Good morning. The ten-day countdown to Christmas has begun. That means there’s still just enough time to avoid giving everyone on your list gift cards.

Some scientists believe it’s theoretically possible to use black holes as gigantic space batteries. Now if we could only figure out how to make an iPhone’s battery last as long as an old Nokia’s.

We’ve got a lot in store today:

• The next EU member is…

• The House goes to recess

• The Lesser Known Candidates Forum

• Robots vs. Michelangelo

• And much more!

Here is today’s edition of The Elective:

 UKRAINE 

Ukraine achieves next step in EU membership

European Union officials voted to begin membership negotiations with Ukraine yesterday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the move "a victory for all of Europe."

What happened: Support to begin negotiations has to be unanimous among the 27 EU members. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, long the EU's odd man out, opposed the vote. But the EU unfroze $11 billion in Hungarian assets (basically EU government refunds) ahead of the vote. Like magic, Orbán disappeared during the vote. Voila! Unanimous consent. It's unclear if he received anything else in return for allowing the vote to go forward.

The process: Accession negotiations are the second major step toward EU membership. Here are the basics:

• Candidacy: A nation first must be granted candidate status. Then they agree to all sorts of framework items.

• Negotiations: Ukraine is here. They'll need to change loads of national laws to fit in with the rest of the EU. On average, this step takes four years.

• Ratification: Every member state then ratifies a treaty officially bringing the new country into the Union.

What Ukraine gets: The EU is not a defensive alliance. But Ukraine would get the economic security that comes with membership. To maintain a minimum standard of living across its members, the EU hands out billions in aid to poorer countries. Ukrainians would also get free movement across the EU and easy access to its labor markets.

What the EU gets: The EU would get easier access to Ukraine's natural resources. Depending on what the borders look like after the war, that could include huge reserves of iron, lithium, and coal. Ukraine also has more arable land than any other nation in Europe (well, aside from Russia). Of course, the EU would also get a huge new border with Russia. That would present big security and migration challenges.

The EU also voted to begin negotiations with Moldova (the little country squeezed between Ukraine and Romania).

 CONGRESS 

Impeachment: The House voted to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. This doesn't mean he’s being impeached. An impeachment inquiry is just a formal investigation that may or may not result in an impeachment vote…that may or may not succeed…that would almost certainly fail in the Senate. The accusations of wrongdoing here involve the business dealings of the president’s family while he was vice president.

Hunter Biden: First Son Hunter Biden refused a congressional subpoena. The House demanded he testify in a private hearing looking into his business dealings. The president's son said he would only testify in public. Rep. James Comer, chair of the committee doing the investigating, said Biden should be charged with contempt of Congress for the refusal.

NDAA: Both houses of Congress have now passed the $886 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). President Biden says he’ll sign it. The 3,000+ page bill includes a five-percent military pay hike (the largest in over 20 years) and a controversial four-month extension of federal surveillance programs.

McCarthy: Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (2023-2023) gave his last speech as a member of Congress. The overthrown speaker is resigning from the House at the end of the month. In his farewell address, the Californian said he’d “do it all again” and wouldn’t change a thing (except for maybe the part where he got tossed from the speakership, one would imagine).

Recess: The House is done for the year. They began their holiday recess yesterday. But the Senate will be back in D.C. next week working on a compromise immigration and foreign aid package.

 POLITICS 

⚪ New Hampshire held its famous Lesser-Known Candidates Forum. Ballot access rules vary by state. All New Hampshire requires is $1,000 and a signature. Consequently, 45 people are running for president in next month’s primaries. Almost all of them are random nobodies. That list includes:

• A perennial candidate named Vermin Supreme who wears a boot on his head and wants to give everyone a pony

• A businessman from Maryland trying to prevent the zombie apocalypse

• A person named Paperboy Love Prince who dressed like a genie and wore a GameBoy as a necklace

• A retired firefighter from Ohio who knows he can’t beat Trump but thinks he might be able to take on Nikki Haley

🔵 President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will campaign in South Carolina before the state's Feb. 3 presidential primary. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) controversially moved South Carolina to the front of the line, jumping the traditional early states of Iowa and New Hampshire. New Hampshire refused to play along and scheduled its primary for Jan. 23. As punishment, the DNC stripped the state of its convention delegates and Biden will not be on the ballot.

🔴 Former NJ Gov. Chris Christie isn't going anywhere. The man basing his entire campaign on a win in New Hampshire just lost the endorsement of the state's popular governor to his opponent, Nikki Haley. And voters are taking notice. At a campaign event, someone asked Christie if it would be better to drop out and support Haley to help stop former President Trump. Christie's response: "Yeah, I don't think so." Per a campaign spokesman, the governor's endorsement of Haley only "puts us down one vote” (sure, Jan).

🔵 Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, who is challenging President Joe Biden in the Democratic primary, is also not going anywhere. He hinted he'll stay in the race and make his case at the Democratic National Convention next summer. Convention delegates formally choose the nominee after the primaries. Phillips promised to support the person best positioned to defeat GOP frontrunner Donald Trump. As you would expect, he believes he is that candidate. Democratic activists worry a long campaign by Phillips will only hurt Biden in the general election. But the congressman says he's avoiding saying anything too harmful to Biden. That's a tough balancing act to maintain while running against the man.

🔴 Sen. Mitt Romney will not endorse a candidate in the Republican presidential primary. Though he was the party's 2012 nominee, Romney says his endorsement "would be the kiss of death." He believes Trump is the likely nominee but that Nikki Haley "has a shot, but it's a long shot." Romney is retiring from the Senate next year.

 TRIVIA 

 WORLD 

🇮🇱 U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan visited Israel. He advised the country to end its ground war in Gaza within three weeks and switch to a more targeted campaign. Israel says that’s the plan. President Biden said yesterday he wanted Israel to both fight Hamas and focus on saving civilian lives.

🇬🇧 Russian President Vladimir Putin said there will be peace in Ukraine…when Russia achieves its goals there. The comments came at a formal (but pre-scripted) press conference — the first open to Western journalists since the Feb. 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

🇺🇳 The U.N.'s COP28 climate conference in Dubai is over. Two weeks of negotiations came up with...a non-binding resolution (very important stuff, here). The Global Stockdale agreement calls on countries to, if possible, transition away from fossil fuels (among other things).

🇪🇺 Police in Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands arrested seven people for allegedly planning terrorist attacks on Jewish institutions. The suspects include four possible Hamas members.

 BRIEFS 

💰 Mark Zuckerburg is building a $270 million compound in Kauai, Hawaii. When complete, it will allegedly feature a 5,000-square-foot bunker, its own energy supply, its own food production, and more.

🎞️ The Library of Congress added 25 movies to the National Film Registry. Among the selections: "Home Alone" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas." “Home Alone” director Chris Columbus (no, not that one) called it his life's "biggest honor."

🏀 Virginia might soon no longer be the most populous state without major pro sports. The state has a tentative deal to move the NBA's Washington Wizards and the NHL's Washington Capitals from D.C. to Alexandria, VA (a D.C. suburb).

🗿 The next great artist might not be human. The Italian home of Michelangelo’s favored marble is now home to a startup producing robotic sculptors. Don’t worry, though — humans still need to add the finishing touches.

🏀 After smacking another player in the face, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has been suspended "indefinitely" by the NBA. Green has a long history of "accidental" violence against other players on the court.

 QUOTE 

 ANSWER 

Before becoming president in 2019, Volodymyr Zelenskyy was an actor and comedian. His most famous role was, no joke, as president of Ukraine in a comedy series. He also provided the voice of Paddington Bear in the Ukrainian dubs of Paddington and Paddington 2.