Wealthy congressional candidates are pouring millions into their own campaigns but failing to file mandatory disclosure forms, keeping voters in the dark about how they got their cash.
Why it matters: Unlike regular donors, candidates can give unlimited sums to their campaigns. Watchdogs say knowing the source is crucial to vetting potential conflicts of interest and ensuring hidden supporters won't unduly influence them in office.
A new congressional bill seeks to create a board to help rename more than 1,000 towns, lakes, streams, creeks and mountain peaks across the U.S. still named with racist slurs.
Why it matters: About 621 places have the word "negro" in them. New Mexico is home to a reservoir called Wetback Tank. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names oversees all naming decisions, but critics contend it's overwhelmed and slow to rename places despite public pressure.
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) criticized Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Sunday for setting an "arbitrary deadline" to move forward with a bipartisan infrastructure proposal.
Why it matters: Portman is a key Republican negotiator, yet Senate leadership aides tell Axios that Schumer won't back away from beginning procedural steps to move the bill — still unwritten — forward this week.
Senators working to keep the bipartisan infrastructure deal alive are zeroing in on Medicare prescription drug rebate formulas to offset up to $60 billion of the $1.2 trillion package, people familiar with the matter tell Axios.
Why it matters: Targeting those funds puts the bipartisan infrastructure plan in competition with the $3.5 trillion, Democrat-only plan proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I.-Vt.). It also assumes new money from altering complicated prescription drug formulas.
Taliban leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhunzada said Sunday that the Taliban "strenuously favors a political settlement" in Afghanistan as the peace talks continue with the Afghan government delegation in Qatar, the Associated Press reports.
Why it matters: Despite how the conciliatory words may sound, no peace deal appears imminent. Taliban and government forces are still fighting in dozens of provinces across Afghanistan, per AP.
President Biden will welcome the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the White House on Tuesday, CNN reports.
Why it matters: The White House visit marks the first from a Super Bowl Champion team since 2017 and a return to normalcy following the enduring coronavirus pandemic.
A federal appeals court ruled Saturday night that the CDC can enforce its framework for cruise ships returning to operation, overturning an earlier district court ruling that would have made the CDC's guidelines mere suggestions.
Why it matters: The resumption of cruise ship activity has been a political flashpoint in Florida. The industry is worth billions of dollars for the state's economy and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has aggressively campaigned for its resumption.
The refugee team for the 2021 Olympics got the all-clear to travel to Tokyo on Sunday, following an official's positive COVID-19 test, which had delayed their departure, according to the International Olympic Committee.
Why it matters: Before obtaining clearance, 26 of the athletes on the 29-person team were awaiting a decision at a training camp in Qatar, per Reuters.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro says he plans to return to work after leaving the hospital on Sunday where he'd been recovering from an intestinal obstruction, according to Reuters.
Why it matters: Doctors had initially considered operating on the 66-year-old politician before ultimately deciding against it.
A group of Texas Democrats who fled the state to block a GOP-led voting reform bill are not planning on returning anytime soon, and will instead hold a weeklong virtual conference as they up their fight against the Republican bill, the Washington Post reports.
The big picture: Civil rights activist Dolores Huerta will kick off the conference on Monday, which will feature influential activists and lawmakers through out the week, per the Post.
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said on Sunday that the group of senators pursuing a bipartisan infrastructure deal will no longer be looking at increasing enforcement at the Internal Revenue Service as a way of funding the bill.
State of play: One of the ways President Biden hoped to pay for his massive infrastructure plan was by infusing the IRS with $40 billion to help it crack down on tax collection and potentially collect $100 billion more in taxes.
Miami-Dade County has identified 95 of the 97 victims from the collapse of the Champlain Towers South building, CNN reports, as recovery efforts continue in Surfside, Fla.
Driving the news: Officials on Saturday named another person who died in the collapse, 36-year-old Theresa Velasquez, who was first recovered on July 8. The around-the-clock mission is going into its fourth week.
Egyptian authorities released three activists and three journalists on Sunday who have been kept in pre-trial detention for months, in some cases years, without trial, the Associated Press reports.
Why it matters: The authorities' release of the prisoners comes days after the U.S. expressed concern regarding human rights abuses in Egypt.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said Sunday that COVID-19 vaccine misinformation is "aided and abetted" by social media platforms, further reinforcing the Biden administration's position.
Why it matters: Facebook and the White House have been engaging in an ongoing back-and-forth that was amplified Friday when President Biden said that social media platforms are "killing people" by allowing vaccine misinformation on their sites.
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda Solis told ABC's "This Week," Sunday that while the county's latest mask mandate isn't ideal, she recognizes it is necessary.
Driving the news: The mandate, which requires people to wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status, went into effect Saturday. The L.A. county sheriff said Friday he wouldn't enforce the policy because the county's decision was "not backed by science."
OPEC+ reached a deal on oil production increases Sunday, following a protracted dispute between the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Why it matters: The increase in oil production, which is at the center of the agreement, comes at a pivotal point as global economies prepare to open up post-pandemic.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will isolate after being exposed to COVID-19, following backlash after he previously said he wouldn't, Reuters reports.
Why it matters: The prime minister's announcement comes just a day after Health Secretary Sajid Javid said via Twitter that he had tested positive for coronavirus following a meeting with Johnson.
Hot spots have mushroomedacross the world in 2021, adding multiple international crises to President Biden's formidable domestic to-do list.
Why it matters: Cracks in the global order, which had been presided over by unrivaled American influence since the end of the Cold War, are growing. The proliferation of great-power flashpoints, and failing or failed states, creates new threats to American leadership — and to the global economy, which has been recovering.
More than 20 progressive groups are launching an $800,000 ad campaign against Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), highlighting his response to the January 6 Capitol riot, NBC News reports.
Why it matters: The 30-second spot attacks Johnson for voting against investigating the riot, and juxtaposes videos of the attack with a clip of Johnson saying “by and large it was a peaceful protest."
The San Diego Padres-Washington Nationals baseball game was suspended following a shooting outside Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., which saw players and fans running for cover as gunshots rang out on Saturday.
Details: Ashan Benedict, the Metropolitan Police Department's executive assistant police chief, said at a briefing late Saturday that three people were wounded after people in two vehicles were involved in a "shootout" outside the stadium.
Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) staged a protest outside the City Hall in Riverside, California, Saturday — one of three venues in the state to cancel their fund-raising event this past week.
Driving the news: The conservatives launched a tour across the U.S. last month, but the southern California venues issued the cancelations amid "significant public outcry," per the Los Angeles Times.
President Biden's chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, told CNN Saturday he's "certain" smallpox and polio would still be in the U.S. if vaccine misinformation spread like it has over COVID-19.
Why it matters: Facebook doubled down in its defense Saturday against Biden's comments that social media platforms were "killing people" by allowing coronavirus vaccine misinformation on their sites.
