The House on Wednesday voted 223-204 to pass a package of gun control bills that were introduced in the wake of the deadly shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas.
Driving the news: The omnibus legislation was dubbed the "Protecting Our Kids Act" and is unlikely to get 60 votes to break a filibuster in the Senate.
Learning about personal finance in high school is now required for about one-third of the country.
Driving the news: The Michigan House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill that will make it the 14th state to guarantee high school students a personal finance class before they graduate.
The Brookings Institution put its president, former Marine Gen. John Allen, on administrative leave Wednesday, after an AP report said there is a federal investigation into his role in a foreign lobbying campaign on behalf of Qatar.
Why it matters: AP on Tuesday reported the FBI seized Allen's electronic data as part of the probe, which has implicated other U.S. officials.
Three Texas families have filed a lawsuit demanding that a court block state investigations against them for supporting their transgender kids with gender-affirming care.
Driving the news: The Texas Supreme Court said last month state agencies could, but were not required to, continue investigating parents for child abuse if they seek gender-affirming care for transgender kids, under a directive Gov. Greg Abbott (R) issued in February.
A man with a weapon arrested near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's Maryland home early Wednesday morning has been charged with attempted murder, according to the Department of Justice.
The latest: The criminal complaint against the suspect, identified as Nicholas John Roske, 26, from Simi Valley, California, alleges that he told detectives he traveled to Maryland intending to kill Kavanaugh.
Enes Kanter Freedom told conservative House members at a lunch Wednesday at the Capitol that "Wall Street, think tanks, academia, Hollywood, the sports ... all of them is pretty much run by the Chinese government in some form."
"The more pressure you put on them, the more we hold them accountable," said the free agent and former center for the Boston Celtics.
Driving the news: The Muslim athlete, an outspoken critic of China's abuse of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang — and of the NBA's relations with China — flew in from Canada to attend the Republican Study Committee lunch at the behest of the group's chair, Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.)
Former President Trump and his adult children, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr., are scheduled to testify under oath on July 15 as part of a probe by the New York attorney general into his finances, a court filing revealed Wednesday.
Driving the news: This comes almost two weeks after a court ruled that the family was obligated to testify as part of the probe.
Two House Republicans from Mississippi were forced into primary runoffs on Tuesday after failing to reach the 50% threshold to win outright, according to the Associated Press.
Why it matters: It's rare for a House member to struggle to win their party's nomination, but this year has proved an unprecedented minefield for Republican lawmakers seeking re-election.
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday announced that a Department of Justice team of nine people will review local law enforcement's response to the Uvalde mass shooting, in which 19 children and two adults were killed last month.
Why it matters: Local and state law enforcement officials in Texas have faced intense criticism as more details about their immediate response to the Robb Elementary school shooting have emerged.
Kimberly Rubio, whose daughter was killed in the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, pleaded for Congress to take action in Washington on Wednesday.
Driving the news: "Somewhere out there, a mom is hearing our testimony and thinking, 'I can’t even imagine their pain,' not knowing that our reality will one day be hers, unless we act now," Rubio said through tears.
A group of Democratic senators led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Patty Murray (Wash.) are urging President Biden to protect abortion rights via an executive order ahead of a potential Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
What they're saying: "[A]s President of the United States, you have the unique power to marshal the resources of the entire federal government to respond," the senators wrote in a letter to the president, adding that "[a]bortion access is under attack in the United States and already completely eliminated in swaths of the country."
Fourth grader Miah Cerrillo, who survived the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, recounted Wednesday what she experienced that deadly day.
Driving the news: "We were just watching TV and then [the teacher] got an email," 11-year-old Cerrillo said in a pre-recorded video to Congress. "She went to go lock the door and he was in the hallway and they made eye contact."
Approximately 305 people have pleaded guilty to several charges in relation to the Jan. 6 deadly Capitol insurrection, the Justice Department said Wednesday.
Driving the news: Most of the charges have been to misdemeanors. However, three membersof the far-rightOath Keepers militia have pleaded guilty to the federal charge of seditious conspiracy.
Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein will be charged with two counts of indecent assault in the United Kingdom after British prosecutors on Wednesday said that they'd given police authorization to proceed with the charges.
Driving the news: The charges pertain to an alleged assault in London in 1996, Rosemary Ainslie, head of theCrown Prosecution Service's crime division, said in the press release.
The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it has started the process to designate the Hudson Canyon, an underwater canyon about 100 miles off the coast of New York and New Jersey, as a marine sanctuary.
Why it matters: The designation would provide new protections to the Hudson Canyon, which is home to a diverse range of "endangered, protected, and sensitive species," including sea turtles, deep sea corals and sperm whales, according to a White House fact sheet.
More than 90 women who were abused by USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar will file administrative tort claims against the FBI on Wednesday over the bureau's failure to properly investigate the sexual assault allegations against him.
Why it matters: The action comes just two weeks after the Justice Department announced that it had once again declined to charge the FBI agents accused of mishandling the case.
March for Our Lives says more than 450 gun-safety marches are planned in at least 45 states and around the world on Saturday, with the total expected to increase.
Why it matters: The youth-led group, started by David Hogg and others after the Parkland school shootings, mobilized gun-violence protesters around the globe in a 2018 show of force. This weekend's marches come as gun legislation gains new momentum.
There's a growing effort to name and categorize heat waves the way we do hurricanes — to call attention to their significance, alert people to dangerous temperatures and prod public officials into action.
Why it matters: Heat waves are the deadliest type of weather emergency in the U.S. They're bigger killers than floods, tornadoes or hurricanes — and they're growing in frequency and intensity due to global warming.
San Francisco voters recalled District Attorney Chesa Boudin after a divisive election over the prosecutor's handling of crime, per the Associated Press.
Why it matters: Boudin's recall may spell trouble for progressive prosecutors across the country as they increasingly facing scrutiny from voters amid rising crime rates.
Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and billionaire developer Rick Caruso areheaded to a November runoff in the nationally watched race to become Los Angeles' next mayor, per the Associated Press.
Driving the news: Bass and Caruso emerged in recent weeks as the front-runners in the crowded primary, drawing high-profile endorsements and both candidates spending massive sums of money on advertising.
Retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Michael Franken bested former U.S. Rep. Abby Finkenauer to score the Democratic nomination for Iowa’s U.S. Senate seat on Tuesday and will run against Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley in November, per the AP.
Why it matters: Grassley, one of the longest-serving members in Senate history, has held the seat since 1981 and has never received less than 60% of the vote in his re-election bids.
Seventeen months after pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, the House Jan. 6 select committee is preparing to test whether revelations from that day still have the capacity to shock the American public.
The big picture: Thursday's prime-time, Watergate-style hearing will be the first of several meticulously crafted events produced in part by James Goldston — the former president of ABC News and a master documentary storyteller.
