The Daily Digest: disaster aid; migrant children

Good morning!

Minnesota

President Obama signed a disaster declaration for eight Minnesota counties that were damaged by flooding. This means residents in those regions are now eligible for federal aid. (MPR News)

Could an Independence Party candidate swing this year's U.S. Senate race? (MPR News)

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U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison thinks Minnesota should host some of the children streaming over the country's southern border. (Star Tribune)

The AP profiles Republican Senate candidate Mike McFadden, who's pitching himself as a “a right-center Amy Klobuchar." (AP via WCCO)

Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson, the Republican-endorsed candidate for governor, is recovering today after surgery to repair what a spokesman called “a small perforation” in his stomach. (MPR News)

MNsure CEO Scott Leitz was on The Daily Circuit to talk about how the exchange is preparing for its second open enrollment season.(MPR News)

Unnamed Democrats tell Roll Call they're frustrated with DFL Rep. Rick Nolan's re-election campaign and worried about his chances of holding off Republican Stewart Mills. (Roll Call)

MPR's series on priest sexual abuse abuse continues with a look at what some of the central people involved in covering up the abuse did before arriving in Minnesota. (MPR News)

National Politics

President Obama on signed an executive order aimed at protecting workers at federal contractors and in the federal government from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. (Politico)

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who's likely running for President in 2016, plans to send 1,000 National Guard troops to the Mexican border to address the surge of unaccompanied children crossing the border. (New York Times)

A new study shows that statehouse coverage continues to decline. Minnesota has two full-time statehouse reporters per 500,000 residents putting it behind Vermont (10.4) but ahead of California (0.6). (Pew Research Center)

It's come to this: even protesters have given up on Congress. (Washington Post)