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Wednesday, July 19

Greetings, all: Eliot Nelson here, in for Lauren Weber who, contra to our statement Tuesday, is not on a much-deserved vacation, but taking her talents to the University of Southern California’s National Fellowship for Health Journalism.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS? They control both chambers of Congress but can’t seem to figure out what to do next. The question now is whether to fix Obamacare or try to sabotage it. [HuffPost] [Tweet | Share on Facebook]

DONALD TRUMP HAD SECOND, UNDISCLOSED MEETING WITH VLADIMIR PUTIN AT G-20 The meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents occurred after a dinner attended by all the gathered heads of state. No White House aides were present for the conversation. [HuffPost]

WHITE HOUSE SLAPS MORE SANCTIONS ON IRAN The new sanctions, coming in the same week that the Trump administration certified that Iran is complying with its nuclear agreement with the U.S., is said to target individuals and organizations involved with arms trading, missile production and software theft. [NYT]

TRUMP TOWER CHARGING U.S. MILITARY $130,000 A MONTH The military is leasing the space as a base of operations for when the president is residing in his New York City home, despite not having done so since taking office. The Wall Street Journal reports the rent is far above the building’s average rate. [WSJ]

WHITE HOUSE TO FORMALLY NOMINATE JON HUNTSMAN AS AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA The White House had first confirmed the nomination in March, but had not announced that the president would formally nominate the former Utah governor to the post until Tuesday evening. [WaPo]

WHATS BREWING

MORE BAD NEWS FOR CHIPOTLE News of sick customers in a Virginia location caused the company’s stock to plunge 8 percent on Tuesday, the latest health-related setback for the beleaguered fast-casual chain. [Bloomberg]

SEAN HANNITY IS NOT HAPPY ABOUT OBAMACARE REPEAL’S FAILURE “I, and so many of us in the country, we have run out of patience with you,” the Fox News host said on his show Tuesday night. “You are the do-nothing GOP lawmakers. And up to now ― and to be very very honest, and it’s really sad ― you’re pretty useless. And all you have now is excuses and broken promises.” Ouch. [HuffPost]

HUGE GENDER PAY GAP AT BBC The British broadcaster revealed that the top four male hosts on the network make four times as much as the top four female hosts. [HuffPost]

DISCOVERY, SCRIPPS IN MERGER TALKS A merger between Discovery Communications and Scripps Interactive would mean, among other things, that Animal Planet and HGTV would be in the same corporate family. [WSJ]

ISLANDS IN THE STREAM Country legend Kenny Rogers announced Tuesday that he will be joined by “Islands in the Stream” duet partner Dolly Parton at an October 25 concert celebrating his career. [HuffPost]

BEFORE YOU GO