The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday postponed the release of a key annual report central to future inflation data.
Why it matters: The BLS — charged with collecting critical data on employment, prices and more — did not explain the reasoning for the delay or when it might ultimately be released.
President Trump announced that highly-skilled workers hoping to work in America will now have to pay a $100,000 fee to receive an H-1B visa, multipleoutlets reported.
Why it matters: H-1B visas divide Trump's MAGA coalition, with some arguing foreign employees displace American workers while business leaders like Elon Musk view them as vital to America's tech dominance.
President Trump on Friday signed an executive order establishing his long-touted "Gold Card" program to sell U.S. residency — but with a lower price than first touted, and a new tax-advantaged "Platinum Card" option added.
Why it matters: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed the new program would raise more than $100 billion for the Treasury.
A key cybersecurity law with broad bipartisan backing is in danger of expiring because of last-minute demands from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who seems reluctant to engage with the private sector or other committee members on the issue, congressional aides from both parties tell Axios.
Why it matters: The authorities that expire in late September underpin most information sharing on cyber threats between the private sector and the U.S. government. If they lapse, that trading of information could cease next month, lawmakers and private sector executives have warned.
President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke about a TikTok deal Friday, but details on the social media platform's U.S. future remain unclear.
Why it matters: It's not 100% certain what the deal under discussion entails, though reports have suggested U.S. investors would control most of a new entity with a new app.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) is telling political allies that she is likely to run for the Senate, with some expecting an official announcement in the coming weeks, according to people familiar with the matter.
Why it matters: Party leaders have been pressing the term-limited Mills to challenge Sen. Susan Collins, the only GOP senator representing a state carried by former Vice President Harris in 2024.
Sen. Ted Cruz isn't joining the MAGA celebration over the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel. Instead, he's suggesting FCC chair Brendan Carr is behaving like a gangster.
Why it matters: Republicans have largely avoided direct criticism of Carr for suggesting that ABC should take action against Kimmel. But Cruz is taking a different approach.
The Trump administration warned Harvard on Friday that it would "face further enforcement action" if it refuses to turn over more information about the university's use of race in admissions.
Why it matters: The warning continues the administration's push to exert broad control over America's higher-learning institutions as Trump seeks to eradicate what he calls "anti-white racism," a reinterpretation at odds with the nation's history.
Kamala Harris writes in her explosive new book that California Gov. Gavin Newsom avoided her call the day Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race and she was soliciting support from other Democratic lawmakers.
Why it matters: Newsom is one of many potential rivals for the 2028 Democratic nomination that Harris throws under the bus in her upcoming book "107 Days," a copy of which was obtained by Axios.
A federal judge struck President Trump's $15 billion lawsuit against the New York Times Friday after deeming the original complaint was "decidedly improper and impermissible" for being unnecessarily long.
Why it matters: The development marks an inauspicious start for the president's lawsuit against the Times.
President Trump said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed in a call Friday morning to meet at the APEC summit in South Korea, which begins on Halloween.
Why it matters: This will be their first in-person meeting of Trump's second term. Trump launched a fast-escalating trade war after returning to office but the relationship has shifted onto friendlier terrain, for the time being at least.
Why it matters: It's not about one late night host, lawmakers say, but the apparent government pressure that was brought to bear in pushing for his ouster over his comments after the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
The House of Representatives in a broad bipartisan vote passed a resolution Friday honoring slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk as a "courageous American patriot" who sought to "elevate truth."
Why it matters: The vote was a tense one for Democrats, many of whom disliked Kirk and disagreed with many of the sentiments in the measure but felt compelled to support it because it also denounced his killing.
While prominent MAGA voices cried "war" and blamed the "other side" for Charlie Kirk's murder, another coalition is urging its peers to blame the shooter rather than their political rivals.
The big picture: Administration officials' rush to blame the left, coupled with a campaign to name and shame Kirk critics, sparked fears — even among some Republicans — that the government will seize this moment to suppress dissent and exact retribution.
The U.S. Army is tapping Treasury Department leadership and investors for a conversation this fall on the sidelines of one of Washington's splashiest defense conferences.
Why it matters: The military's wants and needs are changing, influenced greatly by wars abroad. Also shifting: when, why and how defense tech gets financed.
Republicans' sweeping Medicaid overhaul has left a lot of the heavy lifting to governors and state health officials as the program launches the biggest package of changes in its 60-year history.
Why it matters: States working with hospitals, clinics and other providers willhave to do more with less as they face about $1 trillion in program cuts and the likelihood of 10 million or more newly uninsured people from new work rules and other changes.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and her team are positioning her to run for president or the U.S. Senate in 2028, according to people familiar with her operation.
Why it matters: Ocasio-Cortez's 2028 decision could shake up the presidential race or the Senate's leadership. A fellow New Yorker, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, 74, is up for re-election in 2028.
Joe Biden had difficulty remembering names and dates, and often required extra meetings to make decisions in the final years of his presidency, his former chief of staff Jeff Zients told congressional investigators Thursday, according to people familiar with Zients' remarks.
Why it matters: Zients is one of the highest-ranking officials from the Biden White House to acknowledge that Biden's age affected his abilities — even as the 81-year-old president was seeking another four years in the Oval Office.
ABC's decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel was met with calls from Hollywood stars and prominent comedians to bring back the talk show host.
Why it matters: The suspension of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" has escalated tensions among entertainers, regulators and politicians. Many see it as a political flashpoint over the right to free speech.
Jon Stewart made a rare Thursday appearance for an "all-new government-approved Daily Show," as late-night hosts responded to ABC pulling Jimmy Kimmel's program over his comments about Charlie Kirk's killing.
The big picture: While Stewart focused on a parody of an autocratic regime, Stephen Colbert used his CBS show that's being canceled after next season to label the suspension of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" "blatant censorship." Seth Meyers on his program said, "Trump promised to end government censorship and bring back free speech, and he's doing the opposite."
Former Trump administration Vice President Mike Pence is joining George Mason University's Schar School of Policy and Government as a distinguished professor of practice next spring, the college in Northern Virginia announced this week.
The big picture: His appointment comes as the current Trump administration moves to curtail colleges' diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, with George Mason facing several investigations this year into alleged racial bias and antisemitism on campus, which the school has denied.
A Texas man is facing charges of making "terroristic threats" against Zohran Mamdani, after the Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City was sent a series of racist and anti-Muslim messages, prosecutors announced Thursday.
The big picture: Jeremy Fistel, 44, of Plano, Texas, reportedly pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Thursday in Queens County Criminal Court following a grand jury's 22-count indictment earlier this month.
Pete Buttigieg expressed surprise Thursday at former Vice President Kamala Harris' assertion in her upcoming book that it would've been too risky to have a Black woman and a gay man running on the same 2024 ticket.
Context: Harris wrote that the Biden administration transportation secretary was her "first choice" and "would have been an ideal partner — if I were a straight white man," per an excerpt of her book, published in The Atlantic on Wednesday, outlining why she ultimately picked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as her running mate.
