"I want to send our support and our deepest sympathies to the victims and families touched by the terrible school shooting yesterday in Perry, Iowa,” Trump said during a campaign rally in Sioux City.

“It’s just horrible, so surprising to see it here," he added. "But have to get over it, we have to move forward."

His somewhat harsh rhetoric comes after a gunman entered Perry High School on Thursday morning, the first day back from winter break, with a pump action shotgun and handgun. He shot and killed one student, and left several others injured — including the school principal, authorities confirmed.

The suspect, 17-year-old Dylan Butler, then shot and killed himself as law enforcement responded, the police said. They did not comment on whether they found any potential motive.

The shooting occurred just miles from where Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, seen as Trump's closest ally in the race, was scheduled to hold an event the same day. The entrepreneur's campaign canceled the event and held private prayer instead.

Ramaswamy predicted politicians would respond to the incident with calls for gun control, criticizing them for what he said are "knee-jerk policy reactions." Instead, the GOP hopeful said the focus of legislation should be on mental health.

“The temptation is just pass some law, paper and over and say we did something in response to this,” he said. “You mark my words: Tomorrow, if not later today, you’re going to hear calls for, ‘Stop the guns, that’s the problem,’ sweeping under the rug this real ailment at the heart and soul of our nation and our culture that has spread to the entire next generation and to the unit of the family. The loss of purpose.”

Rival Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador who has gained momentum in the polls, gave a similar argument.

“We have to deal with the cancer that is mental health. We have to,” Haley told voters at a CNN town hall in Des Moines on Thursday evening, later adding "What we see is that 80 percent of mass shooters are in some sort of crisis at the time that they do that."

"We have got to do better. The problem is we don’t have enough mental health therapists," she said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has focused much on his presidential campaign on Iowa, voiced support for Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) — who endorsed him for 2024 — and local law enforcement following the shooting. He too said the focus should be on mental health.

Their comments come as the Iowa caucuses — which will kickstart primary voting season for the 2024 GOP primary — are set to take place in just over a week. The candidates have been on the ground in the state this week vying for support ahead of the Jan. 15 caucuses.

Trump still remains the clear front-runner in the race, leading with 51.6 percent support, according to Iowa polling averages from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ. DeSantis trails in second place at 18 percent, while Haley closely follows at 17.1 percent. 

Attorneys with Judicial Watch, a conservative legal activist group, filed the suit in California federal court on behalf of Aaron Babbitt and his estate for wrongful death, and assault and battery. 

His wife was shot and killed by law enforcement during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol when she tried to climb through a barricaded door near the House chamber.

The suit alleges that Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd was negligent when he fired at Babbitt, a supporter of former President Trump.

"The facts speak truth. Ashli was ambushed when she was shot by Lt. Byrd," the attorneys wrote, arguing that she traveled to Washington, D.C., only to attend Trump's rally.

"Ashli did not go to Washington as part of a group or for any unlawful or nefarious purpose," they wrote, claiming Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, "posed no threat to the safety of anyone."

The attorneys also accused Byrd of violating standards for care governing the safe use of a firearm, use of force and imminent threat assessment.

Furthermore, the suit said that at the time of the shooting, Byrd was not in uniform, did not identify himself as an officer and failed to provide Babbitt with "any warnings or commands" before shooting.

In an interview following the incident, Byrd said he believes he helped to save "countless lives" that day and doesn't doubt that he made the right decision. He was later exonerated.

“I know members of Congress, as well as my fellow officers and staff, were in jeopardy and in serious danger," he told NBC News following the incident, defending his actions. "And that’s my job."

The Hill reached out to Capitol Police for comment.

Attorneys with Judicial Watch, a conservative legal activist group, filed the suit in California federal court on behalf of Aaron Babbitt and his estate for wrongful death, and assault and battery. 

His wife was shot and killed by law enforcement during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol when she tried to climb through a barricaded door near the House chamber.

The suit alleges that Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd was negligent when he fired at Babbitt, a supporter of former President Trump.

"The facts speak truth. Ashli was ambushed when she was shot by Lt. Byrd," the attorneys wrote, arguing that she traveled to Washington, D.C., only to attend Trump's rally.

"Ashli did not go to Washington as part of a group or for any unlawful or nefarious purpose," they wrote, claiming Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, "posed no threat to the safety of anyone."

The attorneys also accused Byrd of violating standards for care governing the safe use of a firearm, use of force and imminent threat assessment.

Furthermore, the suit said that at the time of the shooting, Byrd was not in uniform, did not identify himself as an officer and failed to provide Babbitt with "any warnings or commands" before shooting.

In an interview following the incident, Byrd said he believes he helped to save "countless lives" that day and doesn't doubt that he made the right decision. He was later exonerated.

“I know members of Congress, as well as my fellow officers and staff, were in jeopardy and in serious danger," he told NBC News following the incident, defending his actions. "And that’s my job."

The Hill reached out to Capitol Police for comment.

The former U.N. ambassador scrambled this week to clarify comments she made on the campaign trail about the cause of the Civil War and faced backlash after she told New Hampshire voters they would correct the results of the Iowa caucuses.

While Haley has seen good polling and fundraising news, her recent stumbles could hurt her chances to overtake Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Iowa — keeping him in the race and blunting her momentum in New Hampshire. 

“She’s been operating for the last three or four months basically free of scrutiny,” said Ford O’Connell, a GOP strategist. “And what she’s shown is were she in fact the Republican presidential nominee, she’s not ready for prime time because the Democrats would pounce on both of those comments.” 

President Biden’s campaign was one of the first to pounce on Haley for failing to mention slavery in response to a question in December about the cause of the Civil War, writing in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that “it was about slavery.” 

On the Republican side of the aisle, DeSantis, who is betting his campaign on Iowa, was quick this week to seize on Haley’s comments about New Hampshire correcting the results in Iowa. 

"I think it was incredibly disrespectful to Iowans to say somehow their votes need to be, quote, corrected," the Florida governor said in an interview with KFAB in Omaha, Neb. "I think she's trying to provide an excuse for her not doing well. You know, her allies and her have spent a huge amount of money here.” 

O’Connell noted that Haley’s comments about Iowa could also open her up to future attacks from Trump if he wins the Iowa caucuses. 

“I’m willing to bet [Trump] is going to magnify that comment and say, ‘See Nikki Haley doesn’t like Iowa, probably doesn’t like you either, New Hampshire,’” he said. 

Polls show Trump as the dominant front-runner in Iowa, leading the pack with 51.6 percent support, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ polling average out of the state. DeSantis trails in second place at 18 percent, while Haley closely follows at 17.1 percent. 

DeSantis also hit Haley over her comments about the cause of the Civil War last month, saying Haley “caves” when she faces scrutiny and that it’s “not difficult” to acknowledge the role slavery played in the Civil War. 

Trump’s allies also went on offense against Haley following her Civil War remarks. Last month the pro-Trump super PAC Mark America Great Again Inc. sent out an email proclaiming “Haley is clearly not ready for primetime,” and this week, his campaign rolled out an ad in New Hampshire portraying Haley as weak on the southern border. 

And in a statement on Friday, the pro-Trump PAC hit Haley for recently unearthed remarks from 2015 in which Haley said immigrants who come to the U.S. illegally shouldn’t be called criminals.

"Nikki Haley disqualified herself last night from the Republican nomination. Haley thinks that President Trump might be a criminal, but not the illegals invading this nation,” said the PAC’s spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, referring to Haley’s CNN town hall Thursday. 

Trump’s move to attack Haley in New Hampshire comes as her campaign has seen a notable boost in state polling. A poll released by the American Research Group on Thursday showed Haley at 33 percent supporting the state, up 4 points from a December survey. The poll showed Trump continuing with a four-point increase at 37 percent support in the state. The Hill/Decision Desk HQ polling average in New Hampshire has Trump leading Haley by 11.9 percent. 

“She’s been climbing and climbing here in New Hampshire and then got the endorsement of Gov. [Chris] Sununu and that really propelled her significantly in the polls and in the public domain here,” said Matthew Bartlett, a New Hampshire-based GOP strategist. “The higher you go, there’s going to be more pressure, more scrutiny. 

“You’re going to find speedbumps on the road, and then sometimes you’re going to stub your toe,” he added. 

While there have been some speedbumps for Haley on the campaign trail, there’s also been some good news along the way. On Wednesday, her campaign announced it raked in a whopping $24 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. The latest fundraising haul is more than double her previous hauls this cycle and brought her fundraising total to $50 million this cycle. 

Additionally, Haley has continued to rise in the polls nationally. Polling from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ average shows Haley in second place nationally with 11.3 percent support, trailed by DeSantis at 11 percent. FiveThirtyEight’s national polling average also shows Haley in second place for the first time this cycle. 

Haley’s team says the stepped-up attacks from Trump and DeSantis are indicators they are nervous about her rise. 

“Everyone from Joe Biden to Donald Trump is attacking Nikki for one reason: she’s the only candidate with momentum. It’s clear this has become a two-person race between Nikki and Trump,” Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said in a statement to The Hill. “Voters have a clear choice — the drama and chaos of the past, or a new generation of conservative leadership.”

As for the comments about the cause of the Civil War and New Hampshire correcting Iowa, Haley has signaled that she is moving on. Haley has said she assumed it was a “given” that the Civil War was about slavery when asked about the topic last month, while Sununu said she made a “mistake” in her answer and “cleared it up quickly.” 

When asked about the remarks in a CNN town hall on Thursday, Haley cited having Black friends growing up. Haley’s critics on the left and the right were quick to highlight the remarks, but strategists say that the saga surrounding the remarks is not going to register closely with GOP primary voters. 

“That was a mistake and the cleanup was not handled well,” said GOP strategist Doug Heye, noting the timing of Haley’s original remarks between Christmas and New Year's. “It’s one thing to have people outraged rightly or not on TV networks, but those aren’t Republican primary voters. So their reactions to that are going to be different from what we hear in mainstream newsrooms.” 

However, when she was asked by CNN in Iowa about saying New Hampshire would correct Iowa, Haley was met with some boos and laughter from the audience. 

“Oh my gosh,” Haley responded lightheartedly, going on to note that the early contest states "banter against each other on different things."

"New Hampshire makes fun of Iowa; Iowa makes fun of South Carolina; it's what we do,” Haley said, saying politics have become “too serious” and “too dramatic.” 

Bartlett cited 2015 comments from Trump in which he said Iowa voters were “stupid” if they believed his then GOP-candidate rival Ben Carson’s life story. Trump and Carson were neck and neck in GOP primary polls at the time. 

“The notion of Iowa starts it, you all correct it is just a fact,” Bartlett said. “I think most people in Iowa get that they don’t have a great track record of picking the nominee.” 

The justices’ order sets the case up to be heard at a speedy pace, with oral arguments scheduled for Feb. 8 and a decision to follow that could spark Trump’s removal from the ballot in states across the country.

Dozens of challenges to Trump’s eligibility under the 14th Amendment have been filed nationwide, though many cases have been rejected by lower courts.

But two states — Colorado and Maine — last month took the extraordinary step of removing Trump from the primary ballot.

Although those rulings remain on hold until Trump’s appeals are resolved, enabling his name to remain on the ballot in the meantime, the justices’ decision to hear the Colorado case equips the high court to provide a national resolution in advance of the general election.

Trump’s political fate now lies in the hands of the conservative-majority court, which includes three Trump appointees and has never squarely resolved the meaning of the 14th Amendment’s insurrection ban.

"We welcome a fair hearing at the Supreme Court to argue against the bad-faith, election-interfering, voter-suppressing, Democrat-backed and Biden-led, 14th Amendment abusing decision to remove President Trump’s name from the 2024 ballot in the state of Colorado,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.

The clause prohibits someone from holding “any office … under the United States” if they “engaged in insurrection” after taking an oath to support the Constitution.

It was ratified after the Civil War and originally designed to keep Confederates from returning to federal office. After falling largely dormant for decades, anti-Trump plaintiffs have contended the then-president’s actions surrounding the Capitol riot amounted to insurrection and should disqualify him from seeking a second White House term.

In Colorado, four Republican and two independent voters backed by watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a lawsuit seeking to remove Trump from the primary ballot.

In a 4-3 decision, the Colorado Supreme Court sided with them and last month became the first to issue a decision that, if allowed to stand, would disqualify Trump from appearing on the state’s ballot.

All parties in the case — Trump, the Colorado Republican Party, the Colorado secretary of state and the plaintiffs who won — agreed the U.S. Supreme Court should take up the case given the significance of the issues, citing a need for a national consensus.

“The Colorado Supreme Court has no authority to deny President Trump access to the ballot. By doing so, the Colorado Supreme Court has usurped Congressional authority and misinterpreted and misapplied the text of section 3,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in court filings.

But they split on how fast the high court should consider the case and what legal questions it should resolve.

In Maine, Trump is appealing in state court Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’s (D) decision that would knock the former president off the primary ballot. The case could reach the justices within weeks.

“President Trump is dominating the polls, and the Biden presidency has failed all Americans,” Cheung said in his statement. “We are confident that the fair-minded Supreme Court will unanimously affirm the civil rights of President Trump, and the voting rights of all Americans in a ruling that will squash all of the remaining ballot challenge hoaxes once and for all.”

Updated at 6:03 p.m.

“Ron DeSanctimonious has one minor flaw against the Democrats — He has ZERO personality. If I didn’t endorse him, he would have finished, during the Primary, at 3%,” Trump posted to his Truth Social site. “NO LOYALTY! Bobblehead is now in third place, Jeff Roe has taken all of his money and quit, and he should get on a plane and go back to Florida today.”

Trump’s comments come the morning after DeSantis participated in a town hall event hosted by CNN in Des Moines. DeSantis poked Trump several times throughout the event.

Roe, whom Trump mentioned in his post, was a top strategist for the super PAC linked to DeSantis and left his position last month after a report detailed the inner workings of the super PAC.

DeSantis and rival candidate Nikki Haley each participated Thursday in the town hall events in Iowa, an opportunity to win over voters in the Hawkeye State just days before the Jan. 15 caucuses.

Fox News Channel will host another set of town hall events on Monday and Tuesday in Des Moines for Haley and DeSantis.

Later in the month, CNN will host a pair of Republican presidential primary debates, the first on Jan. 10 in Des Moines and the second in Goffstown, N.H., on Jan. 21.

DeSantis, Haley and Trump each qualified for the first CNN debate, but the former president has chosen to participate in his own town hall event on Fox News at the same time instead.

The events will allow the candidates a last chance to sway voters in the critical early-voting state. Trump leads with 51.6 percent of the vote, while DeSantis is in second with 18 percent and Haley trails closely behind with 17.1 percent support, The Hill’s partner Decision Desk HQ reports.

LaPierre’s resignation, first reported by Fox News, comes as the organization defends itself in a New York civil suit alleging he and other executives spent millions of the group’s funds on luxury vacations and other perks.

“With pride in all that we have accomplished, I am announcing my resignation from the NRA,” LaPierre said in a statement. “I’ve been a card-carrying member of this organization for most of my adult life, and I will never stop supporting the NRA and its fight to defend Second Amendment freedom. My passion for our cause burns as deeply as ever.”

The 74-year-old cited health concerns for his resignation, which will take effect Jan. 31. 

LaPierre has helmed the NRA for more than three decades, leading it through triumph as it gained political clout, controversy after innumerable mass shootings and downfall as the group has run into financial trouble.

"I am proud of the NRA’s advocacy in New York and, through it all, determination to defend the Second Amendment. I can assure you the NRA’s mission, programming, and fight for freedom have never been more secure," he said.

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He first joined the group as an employee in 1977, about the time the group began its transformation from a firearms safety advocacy group into a conservative political powerhouse. 

Under LaPierre, the organization was one of the most influential lobbying groups in Washington, able to make-or-break Republican candidates with its endorsements. The group also spent hundreds of million on legal services, challenging gun control measures nationwide.

Major legal victories include last year’s Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which threw out New York state handgun regulation and started a wave of legal challenges to other gun control measures in dozens of states. The NRA supported the suit.

LaPierre’s exit adds to legal and financial difficulties for the organization.

The group’s fundraising and membership have fallen steeply in recent years, losing about a half-million members from 2021-22, according to gun violence news nonprofit The Trace.

The organization raised $213 million in 2022, about half of its 2016 total, according to the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

The New York suit, brought by state Attorney General Letitia James (D), alleges LaPierre and other senior leaders diverted millions of dollars away from the group’s charitable mission and towards luxury personal benefits.

Following an 18-month investigation, James said the NRA fostered “a culture of self-dealing, mismanagement and negligent oversight,” costing the group $64 million over three years.

The NRA and LaPierre have denied wrongdoing. The case is set to go to trial starting Monday. 

James celebrated LaPierre’s resignation in a statement Friday, while committing to continue the case. One of the demands for the trail was LaPierre’s removal as executive.

“While the end of the Wayne LaPierre era is an important victory in our case, our push for accountability continues. LaPierre's resignation validates our claims against him, but it will not insulate him or the NRA from accountability,” she said. “Our case will move ahead, and we look forward to proving the facts in court.”

Updated 4:06 p.m. Jan. 5.

“The founders of our Constitution were terrified that presidents or other federal officials or members of Congress would sell out the American national interests simply by receiving money from foreign governments and doing their bidding,” Raskin told Mika Brzezinski in comments highlighted by Mediaite. "And Donald Trump has fulfilled the worst fears and nightmares of the founders.”

Oversight Committee Democrats found that the nearly $8 million in payments Trump took in could violate the constitutional prohibition on accepting funds from foreign governments. A majority of the payments, about $5.6 million, came from China and went to Trump’s hotels in Washington and Las Vegas and Trump Tower in New York, their report found.

Raskin cautioned that the total number is likely larger because the report covered only two of Trump’s four years in office, related to only four of Trump’s more than 500 businesses and was able to examine only 20 countries. Still, it shows foreign governments and agents made payments directly to Trump-owned businesses while he was in the White House.

“So this is likely to be just a fraction of what he took,” Raskin said. “But still, the founders of our country would be absolutely scandalized, as would be every other president we’ve ever had in American history.”

“It was a money-making operation from the beginning, and we’re just starting to find the millions and millions of dollars that he collected from governments,” he continued.

Raskin said his Republican colleagues, who have launched an impeachment inquiry into President Biden over his family’s business dealings, are turning a blind eye to the “documented receipts of that taking place during the Trump administration.”

The Maryland Democrat pointed out various times throughout history when presidents received gifts or funds from other countries and turned them down. He called on Trump, the far-and-away front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, to return the $7.8 million.

“And here we have Trump just pocketing millions of dollars directly from some of the most corrupt regimes on Earth that were looking for particular things, and he continues just to go on his merry way,” Raskin said, adding the report outlines how the money from the foreign governments “definitely influenced” what Trump did in respect to China and Saudi Arabia.

Payrolls came in hot in December with 216,000 new jobs added to the economy and the unemployment rate remaining low at 3.7 percent, according to the Labor Department.

The December jobs report was another upside surprise for a labor market that defied economists’ expectations throughout 2023. But the promising state of the economy is hardly a lock in voters’ minds for the president.

Despite ample salesmanship, Biden's economic approval ratings are low. Just 32 percent of Americans gave Biden a thumbs up on the economy in a November Gallup poll.

His overall approval ratings are also weak, with 39 percent of Americans giving him a passing grade in December polling. That’s still a slight improvement from his November rating of 37 percent.

And Biden currently trails former President Trump, his likely Republican opponent, by 2 percent in The Hill/Decision Desk HQ poll tracker.

The state of the economy is likely to be top-of-mind for voters, so 2024 promises to be a year of intense economic rhetoric and argumentation. Here’s how the first jobs report of the year sets the stage.

The airport is 'on the horizon' for the soft landing

FILE - United States Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen speaks at the Atlantic Council Global Citizen Awards, Sept. 20, 2023, in New York. Yellen wants Latin America to trade more with the United States as part of an initiative that so far has failed to disrupt China’s dominance in global manufacturing. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File)

The December jobs report is boosting confidence among policymakers that the U.S. economy is in a "soft landing," or the rebalancing of the economy toward slow and steady growth from high inflation without a recession.

After the federal government pumped trillions of dollars in stimulus into the economy and inflation took off in 2021, the Fed started raising interest rates in 2022 to slow things down, leading many economists to believe a recession was inevitable.

But despite many wrong predictions, a recession failed to materialize in 2023. The strong jobs numbers from December — along with wage growth of 4.1 percent over the past year — are yet more evidence for the soft landing scenario.

“What we’re seeing now I think we can describe as a soft landing, and my hope is that it will continue,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Friday in an interview on CNN.

“The American people did it,” she added. “The American people go to work every day, participate in the labor market, form new businesses. But President Biden has tried to create incentives that give Americans the tools they need to help this economy grow.”

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Yellen's former Fed colleagues have also noted as much.

“The airport is on the horizon,” Tom Barkin, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, said in a speech Wednesday. “Everyone is talking about the potential for a soft landing, where inflation completes its journey back to normal levels while the economy stays healthy. And you can see the case for that.”

Optimism among investors is also percolating.

“Two consecutive positive jobs reports and solid consumer spending amid easing inflation are welcome news both for consumers and investors,” Stephen J. Rich, head of investment firm Mutual of America Capital Management, wrote in a statement sent to The Hill. “A soft landing for the economy appears much more likely.”

Parties battle for control of narrative

Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) addresses reporters during a press conference on Tuesday, May 23, 2023 to introduce a social security bill. (Greg Nash)

Democrats were eager to cheer the Friday jobs report as evidence that their policies are working as the party and Biden attempt to flip voter sentiment on the economy.

“Another strong report to round out a year of sustainable job growth, and growing the economy from the bottom-up and middle-out is the new pro-worker, pro-growth strategy,” Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said Friday.

“By every measure, it’s working.”

Republicans, however, are keeping the focus on cost increases endured by Americans over the past two years thanks to four-decade-high inflation and the Fed's rapid rate hikes.

“The average monthly mortgage payment has increased by $1,089 and is 96 percent higher than when President Biden took office in January 2021,” Ways and Means Republicans said in a statement.

“Consumer credit debt has reached an all-time high of just over $1 trillion and the number of Americans struggling to pay credit card bills has increased sharply.”

“As the calendar turns to 2024, working families see an administration pushing the same failed policies of ‘Bidenomics’ that have caused such financial and economic struggle, frustration, and anxiety,” Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) said.

Inflation is falling and gas prices are easing

President Biden gives a campaign speech on the eve of Jan. 6 attack of the Capitol at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pa., on Friday, January 5, 2024. (Greg Nash)

While Americans are still dealing with elevated inflation, Democrats are hopeful that slowing price growth will bolster their pitch to voters.

Inflation has dropped from a 9-percent annual increase in June 2022 to a 3.1-percent increase this past November, according to the Labor Department's consumer price index (CPI).

The dip in inflation comes as wage increases have broadly kept pace, with a 4.1-percent annual increase in average hourly earnings reported Friday by the Labor Department.

For the lowest-paid workers in the economy, their wage increases have outpaced inflation for a net gain throughout the pandemic.

And gas prices, which are some of the costs that consumers feel most acutely, are also on the retreat.

The national average price for a gallon of gas was $3.09 on Friday — a far cry from the $5 peak at the height of inflation.

“Right now, the average driver in America is spending over $100 less than if gas prices had stayed at their peak,” Biden touted in a Friday post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Rate cuts may be delayed as job market holds strong

Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference about the Federal Reserve's monetary policy at the Federal Reserve, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Investors had started to price in rate cuts for some time this year in anticipation of inflation returning to the Fed’s 2-percent annual expectation. 

That could lead to an additional boost for the stock market, which is already near record highs, with the S&P 500 index of major U.S. stocks up nearly 600 points since the end of October.

But the strength of the Friday jobs report will likely mean the Fed will push back rate cuts.

The chances of the Fed holding rates steady at its next meeting at the current range of 5.25 to 5.5 percent were clocked by the CME Fedwatch prediction algorithm on Friday at 95 percent.

Strengthening consumer sentiment may also be a tailwind for Biden heading into 2024, with the Michigan Survey of Consumer Sentiment soaring 14 percent in December.

Cárdenas and Bold PAC — the Congressional Hispanic Caucus's (CHC) campaign arm — are throwing their weight behind Rivas, an MIT engineer and Harvard graduate who turned to politics after working at Motorola and founding a nonprofit to encourage young girls to pursue STEM degrees.

“Bold PAC is proud to endorse Luz Rivas in CA-29. Luz has devoted herself to creating opportunities for Latino families. She has helped countless young Latinas pursue careers in technology. And she has fought to help workers advance their careers and take care of their loved ones. In Congress, she will be a powerful voice for our future,” Bold PAC Chair Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) said.

California's 29th Congressional District is a safe Democratic seat. Rivas will compete in a so-called "jungle primary," where all candidates compete against each other in a primary and the top two, regardless of party, move on to the general election.

So far, two other candidates have registered: Angélica María Dueñas, a Democratic progressive who lost the general election to Cárdenas in 2022, and Benito Bernal, a Republican who lost the 2018 general election to Cárdenas.

Cárdenas and Rivas, both electrical engineers, are graduates of the same elementary school in Pacoima, a historically disadvantaged neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.

"I look at Luz as the new and improved member of the 29th District. She's a lot smarter than me. She's a lot younger than me. She's a proven leader. She puts her heart and her efforts in the right place," said Cárdenas. 

"I mean, you know, she left being an engineer to start a nonprofit from scratch, to help little kids in our community to believe in themselves and to believe that they can go to college, believe that they can be scientists and astronauts and live their dreams."

Although Rivas is 11 years younger than Cárdenas, she attended school only one year behind Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a mechanical engineer who recruited Rivas from Pacoima, Calif., to MIT.

Padilla entered politics as campaign manager for Cárdenas's first California Assembly race in 1996.

"The water [in Pacoima has] always been the same. It's just that we had to finally let everybody know that we know how to take care of our neighborhoods. We don't need other people to do it for us. When Alex ran my campaign in '96 for the State Assembly, that was the first breakthrough," said Cárdenas.

If representation by STEM-educated Pacoima natives is Cárdenas's personal legacy, Bold PAC is his lasting mark on the political landscape.

Cárdenas led Bold PAC over three campaign cycles; he inherited a group that raised just under a million dollars for the 2014 cycle and left it after the 2020 cycle, when Bold PAC raised a little over $18 million.

Bold PAC has since been led by Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Sánchez, both of whom worked with Cárdenas to recruit successful candidates, including CHC Chair Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.).

"I'm gonna miss a lot of things about Washington, DC. I have a soft spot in my heart for Bold PAC but they're in good hands. They're doing amazingly well. Their fundraising is strong. Our numbers are getting better every cycle. We have more and more members of the Democratic Hispanic Caucus — the CHC," Cárdenas said.