Here's what to expect today. Darren Samuelson fills us in on the state of play. There's one final pretrial hearing at 9 a.m. in Alexandria where Judge Ellis is going to work through some late debate over some of the evidence both sides want to show during the trial. Then it's time to pick the jury, with Vaudere starting at 10am. There are about 60 potential jurors still in the mix, with Ellis planning to tap 16 people, including four alternates for the trial. On the political front in recent days,

the general consensus among Republican operatives and aides seems to have shifted, and most people we talked to say the GOP will lose the house if the election was held today. Of course, the election is three months from now, but the political picture has darkened for the GOP. Meanwhile, on the world stage, the Washington Post is reporting that US spy agencies are seeing signs that North Korea is working on new missiles. And the New York Times has a report that Iran isn't interested in meeting with President Trump. The Times is also

reporting on the Trump administration considering a unilateral tax cut for the rich, where it would bypass Congress and grant a $100 billion tax cut that would cut capital gains taxes. We've got a playbook scooped the Congressional Leadership Fund, the House GOP Leadership Alliance Super PAC, has reserved $2 million in TV advertising in Chicago to boost Congressman Peter Roskam. Republicans were down on Roskam a few months ago, so this might be a sign that his political standing is improving. Jonathan Martin has a look at how the Florida governor's race is testing the theory that all politics are local, with

diminished local media and Fox News setting the tone for Republican politics. The Post is also reporting on FEMA's personnel chief, who recently resigned. He is under investigation for harassing women and that he may have hired possible sex partners for his male employees.

Alana Shore has a story on Joe Manchin's meeting with Brett Kavanaugh. So far the West Virginia Democrat wants another meeting with him but called the two-hour session very productive. In the juice Tom Colomore is leavingS. Chamber of Commerce after 11 years. He was the trade group's top communications official. He's starting his own strategic consulting firm, but will continue to serve as counselor to the chamber head, Tom Donahue, for the rest of the year. America First Action says it's

about to begin spending money in Ohio's 12th district on behalf of Troy Balderson, the GOP nominee. The group plans to spend $200,000. The election is August 7th. The CLF has spent $2.4 million and the NRCC has spent more than $950,000. And here's what's on tap for Trump's Tuesday. The president is signing the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act into law this morning. He will have lunch with Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In the afternoon, Trump will fly to Florida, where he will hold a workforce development event at Tampa Bay Technical High School. He will then head to the Florida State Fairground Expo Hall, where he will hold a political rally before returning to Washington. Subscribe to Playbook at politico.com/Playbook.