Axios

House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy (R) sent a letter Wednesday asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to disclose additional records concerning administrator Scott Pruitt’s frequent first-class travel trips and a controversial condo rental agreement.

The details: Gowdy said he received some documents on Pruitt's travel habits, which have been the subject of growing scrutiny. As for documents on the $50-per-night condo deal with the wife of an energy lobbyist, the congressman said the records submitted are “insufficient to evaluate compliance with federal ethics rules." The New York Times reports Wednesday that Pruitt wanted to update the EPA's traditional challenge coin to show "symbols more reflective of himself and the Trump administration."

Press Secretary Sarah Sanders wouldn't budge on Wednesday to reveal which way the White House is leaning in its response in Syria, repeating that "all options are on the table."

Why it matters: President Trump alluded to a different idea on Wednesday morning, when he tweeted that Russia needs to "get ready" for "missiles fired at Syria." This further clouds expectations for what the U.S. will do next. On Monday, Trump said that there would be a decision made within 48 hours, and that doesn't seem to have happened. Sanders said the president "has not laid out a timetable."

When FBI agents raided Michael Cohen's office, they were specifically looking for records related to the 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape, the New York Times reports citing three people briefed on the search warrant. The warrant also instructed agents to look for evidence that Cohen tried to conceal damaging information about Trump during the campaign.

Why it matters: It's not clear how Cohen was involved in the tape, if at all, but the new details show how "Cohen's unofficial role in the Trump campaign" is under scrutiny. "People close to Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen regard the warrant as an attempt by the special counsel ... to pry into Mr. Trump’s personal life," per NYT.

California governor Jerry Brown has agreed to use federal funding to add 400 National Guard members to their efforts "combat transnational crime," although it was not clear how many would be specifically sent to the border.

Why it matters: There has been ongoing friction between California and the Trump administration over immigration issues. Governor Brown did not make a public statement on Friday when Defense Secretary James Mattis approved funding for up to 4,000 National Guard troops to be sent to the border.

Worried about security gaps ahead of the 2018 midterms and beyond, Colorado and Texas are carrying out tests this week to see how officials respond when cyberattacks hit.

The goal is to find any gaps at the county, state, and federal levels before there is actually an attack, Trevor Timmons, the chief information officer for Colorado's Dept. of State, tells Axios. He warned that these aren’t hypotheticals, though: “All of the situations…we prepared are all based on things that have actually happened…because they will happen” again, he said.

Randy Bryce, known as the Iron Stache, is running for Congress in Wisconsin's 1st district. He spoke with Axios last month — see clips from the interview.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Wednesday that the Pentagon is continuing to monitor the chemical attacks in Syria, reports CNN's Ryan Browne. Earlier this morning, President Trump foreshadowed on Twitter that the U.S. is considering military strikes.

"We are still assessing the intelligence ourselves and our allies. We’re still working on this ... We stand ready to provide military options if they are appropriate as the President determines."

House Speaker Paul Ryan is the latest GOP leader to announce he'll exit Congress.

Why it matters: The Republican party already saw a record number of retirements from chairmen this year, and will now need to work quickly to find a new leader. Meanwhile, there will be at least 58 vacated House seats up for grabs by the time the November 6 midterm elections roll around, and 39 of those are Republican seats.

Russia’s military is deploying troops to Douma, Syria, the site of the chemical weapons attack that occurred this weekend, per the AP.

Why it matters: Russia has said it will take retaliatory measures when its troops are attacked. Meanwhile, President Trump taunted Russia this morning by threatening a military strike on Syria. By sending troops to the site of the attack, Russia is firing back.

House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters Wednesday that he has "no regrets whatsoever" for his time leading the Republican majority, and that his decision to not seek reelection was driven by his desire to spend more time with his kids. "If I am here for one more term, my kids will only have ever known me as a weekend dad. I just can't let that happen," Ryan said.

Ryan also addressed concerns that his retirement may hurt the House Republican majority in November: "I gave it some consideration, but I really do not believe whether I stay or go in 2019 is going to affect a person's individual race for Congress," he said, adding that he expects he'll be "handing this gavel off to the next Republican speaker of the House."

New today: House Speaker Paul Ryan won’t run for re-election, a decision whose timing was first reported by Axios’ Jonathan Swan. Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL) is also retiring, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

By time the midterm elections roll around, there will be at least 58 vacated House seats up for grabs — two-thirds of those are currently held by Republicans. The openings are significant because incumbents have outperformed non-incumbents of the same party in similar districts by about seven points in the last decade or so, per the New York Times.

House Speaker Paul Ryan told members of the GOP conference he'll remain in the job through the November midterm elections, per a source in the room, and there was "zero conversation" about his replacement, per a second source. A source familiar confirmed Ryan will serve his full term as speaker.

Why it matters: Some are already skeptical about the effectiveness of a retiring speaker. And his announcement has already put his seat at risk of flipping.

Axios reporter Jonathan Swan speaks to MSNBC about Paul Ryan's decision not to run for re-election.

Swan's takeaways: "Paul Ryan's driving goal ever since he joined Congress was to reform the tax code ... and he very much saw that as a crowning achievement ... [Republicans are] staring down the barrel, frankly, of potentially losing the House in November. I don't know that Paul Ryan, minority leader, is a very appealing title."

Speaker Paul Ryan told House Republicans this morning that he will not run for re-election in November.

Why it matters: House Republicans were already in a very tough spot for the midterms, with many endangered members and the good chance that Democrats could win the majority.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen today will outline her priorities for the first time — including protecting election security and countering foreign meddling — during a House Appropriations Committee hearing.

The details: Nielsen's agenda, resonant with the Trump administration's "America First" theme, including keeping "foreign adversaries from stealing our trade secrets, technology, and innovation."

A source present at the taping says James Comey's interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, airing Sunday at 10 p.m. as a "20/20" special, is "going to shock the president and his team."

The Department of Justice has temporarily ended the Vera Institute's Legal Orientation Program and immigrant "help desk" in order to investigate the program's cost-effectiveness, the Washington Post's Maria Sacchetti reported and has since been confirmed by Axios.

The impact: Vera Institute's program works with 18 nonprofit legal service providers and reached 53,000 immigrants through information sessions last year. The “help desk" offers tips to immigrants who have not yet been detained, but are facing possible deportation in Chicago, Miami, New York, Los Angeles and San Antonio.