TikTok faces a Saturday ban if it is not sold to a U.S. owner — déjà vu.
The big picture: At least four groups have made offers to buy the app, but TikTok owner ByteDance would likely need Chinese government approval to sell.
Why it matters: Musk has begun to downplay what is perhaps the most popular idea (at least on social media) associated with his team's bid to to cut government spending.
A House Democrat is introducing long-shot legislation that would force billionaire Trump lieutenant Elon Musk and his staffers at DOGE to undergo routine drug testing, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) cited a Wall Street Journal report from 2024 that alleged Musk has used illegal drugs including LSD, cocaine, ecstasy, mushrooms and ketamine as the impetus for her bill.
Elon Musk's chainsaw-wielding tour of the federal bureaucracy as a special government employee will eventually come to a close, President Trump suggested to reporters on Monday.
The big picture: As Musk guides a team throughout a dramatic upheaval of federal agencies at a breakneck pace, he's on a tight timeline as a "special government employee." That designation means he is confined to 130 days of service during a one-year period.
The Free Press is adding five new columnists to its roster as part of a broader expansion of its editorial coverage and business, co-founder Bari Weiss told Axios.
Why it matters: The company has managed to accrue a significant free and paid audience of general news consumers at a challenging time for the media industry.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court election on Tuesday has become the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history, surpassing $98 million in spending as of Tuesday, per the Brennan Center for Justice.
Why it matters: The election will determine the ideological majority on the currently liberal court, which has pending cases on abortion, redistricting and voting rights.
Dan Abrams is in talks to raise money for his new media company Bottle Raiders, a spokesperson confirmed to Axios. In an interview, Abrams said the company, which aggregates and pens its own reviews of liquor, aims to become the largest multi-platform spirits media business in the country.
Why it matters: Abrams is a rare entrepreneurial success in media, but few people understand how vast his business empire is.
Efforts by the Trump administration to gut Congressionally approved funds for agencies overseen by the U.S. Agency for Global Media are facing early legal setbacks, as judges side with agencies and employees in their lawsuits against the government.
Why it matters: The rulings present challenges for the Trump administration as it seeks to make broader government cuts as part of its effort to reduce spending through the Department of Government Efficiency.
Newsmax, a conservative media company that lost $55 million in the first half of 2024 on revenue of $80 million, was valued at $16.1 billion at market open Tuesday, its second day as a public company.
Context: That's double the value of the New York Times, which made $106 million in net profit over the same period, on revenue of $1.2 billion.
Wisconsin voters on Tuesday will elect a single state Supreme Court member in a special election that will determine if the bench keeps its liberal majority.
Why it matters: The swing state race is the first major election in the U.S. since November and has become the most expensive judicial race in American history.
Greater Houston car dealers are expecting a small bump in business as tariffs start driving up costs, but they say demand for vehicles in the region will remain steady.
Why it matters: The reality of President Trump's tariffs on imported vehicles and auto parts is sinking in, with the consensus that vehicle prices will go up and the industry's financial outlook will darken.
Trinitee Stokes, an 18-year-old actress, author and singer-songwriter, is reshaping what it means to be a multi-hyphenate creative — and doing it all before most people finish undergrad.
Why it matters: In a culture that rewards specialization, Stokes is building a career defined by range. Most people are expected to pick a lane; she's choosing the whole highway.
Domestic box office revenue is down 12% from this time last year, when theaters were still grappling with the fallout from the historic actors and writers strikes.
Why it matters: Theaters never made a full comeback from COVID-19 and experts don't think they ever will. But for tech giants looking to establish themselves in Hollywood, theatrical distribution matters.
A U.S. District Court judge last week denied most of OpenAI's motion to dismiss a lawsuit against it and its minority owner Microsoft from the New York Times.
Why it matters: The ruling allows most of the Times' case against OpenAI and Microsoft to proceed, paving the way for a possible trial.
Ohio has a rich legacy of manufacturing goods across the state — and as 2025 continues, major companies are beginning new projects in the Buckeye State.
Here's why: Ohio's central location is one of its greatest assets for manufacturing companies.
More than 32,000 Texanswill be affected by President Trump's order that will cease Social Security payments by paper check.
Why it matters: The switch risks disrupting the financial lives of some of the most vulnerable Americans, at a time when Social Security is cutting back services to help them.
Hooters of America filed for bankruptcy protection and plans to sell over 100 company-owned restaurants to an investor group that includes Hooters' co-founders and franchisees.
Zoom in: The announcement blames private equity, not an antiquated concept, for the chain's poor fortunes.
The European Union is ready to take "firm counter-measures" to respond to U.S. reciprocal tariffs, the president of the European Commission said Tuesday.
Why it matters: The world is on the brink of a historic trade war, one that threatens to spark a bout of stagflation with profound consequences for global economies.
The National Treasury Employees union filed suit against the Trump administration in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Monday, over the White House order eliminating collective bargaining rights for two-thirds of the federal workforce.
Why it matters: The executive order threatens the very existence of these unions, which use collective bargaining to negotiate for better pay, benefits and fair treatment.
Elon Musk wants to take the federal government private, part of the DOGE-led effort to shrink the bureaucracy.
Why it matters: Pushing more of the federal government's work into the private sector could lead to greater efficiency, but the downsides could cost taxpayers in other ways.
OpenAI is on a new roll: Its latest image generator is dazzling millions of users, it's teasing new models and hardware, and it just landed another $40 billion to pay for all that and more.
Why it matters: The renewed mojo comes after a bumpy few months that saw handwringing over the release of advanced models from China's DeepSeek in January and disappointment at delays in the next big upgrade of the GPT models that drive the company's success.
The Trump administration has taken action to ensure a Signal group chat that inadvertently included The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg can never happen again, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday.
Why it matters: There have been growing calls from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for an investigation into the Signal scandal, with Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee the latest to call for an independent probe in a letter Monday to director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Hooters of America filed for bankruptcy protection in Texas on Monday and announced a plan to address its debt by bringing back the restaurant chain's founders.
The big picture: Hooters restaurants "remain open to serve customers and will continue to operate in a business-as-usual manner" during the Chapter 11 reorganization after the firm filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Northern District of Texas, per a company statement.
Elon Musk visited the CIA headquarters on Monday for talks on government efficiency, the spy agency director of public affairs Liz Lyons told Axios.
Why it matters: This is the first time Musk has visited the CIA since the establishment of DOGE, the federal cost-cutting department that is he is the face of.
/2025/04/01/1743536530663.gif?w=3840)
