Axios

Two survivors of the Club Q shooting in part attributed the violence they suffered to some political leaders' continued use of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric during a hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

Driving the news: Both Michael Anderson and James Slaugh warned that hateful language will only continue to incite violent actions like the shooting, which killed five people and wounded 17 others at athe LGBTQ Colorado Springs nightclub.

A portrait of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was unveiled at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

The big picture: The image of Pelosi — who broke a glass ceiling as the first woman to control the House of Representatives — is the first of a "Madam Speaker" to join the collection of portraits in the Speaker's Lobby.

President Biden said in a statement Wednesday that the U.S. should have "societal guilt" for not taking more action to address gun violence after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

Why it matters: Wednesday marks the 10th anniversary of the mass shooting that killed 20 first graders and six educators.

Former President Trump is losing steam among Republican primary voters, while interest in potential foe Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is rising, two polls out this week found.

Driving the news: DeSantis beat Trump 52% to 38% in a hypothetical contest between the two GOP leaders among likely Republican primary voters, a Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday found.

Long COVID was cited in the death certificates of at least 3,544 people in the U.S. in the first 2.5 years of the pandemic, according to a study published Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The big picture: While this represents 0.3% of the more than 1 million people to have died of COVID-19 in the U.S., CDC health scientist Farida Ahmad told the Washington Post the findings underscore that while long COVID is "associated with long-term illness, it "can be a cause of death."

The Trump Organization was found in criminal contempt by a Manhattan judge following a secret one-day trial in 2021 during a tax fraud investigation, the New York Times first reported Tuesday.

Driving the news: Judge Juan Merchan ordered entities of former President Trump's family business pay $4,000 in fines for the violations for "wilfully disobeying four Grand Jury subpoenas" and three court orders, according to the ruling, which was unsealed on Tuesday.

Embattled Los Angeles City Council member Kevin de León faced a fresh round of protests on Tuesday as he attempted to join a council meeting amid calls to resign.

Why it matters: He's refused to resign after a leaked recording revealed his and two other council members' involvement in a conversation full of racist remarks — something de León emphasized to CNN on Tuesday after L.A. City council President Paul Krekorian had to order a recess due to the protest disruption.

The possibility of 14,000 migrant crossings a day is pushing the Biden administration toward a new rule that would severely limit migrants' ability to qualify for asylum at the southern border, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Officials are concerned that Border Patrol stations will face acute overcrowding and Department of Homeland Security resources will be overwhelmed when the pandemic-era Title 42 policy ends on Dec. 21, according to sources familiar with the plans.

Disgraced crypto kingpin Sam Bankman-Fried was charged Tuesday with illegally steering tens of millions of dollars to federal political campaigns — a key footnote in what prosecutors are calling "one of the biggest financial frauds in American history."

Why it matters: The campaign finance allegations have intensified the political shockwaves of FTX's collapse and Bankman-Fried's arrest, following his dramatic ascendance as one of the country's most prolific political donors.

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) announced Tuesday that it will honor the late civil rights leader John Lewis' life and legacy on a stamp in 2023.

The big picture: Lewis, an organizer and speaker for the historic 1963 March on Washington, led the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches and served in the U.S. House from 1987 until his death in 2020. Many consider him a national hero.

President Biden on Tuesday signed a bill codifying federal recognition of same-sex and interracial marriage.

Why it matters: The Respect for Marriage Act, which the House passed last week, comes amid heightened concerns about the right to gay marriage following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Federal lawmakers have introduced legislation that would ban the social media app TikTok from operating in the United States.

Why it matters: The new bipartisan bill comes after both the Biden administration and former President Trump shared concerns over the app and its security risks.

A on-going three-alarm fire burned parts of evidence storage warehouse operated by the New York Police Department (NYPD) at one of its impounds on Tuesday, according to Police Chief Jeffrey Maddrey.

Why it matters: The warehouse in Erie Basin Auto Pound in Red Hook, Brooklyn, houses vehicles and evidence — including DNA material — seized through police investigations, though the exact extent of the damage was not known Tuesday afternoon.

The city of Louisville will pay $2 million to settle two lawsuits filed by the boyfriend of Breonna Taylor, his lawyers said Monday, AP reports.

Driving the news: "He will live with the effects of being put in harm’s way due to a falsified warrant, to being a victim of a hailstorm of gunfire and to suffering the unimaginable and horrific death of Breonna Taylor," one of Kenneth Walker's attorneys, Steve Romines, said in a statement.

There is more good news for an American consumer bedeviled by soaring prices, and policymakers racing to tame them: inflation slowed even further in November, the latest clue that the worst of it may be behind us.

The big picture: Similar optimism this summer was quickly crushed by subsequently higher inflation readings. But there are good reasons to believe this time really is different, with key inflation drivers — housing, goods and services — all pointing in a favorable direction.

Anti-transgender campaigns resulted in the online harassment of 24 different hospitals and health care providers in 21 states over a recent four-month period, according to a report from Human Rights Campaign shared first with Axios.

The big picture: Despite being uniformly recommended by major medical organizations including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, gender-affirming care has been under fire from a variety of directions, including via legislative attacks and online threats.

Following a cooler-than-expected inflation reading in October, consumer price gains slowed even further last month: the Consumer Price Index rose 7.1% in the year ending in November, down from 7.7% the prior month, the Labor Department said on Tuesday.

Why it matters: Inflation is still way too high, but the data offers some hope that it can ease alongside a still-healthy economy.

The Biden administration announced Monday a new interagency group charged with developing a national strategy to combat antisemitism amid a rising tide of vitriolic rhetoric spewed by high-profile public figures.

The big picture: The formation of the new group comes on the heels of calls to crack down on hate crimes and antisemitic violence across the U.S., with several lawmakers denouncing links to white nationalists and Holocaust deniers.

Ronna McDaniel is set to glide to a fourth term as chair of the Republican National Committee next month — an unprecedented vote of confidence for a leader who has thus far failed to preside over a single positive election cycle.

Why it matters: With a civil war engulfing the GOP ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the RNC's membership is doubling down on a Trump-allied chair with serious fundraising prowess — but a dismal record when it comes to winning.