The U.S. securities regulator has a lot of work to do, which is part of the reason it decided to clear the meme coins question off its agenda last week, commissioner Hester Peirce, the chair of the agency's crypto task force, tells Axios.
Why it matters: Even before President Trump dropped his own,meme coins had already become a global investing fad attracting tens of billions of dollars into a completely speculative and wildly volatile market.
The big picture: The president has crafted a team of loyalists to advise him on the most pressing and important issues facing the nation both at home and abroad.
Why it matters: Trump's proposals to dismantle the Department of Education could have dramatic implications for public schools that rely on federal funds to fill gaps in state and local support. Experts point to a recipe for chaos as critical government programs are reorganized.
Why it matters: The announcement sent financial markets tumbling in anticipation of a potential trade war between the U.S. and its top trading partners.
A cryptocurrency reserve held by the U.S. government would not necessarily require taxpayer money for the feds to set up a stash of several billion dollars' worth, but that doesn't mean everyone — even everyone in the crypto industry — thinks it is a good idea.
Why it matters: President Trump, who calls himself America's "first crypto president," stoked a $300 billion cryptocurrency rally this past weekend with a social post about a reserve that would include several major cryptocurrencies.
President Trump's decision to cancel a major oil deal with Venezuela came amid pressure from Miami's three GOP House members who oppose enriching Nicolás Maduro's dictatorship, four sources tell Axios.
Why it matters: To get their way, the three House members suggested — but never explicitly threatened — that they would withhold votes Trump needed for the GOP budget deal that the House narrowly passed last week.
President Trump signed executiveorders to increase lumber production across national forests and other public lands in the U.S., but wants to sidestep endangered species protections and other environmental regulations.
The big picture: Wildlife species reliant on undisturbed forests could face significant habitat loss, while expedited environmental reviews may reduce oversight on ecological impacts.
The big picture: Rebuttals have in the past been a tricky gig, but they're also an opportunity for relatively lower-profile lawmakers and officials to take a national stage.
Long-threatened tariffs on Canada and Mexico will go into effect Tuesday, as will increased levies on China, President Trump confirmed.
Why it matters: The tariffs are expected to trigger a trade war with the three largest U.S. trading partners, one that could raise prices for American consumers on a broad range of products.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. will invest an additional $100 billionin U.S. chips production, the company and President Trump announced Monday, adding to its existing$65 billion commitment in Arizona.
Why it matters: TSMC, the world's leading chips manufacturer, wants to diversify its semiconductor manufacturing footprint outside of the political volatility in Taiwan amid tensions with China.
Why it matters: The reversal comes after a federal judge ordered the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to rescind instructions to several federal agencies to fire probationary employees.
Editor's note: Read the latest on Trump's decision to pause all U.S. military aid to Ukraine here.
President Trump will hold a meeting Monday afternoon on the next steps regarding the crisis with Ukraine, including a possible suspension of U.S. military aid, a U.S. official and a source with knowledge of the meeting told Axios.
Why it matters: Trump and his allies have been piling pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after their disastrous Oval Office meeting last week. Suspending military aid would damage Ukraine's ability to defend itself against Russia's invasion and further weaken Ukraine's leverage as Trump pushes for peace talks.
A U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) official wrote in a series of memos that the Trump administration's upheaval of U.S. foreign aid will trigger devastating human costs.
The big picture: With lifesaving services blocked, Nicholas Enrich — USAID's acting assistant administrator for global health — warned, "preventable death, destabilization, and threats to national security on a massive scale" will follow.
Paradigm, the giant crypto-focused venture fund, only plans to get behind policy that keeps blockchains an open and dynamic technology, according to previews of new blog posts shared early with Axios exclusively.
Why it matters: Paradigm is a multi-billion dollar fund, in terms of assets under management, with a strong policy team that can access leaders on both sides of the political aisle.
Top Trump administration officials are arguing that it is misleading to include government spending in the quarterly tally of GDP.
It sets up a clash between the administration and economists over how to calculate the broadest measure of economic activity.
The big picture: GDP statistics are calculated the way they have been for the last eight decades for good reasons — but administration officials are correct that the accounting for government spending isn't ideal.
Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a former Miami congressman and towering figure in the Cuban exile community, died Monday after battling cancer. He was 70.
Zoom in: Diaz-Balart was the legislative mastermind responsible for enshrining the Cuban embargo into law, instead of executive action. It remains to this day and profoundly influences U.S. policy in Latin America.
President Trump's Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered U.S. Cyber Command to suspend offensive cyber and information operations against Russia, according to multiplereports.
Dozens of contracts critical to the functioning of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), have either been canceled or are on their way to termination, according to a detailed affidavit filed in federal court last week.
Why it matters: The CFPB is an agency tasked with protecting people from financial fraud, but it has been gutted by the White House over the past two weeks as part of the broad purge of the federal government.
The role of trailblazing Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham was inexplicably cut from the 1976 Watergate movie, "All the President's Men," which had a splashy D.C. premiere at the Kennedy Center.
Forty-nine years later, Graham got her Kennedy Center honors with Sunday night's Washington premiere of "Becoming Katharine Graham," a documentary now streaming on Prime Video.
Black and Hispanic people paid more in out-of-pocket costs for maternal care than Asian and white people with the same commercial insurance, a new study published in JAMA Health Forum found.
Why it matters: Black mothers in the U.S. facea pregnancy-related death rate that is more than three times the rate for white mothers. About 80% of these deaths are preventable. The maternal mortality rate for Hispanic women is similar to that of white mothers but has surged in recent years.
The number of immigrants removed from the U.S. was down during President Trump's first days in office compared to the daily average in the final weeks of Joe Biden's term, according to early numbers reviewed by Axios.
Why it matters: The data offer a mixed view of how Trump's plans to deport "millions" of unauthorized immigrants and dramatically beef up border security are playing out so far.
America is the world's biggest business, and its shareholders — U.S. taxpayers — should be panicked about the state of their investment, says star Wall Street analyst-turned investor Mary Meeker.
Why it matters: For the first time since 2011, Meeker examined the financials of the U.S. the way she would analyze those of a public company. "USA Inc," however, has more at stake than any single corporation: America's worsening fiscal position could limit its ability to respond to economic or geopolitical threats down the line.
New York launched a job recruitment ad campaign targeting fired federal workers at midnight Monday.
The big picture: Gov. Kathy Hochul's (D) "you're hired" campaign to fill 7,000 public sector roles follows similar jobs initiatives in other states aimed at people who were laid off in the Trump administration's federal government overhaul, driven by DOGE, which billionaire Elon Musk is the face of.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke of the benefits of the MMR vaccine on Sunday in response to a growing measles outbreak in Texas.
Why it matters: Kennedy has a long record of sowing skepticism about vaccines and last week appeared to downplay the situation in Texas when he described such outbreaks as "not unusual."
