people who were very ill, Redfield said. As more people get tested, he added, it's clear a large percentage had mild symptoms or none at all. (Karimi, 6/26)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Cases Hit New High As States Mandate Masks 
The nation may be opening up, but the coronavirus is far from slowing down. In fact, COVID-19 is on the rise. There were 38,459 new cases of the virus reported nationwide on Thursday, a number that surpassed a record set the prior day of 38,115. (Kaleem, 6/25)

Reuters: U.S. Sets One-Day Record For COVID-19 Cases, Texas Pauses Reopening 
Texas, which has been at the forefront of efforts to reopen devastated economies shut down in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, has seen one of the biggest jumps in new cases, reporting more than 6,000 in a single day on Monday. “This temporary pause will help our state corral the spread until we can safely enter the next phase of opening our state for business,” Governor Greg Abbott, a two-term Republican, said in a statement. (Brooks, 6/25)

The New York Times: Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court To Strike Down Affordable Care Act 
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court late Thursday to overturn the Affordable Care Act — a move that, if successful, would bring a permanent end to the health insurance program popularly known as Obamacare and wipe out coverage for as many as 23 million Americans. In an 82-page brief submitted an hour before a midnight deadline, the administration joined Republican officials in Texas and 17 other states in arguing that in 2017, Congress, then controlled by Republicans, had rendered the law unconstitutional when it zeroed out the tax penalty for not buying insurance — the so-called individual mandate. (Gay Stolberg, 6/26)

AP: Despite Pandemic, Trump Administration Urges End To ACA
Some 20 million Americans could lose their health coverage and protections for people with preexisting health conditions also would be put at risk if the court agrees with the administration in a case that won’t be heard before the fall. (Alonso-Zaldivar and Sherman, 6/26)

The Hill: Trump Administration Calls For Supreme Court To Strike Down ObamaCare
Legal experts in both parties have widely criticized this argument as weak, saying Congress's intent in the 2017 tax law was clearly only to repeal the mandate penalty, not the entire Affordable Care Act. (Sullivan, 6/25)

Reuters: Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court To Axe Obamacare 
The move is sure to ignite further political controversy and elevate healthcare as a major election issue. Trump is seeking re-election in November against Obama’s vice president, Joe Biden, who has vowed to protect health insurance coverage for Americans under the law. The Trump administration’s filing came the same day the United States set a new record for a one-day increase in cases of the fatal and highly contagious coronavirus. The disease has killed thousands of Americans and forced millions to lose their jobs, including any employer-based health benefits they may have had. (Singh, 6/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court To Invalidate Affordable Care Act 
The Justice Department said the 2010 health law, a signature achievement of the Obama administration, is invalid because Congress in 2017 ended the financial penalty for not having health insurance, though it didn’t take effect until 2019. “The entire ACA thus must fall with the individual mandate,” Solicitor General Noel Francisco wrote in the Justice Department’s brief, which was filed late Thursday. “The individual mandate is no longer a valid exercise of Congress’s legislative authority in light of Congress’s elimination of the penalty for noncompliance.” (Armour, 6/26)

The Washington Post: Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court To Invalidate Obamacare 
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) responded to the brief by saying there is “no moral excuse for the Trump Administration’s disastrous efforts to take away Americans’ health care." Dismantling the ACA would leave more than 23 million people without healthcare plans, according to a recent analysis by the liberal-leaning think tank Center for American Progress. (Elfrink and Flynn, 6/26)

Politico: Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court To Overturn Obamacare 
"They would live their lives caught in a vise between Donald Trump’s twin legacies: his failure to protect the American people from the coronavirus, and his heartless crusade to take health care protections away from American families," Biden said. (Luthi, 6/25)

AP: Governors Who Quickly Reopened Backpedal As Virus Surges
When Texas began lifting coronavirus restrictions, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott didn’t wear a mask. He wouldn’t let mayors enact extra precautions during one of America’s swiftest efforts to reopen. He pointed out that the White House backed his plan and gave assurances there were safe ways to go out again. Two months later, a sharp reversal is unfolding as infections surge. (Weber, 6/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Texas Pauses Reopening, As CDC Says Millions More May Have Had Coronavirus 
Texas paused reopening plans Thursday, as new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations increased in many U.S. states, and a government estimate showed more than 20 million Americans may have contracted the virus, far exceeding diagnosed infections. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that only about 1 in every 10 Covid-19 cases in the U.S. has been identified, Director Robert Redfield said during a briefing with reporters Thursday. He also noted that most Americans are still susceptible to the virus. (Calfas, Abbott and Restuccia, 6/25)

The New York Times: Texas Governor Pauses Reopening As Coronavirus Cases Soar In Region 
Just 55 days after reopening Texas restaurants and other businesses, Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday hit the pause button, stopping additional phases of the state’s reopening as new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations soared and as the governor struggled to pull off the seemingly impossible task of keeping both the state open and the virus under control. The announcement by Mr. Abbott — which allows the many shopping malls, restaurants, bars, gyms and other businesses already open to continue operating — was an abrupt turnaround and came as a growing number of states paused reopenings amid rising case counts. (Fernandez and Mervosh, 6/25)

AP: Native Americans Protesting Trump Trip To Mount Rushmore
President Donald Trump’s plans to kick off Independence Day with a showy display at Mount Rushmore have angered Native Americans, who view the monument as a desecration of land violently stolen from them and used to pay homage to leaders hostile to Indigenous people. Several groups led by Native American activists are planning protests for Trump’s July 3 visit, part of Trump’s “comeback” campaign for a nation reeling from sickness, unemployment and, recently, social unrest. (Groves, 6/25)

Politico: Trump Team Looks To Prevent A Tulsa-Style Debacle In Jacksonville 
President Donald Trump wasn’t the only one thrown off course by a lower-than-expected turnout at his comeback rally in Tulsa. Republican officials and Trump campaign aides, some of whom have been working since last year to plan the party’s convention festivities, said the disappointing event last weekend in Oklahoma imparted a critical lesson as they look ahead to Jacksonville, Fla., where Trump will deliver his acceptance speech as the GOP’s presidential nominee in late August: Learn to manage expectations and plan for trouble. (Orr, 6/25)

AP: Dueling Trump-Biden Events Offer Contrasting Virus Responses
A presidential campaign that has largely been frozen for several months because of the coronavirus is looking a bit more like those from other years. President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden swung through critical battleground states Thursday, presenting starkly different visions for America as it struggles with a pandemic. Touring a shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin, Trump insisted the economy is “coming back at a level nobody ever imagined possible.” But in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Biden warned that “no miracles are coming” and slammed Trump’s handling of the virus. (Weissert and Levy, 6/26)

AP: House Passes Sweeping Police Overhaul After Floyd's Death
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gathered with members of the Congressional Black Caucus on the Capitol steps, challenging opponents not to allow the deaths to have been in vain or the outpouring of public support for changes to go unmatched. But the collapse of a Senate Republican bill leaves final legislation in doubt. (Mascaro, 6/26)

The Wall Street Journal: House Passes Democrats’ Policing Bill, But No Path Seen For Deal
Last week, Republicans, led by Mr. Scott, the only black GOP senator, presented a bill that would, among other things, study the status of black men in America and, separately, the criminal justice system, collect data on the use of no-knock warrants and the use of force by police. Lawmakers hoped the studies would provide data to shape future legislation. The bills had some overlap, which gave some lawmakers hope that a compromise could be reached, but activists largely urged Democrats to block the Senate bill, saying it didn’t go far enough to address the issue. (Andrews, 6/25)

Politico: House Passes Sweeping Police Reform Bill 
The bill would crack down on excessive police force and ban chokeholds, enforce national transparency standards and push accountability for officer misconduct with a national database to track offenses. “To the protesters: we hear you, we see you, we are you,” House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in an impassioned speech on the floor just before the vote. Jeffries, one of the most senior Black members in Congress, said he first learned of Floyd’s death from his young son, who told him, “‘Dad, it’s happened again. What are you going to do about it?’” (Ferris, Caygle and Bresnahan, 6/25)

The New York Times: House Passes Sweeping Policing Bill Targeting Racial Bias And Use Of Force 
The House on Thursday passed an expansive policing overhaul bill aimed at combating racial discrimination and excessive use of force in law enforcement, as Democrats sought to respond to a nationwide outcry for racial justice and pushed through legislation that is doomed in the Republican-controlled Senate. The bipartisan vote was 236-181 to approve the measure, the most sweeping federal intervention into law enforcement in years. It would eliminate legal protections that shield police officers from lawsuits, make it easier to prosecute them for wrongdoing, impose a new set of restrictions on the use of deadly force, and effectively ban the use of chokeholds. (Edmondson, 6/25)

The Washington Post: House Passes Broad Police Reform Legislation In Wake Of George Floyd’s Killing 
With the Trump administration threatening a veto, most House Republicans lined up against the Democratic proposal and instead indicated support for a narrower proposal offered by Senate Republicans. Only three Republicans — Reps. Will Hurd (Tex.), the lone black GOP House member; Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), and Fred Upton (Mich.) — broke ranks and joined Democrats in backing the House bill. (Sonmez, Kane and Colvin, 6/25)

Reuters: House Passes Democratic Police Reform Bill As Impasse Deepens 
Democrats and Republicans are deadlocked over how to address racial inequities in policing, despite strong public sentiment for effective reform after Floyd died in Minneapolis as a white policeman knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. “People say, ‘Well, why can’t you compromise with the other side?’ Well, they don’t ban chokeholds. We ban chokeholds. So are we supposed to come up with a number of chokeholds we are going to agree with? No,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said ahead of the vote. (Morgan, 6/25)

Politico: Amid National Crisis On Police Brutality And Racism, Congress Flails 
As the United States faces its biggest crisis over civil rights in decades, Congress is poised to do nothing. Again. What could have been a searing, soul-searching moment where America’s political leaders helped establish a new national accord on race and the role of police in society has instead devolved into a frenzy of political posturing, campaign sloganeering and ugly partisan fights. (Bresnahan, Ferris, Caygle and Levine, 6/25)

The Hill: GOP Senators Push Back On Trump Administration Plan To End Support For Testing Sites 
Texas Sens. John Cornyn (R) and Ted Cruz (R) on Thursday sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) protesting the administration’s plans to cut back federal support of drive-thru COVID-19 testing sites in Texas and other states. The senators called the testing sites “critical to Texas’ testing capacity” at a time the number of coronavirus cases in the state is spiking, hitting a peak of 5,551 new cases on Wednesday. (Bolton, 6/25)

The Washington Post: Republicans Are Choosing Rosy Assessments Of Coronavirus That Do Not Match Reality 
There are any number of ways to pick through the data on the coronavirus to tell a story about what’s happening right now. Key members of the Trump administration, including the president and vice president, are holding up data in a way that allows them to publicly argue it’s not all that bad. Other Republicans are threading hopeful news with more realistic assessments and cautions. We saw that Wednesday after Vice President Pence’s lunch with Republican senators. (Phillips, 6/25)

Los Angeles Times: New Coronavirus Spike Alarms Republicans, But Not Trump
The final Thursday in June saw jobless claims top 1 million for a 14th straight week and a frightening spike in coronavirus infections across the Sun Belt, compelling a growing number of Republican governors and members of Congress to issue urgent public health warnings. President Trump called it a success story. (Stokols and Hook, 6/25)

Politico: Coronavirus Spike Rattles Senate Republicans 
As coronavirus cases spike across the country, President Donald Trump and his top officials say everything is mostly under control. But Senate Republicans are pressing them to show a little urgency. The latest outbreaks are also reshaping the GOP’s political and legislative strategy, with Republicans planning to focus more on health care in the next coronavirus relief bill. And they’re flashing rare frustration at the Trump administration for its decision to wind down federally supported testing sites. (Everett and Levine, 6/25)

The New York Times: Trump Overhaul Of Campus Sex Assault Rules Wins Surprising Support 
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos fired a shot last month in the nation’s culture wars, overhauling how colleges handle investigations of sexual assault and ending what she called Obama-era “kangaroo courts” on campus. The new Education Department rules give more protections to the accused, primarily young men who face discipline or expulsion as a result of allegations of sexual misconduct. (Powell, 6/25)

Politico: Trump Says Push For Less Coronavirus Testing Was Sarcasm
President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had “sarcastically” claimed that a decrease in coronavirus testing would lower U.S. infection rates, adding a new twist to the weeklong scramble by the White House to clarify the president’s comments on virus testing. “Sometimes I jokingly say, or sarcastically say, if we didn’t do tests we would look great,” Trump said in an interview and Fox News town hall with Sean Hannity. “But you know what? It’s not the right thing to do.” (Muller, 6/25)

Politico: Trump Calls Protesters 'Terrorists,' Pledges 'Retribution' For Tearing Down Statues 
President Donald Trump on Thursday promised “retribution” against protesters nationwide who tore down statues and referred to Wisconsin demonstrators as “terrorists.” “Every night, we’re going to get tougher and tougher,” Trump said at a Fox News town hall in Wisconsin on Thursday night, in response to an audience question about his plan to tamp down protests there. “And at some point, there’s going to be retribution because there has to be. These people are vandals, but they’re agitators, but they're really — they’re terrorists, in a sense.” (Muller, 6/26)

AP: Virus Whistleblower Alleges Retribution Has Only Intensified
The complaint said former colleagues of Bright’s at his old agency are now avoiding him. It described a conversation with one such colleague, who is not identified by name. The former colleague is quoted as saying that the agency’s new acting director, Dr. Gary Disbrow, had warned him “to be ‘very careful’” about dealing with Bright. The complaint said Disbrow had explained that Azar “was very angry with Dr. Bright and was ‘on the war path.’ (Disbrow) explained that Secretary Azar directed HHS employees to refrain from doing anything that would help Dr. Bright be successful in his new role.” (Alonso-Zaldivar, 6/26)

Stat: Ousted Federal Vaccine Expert Alleges HHS Secretary Continued To Retaliate
Bright, who played a central role in helping companies develop coronavirus vaccines, therapeutics, and tests as head of BARDA, was suddenly reassigned to a narrower position at the NIH in April. He is currently in a legal fight with Azar to gain his old job back. He alleges he was ousted from his role because he sounded the alarm over the administration’s lack of preparedness to respond to the pandemic and alleged cronyism between HHS officials and industry. (Florko, 6/25)

The Hill: Whistleblower Says Trump Administration Continues To Retaliate Against Him 
A whistleblower says the Trump administration continues to retaliate against him, stating in an updated complaint on Thursday that top officials are actively trying to discredit him and prevent him from being successful in a new role. Rick Bright, who led the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) until he was demoted in late April, said in an amended complaint he has been "deliberately impeded" in his role at the National Institutes of Health, which "does not remotely utilize his expertise or experience." (Weixel, 6/25)

Politico: Trump ‘Like A Child’ In Responding To Coronavirus, Biden Says 
Biden reiterated his campaign pledge to expand health care coverage by implementing a public insurance option. “We need a public option, now more than ever, especially when more than 20 million people are unemployed,” Biden said. Speaking at a podium emblazoned with the words “Protect and Build on the Affordable Care Act,” the former vice president touted the legislation as one of President Barack Obama’s crowning achievements that covered tens of millions of Americans. (Cohen, 6/25)

The Hill: Biden Hits Trump Over 'Heartless' Assault On ObamaCare During Pandemic 
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden attacked President Trump on Thursday for his legal efforts to overturn the Affordable Care Act even amid the coronavirus pandemic, calling it "cruel" and "heartless." "I think it's cruel, it's heartless, it's callous and it's all because in my view he can't abide the thought of letting stand one of President Obama's greatest achievements, the Affordable Care Act," Biden said in a speech in Lancaster, Pa. "I cannot comprehend the cruelty that's driving him to inflict this pain on the very people he's supposed to serve," he said. (Sullivan, 6/25)

The Washington Post: Joe Biden Says He Would Require Americans To Wear Masks In Public 
Joe Biden said on Thursday that if he were president, he would mandate that every American wear a mask in public to combat the spread of the coronavirus. In an interview with KDKA, the CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh, the presumptive Democratic nominee said he would attempt to leverage federal power to mandate mask wearing. “The one thing we do know is these masks make a gigantic difference,” he said. (Viser, 6/26)

Politico: Trump Sidesteps Grim Coronavirus Surge To Sell A Happier Message 
President Donald Trump and his top aides sought Thursday to minimize the threat of the coronavirus to the public’s health and the U.S. economy despite alarms blaring across two dozen states — including many overseen by Trump-friendly leaders. Aides insisted there would be no change in White House strategy to fight the pandemic, and no additional money or new resources given to states dealing with spikes in cases. “In only 3 percent of the counties across the country are we seeing an increase in cases,” said a senior administration official. “The vast majority of the country is not experiencing that. When they turn on the TV and see maps full of red and then they go out into their communities, that is not what they see.” (Cook, 6/25)

The Hill: White House Task Force Tracking Coronavirus Spikes Even As Trump Says Virus Is 'Going Away': Report 
The White House task force has been closely tracking new coronavirus infections in several states around the country, though President Trump has publicly declared that the danger posed by the virus is receding, NBC news reports. The president declared Tuesday during an event in Phoenix that the virus was "going away." However, that same day, an internal document from the White House task force obtained by NBC News reportedly showed significant spikes in infections in the Arizona city. (Bowden, 6/25)

Politico: Why Trump’s Focus On Falling Death Rates Could Be Dangerous 
President Donald Trump and Republican governors are pointing to fewer coronavirus deaths to suggest that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic has passed — and to blunt criticism that a surge of new infections in more than half the states is proof the country reopened too soon. But that’s a dangerous gamble. Death rates tell nothing about the current spread of the virus and only offer a snapshot of where the country was roughly three weeks ago. If the caseloads in states like Texas, Arizona and Florida are any indication, the U.S. will almost certainly see a spike in deaths in July that could undermine the entire nationwide reopening effort. (Goldberg, 6/25)

The Washington Post: More Than 1 Million Coronavirus Stimulus Checks Went To Dead People According To GAO 
The federal government sent coronavirus stimulus payments to almost 1.1 million dead people totaling nearly $1.4 billion, Congress’s independent watchdog reported Thursday. The Washington Post previously reported that the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service disbursed some payments of up to $1,200 each to dead people. But the astonishing scope of the problem had not been known. (Werner, 6/25)

Politico: The IRS Thought It Wasn't Allowed To Withhold Stimulus Checks From The Dead. So It Paid More Than 1 Million Of Them. 
An unnamed Treasury official offered a conflicting account of how the department learned of the payments, the report indicates, telling GAO it was not aware of the issue “until it was reported in various media outlets.” “Treasury officials said that upon learning that payments had been made to decedents, Treasury and IRS, in consultation with counsel, determined that a person is not entitled to receive a payment if he or she is deceased as of the date the payment is to be paid.” (Faler, 6/25)

AP: Audit: US Sent $1.4B In Virus Relief Payments To Dead People
While the government has asked survivors to return the money, it’s not clear they have to. It also may be a politically sensitive gambit for the Treasury Department to aggressively seek to claw back the money, especially because some recipients may have died in the early months of this year from COVID-19. When billions in aid are rushed out the door in a crisis, “these are the kinds of things that happen,” said Lisa Gilbert, executive vice president of advocacy group Public Citizen. (Gordon, 6/25)

The New York Times: 'Black Lives Matter' Will Be Painted Outside Trump Tower In N.Y.C.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has ignited a new feud with President Trump by ordering the words “Black Lives Matter” to be painted in large yellow letters on the street outside of Trump Tower. The words are expected to be painted in the coming week on Fifth Avenue, between 56th and 57th Streets, according to the city. (Zaveri, 6/25)

The Washington Post: Trump Lashes Out At Black Lives Matter, Accuses One Member Of ‘Treason’ 
President Trump lashed out at the Black Lives Matter movement in twin tweets Thursday, accusing one of its members of treason and lamenting reported plans for a new mural in front of Trump Tower in Manhattan that honors the cause. Trump, who has said he supports peaceful protesters, has increasingly articulated disdain for the protests that continue across the country after the death of George Floyd. His comments Thursday were among his most aggressive attacks on the movement that rose up in recent years against racial profiling and police violence. (Itkowitz, 6/25)

Reuters: Fired Miami Police Officer Charged For Putting Knee On Black Woman's Neck 
A former Miami police officer was charged on Thursday with battery and misconduct after a video surfaced showing him pressing his knee on a Black woman’s neck and tasing her stomach, while she kept screaming, U.S. media reports said .Jordi Martel, 30, was charged with official misconduct for filing two reports with false details about the incident that took place outside a striptease club on Jan. 14, State Attorney Katherine Rundle told a press conference. (6/26)

AP: Rayshard Brooks Struggled In System But Didn't Hide His Past
Rayshard Brooks didn’t hide his history. About five months before he was killed by Atlanta police in a Wendy’s parking lot — before his name and case would become the latest rallying point in a massive call for racial justice and equality nationwide — Brooks gave an interview to an advocacy group about his years of struggle in the criminal justice system. He described an agonizing cycle of job rejection and public shame over his record and association with a system that takes millions of Americans, many of them Black like him, away from their families and treats them more like animals than individuals. (Thanawala and Seewer, 6/26)

AP: Hackers Disrupt Online College Meeting With Racist Language
Hackers used racist language and anti-Semitic images to disrupt an online meeting of Wake Forest University employees, the school’s president said. In a message posted to the school’s website, Nathan Hatch said about 500 Wake Forest staff members were on a Zoom call on Wednesday when unidentified hackers disrupted it, the Winston-Salem Journal reported Thursday. (6/25)

The New York Times: ‘I Humbly Apologize’: Philadelphia Officials Announce Changes After Protest Response 
Officials in Philadelphia on Thursday announced a moratorium on the use of tear gas in the city and apologized for their response to a June 1 protest against police brutality. The announcement, by the mayor and the police commissioner, came hours after The New York Times published a visual investigation into the use of force by the police. During a confrontation with several hundred demonstrators who had entered Interstate 676 in the city center this month, SWAT officers used tear gas and pepper spray on a group of nonviolent protesters, some of whom were trapped as they tried to leave. (Tabrizy, Koettl, Xiao, Reneau and Jordan, 6/25)

AP: 'A Problem That We Need To Solve': Harris Takes On Policing
When pressed to take a position on tough issues during the Democratic presidential primary, Kamala Harris often replied with a variation of “we need to have that conversation.” But as the U.S. is roiled by police killings of Black men and women, the California senator is done hedging. As one of two Black Democrats in the Senate, Harris took a lead role this week in blocking Republican-backed legislation to overhaul policing. In an interview with The Associated Press, Harris said she wouldn’t be “played” by GOP leaders seeking to move the bill without input from Democrats and called on Americans to do more to acknowledge racial injustice in policing. (Ronayne, 6/26)