Axios

President Trump nominated Jerome Powell, a member of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, to serve as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, succeeding Janet Yellen. Trump said that Powell's nomination marked an "important milestone on the path to restoring economic opportunity for the American people."

Trump also took the opportunity to praise Yellen, calling her "a wonderful woman who has done a terrific job" and "a spectacular person." He noted that "she has served with dedication and devotion" and stated he was "grateful to her total commitment to public service."

The House's newly released tax reform calls for the Child Tax Credit to be expanded from $1,000 to $1,600 per child, which some Republican lawmakers have said isn't enough. Sen. Marco Rubio tweeted this morning, "House #TaxReform plan is only starting point.But $600 #ChildTaxCredit increase doesn't achieve our & @potus goal of helping working families."

Why it matters: Let the tax fight begin. This is the first serious knock on the tax bill of many that are sure to come. Sen. Rubio, Sen. Mike Lee and Ivanka Trump have been pushing for a $2,000 child tax credit, and Rubio told reporters last month that an $1,800 credit would result in all middle class families only breaking even.

Senator Maria Cantwell told Axios' CEO and Co-Founder Jim VandeHei and NBC's Chuck Todd "the notion that this administration is going to cut the energy efficiency office…and instead try to hold on to this coal idea…it's not an energy strategy for the future." The senator was joining an Axios/NBC event this morning, helping us drive the discussion about the administration's energy policy priorities in 2017.

Why it matters, per Cantwell: She said Trump's administration is basically saying, "it's time to go back," referencing Trump's comments on coal. Going backwards is not what is best for the economy, per Cantwell.

The Department of Justice has identified more than six members of the Russian government who were involved in hacking the Democratic National Committee's computers during the 2016 presidential election, the WSJ reports, citing "people familiar with the investigation."

Why it matters: These charges would specify who exactly was behind the DNC hack for the first time — and although U.S. intelligence agencies have already attributed the hack to Russian intelligence, they did not provide details about who was involved specifically in trying to back Trump's campaign at the detriment of Hillary Clinton's.

Remember the time that fired FBI Director James Comey testified that during a private White House dinner, President Trump had told him: "I need loyalty, I expect loyalty"?

Well, Axios can reveal that Comey refers mischievously to that conversation in the title of his book out May 1, "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership."

Why it matters: Comey kept notes and showed during his testimony that he has an eye and voice for vivid, novelistic detail. He was fired. And the multimillion-dollar book deal — brokered by Javelin, with Flatiron Books. Means, motive, opportunity. This should be good!

Google, Facebook and Twitter announced record third quarter earnings over the past two weeks, despite facing one of the toughest PR crisis in years, with two days of televised congressional probes into the ways Russians used their platforms to meddle in the 2016 elections.

Why it matters: While users say they are worried about Russian influence in elections and are concerned over the way tech companies police themselves and protect their data, these issues haven't made the platforms any less popular. And while advertisers report feeling more concerned about brand safety on those platforms, the reach and efficiency of their ad networks has proven strong enough to outweigh those concerns.

IBM, Google, Lyft, Microsoft, Salesforce and Twitter were among a number of big-name tech companies filing a brief Wednesday in support of a legal challenge to President Trump's effort to end the DACA, a program that protected from deportation those brought to the U.S. as young children. Apple filed its own brief in the case. The companies are supporting an effort by several state Attorneys General to get an injunction keeping the federal government from ending the program.

Why it matters: This issue is of particular importance to tech companies and their workforce and leaders have been especially outspoken on their commitment to seeing Dreamers-protected. Wednesday's move follows an earlier letter to Trump signed by dozens of tech company leaders as well as separate pushes from Microsoft, Apple, and IBM, among others to either get Trump to change course or convince Congress to take action.

A former high-ranking North Korean diplomat and defector, Thae Yong-ho, said today that "Kim Jong-un is not fully aware of the strength and might of American military power." He was testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee about Kim's thoughts on ballistic missiles and how best to deal with the regime.

Why it matters: "Because of this misunderstanding Kim Jong-un genuinely believes he can break the sanctions regime apart," once he can convince the U.S. to accept North Korea's nuclear program, Thae said. But he emphasized that military force cannot be the first answer to the security dilemma on the Korean peninsula and said that "it is necessary to reconsider whether we have tried all non-military options…before we decide [a] military [option]…is all that is left."

President Trump called for immigration reform on Twitter this morning by stating that Sayfullo Saipov, the alleged New York City attacker, entered the United States via the Diversity Visa Lottery program, calling the program a "Chuck Schumer beauty." Schumer hit back at POTUS, accusing him of continually "politicizing and dividing America" during times of national tragedy.

The problem: We don't know yet if Trump's tweet can be taken as confirmation of Saipov's immigration status. The Diversity Visa Lottery tidbit about Saipov first came up in an unconfirmed local ABC7 report, which was seized on by right-wing outlets like Breitbart and Blunt Force Truth as well as former Trump advisor Sebastian Gorka — seemingly to connect Schumer's prior immigration work to yesterday's deadly attack.

"Trump ... belittled ... George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty ... to lying to federal agents investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election, tweeting that 'few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar,'" the WashPost reports.

Why he matters: "[I]nterviews and documents show that Papadopoulos was in regular contact with the Trump campaign's most senior officials and held himself out as a Trump surrogate as he traveled the world to meet with foreign officials and reporters."

At 9:26 p.m. — just over six hours after the rented truck attack near the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan — President Trump tweeted: "I have just ordered Homeland Security to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program. Being politically correct is fine, but not for this!"

Why it matters: We've known this moment — a radical Islamic terror attack on U.S. soil — would happen while Trump was president, and now it's here. Will President Trump stoke fears, or unite Americans with resolve against an insidious enemy?

The last 48 hours have rocked Trump's world: the indictment of his former campaign manager, followed by the bike-path Halloween attack that killed eight, which "officials are calling the deadliest terrorist attack on New York City since Sept. 11, 2001." The grim facts, from the N.Y. Times. "The rampage ended when the motorist — whom the police identified as Sayfullo Saipov, 29 — smashed into a school bus, jumped out of his truck and ran up and down the highway waving a pellet gun and paintball gun and shouting 'Allahu akbar,' Arabic for 'God is great,' before he was shot in the abdomen by the officer. He remained in critical condition." "Investigators discovered handwritten notes in Arabic near the truck that indicated allegiance to the Islamic State ... But investigators had not uncovered evidence of any direct or enabling ties between Mr. Saipov and ISIS and were treating the episode as a case of an 'inspired' attacker." Uber confirmed that the suspect was one of its drivers. What to watch: Does President Trump handle this like George W. Bush [after 9/11], or like campaign trail Trump? It's never been more important that Trump's aides do their jobs competently. Any time an attack like this happens, hate crimes against Muslims go up. Key context: Haroon Ullah — a terrorism expert whose "Digital World War: Islamists, Extremists, and the Fight for Cyber Supremacy" was just published by Yale University Press — tells me the "end of ISIS" was exaggerated after Raqqa was overrun: "ISIS has made unexpected gains — especially on the battlefield that matters most to them, the information battlefield, which is an arena fought through social media and dark web. The activity of fanboys after this gruesome NY terrorist attack in multiple languages demonstrates their influence." What's next: The New York City Marathon, with 51,394 finishers in 2016, will be run Sunday. Be smart: A former law-enforcement official who fought terrorism in Manhattan tells me that there's no way to stop these attacks: Police have thousands of leads, and surveilling a single person can take at least 16 agents (four per shift, three shifts per day, with days off). So this threat, which poses such a dark risk to freedoms we expect and deserve, is permanent.

One of the biggest pro-Trump outside groups of 2016, backed by the Adelson and Ricketts families, plans to spend "eight figures" — at least $10 million — backing tax reform. The 45Committee is launching "The Middle Class Project," a 501(c)(4) with an opening TV spot, "What's In It For You," that will debut nationally with tomorrow's bill introduction. See it here.

Why it matters: The size of the spend — from some of the most important donors in the party — is correlated to the stakes: Republicans know this is existential for them. If they fail to pass tax reform on the heels of failing to repeal Obamacare, the GOP could might as well be renamed R.I.P.