Axios

House Democrats are previewing plans for a forceful legislative and investigative push against the Supreme Court's ruling that presidents have legal immunity for "official acts."

Why it matters: It is part of House Democrats' effort to frame themselves in the 2024 election as a potential bulwark against unified conservative control of a federal government led by former President Trump.

Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) was charged with a weapons violation for bringing a gun to Dulles International Airport on Friday, local and federal authorities confirmed to Axios.

Why it matters: Spartz has been a chaotic figure during her two terms in Congress, voting "present" several times in last year's House speaker election and running for reelection this year despite initially announcing her retirement.

The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee on Monday sued Attorney General Merrick Garland to force the release of audio tapes of President Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur in his classified documents case.

Why it matters: Hur wrote in his report that Biden suffered repeated memory lapses during the interview. Republicans are eager to get into the public view amid renewed concerns about the president's age.

Hunter Biden filed a lawsuit against Fox News on Monday, alleging the conservative news outlet violated New York law by publishing nude photos and videos of him without his consent.

Why it matters: The sexually graphic images were included in Fox News' miniseries called "The Trial of Hunter Biden," which sought to portray "how a possible Hunter Biden trial might look" for crimes he has never been indicted for.

The Supreme Court's ruling on former President Trump's immunity claims on Monday likely ensures that the federal criminal case stemming from his actions around Jan. 6 won't go to trial before this year's presidential election.

Why it matters: The court's ruling gave Trump immunity from criminal prosecution for "official acts" taken while in the White House, but left it up to lower courts to determine if most of the criminal acts Trump was accused of in the Jan. 6 indictment are "official" or not.

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett split from other conservative justices on the central question of the evidence necessary to prove former President Trump committed crimes as part of Monday's landmark immunity ruling.

Why it matters: Though the majority opinion authored by Chief Justice John Roberts ruled a president's official acts can't be presented to a jury as evidence of a crime, Barrett in a separate concurring wrote that goes too far.

The Supreme Court's long-awaited ruling Monday granting presidents immunity from prosecution while carrying out "official acts" included consequential conclusions from the majority as well as forceful dissents from liberal justices.

Why it matters: Dissents by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson warned of the dangers of an unrestrained executive power blanketed with immunity for vague, undefined official duties.

Ex-Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon arrived at a federal prison in Connecticut on Monday to begin serving his four-month sentence on contempt of Congress charges, per multiple outlets.

Why it matters: Bannon is the latest Trump ally to serve a prison sentence, after the Supreme Court declined his emergency appeal last week.

The Supreme Court on Monday was set to issue final opinions, including on former President Trump's claims of immunity in his federal Jan. 6 criminal case that carried major implications for the future of presidential power.

The big picture: The high court added an extra opinion day ahead of the highly anticipated ruling as Trump runs against President Biden for a second White House term.

The U.S. just set sail into a new era of climate and environmental policy.

Why it matters: A Supreme Court ruling Friday constrains what the Beltway's vast bureaucracies can do without detailed instruction from Congress.

Denver and national homeless advocates were quick to condemn the Supreme Court's decision to call an Oregon city's urban camping ban constitutional.

Why it matters: They say the ruling allows homelessness to remain criminalized in Denver, where a ban has been on the books since 2012, and continue what they call ineffective practices.

A massive political, PR and personal campaign is underway to reject calls for President Biden to drop his re-election race — and rally Democrats to move on from public debate about age and his future, top officials tell Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei for a Behind the Curtain column.

• Why it matters: Biden has zero interest in stepping aside — and First Lady Jill Biden and key family members and friends agree, according to people who talk regularly with them.

Based on our weekend conversations with top officials and advisers, here's the Biden survival strategy, Jim and Mike write:

1. Dismiss "bedwetting." The official White House and campaign line is this is much ado about nothing — that Biden works so hard it drains his young staff. This attitude is driving elected officials and donors — basically any top Democrat not on the Biden payroll — nuts. They feel it's delusional. Nonetheless, Biden allies are cranking out data and pushing out surrogates to insist he had one bad night, mostly because of a scratchy voice and over-preparation.

Trade tensions between China and the West are slowing the global transition to electric vehicles, Axios' Courtenay Brown reports.

• In recent weeks, Canada and Europe have joined the U.S. in pushing back against imported Chinese electric cars.

Why it matters: Cheap electric cars made in China might convince price-conscious consumers to ditch their gas guzzlers sooner. But politicians in Western countries also want to protect their own clean energy industries, in
which they're investing billions.

"We want to contain China, even if it comes at the expense of addressing the world's climate change crisis," Stephen Roach, the former chair of Morgan Stanley Asia, tells Axios.

Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) party scored historic gains to win the first round of France's parliamentary election. The final outcome will depend on days of alliance-building before next week's runoff.

• President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance placed third, behind a left-wing bloc.

Why it matters: The results were a huge setback for Macron, who called the snap election after his ticket was trounced by the RN in European Parliament elections last month, Reuters reports.

• Keep reading.

The vast majority of Navy SEALs' blast exposure — which is damaging their brains, leading to a tragic wave of suicides — "comes from firing their own weapons, not from enemy action," the N.Y. Times' Dave Philipps writes in an article that's painful and infuriating to read.

• Why it matters: "The damage pattern suggested that years of training intended to make SEALs exceptional was leaving some barely able to function."

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Two hours west of Kansas City, a multibillion-dollar research hub is emerging on the prairie as a new first line of defense against animal diseases that can decimate livestock, rattle financial markets and potentially spill over into humans, Axios managing editor Alison Snyder reports.

• Why it matters: The growing avian flu outbreak in the U.S., plus highly contagious swine fever circulating in Europe and Asia, have put a premium on the ability to amp up production of vaccines. That's pulling more of that work back to the U.S. from overseas.

Keep reading.

A massive political, PR and personal campaign is underway to reject calls for President Biden to drop his re-election race — and rally Democrats to move on from public debate about age and his future, top officials tell us.

Why it matters: Biden has zero interest in stepping aside — and First Lady Jill Biden and key family members and friends agree, according to people who talk regularly with them.

Some of the world's largest economies want to speed up the green transition — unless doing so makes China more influential.

Why it matters: Cheap electric cars made in China might convince price-conscious consumers to ditch their gas guzzlers sooner. But politicians in Western countries also want to protect their own clean energy industries, in which they're investing billions.