with help from Marianne LeVine and Heather Caygle

STIMULUS SCRUTINY -- Last week, we wrote about how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was facing scrutiny for his decision to wait until July to start negotiating the next coronavirus bill. And now with a deal essentially dead and President Donald Trump moving ahead with executive actions Democratic leaders are facing questions of their own about their strategy.

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer were unyielding in some of their demands during the negotiations and were trying to hold out for more. The GOP did offer some concessions, including $400 per week in unemployment insurance until December. But Democrats rejected some of those proposals, calling them woefully insufficient and betting that Republicans would eventually back down.

But thats not what happened. Instead, White House officials involved in this round of negotiations which, for the first time, included conservative hard-liner Mark Meadows essentially walked away from the negotiating table, at least for now, and told Trump to follow through with unilateral action (more on that later).

Now, its unclear if lawmakers will still press for a deal before August recess or just try to pick things back up again in September (though notably, Pelosi said she doesn't want to tie the relief talks to the looming government funding debate). There were no meetings over the weekend, none are on the books for today, and Dem leaders have not been in contact with Trump despite what the president claimed last night. Meanwhile, the Senate is still technically in session, but most of the members are gone.

During an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Pelosi was asked by Chris Wallace if she made a mistake in the deal-making process. But the speaker wasnt having it. Her response: "Clearly you dont have an understanding of what is happening here. And during a Democratic caucus call over the weekend, frontliner Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) expressed concern that if they dont get a deal it will be a pox on both chambers of Congress, sources told Heather, which could be used against lawmakers in tough races.

Democrats, however, say Republicans are the ones to blame and point out they offered to come down on the overall price tag of the bill by $1 trillion if the White House came up by $1 trillion, but the GOP rejected it. And Pelosi emphasized Sunday that we have to reach an agreement" and stressed that theres room for compromise. Expect Dems to keep bashing the executive orders and call on Republicans to keep negotiating.

Related reads: Pelosi Is Playing Hardball on Coronavirus Relief. She Thinks Shell Win, via NYTs Emily Cochrane and Nicholas Fandos: https://nyti.ms/2PDWQCm; and Mark Meadows Brings Harder Spending Line to Coronavirus Talks, from WSJs Siobhan Hughes: https://on.wsj.com/2CfdFk3.

AND SPEAKING of Trumps executive actions Democrats are slamming the orders as weak and unconstitutional. And there are also legitimate questions about whether the actions are effective or even accomplish what Trump says they do. For example, Trump said he was extending unemployment insurance at $400 per week, but his order would require states to match part of it and administer a new program to get the extra federal benefits. And Trump also said he was extending the federal moratorium on evictions, but his order just instructs agencies to study whether a moratorium on evictions is feasible.

Some Republicans were also unhappy with Trumps unilateral moves. The statement from Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.): The pen-and-phone theory of executive lawmaking is unconstitutional slop. President Obama did not have the power to unilaterally rewrite immigration law with DACA, and President Trump does not have the power to unilaterally rewrite the payroll tax law. More from Nolan McCaskill: https://politi.co/2F90mCL.

Related read: Trump Relief Plan Faces Hurdles, by WSJs Sarah Chaney and Natalie Andrews: https://on.wsj.com/2PFUPFD.

President Donald Trump hold up one of the four executive orders that he signed that addresses the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic at his Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., Saturday, Aug. 8, 2020. Trump signed the executive orders and bypassed the nation's lawmakers as he claimed the authority to defer payroll taxes and replace an expired unemployment benefit with a lower amount after negotiations with Congress on a new coronavirus rescue package collapsed. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)| Susan Walsh/AP Photo

HOW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE MARJORIE? -- When we uncovered racist Facebook videos from GOP congressional candidate Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican leaders raced to disavow her, calling her comments disgusting and saying there's no tolerance for them in the GOP. But in the two months that followed, Republicans have done little to stop her from winning a seat in the House despite finally getting rid of Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), who also has a long history of controversial and racist remarks.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is staying neutral in Greenes runoff race and letting the primary process play out. In fact, Greene said she has spoken to McCarthy since the POLITICO story published; she claims they have a great relationship and that he told her his public rebuke was just a miscommunication. Meanwhile, there has been no major outside spending in the race. Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) lobbied the conservative Club for Growth to get involved, which they considered doing, but they ultimately decided to sit out.

That being said, there have been about a dozen Republicans including House Minority Whip Steve Scalise who have worked to boost Greenes opponent, neurosurgeon John Cowan. But GOP lawmakers, donors and strategists still fear that Greene could actually win her runoff race in Georgia on Tuesday, which would almost guarantee that she comes to Congress since it's a deeply conservative district. The story from your Huddle host and Ally: https://politi.co/3ipRTcO.

Related read: A confluence of events has created a moment for a Georgia pastor to take a Senate seat away from warring Republicans, per WaPos Paul Kane: https://wapo.st/2XGFPM3.

HAPPY MONDAY! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this August 10, where your host hopes your week goes more smoothly than the Nats ground crew trying to unroll the tarp at yesterday's game.

FRIDAYS MOST CLICKED: The APs report on Congress urging the Postal Service to undo changes slowing mail was the big winner.

UNDER PRESSURE -- Democrats feel like their public pressure campaign on the intelligence community is paying off. Andrew and Kyle explain: Congressional Democrats stung by the Obama administrations soft-pedaled approach to Russian election interference in 2016 have a plan to prevent a repeat under President Donald Trump: make as much noise as possible, early and often. For weeks, top Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate have been blaring warnings and demanding briefings and public disclosures from the intelligence community, shrugging off Republican charges that theyre politicizing intelligence.

And Democrats can now point to evidence that their pressure campaign might be working. On Friday, the Trump administrations counterintelligence chief publicly confirmed that Russia is attempting to harm Joe Bidens candidacy in 2020. The official, William Evanina, even singled out a pro-Russia Ukrainian, Andrii Derkach, as a key participant in the Kremlins new effort. The statement, which also indicated that Iran and China prefer a Trump loss in November, was hailed by Democrats as vindication of their strategy to lean on the administration for additional disclosures to help educate the public. More: https://politi.co/30JojZz.

Related read: Ron Johnson subpoenas documents from FBI director, via Betsy Woodruff Swan: https://politi.co/2XKU6rm.

BATTLE FOR THE SENATE -- WaPos Lisa Rein has a dispatch from Montana on the states Senate race: Republican Steve Daines, the freshman senator in this sparsely populated state of hunters, fishers and big-government skeptics where President Trump crushed Hillary Clinton four years ago, was supposed to coast to reelection in November. Democrats were mounting a modest field to oppose him. Daines, if not defined by legislative wins in Washington, had forged a close alliance with the president. Hes a reliable conservative in a state that has voted Republican for president every year since 1968, except for Bill Clinton 28 years ago.

Then came Steve Bullock and the coronavirus pandemic. And with less than three months until Election Day, the faceoff between the two-term Democratic governor from Helena and the wealthy former software executive from Bozeman has transformed into a margin-of-error race that has helped put Senate control within reach for Democrats. It will measure whether Montanas proud history of political individualism is sustainable in an era when voters are more polarized than ever. More: https://wapo.st/3kxEqRO.

Related read: Thom Tillis built the fire. Now it could consume him, by The Intercepts Paul Blest: https://bit.ly/2DKfw0x.

THE GOPS NEW BOGEYMAN -- After a brief period of playing nice with the Black Lives Matter movement, Republicans are now trying to villainize it in the run-up to November. The dispatch from Laura Barrn-Lpez and Alex Thompson: Facing possible electoral calamity, Republicans are now turning to a familiar playbook: stoking fear by trying to redefine the Black Lives Matter movement as a radical leftist mob looking to sabotage the white, suburban lifestyle.

Republicans are using two lines of attack: the Trump administration, candidates in safe red seats and right-wing social media channels seek to label the entire movement Marxist and anti-family as they try to energize their conservative base. Republicans running in swing districts and states, meanwhile, are tying their Democratic opponents to activists demands to defund police departments, while avoiding explicitly mentioning Black Lives Matter. Instead, Republicans running in competitive general election races have focused recent ads on more abstract targets like left-wing radicals and the liberal mob." More: https://politi.co/30IzOAF.

Related read: John Roberts emerges as a 2020 campaign issue, from The Washington Examiners W. James Antle III: https://washex.am/3aeuYhq.

IN IT TO WIN IT -- WinRed, the GOPs answer to ActBlue, brought in a whopping $164 million last month welcome news for the GOP as it fights to keep the Senate and not sink further into the House minority. More from The Hills Julia Manchester: Republican grassroots fundraising group WinRed raked in $164.3 million in the month of July, raising $15.7 million in one day alone, according to figures exclusively obtained by The Hill. The group received a total of 3.217 million donations, with the average donation given to the group coming in at $51.

The latest fundraising figures mark a major uptick for the group over the past year. WinRed raised just $31 million in July of 2019. The group raised a total of $275 million in the second quarter. The left-leaning group raked in $710 million during the second quarter from 5.7 million individuals donors. The development comes as fundraising heats up between Republicans and Democrats ahead of the general election in November. More: https://bit.ly/2XO5aUF.

Related: 2020 election ratings update: House more solid for Democrats, per Roll Calls Nathan L. Gonzales: https://bit.ly/3adHyh9.

WEEKEND WEDDING -- Rep. Abby Finkenauer (D-Iowa) and Daniel Wasta, the new Iowa political director for Joe Bidens campaign, got married Saturday at their home. A small group of family members and close friends attended the socially distanced, outdoor ceremony, with many more joining via livestream. Pic, via Roots + Wilds Photography

Scott Luginbill is now director of congressional affairs for the Trump reelect. He previously worked on congressional affairs for the GOP convention, and is a Mark Walker alum.

Chadwick Carlough is now campaign policy coordinator for the Trump reelect. He previously was chief of staff for Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.).

Subhan Cheema is now director of coalition comms and North Carolina press secretary for the Biden campaign. He previously was comms director/adviser for Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), and is a Richard Blumenthal and Obama HHS alum.

The Senate meets at 3 p.m.

The House is not in session.

Crickets.

FRIDAYS WINNER: John Pitney was the first person to correctly guess that JFKs presidential campaign was the first to rely on computer-driven simulations and big data analytics to inform policy positions and campaign strategy.

TODAYS QUESTION: From John: California Governor Jerry Brown got married in 2005. Which well-known California politician officiated at the ceremony? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess to [emailprotected].

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Did Dems overplay their hand? - POLITICO - Politico