The Supreme Court on Friday declined a request to intervene by a small group of teachers who challenged New York City’s vaccination mandate for public school employees.
Why it matters: A small group of teachers had argued that the mandate violates their religious freedom because the city limits eligibility for religious exemptions by requiring support from a religious official, among other things.
"Freedom Convoy" protests are hurting workers in the auto sector.
Why it matters: Demonstrations have blocked the flow of commerce on one of the most important corridors between the U.S. and Canada, leading factories to shut down due to supply shortages.
The Biden administration on Friday released its official Indo-Pacific strategy, which warns that there is only a narrow window of time remaining to prevent China from transforming the region into its own sphere of influence.
Why it matters: Biden is the third consecutive president to classify Asia as a top geostrategic priority, hoping to complete the "pivot to Asia" initiated under former President Obama.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday that all Americans in Ukraine should leave within the next 48 hours, warning that the risk of a Russian invasion is now "high" and "immediate."
Why it matters: Sullivan denied an explosive PBS report that the U.S. believes Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade, but said there is "a credible prospect that a Russian military action would take place even before the end of the Olympics."
Egg producers in the U.S. are quietly in the middle of a transition to cage-free eggs, AP reports.
Driving the news: The percentage of cage-free hens has increased from 4% in 2010 to 28% in 2020, and the number is expected to soar to 70% in the next four years, per AP.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is pressing the Securities and Exchange Commission to propose regulations that would force public companies to disclose climate-related risks and data.
Driving the news: Warren, in a new letter to SEC chairman Gary Gensler, criticizes "unacceptable" delays in the rules.
Russia continues to move troops and military equipment toward the Ukrainian border, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Friday. He warned that Russia could invade Ukraine soon, even during the Beijing Winter Olympics set to end Feb. 20.
Why it matters: Blinken said that American citizens in Ukraine should leave immediately, echoing a State Department advisory that said the U.S. will not be able to evacuate Americans from the country "in the event of Russian military action anywhere in Ukraine."
A group of about 175 Black alumni of Harvard today will deliver a letter to the White House supporting Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who sits on the powerful U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and is one of President Biden's top prospects for the Supreme Court.
What they're saying: "We come from the South, North, East, and West. We are civic and corporate leaders, scientists, artists, entrepreneurs, public school teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers, and stay-at-home parents, among others," the letter says.
The CIA has for years secretly conducted mass surveillance programs that include collecting data on Americans, two Democratic members of the Senate Intelligence Committee allege in a newly declassified letter.
Why it matters: Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) raise concerns in the letter to CIA Director Bill Burns and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines dated April 13, 2021, about "serious problems associated with warrantless backdoor searches of Americans."
President Biden said during an NBC interview broadcast Thursday that American citizens in Ukraine "should leave now" due to increasing concerns that Russian troops may soon invade the country.
Why it matters: Biden's comments came as the State Department warned in an advisory that American officials "will not be able to evacuate U.S. citizens in the event of Russian military action anywhere in Ukraine" and that this would "severely impact" regular consular services.
President Biden said Thursday in an interview with NBC News that he rejects the results of an Army investigation that reportedly outlines his administration's failure to adequately prepare for and respond to the Taliban's takeover in Afghanistan.
Why it matters: The investigation, which was first reported by the Washington Post and obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, found that U.S. military leaders' attempts to plan evacuations of embassy personnel and Afghan allies were met with resistance in the White House and State Department.
Three former executives of a Hawaii-based U.S. defense contractor were indicted Thursday over allegations of unlawful campaign contributions to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and a political action committee that supported her 2020 re-election bid.
Driving the news: "Martin Kao, 48, Clifford Chen, 48, and Lawrence 'Kahele' Lum Kee, 52, all of Honolulu, were employed by a defense contractor prohibited from making contributions in federal elections," per a Department of Justice statement.
Congress has been reaping legislative victories lately thanks in large part to a bipartisan cast of 10-15 senators chipping away behind the scenes.
Why it matters: Membership has fluctuated, but senators from both sides have helped deliver coronavirus relief and infrastructure spending. They also were behind the Senate’s passage Thursday of landmark workplace legislation. Elements also are driving a strengthening of the Electoral Count Act, as well as efforts to restrict lawmakers’ trading of individual stocks.
Republican senators and establishment columnists who brutalized President Biden for the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal are now praising his handling of Russia's threatened invasion of Ukraine.
Why it matters: The endorsements give the president and his team more political space to pursue diplomacy. They also allow a president who ran on his competence and foreign policy experience to reclaim some of that mantle.
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) disclosed 417 stock purchases and sales since January 2020 — more than any other current senator, according to an Axios analysis of data from the Senate Stock Watcher.
Why it matters: Rare bipartisan support is building around efforts to ban lawmakers from owning and trading individual stocks — as well as their spouses or immediate family members, in some cases.
A federal judge on Thursday restored federal protections for gray wolves in several parts of the U.S. in a win for wildlife advocates that feared for the wolves' viability.
Why it matters: The Trump administration had removed the protections, claiming the species did not need them anymore since they were no longer subject to active eradication. Wildlife advocacy groups sued, however, arguing that the move left wolves vulnerable to hunters, among other concerns.
