Part of President Biden's political team is in turmoil over the Israel-Hamas war, as some aides see the White House as abetting an immoral attack on Palestinians — while others believe Biden is showing "moral clarity" in protecting Israel from terrorists.
Why it matters: The strife within the Democratic National Committee (DNC) — which Biden is leaning on for his re-election campaign — reflects larger generational and political divisions among Democrats.
Many Arab American votersfeel betrayed by President Biden's unequivocal support for Israel, and community leaders in Metro Detroit say there's nothing he can do to win them back.
Why it matters: Michigan is a central piece of the Midwestern "Blue Wall" that flipped in Biden's favor in 2020. The state's large Arab American population could be crucial to the outcome in what will be a pivotal swing state again in 2024.
Why it matters: The twice-yearly clock changes likely won't stop anytime soon with efforts in Congress to make daylight saving time permanent stalled since March.
Democratic lawmakers are growing increasingly vocal in criticizing Israel's expanding ground offensive in Gaza, with some calling for more action to address the worsening humanitarian situation.
Why it matters: It's a considerable shift from the largely unified support Israel enjoyed from across the U.S. political spectrum in the immediate aftermath of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack that killed at least 1,400 Israelis.
A junior State Department employee who is organizing a dissent cable on the White House's policy on Israel has used social media to publicly accuse President Biden of being "complicit in genocide" toward the people of Gaza.
Why it matters: The dissent cable — and the organizer's passionate rhetoric on social media — are the latest signs of how the Israel-Hamas war is causing anxiety throughout the U.S. government.
Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) sent letters to colleagues who voted against expelling him from Congress earlier this week thanking them for their votes.
The intrigue: The letters went out not only to Republicans, but the dozens of Democrats who voted to spare the embattled Long Islander as well – one of whom wrote back that it's "not shameful to resign."
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that the limited gag order against former President Donald Trump in his federal election interference case be put on hold.
The big picture: The decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit comes shortly after Trump's lawyers asked the court to lift the narrow gag order, arguing that it had "muzzl[ed] President Trump's core political speech."
A former Trump-appointed State Department official and his co-defendant were each sentenced Friday to several years in prison for assaulting police during the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, according to the Department of Justice.
Driving the news: Federico Klein, who worked in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs and on Trump's 2016 campaign, was sentenced to 70 months in prison.
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden visited Lewiston, Maine, on Friday in the wake of mass shootings there that left 18 people dead and more than a dozen injured.
Driving the news: The October shootings, which took place at a bar and bowling alley on the same night, were the deadliest of 2023 thus far.
The judge overseeing former President Trump's civil fraud trial in New York issued a limited gag order on the attorneys in the case, calling out three of Trump's lawyers in a Friday filing.
Why it matters: New York Judge Arthur Engoron wrote that since the trial started, his chambers "have been inundated with hundreds of harassing and threatening phone calls, voicemails, emails, letters and packages."
The Biden administration announced a new $425 million military assistance package for Ukraine on Friday.
Why it matters: The aid will help bolster Ukraine's capabilities as Russia's assault stretches into another winter. It also follows a recent warning from Ukraine's top military commander that the country's counteroffensive had reached a "stalemate."
Eric Trump on Friday blasted the Trump family's ongoing New York civil fraud trial, saying that he and his siblings are "collateral damage."
Driving the news: His comments come after he finished testifying over the course of two days in the trial probing the family's business practices. His testimony followed former President Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
Wired, the technology publication owned by Condé Nast, is launching a new vertical that will focus on the intersection of tech and politics, the publication's new global editorial director Katie Drummond announced Friday to staff.
Why it matters: The announcement marks the first major move by Drummond since being named the new leader of Wired in August.
Thousands of people are expected to rally across the U.S. this weekend to demand a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
The big picture: Some organizers anticipate that Saturday's planned pro-Palestinian demonstrations against Israeli military action against civilians in Gaza will be among the largest anti-war protests in recent U.S. history and the largest pro-Palestinian action in the country to date.
Former President Obama on Friday will issue a call to action on "inclusive capitalism" as he kicks off a reunion weekend in Chicago that will reunite 2,500+ Obama alumni on the 15th anniversary of his historic election as America's first Black president.
Why it matters: Saturday will mark 15 years since Obama's 2008 triumph. This is the first formal reunion of administration officials and campaign workers, and comes ahead of the estimated late 2025 opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago's Jackson Park.
President Biden's campaign is confident it can reassemble the coalition that won the White House in 2020 — but Democrats' optimism is tempered by a recognition that they face "a very close general election," the campaign says.
Driving the news: In a memo Thursday, campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez outlined Biden's strategy for the 2024 election, a year from Sunday: Offer voters a choice between the president's steady hand and "whoever emerges from the extreme MAGA Republicans' primary field."
Officials at a DHS division are "up to their eyeballs" in requests for assistance from colleges amid a spike in antisemitic and anti-Muslim threats during the Israel-Hamas war, NBC News reported Thursday.
The big picture: A DHS spokesperson told NBC the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has a backlog of weeks or more due to a surge in calls, just as universities across the country grapple with growing pressure to do more to tackle rises in antisemitism and Islamophobia on campuses.
Driving the news: Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., took the witness stand for about three hours over his two days of testimony in the fraud trial, CNN reports.
Ivanka Trump's appeal to delay testifying next week in the New York civil fraud trial of her father, former President Trump, was rejected on Thursday night by a state appeals court.
The big picture: Ivanka Trump's testimony was postponed to Nov. 8 to enable her to appeal the judge's order for her to testify in the case, but the Manhattan-based court rejected her motion for a stay.
Former President Trump's lawyers asked a federal appeals court Thursday night to lift his narrow gag order in his federal election subversion criminal case.
What they're saying: "No court in American history has imposed a gag order on a criminal defendant who is actively campaigning for public office — let alone the leading candidate for president of the United States," Trump's lawyers wrote in their emergency petition to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
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