Last week’s historic, bare-knuckle brawl to elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy as House speaker was a sign that in this 118th Congress, we’ve ain’t seen nothing yet. Concerns grew over the weekend that the chaos and brinkmanship that characterized the 15-round speaker vote could foreshadow nasty infighting around the biggest legislative issues of the year.

After all, electing a House speaker in just one ballot has been mostly a foregone conclusion since the Civil War. So if you can barely dice the onions, how are you supposed to make the entire chili?

The No. 1 issue: debt ceiling

The biggest challenge for Congress to tackle in 2023 is raising the debt ceiling.

What is the debt ceiling? It’s a limit on how much the US government can borrow to pay its bills. And since the government runs on budget deficits, it regularly needs to borrow more money to avoid a credit default, which would be a disastrous scenario. Should a potential default materialize due to congressional paralysis, it could crater global markets and plunge the US into a recession.

So, what’s the status? In 2021, Congress raised the debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion—but that will only get us to August, when Goldman Sachs predicts that lawmakers will need to raise the roof again to avert a default.

Here’s where the McCarthy vote comes into play: The small faction of hardline Republicans who held up McCarthy’s election as speaker could, in effect, hold the debt ceiling “hostage” by getting their demands—specifically, spending cuts to domestic programs and the military—into any debt limit bill. Given their outsized leverage in the Republican Party’s slim majority in the House, this group could bring debt ceiling negotiations perilously close to the expiration date, which is worrying economists over the downstream effects on markets.

Looking ahead…the concerns about gridlock may become real starting today, when the House will vote on a rules package that determines how the chamber will operate during its term. Some Republicans expressed hesitation this weekend about approving these rules due to the still unknown concessions McCarthy must have granted the hardline faction to secure his speaker seat.

And finally, a palate cleanser: Bad congressional lip-reading.

Bolsonaro supporters storm government buildings. Thousands of supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro invaded congress, the supreme court, and the presidential palace in Brasilia yesterday in scenes reminiscent of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Many called for the removal of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was sworn in last week, piggybacking on Bolsonaro’s baseless attacks on the legitimacy of October’s election. Leaders across the world, including in the US, condemned the riots as undemocratic. Security forces said they took back control of the buildings.

Biden at the border. President Biden made his first visit to the US–Mexico border while in office yesterday as he toughens up restrictions on the record number of asylum-seekers coming into the country. Biden has been criticized by Republicans for not doing enough to secure the border, while he’s attacked opponents for not passing his own immigration proposal. After his visit to the border in El Paso, TX, Biden left for Mexico City, where he’ll attend a summit with the leaders of Mexico and Canada.

China drops restrictions, sparking travel rush. Nearly three years after it sealed itself off from the world, China scrapped quarantines for international travelers yesterday to complete the dismantling of its “zero Covid” strategy. Travelers still need to show a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours of entering China, but that’s nothing compared to the weeks of isolation that were imposed on visitors during the pandemic. The tens of thousands of people traveling to and from Hong Kong yesterday cheered the opportunity to see loved ones again.

Would Walter White have received better counsel from an AI than from Saul Goodman? We might get closer to the answer next month, when a robot will advise a defendant in US court for the first time in history, New Scientist reports.

The “robot” is actually an artificial intelligence algorithm created by the company DoNotPay. It’ll run on a smartphone located in the defendant’s pocket and, through an earpiece, will advise them on what to say after listening to the arguments presented during the hearing.

DoNotPay is keeping the specifics of its “experiment” mostly under wraps, since what it’s doing violates courtroom protocol, but we do know the hearing involves a speeding charge. Interestingly, no one in court other than the defendant will know that an AI lawyer is even involved (DoNotPay will use a hearing accessibility loophole to get the defendant to wear AirPods).

DoNotPay said it’ll cover any fines or fees incurred by the defendant if its AI gets stage fright in court or if they otherwise lose the challenge.

Big picture: Recent breakthroughs in AI have some of us worried about robots taking our jobs—are lawyers on the chopping block? Maybe not yet, but in a test from 2018, a machine-learning AI topped human attorneys when analyzing NDAs for risks.

Prince Harry’s memoir goes on sale. Spare will be released on Tuesday and is certain to dominate book sales (and office small talk) this week. Per leaked copies, Harry mentions a physical altercation with his brother, Prince William, and dispassionately describes how he killed 25 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

Companies will report (bad) earnings. In the upcoming earnings season, corporations ailing from interest rate hikes are expected to post their first annual profit decline since the Covid recession. Big banks will kick off the fireworks at the end of this week.

Will inflation continue its decline? We’ll find out on Thursday, when the latest consumer price index report drops. Inflation had been on the comedown toward the end of 2022, but some Fed officials warn it’s too soon to declare victory—and that inflation remains far too high above typical levels.

Everything else…

• The Mega Millions jackpot has ballooned to $1.1 billion—the third-largest prize in US history—ahead of Tuesday night’s drawing.
• The college football championship game between UGA and TCU is tonight.
• The troubled Golden Globe Awards return to TV on Tuesday night.

Stat: As a Netflix software engineer in California, you can expect to make somewhere between $90,000 and…$900,000, according to a job posting. As of Jan. 1, CA companies are required to post salary ranges for open positions, but like we saw when NYC enacted a similar law last year, some employers are making somewhat of a joke of it. Still, since CA is home to so many influential tech companies, the law is giving us an unprecedented look at the salaries of people who work for Apple, Tesla, Meta, Google, and more.

Quote: “When you put real love out into the world it comes back to you 3x’s as much.”

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin posted on Instagram in his first public comments since collapsing during a game one week ago. Doctors said Hamlin remained in critical condition on Saturday but that his “neurological function is excellent.” Meanwhile, the final NFL weekend of the regular season went on as planned, featuring many tributes to Hamlin and exciting win-or-go-home games.

Read: A meditation on history, science, and AI. (Noahpinion)

Dive back into the week.

• Shallow dive: Can you draw a perfect circle?
• Medium dive: TSA’s weirdest finds of 2022.
• Deep dive: When Americans are their happiest.
• Cannonball: Salads to make this winter.

Get your 2023 ducks in order: Try this “annual planning” guide with your household.

Best reward cards of 2023: Earn exceptionally high rewards on essential purchases, not to mention a $300 bonus. These credit card deals are too good to miss.*

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Turntable: There are 42 words just begging to be found in today’s jumble. How many can you uncover? Find out here.

I don’t know U

TCU will play against the University of Georgia in tonight’s college football championship game. But do you know what the letters TCU stands for? (The answer is: Texas Christian University.)

In today’s trivia, we’ll give you the popular abbreviation for a US college or university, and you have to figure out its full name.

1. GMU
2. RPI
3. UAB
4. RISD
5. CIA
6. IUPUI

Did you know that the iPod and Nest came from one brilliant mind? That mind belongs to Tony Fadell, and he’s joining us tomorrow for a FREE virtual workshop at 10am ET. Register today.

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