Axios

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) found himself in an unusual position for a minority leader last week: It was he, not the House speaker, who had the ultimate power to decide whether legislation came to the floor.

Why it matters: Democrats got everything they wanted – a $95 billion foreign aid bill, the credit for passing it, and adversaries more divided than ever. In their telling, that total victory wasn't a sure thing.

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo). spent close to $100,000 on legal fees in the first quarter of the year as she faced investigations about her use of campaign money.

Why it matters: Bush, one of the most outspoken critics of Israel in Congress, is increasingly in danger of losing her seat as her Democratic primary opponent has significantly more than double her cash on hand going into the final months of the race.

Mike Pence criticized former President Trump for leading the GOP astray with his abortion policies in a Sunday New York Times guest essay.

Why it matters: Abortion is one of the central issues for voters ahead of the general election, and Trump's current stance has left him at odds with some conservative GOP voters.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) confirmed she hasn't backed off her plan to potentially oust House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) after the passage of a foreign aid package on Saturday.

The big picture: Greene said after Saturday's vote that she would wait to call for a vote to vacate, but said Sunday that Johnson's choices are to resign or be vacated.

Congress' likely passage of a law forcing TikTok's Chinese owner to sell its U.S. operations will close one lengthy chapter of the "Washington vs. TikTok" epic — and open a new one that could be equally drawn-out.

What's next: TikTok won't simply vanish from its millions of users' devices the moment the ban becomes law. Its fight to remain in the U.S. under ByteDance ownership will now shift from Congress and regulatory agencies to the courts.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) did something rarely, if ever, seen in the MAGA era when he won passage Saturday of a $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

• He defied the loudest, most threatening GOP personalities, dug deep into government intelligence — and shifted his position on the most vital foreign policy legislation in years.

Why it matters: It's hard to overstate the importance of Johnson's road-to-Kyiv political conversion. He not only shifted his own position on funding and arming Ukraine, but defied a majority of his party to do it.

• Oh, and he risked his speakership to pull it off.

Crucial swing states where abortion is on the ballot in November are seeing a surge in voter registration, volunteers and donations, according to several abortion-rights activists who spoke with Axios.

The big picture: Democrats have seized on abortion as a winning issue in the post-Roe era, and it's made some states, including Arizona, focal points for 2024.

People driving the longest distances to get an abortion are more likely to come from congressional districts with lower incomes and more diverse populations, according to data analysis by the left-leaning Center for American Progress provided exclusively to Axios.

Why it matters: The steep and disproportionate barriers to reproductive access in the post-Roe era are becoming more measurable.

Saturday marks 25 years since two students fatally shot 12 classmates, a teacher, and wounded more than 20 others at Columbine High School in Littleton.

Why it matters: Although it wasn't the first, the 1999 tragedy has become a blueprint for other shooters over the last quarter-century, ushering in a new era of school gun violence that has only gotten worse.

The U.S. House on Saturday voted on a bipartisan basis to pass a $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific.

Why it matters: The vote puts Congress on track to send long sought-after aid to Ukraine more than two months after similar legislation was sent over from the Senate.

House Democrats are grappling bitterly with a $26 billion bill providing military aid to Israel that's set to take place on Saturday.

Why it matters: Concerns about Israel's conduct in Gaza and the inclusion of aid for Gaza and other humanitarian crisis spots have made it a hard vote for many progressive lawmakers.

Former President Trump began the fourth day of his historic criminal trial in New York like the other three: angry, railing against the case and people associated with it, and furious with the city where he built his empire.

Why it matters: With Trump's three other criminal trial timelines in limbo, the New York hush money trial is the only one on track to conclude before the election.

President Biden and former President Trump have one big thing beyond old age in common: They duck difficult questioning by reporters, with historic stubbornness.

• During his 3+ years in office, Biden has refused to give a single interview to White House reporters for The New York Times, The Washington Post or The Wall Street Journal. But he sat down twice with friendly comedian Jason Bateman and his podcast pals on "SmartLess."

Why it matters: Call it the safe-space election. Biden is more likely to talk to mainstream outlets, and Trump to echo chambers. But both pop up for questioning with sycophants, supporters and sympathetic journalists.

A man who set himself on fire outside the Manhattan courthouse where former President Trump is on trial died Friday night, an NYPD spokesperson told Axios.

The big picture: Maxwell Azzarello did not appear to target anyone in particular, authorities said, but he set himself on fire Friday outside of the high-traffic, high-security criminal trial, where a full jury was announced.

The Senate reauthorized the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a key. U.S. surveillance authority, shortly after it expired in the early hours Saturday morning.

Why it matters: The reauthorization came despite bipartisan concerns about Section 702, which allows the government to collect communications from non-U.S. citizens overseas without a warrant.

The Pentagon is preparing to rush critical ammunition and air defenses to Ukraine in the coming days, delivering a lifeline to frontline forces battered by Russian bombs and demoralized by congressional inaction.

Why it matters: Eight months after President Biden first requested billions of dollars in new funding for Ukraine, the House finally is on the verge of passing a foreign aid package.

Marijuana's informal 4/20 holiday is picking up steam with recreational pot legal for nearly half of the nation.

Why it matters: More changes are rolling out and others are under consideration in states across the country as support for legalizing weed grows.