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President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

Politics & Policy

Actor Matthew McConaughey, in an op-ed for the Austin American-Statesman on  Sunday, applauded the bipartisan federal gun bill that President Biden signed into law on Saturday as an example of the power of compromise. 

The big picture: The law enhanced background checks for people under 21, increased funding for mental health and school safety and provided incentives for states to implement "red flag" laws. It's the most significant federal gun legislation passed in nearly 30 years.

What he's saying: "By coming together and finding a sensible balance, a bipartisan group of lawmakers passed a bill that will help solve a problem we all agree is unbearable," McConaughey wrote. 

"While this bill isn’t perfect, it is a shining example of a great American potential and political virtue: the act of compromise and validating an opposing viewpoint."

"This is a quintessential virtue of America, where two seemingly contradictory approaches to the same problem can be true at the same time, AND, when combined, actually reveal a more useful and powerful solution than either on its own."

"For responsible gun owners, this bill does not take your guns away or restrict access to firearms," McConaughey wrote. 

"This bill will save innocent lives by keeping guns out of the law-breaking and irresponsible hands that are trying to hijack the Second Amendment."

Background: McConaughey, a native of Uvalde, Texas, visited the White House this month to advocate for gun control legislation after a gunman killed 19 children and two adults at an elementary school there.

Matthew McConaughey: Gun bill "a shining example" of compromise

The law is the most significant federal gun legislation in nearly 30 years.

Actor Matthew McConaughey speaks during the daily briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on June 7. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Gun control

Asahutchinson

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) suggested Sunday he's not comfortable with the lack of exceptions for incest or rape in an abortion ban he signed three years ago.

Driving the news: The Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade Friday triggered a 2019 Arkansas law that bans abortion in all cases except to save the life of the mother.

What he's saying: "I would have preferred a different outcome than that," Hutchinson said on NBC's "Meet the Press" when host Chuck Todd pointed out that that a 13-year-old who was raped by a relative couldn't get an abortion under the law.

"But that's not the debate today in Arkansas. It might be in the future, but for now, the law triggered with only one exception." 

Hutchinson signed the law as governor in 2019, and has previously said he personally believes abortion bans should have exceptions for rape and incest. He told CNN in May he wanted the exceptions but couldn't get the support of his legislature.

"If Roe v. Wade is reversed, these are going to become real circumstances. I think the debate and discussion will continue," Hutchinson said in May.

Yes, but: At a news conference for the certification of the 2019 law on Friday, Hutchinson said he wouldn't ask the Arkansas legislature to revisit the state's abortion law and make exceptions for rape or incest.

"The certification is what it is in terms of the exceptions for the life of the mother," Hutchinson said. "I do not see any additional action on that. The people have spoken on that through their elected representatives, and that is the law of the land in this state."

Worth noting: Hutchinson on "Meet the Press" Sunday added he does not support a national ban on abortion, and that the decision should be left to the states.

"I don't believe that we ought to go back to saying there ought to be a national law that's passed," he said. "We've fought for 50 years to have this returned to the states. We've won that battle. It's back to the states. Let's let it be resolved there."

Go deeper: The end of Roe v. Wade in Arkansas

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Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson laments lack of exceptions for rape, incest in abortion ban

Asa Hutchinson has previously said he personally believes abortion bans should have exceptions for rape and incest.

Abortion

When Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) hailed the end of Roe v. Wade, he was also celebrating a victory for his wife, a lawyer who helped shape the arguments in the Mississippi case that became the vehicle for the ruling.

Driving the news: As senior counsel to the appellate team at Christian legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom, Erin Morrow Hawley helped the state of Mississippi draft merits and reply briefs for Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. "I'm so pleased it's a 6-3 decision," she told Axios. "The Supreme Court has taken the shackles of Roe off of states." 

Why it matters: Hawley, 42, is a key player in her husband's political career, and she'll continue to be personally involved in conservatives' efforts to ban abortion state by state. 

The couple launched a podcast together last year. Both gave keynote addresses in February at a state GOP dinner in which her role in the litigation was highlighted, as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

She is also a legal fellow with the Independent Women's Law Center who previously taught law at the University of Missouri.

The intrigue: Both Hawleys clerked in 2007 for Chief Justice John Roberts. In his concurring opinion Friday, Roberts joined in the majority ruling upholding Dobbs — but not overturning Roe. 

Flashback: In April 2021, Erin Hawley — with their youngest child, an infant, along — traveled to Mississippi to meet with the legal team, working closely with state Solicitor General Scott Stewart to lay the foundation of the state's case.

"The Supreme Court had been really clear that to find liberty interests protected by the 14th Amendment, that right needs to be deeply rooted in a nation's history and tradition," Hawley told Axios.

"There's no way to manufacture a historically rooted right to abortion," she said, noting abortion was unlawful under common law at the nation's founding and 28 states prohibited abortion when the 14th Amendment was enacted in 1868.

Background: Erin Hawley grew up on a ranch in New Mexico and studied animal science at Texas A&M University before attending law school, where she was first exposed to religious liberty issues.

Editor’s note: This post was corrected to show that 28 states prohibited abortion when the 14th Amendment was enacted in 1868, not 37 states.

Erin Hawley's win in court

When Sen. Josh Hawley hailed the end of Roe v. Wade, he was also celebrating a big victory for his wife.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) with Erin Hawley during his 2018 Senate campaign. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Roe v. Wade

Sneak Peek

Axios Sneak Peek

Far-right candidates are surging in House races across the map: Republican leaders increasingly fear that a red wave will wash in a raft of conspiracy theorists and extremists.

Why it matters: The establishment grows ever weaker. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy — on the doorstep of the speaker’s office — can expect to be saddled with new members who have zero loyalty or predictability.

What's happening: Many of the GOP candidates expected to cause leadership headaches are backed by former President Trump, whose grip on McCarthy is as strong as ever.

They play well with Trump's MAGA base and are running in incredibly conservative districts. 

Several, like Loren Culp and Joe Kent in Washington, have made no secret of their disdain for McCarthy and GOP leadership overall.

What we're hearing: In cycles past, leadership has attempted to get involved in some races to stiff-arm candidates they find problematic.

But this time, House GOP leadership is highly sensitive to the political downsides of interfering: Republicans need these candidates to take back the majority and make McCarthy speaker.

McCarthy has been careful not to alienate them, hoping his hands-off approach will help earn their trust and foster goodwill down the line.

Yes, but: Once in office, it will be hard for McCarthy to control his far-right freshmen — just as he's faced difficulty wrangling Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.), who see themselves as "untouchable."

Greene, for example, has long gloated she's immune to punishment by McCarthy. That's been true even after she and Gosar appeared at a gathering of white nationalists hosted by outspoken Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes.

What to watch: The number of seats Republicans ultimately win in November will be crucial to this dynamic.

That margin, in conjunction with the number of these controversial candidates who win in the general election, will determine how much influence they have over the Republican conference.

Republicans already have a nightmarish job whipping votes for certain legislation because of the House Freedom Caucus — which is experiencing its own identity crisis over the increasing radicalization of its members.

These new candidates could complicate that dynamic further.

What they're saying: "If you look at our history with the Freedom Caucus, they don't back down and don't vote for things. So our margins will be really important," a House GOP leadership aide told Axios.

"Biden's going to be president no matter what. ... There are going to be times when we need to pass government funding, NDAA and so on," the aide added. "Kevin's going to be in the position of having to cut deals with Biden and that's not going to go well with some of these people."

McCarthy's office did not respond to requests for comment.

Carl Paladino at Trump Tower in 2016. Photo: Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images

A sampling of the controversial candidates flagged to Axios by Republican campaign arms and GOP strategists includes: 

1. Carl Paladino (N.Y.-23): Backed by House GOP conference chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Paladino's history of controversy includes calling Adolf Hitler "the kind of leader we need" in 2021.

In 2016, he inadvertently emailed a Buffalo newspaper racist and sexist comments about former first lady Michelle Obama.

2. Sandy Smith (N.C.-1): Smith, who won her May 17 primary, tweeted she was present for the "Save America" rally immediately prior to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

She's also been accused of attacking her former husbands, including with a car and a frying pan. Smith denies those allegations.

3. Loren Culp (Wash.-4): A former small-town police chief, Trump-endorsed Culp lost the 2020 Washington governor's race to Democrat Jay Inslee but refused to concede.

He called earlier this year for a Black man facing trial to be lynched and the jurors and judge to be executed in a firing squad.

He has also "maintained associations with some controversial far-right organizations," including a group that "has sent armed civilians to act as self-appointed, pro-law-enforcement 'peacekeepers' at protests against police brutality, according to AP.

4. Joe Kent (Wash.-3): The Trump-backed candidate has come under fire for claiming he worked with Nick Fuentes, who gained notoriety for participating in the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, on social media strategy.

Kent has since distanced himself from Fuentes and told Oregon Public Broadcasting that the controversy was a misunderstanding.

Between the lines: Rather than taking a completely hands-off approach, McCarthy has openly embraced certain controversial candidates.

J.R. Majewski (Ohio-9), who has repeatedly promoted QAnon and attended the Jan. 6 rally in Washington, was named this month to the National Republican Congressional Committee's "Young Gun" program.

From July 2020 to January 2021, Majewski tweeted the QAnon hashtag #WWG1WGA — which stands for "Where we go one, we go all" — more than 50 times on his now-deleted personal Twitter account, according to CNN.

Majewski has since tried to distance himself from QAnon and claims he never supported the conspiracy.

Mayra Flores (Texas-34), another candidate supported by Trump, was hosted by the House GOP at the Capitol after flipping the seat to replace departing Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela this month.

Flores has repeatedly posted the #QAnon and #Q hashtags on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, according to a report by watchdog Media Matters, but now says she never supported the theory. 

McCarthy's coming headaches

These candidates are quietly being described as "political disrupters" among House GOP leadership and outside campaign arms.

Photo illustration of Kevin McCarthy holding his head beneath an angry elephant

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

House Republicans

AOC questions if Dems who oppose abortion rights should still serve

"The thing that a lot of people don't like to talk about is the fact that not every Democrat is pro-choice."

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez leaves after speaking to abortion-rights activists in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24. Photo: Nathan Howard/Getty Images

Staceyabramsjune26

Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on Sunday said companies should consider the "danger that [Gov.] Brian Kemp poses to the life and welfare of women" in Georgia when doing business there.

The big picture: Georgia's law banning abortions as early as six weeks — when many people might not know they're pregnant — is likely to go into effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday.

A lawsuit challenging the abortion law has been on hold in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals while the court awaited the Supreme Court's decision. 

Abrams noted that Kemp and his attorney general asked the 11th Circuit to lift the stay on the ban after the Supreme Court ruling.

Driving the news: "He has already broken our health care system by refusing to expand Medicaid, and Georgia already has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the nation," Abrams said about Kemp on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.

She added: "I would tell every single business and every single woman that they should do what is best for the women who work for them. They need to make certain that they are accommodating the very real health care challenges that will face women in the state of Georgia."

Abrams said she hopes to reverse the law by passing new legislation in 2023.

Yes, but: Abrams did not go so far as saying companies should pull their businesses from Georgia because of the abortion ban.

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Stacey Abrams: Companies should consider "danger Brian Kemp poses" to Georgia women

Georgia's law banning abortions as early as six weeks is likely to go into effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Stacey Abrams

Finish Line

Axios Finish Line

Fifty-nine percent of Americans disapprove of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and take away the federal protections of abortion rights, according to a new CBS News/YouGov reaction poll. Among women polled, 67% disapprove.

Why it matters: The new polling upholds what surveys before the decision showed us — that the majority of Americans support Roe.

52% call the court's decision a "step backward" for America, 31% say it's a "step forward," and 17% say neither.

Between the lines: Opinion is starkly divided along party lines. 78% of Republicans approve of the decision, compared with 38% of independents and 17% of Democrats.

What to watch: The public believes the court will reexamine other civil rights set by precedent.

57% think it's likely same-sex marriage rights will be limited, and 55% think access to birth control will be limited.

Where abortion access is guaranteed without Roe v. Wade

Democrats condemn Supreme Court's abortion ruling

Where abortion will be illegal with Roe v. Wade overturned

Poll: Majority of Americans disapprove of overturning Roe v. Wade

Opinion is starkly divided along party lines.

Outside the Supreme Court. Photo: Probal Rashid/LightRocket via Getty Images

The U.S. faces a range of health care flashpoints — unaffordable drugs, opioids, vaping — as we debate whether to adopt universal care. For now, the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land, but Republicans want to issue it a final death blow.

Health

Meet The Press-10 48 15 Am - 10 51 15 Am-2022-06-26

Impeachment should be "very seriously considered" if Supreme Court justices lied in their confirmation hearings about their intentions to overturn Roe v. Wade, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told "Meet the Press" Sunday.

Driving the news: Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) have called into question comments made by Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh during their confirmation hearings after the court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Collins said the ruling was "inconsistent" with comments they made in their hearings and in meetings with her, when they had been "insistent on the importance of supporting long-standing precedents."

Manchin said that he had "trusted Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh when they testified under oath that they also believed Roe v. Wade was settled legal precedent."

The big picture: "The Supreme Court has dramatically overreached its authority," Ocasio-Cortez said, adding that "this is a crisis of legitimacy," echoing comments made by Sen. Elizabeth Warren earlier Sunday.

"We had two conservative senators in the United States Senate, Sen. Manchin and Sen. Collins, come out with a very explosive allegation that several supreme court justices misled them during their confirmation hearings and in the lead-up to their confirmation," she added.

What they're saying: “If we allow Supreme Court nominees to lie under oath and secure lifetime appointments to the highest court of the land and then issue — issue without basis, if you read these opinions — rulings that deeply undermine the human civil rights of the majority of Americans, we must see that through,” she said.

"There must be consequences for such a deeply destabilizing action and the hostile takeover of our democratic institutions,” she added.

"What makes it particularly dangerous is that it sends a blaring signal to all future nominees that they can now lie to duly elected members of the United States Senate, in order to secure Supreme Court confirmations and seats on the Supreme Court."

The bottom line: "I believe lying under oath is an impeachable offense ... this is something that should be very seriously considered, including by senators like Joe Manchin and Susan Collins."

AOC says impeachment possible if Supreme Court justices lied under oath

"It sends a blaring signal to all future nominees that they can now lie to duly elected members of the United States Senate."

Lindseygrahamjune26

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) suggested during an appearance on "Fox News Sunday" that he doesn't believe the Supreme Court will revisit rulings on same-sex marriage and contraception.

Driving the news: Justice Clarence Thomas, in a concurring opinion to the ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade, wrote that the Supreme Court should reconsider opinions protecting same-sex relationships, marriage equality and access to contraceptives.

In the court's majority ruling overturning Roe v. Wade on Friday, Alito wrote that “nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion" because the exercise of rights established by other rulings "does not destroy a 'potential life.'"

What they're saying: "I really respect Clarence Thomas," Graham said when asked about the concurring opinion, before adding that Justice Samuel Alito "set the right tone."

"[Justice Alito] said nothing in this decision puts those cases at risk. The reason he decided that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided is because it deals with the potential for life," he added. 

"These other privacy issues — like contraception — do not deal with the potential for life," Graham said.

Lindsey Graham downplays likelihood of court action on gay marriage and contraception

"These other privacy issues — like contraception — do not deal with the potential for life."

This Week With George Stephanopoulos-9 21 34 Am - 9 24 25 Am-2022-06-26

The Supreme Court "set a torch" to its legitimacy with its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, warranting an expansion of the number of supreme court justices, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday.

Why it matters: A majority of Americans disapprove of the court's decision to effectively end all federal protections on abortion.

At least 26 Republican-led states in total are expected to ban abortions or heavily restrict access to them in the wake of the ruling, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion-rights organization.

What they're saying: "This court has lost legitimacy. They have burned whatever legitimacy they still may have had after their gun decision, after their voting decision, after their union decision," Warren said.

"They just took the last of it and set a torch to it with the Roe v. Wade opinion," she added.

"I believe we need to get some confidence back in our court and that means we need more justices on the United States Supreme Court." 

Warren also said that she was "deeply concerned" about Justice Clarence Thomas' suggestion in his concurring opinion to the Roe v. Wade ruling that the Supreme Court should reconsider opinions protecting same-sex relationships, marriage equality and access to contraceptives.

Warren calls for Supreme Court expansion after Roe overturned

"We need to get some confidence back in our court...we need more justices on the United States supreme court."

Rep. Mary Miller, a Republican congresswoman from Illinois, called the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade a "historic victory for white life" at a rally with former President Trump on  Saturday night.

Miller said, “President Trump, on behalf of all the MAGA patriots in America, I want to thank you for the historic victory for white life in the Supreme Court yesterday."

Miller's spokesman later said she had misread her remarks, and intended to call the decision a victory for "a right to life."

Between the lines: The comment was "out of step with the disproportionate impact the repeal of abortion rights will have on women of color," AP's Jill Colvin writes.

The big picture: Health care providers are bracing for the abortion restrictions that are coming in states around the country to disproportionately affect Black women, Axios' Shawna Chen reports.

Black women in the U.S. are already three times more likely to die of pregnancy-related complications compared with white women. 

Miller has previously fielded criticism in 2020 for referencing Adolf Hitler, AP reports. She said: "Hitler was right on one thing. He said, 'Whoever has the youth has the future.'"

Rep. Mary Miller: Overturning Roe v. Wade is a "victory for white life"

She made the comment at a rally with Trump on Saturday night.

Rep. Mary Miller speaks at a rally with former President Trump. Photo: Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images

President Biden announced Sunday that the U.S. and other members of the G7 will impose a ban on imports of Russian gold as part of an effort to impose costs on Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, for the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Driving the news: "The United States has imposed unprecedented costs on Putin to deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war against Ukraine," Biden tweeted Sunday.

"Together, the G7 will announce that we will ban the import of Russian gold, a major export that rakes in tens of billions of dollars for Russia," he added.

The big picture: The official announcement of the ban is expected on Tuesday, when the Treasury issues a determination to stop the import of new gold into the U.S., senior administration officials told reporters on a call Sunday.

Gold is Russia's second-largest export after energy and is "a source of significant revenue for Putin and Russia," they added. The move will further isolate Russia from the global economy.

Russia's gold exports account for roughly $19 billion of revenue per year, mostly within the G7 countries, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. 

What they're saying: U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted the announcement as well on Sunday, noting that the ban on Russian gold will “directly hit Russian oligarchs and strike at the heart of Putin’s war machine," AP reported.

“We need to starve the Putin regime of its funding. The U.K. and our allies are doing just that," Johnson added.

G7 leaders to ban imports of Russian gold

Gold is Russia's second-largest export after energy and a significant source of revenue for the country.

President Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz meeting prior to the first day of the three-day G7 summit in Germany on June 26. Photo: Sean Gallup - Pool/Getty Images

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Russia

China is becoming the most formidable rival America has faced, and the risk of confrontation with Russia, North Korea or Iran still looms. Authoritarians are rising, the chaotic Afghanistan exit revealed the limits of U.S. power, and the pandemic, climate change and other critical challenges continue to pose grave threats.

World

Media Trends

Axios Media Trends

Google search data shows Americans — particularly those in states most impacted by the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade —are scrambling to figure out where they can still get abortions and what the law means for future access.

Why it matters: Americans are trying to wrap their heads around what this means for the future of women's health.

On searches related to abortion, the top queries included, "is abortion illegal," "abortion ban states" and "abortion pill."

Those most actively searching were in political battlegrounds like Wisconsin, Michigan and New Hampshire — where there are no existing laws that would immediately ban or codify abortion rights, as well red states Missouri, Kentucky and Utah, where a trigger law has banned the procedure.

What Americans are searching after Roe v. Wade reversal

The top searches for 'abortion clinic near me' were in the Southeast.

Sunday's politics & policy stories