Congressional Republicans are racing toward a self-imposed July 4 deadline to pass President Trump's sweeping domestic policy bill, though its ultimate fate remains uncertain Monday afternoon.
This morning, the Senate began its marathon vote-a-rama, or a series of unlimited amendment votes, after finishing initial debate on the underlying bill last night.
Why it matters: Trump's marquee legislation would cement some of the biggest policy goals of his second term. There's been criticism from both parties over the bill's cost as well as its cuts to Medicaid, and Democrats have zeroed in on the social safety net losses, funding for immigration enforcement and rollbacks of clean energy initiatives.
The reconciliation package the Senate is considering would add $3.3 trillion in budget deficits over the next 10 years, according to a nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimate.
That's more than the estimated $2.8 trillion in the House version passed by just one vote last month.
Senate Republicans eked out a late-night win Saturday with a 51-49 vote to take up the bill.
🏛️ Here's what needs to happen next to meet the July 4 deadline:
1. The full Senate must approve its version of the legislation. This could happen as soon as Monday.
Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) only needs a simple majority of 51 votes for passage under budget reconciliation rules. Republicans can only afford to lose three votes.
Zoom in: Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) are firm "no" votes.
Already, the Senate's version of the bill has significant differences from the House version, including on Medicaid work requirements, the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, wind and solar tax credits and a provision to nix taxes on tips.
2. The House and Senate would have to resolve their different versions and negotiate a unified version of the bill. (Or the House could accept the Senate's changes wholesale and move to a final vote.)
3. Both chambers ultimately must approve the same version of the bill. The House will have to come back from recess to vote on the Senate plan or a compromise — which wouldn't happen before Wednesday.
4. Trump would then be presented a bill to sign into law, which he wants to do alongside Independence Day celebrations on Friday.
OK, but what are the major hangups?
Republican infighting: Tillis has already announced he'll retire after getting Trump-backed primary threats for opposing the bill's cuts to Medicaid. But his exit and his statements about the rank partisanship of Washington underscore the extent to which moderate holdouts who will defy the president are a dwindling breed.
Parliamentarian rulings: The parliamentarian has already forced some delays to hammer out revised bill text, like on the Medicaid provider tax. Additional rulings against bill language could lead to more last-minute tweaks — and further delays.
Can Democrats do anything?
They're expected to uniformly oppose the bill, but since Congress is using the reconciliation process, they don't have the power to stop the bill on their own.
The party lacks majorities in either chamber and has little leverage, beyond forcing Senate amendment votes that put Republicans in tricky political positions — and stacking political messaging attacks for the midterms.
President Trump signed an executive order on Monday rescinding most U.S. sanctions imposed on Syria since the 1970s, a major step toward offering the war-torn country a path to normalization with the West.
Why it matters: Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former Islamist rebel who overthrew the Assad regime last year, had urged the U.S to lift sanctions to give Syria a chance to rebuild after 14 years of civil war.
Trump's executive order comes six weeks after his historic meeting with al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia, where Trump first announced the U.S. would lift sanctions on Syria to give the country a fresh start.
"Now it is their time to shine. We are taking them all off. Good luck Syria. Show us something very special," Trump said in a speech at the time.
Zoom in: Trump's executive order outlines a sweeping reversal of U.S. policy toward Syria dating back to 1979. It includes:
A review of Syria's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.
A potential suspension of theCaesar Act, which sanctioned the Assad regime for war crimes against civilians.
Steps to remove Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) — the Islamist group formerly led by al-Sharaa — from the U.S. foreign terrorist organization list.
U.S. officials say sanctions against former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is believed to be living in Moscow, and members of his former regime will not be lifted.
Driving the news: The Trump administration is holding "preliminary discussions" with Israel and Syria on a potential securityagreement between the longtime enemy states, U.S. and Israeli officials tell Axios.
While normalization isn't on the table yet, the talks could lay the groundwork for future diplomacy — starting with efforts to reduce tensions and update security arrangements along the volatile Israel-Syria border.
Any breakthrough would represent a major diplomatic achievement for the Trump administration, given the decades of hostilities between Israel and Syria under the rule of the Assad family.
Between the lines: The U.S. favors a gradual process that would slowly build trust and improve relations between Israel and Syria.
But Israel is pushing for assurances that any talks will ultimately lead to a full peace agreement and normalization, a senior Israeli official told Axios.
Another Israeli official cautioned that a deal is "not around the corner" and said it will take time to achieve meaningful progress.
The intrigue: Israeli officials had hoped the U.S. would retain some sanctions as leverage to push Syria toward full normalization with Israel.
But a U.S. official told reporters Monday that the administration didn't see value in that approach.
"It's a benefit for Syria to lean toward Israel. President al-Sharaa said he wants to start talks with Israel. The way to entice the Syrians is to make a deal with Israel fruitful for them," the official said.
State of play: In early June, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Trump's Syria envoy Tom Barrack that he was interested in negotiating a new security agreement with Syria's post-Assad government, brokered by the U.S.
A senior Israeli official said Netanyahu's goal is a phased set of agreements with Syria — starting with a modernized version of the 1974 disengagement of forces accord, and ultimately culminating in a full peace deal and normalization.
When Islamist militants toppled the Assad regime in a stunning rebel offensive last December, Israel responded with waves of airstrikes that systematically destroyed what remained of Syria's air force, navy, air defense, and missile systems.
Israel also took control of the buffer zone between the two countries and occupied territory inside Syria, including the Syrian side of the strategic Mount Hermon.
Israeli officials now view these areas as their primary leverage in negotiations, and say Israel will only withdraw in exchange for full peace and normalization with Syria.
Behind the scenes: Israel is communicating with Syria through at least four different channels — including Netanyahu's national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, Mossad director David Barnea, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar for political and strategic dialogue, and the Israel Defense Forces for day-to-day military coordination.
But Israeli officials say they want the U.S. to take a more active mediating role, believing it would give Syria's new government a stronger incentive to engage seriously.
Senior Israeli and U.S. officials saidBarrack has been in contact with Syrian officials since his visit to Israel in early June to explore launching formal talks.
"We are having very soft preliminary discussions. Diplomatic breakthroughs are like unwrapping an onion — we are peeling," a senior U.S. official told Axios. "President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio have been super supportive, and our teams are working well."
The talks are currently limited to officials below the level of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and there is no discussion yet of a leaders' summit, a U.S. official added.
Two senior Israeli officials said a deal is possible, but emphasized that it will take time.
"We hope to see the Trump administration pushing more assertively on this track," one Israeli official said.
Friction point: One of the biggest question marks hanging over any future Israeli-Syrian peace talks is the status of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria during the 1967 war.
In every previous round of negotiations over the past three decades, the Assad regime demanded a full — or nearly full — Israeli withdrawal from the territory in exchange for peace.
During his first term, Trump recognized the Golan Heights as part of Israel — a move that the Biden administration did not reverse.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Monday that Israel is open to an agreement with Syria, but insisted that the Golan Heights will remain part of Israel under any future deal.
A U.S. officials told reporters that said the Trump administration is ready to assist in brokering an Israel-Syria deal, but that the details — including border delineation and the future of the Golan Heights — will be left to the two countries.
"It is up to them not up to us", the official said.
The official added that the goal is to build trust gradually, starting with a limited security agreement that could lay the foundation for a broader peace.
What to watch: Ron Dermer, Netanyahu's close confidant and minister for strategic affairs, is visiting Washington this week for meetings with White House officials.
The potential deal with Syria will be one of the issues discussed, Israeli officials say.
Netanyahu will also visit the White House on July 7 and discuss Syria with Trump, in addition to other regional issues, an Israeli official told Axios.
The U.S. has now collected more than $100 billion in customs revenue since President Trump took office, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The vast majority of that is from tariffs, as Trump's trade policy begins to generate substantial income for the government.
Driving the news: Total customs revenue from actions taken since Jan. 20 — including tariffs, taxes and fees — hit $106.1 billion as of last Friday, according to Customs and Border Protection documents seen by Axios.
Most of that, $81.5 billion in total, is from tariffs imposed since Jan. 20.
Zoom out: The revenue from Trump's sweeping global levies is substantially higher than in past years.
For the current fiscal year through the end of May, collections are about 65% higher than the same period the year prior, per Treasury data.
The overall effective tariff rate is now at the highest level since the late 1930s, per the Yale Budget Lab.
What to watch: At current levels, annual collections are pacing ahead of the administration's own estimates.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and trade advisor Peter Navarro have previously estimated tariffs could generate north of $300 billion in revenue.
President Trump heads back to Florida on Tuesday to tour "Alligator Alcatraz," a controversial new detention facility in the Everglades to incarcerate those who immigrated illegally or face deportation.
Why it matters: The $450 million 1,000-bed facility of trailers and tents is the largest of its kind and solidifies Florida's position as the top state cooperating with Trump's immigration crackdown.
Florida already leads the nation in cross-deputizing local police to enforce federal immigration laws, a priority of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The idea and name of "Alligator Alcatraz" is the brainchild of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who was appointed by DeSantis after serving as his chief of staff.
The intrigue: Uthmeier hatched the plan for Alligator Alcatraz in near-secret and worked with DeSantis's office and the Department of Homeland Security to avoid any opposition before it was too late for significant opposition to materialize.
DHS has blessed the project with $450 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's "Shelter and Services Program," which President Biden had tapped to help house migrants in hotels to welcome them to the United States.
Now the Trump administration is using that program to detain and help deport them.
The site is owned by Miami-Dade County, but DeSantis is developing the site and essentially taking it over by exercising emergency authority he granted himself in 2023 to deal with a flood of migrants who came during the Biden administration.
Zoom in:Alligator Alcatraz is surrounded by wetlands of the Big Cypress National Preserve next to Everglades National Park and is almost dead center between the East and West coasts of Florida.
The nearly 25,000-acre site is not pristine wetlands, however. It's a one-runway airplane facility called the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport.
The runway was supposed to be one of six in what was to be the world's largest airport at the time in the 1960s. That project, the Everglades Jetport, was abandoned amid protests from the nascent environmental movement at the time.
Zoom out: Environmentalists oppose the project because of the impacts on wildlife (such as the endangered Florida panther), and development of the site runs contrary to desires to get rid of the jetport.
Immigration advocates and Democrats oppose Alligator Alcatraz because it's touted as deliberately cruel to detainees.
The state and federal governments say environmental impacts will be minimal and the state has to put detainees somewhere as more migrants are being rounded up and are increasingly overcrowding federal immigration lockups like Krome Detention Center.
Rep. Dwight Evans (D-Pa.) said Monday he will retire in 2026 after initially telling Axios he planned to run for reelection to his Philadelphia-based seat.
Why it matters: The 71-year-old is the latest in what many younger Democrats hope will be a wave of septuagenarian and octogenarian lawmakers opting not to try to hold onto their seats.
The party is engaged in an internal civil war over age, with older lawmakers across the country facing primary challenges from younger insurgents tired of waiting for them to retire.
Evans, who suffered a stroke last year that kept him from voting at the Capitol for much of 2024 and has since confined him to a walker, has been among the prime targets of those efforts.
What he's saying: "I remain in good health and fully capable of continuing to serve," Evans said in a statement.
But, he added, "After some discussions this weekend and thoughtful reflection, I have decided that the time is right to announce that I will not be seeking re-election in 2026."
The House Democrat, who has served in Congress since 2016 and was previously a state legislator for 35 years, said he will serve out the remainder of his term through Jan. 3, 2027.
Zoom out: Evans is the third House Democrat this year to announce their retirement without plans to seek higher office. All were over 70.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said in April he would retire — and relinquish his role as ranking member of the House Oversight Committee — after his esophageal cancer returned. The 75-year-old died the following month.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), 81, announced in May she would retire amid a primary challenge from 26-year-old progressive Kat Abughazaleh.
What to watch: Democrats' younger wing is hoping this will just be the beginning, with progressive groups saying they expect dozens of older incumbents to face primary challenges.
The hope among grassroots activists is that many of these incumbent members will be compelled to retire rather than fight brutal reelection battles after years of facing only token opposition.
But more than half of the 30 House Democrats who are 75 or older have told Axios they plan to run for reelection — setting the stage for bruising fights across the country.
Editor's note; This story has been updated with additional reporting.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced on Monday that Harvard violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by "acting with deliberate indifference towards harassment of Jewish and Israeli students" after the Oct. 7 attack.
The big picture: The announcement is yet another escalation in the Trump administration's pressure campaign against the Ivy League institution, which has refused to yield to Washington's demands.
Harvard is facing off against the administration in court over the freezing of billions in federal funds and its attempts to block the school from hosting international students.
Driving the news: The findings, per a statement from HHS, document that a "hostile environment existed, and continues to exist, at Harvard."
Administration officials, in a letter addressed to Harvard University President Alan Garber, said that "failure to institute adequate changes immediately will result in the loss of all federal financial resources."
In a 57-page notice of violation, the HHS office pointed to three areas of "repeated ineffectual action and inaction," alleging Harvard failed to establish clear procedures to report and remediate antisemitic harassment, uniformly implement disciplinary measures and "allowed protesters to flout time, place and manner restrictions."
What they're saying: A university spokesperson condemned antisemitism as "unacceptable" in a statement provided to Axios and said the university has taken "substantive, proactive steps" to address the root causes of it.
In response to the federal investigation, the spokesperson said, Harvard shared its Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias Report with the administration and outlined the steps it has taken to strengthen policies and discipline those who violate them.
"Harvard has made significant strides to combat bigotry, hate and bias," the statement continued. "We are not alone in confronting this challenge and recognize that this work is ongoing."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt spoke of the HHS findings during a briefing Monday, calling it a "violent violation" of Title VI.
"These are all facts that Harvard cannot dispute, and that's why the administration has found them in violation of Title VI and has threatened to withhold their federal funding," she said. "Because if you break federal law, you should not be receiving federal tax dollars."
Friction point: Despite President Trump recently suggesting a potential detente with Harvard was on the horizon, Monday's notice puts new fuel on the fire.
HHS noted that Monday's findings do not address a separate Title VI investigation into the Harvard Law Review over alleged "race-based discrimination."
Beyond the investigations, the Trump administration has battered the university from various fronts and has also threatened to revoke the university's tax-exempt status.
Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout with new information.
The S&P 500 was on track to hit a new record on Friday, but then sank when President Trump announced the termination of trade talks with Canada over a controversial digital services tax.
Within an hour, investors decided not to care, and stocks closed at an all-time high for the first time since February.
Why it matters: Wall Street is largely post-tariff. The market is a forward-looking machine, and it's already priced in better-than-expected trade deals before they are signed.
What they're saying: Headline-driven volatility is a given under this administration, so don't let it impact your portfolio, advisors say. (Example A: Canada scrapped the aforementioned tax Sunday night.)
Jay Pelosky of TPW Advisors sayshe pays "no attention" to tariff policy anymore.
Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo, indicated that Trump may be "outsmarting everyone" in a recent note, arguing any extension of the 90-day tariff pause, which Trump has signaled, would decrease uncertainty.
Lower uncertainty is good news for both businesses and investors.
Friday's action was "reflecting the improved investor sentiment and overall investor confidence," says Mike Dickson, head of research and quantitative strategies at Horizon Investments.
Zoom in: There are several bullish signals that strategists would rather focus on than tariffs, which fueled the 19% drop in stocks just a couple months ago.
Expectations are building around the "big, beautiful bill" being passed sooner rather than later, which could be a fresh catalyst.
Recent declines in the dollar may be a long-term risk, but for now, this could be a cushion that drives earnings beats across the big tech names.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent continues to pitch an economic agenda built on a three-legged stool — tax, trade and deregulation — as investors salivate over the prospect of looser government oversight.
Reality check: Economists caution that a slowdown in consumer spending, which is already happening, could worsen as tariff-driven inflation takes full effect.
It will be another couple of months until we know how much increased tariffs have affected inflation, according to Joe Brusuelas, principal and chief economist at RSM US.
"It's summer silly season," says Brusuelas, who cautions investors that FOMO is driving positive sentiment while risks remain.
He argues a reassessment of valuations will come when, not if, the data shows further tariff impacts.
The other side: Some hyper-optimistic strategists may argue a slowdown in consumer spending off the back of higher prices is bullish since there could be a subsequent rebound if trade deals are struck.
Spending slowed when uncertainty was at a record high. If uncertainty wanes, maybe spending roars right back. The argument clashes directly with the idea that the inflation driven by tariffs is just beginning.
The bottom line: Consensus is building around the idea that investors can stomach headline volatility around policy uncertainty, but they can't afford to miss out on the rallies that come after.
Rush University Medical Center in Chicago is adding a new twist to its curriculum for medical students and residents, using AI tools and learning modules to teach how to more quickly identify measles rashes on different skin tones.
Why it matters: It's another reminder that diseases once thought to have been eradicated are showing up with increased frequency in clinics and ERs, posing challenges for younger physicians and health workers who thought they were relegated to history.
Lingering vaccine hesitancy and distrust of the medical establishment stoked by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are leading some health systems to add training on old scourges that were practically wiped out by immunization campaigns and increased surveillance.
"You're taught these things in medical school, and you're taught from a very academic perspective with the sense of measles was eradicated in 2000," said Nicholas Cozzi, EMS medical director at Rush.
"Now we're having a resurgence, the highest in 25 years, and you might have not reviewed that since the first year of medical school," he added. "It's a new paradigm and a new normal that we have to adapt to."
The big picture: The focus is particularly acute on childhood illnesses such as measles, chicken pox, invasive strep pneumoniae and pertussis, experts told Axios.
Polio and diphtheria, covered by the DTap vaccine, are also a concern. An unvaccinated 10-year-old boy died in Germany after contracting diphtheria, once the leading cause of premature death of children.
Rubella — a less easily transmitted infection covered by the MMR vaccine — can also be a threat, because of the way it can infect a fetus during pregnancy, said Catherine Troisi, professor at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health and chair-elect of the International Network of Epidemiology in Policy.
Vaccination rates for U.S. kindergartners were down slightly in 2023-24 for the DTap, polio, chickenpox and MMR shots, according to CDC data.
Zoom in: Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said rotavirus is another old disease that's being introduced to younger doctors.
"That virus dominated my residency [in the 1970s]. We had 400 kids admitted every winter," Offit said. That was before a vaccine was licensed in 2006 and virtually eliminated 70,000 hospitalizations with severe diarrhea annually, he added.
"Now it's the rare child who ever gets admitted. Most pediatric residents have never seen a case of rotavirus-induced dehydration in the hospital," he said.
It will likely take time for medical schools and residency programs to formally change their training, Troisi pointed out.
Medical professionals are being advised to stay current on public health advisories, ask patients about travel histories and be on guard for less likely conditions that may present as more common ailments.
They may also have to brush up on best practices for spinal taps in infants and toddlers, an invasive diagnostic tool that is seldom used today but can quickly turn up telltale signs such as inflamed membranes, said Adrianna Cadilla, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Nemours Children's Health in Orlando.
"When I trained, I would hear my attendings tell us about how often they had to do lumbar punctures because that was when Hemophilus influenza type B was running rampant," Cadilla said. "I only got to do probably one every ER shift, but that was a lot in comparison to now."
The hospital is using simulations to get medical students and residents more experienced in doing spinal tap on infants and wriggling older children, she said.
What to watch: New outbreaks could force more on-the-fly adjustments, especially in areas with low vaccination rates and the prospect of fewer recommended childhood immunizations.
Artificial intelligence is an emerging as a valuable tool in more quickly recognizing the medical conditions that may be of greater concern, Cozzi said. "That's a game changer," he said.
Most K-12 public students in the biggest U.S. cities attend schools in extreme urban heat zones, a new analysis finds.
Why it matters: The heat island effect can make some neighborhoods notably warmer than others, especially during heat waves like the one that recently struck much of the country.
Many schools lack adequate air conditioning, jeopardizing students' health and learning abilities in periods of extreme heat while class is in session.
Driving the news: About 76% of public K-12 students in the 65 most populous U.S. cities attend schools where the heat island effect increases temperatures by at least 8°F, per a new analysis from Climate Central, a climate research group.
Researchers there examined more than 12,000 schools, with nearly 6.2 million students.
The group's analysis is based on its previous work modeling urban heat zones, as well as National Center for Education Statistics data.
Zoom in: Among the included cities,Louisville, Kentucky (98%); Orlando, Florida (97%) and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (97%) have the largest shares of public K-12 students enrolled at schools in extreme urban heat zones.
Boston (36%), Providence, Rhode Island (42%) and Richmond, Virginia (49%) have the smallest.
Threat level: Some school districts had early dismissals, canceled classes, or even ended the school year early amid the recent heat wave, The Hill reports.
"Tens of thousands of public schools" need new or upgraded HVAC systems to meet increased cooling needs, per a 2024 Center for American Progress report, to the tune of $4.4 billion.
How it works: Heat islands amplify the impact and danger of extreme heat events fueled by human-driven climate change, with the built environment absorbing and trapping heat at the hyperlocal level.
Urban heat islands are more common in lower-income and non-white neighborhoods, researchers have found.
What's next: Cities are increasingly aware of heat islands, and some are taking steps to alleviate it — by planting trees and using reflective road paint, for example — albeit with mixed results.
Canada is rescinding its digital services tax "to advance broader trade negotiations" with the U.S., the country's finance ministry announced Sunday.
Why it matters: President Trump cited the tax on U.S. tech firms as he announced Friday he was ending trade talks with Canadian officials and would assign a tariff rate on goods from the country within the next week.
Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney have now "agreed that parties will resume negotiations with a view towards agreeing on a deal by July 21," per a statement from Department of Finance Canada.
Payments related to Canada's Digital Services Tax were due on Monday, but the statement said the collection would be halted and Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne "will soon bring forward legislation to rescind the Digital Services Tax Act."
What they're saying: "In our negotiations on a new economic and security relationship between Canada and the United States, Canada's new government will always be guided by the overall contribution of any possible agreement to the best interests of Canadian workers and businesses," Carney said in a statement.
Trump said on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" earlier in the day that U.S. officials would not negotiate with their Canadian counterparts on trade until "certain taxes" were dropped.
"People don't realize, Canada is very nasty to deal with," he said.
Representatives for the Trump administration did not immediately respond to Axios' requests for comment on Sunday evening.
Editor's note: This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
Fresh off announcing he'll retire next year, Sen. Thom Tillis gave a lengthy floor speech Sunday night attacking cuts to Medicaid in the "big, beautiful bill."
Why it matters: The North Carolina Republican is accusing the GOP of breaking President Trump's campaign promises to protect Medicaid.
Tillis voted Saturday against starting debate on the bill, and has declared he'll vote "no" on the final version.
Zoom in: "I'm telling the president, you have been misinformed," Tillis said on Sunday night.
"What do I tell 663,000 people in two years, three years, when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid because the funding's not there anymore," Tillis asked.
He compared Trump's promise on Medicaid with former President Obama's "if you like your health care plan, you can keep it" quote on the Affordable Care Act.
The Senate's version of the "big, beautiful bill" would result in 12 million more people without health insurance in 2034 than today, the Congressional Budget Office projects.
Between the lines: The Senate is expected to vote on Monday on an amendment by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) that would lower the federal matching share (FMAP) for states that have expanded their Medicaid programs.
The plan, which would start in 2031, Semafor reports, would cut billions in federal support for state Medicaid programs.
Two Idaho firefighters were killed and another was critically injured in a shooting while responding to a fire near Coeur d'Alene in the state's north on Sunday afternoon, officials said.
The latest: A man was found dead near a firearm on Canfield Mountain, where the shooting occurred, and police believe he's the only suspect in the shooting, Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said at a briefing late Sunday.
Driving the news: Investigators believe the suspect started the fire near Coeur d'Alene to "ambush" the firefighters.
Coeur d'Alene, with a population of about 58,000, is located in northwest Idaho, near the state's border with Washington.
Here's what we know about the attack.
What are local authorities saying about the attack?
Kootenai County Fire & Rescue firefighters were responding to the mountain blaze when "shots were fired" about 2pm local time, per a statement posted on the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office website.
The statement urged people to avoid the area and follow shelter-in-place alerts. The shelter-in-place order has since been lifted.
At the time law enforcement arrived to the site, Norris said it was unclear how many people were shooting but that officers were "actively taking sniper fire" from what appeared to be high-powered rifles.
Norris said later in a separate briefing that they believe just one individual was firing at officers and firefighters.
What do we know about the victims and the suspect?
One firefighter who died was from Coeur d'Alene and the other was from Kootenai County, per Norris.
The third firefighter, from the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department, was "fighting for his life, but he's in stable condition," Norris added.
The firefighters have yet to be named.
Norris said authorities located and transported a man's body, whom they believe to be the only shooter, but they did not identify him.
Around 300 law enforcement officers responded to the scene, Norris said, and authorities exchanged gunfire with the suspect.
Is the fire still burning?
Situation report: The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office cautioned in a Sunday night statement that the fire was still active.
"Residents in the area are advised to be prepared and ready should further action need to be taken," per the statement.
According to a Sunday night alert from the Idaho Department of Lands, crews estimate the fire spread to around 15 to 20 acres, "with numerous snags and steep terrain."
Are federal authorities assisting?
Zoom out: FBI deputy director Dan Bongino said on X that agents were heading to Coeur d'Alene to "provide tactical and operational support."
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on X that the agency was "actively monitoring the scene" and vowed, "Justice will be served."
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
Zohran Mamdani shrugged off President Trump's attacks on him and denied he's a communist during a Sunday interview in which the progressive New York City mayoral candidate said he doesn't think there should be billionaires.
Why it matters: Trump in an interview on Sunday doubled down in his assertion that Mamdani is a communist and said the likely Democratic primary winner must "do the right thing" if he's elected mayor of NYC or else he'll withhold federal funding.
"I can't imagine it, but let's say this, if he does get in I'm going to be president and he is going to have to do the right thing, but they're not getting any money. He's got to do the right thing," Trump said on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures."
"Whoever's mayor of New York is going to have to behave themselves or the federal government is coming down very tough on them financially."
What he's saying: Mamdani said on NBC News' "Meet the Press" he's "had to start to get used to the fact that the president will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I'm from, who I am, ultimately, because he wants to distract from what I'm fighting for."
He added, "I'm fighting for the very working people that he ran a campaign to empower, that he has since then betrayed. And when we talk about my politics, I call myself a democrat socialist in many ways inspired by the words of Dr. King from decades ago who said, 'Call it democracy or call it democratic socialism.
'There has to be a better distribution of wealth for all of God's children in this country.' And as income inequality has declined nationwide, it has increased in New York City. And, ultimately, what we need is a city where every single person can thrive."
Of note: Asked whether billionaires should exist, Mamdani said, "I don't think we should have billionaires because, frankly, it is so much money in a moment of such inequality.
"And, ultimately, what we need more of is equality across our city and across our state and across our country. And I look forward to work with everyone, including billionaires, to make a city that is fairer for all of them."
Sen. Thom Tillis won't run for re-election in 2026, the North Carolina Republican announced Sunday.
Why it matters: Tillis faced a brutal fight to keep his seat, both in the general election and with the potential of Trump-backed primary challengers.
"It's not a hard choice, and I will not be seeking re-election," Tillis said in a statement announcing his plans.
He was first elected to the Senate in 2014.
Zoom in: Tillis voted against starting debate Saturday night on the "big, beautiful bill," and told lawmakers he'd also oppose the final version over its cuts to Medicaid.
In response, President Trump said he'd meet with Tillis's challengers and accused the North Carolinian of grandstanding.
Between the lines: Some Republicans are breathing a sigh of relief that they don't have to try to navigate a Tillis reelection.
His numbers with moderates and the Republican base were creating major concerns for the party's ability to turn out a midterm coalition with Tillis on the ballot, sources told Axios.
What they're saying: "In Washington over the last few years, it's become increasingly evident that leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise, and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species," Tillis said in a statement.
What to watch: There's a large pool of potential GOP candidates for Tillis' seat, including RNC chair Michael Whatley and former RNC vice chair Lara Trump.
Lara Trump is "thinking" about a campaign, one Trump adviser told Axios.
She "would have a hard time saying no if asked by her father in law," another Trump adviser told Axios, although they'd be "surprised if she wants to leave the amazing gig she has at Fox."
One top Republican said she would have "right of first refusal."
North Carolina also has a slate of freshman Republican congressmen who could be poised to throw their names in the hat. Among them: Reps. Pat Harrigan, Tim Moore and Brad Knott.
This is a breaking news story and has been updated.
The Senate reconciliation package being debated this weekend would add nearly $3.3 trillion in budget deficits over the next 10 years, according to a new estimate by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
Republicans have pushed back against the CBO's math, and White House economists say the bill would reduce deficits, although that's an outlier forecast compared to CBO and other models.
Between the lines: The changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act in the Senate's version of the bill would also result in nearly 12 million more uninsured people by 2034, CBO estimates.
The House-passed version would lead to 10.8 million more people without insurance, per CBO.
A looming deadline to make trade deals doesn't necessarily matter, President Trump said Sunday, because the U.S. will simply send letters to hundreds of countries assigning tariff rates.
Why it matters: The pause on Trump's sweeping global tariffs expires in about 10 days, with one deal and one temporary truce in hand, and the rest of the world in varying states of limbo.
What they're saying: "We made deals, but I'd rather just send them a letter, a very fair letter, saying 'congratulations, we're going to allow you to trade in the United States of America, you're going to pay a 25% tariff, or 20%, or 40 or 50%.' I would rather do that," Trump said on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures."
Asked about extending the pause, Trump said "I don't think I'll need to. I could, there's no big deal."
"What I wanted to do is, and what I will do just — sometime prior to the 9th — is we'll send a letter to all these countries," he added.
How it works: "I'm going to send letters. That's the end of the trade deal," Trump said, giving U.S. ally Japan as an example.
"Dear Mr. Japan, here's the story. You're going to pay a 25% tariff on your cars," he said.
Trump said letters would go out "pretty soon" and that "we don't have to meet. We understand, we have all the numbers."
The intrigue: Trump made similar promises of unilateral tariff letters on May 16 and June 11, saying both times they'd be sent in 2 to 3 weeks.
That didn't happen.
Catch up quick: When Trump paused the stiffest of the reciprocal tariffs in early April, officials promised they'd make 90 deals in 90 days before the pause expired.
Both Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett have promised a flurry of deals as soon as this coming week.
Similar past promises, though, didn't result in agreements.
On Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said trade deals could be wrapped up by Labor Day, a softening of the negotiation window.
What to watch: Financial markets have largely moved past trade drama, with U.S. stocks hitting a new record on Friday.
Yes, but: Trump's promise to unilaterally assign tariff rates in the coming days could revive some of the uncertainty that caused markets to sink earlier this year.
President Trump on Sunday accused Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell of artificially inflating interest rates and said they should be less than half of what they are now.
Why it matters: After Trump's threats to fire Powell scared global bond markets and caused interest rates to spike, the president and his administration have turned to insults and public demands instead.
What they're saying: "We have a bad Fed chairman, but other than that ... it doesn't even matter, the numbers are so good it doesn't matter that he keeps the rates artificially high," Trump said on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures."
"We should be at 1% or 2%," Trump added later in the interview. (The current target rate is a range of 4.25% to 4.5%.)
He also once again criticized Powell personally as a "stupid person" and a "bad person."
Catch up quick: On Friday afternoon, Trump told reporters he would not appoint anyone to be the new Fed chair unless they would immediately cut interest rates, the clearest signal yet that the White House intends to exert more control over monetary policy next year.
Hours earlier, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that the administration could nominate a replacement for Powell as soon as October, even though his term as chair runs through next May.
Officials have floated the idea of a "shadow" Fed chair before, raising the prospect that the market may have to take very conflicting cues from two different officials at the same time.
The intrigue: Trump said he had three names in mind for the next chair, but declined to say whom.
Asked specifically about former Fed governor Kevin Warsh, Trump said, "Kevin is very talented, but I don't know that it's going to be him. But he's a very talented guy. He wouldn't be doing what Powell is."
If you can get more done in less time using AI, why not work fewer hours?
Why it matters: The idea is gaining traction among proponents of the four-day workweek, and at least one software startup CEO tells Axios that he's moved his company to a 32-hour week — with no change in pay — because of AI.
Where it stands: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) brought it up on Joe Rogan's podcast recently.
"You're a worker, your productivity is increasing because we give you AI, right?" Sanders said. "Instead of throwing you out on the street, I'm going to reduce your workweek to 32 hours."
How it works: Instead of firing people, proponents argue that firms share the gains of improved technology by giving workers some of their time back.
Instead of fearing AI will replace them, workers welcome its advancements and figure out creative ways to leverage the tech.
The four-day workweek community, which took off in the post-pandemic pro-worker era, is buzzing about AI right now, says economist Juliet Schor, who has a new book out this month called "Four Days a Week."
Schor is also lead researcher for 4DWG, a global nonprofit that's piloted shorter workweeks with 245 organizations in the U.S., U.K. and elsewhere.
"The ability of large language models like ChatGPT to wipe out millions of good-paying positions means we need to be intentional about how we adjust to that technology," she writes in the book. "Reducing hours per job is a powerful way to keep more people employed."
Reality check: Smaller firms can more easily implement a big change like a four-day week — larger companies are likely to have a harder time making it happen, experts say.
Firms also have a strong preference for layoffs to appease investors.
But reducing work hours to make sure a lot of people don't lose their jobs when technology advances isn't a new idea.
Shortening work hours as a way to reduce unemployment was one of the arguments wielded by advocates for five-day workweeks back in the early 20th century. (That used to be a wild idea, too.)
Earlier this month, Roger Kirkness, the CEO of a small software startup called Convictional moved the company to a four-day workweek — without reducing anyone's pay.
"Look at Fridays like weekends," he wrote in an email announcing the change, to the delight of his 12 employees. (One must be on-call each week, on a rotating schedule.)
"Oh my god, I was so happy," says Nick Wehner, a software engineer at the company. Wehner said he's been amazed at how much faster he can work using AI.
Kirkness tells Axios that using AI accelerates writing code but it doesn't speed up everything — teams still need to be able to think creatively to solve problems and get real work done.
The four-day workweek is meant to keep everyone fresh, with enough time to recharge so they can do deep-thinking.
"(Nearly) all that matters in work moving forward is the maximization of creativity, human judgment, emotional intelligence, prompting skills and deeply understanding a customer domain," he wrote in his all-staff email.
"None of those things correlate with hours."
The intention behind working fewer hours is to enable deeper, more productive work — it's an idea also touted by New Yorker writer Cal Newport in his book last year, Slow Productivity.
The bottom line: A growing chorus argues that workers should actually benefit from AI rather than just live in fear of it.
Why it matters: U.S. presidents have long treated aid to Israel as a sacrosanct, bipartisan commitment. Trump's unprecedented intervention appeared to tie the security of 10 million Israelis to the criminal prosecution of one man.
Trump's Truth Social post — in which he claimed the "political witch hunt" would interfere with negotiations with Iran and Hamas — was his second in three days about Netanyahu's trial.
It followed a decision by Israeli judges to reject Netanyahu's request to delay the hearing by two weeks, defying his argument that foreign policy and national security demands warranted a postponement.
What they're saying: "It is terrible what they are doing in Israel to Bibi Netanyahu," Trump wrote. "He is a War Hero, and a Prime Minister who did a fabulous job working with the United States to bring Great Success in getting rid of the dangerous Nuclear threat in Iran."
Trump claimed Netanyahu is "in the process of negotiating a Deal with Hamas, which will include getting the Hostages back," and questioned how Israel could force its leader "to sit in a Courtroom all day long, over NOTHING."
He then warned: "The United States of America spends Billions of Dollar a year, far more than on any other Nation, protecting and supporting Israel. We are not going to stand for this."
The extraordinary statement was widely interpreted as an effort to leverage U.S. military assistance to pressure Israel to cancel the trial.
Trump posted again on Truth Social at around 1 a.m. ET Sunday morning, writing "MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!"
Netanyahu shared Trump's Saturday post calling for canceling his trial on X: "Thank you again, @realDonaldTrump. Together, we will make the Middle East Great Again!"
Reality check: The negotiations between Israel and Hamas remain stalled — in part because of Netanyahu's refusal to commit to ending the war in Gaza.
Iran, meanwhile, has yet to indicate it's ready for direct talks with the U.S. It's unclear how Netanyahu's trial would meaningfully interfere with either track.
Catch up quick: Netanyahu is standing trial for charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases.
He's accused of accepting more than $200,000 in gifts from wealthy businessmen, and of granting regulatory benefits worth hundreds of millions of dollars to a telecom tycoon in exchange for favorable news coverage.
The trial has stretched on for four years, in part due to Netanyahu's repeated legal delay tactics. The former head of Israel's Shin Bet has accused the prime minister of trying to use executive powers to stall the case.
Driving the news: On Wednesday, Trump publicly called for Netanyahu's corruption trial to be "cancelled immediately" — or for Netanyahu to be granted a pardon. It was the first time he had made such a direct demand.
Trump has rarely spoken publicly about the trial. Just one day earlier, he appeared visibly frustrated with Netanyahu after both Israel and Iran violated a ceasefire brokered by the president.
But with that in the rearview mirror, the two leaders are now gearing up for a victory lap over the successful U.S.-Israeli bombing of Iran's nuclear program.
Behind the scenes: A White House official told Axios that Trump's first post on Wednesday — written aboard Air Force One — was prompted by a news article he read on his way back to Washington from the NATO summit in The Hague.
The official described the post as spontaneous and not coordinated with Netanyahu.
"The president read in the article that Bibi has to be in court on Monday and thought it's crazy," the official said. "He identified with what Bibi is going through and decided to write something about it."
But in Israel, many saw Trump's move as part of a broader strategy. Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the former president shouldn't interfere in a legal proceeding in an independent, sovereign country.
"But I guess he is doing it as compensation to Bibi in return for ending the war in Gaza. It sounds like a Trump thing to do," Lapid told Israeli news site Ynet.
Between the lines: Netanyahu's warm response only fueled suspicions of coordination.
The prime minister — who previously accused Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden of meddling in Israeli politics — praised Trump's intervention and amplified it through official statements and social media posts.
"This is Trump's emperor complex at work," former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro told Axios.
"He thinks if he drops bombs on Fordow and gives aid to Israel, he gets to dictate to Israeli judges how to rule. We've probably never seen a more blatant U.S. intervention in Israel's internal affairs. It won't work," Shapiro said.
What to watch: The only official with the authority to cancel Netanyahu's trial is Israel's attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara. The odds of her doing so are virtually zero.
But Netanyahu and his allies have been pushing for a Cabinet decision to fire her, and Trump's public pressure could fuel that effort.
Israel's Supreme Court would likely overrule such a move, but the clash could ignite a constitutional crisis and plunge the country back into the political turmoil that gripped it before the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.
The images of masked, heavily armed immigration agents snatching people off the streets and taking them away in unmarked cars have shocked many Americans — and led to a simple question: Is all of this legal?
It is — at least for now.
Why it matters: Since Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was created after the 9/11 attacks, its agents have operated with vastly more enforcement power, less transparency and fewer guardrails than local police.
ICE's rules were designed largely to give the agency broad leeway in helping the FBI identify and arrest domestic terror suspects.
Now the Trump administration is using that power to go after unauthorized immigrants — potentially millions of them — with a frequency and aggressiveness that has sent ripples through communities nationwide.
Zoom in: Under Trump, critics say, ICE has become the closest thing the U.S. has to a secret police force.
ICE agents aren't required to wear body cameras, can cover their faces, don't have to provide badge numbers or identify themselves, can arrive in unmarked cars and don't need a warrant from a judge to detain someone.
Like those with other federal enforcement agencies, they can ignore rules that govern local police departments, particularly those local agencies with histories of abuse or that operate under court-imposed restrictions on racial profiling.
In some cases, ICE agents can even arrest U.S. citizens — but they aren't supposed toplace them in immigration detention units. Even so, a few U.S. citizens have been detained in recent ICE raids because of agents' mistakes or negligence.
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has defended ICE agents' tactics and the covering of their faces, saying in a statement that they're "facing a 500% increase in assaults against them while carrying out enforcement operations."
She blamed Democrats for "violent rhetoric" against ICE agents.
Critics say there's no evidence of a 500% increase in assaults on ICE agents, and that agents still should follow the law.
"The tactics are causing fear in our communities," Vanessa Cárdenas of the advocacy group America's Voice told Axios.
Zoom out: ICE was formed in 2003. It was placed under the control of the new Department of Homeland Security and replaced the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), which had been under the Justice Department.
To protect national security after the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, lawmakers gave ICE a unique combination of civil and criminal authorities.
ICE initially didn't have the reputation of INS (known as "La Migra" to Latinos), but that changed under President Obama, when ICE expanded its operations to help carry out one of the largest deportations of unauthorized immigrants in decades.
Immigrant rights groups began an "Abolish ICE" movement in2018 — during President Trump's first term — as activists tried to bring attention to the agency's secretive tactics, which went unnoticed by most Americans.
What can ICE do
ICE is tasked with enforcing the nation's immigration laws anywhere within the nation's interior (the Border Patrol's jurisdiction is 100 miles into the interior, from any land or maritime border).
ICE agents can arrest anyone they suspect of being in the U.S. illegally. They can arrest U.S. citizens only if they see them "breaking laws."
To conduct raids or operations targeting suspects, ICE agents only need an "administrative warrant" — a warrant signed by a supervisor, not a judge, Rebekah Wolf, director of the American Immigration Council's Immigration Justice Campaign, tells Axios.
ICE agents can conceal their identities and refuse any request to disclose their personal information.
This has led to conflicts between people ICE agents have encountered, as well as allegations by Trump's administration that protesters have tried to dox agents involved in raids.
Wolf said officers in other agencies are required to identify themselves and provide badge numbers to prevent impersonators. ICE has no such requirement, and there have been reports of ICE impersonators harassing people, creating more chaos and uncertainty in some communities.
ICE doesn't have to collect evidence for cases and has few parameters around its use of force.
Because it's such a young agency, it hasn't faced many lawsuits and court challenges to its use-of-force policies, unlike other federal agencies such as the FBI, the Forest Service or the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
That's resulted in few directives aimed at limiting ICE agents' tactics.
ICE units can conduct pre-dawn raids, unannounced entries (with judicial or administrative warrants), and surveillance without many of the public accountability rules that serve as checks on local authorities.
What ICE can't do
ICE agents can't enter a private home unless they have a judicial warrant.
They still must adhere to the Constitution regarding the search and seizure limits protecting U.S. citizens.
Although ICE isn't supposed to place U.S. citizens in immigration detention, Cárdenas says its agents have been detaining U.S.-born Latinos and dismissing their proof of citizenship as fake before eventually letting them go.
This has led to allegations of racial profiling.
ICE did not immediately respond for comment on these episodes.
ICE also can't force a local law enforcement agency to join an operation, but police are obligated to keep order if protesters surround and ICE operation.
The accountability question
Allegations of abuse by ICE agents rarely are investigated because they typically involve immigrants who are removed from the U.S., Wolf said.
Any internal investigations are conducted by the DHS's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, or the department's inspector general.
Joseph V. Cuffari, DHS's inspector general, was appointed by Trump during the president's first term and was not among the IGs Trump fired after taking office this year.
Public accountability is limited for ICE agents — there are no regular civilian review boards and typically no body camera footage to use as evidence.
What we're watching: Some immigration advocates and Democrats in Congress want to reduce ICE's powers. U.S. Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) has introduced legislation to prohibit ICE agents from wearing masks.
Others are hoping federal court challenges lead to use-of-force limits and transparency that other federal law enforcement agencies have.
