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.

Trump planning to target progressive non-profits, US watchdog warns  —  Congressional Integrity Project creates initiative to counter growing ‘authoritarianism’ and defend progressives  —  Donald Trump and his Republican allies are planning to target progressive groups they perceive …

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 …

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.

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.

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.

The No-Win ‘Mystery Drone’ Clusterfuck  —  To political grifters boosting their profiles, government inaction is unacceptable, and government action cannot be trusted.  There is no acceptable explanation.  —  If you are wondering what to think of the New Jersey mystery drone situation …

Trump: Canada becoming 51st state ‘great idea’  —  President-elect Trump questioned Canada early Wednesday, asking why the U.S. provides its northern neighbor with subsidies, and suggesting that it should become the 51st state.  —  “No one can answer why we subsidize Canada to the tune of over $100,000,000 a year?

US Supreme Court to hear South Carolina Planned Parenthood defunding case  —  The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Wednesday to hear South Carolina's bid to cut off public funding to Planned Parenthood in a case that could bolster efforts by conservative-leaning states to deprive the reproductive healthcare …

More On Ethical Populism  —  The sweet spot lies in demagogic appeals that can withstand factual scrutiny.  —  ∙ Paid  —  The competition is stiff, but for me the most demoralizing spectacle from November 5 through the Nancy Pelosi-led whip operation to deny AOC Democrats' top oversight role …

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.

Lawmakers are primed to get a pay bump.  Some aren't happy about it.  —  Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are primed to get their first pay bump since 2009 in the new spending bill.  Many of them aren't happy about it.  Members in competitive districts have long-feared political blowback for voting to give themselves a raise.

I Was a Health Insurance Executive.  What I Saw Made Me Quit.  —  I left my job as a health insurance executive at Cigna after a crisis of conscience.  It began in 2005, during a meeting convened by the chief executive to brief department heads on the company's latest strategy: “consumerism.”

The upcoming GOP assault on Social Security  —  🌎 Public Notice is made possible by paid subscribers.  If you aren't one, please click the button below to sign up and support our independent journalism.  🌎  —  👉 Subscribe to Public Notice 👈

Judge says a pardon of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes would be ‘frightening’  —  The Oath Keepers leader was sentenced last year to 18 years in prison.  —  The federal judge who oversaw the trial and sentencing of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy …

Ice deports mother and children, including newborn twins, to Mexico  —  Despite the infants being US citizens, Christina Salazar and all four of her children were put on a plane on 11 December  —  After his wife and children, including newborn twins, were suddenly deported to Mexico …

What it's like to cook for Donald  —  Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the preparations, personnel decisions and policy deliberations of Donald Trump's transition.  POLITICO Pro subscribers receive a version of this newsletter first.  —  DONALD TRUMP is a man of routine when it comes to his diet.

Why conservatives condemn Luigi Mangione and celebrate Daniel Penny  —  The American right has spent the past week performing an interesting tap dance: condemning the left for cheering on one alleged killer while turning another into a right-wing celebrity.  —  In the first case …

Federal Reserve cuts interest rates by 0.25 percentage points, its third reduction this year  —  The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced its third consecutive interest rate cut of 2024, reducing its benchmark rate by 0.25 percentage points amid cooling inflation.

U.S. Weighs Ban on Chinese-Made Router in Millions of American Homes  —  TP-Link is the bestselling router on Amazon—and has been linked to Chinese cyberattacks  —  U.S. authorities are investigating whether a Chinese company whose popular home-internet routers have been linked …