Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Very Glad I Was Vaccinated': Graham's Breakthrough Case In First For Senate
The Hill: Graham's COVID-19 'Breakthrough' Case Jolts Senate
The coronavirus officially returned to the United States Senate on Monday. News that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) tested positive quickly jolted through the Capitol and sparked an hours-long scramble to figure out who else might have been exposed, which only escalated after sources confirmed that the South Carolina Republican attended an outdoor event on Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) houseboat over the weekend with other senators. (Carney, 8/2)
CNBC: Sen. Lindsey Graham Positive For Covid After Manchin Party
At least seven U.S. senators revealed Monday that they had attended a party with Sen. Lindsay Graham, who announced he had tested positive for Covid-19 on the heels of being a guest. The South Carolina Republican said in a tweet that he began having flu-like symptoms Saturday night and went to the U.S. House physician Monday morning. Graham attended a Saturday night party on fellow Senator Joe Manchin’s DC-based “Almost Heaven” house boat, according to Graham’s office, NBC News reported. (Constantino and Pramuk, 8/2)
AP: Graham 1st Vaccinated Senator To Test Positive For COVID-19
Graham, who was vaccinated in December, has long been a proponent of vaccination, saying during a visit this spring to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston that “the sooner we get everybody vaccinated, the quicker we can get back to normal.” (Kinnard, 8/3)
Sen. Graham's diagnosis is almost certain to delay work on the infrastructure bill —
Bloomberg: Senate Bid To Speed Infrastructure Runs Into Virus Hurdle
The Senate doesn’t allow proxy voting like the House, so the quarantine would mean Graham would miss votes on the legislation, which Schumer wants passed before the end of the week. Graham’s vote alone wouldn’t necessarily hold up the bill. There were 67 votes last week to advance it, including 17 Republicans. Sixty votes will be needed finish the legislation. ... Further complicating the timetable, many senators will leave Washington to attend the Friday funeral of former GOP Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming. The retired senator died last week following a bicycle accident. (Litvan and Dennis, 8/2)
Politico: Democrats Scramble For Cash To Cover Biden’s $3.5T Plan
Democrats are scouring for savings and new tax money to bankroll their multitrillion-dollar plan of liberal spending priorities, drumming up a list of options ranging from raising the corporate tax rate to lowering prescription drug costs. The majority party has said the still-forthcoming bill will be “fully paid for.” But it won’t be easy to raise enough money to offset as much as $3.5 trillion in spending — a sum so massive it would eclipse the total GDP of Spain, Australia and Switzerland combined. (Scholtes and Faler, 8/3)
The New York Times: $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill Pours Money Into Long-Delayed Needs
The sprawling, $1 trillion bill that the Senate took up on Monday — a 2,702-page bipartisan deal that is the product of months of negotiating and years of pent-up ambitions to repair the nation’s crumbling infrastructure — would amount to the most substantial government expenditure on the aging public works system since 2009. It is also stuffed with pet projects and priorities that touch on nearly every facet of American life, including the most obscure, like a provision to allow blood transport vehicles to use highway car pool lanes to bypass traffic when fresh vials are on board and another to fully fund a federal grant program to promote “pollinator-friendly practices” near roads and highways. (Price tag for the latter: $2 million per year.) (Cochrane, Flavelle and Rappeport, 8/2)
