Spiegel Stuff: The Hill’s 12:30 Report: McConnell signals senators can go home until coronavirus deal | Biden won’t travel to Milwaukee for convention | Trump floats giving his acceptance speech at the White House | Facebook, Twitter remove Trump post over coronavirus false info | McConnell stays out of coronavirus relief negotiations | Republicans fear disaster November | Potential coronavirus peak | Michael Cohen offered political consulting job | National IPA Day

IN CONGRESS

Lemme know how it turns out!:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has decided not to directly participate in coronavirus relief negotiations between White House officials and Democratic leaders, a move that some colleagues see as odd. https://bit.ly/3gxrJnK

How so: “Senate Republicans say McConnell has proceeded cautiously because any deal that emerges is likely to divide the Senate GOP conference. They note the GOP leader has made it a practice in recent years to avoid taking up issues that divide Republicans if possible.”

McConnell’s goal: “To diffuse responsibility for getting a deal to the broader Senate Republican Conference, which has the dual benefit of letting GOP colleagues feel more involved while insulating himself from a potential backlash if the resulting bill sparks the anger of fiscal hawks.”

What to expect, via The Hill’s Alexander Bolton: https://bit.ly/3gxrJnK

REPUBLICANS ARE PRIVATELY VERY NERVOUS ABOUT NOVEMBER:

Via The Hill’s Olivia Beavers and Juliegrace Brufke, “Republicans are privately fearing the worst possible outcome in November, one that could leave them without the White House or a majority in either chamber of Congress next year.” https://bit.ly/3kjgKAI

Some of the obstacles House Republicans are facing:

“A cash shortfall against the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee”
“27 retiring lawmakers”
“A Republican National Committee that is more focused on reelecting President Trump and protecting the Senate GOP majority.”
Oh and: “They also need to pick up a net 17 seats to win back the House.”

This a.m. from McConnell — you may go:

McConnell signaled to senators that they can head home until a coronavirus deal has been reached. https://bit.ly/31r9dXR

McConnell said from the Senate floor: "I will not be adjourning the Senate for our August recess today as has been previously scheduled. I've told Republican senators they'll have a 24-hour notice before a vote, but the Senate will be convening on Monday and I'll be right here in Washington.”

Keep in mind: The Senate was scheduled to leave for August recess on Friday, but the slow coronavirus relief negotiations are still ongoing.

It’s Thursday — Lucy, I’m hooome! I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send comments, story ideas and events for our radar to cmartel@thehill.com — and follow along on Twitter @CateMartel and Facebook.

Did someone forward this to you? Want your own copy? Sign up here to receive The Hill's 12:30 Report in your inbox daily: http://bit.ly/2kjMNnn

NEWS THIS MORNING

Breaking — the New York AG is trying to dissolve the NRA:

Via NPR’s Tim Mak, “The Attorney General of New York took action today to dissolve the National Rifle Association, following an 18-month investigation that found evidence the powerful gun rights group is ‘fraught with fraud and abuse.’”

“Attorney General Letitia James claims in a lawsuit filed Thursday that she found financial misconduct in the millions of dollars, and that it contributed to a loss of more than $64 million over a three year period.”

What we know: https://n.pr/2Di7xIo

Michael Cohen is employed again:

President Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to charges of campaign finance fraud and lying to Congress in 2018, has been offered a job at a political action committee. https://bit.ly/31j0eI4

The new gig: We don’t know where, but we know that he will work as a consultant and make media appearances.

Another 1.2 million apply for unemployment benefits:

Via The Hill’s Niv Elis, “A seasonally adjusted 1.2 million new people applied for unemployment benefits in the week ending Aug. 1, a marked drop from the 1.4 million in the previous two weeks.” https://bit.ly/2DhpAhP

LATEST WITH THE CORONAVIRUS

The good news is that we may have peaked. But there’s bad news, too:

Via The Hill’s Reid Wilson, “The number of new coronavirus infections across the United States is showing signs of easing but remains at a discouragingly high plateau that underscores the difficulty the country has ahead of it in getting the pandemic under control.” https://bit.ly/2PrYert

The numbers: “Over the last three days, the United States has confirmed about 50,000 new cases every 24 hours. States like Arizona, Florida, Texas and the Carolinas that suffered the worst of June and July have now seen their case counts fall for two weeks from peaks in mid- and late July, when more than 70,000 cases were identified on a typical day.”

Yeah, but: “Though the drops are potentially positive signs that newly enforced social distancing and economic lockdown measures are working, Florida confirmed more than 63,000 new cases over the last week, Texas reported 57,000 new cases and counts are still rising in states like Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia.”

THE NUMBERS:

Coronavirus cases in the U.S.: 4,826,861

U.S. death toll: 158,321

Breakdown of the numbers: https://cnn.it/2UAgW3y

IN THE WHITE HOUSE

Happening today — shop local, even for your medications:

President Trump is signing an executive order for government agencies to “buy American” for some medications. https://bit.ly/31uFwFg

How it will work: “The order requires the federal government to develop a list of ‘essential’ medicines, and then requires that agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense purchase U.S.-made versions of those drugs.”

Details: https://bit.ly/31uFwFg

HOW TRUMP IS LEANING INTO EXECUTIVE ACTIONS FOR A 2020 BOOST:

https://bit.ly/3kkBfNi

Facebook and Twitter say ‘nah bro’:

Facebook removed a post from President Trump’s page, claiming the president made “false claims” about the coronavirus. Why: Trump’s post included video pushing for kids to begin in-person classes in the fall, claiming that young people are “almost immune” to COVID-19. https://bit.ly/33wfc0k

And Twitter locked the Trump campaign’s account over a similar tweet with misinformation about the coronavirus — and will only unlock the account once the tweet is deleted.

REACTION FROM THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN:

Trump campaign deputy national press secretary Courtney Parella said in a statement: “The President was stating a fact that children are less susceptible to the coronavirus. Another day, another display of Silicon Valley’s flagrant bias against this President, where the rules are only enforced in one direction. Social media companies are not the arbiters of truth.” https://bit.ly/31r5l99

YIKES, CHECK OUT THE NEW COVER OF TIME MAGAZINE:

https://bit.ly/30zfgu4

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

*Crickets in Milwaukee*:

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will not travel to the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee to accept the nomination because of the coronavirus concerns. https://bit.ly/2PxKT0M

Where Biden will accept the nomination: In Delaware, his home state.

WHAT ABOUT PRESIDENT TRUMP’S ACCEPTANCE SPEECH?:

President Trump said yesterday that he is considering giving his speech from the White House. https://bit.ly/3a5mqth

John Thune is in trouuuuble:

Stepping onto the first place podium:

President Trump’s reelection campaign outraised presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Biden by $25 million in July. https://bit.ly/2C6gRhQ

For the cycle: Biden raised more than $1 billion in the 2020 cycle (!)

NOTABLE TWEETS:

In The Washington Post this morning:

Oh gross:

ON TAP:

The Senate is in. The House is out. President Trump is in Ohio this afternoon. Vice President Pence is in Washington, D.C.

Vice President Pence has no public events scheduled.

11:30 a.m. EDT: The Senate holds a cloture vote on a nomination. The Senate’s full schedule today: https://bit.ly/2DGLYAM

11:35 a.m. EDT: President Trump left for Cleveland.

1:15 p.m. EDT: President Trump delivers remarks in Cleveland on the economy.

1:30 p.m. EDT: The Senate votes on John Peter Cronan’s nomination to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York.

2:45 p.m. EDT: President Trump tours the Whirlpool Corporation Manufacturing Plant in Clyde, Ohio.

6 p.m. EDT: President Trump holds a roundtable with supporters in Bratenahl, Ohio.

6:30 p.m. EDT: President Trump speaks at a closed press fundraising committee reception in Bratenahl.

9:30 p.m. EDT: President Trump arrives in Bedminster, N.J., for the night.

Today: The 75th anniversary of Hiroshima. Op-ed: https://bit.ly/3ifDLm8

WHAT TO WATCH:

This morning: The Alliance for Health Policy hosted an event with Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious diseases expert. Livestream: https://cs.pn/3kj5C6V

This morning: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) held a press conference. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3a1IGUO

2 p.m. EDT: Former Education Secretary Arne Duncan testifies on reopening schools in the fall. Livestream: https://cs.pn/3gDPcnm

3:15 p.m. EDT: President Trump delivers remarks at the Whirlpool plant. Livestream: https://bit.ly/30yxrA9

NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF...:

Today is National IPA Day.

Heading to a streaming service near YOU:

Disney’s new live-action Mulan will be released on Disney+ on Sept.4. https://bit.ly/3a91QbG

How it will work: In addition to the Disney+ subscription, users will pay $30 to view the new film.

And because it’s a warm summer day, here are dogs having quite the pool party. Everyone knows that pool parties are races to the pool: https://bit.ly/3gCkb3k