The Arkansas House of Representatives on Tuesday passed SB307, a bill to create a "monument commemorating unborn children aborted during the era of Roe v. Wade" on the state Capitol grounds.
State of play: The legislation allows for the creation of the Monument to Unborn Children Display Fund, which would use gifts, donations and grants to pay for the memorial.
Ohio is suing Norfolk Southernover last month's East Palestine train derailment, calling it "entirely avoidable," state Attorney General Dave Yost announced Tuesday.
The big picture: The 58-count civil lawsuit filed in federal court seeks to hold one of the country's largest freight rail operators financially responsible for the Feb. 3 train derailment that caused the release of over 1 million gallons of hazardous chemicals into the surrounding environment.
Federal Reserve governor Michelle Bowman on Tuesday said the U.S. banking system remained on solid footing in the first public speech from a policymaker after the high-profile failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
Why it matters: Bowman made short remarks acknowledging the fallout from those bank closures, which forced the Fed and other regulators to step in with emergency measures, during a speech that focused on innovation in the banking system.
Ron DeSantis' claim that protecting Ukraine isn't in the "vital" interest of the U.S. highlights a remarkable divide in the GOP over foreign policy — pitting its top two presidential candidates against the party's more hawkish establishment.
Why it matters: The move by DeSantis — echoing the isolationist views of his likely rival, former President Trump — represents a sharp contrast from most of the past four decades, when Republicans typically have subscribed to the Reagan era's "peace through strength" internationalism.
Tennessee Senate Republicans passed a bill Monday that seeks to define "sex" in the state code as the gender assigned at birth, carrying implications for transgender people in the state.
Driving the news: The bill was held back in the state's House because of its potential budgetary impact.
A coalition of more than a dozen conservative groups is pushing back against a bipartisan rail safety bill that lawmakers introduced after a freight train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, in February.
Why it matters: Several right-leaning members of Congress have already endorsed the legislation, which aims to prevent a similar disastrous derailment.
Embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) filed paperwork declaring his intention to run for re-election in 2024 — even as he continues to face criticism and scrutiny for fabricating large swaths of his background.
Driving the news: Filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission is not a confirmation of a 2024 campaign, but it reflects his refusal to step down as he continues to fend off accusations of lying.
A federal initiative seeks to standardize metrics in the country's criminal justice system as states and police struggle to keep data on Latinos, Indigenous people, and Asian Americans.
Why it matters: States and police have varying data collection systems identifying people of color during arrests or incarceration, causing incomplete or incorrect statistics. Experts say that incomplete data make developing policies to address inequalities hard.
The big picture: Warren has been outspoken in the aftermath of SVB's collapse, criticizing Trump-era rollbacks to parts of the Dodd-Frank Act, which provided regulatory relief for midsized banks like SVB.
The Environmental Protection Agency proposed drinking water regulations on Tuesday for certain types of "forever chemicals," a pervasive group of industrial chemicals that have affected drinking water quality across the U.S.
Why it matters: If the proposals become official, it'd be the first time the federal government would require utilities to remove the dangerous chemicals from drinking water before they reach households and businesses.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) weighed in on the war in Ukraine this week, aligning himself with former President Donald Trump, who has led the anti-war wing of the GOP.
Several top Republicans keep saying there's no way former President Trump can win the 2024 GOP nomination — but polls say he can.
Why it matters: Trump's rivals and critics underestimated him in 2016, often treating him as a sideshow rather than a front-runner. They risk repeating that mistake.
Legislators in multiple states are invoking a widespread labor shortage to push bills that would weaken long-standing child labor laws.
Why it matters: Some bills go beyond expanding eligibility or working hours for run-of-the-mill teen jobs. They'd make it easier for kids to fill physically demanding roles at potentially hazardous work sites.
House Democrats' main super PAC is launching a '24 outpost in New York as part of a big-money effort to recapture seats lost to Republicans in the midterms, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: New York Republicans flipped four Democrat-held seats in November, and the GOP's gains were crucial in giving Republicans a nine-seat House majority. Any push by Democrats to reclaim the House in 2024 will require a better showing in traditionally blue New York.
President Biden is signing a gun control executive order on Tuesday that the administration says will get the country “as close to universal background checks as possible without additional legislation.”
Why it matters: It builds on the bipartisan legislation Biden signed into law last June, but requires the attorney general to get involved through a wonky process of redefining which firearms dealers are required to run background checks.
Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador denounced Monday U.S. travel warnings and American news reports of violence in his country as a smear against his administration, per AP.
Driving the news: The U.S. State Department has "do not travel" alerts in place for six Mexican states, "reconsider travel" recommendations for six others and "exercise increased caution" advisories for a further 17 states.
President Biden said former President Jimmy Carter asked him to deliver his eulogy after he dies, per a White House pool report Monday night.
Driving the news: Biden made the comments while discussing the health issues of Carter, who's receiving hospice care, during a Democratic National Committee fund-raiser in Rancho Santa Fe, California, which was attended by about 40 guests.
The U.S. government filed a lawsuit against Rite Aid on Monday, accusing the pharmacy chain of knowingly filling unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances, including opioids.
Driving the news: The Department of Justice alleged in the complaint that from May 2014 to June 2019, Rite Aid filled hundreds of thousands of prescriptions "that were medically unnecessary, lacked a medically accepted indication, or were not issued in the usual course of professional practice."
Former president Trump's ex-personal lawyer Michael Cohen on Monday appeared before a grand jury investigating hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, his attorney confirmed to Axios.
The big picture: Cohen's testimony is another sign that state authorities could bring criminal charges against the former president as part of his role in the payments, per the New York Times, which first reported the news.
Former President Trump told reporters on Monday that "in many ways you can blame" former Vice President Mike Pence for the U.S. Capitol riot, per the Washington Post.
The big picture: It's the latest in a long-running feud that began after Pence resisted pressure from Trump and certified the 2020 election results.
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