Why it matters: It clears the way for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to rely heavily on Democratic votes to make up for likely mass defections on his side.
A GOP-led effort to move Nebraska to a winner-take-all electoral college system was dealt another blow Monday as state Sen. Mike McDonnell (R) said he wouldn't support the change.
Why it matters: McDonnell's announcement makes the likelihood of Republicans generating enough votes for the measure very unlikely, as the party is short of the 33 senate votes needed for Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) to call a special legislative session.
There were more than 10,000 instances of book bans during the 2023-2024 school year — nearly triple from the previous school year, according to preliminary findings released by PEN America on Monday.
Why it matters: Book bans have become central to contemporary culture wars and largely target stories about people of color and LGBTQ communities.
Republican members of Congress from both chambers urged the Securities and Exchange Commission in a letter today to rescind its special rule for accounting for cryptocurrency assets.
Why it matters: The one and only issue so far to unite Congress enough to pass a piece of crypto-related legislation through both chambers has been the rule in question, known as SAB 121.
California sued ExxonMobil on Monday alleging a decades-long campaign that falsely promised recycling would effectively address plastic waste.
The big picture: The first-of-its-kind lawsuit seeks to hold the oil giant— one of the largest producers of petroleum-based polymers — accountable for misleading the public and polluting the state.
Top Senate Democrats will force Republicans to vote on access to emergency abortion care this week, in one of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)'s final pre-election messaging pushes, Axios has learned.
The big picture:The death of a Georgia woman who was refused emergency care because of the state's abortion restrictions has become the latest rallying cry for Democrats who are wagering abortion will be a winning issue for their party on Nov. 5.
The Republican Governors' Association said Monday that it has not made future ad buys in North Carolina, in the latest apparentblow to GOP Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson's gubernatorial campaign.
Why it matters: The decision suggests Republicans are losing hope in their party's chances of winning the governor's race in the state, as Robinson was already slipping in the polls before the explosive CNN report came out.
The nation's violent and property crime rates eased down last year, according to new FBI numbers released Monday, while other evidence shows hate crime reached an all-time high in the nation's largest cities.
Why it matters: Crime has been a focal point in the 2024 presidential race, with former President Trump insisting that crime kept rising during President Biden's tenure while dismissing reports that crime has fallen since Biden's first year in office.
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson threatened legal action against CNN Monday, characterizing the explosive report that cast his gubernatorial campaign into controversy as "salacious false lies."
Why it matters: TheCNN report that unveiled a series of inflammatory and lewd comments Robinson reportedly made on a porn messaging forum — including calling himself a ""black NAZI" — preceded an avalanche of staff resignations and prompted headaches for the Trump campaign in a critical swing state.
A federal judge in Florida ruled the man accused of lingering in the bushes with a rifle for hours near former President Trump's West Palm Beach golf course will be held without bail while he awaits his trial, per multiplereports.
The big picture: Ryan Routh was charged with two gun crimes after he allegedly pointed a gun through the tree line surrounding the golf course where the former president was playing. Itwas the second apparent assassination attempt against Trump this year.
Former Vice President Al Gore said Monday that the fossil fuel industry uses its deep-rooted influence over "captive politicians," particularly in red states, as an effort to slow the progress of climate change policy.
Why it matters: Gore has sounded the alarm that corporate giants and some countries are falling behind on their climate commitments, which he partly attributes to the industry's "information war."
Ryan Routh, the man accused of hiding near former President Trump's West Palm Beach golf course for 12 hours in an apparent assassination attempt, wrote a letter expressing his intent to kill Trump, prosecutors said Monday.
The big picture: Routh will appear in court later Monday to determine whether he will remain in jail ahead of his trial and faces two gun charges stemming from what is being investigated as an apparent assassination attempt of Trump — the second of this election cycle.
Why it matters: Public opinion of the agency has cratered since the first assassination attempt on Trump in July, which sparked bipartisan backlash over security lapses.
Anxious to show he's sprinting to the tape, President Biden this week will announce new policy to combat gun violence, and give a speech on the Biden-Harris administration's efforts to tackle the climate crisis.
Why it matters: Biden wants to use his final four months to notch some final actions — in addition to a president's traditional final-stretch rituals of tying a bow around his accomplishments, and teeing up his legacy.
In an aggressive overture to business and young men, Vice President Harris used a packed fundraiser on Wall Street yesterday to declare her friendliness to cryptocurrency — and promise to work with major companies.
Why it matters: Harris is trying to convince businesspeople she'd be better than former President Trump, despite his promised tax cuts — and would work with them more than President Biden, who rankled many CEOs.
Democrats are outspending Republicans on political ads by about a half-billion dollars since Aug. 1, according to data from analytics platform AdImpact.
By the numbers: As of Sept. 20, Democrats have spent $1.8 billion on ads booked for Aug. 1 through Nov. 5, compared to $1.3 billion for Republicans.
The race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump is the first presidential election in half a century in which neither candidate is openly telling voters much about their religion or faith.
Why it matters: The lack of emphasis on religion comes as the percentage of Americans identifying as "religiously unaffiliated" has skyrocketed to 27% — a larger share of the population than mainline Protestants and evangelical white voters combined.
Vice President Kamala Harris is backing away from her past promise to use presidential power to unilaterally give a path to citizenship to 2 million "Dreamers" — undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.
Why it matters: It's part of a pattern in which Harris and her team have changed her positions or declined to say whether she still supports some of the progressive policies she ran on during her presidential campaign in 2019.
California is banning all plastic shopping bags at grocery store checkouts under legislation that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed on Sunday.
Why it matters: The law that takes effect on Jan. 1, 2026, honors the intent of a ban on single-use bags "enacted 10 years ago that allowed stores to sell customers thicker plastic carryout bags that were considered reusable and met certain recyclability standards," per a statement from state Sen. Catherine Blakespear.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the U.S. Sunday for a vital visit during which he'll speak at the UN, as Kyiv pushes for an end to 2.5 years of war with Russia's invading forces.
The big picture: Zelensky said ahead of his visit that President Biden will be the "first" to see in full Ukraine's "victory plan," which he said he will also show to Congress, Vice President Kamala Harris and her 2024 presidential rival former President Trump.
Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan suggested in an interview broadcast Sunday that the largest-ever proposed grocery merger could increase shopping costs if the deal goes through.
Why it matters: The trial of the planned merger of Kroger and Albertsons wrapped up last week and if the court sides with the FTC and grants an injunction, it would effectively kill the deal.
