The Chaos Monkeys Have Already Taken Over the Zoo  —  The peddlers of misinformation are high on their own supply  —  Well, I was going to post about proposals for bank deregulation, but I think that can wait for a bit.  The news of the moment is the looming prospect that the federal government will shut down over the weekend.

Where Things Stand  — House Republican leaders are offering a new proposal to avert a shutdown, a day after President-elect Donald J. Trump torpedoed a spending deal that House Speaker Mike Johnson had struck with Democrats.  The plan would tie an extension of government funding …

Trump calls for abolishing the debt ceiling  —  In a phone interview with NBC News, Trump said getting rid of the debt ceiling entirely would be the “smartest thing [Congress] could do.  I would support that entirely.”  —  President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday that Congress should get rid …

GOP strikes a new spending deal  —  Republicans have struck a deal on a short-term government spending patch and potential debt limit increase, according to two GOP lawmakers meeting in Speaker Mike Johnson's office Thursday afternoon.  “There is an agreement,” said Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.).

Behind the Curtain: Musk's America … - A Trump source told us this is the new playbook: Republican lawmakers got “instant and overwhelming feedback. … You should never bet against Trump or Elon.”  — Now, the two are a combined force blanketing culture, media and governance.

Trump team affirms he's leader of GOP amid ‘President Musk’ barbs  —  President-elect Trump's transition team pushed back against Democratic lawmakers who suggested Elon Musk is the “real leader” of the Republican Party after his aggressive pressure campaign against a stopgap spending measure.

Closures, Social Security checks, furloughs: What a government shutdown might mean  —  Congress has until midnight Friday to come up with a way to fund the government or federal agencies will shut down, meaning hundreds of thousands of federal employees could be sent home — or stay on the job without pay — just ahead of the holidays.

Trump says Mike Johnson will ‘easily remain speaker’ if he acts ‘decisively and tough’ on spending bill  —  Trump told Fox News Digital anyone who supports a bill that doesn't take care of debt ceiling should be ‘primaried and disposed of’  —  EXCLUSIVE: President-elect Donald Trump told Fox News Digital …

Georgia appeals court disqualifies Fulton County DA Fani Willis from prosecuting Trump  —  A Georgia Court of Appeals on Thursday disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting the case against President-elect Donald Trump and his alleged co-conspirators over their efforts to overturn the 2020 election.