President Biden is going to convey the message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their Oval Office meeting tomorrow that "there is no time to waste" in getting a hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza, according to U.S. officials.
Why it matters: Netanyahu's visit to Washington takes place at a critical moment in negotiations over the deal, which is the key to Biden's foreign policy strategy and legacy.
Former President Trump on Wednesday called on FBI Director Christopher Wray to resign for allegedly lying to Congress about President Biden's mental competency.
The big picture: The Trump appointee, whose term is set to run into 2027, has previously come under heavy criticism from the former president and his allies.
During a long-planned stop at the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority national convention, Vice President Harris laid out her presidential platform to her fellow Divine Nine members, urging them to join in the fight.
Why it matters: The presumptive Democratic nominee pulled no punches in Indianapolis Wednesday, taking direct aim at former President Trump, the Heritage Foundation-backed Project 2025, and an ideology that she argued seeks to "make great again" things that never were.
With thousands of protesters outside the U.S. Capitol Building and in front of a partially empty chamber, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to a joint session of Congress for nearly an hour and called for more U.S. support for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza.
Why it matters: Netanyahu tried to use the speech to reassert his leadership in Israel, where polls show that more than 70% want him to resign, and in the U.S., where a dramatic presidential election campaign is captivating the public and overshadowing the Israeli leader's controversial visit.
Newly released footage of the fatal shooting by police in Illinois of a Black woman, who had called 911 for help, is pushing police reform back onto the 2024 agenda.
Why it matters: The push for federal police reform has taken a back seat over the past two years, but the shooting of Sonya Massey and the 10th anniversary of Eric Garner and Michael Brown's deaths are bringing it back in focus.
Protesters released insects inside the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday night ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit, the hotel confirmed to Axios.
Top Trump allies are furious over the stunning coronation of Vice President Kamala Harris, who clinched enough delegates to become the Democratic nominee less than 32 hours after President Biden dropped out.
Why it matters: Right-wing anger over the Harris "bait-and-switch" has bubbled over into a flood of conspiracy theories tied to the narrative that the Democratic establishment engaged in a "coup" against Biden.
Roughly half of House and Senate Democrats skipped Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, according to an Axios headcount.
Why it matters: Many lawmakers, particularly progressive Israel critics, made clear they were explicitly boycotting the event in protest of Netanyahu's prosecution of the war in Gaza.
A search of a laptop linked to the 20-year-old gunman who attempted to assassinateformer President Trump earlier this month revealed he had searched for information on John F. Kennedy's assassination before the shooting, FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers on Wednesday.
Why it matters: Wray, speaking before the House Judiciary Committee, said the shooter searched "how far away was Oswald from Kennedy" on July 6 — the same day he registered to attend Trump's July 13 rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania.
House GOP leaders are trying to avoid a backlash over accusations lodged by their rank-and-file that Kamala Harris is a "DEI hire," so they're pushing members to take aim at her policy stances instead.
Why it matters: Speaker Mike Johnson and other top Republicans are encouraging members to avoid attacking the vice president's identity as they seek to navigate a campaign against the new presumed presidential nominee. Harris is the first woman, the first Black American and the first South Asian American to serve as vice president.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) is the lone holdout among Senate Democrats to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as the party's presidential nominee.
Why it matters: Tester, one of the upper chamber's most vulnerable Democrats, has called for an open primary process, deviating from the bulk of Dems who have rallied behind Harris' candidacy.
In early 2021, President Biden enlisted Vice President Kamala Harris to help with a slice of the migration issue — a move that has turned into one of the newly presumptive presidential nominee's first campaign headaches.
Why it matters: Confusionaround the VP's exact role, early media misfires and the rapidly changing regional migration crisis has made the issue a top target for the GOP trying to define their new opponent. And it has become even more critical for Harris to find a clear border message, fast.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is among dozens of lawmakers who are planning to skip Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's joint address of Congress on Wednesday.
Why it matters: The list of lawmakers boycotting the speech is growing rapidly, with one Republican saying they will not attend.
Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) is launching a long-shot effort to force the House to vote on a bill to codify the right to in vitro fertilization services nationwide.
Why it matters: The effort, which Axios first reported was under consideration last month, would put Republicans on the spot on an issue that has been particularly damaging to their party.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston is honing a national reputation and positioning himself as the city's savior.
Why it matters: The mayor's ambitions and style in his first year speak volumes about how he governs, and the early results are drawing ire from critics and even allies.
Kamala Harris is reminding voters of Donald Trump's April meeting with oil lobbyists, when he urged them to funnel dollars into his campaign while touting his pro-drilling agenda.
Why it matters: The vice president's remarks on Tuesday at a Milwaukee rally are Harris' first since becoming the presumptive nominee, and may preview campaign tactics to come.
Peggy Noonan— the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Declarations" columnist for The Wall Street Journal, and renowned speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan — will be out Nov. 12 (the week after the election) with "A Certain Idea of America," a collection that ranges from Ulysses S. Grant to Taylor Swift.
Why it matters: Noonan's publisher calls it a "master class in how to eloquently see and love our country," and bills Noonan as a "moral compass for Americans who value character, love of country, and civility."
Vice President Kamala Harris' choice of a running mate will signal what she believes is her best path to winning — whether that's reflected in the running mate's home state, their political identity, or both.
The big picture: The front-runners so far are mostly moderate white men from swing states.
For all of the enthusiasm and cash Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign is generating for Democrats, her true tests are about to begin.
Why it matters: To beat Donald Trump, Harris will have to overcome President Biden's polling deficits — and questions about how well she'll fare with working-class voters in the crucial "Blue Wall" swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Vice President Harris' sudden presidential candidacy is quickly galvanizing a massive and politically powerful network of Black women who have long been described as the "backbone" of the Democratic Party.
Why it matters: About 93% of Black women who voted in 2020 supported Biden, according to an AP survey of 110,000 voters.
Poll watchers are focusing on three key groups as they scramble to figure out how Vice President Kamala Harris is shaking up the race: young voters, Hispanics and Black men.
Why it matters: All groups matter in presidential politics, but some matter more than others.
Vice President Kamala Harris is getting a boost for her presidential run from members of "the Divine Nine" — prestigious Black fraternities and sororities that have shaped the Black middle class for more than 100 years.
Why it matters: Harris is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and many of her sorority sisters see the prospect of her presidential election as a personal historic milestone — a once impossible thought by groups formed under the threat of violence a generation after enslavement
Vice President Kamala Harris has used her first days as Democrats' likely nominee for president to make it clear that she'll pursue big — and expensive — parts of Joe Biden's domestic agenda that never made it across the finish line.
Why it matters: Harris is signaling that even as Democrats play defense on Biden's mixed economic record, she's eager to go on offense for the next four years.
Why it matters: Abbas' letter is a signal that the Palestinian president wants to start a new chapter with the Republican presidential nominee following their fallout as a result of Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and move the U.S. embassy to the city in December 2017.
The U.S. Secret Service is encouraging former President Trump not to hold large outdoor rallies in some instances following the assassination attempt on the Republican presidential nominee, the Washington Post first reported Tuesday and Axios can confirm.
Why it matters: It's signature Trump to hold large outdoor rallies, per a source, who emphasized that this didn't mean he wouldn't hold another big-crowd event outside. But the shift to deciding on a case-by-case basis whether to hold an event indoors or outdoors is part of increased security measures following the Pennsylvania rally shooting.
Why it matters: Cheatlefaced blistering criticism and mounting bipartisan calls to step down after the Trump rally shooting. By her own admission, it marked the "most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades."
Former President Trump said Tuesday he didn't think Kimberly Cheatle "had much of a choice" but to resign from her role as U.S. Secret Service director following the aftermath of the assassination attempt on him.
The big picture: Cheatle resigned Tuesday following mounting bipartisan criticism and calls to step down after this month's Trump rally shooting that she described as the "most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades."
The real-life drama surrounding the 2024 presidential election — and some fictional similarities — are driving a massive viewership spike for HBO's "Veep."
