New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders for the 2020 presidential election on Friday, the Sanders campaign said in a statement.
The big picture: Sanders won the New Hampshire primary with two moderates — former Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar — close on his heels.
President Trump authorized killing top Iranian general Qasem Solemani in response to "an escalating series" of Iran-backed attacks on U.S. forces in the Middle East in previous months and to deter future Iranian attacks, the White House asserted to Congress on Friday.
Why it matters: The official reason for killing Soleimani contradicts the administration's original claim that Trump authorized the strike to disrupt an "imminent" attack against Americans in the Middle East.
Immigration is projected to drive most population growth in the United States by 2030, and cutting immigration levels will do little to alter the nation's coming racial and ethnic transformation, according to a new Census Bureau study on population projections.
Why it matters: A growing population will be essential to the U.S.'s long-term economic growth.
Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates accused President Trump of using the Justice Department "as a cudgel against his enemies and as a shield for himself and his allies" in a Washington Post op-ed Friday.
Why it matters: Yates served in the DOJ under President Obama and stayed on as a holdover as acting attorney general until she was fired less than two weeks into Trump's presidency for refusing to implement the president's travel ban.
Mandy Gunasekara, former deputy assistant administrator in the Environmental Protection Agency's air office, is expected to become the next chief of staff, the Washington Post reports.
Why it matters, via Axios' Amy Harder: Gunasekara's return signals that the agency plans to double down on a deeply conservative approach to eschew new regulations of almost any kind, as opposed to embracing more moderate policies that some businesses are calling for.
Specially trained border officials are being deployed to a handful of sanctuary cities to help carry out an immigrant arrest operation to begin this weekend alongside Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, the New York Times reports.
Why it matters: The administration has made several efforts over the past few weeks to crack down on states and cities that choose not to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement agencies.
Nine U.S. senators signed a letter on Friday calling for Attorney General Bill Barr to immediately resign after the Justice Department submitted a new sentencing recommendation for former Trump adviser Roger Stone this week, NBC reports.
What they're saying: "The interference in this case by you or other senior DOJ officials working under you is a clear violation of your duty to defend fair, impartial, and equal justice for all Americans."
Disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti was found guilty Friday of three charges after attempting to extort up to $25 million from Nike by threatening to publicize claims that it made improper payments to athletes.
The state of play: Avenatti, who has been in prison since allegedly violating his bail conditions last month, was convicted of attempted extortion, honest-services fraud and the related use of interstate communications. He could face more than 40 years in prison at his June 17 sentencing, but will likely receive less, per Reuters.
Attorney General Bill Barr has assigned an outside prosecutor to monitor the Justice Department's ongoing case against President Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, the New York Times reports.
Why it matters: The move could trigger additional accusations of political interference at the Justice Department, especially for extremely sensitive cases involving former Trump allies.
The Department of Justice is declining to bring charges against former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe in an investigation into whether he lied to investigators about a press leak, his defense team said on Friday.
Why it matters: The move closes an investigation into whether McCabe lied to federal investigators about leaking information to the media.
The big picture: Since 2015, Democrats have become increasingly convinced (now at 78%) that climate change should be a top federal priority — while that same view among Republicans has remained relatively flat (now at 21%)
Facebook said Friday that political candidates, campaigns and groups can use paid branded content across its platforms, a clarification prompted by a move from Michael Bloomberg's campaign to pay top Instagram influencers to post memes on its behalf.
The big picture: Its policy didn't explicitly state that it was OK for candidates to use branded content posts, but after hearing from various campaigns about the issue, Facebook moved to clarify its stance.
President Trump tweeted Friday that he has "the legal right" to ask Attorney General Bill Barr to intervene in criminal cases, saying that he has "so far chosen not to."
Why it matters: The tweet comes just one day after Barr said Trump's tweets "make it impossible for me to do my job" and publicly advised the president that "it's time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases."
Political polarization in the Trump era is finding new ways to seep into our personal lives.
The big picture: Romance seekers see a heightened value in knowing their potential suitors' political affiliations. Major dating platforms including OkCupid, Hinge and Bumble have introduced filters to sift out matches with "incompatible" politics.
Bernie Sanders has risen to the top of the Democrats’ 2020 pack on the appeal of his far-left idealism and promises of a “revolution” — but he’ll have a hard time turning revolution into reality if he gets the chance.
The big picture: Even with the expanding power of the presidency, Sanders would need Congress to approve the most ambitious ideas he’s known for — and that’s unlikely to happen even under the strongest elections scenarios for House and Senate Democrats in November.
