Axios

Panama is struggling to handle a surge of migrants crossing the deadly jungles of the Darién Gap separating the country from Colombia — many bound for the U.S., government officials, migration experts and members of Congress tell Axios.

Why it matters: Vice President Kamala Harris departed Sunday on her first trip to Central America after being tasked with the migration crisis. Most migrants reaching the U.S. border still hail from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras or El Salvador. But more people than before from farther-flung points are fleeing their homes and trying to enter the U.S.

The Senate returns Tuesday to a full slate of negotiations Congress failed to complete before blowing town for Memorial Day.

Driving the news: Next steps on a Jan. 6 commission will compete with infrastructure talks, police reform and a China-focused package on U.S. competitiveness.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the first woman and first African to become director-general of the World Trade Organization, forged her strength through traumas few political leaders could imagine — let alone endure.

Driving the news: In a remarkable interview with "Axios on HBO" — her first extended, in-person TV interview since taking the job in March — the MIT-trained economist and development expert opened up about her nearly "impossible job" and the experiences that shaped her, including her mother's kidnapping.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told "Axios on HBO" the Biden administration is determined to "get to the bottom" of COVID-19's origins, and said the U.S. will hold China accountable.

Why it matters: "The most important reason we have to get to the bottom of this is that's the only way we're going to be able to prevent the next pandemic or at least do a better job in mitigating it," he said during a wide-ranging interview in the State Department's Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room.

First lady Jill Biden and NIAID director Anthony Fauci visited a vaccination clinic at the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem on Sunday, ABC 7 reports.

Why it matters: Their visit was intended to draw attention to the importance of getting the coronavirus vaccine at a time when Black and Hispanic Americans are seeing higher rates of COVID-19 cases than white Americans, alongside lagging vaccination rates.

Colombian President Ivan Duque on Sunday announced plans to modernize the country's police force after weeks of protests, which have sparked an international outcry over alleged human rights abuses, Reuters reports.

Why it matters: The mass anti-government protests have entered their second month in the country. Last month UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called for investigations into deaths of protestors at the hands of the police.

Nick Clegg, Facebook's vice president of global affairs, told ABC's "This Week" that the company's oversight board is a solution where elected officials have abdicated.

Driving the news: Clegg defended the platform's two-year suspension of former President Donald Trump, after recent criticism from Trump about the company's right to censor or silence free speech.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right party came out the winner in a local election in eastern Germany on Sunday, giving a hopeful boost to the party ahead of September's national elections, the Associated Press reports.

The state of play: Exit polls from Sunday indicate that Merkel's Christian Democratic Union garnered about 36% of the vote, while the far-right Alternative for Germany brought in 22%, per AP.

Nikki Haley — former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., and South Carolina governor — is headed later this week to Israel, where she'll tour an Iron Dome air-defense location, and meet with top government and defense officials.

Driving the news: Haley, who is continuing policy work through her Stand For America, was invited by Pastor John Hagee to join the Christians United for Israel mission.

• She and the evangelical pastor have known one another for years, and she keynoted Christians United for Israel’s annual Washington Summit 2018.

On the political front, Haley has been traveling the country doing events and raising money for 2022 House, Senate and gubernatorial candidates. 

Just over a year from the start of the pandemic and its economic slump, many states have recovered financially and are enjoying booming budgets, reports the Associated Press.

Why it matters: Surpluses in the state coffers means that states are reinvesting in "schools, social programs and infrastructure" while also putting "billions of dollars in savings," according to AP.

Two members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), called on Sunday for greater regulation of cryptocurrencies in order to crack down on ransomware payments from cyberattacks.

Why it matters: Last month's hacking of the Colonial Pipeline underscored the nation's vulnerability to large scale ransomeware attacks and increased attention to the importance of cybersecurity.

House progressives are getting fed up with efforts to accommodate Republican senators — and Joe Manchin. Look for them to start demanding swift action — and threatening payback.

Why it matters: The White House is under growing pressure to accede to the left's demand to bust the filibuster. That rule effectively requires the support of 10 Republicans for most measures in this 50-50 Senate, rather than the simple majority that most Democrats want.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is "confident" the White House and Senate Republicans will reach a compromise on the infrastructure package in the coming days, he told Fox News Sunday.

Why it matters: Considered one of the Democrats most crucial to the success of the president's legislative agenda, Manchin's remarks come after recent setbacks in negotiations between President Biden and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), the GOP's lead negotiator, Politico reports.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that U.S. adversaries have the capability to shut down the power grid, saying they are "trying even as we speak."

Why it matters: Granholm's warning comes as the public and private sectors are dealing with how to confront cyber threats after recent ransomware attacks on Colonial Pipeline, a major U.S. fuel pipeline, and JBS USA, a top meat supplier.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sunday that he would urge world leaders to commit to vaccinate the global population at the Group of Seven wealthy democracies' summit next week, AP reports.

Why it matters: Johnson said he expects the global population to be mostly vaccinated by the end of 2022, an act he says would be "the single greatest feat in medical history."

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) wrote in a Charleston Gazette-Mail op-ed Sunday that he will not support congressional Democrats' expansive election and anti-corruption bill, suggesting the measure is partisan.

Why it matters: Manchin's opposition to H.R. 1, known as the For the People Act, puts the bill in tenuous footing in the evenly split Senate. The West Virginia senator said any elections-related legislation should be the result of both parties coming together.

More than 1,000 towns, lakes, streams, creeks and mountain peaks across the U.S. still bear racist names, according to a federal board under the Department of the Interior.

Why it matters: The legacies of sites with names such as Squaw Lake, Minn., and Dead Negro Spring in Oklahoma endure, even amid a national push to remove Confederate monuments and change designations of public buildings named for racists.

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said Saturday he will send a bill to the Central American country's Congress next week to make bitcoin legal tender.

Why it matters: If the legislation is passed by lawmakers, El Salvador would become the first country to formally adopt the digital currency.

The U.S. will donate 750,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to Taiwan, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) announced after arriving in the capital, Taipei, on a bipartisan congressional visit Sunday.

Why it matters: The island state is facing spiking coronavirus cases, and officials say their efforts to obtain vaccines are being impeded by China's government, which considers Taiwan to be part of its territory.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Saturday endorsed civil rights attorney Maya Wiley to be the next mayor of New York City.

Why it matters: The high-profile progressive's endorsement of the former aide to Mayor Bill de Blasio in the crowded Democratic field comes a week before early voting begins.

Gov. Brian Kemp (R) was booed at the Georgia GOP convention, where a resolution was passed to censure Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for ignoring former President Trump's pressure to overturn the state's 2020 election results.

Why it matters: The action shows the grip Trump has on the Republican Party in the state.

Former President Trump said Saturday that North Carolina Rep. Ted Budd has his "complete and total endorsement" to replace the state's retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr.

Why it matters: The 2022 race for Burr's seat is set to be one of the most watched in the U.S. It could determine the balance of power in the Senate, which is technically split 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris having the tie-breaker vote.