Top Items:
Politico:
Johnson weighs spending plan B as Elon Musk stokes opposition — Speaker Mike Johnson's leadership team is quietly discussing a plan B to fund the government amid conservative opposition and vocal criticism from incoming President Donald Trump's top ally Elon Musk.
Discussion:
The Hill, New Republic, Rolling Stone, HuffPost, Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, Axios, CBS News, New York Post, Fox News, Raw Story, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, Power Line, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, The Independent, New York Magazine, ABC News, New Jersey Online, The Federalist, IJR, Joe.My.God., Washington Times, Business Insider, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, New York Daily News, The Post Millennial and PoliticusUSA
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Politico:
What Elon got wrong about the CR — With assists from POLITICO's Congress team — THE LATEST: House votes have been cancelled for the night as Speaker Mike Johnson regroups and tries to salvage a year-end spending plan after a mass Republican backlash led by billionaire businessman and presidential pal Elon Musk.
Discussion:
GovExec.com, Joe.My.God., Mediaite, RedState, The Hill, Colorado Newsline, Florida Politics, New York Magazine, Front Office Sports, Rolling Stone, Fox News, NBC News and Bloomberg
NBC News:
Trump opposes funding bill, pushing government closer to a shutdown — Elon Musk joined a wave of right-wing fury against a bill to keep the government open. Now, the president-elect says he wants big changes, too, before this weekend's deadline. — WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald …
Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Jeffries suggests Democrats will oppose a ‘clean’ funding bill after Johnson's plan falters — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) suggested Wednesday that Democrats will oppose any federal spending bill that strays from the bipartisan deal announced a day before …
Discussion:
Punchbowl News, USA Today, Associated Press, Breitbart, Townhall, Politico and Blaze Media
HuffPost:
Mike Johnson Faces Growing GOP Backlash As Elon Musk Calls For Government Shutdown — Johnson's push for a short-term government funding bill met louder resistance than usual from Republicans in the House. — LOADING — WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) …
Ellen Mitchell / The Hill:
Senate passes $895B Defense bill; some Dems defect over transgender fight — The Senate on Wednesday voted to pass the $895 billion Defense authorization bill, despite a provision on transgender care that turned off some Democrats, moving it along to President Biden's desk to be signed into law.
Discussion:
The Guardian, The Post Millennial, RedState, Fox News, Washington Examiner and New York Post
Catie Edmondson / New York Times:
What's Inside the Spending Bill to Avoid a Government Shutdown?
What's Inside the Spending Bill to Avoid a Government Shutdown?
Discussion:
The Hill, CBS News, Associated Press, Breitbart and USA Today
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
Trump's Vengeance Tour Has Already Started
Trump's Vengeance Tour Has Already Started
Discussion:
NBC News, CNN, New York Times, Politico, Twitchy, emptywheel, House Administration, BizPac Review, HuffPost, Raw Story, Mediaite, New Jersey Online, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, The Independent, The Gateway Pundit, One America News Network, Axios, New York Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, Rolling Stone, The Hill, RedState, New Republic, The Federalist, Fox News, Breitbart, American Thinker, HotAir, Patterico's Pontifications, Washington Examiner, American Greatness and Townhall
Axios:
Major heartburn erupts over Mike Johnson's spending bill
Major heartburn erupts over Mike Johnson's spending bill
Discussion:
Politico, Bloomberg Government, Roll Call, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, Townhall, Washington Times, Alternet.org, Blaze Media, Washington Examiner and Scripps News
CNN:
In reversal, key House panel votes to release Matt Gaetz ethics report — The House Ethics Committee secretly voted earlier this month to release its report into the conduct of former Rep. Matt Gaetz before the end of this Congress, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the matter.
Discussion:
CBS News, Rolling Stone, Fox News, Mediaite, Washington Post, New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Texas Tribune, OutsideTheBeltway, Blaze Media, Joe.My.God., Truthout, Townhall, Wonkette, The Hill, Forbes, Hollywood Life, CNBC, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, UPI, New Jersey Online, Politico, The Independent, Sun-Sentinel, The Guardian, The Gateway Pundit, Florida Politics, Scripps News, USA Today, RedState, NBC News, ABC News, HuffPost and New Republic
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Jamelle Bouie / New York Times:
What Do Democrats Need to Do? Act Like an Opposition Party. — Democrats may be in the minority, but they are not yet an opposition. — What's the difference? — An opposition would use every opportunity it had to demonstrate its resolute stance against the incoming administration.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog
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Tal Axelrod / ABC News:
Democrats' playbook to beat Republicans in 2 years: work with them now — “I think we are telling them that we're here to govern,” one Democrat said. — DCCC chair Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., speaks during the House Democrats' post-caucus meeting news conference in the Capitol, Sept. 18, 2024.
Discussion:
Wonkette, Balloon Juice and Associated Press
Hayes Brown / MSNBC:
Democrats missed a huge opportunity by not elevating AOC
Democrats missed a huge opportunity by not elevating AOC
Discussion:
Semafor, Politico, The Post Millennial, Breitbart, UPI, Mother Jones, Daily Kos, Washington Times, Splinter, One America News Network, Washington Examiner and CBS News
Reuters:
US confirms first severe human case of bird flu — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday that a patient has been hospitalized with a severe case of H5N1 infection in Louisiana, marking the first known instance of a severe human illness linked to the bird flu virus in the United States.
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Apoorva Mandavilli / New York Times:
California Declares an Emergency Over Bird Flu in Cattle — Officials have discovered the virus in 645 dairy herds, more than in any other state so far. — In a stark acknowledgment of the increasing seriousness of bird flu's spread, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California declared on Wednesday …
Nathaniel Weixel / The Hill:
CDC confirms first case of severe bird flu
CDC confirms first case of severe bird flu
Discussion:
CDC Newsroom, New York Times and Metro.co.uk
Paul Krugman / Krugman wonks out:
Health Insurance is a Racket — What value do these companies add, really? — It's not news that many Americans dislike health insurance companies. In fact, Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare who was murdered two weeks ago, reportedly warned his colleagues months ago that the industry had a public relations problem.
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Wendell Potter / New York Times:
I Was a Health Insurance Executive. What I Saw Made Me Quit.
I Was a Health Insurance Executive. What I Saw Made Me Quit.
Discussion:
Alternet.org, Raw Story and STAT
New York Times:
The Wrath of Trump: House Republicans Map a Case Against Liz Cheney — President-elect Donald J. Trump has never been shy about his desire to see his enemies punished. But he often shows a measure of caution about taking credit for potential prosecutions himself.
Discussion:
Washington Post, New York Daily News, The Hill, Alternet.org, Raw Story, Daily Mail and New York Post
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New York Times:
Trump Sues The Des Moines Register, Escalating Threats Against the Media
Trump Sues The Des Moines Register, Escalating Threats Against the Media
Discussion:
New Republic, Digby's Hullabaloo, Committee to Protect …, Democrats, Commentary Magazine, Al Jazeera, HotAir, USA Today and Reuters
Lauren Irwin / The Hill:
Democratic senator says Trump's plan to ‘cripple our democracy’ underway
Democratic senator says Trump's plan to ‘cripple our democracy’ underway
Discussion:
Mediaite
Washington Post:
Republicans scrap spending bill, under pressure from Trump and Musk — Unless Congress acts, a government shutdown deadline looms just past midnight Saturday.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The White House, Joe.My.God., Wall Street Journal and Progress Pond
Jake Johnson / Alternet.org:
‘There will be some cuts’ to Social Security: Republican threatens outside first DOGE meeting — A House Republican said Tuesday that he believes there “will be some cuts” to Social Security and Medicare as he entered a conference room at the U.S. Capitol for the first meeting of the DOGE Caucus …
Discussion:
Townhall, The Gateway Pundit, Social Security Works, Fox News and Raw Story
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David R. Lurie / Public Notice:
The upcoming GOP assault on Social Security
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Inside Disney's Decision to Settle a Trump Defamation Suit — Talks started and finished on the same day, after Disney decided that fighting the lawsuit could potentially hurt the company and protections for the press. — When Disney reached a settlement last week with President-elect Donald J. Trump …
Discussion:
HotAir, Vox, The Atlantic, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, Politico, Daily Kos, New Republic, Newsbusters, Truthout, The Independent, Bloomberg and The Federalist, more at Mediagazer »
Politico:
Massie says he's opposing Johnson — Rep. Thomas Massie became the first House Republican to pledge not to back Mike Johnson in the upcoming speakership fight, saying Wednesday he will vote for someone else on Jan. 3. The Kentucky conservative is known as a prominent Johnson critic …
Discussion:
The Hill, NOTUS, CBS News, Breitbart, Washington Post, Townhall, New Republic, Daily Caller News Foundation, Alternet.org, Raw Story and Fox News
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NBC News:
Georgia prosecutors urge appeals court not to toss Trump election interference case — The Fulton County district attorney's office said the president-elect had presented the court with an “underbaked” argument for dismissing the case. — ATLANTA — Georgia prosecutors are calling …
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Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling / New Republic:
In Massive Twist, Trump's Georgia Case Might Not Be Dead Yet
In Massive Twist, Trump's Georgia Case Might Not Be Dead Yet
CNN:
Dow plunges more than 1,100 points and marked its longest losing streak since 1974 — New York CNN — The Dow plunged Wednesday on a disappointing outlook from the Federal Reserve. In the process, the blue-chip index extended its losing streak to 10 days — the longest such stretch since Gerald Ford was president.
Discussion:
CNBC, IJR, Associated Press, Daily Mail and New York Post
Dani Anguiano / The Guardian:
LA Times owner asks editorial board to ‘take a break’ from writing about Trump - report — Billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, who said paper is ‘echo chamber’, also blocked paper's board from endorsing Harris — Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, reportedly asked …
Columbia University Irving Medical Center:
Sexism Is a Risk Factor for Memory Decline Among Women — Share on X (formerly Twitter) — Share by email — Women born in the most sexist U.S. states experienced faster memory decline in later years compared to women born in the least sexist states, a new study by researchers …
New Republic:
Transcript: Trump's Angry New Tirade on Truth Social Signals Dark 2025 — The following is a lightly edited transcript of the December 17 episode of the — Daily Blast podcast. Listen to it here. — Greg Sargent: This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR network.
Discussion:
Alternet.org, Digby's Hullabaloo, NBC News, Raw Story and The DSR Network, more at Mediagazer »
Holly Otterbein / Politico:
Are Democrats coconut-pilled? Some want to see Kamala Harris run again. — Top officials gathered in Washington suggested an openness to backing the vice president again next time. — Senior Democrats aren't ruling out Kamala Harris as a presidential candidate for 2028.
Discussion:
RedState, acecomments.mu.nu, Twitchy and The Hill
David Wallace-Wells / New York Times:
Can Anyone Make Sense of Luigi Mangione? Maybe His Favorite Writer. — Almost immediately after Luigi Mangione was arrested last week in connection with the killing of Brian Thompson, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, you could go pretty deep into the rabbit hole of Mangione's particular internet.
Discussion:
HotAir