“The Biden administration is promising to fight Republican efforts in the House of Representatives to pass a nationwide abortion ban at 15 weeks following the Supreme Court’s historic decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, calling it an attempt to strip away women’s rights,” CNN reports.

“After the Supreme Court overturned the landmark ruling and upheld the Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks, some House Republicans who oppose abortion rights are pushing legislation to implement a similar abortion ban nationwide. Such legislation does not currently have the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster in the Senate, but the push for such a ban is a notable effort given that Republicans have a strong chance to take back control of the House in this year’s midterms.”

CNN: “For Biden’s economic team, the process is a continuation of more than a year of all-hands-on-deck approaches to confront pop-up crises — ‘basically whack-a-mole’ was how one senior White House official referred to it — only to immediately confront another challenge.”

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds President Biden’s approval rating hit 36%, tied for an all-time low.

A new Gallup poll shows Biden’s approval holding steady at 41%.

“President Joe Biden said Monday he hopes to decide soon whether to support a temporary pause in the federal gasoline tax and is nearing a decision on student loan relief as he looks to ease the burden of high prices on Americans,” CNN reports.

A decision on the gas tax holiday is expected by the end of the week.

Jack Goldsmith: “If Mr. Garland decides that a criminal investigation of Mr. Trump is warranted, Justice Department regulations require him to appoint a special counsel if the investigation presents a conflict of interest for the department and if Mr. Garland believes such an appointment would be in the public interest.”

“The department arguably faces a conflict of interest. Mr. Trump is a political adversary of Mr. Garland’s boss, President Biden. Mr. Trump is also Mr. Biden’s likeliest political opponent in the 2024 presidential election. Mr. Garland’s judgments impact the political fate of Mr. Biden and his own possible tenure in office. The appearance of a conflict sharpened when Mr. Biden reportedly told his inner circle that Mr. Trump was a threat to democracy and should be prosecuted, and complained about Mr. Garland’s dawdling on the matter.”

“Even if conflicted, Mr. Garland could keep full control over Mr. Trump’s legal fate if he believes that a special counsel would not serve the public interest.”

Associated Press: “As the challenges confronting President Joe Biden intensify, his predictions of a rosy political future for the Democratic Party are growing bolder. The assessments, delivered in speeches, fundraisers and conversations with friends and allies, seem at odds with a country that he acknowledged this week was ‘really, really down,’ burdened by a pandemic, surging gas prices and spiking inflation.”

“Biden’s hopeful outlook tracks with a sense of optimism that has coursed through his nearly five-decade career and was at the center of his 2020 presidential campaign, which he said was built around restoring the ‘soul of America.’”

“Few of Biden’s closest political advisers are as bullish about the party’s prospects as the president.”

“President Biden’s recent commencement address at the University of Delaware, his alma mater, seemed like the perfect place to announce a long-awaited plan to forgive student debt, at least in the view of some administration officials,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The May 28 speech came and went without a word about debt reduction. Mr. Biden, officials said, was still deliberating and a decision might not be announced until later this summer, frustrating some of his allies, who believe the internal discussions have been dragging on too long.”

“It is part of a pattern for Mr. Biden. Facing politically difficult decisions, the president sometimes pumps the brakes, rejecting calls to deliver a speedy outcome. Instead, according to administration officials and others close to the president, he favors deliberations that can last for months, with policy advisers analyzing the issue from multiple angles in a string of meetings.”

President Biden fell off his bike briefly — but got right back up — in Delaware this morning.

Washington Post: “It isn’t the first time Biden has taken a spill. He fell in December 2020 while chasing his dog Major at his home, resulting in an injury that required him to wear a medical boot for several weeks. He has also tripped while walking up the steps of Air Force One.”

“Critics use each instance to raise doubts about the fitness of the nation’s oldest president, although, in this case, it was an occurrence that many cyclists who clip in or have a toe cage have experienced.”

Former Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) told Chuck Todd he wishes President Joe Biden’s staff would let the president face the public more often, despite any fears about “gaffes.”

Said Jones: “He wears that office very well, he can be very presidential, but I think they overcorrected. And I think they need to let Joe be Joe.”

“In an abrupt change of course, the White House is now declining to comment on the frequency of President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 testing regimen, even as it maintains that it would inform the public if he were to ever test positive for the coronavirus,” the AP reports.

“Since Inauguration Day, the White House had frequently answered questions from reporters about when Biden, 79, last tested negative for the virus. Now, the White House says its policy is not to answer those questions.”

President Biden told the Associated Press that the American people are “really, really down” after a tumultuous two years with the coronavirus pandemic, volatility in the economy and now surging gasoline prices that are hitting family budgets.

He said a recession is not inevitable and bristled at claims by Republican lawmakers that last year’s Covid-19 aid plan was fully to blame for inflation reaching a 40-year high, calling that argument “bizarre.”

Said Biden: “They’re really down. The need for mental health in America, it has skyrocketed, because people have seen everything upset. Everything they’ve counted on upset. But most of it’s the consequence of what’s happened, what happened as a consequence of the Covid crisis.”

While certainly true, this probably isn’t the best midterm message.

“The Justice Department on Thursday revealed a deepening rift with the Jan. 6 House select committee, accusing the panel of a ‘failure’ to share its 1,000 witness transcripts,” Politico reports.

“DOJ officials say those documents would aid the prosecution of people who breached the Capitol, including leaders of the Proud Boys.”

Insider: “The Justice Department previously requested transcripts in April, but Rep. Bennie Thompson, chair of the House January 6 committee, responded that it would be premature for the panel to share its work while its inquiry remains ongoing.”

Tara Palmeri: “If members of the January 6th committee hope that their must-see TV spectacle will inspire Americans to rise up and demand that Attorney General Merrick Garland press charges against Trump or his inner circle—like, say, Rudy Giuliani or Sidney Powell—well, then they don’t know much about Garland.”

“According to two people who have worked alongside him since the start of his career in the Carter administration, Garland is avowedly stoic and apolitical, despite the manner in which his own Supreme Court nomination was politicized and derailed by Mitch McConnell.”

Said one former colleague: “Merrick would be the person that would be most reluctant to do something if there was a fervor coming out of the committee. He wouldn’t like to look like he’s been pressured into doing something because of the demands of the committee.”