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National

A pair of House committees on Monday subpoenaed FBI and IRS officials to testify about alleged political interference into the federal investigation of Hunter Biden.

Why it matters: Republicans are trying to use Attorney General Merrick Garland's decision to appoint U.S. Attorney David Weiss as special counsel against him.

Driving the news: The subpoenas went out to two IRS officials and two FBI special agents connected to an October 2022 meeting in which Weiss allegedly said he was blocked from bringing charges against Hunter Biden outside of Delaware.

Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Jason Smith (R-Mo.), the chairs of the House Judiciary and Ways & Means Committees, respectively, said in a statement the administration "stonewalled" their requests for voluntary testimony.

"Our subpoenas compelling testimony from Biden Administration officials are crucial to understanding how the President's son received special treatment from federal prosecutors and who was the ultimate decision maker in the case," they added.

Between the lines: The subpoenas are connected to IRS whistleblower testimony that Weiss sought and was denied special counsel status in order to have more discretion and latitude in charging decisions.

Both Garland and Weiss have disputed those claims, with Garland testifying to the Senate in March that Weiss had "full authority."

Garland's appointment of Weiss as special counsel earlier this month "rais[es] concerns that the Attorney General's and Mr. Weiss's statements to Congress were not truthful," the press release announcing the subpoenas said.

House GOP subpoenas FBI and IRS officials in Hunter Biden probe

Republicans are trying to use Merrick Garland's appointment of a special counsel against him.

Reps. Jason Smith and Jim Jordan. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Hunter Biden

Politics & Policy

Former President Trump's broad support among Republicans has grown with the news of his latest indictment, according to polls.

Why it matters: Even as the GOP prepares to kickoff its primary debates this week, Trump's GOP rivals have failed to gain national momentum and many have been reluctant to criticize the former president, who faces 91 criminal counts.

In Iowa, Trump enjoys a more than 20-point lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis among likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers, according to an NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll released Monday.

The poll — conducted Aug. 13-17 — echoed a new CBS News/YouGov poll published Sunday, which showed 62% of likely GOP primary voters support Trump while 16% support DeSantis. 

77% of likely GOP primary voters believe Trump's indictment in the Georgia case is politically motivated, according to the CBS News/YouGov, which was conducted Aug. 16-18.

Zoom in: Interviews conducted from Aug. 13-14 for the NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll showed Trump beating DeSantis by 18 percentage points, 38% to 20%.

However, survey interviews for the poll that were conducted after the Aug. 14 indictment in Georgia showed Trump's lead widen to 25 percentage points, 43% to 18%.

The big picture: Other polls highlight the stark partisan divides governing Americans' views of Trump, and the difficulty Trump faces in getting some Independent voters to side with him.

85% of Republicans think Trump should not be prosecuted, while 95% of Democrats and 57% of Independents believe he should be, according to a national polling report from Quinnipiac University published last week but conducted before the Georgia indictment came down.

An AP/Norc poll released last week found that 16% of Republicans approved of the DOJ indictment over Jan. 6 compared to 85% of Democrats and 47% of Independents.

Zoom out: Several major GOP donors still hope to lure another alternative to Trump to enter the 2024 Republican primary race.

Meanwhile, Trump and 18 co-defendants have until Aug. 25 to voluntarily surrender in the Georgia case.

Trump seems bulletproof among GOP voters, polls show

Trump's lead over Ron DeSantis actually grew following his indictment in Georgia.

Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the Steer N' Stein bar at the Iowa State Fair on August 12

Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the Iowa State Fair on August 12. Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Donald Trump

Data: Pediatrics analysis of CDC data; Chart: Axios Visuals

Firearm deaths among children in the U.S. hit a new record high in 2021, according to a study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

Driving the news: The study, based on government data, points to the worsening of an already distressing trend, after guns became the leading cause of death for children for the first time in 2020.

By the numbers: There were 4,752 pediatric firearm deaths in 2021, or a rate of 5.8 per 100,000 people — an 8.8% increase from the year before, the study found.

Between 2018 and 2021, the pediatric firearm death rate rose 41.5%.

"Spikes in firearm purchasing during the pandemic were substantial, resulting in roughly 30 million children living in households with firearms, a known risk factor for pediatric firearm injury," the researchers wrote. 

Zoom in: Gun deaths among children have "disproportionately affected communities of color," said the study, which is based on data from the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Nearly 50% of children who died by firearms in 2021 were Black, and Black children "accounted for the greatest increase in death rate" from 2020 to 2021, per the study.

"With respect to firearm homicides, in 2021, the death rate was 11 times higher for Black children compared with white children ... representing the largest disparity gap in the 4 years of this study."

The big picture: Nearly 85% of children who died from firearms in 2021 were male, and the firearm death rate among males has increased since 2018.

About 83% of pediatric firearm deaths were among adolescents aged 15 to 19 years old, a 5.2% increase from the 2020 rate.

State of play: The new study aligns with earlier findings on the topic. 

A Pew Research Center report earlier this year found that gun deaths among U.S. kids rose 50% between 2019 and 2021.

The number of children killed by guns in 2021 was higher than in any year since 1999, the first year the CDC began tracking the data, according to the report.

Gun deaths among U.S. children hit a new record high

Between 2018 and 2021, the pediatric firearm death rate rose 41.5%, according to the study.

Guns

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

Members of the House Freedom Caucus are making it harder for leadership to avoid a government shutdown, announcing on Monday that they'll oppose a stopgap funding bill unless it caves to their terms.

Driving the news: The HFC is demanding more funding for border enforcement, cuts to the Department of Justice and FBI, and an end to "woke" policies at the Department of Defense.

"We refuse to support any such measure that continues Democrats' bloated COVID-era spending and simultaneously fails to force the Biden Administration to follow the law and fulfill its most basic responsibilities," they said in a statement. 

"Any support for a 'clean' Continuing Resolution would be an affirmation of the current FY 2023 spending level grossly increased by the lame-duck December 2022 omnibus spending bill that we all vehemently opposed just seven months ago."

The big picture: Congress is unlikely to complete its work on appropriations bills by the deadline on Sept. 30, with leadership calling for a continuing resolution to provide themselves with more time.

"If you think we're going to come in and in three weeks, three partial weeks in September and get the appropriations bills done — that seems unlikely, given the extent to which there was a total failure in settings, spending levels where they needed to be set in order to get to 218," Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) told Axios.

What's next: Some members have discussed potentially attempting to block a continuing resolution on legislation from reaching the House floor unless it meets their criteria, upping the likelihood of a government shutdown if Democrats don't vote for the measure.

leadership calling for continuing resolution

House Freedom Caucus fires warning shot over government shutdown

"We refuse to support any such measure that continues Democrats' bloated COVID-era spending."

Congress

New rainfall records were set across Los Angeles County after Tropical Storm Hilary crossed into Southern California near Palm Springs on Sunday evening after earlier making landfall in Mexico.

The big picture: It's rare for a tropical storm to hit the region. The storm is bringing the likelihood of "catastrophic and life-threatening flooding" to parts of the U.S. Southwest through Monday, while prompting unprecedented tropical storm warnings for Los Angeles and San Diego.

Nevada's governor declared a state of emergency due to the threat of potential "flash flooding, rockslides and mudslides" amid forecasts that the south of the state would exceed its annual rainfall total in a short period of time due to the storm.

In Arizona, the Mohave County Sheriff's Office issued evacuation orders for parts of Lake Mead National Recreation Area "due to flooding risks from Tropical Storm Hilary."

Threat level: The storm brought two years or more worth of rain in California's desert areas. Now a post-tropical storm swirling through Nevada, it produced tropical rainfall rates, which can be torrential, to areas that have rarely, if ever, experienced them.

California is under a state of emergency, and evacuations away from the most vulnerable areas to mudslides, debris flows and other hazards were expected in Southern California especially. 

The manager of Palm Springs County in Southern California declared a local emergency Sunday "due to the critically dangerous impacts" including "unprecedented rainfall & flooding of local roadways and at least one swift water rescue," officials said.

Storm impact: Tropical Storm Hilary caused road closures and flood damage across Southern California and led to over 4,500 flights being delayed or canceled across the U.S. Sunday, per FlightAware.

There were multiple reports of water rescues and people trapped in cars due to the inundation across the state on Sunday.

The Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second largest, announced all schools, campuses and after-school programs would close Monday due to the storm.

Of note: The Weather Prediction Center had painted a large zone in southern California and Southwestern Nevada as facing a "high risk" of excessive rainfall and flash flooding Sunday — including San Bernardino, Death Valley, Barstow, Indio, and Palmdale, Calif.

High risk-designated days are associated with about 40% of all flash flood-related fatalities and 83% of all flash flood-related damages in the U.S.

By the numbers: Precipitation totals from the storm have ranged from 11.74 inches at Mount San Jacinto, Calif., to 6.61 inches in Whitewater, Calif. and 2.5 inches in Carlsbad. 

Some locations in the San Bernardino Mountains picked up 2 inches of rain in an hour. 

The top amounts in L.A. County through Monday morning were between 5 and 7 inches, with most areas setting daily and monthly records. Downtown LA picked up 2.38 inches.

The strongest wind gust was 84 mph at Big Black Mountain in San Diego County, per NWS.

NWS precipitation forecast through Tuesday. Image: Pivotal Weather

42.6 million people were under tropical storm warnings Sunday, from the LA metro area south to the U.S.-Mexico border. Gusty winds are expected to be strongest along the coast and in areas of higher terrain.

28 million people in half a dozen states were under flash flood watches, which extend all the way north into eastern Oregon and Idaho.

Screenshot of a Tweet showing rainfall totals in the Los Angeles area.

Context: Human-caused climate change is leading to more frequent and intense extreme precipitation events. It is also causing tropical storms and hurricanes to produce more rainfall, as a warmer atmosphere and oceans allow these storms to carry more moisture.

The presence of an intensifying El Niño event, with above-average sea surface temperatures in the equatorial tropical Pacific Ocean, may be enhancing the moisture funneling into this storm.

Go deeper: In photos: Tropical Storm Hilary's heavy rains flood California streets

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

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Tropical Storm Hilary slams Southern California with historic rainfall

The storm flooded across Southern California.

Car in floodwaters from Tropical Storm Hilary on August 20.

A car is partially submerged in floodwaters from Tropical Storm Hilary in Cathedral City, Calif. on Aug. 20. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images

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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.

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Monday's top stories

House GOP subpoenas FBI and IRS officials in Hunter Biden probe

Trump seems bulletproof among GOP voters, polls show

Gun deaths among U.S. children hit a new record high

House Freedom Caucus fires warning shot over government shutdown

Tropical Storm Hilary slams Southern California with historic rainfall

Iowa poll: Trump lead grew post-indictment

America's manufacturing boom could add 250,000 jobs in two years — report

Scoop: Inside Trump's new plan to limit immigration

Medical debt is squeezing millions of middle-class Americans, report says

Chances of costly autoworker strike extra high amid Biden's EV push

DeSantis preps for "dog-pile on Ron" at GOP debate

Scoop: Biden weighs meeting with Saudi Arabia's MBS at G20 to talk mega-deal