Censure is quickly becoming a favored tool for lawmakers in both parties to punish their top adversaries in Congress.
What's happening: Democrats are pushing censure resolutions against three of the most controversial House Republicans, after the GOP voted to censure Trump antagonist Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) last month.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)has thrilled hardline Republicans with his new threat to launch an impeachment inquiry against President Biden. Now comes the hard part: following through.
Why it matters: McCarthy knows there are massive risks to impeaching Biden, especially if the exercise appears purely partisan: "I think the country doesn’t like impeachment used for political purposes at all," McCarthy told Punchbowl News last October, before he became speaker.
The Senate moved Tuesday to require U.S. investors to notify the Treasury Department when they take stakes in Chinese companies in certain sectors, such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
Why it matters: The 91-6 vote is a barometer for how willing the Senate is to impose new rules for outbound investment, as both Congress and the White House explore ways to ensure that China’s military does not achieve a technological advantage over the U.S. and its allies.
A federal judge has blocked a key Biden administration policy that imposed harsh asylum restrictions on migrants who illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. The administration is appealing the ruling.
Why it matters: The administration has at least partially credited the new rule for plummeting illegal border crossings.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' 2024 campaign fired an aide this week who secretly created and shared a pro-DeSantis video that featured the candidate at the center of a Sonnenrad, an ancient symbol appropriated by the Nazis and still used by some white supremacists.
Driving the news: Nate Hochman, a speechwriter on the DeSantis campaign and a former writer for National Review, created the video on his own and shared it through a pro-DeSantis Twitter account, according to a person familiar with the matter.
House Democrats are preparing a resolution to censure Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) after his office linked to a website that has posted Holocaust denial content, Axios has learned.
A week after controversy engulfed Jason Aldean's song "Try That in a Small Town," it has emerged as a commercial juggernaut. Surging sales and streams pushed the song to No. 2 on Billboard's all-genre Hot 100 chart.
Why it matters: The backlash has pushed it to the top of the charts.
The U.S. Department of Education has launched a civil rights investigation into Harvard University over allegations of preferential treatment given to relatives of donors and alumni in its admissions process.
The big picture: The move comes after civil rights groups filed a complaint with the Education Department earlier this month, alleging Harvard’s legacy and donor-based admissions process violates federal law by systematically helping white applicants at the expense of their nonwhite counterparts.
Actor Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila announced an initiative to help funnel at least $1 billion in federal dollars into school districts nationwide to assist them in becoming safer.
Driving the news: The Greenlights Grant Initiative, a project from the just keep livin Foundation which was founded by McConaughey and his wife will work with schools to help them apply for federal funding for mental health services, school security systems and other measures.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is cutting a third of his campaign staff as part of the reset on his 2024 presidential bid, a campaign spokesperson confirmed to Axios.
Why it matters: It's the latest shake-up from the DeSantis campaign as he has struggled to gain ground on former President Trump in the crowded Republican primary.
A police informant saw a "dry run" of Malcolm X's 1965 assassination a week prior and a new witness at the scene says he was never interviewed by authorities, attorneys and Malcolm X's family announced Tuesday.
Why it matters Civil rights attorneyBen Crump and co-counsel Ray Hamlin alleged at a press conference more information they say points to efforts by the FBI to cover up a conspiracy to murder Malcolm X.
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) on Tuesday introduced a bill seeking to lift barriers to mental health care among Latinos.
Why it matters: The pandemic exacerbated mental health needs in the U.S., especially among Latinos, whose rates of depression, anxiety and suicide have grown since 2020.
President Biden signed a proclamation on Tuesday to establish a national monument honoring Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley.
Why it matters: The kidnapping, torture and murder of the Black 14-year-old from Chicago by white supremacists in Mississippi and his mother's subsequent efforts to highlight the atrocity helped spur the Civil Rights Movement.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Monday raised a possible "impeachment inquiry" into President Biden.
Why it matters: McCarthy has dangled impeachment against Biden cabinet officials, but this is the closest he's come to making that threat against the president personally.
The Department of Justice said Monday that U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss, who reached a plea deal with Hunter Biden, will be made available to testify at a public hearing about the probe after the August recess.
Why it matters: House Republicans have demanded information from the Trump-appointed prosecutor about the probe into Hunter Biden — and they've accused the DOJ of being politicized by President Biden.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was uninjured in a car crash Tuesday morning while traveling to an event in Chattanooga, Tennessee, his campaign said.
Driving the news: "We appreciate the prayers and well wishes of the nation for his continued protection while on the campaign trail," press secretary Bryan Griffin said in a statement.
American patriotism has faced a steep decline among young adults over the last decade, and now sits at a record low.
Why it matters: Pride in national identity is lowest among those 18-34, and illustrates the fracture between young Americans and older generations at a time of deep partisanship in the United States.
Some House Republicansprivately expect a spending fight to trigger a government shutdown in October, with one member telling Axios they "wouldn't be making any plans" for that month.
Why it matters: Speaker Kevin McCarthy's ranks include members who are skeptical he can pull off another legislative survival by the end of September — with worker furloughs and shuttered federal services at stake.
Registered Republicans experienced a "significantly higher" rate of excess deaths than Democrats in Florida and Ohio in the months after COVID-19 vaccines were made widely available, a new study has found.
Why it matters: The Yale researchers note in their study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine Monday, the findings "suggest that well-documented differences in vaccination attitudes and reported uptake between Republican and Democratic voters may have been a factor in the severity and trajectory of the pandemic."
