Axios

Democratic leaders are deploying a series of "show votes" to put Republicans in the hot seat and draw attention to their divisions on hot-button issues, including the blocked vote on IVF last week.

The big picture: Democrats are focusing their attention on birth control, IVF and Supreme Court ethics — all of which are vulnerabilities for the GOP ahead of the November elections.

The Department of Education announced Monday that the City University of New York (CUNY) and the University of Michigan fell short in addressing campus reports of discrimination.

The big picture: The two universities are the first to reach resolutions among a growing list of colleges and K-12 school districts investigated by the Department of Education over alleged incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia.

Campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war have largely simmered as students left their universities for the summer, but faculty and staff have found different ways to keep the conversation going — and push back against their administratons.

The big picture: Some faculty and staff have held administrations accountable for their crackdowns on student protesters, through picket lines and walk-offs, or other means.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) pardoned more than 175,000 marijuana convictions for an estimated 100,000 people on Monday morning.

Why it matters: Moore told the Washington Post ahead of the announcement that his pardons are "the most far-reaching and aggressive" executive action among officials nationwide around marijuana convictions.

A U.S. appeals court will hold oral arguments on Sept. 16 to hear challenges to a law that would ban TikTok in the U.S. if its China-based parent company does not divest ownership by Jan. 19, per a Monday order.

Why it matters: TikTok and ByteDance are challenging the constitutionality of the law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok's business in the U.S. The legal proceedings could determine the whether an app with more than 150 million users in the U.S. remains available for download.

Alarmed by repeated warnings from top FBI and military officials, a former acting CIA director and a legendary foreign policy thinker write bluntly in Foreign Affairs: "The United States faces a serious threat of a terrorist attack in the months ahead."

Why it matters: Michael Morell and Graham Allison write that there are striking echoes of the run-up to 9/11 — including warnings about Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda by then-CIA director George Tenet.

The recent courtroom revelations about the turmoil in Joe Biden's family have left some of his aides torn about whether he should have run for president at all.

Why it matters: The vicious nature of contemporary politics has ripped through the Biden clan since he re-entered politics in 2019, as his historic presidency has doubled as a family tragedy.

President Biden's campaign is running a new ad in every swing state, calling Donald Trump a "convicted criminal," as it tries to make Trump's character a central feature of the 2024 campaign.

Why it matters: Biden has clearly calculated that he can exploit Trump's criminal conviction for his political benefit — and his campaign is now pouring money into that strategy.

Rep. Tom Cole's shift to House Appropriations chair has created a quintessentially Capitol Hill problem:

• It's left House Republicans without a private spot to enjoy cigars close to the floor, and lawmakers are calling on Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to find a solution.

Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) on Sunday threatened to endorse Rep. Jamaal Bowman's (D-N.Y.) primary challenger after Bowman criticized his support for Israel.

Why it matters: It's the latest instance of Bowman's increasingly pro-Palestinian positions putting him publicly at odds with once close political allies.

🪟 The window for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to qualify for the first presidential debate on June 27 is closing rapidly, Axios' Erin Doherty writes.

• CNN, host of the first debate, reported Saturday that "though not impossible," it's unlikely any candidate other than President Biden and former President Trump will qualify.
• That's what the Biden and Trump campaigns want: a 1-on-1 showdown.

🗳️ CNN said Kennedy is officially on the ballot in states that account for just 89 electoral votes, well short of the debate's requirement that participants be on the ballot in enough states to give them a chance of winning the 270 electoral votes needed to be elected president.

🏛️ The House Republican leadership has a quintessentially Capitol Hill problem: A shift in committee chairs has left lawmakers without a place to light up cigars — and they're getting a little tense about it.

• Rep. Tom Cole's (R-Okla.) move to chair of the Appropriations panel created a domino effect in office changes that took away members' private spot to enjoy stogies close to the House floor.
• Now GOP members are urging Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to find a solution.

👀 GOP lawmakers stressed to Axios the importance of having quiet places to gather off the House floor to bond, saying the loss of Cole's "hideaway" — as such areas are known — has created a void Johnson should address.

🛡️ Trump's GOP Protection Squad continues to push various political and legal maneuvers to try and reverse his felony conviction in New York.

• Sunday it was Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) — a loyalist and contender to be Trump's vice presidential nominee — suggesting that the conservative-led Supreme Court should "step into" the matter and overturn Trump's guilty verdict in the New York hush money case before the Nov. 5 election.
• There's no such legal case before the high court, and any unsolicited foray into such a politically hot issue would super-charge Democrats' allegations that the court has become guided by politics as much as the law.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called the Supreme Court "brazenly corrupt" on Sunday when asked if a president should be prevented from criticizing the nation's highest court.

Why it matters: Criticism of the Supreme Court has increased with a series of reports that have generated questions about the political affiliations and biases of several justices.

The window for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to qualify for the first presidential debate on June 27 is closing rapidly.

Why it matters: CNN, which is hosting the first debate, reported Saturday that "though not impossible," it's unlikely that any candidate other than President Biden and former President Trump will qualify.

A new book, authored by a CNBC editor and her teenage daughter, seeks to show the legacy of enslavement through four families and how it is entrenched in the nation's past.

The big picture: "Embracing Your Past to Empower Your Future: Four Families Descended from Slaves Reflect on Stories of Strength, Love and Gratitude" is the latest book to urge Americans to reexamine enslavement following the nation's racial awakening.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said Sunday that the Supreme Court should "step in" to overturn Trump's guilty verdict in his New York hush money case before the 2024 election.

Why it matters: Donalds' comments reflect a growing view among Republican lawmakers that all levers of powers should be exercised in attempting to overturn the former president's conviction.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said Sunday that Democrats planning to boycott or protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress next month will still maintain "decorum."

Why it matters: It comes as Democrats are discussing a variety of ways to not only sit out Netanyahu's speech but counter-program it, as Axios reported on Friday.

President Biden's Los Angeles fundraiser at the Peacock Theater — an event featuring Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Jimmy Kimmel and former President Barack Obama — hauled in at least $28 million for his re-election campaign.

Why it matters: It breaks the Democratic Party record for most cash raised in one night, the L.A. Times reports. Tickets ranged from $250 to $500,000.

Former President Obama dropped by a gathering of about 80 digital content creators — including stars of TikTok and Instagram Reels — during the campaign fundraiser for President Biden in L.A. on Saturday, and told them:

• "We live in a cynical time. Let's face it: I think a lot of the people who watch you, listen to you, who are fans of you — a lot of times they feel turned off by the political discourse."
• "I get it," Obama added. "You know, I frankly watch sports, mostly. Because it feels like everything is slash and burn."

Donald Trump used to trash Ron DeSantis. Now, he copies him.

Why it matters: Beyond their bitter wrangling during the GOP primaries, Trump and the Florida governor have largely aligned on issues ranging from sex education to digital currency and property rights.

The brick-and-mortar bookseller is no longer merely peddling pages alone.

Why it matters: Indie bookstores have become hubs for social justice movements and diverse communities — as the related activism that defined the 2010s has seen some of its key initiatives unravel.