It’s Tuesday, and Fourth of July festivities will be here before you know it. Here’s what’s in today’s edition:

• The Biden Bounce Back (BBB) ™?: President Biden and his campaign are trying to regain footing after a disappointing debate showing against former President Trump last week.
• Former Trump-aide Steve Bannon’s locked up, but his podcaster heart will go on. 
• A fun D.C. game of “Guess Who?”: A member of Congress was caught with a gun in their carry-on bag at Dulles airport. Who was it? 

I’m Elizabeth Crisp, filling in for Cate, with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send me your tips: ecrisp@digital-staging.thehill.com and follow me on social media platform X: @elizabethcrisp. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.  

President Biden’s team is trying to quell theories about the president dropping out of the race after a disappointing debate performance against former President Trump last week. Some aides have thoughts on how the campaign can shift gears.

The Hill’s Alexander Bolton has the full story on how Democrats say the 81-year-old Biden can attempt to bounce back from claims that he’s too old and frail for another four years in the White House.

A “Biden bounce back” initiative? Don’t count it out. Four years ago, he was trailing in the Democratic primary against his rivals, notably those younger than him, but ultimately came out on top after winning the South Carolina primary to become the party’s presidential nominee. 

And the underdog plan seems to be coming back.

As Bolton reports: “Democratic lawmakers and strategists for months had predicted the presidential race would be extremely close, but they now see Biden as an underdog after he stumbled against former President Trump on the debate stage.” 

You’ll remember, Biden tried to make BBB a thing with the “Build Back Better” Act — but it also works for the shift he’s trying to make as people question the incumbent’s stamina and potential for four more years. 

Democratic governors and other advisers have aired concerns with the president about the 2024 election.

If President Biden is going to continue to be their nominee, Democrats say he must adjust his strategy and his advisers must change the way they manage him.

The Hill’s Amie Parnes reports that party operatives say “aides seeking to control the narrative around Biden have shielded him from big moments, including sit-down interviews and off-the-cuff interactions, to his detriment. That strategy, they now argue, backfired at the debate.” More here.

• Trump opens up 3-point lead on Biden after debate: Poll (The Hill)
• ‘We’ve all enabled the situation’: Dems turn on Biden’s inner sanctum post debate (Politico)
• Biden seizes on Trump’s Supreme Court triumph to seek redemption after debate debacle (CNN)
• GOP seizes on Biden debate fallout to batter vulnerable Democrats (The Hill)
• Almost 70 percent of progressive voters think Biden should suspend campaign: Poll (The Hill)
  
• In a Staring Contest With Democratic Voters, Joe Biden Hasn’t Blinked (The New York Times)
  

The Supreme Court’s ruling this week on presidential immunity has opened new opportunities for former President Trump and his supporters to turn back the clock on the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, as he seeks four more years in the White House. 

The Monday ruling largely shields presidents from criminal prosecution while serving in office. Trump’s legal team is now floating the idea that the so-called “fake electors” scheme qualifies as an “official act,” and should be shielded from prosecution. 

President Biden harshly criticized the court’s ruling as a “dangerous precedent.”  

“For all practical purposes … there are virtually no limits on what a president can do,” Biden said in an address Monday night. 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s (D) office said Tuesday that it will not oppose delaying Trump’s July 11 sentencing in his hush money case, even as prosecutors disagreed with the former president’s attempt to set aside the verdict on immunity grounds.

The former president’s lawyers sent a letter to Judge Juan Merchan following the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling asking for a July 10 deadline to file a written brief explaining arguments. If accepted, that request would likely cause a delay in the sentencing.

The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld provides the details here.

In a series of court orders Tuesday, the high court decided it would not hear two cases:

• The Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to Illinois’s ban on certain semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity magazines, avoiding what would’ve been a blockbuster Second Amendment case. 
  
  

• The court also denied taking up a case that challenges the scope of a federal law immunizing tech companies from liability for their users’ content brought by a teenager who was allegedly groomed by a teacher on Snapchat.

Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) has been charged with a weapons violation after attempting to carry an unloaded handgun through Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, en route to Europe this week. 

The .380 caliber firearm was found during a routine passenger security screening. 

The lawmaker’s office said in a statement that the whole thing was a mistake and noted no magazine or bullets were on her. According to the statement, she didn’t realize the gun was in a suitcase pocket. She was issued a citation and carried on with her trip to the SCE Parliamentary Assembly’s meeting in Strasbourg, France. 

Spartz, who is from Ukraine and was first elected to Congress in 2011, initially thought she wouldn’t run for reelection this year but end up doubling down and won the GOP primary for her seat in May. (The Hill) 

As the nation sizzles, the Biden administration took a step to try to beat the temps and protect workers from heat-related illness.

If agreed to, the proposal would require rest breaks and access to shade and water for workers who face extreme heat risks. 

Biden gave remarks on the proposal this morning here.

Read more from The Hill’s Rachel Frazin.

Trump ally Steve Bannon, the bombastic media personality, checked into prison this week but his supporters, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) continue to rally in support of him. 

Bannon, who has called himself a “political prisoner,” lost an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court last week as a last-ditch effort to delay his prison sentence. 

Bannon was convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress in 2022 after ignoring a subpoena from the House committee charged with investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. 

• Former Attorney General Bill Barr says he’s not bothered by Bannon’s threats that he should be prosecuted for his testimony to a House committee over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. (The Hill)
  
  

• A panel of judges ruled that former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani should lose his law license because of his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. (The Hill) 

Hurricane Beryl has become a Category 5 storm as it tears through the Caribbean. 

The strongest storm on record this early in the season made landfall as a Category 4 storm on the Grenada island of Carriacou on Monday with extreme winds and heavy rainfall. At least one person died. (The Hill) 

🛸 “I want to believe…” And today’s the day for it. It’s World UFO Day. Let’s all look to the sky tonight and search for an unidentified flying object. Maybe the aliens will check in.  

🔭 In other celestial news… This month could be a feast for sky gazers – even the non-believers. Our friends at NewsNation have the details on why and how you can enjoy. 

✍️ A BFD from LBJ: President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law on this day in 1964. 

🏠 Not too shabby: An oceanfront mansion in Massachusetts just sold for $22.75 million – a record price for a single-family home on Cape Cod. Check out the views. 

The House and Senate lawmakers are on their holiday vacation this week. President Biden is in Washington and Vice President Harris is in California. (all times Eastern)

• This afternoon: Biden gives remarks on heat protection proposal. 💻 Livestream
• 2:30 p.m.: White House holds press briefing. 💻 Livestream
• 5 p.m.: Harris attends a fundraiser in San Francisco. 
• 5:30 p.m.: Biden holds a campaign event in McLean, Va., after speaking on the extreme heat this afternoon. 
• Coming up: The president and the first lady will celebrate Independence Day with members of the military and their families and watch the Fourth of July National Mall fireworks display from the White House Thursday.

Giant pandas will be back at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington by the end of the year after a short pause in the park’s 52-year-old conservation partnership with China. Until Bao Li and Qing Bao get here, check out this vid of a sweet little bear that just wants some love. 🐼 

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