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National

Astronauts haven't launched from U.S. soil since the end of the space shuttle era in 2011. But as Russian rocketry ages and U.S. commercial and military interests grow, the ability to carry astronauts from the U.S. will be key. 

The big picture: Successful commercial crew launches would be a prelude to missions aimed at deep space, including a possible return to the moon and an eventual Mars mission. Both of those are probably more than a decade away.

Boeing and SpaceX — both NASA partners — are planning uncrewed tests of their spacecrafts in the first half 2019. SpaceX's first test is scheduled for Jan. 17. 

These uncrewed tests will be accompanied by "abort tests" — a key demonstration of the ability of the crew to escape from the spacecraft in the event of an emergency.

A demo test flight of SpaceX's Dragon space capsule, carrying two NASA astronauts, is scheduled for June, and the first crewed flight for Boeing is on the docket for August. 

Go deeper: Special report: The new global race to space

All eyes on NASA's commercial crew

Successful commercial crew launches could be on the horizon in 2019.

Illustration of international space station

Science

NASA

Space

Elon Musk

News and analysis of the scientific advances fueling AI and quantum computing, revolutionizing biology and medicine, and tackling climate change. Science is changing the world and colliding with the global politics that shape it.

On day 15 of the partial government shutdown, Vice President Mike Pence, White House adviser Jared Kushner and other Trump officials met with congressional leadership to negotiate funding for President Trump's border wall. The same group will meet again tomorrow.

Details: Pence made it clear that the White House will not back down from the $5.7 billion in wall funding Trump originally requested, according to a Democratic source familiar with today’s discussion. Democrats — having passed a bill in the House that would reopen eight agencies besides the Department of Homeland Security — warned that it would grow increasingly hard to begin formal negotiations if the government remained closed, the source said, but administration officials refused to budge from their position.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement: "Next week, House Democrats will begin passing individual appropriations bills to re-open all government agencies, starting with the Department of the Treasury and IRS — an action necessary to make sure working families receive their tax refunds on schedule."

Go deeper: Federal workers could be the force that ends the shutdown

Shutdown watch, day 15: Still no deal in sight

Mike Pence told congressional staff Trump will not back down from the $5.7 billion in wall funding he originally requested.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Photo: Michael Candelori/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Politics

Government shutdown

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is spending the weekend in Iowa, giving the 2020 Democratic primary an early kickoff while remaining the party's only heavyweight to have entered the field.

The big picture: Warren hasn't technically announced her candidacy — opting at this stage to instead launch an "exploratory committee" — but her event in Iowa on Friday had "all the hallmarks of a candidate meant to last," notes the New York Times' Astead Herndon. Rather than wait around for Bernie Sanders or other women to declare, Warren is already laser focused on "building her network in a crucial state," Democratic political consultant Joe Trippi tells the Boston Globe.

Details: Herndon reports that Warren's stump speech looks like it will center on her "humble roots," with an emphasis on her father's illness, her brother's military service and a near foreclosure on her family home.

At a speech on Saturday, Warren was asked about her decision to take and publicize a DNA test that showed she was between 1/32 and 1/1,024 Native American — a move many saw as a PR blunder that damaged her candidacy. She answered, "I'm not a person of color and I'm not a member of a tribe. My decision was just that, I'm going to put it all out there."

Warren's trip to Iowa is "a crucial test of her appeal beyond Massachusetts," the Globe reports, as voters may have "some discomfort with her willingness to tangle so openly with the president and other Republicans." 

The bottom line: Warren is the first prominent Democrat to travel to Iowa as an openly declared candidate in the 2020 race, but other potential candidates like Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) were making the rounds far before her. She may be early as far as official candidates go, but the field is going to become a lot more crowded as the next wave of Democrats throw their hats in the ring.

Elizabeth Warren backs "idea" of a Green New Deal

Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Beto O'Rourke top Iowa 2020 poll

"She's not waiting": Warren heads to Iowa for weekend of campaigning

It's "a crucial test of her appeal beyond Massachusetts."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren stands in front of a crowd in Iowa. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images

2020 presidential election

2020 election

2024 will be an election year like no other, as President Biden seeks re-election amid economic uncertainty, two wars and questions about his age. His likely foe, former President Trump, faces felony charges and vows revenge on his political enemies. Meanwhile, Americans generally are dissatisfied with those choices and are divided over immigration, race, education and more.

Politics & Policy

Generate

Axios Generate

After taking a backseat on Washington’s priority list for most of the past decade, climate and energy policy are set to be in the limelight with the start of the new Congress.

Between the lines: It's probable that energy and climate issues will further divide the parties, at least for now. If so, that would be driven in part by Trump’s refusal to acknowledge climate change as a problem and also by Democrats moving further to the left.

Democrats have created a special committee to focus on climate change, which could likely include consideration of a progressive “Green New Deal” policy championed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 

A bipartisan carbon tax bill from late last year is likely to be re-introduced. 

President Trump has cited infrastructure as potential common ground, prompting Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer to call for climate to be included.

Watch for business lobby groups, chiefly the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, to ramp up pressure to raise the gasoline tax as a way to pay for infrastructure improvements.

Go deeper: Democrats' left turn on climate change 

A rare political moment for climate

A Green New Deal, a select committee on climate change and a revived carbon tax are suddenly in the limelight.

Illustration of the capital dome with a lightening bolt

Energy

Climate change policy

Climate change

Breaking climate science and policy coverage as extreme weather events reshape communities. Keep tabs on the race to a low carbon economy, which may be bumpy as governments, climate tech startups and major oil and gas companies race to find their niche amid the changing energy landscape.

Energy & Climate

If there’s any area where the Trump administration and a Democratic House majority could find common ground, drug pricing may be it. 

Why it matters: Pharma is on its heels, in a way it hasn’t been for years. And it will stay on the defensive for the next two years.

Be smart: President Trump has scrambled all the usual alliances. 

On policy, Trump is basically aligned with Democrats, and congressional Republicans are in sync with industry. 

Politically, Democrats aren’t inclined to help Trump notch a win on a critically important issue. And congressional Republicans are torn between their donors and their party’s most powerful leader.

Go deeper: These are the pharma companies hiking drug prices in 2019

Pharma plays defense

Pharma is on its heels, in a way it hasn’t been for years.

Health Care

Drug prices

Health care costs

The U.S. health system faces critical questions about cost, access and equity. Technological advances and new discoveries about diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s are transforming patient care and reshaping public health.

Health

Pro Rata

Axios Pro Rata

The new stock market volatility isn’t expected to discourage a parade of unicorn IPOs in early 2019. 

Who’s coming: Uber and Lyft have already filed confidential paperwork, so they’re likely to price before the end of Q1. There also are widespread expectations about offerings from Airbnb, Peloton, Palantir and Slack.

Those companies have an average age of greater than 10 years, which means lots of employees and investors seeking liquidity.

The public markets may have a difficult time finding a bucket of comparable companies to map them against. This is particularly true for Lyft and Uber — there are no publicly traded ride-hail companies.

Caveat: The SEC is affected by the shutdown, which may cause filing delays.

The bottom line: 2019 is when unicorn hype will meet market reality.

The unicorn parade

Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, Peloton, Palantir and Slack are all expected to file for IPOs this year.

Business

Initial public offerings (IPO)

Top stories & latest news on the Federal Reserve, real-time data, plus the biggest shifts happening in the U.S. and global economy.

Economy

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

Democrats didn't waste any time this week after taking the majority in the House, electing Nancy Pelosi as speaker, passing several high-profile bills and driving some spirited news cycles beyond just the chamber floor.

Yes, but: While Democrats are energized in the House, Republicans still hold the Senate and the White House, which is sure to derail much of Pelosi's aggressive agenda.

What Democrats did in their first few days 

Introduced their first bill, H.R. 1: "For the People Act," which Axios' Joe Uchill describes as an "anti-corruption grab bag." 

Pelosi said Democrats are aiming "to clean up corruption and restore integrity to government," The Hill reports. 

The bill would require presidents to release their tax returns, form a Supreme Court code of ethics, strengthen election security and more. 

It's unlikely the bill can pass the Republican-held Senate and White House, but it has certainly made a statement about the Democrats' intentions to "drain the swamp" through meaningful legislation.

House members are now permitted to wear religious headwear on the floor. 

Members and committee staffers are prohibited from having sexual relationships with each other. 

A select committee on climate change was created. 

Tucked into the rules package was a provision that authorizes the House counsel to intervene in the Texas lawsuit that struck down the Affordable Care Act in an effort to protect people with pre-existing conditions.

Passed spending bills to reopen the government. 

Two bills were passed on Thursday to reopen the government, which is in its second week of a partial shutdown. 

Because the bills didn't include funding for Trump's border wall, the White House formally threatened to veto them.

Freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) made waves with an expletive-laced call to impeach Trump. She earned some pushback from Pelosi, who urged her younger, more trigger-happy colleagues to tread carefully. 

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) introduced two constitutional amendments. 

One would get rid of the Electoral College altogether, while the other would prohibit presidents from being able to pardon themselves, members of their administrations or family.

New House Committee staff took their places. 

Among the subpoena-ready chairmen to look out for: Rep. Adam Schiff (Intelligence), Rep. Elijah Cummings (Oversight), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (Judiciary) and Rep. Maxine Waters (Financial Services).

And finally, Pelosi invited Trump to deliver a State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on Jan. 29.

Go deeper: Democrats debate how to face "the existential threat of our time"

Democrats pursue packed agenda in first few days of new Congress

Their gargantuan first bill is an anti-corruption grab bag that targets Trump's tax returns.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holds the gavel.

Axios

Saturday's top stories

All eyes on NASA's commercial crew

Shutdown watch, day 15: Still no deal in sight

"She's not waiting": Warren heads to Iowa for weekend of campaigning

A rare political moment for climate

Pharma plays defense

The unicorn parade

Democrats pursue packed agenda in first few days of new Congress

The force that could end the shutdown

Exclusive poll: The partisan split on the stock market

PG&E considers bankruptcy filing over potential wildfire liability

The curious case of the alleged American "spy" detained in Russia