The U.S. government will reach its debt limit on Jan. 19 and initiate so-called "extraordinary measures" to avoid default, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in a letter Friday.
Why it matters: House Republicans are interested in using debt ceiling negotiations to cut spending, but Yellen said Treasury's extraordinary measures could last until the summer.
At a candlelight vigil, students show support for Abby Zwerner, the first-grade teacher shot by a 6-year-old student last week in Newport News, Va. Photo: John C. Clark/AP
The school district in Virginia where a first-grader shot his teacher will become one of the rare spots in the U.S. to have permanent metal detectors at elementary schools.
Driving the news: Newport News School Board Chair Lisa Surles-Law said this week detectors would go into every school, starting at Richneck Elementary School, the site of the shooting, AP reports.
The GOP-led House Judiciary Committee is launching an investigation related to President Biden's handling of classified documents, the committee's Chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) wrote in a letter Friday to Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The big picture: While the special counsel probe into Biden's handling of docs is still early, House Republicans vowed to use their investigative powers to target Biden and his administration — and the latest document revelations only give them more fodder.
A federal judge on Friday tossed out former President Trump's motion to dismiss writer E. Jean Carroll's sexual assault lawsuit against him.
The big picture: Carroll brought the lawsuit, which alleges that Trump raped her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s, after New York enacted the Adult Survivors Act (ASA) last year. The new law allows adult survivors of sexual violence to sue over attacks that occurred decades ago.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Friday that David Kessler, the chief science officer overseeing the U.S.'s COVID response, is set to retire after serving as a key adviser to President Biden.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Friday invited President Biden — who promptly accepted — to deliver his annual State of the Union address on Feb. 7.
What he’s saying: “It is my solemn obligation to invite you to speak before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, February 7, 2023, so that you may fulfill your duty under the Constitution to report on the state of the union,” McCarthy wrote in a letter posted to Twitter.
Former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) blasted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in a new interview this week, calling the California lawmaker a "piece of sh*t" who will "say whatever he needs to say to stay in power."
The big picture:Kinzinger became a GOP foe during his last term in office as a fierce Trump critic who was one of two Republican members of the House Jan. 6 committee. His remarks came a week after McCarthy took the speakership following a historically prolonged vote and only after he made concessions to his far-right flank.
Driving the news: “I think President Biden has handled this correctly,” he told CNN. “He’s fully cooperated with the prosecutors. When the documents were found, he notified the Archives."
President Biden has found recent support from border Democrats for what they view as a new public strategy on immigration.
Zoom in: The administration deployed a White House address and a visit to El Paso, all while House Republicans readied for investigations into the administration's handling of the border.
Florida swing voters were supportive of House Republicans' plans to investigate the FBI and Justice Department as well as the Biden administration's handling of the immigration crisis, in the latest Axios Engagious/Schlesinger focus groups.
Why it matters: The new GOP majority risks overreach if it pursues too broad of a political investigative agenda.
The Justice Department has a fairly high standard for prosecuting those who mishandle highly sensitive government documents.
Why it matters: Though special counsel Robert Hur has been appointed to investigate President Biden's handling of classified documents after the Obama administration, DOJ's previous prosecutions have generally involved cases that go beyond the commonplace and unintentional mixing of government files.
Unprecedented in U.S. history: Two special counsels are now investigating two presidents who ran against each other in the last election — with a high likelihood they will do so again in 2024.
Why it matters: Look no further than the last half-decade at the Justice Department for a snapshot of America's polarized politics.
