| ADMINISTRATION & INTERNATIONAL: Biden on Thursday said the FBI continues to believe that the Russian government was not behind the cyberattack that led to the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline, but that “the criminals who did the attack are living in Russia.” Speaking at the White House, the president also urged U.S. motorists not to panic amid fuel scarcity in some states and predicted a return to normal fuel supplies this weekend (The Washington Post). The bombshell news of the day was Bloomberg News’s report that Colonial Pipeline paid nearly $5 million to Eastern European hackers on Friday, contradicting reports earlier this week that the company had no intention of paying an extortion fee to help restore the country’s largest fuel pipeline. Officials in the Biden administration were aware of the ransom, which was paid in difficult-to-trace cryptocurrency within hours after the attack. It underscored the pressure faced by the Georgia-based operator to get gasoline and jet fuel flowing again to major cities along the Eastern Seaboard. Once the criminals received the payment, they provided the pipeline operator with a decrypting tool to restore its disabled computer network, Bloomberg reported. The tool was so slow that the company continued using its own backups to help restore the system, one of the people familiar with the company’s efforts said. The president continued on Thursday to try to persuade motorists not to hoard scarce gasoline and urged patience, assuring Americans that Colonial Pipeline was poised to operate normally in affected areas “beginning this weekend and continuing into next week.” Working to stave off panic buying and political damage ahead of the Memorial Day weekend, Biden spoke from the White House: “I know seeing lines at the pumps or gas stations with no gas can be extremely stressful. But this is a temporary situation,” he said. “Gasoline supply is coming back online and panic buying will only slow the process” (The Washington Post). Some GOP pundits have tried to connect the gasoline outages in some Southern states to Democrats’ environmental and energy policies (Vice), falsely suggesting that the government’s hidden hand is behind a ransomware attack. The White House has mounted a concerted push to confront the pipeline situation, with officials appearing at daily briefings to explain the administration’s response to mitigate fuel shortages, The Hill’s Morgan Chalfant observes. 
© Getty Images In a world of crises and global unrest, Biden inherited a pandemic, a recession, immigration challenges at the U.S. border and is suddenly faced with fuel transportation problems, serious cyber crimes and what could become war between Israel and the Palestinians (below). Israel has massed troops along the border and called up 9,000 reservists following days of fighting with the Islamic militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza. Palestinians militants have fired some 1,800 rockets and the military has launched more than 600 airstrikes, toppling at least three apartment blocks (The Associated Press). Israel said early Friday that its military ground forces had attacked Gaza, a major escalation of violence. “We are doing this and we will continue to do so with great force,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “The last word was not said and this operation will continue as long as it takes to restore peace and security to the State of Israel” (The New York Times). 
© Getty Images Beyond domestic U.S. concerns, the Mideast crisis also threatens to poison the latest talks aimed at reviving the multinational Iran nuclear deal. While Biden has not put peace in the Middle East at the center of his foreign policy, as predecessors did, he's made the Iran talks a priority (The Hill). Democrats in Congress are divided about how hard the administration should push the Israeli government to soften its security policies and restart negotiations behind a long-elusive “two-state solution,” reports The Hill’s Alexander Bolton. Republicans, led by McConnell, offer firm support for Israeli defense tactics amid escalating violence in the Gaza Strip and central Israel. Some Democrats say U.S. policy swung too far in Netanyahu’s favor while former President Trump was in office and they favor a more neutral stance. Biden has not nominated a U.S. ambassador to Israel. The Pentagon said on Thursday it will move 120 U.S. military personnel out of Israel “out of an abundance of caution” (The Hill). > Immigration: The administration’s top border officials on Thursday defended immigration policies during testimony to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee as both parties debate the causes of rising numbers of migrants at the U.S. southern border (The Hill). > Education Department: Biden plans to nominate Catherine Lhamon to lead the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. She held the same position in the Obama administration (NBC News). ***** CONGRESS: Senate Republicans are prepared to send a new infrastructure offer next week to Biden as the two sides met on Thursday, with each claiming progress toward reaching a bipartisan deal on the issue. As The Hill’s Jordain Carney notes, Biden met with a group of 10 Republicans, led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), where they discussed two of the biggest sticking points: what is considered “infrastructure” and how to pay for a potential package. “He asked that we would come back with another offer, with more granularity to it and more details, and so we agreed to do that,” Capito said, indicating that the counteroffer will be delivered early next week, with another Biden meeting potentially on the docket. “He wanted it pretty quickly,” Capito said. “I made it clear this was not a stagnant offer from us, and I didn't want it to be perceived that way.” Last month, the Senate GOP group laid out a $568 billion proposal — roughly a quarter the size of Biden’s $2.3 trillion jobs plan. Capito, on Thursday, didn't rule out that Republicans would go higher in their next pitch that they give to the White House after McConnell indicated that their offer could approach $800 billion. “Maybe some different numbers too,” Capito said. Alex Gangitano and Brett Samuels, The Hill: Infrastructure deal imperiled by differences on financing. The Hill: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on infrastructure: “We're gonna find a bipartisan pathway forward.” The Washington Post: Path forward is unclear on infrastructure following Oval Office meeting. The Hill: Biden says he and GOP both “sincere about” seeking infrastructure compromise. 
© Getty Images > GOP leadership: House Republicans are poised to fill the No. 3 slot in leadership this morning after weeks of infighting, with Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) expected to win the post and replace Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as House Republican Conference chairwoman. The vote is expected to take place at 8:30 a.m. today, with Stefanik the heavy favorite to win despite Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, throwing his hat in the ring for the position (The Hill). With 212 House Republicans in the conference, Stefanik will need to crack 107 votes to win the position. According to one House GOP member, Roy is not expected to crack 60 votes. Adding to Roy’s issues, Trump said in a statement on Thursday that the Austin-area congressman “has not done a great job, and will probably be successfully primaried in his own district.” Roy represents a swing district in the Austin suburbs, having outperformed Trump there in November by 4 percentage points. The race to replace Cheney is also forcing House Republicans to look ahead to the 118th Congress amid signals from Stefanik that she may only serve out this term in leadership before running to become chair of the House Education and Labor Committee if the GOP retakes the lower chamber. As The Hill’s Scott Wong writes, to do so, the New York Republican would have to leapfrog over several colleagues with more seniority, with Reps. Tim Walberg (Mich.) and Glenn Grothman (Wis.) saying they may put up a fight. Republican Rep. Joe Wilson (S.C.) says he would endorse Stefanik for the top job on the education panel. The Associated Press: Hoping for unity, GOP set to put Stefanik in top House post. The Hill: Pelosi says GOP downplaying Capitol riot “sick” and “beyond denial.” 
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