Details: New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham indicated militia were involved in the shooting and police said they were investigating this as a motive. Steven Baca, a 31-year-old former City Council candidate, was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon for shooting Scott Williams, Reuters reported on Tuesday. It's not clear if the suspect is a militia member.
Oklahoma health commissioner Lance Frye said on Tuesday that while he appreciates President Trump's team offering temperature checks, face masks and hand sanitizer for the upcoming Tulsa rally, attendees should still be tested for the coronavirus after the campaign event.
What he's saying: "As outlined by the CDC, individuals looking to attend Saturday's event ... will face an increased risk of becoming infected with COVID-19 and becoming a transmitter," Frye said. "Plan in advance and seek out testing ... and limit interactions with others prior to attending. Once the event has concluded, please minimize social interactions and consider being tested again in the days following."
The Nebraska Democratic Party has asked its 2020 Senate nominee Chris Janicek to drop out of the race after he sent sexually explicit text messages suggesting a staff member needed to get "laid," per the Omaha World-Herald.
The state of play: A staffer included in the group text reported the messages to the Nebraska Democratic Party, which has since said it will no longer support Janicek's bid. The Democratic National Committee will also withdraw support. Janicek has apologized but says he will remain in the race.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Tuesday that he would introduce legislation to make Juneteenth — a day that commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. — a paid, state holiday.
Why it matters: Virginia is home to Richmond, which was once the capital of the Confederacy.
Current and former astronauts are speaking out on social media and in interviews in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and protests against police violence.
Why it matters: Astronauts are NASA's public face and usually avoid politically charged topics in public, but as the agency's astronauts have more direct means of communication to the public, those lines are beginning to blur.
President Trump signed a modest executive order on Tuesday that encourages limiting the use of chokeholds and moves to create a national database for police misconduct.
Why it matters: Top Trump aides recognize that he is under increased pressure to do something to address the mass outcry spurred by the killing of George Floyd. This order, which many lawmakers will say does not go far enough, is intended to send a message that Trump is willing to work with Congress on more meaningful reform.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) announced on Tuesday he has issued subpoenas for two Department of Justice whistleblowers as part of the committee's probe into alleged politicization of the agency under President Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr.
Why it matters: One of the officials, Aaron Zelinsky, resigned from the team that was prosecuting Trump associate Roger Stone after Barr intervened to soften Stone's sentencing recommendation.
Multiple Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee said this week that they will oppose the nomination of retired Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata as the Pentagon's under secretary of defense for policy after Islamophobic and offensive tweets from him surfaced.
Why it matters: The position is the Defense Department's top policy job and third-highest role. It oversees its national security and nuclear deterrence policies — among numerous other responsibilities — and closely advises the secretary of defense on policy matters.
Oklahoma State RB Chuba Hubbard, the nation's leading rusher in 2019, threatened not to participate in team activities after a photo of coach Mike Gundy wearing a "One America News" shirt surfaced.
Why it matters: OANN, which Gundy has publicly praised, is a far-right cable network that regularly promotes conspiracy theories. Several hours after his tweet, Hubbard — who received support from teammates and other athletes — posted a video with Gundy, in which the coach said he had a "great meeting" with players about the shirt and he "realized it's a very sensitive issue."
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told ESPN on Monday that he supports and encourages teams to sign QB Colin Kaepernick.
Why it matters: Goodell also said the NFL would welcome Kaepernick to help them "deal with some very complex, difficult issues that have been around for a long time," even if he doesn't plan on playing.
Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates — who played the unusual role of bridging the Bush and Obama administrations, and served eight presidents of both parties — is out Tuesday with "Exercise of Power: American Failures, Successes, and a New Path Forward in the Post-Cold War World" (Knopf).
The big picture: Gates argues that the U.S. should have withdrawn from Afghanistan in 2002, cyber has become the most powerful weapon in a nation's arsenal, and North Korea has no intention of ever giving up its nuclear weapons.
The Supreme Court’s historic ruling on LGBTQ nondiscrimination could sideline the Trump administration's new policies on health care and adoption.
Why it matters: The ruling's ripple effects will be felt immediately, and could ultimately derail regulations the administration had finalized just days ago.
Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Jon Meacham’s next book will be "His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope" (out this fall), a portrait of the civil rights hero and longtime congressman.
Meacham calls it "an appreciative account of the major moments of Lewis' life in the movement, of the theological understanding he brought to the struggle, and of the utility of that vision as America enters the third decade of the twenty-first century amid division and fear."
Senate Republicans are planning to unveil a police reform bill on Wednesday that will limit the use of chokeholds and offer federal funding for deescalation training, sources familiar with the draft bill tell Axios.
The big picture: Republicans are under increasing pressure to deliver tangible change in the wake of mass outrage over the death of George Floyd. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C), who has taken the lead on drafting the bill, and other members of the Senate GOP task force see the bill as a starting point for negotiations with House Democrats.
Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.) confirmed in a statement on Monday that he, his wife and their son have contracted the novel coronavirus. But he stressed, "We are all on the mend and doing fine."
Of note: Rice appeared in the House without a face covering on May 28. CNN journalist Manu Raju reports when he asked Rice why, Rice said he made "an effort stay six feet away from folks in accordance with guidelines" and that he does wear masks when he's unable to maintain physical distancing.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) confirmed in a statement late Monday that her father, Nur Omar, had died of complications from the novel coronavirus.
The big picture: The 37-year-old's father and grandfather raised her following her mother's death in Somalia, per Politico. She and Nur Omar arrived in the U.S. as refugees in 1995. Omar became in 2018 the first Somali-American elected to Congress and one of the first two Muslim women elected. She urged people on Sunday to take precautions against COVID-19 during protests, tweeting: "The pandemic is not over." More than 116,000 people have died from the virus in the U.S., per Johns Hopkins.
Rayshard Brooks' family called on Monday for justice and an overhaul of policing policies during a news conference on the Atlanta black man's fatal shooting by a white police officer in the city last week.
Hours later, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms pledged to sign administrative orders reforming the police, including requiring uses of deadly force to be reported to the citizen’s review board.
Barack Obama is making his fundraising debut for his former vice president with an online event next week, targeting tens of thousands of small-dollar donors, according to an invitation obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: Obama's participation with Biden in the live, virtual event on June 23 marks the ramping up of the former president's engagement to try to defeat President Trump.
