Bolstered by conservative outrage over revelations in the "Twitter Files" released by Elon Musk, House Republicans plan a new Judiciary Committee panel with the working name "Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government."
Why it matters: It's part of the aggressive posture planned by the GOP, which takes the House majority when the new Congress opens Tuesday.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed legislation Saturday to legalize human composting in the Empire State, the Associated Press reports.
The big picture: New York joins five other states (Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont and California) that in recent years allowed the eco-conscious burial method.
Outgoing Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union" Sunday that he has "fear for the future of this country" if former President Trump isn't charged with a crime over the deadly Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection.
Driving the news: “If this is not a crime, I don’t know what is," Kinzinger, one of two Republican members of the House Jan. 6 committee, told CNN. "If a president can incite an insurrection and not be held accountable, then really there’s no limit to what a president can do or can’t do."
Chief Justice John Roberts focused on judges' safety in his annual year-end report, following one of the Supreme Court's most tumultuous and consequential terms to date.
Why it matters: Threats against public officials on all levels of government have intensified in recent years and came to a head in 2022 after the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights logged nearly 19,000 discrimination complaints from Oct. 1, 2021 to Sept. 30, 2022, more than double the previous year, the New York Times reports.
Why it matters: The nation's fragile education system is dealing with the lastingeffects of the COVID-19 pandemic and a nationwide racial reckoning. The majority of complaints allege discrimination based on disability, race or sex, officials say.
Various new state laws will go into effect Sunday, with the start of the new year.
The big picture: From minimum wage increases across nearly two dozen states, access to abortion expanded or limited, and the legalization of marijuana and shrooms sales for some, many people will be impacted by a variety of new laws.
A year-end memo by White House senior adviser Anita Dunn and National Economic Council director Brian Deese says the U.S. "ends 2022 in a stronger position than many major global economies."
"The unemployment rate remains near record lows, many measures of household balance sheets are stronger than before the pandemic, gas prices are down more than $1.75 from the summer, and we are seeing more signs of inflation moderating," they write.
"[S]tarting in January, American consumers will receive additional cost savings on prescription drugs, health care, and clean energy, thanks to legislation President Biden signed into law earlier this year."
Reality check: The memo notes there's "more work to do, and we may see setbacks along the way."
The Arizona Court of Appeals issued a ruling Friday saying abortion doctors can't be prosecuted under an 1864 law that criminalizes nearly all abortions.
Driving the news: But the court declined to repeal the pre-statehood law, which has been barred from being enforced for nearly 50 years.
The social media app TikTok was banned Friday from electronic devices managed by the House of Representatives, per CNN.
Driving the news: Those who install the app on official House devices will be asked to remove it, according to an internal notice sent to House staff and obtained by CNN.
