A HOT MESS — It's hot. It's hot in D.C. It's hot nearly everywhere. As of Monday around noon, some 100 million Americans were under heat alerts across the country. By Wednesday, the heat wave could threaten temperature records in more than 100 U.S. cities. This month, 134 counties across 13 states are projected to have five or more extremely hot days where the temperature meets or exceeds the 95th percentile for each county's historical temperature distribution, POLITICO's Madi Alexander reports in this graphic. Some people, of course, are at higher risk during this scenario than others. People who live in poverty, live in mobile homes, have no health insurance and are over 65 and live alone all face an increased risk of health problems when extreme heat hits. See Madi's full DataPoint graphic here. As Sarah has reported in Pulse before, the Biden administration has pledged to tackle this crisis, but the new climate office established inside Health and Human Services lacks funding and permanent staff needed to address the many ways climate change is putting pressure on the U.S. health system. The health costs of climate change and air pollution already exceed $800 billion annually between premature deaths, medical costs, related medicines and indirect tolls such as home and community instability, lost jobs and mental health harms, according to a 2021 analysis. WALENKSY'S SECRET COACH — In January 2021, as Rochelle Walenksy was taking over the public health agency responsible for leading the fight against a once-in-a-century pandemic, she began quietly consulting with an executive coach, Tim Sullivan, POLITICO's West Wing Playbook reports. The pair met regularly in one- to two-hour Zoom sessions or in person in Massachusetts over several months, according to a Freedom of Information Act request by the conservative nonprofit group Americans for Public Trust. Sullivan's firm, the Boston-area Wellesley Partners, boasts on its website that it's worked with "thousands of healthcare professionals to drive greater performance through fully integrated and tailored organizational solutions." Walensky has been trying to improve her performance as the Biden administration struggles with ever-changing mask guidance, vaccine skepticism and new variants. Last fall, she began meeting with Democratic Party media consultant Mandy Grunwald to improve her public communication skills. CDC spokesperson Jason McDonald noted in a statement to POLITICO that it's "very common in federal agencies for government executives to have coaches." He didn't answer a question about who paid for the sessions — the CDC or Walensky. A former senior Biden health official said it's "actually really good for agencies to offer this to people." Still, the official said Walensky's reliance on such a small shop with no clear government ties was "a little weird." SENATE RACES TO WRAP GUN SAFETY DEAL — Lawmakers are scrambling to turn the bipartisan framework on gun safety into legislation before Congress leaves for recess in two weeks, POLITICO's Marianne Levine and Burgess Everett report. Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said his staff is working with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), the lead Democratic negotiator, on legislative text. Durbin wants to move the legislation as quickly as possible before a possible Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade mires the Capitol in controversy. Republicans also want to clinch the deal quickly to both ensure conservatives don't mobilize against the legislation and allow them to shift their rhetoric back to the economy. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell focused on inflation during his floor remarks Monday.
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