The race between Reps. Al Green (D-Texas) and Christian Menefee (D-Texas) for a Houston-based U.S. House seat quickly went from largely cordial to venomous on Wednesday after the two were forced into a head-to-head primary.
Why it matters: Green and Menefee will now have to spend the next 12 weeks campaigning against each other while simultaneously serving together in Congress.
The Senate on Wednesday rejected an effort to advance legislation that would restrict President Trump from using further military action in Iran, despite overwhelming support from Democrats.
Why it matters: Congress has now denied repeated attempts to rein in Trump's military interventions in the Middle East and South America.
Why it matters: It's the latest step in the committee's monthslong probe into Epstein, and comes as lawmakers have grown increasingly frustrated with Bondi's handling of the release of the Epstein files.
President Trump and tech CEOs expressed confidence Wednesday that they can contain soaring electricity rates with a new data center pledgethat formalizes and expands on what companies already are doing.
Why it matters: With rising power bills turning AI and data centers intoan election-year issue, Trump — who campaigned on a promise to cut costs — is eager to show he's trying to protect consumers.
House Democrats largely voted with Republicans on Wednesday to defeat a measure that would have forced the House Ethics Committee to release all of its records related to sexual misconduct investigations into House members.
Why it matters: The cause is one that has been championed by lawmakers in both parties, but Democratic leadership made the case privately to their members that this was too haphazard a way to go about it.
Progressive groups are preparing to primary any House Democrat who votes against a War Powers Resolution constraining the Trump administration from carrying out military operations in Iran, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The threat raises the stakes of a highly charged Thursday vote that has split a group of hawkish Democratic centrists from the rest of their party.
President Trump is expected to endorse Sen. John Cornyn in the Texas Senate race, a source with knowledge of the talks tells Axios.
Why it matters: Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday that whoever he doesn't endorse in the runoff between Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton should drop out of the race.
The Pentagon says it's threatening to blacklist top American AI lab Anthropic, without putting similar restrictions on Chinese rivals.
Why it matters: By penalizing a domestic leader for its safety standards, the U.S. is creating a market opening for cheaper, unregulated models from competing countries.
Texas state Rep. James Talarico of Austin defeated U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Texas.
Why it matters: Talarico's victory sets the stage for a battle royal that promises to be among the most expensive contests of the year, as Democrats hope President Trump's unpopularity translates to red-state victories.
Former U.S. Rep. Colin Allredand U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson are headed for a runoff in the Democratic primary for a redrawn North Texas seat.
Why it matters: Democrats were left fighting for fewer congressional seats in Texas after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Texas to use an election map giving Republicans five more GOP-leaning seats.
U.S. Rep. Christian Menefee and Rep. Al Green are headed for a runoff in the Democratic primary in a redrawn Houston-area district, the Associated Press projects.
The big picture: With no candidate topping 50%, the race is headed to a May runoff — setting up a high-stakes showdown between Menefee and Green. For Green, who was first elected in 2004, the stakes are steep after he decided to run in the 18th District when lawmakers redrew his old seat to tilt Republican.
New York and Utah are leading the nation on children's well-being, according to a new 50-state ranking of policy, leadership and family perceptions called The Childhood Index.
Why it matters: Lack of federal oversight has forced states to step in and fill the gap as concerns about addictive social media algorithms and technology's impact on children have mounted.
One House Republican lost his seat outright in Texas' primary elections Tuesday night, and four other House members will face grueling, 12-week runoff campaigns.
Why it matters: While short of a full-on wipeout, it's not the kind of result that instills confidence in lawmakers who are trying to withstand the anti-incumbency wave roiling both parties right now.
The House Ethics Committee formally launched an investigation into Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) on Wednesday over an alleged affair with his former staffer who died by suicide.
Why it matters: The investigation comes as Gonzales heads into a high-stakes primary runoff and faces growing calls from his colleagues to step aside. Gonzales has denied having the affair.
The leader of an Iranian unit that soughtto assassinatePresident Trump was "hunted down and killed," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday.
The big picture: The plot to target then-candidate Trump has seemingly fueled his ire toward Tehran, with him recently telling ABC News that the U.S. "got" Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei "before he got me."
Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) wants the Pentagon's nascent Artificial Intelligence Futures Steering Committee to identify China's top AI influencers, examine the country's security practices and investigate what sabotage of frontier models might look like, according to a letter Axios obtained exclusively.
Why it matters: AI is supercharging the Washington-Beijing face-off.
And military employment of the technology is driving one of the largest news stories of the year.
The U.S., Israel and Iran have been at war for days. The fighting has thus far:
Produced several combat firsts, including in drone, missile and fighter performances;
Supercharged debate about war powers and congressional oversight, or lack thereof;
And killed many, including six American troops.
The big picture: The conflict is slowly expanding, as Iran lashes out at neighbors and tankers, Hezbollah lobs missiles from Lebanon and European governments mull their respective roles going forward.
Precision Strategies, co-founded by Democratic strategists Stephanie Cutter and Teddy Goff, is creating a bipartisan public-affairs powerhouse by acquiring Firehouse Strategies, co-founded by Alex Conant and other Republicans.
Why it matters: The deal is a big Beltway success story. Precision was founded in 2013 by leaders of President Obama's 2008 and 2012 campaigns. Firehouse (so named because the founders hoped to put out lots of fires) was built by leaders of Marco Rubio's 2016 presidential run.
Devlin Barrett — who covers the Justice Department and FBI for the N.Y. Times, and is a three-time Pulitzer winner — will be out July 14 with "The Department of Revenge: How Trump Took Control of American Justice."
Why it matters: Trump has turned the DOJ into one of his most aggressive weapons in his second term — and Barrett delivers the first detailed account of how it happened.
America's natural gas bounty is acting like a moat, largelyshielding the U.S. from price spikes while much of the world reels from escalating unrest in the Middle East.
Why it matters: Natural gas hasn't, historically, drawn the same headlines as the more volatile oil markets. But it's increasingly central to the economy — including powering the AI boom.
Voters are on the verge of sending multiple House incumbents packing but gave four-term Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) hope that he can defeat Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a runoff in May.
Why it matters: The GOP's worst nightmare, in which Paxton led Cornyn or even defeated him outright Tuesday in the first primary elections of the 2026 midterms, didn't happen.
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) and Brandon Herrera are heading to a runoff election for the Republican nomination for Texas' 23rd District.
Why it matters: Gonzales has been embattled by allegations that he had an affair with his former staffer before she died by suicide. Gonzales has denied having the affair.
U.S. and Ecuadorian forces announced drug-trafficking military crackdown operations in Ecuador on Tuesday.
The big picture: U.S. Southern Command in a Tuesday night statement said the operations targeted "Designated Terrorist Organizations" and hailed the cooperation as "a powerful example of the commitment of partners in Latin America and the Caribbean to combat the scourge of narco-terrorism."
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are headed to a runoff after neither Republican cleared the majority threshold Tuesday, setting up a bruising fight for the GOP Senate nomination.
Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, and Michael Whatley, former chair of the Republican National Committee, handily won their primaries Tuesday, setting the stage for an intense and expensive showdown to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican.
Why it matters: Cooper, whose folksy eastern North Carolina charm has resonated even with Trump voters, is viewed as Democrats' best hope to flip an open, GOP-held seat.
Whatley, whom President Trump endorsed, easily fended off Don Brown, a former Navy JAG officer whom embattled former Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson endorsed.
Senate Democrats are plotting how to bring a formal Authorization for Use of Military Force measure on Iran to the floor, with some eyeing an expected supplemental funding request as leverage to force a vote.
Why it matters: Democrats aren't overly optimistic about succeeding with Wednesday's vote on the War Powers Resolution, led by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). It is scheduled for 4pm.
President Trump's claim that America has a "virtually unlimited" munitions stockpile and could fight a war "forever," could soon be tested as counterattacks target military bases and U.S. Embassies across the Middle East in what has become a rapidly-widening conflict.
Why it matters:Reporting suggests that the U.S. stockpile and that of key allies, such as Israel and Gulf nations, are dwindling faster than production can replace the weapons.
House Democrats left a Tuesday night briefing on Iran expressing even greater frustration towards the Trump administration than they had going in, with several lawmakers describing it as "bullsh*t."
Why it matters: Democrats are full steam ahead on forcing a vote this week on a resolution that would constrain Trump from unilaterally waging war with Iran.
Half of Americans now support abolishing ICE, compared with just 39% who oppose eliminating the agency, according to a new YouGov poll.
Why it matters: It's the first time in YouGov's polling history that support for abolishing ICE has reached 50%, capping a steady rise since January amid the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
