Daily Briefing: 'For me, the hour's come'

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she will step down, ending a 20-year historic run. Also in the news: More Twitter employees have left the firm after new boss Elon Musk gave them an ultimatum: "hardcore" work or resign.

It's Jane Onyanga-Omara and Steve Coogan, Daily Briefing authors. We're always looking for new ways to improve this newsletter. Please share your thoughts and feedback here.

Now, here we go with Friday's news.

Nancy Pelosi to step down, ending historic run as first woman speaker

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she will step down from her leadership role, ending a 20-year reign leading House Democrats and breaking barriers as the first woman speaker. Her announcement came a day after Republicans claimed a majority in the House in the next congressional term. "For me, the hour's come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus that I so deeply respect," she said. Her decision comes after her party was able to halt an expected Republican wave in the House though Republicans will still have a majority. It also occurs weeks after a brutal attack on her husband, Paul, in their San Francisco home. Read more 

One thing to know: Pelosi will still be in Congress for another term, representing her San Francisco congressional district.

• Former President Barack Obama praised Pelosi "as one of most accomplished legislators in American history." Pelosi helped usher major parts of Obama’s agenda through Congress while he was president, including the Affordable Care Act.

• New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries emerged as the front-runner to lead House Democrats now that Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer will step down from leadership.

• Pelosi will remain speaker until Jan. 3 when a new Congress is sworn in and Republicans will have the majority. Kevin McCarthy is the presumptive favorite to assume the gavel after House GOP lawmakers nominated him for the position Tuesday.

• Nancy Pelosi's legacy: "A troublemaker with a gavel" leaves her mark, from health care to impeachment.

• Pelosi on her future: Still in the House, but staying out of the congressional kitchen.

Employees resign from Twitter after Elon Musk's deadline

A mounting number of Twitter employees appeared to resign after Elon Musk asked workers to decide by Thursday evening if they wanted to continue at the social media giant, according to multiple reports. Since taking over Twitter less than three weeks ago, Musk has booted half of the company's full-time staff of 7,500 and an untold number of contractors. Musk told remaining employees this week they "will need to be extremely hardcore" to build "a breakthrough Twitter 2.0," and working long hours in a high-intensity environment would be part of that push. Musk asked employees to hit "yes" on a link in an email if they wanted to be part of the "new Twitter" by 5 p.m. Eastern on Thursday. Employees who did not reply "yes" would receive three months of severance. Read more

More news to know now

• 🗳 Republican Boebert’s lead over Frisch in Colorado narrows to within recount zone.

•  🔴 Another blistering round of Russian airstrikes ripped across Ukraine on Thursday, as Kyiv saw its first snow of the season.

• ⚠️ North Korea fired an ICBM with range to "cover entire" U.S. mainland, Japan says.

• 🔵 Brittney Griner begins 9-year sentence in Mordovia penal colony, 350 miles from Moscow.

• ⚖️ Gabby Petito's family awarded $3 million in wrongful death lawsuit against Brian Laundrie's estate.

• 🚨 "Act like you're my mom": 10-year-old boy escapes potential kidnapping asking clerk for help.

• 🎧On today's 5 Things podcast, USA TODAY Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page looks at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to step down from her leadership role. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker.

Biden asks court to intervene on student loan relief, vows Supreme Court appeal

President Joe Biden's administration on Thursday asked a federal appeals court to intervene in a legal battle over its $400 billion student loan forgiveness program. The administration asked the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to temporarily hold a lower court's ruling last week that found the Department of Education exceeded its authority with the debt forgiveness program. The Biden administration said it intends to appeal the issue to the Supreme Court. That emergency request would appeal a separate ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, which has also blocked the program. Read more 

• Biden's ability to bypass Congress, starting with student debt relief, faces a "major" legal hurdle.

• Is student loan debt forgiveness dead? Hope is dwindling, but the president does have a few remaining options.

• With student loan debt forgiveness stuck in the courts, the feds are still managing to erase debt.

Major winter storm 'may paralyze' areas around Buffalo, New York

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency starting Thursday in parts of western New York ahead of a potentially dangerous bout of lake-effect snow. The National Weather Service forecast up to 4 feet of snow or more through Sunday that "may paralyze" the hardest-hit communities, including Buffalo, with periods of near-zero visibility. Hochul's state of emergency covers 11 counties, with commercial truck traffic already banned from a stretch of Interstate 90 surrounding Buffalo Thursday afternoon. The snowfall was expected to be at its greatest intensity until 7 p.m. ET on Friday. Read more

• The snow has started and it could possibly stamp new marks in the weather history books.

• The NFL moved Sunday afternoon's game between the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns to Detroit due to the historic snowstorm.

🌤 What's the weather up to in your neck of the woods? Check your local forecast here.

Just for subscribers:

• 🏫 Over 80 schools changed their names in the wake of George Floyd's murder. See our database.

• 📱Are you "phubbing"? Here's how you may be self-sabotaging your relationship.

• 🔴 Opinion: If our political and legal systems worked, there wouldn't be a Donald Trump 2024 campaign.

• 🚙 Customers say domestic vehicle brands are introducing technology and designs too fast. Ford, Jeep and Chevy are among the least reliable.

These articles are for USA TODAY subscribers. You can sign up here. Already a subscriber and want premium content texted to you every day? We can do that! Sign up for our subscriber-only texting campaign.

Ticketmaster cancels general ticket sale for Taylor Swift tour after 'extraordinarily high demands'

Saying goodbye to the chance of getting Taylor Swift tickets is "Death By A Thousand Cuts" for some fans – Ticketmaster announced it had canceled Friday's scheduled general public ticket sale for the pop star's upcoming Eras tour "due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand." Ticketmaster's presale was supposed to be open to 1.5 million verified fans, but 14 million users – including bots – hit the site, Live Nation Chairman Greg Maffei said in an interview with CNBC on Thursday. The site sold 2 million tickets on Tuesday, he added. Read more

📷 Photo of the day: All the must-see photos from the Latin Grammys 📷

Rosalía walked into the 2022 Latin Grammys with eight nominations and concluded the night with four honors including winning album of the year for "Motomami," her third studio album.

Bad Bunny, who was not in attendance, won five Latin Grammys Thursday including for best urban music album for "Un Verano Sin Ti." On Twitter, the reggaeton star thanked the Latin Recording Academy for his honors and dedicated them to the Dominican Republic.

Check out our gallery of the best photos from the Latin Grammy Awards.

A little less heavy

• 🦃 Is Thanksgiving as burned out as we are? Top 2022 trends include simple menus, value ingredients.

• 📺 "Grey's Anatomy" without Dr. Grey? Ellen Pompeo bids farewell to the medical drama.

• 🎡 How do you save money on theme park tickets? Black Friday deals and other sales to snag.

• 🚗 Thanksgiving travel: The best and worst times to drive to avoid Thanksgiving traffic.

• 🥩 FDA says lab-grown meat made by Upside Foods is safe to eat, in a first for the U.S.

Associated Press contributed reporting.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nancy Pelosi, Twitter, Buffalo snowstorm, student loans, Taylor Swift