Desperately Seeking Susie  —  With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine, Ali Bianco and Rachel Umansky-Castro  —  Good Wednesday morning.  This is Jack Blanchard.  Get in touch.  —  In today's Playbook ...  — The real Susie Wiles stands up ... and D.C. is hanging on every word.

Trump moves to dismantle major US climate research center in Colorado  —  WASHINGTON ‒ The Trump administration is moving to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, according to a senior White House official, taking aim at one of the world's leading climate research labs.

Republican tensions boil over as ObamaCare deadline approaches  —  Republican tensions boiled over Tuesday in the Capitol over the fate of expiring ObamaCare subsidies that could play an outsized role in the race for the House next year.  —  Republican moderates lashed out at House GOP leadership …

Trump expands travel ban and restrictions to include an additional 20 countries  —  The Trump administration announced Tuesday it was expanding travel restrictions to an additional 20 countries and the Palestinian Authority, doubling the number of nations affected by sweeping limits announced earlier …

Spooked by AI and Layoffs, White-Collar Workers See Their Security Slip Away  —  Office workers are hanging on to their jobs for dear life  —  Office workers are filled with anxiety.  —  Tuesday's jobs report was the latest ominous sign in an era of big corporate layoff announcements and CEOs warning that AI will replace workers.

Trump orders blockade of ‘sanctioned oil tankers’ into Venezuela, ramping up pressure on Maduro  —  President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is ordering a blockade of all “sanctioned oil tankers” into Venezuela, ramping up pressure on the country's authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro.

Marjorie Taylor Greene says ‘dam is breaking’ within GOP against Trump  —  In a CNN interview, the Georgia congresswoman said Trump's reaction to the death of Rob Reiner was “classless” and she didn't see the GOP winning in the midterms. … Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) …

Trump officials privately raise doubts about Hassett for Fed chair … “He is ever present in media, appropriately defending the president, and that has value to the president,” the person added.  “But being a great communicator at the top of the Fed is probably not what anyone who seeks real change at the Fed is seeking as a skill.”

Judge lets Trump's ballroom construction proceed … “The court will hold them to that,” Leon said during a packed federal court hearing in Washington.  “They've got until the end of this month.”  —  Leon issued the ruling after accepting a classified filing from the government detailing …

Bari Weiss' much-hyped CBS News town hall with Erika Kirk was a massive ratings flop  —  According to Nielsen, the Saturday night town hall saw a 41 percent decline in in the key 25-54 advertising demographic compared to the network's standard programming in that time slot year to date.  —  in New York

2026 Economic Outlook, December 2025  —  More Than Six in Ten Say Economy is Not Working for Them Personally.... Economic Pessimism for 2026 Widespread  —  Americans have serious concerns about the economy and how these larger economic forces will influence their personal finances in 2026.

Trump's Son-In-Law Backs Out of Paramount's Takeover Bid  —  SEE YA!  —  Jared Kushner's firm will no longer back Paramount's takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery.  —  President Donald Trump's son-in-law has withdrawn his financial backing for a massive media merger that could give …

Unprecedented errors are eroding the credibility of Trump's Justice Department  —  As President Donald Trump's crime crackdown got underway in Washington, D.C., in August, federal agents and police spotted a man named Torez Riley tugging at his backpack inside a Trader Joe's store, searched it and recovered two firearms.

Second near midair collision reported near Venezuela involving US Air Force tanker  —  South America Federal agencies US military Airplane crashes  —  Radio transmissions reviewed by CNN show that the pilots of a private jet narrowly avoided a collision with a United States Air Force refueling …

Jared Kushner's firm backs out of Paramount's Warner Bros. bid  —  Affinity Partners, the fund tied to President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, has backed out of Paramount's bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, Axios has confirmed. … - If the board does reject Paramount's offer …

Coast Guard enacts policy calling swastikas, nooses ‘potentially divisive’  —  A new workplace harassment manual that downgrades the definition of such symbols quietly went into effect this week.  —  Just now … The U.S. Coast Guard has allowed a new workplace harassment policy to take effect …

“I've Never Seen So Many Police Cars”  —  On a dark November evening, I find myself outside a unit at a garden-style apartment complex in Memphis, its parking lot alight in flashing blues and reds.  The police are here—about a dozen cars—responding to reports of a violent crime.

Trump Dangles Cash Payments to Buoy Voters' Views of the Economy  —  With tariffs unpopular and prices still high, the White House has teased the promise of tariff rebates and large tax refunds next year.  —  Tariffs are unpopular, prices remain stubbornly high and Americans are souring on President Trump's handling of the economy.