Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) says there's a "very real risk" the U.S. will no longer be a democracy in 10 years, warning of a "return to Jim Crow."
Deborah Birx, who served as an adviser in the Trump administration at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, will release a memoir in April focusing on her time in the White House, AP reports.
Driving the news: Birx, a respected physician and diplomat who faced criticism for not pushing back on Trump when he contradicted public health experts, said in a statement to the AP she wanted to document "the full extent of what I witnessed as I tried to save lives" during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former President Trump's longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, abruptly cut ties with his business last week, court documents filed Monday show.
Driving the news: The accounting firm said in a letter to the Trump Organization dated Feb. 9 that annual financial statements it prepared for Trump from 2011 to 2020 "should no longer be relied upon."
Howard and Fisk universities issued shelter-in-place orders Monday as law enforcement again investigated bomb threats targeting the two historically Black universities.
Why it matters: Over a dozen historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have received bomb threats since Black History Month kicked off. Thursday's threats, which were cleared in the afternoon, mark the fourth time Howard has been targeted in the last two months, according to the Washington Post.
A program meant to lower internet service cost for Americans has connected more than 10 million households, the White House announced Monday.
Why it matters: The Affordable Connectivity Program is the largest federal program aimed at helping low-income Americans afford service by offering a $30 monthly discount.
The U.S. is temporarily relocating its embassy operations from Kyiv to Lviv in western Ukraine "due to the dramatic acceleration in the buildup of Russian forces," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday.
Why it matters: The Biden administration is taking extreme precautions in the face of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, which U.S. officials believe may be planned for Wednesday.
The U.S. has suspended all imports of Mexican avocados from the state of Michoacan "until further notice" after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico received a threatening message, Mexico's Agriculture Department confirmed in a statement Saturday.
Why it matters: Michoacan is the only state in Mexico fully authorized to export avocados to the U.S., so the temporary suspension effectively amounts to a pause on all imports of Mexican avocados, per AP.
David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland school shooting, told CNN on Monday that President Biden "needs to do something" to prevent gun violence.
Driving the news: Monday marked the fourth anniversary of the Parkland shooting, in which a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school, including 14 students. Marking the anniversary,Biden tweeted that "Congress must act," but Hogg insisted there is more the president can do on his own.
A federal judge is barring the Biden administration from using the social cost of carbon put into place on Jan. 20, 2021. The decision, issued Friday, affects the interim figure in place now, as well as an updated metric expected to be issued later this month.
Driving the news: The social cost of carbon is a dollar estimate of the damages caused by emitting one additional metric ton of greenhouse gases into the air.
Humility is needed during President Biden's upcoming State of the Union address, David Axelrod, former senior adviser to former President Obama, wrote in an op-ed in the New York Times on Monday.
Why it matters: Biden will deliver his State of the Union address to Congress on March 1 after a year of legislative wins (the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law) and losses (his languishing Build Back Better agenda).
The Federal Trade Commission will vote Thursday on whether it will study how pharmacy benefit managers affect drug prices and the businesses of pharmacies.
Why it matters: PBMs are powerful, secretive and heavily consolidated, and it appears the FTC is open to scrutinizing the industry that got significantly more concentrated under the FTC's own watch.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in Kyiv on Monday for crisis talks on concerns of an imminent Russian invasion, as Ukraine's foreign minister requested a meeting with Kremlin officials within the next 48 hours.
Driving the news: The U.S. and other Western nations began evacuating most embassy staff from Kyiv over the weekend, as National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN "a major military action could begin by Russia in Ukraine any day now — that includes this coming week."
