10 things you need to know today: December 14, 2023

1. House Republicans approve formal impeachment inquiry

The Republican-controlled House on Wednesday approved a formal impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden. Republican lawmakers rallied behind the investigation even though hearings on Biden family finances have failed to produce evidence of wrongdoing, particularly regarding discredited GOP allegation that, as vice president, Biden pushed to fire a Ukrainian prosecutor to benefit a gas company while his son, Hunter Biden, served on its board. Biden called the House GOP inquiry a "baseless political stunt." Hunter Biden defied a House subpoena for a closed-door deposition, saying at a surprise appearance outside the Capitol that he would only testify publicly. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) accused Hunter Biden of trying to hide his "influence-peddling schemes." The Hill

2. Judge pauses Trump election case pending immunity decision

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Wednesday paused former President Donald Trump's federal election interference case while he pursues his immunity claim in higher courts. Chutkan didn't change Trump's March trial date on charges he plotted to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden, but said she would reconsider the timetable once the immunity question was settled. Also on Wednesday, an appeals court granted a request from prosecutors to expedite the review of Trump's immunity appeal. Trump's lawyers asked the court to go slowly to avoid a "reckless rush to judgment" that would "irreparably undermine public confidence in the judicial system." The Associated Press, The New York Times

3. Intense Israel-Hamas combat fuels humanitarian concerns

Israel on Wednesday said it suffered its worst day of combat losses in a month after 10 of its soldiers were killed in 24 hours, including two Israeli commanders and seven other soldiers killed in a Hamas ambush in a Gaza City suburb. The heavy fighting came as Israel faced increasing diplomatic isolation due to rising Palestinian civilian casualties and disrupted aid deliveries that are fueling concerns of a worsening humanitarian disaster. A day after the United Nations General Assembly called for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire and President Joe Biden warned that Israel's "indiscriminate" bombing was eroding international support, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was "continuing until the end, until victory, until Hamas is annihilated." The Guardian, Reuters

4. Supreme Court to decide on abortion-pill restrictions

The Supreme Court said Wednesday it would consider a case on whether to restrict availability of the abortion drug mifepristone, setting up its first major abortion ruling since the conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade last year. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Food and Drug Administration's decades-old approval of the abortion pill could remain in place but with sharply restricted access, including barring sending the drug by mail or prescribing it remotely. The Biden administration asked the justices to step in to keep the pill available to safeguard access to legal abortion. The drug is used in more than half of U.S. pregnancy terminations. The New York Times, CNN

5. Fed signals interest rate cuts in 2024

The Federal Reserve ended its last policy meeting of 2023 on Wednesday by keeping interest rates unchanged, as expected, and boosted markets by projecting three rate cuts next year. The Fed has aggressively raised rates to slow the economy and bring down stubbornly high inflation. Recent signs that inflation is cooling have fueled hopes that the central bank will bring inflation down to its 2% target without triggering a recession. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said after the meeting that the Fed's historic tightening of monetary policy is probably over, now that inflation is coming down faster than anticipated, and the time for reducing borrowing costs is coming "into view." Reuters

6. Supreme Court agrees to hear key Jan. 6 appeal

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear an appeal brought by a man accused over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. The defendant, Joseph Fischer, is asking the court to dismiss a charge of obstructing an official proceeding — Congress' certification of President Joe Biden's victory over former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. Fischer's case is linked to those of two other people accused in the riot — Edward Lang and Garrett Miller — but it could also have a significant impact on criminal prosecutions of hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants, including Trump. Conviction can bring a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. NBC News, The Hill

7. Argentina devalues currency

Argentina announced plans to devalue its currency, the peso, by more than 50%, an early sign of the emergency measures that newly inaugurated President Javier Milei promised would turn around the South American nation's struggling economy. The move will change the official conversion rate to 800 pesos per dollar, up from 365 pesos. Milei, a self-proclaimed anarcho-capitalist, promised during his campaign to replace the peso with the U.S. dollar to put the economy on more solid ground after years of artificial support for the local currency. The change is one of several proposed by Milei's government to contain hyperinflation. CNN

8. Senate passes $886 billion defense bill

The Senate on Wednesday passed an $886 billion annual defense spending plan, which includes aid for Ukraine and annual raises for the military. The bipartisan 87-13 vote came amid a push to authorize spending on Pentagon priorities before the end of the year, something Congress has done for 61 straight years. The bill now heads to the House, "where some ultraconservative Republicans have threatened to tank it" after lawmakers removed modifications to Pentagon policy on abortion and some gender-affirming health care, USA Today reports. Those provisions were in a version of the bill the Republican-controlled House passed earlier this year. USA Today

9. Appeals court rejects Trump immunity claim in defamation case

A federal appeals court in New York on Wednesday ruled that former President Donald Trump can't use presidential immunity to avoid writer E. Jean Carroll's defamation lawsuit. The court said Trump waited too long to claim immunity in the case, which centers around Trump's denial and disparaging remarks about Carroll's claim that he raped her decades ago in a New York City department store dressing room. The decision marked the third time in recent weeks that a federal court had rejected Trump's attempts to invoke presidential immunity as he fights several civil and criminal cases. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected Trump's immunity claim in his federal election-subversion case. Politico

10. Tesla recalls 2 million EVs for Autopilot fix

Tesla will recall more than two million of its electric vehicles over concerns about crashes related to its Autopilot driver-assistance technology, according to the National Highway Safety Administration. The recall covers nearly all of the Models 3, S, X and Y sold in the United States between 2012 and 2023. The regulator said Tesla's Autopilot system might not have sufficient controls to prevent drivers from abusing it. The company will offer affected Tesla owners a free software update. News of the recall sent Tesla shares falling by about 1.5%. Tesla didn't immediately respond to The Wall Street Journal's request for comment. The Wall Street Journal