Axios

In 2018, then-President Trump told Axios he intended to sign an executive order that would end the right to citizenship for babies of non-citizens and unauthorized immigrants born on U.S. soil.

• He didn't.

The big picture: But the president-elect has raised the possibility again as part of his sweeping immigration policy proposals.

The attempted assassination of President-elect Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13 was "preventable and should not have happened," a bipartisan task force concluded in a report released Tuesday.

The big picture: In a 180-page report, the House panel blamed institutional breakdowns in the Secret Service as well as failures in security planning and execution, most notably missteps in securing the building complex where the shooter fired eight shots.

President-elect Trump today promised an expedited pathway to permits and project approvals for anyone investing $1 billion in the U.S.

• It's not clear who would be eligible, or for what kind of projects, or how the federal government would do away with the usual labyrinth of regulatory hurdles, Axios' Ben Berkowitz writes.

Transition spokespeople didn't immediately return requests for comment on who or what would be eligible.

Mexico has intercepted nearly 1 million migrants this year — a record high, Noticias Telemundo's Marina E. Franco writes for Axios.

• Why it matters: President-elect Trump has threatened new tariffs to force Mexico to stop the flow of U.S.-bound migrants. Increasingly, the country is already doing just that.

📊 By the numbers: The number of encounters in Mexico of people without visas or migration permits reached about 925,000 from January to August.

1. ⚖️ Luigi Mangione, the suspect charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was denied bail today in Pennsylvania. Mangione is reportedly fighting extradition to New York. Go deeper.
2. 🏛️ Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) fell today at the Capitol. He is "fine," said incoming GOP leader John Thune (R-S.D.). Go deeper.
3. 🇮🇱 The Israeli military said today it has carried out more than 350 airstrikes in Syria over the last 48 hours, and its troops are advancing deeper into the country. Go deeper.

Above, former Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of State Tony Blinken unveil Kerry's portrait yesterday at the State Department.

• "In myriad ways, Kerry overcame political humiliation to wage a noteworthy second act," our former Axios colleague Glen Johnson, who was a top aide to Kerry at the State Department, writes in an opinion piece for The Boston Globe, "John Kerry's enduring impact on U.S. diplomacy."

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg argued in a court filing made public Tuesday that President-elect Trump's hush money conviction should not be tossed out because of his White House win.

Why it matters: As Trump's federal cases crumble as a result of his election victory, New York officials are standing by their historic prosecution.

The U.S. has sanctioned a Chinese cybersecurity company and charged one of its employees with developing and distributing malware used to infect thousands of firewalls worldwide.

Why it matters: Many of the victims were U.S. critical infrastructure companies, officials said.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s campaign manager and daughter-in-law Amaryllis Fox Kennedy is making a push to serve as deputy director at the CIA next year — and RFK Jr. is making calls on her behalf, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Fox Kennedy, an integral member of Kennedy's campaign, wrote a memoir detailing nearly a decade working at the CIA. The deputy director position does not require Senate confirmation.

President-elect Trump promised an expedited pathway to permits and project approvals for anyone investing $1 billion in the United States.

Why it matters: It's not clear who would be eligible, or for what kind of projects, nor how the federal government would do away with the usual labyrinth of regulatory hurdles.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) fell on Tuesday while coming out of a regular lunch with Republican senators at the Capitol.

The big picture: McConnell has had multiple health scares in the past few years, including freezing in front of reporters. Medical personnel were seen entering and leaving his office on Tuesday.

A project honoring Silvia Hector Webber, known as the "Harriet Tubman of the Underground Railroad to Mexico" in Texas, is using a $150,000 grant to create an interactive mapping project and infrastructure improvements at a cemetery in Texas.

The big picture: The Mellon Foundation grant to the Webber Family Preservation Project will help support research and archive development.

Mexico has intercepted nearly 1 million migrants this year — a record high as it has ramped up policies that reduce migration to the U.S.

Why it matters: President-elect Trump has threatened to impose tariffs that he says would force the country to "act" to stop the flow of migrants.

• But Mexico has been increasingly doing just that — though some experts say it's not a viable long-term fix for the problem of unauthorized immigration to the U.S.

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) will join One America News Network's primetime lineup in January, the network announced Tuesday.

Why it matters: Gaetz's next steps have been an open question following his decision to withdraw as President-elect Trump's short-lived attorney general nominee.

Even before police arrested Luigi Mangione in connection with the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, some on the internet were hailing him as a 21st-century Robin Hood.

The big picture: Mangione's arrest has done little to slow the internet's lionization of him, but Thompson's death has spurred online vitriol toward the insurance industry and a tsunami of memes celebrating the suspect.

Here's one thing Donald Trump needs to scrap restrictions on U.S. drilling and exports: plenty of lawyers.

Why it matters: Some of President Biden's policy moves could place time-consuming bureaucratic and legal hurdles before Trump officials who would need to formally unwind them.

The incoming Trump administration will give Silicon Valley moguls unprecedented federal power, with tech-friendly officials and policies intertwined throughout government.

Why it matters: The tech economy's most aggressive disrupters want to apply their ethos and thinking to government. AI, crypto and move-fast, break-things thinking will be at the center of the new Washington agenda — with America's technological lead over China in the balance, and vast fortunes at stake.

Household spending on health insurance will increase across multiple income groups if enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies are allowed to expire next year, Urban Institute researchers found.

Why it matters: The fate of the tax credits is shaping up to be one of the biggest health policy fights next year, with Republicans increasingly likely to not renew the assistance.

Most of the nation's 734 immigration judges are seeking to reinstate their union ahead of an expected spike in immigration cases from President-elect Trump's planned mass deportations.

Driving the news: The judges' appeal, scheduled to go before the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) on Tuesday, seeks to restore their right to bargain for contracts and have a union — a right stripped from them during Trump's first term.

Daniel Penny, a Marine veteran charged with criminally negligent homicide in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely, a Black unhoused man, on a New York City subway train, was acquitted by an N.Y. jury on Monday.

The big picture: The death of the 30-year-old Michael Jackson impersonator who performed in Times Square triggered a wave of demonstrations at the time and Black Lives Matter members protested throughout the trial of Penny, who is white, per the New York Times.

The start of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's long-awaited testimony in his corruption trial on Tuesday brings more uncertainty to the chaos and conflict in the Middle East.

Why it matters: Netanyahu's testimony, which he repeatedly tried to postpone and is expected to go on for months, will be a pivotal moment in the prime minister's fight for political survival and for his personal freedom.

Incoming Senate GOP leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is actively seeking ways to make next year's border and defense package deficit-neutral, if not deficit-negative.

Why it matters: Despite pushback from House Republicans, Thune is full steam ahead on his two-part reconciliation plan for next year, sources tell Axios.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is mounting a last-ditch fight to keep the National Labor Relations Board under Democratic control for the next two years under President-elect Trump.

Why it matters: For big labor and big business, the NLRB is crucially important.

Two top Syrian officials under the Assad regime have been charged by the Department of Justice with war crimes against Americans and others, according to a U.S. indictment that was unsealed on Monday.

The big picture: Former Syrian Air Force Intelligence officers Jamil Hassan, 72, and Abdul Salam Mahmoud, 65, have been charged with conspiracy to commit a war crime of cruel and inhuman treatment, marking the first time the U.S. has brought charges against Assad officials for human rights abuses.