Luigi Mangione's defense team is seeking to dismiss the New York state indictment against him, according to a motion filed Thursday.
The big picture: Mangione, who was charged with murder in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year, is potentially facing the death penalty.
Senate GOP leadership will barrel forward in the coming weeks to block California's big electric vehicle rule — despite a recent opinionfrom Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough.
Why it matters: The details are still being hashed out. But it would be thesecond time this year GOP leadership has worked around MacDonough, who will play a critical role in the process Republicans are using to pass President Trump's "one big, beautiful bill."
The crypto industry is holding a $1.5 million-a-head fundraiser for President Trump on Monday in Washington, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: Trump has been cozying up to the crypto industry — including by launching a crypto venture called World Liberty Financial, which he cofounded last year with longtime friend Steve Witkoff now the White House's envoy to the Middle East.
For the third time in a month, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets, government buildings and the White House in a nationwide rally against the Trump administration.
Driving the news: Thursday's May Day protests fall on International Workers' Day and are calling attention to policies that affect working people, including threats to Social Security and union protections.
Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) has set off an internal furor among House Democrats with his unsanctioned efforts to impeach President Trump, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: In addition to many House Democrats seeing the push as both premature and counterproductive, some are also chafing at Thanedar's tactics in drumming up support for his impeachment articles.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris' "60 Minutes" interview at the center of a lawsuit from President Trump was nominated for an Emmy on Thursday.
The big picture: Trump filed a lawsuit against CBS ahead of his election win over Harris, alleging the interview with the then-Democratic presidential candidate was deceptively edited.
Even for a president known for cycling through staff, the national security adviser role is particularly prone to turnover.
The big picture: PresidentTrump's first national security adviserquickly resigned and later ended up in court. His next two clashed with him while in office and harshly criticized him afterwards. Now the fifth, Michael Waltz, is on his way out the door.
President Trump confirmed he was removing Mike Waltz as national security adviser on Thursday but added the surprise announcement that he would be nominating him for the vacant UN ambassador post.
President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to establish a presidential commission on religious liberty.
The big picture: Trump, who said Thursday his administration would bring "religion back to our country," has signed several faith-based executive orders, including one to eradicate so-called "anti-Christian bias" and another to create a White House Faith Office.
Democrats in Congress feel they got their first scalp of the Trump administration on Thursday with the ouster of national security adviser Mike Waltz. Now, they're calling for more.
Why it matters: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been another top target for his role in Signalgate and for reports of chaos and mismanagement at the Pentagon.
A federal judge ruled Thursday that the Trump administration unlawfully cited the Aliens Enemies Act in deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador.
The big picture: The decision from the Trump-appointed judge is a blow to the administration, which has faced legal challenges for invoking the 18th-century wartime law to quickly carry out deportations.
Mike Waltz has been a dead man walking in the White House for the past month, and the outgoing national security adviser started to act like it, Trump administration sources tell Axios.
Why it matters: "Signalgate" badly damaged Waltz, but it wasn't his only problem. He got on the wrong side of everyone from conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.
National security adviser Mike Waltz is changing roles about a month after he inadvertently included a journalist in a Signal chat discussing sensitive details about a strike in Yemen.
Driving the news: After a flood of reports that Waltz was being ousted, President Trump announced he was nominating him for a new role: UN ambassador. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will replace Waltz on an interim basis while keeping his current job.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) is seeking answers from the Trump administration about its efforts to cancel student visas and revoke legal statuses in the middle of the academic year.
Why it matters: In a letter to the Trump administration, Jayapal asks for information about the number of student visas canceled and the criteria being used to terminate foreign students' legal statuses.
The long-awaited deal creating a United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund faces huge questions, in part due to war-related damage to Ukraine's infrastructure.
Why it matters: The 50-50 fund gives the U.S. preferential access to Ukraine's critical minerals, oil and gas.
Elon Musk and Tesla's chair early on Thursday vehemently denied a Wall Street Journal report saying the EV company's board had launched a search process for a new CEO to potentially replace the world's richest person.
Why it matters: Tesla has suffered declining sales since Musk became an outspoken ally of President Trump and leader of the budget-slashing DOGE.
Corporate America will continue to serve two antitrust masters, after Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) yesterday backed off a plan to remove the FTC's antitrust authority and consolidate (most of) those powers in the Justice Department.
Why it matters: This illustrates how antitrust politics have changed in the past 100 days.
HHS released a review Thursday that asserts gender-affirming care for minors has significant risks with little evidence of benefit.
Why it matters: The 409-page document contrasts the policies of major medical associations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, who say gender-affirming care can be life saving for transgender adolescents.
More than one in four Americans believe Chinese Americans are a threat to U.S. society, and 40% believe Asian Americans are more loyal to their countries of origin than to the U.S., a new survey found.
Why it matters: Five years after the pandemic, when the U.S. saw a surge in anti-Asian hate crimes, Asian Americans are still battling harmful stereotypes and deep-seated misperceptions.
The successor to Pope Francis will take over a Catholic Church with more than 1.4 billion members around the world. But his impact is likely to reach far beyond the church.
Why it matters: Popes today don't just oversee church doctrine and administration — they're global diplomats and influencers who can foster peace agreements, accelerate fights against diseases and impact population growth.
A group of Christian leaders is denouncing a new White House task force aimed at rooting out "anti-Christian bias" at a time when the Trump administration is going after liberal Christian groups that help immigrants and the poor.
Why it matters: It's thelatest example of divisions between moderate and conservative Christians who are at odds over the administration's free speech and immigration policies.
Elon Musk acknowledges his budget-cutting exercise known as DOGE hasn't been as successful as he hoped. But he says it may go on for President Trump's entire four years in office — more than twice as long as originally planned.
Why it matters: DOGE was set up to terminate on July 4, 2026. But Musk now says his controversial group could help oversee the slashing of federal spending through the end of 2028.
President Trump is putting China's economy through a trillion-dollar stress test, and he may not like the result.
Why it matters: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent insists China is far more reliant on the U.S. than vice-versa, and thus has no choice but to blink first.
The Trump administration's resolve to prevent Kilmar Abrego Garcia from returning to the U.S. is stiffening amid newly released allegations that he abused his wife on several occasions, according to White House sources and court documents reviewed by Axios.
Why it matters: Garcia's mistaken deportation to a notorious El Salvador prison has become central to the legal and political fight over President Trump's immigration policy and due process for undocumented immigrants.
Former Vice President Harris accused President Trump of being responsible for the "greatest man-made economic crisis in modern presidential history" during a Wednesday night speech in San Francisco, California.
Why it matters: The 2024 Democratic presidential candidate used her first major speech since Trump took office for a second time to criticize his handling of the economy, immigration and other key policy areas.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is staring down a growing rebellion from his centrist wing over cuts to Medicaid in the GOP's "big, beautiful bill."
Why it matters: Moderate and swing-district House Republicans are trying to balance their loyalty to Trump with their increasingly imperiled reelection prospects.
