Why it matters: The election results from Tuesday show voters still see a lot of negativity: relentless inflation, Democratic infighting, an uncertain price tag for the party's big-spending social plans and political disconnect from parents still reeling with school issues.
At least three Senate Democrats have raised concerns with the White House over the nomination of Saule Omarova to serve as comptroller of the currency, people familiar with the matter tell Axios.
Why it matters: With all 50 Republicans expected to oppose her nomination, President Biden is on notice her candidacy is in jeopardy. This comes as he's also weighing whether to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell with Fed governor Lael Brainard — its own decision fraught with political risks.
Officials at Cornell, Columbia and Brown universities ordered partial campus evacuations after receiving bomb threats on Sunday.
Driving the news: Cornell University evacuated four campus buildings following the threat. A campus alert at 5:30pm ET noted that the investigation and building sweeps were ongoing.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told "Axios on HBO" he'll make masculinity a signature political issue, because he claims "the left" is telling men: "You're part of the problem. ... Your masculinity is inherently problematic."
Why it matters: As an ambitious Republican frequently mentioned as a possible future candidate for president or vice president, Hawley, 41, is using American masculinity to appeal to suburban parents, and to working men won over by Donald Trump.
Eric Adams, the newly elected mayor of New York City, told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that his plan to receive his first several paychecks in bitcoin is intended to encourage New York to become a "center of innovation."
Catch up quick: Last week, Adams tweeted that he would take his first three paychecks as mayor in the form of bitcoin, adding that New York City "is going to be the center of the cryptocurrency industry and other fast-growing, innovative industries!"
The day after the fragile passage of President Biden's infrastructure bill, House leaders were already working on Part Deux: passing the bigger social-safety-net bill two weeks from now — the week before Thanksgiving.
The intrigue: I'm told lawmakers are angling for invitations to the infrastructure signing ceremony even before the date has been announced — each making the case for why they were a vital part of closing the deal.
White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday said President Biden's polling numbers have fallen after "a rough and tough year" that left many Americans "tired."
The big picture: Klain said Democrats losing the Virginia governorship last week was a message from voters, who want to "see more action in Washington," and that lawmakers responded by passing Biden's bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) on Sunday said that the outcome of Virginia's gubernatorial election "might have been different," if Congress had passed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill sooner.
Why it matters: Warner's remarks on CNN's "State of the Union" come amid a broader look back at what led to the Republican Party's key wins last week.
Florida Sen. Rick Scott, chair of the Senate GOP's campaign arm, told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that the group supports Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) in her re-election campaign, despite the fact that her opponent is endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
Senior White House adviser Cedric Richmond on Sunday said that whether or not families separated at the border receive monetary compensation is up to the Department of Justice.
Why it matters: Richmond's remarks on "Fox News Sunday" come amid an ongoing negotiation to provide compensation to families who were separated at the border under the Trump administration.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy took to ABC's "This Week" on Sunday to defend the Biden administration's plan to institute a vaccine mandate for companies with more than 100 workers, calling the measure "appropriate and necessary," and adding that the administration is prepared to fight legal challenges to implementation.
Why it matters: The vaccine mandate is already facing a plethora of such legal hurdles. A three-judge panel on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Saturday stayed enforcement of the private-employer vaccine mandate in an unsigned order that cited “grave statutory and constitutional issues.”
Drought, rising sea levels and melting ice caps are transforming the geopolitical map at the same time China's rise and revanchist Russia are testing the limits of American power.
Driving the news: These dynamics, outlined in the first-ever National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on climate change, released last month, played out this past week at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. President Biden rebuked China's Xi Jinping for failing to show up or present new commitments.
Despite the national jump, nearly half of America's medium- and smaller-sized communities with majority Black populations actually saw drops last year in overall reported violent crime, an Axios analysis found.
Why it matters: The trends paint a more nuanced picture about how COVID-19 and racial justice protests actually impacted crime and policing, from Newark, New Jersey, to Baltimore to Gary, Indiana.
