Top Items:
Nicholas Wu / Politico:
Democrats are ready to campaign on expired Obamacare subsidies … “The public now gets that the subsidies are what's keeping health care costs down,” said Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.). “I think the public's angry. So I think they will blame the party in charge.” — The strategy has been months in the making.
Discussion:
New York Times and Newsweek
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Punchbowl News:
1/2/26 ☀️ AM: … Today is the last day of Congress' winter break. So please enjoy it while you still can. … Your holiday fog has probably — hopefully — lifted by now, so we want to refocus your attention on Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune …
Discussion:
Mercury News
Alex Ellerbeck / New York Times:
A.C.A. Subsidies Have Expired. How Are You Affording Health Care? — Despite a government shutdown and months of political fighting over health care, Congress failed to reach a deal last year to extend enhanced subsidies for health insurance on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces.
Julie Roginsky / Salty Politics with Julie Roginsky:
MAGA Voters F-Ed Around. In 2026, They're Finding Out.
Discussion:
Scripps News, WUSA, Raw Story and The Hill
New York Times:
Mamdani's First Orders Focus on Housing and Undoing Adams's Decisions — Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed a flurry of executive orders on his first day as mayor of New York City. They were aimed at protecting tenants and revoking some of ex-Mayor Eric Adams's past orders.
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Deanna Garcia / Spectrum News NY1:
Mamdani signs executive orders aimed at addressing housing in NYC — On his first day as mayor, Zohran Mamdani signed executive orders that aim to address housing in the city Thursday afternoon in Brooklyn. — “These are sweeping measures, but it is just the beginning of comprehensive measure …
Discussion:
New York Daily News, abc7NY, New York Times and New York Post
Jasmine Baehr / Fox News:
Hours after taking office, NYC Mayor Mamdani targets landlords, moves to intervene in private bankruptcy case — Three orders create tenant protection office and task forces to accelerate housing development — Sworn in at midnight and again hours later publicly, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani used …
Discussion:
Matzav.com, IJR, abc7NY and New York Times
Stephen Fowler / NPR:
With few Epstein files released, conspiracy theories flourish and questions remain — During the 2024 election, President Trump promised to release the Epstein files as part of a campaign message arguing the government was run by powerful people hiding the truth from Americans.
Andrew Prokop / Vox:
Elon Musk created a monster that's tearing the right apart — Since Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, it has often seemed that he transformed a platform that favored progressives into one that bolstered the right instead. — And in the years after that purchase, the right's political fortunes improved dramatically.
Talya Minsberg / New York Times:
Ocasio-Cortez Urges New Yorkers to Celebrate Mamdani's Inauguration as Their Own — Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, speaking at Zohran Mamdani's inauguration, said that his election represented New Yorkers' choosing “prosperity for the many over spoils for the few.”
Discussion:
France 24, twitchy.com, Breitbart, NewsMax.com and ABC News
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Julia Shapero / The Hill:
Ocasio-Cortez touts ‘new era for New York City’ at Mamdani inauguration
Ocasio-Cortez touts ‘new era for New York City’ at Mamdani inauguration
Discussion:
Breitbart, Washington Examiner and El País
New York Post:
Zohran Mamdani fans disappointed by disastrous ‘block party’ with no food, bathrooms — This “block party” was a bust. — Scores of Zohran Mamdani fans who braved freezing temperatures to celebrate the new mayor as he was publicly sworn into office Thursday were left disappointed by the bash the socialist pol had promised.
Discussion:
New York Times, CNN, Breitbart, The Singju Post, IJR, NewsMax.com and RedState
Matthew Purdy / New York Times:
After Watergate, the Presidency Was Tamed. Trump Is Unleashing It. — In the 1970s, Congress passed a raft of laws to hold the White House accountable. President Trump has decided they don't apply to him. — A power-hungry president had twisted the government into a tool for his personal political benefit.
Ben Berkowitz / Axios:
Trump's wealth grew in 2025, but his investors took lumps — Retail investors had the chance in 2025 to put their money directly on Donald Trump, in a way unlike any American presidency in history. — A couple of those bets didn't work out so well.
Discussion:
Bloomberg
Ramsey Al-Rikabi / Bloomberg:
Trump Says US Ready to ‘Rescue’ Iran Protesters If Attacked — President Donald Trump pledged that the US will come to the rescue of Iranian protesters if they are attacked by Islamic Republic authorities. — “If Iran shots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom …
Discussion:
CBS News, RedState, Washington Examiner, Mediaite, Al Jazeera, Raw Story, Fox News, New York Post, Radio Free Europe/Radio … and The Independent
Parker Molloy / The Present Age:
House Republicans Buried the Jack Smith Transcript on New Year's Eve. I Read It So You Don't Have To. — 12 takeaways from Smith's closed-door testimony — House Republicans released the 255-page transcript of Jack Smith's closed-door deposition on New Year's Eve.
Discussion:
NBC News and twitchy.com
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Patrick Djordjevic / The Hill:
EPA urged to classify abortion drugs as pollutants — (NewsNation) — Anti-abortion group Students for Life of America is urging the Environmental Protection Agency to add abortion drug mifepristone to its list of water contaminants. — It follows 40 other anti-abortion groups …
Discussion:
Daily Caller News Foundation
Wall Street Journal:
Another Trump Tariff Retreat — This time it's a delay for a year on higher taxes on upholstered furniture and kitchen cabinets. — One of the striking contradictions of President Trump's tariffs is the way his chorus claims their rousing success even as he carves out hundreds of exceptions.
Discussion:
NewsMax.com, Raw Story, Newsweek, Al Jazeera and Grabien
Rachel Bluth / Politico:
Medicaid, ICE and a ticking clock for undocumented Californians … “We live in a new reality,” said Velez, the director of policy at the Latino Coalition For A Healthy California, a group that advocates for health policy in Sacramento and funds community health workers on the ground.
Discussion:
Raw Story
David Forbes / Trans News Network:
‘A Directive From Above’: Former NYT Editor Lays Out How The Paper Pushes Anti-Trans Bigotry — Follow the Trans News Network Bluesky starter pack here, and find our other socials here. — The New York Times headquarters, taken from Wikimedia Commons. — Subscribe to TNN — Support us!
Tunku Varadarajan / Wall Street Journal:
Q&A: Curtis Sliwa — He lost the race become New York's mayor to Zohran Mamdani, but the Guardian Angels founder tips his red beret to the ‘Z Man.’ — Curtis Sliwa was the Republican candidate in the 2025 New York mayoral election, his second consecutive losing run for mayor.
