Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:
1) Dip buyers moved in to support the bruised artificial intelligence trade after the S&P 500’s steepest drop in more than a year. Global markets have been whipsawed this week as investors initially bet that a Democratic sweep would hasten an end to the Iran war. Fears of the worst-case scenario for the AI trade kicked in after the US midterm elections, in which Democrats secured majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives and won control of state houses and governor’s mansions across the country.
2) US lawmakers are looking to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as soon as next week, after the Iran war he championed partly led to Republicans losing control of Congress. Representative Thomas Massie will reintroduce articles of impeachment against Hegseth, who has been criticized for waging the Iran war without congressional approval. Massie's bid to impeach Hegseth is expected to get widespread Democratic support, and possibly enough Republican support for it to pass, with some Republicans having no incentive to return to Washington to support Hegseth.
3) Secretary of State Marco Rubio is weighing whether to leave the Trump administration, people familiar with the matter said, as he considers his next moves following Republicans’ midterm elections wipeout. Rubio and his advisers are going over options for his future, and he hasn’t made a decision about whether to quit his posts as top US diplomat and national security adviser. Rubio dismissed the report that he is thinking about resigning, saying working for Trump through the end of his term has “always been my plan."