The Georgia state Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily reinstated the state's six-week abortion ban, which had been struck down by a lower court last week.
The big picture: The Georgia attorney general indicated they plan to appeal last week's decision on the ban shortly after it was issued. They simultaneously asked the state Supreme Court to temporarily “stay” the lower court ruling and reinstate the law in the meantime.
Georgia's highest court on Wednesday denied the state GOP and national Republican groups' attempt to stop in-person early voting on Saturday, Nov. 26 for the state's high-profile Senate runoff.
Driving the news: In an order Wednesday, all justices agreed to deny Republicans' request to overturn two lower court rulings, which determined counties may in fact hold in-person early voting this Saturday, following a lawsuit from Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Democratic groups.
Vice President Kamala Harris' chief legal adviser, Josh Hsu, is departing the White House at the end of the year, two people familiar with the matter told Axios.
Why it matters: Hsu's departure comes as the administration gears up to respond to House GOP investigations and President Biden contemplates a re-election decision with implications for Harris' political future.
An Israeli teen was killed and at least 15 others, including two U.S. citizens, were wounded in two explosions in Jerusalem on Wednesday in what Israeli officials are calling a terrorist attack.
The big picture: These are the first bomb attacks against Israeli citizens in years.
"Thankstaking," the Native American-influenced alternative to Thanksgiving, has become more noticeable in the U.S. amid a racial reckoning.
Why it matters: Indigenous tribes in recent years have been asserting their sovereignty around water rights, criminal justice and political representation. Thanksgiving, where Indigenous people are the center of a national myth, is also a target.
InfoWars founder Alex Jones must pay the full $49 million a jury awarded the parents of a Sandy Hook school shooting victim, a Texas judge ruled on Tuesday evening, according to multiple reports.
Why it matters: The amount is much higher than the cap set by Texas law that limits punitive damages to $750,000 per plaintiff — the constitutionality of which U.S. District Court Judge Maya Guerra Gamble questioned in this case, per the New York Times.
Former President Trump reported hundreds of millions in losses on his tax returns for a decade, according to his longtime accountant who testified Tuesday, AP reports.
The big picture: The Trump Organization has been accused in a criminal tax fraud trial of helping executives avoid income taxes on compensation they got in addition to their salaries.
The public defenders for the suspect in the mass shooting at a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub said in a Tuesday night court filing obtained by a New York Times reporter that their client is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns.
The big picture: The suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, is facing multiple murder and hate crime charges over the shooting at Club Q last weekend that killed five people, per Max D'Onofrio, a city spokesperson.
Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) is considering a run for U.S. Senate after failing to secure a House Republican leadership position, Axios has learned.
Driving the news: Banks' spokesperson Buckley Carlson told Axios in a statement. "He will strongly consider it if Sen. [Mike] Braun runs for governor in 2024."
House Democrats are already sizing up the 2024 election map, circling Republicans in districts that mostly voted for President Biden as their top early targets.
Why it matters: The early primer of the 2024 battleground could influence how certain House Republicans vote and comport themselves, as well as where presidential candidates spend their time and parties focus their resources.
House Republicans will soon inherit a legacy of subpoena defiance and delay that many of them cheered on while Democrats pursued sprawling investigations into the Trump administration.
Driving the news: The Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered the final blow to former President Trump's efforts to block a House committee from obtaining key tax and financial records. Legal stonewalling that began in early 2019 will finally come to an end — but with just 41 days left of the House Democratic majority.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday threatened a potential “impeachment inquiry” into Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border if the Biden administration official does not resign.
Why it matters: The comments reinforced McCarthy's past hints about a prospective Mayorkas impeachment effort — a nod to the GOP conference’s right flank as it threatens to scuttle his bid for speaker.
