Why it matters: While Democrats fight to convince voters that they should be the ones tasked with taking down President Trump, the current administration is powering ahead on efforts to restrict immigration, unleash business and reshape the U.S. role in the world.
Photo: Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images
The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear a high-profile case that could reshape the bounds of First Amendment protections for religion.
Why it matters: The direct question in this case is whether Philadelphia had the right to cancel a contract with an adoption agency that refused to place foster children with same-sex couples. It also poses bigger questions that could lead the court to overturn a key precedent and carve out new protections for religious organizations.
President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at the Taj Mahal. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
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Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios
Advances in digital technology are likely to erode trust and harm democracy around the world between now and 2030, according to a plurality of tech experts surveyed for a new Pew Research report.
Why it matters: Online misinformation is already causing a mix of actual harm and widespread fears, and advances like deepfakes are likely to intensify the challenges citizens face.
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Rahm Emanuel — former Chicago mayor, now an ABC News contributor — draws on his own experiments, plus conversations with other innovative mayors, for "The Nation City: Why Mayors Are Now Running the World," out Tuesday:
Just when the federal government is distant, the local government is intimate. Just when the federal government is dysfunctional, the local government is impactful. Just when the federal government is indifferent, the local government is immediate.
Local governments are politically stable when our national governments are anything but.
Bernie Sanders and his wife Jane at a rally in Austin on Sunday. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Lots of Democrats are in full panic that Bernie Sanders will win the nomination and get clobbered in the general election — and bring the party down, too. But the evidence, particularly the polling, doesn't back those doomsday warnings.
Why it matters: Virtually every national and swing state poll shows Sanders tied with or beating President Trump. And, unlike every rival, he has a huge base of fervent, unshakable supporters he can only grow.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Chesnot/Getty Contributor
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Some swing voters here are unbothered by the way Michael Bloomberg is spending heaps of his own money to help him win the race — but they're split over whether they'd actually vote for the New York billionaire over President Trump.
Why it matters: Bloomberg is the only Democrat who was even slightly intriguing to these voters. They're happy with Trump and don't feel like they recognize the current Democratic Party relative to when they voted for Barack Obama.
Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid after voting in the Nevada Democratic presidential caucus in Las Vegas. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in a statement to news outlets Sunday "it's time for the Democratic Party to move to primaries everywhere" and ditch the caucus system.
Why it matters: Reid remains the functional head of the Nevada Democrats. He's also "responsible for Nevada's caucuses occupying the third slot on the Democrats’ presidential nominating calendar," the New York Times notes.
Bernie Sanders speaks during a campaign rally on Saturday in El Paso, Texas. Photo: Cengiz Yar/Getty Images
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders announced on CBS' "60 Minutes" Sunday a new plan to guarantee free child care and pre-kindergarten to all American children from infancy to age 4.
Details: In the wide-ranging interview, Sanders told Anderson Cooper he planned to pay for universal child care with a wealth tax. "It's taxes on billionaires," he said.
Joe Biden at a Nevada Caucus watch party in Las Vegas on Saturday. Photo: Ronda Churchill/AFP via Getty Images
Former Vice President Joe Biden secured second place in the Nevada Democratic caucuses with former Southbend Mayor Pete Buttigieg third, according to NBC News projections Sunday.
Why it matters: It's a boost for Biden, who's expected to be endorsed by House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) on Wednesday, ahead of this week's South Carolina primary.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders during a campaign rally in Austin, Texas, on Sunday. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee issued a scathing statement after Sen. Bernie Sanders tweeted he refuses to attend AIPAC's conference because he's concerned it provides a "platform for leaders who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights."
Why it matters: Sanders' statement on why he won't attend the pro-Israel lobby group's March 1-4 conference in Washington, D.C., on March 1-4 — which AIPAC called an "odious attack" — comes a day after he comprehensively won the Nevada caucuses, making him the clear frontrunner in the Democratic presidential race.
Roger Stone. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The federal judge who sentenced President Trump's longtime adviser Roger Stone said his legal team provided no "factual or legal support" that would disqualify her from the case as she rejected the request Sunday.
Why it matters: U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who sentenced Stone to 4o months in prison last week for crimes including obstruction of justice, lying to Congress and witness tampering, is considering his request for a new trial amid allegations of juror bias. But she dismissed suggestions she should be removed, saying the "pleading appears to be nothing more than an attempt to use the Court's docket to disseminate a statement for public consumption that has the words 'judge' and 'biased' in it."
Read the court order:
Go deeper: Nearly half of Republicans support pardoning Roger Stone