Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza and Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia — the top candidates to receive the Heisman Trophy — are set to make history Saturday.
Why it matters: Either would beonly the third Latino player ever to win the coveted honor given to college football's best player, but Mendoza would be the first Cuban American to take it.
A newly unsealed warrant shows the U.S. Coast Guard seized the M/T Skipper, a crude oil tanker intercepted off Venezuela, just before the warrant was set to expire on Wednesday.
Why it matters: The move comes as the Trump administration layers on new U.S. sanctions against Venezuelan oil shipping networks and Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro's inner circle, aiming to raise the risks for companies moving the country's crude.
Joy Reid, whose MSNBC show "The ReidOut" was canceled earlier this year, says leaving corporate media has been "liberating," allowing her to express her voice fully.
Why it matters: Reid is part of a growing wave of Black journalists — from Roland Martin and Jemele Hill to Don Lemon and Tiffany Cross —each creating independent media platforms when pushed out of mainstream media in high-profile clashes over voice, culture or politics.
Indiana lawmakers' rejection of a plan to create two more Republican congressional seats Thursday delivered a blow to the White House's scramble to redistrict ahead of midterm elections, but the state isn't the only egg in President Trump's basket.
The big picture: Six states have already implemented new congressional maps, and more could follow.
The Justice Department is seeking to block the federal judge who launched a contempt of court inquiry into the Trump administration's decision to not turn a deportation plane carrying immigrants to El Salvador around earlier this year.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett has left some of her fellow House Democrats infuriated after launching a bid for U.S. Senate in Texas.
Why it matters: Many in the party fear the anti-Trump firebrand will alienate swing voters and drag down Democrats in the state if she clinches the nomination — including in several key House races that could decide control of the lower chamber.
House Republicans unveiled details of their health care plan Friday ahead of planned votes next week.
Why it matters: The plan does not include an extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies. Instead, there are other GOP ideas aimed at lowering health care costs.
House GOP leadership aides said they also expect a vote on an amendment to extend the ACA subsidies in some form.
While the details are still being worked out, the ACA extension is unlikely to pass, since Democrats are still pushing for a "clean" extension, not one with GOP-backed reforms attached.
Many Republicans oppose any kind of subsidy extension.
What's inside: The underlying GOP plan includes a measure to expand association health plans, which allow employers to band together to purchase coverage.
Another provision would impose new transparency measures on pharmacy benefit managers, aimed at lowering drug costs.
The plan also funds ACA cost-sharing reduction payments, which would lower overall premiums in ACA markets but also have the effect of cutting the subsidies that some enrollees receive.
The plan also includes a GOP measure aimed at easing the ability for small businesses to purchase health coverage.
Between the lines: House Republicans did not include a Senate GOP plan that would have provided $1,000 to $1,500 in health savings accounts, as an alternative to a subsidy extension.
GOP aides said further health proposals could get House votes early next year.
The big picture: Even if House Republicans muster enough votes to advance a plan, it is likely to die in the Senate, where proposals would need 60 votes and Democratic buy-in.
Democrats still insist a subsidy extension is the answer to avert a steep rise in out-of-pocket premiums for millions of ACA enrollees in the new year.
House Republicans argue that their plan would also help people outside of the ACA markets who get insurance through employers.
The bottom line: The ACA subsidies are still likely to expire at the end of the year, but the votes will give House Republicans a chance to say they did put forward their own health care plan.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is asking the Trump administration to defend its ICE operation in her congressional district and explain why it's mulling revoking protected status for hundreds of Somalis.
The big picture: Omar made the requests on Friday via twoletters sent to the Department of Homeland Security after President Trump escalated his attacks on Somalis, including Omar, who fled Somalia as a child.
President Trump's approval rating on his longtime political calling card — the economy — has sunk to 31%, the lowest it has been across both of his terms as president, according to a new survey from The Associated Press-NORC.
Why it matters: The decline in the approval rating comes as the administration is working to take on an affordability crisis that has been weighing on consumers.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatened to freeze $73 million from New York on Friday for allegedly issuing commercial driver's licenses for immigrants "illegally," which could result in the "total decertification" of the state's CDL program.
The Department of Justice is seeking Fulton County's ballots from the 2020 election, according to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday in Atlanta.
Why it matters: The legal move by the DOJ shows the Trump administration still questions whether President Biden won the election five years ago.
Human error was behind issues surrounding how Fulton County handled the election, according to the AJC, but two recounts confirmed Biden won the state by 11,779 votes and investigations found no evidence of intentional wrongdoing.
MAGA's civil war is draining the movement of its political muscle, leaving it defenseless as the Trump administration revisits policies previously opposed by the base.
Why it matters: MAGA's grassroots strength lies in its ability to rally influencers, politicians and activists behind a hard-charging conservative agenda. That superpower is faltering amid a cascade of bitter personal feuds.
A federal bank regulator on Friday granted conditional approval for five crypto-related firms — including Circle and Ripple — to obtain national trust bank charters.
Why it matters: It's a significant regulatory step for U.S. stablecoin issuers in the wake of the Genius Act — and one traditional banking groups have fought hard to block.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Friday that at least 2,000 Afghan refugees in the U.S. have terrorism ties, during a Fox & Friends interview.
Why it matters: The Trump administration has singled out the Afghan community in the U.S. and suspended immigration applications since the shooting of National Guard members allegedly by an Afghan refugee.
Why it matters: Marijuana's reclassification would not only be one of Trump's most popular policy decisions yet, but it would likely eliminate the gray area long surrounding cannabis businesses and banks.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation on Friday sued to stop President Trump's White House ballroom construction.
Why it matters: The nonprofit argued that the demolition was unconstitutional and asked a judge to block construction until a required review process with public comment period can be completed.
House Oversight Democrats released a another batch of photos showing powerful people socializing with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including President Trump, former President Clinton, and conservative provocateur Steve Bannon.
Why it matters: Democrats said they received 95,000 new photos from Epstein's estate — only 19 of which Democrats chose to release — that offer another look into the high-profile figures he associated with.
A striking thing about this week's flow of news out of the Federal Reserve is how normal it was — at least compared to some of the possibilities that appeared in play last month for a breakdown in the institution's longstanding norms.
Why it matters: In the Fed's decision to cut interest rates on Wednesday, and the unanimous reappointment of 11 of 12 reserve bank presidents announced Thursday, it was clear that chair Jerome Powell has retained his ability to steer a seemingly fractious organization toward consensus.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and his wife, Erin Hawley, are launching a new dark money group to shine a spotlight on anti-abortion rights ballot measures and policies that benefit families.
Why it matters: After Roe vs. Wade was overturned in 2022, the Republican establishment quietly moved on from abortion rights politics. The Hawleys want to revive the issue.
Congress yesterday pushed forward a package of bills that could increase capital formation in the private markets.
The big picture: This could be the first part of a one-two punch for private markets, followed by more politically fraught efforts to allow 401(k) plans to invest in alternative assets.
Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) is pressing the House Judiciary Committee to begin impeachment hearings into Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Axios has learned.
A slim majority of Republicans approve of President Trump's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, while a majority of Americans disapprove, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling released Friday.
Why it matters: The Epstein files have become a flashpoint for Trump's MAGA base, but their disapproval is waning despite high skepticism of the federal government.
Oil prices are generally sinking this weekdespite the U.S. seizure of a tanker off Venezuela's coast, saber rattling about doing it again, and Ukraine hitting a Russian tanker in the Black Sea.
Why it matters: Geopolitical strife historically shoves prices upward, especially when oil and oil producers are involved. So what's going on? A few overlapping things...
President Trump's first term opened the age of "Great Power Competition" with China and Russia.
His second is actively working to end it.
Why it matters: For the past decade, Washington has operated on the bipartisan consensus that China seeks to overtake the United States, Russia seeks to undermine it, and reinforcing alliances in Europe and Asia is key to winning the 21st century.
Indiana lawmakers' rejection of a plan to create two more Republican congressional seats Thursday was a blow to the White House. But it brought more clarity to how the nationwide redistricting war that President Trump launched could affect the 2026 midterms.
Why it matters: Despite their setback in Indiana, Republicans still stand to pick up a few more seats than Democrats in mid-decade redistricting — for now, at least.
President Trump is in trouble with most of the North Carolina swing voters in our latest Engagious/Sago focus groups from battleground states.
The big picture: Affordability problems are driving discontent among these Biden-to-Trump voters, and several expressed concerns about the president appearing to fall asleep on the job on recent occasions.
President Trump says he pardoned Colorado's former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters for her "attempts to expose Voter Fraud" in the 2020 presidential election in a Truth Social post Thursday evening.
The big picture: Trump has been vocal about his intentions to free Peters — one of the nation's most prominent 2020 election deniers — from her prison sentence, despite having no jurisdiction over state-level cases.
President Trump's "gold card" program could endanger applicants' money, lead to revoked citizenship, or inspire fraud, legal experts told Axios.
The big picture: Trump's hardline immigration crackdown has disproportionately impacted impoverished households, but the president's Gold Card program could flip the script, causing financial and logistical problems for wealthy applicants.
