Trump Advisers Seek to Shrink or Eliminate Bank Regulators  —  Advisers asked potential nominees whether Trump could abolish the FDIC  —  The Trump transition team has started to explore pathways to dramatically shrink, consolidate or even eliminate the top bank watchdogs in Washington.

FBI didn't deploy undercover agents on Jan. 6, watchdog report finds, undercutting conspiracy theories  —  The DOJ inspector general also said the FBI should have done more to canvass its sources in advance of Jan. 6 to try to understand the potential for violence.

Jeff Bezos' Amazon Plans to Donate $1 Million to Trump's Inauguration  —  The tycoon, long a Trump foe, is among tech leaders seeking improved ties with the president-elect  —  Amazon.com is planning a $1 million donation to president-elect Donald Trump's inaugural fund …

Trump's Middle East Adviser Pick Is a Small-Time Truck Salesman  —  The lore around Massad Boulos, Tiffany Trump's father-in-law, is that he is a billionaire dealmaker.  Records show otherwise.  —  The lore around Massad Boulos, Tiffany Trump's father-in-law, is that he is a billionaire dealmaker.

It's Time to Break Up Big Medicine  —  The saga of the UnitedHealth Care CEO assassination has, as could be expected, now turned into a discussion of our health care system.  Elizabeth Warren, for instance, is making the obvious point that people hate the health care system.

Christopher Wray Is Preparing to Sabotage Trump and Patel  —  On Wednesday, Christopher Wray announced that he is resigning as director of the FBI.  —  “After weeks of careful thought, I've decided the right thing for the bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration …

Wellness Goes to Washington  —  Behind MAHA, RFK Jr.'s alternative-health movement, is a legion of Instagram influencers with millions of followers.  —  On instagram, the wellness women don't seem like a political movement.  Their pictures scroll by like snapshots from heaven.

Biden clemency announcement gets mixed reviews on Capitol Hill: 'Where's the bar?'  —  ‘Does that tell you how corrupt he thinks this administration has been?’ asked one House Republican  —  President Biden's act of clemency, the largest in a single day, has left some congressional Republicans unhappy …

Trump says reducing food prices will be ‘very hard,’ after campaign promise to cut costs  —  Trump said he would pardon people convicted of participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol within the first minutes or hours of taking office.

'Now she's the world's problem': Some Arizona Republicans relieved Lake is heading to Washington  —  She's still expected to play a role in Arizona politics.  —  President-elect Donald Trump's pick of longtime loyalist Kari Lake to lead Voice of America has some Arizona Republicans breathing a sigh of relief.

University of Michigan May Fire D.E.I. Official Over Antisemitism Claim  —  The official, an administrator of multicultural programs, was accused of making antisemitic remarks in a private conversation.  She has denied the allegations.  —  The University of Michigan is considering firing …

China's Xi is likely to decline Trump's inauguration invitation, seeing it as too risky to attend  —  Chinese leader Xi Jinping would likely see President-elect Donald Trump's invitation to attend his inauguration as too risky to accept, and the gesture from Trump may have little bearing …

Republicans clash over ‘SALT’ deduction as they seek to extend Trump's tax law  —  Early battle lines are forming over a contentious issue that has split Republicans in high-tax states from their other colleagues as they plan a big tax bill next year.  —  WASHINGTON — A group …

SEC charges Cantor Fitzgerald, led by Trump's Commerce pick, with breaking securities laws … WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday charged global financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald with violating laws related to disclosures by so-called blank-check companies before they raised money from the public.

House Republicans launch investigation into CVS Caremark for potential antitrust violations  —  House Republicans want to know whether pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) CVS Caremark violated federal antitrust laws by threatening independent pharmacies to keep them from using money-saving tools outside the PBM's network.

White House releases strategy to counter anti-Muslim, anti-Arab hate  —  U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday released a long-awaited strategy for countering anti-Muslim and anti-Arab hate, up sharply since the start of the Israel-Gaza war, calling for urgent, continued work to reduce discrimination and bias.

Jeffries super PAC looks deep into GOP territory for 2026 map  —  A super PAC closely aligned with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is circling districts that voted for their Republican incumbents by as much as 30 percentage points as it charts a course back to the majority

Biden commutes sentence for Kids-for-Cash judge  —  Former Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Conahan, who gained notoriety for wrongfully imprisoning juveniles in the Kids-for-Cash scandal, is one of nearly 1,500 inmates whose sentences President Joe Biden commuted Thursday as his term in office comes to a close.

Was mocking Musk a mistake?  Democrats think about warmer relationship with the billionaire  —  Democrats had soured on the richest man on the planet.  But a few are starting to wonder if that was a mistake.  —  Ro Khanna is trading texts with Elon Musk.  Josh Shapiro took a call from him.

Los Angeles Times Owner Wades Deeper Into Opinion Section  —  Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong's public comments and actions, including recently blocking an editorial weighing in on President-elect Trump's cabinet picks, have concerned many staff members.  —  After President-elect Donald J. Trump announced …

EXCLUSIVE: Biden Races To Sell Off Border Wall Parts Before Trump Takes Office  —  ‘The goal is to move all of it off the border before Christmas,’ Arizona border patrol agent tells The Daily Wire  —  The Biden administration is using its final weeks to haul a massive amount …

Democrats Ask That Trump Cabinet Picks Produce Communications With Epshteyn  —  The two top Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee said prospective nominees should be prepared to testify about any discussions with Boris Epshteyn about their selections.  —  The two top Democrats …

Exclusive: Officer who killed Ashli Babbitt abandoned US Capitol post for card game, lied to investigators about it, source says  —  The U.S. Capitol Police lieutenant who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt at the Capitol on Jan. 6 was recommended for termination in 2001 for abandoning his post …

The Postal Service's electric mail trucks are way behind schedule  —  Defense contractor Oshkosh had only delivered 93 trucks by November — compared to 3,000 originally expected by now.  The delays put Biden's climate goals at risk.  —  Bogage has covered the Postal Service since 2020 …

AOC faces Pelosi-led slugfest for Oversight role … - The fight comes as several septuagenarian committee ranking members are facing desperate battles against - or yielding to - younger challengers.  — “Many members are concerned about [the] precedent these races are setting,” one senior House Democrat told Axios.

Rand Paul balks at Trump GOP's big-dollar border agenda  —  Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is deeply skeptical of some of President-elect Trump's and GOP leadership's aggressive border plans. … Paul, an infamous deficit hawk and libertarian, will chair the committee that oversees the Department of Homeland Security.

US senator says mysterious drones spotted in New Jersey should be ‘shot down, if necessary’  —  A U.S. senator has called for mysterious drones spotted flying over sensitive areas in New Jersey and other parts of the Mid-Atlantic region to be “shot down, if necessary,” even as it remains unclear who owns them.

Trump to have private dinner with Shinzo Abe's widow at Mar-a-Lago: Report  —  President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly set to have a private dinner on Sunday with Akie Abe at Mar-a-Lago, the widow of the former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in 2022.

Satanist holiday display near New Hampshire Nativity scene destroyed after apparent vandalism  —  Only the legs of the black mannequin remained upright, while the strewn head and torso were damaged.  The entire display was removed Tuesday.  —  2 minutes to read