There has been a 22% increase in migrant children in Health and Human Services's custody from last month — 10,852 children are currently in shelters at 95% capacity, NBC News reports. The number of unaccompanied children crossing the border typically rises this time of year, such as 2017's April to May jump from 997 to 1,473 children.
Why it matters: This comes after a new Trump administration policy calling for prosecution of anyone who crosses the U.S. border illegally, which is expected to lead in an uptick of children being separated from their parents and sent to HHS.
President Trump went after Attorney General Jeff Sessions again on Wednesday, saying he wishes he had picked someone else to head the Department of Justice because of Jeff Sessions' recusal from the Russia probe.
Why it matters: This is not the first time Trump has expressed frustration over Sessions' recusal, and it isn't even the first time he's said he regrets appointing him because of it. But it does follow a string of other grievances the president has with his own attorney general.
In a string of tweets on Wednesday morning, President Trump stated that he wished he picked someone else other than Jeff Sessions to be his attorney general after quoting an appearance by Rep. Trey Gowdy on CBS' "This Morning."
Rep. Trey Gowdy, “I don’t think so, I think what the President is doing is expressing frustration that Attorney General Sessions should have shared these reasons for recusal before he took the job, not afterward. If I were the President and I picked someone to be the country’s chief law enforcement officer, and they told me later, ‘oh by the way I’m not going to be able to participate in the most important case in the office, I would be frustrated too...and that’s how I read that - Senator Sessions, why didn’t you tell me before I picked you. There are lots of really good lawyers in the country, he could have picked somebody else!” And I wish I did!
— President Trump's three Wednesday morning tweets
Why it matters: Just one day after Trump said he wouldn't be focusing his energy "on the Rigged Russia Witch Hunt," his tweets show that the subject is still very much on his mind, rekindling fears that he might choose to fire Sessions and derail Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe.
There's been lots of coverage of the surge of women running in House races, but it's also true of the Senate.
By the numbers: While 23 women are currently senators, there is a record 42 women from major parties running for 19 seats in the Senate, according to AP.
"House Republican candidates are blanketing the airwaves with TV ads embracing a hard line on immigration — a dramatic shift from the midterm elections in 2014," USA Today reports.
Why it matters: "The competing messages demonstrate how far apart the two parties are. They’re not just talking about issues differently; they’re touting completely different issues to motivate activists and win hotly contested primaries."
There are at least 43 Democratic black women running as challengers for U.S. House seats, but only one — Lauren Underwood of Illinois — has the backing of the national campaign organization.
Why it matters: Black women are a powerful voting bloc for the Democratic Party as they work to capture the House and Senate. In 2016, 94% of black women voted for Clinton over Trump. In Alabama's special election, they helped Doug Jones win — 98% of them voted for him, compared to just 34% of white women. Now they're running for office in overwhelming numbers, but some feel the party isn't investing in them.
U.S. Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon is unable to say why the Trump administration wants to end the International Entrepreneur Rule, which helps people starting businesses come to the U.S. When asked to respond by Axios while she was on stage at the Code Conference, McMahon replied:
"I cant speak to that. I'm not familiar with it."
Why it matters: The person charged with overseeing U.S. small businesses seems unaware of a program designed to create more U.S. small businesses.
Republicans have aired more than 14,000 midterm campaign ads centered around touting hardline immigration stances, USA Today reports — making immigration the second most featured issue in campaigns, behind pro-Trump language.
Why it matters: This is a big change from 2014, when immigration did not even make the list of top 10 issues Republicans spent ad money on. On the hill, immigration is dividing the Republican party. Moderates are more open to finding any solution possible to give Dreamers a pathway to citizenship, while hardliners refuse to back down from their list of immigration policy changes, which would lower legal immigration levels.
In just the last month, three republican lawmakers have said they don't believe in President Trump as a role model for the youth of the United States.
The big picture: Republicans have been critical of Trump's policies in the past, but now they're beginning to question his personal behavior and fitness for office.
Images of young boys behind chainlink fences and a report that the government lost track of almost 1,500 minors have sparked outrage over the U.S.'s treatment of child immigrants, but some criticism has missed the mark.
Data: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, fiscal years 2012-16, 2017, and 2018; Chart: Harry Stevens/Axios
Between the lines: There are three unrelated concerns. But only one — the separation of children from their parents — is a trend that began with the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.
Mitt Romney said he would not point to President Trump as "a role model for my grandkids," in an interview with NBC News, because he has "departed from the truth" and attacked the press on multiple occasions.
Flashback: This is not the first time Romney has given a harsh rebuke of Trump. In 2016 while the president was on the campaign trail, Romney called the president a "phony" and a "fraud." The Utah Senate candidate has taken a more measured approach to criticizing Trump in the time since.
The long weekend was a busy period for news about ZTE. Lawmakers from both parties rebelled against a deal to save China's second-largest telecom manufacturer that President Trump announced on Twitter Friday.
Meanwhile: Chinese tech giant Tencent said it aimed to reduce China's dependence on U.S.-made components, and President Trump announced plans for new trade restrictions against China.
The Health and Human Services Department responded last night to the swelling firestorm over the number of undocumented children the agency has been unable to locate, saying that the children in question are "not 'lost.'"
The issue: HHS testified last month that it was unsure of the whereabouts of 1,475 children — out of a survey of 7,000 — who were found alone at the U.S. border and placed with sponsors inside the U.S. (The Washington Post has a helpful explainer.)
