Hi, I'm Dan Pramette and welcome to Axios Recap.

Today's Tuesday, August 4th.

East Coast power lines are down.

Jonathan's Swan memes are up and we're focused on the future of COVID-19 lawsuits.

Congressional Democrats, Republicans, and the White House are all working right now to get a new stimulus plan passed.

Days after expanded unemployment benefits ran out and days before the Senate is scheduled to go on break.

One major area of continued disagreement is the issue of liability

protections, not only for businesses, but also for health facilities and schools. It's the sort of thing

that could reset the cost-benefit analysis for a business thinking about reopening or of its

employees, thinking about returning. As for Senate

Republicans, they've proposed fairly sweeping liability protections, with Majority Leader McConnell

warning that a, quote, second pandemic of litigation could be forthcoming. In short, the GOP bill

requires employers to make a good faith effort to meet local and federal safety guidelines.

And if such an effort is made, get what's known as safe harbor.

Democrats, meanwhile, seem to think that existing liability protections suffice and that the

GOP plan could lead to workers and customers being endangered,

or at least not having legal recourse if they get sick.

In 15 seconds, we'll go deeper with Neil Bradley,

chief policy officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,

to get a better understanding of where the political debate stands

and what comes next as American businesses try to reopen. But first, this.

We're joined now by Neil Bradley, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer for the U.S.

...