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Republicans are preparing to roll out their latest coronavirus relief proposal as soon as next week as Congress faces growing pressure to act amid a surge of new cases. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is planning to start briefing his caucus next week on the forthcoming Republican proposal, which he wants to use as a framework for negotiations with Democrats. (Carney, 7/15)

From masks to school reopenings to the testing abilities of the United States, some of President Donald Trump’s central political talking points are being undermined by a growing circle of usually reliable allies as the coronavirus roars back to alarming levels. The breaks with Trump come as the president’s poll numbers on handling the virus and his job approval in general continue to sink, while the administration tries to put the virus in the rearview despite record-breaking case numbers and straining health care systems. (Oprysko, 7/14)

Support for Republican governors’ handling of the coronavirus pandemic declined throughout June, while support for their Democratic counterparts remained steady, according to a Gallup poll released Tuesday. Forty-three percent of those surveyed in Republican-led states said their governor communicated a “clear plan of action,” based on the new poll. That is an 11-point drop from the 54 percent of surveyed Americans living in one of 26 states led by a Republican governor who said the same in early June. (Klar, 7/14)