Monday, Oct. 10

• Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Menendez called for a freeze on cooperation with Saudi Arabia after the Saudi-led Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) announced an oil production cut last week that he and other lawmakers believe will benefit Russia.

Tuesday, Oct. 11

• The Labor Department released its proposed rule to make it more difficult for companies to treat workers as independent contractors by legally requiring that a worker be considered an employee — thus entitling them to more benefits and legal protections than contractors — when they are “economically dependent” on the company.
• NASA announced that on Sept. 26 it succeeded in deflecting an asteroid by smashing its Double Asteroid Redirection Test impactor into the asteroid Dimorphos. While the asteroid was not at risk of colliding with the Earth, it was an ideal target for a test of NASA’s defenses against an incoming cosmic object. “We showed the world that NASA is serious as a defender of this planet,” said NASA chief Bill Nelson.
• State Department spokesperson Ned Price said President Joe Biden will “re-evaluate” his administration’s ties with Saudi Arabia in light of the OPEC+ decision to cut oil production. “Our guiding principle will be to see to it that we have a relationship that serves our interests. This is not a bilateral relationship that has always served our interests,” Price said.
• Biden made a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, pledging even more military assistance with advanced air systems. The call came after Russia launched missile attacks against cities in Ukraine including the capital Kyiv. The attacks killed at least 14 people.

Wednesday, Oct. 12

• The Commerce Department waived export curbs for at least two non-Chinese chipmakers operating in China, allowing them to receive chip equipment without seeking additional licensing requirements.
• Biden said there has been no movement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the release of American basketball star Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia since August after police in Moscow found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage.
• The Food and Drug Administration announced that it updated its emergency use authorizations to approve Moderna and Pfizer booster shots for children aged five and up for enhanced protections against COVID-19.
• The White House released its National Security Strategy, a report outlining U.S. security goals and foreign policy objectives. The report declared competition with China as the U.S.’s “most consequential geopolitical challenge.” It also accused Russia of posing an “immediate and persistent threat to international peace and stability” and commits to Israel as a strategic ally.
• The U.S. and Mexico announced a joint migration plan that will force most Venezuelan asylum seekers trying to enter the U.S. through its southern border to be sent back to Mexico while granting access to the U.S. to thousands of others who are arriving by air. “These actions make clear that there is a lawful and orderly way for Venezuelans to enter the United States, and lawful entry is the only way,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.

Thursday, Oct. 13

• The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol met for its ninth hearing. It voted to subpoena former President Donald Trump over his role in the attack. “We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this in motion,” Vice Chair Liz Cheney said before the unanimous vote.
• The Supreme Court rejected a request by Trump’s lawyers to intervene in the legal dispute over classified documents that the FBI seized from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. None of the justices publicly noted any dissent.
• The U.S. held live-fire military exercises with the Philippines involving 2,500 Philippine and U.S. Marines engaging in mock amphibious assaults, rocket launches, and stealth fighter maneuvers. Marines Major General Jay Bargeron said the drills ensured that the U.S. was “prepared to rapidly respond to crises throughout the Indo-Pacific.”
• The Social Security Administration said that millions of social security recipients will receive a historic 8.7% percent boost in their benefits in 2023, although the upward-trending cost of living is expected to eat up the extra money.
• Biden said Pakistan “may be one of the most dangerous” countries in the world because, he claimed, it has “nuclear weapons without any cohesion.” In response, Pakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari summoned the U.S. ambassador to clarify Biden’s remarks.

Friday, Oct. 14

• Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the U.S. will send Ukraine an additional $725 million package of weapons and other military assistance “in the wake of Russia’s brutal missile attacks on civilians across Ukraine” and “the mounting evidence of atrocities by Russia’s forces.” This brings total U.S. assistance to Ukraine to $18.3 billion.

Saturday, Oct. 15

• No news to report.

Sunday, Oct. 16

• National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Biden has “no plans” to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at next month’s G20 summit as tensions mount over OPEC+’s oil output cuts.