Axios

Former President George W. Bush will appear as a guest of honor at a fundraiser for Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) next month, Politico first reported.

Why it matters: Bush's presence at the event offers Cheney support from a prominent Republican just weeks after former President Trump endorsed Harriet Hageman, Cheney's challenger in the Wyoming House primary contest.

FBI director Christopher Wray said on Wednesday that the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan could lead to the region becoming "a safe haven" for terrorist groups again.

What he's saying: "We are, of course, concerned that there will be an opportunity for a safe haven to be re-created there, which is certainly something we’ve seen in the past," Wray said during a House Homeland Security Committee briefing.

A federal appeals court on Wednesday dismissed a July ruling that said laws restricting gun sales to those under 21 were unconstitutional because the case's plaintiff turned 21.

Why it matters: The previous ruling could have had implications for efforts to restrict gun sales nationally in the future, the Washington Post reported. But the case is now moot. 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints told its members on Wednesday that all patrons and workers will be required to wear face masks at all times while in the temple.

Why it matters: It's the Mormon Church's latest effort to encourage masking and vaccination among its over 16.6 million members around the world.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) told Fox News Tuesday that he has sent hundreds of state-owned vehicles to the southern border to form a barrier to prevent migrants from crossing.

Why it matters: It's the latest measure taken to block the entry of migrants around Del Rio, Tex., where thousands coming from Haiti have taken refuge while trying to seek asylum.

Bipartisan talks on reforming police tactics and accountability, prompted by George Floyd's murder in May 2020, have ended without a compromise, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), a key negotiator, said Wednesday.

Why it matters: Lawmakers, led by Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Booker, had been working toward a bipartisan deal for months but things fell apart due to disagreements on qualified immunity and other issues.

Latin American officials on Wednesday highlighted how the pandemic has exposed the dangers of the high dependence of the region on imports of health technologies from the international community.

What they're saying: "The region... must never experience the dependency that it experienced with COVID-19," Carla Vizzotti, Argentina's minister of health, said during a panel hosted by the Atlantic Council and Axios Latino. "We must altogether say 'never again."

In 2020, the U.S. experienced its biggest increase in murders since it began keeping a record in 1960, according to reporting by the New York Times.

Why it matters: Reasons for the spike may vary, however, analysts point to heightened pandemic-induced stresses, higher rates of domestic violence and increased distrust of law enforcement, per the Times.

President Biden on Wednesday spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron for the first time since a diplomatic row erupted over a scrapped submarine order, per the White House.

Driving the news: Macron said that the French ambassador will return to Washington next week and will resume working with senior U.S. officials.

North Carolinian Floyd Ray Roseberry pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges of threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction and explosive materials after he allegedly claimed to possess an armed bomb near the U.S. Capitol on Aug. 19, according to Reuters.

Why it matters: A federal judge declared Wednesday that Roseberry is mentally competent to stand trial after he was ordered to undergo a competency evaluation in August because of his history of mental illness.

The Biden administration is taking a "whole-government approach" to address the challenges posed by extreme heat, White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy said at an Axios virtual event on Wednesday.

Why it matters: McCarthy's comments come two days after the Biden administration announced a multi-agency plan to combat the threat posed by extreme heat, including addressing inequality in heat exposures.

A new statue commemorating the abolition of slavery was unveiled in Richmond, Virginia, on Wednesday, two weeks after a monument of Confederate general Robert E. Lee was removed.

State of play: The Emancipation and Freedom Statue consists of two bronze statues depicting a man and a woman holding a baby after being freed from slavery. It also includes the names of 10 Virginians who fought for emancipation, including Dred Scott.

The Biden administration is planning to purchase 500 million more Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine doses to donate to the world, officials said in an op-ed Wednesday.

Why it matters: The move represents a big step toward making the U.S. a major global vaccine supplier just as China has ramped up exports of its Sinopharm, Sinovac and CanSino vaccines, which can be stored at normal refrigerator temperatures.

SEC chair Gary Gensler said he doesn’t see long-term viability for thousands of cryptocurrencies, likening them to the wildcat banking era before federal regulation, The Wall Street Journal reports.

What they're saying: "I don’t think there’s long-term viability for five or six thousand private forms of money,” Gensler told the WashPost's David Ignatius at a virtual event. "So in the meantime I think it’s worthwhile to have an investor-protection regime."

"Peril" — the instant bestseller by Bob Woodward and his Washington Post colleague Robert Costa — grabbed headlines for its Donald Trump reporting. But half the book covers President Biden, with Woodwardian channeling of top advisers' interior monologues:

In a 50-50 Senate, each Democrat was a tall pole in the tent. Everyone was needed. [Chief of staff Ron] Klain recalled that they all thought that life in the Obama White House had been hard with 58 Democratic senators. He fantasized that if Biden had 58 Democrats, as chief of staff Klain would only have to work three days a week. (p. 347-8)

Many Haitian migrants camped in the Texas border town of Del Rio are being released in the U.S., two federal officials tell AP.

Driving the news: Haitians have been freed on a "very, very large scale" in recent days, according to one U.S. official, who put the figure in the thousands.

Charter schools picked off hundreds of thousands of public school students across the U.S. during the pandemic, according to a new analysis from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

Why it matters: The pandemic has weakened America's public education system, as Zoom classes, teacher fatigue and student disengagement take their toll. And that hobbled system is shedding students to charter schools, private schools and homeschooling.

Former President Trump filed a $100 million lawsuit against the New York Times and his niece Mary Trump on Tuesday over the news outlet's 2018 reporting on his tax records, the Daily Beast first reported.

Details: The suit, filed in New York's Dutchess County, alleges NYT journalists "engaged in an insidious plot to obtain confidential and highly-sensitive records" and that they "convinced" Mary Trump to "smuggle records out of her attorney's office and turn them over to The Times."

Brazilian Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga has tested positive for COVID-19 while in New York City for the UN General Assembly (UNGA), he confirmed Tuesday night.

Why it matters: Hours earlier, Queirog had accompanied Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to the UNGA. The Biden administration expressed concern last week that the gathering of world leaders could become a coronavirus "superspreader event."

The Education Department is investigating Texas' ban on mask mandates and its possible violation of disability rights.

Why it matters: Texas is one of several states under investigation for mask mandate bans that have impacted schools across the U.S.

The House passed a bill on Tuesday to fund the government through early December, along with a measure to raise the debt ceiling through December 2022.

Why it matters: The stopgap measure, which needs to be passed to avoid a government shutdown when funding expires on Sept. 30, faces a difficult journey in the Senate where at least ten Republicans would need to vote in favor.

Democrats find themselves in a political and potentially catastrophic economic quagmire as Republicans stand firm on denying them any help in raising the federal debt ceiling.

Why it matters: The Democrats are technically right — the debt comes, in part, from past spending by President Trump and his predecessors, not only President Biden's new big-ticket programs. But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is saddling them with the public relations challenge of making that distinction during next year's crucial midterms.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) began her infrastructure endgame Tuesday, pressuring centrists to ultimately support as much social spending as possible while pleading with progressives to pass the roads-and-bridges package preceding it.

Why it matters: Neither group can achieve what it wants without the other, their ultimatums be damned. The leaders of both acknowledged the speaker's unique gift for pulling off a deal after separate conversations with Democratic leaders.

Federal law enforcement agencies are purchasing surveillance drones from a Chinese company the Pentagon has deemed a potential national security threat, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Efforts to purge military and law enforcement agencies of potentially compromised Chinese technology have stalled amid bureaucratic red tape, and experts worry the federal government is needlessly exposing itself to snooping by malicious foreign actors.

FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before a Senate committee Tuesday that the agency's domestic terrorism caseload has "exploded" in size since spring of 2020.

Why it matters: The Jan. 6 Capitol riot refocused attention on the issue of domestic terrorism and security, but Wray's testimony points to a trend that pre-dates the insurrection.