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National

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is preparing a resolution that would leave room for President Trump's lawyers to move immediately to dismiss the impeachment charges if they so choose, according to Republican Sen. Josh Hawley.

Yes, but: Republican Senate leaders, including McConnell and Roy Blunt, the senior senator from Missouri, have already said members aren't interested in a vote to dismiss. And it seems unlikely that Trump's team would push for what would almost certainly be a losing vote — a move that could be seen as a sign of weakness at the outset of the trial.

Behind the scenes: "I am familiar with the resolution as it stood a day or two ago," Hawley, the junior senator from Missouri, told me in a phone interview on Saturday. "My understanding is that the resolution will give the president's team the option to either move to judgment or to move to dismiss at a meaningful time..."

Hawley added that in the most recent draft of the organizing resolution he saw there was an option for the president's counsel to make a motion in multiple places, including at the beginning of the proceedings.

A Republican leadership aide responded: "The White House has the right to make motions under the regular order, including a motion to dismiss, right after the resolution is adopted because a motion to dismiss is a motion permitted by the impeachment rules."

Hawley added that if the final resolution does not allow Trump's lawyers the option to dismiss or move to judgment at a "meaningful point" in the trial, he would be "very, very surprised," and might not vote for the organizing resolution.

Hawley also said he worries that if Trump doesn't have the option to move to dismiss or move to judgment then Adam Schiff would have too much control over the trial.

The state of play: There have been multiple indications — including from McConnell himself — that the Senate will not vote to dismiss the charges of impeachment against the president.

"There is little or no sentiment in the Republican conference for a motion to dismiss," McConnell told reporters on Jan. 14. "Our members feel that we have an obligation to listen to the arguments."

He said the resolution would lay out a way for senators to listen to the prosecution and defense and follow up with written questions submitted through the presiding officer Chief Justice John Roberts. "That means listening to the case, not dismissing the case."

That's certainly true for moderate or purple-state Republican senators up for re-election, such as Maine's Susan Collins. They have sought to show they are taking impeachment seriously and have tried to steer away from actions that would suggest they are dismissing the case against the president out of hand.

The big picture: Trump endorsed on Twitter the idea of outright dismissal of the charges against him. It could be an opportunity for some of Trump's closest Senate Republican allies to register their contempt for the case that House Democrats marshaled against the president — even if the motion is doomed to fail.

It could also serve as a break-glass option if the trial took a turn and Trump's allies felt they needed a mechanism to bring about an abrupt end to the trial.

What's next: Trump's team says it wants a fast impeachment trial, and Republicans are preparing for the possibility of a time frame as short as two weeks.

But there will be opportunities for curve balls that may extend throughout the trial.

Collins has joined several other Republican senators, including Mitt Romney, in saying they want to be able to vote to hear from additional witnesses — a key demand of Senate Democrats.

They are expected to be given that vote after the Senate has heard each sides' opening arguments.

House managers plan for next week's Senate impeachment trial

Trump impeachment team includes Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz

Draft of McConnell's rules for trial still allows motion to dismiss

Even if it's doomed, a motion to dismiss impeachment could give Trump loyalist a vote they want.

Sen. Josh Hawley listens to testimony at a hearing

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) at a hearing last month. Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Politics

Donald Trump impeachment

Trump responds to articles of  impeachment, calls process "a dangerous attack"

A senior administration official predicted this week that the trial would end in an acquittal by Feb. 4.

In this image, Trump speaks into a microphone. 

President Trump in the White House on Jan. 17. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

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

Iran has built up a vast network of proxies through which it wields influence across the Middle East, and which could take action to stoke tensions between the U.S. and Iran over the killing of Gen. Qasem Soleimani.

Why it matters: The political parties and militias that are influenced by and act on behalf of Iran likely pose a more direct threat to U.S. targets than Iran itself, the Washington Post writes.

Iran could direct the proxy groups to strike American military assets in areas where Iran has strong influence, such as with Hezbollah in Lebanon, The New York Times notes.

Worth noting: Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike, was the mastermind behind Iran's proxy network, according to the Middle East Institute.

How it started: Iran has since the 1980s supported Shiite militias that opposed Saddam Hussein's Sunni government, the Post notes.

Iran's influence and political power grew following the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 and continued to grow as the same militias took on ISIS, AP reports.

Who's in charge: The Popular Mobilization Forces is an umbrella group for numerous Iranian-backed militias, and was run by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was killed alongside Soleimani in the U.S. drone strike, AP notes.

Iraqi protesters have recently demonstrated against Iranian influence in the country.

How it started: Hezbollah is Iran's earliest and most successful proxy, per the Post. The Shiite paramilitary group formed in the early 1980s during the Lebanese civil war and later found success as a political party. The U.S. has said Hezbollah receives financial support from Iran, but the group consistently denies the claim.

Who's in charge: Hassan Nasrallah is Hezbollah's current secretary-general.

Hezbollah pledged loyalty to Ayatollah Khomeini, who took power in Iran following the 1979 revolution, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Nasrallah promised Hezbollah would begin targeting U.S. forces following the killing of Soleimani, Al Jazeera reports.

How it started: The Houthi Shiite rebel group rose to international prominence in 2015, during the Yemeni civil war, nearly 25 years after its founding, according to the Guardian.

Who is in charge: Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi founded the group, but was killed in a 2004 rebellion against Saudi Arabia. His brother, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, is the current leader. 

Iran began to support the Houthis more actively after the start to the Yemeni civil war, the Post writes. The Houthis are financially and militarily independent of Iran, per the Post. 

Flashback: Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for rockets that hit a Saudi oil facility in September 2019, but the U.S. government blamed Iran for the strike.  

Iran has mobilized some of its proxy groups, most notably Hezbollah, to fight in Syria's civil war on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad — one of Iran's few Arab allies.

Iran has sent Iraqi militias and Shiites from Afghanistan and Pakistan to fight in the Syrian civil war, Bloomberg reports.

The U.S. on Iran's proxies: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Iran in mid-December that using its proxies to harm Americans would result in a “decisive U.S. response," Military Times reports.

Pompeo has also claimed Iran is working with militants in Afghanistan, including the Taliban.

Trump responds to missile strikes: "Iran appears to be standing down"

Where U.S. troops and military assets are deployed in the Middle East

The Trump administration's mixed messages on the Soleimani strike

Iran's proxies in the Middle East

Iran could likely use one of its many proxies to strike American military assets.

Photo illustration of the Ayatollah Khamenei, Qassem Soleimani, and the IRG.

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photos: Behrouz Mehri/Getty Staff, Anadolu Agency/Getty Contributor, Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Contributor

World

Iran

Conflicts, policies and powers are intersecting and shaping the world. Breaking news and analysis of national security, foreign policy and global crises.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have agreed to repay roughly 2.4 million pounds, or $3.1 million, of taxpayer money spent on Windsor Castle renovations, AP reports.

The big picture: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will also no longer use "royal highness" titles, or receive any public funds as part of their deal to "step back" as senior royals, per AP.

"Following many months of conversations and more recent discussions, I am pleased that together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his family. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved members of my family. 

I recognize the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life. 

I want to thank them for all their dedicated work across this country, the Commonwealth and beyond, and am particularly proud of how Meghan has so quickly become one of the family. 

It is my whole family's hope that today's agreement allows them to start building a happy and peaceful new life."

Queen Elizabeth II's statement on Saturday

Go deeper: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to "step back" as senior royals

Harry and Meghan Markle to repay $3.1 million in taxpayer funds, forego titles

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will no longer use "royal highness" titles.

In this image, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stand 

Harry and Markle at the British High Commissioner residency in Oct. 2019. Photo: Michele Spatari/AFP via Getty Images

United Kingdom

Finish Line

Axios Finish Line

Reproduced from World Policy Center; Map: Axios Visuals

Parental leave is steadily becoming ubiquitous around the world, but workplace cultures in many countries continue to prevent employees — especially fathers — from taking time off.

Why it matters: Paid leave not only benefits families but also makes people more likely to re-enter the workforce, experts say. And in the U.S., as the labor market tightens, robust time off policies for new parents is emerging as one way to attract talent.

What's happening: While the U.S. is an outlier, other developed nations in Europe and Asia do offer extensive leave. Still, there's a gap between passing laws and actually getting people to take the time off.

Often firms in the U.S. and elsewhere stress "putting the company above all else," says Kate Weisshaar, a professor at UNC, Chapel Hill. "The culture of a workplace can contribute to who feels like they're safe to take leave or take full leave."

Just this week, Shinjiro Koizumi, a popular Japanese politician, made a splash when he decided to take paternity leave. New fathers get up to a year off in Japan, but only about 6% of eligible men working at private firms took it in 2018, per the New York Times.

In a recent study, Weisshaar tested employer perceptions of parental leave by sending three types of resumes and cover letters for open roles: people who currently held jobs, people who stated they were unemployed due to layoffs, and people who said they had chosen to stay home for a while to take care of children.

The resumes of the stay-at-home parents performed more poorly than those of the unemployed applicants, she says. And fathers were less likely to receive callbacks than mothers. "That sends a pretty strong message that employers care about this."

The big picture: There's a strong economic case to be made for parental leave — and paternity leave specifically, Barrons' Matthew Klein writes.

The wage gap between men and women is exacerbated by the fact that mothers are expected to take time away from work and care for new babies alone. We could chip away at that gap if men and women received the same amount of leave, Klein notes.

And in a new working paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research, economists studied how parental leave in Denmark — which has one of the most generous policies at 52 weeks of paid time off — affected companies' bottom lines and found no economic impact. It's worth noting, though, that the researchers did not examine the cost of paid parental leave to the government.

The bottom line: "The culture of being family friendly is one of the amenities of a job," says Heather Royer, an economist at UC, Santa Barbara, and one of the authors of the NBER paper. "Having family leave and having people take it creates this feeling that the firm values like outside of work, and that can make people happier when they're working."

Go deeper: Corporate America is pressured to boost paid parental leave

The global parental leave paradox

Paid leave not only benefits families, but also makes people more likely to re-enter the workforce.

Future

Jobs

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

Four of the team members — Ken Starr, Alan Dershowitz, Pam Bondi and Robert Ray — have made at least 365 weekday Fox News appearances since January 2019, according to progressive research center Media Matters for America.

Between the lines: Several White House officials told Jonathan Swan they were hoping President Trump wouldn’t pick Alan Dershowitz, named by the White House Friday as one of the Senate trial counsels, to play a formal role.

Trump's Fox-friendly Senate trial team

Four of the legal defense team members made at least 365 weekday Fox News appearances since Jan. 2019.

Axios

Saturday's top stories

Draft of McConnell's rules for trial still allows motion to dismiss

Trump responds to articles of impeachment, calls process "a dangerous attack"

Iran's proxies in the Middle East

Harry and Meghan Markle to repay $3.1 million in taxpayer funds, forego titles

The global parental leave paradox

Trump's Fox-friendly Senate trial team

No confidence in 2020 referees

Sanders-Warren battle upstaged by viral right-wing media

New Lev Parnas records detail Ukraine surveillance efforts, contact with Devin Nunes aide

America's oldest Confucius Institute to close