Axios

A Louisiana judge blocked enforcement of the state's near-total ban on abortions on Tuesday while a clinic pursues litigation challenging the laws.

The big picture: The court order renews a previous order that blocked enforcement of the abortion ban.

New testimony from former White House counsel Pat Cipollone prompted the Jan. 6 committee to delay a hearing that had been informally planned for this Thursday by a week, a member of the panel told Axios.

Driving the news: Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told Axios, "I know that we’ve just changed Thursday’s meeting to next Thursday. ... I think we were shooting for [this Thursday,] but now we have an infusion of new testimony."

• Raskin specified: “I think that Cipollone’s testimony has opened up a number of different avenues.”

The Justice Department announced on Tuesday that it has established a task force to identify ways for the federal government to protect abortion access now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade.

Why it matters: The Reproductive Rights Task Force, led by associate attorney general Vanita Gupta, will monitor how states continue to ban or restrict abortion and determine how the Biden administration can respond, including through legal challenges.

Former President Trump deliberately drew his supporters to Washington to protest the election results on Jan. 6, and is ultimately responsible for the violence that unfolded at the Capitol that day, the Jan. 6 committee contended in its seventh public hearing on Tuesday.

Why it matters: Through a mix of stunning videos from late December 2020, public testimony and newly revealed documents, the committee revealed how pro-Trump extremist groups and far-right supporters coalesced around a Dec. 19 Trump tweet, viewing it as a call to action that resulted in the Jan. 6 attack.

Stephen Ayres, a Jan. 6 rioter, embraced former U.S. Capitol Police officers at the culmination of the seventh public hearing on Tuesday and apologized to them.

Driving the news: Ayres, who pleaded guilty in June to disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building for entering the Capitol on Jan. 6, approached former USCP officers Harry Dunn, Michael Fanone and Aquilino Gonell at the end of the hearing, per the Washington Post.

A Capitol rioter on Tuesday testified to the Jan. 6 select committee that President Trump's words incited supporters who later marched on the Capitol on Jan. 6 and that a tweet by the former president caused them to disperse.

Why it matters: The testimony offers a rare perspective on a case the committee has made throughout the hearings: That Trump's unparalleled sway over his supporters makes him directly complicit in the violence.

Former Oath Keepers spokesperson Jason Van Tatenhove warned during Tuesday's Jan. 6 hearing that the violence of that day "could have been the spark that started a civil war."

Driving the news: "I do fear for this election cycle because who knows what that might bring," Van Tatenhove testified Tuesday during the seventh public hearing.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said at a Jan. 6 committee hearing on Tuesday that former President Trump personally called an unidentified Jan. 6 committee witness.

Why it matters: Cheney says the committee has referred the matter to the Department of Justice, which has the power to prosecute the former president if it determines he tampered with a congressional witness.

The abrupt transition to online learning at the beginning of the pandemic was especially harmful to English-language learners in U.S. schools, a new report finds.

Driving the news: The report, released Monday by UnidosUS, the nation’s largest Latino civil rights organization, found that the COVID-19 pandemic had a disproportionate impact on most Latino students, but especially on those learning English.

The Senate voted 48-46 on Tuesday to confirm Steven Dettelbach to lead the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Why it matters: Dettelbach's confirmation makes him the first Senate-confirmed ATF director since 2015 and only the second confirmed director since 2006.

Ten Republican members of Congress attended a Dec. 21 White House meeting focused on efforts to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to help overturn the 2020 election, according to the Jan. 6 committee.

Why it matters: The revelation underscores how deep the involvement of some lawmakers were in former President Trump's schemes to overturn the election even after the electoral college met to affirm President Biden's victory.

Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a text exchange on the evening of Jan. 6 that "a sitting president [is] asking for a civil war," adding that former President Trump's rhetoric "killed someone" that day.

Driving the news: "This week I feel guilty for helping him win," Parscale wrote in a text message to former senior campaign adviser Katrina Pierson, in a text exchange obtained by the panel.

The Jan. 6 panel showed evidence on Tuesday that former President Trump planned in advance to tell his supporters to march to the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to an unpublished draft tweet.

Driving the news: "I will be making the Big Speech at 10AM on January 6th at the Ellipse...March to the Capitol after. Stop the Steal!" Trump wrote in the draft tweet, the committee revealed.

A former Twitter employee told the Jan. 6 committee on Tuesday that former President Trump seemed to be "speaking directly to extremist organizations and giving them directives" on the platform.

Driving the news: The former Twitter employee also testified that the platform considered adopting a "stricter" moderation policy after Trump told the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by" during the first 2020 presidential debate, but the company "chose not to act."

A bipartisan duo of House lawmakers is introducing a novel gun safety measure to put purchase restrictions in the hands of the buyer — a voluntarily “do not sell” list for people living with mental health issues.

Why it matters: The plan by Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and John Curtis (R-Utah) aims to address this sobering statistic: More than half of firearm-related deaths in 2020 were by suicide.

Joe O'Dea, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Colorado, raised roughly $2 million in the second quarter of 2022 — $1 million of which he personally contributed, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The political newcomer's self-funding is keeping his race competitive against Democratic incumbent Michael Bennet. The question is whether a broader stable of Republican donors will get on board with O'Dea in order to flip the seat, Axios Denver's John Franks notes.

Former President Trump's White House counsel Pat Cipollone described a Dec. 18 meeting in the White House as "unhinged" during a clip of a closed-door interview shared by the Jan. 6 select committee during Tuesday's public hearing.

Driving the news: Cipollone testified that an outside group pushing election conspiracy theories, including election lawyer Sidney Powell and Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, exhibited a "general disregard for backing what you actually say with facts."

A man accused of threatening to kill U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Seattle) outside her home while armed with a gun is being held on $500,000 bail.

The latest: On Monday, a King County judge found probable cause to hold the 48-year-old West Seattle man on potential felony hate crime charges.

Former Trump administration aides and officials testified to the Jan. 6 select committee that they and others in former President Trump's orbit accepted the result of the election between late November and mid-December of 2020.

Why it matters: The testimony, played at the committee's hearing on Tuesday, is meant to underscore how Trump continued in his efforts to overturn the election despite many of his top advisers believing he lost — and telling him as much.

The deaths of at least 22 Mexican migrants smuggled in a hot truck last month came as data shows an increase in encounters of U.S. authorities with people from that country.

The big picture: As a whole, migrant encounters — which include Border Patrol apprehensions and those who are turned away at ports of entry — have increased sharply over the last few years. The percentage of Mexican encounters, though small, appears to be growing since 2019.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says any pregnant immigrants in its custody will still have access to abortion services when requested, according to a memo reviewed by Axios.

Why it matters: ICE would be the first law enforcement agency to reinforce its health policies protecting pregnant people after the overturning of Roe v Wade. The administration is looking into ways to ensure similar protections for other populations in its custody, according to one source involved in the discussions.

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot on Tuesday will zero in on the far-right militant groups that breached the Capitol that day — and former President Trump and his allies' ties to those groups.

Why it matters: The committee will present evidence on the linkage among extremist groups, including the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, and top Trump allies to examine the former president's culpability in the violence of that day.

Roughly half of Republicans say they would not vote for former President Trump if he were a candidate in the 2024 presidential primary, according to a new New York Times/Siena College poll published Tuesday.

Why it matters: While Trump has been holding rallies around the country and publicly mulling a re-election campaign, he faces a crowded field of potential opponents, including former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Applications to vote by mail in the Sept. 6 state primary will arrive at Massachusetts households in the next couple of weeks, Secretary of State Bill Galvin told reporters Monday.

Driving the news: The Supreme Judicial Court yesterday rejected MassGOP's request to block the state from implementing the new voting law, including its requirement to send out mail-in ballot applications 45 days before an election.

Here's an encouraging dispatch from Normal America: Neighbors from across Highland Park, Ill., sprang into action to help save lives after the mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade.

Why it matters: Before emergency workers arrived, the real first responders were everyday citizens. Nearly a dozen people — including off-duty doctors, nurses and a football coach — were among the first to administer first aid.

A U.S. district court on Monday temporarily blocked a 2021 Arizona law that grants "personhood" rights to fetuses, embryos and fertilized eggs.

Why it matters: Under the ruling, the law can't be used to criminalize abortion services in the state. Abortion providers and advocacy groups had asked the court for an emergency motion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Nevada Democrats are making an aggressive final push to have their state cast the first ballot in the 2024 presidential primary — arguing it's time for the Democratic National Committee to abandon tradition and refocus on voters of color.

Why it matters: The fierce competition with New Hampshire Dems, who are bidding to remain the first-in-the-nation primary, reflects a broader tug-of-war over which voters and policies the party will prioritize in an evolving political landscape.

The Jan. 6 select committee will present evidence at its hearing on Tuesday that a tweet by former President Trump prompted pro-Trump groups to change the date they planned to converge on D.C. to Jan. 6, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: One of the central questions in the investigation has been how directly culpable Trump was in the violence committed by his supporters — something impeachment managers sought to answer in the weeks after the assault.