The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled Friday that the state legislature may not have the authority to pass amendments to the state constitution because lawmakers were elected based on district maps that were "unconstitutionally racially gerrymandered."
Why it matters: The NAACP brought the lawsuit after the General Assembly narrowly enacted legislation to present six constitutional amendments to voters in 2018. The U.S. Supreme Court has "conclusively determined" that a substantial number of those legislators were elected from gerrymandered districts.
Republican Rep. Liz Cheney says she hopes former Vice President Mike Pence will testify before the House Jan. 6 committee soon, according to a new interview.
Why it matters: Pence was in the Capitol during the insurrection and faced death threats for resisting then-President Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Pence has yet to testify before the committee, even though many of his aides have done so.
The big picture: Sgt. Kyle Meany was indicted by a federal grand jury earlier this month for knowingly submitting a false affidavit to obtain the search warrant for Taylor's home and providing false information to federal investigators, per the Courier-Journal.
The Department of Defense announced Friday a new $775 million military assistance package for Ukraine on Friday as Russia's unprovoked invasion of the country nears the six-month mark.
Why it matters: The package includes four additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) 16 howitzer heavy field artillery pieces and 36,000 rounds of ammunition, 15 surveillance drones and 40 mine-resistant troop transport vehicles.
The Department of Justice must release a 2019 memorandum supporting then-Attorney General Bill Barr's decision to clear former President Donald Trump of obstruction of justice, a federal appeals court in Washington ruled on Friday.
The big picture: Special Counsel Robert Mueller's 2019 investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election found that while he could not conclude that Trump committed obstruction of justice, Mueller's final report "does not exonerate" the former president.
A state judge temporarily blocked Utah's controversial law that bars transgender girls from competing in school sports matching their gender identity on Thursday, saying it "is plainly unfavorable treatment."
Why it matters: The injunction against the law, which went into effect on July 1, arose from a lawsuit from three teenage transgender girls who were prevented from competing in sports under their preferred gender.
The House Oversight Committee is investigating threats made against federal law enforcement on social media.
Why it matters: The probe comes amid a spike in threats after the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago, including against FBI and DOJ officials and the judge who approved the search warrant.
Two-thirds of rising college sophomores aren't looking to marry someone who supports a different presidential candidate than they do, according to a poll by Generation Lab for NBC News.
The big picture: The survey found that politics has directly affected the life of the country's younger generation, impacting things like college dorm rooms and dating decisions.
The Biden administration next month will host a summit aimed at countering "the corrosive effects of hate-fueled violence on our democracy and public safety," the White House announced Friday.
Why it matters: The summit, dubbed "United We Stand," is in response to a number of hate-fueled attacks during the Biden administration, including in Buffalo, where 10 Black people were killed in a mass shooting at a supermarket.
Nearly half of rising college sophomores say they likely wouldn't choose to live with someone who supported the opposing candidate in the 2020 presidential election, according to a poll by Generation Lab for NBC News.
Why it matters: The pollfound that — for a younger generation — political polarization and tribalism extend to dorm rooms.
We got big developments this week from Trump world and ongoing investigations into the former president and his inner circle. And Liz Cheney was the latest Republican to lose to a Trump-backed challenger in a primary. Meanwhile many Trump supporters feel like the former president has had a kind of reset, especially since the search of Mar-a-Lago.
Plus, Democrats try to head off disinformation targeting Latinos.
And, one family’s reaction to the new FDA hearing aid rule.
Guests: Axios' Mike Allen and Alexi McCammond.
Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Sara Kehaulani Goo, Alexandra Botti, Lydia McMullen-Laird, Alex Sugiura, and Ben O'Brien. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.
Republicans are beginning to run ads targeting Democrats' newly passed $740 billion health care, climate and tax bill — starting in one of the handful of Democratic-held House districts that voted for former President Trump in 2020, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Democrats see the Inflation Reduction Act as a lifeline in their fight to keep the majority and are pushing incumbents to communicate its benefits back home. But Republicans are betting they can turn the bill to their advantage.
Cities, states, and major companies are racing to give people incentives to switch to electric bikes for their work commute or gadding about town — experiments they hope will reduce car traffic and improve people's health.
Why it matters: E-bikes — which give people varying levels of motorized assistance — are environmentally friendly alternatives to cars and trucks. Mass adoption could make a big dent in road congestion and carbon emissions.
The FBI's seizure of 11 sets of classified documents from Mar-a-Lago has raised a litany of questions about presidential records. One of those questions: Why, in the era of digital everything, is the U.S. government still relying so heavily on paper in the first place?
The answer: Much of the classified bureaucracy remains a paper world due in no small part to the security vulnerabilities associated with standard commercial devices, national security lawyer Bradley Moss tells Axios.
China's President Xi Jinping and Russia's leader Vladimir Putin plan to attend the G20 summit in Bali later this year, according to Indonesian officials.
The big picture: President Biden is expected to attend November's forum, setting the stage for the first summit involving the leaders of the U.S., China and Russia since Putin's forces invaded Ukraine and tensions between Washington and Beijing became further heightened after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.
A woman who flew to Washington ahead of the Jan. 6 riot on a private jet and threw media equipment outside the U.S. Capitol during the insurrection pleaded guilty on Thursday, according to the Department of Justice.
The big picture: Katherine Schwab of Fort Worth, Texas, pleaded guilty to knowingly entering a restricted building or grounds. She's the last of three co-defendants to either plead guilty or be sentenced.
Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Nevada and Texas each have five or fewer seats separating the majority and minority party in their state Senates — and all have elections coming up in November, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Why it matters:Republicans have dominated Democrats at the state level for over a decade, allowing them to exercise outsized power over policies governing abortion access, gun control, voting, public health and other hot-button issues.
Americans are about to be bombarded with hundreds of millions of dollars in political ads as the parties' top spenders prep a huge fall advertising blitz.
Why it matters: 2022 election spending is expected to smash records. With primary season coming to a close, both parties are preparing to unload the massive war chests they've stockpiled since last year.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (left) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Photos: Erin Scott/Bloomberg; Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Even Republicans are beginning to acknowledge that their path back to power in the Senate in this fall's elections is far less clear than in the House.
Why it matters: The sharp divergence between the GOP's fortunes in the two chambers highlights the role candidate recruitment — and the involvement of former President Trump — has played in the 2022 midterm cycle.
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