Axios

First lady Jill Biden released her first statement on the U.S. withdrawing from Afghanistan and Thursday's attack in Kabul Friday afternoon.

Why it matters: In her role as first lady, Biden has prioritized military-focused initiatives. She said the attack in Kabul, which killed at least 13 U.S. troops, "left us with the stinging reality of the ultimate sacrifice you are willing to make."

President Biden on Friday announced plans to give all federal employees 2.7% pay increase.

What they're saying: "Specifically, I have determined that for 2022, the across-the-board base pay increase will be 2.2 percent and locality pay increases will average 0.5 percent, resulting in an overall average increase of 2.7 percent for civilian Federal employees, consistent with the assumption in my 2022 Budget," Biden said in a letter to Congress.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection started detaining solar panel imports from Chinese companies that allegedly source products from Xinjiang forced labor, Washington Post reports.

Why it matters: China is the supply chain leader for solar energy equipment, but concerns over human rights violations led the Biden administration to order a ban in June.

A California Parole Board panel on Friday agreed to a conditional release for Sirhan Sirhan, who assassinated then-Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, AP reports.

Why it matters: This is Sirhan's 16th attempt to get parole. Two of Kennedy's sons, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Douglas Kennedy, earlier Friday supported the move, CNN notes.

Liberty University announced a campus-wide temporary "mitigation period" on Thursday due to a recent surge in COVID-19 cases at the school.

Why it matters: The move illustrates the challenges ahead for universities returning to full, in-person classes without vaccine mandates or other virus-related precautions in place.

The Marines and other service members who died at Abbey Gate on Thursday "were heroes in the truest sense of the word," Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) told Axios, based on what he saw them doing just two days earlier.

What they're saying: "I expected to see a gate with Marines on one side and Afghans on the other," Moulton said Friday. "That wasn't the case. The Marines had to go out, amidst the Afghans, with the Taliban yards away with their horse whips. ... I've never been more proud to be an American."

The Biden administration said Friday that the State Department is in touch with approximately 500 U.S. citizens in Afghanistan who still wish to leave the country.

Why it matters: The Aug. 31 deadline for a U.S. troop withdrawal is looming closer. While the Biden administration has said there is no plan to extend the deadline, the president suggested on Thursday that efforts may continue past that date to bring some Americans home.

COVID's origin is still inconclusive, according to an unclassified intelligence report publicly released Friday.

Driving the news: Chinese officials had no knowledge of the virus prior to its initial outbreak, according to the report, though it doesn't rule out the lab leak or animal transmission theories. The intelligence community "remains divided."

Texas House Republicans gave final approval to a slate of new voting restrictions on Friday following months of protests by Democrats, including a 38-day walkout, the Texas Tribune reports.

Why it matters: Friday's vote brings Texas one step closer to enacting voting restrictions — making it set to be the latest big Republican state to pass tighter voting laws following the 2020 election, per AP.

The Jan. 6 select committee said Friday it is demanding records from social media companies regarding the violence riot at the Capitol at the start of this year.

Why it matters: The demand is another major expansion to the select committee's investigation and follows its sweeping records request sent to the National Archives and seven federal agencies earlier this week.

A Florida judge ruled Friday that school districts can require students and staff to wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19, saying Gov. Ron DeSantis' executive order banning the mandates was "without legal authority," according to AP.

Why it matters: Multiple Florida school districts have defied DeSantis' order despite threats from the governor to withhold state funding from schools that don't comply.

The U.S. has set up a coronavirus vaccination site for Afghans arriving at the Dulles International Airport in Virginia, a White House official told Axios.

State of play: Upon arrival, all Afghan evacuees are first tested for the virus and vaccines are then offered to those who test negative. The Federal Emergency Management Agency set up the vaccination site at the Dulles Expo center, and the vaccines are being administered by the Department of Health and Human Services, the White House official said.

A "perfect storm" of procedural blockades prevented the investigation and sanctioning of alleged Trump campaign election law violations, regulators said this week.

Why it matters: Legitimate cases are being dismissed. And critics say the Federal Election Commission's inability to crack down on many bad actors has undercut the threat of enforcement, and turned campaign financing into the Wild West.

President Biden has approved a state of emergency for Louisiana as Hurricane Ida approaches landfall following Gov. John Bel Edwards' previous declaration.

The latest: FEMA will now dispatched as part of the request to "coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures," said Biden in a statement.

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer told the New York Times in an interview Thursday that he is struggling to decide when to retire but said, "I don't think I’m going to stay there till I die — hope not."

Why it matters: Breyer, the oldest justice at 83 years old, has faced pressure from progressives to retire and allow President Biden to name a liberal-leaning successor to prevent the potential expansion of the court's conservative majority.

Special Climate Envoy John Kerry heads to China next month with plans to prod the world's largest carbon emitter on taking stronger climate steps as the crucial United Nations summit looms this fall.

Driving the news: Kerry will be in Tianjin, China from Sept. 1-3 after an Aug. 31 meeting in Tokyo, per a source familiar with the plans and published reports.

Tragically, 20 years on, America isn't near done in Afghanistan.

Why it matters: President Biden was determined to finally exit — "time to end the forever war," he said in April as he announced the U.S. would be out of Afghanistan by next month's 20th anniversary of 9/11.

Immigrati0n, affordability and access to good jobs are fueling population growth in places one might not necessarily expect.

Why it matters: The data from the U.S. Census Bureau, released this month, will be used for congressional redistricting.

• And the rapid expansion of these exurbs hints at what America might look like down the road — less white, less urban and more culturally diverse.

Where it stands: Formerly sleepy places are being reshaped by rapidly swelling populations, influencing everything from politics and development to the local employment and retail scenes.

• New Braunfels, Texas — between San Antonio and Austin — "grew a whopping 56 percent over the last decade" and its expansion "is the story of a changing America," per The New York Times.
• "With many new arrivals coming from big cities across Texas and states like California, Colorado and New York, the town also become more diverse," the Times said. "The Anglo population has dipped below 60 percent for the first time in recent decades, with Latinos accounting for about 35 percent of residents."
• Irvine — the only place in California to make the cut — grew 45% between 2010 and 2020, to 307,670 people, according to LAist. "Much of the growth was fueled by incoming Asian American and immigrant residents, estimated at more than 40% of the city."

The bottom line: "All 10 of the fastest-growing cities grew by at least 44 percent, and the fastest-growing one, Buckeye, Arizona, a western suburb of Phoenix, was up nearly 80 percent this decade to reach over 91,000 in population," the U.S. Census Bureau tweeted.

Go deeper: A shake-up in the ranks of powerhouse cities

The green card that Atifa and her brother used to get back into the U.S. yesterday also put their lives at risk back in Kabul, when the Taliban searched door to door for Americans.

Driving the news: Axios interviewed the 21-year-old and her 18-year-old sibling, who went by his last name, Ahmadi, at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Va. They gave a first-hand account of the journey from Afghanistan to the U.S. — a terrifying, stressful, exhausting trip lasting nine days.

The Supreme Court blocked President Biden's moratorium on evictions in a 6-3 ruling on Thursday.

Why it matters: Roughly 3.5 million people across the U.S. said they faced eviction in the next two months, per Census Bureau data from mid-August.

Apple said Thursday it will relax some App Store rules in order to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by U.S.-based developers over its store terms.

Why it matters: Apple will let developers communicate with users about alternative payment methods outside of the App Store. It will also set up a $100 million fund for small developers and make some other changes to its practices, but it's keeping its overall commission structure.

A Virginia school board will pay $1.3 million to Gavin Grimm, a transgender man who sued his Gloucester County high school in 2015 after being denied access to the boys' restroom.

Driving the news: The settlement comes two months after the Supreme Court declined to hear the board's appeal of a lower-court ruling that allowed transgender students to use the bathrooms that correspond to the gender with which they identify.