What has been, at this point, well over a month of negotiations for a new coronavirus stimulus package is still not seeing success as the House and Senate break for the weekend today.

House Democrats passed their $3.4tn package in May and have budged down to $2.2 trillion, according to Politico. Republicans meanwhile have been firm about a much slimmer $650bn relief package.

Moderate Democrats have urged House speaker Nancy Pelosi to go along with a slimmer package, with fears that if Republicans refuse to cooperate, there will be no aid until after the election. In a tweet yesterday, Donald Trump urged Republicans to “go for much higher numbers”, though it’s unclear whether the tweet had any real sway on Republican lawmakers.

Yosemite national park just announced that it will be closing due to “significant smoke impacts and hazardous air quality” coming from the wildfires along the west coast.

Starting at 5pm Pacific time today, park entrance stations and roads will be closed until conditions improve, which could mean closure for the next several days at least. The park said it will continue to assess air quality, smoke impact and fire activity throughout the region to determine when the park will be safe to reopen.

Yosemite joins Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks in California, which have also closed due to wildfires in the region.

Donald Trump’s response to the attack ad that was released this afternoon by Republican Voters Against Trump: “I never met her.”

In the ad, Olivia Troye, who was an aide to Vice-President Mike Pence and was his top staffer on the White House’s coronavirus taskforce, said that Trump “doesn’t actually care about anyone else but himself” and emphasized his careless response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Troye says that she left her job after seeing how the administration was handling the virus, but Trump told reporters that she was “terminated”.

A controversial guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that said that those who have been exposed to Covid-19 did not need to get tested if they are not showing symptoms was not written by CDC scientists.

The New York Times just published a report that says several sources and internal documents have confirmed that CDC scientists were not onboard with the guidance and that it was written by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which “dropped” it onto the CDC’s website.

The Time’s quoted an anonymous source who said that the guidance came from “the top down, from the HHS and the task force.”

“That policy does not reflect what many people at the CDC feel should be the policy,” the federal official said.

When the guidance was released, multiple public health experts raised alarms that it would hurt efforts to trace and contain the virus and that it was a sign that the CDC’s integrity has been compromised by the White House’s task force.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, said that he was “worried” by the guidance, specifically that it would lead people to believe that asymptomatic spread of the virus is not a concern.

Scott Atlas, a Trump coronavirus adviser, has threatened to sue a group of Stanford professors who wrote an open letter denouncing multiple public statement Atlas has made about responding to Covid-19.

A letter from his lawyer said the professors’ statement “maliciously defames” Atlas and demanded the signers of the letters to withdraw their claims or be sued, according to Politico.

The open letter, which was published last Wednesday, said that Atlas’s statements and opinions “run counter to established science and, by doing so, undermine public-health authorities and the credible science that guides effective public health policy”. Over 100 faculty members with various medical expertise signed the letter.

In recent weeks, Atlas has raised concerns among public health experts by questioning the use of masks and embracing the controversial “herd immunity” response to the pandemic. Atlas was criticized for not having a background in public health or infectious diseases, as Trump’s former top advisors Deborah Birx and Anthony Fauci had.

Another former executive branch staffer has joined a group of Republican leaders and former Trump administration officials who are advocating against the president’s re-election.

Politico reported this afternoon that Josh Venable, former chief of staff to education secretary Betsy DeVos who served from the beginning of Trump’s tenure until October 2018, has joined the Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform. The group was founded by two former senior Department of Homeland Security officials and is just one of a few groups of Republicans who are advocating against Trump in the lead up to the election, including Republican Voters Against Trump and the Lincoln Project.

Venable was listed by the group as an adviser, along with a handful of Republican leaders.

This is Lauren Aratani taking over for Kenya Evelyn. Republicans Voters Against Trump released an ad this afternoon featuring a former aide of vice-president Mike Pence.

In a two-minute ad, Olivia Troye, former homeland security and counter-terrorism advisor to Pence, who also served as Pence’s lead staff member on his Covid-19 response, said that working at the White House led her to see that Trump “doesn’t actually care about anyone else but himself”.

Troye described herself as a lifelong Republican, having supported George W Bush and John McCain, but said “at this point, it’s country over party”.

A member of the White House’s coronavirus taskforce, Troye said she distinctly remembers when Trump made a comment about how the pandemic may be a “good thing” since he doesn’t like shaking hands with people. “I don’t have to shake hands with these disgusting people,” he remarked, according to Troye’s recollection.

Troye pointed out that the “disgusting people” he referred to are his supporters, “the people he still claims to care about”.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Troye further elaborated on her opinion of the president, saying that his response to the pandemic has showed a “flat-out disregard for human life” and repeated that his main concerns were his re-election and the economy.

A reporter on Twitter said that Pence has responded to Troye comments, saying “one more disgruntled employee who’s left the WH decided to play politics during an election year”.

Texas governor allows businesses to expand occupancy

Texas governor Greg Abbott announced on Thursday that some businesses across the state will be allowed to expand to 75% occupancy as early as this week.

After emerging as a hotspot in the coronavirus pandemic, Texas data now shows low hospitalization levels. But public health experts expect those numbers to surge as businesses and schools reopen.

Those permitted to expand capacity include restaurants, gyms, shopping centers, libraries and museums. However, bars will remain closed.

Until additional medical treatments are available, we must continue the safe practices that slowed the spread [of Covid-19] this summer. That includes staying at home if you’re sick, sanitizing your hands, maintaining safe distances & wearing a mask.

Greg Abbott, governor of Texas

More of the fallout from the White House on American history:

Following a revisionist speech at the first White House Conference on American History, in which Donald Trump introduced the 1776 Commission that will establish “patriotic” and “pro-America” education: members of the Trump administration – including education secretary Betsy DeVos – remain mum on the backlash.

I didn’t know Mike Pence was due to speak at this National Archives event – officially the event is called the White House history conference – but here he is.

Pence sets the scene with a run through of the Declaration of independence and the constitution – “the greatest charters of freedom the world has ever known”, Pence says.

Then its a straight-up attack on education and, seemingly teachers:

“Sadly we live in a time when some are seeking to erase our history,” Pence says.

Millions of people in the US are educated by people who “seek to wipe out our history”, the vice president claims.

Pence seems to be setting up Trump to – as reported – denounce some US schools’ focus on slavery and racism in history lessons.

Donald Trump is about to speak at the National Archives in Washington – where he’s expected to attack some US schools’ focus on slavery and racism in history lessons.

As we noted earlier: “The president will specifically criticize the New York Times’ ‘1619 Project.’ The Pulitzer Prize-winning project was published last year to cast a spotlight on the 400th anniversary of the first slave ship arriving in America.”

We’ll post updates, and video of the event is live here.