What Happened Was...

A lightning fast comprehensive recap of the week's biggest events for Jan. 29th - February 4th 2024.

Democratic frontrunner President Joe Biden with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden during the South Carolina Democratic primary on Saturday night. (Photo by Alex Brandon/via Getty Images)

Below is a catch-up of the significant events of this past week. You can check in with a minimal time commitment, read about the big stuff, and stay in the know before we’re on to the next. If you want more information on the past week's events, you can scroll through my Twitter; Bluesky; Spoutible; and Post News feeds for more detail on other topics that I don’t mention below.

Gun Violence This Week

There were seven separate mass shooting incidents in the United States this past week, where seven people were killed and 22 were injured. My Sunday recap covers this, as well as the week's most critical news. Here at SHERO, we document all mass shooting incidents for the week every Sunday, so please take a moment to review them and remember to keep up the fight for sensible gun reform. 

1. Sunday, January 28, 2024: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

2. Sunday, January 28, 2024: Compton, California

3. Sunday, January 28, 2024: Palm Bay, Florida

4. Sunday, January 28, 2024: Memphis, Tennessee

5. Monday, January 29, 2024: Grenada, Mississippi

6. Wednesday, January 31, 2024: New Orleans, Louisiana

7. Wednesday, January 31, 2024: Louisville, Kentucky

• The nation’s employers delivered a stunning burst of hiring to begin 2024, adding 353,000 jobs in January in the latest sign of the economy’s continuing ability to shrug off the highest interest rates in two decades.

• House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) has subpoenaed District Attorney Fani Willis of Fulton County, Georgia, demanding documents from her office following allegations that Willis fired a whistleblower who tried to stop a top campaign aide from misusing federal funds.

• After four months of intensive negotiations, the US Senate is on the verge of abandoning a bipartisan border security deal that Republicans once demanded as a precondition to new military aid for Ukraine. The text of the bill has yet to be released, but Senator Lankford (R-OK) claims the wording of the legislation will be made available this weekend.

• New campaign finance reports reveal that former President Trump's political fundraising apparatus spent more than $50 million on legal costs last year as he faced a barrage of lawsuits and criminal charges in multiple jurisdictions.