The warring left and right flanks in Congress are finding surprising agreement on a triple crown of huge issues — foreign influence in U.S. politics, stock trading by members of Congress and the power of Big Tech.
Why it matters: Those issues all reflect the two parties' increasing efforts to appeal to the working class — and hold official Washington to account.
California state lawmakers voted Monday to advance an amendment that would guarantee the right to get an abortion under the state's constitution, just days after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Why it matters: The amendment will now become a ballot measure for state voters to decide whether it should be added to the California Constitution.
Four people died, and multiple were injured, after an Amtrak train en route from Los Angeles to Chicago derailed in Mendon, Missouri on Monday afternoon.
Driving the news: A fourth person died Tuesday after a train carrying about 243 passengers and 12 crew members derailed, injuring multiple people, the Missouri State Highway Patrol confirmed Tuesday.
The FBI last week seized the phone of John Eastman, a former attorney for President Trump who helped advise on efforts to overturn the 2020 election, CNN first reported.
Driving the news: Eastman's lawyer revealed the seizure in a court filing Monday, calling the FBI's action unlawful. The filing seeks to have the Department of Justice return the phone and destroy copies of anything that was retrieved from it.
Vice President Kamala Harris told CNN in a new interview Monday that she did not believe former President Trump's Supreme Court nominees would keep the Roe v. Wade ruling from being overturned.
What she said: "I never believed them. I didn't believe them. That's why I voted against them," Harris told CNN, referring to Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett.
A court in Utah on Monday temporarily blocked Utah's "trigger" law on abortion, which had taken effect Friday after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and banned most abortions in the state.
Why it matters: Planned Parenthood Association of Utah (PPAU) argued in its lawsuit that the Utah Constitution protects a person's right to seek an abortion in the state.
With Roe v. Wade overturned, abortion rights advocates are already bringing the next legal battle to the states as many of them move to ban abortion access.
Driving the news: Lawsuits challenging "trigger" laws aimed at making nearly all abortions illegal in Utah and Louisiana were quickly filed — and their bans were temporarily blocked by courts.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Monday said she's preparing votes on a number of bills protecting abortion as well as codifying landmark Supreme Court decisions as a response to the court overturning Roe v. Wade.
Driving the news: In a "Dear Colleague" letter to her caucus, Pelosi hinted at bills to respond to Justice Clarence Thomas' concurring opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson calling for the court to revisit landmark rulings protecting same-sex relationships, marriage equality and access to contraceptives.
Abortion providers in Idaho, Texas and Mississippi have sued state officials to challenge "trigger" laws scheduled to take effect later in the summer that would make nearly all abortions illegal in those three states.
The big picture: These are the most recent lawsuits challenging trigger laws after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. So far, suits have been filed in Utah and Louisiana, and the latter's ban has been temporarily blocked.
Public tours of the White House will resume a full operating schedule beginning in mid-July, the White House announced on Monday.
Driving the news: The White House suspended public tours in March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, per CNN. Tours resumed in April of this year on a limited schedule.
The Jan. 6 committee on Monday announced a hearing for Tuesday to "present recently obtained evidence and receive witness testimony."
Why it matters: Members of the panel had said they planned to postpone their remaining hearings until July. It's an abrupt change of course for a committee that has carefully orchestrated the public rollout of its findings.
A district court on Monday blocked Louisiana's "trigger" laws that would have made nearly all abortions illegal in the state, shortly after providers had filed a lawsuit calling the bans unconstitutional.
Driving the news: The Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing the providers in the case, argues that the state's "trigger" bans are "vague" because they do not have a "clear and unambiguous effective date" and "lack adequate standing for enforceability."
Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) dispatched a host of Republican challengers and will advance to the general election for his Central Valley House seat, according to the Associated Press.
Why it matters: Valadao was one of the 10 House Republicans who voted last January to impeach former President Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled 6-3 that a Washington state public high school football coach had a right to pray on the field with students, declaring that such activity is protected under the Constitution because it counts as free speech.
Driving the news: "The Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment protect an individual engaging in a personal religious observance from government reprisal; the Constitution neither mandates nor permits the government to suppress such religious expression," according to the court's opinion, written by Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Justice Clarence Thomas on Monday indicated that he believes the Supreme Court should reconsider a ruling that makes it more difficult to sue media organizations, saying he disagreed with the court's decision to turn away an appeal in a defamation case.
Why it matters: The case in question, Coral Ridge v. SPLC, was designed to overturn the landmark New York Times v. Sullivan case, which established the precedent that a public figure must prove a defendant acted with "actual malice," or intentionality, in defaming a person.
More than 1 million voters in 43 states switched to the Republican Party in the last year, while 630,000 became Democrats, AP found based on voter registration data.
Why it matters: It may be a new sign of a red wave brewing ahead of this fall's midterms.
Yesli Vega, the Republican nominee running against Democrat Abigail Spanberger for Congress, downplayed the possibility of becoming pregnant as a result of rape when asked about her stance on abortion at a campaign stop last month, according to audio obtained by Axios.
What's happening: At an event in Stafford County, Vega, a Prince William County supervisor and sheriff's deputy, was asked what she thinks Congress should do if the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Russian forces increased their assault on Lysychansk Monday as they tried to encircle the city in eastern Ukraine from the south, Ukrainian officials said.
The big picture: Justice Clarence Thomas' concurring opinion about reconsidering protections including same-sex relationships and marriage equality raised concern that hard-won LGBTQ+ freedoms are at risk.
Rudy Giuliani was slapped on the back in a Staten Island grocery store while campaigning for his son on Sunday, the former New York City mayor and police said.
Driving the news: The New York Police Department told Axios over the phone that a 39-year-old suspect from Staten Island was arrested and charged with second-degree assault following the incident in ShopRite.
A stand at a Colombia bullring collapsed and killed at least six people and injured more than 100 others on Sunday, provincial officials said, per the New York Times.
The big picture: The tragedy occurred in the central Colombian city of El Espinal in Tolima as members of the public participated in a bull-running event, according to multiple reports. President-elect Gustavo Petroi said he's asked officials "not to allow more events involving the death of people or animals," the BBC reports.
