Axios

Congress needs to examine the Pentagon's ongoing dispute with Anthropic over the limits of government use of AI models, per a letter from AI safety nonprofit Alliance for Secure AI, government watchdog Common Cause and libertarian student group Young Americans for Liberty.

Why it matters: Pressure on the Hill to weigh in on the fight between the Department of Defense and Anthropic is heating up.

The Pentagon asked two major defense contractors on Wednesday to provide an assessment of their reliance on Anthropic's AI model, Claude — a first step toward a potential designation of Anthropic as a "supply chain risk," Axios has learned.

Why it matters: That penalty is usually reserved for companies from adversarial countries, such as Chinese tech giant Huawei.

President Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky he wants to push for an end of the war with Russia as soon as possible, according to a Ukrainian official and two other sources with knowledge of the call.

Why it matters: Trump wants a peace deal by the summer, but there are still significant gaps between Ukraine and Russia, particularly on the issue of territorial control in eastern Ukraine.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday went to bat for his members who protested and heckled President Trump from inside the House chamber during the State of the Union.

Why it matters: It's a marked departure from last year, when Jeffries privately chewed out the House Democrats who disrupted Trump's speech to Congress, held up signs and walked out in protest.

Tech giants are expected to join President Trump at the White House next week to sign a pledge that they will build or buy their own electricity supplies for data centers.

Why it matters: It's the Trump administration's latest response to election-year voter angst over data centers' AI-driven electricity demands and their potential effects on rates.

President Trump urged Congress on Tuesday to pass a new law to make it harder for immigrant truck drivers to obtain commercial driver's licenses.

The big picture: The Trump administration has targeted truck drivers and undocumented immigrants' license applications as part of its wider immigration crackdown policy.

House Ethics Committee Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.) is opposing Rep. Nancy Mace's (R-S.C.) resolution to publicly release the panel's reports on congressional sexual harassment investigations, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Mace's push comes as Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) is facing mounting backlash over allegations that he had an affair with a former staffer before she died by suicide. Gonzales has denied having the affair.

Former Harvard president Larry Summers announced Wednesday he will resign his positions at the university following backlash to his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Why it matters: Epstein had deep ties to several donors and academics, prompting U.S. colleges and universities to reckon with revelations from recently released documents about investigations into his activities.

Sometimes, presidents use their State of the Union to offer a laundry list of poll-tested policy proposals that might assuage Americans that their concerns are being addressed. President Trump chose a different tack Tuesday night.

The big picture: The president is sticking to a boastful message about the state of the economy heading into the midterms, aiming to persuade voters that these are the best of economic times.

Surgeon general nominee Casey Means said during a confirmation hearing Wednesday that she believes vaccines save lives but did not unequivocally urge people to get vaccinated.

Why it matters: The nutrition influencer and ally of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would have a key role in vaccine messaging as the nation's top doctor and at times tried to avoid being pinned down by senators over how she would handle that responsibility.