Bill de Blasio on the issues, in under 500 words

Key facts about Bill de Blasio:

• Current position: Mayor of New York City — elected in 2013
• Age: 57
• Born: New York City, New York
• Undergraduate: New York University
• Date candidacy announced: May 16
• Previous roles: Regional director at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; school board for Brooklyn School District 15 and head of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2000 U.S. Senate campaign.

Bill de Blasio's stance on key issues

• Immigration: The Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs says the 3 priorities of de Blasio's administration have been:
• To enhance the economic, civic and social integration of immigrant New Yorkers.
• Facilitate access to justice for immigrant New Yorkers.
• Advocate for continued immigration reforms at all levels of government.
• Health care: De Blasio promised to provide health insurance, branded as NYC Care, to low-income families and undocumented immigrants.
• Education: As mayor, de Blasio began his term with some ambitious goals, dubbed the Reform initiative, which included improved reading levels and raising the on-time graduation rate. He also implemented universal pre-K for all 4-year-olds.
• Criminal justice: Stop and frisk reportedly decreased significantly under de Blasio, but there is speculation some officers are just reporting these incidents less often. In 2016, de Blasio signed the Criminal Justice Reform Act focuses on police transparency, offering low-level offenders to complete community service in lieu of paying a civil penalty.
• Climate change: De Blasio proposed a $10 billion plan to protect Manhattan from climate change by extending the coastline to account for rising future sea levels. De Blasio recently passed a bill requiring buildings to use more eco-friendly materials.
• Equal pay: De Blasio supports the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Amateur Sports Act, which guarantee equal pay and resources in sports, regardless of gender.

Key criticisms of Bill de Blasio:

• De Blasio has been accused of caring more about building a national profile than running New York City effectively.
• His mayoral campaigns became the focus of federal investigations in response to his fundraising practices.

1 fun thing about Bill de Blasio:

De Blasio was actually born Warren Wilhelm Jr., but later changed his name to match his mother's maiden name.

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• "After nearly a month of stonewalling, it appears clear that the President has chosen the path of defiance, obstruction, and cover-up," the letter reads.

The state of play: Several White House officials have told Axios' Alayna Treene that the administration has no plans of complying with the committees' demands for interviews or documents without a full House vote formally approving an impeachment inquiry.

The big picture: The Trump administration's initial refusal to turn over the whistleblower complaint on the president's interactions with Ukraine is what led House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to finally support a formal impeachment inquiry.

Go deeper: Trump letter dares Pelosi to hold vote on impeachment inquiry

• Johnson asked the Justice Department earlier this week to look into links between Ukraine and Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. His letter questioned the narrative that Biden's actions in Ukraine had nothing to do with his son's connection.
• However, it was also discovered that he signed onto a 2016 letter that mirrored Biden's work to reform Ukraine's prosecutor general and judiciary.
• There is no evidence that Biden's reform work in Ukraine was to protect his son's business dealings, as the president and some of his allies allege, or that he committed any form of corruption.

The state of play: Sondland, a Trump political appointee who donated $1 million to the president's inaugural committee, denied that there was a quid pro quo between the Trump administration and Ukraine's government in a series of text messages that former Ukraine special envoy Kurt Volker provided to a group of House committees investigating the Trump-Ukraine matter.

• "I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign," Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine, texted Sondland.
• Sondland texted back: "Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump's intentions. The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo's of any kind."
• The New York Times reported that Sondland's response came only after he spoke to the president.

Go deeper: House committees release texts from former Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker