Monday, Oct. 11

• The Washington Post reported that Jonathan Toebbe, a Navy nuclear engineer with a top secret security clearance, and his wife, Diana, have been charged with trying to pass secrets about U.S. nuclear submarines to a foreign in an alleged espionage plot, uncovered through an FBI undercover operations.

Tuesday, Oct. 12

• The House voted 219 to 206 on a temporary fix to raise the federal borrowing limit by $480 billion, postponing the threat of a federal default as Republicans actively obstructed Democrats from bringing long-term solutions to vote under normal procedures. The Treasury Department estimated this limit increase will be enough to last until at least Dec. 3.
• The Food and Drug Administration released a review of data establishing a new foundation for decisions on which Americans should get coronavirus booster shots. It suggested that an additional half-dose of Moderna’s vaccine at least six months after the second dose increased antibody levels, but did not say whether an additional shot was necessary.
• The State Department said it is investigating new complaints of brain injuries at the U.S. Embassy in Colombia that may be linked to “Havana Syndrome,” a series of mysterious symptoms including headaches, nausea, dizziness and memory loss, first reported in 2016 by diplomats and CIA operatives in the U.S. Embassy in Cuba’s capital city.

Wednesday, Oct. 13

• Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Kent.), chairman of the House Budget Committee, announced that he will not seek re-election in 2022, the first senior House Democrat to say he will not run in the midterms.
• To compensate for the growing cost of living, the Social Security Administration said social security and supplemental security income benefits will rise by 5.9% in 2022, the largest increase since 1982, affecting over 64 million Americans.
• Secretary of State Blinken reiterated the U.S. does not plan to support the Syrian government. Blinken explained, “What we have not done and what we do not intend to do is to express any support for efforts to normalize relations or rehabilitate [Syrian President Bashar al-Assad] or lifted a single sanction on Syria or changed our position to oppose the reconstruction of Syria, until there is irreversible progress towards a political solution, which we believe is necessary and vital.”

Thursday, Oct. 14

• The U.S. was elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the first time since former President Donald Trump quit the council in 2018, claiming that it held a “chronic bias” against Israel. The U.S. will hold a seat on the council for its next term starting in 2022. “We will work hard to ensure the council upholds its highest aspirations and better supports those fighting against injustice and tyranny around the world,” Secretary of State Blinken said.
• Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced that the U.S. will lift travel restrictions at its borders with Canada and Mexico for fully vaccinated foreign nationals in early November “for non-essential purposes, including to visit friends and family or for tourism, via land and ferry border crossings.”
• Colombian President Ivan Duque said he will leave investigations into cases of so-called “Havana Syndrome” at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota to the U.S.. “Of course we have knowledge of this situation but I want to leave it to the U.S. authorities, who are doing their own investigation, because it is about their own personnel,” Duque said.
• The Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted unanimously to recommend a booster shot of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for people aged 65 and older, those at high risk of severe COVID-19 infection and people aged 18 to 64 who are frequently exposed to coronavirus infections due to their jobs.
• Bennie Thompson, chairman of the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, announced the committee will meet next week to advance contempt charges against former Trump advisor Steve Bannon for refusing to respond to subpoenas.
• In a 2 to 1 decision, a three-judge federal appeals court panel said that the near-total ban on abortions in Texas can remain in effect while the courts decide whether the law violates the Constitution.

Friday, Oct. 15

• The FDA’s health advisory panel endorsed a booster jab of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, although top vaccine officials say data shows the J&J vaccine is less robust in its protection against COVID-19 than the company claims.
• The FDA delayed authorizing Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for adolescents due to insufficient information on whether the shot could lead to a heightened risk of heart inflammation, according to the Wall Street Journal.
• The Department of Justice appealed the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision leaving Texas’ new abortion law in effect to the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Russia’s Defense Ministry said a Russian warship prevented a U.S. Navy destroyer from an alleged attempt to intrude into Russia’s territorial waters in the Sea of Japan while Russia and China were conducting joint naval drills in the area.
• Biden announced that the U.S. donated of 17 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to the African Union.
• The New York Times reported that the White House hosted a meeting convening 30 nations to “formulate strategies for combating ransomware,” while intentionally excluding Russia, where the majority of ransomware originates.
• Michael Riley, a Capitol Police officer, was arrested on charges of obstructing justice for telling a man who entered the Capitol illegally during the Jan. 6 insurrection to delete evidence of his actions that day from his social media accounts.

Saturday, Oct. 16

• The Pentagon offered “ex-gratia condolence payments” of unspecified amounts to the families of 10 civilians who were killed in August during the U.S.’s botched drone attack in Afghanistan targeting members of an ISIS subgroup. It said it would also work with the State Department to help relocated members of those families who wish to go to the U.S.

Sunday, Oct. 17

• The Chinese military condemned the U.S., along with Canada, for each sending a respective warship through the Taiwan Strait last week, saying that the two countries “colluded to provoke and stir up trouble ... seriously jeopardizing peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait.”