Axios

President Trump needs a potent message to reverse his party's bleak midterm outlook — and he's found it in the rise of democratic socialists in New York and beyond.

Why it matters: In a blistering speech to religious conservatives on Friday, Trump warned that "communists" are taking over the Democratic Party and "they want to completely destroy the traditional American way of life."

Anthropic's most powerful models are back online on a limited basis after the company addressed risks that led the government to effectively shut them down, according to a letter from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to Anthropic, seen by Axios.

Why it matters: The abrupt removal of Mythos 5 and Fable 5 created uncertainty within the industry and among allies around the world whose cyber capabilities were stunted by the loss.

Former Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), in an interview with Axios on Friday, declined to commit to voting for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) as speaker if she wins back her old House seat.

Why it matters: Bush joins dozens of candidates — particularly Democratic Socialists of America members and their allies — who are stopping short of committing to a Jeffries speakership.

Senate Republicans are elevating Colombia as a role model in their push for stricter voting rules in the U.S. — and using California as their foil.

Why it matters: Republicans don't have the votes to jam through President Trump's SAVE Act, but some conservatives are using Colombia's election system to keep the up the pressure on GOP leaders.

White House aide Heidi Overton, oncologist Jeffrey Vacirca and senior Pentagon health official Stephen Ferrara are all in the running to be the next FDA commissioner, sources tell Axios.

Why it matters: The agency is moving to repair its relationship with industry and rehire critical staff since the departure of former commissioner Marty Makary. But a full-time political leader will ultimately decide the agency's direction.

President Trump trained elected Republicans to obey him, even when they disagreed.

• Elected Republicans trained Trump to expect obedience, even as his demands grew impossible to satisfy.

Why it matters: Years of Republicans submitting to Trump, often against their own judgment, have curdled into a rolling crisis as Washington nears the likely end of the GOP's two-year monopoly.

Vice President JD Vance headlined an RNC fundraiser on Thursday night in Palo Alto, California, at the residence of influential investor and All-In Podcast host Chamath Palihapitiya, raking in $4.2 million for the Republican Party, a source familiar with the dinner tells Axios.

Why it matters: Vance, who worked in venture capital before becoming a U.S. senator from Ohio, has always had strong ties to Silicon Valley and the tech world.

Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) are introducing legislation that would let U.S. cloud companies flag suspected foreign misuse of advanced AI computing to the government, per a copy of the bill seen by Axios.

Why it matters: As the Trump administration works out its AI policy and frontier models rapidly advance, there's bipartisan interest on Capitol Hill in tackling thorny AI security issues.

President Trump's voter fraud crusade is crashing into the limits of his power ahead of November's midterm elections.

Why it matters: Trump has made cracking down on alleged mass voter fraud a priority, but his election-related executive orders are stalled in court and his legislative fix is stuck in the Senate.

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the U.S. Department of Justice to release additional unredacted Jeffrey Epstein records or explain by July 2 why it can't.

Why it matters: The ruling could force the DOJ to release previously withheld Epstein records or publicly explain why they remain sealed.