Senators in both parties are looking to the latest partisan standoff over the debt ceiling as a potential catalyst for long-term reform of the process.
Why it matters: Perennialbrinksmanship has left lawmakers seething about having to repeatedly scramble to fend off a catastrophic default.
Senate Republicans are deeply skeptical of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s estimate that the U.S. will not be able to pay its bills as early as June 1 if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling.
Why it matters: A firm deadline can be a forcing mechanism in any negotiations, especially on Capitol Hill. But deadlines only work if all the parties actually believe that they are real.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are demanding the Justice Department turn over a 2020 document they claim alleges a "criminal scheme" involving then-Vice President Joe Biden.
Why it matters: Comer has made investigating the Biden family a priority of his committee this year — building on similar investigations Grassley has led over the past couple years. This is the most direct allegation against President Biden himself.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and other Democratic lawmakers told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month that his government’s judicial overhaul plan makes it harder for them to defend Israel in the U.S., two people, including a member of Congress, who attended the meeting tell Axios.
Why it matters: Netanyahu suspended the judicial overhaul legislation in March after mass protests and pressure from the U.S., but Jeffries' message suggests there is still concern among Democrats that the process may resume before Israel has reached a broad consensus on judicial reform.
Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) on Wednesday announced his bid to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in 2024.
Why it matters: Allred is the highest-profile Democrat vying to unseat Cruz, who is one of just a handful of potentially vulnerable Senate Republicans up for reelection this cycle.
Texas authorities said the man suspected of killing five of his neighbors with an AR-15-style rifle in their Cleveland home was taken into custody in Montgomery County on Tuesday evening — ending a dayslong manhunt.
Driving the news: Francisco Oropesa, 38, a Mexican national, whom authorities named as a suspect in Friday's shootings was taken into custody "without incident," per a statement from the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.
The big picture: The history scores, whichare the lowest ever recorded since theassessment began in 1994, pluscivics scores seeing their first-ever decline underscore the pandemic's prolonged effects on students.
The suspect in a mass shooting that killed five people in a small Texas town last Friday has been taken into custody in Montgomery County "without incident," the local sheriff's office said Tuesday evening.
Driving the news: Authorities on Sunday offered a reward totaling $80,000 for the capture of Francisco Oropesa, 38, a Mexican national, whom they identified as the suspect in the case. Oropesa lived near the Cleveland, Texas, home where the shooting occurred around 11:30pm local time on Friday night.
Mexico will continue taking Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Cubans and Haitians removed by the U.S. after the pandemic border policy Title 42 ends next week, according to announcements on Tuesday night.
Why it matters: Reaching an agreement with Mexico has been viewed as a critical piece of the Biden administration's preparation for a post-Title 42 migration surge.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has announced its class of 2023, which will be honored during a Nov. 3 ceremony at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Driving the news: Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine and The Spinners lead this year's inductees.
Dozens of Democratic lawmakers have vowed to engage with young voters ahead of the 2024 election, according to a Voters of Tomorrow pledge shared first with Axios.
Why it matters: Some of the Democrats who signed the pledge are in competitive districts, and like their party's most prominent leaders, including President Biden, they have a vested interest in energizing youth voters.
A series of blows to press freedom globally has put more pressure on the Biden administration in recent months to defend journalism as a part of its foreign policy platform.
Why it matters: Press freedom advocates are pleased with the progress, but argue there's more the administration could do.
President Biden's re-election campaign is off to a slow start — months behind the 2012 pace of Barack Obama, the last president to win re-election.
Why it matters: Biden announced his re-election bid before his campaign team wasready to go, and now is hustling to build an organization that could take on GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, who announced his campaign nearly six months ago.
The White House is deploying a new strategy to guide its judicial nominees through a tricky Senate process that has gotten harder with the prolonged absence of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Axios has learned.
Driving the news: President Biden today will nominate four new judges for openings on federal district courts — and the White House is optimistic about winning confirmation based on behind-the-scenes groundwork.
