Trump's billionaires set to take government by storm … - They've been picked to lead the departments of Treasury (Scott Bessent), Commerce (Howard Lutnick), Education (Linda McMahon), Interior (Doug Burgum), the Small Business Administration (Kelly Loeffler) and NASA (Jared Isaacman).

Appeals Court Upholds U.S. Ban of TikTok  —  Panel rules Congress has the power to shut down Chinese-backed app in the U.S. because of national security concerns  —  A federal appeals court ruled Friday that TikTok can be banned in the U.S. over national security concerns …

Elon Musk spent a quarter-billion dollars electing Trump, including financing mysterious ‘RBG PAC’  —  The super PAC, which defended Trump on abortion, got its more than $20 million in funds came from the “Elon Musk Revocable Trust.”  —  Billionaire Elon Musk poured more than $20 million …

Of Course Joe Biden Was Right to Pardon His Son  —  People need to stop asking Democrats to play by different rules than Republicans, and they need to stop asking Biden to be a worse father than any of us would be in his place.  —  Bluesky  —  Pocket  —  Ido not believe I have read …

Health-care quality rating at 24-year low: Gallup  —  Americans' outlook on the quality of health care in the U.S. is at a 24-year low, according to a new survey.  —  The Gallup poll, released Friday, shows 33 percent of U.S. adults said the quality of American health care is excellent and 11 percent said it is good.

Romanian court cancels presidential election amid Russian influence fears  —  Constitutional court throws Romanian politics into turmoil, 2 days before runoff vote was due to take place.  —  BUCHAREST — Romania's top constitutional court on Friday dramatically cancelled high-stakes presidential elections …

Everybody Loves FRED: How America Fell for a Data Tool  —  From Facebook political debates to college classrooms, the St. Louis Fed's data tool has gained a major following.  —  Fans post about him on social media.  Swag bearing his name sells out on the regular.

Ocasio-Cortez launches bid for top role on Oversight, as some Dems predict she'll win  —  As Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez jumps into the race to be the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, she's testing how far her colleagues are willing to go as they shake up their leadership structure.

Eric Adams doesn't rule out switch to the GOP: ‘Cancel me’  —  The New York City mayor has been at odds with national Democrats over immigration.  —  NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who has taken a soft touch with President-elect Donald Trump, left open the possibility …

Paul Krugman retires as Times columnist  —  After nearly 25 years as an Opinion columnist, Paul is signing off.  —  I want to take you back to Jan. 2, 2000, a day when Y2K was in the rearview mirror and the dot-com bubble burst was just around the corner, when the Dow stood at a mighty 11,500 …

How Trump could bring on a second civil war  —  Trump may force a second civil war on America with his plan to use the military to round up at least 11 million undocumented people inside the United States — even if it means breaking up families — send them to detention camps, and then deport them.

Kash Patel's Podcast Problem  —  Prior to being a nominee to run the FBI, Patel appeared on a white nationalist's program—multiple times.  —  “Factions of Republican lawmakers at war over how to slash federal spending,” Politico reports, “are scrambling to recruit Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to their cause”:

Putin's Pals Say Tucker Carlson Is Acting as a Secret Back-Channel to Trump  —  GOING UNDERCOVER  —  Carlson traveled to Moscow to push the Kremlin's Ukraine propaganda in public, but what was he doing in private?  —  Tucker Carlson, the darling of the Russian state media …

US job growth surged in November, adding 227,000 jobs  —  Job growth surged in November, an expected rebound after hurricanes and striking workers heavily distorted the October data.  —  However, looking past the pendulum swing of recent months, the US labor market remains stable …

Tim Walz Says He Was ‘a Little Surprised’ Trump Won  —  In his first interviews since the election, Kamala Harris's running mate told Minnesota television stations that he had thought the country would embrace the Democratic ticket's positive message.  —  Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota …

The Trump NIH Pick Who Wants to Take On ‘Cancel Culture’ Colleges  —  Jay Bhattacharya would consider academic freedom at universities and medical schools seeking NIH grants  —  President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to lead the National Institutes of Health wants to take on campus culture …

‘Discomfort and anxiety’: Pentagon officials jittery as Hegseth drama plays out  —  The high-stakes battle on Capitol Hill over Pete Hegseth's quest to lead the Defense Department is causing no shortage of angst in the Pentagon, where officials are watching nervously to find out who their next boss will be.

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Most federal workers are not in D.C. See where they live.  —  Trump has promised to move 100,000 workers out of the “Washington Swamp.”  —  With the inauguration just weeks away, federal workers in Washington are bracing to see if President-elect Donald Trump and his administration fulfill …

Trump ushers in a Christian “deep state”: MAGA moves to gut the Constitution  —  Trump gave control of the budget to a Project 2025 henchman who calls this a “post-constitutional moment”  —  Far-right pastor Lance Wallnau is incredibly upset over the burgeoning controversies regarding Donald Trump's nominee …

In news deserts, Trump won in a landslide  —  But what does this election-result correlation mean?  —  Donald Trump won the 2024 election with one of the smallest popular-vote margins in U.S. history, but in news deserts - counties lacking a professional source of local news - it was an avalanche.

Melania Trump Credits Barron Trump With Helping His Father Win  —  “He was very vocal” in advising his father on appearing with media personalities popular with young people, Melania Trump said on the morning show “Fox & Friends.”  —  In her first interview since her husband won the presidential election …