President Biden's most ambitious executive actions seem all but destined to die at the hands of the courts.

• Why it matters: Divided government often nudges presidents to lean more heavily on unilateral action. But the Supreme Court will likely prevent Biden from achieving very much on his own, Axios senior editor Sam Baker writes.

During oral arguments yesterday, the court seemed inclined to ax Biden’s big plan to relieve student debt — a program the left spent months pushing the administration to enact.

• The conservative majority has already taken a hammer to some of the administration's other top priorities.
• Each time the court reinforces a narrower view of presidential power, it builds a body of precedent that will make the next case that much harder for the White House to win.

🔎 Between the lines: The conservative justices focused yesterday on the "major questions doctrine," which holds that if the executive branch wants to do anything big, it needs direct, explicit authorization from Congress.

• The doctrine is fast becoming one of the most potent weapons in the conservative justices' mission to rein in the executive branch.

Flashback: The justices previously relied on the major questions doctrine to strike down the CDC's COVID-era eviction moratorium, as well as vaccine mandates and, most significantly, a set of sweeping environmental regulations.

• Together, those rulings have tied the Biden administration's hands on some of its top domestic priorities — addressing climate change, COVID response and now student loans.
• Those are also areas where the party's left wing has leaned hard on the White House to go big.

🔮 What’s next: Oral arguments can only tell you so much about how the court will ultimately rule. It doesn't seem especially likely, but there's still a chance the student-loan proposal could pull out a surprise victory.

The bottom line: The direction the court is heading, and the tools it will use to get there, are clear. If there's any doubt about whether Congress intended for the president to do a big progressive thing, the court will likely err on the side of stopping him.

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U.S. drivers spent an average of about $3.40 for every gallon of gas in February, per GasBuddy data. That's up a bit from January, but down 6% year over year.

• Why it matters: Cheaper gas is good news for American consumers — and for President Biden, as he puts pocketbook issues at the heart of his 2024 campaign, Axios What's Next editor Alex Fitzpatrick writes.

🧠 Context: Roughly three-quarters of American commuters drive to and from work.

What's happening: Crude oil prices have fallen over the past year, leading to cheaper automotive gas.

• Oil prices spiked last year amid uncertainty over Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the economic sanctions against Russia — a major oil producer — that followed.

🌉 Zoom in: San Francisco has among the country's highest average gas prices, at $4.76 per gallon last month. Taxes, regulations, and snags with local refining operations often lead to higher prices across California.

• 🛢️ Houston drivers are enjoying some of the cheapest prices nationwide, at just $2.93/gallon.

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In 1976, as Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter gained momentum in his long-shot presidential campaign, his first major endorsement from an elected official outside Georgia was from Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, age 33.

• Why it matters: The two Democratic rising stars saw kindred spirits in each other, and went on to maintain a decades-long friendship, Axios' Emma Hurt writes from Atlanta.

Biden and Carter bonded over always being "underestimated," and not being members of the Washington establishment, former top Carter media adviser Gerald Rafshoon told Axios in an interview.

• "You can't pigeonhole either one of them as being conservative or liberal," Rafshoon said. "They're moderates ... They see eye-to-eye."

In a 2020 endorsement, Carter called Biden his "first and most effective supporter in the Senate ... my loyal and dedicated friend."

In a video tribute to Carter in the 2021 documentary "Carterland," Biden recalled traveling to Wisconsin in 1976 to make his endorsement.

• "Some of my colleagues in the Senate thought it was youthful exuberance on my part," Biden recalled. "Well, I was exuberant."
• "As I said then: 'Jimmy's not just a bright smile. He can win and he can appeal to more segments of the population than any other person.'"
• "All those years ago, Governor Carter proved me right. And in the years since, President Carter did a lot more than that. He showed us throughout his entire life what it means to be a public servant. With emphasis on the word servant."

After promising to visit Carter in early 2021, Biden and First Lady Jill Biden traveled to Plains, Ga., in April of that year, and spent an hour with the Carters at their home.

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Jasmine, age 23, paints yesterday amid earthquake rubble in the city of Jindires on Feb. 28, 2023, near Aleppo, Syria.

• Paintings by Jasmine, who lives in nearby Afrin, will be auctioned to benefit quake victims.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot lost her re-election bid last night, failing to pick up enough votes to reach a runoff next month, Justin Kaufmann and Monica Eng write in Axios Chicago.

• Why it matters: It's a stunning rebuke of Lightfoot — the city's first Black and first openly gay mayor. Opponents severely criticized her handling of violent crime.

Former Chicago schools chief Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson, a progressive county commissioner, will meet in a runoff election on April 4.

• Lightfoot is just the second one-term Chicago mayor in 40 years. The last was Mayor Jane Byrne, who served from 1979 to 1983.

Vallas, the former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, ran a campaign criticizing Lightfoot's record on public safety and promising to restore law and order.

• He accepted the endorsement of the Chicago police union — which raised some eyebrows but seems to have paid off — and vowed to "make Chicago the safest city in America."

Johnson, a progressive former teacher backed by the CTU, has proposed aggressive taxes on "corporations and the ultra-rich" to fund social service programs.

• Share this story ... Lightfoot's fraught legacy ... Get Axios Chicago.

Neil Lareau of Truckee (Nevada County), Calif., took this photo out his window as he did dinner dishes on Monday, and told us yesterday:

• "Wayyyyyy more snow now ... most I've ever seen. A little scary actually."

The snowpack in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California is within striking distance of record levels, Axios' Andrew Freedman writes.

• Statewide, the snowpack was 162% of the typical April 1 peak, and 186% of normal.

The latest blizzard is winding down today, after dumping 3 to 7 feet since the weekend. The storm closed roads and knocked out power due to high winds, and created towering snowbanks and drifts.

• That doesn't mean the state's long-running megadrought is over. But it helps ease concerns about water supplies, and the start of the fire season this spring.

Go deeper: Snowpack stats ... New blizzard warnings.

Long before the Feb. 3 derailment exposed East Palestine to hazardous chemicals, residents suffered from devastating derailments that destroyed businesses and often left the city stuck paying for the damage.

• Why it matters: Earlier generations urged stricter railroad oversight to prevent a major disaster, Axios Columbus reporter Tyler Buchanan writes.

Their pleas, largely ignored at the time, are followed a half-century later by new ones for better regulations.

• Keep reading ... Get Axios Columbus ... Take Axios Local: Now in 26 cities, with 4 more launching soon.

Legendary composer John Williams, 90 — up for an Oscar for original score on March 12 — is the oldest person ever nominated in a competitive category.

• Williams received his 53rd Academy Awards nomination for scoring "The Fabelmans" — a coming-of-age drama based on director Steven Spielberg's childhood. It's the 31st Spielberg film Williams has scored.

Williams, who has won five times, tells Lester Holt in an interview for tonight's "NBC Nightly News" that someone asked his wife, Samantha Winslow, why she always wears black dresses to the Oscars.

• "She says: 'Because we lose every year,'" Williams said with a laugh.

Williams wrote "The Mission" — the "Nightly News" theme. (Listen to the long version.)

• Interview clip.