Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Saturday he completed inpatient physical therapy after a fall at a fundraising dinner earlier this month and will work from his D.C. home for "the next few days."
The big picture: It's not clear when McConnell will resume in-person work at the Capitol, with an aide telling Axios he won't be back before the Senate breaks for a two-week recess on Friday.
Top House Republicans said in a letter Saturday that they're considering legislation to "protect" current and former presidents from "politically motivated prosecutions" in response to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's investigation into former President Trump.
Why it matters: The letter is the latest volley in their back-and-forth with Bragg, who has refused to comply with their request for records related to his probe. Republicans have attempted to paint Bragg's actions — which could result in a historic indictment of Trump — as an abuse of prosecutorial authority.
A letter containing white powder sent Friday to the office of the Manhattan district attorney weighing charges against former President Trump contained no "dangerous substance" inside, according to multiple reports.
Driving the news: Aspokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement to Politico and CNBC that the material "was immediately contained" and that law officials in New York " determined there was no dangerous substance."
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (D-N.Y.) first and only TikTok video has gone viral — and in it, she outlines her case against banning the Chinese-owned social media app as its fate hangs in the balance.
Why it matters: With more than 150 million monthly active users in the U.S., TikTok is one of the most popular smartphone apps in the country. Lawmakers are pressing forward with bipartisan efforts to facilitate a ban in the U.S. amid scrutiny surrounding the firm's relationship with the Chinese government.
Two migrants died and at least a dozen more were injured after being trapped in a train car in Texas, police said Friday.
Driving the news: Uvalde Police said in a statement it responded to a tip on Friday afternoon about numerous undocumented immigrants "suffocating" inside of a train car. At least 10 people were hospitalized from the incident.
Just a week ago, former President Trump's team was touting his more disciplined approach to campaigning. But now there's a more familiar Trump: an angry, scorched-earth force on social media, trying to rally his base by casting himself as a victim.
Why it matters: Trump's tirades on Truth Social over his potential indictment in New York were filled with the type of incendiary rhetoric that preceded the Jan. 6 insurrection — and symbolized the colliding forces inside his campaign.
The Los Angeles Unified School District and striking union employees reached a tentative deal Friday that includes a 30% wage boost and other new benefits.
Why it matters: If approved by union members, the agreement could end the major strike that shuttered the nation's second-largest school district this week.
The U.S. and Canada have struck a new agreement that will allow them to divert some asylum-seekers amid a surge in entries at the northern border.
Driving the news: The deal closes a legal loophole that allowed migrants traveling from the U.S. to Canada to apply for asylum if they used unofficial crossings — and vice versa.
President Biden on Friday said the U.S. will "act forcefully" to protect its troops and other personnel in Syria after a drone strike by suspected Iranian proxies in the northeast part of the country killed an American contractor and wounded five American service members and another U.S. contractor.
Details: A U.S. intelligence assessment determined that the "one-way unmanned aerial vehicle" that struck a maintenance facility on a coalition base near Hasakah on Thursday was "of Iranian origin," per a U.S. Defense Department statement issued late Thursday.
Asian Americans' psychological stateover the last few years has been one of hypervigilance and pretending — constantly having to act as if everything is "business as usual" even amid high-profile anti-Asian attacks and the aftereffects of collective trauma, health advocates and experts tell Axios.
Two freshman House Democrats will be part of a congressional delegation led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to the D.C. jail — where Jan. 6 riot defendants are being held.
Driving the news: A spokesperson for House Oversight Democrats said progressive Reps. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) and Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) "will cut through Republicans’ attempts to whitewash the dangerous realities of Jan. 6."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) suggested in a new interview that he's more interested in being president than being vice president to former President Trump if asked.
Why it matters: The rising GOP star has been in an escalating war of words with Trump, as they are likely to face off for their party's '24 presidential nomination.
TikTok's future in the U.S. is most likely to be determined by the courts, rather than by politicians, executives or influencers.
Driving the news: Congress gave the social media company no quarter yesterday, in a four-hour hearing that mostly vacillated between moral panic and red scare.
A Pennsylvania woman who was accused of helping rioters steal a laptop from then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office during the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced on Thursday to 36 months in prison, the Department of Justice announced.
Driving the news: Riley June Williams, 23, of Harrisburg, was sentenced in Washington, D.C., for "interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder, and resisting or impeding law enforcement officers, both felonies, as well as four related misdemeanor offenses," per a DOJ statement.
Utah became on Thursday the first state to enact legislation that restricts children and teens from using social media without their parents' consent.
Driving the news: Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed two bills into law aimed at limiting when and where anyone younger than 18 years old can interact online, and to stop companies from luring minors to certain websites.
The Senate Ethics Committee admonished Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Thursday for using interviews at the Capitol to solicit campaign donations.
Why it matters: It's an uncommon move by the panel, which is less active than its House counterpart. The last senator to receive an admonishment was Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) in 2018.
