It’s Monday. The Olympics are officially over … What are we supposed to do with all this free time? Here’s what’s going on today: 

• Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Harris and running mate Gov. Tim Walz have wrapped up a whirlwind tour to court voters in their quick sprint to November.
• House Republicans are working on a plan to prevent a government shutdown, but at what cost? 
• The Paris Olympics have come to an end, and Los Angeles is ready for 2028. 

I’m Liz Crisp, filling in for Cate, with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send tips, commentary, feedback and cookie recipes to cmartel@digital-release.thehill.com. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.  

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Harris is expected to elaborate on her economic policies after barnstorming key battleground states with her new running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) to build support. 

Harris, who clinched the top of the Democratic presidential ticket three weeks ago after President Biden bowed out of the presidential race, has been welcomed by a wave of base enthusiasm and interest from swing state voters.

Polling: While polls previously suggested former President Trump was favored to beat Biden when he was the presumptive Democratic nominee, Harris has captured the momentum of the campaign switch-up.

The Hill and Decision Desk HQ’s analysis of recent polls shows that Harris is polling an average of 47.6 percent to Trump’s 47.2 percent. 

“What we know is, the stakes are so high. And we can take nothing for granted in this moment,” Harris said at a San Francisco fundraiser Sunday that is expected to bring in more than $12 million for her campaign. “It’s really been a good couple weeks, but we have a lot of work to do.”

What do Republicans have to say?: Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance (R), have hammered Harris over policy proposals, or what they’ve described as a lack thereof coming from Democrats.

Over the weekend: Harris voiced support for proposals to eliminate taxes on tips, taking a similar position to Trump. Republicans have seized on that to accuse Harris of copying Trump, but her proposals are expected to be broadened in the coming days.

“It is my promise to everyone here, when I am president, we will continue to fight for working families, including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers,” she said to a crowd of service workers in Nevada on Saturday.

^ Background: Congress has not increased the federal minimum wage, currently at $7.25 an hour, since 2009. Nearly three dozen states have implemented their own, higher, minimum wage requirements for businesses, but seven states have lower or no minimum wage so they continue to default to $7.25 for minimum wage workers.

Harris will join Biden in Maryland on Thursday for an event focused on efforts to lowering costs for Americans. 

Walz will make the campaign fundraising rounds hitting five states starting with a trip to Newport Beach, Calif., on Tuesday. 

• The Democratic National Committee launched its first paid advertising blitz today to promote the new Harris-Walz ticket. 
  

The Hill’s Alex Gangitano reports the DNC efforts will include a billboard ad in the middle of the Las Vegas strip, and more than 80 billboards across seven battleground states. Per the DNC, the ads will highlight “the contrast between Vice President Harris’ bright vision for the future and Donald Trump’s weird campaign of lies and vengeance.” 

• Harris’s campaign is touting her record on immigration policy in an ad trying to take control on a hot-button issue.  
  
  
• More voters say they trust Harris to handle the economy than they do former President Trump, according to a new poll. 

Former President Trump has been seething since President Biden bowed out of the presidential race and passed the torch to Vice President Harris. He’s gone into full-on attack mode.

His latest focus?: Crowd sizes. Trump was apparently duped by an AI-generated image of a supposed Harris campaign rally crowd, and he took to Truth Social to accuse the vice president of being a “cheater.”   

His post: “Has anyone noticed that Kamala CHEATED at the airport? There was nobody at the plane, and she ‘A.I.’d’ it, and showed a massive ‘crowd’ of so-called followers, BUT THEY DIDN’T EXIST!” Trump wrote Sunday. “She was turned in by a maintenance worker at the airport when he noticed the fake crowd picture, but there was nobody there, later confirmed by the reflection of the mirror like finish on the Vice Presidential Plane.” 

Trump claimed, without evidence, that the campaign was “busted” with the photo and said he thinks Harris should be disqualified for election interference. 

“She’s a CHEATER. She had NOBODY waiting, and the ‘crowd’ looked like 10,000 people! Same thing is happening with her fake ‘crowds’ at her speeches,” he continued. 

The tea: The AI-generated image was clearly false. The rally was livestreamed, attended by thousands and can be seen in attendees’ videos and pictures posted online. (The Hill) 

Backlash: Perennial Trump antagonist and conservative attorney George Conway called the former president a “deeply psychologically disturbed individual” Monday over the false fake crowd claims. 

“As I’ve been yammering about for five or six years now, he’s a deeply unwell man. He is a deeply psychologically disturbed individual. If he were a member of your family, you’d be taking him — you’d be staging an intervention and taking him into a psychiatric hospital,” Conway said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” 

Yikes 😬: “He has completely lost it,” Conway added.

Kevin!: Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the California Republican who Trump affectionally called “my Kevin,” said he also thinks the former president should knock it off about crowd sizes 

A new AP-NORC poll has found two-thirds of U.S. adults say they’re pessimistic about the state of politics in America. 

The House Freedom Caucus has come up with a proposal to keep government funded into early 2025 that it hopes will prevent Democrats from getting a favorable omnibus spending plan and provide leverage for a top conservative proposal. 

Timeline: Congress is scheduled to return from its August recess on Sept. 9, giving lawmakers mere weeks to prevent a Sept. 30 government shutdown and setting the stage for another potential showdown between the GOP-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate and White House. 

The Hill’s Emily Brooks reports the Freedom Caucus, which represents the most conservative bloc of Republican House members, has adopted an official position on the issue that calls for pairing a stopgap measure with the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.  

The SAVE Act would expand proof-of-citizenship voter requirements and voter roll purges in states. It is already illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections.  

The House passed the solo SAVE legislation in June — with a push from former President Trump. 

From Brooks: “Asked in an interview with The Hill last week about the push to extend government funding into 2025, [Speaker Mike Johnson] said he was “thinking about all those alternatives.” 

A House panel tasked with investigating the assassination attempt on former President Trump made is forging ahead with requests for documents and briefings with key agencies investigating the shooting — and staking its territory on the matter. 

Task Force Chair Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) and Ranking Member Jason Crow (D-Colo.) have penned letters to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, acting Secret Service director Ronald Rowe, Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray. 

In the letters, the panel’s leaders note the task force’s authority will “supersede” any other requests from House committees and members. The panel is seeking “all documents and information that have been produced to date” for any other House committees and members, and it wants the same back up information going forward. 

The task force also is seeking a briefing “no later than August 16.” (The Hill) 

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has sent a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and expedited an aircraft strike group’s trip to the region amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran, the Defense Department announced Sunday. 

The move comes as tensions rise in the region following the apparent assassinations of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut earlier this month. (The Hill) 

Related: An Israeli strike that hit a school in Gaza over the weekend and killed about 100 people, according to Palestinian officials, has endangered upcoming talks over a potential ceasefire and hostage release. (The Hill) 

The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris? So passé. It’s time for Los Angeles, the City of Angels and host of the 2028 Olympics, to shine and let the games begin. 

*Cue bald eagle screech* USA!: The United States left Paris with the most medals of any country at 126 (!!!) — 40 of which were gold.

“This is the city of champions, a city whose sporting soul is rooted in resilience, a city whose fans urge greatness and whose stars supply magic,” LA Times sports columnist Bill Plaschke, who has covered 10 Olympics, wrote about the excitement surrounding the four-year march to the big event.

So cool: During the closing ceremony Sunday evening, actor Tom Cruise bungee jumped into the arena, where gymnast Simone Biles and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass handed him the Olympic flag to signify the transfer of the Games to Los Angeles. (🎥 Watch here)

The Los Angeles Olympics host committee has unveiled a logo for the 2028 events honoring late Lakers great Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash in 2020 but had long advocated for the city’s bid to host the Olympic Games.  

The Bryant logo, which features an homage to the basketball legend’s “Black Mamba” nickname with a snake print “A,” is one of more than 50 emblems developed for the games to recognize causes, events and people who represent L.A. life.

It was designed by Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, who spoke in a video about the tribute posted on the X social media platform Monday.

“When Kobe was approached to support the effort to bring the Games to LA, he responded with an immediate ‘yes’. Kobe was an important advocate in bringing the Games to Los Angeles,” she said. 

 Team USA is challenging an International Olympic Committee ruling that stripped gymnast Jordan Chiles of the bronze medal for her floor routine at the Paris Games. (The Hill) 

🎶 It’s National Vinyl Record Day! Americans bought nearly 50 million albums on vinyl last year, up 14 percent over 2022, according to Billboard’s analysis of data from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), as the old medium has seen a resurgence in popularity. 

Pop superstar Taylor Swift has been a major factor in the recent sales surge. About one out of every 15 records sold in 2023 were Swift albums. Billboard reported in May that with the release of her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, Swift set a vinyl sales record with 859,000 copies sold in the first week. 

🏅 Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communiter: The 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris may be over, but you can keep the Olympic spirit flowing by heading to the Library of Congress on Tuesday to check out a small, impressive display of items from modern Summer Olympics history. 

🍽️ Metropolitan DC Summer Restaurant Week is here! Participating restaurants around the DMV are offering 3-course lunch specials for $25-$35 and dinner specials for $40-$65 during the promotion. Check out the menus here. 

The House and Senate are on break until Sept. 9. President Biden returned to the White House this morning after spending the weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Del. Vice President Harris is in D.C. All times Eastern. 

• 1:15 p.m.: Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling will outline security preparations for the upcoming Democratic National Convention during a virtual discussion hosted by the City Club of Chicago. (Watch here) 
• 2 p.m.: White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will brief reporters. (Watch here) 
• 8 p.m.: Former President Trump is scheduled to talk politics with tech billionaire Elon Musk on X spaces. 
• Coming up: President Biden will travel to New Orleans on Tuesday to promote the Biden Cancer Moonshot initiative during an event at Tulane University. 

Check out this cat leaping into Monday like…