The Senate on Thursday rejected a resolution to block President Trump from taking military action against Venezuela without approval from Congress.
Why it matters: The U.S. has dispatched an unprecedented armada off of Venezuela's shores, as Trump toys with the idea of toppling the country's dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) plans to force Democrats to again vote down a deal on Friday to end the government shutdown, he told his conference.
Why it matters: Optimism around a fast deal has evaporated. Senate Democrats believe there aren't enough votes to advance the funding package on Friday and are committed to dragging the fight into next week, multiple sources told Axios.
The Supreme Court on Thursday okayed the Trump administration requirement that gender designations on U.S. passports match an individual's sex assigned at birth.
Why it matters: The decision marks the latest victory for the administration, which has rolled back protections for transgender and nonbinary Americans.
A federal judge in Chicago issued a preliminary injunction with stricter guidelines on use of force by Department of Homeland Security officersduring immigration enforcement.
Why it matters: More than a month after Judge Sara Ellis ordered DHS officers operating in and around Chicago to stop shooting pepper spray and tear gas at journalists and peaceful protesters, videos captured by witnesses from McKinley Park to Albany Park have shown tactics that question whether officers are adhering to the order.
U.S. holiday spending is set to top $1 trillion for the first time this year, the National Retail Federation said Thursday in its annual holiday forecast.
Why it matters: The forecast stands out as a bullish call on the economy, amid stubborn inflation, new tariffs and a government shutdown that could sap spending.
Medicare will cover weight-loss drugs under a deal between the Trump administration and drugmakers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to cut prices for blockbuster diabetes and anti-obesitydrugs.
Why it matters: About 10% of Medicare enrollees will be newly eligible for coverage of GLP-1 drugs because of the deal, a senior administration official told reporters Thursday.
The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) planned flight cuts and reductions in response to the ongoing government shutdown could strand air travelers across the country.
Why it matters: The FAA plans to reduce 10% of flights at 40 major U.S. airports, suggesting delays and cancellations are coming, on top of the staffing headaches already plaguing airports.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) pushed climate change to the front burner as House Democrats' leader, though Republicans have undone some of her accomplishments.
Why it matters: Pelosi, who announced her retirement on Thursday, is regarded as one of history's most successful House speakers, partly because of her ability to mobilize her caucus to deal with issues like climate change.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments on a challenge to President Trump's tariff powers, with even conservative justices sounding skeptical of the White House's position.
The big picture: You can't divine a SCOTUS ruling from questions, or even their tone, but the odds have definitely shifted against this type of executive authority.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the first woman Speaker of the House, will retire from Congress in 2027, marking an end to some four decades of boundary-breaking service.
The big picture: The 85-year-old political giant's presence looms large over the Democratic Party, even after she stepped away from congressional leadership in 2022.
The Affordable Care Act's subsidy structure, especially with COVID-era enhancements, discriminates against people with employer insurance and creates disincentives to work, an influential conservative think tank argues in a new brief provided first to Axios.
Why it matters: Treat this as a preview of a likely new line of attack on the Hill as Congress continues to brawl over the future of the enhanced subsidies.
The Trump administration revised the calculations states must use for stopgap SNAP payments after finding errors, it said in court, adding to the uncertainty over the food benefits.
Why it matters: The roughly 42 million Americans who rely on these benefits to pay for groceries are going to struggle — some recipients will get 65% of what they would normally receive, others less, using the USDA's updated calculations.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Thursdaythat she will retire from Congress in 2027, capping off a political career that spanned more than 40 years.
Why it matters: A political giant on both coasts, Pelosi's departure marks the end of an era in Washington, D.C., and will have profound political reverberations in her home state of California.
Democrats' pocketbook pitch on energy prices handily won in Tuesday's elections, while President Trump and Republicans re-upped their 2024 playbook focused on identity politics.
Why it matters: The bellwether elections hint that the president's economic agenda and fixation on cultural wars may drag Republicans down in the 2026 midterms.
A half-dozen scattered elections did overnight what President Trump himself couldn't do in 10 months: revitalized the Democratic resistance, instantly and profoundly.
Why it matters: Democrats are more likely to fight harder in Congress, donate more generously, protest more loudly, resist Trump's policies more vigorously. They believe, for the first time since Trump won, they can stand up to the president and beat him.
Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani basked in his history-making election as New York City's mayor Tuesday, but harsh reality loomed: the wrath of a president who's threatening to withhold federal money from a city that relies on billions from D.C. each year.
Why it matters: Mamdani's ambitious ideas to boost affordability in New York are now at a crossroads with President Trump, who's eager to thwart the mayor-elect and — with the 2026 midterms in mind — cast him as a "communist" symbol of the Democratic Party.
Nearly two in three Latinos say it's a bad time to be Latino or Hispanic in the U.S. — a spike in pessimism since just last year and a total reversal from three years ago — according to a new Axios-Ipsos Latino Poll in partnership with Noticias Telemundo.
The big picture: The survey shows that Latinos' overall sense of optimism, safety and belonging has plunged across several measures since President Trump took office.
Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday she's pressing charges against a man who groped her on the street a day earlier.
The big picture: Video of Tuesday's incident on a Mexico City street went viral and Sheinbaum said on X that she would "review the legislation so that this crime is punishable in all" of the 32 Mexican states.
A new peace prize will be awarded at the World Cup draw in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 5 that recognizes "exceptional actions for peace and unity," soccer's international governing body FIFA announced Wednesday.
The big picture: FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement that in an "increasingly unsettled and divided world, it's fundamental to recognize the outstanding contribution of those who work hard to end conflicts and bring people together in a spirit of peace."
Too often, men are drawn to the loud, the muscular, the powerful, the flashy, the rich or the renegades.
Why it matters: It's easy for algorithms to normalize or aggrandize saying, doing, acting as you want, consequences be damned. It's easy to slip into video games or porn or conspiracies or loneliness. It's easy to lose sight of what makes great people actually great.
Democrats' surprising victory margins Tuesday were fueled by dramatic gains among people who've drifted to the GOP in recent years — particularly Black, Latino and young voters, exit polls showed.
Also jumping out of the results: In winning the races for governor in Virginia and New Jersey, Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill not only won a solid majority of women voters, they were backed by nearlyhalf the men who voted in each state, CNN's surveys indicated.
Why it matters: The deeper Democrats looked into the numbers Wednesday, the more encouraging it seemed for a party that has been in the wilderness much of the year since President Trump's election.
President Trump's mounting pressure campaign to nuke the filibuster won some fresh converts Wednesday as his warning rippled across the GOP conference.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has sounded his loudest alarm about the U.S. falling behind to China on AI, telling the Financial Times that "China is going to win the AI race."
Why it matters: The trillion-dollar bet on AI's success, pushed by the Trump administration, hinges in large part on Nvidia, the dominant maker of chips for AI computing.
Huang's warning reflected an apparent frustration with mounting calls for regulation in the U.S.
