POLITICO Playbook: ‘You admit you don’t know what you’re talking about’

During Covid relief negotiations on Tuesday, when Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin noted that he wasn’t an electoral ballot expert, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said: “Well, it’s good you admit you don’t know what you’re talking about.” | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo.

TREASURY SECRETARY STEVEN MNUCHIN -- who initially predicted a Covid deal would pass two weeks ago -- told reporters Tuesday evening that if there were a deal to be had on Covid relief, it would have to be reached by Friday.

Along with JOHN BRESNAHAN, we worked sources Tuesday night to figure out exactly went on in that room with MNUCHIN, PELOSI, Senate Minority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER and White House COS MARK MEADOWS as they try to cobble together a $1 trillion-plus Covid relief package.

THE REPUBLICAN CONCESSIONS, made by the GOP negotiating team, MNUCHIN and MEADOWS: Enhanced unemployment insurance: An additional $400 per week until Dec.

THE DEM CONCESSIONS: Their USPS ask went from $25 billion to $10 billion -- subject to a meeting today with the postmaster general that MNUCHIN, MEADOWS, PELOSI and SCHUMER will have.

-- ENHANCED UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS: The Republicans hold that this offer -- $400 per week until Dec.

Democrats are holding at $600 per week -- and are trying to capitalize on Senate Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL suggesting that Republicans might agree to a $600-per-week UI plan.

Republicans also want to include the return-to-work credit.

ONE FUNNY MOMENT: MNUCHIN noted that he wasn’t an electoral ballot expert, and PELOSI said: “Well, it’s good you admit you don’t know what you’re talking about.”.

MNUCHIN and MEADOWS told PELOSI and SCHUMER they would speak to the president about this issue, and get back to them about how it may be resolved.

Semantics, but important: Republicans say that education should be counted as a state and local funding issue, and Democrats say this is nonsense.

This was the cause of a disagreement between PELOSI and MEADOWS in the meeting.

-- CHILDCARE: Dems are at $50 billion and Republicans are at $15 billion, so the two sides have a ways to go.

SCHUMER passed MNUCHIN printed copies of 10 articles from around the country showing postal delays in order to press his case -- including a Philadelphia Inquirer story that showed how people have gone three weeks without deliveries, leaving them without medicine and other essential goods, and a WaPo story about how Michiganders hadn’t received their absentee or mail ballot before the Tuesday primary.

DEMOCRATS DID GO DOWN TO $10 BILLION from $25 billion here, and MNUCHIN and MEADOWS said they’d look at their proposal.

-- BROADBAND: Democrats are analyzing a proposal that Republicans brought.

-- RENTER/HOMEOWNER ASSISTANCE: Republicans proposed their eviction moratorium, and Democrats didn’t like it -- and fought over it.

Democrats are selling their plan as being “conservative” -- decentralizing power to the states to test.

PELOSI said the administration had failed in testing, and the Democrats’ plan should be put in place.

“We have a huge testing problem -- we’ve failed,” she said.

AT THE END, MEADOWS said, “We are making little progress.

There will be no number anywhere close.” PELOSI said: “It’s a beautiful swan.”.

-- IN AUGUST states could choose $500 per week, or $400 per week if the states don’t want to change the amount in September.

-- MARIANNE LEVINE, ANDREW DESIDERIO and JOHN BRESNAHAN: “Endangered Republicans to McConnell: Don’t leave town”.

“An official with the Lebanese Red Cross said at least 100 people were killed and more than 4,000 were wounded.

The official, George Kettaneh, said the toll could rise further.” AP.

“No date was given for the visit to Taiwan, a self-ruled territory that is claimed by Beijing, but the health department billed it as an opportunity to strengthen economic and public health cooperation between the United States and Taiwan and to highlight Taiwan’s success in battling the coronavirus pandemic.”.

“The decision to stage the most high-profile political event of Trump’s reelection campaign at the national seat of presidential power would be just the latest break by Trump in presidential norms, which have historically drawn clear lines between official business of the president and campaign events.

ALEX THOMPSON: “Trump’s campaign knocks on a million doors a week.

Biden’s knocks on 0”: “Donald Trump’s campaign says it knocked on over 1 million doors in the past week alone.

The campaign and the Democratic National Committee think they can compensate for the lack of in-person canvassing with phone calls, texts, new forms of digital organizing, and virtual meet-ups with voters.

“‘At first I was nervous, but our response rates on phone calls and texts are much higher and people are not necessarily wanting someone to go up to their door right now,’ said Jenn Ridder, Biden’s national states director.

1 draft pick,’ a Trump campaign official said.

Roger Marshall won the GOP primary for an open Senate seat in Kansas on Tuesday, turning aside the controversial Kris Kobach — to the relief of Republicans concerned that Kobach could put not just the state but the party's Senate majority at risk this fall.

The result was a more decisive victory for Marshall than expected by many Republicans, who had predicted with deep concern that the race was a tossup going into Tuesday.

“But President Donald Trump did not endorse or oppose anyone, frustrating some Republicans who thought he could have ended the concern by weighing in.” POLITICO … 5 takeaways via Steve Shepard.

NYT’S ELAINA PLOTT: “Tennessee Republicans, Once Moderate and Genteel, Turn Toxic in the Trump Era”: “[Bill Hagerty] also began distancing himself from old friends.

“(Neither the PAC’s contribution nor Mr. Hagerty’s disbursement of the refund appears in the Hagerty campaign’s filings, a potential violation of campaign finance law. A spokesman for the Hagerty campaign said, ‘Once we realized it was deposited, we alerted the bank and we reversed the transaction, because we do not share Senator Romney’s liberal, anti-Trump political positions.’)”.

These states banded together to make one.” by Erin Cox: “The governors, three Republicans and four Democrats, say that other states and cities may join them and that talks have already begun with one of the two companies approved by the Food and Drug Administration to sell point-of-care antigen tests that can detect the virus in less than 30 minutes.

-- LAT: “California’s coronavirus test result data may be flawed, top health official says,” by Colleen Shalby: “A steep decline in California’s coronavirus infection rate announced this week by Gov.

Gavin Newson may not be accurate, according to the state’s top public health official who said Tuesday that the state’s data system used to process COVID-19 test results is marred with technical issues.

POLITICO'S "FUTURE PULSE" - THE COLLISION OF HEALTH CARE AND TECHNOLOGY: As the United States remains stuck in a screening crisis, a worldwide competition has been launched to find the top Covid-19 rapid testing solutions

… Sharon Weber, deputy national finance director for Joe Biden’s campaign … Alicia Amling, COS for Temerity Capital Partners … Katie Thomson … Matt Anderson of Blackstone … ABC’s Luis Martinez … Lila Cohn … Melissa Canu … Ashley Pitts … Mary Beth Bakke … Kathy Rust … Michael Chandler, managing editor at MemoryWell ..