Politics have never felt more tribal than they do in the Trump administration, but a look at legislation during this session of Congress shows more bipartisanship than at any other point since George W. Bush was in office. Compared to the first 16 months of previous Congressional sessions, there have been more proposed bipartisan bills and more enacted bipartisan bills in the 115th Congress, according to an analysis by Quorum.
Adapted from Quorum; Note: Bills are tracked from Jan. 1 of the previous year to April 27 of the plotted year; Chart: Axios Visuals
By the numbers: 23.4% of bills introduced by the House have been bipartisan — the highest since the 2005-06 Congress. In the Senate, 25.7% of proposed bills have cut across the aisle — the highest since 07-08. And it's not just proposed bills that are bipartisan. 3.85% of all proposed bipartisan bills have been enacted, also the highest number since 07-08.
During a visit to the NRA's annual meeting in Dallas, President Trump touted the latest unemployment numbers, said countries who send immigrants to the United States "send up their worst," and praised the judge who said Mueller aims "to hurt Trump."
On gun control: The president noted that there "has never been a case where more red flags have been shown" in the case of the Parkland school shooting, but nothing was done and claimed that 98% of public shootings happen in places where guns are banned. He slammed "gun-free" zones and saying the signs read shooters can "come in and take us."
The Trump administration has announced temporary protected status (TPS) for Hondurans, a status which has safeguarded more than 50,000 Hondurans following a devastating hurricane in 1999, will end on January 5, 2020, first reported by the New York Times and since confirmed by Axios.
Big picture: The Department of Homeland Security has already ended these permits for 200,000 Salvadorans, 50,000 Haitians, 9,000 Nepalese and thousands of Nicaraguans and Sudanese. DHS has determined the condition in Honduras has improved enough to warrant the end of the TPS.
Former President Barack Obama released a statement Friday endorsing Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.), 84, for reelection to the Senate, amid speculation that she might have trouble facing off other Democratic candidates come November.
Why it matters: Obama has begun to reinsert himself back into the political sphere after months of staying away from Washington affairs. In March, Politico first reported that he will appear at a fundraiser for Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) in Beverly Hills on May 6.
More than half of gun owners approve of President Trump — who temporarily expressed support for stricter gun control measures, such as raising the legal age to buy a gun, following the school shooting in Parkland, Florida — including 75% of NRA members, according to a newly released poll by Giffords PA, a group that favors stronger gun laws, and Democratic Public Policy Polling.
Why it matters: The poll reveals that a majority of gun owners support existing gun control laws, as well as banning assault weapons and requiring background checks for all gun sales, including online and at gun shows. However, NRA members are more likely to oppose those specific measures. The poll's release comes ahead of Trump's speech at the NRA in Dallas, Texas later this afternoon.
President Trump insisted Friday that he would "love" to sit down with Robert Mueller and answer his questions in relation to his investigation into possible collusion or obstruction of justice.
Why it matters: Trump's lawyers have been pushing, hard, against an interview between the president and Mueller. However, Trump told reporters Friday that he "would love to speak because we’ve done nothing wrong," and said he'd be willing to override his lawyers on that.
Some of the biggest tech conferences, including Collision, Creative Commons and RightsCon, are being held in Canada instead of the U.S. this year, Financial Post reports, as Canada's tech industry booms amid President Trump's travel ban and tightening of foreign worker policies.
Big picture: Canada has been aggressively recruiting top academic and tech talent recently. Meanwhile the Trump administration has pursued stricter employment-based immigration policies that could have negative impacts on the U.S. tech industry.
President Trump is appointing a number of sports celebrities, including New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, to his "Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition," Axios has learned.
Why this matters: Trump signed an executive order in February to rebrand the council so that it's more focused on encouraging kids to take up sports — a theme Ivanka Trump highlighted at the Winter Olympics.
Why it matters: This is the first time President Trump has weighed in on NBC's story that federal investigators wiretapped his personal lawyer Michael Cohen's phone lines, which was later corrected to say his calls were only "monitored." Yet despite NBC's misstep, the federal investigation involving Trump's "fix-it" man is rapidly gaining speed, and has several people in the White House concerned about what could be revealed.
Don Blankenship, a Republican running in the West Virginia Senate primary, doubled down on his racial attacks towards Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his wife, transportation secretary Elaine Chao, in a new ad, saying McConnell's "China family has given him tens of millions of dollars."
