Axios

The Biden administration is considering an extension of its moratorium on student loan payments and will announce its decision later this week, an Education Department spokesperson tells Axios.

Why it matters: Federal student loan payments are currently on pause until Jan. 31. An additional extension would bring relief to millions of borrowers.

Air passengers who display unruly behavior could lose their TSA PreCheck privilege under a new partnership between Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Federal Aviation Administration, the FAA announced Tuesday.

Why it matters: Airlines have seen increasingly contentious passenger behavior in the past year, with the Federal Aviation Administration confirming over 5,500 cases of unruly passengers in 2021. Most involved mask-related incidents.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday announced a $100 incentive for residents who get a COVID-19 booster shot.

Driving the news: The announcement comes as New York sees a spike in COVID cases, largely due to the Omicron variant.

The Justice Department announced on Tuesday that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons is no longer required to reimprison federal inmates who were released to home confinement during the pandemic.

Why it matters: The ruling reverses an order issued by former President Donald Trump in January, which required the agency to recall inmates on home confinement after the federal health emergency ends.

As President Biden's point person for Afghan refugee resettlement steps aside, advocacy groups are pressing the Biden administration to accelerate its efforts to help the tens of thousands of people still stuck in limbo.

Why it matters: Former Delaware Gov. Jack Markell (D) is leaving the envoy role after being confirmed as the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The transition comes amid criticism that there hasn't been enough high-level, sustained engagement to ease the backlog of applications nearly four months after the U.S. military and diplomatic withdrawal from Kabul.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Tuesday a body-worn camera pilot program for special agents in select cities.

Why it matters: The move comes amid renewed attention on law enforcement misconduct after a year of reckoning with police killings of Black Americans. News reports and human rights groups have documented ICE officers' violent use of force against migrants, primarily Latinos.

President Biden said Tuesday that he and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) "are going to get something done" despite Manchin's opposition to the Build Back Better agenda.

Why it matters: His comments come after days after Manchin announced that he will not vote for the $1.75 trillion spending package.

President Biden told unvaccinated Americans Tuesday that getting the COVID vaccine is "your patriotic duty" and "an obligation to your country."

Why it matters: Biden's remarks come amid a surge in new cases largely driven by the Omicron variant, which is now the dominant strain of the coronavirus in the U.S.

Unionized Kellogg's workers in four states voted to ratify a new contract Tuesday, ending a strike at the U.S. cereal company that has gone on since October.

Why it matters: The new, five-year contract covers about 1,400 workers at unionized plants in Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. It includes a "clear path" to full-time employment and top-tier wages, per a release.

While early English colonists in New England declared war on Christmas, Spanish settlers in present-day Florida, Texas and New Mexico celebrated what historians considered to be the first Christmas events in the future United States.

The big picture: Hispanics launched, and kept alive, celebrations honoring the birth of Jesus in the U.S. centuries before the holiday would catch on along the East Coast.

Opposition among U.S. Latinos to walling off the U.S.-Mexico border is being driven by Mexican Americans and Central Americans, while Puerto Ricans are more ambivalent and a majority of Cuban Americans support the idea, according to the inaugural Axios-Ipsos Latino poll in partnership with Noticias Telemundo.

Why it matters: It's one striking example of the deep divisions among U.S. Latinos on a range of political and cultural issues that break down across geographic and generational lines.

States enacted 34 laws this year that add hurdles to the voting process — more than any other year for at least a decade, according to new data released by Brennan Center for Justice.

Why it matters: The surge in mostly Republican voting bills across 19 states follows former President Trump's unfounded claims of election fraud and the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The U.S. population grew by 0.1% in the year that ended July 1, the slowest rate since the nation's founding, according to Census Bureau estimates released Tuesday.

Why it matters: The bureau said the "slow rate of growth can be attributed to decreased net international migration, decreased fertility, and increased mortality due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic."

The Washington Blade, the oldest LGBTQ newspaper in the U.S., has become the first LGBTQ publication to be assigned a designated seat in the White House briefing room.

Driving the news: The White House Correspondents Association, which is responsible for seating assignments, said in a memo that it had rearranged the seats "to enhance diversity in the briefing room." Seat assignments were given to “organizations that target Black, Hispanic and LGBTQ audience” as well as publications “across the ideological spectrum,” per the Washington Blade.

A report from the Princeton-led REPEAT Project examines the scope of Democratic energy legislation in the Build Back Better Act that's on the brink of collapse.

By the numbers: The analysis projects the impact of the more than $300 billion in expanded tax incentives for deploying low-emissions tech, and other climate-related provisions that push the total even higher.

New data shows that the Omicron variant is not jumpstarting Americans' engagement in COVID news, despite indications that it may be one of the fastest-spreading variants to date.

Why it matters: News attention spiked early in the Delta wave, but Omicron is not yet having the same effect. A lack of widespread appreciation of the threat could hamper the response.

The Energy Department today will launch a new office aimed at helping to commercialize advanced emissions-cutting technologies.

Driving the news: The Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations is part of the recently signed bipartisan infrastructure law and was in the department's budget request even earlier.

The Build Back Better bill might be dead, but it isn't buried. The progressive agenda remains, and substantial parts of it will reappear in Congress in the new year.

• If those parts are focused in such a way as to minimize costs, they're likely to feature fewer subsidies and more of an emphasis on increasing the supply of crucial services.

The White House will send a year-end recap to Democrats on the Hill and allied groups, arguing that Americans are better off after one year of President Biden than when President Trump left office.

Why it matters: The memo, "2021: POTUS Delivered Results for Working Families," uses data to frame Biden's Year 1 as a season of accomplishment, despite the collapse of Build Back Better at year's end.

Senate Democrats say many insurers are falling short on ACA requirements to fully cover birth control and are calling on the Biden Administration to step up enforcement.

Why it matters: The issue has taken on increased significance, they say, amid other threats to women's health access, such as abortion care.

Latinos say crime and gun violence is their number two concern — behind COVID-19 and before immigration, social justice or voting rights — in our inaugural Axios-Ipsos Latino Poll in partnership with Noticias Telemundo.

Why it matters: This finding and others in our poll could be warning signs for President Biden and his party next year, even as respondents by a two-to-one margin prefer generic Democratic midterm candidates over Republicans.

California officials filed a lawsuit against Walmart on Monday, alleging the retail giant illegally dumped hazardous waste in state landfills. Walmart said it will fight the lawsuit, which it called "unjustified," per AP.

Why it matters: The suit alleges Walmart unlawfully disposed of about 159,600 pounds in items each year over the past six years in landfills not equipped to handle toxic waste in violation of state environmental laws and regulations.

President Biden announced Monday the appointment of 23 people to serve on his Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.

Why it matters: Per a White House statement, the group of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) leaders and advocates, including actor Daniel Dae Kim, will advise Biden on policies such as addressing anti-Asian xenophobia and violence — which has surged during the pandemic.

The Pentagon announced Monday new steps in its internal fight against the rising appeal of extremist ideas and ideologies in its ranks.

Why it matters: Domestic extremism in the military has become a growing concern in recent years, but blew wide open on Jan. 6 when former and current service members — some in tactical gear — participated in the U.S. Capitol. insurrection.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday dismissed Sen. Joe Manchin's sudden and fervent opposition to the Biden-Harris administration's Build Back Better agenda, saying she refuses to get caught up in "what might be personal politics."

State of play: "The stakes are too high for this to be in any way about any specific individual," the vice president told Margaret Brennan, host of CBS' "Face the Nation," as part of a wide-ranging interview that will air across the network's platforms throughout the week.

President Biden tested negative for COVID on Monday, several days after being in contact with a "mid-level" White House staffer who has tested positive for the virus, press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement on Monday evening.

Driving the news: "This morning, after being notified of the staffer’s positive test, the President received a PCR test and tested negative," Psaki said in the statement. "He will be tested again on Wednesday."

Until recently, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's popularity within his party and with the public made his position appear almost invulnerable. Now 6 in 10 Brits think he'll be out of a job by the end of next year.

By the numbers: Johnson's approval ratings have plummeted to a record-low 30%, his Brexit negotiator just abandoned ship, and his image as an electoral juggernaut has been tainted.

President Biden and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) spoke Sunday night after negotiations around the Build Back Better plan disintegrated over the weekend, a person familiar with the call tells Axios.

Why it matters: Earlier Sunday, Manchin tanked the possibility of passing the $1.75 trillion social and climate spending plan before the end of the year. Still, the conversation, first reported by Politico, left open the possibility that negotiations could continue in the new year.