© Stephen M. Dowell /Orlando Sentinel via AP

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in dozens of counties, and several counties issued evacuation orders ahead of Hurricane Idalia‘s expected landfall early Wednesday.

The storm is projected to strengthen into a Category 3 hurricane before hitting Florida’s Gulf Coast, bringing a likelihood of life-threatening storm surges and other dangers, including possible tornadoes Tuesday.

DeSantis, one of few GOP presidential contenders currently serving in elected office, earlier Tuesday urged people in evacuation areas to get to higher ground and said Floridians in the storm path should expect to lose power for some time, reminding residents about generator safety guidance.

Background:

• President Biden approved an emergency declaration for Florida, allowing the state to access additional federal resources.
  
  
• Biden and DeSantis in their respective roles have sparred over various issues but worked together on the response to Hurricane Ian last year.
  
  
• Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina also declared states of emergency with the storm projected to impact them in the coming days.

The Hill’s Cate Martel compiled handy resources with more storm info here.

Find emergency information from the Florida Division of Emergency Management here.

Welcome to Evening Report! I’m Amee LaTour, catching you up from the afternoon and what’s coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here.

• House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said Tuesday he’s been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which he called “a very treatable blood cancer.” Scalise said he’s begun treatment and expects to continue serving throughout his treatment.
  
  

• COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to rise and deaths from the virus jumped 21 percent last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A new booster is expected to be approved in late September.
  
  

• The Congressional Black Caucus called on Republican Party leaders to condemn GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy‘s recent comparison of Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) to “modern day grand wizards” of the Ku Klux Klan. Ramaswamy was referring to a 2019 comment from Pressley that he described as racist.

©  AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is out of the Republican presidential primary. The announcement comes after Suarez failed to meet the party’s polling threshold for inclusion in the first debate last week.

From Suarez’s release: “I look forward to keeping in touch with the other Republican presidential candidates and doing what I can to make sure our party puts forward a strong nominee who can inspire and unify the country, renew Americans’ trust in our institutions and in each other, and win.”

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has announced the first 10 drugs that will be subject to Medicare price negotiations according to a provision of the Inflation Reduction Act. (Find the list of drugs here.)

• President Biden often touts the program to lower prescription drug prices as a “key part of Bidenomics.”
  
  
• The program faces legal challenges from pharmaceutical companies and industry groups.
  
  

Learn about this and more in Joseph Choi‘s 5 things to know about the first 10 drugs chosen for Medicare negotiation.

X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, will allow political ads again, reversing a policy in place since 2019. The company also said it’s expanding its safety and elections teams.

X’s policy prohibits “the promotion of false or misleading content, including false or misleading information intended to undermine public confidence in an election, while seeking to preserve free and open political discourse” in political ads.

©  The Hill/Greg Nash

Sidney Powell, who served as a lawyer for former President Trump‘s 2020 campaign, pleaded not guilty to the seven charges against her in the Georgia election interference case. Several of the charges concern a breach of election equipment in Coffee County. Powell is one of Trump’s 18 co-defendants in the case.

A New York Times analysis found 40 percent of wells hit all-time low levels in the past 10 years.

From The Hill’s Zack Budryk: “Human-caused climate change is a major driver of the depletion, reducing the snowpack that flows into rivers and leaving groundwater to make up the deficit for watering lawns and crops — which already requires additional water as temperatures spike.” Read more here.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C), who is running in the GOP presidential primary, released an education platform that he called “a bold agenda to support and empower parents — from the classroom to the locker room to the smartphone.” Among other things, it sets out to increase school choice and “save Title IX and women’s sports.”

“Prisons shouldn’t be called homes, especially in the Census” —  Montana state Sens. Shane Morigeau (D) and Jason Small (R) (Read here)

“Solving homelessness requires more evidence and less politics” — write professors Bill Evans, David Phillips and Jim Sullivan (Read here)

29 days until the second GOP presidential primary debate.

139 days until the Iowa Republican caucuses.

434 days until the presidential election.

President Biden holds a meeting to discuss wildfire recovery efforts on Maui.

There a story you think should be getting more attention? Something people should be talking about? Drop me a line: ALaTour@digital-stage.thehill.com

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