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Christopher Wray Says He'll Step Down as F.B.I. Director — The F.B.I. director, Christopher A. Wray, told bureau employees on Wednesday that he intended in January, bowing to the reality that President-elect Donald J. Trump had publicly declared his desire to replace him.
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Reuters, ABC News, Washington Post, Fox News, Twitchy, The Hill, New Republic, New York Post, freebeacon.com, Wall Street Journal, Washington Examiner, UPI, Forbes, New York Daily News, Townhall, NPR, Raw Story, Must Read Alaska, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, The Daily Signal, One America News Network, Alternet.org, HuffPost, RedState, CBS News, Mediaite, The American Tribune.com, The Federalist, Associated Press, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit and Balloon Juice
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FBI Director Christopher Wray to resign before Trump takes office — President-elect Donald Trump has said he will nominate Kash Patel as FBI director, sending a message to Christopher A. Wray that he should resign or prepare to be fired. — FBI Director Christopher A. Wray announced Wednesday …
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CNN, NBC News, Fox News, Associated Press, ABC News, HotAir, Daily Caller News Foundation, Scripps News, CNBC, WTTG-TV, Breitbart, Axios, CBS News, The Post Millennial, Raw Story and Washington Times
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A Scandalous Resignation — The problem that keeps arising is that there is no way to remain …
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New York Times, HuffPost, The Independent, Politico, Washington Examiner, Fox News, The Hill, Deseret News, New Republic, Roll Call, Al Jazeera, Townhall, The Guardian, Mediaite and Raw Story
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Manchin, Sinema block Democratic control of NLRB — The Senate on Wednesday blocked Lauren McFerran's re-nomination to the National Labor Relations Board, opening the door for Republican control of the board starting next year under President-elect Trump. — Senators voted 49 to 50 …
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RedState, Associated Press, NFIB, Small Business & …, Politico and Fox News
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Schumer torpedoed by Manchin and Sinema on crucial NLRB vote … - Schumer gambled that he had the votes without knowing how Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) would vote on the nomination for Lauren McFerran. — Both voted “No” on a crucial procedural vote that would clear the way for confirmation.
Discussion:
Fox News, HotAir, Washington Examiner, HuffPost, Washington Times, CBS News, Mediaite, RedState, Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Daily Caller News Foundation
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Manchin and Sinema Screw Biden Yet Again, Give Trump Control of Labor Board
Discussion:
New Republic and RedState
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U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace Calls Police on Prominent Foster Youth Advocate; Eyewitnesses Dispute Her Assault Allegations — Stunned onlookers say the disturbing turn of events followed a routine celebration of a landmark child welfare law — This breaking news story will be updated as more information becomes available.
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Mitch McConnell: 'We're in a very, very dangerous world right now' — The Republican Senator on his plans to spend the last two years of his term fighting back against an increasingly isolationist GOP — Mitch McConnell is standing in his office smiling. Hanging on the walls are faces, mostly stern, from Washington's past.
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, WTTG-TV, CBS News, American Greatness and Daily Kos
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CNN Poll: Most Americans approve how Trump is handling his return to the White House — Most Americans expect President-elect Donald Trump to do a good job upon his return to the White House next month (54%) and a majority approves of how he's handling the presidential transition so far …
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Warren on UnitedHealthcare CEO's killing: ‘People can only be pushed so far’ — The Massachusetts lawmaker condemned the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, but added that the visceral reaction online should be a “warning” to the industry.
Discussion:
CNN, HuffPost, Twitchy, Raw Story, Townhall, Boston Herald, Instapundit and freebeacon.com
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House GOP Uses Must-Pass Defense Bill To Strip Care From Military Families' Trans Kids — A provision tucked into the National Defense Authorization Act forces parents in the military to weigh their careers against providing health care for loved ones. — LOADING
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House approves mammoth annual defense policy bill
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Politico, CBS News, Fox News, Louisiana Illuminator, Breaking Defense and The Federalist
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House approves $895B defense bill with military pay raise, ban on transgender care for minors
Discussion:
Washington Times and Fox News
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Time magazine to name Trump ‘Person of the Year’ — He also won the honor in 2016. — Donald Trump is expected to be named Time magazine's “Person of the Year” — and to celebrate the unveiling of the cover, the president-elect will ring the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday morning …
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North Carolina GOP changes election rules before losing supermajority — Republicans in the state legislature gave an ally control over the state's elections board, rewrote ballot-counting rules and chipped away at the power of the incoming Democratic governor.
Discussion:
NBC News, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, Democrats, CBS News and Crooks and Liars
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Trump plans to scrap policy restricting ICE arrests at churches, schools, hospitals — The long-standing policy has prevented ICE agents from arresting immigrants at so-called “sensitive locations” except under certain circumstances. — The incoming Trump administration intends to rescind …
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New York Daily News, Washington Examiner, The Independent, America Magazine, Alternet.org, Vanity Fair, Raw Story and IJR
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Trump invites China's Xi Jinping to inauguration — President-elect Donald Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration next month, multiple sources told CBS News, and inauguration officials are making plans for additional foreign dignitaries to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
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Decivilization May Already Be Under Way — The line between a normal, functioning society and catastrophic decivilization can be crossed with a single act of mayhem. This is why, for those who have studied violence closely, the brazen murder of a CEO in Midtown Manhattan—and, more important …
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Luigi Mangione's Full Story Isn't Online — When the identity of Luigi Mangione, the alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter, was revealed on Monday, the online search — a reporting process that's become a collective online ritual — began. It turns out he left a lot of information online …
Discussion:
abc7NY and New York Times
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Schumer says Senate will vote on Social Security changes — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that he's “doing everything” he can to try to pass legislation that would enact some Social Security before Congress ushers in a new class next month.
Discussion:
GovExec.com
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The ultimate marker of Dems' generational shift: AOC's Oversight ascension — Ocasio-Cortez has earned the support of the majority of the panel's Democrats, based on interviews with a dozen members. — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is poised to become the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee …
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Albertsons Backs Out of Merger Deal and Sues Kroger After Court Rulings — The supermarket chain had tried to join forces with Kroger, but judges sided with federal and state regulators who charged that the merger would reduce competition. — The grocery chain Albertsons said on Wednesday …
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CBS News, CNN, Forbes, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, Boston Herald, Los Angeles Times, Iowa Capital Dispatch, UPI, Alaska Public Media, New York Post, The Colorado Sun, Lynnwood Times, Colorado Newsline, One America News Network, HuffPost, The Moderate Voice, Must Read Alaska, WTTG-TV, The Hill, Washington State, NBC News, Wall Street Journal, BIG by Matt Stoller, Arizona Mirror, International Brotherhood …, The Daily Caller, Politico and Raw Story
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Trump outran the law. His allies haven't. — Dozens of Trump allies face criminal charges in lingering cases over efforts to overturn the 2020 election. — Despite Donald Trump's Houdini act, the criminal cases against his allies are not disappearing. — Dozens of Trump's top aides …
Discussion:
Associated Press, New Republic, Raw Story, The Guardian and USA Today
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The Fraudulence of “Waste, Fraud and Abuse” — First things first: welcome to readers new and old. Now that I have written my last column for the New York Times, this newsletter is coming out of dormancy. It will be mostly economics-related, and I'll try to stay away from pure political punditry …
Discussion:
Digby's Hullabaloo and Balloon Juice
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Exclusive: RFK Jr.'s secret push to prove CIA killed uncle … - RFK Jr. has been telling people that Fox Kennedy — his presidential campaign manager, who is married to his son Bobby Kennedy III — would help get to the bottom of the JFK assassination, two Republican sources told Axios.
Discussion:
HuffPost, Daily Mail, New York Post, New Republic, The Independent, Mediaite, Digby's Hullabaloo and The Daily Caller
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Judge tosses Michael Flynn's $50 million lawsuit that claimed he was prosecuted to ‘derail and discredit’ Trump's 2020 presidential bid — A federal judge in Florida has dismissed a $50 million lawsuit filed by former U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, who sued the federal government …
Discussion:
Reason
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Republican lawmakers invite a Jan. 6 felon to Trump's inauguration — The invitation to and praise for a member of the mob underscores the shifting power dynamic in Washington. — Russell Taylor spent weeks planning for chaos on Jan. 6, 2021. He recruited anti-government activists to join …
Discussion:
New Republic, CBS News, Raw Story and Alternet.org
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Recent Immigration Surge Has Been Largest in U.S. History — Under President Biden, more than two million immigrants per year have entered, government data shows. — The immigration surge of the past few years has been the largest in U.S. history, surpassing the great immigration boom …
Discussion:
New York Post, New York Magazine, Fox News, Frontpage Mag, Breitbart, Defense One, The Daily Caller, Power Line, PJ Media, The Hill, Unfogged and Twitchy
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Judge rejects sale of Alex Jones' Infowars to The Onion in dispute over bankruptcy auction — A federal judge on Tuesday night rejected the auction sale of Alex Jones' Infowars to The Onion satirical news outlet, criticizing the bidding process as flawed and the amount of money that families …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Mother Jones, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, CNN, NPR, Vanity Fair, RedState, Al Jazeera, Block Club Chicago, New York Daily News, The National Pulse, abc7NY, Deadline, The Hill, Consequence, One America News Network, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, New Republic, Axios, Deseret News, NBC News, Crooks and Liars, UPI, CBS News, Rolling Stone, The Verge, Fox Business, USA Today, The Follow, The Post Millennial, Forbes, Variety and WHDH-TV, more at Mediagazer »
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How a Decades-Old Loophole Lets Billionaires Avoid Medicare Taxes — Some of Wall Street's richest and most powerful figures are using a legal loophole to avoid paying millions of dollars in taxes earmarked for health care, a ProPublica investigation found. — The Secret IRS Files: Inside the Tax Records of the .001%
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Daily Kos, GovExec.com and Business Insider
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Colleges Warn International Students to Return Ahead of Trump Term — Harvard, Penn and U.S.C. were among the universities and colleges that issued advisories in anticipation of possible travel bans. — With students at many colleges wrapping up final exams this week and preparing for their winter break …
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About 1 in 3 US women are accessing family planning services: CDC — About 35 percent of U.S. women ages 15 to 49 said they received a family planning service between 2022 to 2023, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics.