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National

House committees leading the impeachment inquiry against President Trump subpoenaed acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Friday.

The big picture: This comes after nearly a month of White House refusals to comply with House investigations into whether Trump jeopardized national security by pressing Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 presidential election, and by withholding security assistance provided by Congress to help Ukraine, per the subpoena. The committees are demanding documents by Oct. 18.

"After nearly a month of stonewalling, it appears clear that the President has chosen the path of defiance, obstruction, and cover-up," the letter reads.

The state of play: Several White House officials have told Axios' Alayna Treene that the administration has no plans of complying with the committees' demands for interviews or documents without a full House vote formally approving an impeachment inquiry.

The big picture: The Trump administration's initial refusal to turn over the whistleblower complaint on the president's interactions with Ukraine is what led House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to finally support a formal impeachment inquiry.

Go deeper: Trump letter dares Pelosi to hold vote on impeachment inquiry

House Democrats subpoena White House in impeachment inquiry

Per the letter: "...the President has chosen the path of defiance, obstruction, and cover-up."

Mick Mulvaney. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Politics

Donald Trump impeachment

Ron Johnson says Sondland told him of possible Ukraine quid pro quo

Johnson said that Trump denied the allegation when he asked him about it in August.

Sen. Ron Johnson. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Trump-Ukraine investigation

World

GOP Sen. Mitt Romney condemned President Trump's "brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine" on Friday in a tweet, saying it's "wrong and appalling" to ask foreign countries to investigate 2020 Democratic candidate Joe Biden. 

Why it matters: Romney, who criticized the Trump-Ukraine allegations after reading the whistleblower complaint, is one of the first Republican senators to denounce Trump's call on China and Ukraine to investigate his political opponent.

"When the only American citizen President Trump singles out for China’s investigation is his political opponent in the midst of the Democratic nomination process, it strains credulity to suggest that it is anything other than politically motivated."

On Thursday, Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska denounced Trump's push for China to investigate the former vice president, the Omaha World-Herald reports.

“Hold up: Americans don’t look to Chinese commies for the truth. If the Biden kid broke laws by selling his name to Beijing, that’s a matter for American courts, not communist tyrants running torture camps."

Go deeper: Senate's new maverick Republican: Mitt Romney and the whistleblower complaint

Mitt Romney: It's "wrong and appalling" Trump asked foreign countries to investigate Biden

"It strains credulity to suggest that it is anything other than politically motivated."

President Trump and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah). Photo: Drew Angerer, Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Mitt Romney

Joe Biden

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

Elizabeth Warren's campaign said on Friday that it raised $24.6 million in the third quarter of 2019, putting her just behind Bernie Sanders for this quarter's fundraising among 2020 Democrats.

Why it matters: Warren swore off "big money fundraisers" at the start of this cycle, but she's managed to rake in a massive amount of money from grassroots, small-dollar donors.

The average contribution to her campaign was $26.

More than 300,000 people donated to her for the first time in Q3, the campaign said.

And they've received just under 1 million donations so far this cycle (943,000). 

The campaign also said it has $25.7 million in cash-on-hand.

What they're saying: "This means our grassroots movement is in an incredible position," the campaign said in a statement, "to double down on our investments in grassroots organizing."

The state of play: Sanders raised $25.3 million from 1.4 million donations — the most of any Democratic presidential candidate in Q3.

Former Vice President Joe Biden: $15.2 million

Former tech executive Andrew Yang: $10 million

Go deeper: Trump campaign, RNC say they raised record-breaking $125 million in Q3

Elizabeth Warren's campaign says it raised $24.6 million in Q3

She swore off big-dollar fundraisers at the start of this cycle.

Elizabeth Warren in Las Vegas for the Giffords/March for Our Lives forum. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

2020 presidential election

2020 election

The Supreme Court agreed Friday to take up a case in its next term involving a controversial Louisiana abortion law, the first time the high court will hear an abortion case with a solidified conservative majority.

The backdrop, per the AP: Louisiana's law requires doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital in order to perform an abortion — a restriction that would leave the state with effectively only a single abortion clinic. The law is similar to a Texas law that the court struck down in 2016 — before President Trump's appointees, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, joined the bench.

Go deeper ... Where abortion restrictions stand: The states that have passed laws

Supreme Court agrees to hear Louisiana abortion case

It's the first time it will hear an abortion-related case with its new conservative majority.

Abortion

Macro

Axios Macro

Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Chart: Axios Visuals

The U.S. economy added 136,000 jobs in September, while the unemployment rate fell even lower, from 3.7% to 3.5% — the lowest level since December 1969 — the government said on Friday. 

Why it matters: While it's fewer than the 145,000 economists expected, the labor market continues to be the bright spot in the economy. The number may calm recession fears after a week that saw deterioration in manufacturing data and softening on the all-important services side of the economy.

The big picture: Jobs gains were better than expected in prior months, too.

July numbers were revised higher to 166,000 from 159,000, while August's job gains were revised to 168,000 from 130,000. 

Unemployment for African Americans and Hispanics are at an all-time low. 

Between the lines: One dark spot in the report: wages rose only 2.9% on an annual basis — a slowdown from previous months. This is surprising given how low the unemployment rate is, which would typically push employers to bid wages higher in order to attract employees.

Go deeper: Private sector adds more jobs than expected in September

U.S. economy adds 136,000 jobs in September

The unemployment rate fell to 3.5% — down from 3.7%.

Business

Jobs report

Federal Reserve

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

Investors will be closely watching today's U.S. nonfarm payroll report, but they will also have 1 eye out for news on a potentially pivotal meeting between U.S. and Chinese negotiators next week.

What's happening: President Trump downplayed the importance of the meeting on Thursday, telling reporters he has "a lot of options on China. But if they don’t do what we want, we have tremendous power."

It's becoming clear the market doesn't see it that way.

Reality check: The U.S. economy continues to grow, but is increasingly struggling to do so. By the day, more economic indicators — from manufacturing to consumer and business sentiment and now the all-important services sector — are turning negative with more industries beginning to follow manufacturing, trade and transportation into outright contractions.

The trade talks are "the main concern" Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at The Economic Outlook Group, has about the stock market.

"If once again nothing gets accomplished we could see another substantial fall," he tells Axios.

Where it stands: U.S. equities rebounded on Thursday, as traders continued to buy the dip despite data showing growth in the U.S. services sector badly missed expectations.

Investors increased bets that the Fed would step in next month with rate cuts to help stabilize the economy.

However, many are losing faith in the power of monetary policy to help steady the ship, especially in light of the continued struggles in the eurozone and Japan, which have instituted negative interest rates and considerable stimulus.

"Monetary policy is not going to do a damn thing," Baumohl says. "Monetary policy is being held hostage to this trade conflict."

But, but, but: There may be nothing Trump can do to get a meaningful deal with China at this point, as Beijing seems to be participating in negotiations "with the primary intention of staving off further tariff hikes,” Eleanor Olcott, China policy analyst at independent consultancy TS Lombard, told the South China Morning Post.

“Trump’s actions throughout the trade war, escalating tensions in a wildly unpredictable manner, has made the U.S. an unreliable negotiating partner in the eyes of the Chinese political elite. This, in turn, has relieved pressure on Xi to strike a deal because he is able to convincingly lay the blame for derailment on the U.S."

“The impeachment proceedings tie Trump’s hands when it comes to his domestic agenda, so his attention will be focused on his foreign policy stance, meaning we are likely entering a period of more volatile trade war news.”

Go deeper: U.S. and China agree to restart trade talks in D.C.

The upcoming U.S.-China trade talks are huge

President Trump has downplayed the importance of the meeting.

Animated illustration of a siren flashing on top of a shipping container.

U.S. China trade war

The chairs of the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight and Reform Committees released a batch of explosive text messages Thursday night provided by former U.S. envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker.

The state of play: The released messages feature conversations between Volker and other officials, including Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine, EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland, President Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giulani, and Andrey Yermak, a top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The big picture, via Axios' Orion Rummler: Volker and Sondland are both named in the whistleblower complaint that is now at the center of an impeachment inquiry into Trump. The revelations that have been reported out of Volker's testimony before the House committees, which lasted more than 9 hours and is the first of at least 5 depositions of current and former State Department officials, suggest there is much more to be learned.

One particularly explosive exchange was between Taylor and Sondland in September:

"I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign," Taylor texted.

That message came after he said that "the message to the Ukrainians (and Russians) we send with the decision on security assistance is key. With the hold, we have already shaken their faith in us. That's my nightmare scenario."

Sondland, a Trump political appointee and GOP donor, texted back: "Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump's intentions. The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo's of any kind." The New York Times reported that Sondland's response came after he spoke to the president.

Read the committee's letter and the texts:

Go deeper ... NYT: U.S. envoys drafted statement committing Ukraine president to Biden probe

House committees release texts from former Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker

"I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign."

Axios

Friday's top stories

House Democrats subpoena White House in impeachment inquiry

Ron Johnson says Sondland told him of possible Ukraine quid pro quo

Mitt Romney: It's "wrong and appalling" Trump asked foreign countries to investigate Biden

Elizabeth Warren's campaign says it raised $24.6 million in Q3

Supreme Court agrees to hear Louisiana abortion case

U.S. economy adds 136,000 jobs in September

The upcoming U.S.-China trade talks are huge

House committees release texts from former Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker

Trump's impeach-me strategy

Source: Pompeo didn't promise Giuliani he'd investigate Ukraine envelope

Trump's Senate red wall

Reports: Energy Secretary Rick Perry plans to resign this year

Trump still doesn't have an alternative to "Medicare for All"

Kashmir crackdown: A warning of nuclear war between India and Pakistan