Axios

The United States faces a dire and unsustainable fiscal outlook. You'd never know it from the action in Washington.

• Across parties and policy areas, you'd never guess that the U.S. faces fiscal constraints created by its high-and-rising public debt, ballooning deficits without precedent in times of prosperity, and a looming entitlement spending crisis when the Social Security trust fund runs out.

President Trump on Saturday night gave Iran a 48-hour deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or else the U.S. will start destroying Iranian power plants.

Why it matters: The threat marks a dramatic reversal from just a day earlier when Trump floated ending the war without reopening the strait, signaling the Hormuz crisis has become the issue he can't walk away from, even as he looks for an exit.

Robert Mueller, the former FBI director who as special counsel probed President Trump and Russian interference in the 2016 election, has died at age 81, per multiple reports Saturday.

The big picture: Mueller's probe resulted in a series of criminal cases against people in Trump's orbit, and earned him the president's lasting ire.

After three weeks of war, the Trump administration has begun initial discussions on the next phase and what peace talks with Iran might look like, according to a U.S. official and a source with knowledge.

Why it matters: President Trump said Friday that he was considering "winding down" the war, though U.S. officials said the expectation was there would still be two to three additional weeks of fighting. In the meantime, Trump's advisers want to start laying groundwork for diplomacy.

Elon Musk said Saturday he'd be willing to pay the salaries of TSA agents during the Homeland Security shutdown, as President Trump suggested the possibility of using ICE agents to keep airports moving instead.

Why it matters: The shutdown is causing chaos for travelers and gridlock in Congress, with few solutions on the horizon.

The Iran war's economic consequences risk outlasting the conflict itself.

Why it matters: Any swift ceasefire or arrangement allowing safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz won't undo supply shocks that could linger for months — and in some cases, years.

President Trump is a step closer to getting his own official coin this week — but it's far from his only move regarding U.S. currency.

Why it matters: Trump's imprint on coins produced by the U.S. Mint is becoming a defining feature of his second term.

Efforts to strike or rename events honoring United Farm Workers leader César Chávez are accelerating days after allegations surfaced that he sexually abused girls and young women.

Why it matters: The repercussions are coming quick, forcing a reckoning within the union and reshaping the legacy of one of the nation's best-known farm labor leaders.

Senate Democrats are preparing to use a procedural maneuver to revive a Biden-era immigration policy — or at least get caught trying, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Democrats are using the Congressional Review Act to go on offense on immigration, an issue that contributed to their defeat in 2024.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) is riding to the rescue of centrist Senate Democratic candidates across the map, making her latest move in Michigan, where she endorsed Rep. Haley Stevens in the party's divisive primary.

Why it matters: Senate primaries in Maine, Michigan and Minnesota are turning into proxy wars between the party's centrist and progressive wings, with divisions over strategy and ideology.