Axios

Sen. Lindsey Graham backed away Sunday from his criticisms of President Trump's decision to withdraw from Syria, telling reporters that Trump shared "some things I didn't know" during a lunch at the White House that "make me feel a lot better about where we're headed in Syria."

Why it matters: Graham's initial goal for the lunch was to change Trump's mind on his decision to pull out of Syria. Graham was a vocal critic of Trump's decision to pull out when it was initially announced, and said it could be a "costly mistake" down the line.

The Supreme Court has kept a relatively low profile this term, but The Economist argues the spring is likely about to get more controversial.

What’s next: The justices will be examining the Trump administration’s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, the relationship between church and state, and whether agencies like the EPA should be able to interpret ambiguous regulations.

One of the most important trends likely to drive the 2020 presidential race: A growing disillusion with capitalism as practiced, and a coming struggle over how to recast this pillar of the Western order.

The bottom line: You could hardly challenge a more basic part of who we are as Americans and Westerners. 

In an exit interview with the L.A. Times, White House chief of staff John Kelly argued that his tenure is "best measured by what the president did not do when Kelly was at his side," including a hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan, immigration and security reporter Molly O'Toole writes.

The bottom line: "Trump sometimes pressed his advisors on the limits of his authority under the law, often asking Kelly, 'Why can’t we do it this way?’ But Trump never ordered him to do anything illegal, Kelly stressed," O'Toole writes. Kelly leaves Wednesday after 17 months in the West Wing.

In a tweet Saturday, President Trump tried to blame the recent deaths of two migrant children in U.S. custody — 8-year-old Felipe Gomez Alonzo and 7-year-old Jakelin Caal — on Democrats for not implementing strict immigration policies that would deter parents from making the dangerous trek to the border.

Any deaths of children or others at the Border are strictly the fault of the Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies that allow people to make the long trek thinking they can enter our country illegally. They can’t. If we had a Wall, they wouldn’t even try! The two children in question were very sick before they were given over to Border Patrol. The father of the young girl said it was not their fault, he hadn’t given her water in days. Border Patrol needs the Wall and it will all end. They are working so hard & getting so little credit!

Why it matters: This is Trump's first public comment on the death of the two children. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said in a statement that it's been "more than a decade" since a child died anywhere in the CBP process. Democrats plan to investigate the death of the two children when they take control of the House in January.

The Trump administration unleashed in 2018 a staggering number of policies, rules and proclamations intended to obstruct U.S. immigration.

Driving the news: The House and Senate failed to reach a compromise on immigration legislation, leaving the Trump administration to use everything within its executive power to address the issue. Many of those efforts were blocked (at least temporarily) by the courts.

Democratic Senators Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand and Elizabeth Warren are expected to announce their 2020 presidential runs in the next several weeks, the New York Times reports.

The big picture: The four senators, who have spent time scouting potential headquarters, interviewing possible campaign managers and reviewing their political records, will head up a crowded field for the Democratic nomination. Sen. Bernie Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Beto O'Rourke have also been the subjects of intense speculation, and have performed well in recent polls of prospective candidates.

House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) revealed in a letter to top Justice Department officials Friday that they are closing their investigation into how the FBI and the Justice Department handled their probes of Hillary Clinton's emails and potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The bottom line: Goodlatte and Gowdy's letter issued few new revelations, but the outgoing chairmen urged House Democrats to “continue to identify and eliminate bias” in federal agencies when they take over in January. Democrats have already indicated, however, that they plan to drop the investigation.