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The Trump administration is looking at options for unilateral actions it can take to try to address some of the economic fallout caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic if no relief deal is reached with Congress, according to two people with knowledge of the deliberations. ... It’s not clear what steps the administration could take without the help of Congress on issues such as lapsed enhanced unemployment benefits or the expired moratorium on evictions — the two matters President Trump has recently identified as his highest priorities in the ongoing talks. Both of those programs were authorized by Congress earlier this year but were designed to be temporary. (Werner and Stein, 8/3)

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday threw cold water on the prospect of extending $600-per-week unemployment benefits for Americans for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview with ABC's "This Week," Mnuchin suggested that the payments, which expired last week, led to some out-of-work Americans being "overpaid" and indicated that he believed they were slowing the return of workers to the labor market. (Bowden, 8/2)

Trump administration officials sounded a pessimistic note Sunday on the chances of a coronavirus relief deal with congressional Democrats in the near future. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows expressed doubt there would be “a solution in the very near term” on any package. "Yesterday was a step in the right direction," Meadows said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "I'm not optimistic there will be a solution in the very near term." (Budryk, 8/2)

Bungled negotiations over the next stimulus package and a resurgence of coronavirus infections are threatening the U.S. economic recovery, creating problems for President Trump as he charts the path forward for his reelection campaign. The White House and Congress remain far from a deal negotiations over the next stimulus package, even as expanded unemployment benefits and a federal moratorium on evictions expire, though the two sides touted progress following an unusual weekend meeting. (Chalfant and Elis, 8/2)

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Friday that liability protections will be in any coronavirus relief deal amid mixed signals from the White House, which has increasingly focused on a smaller or short-term deal. Asked if the White House was trying to drop liability protections from the talks, McConnell told WHAS, a Kentucky radio station, that both he and President Trump support the proposal. (Carney, 7/31)

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Friday that more than a third of Republican senators will not vote for any coronavirus relief package, underscoring division with his caucus. "I think there are 15-20 of my guys that are not going to vote for anything. ... It's a statement of the obvious that we will not have everybody on our side," McConnell told WHAS, a Kentucky radio station. (Carney, 7/31)