Top Items:
Washington Post:
DHS inks contract to create its own fleet of Boeing 737s for deportations — The agency will spend nearly $140 million to buy the planes, funding that comes from a massive budget increase for immigration enforcement approved by Congress. … The Department of Homeland Security recently signed …
Discussion:
The Guardian, CNBC, Fox News, Financial Times, The Hill, Bloomberg, Raw Story, UPI, The Independent, NewsMax.com and Joe.My.God., more at Techmeme »
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Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
House GOP erupts over health care as leaders hunt for a plan
House GOP erupts over health care as leaders hunt for a plan
Discussion:
Popular Information, KDFX-TV and The Hill
Bloomberg:
US Forces Seize Sanctioned Oil Tanker Off the Coast of Venezuela — US forces intercepted and seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, marking a serious escalation of tensions between the two countries. — “We've just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela …
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Reuters:
US seizes oil tanker off coast of Venezuela, officials say — The U.S. has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, three officials told Reuters on Wednesday, a move that raised oil prices and is likely to further inflame tensions between Washington and Caracas.
Discussion:
CBS News, HotAir, NOTUS, Washington Examiner, The Atlantic, The Hill, CNBC, The Post Millennial, Daily Mail, The Independent, Modern Diplomacy, Mediaite and Reuters
NBC News:
U.S. seizes oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, Trump says — President Donald Trump told reporters about the seizure just after he said that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's “days are numbered” in an interview. — The U.S. military has seized an oil tanker off of Venezuela's coast …
Discussion:
Axios, New York Sun, Raw Story, Blaze Media, Washington Times, IJR, The Daily Caller, Vox, CBS News and Joe.My.God.
Morgan Phillips / Fox News:
Trump says US seizes massive Venezuelan oil tanker as showdown with Maduro erupts into new phase
Trump says US seizes massive Venezuelan oil tanker as showdown with Maduro erupts into new phase
Discussion:
Reuters, RedState, Townhall, New York Post, The Guardian, The National Pulse, The Independent and CBS News
Federal Register:
Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision; Arrival and Departure Record (Form I-94) and Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) — Published Document: 2025-22461 (90 FR 57208) — This document has been published in the Federal Register.
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NBC News:
Foreign tourists could be required to disclose 5 years of social media histories under Trump administration plan — The Customs and Border Protection proposal would apply even to countries that don't require visas to enter. — The Trump administration plans to require all foreign tourists …
Camilo Montoya-Galvez / CBS News:
Tourists from 42 countries will have to submit 5 years of social media history to enter U.S. under Trump plan — The Trump administration is proposing to ask visitors from several dozen nations that enjoy visa-free travel to the U.S. to submit additional personal information before entering the country …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Associated Press, Raw Story, ABC News, Bloomberg, New York Post, Metro.co.uk and New York Times, more at Techmeme »
Paul Krugman:
Trump Says That You Are the Problem — Last night Donald Trump gave an important speech on the economy in Pennsylvania — supposedly in a working-class area, although the actual venue was a luxury casino resort. The event was initially touted as the start of an “affordability tour,” …
Discussion:
National Journal, Ace of Spades HQ, The Mahablog, HuffPost, Roll Call, So What, El País, LGBTQ Nation, New Republic, Alternet.org and Breitbart
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Erin Doherty / Politico:
New poll paints a grim picture of a nation under financial strain
New poll paints a grim picture of a nation under financial strain
Discussion:
Salon, The Hill, Alternet.org, Quartz and New Republic
Matt Viser / Washington Post:
At the first stop on his affordability tour, Trump mocks affordability
At the first stop on his affordability tour, Trump mocks affordability
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Trump Says Americans Are Doing Great, Even as Views on the Economy Sour
Trump Says Americans Are Doing Great, Even as Views on the Economy Sour
Discussion:
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Advocate, No More Mister Nice Blog, Democrats, New York Post, CBS News, Alternet.org and Raw Story
Daniel Nichanian / Bolts:
In 2025, Democrats Flipped 21 Percent of GOP-Held Legislative Seats — At the start of Donald Trump's first presidency, in 2017, large Democratic victories in New Jersey and Virginia, paired with overperformances in special elections, foreshadowed the blue wave of the 2018 midterms.
Discussion:
Wonkette, Mother Jones, New Republic, Alternet.org, Newsweek and The Hill
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Matthew Yglesias / Slow Boring:
A Senate majority could be within Democrats' reach
Discussion:
Washington Post and NewsMax.com
Ethan Cohen / CNN:
Georgia Democrat Eric Gisler flips a state House seat in district Trump won by double digits, CNN projects
Georgia Democrat Eric Gisler flips a state House seat in district Trump won by double digits, CNN projects
Discussion:
New York Times, NBC News, Advocate, Florida Politics, Associated Press, Raw Story, Washington Times, Alternet.org, New Republic, NOTUS, The Downballot, Newsweek and Democrats
Jeff Cox / CNBC:
Divided Fed approves third rate cut this year, sees slower pace ahead — A Federal Reserve split over where its priorities should lie cut its key interest rate Wednesday, but signaled a tougher road ahead for further reductions. — Fulfilling expectations of a “hawkish cut,” …
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Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:
Trump says Fed could have ‘at least doubled’ latest interest rate cut
Trump says Fed could have ‘at least doubled’ latest interest rate cut
Discussion:
Scripps News, Bloomberg, Fortune, Reuters, NOTUS, The Hill, New York Sun, CBS News, Fox Business, Washington Examiner, Mediaite, KDFX-TV, Wall Street Journal, Quartz, NewsMax.com, El País, NBC News, New York Times, New York Times and The Japan Times
Connor O'Brien / Politico:
House passes defense bill, forcing Pentagon's hand on boat strike videos — The must-pass legislation also restricts the Trump administration from significantly reducing U.S. troop levels in Europe … Lawmakers' $901 billion compromise bill is the result of months of negotiations between House and Senate leaders.
Discussion:
Associated Press, New York Post, KDFX-TV, Dailyfly News, The Hill, CBS News, The War Zone and MS NOW
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Annie Karni / New York Times:
House Democrat Seeks to Impeach Kennedy for Undercutting Public Health
Discussion:
The Daily Wire, UPI, Townhall, Daily Mail, IJR, The Guardian, Axios, RedState, twitchy.com, Raw Story, Bloomberg, The Hill, New York Daily News, Newsweek and Joe.My.God.
Associated Press:
Live updates: Judge orders Trump to end California National Guard deployment in Los Angeles — The Trump administration must stop deploying the California National Guard in Los Angeles and return control of the troops to the state, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
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CBS News:
Tony Dokoupil named anchor of the “CBS Evening News” — Emmy Award-winning journalist Tony Dokoupil has been named anchor of the “CBS Evening News,” the network announced Wednesday. He begins his new role on Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, ushering in an ambitious new era for America's longest-running …
Ben Jacobs / New York Magazine:
The Messy New York GOP Fight Trump Tried and Failed to Avoid — What he told Bruce Blakeman about challenging Elise Stefanik for governor. — Bruce Blakeman's announcement that he is running for governor against fellow Republican Elise Stefanik caught many by surprise, not least of which was the White House.
Discussion:
Raw Story and Washington Examiner
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Grace Ashford / New York Times:
Trump Didn't Clear a Path for Stefanik in the N.Y. Governor's Race
Trump Didn't Clear a Path for Stefanik in the N.Y. Governor's Race
Discussion:
Politico and Washington Examiner
Humeyra Pamuk / Reuters:
Exclusive: US threatens new ICC sanctions unless court pledges not to prosecute Trump — President Donald Trump's administration wants the International Criminal Court to amend its founding document to ensure it does not investigate the Republican president and his top officials …
Discussion:
The Parnas Perspective, Foreign Policy, New Republic and Raw Story
Molly Guinness / archive.ph:
Father's anger at girl's potentially fatal testosterone dose — The child, who was 15 at the time, was given the prescription by the private GenderGP clinic after one online counselling session — The father of a child who was prescribed a potentially fatal dose of testosterone …
Arthur Jones II / Reuters:
Trump administration moves to end major student loan forgiveness plan: 'We won't tolerate it' — “The law is clear: if you take out a loan, you must pay it back.” — Education Secretary Linda McMahon speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Nov. 20, 2025, in Washington.
David Smith / The Guardian:
Wrong voters, wrong message: progressives' autopsy lays bare Kamala Harris failures — RootsAction report finds Harris courted moderates instead of working-class Democrats - and Gaza stance did not help — Kamala Harris lost last year's US presidential election because she chased …
Whitney Curry Wimbish / American Prospect:
For-Profit School Opening in For-Profit ICE Family Prison — A for-profit virtual education company accused of defrauding investors and other harms is set to run a new school at an immigration prison in Texas, according to job advertisements. — Stride, Inc., an S&P 600 corporation based in Virginia …
Jon Henley / The Guardian:
Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of poorest half of humanity, report finds — Data from World Inequality Report also showed top 10% of income-earners earn more than the other 90% — Fewer than 60,000 people - .001% of the world's population - control three times as much wealth …
Discussion:
Al Jazeera
Rachel Frazin / The Hill:
Roadmap for Trump's FEMA reforms set for release Thursday — The Trump administration is set to unveil its plan this week to reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a proposal that is sure to be contentious but is not expected to go as far as earlier calls to eliminate the agency completely.
Discussion:
Washington Post, New York Times, UPI, KDFX-TV, NewsMax.com and E&E News
Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
When G. Elliott Morris of Strength in Numbers asked ChatGPT to fact-check an article for him yesterday, the chatbot couldn't get its head around modern America. It told him there were “multiple factual impossibilities” in his article, including his statements that “[t]he current Secretary …
Discussion:
Mediaite and Semafor, more at Mediagazer »
Reese Gorman / NOTUS:
National Republicans Propped Up Jasmine Crockett to Push Her Into a Senate Run — Republicans' Senate campaign arm has actively worked behind the scenes to encourage Rep. Jasmine Crockett to jump into the Senate Democratic primary in Texas, believing she will be the easiest opponent to beat.
Discussion:
USA Today, Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Daily Mail, Megyn Kelly, RedState, Fox News, Sabato's Crystal Ball, HotAir, The Independent, New Republic and Mediaite
Carmen Paun / Politico:
3 Republican senators signal disapproval of HHS rule change seen as reducing transparency — Three GOP senators sided with Democrats on Wednesday to signal disapproval of a policy change the Department of Health and Human Services made early this year that critics said reduces transparency on grant making and contracts.
Associated Press:
Judge grants Justice Department request to unseal records from Epstein's 2019 sex trafficking case — Secret grand jury transcripts from Jeffrey Epstein's 2019 sex trafficking case can be made public, a judge ruled Wednesday, joining two other judges in granting the Justice Department's requests …
Discussion:
New York Times, CBS News, NBC News, Dailyfly News, Straight Arrow News, WTTG-TV, CNN, New York Daily News, The Gateway Pundit, Fox News, Joe.My.God., Raw Story, UPI, Metro.co.uk, Mediaite, The Post Millennial, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, HotAir, The Hill and Politico


