Axios

An appeals court on Friday denied a GOP-led effort to retain the Trump-era Title 42 policy that allows the U.S. to expel migrants at the southern border without the chance for asylum, AP reports.

Why it matters: After a lengthy litigation battle, Title 42 is set to expire next Wednesday after a federal judge ruled it unlawful. Fifteen GOP-led states, however, made a last-ditch bid to block its termination last month.

An Arizona judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit from Mark Finchem, a Republican who ran for Arizona secretary of state and lost, and was seeking a new election.

Driving the news: Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa Julian dismissed the suit against governor-elect and current Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and Finchem's Democratic opponent, Adrian Fontes — confirming Fontes' win.

A bipartisan group of former members of the House of Representatives released an open letter Saturday demanding an ethics investigation into lawmakers linked to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Driving the news: The 36 former lawmakers urged current House members to request the Office of Congressional Ethics "thoroughly investigate those members who played a role in the events leading up to and on January 6th, and if appropriate, that the House exercise its disciplinary functions."

The State Department has created a new Office of China Coordination, or "China House," to coordinate U.S. policies related to the country, the department said in a release Friday.

Why it matters: The office aims to manage the United States' competition with China and "advance our vision for an open, inclusive international system," the department said.

The North Carolina Supreme Court struck down a state voter identification law Friday, ruling that it had a "racially discriminatory purpose" against Black voters.

Driving the news: "The provisions enacted … were formulated with an impermissible intent to discriminate against African American voters in violation of the North Carolina Constitution," Associate Justice Anita Earls wrote in the 89-page ruling obtained by the Washington Post.

Democrats won't use any donations from controversial crypto tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried made to their campaigns, the Associated Press reports.

Why it matters: The disgraced Bankman-Fried submitted campaign donations and indirect financial support to dozens of congressional candidates, many of them Democrats, in the last election cycle.

Antisemitic hate crimes are trending higher this year in several major cities, and could surpass 2021 numbers — a possible record year, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.

Why it matters: The White House has expressed alarm about rising antisemitic violence across the U.S. and a jump in racist and antisemitic social media posts, but collecting data is difficult because many police departments are failing to report hate crimes.

The father of the Highland Park, Illinois, shooting suspect accused of killing seven people at a Fourth of July parade is facing recklessness charges, prosecutors announced Friday.

Driving the news: Robert Crimo Jr. was arrested Friday on seven counts of felony reckless conduct, the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

A judge dismissed a 2021 kidnapping case against the Club Q shooter despite raising concerns about the suspect's violent behavior and stockpiling of weapons for a possible shootout, according to transcripts obtained by AP.

Why it matters: The revelations underscore previous questions about law enforcement's knowledge of Anderson Lee Aldrich's history and whether more aggressive action could have prevented the Club Q shooting, which killed five people and left more than a dozen others injured.

A new crime trend is targeting the distracted and the elderly, with police warning about it from Alabama to California.

The big picture: Jugging involves thieves staking out unsuspecting victims at banks or retail stores before following and robbing them while they juggle smartphones and car keys in parking lots or at home.

Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memo to all federal prosecutors on Friday instructing them to end sentencing disparities in case involving the distribution of crack and powder cocaine.

Why it matters: The current policy — that possession of 28g of crack cocaine triggers a mandatory minimum five-year prison sentence, compared with 500g of powder cocaine — has led to the disproportionate incarceration of Black people.

A QAnon believer who was one of the first rioters to enter the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6 has been sentenced to 60 months in prison, the Department of Justice said.

The big picture: The rioter, Doug Jensen of Iowa, was found guilty in September on seven counts, including felony charges of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers during the Jan. 6 riot, as well as of civil disorder.

Crypto exchange Binance.US is beefing up its D.C. lobbying operation as erstwhile competitor FTX comes under withering regulatory and criminal scrutiny, Axios has learned.

Between the lines: Palo Alto-based Binance.US is legally independent from Binance, the Caymans-based crypto giant. The U.S. firm licenses Binance's technology and is chaired and partially owned by its CEO, Changpeng Zhao.

President Biden is working to elevate Cindy McCain, the current U.S. ambassador to the World Food Program, to serve as executive director of the Rome-based United Nations agency, according to people familiar with the matter.

Why it matters: With Russia's war in Ukraine disrupting the food supply and drought affecting the Horn of Africa, the WFP will need a dynamic leader to raise billions of dollars — and then figure out how to deliver it in hostile territory.

Republicans are starting their all-out assault on ESG by targeting a Biden administration rule for retirement plan fiduciaries, Axios has learned.

Driving the news: Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) are attempting to dismantle a recent Department of Labor rule allowing retirement plan fiduciaries to consider climate change and other environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their investment actions.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has a simple message for Republican investigators lining up to grill him on climate change and electric vehicles: Bring it on.

Why it matters: The anticipated GOP hearings next year will give the former South Bend mayor the very thing he needs — attention — to raise his profile in a crowded Democratic field in 2024 if President Biden decides not to run.

Five Louisiana law enforcement officers have been charged with crimes in connection with the 2019 death in police custody of Black driver Ronald Greene after a grand jury in Union Parish indicted them Thursday evening.

The big picture: The charges range from negligent homicide to malfeasance and are the first to be filed over Greene's death, which followed a high-speed chase near the city of Monroe, AP notes. Bodycam footage obtained by AP last year appeared to show Louisiana state troopers placing him in a chokehold and punching him during his arrest.

Congress approved a one-week extension of federal funding Thursday to temporarily avoid a government shutdown, sending it to President Biden's desk just one day before funding was set to run out.

Why it matters: The stopgap measure gives congressional negotiators much-needed additional runway as they work to reach a deal on an annual budget before the holidays.

A federal judge in Texas on Thursday put the Biden administration's attempt to end the Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" program on hold.

Driving the news: U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk is pausing the White House's attempt to end the program while litigation continues.

Virginia Democrats are growing worried that an upcoming special election for state Senate could turn Virginia into an abortion battleground and boost Gov. Glenn Youngkin's conservative credentials ahead of a possible presidential bid.

What's happening: Democrats hold only a three-seat majority in the state Senate — one of which is occupied by an anti-abortion rights Democrat. The Jan. 10 special election for the seat left open after GOP state Sen. Jen Kiggans' election to Congress could make Virginia's legislature the unlikely center of the political universe to begin the year.

House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) painstaking efforts to quell a right-wing rebellion in his bid to become House speaker have pulled back the curtain on the broader legislative nightmare he'll need to navigate over the next two years.

What's happening: On a number of concessions McCarthy has made or is considering making to his conservative critics, he risks touching off a revolt from other ideological camps — especially moderate and Biden-district Republicans.

A U.S. Capitol police officer who was injured during the Jan. 6 insurrection told CNN on Thursday he's not leaving the department by choice.

Driving the news: "I'm not leaving because of my own accord but because they did that to me, the mob, and the people who support the former president," Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell said on CNN's '"The Lead."