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“A week before he voted to significantly cut Medicaid, Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-PA) dumped six figures’ worth of stock in a quartet of companies that manage nearly half of all Medicaid enrollees in the country,” NBC News reports.
Playbook: “The coming-together of the two standout politicians of 2025 has the feel of a glorious end-of-season finale. We can only pray they’ll invite the cameras in to watch.”
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“Two months after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, a government-backed campaign has led to firings, suspensions, investigations and other action against more than 600 people,” Reuters reports.
“Republican officials have endorsed the punishments, saying that those who glorify violence should be removed from positions of trust.”
Axios: “Step back and survey the political landscape. Republicans aren’t only losing elections, they’re consistently losing support on prices and the economy, in all polls, big or small, Republican or Democrat, over a several-month period. You can’t spin yourself out of reality.”
“Five new polls this week show Republicans’ problems might be even deeper and more worrisome than many fear.”
Paul Krugman: “It may be that Trump is — bear with me here — actually paying a price for telling Americans not to believe their own eyes. As I’ve written recently, it’s important not to engage in false equivalence. Biden and company told Americans that their incomes were outpacing inflation, which was true but not what people wanted to hear. Trump keeps insisting that grocery prices are way down, which is simply a lie. And people may be noticing.”
“The absolute absurdity of the Trump team’s efforts to explain away bad economic news may also be taking a toll.”
New York Times: “Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tried to explain high beef prices over the weekend by blaming undocumented immigrants, saying they were bringing sick cows into the United States. Mr. Bessent said that forced the Trump administration to halt imports of beef from Mexico, which is the second-largest supplier of beef to the United States.”
A new Fox News poll finds some 76% of voters view the economy negatively.
“That’s worse than the 67% who felt that way in July, and the 70% who said the same at the end of former President Biden’s term.”
Also important: “Voters blame the president. About twice as many say President Donald Trump, rather than Biden, is responsible for the current economy. And three times as many say Trump’s economic policies have hurt them.”
And more: “Approval of how Trump is handling the economy hit a new low and disapproval of his overall job performance hit record highs among core supporters.”
Playbook: “For politicians eyeing the midterms, the only economic fact that matters is that too many voters who struggled to make ends meet last year have felt little or no improvement in their finances. But so far, Trump — typically such a powerful deliverer of political messages — just doesn’t seem to have his heart in a cost-of-living campaign.”
“Every day, Trump speaks passionately about his achievements — a record-breaking stock market, big reductions in egg and gasoline prices, strong earnings growth, no tax on tips. But there’s no acknowledgement his supporters are still struggling, no promise to tackle their concerns head-on.”
“In fact, Trump seems to find the whole debate to be a bit of nonsense.”
“Past presidents and politicians of both parties will gather Thursday in Washington, DC, for former Vice President Dick Cheney’s funeral — sending off a key figure of pre-MAGA Republican politics,” CNN reports.
“But neither President Donald Trump nor Vice President JD Vance were invited to Cheney’s funeral.”
“A former congressional staffer has been charged for allegedly staging her own violent assault, for which she paid someone $500 to slice dozens of cuts into her body, according to prosecutors,” CNN reports.
“Natalie Greene, who once worked for GOP Rep. Jeff Van Drew, according to his office, is now facing charges of conspiracy and making false statements to law enforcement.”
“Your financial situation — not just what you earn but whether you’re in over your head — is strongly linked to how you feel about democracy, according to a significant new study by Gallup and the Charles F. Kettering Foundation,” Axios reports.
“Senate Democrats face an uphill challenge in getting a December deal reviving expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies,” Semafor reports.
“There are no official negotiations going on yet — just informal talks with Republicans — and Democrats are deliberating between engaging with the GOP or forcing Republicans to vote down a subsidy extension and letting them deal with the political fallout.”
Washington Post: “Greene’s split with Trump, which unfolded over issues ranging from foreign workers to the push to release government files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, is testing the president’s command of the ‘America First’ movement he mobilized.”
“Trump recently called Greene a ‘traitor,’ withdrew his endorsement of her reelection and encouraged a primary challenge in 2026. But many Republican leaders and voters in Greene’s deep-red district say they are sticking with her, boosting her bid to carve out a populist MAGA brand independent of the president.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is involved in AI data center deals that overlap with work his family is doing, the New York Times reports.
“A special election for a heavily Republican House seat in Tennessee that was on virtually no one’s political radar a few months ago has surfaced as the unlikely new front in the fight for control of Congress,” the New York Times reports.
“President Trump recently held a telephone rally for the Republican candidate, Matt Van Epps. Former Vice President Kamala Harris appeared at a canvassing event on Tuesday for the Democrat, State Representative Aftyn Behn. And super PACs on both sides are blitzing the airwaves before the Dec. 2 special election for a seat that was drawn with the intention of never being competitive.”
“The White House and its allies believe Sen. Ted Cruz is taking positions antithetical to President Donald Trump from his perch as chair of the Senate Commerce Committee as a way to position himself against Vice President JD Vance ahead of 2028,” NOTUS reports.
“And they’re not happy about it.”
“Cruz has been making life difficult for the White House behind the scenes. He’s gone to battle over nominations, called a hearing for and been vocally critical of a top Trump appointee and unsuccessfully sought universal subpoena power, which would have given him the ability to call in anybody from the Trump administration and its close allies in the tech world.”
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.
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