Republican Kevin McCarthy wrapped his first full week as House speaker in the most outwardly orderly way. There was hardly a hint of the chaotic, rebellious fight it took for the Republicans to arrive here, having barely installed him as the leader with the gavel. The House Republicans marched through the early days of the session passing bills, choosing committee chairman, even requesting its first documents for investigations of President Joe Biden and his family. But the semblance of House GOP unity is all but certain to be temporary as Congress faces more difficult questions ahead around spending cuts and the federal debt limit.

Virtually everything was going right for President Joe Biden to open the year. Biden's approval ratings were ticking up. Inflation was slowing. And Republicans were at war with themselves after a disappointing midterm season. But Biden's rosy political outlook veered into uncertainty Thursday after the Justice Department appointed a special counsel to investigate the Democratic president's handling of classified documents. Democrats concede the stunning development is at best an unwelcome distraction at an inopportune time that muddies the case against Donald Trump. The Republican former president faces a special counsel of his own and is under federal criminal investigation for his handling of classified documents and other potential transgressions.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has notified Congress that the U.S. is projected to reach its debt limit on Thursday and will then resort to "extraordinary measures" to avoid default. Those measures include delaying some payments in order to provide some headroom to make other payments that are deemed essential, like those for Social Security and debt instruments. Yellen said Friday that while her department can't estimate how long extraordinary measures will allow the U.S. to continue to pay the government's obligations, "it is unlikely that cash and extraordinary measures will be exhausted before early June."

The federal government is on track to max out on its $31.4 trillion borrowing authority as soon as this month. That starts the clock on an expected standoff between President Joe Biden and the new House Republican majority. Both political parties' ability to navigate a divided Washington will be tested, with the fragile global economy at stake. Once the cap is hit the Treasury Department will be unable to issue new debt without congressional action. The government could be at risk of defaulting, possibly in midsummer, unless lawmakers and the Democratic president agree to lift the limit on the U.S. government's ability to borrow.

State and local Republican leaders in New York are calling for the immediate resignation of their new GOP congressman George Santos. Santos is facing multiple investigations by prosecutors over his personal and campaign finances and lies about his resume and family heritage. Santos was swarmed by reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday and flatly rejected the call for him to resign, saying, "I will not." The chair of the Nassau County Republican Committee said that Santos' "lies were not mere fibs" and that he had "disgraced" the U.S. House. But the local party has no mechanism to remove Santos from office. Santos was sworn in to the U.S. House last week.