Democratic primaries this summer could elevate another crop of incoming House members who have refused to commit to voting for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) as speaker.
Why it matters: This growing bloc of Jeffries skeptics could create real headaches for the Democratic leader as he attempts to form a united front to take on the Trump administration.
Republican megadonor Ken Griffin said at a private conference Wednesday that he'd support Secretary of State Marco Rubio over Vice President JD Vance in a 2028 GOP presidential primary, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Griffin is one of the most prolific donors in the Republican Party — he gave more than $100 million in 2024 — and would be a huge asset to Rubio if the secretary of state were to run for president.
President Trump hijacked NATO's summit within hours of touching down in Turkey, threatening allies and declaring the Iran ceasefire "over" as Washington and Tehran lurched toward renewed war.
The big picture: The carefully choreographed Ankara summit unraveled into the Trump show, with the agenda quickly overtaken by the president's grudge against allies who sat out the Iran war.
Federal Reserve officials saw a wide range of scenarios for how the economy and inflation will evolve at their meeting last month, leaving the central bank's policy committee divided over the path for interest rates ahead, according to minutes released Wednesday.
Why it matters: In Kevin Warsh's first meeting as Fed chairman, he wrestled with significant factions of the Federal Open Market Committee who see ongoing price pressures from the AI buildout as well as one that is more confident that falling energy prices will calm inflation.
The minutes, released after the customary three-week lag, show that all members of the policy committee were ultimately on board with leaving rates unchanged last month.
The document, however, gives little visibility into whether the Fed will feel compelled to raise interest rates in the coming months.
The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are investigating after an ICE agent fatally shot longtime Houston resident Lorenzo Salgado Araujo early Tuesday morning. Local leaders are calling for an independent, transparent investigation.
The big picture: The shooting happened around 6:50am Tuesday after ICE agents stopped a vehicle and attempted to arrest Araujo as part of a "targeted enforcement operation," per the federal agency.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) sent a letter to Sen. Mitch McConnell's office Wednesday requesting an update on the senator's health, three weeks after McConnell was admitted to a hospital.
Why it matters: The former Senate majority leader's office has released few details about McConnell's condition, fueling speculation and conspiracy theories about his status.
A top renewables and storagegroupsees openings for progress onCapitol Hill as it looks to build more nationwide power on the political right.
Why it matters: Trump officials are targeting wind power, which the president overtly despises, and last year's GOP budget law phased out tax credits for wind and solar generation projects.
A Nazi tattoo, social media rants, rampant rumors about women: Many Democratic leaders privately feared the Maine Democrat, now their U.S. Senate nominee, could be trouble. But they rationalized their delusions and denialism until it was too late. Now the party has few, if any, good options in one of the nation's most important Senate races.
Why it matters: Platner's rise and fall shows a key way President Trump has changed Democratic politics. If it means diminishing his power, Democrats are willing to surrender or temporarily ignore their own stated values.
A dozen or so people gathered around a table in suburban Washington and were presented with a tense scenario: Someone had detonated a space nuke, American satellites were failing, and fighting in Europe and Asia was intensifying.
How could this happen, they wondered. To whom could the attack be attributed? How quickly could the U.S. repopulate its constellations?
Are world powers in contact? How could they avoid an exchange of intercontinental ballistic missiles? And how were the people back home, not bombed out but very much confused, stomaching crippled GPS and financial markets?
The big picture: While the mental gymnastics were very much real, the world-ending stakes were not. The deliberations were part of a tabletop exercise put on by Fuse, a fusion-energy company.
Republicans are dramatically boosting campaign spending on Senate races in red states that, until recently, looked safely out of Democrats' reach in the November midterms.
Why it matters: The GOP — alarmed by recent polls and voting trends — is juicing its efforts in Ohio and Iowa to reinforce a Senate "red wall" they believe can block Democrats' path to a majority in the chamber.
President Trump on Wednesday declared the ceasefire with Iran over and that while negotiations can continue, they are a "waste of time."
Why it matters: Three weeks after the U.S. and Iran signed a peace deal that Trump described as "unconditional surrender," both sides are launching fresh attacks and any sense of calm in the region has evaporated almost entirely.
The Trump administration's official position about Venezuela's exiled opposition leader is simple: Don't help Maria Corina Machado gain entry to her home country. But Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau didn't appear to get the memo.
Landau is suspected of twice miscommunicating U.S. policy to two countries about Machado, according to seven senior administration officials.
Why it matters: Landau's alleged freelancing roiled the State Department for two days and led to internal arguments, international confusion and increased tensions with Machado supporters.
The U.S. military said it struck Iranian military targets in the area of the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday in retaliation for renewed Iranian attacks on commercial ships.
Why it matters: The exchange of fire risks plunging the U.S. and Iran into a new cycle of retaliation, threatening the fragile memorandum of understanding signed by President Trump less than three weeks ago.
