Axios

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) plans to introduce his own bill to prevent members of Congress from trading stocks, while Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) teams up with fellow Democrat Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Axios has learned.

Why it matters: This means there will be now be two similar bills to ban stock trades individually championed by two vastly different lawmakers—further complicating the effort to pass a stock trading ban this session.

The cancer death rate fell by 32% between 1991 and 2019, according to an American Cancer Society report released Wednesday.

Why it matters: The latest figures show the overall risk of dying from cancer continues to drop at an accelerating rate.

The Department of Justice has charged a Texas man with distributing performance-enhancing drugs to athletes ahead of the delayed 2020 Olympic Games, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday.

Why it matters: It's the first criminal charge brought under an anti-doping law that went into effect last December, according to the DOJ.

The U.S. Army has raised its bonus cap for recruits to $50,000 for the first time, a spokesperson told Axios on Wednesday.

Why it matters: The pandemic and labor market challenges have negatively affected recruitment in the last few years, with the number of recruits dropping from roughly 68,100 in 2019 to 57,600 in 2021. The new incentive is aimed at attracting more people into Army ranks amid uncertain variables.

Democratic leaders have found a mechanism to enable them to bypass an initial Republican filibuster and debate the party's sweeping election reform bills, according to a new leadership memo obtained by Axios.

Why it matters: The strategy is the latest example of how Democrats are seeking new ways to try to bypass Senate procedures that are blocking their agenda. But the ultimate outcome will likely be the same: insufficient support to change the 60-vote threshold needed to pass sweeping voting rights reforms.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on the Senate floor Wednesday slammed President Biden's voting rights speech, calling it "divisive" and "profoundly unpresidential."

Why it matters: In his Tuesday remarks in Atlanta, Biden backed changing the filibuster to ensure voting rights are protected, and blasted Senate Republicans for blocking action on the issue.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced a bill Tuesday that would provide every person in the U.S. with three free N95 masks, he announced in a statement Tuesday.

Details: The Masks for All Act, first introduced in 2020, aims to improve access to high-filtration face masks by sending them to every person in the country, including people who are homeless, and those living in congregate settings like prison shelters or college dorms, per the bill summary.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers sent a letter Wednesday to International Olympic Committee president President Thomas Bach asking him to justify the IOC's ties with two Chinese companies that use cotton produced in Xinjiang.

Why it matters: The letter from the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) notes that "there is a worrisome possibility that IOC personnel or others attending the 2022 Olympic Games will be wearing clothing contaminated by forced labor.”

Former President Trump abruptly cut short an interview with NPR on Tuesday after being pressed about his false, baseless claims of election fraud in 2020 and lambasting Republicans who have spoken out against them.

Why it matters: The interview once again highlights the extent to which Trump is willing to turn against members of his own party if they do not back his unsupported claims.

The Internal Revenue Service began the last filing season with a backlog of 11.7 million returns from 2020, and the 2019 returns were not cleared until June 2021, according to a new report by the National Taxpayer Advocate.

Why it matters: "During 2021, tens of millions of taxpayers were forced to wait extraordinarily long periods of time for the IRS to process their tax returns, issue their refunds, and address their correspondence," wrote national taxpayer advocate Erin Collins, adding that "the IRS is in crisis."

A federal judge in New York ruled Wednesday that Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit alleging disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein arranged for Prince Andrew to sexually abuse and rape her when she was 17 years old can continue.

Why it matters: Andrew, who has denied the allegation and has said he did not participate in the sexual exploitation of minors or witness such behavior, will now face a civil trial in the U.S.

Former President Trump slammed politicians who refuse to reveal whether they have received their COVID vaccine booster shots, calling them "gutless" in an interview with One American News Network.

Driving the news: While Trump did not specifically name anyone, some GOP politicians, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have dodged questions about their booster status.

The Biden administration announced Wednesday it's increasing the number of COVID-19 tests available to schools by 10 million per month — as the Omicron variant drives a surge in cases and causes widespread disruption to education.

Why it matters: While it appears Omicron causes less severe illness than other variants, it's still placing a strain on health care systems and causing a drop in teacher and student attendance.

Record-breaking waves of campaign cash are poised to flood state-level races for secretary of state and other positions with a role in administering elections, according to the election watchdog Brennan Center.

Why it matters: As many GOP-led states move to restrict voting rights, and as former President Trump promotes loyalist candidates backing baseless election fraud claims or paths for elected officials to overrule the will of voters, both parties have put outsized focus on getting the "right" people into decision-making posts.

More than half of Americans say that it's more important to protect the health and safety of teachers and students by moving to remote learning to avoid COVID exposure than to keep schools open for in-person learning, according to a new Harris Poll provided exclusively to Axios.

Driving the news: How to handle in-person learning amid yet another surge of cases is again the subject of intense debate following the Chicago Teacher's Union refusal to return to in-person classes as Omicron cases surged.

Novak Djokovic apologized Wednesday for not isolating after testing positive for COVID-19 and blamed his agent for an "administrative mistake" when making an incorrect declaration in his Australian travel document.

Why it matters: Australia's immigration minister is still considering whether to revoke the men's tennis world No. 1's visa and deport him, despite Djokovic winning his legal case to stay in the country and defend his Australian Open title at the tournament, which begins Monday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watched the successful launch of the country's second hypersonic missile test in less than a week after, as he vowed to bolster the country's nuclear weapons program, state media reported.

Why it matters: South Korea's military, which detected the suspected ballistic missile into the eastern sea, said Tuesday's launch was assessed to be "more advanced" than the Jan. 5 one, per Reuters.

The Senate passed a bill on Tuesday to posthumously award Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor Congress can give.

Why it matters: Till's death in 1955 and his mother's decision to hold an open casket funeral helped spark the civil rights movement.

The leader of a Neo-Nazi group was sentenced in Seattle to seven years in prison on Tuesday for his role in a plot to threaten and intimidate Jewish people, journalists and advocates working to expose antisemitism.

Why it matters: In late January last year, Kaleb Cole, 25, and his conspirators sent threatening posters by gluing them to people's homes or mailing them to intended targets, who were primarily Jewish or journalists of color, federal prosecutors say. The posters contained violent images and warned that "you have been visited by your local Nazis."

Civitech, a public benefit corporation building data tools for progressive candidates and causes, is raising over $10 million in a series A funding round led by Higher Ground Labs, an investment group backing progressive campaign tech companies.

Why it matters: The investment signals a renewed focus on down-ballot data and technology to help Democrats recruit local candidates ahead of this fall's midterms. The round values Civitech at $50 million, executives tell Axios.

Voting reform looks as unlikely this year as Build Back Better:

• Although President Biden is now championing voting protection as the most pressing domestic issue, top Democratic lawmakers see little path to passage of anything like what the party’s base is demanding.

Why it matters: As midterm campaigning ramps up, Biden’s biggest accomplishments could well be in his rear-view mirror.

The White House is bracing for another bad report Wednesday on inflation — but now expects it to slow down by the end of the year, administration officials tell Axios.

Why it matters: The Biden administration had been labeling price hikes as "transitory." By publicly warning the Consumer Price Index December reading shows inflation will linger through 2022, officials are trying to temper public expectations and minimize the bad-news blow.

U.S. and European lawmakers gathered on Capitol Hill on Tuesday for the inaugural meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance against Kleptocracy, whose objective is to harmonize the Western world's approach to countering corruption.

Why it matters: Members of the cross-border, cross-party coalition view corruption as "the uniting force of dictators" — a systemic threat undermining trust in democracy, and siphoning trillions of dollars in stolen funds from the global financial system.

Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick has won the special election to represent Florida's 22nd congressional district in the House, AP projected Tuesday.

Why it matters: Cherfilus-McCormick will succeed Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (D), who died last April after battling pancreatic cancer. Her victory over Republican Jason Mariner means the Democratic Party will once again hold a 222-seat majority in the House.