Axios

The Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked lower court orders that imposed restrictions on the widely used abortion pill mifepristone, keeping the status quo for the most common form of medication abortion while a legal challenge to the Food and Drug Administration's authority plays out.

Why it matters: The decision forestalled what would have been an unprecedented court-ordered rollback of FDA powers and at least temporarily settled a legal standoff arising from conflicting orders issued by separate federal courts on abortion pills.

Mass shootings in Louisville and Nashville didn't keep the NRA's annual convention from attracting a pack of likely Republican presidential candidates.

Why it matters: The three-day convention, which opened in Indianapolis on Friday, broadcasts the extreme staying power gun politics have with generations of Republican politicians.

The FBI has arrested the suspected leaker of a trove of classified Pentagon documents, identified as a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, Attorney General Merrick Garland confirmed Thursday.

The latest: President Biden lauded U.S. law enforcement's rapid investigation into the leak in a statement Friday, and that he'd "directed our military and intelligence community to take steps to further secure and limit distribution of sensitive information."

The Justice Department on Friday asked the Supreme Court to immediately block federal court rulings that imposed restrictions on the widely used abortion pill mifepristone.

Why it matters: Justices have another high-profile abortion fight on their doorstep less than a year after overturning Roe v. Wade, ending federal protections on abortion.

LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman provided legal funding for writer E. Jean Carroll's sexual assault lawsuit against Donald Trump, attorneys for the former president said Thursday.

Driving the news: Trump attorney Alina Habba wrote in a letter to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Thursday that Carroll failed to disclose that she received legal funding from Hoffman, a billionaire and donor to the Democratic Party. A lawyer for Carroll dismissed the allegations as "baseless."

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed legislation on a six-week abortion ban into law on Thursday night, becoming the latest Southern state looking to bar access after the bill passed in the state legislature earlier in the day.

Why it matters: Florida was considered a refuge for people seeking abortions in the South, particularly since nearby states — Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi — have bans in place that have forced abortion clinics to close.

Former President Trump "spent nearly seven hours" defending his family business during his second deposition for the New York attorney general's $250 million lawsuit against him, his lawyers said Thursday evening.

Why it matters: It's the first time the former president has spoken about the Trump Organization in the civil investigation that accuses him, his business and his elder children Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump of fraud.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued new regulations Thursday severely limiting gender-affirming care for both adults and youth.

Driving the news: ACLU and Lambada Legal announced they'll take legal action to challenge the order, which states that it's "unfair, deceptive, fraudulent, or otherwise unlawful" to provide a gender affirming care to patients without informed consent and lengthy evaluations.

House Democrats will try to turn Republicans' anti-crime narrative against them on Monday at a GOP-led hearing in New York City that will focus on local crime — and the prosecution of former President Trump.

Why it matters: After years of being tied to left-wing calls to "defund the police," Democrats spy an opportunity to go on offense by trying to paint Republicans as the true foes of law-and-order.

100 days into their majority, the House GOP's top two investigative panels have issued nearly three dozen subpoenas — plowing forward in a range of aggressive probes even as Democrats and federal agencies claim foul play.

Why it matters: Republicans vowed on the campaign trail to hold the Biden administration accountable and investigate the alleged "weaponization" of government — a conservative cause that has taken on new urgency in the wake of former President Trump's indictment.

Some Pennsylvania swing voters who identify as "pro-life" are still firmly against banning the common abortion drug mifepristone — and view it as the latest example of GOP extremism and overreach, according to our latest Engagious/Sago focus groups.

Driving the news: The findings suggest Republicans across the country could be punished for how conservative judges and legislatures are restricting and removing reproductive rights nearly a year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

House Republicans wrestling with how to form a budget plan are weighing whether to extend their outlook from ten to 15 years to make spending cuts easier — and whether to create a panel to explore changes to Social Security and Medicare.

Why it matters: Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) repeatedly has said the GOP wants to present a plan to balance the budget within a decade. But with Republicans struggling to reach a consensus, GOP lawmakers are thinking about different avenues to cut spending.

Justice Clarence Thomas allegedly sold properties in Savannah, Georgia, to Texas billionaire and Republican megadonor Harlan Crow in 2014 and did not report the transactions in financial disclosures, according to a ProPublica investigation.

Why it matters: Thomas has faced calls for resignation and impeachment after a separate ProPublica report alleged he had accepted multiple luxury trips from Crow over two decades.

A federal judge in Washington state on Thursday ruled that the Food and Drug Administration cannot roll back access to abortion pills in 17 states and the District of Columbia, regardless of the conflicting orders issued in other federal courts.

Why it matters: The availability of mifepristone, used for medication abortion, hinged on dueling court decisions — one that adds restrictions to the medication and the Washington state one, which says that suspending access to the drug alters the “status quo.”

San Francisco police have arrested a tech consultant in connection with the April 4 killing of Cash App founder Bob Lee.

Driving the news: Police said the suspect, Nima Momeni, and Lee knew each other, but at a news conference Thursday declined to give additional details on what led to Lee's fatal stabbing. Momeni has been charged with murder and will be arraigned Friday.

The FBI in April arrested the person accused of the massive leak of highly classified Pentagon documents that revealed secrets about the U.S.' allies and adversaries.

Why it matters: While officials are still assessing the validity of the documents, an interagency effort is being assembled to determine what impact the leak could have on U.S. national security.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday he would return to the Senate when the chamber returns from recess, after more than a month of recovering from a fall.

Why it matters: His return is expected to put Senate Republicans at full strength as Democrats grapple with the impact of the protracted absence of Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-Calif.) on their two-seat majority.

China on Thursday sanctioned Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chair of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, for visiting Taiwan.

The big picture: McCaul met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei last week and said that the U.S. would provide training for Taiwan's armed forces and deliver more weapons to the self-governing island to support its defense capabilities.

The Justice Department said Thursday that it will appeal to the Supreme Court a lower court decision that let the FDA's approval of the abortion pill mifepristone remain in effect but imposed strict restrictions on the drug's use.

Why it matters: Less than a year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the justices have yet another major abortion case at their doorstep.

President Biden vowed Thursday that the U.S. is "getting close" to getting answers in the investigation into the leak of a trove of classified Pentagon documents.

Why it matters: The leaked documents contained stunning revelations about the extent of the U.S.' knowledge of Russia's intelligence and security services, but also outline U.S. efforts to spy on some of its allies.

President Biden's nomination of Julie Su as Labor secretary is in serious danger, as Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has told the Biden administration he has deep reservations about her, according to people familiar with the situation.

Why it matters: For Biden, the cold, hard math of the divided Senate means that Manchin’s opposition — combined with one other Democratic defection— would scuttle Su’s chances.

In a sign of the growing power of a Chamber of Commerce alternative, former attorney general Bill Barr will chair a new legal effort aimed at curbing federal regulation.

Why it matters: "[A] number of the companies and businesses that are interested in working with us are going to be more inclined not to go with the flow," Barr told Axios.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is taking early steps toward legislation to regulate artificial intelligence technology, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: A recent explosion in the development of generative AI systems has spurred alarm among lawmakers and the broader public about AI's potential social, economic and security ramifications.

A federal appeals court late Wednesday partially blocked a Texas judge's decision halting the FDA's approval of the widely used abortion pill mifepristone.

The big picture: The 2-1 ruling by a three-judge panel on the conservative-leaning court means that, for now, mifepristone is still available in the U.S., but with several strict limitations.

Senate Democrats will try to "temporarily" replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on the Senate Judiciary Committee as she recovers from shingles.

Why it matters: Feinstein is facing a sudden burst of calls from lawmakers in her own party to resign as her illness has kept her out of the Senate for weeks, hampering the panel's ability to advance judicial nominations.

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday denied Tesla's petition to review a case involving allegations of systemic racial discrimination at the company's facilities in the state.

Why it matters: The unanimous ruling allows Black workers at a Tesla assembly plant in Fremont to seek a public injunction requiring the electric vehicle maker to acknowledge and address discrimination in the workplace.