Axios

New data finds that the nation's most polarizing politicians are often the ones that garner the most attention online.

Why it matters: Online engagement helps politicians build a bigger national profile and more fundraising power, incentivizing them to be more outrageous, more polarizing and more divisive.

Washington, D.C., police have arrested a suspect allegedly connected to drawings of swastikas that appeared etched around the entrance to Union Station in Washington, D.C., on Friday morning.

The latest: Police arrested and charged Geraldo Pando, 34, with "display of certain emblems and defacing private/public property."

The Hawaii Department of Health authorized the Navy on Thursday to discharge treated water from its Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility after the water forced Army and Navy families from their homes into hotels.

Why it matters: The contaminated tap water contained diesel fuel 350 times the safe level after a jet-fuel spill in November.

A federal court on Friday blocked Texas from enforcing its anti-boycott, divestment and sanctions law against a Palestinian-American contractor.

Driving the news: U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen granted an injunction, blocking the state from enforcing the anti-boycott law against Rasmy Hassouna, the owner of Houston-based A&R Engineering and Testing Inc.

Pope Francis on Friday denounced fake news about COVID-19, and criticized the "distortion of reality based on fear," AP reports.

Driving the news: "We can hardly fail to see that these days, in addition to the pandemic, an ‘infodemic’ is spreading: a distortion of reality based on fear, which in our global society leads to an explosion of commentary on falsified if not invented news," Francis said to a group of Catholic journalists.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, according to a statement from his office.

Driving the news: Romney, 74, is asymptomatic and is fully vaccinated and boosted against the virus, per the statement.

The public school system is hanging by a thread as staff are stressed, burned out and thinking of quitting more than ever before.

Why it matters: Staffing shortages are leading school districts to look for "bodies in a room to babysit kids" as last-ditch efforts to keep their doors open, one education researcher told Axios.

The FBI, Department of Homeland Security and National Counterterrorism Center this week shared an updated resource for identifying U.S.-based violent extremists.

Why it matters: Domestic violent extremism has reached new heights in recent years, with the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection being one of the more prominent examples. The new document, which has been updated every two years since it was first published in 2015, includes for the first time indicators that apply to "multiple ideologically-motivated U.S.-based violent extremists, given the evolving complexity and variety of factors influencing the domestic threat landscape."

A Kansas man has been charged with threatening President Biden's life, according to a criminal complaint first obtained by the Daily Beast.

Driving the news: Scott Merryman, a construction contractor, allegedly claimed that God told him to travel to the White House and "cut off the head of the snake/anti-Christ," according to an affidavit filed on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

President Biden said on Friday he plans to move U.S. troops to Eastern European and NATO countries “in the near term.”

Driving the news: “Not too many” U.S. troops, Biden added in remarks to reporters at Joint Base Andrew upon returning from a trip to Pennsylvania. 

Former Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Andrew Hitt said Friday that he will cooperate with the Jan. 6 select committee investigating the U.S. Capitol riot.

Why it matters: Hitt is one of more than a dozen people who were subpoenaed Friday for leading groups of "alternate electors for former President Trump," Axios' Andrew Solender reports.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is delaying Tuesday's hearing for J. Michelle Childs, President Biden's judicial nominee for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, ABC News reports.

Why it matters: Childs, who has served on the federal bench in South Carolina since 2010, is considered a leading candidate for Biden's Supreme Court pick.

President Biden on Friday visited the site of the collapsed bridge in Pittsburgh.

Driving the news: "I’ve been coming to Pittsburgh a long time,” Biden said, adding that there are more bridges than any other city in the world. "And we’re going to fix them all," he said, per a White House pool reporter.

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on Friday announced subpoenas for more than a dozen people who led groups of "alternate electors" for former President Trump.

Why it matters: Slates of fake electors organized by pro-Trump forces in the wake of the 2020 election have come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks around the one-year anniversary of the attack.

A judge in Wisconsin on Friday approved an agreement to destroy the assault-style rifle Kyle Rittenhouse used in the fatal shooting of two men during racial justice protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

State of play: Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger said the gun will likely be destroyed by the Kenosha Police Department in April. Video of it being destroyed will be given to all parties as proof.

The chairman of Ukraine's parliament has sent a letter to eight U.S. senators outlining four specific requests for security assistance and sanctions that Kyiv believes will help deter a Russian invasion, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The Ukrainian government is leaning on Congress — and a bipartisan group of senators negotiating compromise language on sanctions that could pass the Senate — in an effort to push the U.S. posture beyond the Biden administration's approach.

Virginia's new Republican attorney general said Friday that public colleges in the state can't mandate COVID-19 vaccines for students as a requirement for admission or in-person attendance.

Why it matters: State Attorney General Jason Miyares' ruling came from a requested review of the mandate by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who promised to end the state's mask mandate and vaccination requirements during his campaign for governor.

A Republican-led Pennsylvania court on Friday ruled that the state's mail-in voting law is unconstitutional.

Driving the news: Three Republican judges sided with Republican challengers and ruled that no-excuse mail-in voting is prohibited under the state's constitution. Two Democrats on the panel dissented.

First lady Jill Biden announced Friday that a cat named Willow has joined the White House.

The big picture: When President Biden got elected, the first lady said they planned to bring a cat to the White House along with the family dogs, however, the cat's arrival was delayed.

A snow-covered bridge in Pittsburgh collapsed on Friday, mere hours before President Biden is set to visit the city to discuss infrastructure.

The big picture: There were at least three non-life-threatening injuries and no fatalities as of Friday morning, Pittsburgh's Mayor Ed Gainey told reporters.

The social cost of carbon, a crucial metric that helps shape government regulations on everything from methane emissions regulations to fuel economy standards, is set to be updated by the end of February.

Why it matters: It's expected to be adjusted upwards — which will have ripple effects throughout the federal government and economy at large, making high-polluting activities more expensive and regulations that crack down on emissions economically justifiable.

After Justice Stephen Breyer formally announced he was retiring from the Supreme Court, his colleagues on the bench released statements honoring his service in the judiciary.

The big picture: Despite the existing ideological differences between some of them, the justices commended Breyer, referring to him as a great jurist and a friend.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) harshly criticized leaders of Health and Human Services (HHS) in a review on the coronavirus pandemic published Thursday, saying the department is not prepared to adequately respond to public health emergencies, such as weather disasters or bioterrorism attacks.

Driving the new: The GAO added HHS to its "high risk list," meaning it believes the department is vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse or mismanagement, or is in need of transformation.

The mother of Austin Tice, an American journalist kidnapped in Syria in 2012, hopes her son's case will be on the agenda when the emir of Qatar visits the White House on Monday.

Why it matters: Qatar has an extensive history of brokering the release of hostages, including Americans like Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. Debra Tice told Axios she believes Qatar could help secure Austin's freedom if it receives buy-in from the U.S., which maintains heavy sanctions on Syria's Assad regime.

New York City will soon require employers to supply a salary range when they're advertising a position — the biggest step yet in the growing but controversial movement for pay transparency.

Why it matters: Laws like New York's aim to give workers, particularly women and people of color, more power in job negotiations. But the rise in remote work is throwing a wrench into the effort.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Friday a AU$1 billion ($703 million) investment plan for the Great Barrier Reef.

Why it matters: The nine-year plan for projects including water quality improvement, reef conservation and supporting some 64,000 tourism jobs comes months ahead of this year's federal election. It has been criticized by scientists and environmental groups for failing to tackle climate change.

A Nevada man has been arrested for allegedly making "multiple" threatening phone calls to a state election worker the day after the U.S. Capitol riot, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Driving the news: Gjergi Juncaj, 50, of Las Vegas, appeared in federal court Thursday after being arrested by the FBI a day earlier and charged with four federal counts of making threatening telephone calls, per a Justice Department statement.

Xiomara Castro was sworn in Thursday as the first female president of Honduras in a ceremony attended by world leaders including Vice President Harris.

The big picture: Castro, a leftist, has promised to tackle drug trafficking and ease the country's strict abortion ban. Her election ends the right-wing National Party's 12-year run, which was dogged by claims of corruption.

The coming push to confirm a new Supreme Court justice is giving fresh energy to Democrats, who'd already seized on the threat of diminished abortion access to drive midterm voter turnout in swing states.

Why it matters: After decades of being a motivator for Republican voters, efforts to limit abortion are a potential liability for GOP candidates.

The Hungarian government — known for its links to the Trump administration and conservative supporters — quietly began working late last year with a powerhouse public affairs shop stacked with Democratic talent, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: A spokesperson for the lobbying and PR shop, Actum, told Axios on Friday that the agreement has been terminated. Though short-lived, the relationship shows Hungary is trying to build inroads with a U.S. political party wary of right-wing leader, Viktor Orban.

If helping Joe Biden become president isn't reason enough, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) has a strong reason for his favored Supreme Court choice: J. Michelle Childs is a Southerner — a rare perspective in the chamber.

Why it matters: Ketanji Brown Jackson has emerged as an early front-runner to replace Justice Stephen Breyer. Biden has committed to putting a Black woman on the high court, and Jackson was recently vetted and approved by the Senate. Childs, though, is from Clyburn's homestate of South Carolina.

Democrats in swing states and vulnerable districts in this year's pivotal midterms are distancing themselves from President Biden on social media as his poll numbers hit their lowest point.

Why it matters: The digital distance is one sign of the concern candidates feel about a person they'd normally embrace. Incumbent presidents — including one who believes he needs to come to their hometowns to sell his message — would normally be political gold for candidates from the same party.