Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas attended at least two donor events for the conservative political Koch network over the years, according to a ProPublica investigation published Friday.
Why it matters: The new allegations come as the Supreme Court is poised to consider a case the Koch network is behind that could overturn a longstanding precedent.
August brought another overwhelming wave of migration at the U.S.-Mexico border — including a record number of family members crossing illegally, according to government data released Friday.
Why it matters: After initial optimism that President Biden's new policies were working, immigration officials are again scrambling.
House Appropriations chair Kay Granger (R-Texas) is under fire from far-right Republicans for leaving a special meeting called to discuss ways to fund the government so she could attend a fundraiser.
Why it matters: Granger's departure a few minutes into the meeting Wednesday angered conservative hardliners — and came as GOP lawmakers continued to struggle to come up with a funding plan with a government shutdown looming on Sept. 30.
The flap over Granger also reflects the increasing tension among House Republicans, whose divisions over proposed budget cuts have made a shutdown seem likely.
Zoom in: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) — part of a group blocking leadership's push to pass a temporary funding bill to keep the government open — says Republicans "need to fire" Granger, adding that she didn't participate in Wednesday's meeting or in working up two appropriations bills still in committee.
Wednesday's meeting among Republicans was aimed at trying to forge a plan to fund the government amid increasingly angry rhetoric over the budget impasse.
Granger left the 4 p.m. meeting to attend a 4:30 reception for her that was on the rooftop of a lobbying firm. Attendees paid $1,000 to attend, according to an invitation obtained by Axios.
What they're saying: "When House Republicans were negotiating a deal to pass single-subject spending bills, Appropriations Chairwoman Kay Granger left to collect checks at a fundraiser with lobbyists" Gaetz told Axios.
"With one week to go before a government shutdown, she's collecting lobbyist money instead of doing the work she should've been engaging in since January."
"I think it shows poor judgement and leadership, and how broken and tone deaf Washington is to America," Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said.
The other side: Granger's allies have defended her leadership on appropriations bills, accusing Gaetz — who has threatened t0 force votes to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from leadership — of fueling chaos within the conference.
"Matt Gaetz fundraises whenever he holds the rest of us hostage," one GOP lawmaker said, arguing that Gaetz's criticism was unfair.
One senior GOP source noted that Granger set budget levels below what was agreed upon between the White House and Congress in the debt ceiling deal earlier this year, telling Axios that far-right critics' "goalposts keep moving."
Conservative outside groups including the Heritage Foundation have praised the bills crafted under Granger's watch that cut what the foundation described as "woke" programs, including some involving "critical race theory."
The big picture: Removing Granger from her chairmanship would require action from the House GOP Steering Committee, the panel tasked with determining who chairs and sits on committees.
Conservative hardliners have dealt a string of blows to McCarthy in recent days, forcing leadership to cancel a procedural vote on a bill to temporarily fund the government and tanking two votes needed to advance a bill to fund the Pentagon.
President Biden condemned the "totally unacceptable" rise in gun violence in the U.S. during a speech Friday after launching the first-of-its-kind White House office of gun violence prevention.
Driving the news: "If members of the Congress refuse to act, then we'll need to elect new members of Congress that will act, Democrat or Republican," Biden said Friday.
A court ruled that the FBI seizing MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell's cellphone did not violate his Constitutional rights.
Driving the news: Lindell's irritation over the government taking possession of his device "does not give rise to a constitutional claim, let alone a showing of a callous disregard for his constitutional rights," wrote Circuit Judge Ralph Erickson of the the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
The third Republican primary debate will be held on Nov. 8, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee confirmed to Axios.
Driving the news: The RNC is raising the polling and fundraising thresholds for candidates seeking to make the third debate stage, according to qualifying rules released on Friday.
The military pilot who ejected from a fighter jet in a "mishap" last weekend asked a 911 dispatcher for help in an emergency call immediately after the incident, the AP reports.
Driving the news: "A military jet crashed. I'm the pilot. We need to get rescue rolling," the pilot said in the call. "I'm not sure where the airplane is. It would have crash landed somewhere. I ejected."
Three key U.S. senators say there have been no proven cases of American weapons sent to Ukraine being diverted to the black market, according to a first look at new CBS News reporting provided to Axios.
Why it matters: The comments from the bipartisan group of senators come as the Biden administration seeks $24 billion in new aid for Ukraine — and as some Republicans grow increasingly wary of providing the war-torn country with more assistance.
As attempted book bans continue to surge in schools across the U.S., the challenges are now increasingly extending to public libraries, according to new American Library Association data.
By the numbers: ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom data shows there were 695 attempts to censor library materials and services in the first eight months of 2023, compared to 681 during the same period in 2022 — a year that saw attempted book bans reach record levels.
More than half of American adults say a shutdown of the federal government would affect them personally — and 68% say the threat of one decreases their trust in the government, a new survey says.
Why it matters: The survey points to the disarray that would ripple through the nation if House Republicans can't settle on a deal to fund the government by the Sept. 30 deadline.
The Senate's new casual dress code appears to be hanging on by a thread.
Why it matters: At least three Democrats are now openly criticizing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-N.Y.) directive to discard the 100-member chamber's requirement for business attire — and with 47 Republicans stiffly opposed, the new code could be in jeopardy.
Joe Biden's re-election campaign is deploying California Gov. Gavin Newsom to the second Republican presidential debate next week in Simi Valley, Calif., Biden campaign advisers tell Axios.
Texas officials have reported a "surge" in migrant crossings into the U.S. from Mexico and two deaths in the Rio Grande this week, including a 3-year-old boy.
The big picture: Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador suggested on Thursday visiting D.C. in November to discuss the humanitarian crisis, as he shared U.S. Customs and Border Protection data showing that American authorities encountered over 142,000 migrants at the border in the first half of September, per Reuters.
Driving the news: Fain claimed that the 2024 GOP hopeful violated federal labor law earlier this week when he praised then-President Reagan's firing of thousands of striking federal workers in 1981 after being asked about the ongoing UAW strike, per the complaint that was first reported by The Intercept.
