Democrats

Axios reports: President Biden said Monday that he plans on running for re-election in 2024, but he is “not prepared to announce it yet.” Biden has repeatedly said that he intends to run in 2024, but the timeline for an official announcement has gotten pushed, leaving many Democrats and potential staffers’ 2024 plans in limbo. Close allies now believe an …

The Associated Press reports: Democratic Sen. Bob Casey will seek a fourth term in office, bringing the power of incumbency and unmatched name recognition in Pennsylvania politics to his party’s defense of a seat in a critical presidential battleground state. The announcement by Casey, the longest-serving Democratic U.S. senator in Pennsylvania history, gives Democrats a boost ahead of a difficult …

NBC News reports: Democratic lawmakers are mobilizing in the wake of the decision in Texas that threw access to the so-called abortion pill into flux Friday, introducing legislation Monday to protect access to the most widely used form of abortion in the U.S. Reps. Pat Ryan of New York and Lizzie Fletcher of Texas will introduce the Protecting Reproductive Freedom …

The Hill reports: HHS Sec. Xavier Becerra said the move by a federal judge in Texas to block the approval of a type of abortion medication could have far-reaching effects on the status of other federally-approved medications and vaccinations. “When you turn upside down the entire FDA approval process, you’re not talking about just mifepristone,” Becerra said on CNN. “You’re …

Axios reports: President Biden’s not-yet-official bid for re-election will lean on hundreds of social media “influencers” who will tout Biden’s record — and soon may have their own briefing room at the White House, Axios has learned. The move aims to boost Biden’s standing among young voters who are crucial to Democrats’ success in elections — and to potentially counter …

The CT Insider reports: U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal suffered a broken leg Saturday while attending the victory parade celebrating the UConn Huskies men’s basketball national championship in downtown Hartford. Blumenthal, 77, is expected to undergo surgery on Sunday to help repair the fracture, according to Kathleen McWilliams, the senator’s communications director. McWilliams said Blumenthal was injured when another paradegoer tripped …

NBC News reports: A majority of members of the Nashville Metropolitan Council will vote to reinstate Justin Jones to the Tennessee state Legislature after he was expelled from the House of Representatives on Thursday over his protests on the chamber floor against gun violence. Twenty-three members of the 40-seat Metropolitan Council confirmed to NBC News or on social media that …

The Tennessean reports: Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday plans to meet with the three lawmakers who battled for their seats in the Tennessee House of Representatives this week. A White House official confirmed the Vice President’s trip to Nashville, saying Harris is visiting to lift “the voices” of thousands of young votes who have led massive demonstrations at the …

Via press release from the White House: Last week, three more students and three school officials were gunned down in yet another tragic mass shooting in Nashville. On Monday, 7,000 Tennesseans, many of them students, marched to their state capitol to call on their lawmakers to take action and keep them safe. Instead, state Republican lawmakers called votes today to …

The Associated Press reports: Defending his administration’s actions on clean water, President Joe Biden on Thursday vetoed a congressional resolution that would have overturned protections for the nation’s waterways that Republicans have criticized as overly intrusive. Republicans — and some Democrats — targeted an Environmental Protection Agency rule protecting thousands of small streams, wetlands and other waterways, labeling it an …

The Detroit News reports: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, surrounded by a packed room of pink-wearing lawmakers, advocates, doctors and others, on Wednesday signed legislation to repeal Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban. “Who would like to see me slay a zombie?” Whitmer exclaimed before signing the legislation, calling the ban a “threat coming back to haunt us all.” The Michigan House voted 58-50 …

Via press release from New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy: Governor Phil Murphy today signed Executive Order No. 326 establishing New Jersey as a safe haven for gender-affirming health care by directing all state departments and agencies to protect all persons, including health care professionals and patients, against potential repercussions resulting from providing, receiving, assisting in providing or receiving, seeking, or …

Chicago’s ABC affiliate reports: Brandon Johnson will be out thanking voters after becoming the projected winner in the Chicago mayoral election. With 99% of precincts reporting, Johnson has 51% of the vote with 286,647 votes, with Paul Vallas having 49% of the vote with 270,775 votes. The 47-year-old Cook County commissioner won the race to become the mayor of Chicago …

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports: Wisconsin voters on Tuesday gave control of the state’s highest court to liberals for the first time in 15 years, instantly reshaping politics in the Badger State by putting the state laws most celebrated by conservatives at risk of being overturned — including a 19th Century-era ban on abortions. Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz defeated former …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried, Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book and nine others were released from jail after being arrested Monday night on trespassing charges for protesting a six-week abortion ban that’s poised to pass the Legislature. “We know what we’re fighting for,” Fried said in an interview Tuesday. “If it takes us getting arrested …

The Daily Beast reports: Months since it took effect, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature law to censor books in Florida schools has found an unintended target: his own book. In a clever bit of trolling, Florida Democrats are subjecting DeSantis’ new tome—“The Courage To Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival”—to the rules that he and GOP lawmakers established to weed …

The Washington Post reports: Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the court’s budget, told The Early that he will use his spending bill this year to try to force the justices to adhere to an enforceable ethics code — similar to the one that applies to federal judges. “The Supreme Court should have …

Axios reports: President Biden’s advisers and close allies don’t expect him to announce a run for re-election any time soon — and some now believe it could come as late as July, or perhaps even the fall. Biden’s waiting game has left many ambitious Democrats and would-be staffers with their 2024 plans on hold. They initially thought Biden would launch …

NBC News reports: Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said that he won’t make a decision on whether to run for re-election — or even president — “until the end of the year” in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” Sunday. “My filing date is Jan. 15 in 2024, and I will make my decision maybe a little bit before …

CBS News reports: At six foot eight, Sen. John Fetterman is still a formidable man, despite two serious assaults on his health in less than a year: he suffered a stroke last May, and after a private struggle for years, in mid-February he entered Walter Reed for treatment of depression. He talked there with “Sunday Morning anchor” Jane Pauley two …