“Florida will be hit harder than any other state if ObamaCare subsidies expire at the end of the year, which is looking increasingly likely as Republicans in Congress struggle to unite behind a plan to extend the tax credits,” NewsNation reports.
“More than 1.5 million Floridians could lose healthcare as monthly payments skyrocket. Average premium costs could shoot up by 132 percent, or by $521 annually, for Floridians who currently receive enhanced ObamaCare subsidies.”
“They’re saying he’s the new Reagan. He’s the new Chamberlain.”
— Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), quoted by Roll Call, comparing Donald Trump to Neville Chamberlain for consistently deferring to Russia’s demands.
“The House will likely depart Washington for the holidays this week without addressing a number of high-stakes issues. Instead, Congress is ending the year with a lot of infighting and a nearly unprecedented number of lawmakers heading for the exits,” NOTUS reports.
“While there are always retirements each term, members have decided to call it quits rather than seek another term in a body that has had more drama than actual success passing legislation. More House Republicans are leaving Capitol Hill so far than Democrats.”
Roll Call has the casualty list for the 119th Congress.
“Republicans’ attempts to cut Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have made headlines since the start of the second Trump administration — and Democrats believe that provides a potent opening for them ahead of the 2026 midterms,” NOTUS reports.
“Democrats have been pushing for votes on SNAP, fighting in courts to protect SNAP recipients’ data, and emphasizing SNAP’s critical role as a safety net in their campaign messaging to keep it in the spotlight going into the 2026 midterms.”
David Frum: “It’s long past time to stop saying ‘Anti-Semitic violence has no place in our society.’ Outrage upon outrage confirms that anti-Semitic violence has a large and expanding place in Western societies—that it is supported by many, that it is tolerated by many more, and that it is often appeased or even enabled by governments fearful of confronting large and militant factions within their populations.”
“With key Obamacare tax credits set to expire within weeks, Democrats have unified behind a simple message: extend the subsidies and keep health insurance premiums from spiking for more than 20 million Americans,” Politico reports.
“Republicans, meanwhile, have engaged in a wide-ranging blame game while scrambling to coalesce behind an easily digestible plan to lower health care costs. That struggle comes to a head this week as House leaders move to put what they hope will be a consensus GOP plan up for a vote.”
President Trump and his advisers have an almost messianic belief the economy will take off in the first quarter of next year, based largely on stimulus from the “One Big Beautiful Bill” he signed in July, Axios reports.
Trump’s bullish belief is key to understanding why he’s so reluctant to say there’s an “affordability crisis.”
Said one adviser: “It’s a conundrum. He doesn’t want to say ‘affordability.’ That’s different than not wanting to talk about it.”
Wall Street Journal: “The Labor Department, after pausing its data collection for weeks during the government shutdown, will publish a report with not one but two months’ worth of data on the health of the U.S. job market.”
“The report will reveal the unemployment rate for November and some data on hiring in October. That information looks backward, but is expected to fill in the blanks on the status of the job market at a tumultuous time for workers.”
“The report won’t, however, include the unemployment rate for October. The Labor Department couldn’t conduct the survey needed to calculate that rate while the government was shut down. It will mark the first time in nearly 80 years that the agency is unable to calculate the jobless rate.”
Punchbowl News: “With just 17 days until the Obamacare tax credits expire, we can say definitively that Congress — and the country — is going over the Obamacare cliff. Even if the House passes something, the Senate isn’t going to move anything by the deadline.”
“Both GOP and Democratic leaders have decided, for their own internal reasons, that doing nothing is better than having a bipartisan deal.”
“This may be one of the biggest moments of the 2026 election cycle. Millions of Americans could lose health insurance or face dramatically higher premiums. With the U.S. economy in a fragile state, the stakes — both personal and political — couldn’t be higher.”
CNN: Congress races against the clock to avert skyrocketing health care costs for millions.
“Gavin Newsom’s Democratic rivals are plotting how to take down the early 2028 frontrunner, with a heavy emphasis on how unpopular his left-leaning views are outside deep-blue California,” Axios reports.
“Our conversations with more than 20 Democratic operatives, including several working for 2028 hopefuls, reveal that they see the California governor as the guy to beat — and a guy with a lot of personal baggage that’s exploitable for a presidential primary.”
“Kamala Harris isn’t planning to go gentle into that good night. This week the former vice president made clear to potential 2028 rivals that she’s working to keep another White House campaign viable,” Axios reports.
“Despite worries from party leaders and donors that she can’t win, Harris remains at or near the top of most 2028 Democratic primary polls. She also has strong support among Black voters — the most critical voting bloc in most recent Democratic presidential primaries.”
“After lying low the first part of this year and then embarking on a 2024-focused book tour, Harris made several moves this week that many Democrats see as the beginnings of a 2028 campaign.”
“Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s political party of more than five decades admonished him on Sunday — barring the lifelong Democrat from receiving its endorsement in the future,“ Houston Public Media reports.
“A progressive group within the Harris County Democratic Party pushed through the measure nearly eight months after Whitmire, who was a longtime state lawmaker before being elected mayor, attended a fundraiser for Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Houston Republican.”
President Trump has already discussed the idea of preemptively pardoning an array of Trump advisers, policymakers, and others who the president believes will likely be criminally investigated once Democrats are back in power, Zeteo reports.
“A quiet, monthslong battle between Representative James Comer of Kentucky, the Republican chairman of the Oversight Committee, and Bill and Hillary Clinton over the panel’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation could come to a head this week,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Comer has threatened to begin contempt of Congress proceedings against them if they fail to appear in person for depositions.”
“The threat is the starkest example yet of the attempt by House Republicans to shift the focus of the Epstein affair away from President Trump and his administration and onto prominent Democrats who once associated with the convicted sex offender and his longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) said federal immigration agents pulled over her son on Saturday and asked him to prove his citizenship, CBS News reports.
The congresswoman said her son “always carries” his passport with him.
Just published: Chasing Chi: The FBI’s Groundbreaking Pursuit of China’s Most Prolific Spy Family by James E. Gaylord
“It began as furtive tip, grew to fevered investigation, and climaxed with midnight airport arrests to prevent US military secrets from being lost forever.”
“President Donald Trump’s heated rhetoric against his perceived political enemies has resulted in a blizzard of threats against at least 22 officials on both sides of the aisle in recent weeks,” according to an NBC News tally.
“Among those who’ve been targeted with threats after being mentioned in social media posts by the president are numerous Democrats, including Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan — but even more Republicans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and over a dozen Indiana state lawmakers.”
Measles outbreaks are growing along the Utah-Arizona border and in South Carolina, where hundreds are in quarantine, the AP reports.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
