Axios

The Department of Homeland Security's agency watchdog has launched a criminal investigation into the erasure of Secret Service messages that may have contained evidence about key events related to the Capitol insurrection.

Why it matters: The Secret Service may have violated a federal recordkeeping law if it did in fact erase the texts; the agency has denied "maliciously" deleting messages and said they were lost in an update to mobile devices.

A new poll of the 56 most competitive battleground House districts found that Republicans hold a four-point advantage — 46% to 42% — on the generic congressional ballot.

Why it matters: Despite several recent polls showing incremental gains by Democrats, the reality is that the political environment remains favorable for Republicans.

Once Senate leaders opened the door to moving on a China competitiveness bill over the weekend, a bipartisan group of senators knew exactly what it had to do: use the slimmed-down package as a shell to stuff in as many priorities as possible.

Why it matters: The emerging legislation goes far beyond the narrow $52 billion bill to shore up domestic semiconductor manufacturing that even the Biden administration was willing to settle for this month.

The Supreme Court on Thursday said it won't restore immigration enforcement guidelines issued by the Biden administration, after a federal judge in Texas blocked the policy.

Driving the news: The Supreme Court said that it would take up an appeal of the case later this year but offered no other reasoning, which is standard when the justices act on emergency applications, the New York Times reports.

Support among Republican senators is gradually building for a House-passed bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and codify federal recognition for marriage equality, with senators predicting it will eventually get the votes it needs to pass.

Why it matters: Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas signaled last month that rulings on marriage equality, LGBTQ+ rights and contraception could be reconsidered in the wake of the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, sparking alarm that the right to same-sex marriage could be revoked.

Reps. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) are set to lead the questioning in Thursday's prime-time Jan. 6 hearing, a responsibility the lawmakers attribute in part to their military backgrounds.

Driving the news: The veterans have each tied their military service oaths to their motivation in pressing the inquiry, and Luria accused former President Trump last weekend of a “dereliction of duty" for failing to act during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Former first lady Melania Trump said in an interview with Fox News that she was "unaware" of the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, as she was "fulfilling" her duties as first lady by photographing a rug in the White House that day.

Driving the news: "As with all First Ladies who preceded me, it was my obligation to record the contents of the White House’s historic rooms, including taking archival photographs of all the renovations," Trump said in an interview out Thursday.

The largest bloc of House conservatives sent its members a memo on Thursday calling on Republicans to vote against the Senate's new China competition bill, slamming it as a "zombie" version of previously passed legislation.

Why it matters: The Republican Study Committee memo, obtained by Axios, illustrates the difficulties Congress will face in passing the "CHIPS-plus" bill even after it's expected to be approved with broad bipartisan support in the Senate.

Dawn Bancroft, a Jan. 6 Capitol rioter who said she and others looked for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "to shoot her in the friggin' brain" that day, was sentenced to 60 days in jail on Thursday, according to CNN.

The big picture: Bancroft pleaded guilty to unlawfully protesting in the Capitol in September after initially facing four charges. She will also serve three years' probation and 100 hours of community service.

Justice Elena Kagan warned Thursday that it would be "a dangerous thing for a democracy" if the Supreme Court loses the confidence of the public, Reuters reports.

Driving the news: A recent poll shows that since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, over half of Americans (61%) disapprove of the Supreme Court.

CNN CEO Chris Licht met with a handful of senior congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill on Tuesday in an effort to strengthen the network's relationships with key lawmakers, many of whom have turned sour on cable news, sources familiar with the meetings told Axios.

The big picture: Licht has been vocal about his push to lead CNN away from what critics have described as partisan and alarmist programming in favor of neutral journalism and balanced debate.

Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane was sentenced on Thursday to two and a half years in prison for his role in the killing of George Floyd, the AP reported.

Driving the news: Lane was convicted on federal civil rights charges in February for failing to intervene as his fellow officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, killing him.

A Louisiana judge on Thursday blocked "trigger" laws that would have made nearly all abortions illegal in the state, AP reports.

The big picture: The ruling by a state district judge allows clinics to resume performing abortions while a lawsuit filed by one of Louisiana's abortion clinics and others continues, per AP.

Democratic members of Congress are pushing the U.S. Census Bureau to ensure communities undercounted in the 2020 survey get the federal funding they need.

Why it matters: Latinos were omitted from the 2020 census at a rate more than three times higher than in the 2010 census.

The House on Thursday passed a bill to protect a person's ability to access contraceptives in a 228-195 vote.

The big picture: Lawmakers have been introducing legislation in response to Justice Clarence Thomas' concurring opinion overturning Roe v. Wade saying that the court should reconsider "all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents," including those guaranteeing birth control access and marriage equality.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said her work on the Jan. 6 committee is "the most important thing" she's done in her career, according to a new interview with the New York Times.

The big picture: During the eighth public hearing on Thursday night, the committee will walk through all of former President Trump's actions on Jan. 6, 2021, as rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol.

President Biden weighed in on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's reported trip to Taiwan, saying on Wednesday that military officials currently advise against it.

Driving the news: “Well, I think that the military thinks it’s not a good idea right now, but I don’t know what the status of it is," Biden said when asked his opinion on the trip, per a White House pool report.

Los Angeles County made amends for a century-old racial injustice on Wednesday. The deed to beachfront property — taken from an African American couple that ran a thriving resort there in 1924 — was ceremoniously returned to their heirs, Reuters reports.

Why it matters: Dignitaries at a ceremony in Manhattan Beach called the return of government land unjustly acquired from Black citizens unprecedented in the U.S. — and a model for other jurisdictions.

Cities could dramatically reduce peak summer temperatures by replacing hot, dark surfaces — like streets, rooftops, playgrounds and parking lots — with cooler alternatives, according to the Smart Surfaces Coalition, a new advocacy group.

Why it matters: Even as Europe swelters and the U.S. braces for dangerous heat, cities have been slow to embrace mitigation measures — which can be as simple as painting asphalt with inexpensive chemical coatings that block the absorption of solar radiation.

The Russian Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline resumed sending natural gas to Europe on Thursday after a 10-day shutdown for maintenance.

Why it matters: European governments had been concerned the Kremlin wouldn't reopen the pipeline to Germany due to the Russian military's war on Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin's threats to curb gas flows due to Western sanctions.

The Russian military's months-long war on Ukraine is influencing the Chinese government's considerations on "how and when" to invade Taiwan, CIA Director Bill Burns said Wednesday.

What he's saying: "I wouldn't underestimate President Xi's determination to assert China's control" over the self-governing island, Burns said at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. "He's determined to ensure his military has the capability to undertake such an action should he decide to move in that direction." 

Two Texas men were indicted Wednesday in connection with the heat-related deaths of 53 migrants who were found inside a tractor-trailer in San Antonio last month, prosecutors announced.

The big picture: A federal grand jury in San Antonio indicted Homero Zamorano, 46, of Pasadena, and Christian Martinez, 28, of Palestine, on charges that include conspiracy to transport and the transportation of illegal migrants resulting in death, per a Justice Department statement.

CIA Director Bill Burns said Wednesday U.S. intelligence estimates that about 15,000 Russian troops have been killed in Ukraine "and maybe three times that wounded."

The big picture: Russian military deaths are classified as state secrets by the Kremlin, which hasn't updated casualty numbers much since Putin's forces first invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.