Today in one sentence: House Republicans released two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas; Biden promised to "shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed" if Congress passes a border security package; Trump must pay writer E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in damages for repeatedly defaming her; Biden is reportedly looking into slowing down weapons sales to Israel as leverage to get Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale back military operations in Gaza; and American air defenses failed to intercept a drone attack that killed three U.S. troops in Jordan because it was confused with a U.S. drone that was returning to base at the same time.

1/ House Republicans released two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, accusing him of “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” and “breach of public trust.” Republicans have repeatedly accused Mayorkas of failing to enforce immigration laws as a record number of migrants arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as obstructing congressional oversight, and rolling back Trump-era policies, including the construction on the U.S.-Mexico border wall. The articles of impeachment will be reviewed in committee on Tuesday. If they pass the committee, they then go to the full House for an impeachment vote. It would then be up to the Democratic-led Senate on whether to convict and potentially remove Mayorkas. (ABC News / CBS News / Axios / Politico / NPR / NBC News / Associated Press)

2/ Biden promised to “shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed” if Congress passes a border security package. In the Senate, a bipartisan group reached a deal that would force the federal government to shut down the border for migrants crossing illegally during surges and expedite the asylum process. Biden said the deal would “be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country […] I would use it the day I sign the bill into law.” Trump, who has made immigration reform and the border a central part of his election campaign, has pressured House Republicans to kill the deal, writing that “it is the WORST BORDER IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD, an open wound in our once great Country.” At the same time, Trump demanded “CLOSE THE BORDER!” Speaker Mike Johnson, meanwhile, said the bipartisan Senate deal would be “dead on arrival” in the House. (Associated Press / Politico / CNN / Axios / Washington Post)

3/ Trump must pay writer E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in damages for repeatedly defaming her. The jury awarded Carroll $18.3 million in compensatory damages – $11 million for repairing her reputation and $7.3 million for emotional harm – and $65 million in punitive damages. The verdict came after Trump stormed out of the courtroom during Carroll’s closing argument. He later posted on his personal social media site that he would be appealing, because “They have taken away all First Amendment Rights. THIS IS NOT AMERICA!” A different jury in May 2023 found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the 1990s, and for defaming her by mocking her claims after he left the White House. They awarded her $5 million in damages, which Trump is appealing. Carroll, meanwhile, vowed to use the money on “something Donald Trump hates,” suggesting she would create a “fund for the women who have been sexually assaulted by Donald Trump.” (New York Times / ABC News / CBS News / NBC News)

  • Trump lashed out at the financial monitor overseeing the Trump Organization and urged a judge to end the watchdog’s oversight of his company. “The request came days after Barbara Jones reported a range of issues — including an allegedly errant $48 million loan — in the former president’s New York civil business fraud case.” (CNBC / Daily Beast / Bloomberg)

4/ Biden is reportedly looking into slowing down weapons sales to Israel as leverage to get Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale back military operations in Gaza. A White House official, however, said there “has been no request” from the White House for the Defense Department to “slow walk deliveries.” The effort comes following weeks of unsuccessful attempts by the Biden administration to convince Netanyahu to change tactics in Gaza that minimize civilian casualties and to accept a postwar two-state solution. The Biden administration has twice approved emergency sales of weapons to Israel, bypassing Congress. (NBC News / The Hill / Reuters / Associated Press)

  • The U.S. and at least eight other countries paused funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees after Israel alleged that at least 12 UNRWA employees were “involved in” the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack. UNRWA has fired the accused staffers and launched an investigation. (Axios / Associated Press)

5/ American air defenses failed to intercept a drone attack that killed three U.S. troops in Jordan because it was confused with a U.S. drone that was returning to base at the same time. At least 34 troops were injured in the drone strike, which the Biden administration said was launched from Iraq by an Iran-backed militia. Biden vowed to respond, but was “working through options.” The National Security Council said the U.S. would react “in a time and a manner of our choosing,” adding: “We don’t want a wider war with Iran. We don’t want a wider war in the region, but we’ve got to do what we have to do.” (Associated Press / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post)