Axios

Texas' GOP-led state legislature passed redistricting maps based on the "unconstitutional and unlawful use of race," according to a new lawsuit filed Friday.

Why it matters: The new maps reduce the number of districts with Black and Hispanic majorities and come after recent census figures found that the state's growing and diverse populations don't bode well for Republicans.

A judge on Friday dismissed a challenge to Florida's ban on mask mandates in schools, finding it within Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' authority to issue the order.

Why it matters: State officials and educators have been caught in bitter clashes since the law was passed. Florida officials have started to withhold district funding and dock school board salaries in retaliation against school districts that defy the ban.

The opening arguments and first presentations of evidence began Friday in the trial of the three white men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, on a coastal Georgia street.

Details: Travis McMichael, who shot Arbery, his father, Gregory McMichael, who was also pursuing Arbery with a gun, and their neighbor William Bryan, who joined in the chase and took the video of Arbery’s death, face nine criminal counts individually and together, including malice and felony murder charges.

A Trump-allied former assistant attorney general, who reportedly helped the 45th president amplify false claims around the election, refused on Friday to answer questions in a deposition with the special House panel looking into the Jan. 6 insurrection, AP reports.

Why it matters: It's the latest blow to the committee, which has struggled to secure cooperation from Trump associates. Some have outright defied the lawmakers.

Heritage Action for America, a conservative 501(c)(4), is taking its first shots at an incumbent Republican senator this cycle, hitting Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) with full-page ads for supporting voting rights legislation, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Heritage Action, which can raise unlimited donations, has been engaged in contentious cultural issues, like criticizing Major League Baseball for moving its All-Star Game, as well as the broader debate about voting rights.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the House would move forward with a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill Friday, despite anger and surprise from progressives in the caucus who were caught off guard by the sudden shift in strategy.

Driving the news: Pelosi changed course when she called for a vote on the infrastructure bill before a final vote on the social spending package as a way to appease moderates who want to see a CBO score.

• Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said progressives would not support a standalone infrastructure vote and would likewise wait for a CBO score, leaving a path forward on both bills unclear.

A new documentary is re-examining the structural racism that led to the Attica uprisings — one of the most violent prison riots in U.S. history.

The big picture: Marking the 50th anniversary of the prison rebellion, Showtime will premiere on Friday "Attica," a film that uses interviews with survivors and once discarded archival footage.

The University of Florida on Friday announced it is reversing its decision to bar professors from providing testimony in a case to overturn the state's new voting law.

Driving the news: UF President Kent Fuchs said he has asked the university's Conflicts of Interest Office to let three professors serve as expert witnesses, as long as they do it "on their own time without using university resources."

Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute on the Jersey Shore, wrote an op-ed for The (Newark) Star-Ledger apologizing for a poll six days before the election that said Gov. Phil Murphy "maintains a sizable lead" over Republican Jack Ciattarelli.

Why it matters: The poll had Murphy up by 11. The race wasn't called until Wednesday evening. With 99% of the vote in, Murphy is up by 1 point.

First lady Jill Biden on Monday will travel to Virginia to start a "nationwide effort" to get children between the ages of 5 and 11 vaccinated, the White House announced Friday.

State of play: Biden will "visit a pediatric COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Virginia, the first school to administer the polio vaccine in 1954," her office said.

President Biden urged lawmakers to vote in favor of his $1.75 trillion social spending bill and $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, as Democratic leadership pushed for votes on both bills Friday.

What he's saying: "I'm asking every ... member of the House of Representatives to vote yes on both of these bills right now. Send the infrastructure bill to my desk. Send the Build Back Better bill to the Senate," Biden said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Friday that he has appointed two career officials to handle the State Department's response to "Havana Syndrome," a mysterious phenomenon that has reportedly afflicted more than 200 Americans.

Why it matters: The State Department has come under fire for not doing enough to care for the diplomats and family members who have experienced "anomalous health incidents" abroad, which some lawmakers have suggested are the result of directed energy attacks.

More than 15 states across the U.S. have filed lawsuits against the Biden administration over its federal vaccine mandate for companies with at least 100 employees.

Driving the news: Attorneys general in 11 states filed a lawsuit on Friday against the administration, calling the mandate "unconstitutional, unlawful and unwise."

A conservative anti-tax group is dropping $2 million on a new ad campaign, urging vulnerable House Democrats in Virginia and other swing districts to oppose President Biden's $1.75 trillion social spending plan.

Why it matters: The Coalition to Protect American Workers, led by former Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff Marc Short, is seizing on Democrats' poor election performance on Tuesday to hit key frontline members ahead of an expected House vote on the package.

A Pennsylvania election official is suing former President Trump, Rudy Giuliani and Trump surrogates, alleging that their baseless claims about the 2020 presidential election led to him receiving death threats and experiencing two heart attacks.

The big picture: James Savage, a voting machine warehouse custodian in Delaware County, said in his lawsuit that his character was "assassinated on a national level" by the defendants, whom he alleges made "deliberate, malicious, and defamatory statements and insinuations" about him during news conferences and on Fox News.

California's public utilities commission approved a plan Thursday to expand the capacity of a key gas storage facility by more than 20%, per Reuters.

Why it matters: Despite aggressive moves in recent years to get away from reliance on fossil fuels, a spate of devastating wildfires amid ongoing drought threatens California's energy grid, causing the state falling back on natural gas.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that the state will file a lawsuit in response to President Biden's vaccine mandate that goes into effect Jan. 4.

Why it matters: Thursday's lawsuit is the Republican governor's latest attempt to undermine the Biden administration's vaccine requirements.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) told news outlets Thursday that he isn't ruling out a 2024 presidential bid.

Why it matters: Kinzinger, a longtime Trump critic, announced last week that he would not seek re-election to the House in 2022. He voted to impeach the former president in January and is one of two Republicans serving on the Jan. 6 House select committee.

The White House is asking Democratic senators to meet with Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell before Thanksgiving — leading some to believe President Biden will renominate him this month, people familiar with the matter tell Axios.

Why it matters: The choice of Fed chairman is one of the most consequential in the U.S. and world economic systems. Senators from both parties also are preparing for the confirmation hearing to become a proxy battle over inflation.

Congressional Democrats are heading home for their Veterans Day recess convinced Tuesday's losses prove they have a PR problem as much as policy trouble.

Why it matters: The National Republican Campaign Committee — emboldened by its string of wins this week — released a new list of Democratic targets on Wednesday. Democrats are casting about for an answer.

Democrat Phil Murphy eked out a win to remain New Jersey's governor, yet most counties in his state swung right — just as in Virginia — when compared to 2020's Biden-Trump margins.

Why it matters: It was another unexpected alarm bell for Democrats nationally. Such massive swings at the state, county and state legislative levels suggest far more seats are in play in next year's midterms.

A new survey conducted by Harvard University and The Harris Poll gives Democrats a road map to get back in voters' good graces. The challenge is that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) stands in the way of two of the most popular routes.

Why it matters: Democrats are feeling immense pressure to turn voter sentiment around after Tuesday's abysmal election results. Yet two of their most popular policy ideas — expanding Medicare benefits and implementing paid leave — are opposed by Manchin.