Axios

President Biden, meeting with House Democrats on Capitol Hill on Friday, indicated they must further delay a final vote on a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and scale back his $3.5 trillion social spending package to around $2 trillion range if either is to pass, lawmakers told Axios.

Why it matters: Biden made clear he wants to keep the two packages linked together and that he is optimistic there can be an agreement.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Friday blocked a challenge to New York City's vaccine requirement for public school teachers and employees, allowing the mandate to remain in place.

Why it matters: Mayor Bill de Blasio announced in August that all 148,000 staff members of the largest U.S. school district would need to submit proof of at least one dose of a COVID vaccine or risk unpaid leave until September 2022.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit France next week as the U.S. continues efforts to regain ground with the European country after the fallout of the Australia-U.S.-UK (AUKUS) deal, the State Department said Friday.

Why it matters: America's oldest ally was blindsided earlier this month when President Biden announced a new agreement to help Australia acquire nuclear submarines as part of a trilateral Indo-Pacific security initiative. The pact canceled Australia's $90 billion submarine deal with France.

Editor's note: A previous version of this story was based on statements from a Twitter account claiming to be chancellor Mohammad Ashraf Ghairat. The headline and the bulk of the story have been corrected and updated after the Taliban told Axios that the account was not from Ghairat.

The Taliban told Axios Friday that a Twitter account claiming to be Kabul University's newly appointed chancellor Mohammad Ashraf Ghairat is "fake" following outrage over tweets from the account that said women will be barred from the university for work and study.

What they're saying: "[T]he account [belonging] to the university chancellor, it is [a] fake account," Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen told Axios via WhatsApp. "Women have right of access to education and work while observing hijab. Work is underway to formulate a mechanism in this regard."

Far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is responsible for all damages in two lawsuits instigated after he falsely called the Sandy Hook shooting a "giant hoax," a Texas judge ruled this week.

Why it matters: This is Jones' latest defeat in defamation lawsuits related to his false claims about the 2012 mass shooting. Nine families have filed suit against him since he first started making the unsubstantiated conspiracy theories, per the Washington Post.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced on Friday that all eligible public and private school students will be mandated to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, once it has been given final approval from the FDA.

Why it matters: This is the first K-12 COVID-19 vaccine mandate, the Los Angeles Times reports.

More than half of police killings since 1980 have been incorrectly categorized, according to a study from researchers at the University of Washington.

Why it matters: The study indicates that deaths at the hands of police officers have been undercounted, significantly skewering the perception of what the researchers called a public health crisis, the Washington Post reports.

Jimmy Carter, the oldest former president ever, turned 97 on Friday.

The big picture: Carter has maintained a low profile since the COVID-19 pandemic began and does not plan on making any public appearances, his spokesperson said, per ABC News.

The last 24 hours have somehow been confusing and clarifying about the state of major climate legislation at the same time.

Catch up fast: Last night House Democratic leaders, facing a revolt from progressives, put off a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure package for now.

The Supreme Court said Friday that Justice Brett Kavanaugh has tested positive for COVID-19.

Driving the news: Kavanaugh, who has been fully vaccinated since January, has no symptoms, per the Court.

Austin will soon chip in on challenges to Texas' restrictive new abortion law.

Driving the news: Austin City Council members approved a resolution Thursday that directs city staff "to investigate and pursue appropriate legal action" in support of ongoing lawsuits challenging Senate Bill 8.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot wants the city to more closely monitor the lucrative side jobs Chicago police take on when they're off duty.

Driving the news: Chicago City Council approved a new police contract earlier this fall that includes updates on issues from raises to reforms — but not moonlighting.

Why it matters: Officers who take on side jobs as security pose a risk to taxpayers, who may be liable if something goes wrong on the job.

If you want a say on police presence in Austin, register to vote by Monday. That's the deadline to get on the rolls for the Nov. 2 election.

Why it matters: Proposition A would put more cops on the street, at a cost.

• If approved by voters, the city would be required to have at least two officers for every 1,000 people — it's now at about 1.7.
• City finance officials say the measure could cost $271.5 million to $598.8 million over five years.

A new documentary looks into the life of a little-known queer Black legal scholar who refused to surrender her own bus seat — years before Rosa Parks — and influenced Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Driving the news: "My Name is Pauli Murray," set for release today on Amazon Prime, is the latest in a series of films examining the life of pioneering Black Americans who tackled systemic racism decades ago.

Facebook took volleys of criticism from senators Tuesday at a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing on its research into Instagram's impact on young girls.

Driving the news: Several senators compared Facebook to Big Tobacco during the hearing, and pressed the company on what its internal research revealed and how it had responded.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s political allies have some free advice for anyone trying to bully the wine-drinking triathlete into supporting President Biden's $3.5 trillion budget bill: She doesn’t play by Washington’s rules — and she's prepared to walk away.

Why it matters: For all her flash, Sinema — unlike fellow holdout Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) — rarely telegraphs her precise intentions, leaving political adversaries guessing about her ultimate goals.

A vote on the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill was delayed late Thursday night as leaders on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue continue to hash out a deal on President Biden's larger reconciliation package.

Why it matters: Pelosi had promised centrist Democrats she would bring the Senate-passed measure to the floor today, and spent hours negotiating with members in order to fulfill her pledge.

The Biden administration can resume use of a Trump-era policy that allows officials to rapidly expel migrants without chance of asylum, a federal appeals court in D.C. ruled Thursday.

Why it matters: The move will allow the Biden administration to enforce the controversial Title 42 program while it's being litigated. It was recently invoked to deport thousands of Haitian migrants in Del Rio.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is holding on 'til the end.

Driving the news: Pelosi spent Thursday — "hour by hour," she termed it — wheeling and dealing behind the scenes with the different factions of her party. The constant: forging ahead with her promised vote on President Biden's $1.2 trillion infrastructure package despite progressive threats to sink it.

Republicans narrowly broke the Democrats' three-game winning streak in the annual Congressional Baseball Game on Wednesday night.

Why it matters: Although congressional baseball games have been played since the early 1900s — at times against the media — it's been an annual, partisan affair since 1962.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold told Axios on Thursday, "We're seeing this 'Big Lie' get bigger," and as a result, she's receiving more personal threats for trying to protect voting access.

Why it matters: Roughly nine months after the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and President Biden taking office, the ripples are spreading far from Washington — now to local election officials.

The Biden administration will "build on" existing tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese imports as part of a strategy against the Chinese government for failing to meet commitments under the Trump-era Phase One deal, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in an interview with Politico on Thursday.

Why it matters: Tai's comments come as the Biden administration seeks a new trade strategy with Beijing while navigating U.S. companies' calls to lift tariffs.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced a bill Wednesday that would require people to be fully vaccinated, have recently tested negative, or have recovered from COVID-19 to fly domestically.

Driving the news: Some airlines — like United, Frontier and Hawaiian — have already begun requiring their workforce, but not passengers, to be vaccinated against the virus.