The Justice Department has declined to prosecute former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross for misleading Congress on the Trump administration's push to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.
Catch up quick: Ross had testified that the Trump administration wanted the addition due to a DOJ request for data so it could better enforce the Voting Rights Act. But internal records showed that Trump officials, including Ross, had planned to add the question long before the DOJ submitted its formal request in December 2017.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has decided which Republicans he will name to a select committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed to Axios.
Driving the news: McCarthy will name Rep. Jim Banks (Ind.) as ranking member, alongside Reps. Jim Jordan (Ohio), Rodney Davis (Ill.), Kelly Armstrong (N.D.), and freshman Troy Nehls (Texas).
The Jan. 6 select committee's first hearing on July 27 will feature law enforcement officers who were subject to some of the highest-profile acts of violence during the Capitol insurrection, Politico reports.
Why it matters: The officers, who suffered a range of traumas, have demanded accountability from the Republicans who downplayed the events or voted against certifying the 2020 election results that day.
A federal judge on Monday gave colleges their first major win in the battle to require that students be vaccinated.
Why it matters: Many students and parents consider these mandates essential to safely returning to campus. 586 colleges nationwide have some form of vaccine mandate, per The Chronicle of Higher Education.
A federal judge in Texas last week blocked DACA, the Obama-era program that provides legal protections to undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children. The ruling puts more than 600,000 Dreamers in a new state of legal limbo, and stops new applicants from being approved.
Axios Re:Cap talks with Axios politics reporter Stef Kight about what comes next, both in the courts and in Congress.
The American Academy of Pediatrics said Monday there should be "universal masking" of students older than 2 years old when school returns, regardless of vaccination status.
The big picture: TheAAP says they are making the recommendation because a "significant portion of the student population is not yet eligible for vaccines," and if masks are used, "opening schools generally does not significantly increase community transmission."
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced new guidelines Monday limiting Justice Department and FBI investigators from seizing materials from reporters and news outlets except in extreme cases.
Why it matters: The new policy follows disclosures that the DOJ, under the Trump administration, secretly obtained records of several journalists, including one at CNN, three at the Washington Post and four from the New York Times.
President Biden attempted to clarify comments he made last week about Facebook, saying on Monday that the company itself is not "killing people" — but those who post misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines are.
Why it matters: The Biden administration has ratcheted up pressure on social media companies, especially Facebook, to increase their efforts to eliminate misinformation on vaccines and the virus from their platforms.
Hodgkins in the Senate chamber on Jan. 6. Photo: CCTV footage via DOJ
38-year-old Paul Hodgkins of Tampa was sentenced to eight months in prison Monday after pleading guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding, a felony charge stemming from his participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Why it matters: Hodgkins is the first Jan. 6 rioter to be sentenced for a felony, setting a benchmark for hundreds of other cases that prosecutors have brought against individuals involved in the Capitol attack.
"Our experts believe and the data shows that most of the price increases we've seen were expected and are expected to be temporary," President Biden said at the White House Monday, pushing back against fears of persistent inflation.
Why it matters: The White House, which has argued that inflation issues are short term, is concerned that fears of rising prices could derail Biden's legislative agenda, which includes massive spending packages.
The Biden administration transferred Abdul Latif Nasser, 56, a Moroccan man who was never charged with a crime, from Guantanamo Bay back to his home country on Monday, according to the New York Times.
Why it matters: It's the first time the Biden administration has repatriated someone from Guantanamo Bay, potentially signaling a renewed effort to reduce the number of prisoners at the controversial prison complex.
N.Y. Times columnistNick Kristof, known for on-the-ground reporting about humanity around the world, tells two Oregon newspapers that he's considering entering the Democratic primary for governor next year.
Driving the news: Kristof, 62,whose Twitter bio calls himself "Oregon farmboy turned NY Times columnist," told Willamette Week: "I have friends trying to convince me that here in Oregon, we need new leadership from outside the broken political system. ... I'm honestly interested in what my fellow Oregonians have to say about that."
The Daily Wire on Monday launched its newest podcast, "The Morning Wire," a 14-minute morning news update that's being pitched as the conservative alternative to shows like "The Daily" from The New York Times and "Up First" from NPR.
Why it matters: Conservatives have been very successful at building popular podcasts, but to-date, there haven't been any break-out conservative morning news podcasts that set the agenda for early risers, commuters and professionals.
A growing swath of House Democratic candidates says the party needs to radically improve its heartland appeal to have any hope of keeping power in Washington.
Why it matters: With control of the House and Senate on the bubble, many ambitious Democrats — from the South to the Midwest to the Rockies — are running against their own national party's image.
Of note: New South Wales police said in a statement they helped the Australian Border Force transfer a 46-year-old U.K.-bound woman, later identified as Hopkins, to Sydney International Airport and issued her with an AU$1000 fine ($737) for breaching hotel quarantine rules by not wearing a face covering.
Americans Michael Taylor and Peter Taylor were given prison sentences by a Tokyo court Monday for helping former Nissan chair Carlos Ghosn flee Japan in a box aboard a plane in 2019, per the Wall Street Journal.
The big picture: Former green beret Michael Taylor was given a two-year prison sentence for planning the escape to Lebanon of Ghosn, who was awaiting trial in Tokyo on financial misconduct charges. Peter Taylor was sentenced to one year and eight months. The pair pleaded guilty last month. Ghosn denies any wrongdoing.
Why it matters: The U.S. Constitution stipulates that a quorum of at least 51 senators must be present on the floor for the Senate to conduct business, "unless a roll call vote or quorum call suggests otherwise."
Israeli cyber intelligence firm NSO Group's hacking software has been used to spy on heads of state, journalists, activists and lawyers across the world, per an investigation by 17 news organizations and nonprofits, published Sunday.
Why it matters: Authoritarian governments and others have used this spyware "to facilitate human rights violations around the world on a massive scale," with 50,000 phone numbers of targets leaked — including the family of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi, alleges rights group Amnesty International, which helped research the report, which NSO called "false."
