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.

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

‘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 …

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 …

LA deputy mayor allegedly made bomb threat to City Hall  —  The FBI is investigating the Los Angeles deputy mayor of public safety after reports show he was allegedly tied to City Hall bomb threats made earlier this year.  —  Agents searched the home of Brian Williams on Tuesday for evidence of a connection.

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 …

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.

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.