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National

A potential default on the federal debt "would impose a self-imposed calamity in the United States and the world economy," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in an interview with AP Saturday.

Driving the news: Yellen said she expects that Congress will eventually vote to raise the debt limit, after the Treasury Department announced this week that the U.S. has reached its $31.4 trillion debt ceiling.

Catch up quick: Yellen on Friday ruled out a potential proposal from House Republicans that calls for triaging payments after the exhaustion of "extraordinary measures" to avoid default.

What she's saying: When asked about potential demands from the GOP for spending cuts in exchange for backing a higher debt limit, Yellen called the position "a very irresponsible thing to do" and said it could have serious consequences even before "the day of reckoning."

"It is possible for markets to become quite concerned about whether or not the U.S. will pay its bills," she told AP, highlighting the negative economic impacts of the 2011 debt showdown.

Yellen: Defaulting on debt could cause "self-imposed calamity"

Yellen said she expects that Congress will eventually vote to raise the debt limit.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is seen on Jan. 10 in Washington, D.C. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Janet Yellen

Economy

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

2024 will be an election year like no other, as President Biden seeks re-election amid economic uncertainty, two wars and questions about his age. His likely foe, former President Trump, faces felony charges and vows revenge on his political enemies. Meanwhile, Americans generally are dissatisfied with those choices and are divided over immigration, race, education and more.

Politics & Policy

Good afternoon, and welcome to our Deep Dive from the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. 

Axios AM Deep Dive: New global shocks

The globe's political and business leaders are facing a tangled web of risks.

Illustration collage of a microphone in front of a graphic Earth and shapes

Deep Dive - Davos 2023

Conflicts, policies and powers are intersecting and shaping the world. Breaking news and analysis of national security, foreign policy and global crises.

World

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

At least two Democratic senators have openly called for an investigation into President Biden for his mishandling of classified documents from when he was vice president.

The big picture: The senators aren't alone. About two-thirds of Americans favor such an investigation, with a majority of Democrats supporting the idea, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has already appointed a special counsel — former U.S. attorney Robert Hur — to handle an investigation into Biden’s mishandling of documents, which were recently discovered at his Delaware home and his former office.

Driving the news: Both Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) told Fox News Digital they would be open to investigating Biden over the matter.

"The reports about President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents are extremely irresponsible and disturbing. These allegations should be investigated fully,” Manchin told Fox News.

Kaine told Fox News that the classified documents situation “raises serious questions and the appointment of an unbiased special prosecutor to investigate the matter is the right step.”

The other side: Biden said last week the probe into classified records will reveal that "there's nothing there,” Axios reports.

The president said he is "fully cooperating and looking forward to getting this resolved quickly."

By the numbers: A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll found that about two-thirds of Americans are in favor of Congress “investigating the classified documents found at [President] Biden’s home and post-vice-presidential office."

Overall, 64% of U.S. adults support the investigation, with 52% of Democrats feeling the same.

Only 16% of Americans, including 27% of Democrats, oppose an investigation.

These numbers are welcome news for House Republicans, who have already called for the Biden administration to turn over any information about the documents, including visitor logs from the president's home.

Methodology: The Yahoo News/YouGov poll surveyed 1,538 U.S. adults from Jan. 12 to Jan. 16. The margin of error is approximately 2.7%.

2 Democrats call for investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents

About two-thirds of Americans favor such an investigation.

President Joe Biden participates in a meeting on Jan. 13, 2023.

President Biden participates in a meeting on Jan. 13. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Biden administration

TEL AVIV — Over 100,000 people across Israel on Saturday rallied against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government amid growing anger over the ruling coalition's plans to weaken the Supreme Court and other democratic institutions. 

Why it matters: It's one of the biggest shows of public protest against an Israeli government in years. It also comes amid an unprecedented standoff between the government and the judiciary. 

Driving the news: In addition to anger over the judicial overhaul plan, protesters are outraged that Netanyahu still hasn't said how he will respond to this week's Supreme Court ruling revoking the appointment of Aryeh Deri as a senior minister. 

Deri has said he will not resign, leaving Netanyahu with a decision that risks either defying the judiciary — a move that would be unprecedented — or potentially upending his coalition.

The Supreme Court said the appointment of Deri, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party and a key Netanyahu ally, was "extremely unreasonable." 

Deri, one of Israel’s most powerful politicians, has been convicted of criminal offenses twice, including last year, when he agreed to a plea bargain in which he admitted to tax offenses.

When Deri signed his plea deal, the prosecution and the judge made it clear that they understood he was leaving political life. But less than a year later, he ran for office again, claiming he never said his departure from public life would be forever.

State of play: Thousands on Saturday also rallied in Herzliya, a coastal city just north of Tel Aviv that rarely sees protests. 

At least 10,000 protested in the northern city of Haifa, and at least 3,000 rallied outside the president's residence in Jerusalem. Another anti-government demonstration took place in the southern city of Beersheba, a stronghold of Netanyahu's Likud party. Demonstrations were seen elsewhere across the country as well. 

Protesters in Tel Aviv carried Israeli flags and chanted "democracy" and "shame." 

Protesters rally against Netanyahu's government in Tel Aviv. 

Protesters rally against Netanyahu's government in Tel Aviv. Photo:  Amir Goldstein/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The big picture: Netanyahu's government, defined by the most right-wing and religious coalition in Israel's history, has been in power for less than a month. 

Its judicial overhaul plan, if implemented, would significantly limit the Supreme Court’s ability to review laws and strike them down.

The plan includes passing a law that would allow the governing coalition to override Supreme Court rulings by a simple majority of 61 votes in the 120-member Knesset.

It also seeks to end the Supreme Court's ability to revoke administrative decisions by the government on the grounds of "reasonability," significantly decreasing judicial oversight.

The plan envisions giving the government and the coalition in parliament absolute control over appointing judges.

Additionally, the plan includes changing the law so that ministers would be able to install political appointees as legal advisers in their ministries, something that is not under their authority today.

Between the lines: The judicial overhaul plan was presented as Netanyahu stands trial for fraud, breach of trust and bribery. He denies any wrongdoing.

Former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon in a speech in Tel Aviv told protesters that "a country in which the prime minister appoints all the judges when he is on trial is a dictatorship."

What they're saying: Israeli opposition parties, grassroots organizations and others have come out strongly against the plan, with legal experts saying it will eliminate the ability of the judicial branch to do the checks and balances against the executive and legislative branches, which are both controlled by the governing coalition.

What to watch: Deri's aides said he is planning to attend the cabinet meeting on Sunday — a move that would be seen as defying the Supreme Court ruling. 

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. 

Over 100,000 protest against Netanyahu's government in Israel

It's one of the biggest shows of public protest against an Israeli government in years.

Israelis protest Netanyahu's government in Tel Aviv

An Israeli protester attends a rally against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new hard-right government in the coastal city of Tel Aviv on Jan. 21. Photo: Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel

The Department of Justice signaled Friday that it was unable to share information about ongoing investigations with the GOP-led House, per a letter obtained by Politico.

Driving the news: The letter to House Judiciary Chair Rep. Jim Jordan comes after the Ohio Republican announced that the GOP-led committee is seeking to conduct "an oversight of the Justice Department's actions" related to President Biden's handling of classified documents.

In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland last week, Jordan requested a number of documents and communications, including between the DOJ, the FBI and Biden's office.

What they're saying: The DOJ's letter states that "consistent with longstanding policy and practice, any oversight requests must be weighed against the department’s interests in protecting the integrity of its work,” Carlos Uriarte, DOJ’s legislative affairs chief, wrote.

“Longstanding Department policy prevents us from confirming or denying the existence of pending investigations in response to congressional requests or providing non-public information about our investigations.”

"The Department’s mission to independently and impartially uphold the rule of law requires us to maintain the integrity of our investigations, prosecutions, and civil actions, and to avoid even a perception that our efforts are influenced by anything but the law and the facts," Uriarte continued.

The other side: "Why’s DOJ scared to cooperate with our investigations?" the House Judiciary Committee questioned on Twitter Friday.

"Why can’t the White House just be honest with us about Joe Biden’s classified documents and the border crisis?" Jordan echoed.

Context: The letter cites a 1982 letter from then-President Ronald Regan outlining how the Executive Branch should respond to oversight requests from Congress, and avoid using executive privilege, “only in the most compelling circumstances.”

"The overwhelming majority of congressional requests for information are resolved in a manner that satisfies both Branches in the spirit of our 'ongoing relationship that the Framers intended to feature both rivalry and reciprocity,'" Uriarte wrote in his letter. 

Editor's note: The headline and story have been updated throughout.

DOJ tells House Oversight it can’t share info on ongoing investigations

The DOJ's letter Friday states that "any oversight requests must be weighed against the department’s interests in protecting the integrity of its work.”

Rep. Jim Jordan is seen on Jan. 9 in Washington, D.C. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Department of Justice (DOJ)

A former U.S. Navy SEAL who went AWOL in 2019 was killed in Ukraine this week, the military service confirmed Saturday.

Driving the news: While the Navy did not identify the former SEAL by name, they confirmed the American was in an active deserter status since March 11, 2019.

"We cannot speculate as to why the former Sailor was in Ukraine," the official told Axios.

Zoom out: At least six Americans are known to have died fighting in Ukraine, according to AP.

The U.S. government has discouraged Americans from fighting in Ukraine over concerns that they may be taken hostage by Russian forces.

Former Navy SEAL killed in Ukraine

It was not immediately clear why the former Navy SEAL was in Ukraine.

A high-rise residential building lies partially destroyed after a missile strike on Jan. 16 in Dnipro, Ukraine. Photo: Yurii Stefanyak/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

Navy Seals

An increase in the number of people from Nicaragua and Cuba arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border last month led to the highest number of illegal border crossings in a given month recorded during President Biden’s administration.

The big picture: The surge in migrants came just before Biden unveiled a policy to curb illegal border crossings, telling migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti to "not just show up at the border."

By the numbers: More than 216,000 migrants were stopped at the southwest border in December, marking an 11% increase from the previous month, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Of those, 36%, or more than 77,000 people, were from Cuba or Nicaragua.

Another 24%, or nearly 52,800 encounters, were from Mexico and northern Central America. That's a 6% drop from December 2021. 

Meanwhile, Venezuelans, who previously constituted a part of the increase, continued to arrive at far lower numbers, CBP said, attributing it to the migration enforcement process that includes expulsions to Mexico.

The number of Venezuelans unlawfully crossing into the U.S. from Mexico was down 82% last month from September 2022, per the agency.

Zoom out: Biden announced earlier this month that the U.S. would offer legal entry for up to 30,000 migrants and asylum seekers a month from Nicaragua, Haiti and Cuba — in addition to Venezuela.

Applicants will be allowed to reside in the country and work for two years but must have a U.S. sponsor and go through a vetting process.

Meanwhile, it also leverages Title 42, a pandemic rule, to rapidly expel up to 30,000 migrants from those four nations to Mexico each month if they attempt to cross the U.S. border illegally rather than going through the parole process.

Zoom in: The same process has been in place for Venezuelans since October, and the number of Venezuelans attempting to cross the border has since declined.

What they're saying: "Early data suggests the expanded measures for Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans are having a similar impact, and we look forward to sharing the additional data in the next update," CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller said in a statement. 

Illegal border crossings reach highest number since Biden took office

The surge in migrants came just before Biden unveiled a policy to curb illegal border crossings.

Axios

Saturday's top stories

Yellen: Defaulting on debt could cause "self-imposed calamity"

Axios AM Deep Dive: New global shocks

2 Democrats call for investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents

Over 100,000 protest against Netanyahu's government in Israel

DOJ tells House Oversight it can’t share info on ongoing investigations

Former Navy SEAL killed in Ukraine

Illegal border crossings reach highest number since Biden took office

LIV Golf CEO: Saudi Arabia learned from “mistakes” with Khashoggi's death

For Elon Musk, fraud isn't just about false statements

GOP senator's campaign says cybercriminals stole $690,000 from them

What Gen Z wants to be when they grow up