Axios

Texas Congressman Blake Farenthold has resigned Friday, months after news broke about an $84,000 settlement he made with his former communications director who claimed he sexually harassed her in 2014.

The big picture: He was already planning not to run for re-election, but said in a statement that he knows "in [his] heart it’s time for me to move along and look for new ways to serve." Farenthold was being investigated by the House Ethics Committee, meanwhile additional allegations surfaced about the "intensely hostile environment" he created in his office.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Friday that the president doesn't want to enter a trade war with China, but if he does, he'll win.

Key quote: President Trump "absolutely" still believes trade wars are easy to win. "If he is in charge of those negotiations then absolutely. He's the best negotiator at the table."

USCIS has reached the 65,000 visa cap for H-1B high skilled work visa applications as well as the 20,000 visa cap for those with U.S. advanced degrees. They started accepting applications on Monday.

Why it matters: This is the sixth consecutive year that the H-1B cap has been reached within five days of USCIS accepting petitions for the next year, which many tech companies and organizations argue highlights the need for raising the cap.

13 congressional districts have shifted left ahead of November midterm elections, according to the Cook Political Report, with Sean Patrick Maloney's New York district (18) and Dave Loebsack's Iowa district (2) moving from likely Democrat to solid Democrat.

Why it matters: This is yet another sign pointing to a Democratic landslide in the midterm elections, despite the President's popularity rising to 40% since January and Republicans closing in on Democrat's early lead in generic polling, which asks which party voters would support for Congress.

South Carolina Republican Trey Gowdy, who is retiring from Congress this year, told Vice News' Michael C. Moynihan that he felt being in Congress was largely a waste of time, as it was bogged down by "ineffectiveness." And asked what he makes of the Republican party in 2018, he said "the goal is to win" — that's it.

Why it matters: 37 House Republicans have said they're not running for re-election this year, upping the odds Democrats retake the House.

With his announcement yesterday that he's considering $100 billion more tariffs on Chinese goods, President Trump created confusion within his administration and abroad because of a negotiating style you could call "governing by bluffing."

This is how he has lived his whole life: promising big things, and creating on-the-edge, "Apprentice"-style drama — then changing his mind.

President Trump tonight says he's directed the U.S. Trade Representative to consider an additional $100 billion in tariffs on China, and that the administration may take other actions to "protect our farmers and agricultural interests." The White House says it's announcing these new measures "in light of China's unfair retaliation" to an earlier $50 billion in proposed tariffs.

Why it matters via Jonathan Swan: This is exactly what the free traders who formerly worked in the White House feared, Trump in a macho pissing match against Chinese President Xi. Trump has a blunt understanding of leverage and believes the worst thing he can show is weakness. He also believes, as he tweeted, that the U.S. already is so far down on the scorecard with China that he’s got nothing to lose.

President Trump reportedly decided yesterday to keep U.S. troops on the ground in Syria a while longer, walking back his declaration on Tuesday that it's time to bring those troops home because "we've had a tremendous military success against ISIS."

Why it matters: Ending the U.S. presence in Syria is a bad idea. American troops have provided valuable support and intelligence to local Kurdish forces fighting ISIS and have at times engaged in direct combat. A U.S. withdrawal would constitute a strategic victory for Bashar al-Assad’s abhorrent regime, for its patrons Iran and Russia and for ISIS itself, allowing the group a chance to recoup.

The White House said this week that the U.S. military mission in Syria is coming to a “rapid end," and President Trump has expressed his desire for a speedy withdrawal as soon as ISIS is defeated. But David Miliband, the former U.K. foreign minister, tells Axios "it’s much more likely that you’re going to have ISIS x.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, than you’re going to see the ‘end’ of it.”

The bottom line: Miliband, who now heads the International Rescue Committee, says “the whole theory of ‘slice off the head and it’ll be fine’ doesn’t really work,” because ISIS is "a movement, not an organization." He says without establishing a political framework in Syria, "Development policy, humanitarian policy, frankly security and military policy will not work."

President Trump said on Thursday, when talking about immigration at a West Virginia event, that women are being "raped at levels that nobody's ever seen before." Trump was in West Virginia for a tax reform discussion.

Take note: Trump's comment about "this journey coming up" appears to reference the caravan of people seeking asylum in the U.S. coming through South America, which he has commented on before. Per BuzzFeed's Adolfo Flores, who is traveling with the group, there have been no rapes reported "in or around the caravan."

A record-breaking number of women — 309 to be precise — have filed to run for a House seat, according to data analyzed by the Associated Press.

The big picture: Per the AP, many of these women are running for seats "that have never had a female representative." Axios reported similar findings in December; 369 women, most of whom are Democrats, were running or planning to run for House seats citing a major factor that has pushed women to get involved was the sexual harassment awakening which shook the country last fall.

The number of apprehensions during attempts to cross the United States-Mexico border spiked last month, following record low numbers during President Trump's first year in office, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The big picture: Trump has recently stepped up his calls for increased border security — including days of fiery tweets — and called for sending the National Guard to the border until a wall is built. And just this morning, he claimed via tweet: “Because of the Trump Administrations actions, Border crossings are at a still UNACCEPTABLE 46 year low. Stop drugs!”

As ethics controversies continue to swirl around EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, many observers in Washington are wondering how long he might be able to hang onto his job.

The view from the West Wing: Axios' Jonathan Swan spoke with sources close to President Trump and this basic picture emerged: If nothing else bad comes out against Pruitt, they’ll probably ride through the storm with him. But should more damaging stories surface — especially ones that demonstrate poor ethical judgement — Pruitt could be abandoned in a flash. Trump is uneasy about the situation, and has his finger in the wind.

These are the states where taxpayers will see the biggest benefits from the new tax code, according to an analysis by the Tax Policy Center. High-income households do best, particularly those in the 95th to 99th income percentile, and the average tax cut across all states will be 1.8% of after-tax income.

Why this matters: Tax cuts, and how they impact voters' personal finances, are Republicans' biggest argument as to why voters should keep them in office. While most people are receiving a cut in 2018, the degree varies.

President Trump has signed a proclamation to send the National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border, the White House said. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen had announced the expected move earlier Wednesday.

Gritty details: The order does not disclose details such as cost or number of troops to be deployed. But it said that the defense and homeland security secretaries are required to submit a report within 30 days on "an action plan," including recommendations for potential executive authorities on border security.