| AFGHANISTAN: Klain on Sunday said that there are “around” 100 Americans left in Afghanistan amid reports that the Taliban is not allowing planes to take off from an airport in northern Afghanistan. “We're in touch with all of them who we've identified on a regular basis,” Klain told CNN’s “State of the Union,” adding that he is “hopeful” that Qatar will be able to resume air travel out of Kabul and to get those Americans on some of those flights. Klain told host Dana Bash that the administration is also in “close communication” with sources in the region in hopes of getting Afghans who have applied for Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) out of the country safely. “I know some are coming out by land,” he added. “We are continuing to work on efforts to get them out by air as well. We're going to continue to move those SIVs out of the country” (Politico). The remarks were made amid conflicting reports out of the region. According to The Associated Press, the Taliban had stopped a number of planes at Mazar-i-Sharif International Airport containing Afghans attempting to flee the nation from taking off for days, with one source indicating that many onboard did not have passports or visas. However, Rep. Michael McCaul (Texas), the top GOP member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that the planes have sat there “for the last couple of days,” but have been unable to leave despite approval from the State Department. “In fact we have six airplanes at Mazar-i-Sharif airport, six airplanes, with American citizens on them as I speak, also with these interpreters, and the Taliban is holding them hostage for demands right now,” McCaul told “Fox News Sunday.” The Associated Press: Taliban say they took Panjshir, last holdout Afghan province. The Hill: Domestic flights resume at Kabul airport. The Wall Street Journal: Inside Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal plan: warnings, doubts but little change. Meanwhile, the U.S. is facing a challenge as it attempts to help Afghans settle in parts of the country after escaping and fleeing their home country in recent weeks ahead of the American deadline to pull out. As Christine Mui writes, thousands of those evacuated who worked with American troops have landed in the U.S. with their families, often with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, creating resettlement issues, headlined by uncertainty surrounding the SIV process, a short supply of affordable permanent housing and high demand for social services. In total, nine nonprofit organizations are contracted with the State Department to place refugees with local affiliates. “Normally, we would have up to a couple of weeks’ notice before people would arrive, which gives our local colleagues an opportunity to find housing, to equip the housing, to mobilize the local community to support the new arrivals and to put everything in order,” said Erol Kekic, senior vice president of the Immigration and Refugee Program at Church World Service. The Washington Post: Afghan resettlement raises the question: Who is coming to the U.S.? The New York Times: Americans stretch across political divides to welcome Afghan refugees. 
© Getty Images ***** POLITICS: The Biden administration’s response to the Supreme Court’s decision to leave standing the Texas “heartbeat” law and the renewed effort in the state to tighten voting laws has frustrated activists as Democrats look to gin up supporters ahead of key elections this fall and the 2022 midterms. In the face of the Texas two-step, the administration responded by saying the next step is up to Congress. But that reaction has upset supporters on the far left who wish that included a push for more radical changes, including eliminating the filibuster or expanding the Supreme Court, neither of which Biden has indicated support for in the past (The Hill). Some Democrats have not been as hesitant. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) told “State of the Union” that the 60-vote threshold in the upper chamber should be scrapped in order to codify Roe v. Wade into law. “We just will get nowhere if we keep this filibuster in place,” Klobuchar said (The Hill). The Hill: Klain: Administration will find ways to protect constitutional rights of women in Texas. The Hill: Supreme Court's abortion ruling amplifies progressives' call for reform. 
© Getty Images Democrats have another emerging fear on the abortion front after the court’s Texas ruling: copycat legislation in other states. As The Hill’s Justine Coleman writes, politicians in Florida, Arkansas and South Dakota have already committed to at least considering implementing a version of the Lone Star State’s law in their states. However, the situation has left anti-abortion activists with a choice to make in the coming weeks: whether to act now based on the Texas legislation or wait for the justices to rule on a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks in the coming months. “What they did in Texas was interesting, but I haven't really been able to look at enough about it,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) told reporters last week. “They've basically done this through private right of action. So it's a little bit different than how a lot of these debates have gone. So we'll have to look. I'm gonna look more significantly at it.” Alex Gangitano, The Hill: Abortion rights groups want Biden to use bully pulpit after Texas law. Politico Magazine: “A Private Matter”: Biden’s very public clash with his own church. The Hill: GOP senator on Texas abortion law: Supreme Court will “swat it away” when “it comes to them in an appropriate manner.” The Washington Post: Republican wins on abortion, voting and guns cap their banner 2021, with Democratic goals in “dire” danger despite Washington power. > Sunshine politics: Democrats are getting skittish in Florida as a number of national party donors are waiting on the sidelines and have yet to decide whether to invest funds in taking on DeSantis or Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in next year’s midterm contests. As The Hill’s Max Greenwood writes, Florida Democrats suffered some of the worst defeats of any state party in the country last year, losing five seats in the GOP-controlled state House and two U.S. House seats that they had managed to flip two years earlier. Adding to the problems, former President Trump defeated Biden there by 3.3 points, cutting into the Democratic margins in strongholds such as Miami-Dade County. “Democrats are being far more scrutinizing of Florida and the state of politics there,” one Democratic donor told The Hill. “We’ve suffered from a Charlie Brown syndrome in the state, where the football gets pulled out from under us, so I think we have to look at that with more scrutiny.” Reid Wilson, The Hill: Virginia races offer an early preview of Democrats' midterm challenges. Niall Stanage: The Memo: Attacks on democracy seep down to school boards, election offices. | 
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