Pelosi signals she won't move $3.5T bill without Senate-House deal  —  Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has signaled to colleagues in both chambers that she will not put the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package on the House floor for a vote until it's clear that it can also pass the 50-50 Senate.

The new big lie Republicans want you to believe?  That there's a puppeteer at the White House.  —  Nobody is cutting off Biden's mic or dictating his decisions.  The fictional conservative narrative contradicts what people can see for themselves.  —  Only 5% of Americans in their 70s have dementia.

POLITICO Playbook PM: Scoop: Tears in the Oval Office  —  SCOOP: Playbook has learned that during an intense meeting at the White House on Wednesday, Rep. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-Wash.) broke into tears while arguing her case to President JOE BIDEN that the reconciliation bill should include …

Some experts see signs of hope as COVID cases fall  —  New coronavirus cases are continuing to decline, and some experts are cautiously optimistic that the virus will continue to wane even into the fall and winter.  —  The big picture: The next few months are highly uncertain, and some localized outbreaks are all but guaranteed.

Nearly half of the unvaccinated say they're willing to get a coronavirus shot.  The challenge is trying to get it to them.  —  Yolanda Orosco-Arellano decided she would get the coronavirus vaccine long before it became available.  But securing an appointment for it was less straightforward.

Steve Bannon Confirms His Involvement in January 6 Insurrection on ‘War Room’ Podcast  —  Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon admitted on his War Room podcast that he had a hand in planning the rally for then-President Donald Trump that preceded the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.