Unclear origins

• The White House said today that there is no indication that the three objects shot down by the US military over the weekend were part of China's spy program.
• Officials have yet to analyze the debris from the objects because access has been impossible due to weather conditions and location.
• The administration suggested the balloons were tied to a commercial or harmless entity.

Top-level advisory

• The US issued a top-level advisory today warning American citizens to cease travel to Russia and to leave the country immediately.
• The advisory was issued as the war in Ukraine continues to escalate and nears its first anniversary on February 24th.

Flying objects of the third kind

• Three more objects were shot down over the US and Canada this weekend.
• One of the objects was a smaller spy balloon that was shot down over Alaska.
• The other two have yet to be identified. One of the objects was shot down over Canada and is inaccessible because of weather, and the other was shot down over Lake Huron and is underwater.
• All three objects were shot down by American fighter jets.

Balloon battle

• The House unanimously approved a resolution today condemning China for flying a spy balloon over the US.
• The resolution calls the situation a "brazen violation of United States sovereignty" and denounces China for making false claims about its intelligence collection campaigns.
• The resolution also calls on the Biden administration to update Congress on the incident through comprehensive briefings.

Death roll rises

• The death toll from the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday morning surpassed 11,000 on Wednesday morning.
• Rescuers are continuing to attempt to rescue trapped families, and several successful rescues have continued to provide hope that others will be recovered.
• Turkey struggled to respond quickly and effectively to the disaster, but President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that the country’s response was improving.
• The earthquake is the world’s deadliest in more than a decade.

Address notes

• President Biden will deliver the annual State of the Union address tonight to a divided Congress.
• Some of the topics he is expected to address are job growth, the war in Ukraine, efforts to bolster domestic manufacturing, competition with China, and the ongoing pandemic.
• He is also expected to speak about cancer research, veterans, senior programs like social security, and the proliferation of fentanyl as part of his new "unity agenda."

Biden's response

• President Biden announced that he authorized an immediate U.S. response to provide aid in Turkey and Syria after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake swept across the countries early this morning.
• Two thousand three hundred people were killed in the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks.
• Turkey is a NATO ally, and the U.S. Agency for International Development and other government bodies have begun to provide aid and evaluate a plan for the coming days.

Unacceptable balloon

• Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed his trip to Beijing after a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon was spotted in US airspace over Montana.
• Blinken was supposed to leave for China on Friday.
• The decision was made after Blinken consulted with members of Congress and the State Department, determining that the tension caused by the balloon's presence in US airspace would limit the productivity of the meeting.

Suspected floating spy

• The US is tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that is flying above the US.
• The balloon was spotted over Montana, which is home to fields of underground Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile silos.
• President Biden was briefed and told the military not to shoot the balloon down.
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to Beijing in the coming days.

Bill passed

• The House voted to pass a resolution denouncing socialism.
• The bill divided Democrats, 109 voted for it, and 86 voted against it.
• Several Democrats expressed concerns about the future of Social Security and Medicare, which the GOP has criticized as “socialist.”

GOP decision

• The Republican-controlled House voted today to remove Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
• In the past, Omar has made comments about Israel and Palestine that were characterized as antisemitic.
• Omar, who is Muslim, apologized for the comments, and House Democrats characterized the decision to oust Omar as “political revenge.”

Revised course

• The College Board revised the AP African American studies course after Florida governor Ron Desantis criticized the course and blocked it from being taught in Florida schools.
• The new framework cuts out work from Black writers and scholars who have been associated with critical race theory have been scrubbed from the curriculum.
• The framework also cuts out scholars who touch on the Black queer experience and Black feminism.
• Teaching about topics like Black Lives Matter is now optional.

Seventh Memphis officer suspended in Tyre Nichols death investigation

• A seventh officer with the Memphis police department has been suspended as the investigation into the death of Tyre Nichols continues.
• Nichols was pulled over for reckless driving and then severely beaten by the responding officers.
• Six of the involved officers have been publicly identified, but the seventh officer has not been identified.
• The Shelby County district attorney's office is investigating Nichols's death. The investigators said that there could be additional charges coming for the individuals involved in the beating.

Santos steps down

• Representative George Santos is reportedly stepping down from his committee assignments until things "settle down."
• Santos informed the conference of his decision to step down from his committee assignments, but when asked by reporters, he refused to confirm the news.
• Santos met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy yesterday.

Foiled plot

• Three members of an Eastern European criminal group tied to Iran have been indicted for a plot to murder a US journalist who was critical of Iran.
• The DOJ announced the charges against Rafat Amirov, Polad Omarov, and Khalid Mehdiyev.
• The three were charged with murder-for-hire and money laundering for plotting to kill Iranian American journalist and human rights activist Mashih Alinejad.

Footage released

• A court released police body camera footage and a 911 call from the October attack on former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband in their San Francisco home.
• The footage shows the attacker being tackled by police officers after attacking Pelosi with a hammer.
• The footage was released by the San Francisco Superior Court.
• Nancy Pelosi declined to comment on the footage.

Investigation update

• Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said that the five officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith, were “directly responsible” for the horrific abuse suffered by 29-year-old Trye Nichols.
• Nichols was beaten for three minutes at a traffic stop by the officers and later died at a hospital from his injuries.
• The officers were released from duty, and there is an ongoing investigation into the abuse.
• Davis made the announcement today, saying that the department wants to be honest and transparent about the ongoing investigation.
• The DOJ and the FBI opened a civil rights investigation into Nichol’s death.

Officers responsible

• Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said that the five officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith, were "directly responsible" for the horrific abuse suffered by 29-year-old Trye Nichols.
• Nichols was beaten for three minutes at a traffic stop by the officers and later died at a Detroit hospital from his injuries.
• The officers were released from duty, and there is an ongoing investigation into the abuse.
• Davis made the announcement today, saying that the department wants to be honest and transparent about the ongoing investigation.
• The DOJ and the FBI opened a civil rights investigation into Nichol's death.

ChatGPT passes MBA exam given by a Wharton professor

• ChatGPT-3 passed the final exam for the school's Master of Business Administration.
• The test was administered and graded by Professor Christian Terwiesch, who authored a paper about the test called "Would Chat GPT3 Get a Wharton MBA? A Prediction Based on Its Performance in the Operations Management Course."
• The bot scored between a B- and B on the exam and did an "amazing" job at basic operations management and process analysis questions.

New guidelines

• The FDA issued new guidelines to reduce young children's exposure to lead in baby food.
• Lead concentrations in packaged baby food are now limited to 10 parts per billion and 20 parts per billion in dry cereals.
• While the amount of lead exposure from foods has dramatically declined since the mid-1980s, lead is still present in small amounts in food and in water from old water pipes.

Blocked from committee

• House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote to McCarthy, asking that Schiff and Swalwell be placed on the House Intel Committee.
• McCarthy refused to place them on the committee, saying that the representatives' past actions made them ineligible. Schiff served on the committee investigating Republican leaders and Trump's administration for its role in organizing the Capitol riot on January 6th.
• Schiff also served as the lead impeachment manager of Trump's first impeachment trial.

What is going on?

• Senators were caught off guard when it was announced that classified documents were found at the Indiana home of former Vice President Mike Pence.
• Senators and representatives are only allowed to view classified documents in a secure information facility and must stay in that facility, but the White House rules are apparently different.
• Pence told reporters he did not have any classified documents in his possession when he left the White House.

Ticketmaster fiasco

• When the ticket sales went live for Taylor Swift's upcoming tour, Ticketmaster was forced to shut down the sale when prices surged, and extraordinarily high demands crashed the site.
• Ticketmaster faced lawmakers on Capitol hill in an antitrust hearing, where senators questioned whether Ticketmaster, which is owned by the company producing Swift's tour, had created a monopoly in the live music industry.
• Executives apologized to Swift and her fans as lawmakers criticized Ticketmaster for driving the prices of tickets so high that the live music experience has become inaccessible for so many.

Biden calls for ban

• President Biden called on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban in the wake of shootings in Half Moon Bay and the Los Angeles Area.
• The shooting in Half Moon Bay killed seven people, and a shooting in the Los Angeles area killed ten.
• The ban was introduced by the Senators from California and asked Congress to ban the sale of assault weapons like the ones used in the shootings.

Police responded

• Police responded to a shooting in Half Moon Bay, California, last night.
• Seven people were killed, and others were transported to nearby hospitals with life-threatening injuries.

Suspect arrested

• At least seven people and one person were seriously injured after a gunman opened fire at two businesses in Half Moon Bay, California, last night.
• The 67-year-old suspect, Chunli Zhao, turned himself over to the police this morning.
• The shooter's motive remains unclear.

Four members

• Four members of the far-right extremist group, the Oath Keepers, were convicted of seditious conspiracy on Monday.
• The four were convicted for their role during the January 6th Capitol riot in 2021.
• Seditious conspiracy is rarely prosecuted, but several members of the group that attacked the Capitol building have been charged with the crime.
• All four were also found guilty on other charges, including felonies and obstruction.

More documents found

• Investigators with the Justice Department seized more than half a dozen documents from President Biden's term as Vice President from 2008-2016 found at his residence in Wilmington, Delaware.
• Some of the documents were marked as classified.
• The search of a sitting president's home by federal agents is historic and escalates the possible legal and political situation the president is facing.
• The investigators were invited to search the residence by Biden's lawyers.

13 hours

• The FBI found additional classified documents at the Delaware home of President Biden during a 13-hour search initiated by Biden's lawyers.
• Amongst the items seized were Senate and Presidential records from his time in government.
• President Biden's lawyers found the first batch of classified records in November at a private office in Washington, D.C.
• The White House has been criticized for not revealing the discovery of the documents in November, instead waiting until January to announce the documents had been discovered.

Democrats decide

• Though Krysten Sinema ran as a Democrat in the Senate, she has functioned as an Independent, often blocking Democratic priorities.
• One of Sinema's most rigid priorities is defending the filibuster, which requires legislation to get at least 60 votes to pass in the Senate.
• Representative Ruben Gallego released an ad today announcing his candidacy for Sinema's Senate seat in 2024, saying he was better qualified for the job because he hasn't forgotten where he came from and regularly met with his constituents.
• Democrats will have to decide whether to back Sinema or support Gallego.

Gallego challenges

• Democratic Representative Ruben Gallego is challenging Krysten Sinema for her Senate seat in 2024.
• Gallego's campaign promises to fight for normal people who have lost faith in politicians and are struggling to make ends meet.
• His campaign also highlighted his difficult road to Congress and attacked Sinema for failing to converse with or represent the residents of Arizona.
• Sinema left the Democratic party in December 2022 and is now registered as an Independent.

Suspect identified

• On Saturday, a shooter injured ten and killed ten others following a Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park, California.
• The suspect was identified by police today as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran.

Motive unclear

• On Saturday, Huu Can Tran killed ten people at a Los Angeles-area dance club during Lunar New Year celebrations.
• The 72-year-old was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after he attempted to attack another dance hall but was stopped by a bystander.

Rejecting history

• Florida rejected an Advanced Placement African American Studies course from being taught in schools.
• The decision to ban the course caused fierce backlash and is the latest move by DeSantis's administration to censor and regulate what is being taught in Florida schools.
• DeSantis signed the Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees act, which banned courses that could make someone feel "personally reponsible" for historical wrongdoings.

One million in fines

• A Florida judge fined former President Donald Trump and his attorney Alina Habba nearly $1 million for filing a frivolous lawsuit against Hilary Clinton and others who investigated whether Russia had influenced the 2016 election.
• The judge warned Trump against continuing his pattern of frivolous suits and against using the courts to seek revenge on political foes.

Trump withdraws suit

• Former President Trump withdrew a lawsuit he filed against New York Attorney General Letitia James after a Florida judge ordered him to pay more than $900,000 for filing frivolous suits.
• James is suing the Trump family for charges of business fraud.
• The Florida judge reprimanded Trump for a long-running pattern of using the courts to take revenge on political adversaries.

Limit hit

• The US hit its debt limit today, setting up a fight in Congress to raise or suspend the borrowing limit.
• The Treasury Department began a series of accounting maneuvers today to ensure that the Federal Government continues to pay its bills while Congress sorts out what to do about the debt ceiling.
• Treasury Secretary asked Congress to raise or suspend the borrowing limit.

Unplugged leak

• An internal investigation led by the Supreme Court's marshal failed to find the person who leaked the Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade to Politico.
• After interviewing about 100 employees, the investigators were unable to determine who leaked the decision.

First trip

• Janet Yellen will make her first trip to China as the Treasury Secretary sometime in the near future.
• The trip will bolster efforts by the US to improve communications with China after the relationship between the two countries deteriorated in the last two years.
• As economic conditions remain uncertain, establishing favorable trade policies and borrowing benefits both countries.

Investment restrictions

• The Treasury Department is weighing investment restrictions that would limit American investments in China.
• Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is planning on visiting China soon to discuss improving trade relations between the two countries.
• Some of the stressors impacting the relationship between China and the US include territorial disputes involving Taiwan and Covid-19 policies.

Santos will get a seat

• Representative George Santos has been heavily criticized for fabricating his educational background, job experience, and heritage during his campaign.
• Santos was found out for lying about his background after he was elected.
• Speaker Kevin McCarthy said that Santos would be seated on committees, even though someone from Santos's campaign impersonated McCarthy's chief of staff to get funding from donors.

Greene and Gosar get assignments back

• Representatives Marjorie Taylor Green regained their committee assignments after they were stripped of their seats by the Democrat-controlled Congress in 2021.
• The two will sit on the House Homeland Security Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee.
• Greene and Gosar appeared at a conference hosted by white nationalist and anti-semite Nick Fuentes in early 2022, prompting a bipartisan outcry from leaders.
• Greene was voted off committees for espousing conspiracy theories and violent rhetoric, while Gosar was voted off for posting a video on Twitter of him killing Representative Alexandra Ocasio Cortez and President Obama.

Thunberg detained

• Activist Greta Thunberg was detained while protesting the expansion of the Garzweiler lignite coal mine.
• The mine is owned by the European energy giant RWE, and in order to expand, the company will need to evict an entire village near the mine.
• Climate activists are outraged by the expansion because the mine pulls lignite, the most polluting variety of coal.

Arrested in Albuquerque

• Solomon Peña was arrested in Albuquerque, New Mexico, by police today.
• Peña was a former GOP candidate for New Mexico's legislature, but he lost to a Democratic candidate.
• In addition to claiming election fraud, Peña allegedly conspired with and paid four men to shoot at the homes of two state legislators and two county commissioners after he lost the election.
• The five men targeted lawmakers who were women or were people of color, and more attacks were planned than those that were actually carried out.

Alarm bells

• China's population fell last year for the first time in six decades.
• The decline is expected to continue as the UN predicts China's population could shrink by as much as 109 million by 2050.
• China's birth rate last year was 6.77 births per 1,000 people, down from 7.52 births per 1,000 people in 2021.
• The head of the national statistics bureau, Kang Yi, said that labor supply still exceeds demand in China and dismissed concerns about the historic downturn.

The U.S. renames 5 places that used racist slur for a Native woman

• The US Department of the Interior announced that it had renamed five sites that previously included the term "squaw" which is a racist slur used to refer to Native American Women.
• The renamed places were in California, North Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas.
• The final vote on the new names was conducted in September.

Dire projection

• Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the US is projected to reach the $31.4 trillion borrowing limit on January 19th.
• Yellen warned that Treasury would need to take "extraordinary measures" to buy Congress time to find a bipartisan solution.
• Congress could decide on a new borrowing limit or take action to reduce debt.
• Concerns over the divided House of Representatives' ability to pass legislation may make it difficult for Congress to take swift action.

Long-running fraud

• The Trump Organization was hit with $1.6 million in fines by a New York judge for running a 15-year tax fraud scheme.
• Top executives at the organization were convicted of 17 counts, including conspiracy, criminal tax fraud, and falsifying business records.
• The $1.6 million fine is the maximum allowed by the statutes applied in the case, and the conviction will significantly impact the organization's ability to get bank loans.

Maximum punishment

• The Trump Organization was ordered to pay a $1.6 million criminal penalty for committing felony tax fraud by a judge in the State Supreme Court.
• The trial revealed a long-running tax fraud scheme used by top executives to line their own pockets and make luxury purchases while avoiding federal or state taxes.

Special counsel appointed

• Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Robert Hur as special counsel in an investigation into classified documents from Joe Biden's term as vice president at his private residence and former private office in DC.
• The Department of Justice investigation will be led by Hur, and will take over for the US attorney of Chicago who was previously handling the investigation.
• Hur served as the US attorney of Maryland during the Trump administration.
• While it is exceedingly hard to press criminal charges against a sitting president, the investigation may result in fines or charges against the president and his lawyers.

New record

• Elon Musk has broken the Guinness World Record for the largest amount of money lost by one person.
• Musk has lost between $180 billion and $200 billion since November 2021.
• The hit to his wealth is largely due to the drop in the value of Tesla stock. It lost 65% of its value in 2022.
• The previous record was set by Japanese investor Masayoshi Son in 2000 after he lost $58.6 billion.

New documents

• President Biden's lawyers found additional classified documents from Biden's term as vice president at his home in Wilmington, Delaware.
• The documents were discovered in a storage space, according to a White House lawyer.
• A batch of documents was discovered in November at a think tank that Biden used in Washington, D.C.
• The lawyers did not provide any information about the contents of the documents.

Second batch

• Lawyers for President Biden discovered additional classified documents at a storage area in Biden's Wilmington residence.
• The documents have been turned over to the Department of Justice.
• Biden has said that he was unaware of the document's presence in the home and that he takes the storage of classified documents seriously.

Side by side

• Potentially classified materials were found by attornies of President Biden at the offices of a think tank used by Biden when he was Vice President from 2008-2016.
• Many were quick to compare the discovery of classified documents to the seizure of classified materials from President Trump's residence at Mar-a-Lago this summer.
• There is no indication that Biden knew the documents were being stored at the office, and the lawyers who found the documents immediately notified the National Archives, which took possession of the documents the next day.

Unanswered questions

• The news that classified documents from Biden's term as vice president were discovered at the offices of a think tank used by Biden broke as he arrived in Mexico City to meet with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
• Attorney General Merrick Garland asked the US attorney in Chicago to investigate the situation.
• Attorneys for Biden alerted the National Archives of the existence of the documents immediately, and they were properly returned.
• Some have made comparisons to former President Trump keeping classified documents from his presidency at Mar-a-Lago.

Down to the wire

• Illinois Democrats have been pushing through the final bills for the current legislative session this week.
• Illinois governor JB Pritzker signed an assault weapons ban today, making the state the ninth to enact a ban on assault weapons.
• The bill passed handily in the Illinois Senate and House and immediately banned the sale or ownership of AR-15-style guns.
• On July 4th, a shooter used an AR-15 to kill seven and wound 48 at a parade in Highland Park, Illinois.

Computer's off

• Flights have been delayed throughout the US after a computer outage at the FAA caused the Notice to Air Missions System to temporarily drop offline.
• NOTAM is used to warn pilots of real-time safety concerns and issue notices via air traffic control.
• All aircraft are required to route through the system.

NOTAM back

• A computer outage caused the system used by the FAA to send safety alerts to pilots crashed on Wednesday morning, temporarily grounding all aircraft.
• Delays caused by the outage are sweeping through the US and are expected to worsen.

Yellen stays put

• Janet Yellen has decided to remain Treasury Secretary for the rest of President Biden's term.
• Yellen committed to serving as Treasury Secretary for the next two years as the White House faces inflation and pressure to raise the nation's borrowing limit.
• Yellen was reportedly considering returning to private life, but with a Republican controlled House her presence as the Treasury Secretary was deemed extra important.

First bill

• The Republican-controlled House passed it's first bill, titled the "Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act."
• The bill repeals all the new funding set aside in the Inflation Reduction Act that would have been used to fund hiring new staff and other initiatives.

Campaign launched

• Representative Katie Porter announced a run for Senate in 2024.
• Porter will run for Senator Dianne Feinstein's seat representing California.
• Feinstein has served in the Senate since 1992 and is expected to retire after her current term, but she has not confirmed her retirement.

Looking out for 2024

• Representative Katie Porter beat a Republican challenger to secure a third term in the House in the 2022 midterm elections.
• Porter is running to replace Senator Dianne Feinstein.
• In the announcement, Porter said California needs a "warrior" in the Senate to stand up to special interests.

Probe ends

• As announced today, the grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump and his allies for trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Fulton County has completed its investigation.
• The grand jury dissolved and submitted its final report today. The contents of the report are still under lock and key.
• Criminal referrals will also be released soon.

Stormed the capital

• Thousands of supporters of Brazil's outgoing president Jair Bolsonaro invaded the Brazilian Congress, the Supreme Court, and the presidential palace on Sunday.
• The supporters were protesting the results of the 2022 presidential election, where Bolsonaro lost to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
• Bolsonaro has refused to concede to now President Lula da Silva fully.
• At least 70 people were injured during the riots.

Brazil reeling

• Videos shared on social media and reporting from journalists showed massive crowds in Brasilia storming and trashing key seats of power like the congressional building, the Supreme Court, and the presidential palace.
• The attack was swiftly met by Brazilian security forces, and as of Monday, news outlets are reporting that 1,200 protestors have been arrested.
• The protestors were acting on unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, presented by former president Jair Bolsonaro and his team to invalidate the results of Brazil's 2022 presidential election.

Concessions made

• In order to secure enough votes to become the House speaker, Republican Representative Kevin McCarthy from California offered several concessions that weakened the role of the speaker.
• One concession is a rule change that would allow a single member of Congress to force a floor vote to oust him as speaker.
• Other concessions came in the form of giving out key leadership positions to opponents and party extremists, weakening McCarthy's authority.

Off to the races

• During McCarthy's first day as speaker, he announced the formation of a new investigative panel called the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, chaired by Jim Jordan.
• The subcommittee will look for evidence that the White House pressured Big Tech companies to censor or harass conservatives.

FDA fast-track

• Lecanemab was granted fast-track approval by the FDA.
• The drug is the first treatment shown to delay cognitive decline caused by Alzheimer's disease.
• The drug is manufactured by Japanese drugmaker Eisai and Biogen.
• Lecanemab was approved for patients with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia.

Possible ban

• The FTC proposed a new rule that would prohibit employers from forcing employees to sign noncompete agreements.
• Noncompete agreements restrict workers from taking new jobs at rival companies, starting similar businesses, or working for multiple employers.
• The FTC will likely face strong legal opposition to the proposed changes.

Impact on tech

• The FTC has proposed new changes that would ban noncompete clauses.
• Tech workers are especially impacted by noncompete agreements, which prevent workers from leaving their position for another at a similar company or starting a similar business of their own.
• Amazon has especially strong noncompete agreements, even seeking to limit temporary warehouse workers' job prospects for over a year after the workers' exit.

Court rules

• The South Carolina Supreme Court overturned the state's ban on abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy.
• The court ruled that the state's constitution protects the right to privacy and, in turn, the right to abortions.

New policy

• The Biden administration announced it would accept 30,000 people per month and would turn away immigrants who cross the US-Mexico border illegally.
• Biden told immigrants hoping to enter the US to stay where they are and apply from there.
• Biden agreed to triple the number of refugees accepted into the US under the new regulations while still cracking down on illegal immigration.

Visit to the border

• President Biden presented new border regulations to accept 30,000 migrants a month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
• The new policy will grant humanitarian “parole” to immigrants who apply for asylum legally and do not cross into Panama or Mexico illegally to get into the US.
• The policy also expands upon Title 42, which allows agents to expel migrants on the grounds of public health concerns.

Another vote gone

• Representative Kevin McCarthy was not elected speaker of the House today after a sixth vote.
• Democrats nominated Representative Hakeem Jeffries.

House adjourned

• The House adjourned on Wednesday without a speaker when Representative Kevin McCarthy failed to secure the votes to become speaker after a sixth vote.
• A core group of 20 GOP holdouts refused to vote for McCarthy.

Expanding access

• The FDA finalized a rule change today that enables more pharmacies, including large chains and mail-order companies, to carry and distribute abortion pills.
• The rule expands access to abortion pills in many states, but many states have enacted laws limiting access to abortion pills.

New twist

• The FDA expanded access to mifepristone, which is used in medical abortions.
• Access to mifepristone has become a central part of the fight to provide abortion access in states where legislation has limited access to abortion services.
• Anti-abortion groups may challenge the new rule.

Before the vote

• Representative Kevin McCarthy went into today's vote in the House without enough support to become the House speaker.
• McCarthy has spent the last few months lobbying and making concessions to the House's most conservative and MAGA-supporting Republicans.
• The GOP did not elect McCarthy today; instead, they went through three rounds of voting.
• House Democrats unanimously elected Representative Hakeem Jeffries as the minority speaker.

Eventual recess

• A band of about twenty MAGA-supporting rebels in the GOP blocked Representative Kevin McCarthy from being elected House speaker today.
• After three rounds of votes, twenty Republicans voted for Representative Jim Jordan instead of McCarthy.
• McCarthy needed to secure 218 votes to become the House speaker, and he could only afford to lose four votes.
• Voting will resume on Wednesday.

First female Senate president

• Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the Senate today on the first day of the 118th Congress.
• Harris swore in Democratic Senator Patty Murray from Washington as president pro tempore of the Senate.
• Murray is the first woman to hold the position in the history of Congress.

Senate GOP on board

• 18 Senate Republicans joined Democrats to pass the omnibus bill, which included reforms to the Electoral Count Act.
• The Electoral Count Act was passed in 1887 and cited by allies of former president Donald Trump during the coordinated attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
• The reforms clarify that the vice president does not have the power to interfere in or overturn a presidential election.
• It also raises the threshold for lawmakers to file an objection to a slate of electors.

Shutdown averted

• President Biden signed the $858 billion annual defense authorization bill today.
• The bill passed in the Senate yesterday with an overwhelming bipartisan majority.
• The bill includes funding for domestic defense initiatives, reforms to the Electoral Count Act, and funding for emergency aid in Ukraine.

Shame on Trump

• The final report from the House committee investigating the Capitol riot delivered its final report on Thursday night.
• The report placed responsibility for the attack on former President Donald Trump.
• The report also offered recommendations to ensure that nothing like the Capitol riot happens again.

Last words

• The final report from the January 6th committee placed the blame for the Capitol riot on the far-right extremists who led the riot and former president Donald Trump.
• The first wave of attackers was comprised of and led by leaders of far-right extremist groups like the Proud Boys, QAnon fanatics, Groypers, and Three Percenters.
• The committee also soundly blamed Trump for leading riots, encouraging them, and creating the conditions for the assault on the Capitol building.

Hard fought

• The Senate delayed a vote on the passage of a $1.7 trillion government spending bill after lawmakers struggled to agree on the provisions.
• The Senate must clear the package soon to prevent a government shutdown before the Christmas holiday begins.
• 31 House Republicans signed a letter threatening to kill the legislative priorities of any GOP senator who supported the omnibus bill.
• The bill contains funding for domestic priorities, defense, and emergency assistance for Ukraine.

Deal reached

• After delaying the vote, the Senate finally appears to be on track to pass the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill before the Christmas holiday begins.
• The bill would finance agencies through September and provide money for non-defense discretionary programs as well as defense spending.
• The bill includes funding for emergency aid for Ukraine.
• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to Congress about the war in Ukraine on Wednesday night, which likely inspired further cooperation today on the bill.

Surprise visit

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Washington, D.C., today, making his first trip outside Ukraine since Russia invaded his homeland three hundred days ago.
• Zelenskyy will meet with President Biden and will address Congress to rally economic and military support for Ukraine.
• President Biden's administration has remained steadfastly committed to supporting Ukraine in fending off a brutal Russian invasion.
• Higher energy prices due to sanctions placed on Russia have tested international support for Ukraine's effort to remain sovereign.

Quickly planned

• President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine will meet with Biden at the White House today, then address a joint session of Congress.
• The trip was planned in ten days and was announced on Sunday.
• While many expected Ukraine to quickly succumb to the Russian invasion, it has been almost a year since Russia invaded the country, and Ukraine has stood strong, withstanding brutal assaults on energy infrastructure and civilians.

Newly released

• Former President Donald Trump was ordered to turn over his tax documents to a House committee investigating him.
• In 2020, despite reporting an income in the tens of millions of dollars, he paid $0 in federal income taxes. In 2016, he paid $750.
• The IRS usually conducts yearly audits of sitting presidents, but the IRS did not audit Trump until 2019 when Democrats began asking for his tax documents. 2019 was the last year of his presidency.

Paltry sums

• In former President Trump's first three years as president, Trump paid $1.1 million in federal income taxes.
• Before becoming president, Trump suffered large business losses and paid almost nothing in income taxes. In 2018, two years after becoming president, he reported $24.3 million in adjusted gross income.
• By 2020, Trump returned to reporting losses to avoid paying taxes, despite his bottom line increasing thanks to significant capital gains.