Axios

A well-funded Republican political apparatus has quietly sought to tip the scales in key GOP primaries this year, funding local-sounding super PACs to try — with limited success so far — to knock off hard-right Republican candidates, records show.

Why it matters: Newly released campaign finance records show how Republican operatives aligned with GOP leadership in Washington are trying to surreptitiously kneecap more extreme elements that could cost the party some key House and Senate seats.

Seventeen current U.S. House members — including Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) — voted just 26 years ago to define marriage as between one man and one woman and allow states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages.

Why it matters: Thirteen of those members have since changed their positions — voting Tuesday to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enshrine marriage equality into federal law. Solid Democratic support for marriage equality — much less bipartisan support — is a remarkably recent phenomenon.

The number of immigrants who became U.S. citizens in Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Florida between fiscal years 2016 and 2020 is greater than the 2020 presidential margin of victory in each of those states, according to a new report by the National Partnership for New Americans and the Service Employees International Union.

Why it matters: The growing demographic of naturalized citizens has the potential to become an election-deciding voting bloc — especially in swing states that could determine which party controls Congress this fall.

David Hogg, a gun control activist and survivor of the 2018 Parkland school shooting, was escorted out of a House Judiciary Committee meeting on Wednesday after yelling at Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), claiming that the congressman was repeating language used by mass shooters.

Why it matters: The committee was holding a markup on legislation that would ban the sale, import, manufacture or transfer of certain semiautomatic weapons that the bill defines as assault weapons.

The Secret Service may have violated a federal records-keeping law by allegedly deleting agents’ texts while updating their mobile devices, the Jan. 6 select committee said Wednesday.

Why it matters: The messages were from Jan. 5 and 6, and may have contained evidence about key events related to the Capitol attack — the focus of the panel’s hearing on Thursday night.

Pennsylvania's Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, said that he is "feeling really good" in his first interview since suffering a stroke days before the Senate primary.

Driving the news: "I would never be in this if we were not absolutely, 100% able to run fully and to win — and we believe that we are," Fetterman told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

A federal appeals court on Wednesday lifted an injunction on the state's 2019 anti-abortion law, which bans most abortions after about six weeks and ruled the law is fully in effect.

Driving the news: "We vacate the injunction, reverse the judgment in favor of the abortionists, and remand with instructions to enter judgment in favor of the state officials," the court said Wednesday, before staying the lower court's decision, even though plaintiffs could still move for reconsideration of the decision.

The Jan. 6 committee on Thursday will walk through, in detail, former President Trump's reported inaction during the 187 minutes that a violent mob attacked the Capitol, aiming to show that he deliberately chose not to intervene.

The big picture: Using recorded and in-person testimony, the committee will highlight evidence that Trump was fully briefed and aware of the events that were unfolding in real time on Jan. 6, and despite pleas from people inside and out of the White House, he waited several hours to intervene.

A bipartisan group of 16 senators introduced legislation on Wednesday to reform and modernize the Electoral Count Act of 1887, including by clarifying the role of the vice president in certifying presidential elections.

Why it matters: The bill, if passed by the House and Senate, would mark the first major legislative response to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and the events that it preceded it.

Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska, in an emotional address to Congress on Wednesday, asked for more weapons and air defense equipment.

Driving the news: Zelenska asked whether teachers in Ukraine should prepare to work in classrooms or bomb shelters. "We would have answers if we had air defense systems," she said.

House Republicans praised former Vice President Mike Pence during a Wednesday meeting on Capitol Hill, lauding him for his "courage" and handling of certifying the 2020 election results on Jan. 6, multiple sources familiar with the meeting tell Axios.

Why it matters: The meeting of the Republican Study Committee — the largest bloc of House conservatives — puts many GOP members at odds with former President Trump, who has consistently attacked Pence for defying him on Jan. 6 by refusing to overturn the presidential election.

A New York judge has ordered former president Donald Trump's onetime lawyer Rudy Giuliani to testify in the Fulton County district attorney's investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Why it matters: Giuliani, who was subpoenaed by the Atlanta DA in early July, is the closest figure to former president to be implicated in the wide-reaching investigation.

Trump officials tried to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census to try to impact congressional apportionment, according to a report released Wednesday by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Why it matters: The report found that documents obtained by the committee are at odds with a 2019 testimony from former Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, who said the Trump administration tried to add a citizenship question so it could better enforce the Voting Rights Act.

Less than four in 10 people approve of the Supreme Court, compared to six in 10 the same time last year, according to a national survey conducted by Marquette University Law School.

Driving the news: The poll was conducted over a week after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The month before the ruling, approval for the court was at 44% (following the opinion leak), and in March of this year it was at 54%.

Asian Americans are adjusting to a new long-term reality as the number of anti-Asian hate crimes and incidents across the U.S. continue to climb.

The big picture: The anti-Asian hate crisis has given AAPIs new visibility, but the harassment and violence haven't abated. The share of Americans who wrongly blame COVID on people of Asian descent grew between 2021 and 2022, fueling anxiety about sustained attacks as the world navigates the third year of the pandemic.

Jason Greenblatt — President Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, and one of his longest-serving aides — is out with "In the Path of Abraham," an insider account of the administration's Mideast diplomacy, including the historic Abraham Accords peace agreement.

Why it matters: Greenblatt was one of the chief architects of the administration's Peace to Prosperity vision for a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, who repeatedly rejected the plan.

Democrats across the 10 most competitive Senate races are out-raising Republicans by more than $75 million among small-dollar donors — those giving less than $200 — according to an Axios analysis of Federal Election Commission records.

The big picture: Inflation, Trump-induced donor fatigue and other factors are impacting the GOP grassroots, prompting Republican candidates to rely more heavily on high-dollar donors.

Dan Cox, a far-right state delegate endorsed by former President Trump, won Tuesday's Republican primary for Maryland governor, AP projects.

Why it matters: His victory over moderate Kelly Schulz, who was backed by Gov. Larry Hogan, is also a win for Democrats, who boosted Cox's conservative credentials before the primary.

The Fulton County district attorney's office said Tuesday 16 Republicans who signed an "unofficial electoral certificate" in Georgia are "targets" in its investigation into former President Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Why it matters: Tuesday's court filings mark a major acceleration in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' investigation as they indicate the fake electors may face criminal charges.

The White House and some Senate Democrats aren't giving up on Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) just yet — and are leaving the door open to pursuing climate legislation in a potential second reconciliation package, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The keep-hope-alive approach means President Biden can't antagonize Manchin by taking immediate executive actions on issues that matter deeply to the moderate West Virginia senator, like pipeline permitting.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made a surprise appearance Tuesday night at a Capitol Hill fundraiser for Joe O'Dea, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Colorado who is pledging to compete aggressively for Democrat Michael Bennet's seat.

Why it matters: With signs Republican candidates may face struggles in battleground states including Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia, the party's hopes of retaking the majority may depend on bluer Colorado.

The U.S. Army is cutting the total number of expected soldiers over the next two years due to "unprecedented challenges" in recruiting.

The big picture: Army officials estimated at a House Armed Services Committee panel on Tuesday that they will be 10,000 soldiers short of the planned force size for this fiscal year, with numbers to drop further next year.

Four out of five candidates endorsed by former President Trump won their election last year — up from just 57% in 2017, according to data from Ballotpedia reviewed by Axios.

By the numbers: Trump has already endorsed more candidates in 2022 than any other year, with 223 regular endorsements and two more in special elections.

New public polling from Michigan shows Republican voters increasingly willing to look at a conservative alternative to Donald Trump, even as they still view the 45th president favorably.

Driving the news: A Detroit News poll of likely Republican primary voters found Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis statistically tied with Trump in a hypothetical 2024 GOP presidential field, with Trump's favorability rating dipping from 84% to 76% since May.

The Trump administration sold oil from the U.S. strategic reserves to China's largest oil producer in 2017, according to government data reviewed by Axios.

Why it matters: Republicans in Congress are demanding investigations into the Biden administration's recent release of oil to a China-owned firm with which the president's son Hunter once had business dealings.