Axios

Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner is making the case that his primary race against Gov. Janet Mills is all but over, a full two months ahead of their primary election on June 9.

Why it matters: The Maine Democratic contest to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins is one of the messiest primaries in the country, exposing rifts in the party over age, gender and ideology.

A House Democrat announced Monday she will introduce articles of impeachment against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over his handling of U.S. operations in Iran.

Why it matters: Hegseth is emerging as Democrats' top target in the Trump Cabinet following the ousters of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will sit for a transcribed interview with the House Oversight Committee on May 6, three sources familiar with the matter told Axios.

Why it matters: Lutnick has come under intense public scrutiny after the Justice Department's release of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein shed new light on the ties between the two men.

Leaders We Deserve, the PAC founded by David Hogg to elect young progressives in Democratic primaries, is leaving some of the campaigns it endorsed griping about alleged broken promises.

Why it matters: Multiple campaigns backed by Hogg's PAC fumed after primary losses that the group dangled hopes of financial commitments that never materialized.

The U.S. military employed hundreds of people and some 176 aircraft over the weekend to rescue the crew of an Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle downed deep inside Iran.

The big picture: This "air armada," as Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine described it at the White House on Monday, helped pull off a pair of "incredibly dangerous" extractions, bringing home the pilot and weapon-system officer (WSO).

• Their callsigns were Dude 44A and Dude 44B.

Newly released video contradicts federal claims that two Venezuelan immigrants assaulted an ICE agent with a snow shovel before an agent shot one of them during Operation Metro Surge.

Why it matters: The footage raises questions about why it took federal officials weeks to back off from their original story about — and drop criminal charges against — the wounded Julio Sosa-Celis and his roommate, Alfredo Aljorna.

For decades, the U.S. economy needed to add more than 100,000 jobs a month just to keep the unemployment rate from rising. That threshold has now collapsed toward zero — with broad implications for how to think about labor market health.

Why it matters: The economy has a new speed limit, one in which near-zero job growth can coexist with full employment.

Brent crude oil climbed more than 1% to above $110 per barrel when markets opened Sunday — only to decline slightly later — amid mixed signals about the Iran war that's creating unprecedented disruption to global energy flows.

Why it matters: President Trump is signaling major escalation, but also told Axios' Barak Ravid that the U.S. is in "deep negotiations" with Iran.

The sharp spike in gas and oil prices caused by the Iran war will likely lead to a further rise in food prices in the coming weeks, economists and agricultural experts tell Axios.

Why it matters: The war is just the latest stress driving up food inflation — on top of tariffs, rising electricity prices and an immigration crackdown that has driven up labor costs.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is doing something no tech titan has ever done: He's publishing a detailed blueprint for how government should tax, regulate and redistribute the wealth from the very technology he's racing to build and spread.

Why it matters: Altman told us in a half-hour interview that AI superintelligence is so close, so mind-bending, so disruptive that America needs a new social contract — on the scale of the Progressive Era in the early 1900s, and the New Deal during the Great Depression.

Even if the Iran war ended now and the Strait of Hormuz reopened, the crisis has lasted long enough to bring a meaningful and damaging toll worldwide.

Why it matters: "What began as a disruption in a key energy corridor is now feeding through the entire global economy," the UN's trade and development arm said in an analysis.

The U.S., Iran and a group of regional mediators are discussing the terms for a potential 45-day ceasefire that could lead to a permanent end to the war, according to four U.S., Israeli and regional sources with knowledge of the talks.

Why it matters: The sources said the chances for reaching a partial deal over the next 48 hours are slim. But this last-ditch effort could be the only chance to prevent a dramatic escalation in the war that will include massive strikes on Iranian civilian infrastructure and retaliation against energy and water facilities in the Gulf states.