A series of Republican candidates running in crucial Senate battlegrounds hold strict anti-abortion views — including opposing the procedure even in cases of rape and incest.
Why it matters: The views of these GOP front--runners go far beyond what Republicans have traditionally embraced: exceptions for rape, incest and the life of a mother. If elected, these candidates — from J.D. Vance in Ohio to Herschel Walker in Georgia — would push the party further right.
President Biden is preparing a major speech Tuesday to address inflation, and will contrast his plans to lower costs for American families with those offered by congressional Republicans, an administration official told Axios.
Why it matters: For a president who once insisted inflation was "transitory," Biden is now talking about rising prices at nearly every opportunity. The focus comes as Americans buckle under gas exceeding $6 per gallon in some states, and grocery price increases each visit to the store.
The Biden administration is accelerating plansto reopen the U.S. embassy in Kyiv, a senior State Department official told Axios, part of an increasingly bold and potentially risky approach to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Why it matters: Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told his Ukrainian counterpart that this progress — marked by Kiev Embassy charge d'affaires Kristina Kvien's visit Sunday to commemorate V-E Day — is "a testament to Ukraine's success [and] Moscow's failure" in the early phase of Vladimir Putin's war, the senior official told Axios.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel wouldn't enforce an "incredibly draconian and strict" abortion law that would take effect in the state if Roe v. Wade is repealed, she told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.
Why it matters: The 1931 law makes abortion a felony carrying a penalty of up to four years, with no exceptions for rape or incest, only to preserve the mother’s life. It's come under the spotlight after the leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion that signaled the Supreme Court is prepared to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Most people who support upholding Roe v. Wade view its possible overturn as a danger to women and think that development would put other rights in jeopardy, a CBS News poll out Sunday indicates.
The big picture: The poll comes after the leak Monday of a draft opinion that signaled the U.S. Supreme Court is prepared to overturn the landmark abortion case.
The Supreme Court "has slapped women in the face" by potentially moving to overturn federal abortion rights, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday.
Driving the news: Pelosi's comments come nearly a week after a leaked draft ruling revealed the Supreme Court is prepared to potentially overturn Roe v. Wade.
First lady Jill Biden said Sunday that the "hearts of the American people are with the mothers of Ukraine” as she met with Ukrainian mothers and children at a school in Kosice, Slovakia, according to a White House pool report.
Driving the news: The first lady's stop in Slovakia is the latest in her four-day trip to Eastern Europe. While in Kosice, Biden met with local officials, representatives from local NGOs and UN agencies, and spoke with Ukrainian refugees.
U.S., Food and Drug Administration commissioner Robert Califf told CNN on Saturday evening "almost no one" in the U.S. should be dying from COVID-19, but misinformation was impacting the death toll.
By the numbers: Nearly 998,000 people have died of COVID in the U.S. since the pandemic began as of Sunday night, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is "convinced" that his forces "doubling down" in their assault on Ukraine will enable them to progress, CIA director Bill Burns said Saturday, per AFP.
Between the lines: "He's in a frame of mind in which he doesn't believe he can afford to lose," said Burns, a former U.S. ambassador to Moscow, at the FT Weekend Festival in D.C. ahead of Russia's annual Victory Day on Monday, which analysts warn could mark a pivotal moment in the invasion of Ukraine.
The National Labor Relations Board prosecutors determined that Amazon violated federal labor law by holding mandatory anti-union meetings at a warehouse where workers were weighing whether to unionize, Bloomberg reports.
Why it matters: The National Labor Relations Board regional office in Brooklyn told Bloomberg that it will issue a complaint against the company if it does not agree to a settlement.
Dave McCormick, who privately lobbied hard to win former President Trump’s blessing, is going after Trump for backing Dr. Oz in the country's hottest current race — the Pennsylvania GOP race for U.S. Senate.
Why it matters: Trump slammed McCormick Friday night at a rally in Pennsylvania. Now McCormick is punching back in an ad you're seeing first on Axios — ridiculing the endorsement of Oz.
Democrats are testing a midterm strategy combining abortion rights with a broad array of health care expansion plans, as they try to direct voters' attention away from vulnerabilities on inflation, crime and the border.
Why it matters: While campaigning on health care helped put Democrats over the top in 2018 and 2020, in this cycle, COVID's economic and psychological fallout is putting President Biden's party on its heels.
But with this week's Supreme Court leak, many voters' intense opposition to ending Roe v. Wade — particularly among women, people 35 and younger and people of color — could nudge health issues front and center.
Driving the news: Democratic group Navigator Research on Friday released a memo with new polling data citing strong public support for elements of Biden's economic agenda — and opposition to implications of a plan proposed by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Many of the memo's data points highlight specific Democratic health care proposals.
These include calls to expand seniors' Medicare to cover hearing aids, empowering Medicare to lower drug prices, capping monthly insulin costs for diabetics and lowering health insurance premiums for families who must purchase their own coverage.
What they're saying: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Chris Taylor told Axios: “Here’s a guarantee: By November every voter will know Republican extremists want to implement a nationwide abortion ban, voted against lowering drug prices and want to end Medicare as we know it.
"Democrats want to protect women’s rights, lower health care costs, and expand access to care. It’s just that simple.”
Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist and advisor to Navigator, said Republicans have moved from a posture of wanting to restrict abortion to trying to ban it altogether. He said Democrats also can make a compelling argument to voters about Republican policies enabling corporate greed while talking about Democratic plans that aim to bring down health costs propelled by greed.
The other side: NRSC spokesman Chris Hartline said Democrats are misleading voters about Scott's proposal and that it "does not call for ending Social Security and Medicare nor does he support raising taxes on half of all Americans."
Hartline said Democrats' polling arguments "have no basis in reality" and that inflation and surging gas prices on Biden's watch is tantamount to thousands of dollars in tax increases per person. He said Democrats had "created a crisis at our Southern border all while crime is raging across the country... they can’t defend a single thing they’ve done."
Be smart: While Biden's Build Back Betterplanincluded a number of legislative solutions like giving the government the authority to negotiate prescription drug prices, putting caps on drug prices that rise faster than inflation and reducing the cost of insulin, it's unclear how many of those proposals will be signed into law — if at all.
But framing abortion as a health protection issue gives Democrats a way to push back on Republican claims that Democrats want radical abortion rights.
And talking about health care in the context of not just medical but economic benefits gives Democrats a way to show voters how they're addressing economic challenges in a time of inflation.
Only 34% of voters approve of the way Biden is handling the economy, per a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll. But new polling from Pew finds 61% of Americans believe abortion should be legal while 37% believe it should be illegal.
Previously, Democrats won back the House in 2018 — flipping 41 seats — in large part due to messaging on health care. Over half of the TV ads boosting Democrats in the lead-up to Election Day that cycle mentioned health care, according to the Wesleyan Media Project.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Friday that government institutions can't be "bullied" into giving people the outcome they want, multiple news outlets report.
Why it matters: Thomas didn't directly address the leak of a draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, but he acknowledged that recent events at the Supreme Court might be one symptom of a judiciary which he views as threatened by people who are unwilling to "live with outcomes we don't agree with," per the Washington Post.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed into law Friday a bill banning transgender women from competing on college sports teams that align with their gender identity.
Why it matters: It builds off similar laws targeting high school sports, which have swept across the country in the past year. Republicans backing the bills say this kind of legislation ensures fairness in women's sports, though multiple states that have passed such bans have been unable to provide evidence showing trans athletes have unfair advantages in competitions.
