Axios PM

April 21, 2026
Hi there, Tuesday readers. Today's newsletter, edited by Alex Fitzpatrick, is 588 words, a 2-min. read. Thanks to Sheryl Miller for copy editing.
⚡️ Situational awareness: Vice President Vance's planned trip to Pakistan was delayed today as Iranian leadership remained split over peace talks.
- Axios' Barak Ravid reports that with the ceasefire scheduled to expire, every hour Vance spends in Washington is an hour closer to a resumption of hostilities.
1 big thing: Work vibes hit record lows

Two key worker satisfaction scores are at all-time lows, Axios' Courtenay Brown reports from bleak new N.Y. Fed survey results.
📉 The share of workers saying that they're satisfied with their pay fell to 52.3% in March, down 3.3 points.
- That's the smallest share in the survey's 12-year history.
😫 Workers' satisfaction with their promotion opportunities fell by a similar amount, also to the lowest share on record.
- The only satisfaction gauge above record lows: non-wage benefits, like health coverage and retirement plans.
🤷 Despite the bad vibes, people generally aren't planning to quit anytime soon.
- On average, workers say there's only about a 10% chance that they'll have a new employer in the next four months.
- That's the lowest since March 2021.
2. 👩💼 What CEOs are telling us
Axios' Jim VandeHei has been busy chatting with other CEOs for his new weekly newsletter, Axios C-Suite.
- It's a Saturday-morning briefing for a select group of fellow CEOs and C-suiters.
Here's what CEOs have been telling Jim:
🫏 Dem to watch: AOC is the most interesting '28 candidate right now.
- She could run for Senate in New York against Chuck Schumer and win, perhaps easily. Or she could run for president as the Bernie Sanders far-left heir apparent. Much harder.
‼️ New vulnerability: U.S. officials fear China might cut us off from rare earth minerals again, just as our supply of rare-earth-dependent smart weapons dwindles.
- Our killer weapons systems deployed in Iran — Tomahawks, JDAMs, Predator drones, the F-35 — all depend on rare earths in some capacity.
🤷♂️ Trump shrug: Trump doesn't seem to care all that much whether Republicans lose the House and Senate this fall.
- We've heard this from countless people who've broached the topic with him — even before the all-consuming Iran war.
Request admission to Axios C-Suite.
3. ⚡️ Catch me up

- ☕️ Starbucks announced plans to invest $100 million and create thousands of jobs in Nashville as it builds a major hub to anchor its Southeast expansion. Chief partner officer Sara Kelly said in a letter to employees: "We are positioning the company for sustained, long-term growth, including significantly expanding the number of U.S. coffeehouses." Go deeper.
- 👨💼 President Trump has told confidants that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is "begging" for a Trump administration job — including attorney general, Axios' Marc Caputo has learned. Go deeper.
- 🏛️ Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) resigned from Congress after being found guilty by the Ethics Committee on several charges, including funneling $5 million in COVID relief to her campaign. She has denied wrongdoing. More from Kate Santaliz, Hans Nichols and Andrew Solender.
- 🏈 Longtime Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is joining NBC as a studio analyst for "Football Night in America," The Athletic reports. Gift link.
4. 🔥 1 fun thing: "Jeopardy!" hot streak

Current "Jeopardy!" champ Jamie Ding is on a 27-day winning streak, Alex Fitzpatrick writes.
- The Lawrenceville, N.J., resident has racked up $753,000, and sits in fifth place for longest streaks.
🏆 A few more wins would put Ding ahead of phenom James Holzhauer, who won 32 straight matchups in 2019.
- Host Ken Jennings, when asked how he'd feel about Ding breaking his 74-game record, said: "I would be very excited, actually."
📬 Thanks for reading! Please invite your friends to join PM.
Sign up for Axios PM


