DHS secretary faces impeachment & drug gang chaos in Ecuador

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up!

Good morning,

Are you in the 1%… of readers? A new poll looks into America’s reading habits.

Shockingly, if you’ve read more than one book this past year you’ve already beat nearly half of Americans.

46% read no books
5% read just one
5 books put you in the top 33%
10 books gets you into the top 21%

And, for all of you out there who read more than 50 books, you are a one-percenter, having read more books than 99% of your fellow Americans.

📚 See below for what we’re reading this weekend.

Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren

📌 OZEMPIC + OTHER DRUGS SEE PRICE HIKES

Ozempic and Mounjaro — the antidiabetic drugs that have seen a surge in use for weight-loss — are seeing price hikes this year.

Out of pocket: One month of these drugs can cost anywhere from $900-$1,300.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND
The FDA approved Ozempic for diabetes treatment and Wegovy to treat obesity — both with the active ingredient semaglutide (GLP-1). Last year, more drugs containing the ingredient were approved as increased demand caused a nationwide shortage.

The numbers: The price of Ozempic climbed 3.5% to almost $970/month, while Mounjaro increased 4.5% to about $1,070/month.
🚨 There are about 775 brand-name drugs seeing prices raise this year, according to an analysis from the WSJ.
- Inflation, market conditions, and the value of the drugs were some of the reasons behind the price jumps. Notably, many drug prices are being raised beyond the annual inflation rate.
- People with health insurance only pay a portion of the cost.

WHERE ARE THESE DRUGS MOST POPULAR?
Not surprisingly, states with the highest prevalence of obesity and diabetes are among those where there are the most prescriptions of Ozempic and similar drugs, according to new insurance data.

Kentucky leads the nation in prescriptions, followed by West Virginia, Alaska, Mississippi and Louisiana. 21 people out of every 1,000 Kentucky residents were prescribed one of these drugs in 2023.
- The two states with the least per-capita number of RX for Ozempic and the like are Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
But Hollywood! We may never know: The data only shows prescriptions that went through insurance, not cash.

📌 HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY NEARS POSSIBLE IMPEACHMENT

The House Homeland Security Committee held its second, and final, impeachment hearings into Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ handling of the US-Mexico border. It comes as House Republicans are also pushing to impeach President Biden, but the Mayorkas effort is moving much faster.

We dig deeper into the crisis at the border and its impacts across America here.

TESTIMONY
Mayorkas is accused by the GOP of failing to enforce laws at the border as the numbers of migrants hit record highs. He has not attended the hearing in person, but has agreed to testify at a later date.

Thursday's hearing included testimony from family members who’ve lost loved-ones from fentanyl overdoses or violent crime. Officials cite cartels as one of the primary sources of fentanyl into the US.

Republicans are growing confident that they have a winning case for a swift impeachment of Mayorkas. The White House is calling it “extreme, far-right politics.”

WHAT’S NEXT
The committee’s vote on the impeachment resolution is planned for January 31. If passed (which it likely will with the GOP’s majority), this could be taken to the House floor as early as February.

Mayorkas would be the first Cabinet official to be impeached since 1876.
🧠 Reality Check: Impeachment is basically a slap on the wrist from the House. It is the Senate where a trial and potential conviction would take place. And like every presidential impeachment, from Andrew Johnson to Bill Clinton to Donald Trump (twice), Mayorkas will not be convicted. Democrats control the Senate right now.

🇪🇨 CHAOS IN ECUADOR AS DRUG GANGS UNLEASH TERROR

One of the root causes behind the surge of migrants at the US southern border is political unrest in Latin America, including in Ecuador, which is at war with drug gangs. This week saw the assassination of the top prosecutor investigating a gang’s seizure of a TV station. The gang recently held station staff hostage on live television. Meanwhile, soldiers are trying to restore order at a major prison after a week of rioting.

🚨 The country’s biggest gang’s leader, Adolfo Macías Villamar (known as "Fito") escaped from prison on Jan. 7, leading to violence across Ecuador. The next day President Daniel Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency.

PRISON BREAK
The recent spike in violence is in reaction to Noboa's plan to build new high-security prisons for gang leaders. Notably, he won the election last year after a rival presidential candidate was assassinated. Fito’s gang is believed to have been behind it. Noboa has vowed to defeat the gangs.

As many as a quarter of Ecuador’s 36 prisons are believed to be controlled by gangs and serve as their “headquarters and recruiting centers,” the New York Times reports.
- ☎️ Hot line bling: Gang leaders like “Fito” have been running their gangs behind bars using contraband phones.

CARTELS & GANGS
In recent years, drug-related violence in Ecuador has jumped. Why?

Cocaine producers in Colombia and Peru use Ecuador’s ports to ship their drugs abroad. Ecuadorian gangs have partnered with foreign cartels and terror groups in recent years to ship cocaine among legitimate goods (think bananas).
- They include: Mexican cartels, Brazilian urban gangs, Hezbollah and Albanian mafia cells.
In recent years, fueled by cocaine profits, the country’s largest gangs ballooned — most of all “Fito’s” gang, Los Choneros.
- About two dozen gangs have popped-up, battling for power, and violence has escalated from 2018 and beyond.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Congress passes stopgap bill to prevent a shutdown until March (CNN)

📌 Judge in Trump Georgia case orders hearing into misconduct claims about DA Fani Willis (MO NEWS)

📌 ‘No Labels’ alleges criminal conspiracy against 2024 presidential effort by both Dems and GOP (AXIOS)

📌 Weather-related deaths climb to 37 as winter maintains icy grip over much of US (ABC NEWS)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Netanyahu says he opposes Palestinian state in any postwar scenario (CNBC)

📌 NATO to hold biggest drills since Cold War with 90,000 troops (REUTERS)

📌 Pakistani retaliatory strikes in Iran kill at least 9, raising tensions along border (AP)

📌 Ancient sword with possible Viking origins and a mysterious inscription found in Polish river (CBS NEWS)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 A Burt's Bees, Hidden Valley Ranch lip balm collab is already sold out (NBC NEWS)

📌 Atlanta’s Spelman College just got the largest-ever single donation to an HBCU (AP)

📌 Children of color get worse health care across the board in the U.S., research finds (NPR)

📌 Japan looks to land on moon Friday (NPR)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Reba McEntire, Post Malone and Andra Day will to sing during the Super Bowl pregame (ESPN)

📌 Arnold Schwarzenegger was detained and now faces criminal tax proceedings in Germany over luxury watch (NBC NEWS)

📌 Condé Nast is folding Pitchfork into GQ, with layoffs (THE VERGE)

📌 Mike McCarthy will return as coach of the Dallas Cowboys after stunning wild-card loss (AP)

🎉 CHEERS TO THE FREAKIN’ WKND

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING: Mosheh: NFL Playoffs: NFC and AFC divisional games (eight teams left standing), For All Mankind, Season 4~ Apple TV; Jill: Maestro~ Netflix.
WHAT WE’RE READING: Mosheh: The Kelloggs: The Battling Brothers Of Battle Creek~ Howard Markel; Jill: There Are Too Many Ways to Exercise~Yasmin Tayag at The Atlantic.
WHAT WE’RE EATING: Mosheh: Grilled Halloumi cheese; Jill: kettle corn popcorn in honor of National Popcorn Day.