Axios

The House voted 413-12 on Wednesday to honor police officers who responded to the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot with Congressional Gold Medals, among the highest of civilian honors.

Why it matters: If passed by the Senate, the legislation would award one medal to the U.S. Capitol Police, another to the Metropolitan Police Department of the District Columbia and a third to the Smithsonian in recognition of the officers who responded to the siege.

The IRS will push its April 15 tax filing deadline to May 17, the agency and Treasury Department announced in a joint statement out Wednesday evening.

Why it matters: The decision comes after lawmakers have asked the agency to postpone the deadline due to "what is becoming one of the most complicated tax seasons in decades" due to the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg writes.

The House voted 242-172 on Wednesday to reauthorize the lapsed Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which gives legal protections to women who have experienced domestic and sexual violence.

Why it matters: The original landmark 1994 law, sponsored by then-Senate Judiciary Chairman Joe Biden, expired in 2019. President Biden promised to reauthorize VAWA during his campaign.

The FBI has arrested four prominent members of the Proud Boys stemming from the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, law enforcement officials told the New York Times.

Why it matters: Taking the latest conspiracy indictment into account, more than a dozen members of the Proud Boys face charges. The group has come under scrutiny as authorities work to determine who instigated the siege that left five people dead.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a lawsuit against the Treasury Department on Wednesday to fight a provision in Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package that prevents states from using the aid to reduce taxes.

The big picture: Yost's suit is the first of many efforts expected by Republican attorneys to target the tax mandate in the relief bill, Politico reports. The overall package has seen large bipartisan support, with 72% of Americans in a new Politico-Morning Consult poll in favor of the bill.

Asian Americans around the country said they’re alarmed by last night’s mass shooting at several Atlanta-area spas, which shows their extreme vulnerability amid anti-Asian violence that has been building for the past year.

The big picture: The Stop AAPI Hate reporting center collected nearly 3,800 self-reported cases of anti-Asian bias between March 19 last year and Feb. 28.

Violent extremists motivated by political or racial bias pose an "elevated threat" to the United States this year, according to an unclassified threat assessment released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Wednesday.

Why it matters: The report comes more than two months after a violent mob of former President Trump's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building, resulting in a riot that killed five people. The assessment echoes warnings from other U.S. officials and federal agencies.

A suspect faces murder and assault charges after eight people were killed and one person was injured in three separate shooting incidents at massage parlors in the Atlanta metropolitan area on Tuesday evening.

What's new: Robert Aaron Long, a 21-year-old white man from Woodstock, Georgia, faces eight counts of murder and is being held without bond, per the Cherokee County Sheriff's office.

In his maiden Senate speech on Wednesday, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) called the push for voting restrictions by Republicans in his home state of Georgia "Jim Crow in new clothes" and urged Congress to pass new voting protections at the federal level.

Why it matters: Georgia swung blue for President Biden in 2020 and both 2021 Senate races, giving Democrats control in the 50-50 Senate. But the GOP-led state legislature is now advancing measures to roll back and restrict voting access for constituents.

The suspect arrested following three separate shooting incidents on Tuesday night in the Atlanta area that killed eight people has been charged with murder and assault, the Cherokee County Sheriff's office said in a statement Wednesday.

Why it matters: Six of the victims were Asian women. Advocacy groups including Stop AAPI Hate have denounced the lethal incident as the latest in a spree of increased violence targeting Asian Americans since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Another person was injured.

The House voted 222-204 on Wednesday in another attempt to eliminate a deadline passed in 1982 that has prevented the Equal Rights Amendment from becoming part of the Constitution.

The big picture: The decades-long fight over the amendment to afford men and women equal rights has been revived after Virginia claimed last year to be the final state needed to ratify the ERA.

The Treasury Department has started distributing the third round of stimulus checks and has so far sent $242 billion worth of payments to 90 million Americans.

The state of play: $1,400 stimulus checks are set to go out to all adults making under $75,000 annually. It's the highest stimulus check disbursement yet, following a $600 disbursement in winter and a $1,200 disbursement last spring. The latest round of payments began processing on March 12.

The Senate voted 98-0 on Wednesday to confirm Katherine Tai as United States trade representative, a Cabinet-level position responsible for developing and coordinating international trade and overseeing negotiations with other countries.

Why it matters: Tai, the first woman of color to serve in the position, pledged during her confirmation hearings to aggressively enforce the terms of the "phase one" trade deal former President Trump signed with Beijing in 2020, as well as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

The Biden administration will funnel more than $12 billion from the American Rescue Plan toward COVID-19 testing in K-12 schools, as part of a push to reopen the remaining closed districts for in-person learning, the Department of Health and Human Services will announce Wednesday.

Why it matters: About 20% of the country's students are still fully remote. Though the number of reopened schools grows each week, many still aren't at full capacity or are struggling to convince some parents and teachers to return to the classrooms.

The House Republican conference voted to reverse its ban earmarks during a closed-doors meeting, four sources familiar with the meeting tell Axios.

Why it matters: The vote comes as Democrats prepare to restore a limited version of earmarks and ahead of the party's expected effort to push through a big-ticket infrastructure bill.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) called comments by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) "racist" on the Senate floor Tuesday evening, after Johnson told a radio show that he would have been more afraid of the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters if they had been Black Lives Matter protestors or antifa.

Why it matters: Menendez himself acknowledged that the speech broke with Senate decorum, noting that "we often twist ourselves into pretzels to avoid saying anything that might be interpreted as a criticism of another senator."

President Biden said in an interview with ABC Wednesday that he believes Vladimir Putin is a "killer," and promised that the Russian president will "pay a price" for interfering in the 2020 U.S. elections.

Why it matters: Biden has pledged to take a hard line against the Kremlin, which has a history of attempting to assassinate and imprison dissidents and political opponents.

White supremacist propaganda nearly doubled in 2020, reaching record highs, according to a report by the Anti-Defamation League.

The big picture: The ADL's Center on Extremism tracked 5,125 incidents in which "racist, antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ fliers, stickers, banners and posters" were distributed, averaging more than 14 per day. It tracked 2,724 incidents in 2019.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced late Tuesday sanctions for 24 more Chinese and Hong Kong officials for further curtailing democracy in the Asian financial hub.

Why it matters: Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan are due to meet this week in Alaska with senior Chinese officials in the first face-to-face discussions between diplomats from the U.S. and China since President Biden took office.

Former Vice President Al Gore told CNN Tuesday every American citizen "ought to be automatically registered to vote."

Driving the news: Republicans in battleground states have criticized absentee voting and pushed to restrict voting access, arguing such action "restores confidence in the election system." Many have followed former President Trump's lead in baselessly citing voter fraud.

The House Transportation committee on Tuesday wrote to the Biden administration to request financial records for the D.C. Trump International Hotel.

Why it matters: The General Services Administration (GSA) had refused the panel's first request in 2019 for details of the leased government-owned building's revenue, profits, losses and expenses, and it continued to do so throughout former President Trump's presidency.

Former first lady Michelle Obama told NBC Tuesday it "wasn't a complete surprise" to hear Prince Harry and Meghan Markle speaking to Oprah Winfrey last week about facing racism within the British royal family.

What she's saying: In an interview with Jenna Bush Hager on NBC's "Today" show, Obama said: "Race isn't a new construct in this world for people of color.

President Biden told ABC News Tuesday he supports reforming the Senate's filibuster rule to require lawmakers to talk on the Senate floor to delay a bill’s passage.

Why it matters: It's the first time the president has publicly supported action on the rule after the White House maintained for several weeks that he opposed eliminating the filibuster altogether.

The members of Congress most likely to sponsor or co-sponsor legislation mentioning immigration aren't necessarily the ones most likely to talk about it, according to data from Quorum.

Why it matters: Immigration has become a fiery political issue, but very little has been done about it in Congress over the years.

Democrats are growing impatient about the conditions — not to mention, the politics — along the U.S.-Mexico border, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas could bear the brunt when he testifies in the House on Wednesday.

What we're hearing: Rep. Bennie Thompson, chair of the Homeland Security Committee, may have a handful of pointed questions. Some Texas Democrats also remain peeved they didn't get any warning a White House delegation would be visiting their state two weeks ago — aggravating potential allies.

The Capitol riot's fallout is rippling beyond our shores.

What's happening: Public relations agents for the government of Haiti are drawing parallels between political unrest in that country and the Jan. 6 attack, based on public records.

Donald Trump is preparing to make a new round of 2022 endorsements starting as soon as this week, people familiar with his thinking tell Axios.

Why it matters: The former president's endorsements could clear the field in competitive Republican primaries. Depending on how vengeful he's feeling, and how many challengers to same-party incumbents he backs, they also could jam the party establishment.

President Biden told ABC News Tuesday that if allegations of sexual misconduct against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) are confirmed, he should resign.

Why it matters: These are Biden's strongest words yet on his longtime friend and ally following multiple harassment and misconduct allegations. Only two days ago, the president said he'd wait for the outcome of an investigation before commenting on whether the governor should resign.

Former President Trump recommended that Americans, and specifically those who voted for him, get vaccinated against COVID-19 during an interview with Fox News on Tuesday.

Why it matters: Polling has shown that Republicans are more likely to resist the idea of receiving a coronavirus vaccine and public officials are increasingly concerned it could prevent the country from achieving herd immunity against the virus.

Former Rep. Doug Ose (R-Calif.) announced Tuesday he's entering a recall election bid with the goal of ousting California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Why it matters: Wednesday is the deadline for organizers to submit signatures for the proposed recall of Newsom. They say they have collected over 2 million signatures since last June — more than enough to put the proposal before voters, per AP.