Leading progressive super PAC Priorities USA announced a $15 million campaign on Monday to combat voter suppression in battleground states.
Driving the news: The group says the investment is a bid to counter policies that unfairly disenfranchise people of color, especially Black and Latino voters, after GOP-run state legislatures introduced more than 100 bills to restrict voting access following the 2020 election.
The Biden administration's student loan forgiveness plan could cost about $400 billion over 30 years, per new estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Why it matters: Biden's student loan plan has presented new political hurdles for the administration — and the CBO figures give Republican critics another talking point for their already-vocal opposition.
Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) on Sunday filed a lawsuit against the Jan. 6 select committee after receiving a subpoena calling him to testify before the committee Monday morning.
Driving the news: In a letter dated Friday, committee chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) wrote that the committee wished to question Vos regarding a phone call he received this July from former President Trump in which Trump pressured Vos to overturn the state's 2020 presidential election results.
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden will welcome French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, for a state visit on Dec. 1, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed at a press briefing Monday.
Why it matters: This will be the first formal state dinner hosted by the Biden administration — coming later than those of previous administrations because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Biden is slated to announce a new rule on Monday that will require airline and travel websites to disclose upfront any additional fees when displaying ticket prices.
Why it matters: The new rule would require these websites to display additional fees — such as for checked luggage, seat selection and flight changes — the first time the airfare price is displayed, according to a Department of Transportation press release.
A federal judge on Friday ruled that U.S. Sugar can proceed with its $315 million acquisition of rival Imperial Sugar, rejecting a Justice Department antitrust lawsuit.
Why it matters: This is the latest in a string of losses for Biden antitrust officials, in both DOJ and the FTC, as Axios reported last week. The next big test will be DOJ's efforts to stop book publisher Penguin Random House's proposed acquisition of Simon & Schuster.
There are 3,300+ words in The Atlantic's adaptation of Maggie Haberman's forthcoming book, "Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America" — out a week from tomorrow.
The big picture: These are the ones that will get the most attention from the Department of Justice. They're from one of three interviews Trump gave Haberman for the book.
Democrats’ chances of beating the GOP in Arizona, a key swing state in the midterms, are growing. The Cook Political Report last week moved the Arizona senate race from its “toss up” category to "leans Democratic." Arizona Republicans nominated MAGA-aligned candidates in races across the state.
Plus, spam text messages have exploded: how the FCC could respond.
And, hurricane season picks up.
Guests: Axios' Margaret Talev and Margaret Harding McGill.
Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Sara Kehaulani Goo, Alexandra Botti, Lydia McMullen-Laird, Fonda Mwangi, Alex Sugiura. 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.
Washington has privately warned Moscow of "catastrophic" consequences if Russian President Vladimir Putin instructs his military to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, top U.S. officials said in interviews broadcast Sunday.
Driving the news: Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan made the comments after Kremlin officials doubled down on the veiled nuclear threat Putin made in announcing the mobilization of some 300,000 reservists last week.