• The White House is reportedly considering raising the cap on the number of refugees who can enter the United States to about 62,500 again after appearing earlier this month to back away from the target it set in February. President Joe Biden, who is expected to announce a new cap by May 15, has faced pressure from immigrant rights groups after the White House signaled the original target was unrealistic. (The Washington Post)
• Biden is set to sign an executive order today to raise the minimum wage for federal contractors from $10.95 to $15 an hour by early next year. The unilateral action will affect hundreds of thousands of people working on federal contracts, but stops short of Biden’s goal of a similar hike for the overall population. (The Wall Street Journal)
• Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon and Texas will gain congressional seats in reapportionment, while California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia will lose them, according to newly released data from the Census Bureau. The new numbers showed the slowest population growth since the Great Depression, and the population shifts appear to benefit the Republican Party as local officials prepare to redraw congressional boundaries ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. (The Associated Press)
• Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) announced he would forgo re-election and run for Ohio’s open Senate seat, an uphill bid to replace retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman that relies in part on a damaging Republican primary. (CNN) In Georgia, former Republican Rep. Doug Collins said he would not be a candidate for any statewide office in a setback for former President Donald Trump’s bid to back challengers to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. (The New York Times)

Biden’s Early Tenure Has Improved America’s Image Abroad
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Biden will announce new CDC mask guidance Tuesday, sources say
Kaitlan Collins and Kate Sullivan, CNN

President Joe Biden is expected to announce Tuesday that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its guidance for wearing masks outdoors, three people familiar with the expected announcement said.

US to share AstraZeneca shots with world after safety check
Zeke Miller, The Associated Press

The U.S. will begin sharing its entire stock of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines with the world once it clears federal safety reviews, the White House said Monday, with as many as 60 million doses expected to be available for export in the coming months.

Justice Department launches investigation into Louisville PD’s policing practices
Pete Williams and Adam Edelman, NBC News

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday announced a “pattern or practice” investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department, which has faced intense scrutiny and criticism in the 13 months since officers of the department killed Breonna Taylor inside her own apartment as they served a no-knock warrant.

Iran nuclear talks resume in Vienna amid new complications
David Rising, The Associated Press

World powers were set to resume high level talks in Vienna on Tuesday focused on bringing the United States back into the nuclear deal with Iran, in their first session since comments surfaced from the Iranian foreign minister alleging that Russia was trying to scupper the pact.

White House backs 2030 milestone on path to net zero grid
Valerie Volcovici and Nichola Groom, Bloomberg

The White House hopes to capitalize on growing support from U.S. utilities, unions and green groups for a national clean energy mandate by backing efforts to require the U.S. grid to get 80% of its power from emissions-free sources by 2030, according to a senior administration official.

White House hammering out details of increasingly likely Biden and Putin summit
Natasha Bertrand, CNN

The White House is hammering out the details of an increasingly likely European summit between President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which could happen as soon as early summer, according to sources familiar with the planning.

Biden Seeks $80 Billion to Beef Up I.R.S. Audits of High-Earners
Jim Tankersley, The New York Times

President Biden, in an effort to pay for his ambitious economic agenda, is expected to propose giving the Internal Revenue Service an extra $80 billion and more authority over the next 10 years to help crack down on tax evasion by high-earners and large corporations, according to two people familiar with the plan.

Homeland Security Will Assess How It Identifies Extremism in Its Ranks
Zolan Kanno-Youngs, The New York Times

The Department of Homeland Security will undergo an internal review to root out white supremacy and extremism in its ranks as part of a larger effort to combat extremist ideology in the federal government, officials said on Monday.

Spy chiefs look to declassify intel after rare plea from 4-star commanders
Betsy Woodruff Swan and Bryan Bender, Politico

America’s top spies say they are looking for ways to declassify and release more intelligence about adversaries’ bad behavior, after a group of four-star military commanders sent a rare and urgent plea asking for help in the information war against Russia and China.

GOP tears into Kerry amid Iran controversy
Andrew Desiderio and Burgess Everett, Politico

Republicans on Monday called on John Kerry to resign from President Joe Biden’s National Security Council over claims that he revealed sensitive information about Israeli military operations to Iran.

McCarthy-Cheney divide deepens at GOP retreat
Melanie Zanona, Politico

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said it’s imperative for Republicans to stay united if they want to take back the majority. But cracks are widening in his own relationship with one of his top deputies over former President Donald Trump.

After Failures to Curb Sexual Assault, a Move Toward a Major Shift in Military Law
Jennifer Steinhauer, The New York Times

After decades of failing to curb sexual assault in the armed forces, lawmakers and Pentagon leaders are poised to make major changes in military laws that many experts have long argued stand in the way of justice.

Leahy tees up return of earmarks in Senate spending bills
Jennifer Shutt, Roll Call

Senate Appropriations Chairman Patrick J. Leahy on Monday officially announced a return to earmarking, clearing the way for senators to request funding for home-state projects for the first time in a decade.

Democrats Outline ‘Care Infrastructure’ Plan, With Paid Leave And Child Care
Kelsey Snell, NPR News

Congressional Democrats are further expanding the definition of infrastructure with a plan to provide paid leave and family benefits for the vast majority of Americans.

Bill to bolster Capitol security going nowhere fast
John Bresnahan et al., Punchbowl News

House Democratic leaders have been pushing a roughly $2 billion security supplemental bill designed to “harden” the Capitol in the wake of the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection by supporters of former President Donald Trump.

Congressional Republicans Left Office In Droves Under Trump. Just How Conservative Are Their Replacements?
Nathaniel Rakich, FiveThirtyEight

The current 117th Congress is only four months old, but already five Republican senators and six Republican representatives have announced they will not stay in their current jobs. Add in a slew of Republican retirements in the 2018 and 2020 election cycles, and a narrative has formed that longtime GOP stalwarts are heading to the exits because they are unhappy with the fanatical turn the party took under former President Donald Trump.

Trump’s close advisers urge him to make PSA to persuade his followers to get the Covid-19 vaccine
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN

With polls showing that about half of Republicans are unenthusiastic about getting a Covid-19 vaccine, some of former President Donald Trump’s advisers are encouraging him to make a public service announcement urging his followers to roll up their sleeves, according to two former senior Trump administration officials.

Supreme Court Wary of Donor Disclosure Requirement for Charities
Adam Liptak, The New York Times

The Supreme Court on Monday seemed skeptical of California’s demand that charities soliciting contributions in the state report the identities of their major donors.

Supreme Court to hear major new gun-control case next term on carrying weapons outside the home
Robert Barnes, The Washington Post

The Supreme Court announced Monday it will hear a major new gun-control case next term, accepting a National Rifle Association-backed challenge that asks the court to declare there is a constitutional right to carry a weapon outside the home.

Secret Court Reveals: FBI Hunted for Domestic Terrorists Without a Warrant
Spencer Ackerman, The Daily Beast

The FBI, without any court order, sifted through the National Security Agency’s massive troves of foreign communications for information on American “racially motivated violent extremists,” a newly declassified order from the secret surveillance court details.

Simon & Schuster Employees Submit Petition Demanding No Deals With Trump Administration Authors
Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, The Wall Street Journal

An employee petition at Simon & Schuster demanding that the company stop publishing authors associated with the Trump administration collected 216 internal signatures and several thousand outside supporters, including well-known Black writers.

Gov. Gavin Newsom to face recall election as Republican-led effort hits signature goal
Phil Willon and Taryn Luna, Los Angeles Times

Propelled by growing voter frustration over California’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a Republican-led drive to remove Gov. Gavin Newsom from office collected enough voter signatures to qualify for the ballot, state officials reported Monday, triggering for only the second time in state history a rapid-fire campaign to decide whether to oust a sitting governor.

At urging of RNC, Virginia GOP will let Orthodox Jews vote absentee in Sabbath-day convention
Laura Vozzella, The Washington Post

State Republican Party leaders, with a nudge from the national GOP chief, reversed a decision that would have prevented Orthodox Jews and others with Saturday religious obligations from voting in the party’s nominating contest for governor and two other statewide offices.

Trump’s effort to overturn loss becomes 2022 GOP litmus test in key Senate races
Alex Rogers and Manu Raju, CNN

Former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory acknowledged reality in 2020: former President Donald Trump lost. He then explained why — and objected to Trump’s baseless effort in Congress to overturn the election.

Trump endorses Susan Wright in Texas special election
Olafimihan Oshin, The Hill

Former President Trump on Monday endorsed candidate Susan Wright in the crowded GOP primary for a special House race in Texas’s 6th Congressional District.

Cuomo, in Rare Public Appearance, Says: ‘I Didn’t Do Anything Wrong’
Jesse McKinley, The New York Times

In recent months, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has striven to convey a sense of normalcy during a period of profound turmoil, holding a series of tightly controlled events where he is often surrounded by aides or supporters, and seldom by reporters.

EPA moves to give California right to set climate limits on cars, SUVs
Juliet Eilperin and Dino Grandoni, The Washington Post

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday that it will move to grant California permission to set more stringent climate requirements for cars and SUVs, a reversal of a key Trump administration policy.

The arcane legislative maneuver ‘sucking up all the oxygen in D.C.’
Theodoric Meyer, Politico

Washington lobbyists are used to trying to puzzle out where House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stand. But as lawmakers start crafting President Joe Biden’s infrastructure package, K Street has been working overtime to decipher the views of a less known but in some ways equally powerful figure: Elizabeth MacDonough.

Qatar Adds U.S. Lobbying Muscle After Saudi Rift, Trump’s Snub
Ilya Banares et al., Bloomberg

Qatar is ramping up its lobbying efforts in the U.S., eager to cultivate a closer relationship with the Biden administration and Congress in order to avoid a repeat of 2017, when it was caught off-guard by a Saudi-led boycott in the Persian Gulf.

Biden Must Call For Democracy Reform During Joint Address to Congress
Lisa Gilbert (Public Citizen), Morning Consult

President Joe Biden’s upcoming speech on April 28 in front of a joint session of Congress will capture the zeitgeist shift of a post-Trump America.

Persist (excerpt)
Elizabeth Warren, Macmillan Publishers

I first walked into a classroom as a bona fide teacher in September 1970, and by January or so, I was settling in. The butterflies I’d felt in the first few weeks were gone.

8 takeaways from the 2020 census reapportionment of the House
Nathan L. Gonzales, Roll Call

Nearly four full months late, the U.S. Census Bureau announced apportionment totals Monday that will drive the next round of redistricting.

Measuring approval used to be like taking temperature. Now it’s like calculating the height of Everest.
Philip Bump, The Washington Post

Over the weekend, The Washington Post published polling evaluating America’s view of the presidency of Joe Biden. Just more than half of Americans say they approve of the job Biden is doing — a percentage that doesn’t differ much from the portion of the presidential vote he received last year.

Love, Hate, and Polls in the Time of Polarization
Dan Pfeiffer, The Message Box

This Sunday saw the traditional release of a slew of pre-State of the Union polls. In one sense. Joe Biden’s report card was quite good.