Axios

Delaware State Auditor Kathleen McGuiness has been indicted by a grand jury on five criminal charges, including two felonies, state Attorney General Kathy Jennings' office announced Monday.

Details: McGuiness is accused of signing and concealing a state contract with a campaign consultant, unfairly putting her daughter on the state's payroll and surveilling employees’ emails to track and intimidate potential whistleblowers.

Although some Americans got the day off Monday for Columbus Day, many communities around the country took the opportunity to commemorate Indigenous Peoples Day and honor the contributions of Native Americans.

Why it matters: Last week President Biden became the first president to issue an official proclamation commemorating Indigenous Peoples Day.

A Southern California coastal area closed since one of the largest oil spills in the state's recent history struck over a week ago reopened Monday, as cleanup efforts continue.

The latest: Huntington Beach's reopening Monday came sooner than many expected, after water quality tests came back with no detectable levels of oil associated toxins in the ocean water, AP reports.

Marking National Coming Out Day, President Biden on Monday called on state lawmakers to defeat anti-LGBTQ bills and for Congress to pass the Equality Act.

Driving the news: In the first quarter of this year, Republicans in at least 25 states introduced more anti-trans bills than the total number introduced in all of 2020.

Plan A for the White House is walking into the UN climate summit in Glasgow with a huge new emissions-cutting law from Congress. Plan B is more complicated.

The big picture: It's anyone's guess whether Democrats' reconciliation plan will pass before the summit starts at the end of the month, and if so, whether huge climate investments will be intact.

Two-thirds of adults under 30 want Congress to pass some mix of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal and President Biden's bigger social spending package — but they're torn over the legislative strategy or how big to go — according to new Generation Lab/Axios polling.

Why it matters: In the face of their own generation's declining approval of Biden, a plurality thinks passing either plan would improve Democrats' chances of keeping control of Congress in next year's midterms.

New Zealand officials announced Monday that COVID-19 vaccines would soon be mandatory for most workers in the education and health sectors.

Why it matters: The country is battling an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant, with Auckland the epicenter. NZ's most populous city has been under lockdown restrictions since August.

Sydney businesses reopened Monday after more than 100 days of lockdown measures implemented by Australian authorities.

The big picture: Some bars and entertainment venues in the city of 5 million residents opened at 12:01am, as most restrictions were relaxed for fully vaccinated people in the New South Wales state capital amid declining coronavirus cases.

At least 1,000 migrant children remain without their parents, the leader of a task force established by President Biden to reunite families separated at the southern border told CBS' "60 Minutes" in an interview broadcast Sunday.

Why it matters: A federal judge in 2018 ordered the U.S. government to reunite families separated at the border by the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy within 30 days.

The U.S. will send humanitarian aid to Afghanistan even as the Biden administration continues to withhold formal recognition of the Taliban, the group's leaders announced on Sunday, AP reports.

Of note: State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in an emailed statement that the two sides discussed the U.S. providing "robust humanitarian assistance, directly to the Afghan people" during talks in Qatar that concluded Sunday.

Some high-dollar donors to former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory put their money behind Rep. Ted Budd, his U.S. Senate primary opponent, after Donald Trump endorsed Budd this year, records show.

Why it matters: The former president's endorsement can be literal currency in Republican primary fights. The shifting allegiances between McCrory and Budd illustrate how Trump can single-handedly alter not just support but the money race in high-profile political fights.

A group of Democratic operatives plans to turn political memorabilia and photos into NFTs, looking to raise money by minting — and then selling — digital assets beyond the sports and entertainment arenas.

Why it matters: With both conservative and liberal groups already spending millions to pressure lawmakers over President Biden's social safety net expansion, Democrats are looking to tap into non-fungible tokens to outraise their opponents.

There are twice as many states that have solid, Republican-controlled legislatures as those with solid, Democratic-controlled ones, according to Quorum's new 2021 State Legislative Trends Report.

Why it matters: The power of state legislatures has been on national display in recent weeks, with Texas and other states passing voting and abortion restrictions, and coronavirus-related laws, as well as redrawing election district boundaries for the next decade.

A progressive group warns Democrats they're facing a "double threat" heading into the midterms: voters of color aren't supporting Democratic candidates at the same rates, and the Republican Party is inspiring first-time voters of color to turn out and support it instead.

Why it matters: Democrats may control the White House and both chambers of Congress now, but history shows their party is set to lose seats next cycle. These latest findings question their strength with Black, Latino and AAPI voters — typically considered reliable Democratic voting blocs.

The activist co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s admitted in an interview with “Axios on HBO” that they don't know how to hold states like Georgia and Texas accountable when they pass laws with which they disagree.

Why it matters: Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield have made progressive politics synonymous with their brand. The 70-year-old entrepreneurs, who no longer control the company but retained their right to be its social conscience, have shown they’ll use business muscle in pursuit of their ideals.

The Biden administration remains perplexed by the number of eligible workers who aren't taking available jobs, U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh tells "Axios on HBO."

The big picture: The U.S. economy added just 194,000 jobs in September, far below economist expectations.

The U.S. and Russia have both agreed to lift targeted sanctions against each other in order to enable Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland to travel to Moscow this week, Reuters reports.

Why it matters: The U.S. passed a spate of sanctions against Russia this year and relations between the two powers are strained. Nuland, the third-ranking State Department official, will meet with senior Russian officials this week to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues, per the State Department.

The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection is prepared to seek criminal prosecutions of aides to former President Trump who refuse to comply with subpoenas, member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday.

Driving the news: The former president has told former aides and associates to invoke executive privilege and not comply with congressional requests, according to reports.

A Navy nuclear engineer and his spouse were arrested in West Virginia on Saturday after making several attempts to pass along secrets about U.S. nuclear submarines to a foreign country, the Department of Justice announced on Sunday.

Why it matters: Although their plans failed, Jonathan and Diana Toebbe violated the Atomic Energy Act by attempting to pass along restricted data to another country, per the criminal complaint.

The U.S. Army is now handing out armor in three new sizes — extra small short, small short and small long — to address complaints primarily from female soldiers and smaller-stature men about fitting into the equipment, AP reports.

Driving the news: The move comes after some complained that traditional armor sizing can be cumbersome and hinder some soldiers' movements. It highlights the fact that more women have moved into combat roles that were traditionally reserved for men, AP notes.

Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe condemned Washington's failure to pass President Biden's infrastructure bill, telling CNN's "State of the Union" that his state has "got frustration with Washington."

What he's saying: "Why haven't we passed this infrastructure bill? It passed the U.S. Senate with 69 votes two months ago. I have been very straight on television," McAuliffe said. "We're tired of the chitty-chat in Washington. Get into a room and get it figured out." 

Hundreds of thousands of U.S. service members remain unvaccinated ahead of the impending deadlines set by the individual service branches, the Washington Post reports.

Driving the news: The deadlines for active-duty members are quickly approaching, and while the military's overall vaccination rate has increased, it is still shy of full compliance.

Since its launch on Wednesday, nearly 2 million Snapchat users have engaged with a new module on the app that aims to help young people run for office, Snap officials tell Axios.

Why it matters: The tech company — which claims reach over 90% of the nation's 18-to-34-year-olds — is venturing deeper into the civic engagement space to expand "Snapchat generation" representation in local elected office.

The Columbus Day sale — a longtime ritual for car dealers and department stores — is dead.

The big picture: Retailers are moving away from big sales events in general, and are especially eager to distance themselves from this particularly disputatious federal holiday, which falls on Monday.

The Dayton Police Department's Professional Standards Bureau is investigating the arrest of a Black man with paraplegia after he was allegedly dragged from his car during a traffic stop in the Ohio city last month.

Why it matters: Newly released bodycam footage shows Clifford Owensby having his hair pulled as he's pulled from his car during his Sept. 30 arrest. He can be heard moments earlier telling a police officer, "I can't step outside the car, sir. I'm a paraplegic," adding that he'd received help getting into the vehicle.

"Saturday Night Live" parodied the fallout from the Facebook whistleblower's Senate testimony in this week's cold open — with Pete Davidson stealing the show as MySpace founder Tom Anderson.

The big picture: The sketch skewered lawmakers' understanding of the social media platform, with Cecily Strong's Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) asking whistleblower Frances Haugen, played by Heidi Gardner: "I have 2,000 friends on Facebook. Is that good?"

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Saturday a bill requiring large retailers to provide gender-neutral toy sections, per the Los Angeles Times.

Why it matters: California is the first state to adopt such a law. LGBTQ advocates have pointed out that marketing methods using pink and blue hues "pressure children to conform to gender stereotypes," AP notes.

Police in India said Saturday they've arrested the son of a junior minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government after nine people died during protests against new farming laws, per AP.

The big picture: It's the latest escalation in massive ongoing demonstrations against the laws, which were introduced in 2020 to deregulate India's agriculture. Farmers say it's driven down crop prices and benefits big corporations.

National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins said Saturday on CNN that it's "truly heartbreaking" to see fellow evangelical Christians hesitant to get vaccinated against COVID-19 due to disinformation.

Why it matters: "We see still more than 1,000 people [per day] losing their lives to this disease — almost all of those unvaccinated and, therefore, didn't have to happen," said Collins, who's due to retire at the end of 2021.