| CONGRESS: House Democrats on Tuesday came together to allow lawmakers to start work on a $3.5 trillion social spending package after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and a group of 10 moderate House Democrats reached a deal to bring up the bipartisan infrastructure package in roughly a month’s time. The House voted 220 to 212 along party lines to vote through a rule that gives the green light to begin work on the reconciliation package and requires the lower chamber to bring up the $1 trillion bipartisan bill by Sept. 27. The Tuesday vote finally came together after talks between Democratic leaders and the group of moderates, led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), bled into Tuesday after intense hand-wringing by party leaders and the White House to ensure the cornerstone item of Biden’s agenda did not get gummed up. “It remains for us to work together, work with the Senate, to write a bill that preserves the privilege of 51 votes in the Senate. So we must work together to do that in a way that passes the House and passes the Senate. And we must do so expeditiously,” Pelosi said on the House floor ahead of the vote. However, Pelosi downplayed the intra-party disagreement, arguing that it was part of the run-of-the-mill process her party is staring down in the coming weeks. At one point, she declined to label the accord she reached with the centrists a “deal.” “This is normal. This is part of the legislative process,” Pelosi told reporters. “What deal? … They wanted clarification about how we go forward and that's what we did” (CNN). 
© Getty Images However, as The Hill’s Scott Wong and Cristina Marcos write, the negotiations of this week are but a small example of what Democrats are facing in the coming weeks as they attempt to project a united front in the push to pass the two bills that could total more than $4 trillion overall. House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) said that writing the legislative text for some components of the spending plan, including changes to Medicare benefits, will be “relatively easy to do,” as those programs already exist. But for policies that don’t, such as a new universal child care program,doing so will be much more challenging. “You have nothing structurally to use to implement it,” Yarmuth said. “So those are going to be much more difficult to do.” While they didn't get an immediate vote, the moderate Democrats received a significant concession. Pelosi recently indicated she wants to pass both the bipartisan measure and the yet-to-be-crafted $3.5 trillion bill by Oct. 1. Passing such an enormous piece of legislation with the House's slim majority would be challenging in 37 days even if Congress were in session the entire time. However, the full House isn't scheduled to return until Sept. 20, calling into question how quickly the chamber will be able to act. Progressive lawmakers know this and are already threatening to not support the bipartisan offering unless the $3.5 trillion package is at least close to passing the lower chamber by Sept. 27. However, there will be some GOP support for that bill as Republicans in the Problem Solvers Caucus favor the Senate-passed legislation. As part of the deal, Pelosi vowed to rally support for the bipartisan bill. In a statement, the Speaker notably said she had consulted with House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who has made no bones about his tepid enthusiasm for the Senate measure. Key question: If the Senate bill passes the House in late September and is signed into law, will moderate Democrats in both chambers — who have publicly balked at the $3.5 trillion price tag — vote yes and put that bill over the top? Those Democrats have not publicly committed to do that. The New York Times: Democrats scrounge for votes to pass $3.5 trillion budget plan. Politico: House advances $3.5 trillion budget, ending stalemate between Pelosi and centrists. The Hill: Biden hands GOP rare unity moment in post-Trump era. Elsewhere, the House also approved the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in a party-line vote 219 to 212. The bill will now move over to the Senate, which is out of session until mid-September and highly unlikely to advance the bill to the president’s desk as 60 votes are required for passage (The Hill). ***** CORONAVIRUS: The delta variant continues to spread across the country, but signs from across the Atlantic are showing that booster doses are doing just that: boosting individual protection against COVID-19. In Israel, the troublesome variant began hitting its population in June. On July 30, Israel began administering booster shots to individuals 60 and over (having expanded that eligibility to those 30 and over on Thursday), and the decision is already paying dividends, as the rate of disease spread has fallen dramatically in recent days, although case totals overall have yet to dip downward. Israel has doled out more than 1 million third doses of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine to those 60 and older as of Tuesday (Reuters). The U.S. is set to start handing out booster shots in less than a month, with the first batch going to health care workers, nursing home residents and older Americans. The Washington Post: Biden receives inconclusive intelligence report on COVID-19 origins. 
© Getty Images > Vaccine doses for children: National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins said on Tuesday that he does not expect a vaccine to be fully approved for use on children aged 5 to 11 until the end of the year. Collins indicated to NPR that Pfizer’s jab could be approved for emergency use for youngsters by October, as the company is set to submit its trial data by the end of September, but said full approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is further off. “I've got to be honest, I don't see the approval for kids — 5 to 11 — coming much before the end of 2021,” Collins told NPR’s “Morning Edition.” Both Pfizer and Moderna are continuing to collect that data and are trying to figure out if children should receive a vaccination dose that is smaller than what is being administered to adults. The Wall Street Journal: Some parents push to give COVID-19 vaccine to children under 12, against government guidance. > Stay out of hospitals. Get vaccinated: Between the vaccinated and unvaccinated, what are the comparative risks of COVID-19 infections that result in hospitalizations? Research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that unvaccinated people are 29 times more likely to be admitted to a hospital when infected with COVID-19 (CNBC). CBS News: Some hesitant Americans get COVID-19 vaccine after Pfizer gets full FDA approval: “There's really no running away from it anymore.” NBC News: NRA cancels annual meeting in Texas due to COVID-19. > Vaccine requirements: Fresh off full FDA approval, vaccine mandates continued to roll in on Tuesday, including in the Sunshine State, as Walt Disney World is requiring union employees to get the jab or face termination. Local 362, an affiliate of the Services Trade Council Union, announced an agreement with the park under which employees will have to show proof of vaccination by Oct. 22. Employees with a disability, medical condition or “sincerely held religious beliefs” can seek an accommodation through a negotiated process (The Hill). Elsewhere in the South, Louisiana State University on Tuesday announced that it will require proof of vaccination for fans to attend the school’s football games at Tiger Stadium this fall and that all students must receive their first dose by Sept. 10 (The Athletic). Louisiana has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation, with a number of Southern states sharing that distinction (Bloomberg News). The Associated Press: Arkansas says no ICU beds available for coronavirus patients. The Washington Post: CVS Health, other companies mandate coronavirus shots after FDA grants full approval. The Associated Press: Masks to be required in Oregon’s outdoor public settings. The New York Times: Hawaii’s governor discourages travelers from visiting as virus rates surge in the state. | 
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