The 2,702-page bipartisan infrastructure package is a lengthy outline for new roads, bridges and other construction projects, yet it comes in only at 102nd for highest word count since the 101st Congress, according to data collected by Quorum.
By the numbers: It's been a wordy year for congressional bill writers. The top two bills for highest word count were both introduced this year.
Inflation, rising crime and the border surge are positioning Republicans for even bigger midterm gains than they'd imagined just months ago.
Why it matters: President Biden has preached bipartisanship. Strident Democrats are pushing for hard-left positions enacted through their control of Congress and the White House. But the daily headlines are boosting the GOP's arguments as it seeks to regain control of at least one chamber in 2022.
The G10 is on the cusp of a victory lap for getting a seemingly impossible infrastructure deal through the Senate — but the process also shows how a closely divided Congress has undercut the traditional power brokers.
Why it matters: Committee chairs and their staffers told Axios they're furious — "pissed" is the term one used — with how the bipartisan group bypassed traditional processes to produce a bill directly with the White House. And they worry it's part of a shifting power dynamic on Capitol Hill.
High-profile Trump backers in Congress who tried to block President Biden's election win have raked in grassroots cash this year. Many of their lesser-known rank-and-file colleagues have not.
Why it matters: New campaign finance data underscore a disparity among election objectors. Some have used the infamy to catapult themselves into MAGA stardom. Those who haven't — including some facing competitive 2022 reelection fights — are stuck with all the baggage and little financial benefit.
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) penned a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin urging the Pentagon to provide additional support to Greece as the country battles devastating wildfires.
State of play: Dozens of wildfires broke out in Greece last week after the country suffered its worst heatwave in decades. They have continued to rage unabated and forced hundreds to evacuate.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Sunday that he will discuss COVID-19 vaccines during a phone call with Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday, Reuters reports.
Driving the news: López Obrador hinted that more coronavirus vaccines could be donated from the U.S. to Mexico as the latter battles a spike in cases driven by the highly contagious Delta variant.
Catch up fast: The anchor was implicated in his brother's ballooning scandal when a New York Attorney General’s report out last week confirmed he participated in strategy sessions with Governor Cuomo’s aides on how to respond to the matter.
An unusually high rate of questions on the 2020 census went unanswered, according to documents released by the Census Bureau, the Associated Press reports.
Why it matters: Many of the unanswered questions had to do with demographics, the answers to which help governments redraw congressional and state legislative districts, according to a Census Bureau press release.
A lawyer for Cuomo appeared to dig him deeper yesterday as she previewed his sexual harassment defense, arguing that running his hands over a state trooper on the job wasn't necessarily criminal — or even unacceptable.
Why it matters: The defense looks unlikely to persuade New York legislators who are "on the brink" of impeaching Cuomo, as The New Yorker puts it.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) told CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that he disagrees with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' (R) executive order barring mask mandates in schools, adding that "the local officials should have control" over the decision.
The big picture: “Politicians should not kind of carte blanche accept what the public health doctor says," Cassidy told host Dana Bash. "But they shouldn't just gratuitously ignore it either."
Doug Sosnik— senior adviser to the Brunswick Group, and White House political director for President Bill Clinton — is out with a new deck, shown first to Axios AM readers, warning his party how hard it'll be to hang onto its House and Senate majorities in next year's midterms.
The bottom line: "With only two exceptions (1998 and 2002), the party out of power has picked up seats in every midterm election since World War II," Sosnik writes.
NIAID director Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that he hopes the COVID-19 vaccines will receive full approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration "within the next few weeks."
Why it matters: Fauci's remarks on NBC's "Meet the Press" come at a pivotal point in the pandemic, as the Delta variant has caused coronavirus cases across the United States to balloon.
Florida parents, including those of students with disabilities, have filed legal challenges to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' executive order barring mask mandates in schools.
Why it matters: The lawsuits, filed in state and federal court, come as Florida is experiencing a surge of new COVID cases, largely driven by the Delta variant.
The California Republican Party on Saturday chose not to endorse any candidate in the upcoming recall election that could remove Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) from office, Politico reports.
Why it matters: Republicans are hoping the decision will unite their base toward defeating Newsom, who is fairing well in polls. There are 24 Republicans on the recall ballot.
The Senate confirmed Carlos Del Toro, a retired commander, as Navy secretary on Saturday evening.
Why it matters: President Biden's pick for the role has nearly 40 years of experience in national security, naval operations, budgeting and acquisition. Del Toro is the second Latino to serve in the position.
President Biden told U.S. Olympians during a virtual meeting Saturday evening that they "made me so damn proud" and invited the athletes to visit the White House in the fall.
Driving the news: "You handled yourself with such grace and such decency," Biden told the athletes, noting during the call from his home near Wilmington, Delaware, alongside first lady Jill Biden, they had to overcome disruptions like the pandemic, which delayed the Tokyo Olympic Games by a year.
