Axios

The House Judiciary Committee heard the evidence behind the impeachment inquiry on Monday in a marathon nine-and-a-half hour hearing.

Why it matters: The committee is likely only days away from drafting formal articles of impeachment against President Trump — and this hearing was one of House Democrats' last chances to summarize their case against the president to the public.

Consulting firm McKinsey & Company will allow Mayor Pete Buttigieg to release the list of clients he served while working for the company from 2007 to 2010, the Buttigieg campaign confirmed Monday.

Why it matters: Buttigieg has faced increased scrutiny for his time at McKinsey, especially in light of reports that the powerful firm helped Immigration and Customs Enforcement find “detention savings opportunities,” among other controversial projects. Buttigieg, who says he was mostly "making a lot of spreadsheets and PowerPoints" during his short time at the company, had been blocked from discussing his clients by a confidentiality agreement.

Mayor Pete Buttigieg's campaign said Monday that it will make future fundraisers open to the public, including reporters, and that the names of people raising money for the campaign will be released to the public.

Why it matters: Campaign finance is a hot-button issue among Democrats. Buttigieg has been hit especially hard on the issue from rival Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who attacked him last week for failing to disclose the names of his campaign’s top fundraisers since April. A press release from Buttigieg campaign manager Mike Schmuhl said the move is meant to show a "commitment to transparency."

Former White House chief physician Ronny Jackson, who was once nominated by President Trump to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, has filed to run for Congress in Texas' 13th Congressional District, the Texas Tribune reports.

The big picture: Jackson withdrew his name from consideration for VA secretary last April after allegations surfaced that he fostered a "hostile work environment" by being intoxicated at work and abusive toward his colleagues. Jackson denied the allegations, calling them "completely false and fabricated." He will run to replace retiring GOP Rep. Mac Thornberry.

Go deeper: Texas Republicans admit there's a problem

President Trump was the most tweeted about politician in 2019, according to data from Twitter.

Why it matters: 6 of the top 10 most tweeted about politicians are Americans, even though the majority of Twitter's user base is international.

Steve Castor, the counsel representing Republicans from the House Intelligence Committee, argued during Monday's impeachment hearing that House Democrats failed to properly obtain and enforce subpoenas for Trump administration staffers to garner additional testimony in their impeachment inquiry.

Yes, but: For the last two months, the White House has blasted the impeachment inquiry as "constitutionally illegitimate" and refused to take part at all. Democrats chose to move forward without said testimony — especially from some key staffers, like former national security adviser John Bolton — because a court battle to enforce any subpoenas could take months.

Go deeper: Live updates from today's evidentiary impeachment hearing

Steve Castor, acting as counsel for Republicans on both the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, argued during Monday's impeachment hearing that House Democrats are only seeking to impeach President Trump because they disagree with his policies.

The big picture: In his opening statement as Judiciary's counsel, Castor framed the Ukraine investigation as a last-ditch Democratic attempt to act against the president, saying, "To impeach a president who 63 million people voted for over eight lines in a call transcript is baloney."

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) led a group of 27 Democratic senators on Monday in demanding that President Trump remove senior White House adviser Stephen Miller, following a report from the Southern Poverty Law Center that alleged he shared white nationalist content with the right-wing news site Breitbart.

The big picture: "Mr. Miller's demonstrable white nationalist ideology has been directly translated into your administration's policies, which have been widely criticized for systematically targeting communities of color," the senators write in a letter.

Elizabeth Warren last week introduced a bill to strengthen oversight of bank mergers, arguing that the current construct is a rubber stamp.

The big picture: The Federal Reserve acknowledges that it declined none of the 3,819 bank merger applications it received between 2006 and 2017. And there's no indication that it's objected since then, including the $66 billion tie-up of BB&T and SunTrust that closed earlier this morning (albeit with some required divestitures).

Daniel Goldman, the counsel for Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, used his opening statement in Monday's impeachment hearing before the House Judiciary Committee to summarize Intel Democrats' 300-page report in favor of taking action against President Trump.

Why it matters: Goldman used the first part of his statement to quickly summarize — in under five minutes — Democrats' case for impeaching Trump, crystallizing the complicated series of events surrounding the Ukraine investigation in an easily digestible clip.

Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, accused House Democrats of "making up impeachment as [they] go" during his opening statement in Monday's hearing.

What he's saying: Collins criticized Democrats' impeachment procedure so far, bemoaning that Judiciary had only heard from law school professors and committee staff — as Republicans on the committee argue that they'd like to hear from House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).

Go deeper: Live updates from today's evidentiary impeachment hearing

The House is set to vote this week on its drug-pricing bill, but the outlook for an ultimate deal continues to look not great.

Driving the news: House leaders may bring the bill to the floor without an amendment from Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a progressive stalwart.

Quarterly polling by the Republican firm Firehouse Strategies, with Optimus, had President Trump struggling in the mega-battlegrounds of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — but in the newest edition, he beats every Democrat.

The big picture: Trump won by an average of six percentage points in hypothetical match-ups against all current Democratic candidates, including Joe Biden, who was performing well in head-to-head contests against Trump in polling conducted earlier in the year.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — The Iowans Joe Biden met on an eight-day, 18-county "No Malarkey" bus tour told me they want a nominee who works with Republicans — and they aren't fixated on impeachment or liberal proposals like the Green New Deal.

Why it matters: Their views validate Biden's argument that Democrats nationally aren't as liberal as on Twitter or as AOC — but also foreshadow liabilities for Biden versus others in the moderate lane.