Daily Briefing: Merrick Garland's testimony

Attorney General Merrick Garland delivered an emotional address to Congress amid a backdrop of harsh GOP criticism. Also in the news: The UAW strike plants to include more plants, risking job cuts for more autoworkers and why gas prices are up again.

🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. "Text me when you get home."

This is the news to know on Thursday.

AG Garland chokes back tears in Capitol Hill hearing

Attorney General Merrick Garland struck a defiant tone Wednesday in defending the Justice Department as independent of the White House and Congress, but Republicans attacked him repeatedly for the handling of high-profile investigations of Hunter Biden and Donald Trump.

"Our job is to uphold the rule of law," Garland told the House Judiciary Committee in an uncharacteristically emotional statement that brought him close to tears as he described his family fleeing the Holocaust.

• Garland’s testimony came amid multiple investigations that are politically fraught. House Republicans are investigating whether to impeach President Joe Biden, in part because of alleged influence peddling by his son Hunter.

• Republicans blasted Garland for the department’s “ridiculous” plea deal offered to Hunter Biden that fell apart in July.

• The White House dismissed the hearing as “a not-so-sophisticated distraction” from the potential “costly and dangerous government shutdown” looming Oct. 1.

More from Washington: Unlike last year, a visit from Ukraine's Zelenskyy to Congress may not move the needle.

If UAW strikes expand to more plants, it could mean the end for many

If the United Auto Workers union and the Detroit automakers can't reach a tentative agreement, at some point the UAW has said it plans to strike at more plants across the three companies.  On Monday night, UAW President Shawn Fain announced a new strike deadline of this Friday at noon. If Ford Motor Co., General Motors or Stellantis have not made substantial progress toward an agreement with the UAW by that time, Fain will expand the Stand Up Strike to more plants. A broader and prolonged strike would mean parts suppliers couldn't keep production going if the vehicle assembly plants that use their parts are idled — and no one is sure of just how long suppliers could hold out. Read more

• Here's a look at autoworker pay and CEO compensation.

• What was in a new proposal Stellantis sent to the union?

• Biden officials are no longer traveling to Detroit this week to help resolve UAW strike.

More news to know now

• Biden, Bibi and Bette Midler: Here's what you need to know about the United Nations General Assembly.

• Former Donald Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson alleges Rudy Giuliani groped her before the Capitol attack.

• The FDA rejected the first nasal spray alternative to epinephrine autoinjectors.

• Four free COVID home tests per household will be available beginning Monday.

• For subscribers: Extreme heat, coupled with chronic health issues, is killing elderly New Yorkers.

• On today's 5 Things podcast, an election conspiracy theory is spreading online. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your smart speaker.

What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.

Gas prices are creeping up (again). Why?

Rising oil prices are causing pain at the pump for much of the U.S. Oil prices climbed 30% since the start of July, which has raised new concerns about how they might ripple through to consumers' pockets, the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy and the trajectory of inflation, which turned up in August. One reason why: The summer's extreme heat has made it harder for refineries to produce enough gasoline to meet demand and pushed pump prices higher. Read more

• U.S. wage growth is finally outpacing inflation. Many Americans aren't feeling it.

• The Fed kept rates unchanged this week, but signaled a possible hike this year to fight inflation.

• Pete Buttigieg addressed flight delays and train derailments in a heated hearing.

Senate bypasses Tommy Tuberville's abortion protest

Military promotions for decades have been approved at large without controversy. But Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., has held up about 300 promotions for senior military jobs since February in protest of a Pentagon policy that pays troops for some travel to states that provide abortions, along with some other expenses. In remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized Tuberville's blockade and said he would seek to advance a number of nominations, including Gen. C.Q. Brown, who was confirmed as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by the Senate Wednesday evening. Read more

• Democrats want a federal voting rights bill ahead of 2024 elections.

Many US hospitals are ill-equipped to care for sexual assault survivors

Despite a 2022 law requiring a national directory of sexual assault nurse examiner locations, there is no comprehensive national resource to direct survivors to the nearest forensic exam. Congress tasked the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to create the resource but did not allocate funding for the project, leaving the agency unable to create it. Medical care afterward is key to addressing physical and mental health needs and collecting evidence, but a USA TODAY investigation examined obstacles to care. Read more

• Here are five critical steps victims of sexual assault should take after the crime.

Quick hits

• ''Sex Education'' Season 4: Cast, release date and how to watch final episodes of Netflix show.

• The Roman Empire is all over TikTok: Are the ways men and women think really that different?

• Sophie Turner and Taylor Swift presented a united front.

• 80,000 cases of individually-wrapped Kraft singles have been recalled.

• Pressure is mounting for Ivy League admissions to make room for more low-income students.

• Latinos are pressured to speak English but often shamed when they can't speak Spanish.

Photo of the day:  The English come to France

French President Emmanuel Macron and Britain's King Charles III held talks in Paris on Wednesday at the start of a long-awaited three-day state visit meant to highlight the friendship between France and the U.K. For their first stop in the French capital, Charles and Queen Camilla attended a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, where they were greeted by Macron and his wife, Brigitte. Read more

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to USA TODAY here.

Associated Press contributed reporting.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Merrick Garland, UAW strike, gas prices, inflation, abortion, climate change, UN, Taylor Swift: Daily Briefing