Axios

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Monday said that there "should be no need for remote or hybrid learning" given recent advances in vaccinations and treatment against the coronavirus.

Why it matters: Cardona's remarks on CBS' "Face the Nation" reflect the Biden administration's trust in the current measures implemented nationwide to mitigate the risk of students contracting the virus.

In a fiery speech on Tuesday, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) called on the Republican Party to reject former President Trump's lies and return to an identity rooted in "fidelity to the Constitution ... [and] the rule of law."

Why it matters: The GOP has struggled to determine its direction as a party, and how much it should lean into Trumpism. Cheney, who sits on the House Jan. 6 select panel, is one of Trump's most vocal critics.

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot subpoenaed 10 former senior Trump administration officials on Tuesday.

Driving the news: The aides were some of the most senior officials in the final days of the Trump administration. They include former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, senior adviser to the president Stephen Miller, and former national security adviser to Vice President Pence, Keith Kellogg.

The Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that it is launching an environmental justice investigation into whether Alabama’s state and local health departments discriminated against Black residents.

Why it matters: The investigation will examine whether the departments' policies have caused Black residents in Lowndes, Alabama, to "have diminished access to adequate sanitation systems."

It will be five years before battery recycling will yield sufficient minerals to support a domestic supply chain for electric vehicles, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said Tuesday at an Axios event.

Why it matters: Electric vehicle automakers have begun to increase battery manufacturing in response to President Biden's pledge to increase the amount of electric vehicles produced in the United States. But currently China controls most of the world's battery minerals mining and processing, putting the U.S. at a disadvantage.

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry in an interview with Bloomberg at COP26 Tuesday predicted the U.S. would stop burning coal by 2030.

Our thought bubble via Axios' Andrew Freedman: The U.S. did not join last week to a pledge, signed by more than 40 countries, to phase out coal-fired power plants in the 2030s and 2040s. The Biden administration has a goal of decarbonizing the electricity sector by 2035, but it doesn't have a policy of ending coal use by 2030, as Kerry's comments may have implied.

Donald Trump and senior members of his administration turned the federal government into a sprawling, taxpayer-funded political machine in violation of U.S. law, a top watchdog says.

Why it matters: The Trump administration's flagrant disregard for checks on government-backed politicking dealt significant damage to federal ethics safeguards, the Office of Special Counsel warned in a report released Tuesday.

Deep in Germany’s Hürtgen Forest, one can retrace the paths of Mexican American soldiers on their way to help defeat the Nazis.

The big picture: Returning Latino veterans of World War II played a pivotal role in creating the first large-scale Hispanic middle class in the U.S. and helped spark the Latino Civil Rights Movement. But their actions still are relatively unknown to the public.

An estimated 1,000 U.S. military veterans — many Latino — live in foreign lands, their return to the country they defended in limbo because of their immigration status.

The big picture: A VOCES/PBS documentary scheduled to air on most PBS stations this week focuses on two brothers, both Mexican immigrants, who fought in the Vietnam War on behalf of the U.S. and were honorably discharged. Now both face deportation because of minor crimes.

Politics and hard news have moved to the back burner of the national conversation, with sports — and particularly the NFL — generating more interest, new data shows.

Why it matters: It's a huge shift from a year ago, when most of the top stories in the U.S. were about hot-button political topics.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, announced Tuesday that he would seek re-election.

Why it matters: Republicans had hoped Sununu would challenge Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan in 2022 as they fight to regain control of the Senate.

Republican Rep. Fred Upton (Mich.) on Monday revealed a threatening voicemail he received after voting for the infrastructure bill, according to a recording played during an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper.

Driving the news: In the recording, a caller said: "I hope you die. I hope everybody in your f--king family dies," and also called Upton a "f--king piece of sh-t traitor," per CNN.

Unvaccinated people are 20 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people, per new state research.

Driving the news: To determine the effects of COVID-19 vaccination in Texas, researchers at the Department of State Health Services analyzed data from electronic lab reports, death certificates and the state immunization registry.

GLASGOW, Scotland — Depending on the final outcome of COP26, former President Obama's stemwinder of a speech here on Monday, along with other appearances through Tuesday, will either be viewed as successful calls to action or insufficient for moving climate negotiators who are too entrenched in their positions.

Why it matters: Obama's speech had three key elements worth paying attention to in order to fully understand the ultimate COP decisions at the end of this week (or early next, if the talks go into overtime).

Glenn Youngkin's victory in Virginia's gubernatorial race drove a wave of Google searches throughout the state for topics related to critical race theory — including in the district of one of the most vulnerable House Democrats.

The big picture: In a first-of-its kind project we're unveiling today, one year out from the 2022 midterm elections, Axios and Google Trends will be tracking which political issues voters are searching for in each congressional district over the course of the next year.

Most Americans — including more than two-thirds of Republicans — give their local schools good marks for balancing public health and safety with other priorities, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

The big picture: Other findings from our national survey suggest Americans are less worried about COVID risks and largely feel the Delta variant is behind them. That's a potential path to redemption for President Biden after months of sinking approval numbers.

Twitter said Monday that Rep. Paul Gosar's (R-Ariz.) sharing of a doctored video to Twitter and Instagram showing him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and attacking President Biden with two swords violates the company's policies.

Why it matters: Dozens of social media users flagged the video, posted Sunday, as a potential violation of Twitter's rules regarding violent threats and the glorification of violence, and other users have called for his Twitter and Instagram accounts to be suspended, the Washington Post reports.

Two former Oklahoma police officers who used Tasers over 50 times on an unarmed man who later died have been convicted of second-degree murder, the New York Times reported Monday.

Why it matters: The death of Jared Lakey, 28, from a heart attack following his July 2019 arrest brought to the fore the issue of police using stun guns, with advocates arguing they're safer than firearms and critics saying they've contributed to "many fatalities," the NYT notes.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is trying to tweet her way out of her vote against the Democrats' $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill — even correcting President Biden's claims about its benefits.

Why it matters: AOC, the rest of The Squad and two other progressives were the only Democrats to vote against the bill. That prompted criticism from their colleagues and social media followers, since the road-and-bridge spending will so directly impact their constituents. Thirteen Republicans helped cover their lost votes.

Republican-controlled states have been cranking out new congressional maps that spell trouble for Democrats unless courts intervene.

Why it matters: Last week's Virginia and New Jersey results set off alarm bells for the party, but Democrats' lack of control of the redistricting process in states like North Carolina and Ohio could make Republican wins next year even greater — and longer-lasting.

When Republicans successfully captured voters by leaning into critical race theory as an education issue, it reminded the new president of NARAL how the GOP has "scared" Democratic candidates out of talking about abortion rights in past campaigns.

What they're saying: "The right-wing misinformation machine is getting more sophisticated," Mini Timmaraju told Axios. "What we saw in Virginia — it’s very similar to the tactics used to scare candidates from talking about abortion."

Midterm ad campaigns are already pumping millions of dollars into efforts to define next year's key policy fights, not even a week after Election Day.

Why it matters: After the Democrats' drubbing in Virginia and close call in New Jersey, party operatives know they need to pump up President Biden's dismal poll numbers if they want a shot at retaining the House and Senate — or minimize their losses.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Monday that his agency would use a portion of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill to address racial inequities in U.S. highway design.

Why it matters: Buttigieg's remarks at a press briefing come amid a broader discussion of racial and socioeconomic disparities in the U.S. and days after Congress passed the long-awaited infrastructure bill.