Driving the news: The agreement between Moderna and the African Union is intended to help countries that are behind on vaccination targets set by the World Health Organization due to access and availability of vaccines.
President Biden received Communion on Saturday while visiting St. Patrick's Church in Rome.
Why it matters: The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this year sparked debate over whether politicians who support abortion rights should be denied Communion. But after spending time with the pope on Friday, Biden told reporters that Francis believes he should continue to receive Communion, adding that the pope "was happy that I was a good Catholic."
The U.S. and European Union on Saturday at the Group of 20 summit reached an agreement over Trump-era steel and aluminum tariffs.
Driving the news: Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced Saturday that "limited volumes" of steel and aluminum products from the EU will be able to enter the U.S. without tariffs.
The University of Florida is barring three professors from providing testimony in a case to overturn the state's new voting law, AP reports.
Driving the news: The university in a statement on Saturday said that allowing professors Dan Smith, Michael McDonald and Sharon Austin to be paid experts for plaintiffs disputing the law would be "adverse to the university’s interests as a state of Florida institution."
House Democratic leaders are telling lawmakers they plan to pass both a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill and a $1.75 trillion social spending bill as early as Tuesday, two sources familiar with the conversations tell Axios.
Why it matters: It’s a very ambitious timeline, but leadership is eager to deliver a win to President Biden while he meets with world leaders in Europe.
Vice President Kamala Harris received a third shot of the COVID-19 vaccine Saturday, while calling on Americans to get vaccinated to "get through and beyond" the pandemic.
Driving the news: The White House said Harris qualifies for a booster shot due to her job duties that include frequent traveling and interacting with people, AP reports.
The Oklahoma Department of Corrections director said Friday that the agency has no plans to change its execution protocol after a man allegedly convulsed and vomited during his lethal injection this week, the Tulsa World reports.
Why it matters: John MarionGrant's execution on Thursday ended a six-year moratorium in Oklahoma following several flawed lethal injection attempts. But witnesses reported seeing Grant convulse and vomit after midazolam, the first sedative, was administered, according to the Associated Press.
President Biden on Saturday at the Group of 20 Summit achieved an endorsement of a 15% global minimum tax from world leaders, according to a senior administration official.
Driving the news: The global minimum tax is a top priority for the Biden administration and the new global minimum seeks to reverse the decline in tax rates on corporations globally, CNN reports.
Former President Trump is seeking to block the release of documents that include call logs, speeches and notes from his staff in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a court filing revealed Saturday.
Driving the news: The 45th president has filed suit to shield through executive privilege more than 750 pages of documents that have been identified by officials as relevant to the House select committee's Jan. 6 investigation, including records from Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows, former senior adviser Stephen Miller and former deputy counsel Patrick Philbin.
More than 60 former lawmakers have signed on to a legal brief asking a federal judge to dismiss former President Trump's attempts to shield Jan. 6 investigators from probing his White House records, Politico reports.
Driving the news: The brief, signed by 66 lawmakers, including 24 Republicans and 42 Democrats, argues that Trump "played an outsized — and likely central — role in orchestrating the events that gave rise to the January 6th attack."
Rep. Jim Clyburn rescued Joe Biden's presidential campaign last year, turning out Black voters at a pivotal moment. Now, Democrats are hoping the sage from South Carolina can help pull Terry McAuliffe over the finish line in Virginia.
Why it matters: Calling in Clyburn as a closer ahead of Tuesday's gubernatorial election reflects his enduring status in the party — and Democrats' real worries about turnout despite Biden's 10-point win last November over former President Trump.
Hopes that a national $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill championed by Biden could boost McAuliffe were dashed this week when Democratic infighting over a separate $1.75 trillion social spending package delayed final passage.
Biden's sinking popularity and some suburban voters' frustrations over school masking and curriculum also have amped GOP enthusiasm.
Driving the news: Clyburn will participate in GOTV events Saturday and Sunday to make his case for electing McAuliffe, a former governor and national party chairman and fundraiser, over Republican businessman Glenn Youngkin. Clyburn's planned stops include several churches.
What they're saying: Clyburn, who is the House majority whip, told Axios his party has fumbled its messaging on the massive social and economic pandemic relief it's delivered already and is on the brink of delivering.
"You tell people what you’re going to do for them, then you do it, and then you go back and tell them that you did it," Clyburn said. "We have not done a good job of that."
He said he'll offer a Democrat's perspective from Capitol Hill to help voters cut through the noise. "What I’m going to be talking about is, 'Here’s what’s in these packages, here’s what we’re going to pass, and when we pass them you need to have somebody in the governorship that’s going to implement what we pass.'"
The big picture: Virginia's off-year race is being watched as a bellwether for the 2022 congressional midterm elections that will determine whether Democrats keep control of the House and Senate.
McAuliffe's campaign has called in some of its biggest surrogates so far, including President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Obama, Stacey Abrams and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
The bottom line: "People are beginning to see that this is a contest and it’s not going to be a cake walk," Clyburn said. "You have to give your opponent at least as much credit as you give yourself."
President Biden is about to have his first big opportunity to rally global climate action as he visits Rome for the G20 meeting and Glasgow for the crucial COP26 climate summit.
The big picture: Biden will arrive in Glasgow on Monday with a significant new goal: $555 billion in climate-related spending. But tensions with China, lingering mistrust of the U.S. on climate and the inherent difficulties of corralling 197 countries are all working against him.
What they're saying: The executive order is "a dramatic infringement upon individual liberties, principles of federalism and separation of powers, and the rule of law," according to the lawsuit, which was filed Friday evening in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
The big picture: The Austin school district, one of the largest in the state, was the first school system to disregard the probe set by Krause. Dallas followed shortly after late Friday night, according to the Chronicle.
The U.S. government's Afghanistan watchdog on Friday slammed the State Department and Pentagon for withholding what he said was crucial information about U.S. operations during the 20-year war.
Why it matters: The details "almost certainly would have benefited Congress and the public in assessing whether progress was being made," special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction John Sopko said at an annual conference for military reporters and editors in Arlington, Virginia.
