Good morning from the WSJ Washington bureau. 

Trump and Biden: President Trump is working from the White House. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is campaigning virtually.

VP Debate: Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, will face off in their first and only debate at 9 p.m. ET. Here's what to watch for. The night kicks off with a pre-show on wsj.com with WSJ's Jerry Seib, Shelby Holliday and Tarini Parti.

Visa Program: The Trump administration announced an overhaul of the H-1B visa program for high-skilled foreign workers. Among other changes, employers will be required to pay H-1B workers significantly higher wages.

President Trump has sent mixed messages over coronavirus relief aid. The president pulled the plug on ongoing bipartisan coronavirus relief talks Tuesday in a move that jolted Wall Street and surprised lawmakers of both parties, but hours later called on Congress to approve a bill providing another direct check to many Americans, report Kristina Peterson, Andrew Duehren and Nick Timiraos.

• Fed Chairman Jerome Powell warned earlier Tuesday of potentially tragic economic consequences if additional support isn't provided. 

• Stocks: The S&P 500 is poised to recover some ground following the president’s overnight tweets that he would support slimmed-down bills on relief spending.

• Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting could shed light on how central-bank officials are wrestling with applying their new policy framework to an economy battered by the pandemic.

The White House endorsed the FDA’s plans for assessing whether a Covid-19 vaccine should be given to the public, making it likely that a shot won’t be cleared until after the election, report Thomas M. Burton and Rebecca Ballhaus.

• Hospitals that fail to provide data to the federal pandemic response effort will face penalties, the Trump administration said. 

• The Covid Storm: Inside one of America’s worst-hit nursing homes.

President Trump vowed to return to the campaign trail as soon as next week. He said he intended to participate in the Oct. 15 debate in Miami against Joe Biden, which is two weeks after he first tested positive for the cornavirus, reports Rebecca Ballhaus. Mr. Trump called Covid-19 “far less lethal” than the flu on Tuesday, as medical experts say the risk from the virus is very real.

• The Trump campaign has suggested the debate be held outdoors, and said Mr. Trump's medical team would need to clear him to debate.

• The work habits of White House staff have changed after a rash of positive tests, including for Stephen Miller, a senior adviser.

Sen. Kamala Harris’s record will be a focal point of her debate tonight with Vice President Mike Pence. He has portrayed the Democrat as an emissary of the "radical left," but a review of Ms. Harris’s record shows that she also has a pragmatic streak and is willing to work across the aisle on individual issues, reports Tarini Parti.

The sheer size of the shocks felt so far this year ensure that patterns of American life won’t be the same again. Such inflection points tend not to be kind to the presidents and parties in power, but results of today’s tumult are hard to forecast, writes Jerry Seib.

• Florida has extended its voter registration deadline.

• Retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal discusses why he endorsed Mr. Biden despite policy disagreements.

At the WSJ CEO Council Summit, the former national security adviser offered an assessment of U.S. foreign policy toward North Korea and Venezuela.

White supremacists and Russian election interference are among the top threats facing the U.S., the Department of Homeland Security warned in a new report released Tuesday, reports Rachael Levy.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff are quarantining after attending meetings at the Pentagon with a top Coast Guard commander who tested positive for the coronavirus this week, Nancy A. Youssef and Gordon Lubold report.

Some U.S. business groups are pushing back against a White House directive to limit racial-sensitivity training, which has caused confusion for some private businesses with federal contracts, report Khadeeja Safdar and Lauren Weber.

• The executive order prohibits federal agencies, companies with federal contracts, and recipients of federal grants from participating in training that “promotes race or sex-stereotyping or scapegoating.”

The Labor Department contacted Microsoft and Wells Fargo last week, questioning their plans to hire more Black employees as they seek to diversify their management ranks, Khadeeja Safdar and Ben Eisen report.

America’s biggest technology companies have leveraged their dominance to stamp out competition and stifle innovation, according to a Democratic-led House panel, which said Congress should consider forcing the tech giants to separate their dominant online platforms from other business lines, Ryan Tracy reports.

Facebook said it would step up its crackdown on QAnon, removing more groups and pages devoted to the fast-growing conspiracy-theory movement that has thrived on social media, Sarah E. Needleman reports.

• The normally soft-spoken Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, in danger of losing her seat, is lashing out at Democratic opponent Sara Gideon. (Politico)
• Dr. William Foege, a legendary former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has written a letter asking the current director to publicly expose White House mismanagement of the coronavirus outbreak. (USA Today)
• Syria continues to obtain components for its chemical-weapons and missile programs, the Trump administration has told Congress. (Foreign Policy)

This newsletter is a production of the WSJ Washington bureau. Our newsletter editors are Kate Milani, Troy McCullough, James Graff and Toula Vlahou. Send feedback to capitaljournal@wsj.com. You can follow politics coverage on our Politics page and at @wsjpolitics on Twitter.