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5:20 PM ET, December 19, 2025

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 Top Items: 
Washington Post:
Kennedy Center adds Trump's name to building  —  The signage change follows a vote by the board of trustees to rename the performing arts complex “the Trump Kennedy Center.” … The Kennedy Center began updating signage on the exterior of the building Friday morning, a day after its board voted …
RELATED:
Helene Cooper / New York Times:
Trump Administration Live Updates: Kennedy Center Adds Trump's Name to Facade  —  Where Things Stand  — Kennedy Center: President Trump's name was already being added to the performing arts center in Washington early Friday, just a day after its board moved to rename it the Trump-Kennedy Center.
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
Trump, Hunger Games, and the Kennedy Center  —  The dystopia everyone said was impossible is already here.  —  ∙ Paid  —  The Secret Podcast will drop later today.  It's a long one.  —  1. Back to the Future  —  Imagine that it's October 2024.
Discussion: CNN and NBC4 Washington
Matt Vespa / Townhall:
What Trump Did to the Kennedy Center Triggered a Level-Five Lib Meltdown  —  When Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), aka Temu Obama, says this move was illegal, a) you know you struck a chord with the Left, and b) prepare to watch some fireworks.  President Trump, who has low-key assimilated the Kennedy Center …
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
Screw It. Let's Rename the Moon.
Gregory Svirnovskiy / Politico:
DOJ won't meet Friday deadline to release all the Epstein files … “I expect that we're going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks, so today several hundred thousand and then over the next couple weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more,” Blanche said.
RELATED:
Rebecca Beitsch / The Hill:
Blanche says DOJ won't release full Epstein files to Congress by Friday deadline  —  Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Department of Justice (DOJ) would not be releasing the full Epstein files to Congress Friday as required under new legislation, instead sending over a partial batch.
Washington Post:
Justice Department releases huge trove of Jeffrey Epstein documents  —  Hundreds of thousands of files are to be released today, with more in the weeks to come. … The Justice Department began releasing a huge trove of documents Friday connected to the deceased financier …
Brooke Singman / Fox News:
Epstein files explode open as DOJ details discovery of powerful figures and more than 1,200 victims
Axios:
Dems threaten lawsuit as DOJ says it will miss Epstein files deadline
Jacob Knutson / Democracy Docket:
DOJ Chickens Out on Epstein Files Release in Violation of New Law
Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:
Elise Stefanik Drops Out of N.Y. Governor's Race and Will Leave Congress  —  Ms. Stefanik, a Republican congresswoman and staunch ally of President Trump, abruptly ended her bid to unseat Gov. Kathy Hochul and said she would not seek another House term.  —  Representative Elise Stefanik of New York …
Discussion: The National Pulse
RELATED:
Ben Jacobs / New York Magazine:
Stefanik Says She Is Quitting the Governor's Race and Won't Run for Reelection  —  Why the Republican is leaving politics.  —  Congresswoman Elise Stefanik says she is dropping out of the New York governor's race and will not run for reelection to the House after finishing her term in office.
Politico:
Rep. Elise Stefanik set to drop her bid for NYS governor … ALBANY, New York — Rep. Elise Stefanik is expected to drop her bid for New York governor, according to three people with knowledge of her decision.  —  Stefanik entered the race to challenge Gov. Kathy Hochul in November …
Jesse Arm / City Journal:
Everyone Wants to Know What Gen Z Republicans Think.  We Asked Them.  —  Twenty GOP Zoomers on Trump, Hitler, dating, racism, politics, the economy, and more  —  Gen Z conservatives are often portrayed by the media as a cohort radicalized by economic despair.
Zach Schonfeld / The Hill:
Trump's win streak on Supreme Court emergency docket breaks  —  The Supreme Court refused to intervene Friday in a battle concerning immigration judges' speech restrictions, for now, snapping the Trump administration's months-long winning streak on the court's emergency docket.
RELATED:
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Supreme Court rebuffs Trump in immigration judges' free-speech case
Discussion: New York Times
Mitt Romney / New York Times:
Tax the Rich, Like Me  —  In 2012, political ads suggested that some of my policy proposals, if enacted, would amount to pushing grandma off a cliff.  Actually, my proposals were intended to prevent that very thing from happening.  —  Today, all of us, including our grandmas …
Hafiz Rashid / New Republic:
Trump Judge Threatens to Hold Government in Contempt Over ICE  —  A Trump-appointed judge was so upset with the living conditions in which ICE detained an immigrant in Long Island, New York, that he threatened to hold the government in contempt.  —  U.S. District Judge Gary Brown …
RELATED:
Santul Nerkar / New York Times:   Trump-Appointed Judge Flays ICE Over Conditions in Long Island Lockup
HuffPost:
ICE Says U.S. Citizen's Birth Certificate Is Fake After Arresting Her: Attorneys  —  Dulce Consuelo Diaz Morales was arrested on Sunday.  ICE won't release her despite extensive documentation of her citizenship, her attorneys told HuffPost.  —  A Maryland woman has spent days …
RELATED:
Nick Valencia News:
ICE Detained a U.S.-Born American Citizen and Won't Release Her: Attorney
Discussion: Oregonian
Washington Post:
Trump's pardons wipe out payments to defrauded victims  —  In addition to clearing prison sentences, the president's clemency actions have erased millions in restitution payments. … By the time a federal judge in 2023 sentenced convicted fraudster Trevor Milton to four years in prison …
Samuel Moyn / The Guardian:
It's time to accept that the US supreme court is illegitimate and must be replaced  —  We need to remake the US high court so Americans don't suffer future decades of oligarchy-facilitating rule  —  The justices of the US supreme court - even its conservatives - have traditionally valued their institution's own standing.
Associated Press:
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's daughter calls TSA ‘unconstitutional’ after pat-down  —  One of U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's daughters said she experienced an “absurdly invasive” pat-down Thursday at an airport security checkpoint and suggested her father would limit …
Discussion: Raw Story and The Gateway Pundit
RELATED:
Faris Tanyos / CBS News:
Motive sought after suspect in Brown University shooting, MIT professor's killing found dead, officials say  —  What to know about the investigations into the Brown University shooting and the killing of an MIT professor:  — The suspect in the Dec. 13 mass shooting on the campus …
Madeline Fening / Cincinnati CityBeat:
Cincinnati ICE Leader Charged Federally, Booked into Butler County Jail  —  “This may be the first time an ICE agent is incarcerated in his own ICE jail,” said Lynn Tramonte, executive director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance.  — Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
Al Weaver / The Hill:
Lummis announces retirement from Senate  —  Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) announced on Friday that she will not seek reelection to the upper chamber next year, setting up an open seat primary in the ruby red state.  —  Lummis made the announcement after the Senate adjourned for the holiday break …
Catherine Rampell / The Bulwark:
Trump Is Walloping Construction Businesses.  The Industry Stays Quiet.  —  Raids on work sites.  Roofers under siege.  But builders keep mum.  —  ∙ Paid  —  WHEN LEO FELER GOT HOME, there was blood everywhere.  On his front door, the window sills, the foyer.
New York Post:
Zohran Mamdani appointee resigns after vile antisemitic social media posts resurface  —  A high-profile Zohran Mamdani appointee resigned Thursday after newly unearthed posts revealed a series of antisemitic comments online — including rants about “money hungry Jews” and defunding NYPD “piggies.”
NBC News:
Jack Smith says Americans should ‘hear the fact’ of Trump probes, wants deposition tapes released  —  Jack Smith wants the American public to “hear the facts” about his two criminal cases against Trump, asking Trump ally Jim Jordan to release video of his eight-hour testimony during …
Rebecca Falconer / Axios:
Trump pauses green card lottery program after Brown University, MIT shootings  —  President Trump ordered the suspension of a green card lottery program that enabled the suspect in the Brown University mass shooting and killing of an MIT professor to live in the U.S, a top official announced late Thursday.
Andrew Howard / Politico:
MAGA infighting erupts at Turning Point USA Conference … “The conservative movement is in serious danger,” Shapiro said, arguing the danger is not just on the left, but “from charlatans who claim to speak in the name of principle but actually traffic in conspiracism and dishonesty.”
Radley Balko / The Watch:
104 murders in 107 days  —  One of the more surreal phenomena of the last year is the way in which our fleeting news cycle and plodding legal system combine to distract us from this administration's atrocities.  —  On the legal side, the federal courts operate on a “doctrine of regularity” …
Discussion: CBS News and New York Times
Dallas Morning News:
Media groups hail ruling to unseal AG Ken Paxton's divorce records  —  Judge agrees to open case filed by Paxton's wife, Angela, a state senator who accused the attorney general of infidelity.  —  Update:  —  1:30 p.m. Dec. 19, 2025: This story was updated with details from the hearing.
CNN:
Exclusive: Top lawyer for military joint chiefs told chairman that officers should retire if faced with an unlawful order  —  How should a military commander respond if they determine they have received an unlawful order?  —  Request to retire — and refrain from resigning in protest …
Discussion: Raw Story
 
 
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 More Items: 
Adrian Carrasquillo / The Bulwark:
The Americans Who Stood Up for Immigrants This Year
Dan Diamond / Washington Post:
Drug companies line up to make deals with Trump after initial hesitation
Jonathan Lambert / NPR:
America's new top health diplomat has strong opinions on abortion and gender
Bill Grueskin / Columbia Journalism Review:
Auf Wiedersehen  —  The year's most worthy laurels and most dreadful darts, from your departing columnist.
Amanda Moore / Mother Jones:
The Horns and Whistles Work
Washington Post:
H-1B workers flew to India to renew U.S. visas. Now they're stuck.
Bloomberg:
White House Investigates Mystery Video Stream on Website
Discussion: Associated Press and New Republic
 Earlier Items: 
Will McCarthy / Politico:
I Drove 700 Miles Through California's Absurd New Congressional District
Sam Levin / The Guardian:
Revealed: FBI opened domestic terrorism investigations into anti-ICE activity across US
Discussion: New Republic
Bobby Allyn / NPR:
TikTok signs deal to give U.S. operations to Oracle-led investor group
Paul Krugman:
Lies, Damned Lies and Trump Speeches
Discussion: The Hill and Meidas+
The Athletic:
Rams star Puka Nacua apologizes for antisemitic dance on livestream
 

 
From Techmeme:

Financial Times:
Memo: TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew says ByteDance's US entities will retain direct control over core US revenue drivers, including ecommerce, ads, and marketing

Blake Brittain / Reuters:
Google sues data scraping company SerpApi, alleging it used millions of fake search requests to access copyrighted content and sold it to third parties

Beatrice Nolan / Fortune:
Cursor-developer Anysphere acquires code review startup Graphite and says Graphite will continue operating as an independent product

 
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