Axios

The Texas Democratic Party plans to apply to hold an early presidential primary, joining an increasingly crowded group of states hoping to jump ahead on the calendar, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: National Democrats are looking to give priority to states that reflect the diversity of their party and the country.

The Justice Department filed an appeal Wednesday seeking to overturn a federal court ruling that struck down its mask mandate for travelers earlier this week.

Why it matters: A DOJ spokesperson announced the move minutes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it has concluded that the order remains necessary and asked the DOJ to make an appeal. Several airlines and companies have lifted mask requirements since the ruling, which comes as COVID cases surge across the U.S.

A group of Democratic lawmakers urged Facebook-parent company Meta Wednesday to weed out more Spanish-language disinformation on Russia's war in Ukraine.

Driving the news: The lawmakers sent a letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying Russian state-controlled outlets are targeting Spanish speakers with false narratives about the invasion.

A court arbitrator on Tuesday ordered former President Trump's presidential campaign to pay ex-White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman some $1.3 million in legal fees, her lawyer confirmed in a tweet Wednesday.

Driving the news: It caps off a protracted legal battle that began in 2018, when the Trump campaign filed an arbitration action against Manigault Newman saying she breached her nondisclosure agreement by releasing multiple secret recordings of Trump officials. Trump lost the NDA case in 2021.

The Florida state senate voted 23-16 on Wednesday to eliminate the special status of Reedy Creek, a municipal district operated by Walt Disney Co., and the measure will now be sent to the house. 

Why it matters: It's an escalation in the weeks-long feud between Republican governor Ron DeSantis and Disney over the state's controversial Parental Rights in Education Law — dubbed by critics the "Don't Say Gay" law.

A high-dollar Republican advocacy outfit is expanding with a new super PAC arm, taking advantage of quirks in the campaign finance system to pump substantial amounts of undisclosed money into key House and Senate contests, Axios has learned.

Driving the news: The Common Sense Leadership Fund, a GOP-aligned nonprofit group, has already steered half a million dollars to its new political action committee, the Eighteen Fifty Four Fund.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has not ruled out running for president in 2024 if President Biden opts not to run, according to a campaign memo obtained by the Washington Post.

Driving the news: "In the event of an open 2024 Democratic presidential primary, Sen. Sanders has not ruled out another run for president, so we advise that you answer any questions about 2024 with that in mind," the memo from Faiz Shakir, Sanders' 2020 campaign manager, said.

Hillary Clinton on Wednesday filed a motion seeking to dismiss former President Trump's lawsuit against her on the grounds that it has "no merit."

Driving the news: Last month, Trump sued Clinton and dozens of others, accusing them of working together to accuse him of colluding with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell walked out of a G20 meeting on Wednesday when the Russian finance minister, Anton Siluanov, started speaking, according to a source familiar with the matter.

State of play: Yellen and Powell were joined by other world leaders, including European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde, Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Ukraine's finance minister, Serhiy Marchenko.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will make two stops to meet unionizing workers on Sunday, visiting Amazon workers fighting to unionize in New York City and Starbucks employees in Richmond, Virginia.

Driving the news: The COVID-19 pandemic has seen an unprecedented surge in unionization efforts across various industries.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will meet Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, according to her office.

Why it matters: Shmyhal will be the most senior Ukrainian official to visit the U.S. since the start of Russia's unprovoked invasion and amid its ongoing large-scale military offensive in the eastern Donbas region of the country.

Nikki Fried, Florida's commissioner of agriculture and a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, plans to sue the Biden administration over a federal rule that bans medical marijuana users from purchasing or owning guns, according to a pre-filing final draft of the lawsuit shared with Axios.

Driving the news: In the lawsuit, Fried's attorneys call the rule "irrational, inconsistent, and incoherent," adding that it prevents her from "ensuring that Floridians receive the state rights relating to them."

The Cook Political Report shifted eight House races toward Republicans in the nonpartisan prognosticator's latest ratings published Wednesday.

Why it matters: The moves reflect an increasingly tough midterm cycle for Democrats — who are panicking over a potential electoral tsunami this November, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.

Former Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis has filed a lawsuit against the state's six-week abortion ban, which has been in effect since September of last year.

Driving the news: The lawsuit, filed by Davis and other abortion rights advocates, contends Senate Bill 8 is "blatantly unconstitutional," adding that the law makes "a mockery of the federal courts" that have not blocked its enforcement.

An article in the May issue of The Atlantic is one of the most clear-eyed looks we've seen at how America fractured — and what'll happen if we don't find a way to fix it.

The big picture: "In the 20th century, America built the most capable knowledge-producing institutions in human history," writes Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at the New York University Stern School of Business. "In the past decade, they got stupider en masse."

A British judge approved WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's extradition to the United States to face trial, sending the ultimate decision to the United Kingdom's home secretary, Priti Patel, AP reports.

Why it matters: Assange still has legal options, but the approval is a blow to his decade-long fight to avoid trial over U.S. charges of violating the Espionage Act and hacking government computers.

The commander of the last Ukrainian forces in Mariupol pleaded Wednesday with world leaders to help, saying, "We are probably facing our last days, if not hours."

Why it matters: Capturing the key strategic southeastern port city would mark a major victory for the Kremlin, which demanded that Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol surrender by 2pm Wednesday local time.

Russia's government rejected calls from the United Nations chief Tuesday for a ceasefire in Ukraine during the Eastern Orthodox Holy Week to allow for civilians to evacuate the country, per the New York Times.

Driving the news: As Russian forces bombarded eastern Ukraine, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for a four-day ceasefire from this Thursday through the Orthodox Easter Sunday so humanitarian corridors could open.

A Catholic diocese in Camden, N.J., has agreed under a bankruptcy settlement announced Tuesday to pay $87.5 million to settle the claims of some 300 people who accused its clergy members of sexual abuse .

The big picture: If a U.S. bankruptcy judge approves the agreement, it would be "the largest cash payment by any Catholic diocese in bankruptcy to date" in the country, according to attorneys for the plaintiffs in the lawsuits.

Most children from 5 to 11 years old hospitalized with COVID-19 during the U.S. surge driven by the Omicron variant were unvaccinated, per a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published Tuesday.

By the numbers: The study of children hospitalized in the U.S. from Dec. 19 to Feb. 28 found the hospitalization rate was 2.1 times higher for those unvaccinated than their vaccinated peers.

A Florida man pleaded guilty Tuesday to threatening Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) in July 2019, prosecutors said.

Driving the news: David Hannon, 67, of Sarasota admitted sending the member of Congress an email saying, "[You're] dead, you radical Muslim" and referring to her and other congresswomen of color as "radical rats," and saying he was going to shoot the congresswomen in the head, per a Department of Justice statement.

President Biden's inner circle has been discussing delaying the repeal of Title 42 border restrictions, now set to end May 23, according to a source with direct knowledge of the internal discussion.

Why it matters: The White House is looking for ways to buy time to avoid a massive influx of migrants that would add to already-historic border numbers. That already endangers Democratic incumbents in states that could decide the Senate majority in November.

Less than two months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a steady stream of Western diplomats are returning to Kyiv to reopen embassies and facilitate in-person visits by their national leaders.

Why it matters: Russia's retreat from Kyiv has alleviated the immediate threat to Ukraine's capital. As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pleads for more military aid amid a decisive second phase of the war, he's encouraged Western leaders to visit Kyiv and witness firsthand the devastation Russian forces have left.

Washington is joining a series of states angling to jump ahead in the Democratic presidential primary calendar and dethrone Iowa and New Hampshire from their first-in-the-nation perch, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Democrats are considering ways to make their nominating process more diverse and representative of the country. The Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee triggered the jockeying last week by voting to let states apply to hold an early primary.