Presidents Day comes every third Monday in February: It's a day many Americans enjoy off from work and cash in on sales.
The big picture: The way the holiday is celebrated has evolved throughout U.S. history, from a day of reverence for George Washington to a retail bonanza.
The Department of Education wrote in a letter to academic institutions that it may cut federal funding for those with policies related to race or diversity, signaling the latest crackdown by the Trump administration on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The big picture: The letter includes a sweeping interpretation of the Supreme Court's affirmative action ruling and instructs schools, colleges and universities to eliminate any DEI policies within 14 days or face funding cuts.
As the nation marks a turbulent Black History Month, the economic state of Black America has much improved over the last few decades but is still nowhere near parity.
Why it matters: Economic hardships define people, families and communities for generations; breaking those cycles is the key to broader prosperity.
One of the big reasons President Trump is limiting AP reporters' White Houseaccess is to protest what aides see as years of liberal word choices that the wire service's influential stylebook spread across mainstream media, according to top White House officials.
Why it matters: The trigger was the announcement by The Associated Press that it would continue using the 400-year-old "Gulf of Mexico" rather than switch to "Gulf of America," as declared by Trump in a Day 1 executive order. But it turns out that broader underlying grievances made AP a target.
An Internal Revenue Service employee connected with the Elon Musk-led DOGE team is set to seek access to an IRS system that includes sensitive taxpayer data, the Washington Post first reported Sunday and Axios can confirm.
President Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is the congenial dealmaker for the very brash dealmaker-in-chief.
Witkoff has an expanding portfolio that now includes Trump's biggest geopolitical challenge — negotiating a deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine as part of a controversial reset of U.S. foreign policy.
Why it matters: Trump's cage-rattling agenda — which has shocked European allies — is a keystone of his second term. He'll rely heavily on Witkoff, a billionaire real estate investor and friend for 40 years, to make it happen.
Democrats are signaling they won't bail out Republicans as yet another government funding deadline looms — and with a GOP trifecta in Washington, some say it won't be their fault if the government goes dark.
Why it matters: If past negotiations are an indicator of how the vote to stave off the March 14 shutdown deadline will go, the GOP will almost certainly need Democratic support.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a "Meet the Press" interview aired Sunday that he would "never accept" decisions made by the U.S. and Russia about Ukraine's future, even as the two nations appear poised to engage in peace talks this week.
The big picture:President Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, confirmed Sunday on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" that he and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz will travel to Saudi Arabia to "hopefully make some really good progress" on the Russia-Ukraine peace process.
House Republicans are planning to introduce long-shot articles of impeachment against at least two of the federal judges who have blocked President Trump's efforts to upend the federal government.
Why it matters: The measures are part of a growing public conflict between Republicans and the federal judiciary as Trump bristles at obstacles to his "government efficiency" agenda.
