Republican Reps. Louie Gohmert (Texas) and Andrew Clyde (Ga.) were fined $5,000 each for bypassing hand-held metal detectors before entering the House chamber on Thursday in violation of a rule adopted this week, according to a senior Democratic aide.
Why it matters: Gohmert and Clyde are the first lawmakers to face the fine, which will be deducted directly from their salaries.
More than 140 constitutional lawyers and scholars wrote in a letter Friday that the First Amendment claims made by former President Trump's lawyers are “legally frivolous” and do “not prevent the Senate” from convicting him during his impeachment trial, set to begin next week, per the New York Times.
Driving the news: Trump’s lawyers claim that the former president's conduct surrounding the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol siege is protected by the First Amendment. They also argue Trump can’t be tried after leaving office.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed an executive order on Friday to deploy the National Guard to Minneapolis, St. Paul and neighboring communities in the interest of "public safety" ahead of former police officer Derek Chauvin's trial.
Why it matters: The killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died last May after Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes, ignited a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality.
The House voted 219-209 on Friday afternoon to approve a budget resolution that will be used to facilitate passage of President Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief proposal.
Why it matters: Passing the stimulus package via the budget reconciliation process allows Democrats to sidestep the 60-vote threshold needed in the Senate to approve most major legislation.
Hawkfish, a political data and tech agency founded by billionaire former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, is shutting down, Max Burns scooped on Friday.
Why it matters, via Axios' Sara Fischer: This was supposed to be the Democrats' answer to the GOP's 2016 advertising machine. But the agency largely wound down its efforts after Bloomberg dropped out of the Democratic primary.
President Biden seized on January's anemic jobs report Friday to argue for his $1.9 trillion relief package, while also bracing the public for the long road to a full economic recovery and robust job growth.
The latest: Biden insisted in a speech from the White House that he would not be cutting the size of the $1,400 per person stimulus checks included in his proposal.
The Defense Department will send more than 1,000 active-duty military personnel to support mass coronavirus vaccination sites in states across the country, the White House COVID-19 response team announced on Friday.
Why it matters: ThePentagon approved a request from FEMA to provide military assistance for five vaccination centers as part of an effort to meet President Biden's goal of vaccinating 100 million people (with at least one dose) within his first 100 days in office.
A new report offers a window onto something on a lot of people's minds in the energy world: what kind of policies Democrats could try to move through the Senate with 51 votes.
Driving the news: The groups Evergreen Action and Data for Progress yesterday released a proposal for ways to move a "clean energy standard" through the Senate using the budget reconciliation process.
The White Houseis highlighting conservative voices — and targeting Republican lawmakers — with a new social-media video using ordinary Americans to promote President Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue plan.
Why it matters: This is part of President Biden's effort to win Republican votes in the Senate, based on the plan's broad popularity in the country.
The New York Times added nearly 5 million digital-only subscribers in the past four years, helping to firmly transition its business from a 170-year-old newspaper company to a modern digital behemoth. The paper has roughly 6.7 million digital-only subscribers in total.
Why it matters: No other U.S. news publisher comes even close to that number. The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal have 3 million and 2.46 million digital subscribers, respectively.
Ivanka Trump used her status to help obtain over 140 pardons and commutations for victims of injustice as well as her father’s cronies, and she's now plotting her political reemergence by highlighting the virtues of some of the clemency grants.
Why it matters: While President Trump's eldest daughter dismisses talk she is weighing a campaign against Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), criminal justice reform is a popular, bipartisan issue to associate with as she plots her future endeavors.
Significant chunks of money spent in key 2020 Senate races — including Kelly Loeffler's in Georgia — came from nonprofits and companies with little online footprint and no trace of their own financial benefactors, new disclosure filings show.
Why it matters: The 2020 cycle was the most expensive in the nation's history, by far, and an unprecedented amount of spending came from groups that don't disclose their donors. The Biden administration is under pressure to step up enforcement against such groups, and these new financials will only increase that.
In a sign of the urgency President Biden feels about Iran, the White House is convening a National Security Council principals committee meeting Friday focused on the country's nuclear program, people familiar with the matter tell Axios.
Why it matters: The Biden administration is still refining its strategy about how to resurrect the 2015 deal that President Trump backed out of in 2018, but it wants to work with allies to slow Iran's effort to enrich uranium and prevent an arms races in the Middle East.
A major new survey of 2020 Trump voters shows how divided they were over Social Security, Medicare, trade and tax cuts for the rich — while culture, religion and patriotism and the U.S.-Mexico border were unifying issues.
Driving the news: The YouGov survey of 1,000 voters, conducted last month and reviewed by Axios, informs a Friday forum about the future of the GOP hosted by the American Enterprise Institute and Ethics and Public Policy Center. It captures the thinking of this potent slice of the base, not just post-election but post-Jan. 6.
