1/ Inflation climbed 6.4% in January, down from 6.5% in December, and well below the June peak of 9.1%. While it was the seventh straight year-over-year slowdown, the January consumer price index was still higher than expected. On a monthly basis, inflation climbed 0.5% from December – up from the previous reading of 0.1%. Economists expect inflation to fall to roughly 4% later this year. Today’s inflation reading and a recent unexpectedly strong jobs report puts the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates at their March meeting to ensure inflation continues to fall. Investors now expect the Fed to raise rates to around 5.2% by the summer, and then hold rates above 5% through the end of 2023. (Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / CNBC / Washington Post / New York Times / Associated Press / NBC News)

2/ Pence will challenge a federal grand jury subpoena issued by the special counsel investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Pence is expected to advance a novel legal theory that the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause shields him from testifying, saying his role as president of the Senate – i.e. a member of the legislative branch – insulates him from grand jury questions. Jack Smith’s office is seeking documents and testimony from Pence about the Jan. 6 insurrection, when Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol and disrupted the certification of Biden’s election victory – a process that Pence was presiding over in the Senate at the time. (Politico / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Associated Press)

3/ South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed a bill prohibiting gender-affirming care for transgender minors. The law will ban the prescription of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and gender-affirming surgery for transgender people u...