Axios

Republican Randy Fine defeated Democrat Josh Weil in the race for Florida's 6th Congressional District, according to AP.

Why it matters: Republicans were skittish about a close race that didn't bear out. The result will embolden them and serve as yet another blow to Democrats' electoral ambitions.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) set a record for marathon Senate floor speeches Tuesday evening as his address surpassed the 24-hour mark, after vowing to speak "as long as I am physically able to."

Why it matters: Booker said his speech that began at 7pm Monday ET was intended to highlight the "recklessness" of the Trump administration, which has plowed forward with efforts to radically reshape the federal government and its workforce.

A federal judge on Tuesday denied the Trump administration's second attempt to move Columbia University alumnus Mahmoud Khalil's case out of New Jersey.

The big picture: It sought to transfer the case to Louisiana, where the U.S. green card holder is being held, which could have placed it before one of the most conservative appeals courts in the country.

Sen. Cory Booker's (D-N.J.) record marathon speech on the Senate floor won the floundering Democratic Party something it has desperately needed in the Trump era: attention and the applause of its base.

The big picture: Top Democrats believe they are in their deepest hole in nearly 50 years after losing the White House, Senate and House, and the party's base has grown impatient with leaders who haven't countered President Trump more aggressively.

The Trump administration has paused dozens of Princeton University's research grants, the school announced on Tuesday.

The big picture: It's the latest Ivy League school, following Columbia and Harvard, to have its federal funding reviewed or revoked.

The Trump administration is being sued over its efforts to make sweeping changes to federal elections that would include a proof of citizenship requirement, with Democratic and advocacy groups filing two separate lawsuits on Monday.

The big picture: Both the suit from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the DNC and other Democratic groups, and the one from several nonprofits, argue that President Trump's executive order — which also seeks to prevent states from counting mail-in ballots arriving after Election Day — is unconstitutional.

Editor's note: Read the latest on Sen. Cory Booker's record-breaking speech here.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) has held the Senate floor since 7pm ET Monday, promising to talk "as long as I am physically able."

Why it matters: Booker has been talking for around 23 hours, with pauses for questions from fellow Democrats — and he doesn't seem to be slowing down. He has less than two hours to go to break the record for the longest Senate speech.

TikTok faces a Saturday ban if it is not sold to a U.S. owner — déjà vu.

The big picture: At least four groups have made offers to buy the app, but TikTok owner ByteDance would likely need Chinese government approval to sell.

The idea of a DOGE stimulus check keeps coming up, but Elon Musk is distancing himself from it.

Why it matters: Musk has begun to downplay what is perhaps the most popular idea (at least on social media) associated with his team's bid to to cut government spending.

National Security Adviser Michael Waltz and other senior officials used their personal Gmail account for government business, the Washington Post reports.

Why it matters: The administration's handling of sensitive information is already under scrutiny, and Gmail is even less secure than Signal.

A House Democrat is introducing long-shot legislation that would force billionaire Trump lieutenant Elon Musk and his staffers at DOGE to undergo routine drug testing, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) cited a Wall Street Journal report from 2024 that alleged Musk has used illegal drugs including LSD, cocaine, ecstasy, mushrooms and ketamine as the impetus for her bill.

Senate Republicans are fully embracing the strategy of plowing ahead on President Trump's "one, big beautiful bill" by bypassing the parliamentarian on a crucial accounting matter.

Why it matters: Senate leadership and Trump want to make the 2017 tax cuts permanent without having to account for how much it would add to the deficit. Now, they're saying all they need is for Budget Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to decide that's what they're going to do.

Elon Musk's chainsaw-wielding tour of the federal bureaucracy as a special government employee will eventually come to a close, President Trump suggested to reporters on Monday.

The big picture: As Musk guides a team throughout a dramatic upheaval of federal agencies at a breakneck pace, he's on a tight timeline as a "special government employee." That designation means he is confined to 130 days of service during a one-year period.

The House voted Tuesday to defy House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and force a vote on allowing members who are new parents to vote by proxy for three months.

Why it matters: It's a brutal loss for Johnson, who poured considerable political capital into trying to snuff out Rep. Anna Paulina Luna's (R-Fla.) efforts.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court election on Tuesday has become the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history, surpassing $98 million in spending as of Tuesday, per the Brennan Center for Justice.

Why it matters: The election will determine the ideological majority on the currently liberal court, which has pending cases on abortion, redistricting and voting rights.

Wisconsin voters on Tuesday will elect a single state Supreme Court member in a special election that will determine if the bench keeps its liberal majority.

Why it matters: The swing state race is the first major election in the U.S. since November and has become the most expensive judicial race in American history.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) touched off considerable anger from his Republican members Tuesday with his efforts to block lawmakers who are new parents from being able to vote by proxy.

Why it matters: Johnson tied his motion to kill Rep. Anna Paulina Luna's (R-Fla.) proxy voting initiative to a GOP bill that would prohibit non-citizens from voting in federal elections. Some see that approach as heavy-handed.

A Salvadorian national living in Maryland legally was wrongly deported to El Salvador, the Department of Justice has admitted in court papers filed Monday.

Why it matters: The erroneous deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, first reported by The Atlantic, is the latest stumble by the Trump administration as it seeks to deport more people using questionable methods amid a declining pace of removals compared to the Biden administration.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee sent letters on Tuesday to members of the Trump administration's Houthi air strike Signal group chat, requesting they sit for transcribed interviews about the national security breach.

Why it matters: The White House has remained defiant despite the bipartisan backlash and growing calls from members of both parties to investigate the breach.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has directed prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, the man charged with murder in connection to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year.

The big picture: Mangione's alleged crime and arrest sparked mass debate over America's health care system and attracted nationwide attention.

A Commerce Department requirement to have Secretary Howard Lutnick approve many NOAA contracts or extensions is slowing the agency's operations to a crawl, current and former NOAA staff tell Axios.

Why it matters: The requirement of Lutnick's approval on contracts and extensions over $100,000 also is having ripple effects for contractors around the country as some contracts expire or are canceled because the time to review them has elapsed.

Alabama cannot prosecute doctors and reproductive rights groups that help patients travel out of state for abortions, a federal judge ruled Monday.

Why it matters: Alabama has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country, with Monday's ruling upending threats by the state's attorney general to crack down on Alabamans' ability to travel elsewhere for the procedure.

Entire offices throughout the Department of Health and Human Services were laid off Tuesday as the agency implemented DOGE-directed job cuts and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s sweeping reorganization of the federal health bureaucracy.

The big picture: The at times haphazard firing of approximately 10,000 civil servants is intensifying concerns about increased political interference in health care and a loss of expertise.

Newly confirmed National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya told staff that they face challenges amid large-scale cutbacks and that he will try his best to "implement new policies humanely," according to an all-staff email sent this morning and shared with Axios by the agency.

Why it matters: The message comes days after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a sweeping reorganization of the federal health bureaucracy, which includes laying off roughly 1,200 NIH employees.

The European Union is ready to take "firm counter-measures" to respond to U.S. reciprocal tariffs, the president of the European Commission said Tuesday.

Why it matters: The world is on the brink of a historic trade war, one that threatens to spark a bout of stagflation with profound consequences for global economies.

The National Treasury Employees union filed suit against the Trump administration in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Monday, over the White House order eliminating collective bargaining rights for two-thirds of the federal workforce.

Why it matters: The executive order threatens the very existence of these unions, which use collective bargaining to negotiate for better pay, benefits and fair treatment.

Elon Musk wants to take the federal government private, part of the DOGE-led effort to shrink the bureaucracy.

Why it matters: Pushing more of the federal government's work into the private sector could lead to greater efficiency, but the downsides could cost taxpayers in other ways.

President Trump's global dealmaking blitz is facing new obstacles, with early optimism eclipsed by broken ceasefires, pissed-off allies and thinning patience at home and abroad.

Why it matters: Ten weeks isn't a long time in foreign policy. But it was Trump who promised instant results — and Trump whose "Art of the Deal" credentials are at risk if chaos consumes his early presidency.

MAGA media is railing against an international "deep state" following a series of setbacks for overseas allies of President Trump.

Why it matters: Trump's loyal movement has sought to steadily expand its influence abroad, allying itself with right-wing parties and leaders in Europe, Latin America and Asia.

The Trump administration's pace of removing immigrants from the U.S. continues to lag behind Joe Biden's pace last year, even as detentions have jumped under President Trump, new numbers show.

Driving the news: The pace of removals under Trump is actually slowing compared to his first two weeks in office, despite several high-profile raids and the targeting of foreign students as part of a sweeping immigration crackdown,

Tariff uncertainty and recession fears just drove U.S. stocks to one of their worst quarters in years.

Why it matters: A sharp decline in stocks used to be enough to get President Trump to change his policy positions — but these are different times.

The Trump administration has taken action to ensure a Signal group chat that inadvertently included The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg can never happen again, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday.

Why it matters: There have been growing calls from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for an investigation into the Signal scandal, with Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee the latest to call for an independent probe in a letter Monday to director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

Elon Musk visited the CIA headquarters on Monday for talks on government efficiency, the spy agency director of public affairs Liz Lyons told Axios.

Why it matters: This is the first time Musk has visited the CIA since the establishment of DOGE, the federal cost-cutting department that is he is the face of.

Harvard has been placed under investigation by the Trump administration over allegations that the school hasn't done enough to address antisemitism on campus, according to a letter sent to the school on Monday.

Why it matters: Some $9 billion in federal grants and contracts between the university and the U.S. government will be reviewed and could potentially be cut.

• The prospective cuts are the latest example of the administration's crackdown on antisemitism and follows a similar probe at Columbia University, which ultimately conceded to some demands from the government to prevent over $400 million from being removed.

The White House is eyeing this summer's debt ceiling's "X-date" as a forcing mechanism to push the "one big, beautiful bill" through Congress.

• "Gun to the head, the whole agenda, and the country's credit rating and global depression all rolled into one," says a White House official, describing their approach.

Why it matters: President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson's partnership has led to some early wins. But there's a growing realization that the next steps are way more difficult.

Keep these numbers in mind ahead of the special elections tomorrow that are keeping Republicans up at night.

• FL-1: Trump won FL-1 by 37 points in 2024, former Rep. Matt Gaetz won by 32.
• FL-6: Trump won by 30 in 2024, former Rep. Mike Waltz won by 33.

The bottom line: If the GOP margin of victory comes in single digits in both races, expect a GOP freakout.

• But if it's just Waltz's seat, look for party strategists to blame the candidate.

Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) is eager to start balancing the federal budget in the Senate, but he also says DOGE has mowed "past the fence."

Why it matters: The popular one-time-Democratic governor has a big personality, a beloved dog and a long beef with his predecessor, Joe Manchin.

• "I always felt like that Joe wanted something for himself ... whether it be prestige or whatever," Justice says. "And I have a real problem with that."

Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) is eager to start balancing the federal budget in the Senate, but he also says DOGE has mowed "past the fence."

Why it matters: The popular one-time-Democratic governor has a big personality, a beloved dog and a long beef with his Senate predecessor, Joe Manchin.

Senate Democrats who blitzed Republican districts with town halls earlier this month are encouraging their colleagues to follow a similar game plan.

• "I think every Democrat in the country should be doing town halls, especially going out to communities where our party hasn't had a lot of support," Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) tells Axios.

Why it matters: The events give Democrats an opportunity to pummel congressional Republicans for their budget reconciliation plans, which likely include cuts to Medicaid.

The White House is eyeing this summer's debt ceiling's "X-date" as a forcing mechanism to push the "one big, beautiful bill" through Congress.

• "Gun to the head, the whole agenda, and the country's credit rating and global depression all rolled into one," says a White House official, describing their approach.

Why it matters: President Trump's partnership with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) partnership has led to some early wins. But there's a growing realization that the next steps are way more difficult.