President Joe Biden reopened the federal health insurance marketplace on Monday for three months, citing the importance of access to health care when more than 1 out of every 12 Americans has been infected with the coronavirus.
Why it matters: Nearly 15 million Americans are uninsured at the coronavirus pandemic rages on.
In this episode of How It Happened: Trump's Last Stand, national political correspondent Jonathan Swan tracks the unfolding of the Capitol insurrection on January 6, revealing what happened in the Senate and at the White House — and what it means.
Swan brings listeners into the secure room where senators sheltered in place, heard remarks from both President Trump and President-Elect Biden, and deliberated how to resume the vote certification process.
Swan also reports on the reaction inside the Trump administration, where officials were rapidly resigning, and the ones who remained were strenuously pressuring the president to discourage and disavow the mob of his supporters.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) wrote an op-ed Sunday outlining his decision to vote to convict former President Trump of inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, saying he did so "because he is guilty."
Why it matters: Cassidy has faced backlash in his home state, with the Republican Party of Louisiana voting unanimously on Saturday to censure him.
President Biden will join fellow G7 leaders for a virtual meeting Friday to discuss the pandemic response, economic recovery, China and the climate crisis, the White House said.
Why it matters: This will be Biden's first meeting with Group of Seven leaders as president. It's the first gathering of G7 leaders from the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom since last April.
Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi told "Axios on HBO" that former President Trump's comments after Hurricane Maria lacked sensitivity and were "really insulting."
Flashback: Trump visited the island about two weeks after Maria made landfall as a devastating Category 4 storm in the fall of 2017. The eventual death toll on the island was nearly 3,000 people.
Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi told "Axios on HBO" that "Congress is morally obligated to respond" to the island's recent vote in support of statehood, and said he expects a bill to be introduced in the House by mid-March.
Why it matters: Although statehood has been discussed for years, advocates say it is more likely now because Democrats control the House, Senate and White House — and because President Biden has publicly supported it.
Vice President Harris told mein a backstage conversation for "Axios on HBO" that the Trump administration had "no stockpile" of vaccines upon leaving office.
The big picture: "There was no national strategy or plan for vaccinations, we were leaving it to the states and local leaders to try and figure it out," Harris told me at the White House after leading a virtual COVID event with African-American mayors.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), an avid Trump supporter who voted to acquit the former president during his second impeachment trial, joined lawmakers' calls for a 9/11-style commission into the Jan. 6 Capitol siege while on "Fox News Sunday."
Why it matters: Momentum has been growing since last month for a bipartisan commission to investigate the lethal attack on the Capitol, and is one of the last ways Congress could attempt to hold Trump accountable for the violence, the New York Times reports.
Where it stands: Puerto Rico has held six non-binding referendums on its status, including becoming a U.S. state, since 1967. Residents most recently voted in favor of statehood last November. Both of Pierluisi's predecessors, Wanda Vázquez and Ricardo Rosselló, also supported statehood.
Former Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez is "seriously considering a run for governor in Maryland," he told the New York Times in an interview published Sunday.
Why it matters: Perez ran Maryland's labor department under then-Gov. Martin O'Malley, before going on to serve in same role at the national level under former President Obama, following a four-year stint at the Department of Justice.
Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that Democrats “didn’t back down” from calling witnesses during former President Trump's Senate impeachment trial, but instead they "got what [they] wanted' by entering a statement by Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) into the record.
What they're saying: “I think that all Americans, when we rested our case, believed that we had proved our case and the nonsense that the defense put out did not dispute that,” Plaskett, who served as an impeachment manager, said. “As you heard from Mitch McConnell, his closing statement was what we said, he agreed with us.”
Democrats "have no regrets at all" about their approach to former President Trump's second impeachment trial, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said on Sunday's "Meet the Press."
Driving the news: Trump was acquitted on Saturday when the Senate failed to reach a two-thirds majority vote necessary to convict. However, seven Republicans joined Democrats to vote "guilty" making the final 57-43 vote the most bipartisan margin in favor of conviction in history.
A string of recent attacks on elderly Asian Americans has led to an uproar in the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.
Why it matters: Violence and discrimination against Asian Americans appears to have risen dramatically since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, leaving families nervous and afraid even in many of America’s most diverse cities.
With his words and deeds, Mitch McConnell has shown how to retain power when you no longer hold it.
Why it matters: Perhaps the most powerful Senate leader since LBJ, McConnell sets the chamber’s agenda whether in the majority or, as he is now, the minority. This reality has huge consequences as President Biden pushes for coronavirus relief, confirmation of his nominees and legislation crucial to Democrats' popularity ahead of midterms.
Highlight: Kate McKinnon as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) appeared on the "SNL" version of Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" to declare the result was "a great day for 30% of America," adding that "just because the rioters were yelling "fight for Trump" during the Jan. 6 insurrection, "doesn't mean that they meant Donald Trump."
President Biden issued a statement late Saturday in response to the Senate acquittal of former President Trump on charges of high crimes and misdemeanors.
Why it matters: Biden had distanced himself from the trial, but he didn't hold back in his first comments on its outcome — noting seven Republicans were among 57 senators to find Trump guilty "for inciting that deadly insurrection on our very democracy."
Some state GOPs have swiftly rebuked Republican senators who voted to find former President Trump guilty of inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
Driving the news: After the Senate failed to reach the two-thirds majority necessary to convict Trump, the Republican Party of Louisiana announced Saturday evening that its executive committee had voted "unanimously" to censure Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) for voting to convict Trump.
Seven Republicans joined Democrats and Independents in finding Donald Trump "guilty" of inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, but the Senate failed to reach the two-thirds majority necessary to convict the former president.
The Republicans who voted to convictincluded: Sens. Richard Burr (N.C.), Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Mitt Romney (Utah), Ben Sasse (Neb.) and Pat Toomey (Pa.).
TJ Ducklo has resigned from his position of White House deputy press secretary, press secretary Jen Psaki said Saturday.
Driving the news: Earlier this week, Ducklo was placed on one-week suspension without pay after Vanity Fair reported that he threatened to ruin the reputation of a Politico reporter pursuing a story about his relationship with an Axios reporter.
