Axios

More than half of House Democrats sided with Republicans on Thursday in voting for a GOP resolution denouncing socialism.

Why it matters: It’s an early example of Republicans using their majority to force Democrats to choose between putting up a united front against bills they say are distractions and avoiding creating fodder for 2024 attack ads.

The House on Thursday voted to pass a resolution removing Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Why it matters: The vote marks the latest reprisal in an escalating partisan tit-for-tat over committee assignments that House members in both parties have said should end.

President Biden on Thursday said he and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) would treat each other with respect, after both elected officials agreed yesterday to continue discussions about the debt ceiling.

The big picture: Biden has previously made clear he thinks McCarthy needs to prove he can get House Republicans to back a deal — and show he can pass a budget — before serious talks on any spending cuts Republicans want.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) is set to deliver the Republican response to President Biden's State of the Union next Tuesday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced.

Driving the news: McCarthy on Thursday touted Sanders as "fighting on behalf of parents, small businesses, and ordinary taxpayers" in his announcement.

The number of so-called suspected "ghost guns" traced and recovered by the federal government more than doubled in 2021 from the year before, according to a report published Wednesday by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Why it matters: The increased tracing of ghost guns — also known as privately made firearms — reflects an increased awareness of ATF's tracing efforts as well as an uptick in the criminal use of ghost guns, per the report.

Brian Deese, the top economic adviser to President Biden, will leave his role at the White House, the president said in a statement Thursday.

Why it matters: Deese's departure from his role as director of the National Economic Council will create a high-profile opening in the Biden administration ahead of a high-stakes debt ceiling fight.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that she'll endorse Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) in California's U.S. Senate race if Sen. Dianne Feinstein decides not to run for re-election in 2024.

Why it matters: Feinstein, 89, has not yet announced her retirement, but a field of candidates has already begun to form.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, who became a GOP favorite by aggressively defending former President Trump, is in position to be a bigger player on the national stage — possibly as his 2024 running mate.

Why it matters: Stefanik (R-N.Y.) will be a prominent voice on the high-profile House panel investigating what Republicans call the "weaponization" of U.S. law enforcement and security agencies against conservatives.

House Democrats are raising concerns about Capitol security after House Republicans scaled back safeguards put in place after Jan. 6.

Why it matters: The renewed focus on Capitol security comes ahead of President Biden's State of the Union address, when nearly all members of Congress, Biden's cabinet and the Supreme Court will be packed into the House chamber.

The pro-STEM movement has gutted high school and college humanities programs — but there's some evidence of a post-pandemic revival afoot.

Why it matters: In academic circles, humanities' decades-long decline is blamed for the proliferation of falsehoods on social media, coarse political discourse, the rise in racism and the parlous state of democracy (not to mention our etiolated vocabularies).

A federal judge sentenced a U.S. Marine Corps veteran to more than five years in prison on Wednesday for assaulting police officers with chemical spray during the Capitol insurrection, per multiple reports.

Driving the news: Daniel Ray Caldwell, 51, had pleaded guilty in September to assaulting law enforcement officers with a dangerous weapon during the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, per the U.S. Department of Justice.

Hunter Biden's attorneys wrote to state and federal agencies on Wednesday requesting they open criminal investigations into former President Trump's allies for accessing and spreading his personal data.

• The lawyers for President Biden's son also threatened Fox News host Tucker Carlson with a defamation lawsuit.

King Charles III won't feature on Australia's $5 note after the country's central bank announced it will replace the late Queen Elizabeth II's image with a design honoring the first Australians.

Why it matters: The Australian Reserve Bank Board's decision ends a longstanding tradition of Australia's British-based head of state on the bank notes.

The fractious Republican Party is consolidating around a "Protect the children" platform for 2024 that aggressively targets school policies on gender identity and how racial issues are taught.

Why it matters: A year before presidential primaries begin, Republicans see this as a winning formula that can fire up their base and attract some independents, pointing to the recent electoral success of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

Texas executed a man on death row on Wednesday evening after the Supreme Court denied his appeal, which claimed anti-Hispanic bias among jurors who sentenced him to death by lethal injection, per AP.

Driving the news: Wesley Ruiz was convicted of shooting and killing a Dallas police officer in 2007. His execution came amid a larger battle over Texas' use of expired drugs to kill prisoners, the Texas Tribune notes.