“America has a talent shortage, with 40% of adults lacking basic digital skills, says a new report from JPMorganChase that bolsters the bank’s recently announced $1.5 trillion U.S. investment initiative,” Axios reports.
“The report frames the workforce shortage as a national security threat, not just an economic issue, arguing that funding for vital industries like AI and energy won’t move the needle without a talent pipeline.”
“MAGA’s media machine is ripping itself to shreds, locked in a web of interpersonal feuds that have derailed its once-relentless focus on advancing President Trump’s agenda,” Axios reports.
“The MAGA movement spent years perfecting the art of attacking outsiders. Now, less than a year into Trump’s second term, its most prominent voices are attacking each other with a fury normally reserved for the left.”
“The acrimony is so deep between President Trump’s border czar and his homeland security secretary that the two officials barely speak to or meet with each other,” Axios reports.
“Tensions reached such a fever pitch last week that the White House was swamped with rumors and news stories claiming that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had lost Trump’s favor and was on her way out.”
“Jerome Powell pushed through a rate cut Wednesday over the broadest reservations of his nearly eight-year tenure, and in doing so, implicitly delivered a pointed message to President Trump and his own successor: Cutting rates is harder than it looks,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The decision drew three dissents—two from officials who opposed any cut and one from a Trump ally who wanted a larger reduction.”
Punchbowl News: “Four live discharge petitions. Being forced to bargain for GOP support during simple procedural votes. Calls to Cabinet secretaries from the House floor to help win over members. A prolonged debate on health care with a disengaged president. Potential retirements on the horizon.”
“This is the House Republican majority with less than 11 months until the midterm elections.”
“OK, we won’t say that the House is in total chaos. Total chaos is when members unleash censure resolutions against each other or a trio of House Republicans publicly claim Speaker Mike Johnson has no business running the chamber. That was last week.”
Punchbowl News: “On Wednesday, we outlined the many reasons to be skeptical about a bipartisan Senate health care deal coming together in the new year. Now, President Donald Trump says Hill Republicans ‘don’t need’ to pass a big legislative package in 2026 at all.”
“If that holds — and it’s a big ‘if’ given Trump’s penchant for changing his mind — it would be yet another sign that Congress will be unable to address soaring health care costs, a major policy and political problem for Republicans.”
Politico: “House Republicans just showed how divided they are over health care. Today’s Senate votes could expose the party’s strife even further.”
“Fed Chair Jerome Powell pointed on Wednesday to a job-market risk that economists have been worried about for months: Official statistics could be drastically overstating recent hiring,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Powell said that Fed staffers believe that federal data could be overestimating job creation by up to 60,000 jobs a month. Given that figures published so far show that the economy has added about 40,000 jobs a month since April, the real number could be something more like a loss of 20,000 jobs a month.”
“When Texas Republicans redrew the state’s congressional map over the summer, they aimed to flip five districts held by Democrats and were guided by the 2024 presidential election results, which showed voters moving to the right,” the New York Times reports.
“But winning all five of those seats under the new map is far from a lock for Republicans next November.”
“With Hispanic voters showing signs of souring on President Trump in special elections this year and concerns mounting over the cost of living, Democrats believe they could hold on to as many as three of the redrawn seats in Texas, two in the Rio Grande Valley and possibly a third centered in and around San Antonio. The party is also looking at flipping a Republican seat in the Valley, little changed in its partisan makeup by the new map, where a popular Tejano music star is running as a moderate Democrat.”
“President Trump on Wednesday further inserted himself into the drama around the sale of Warner Bros. Discovery, saying he believes CNN — one of several cable networks owned by WBD — should be sold as part of any deal,” Axios reports.
New York Times: “For steakhouses like Halls, December is the biggest month of the year. It’s when companies rent out private back rooms for lavish parties; corporate expense accounts cover two-martini lunches; and families treat themselves to a night of steaks, bottles of cabernet sauvignon and sides of creamed spinach, truffle mac and cheese and au gratin potatoes.”
“But this holiday season, many steakhouses — from fine-dining restaurants to midpriced chains like Texas Roadhouse and LongHorn Steakhouse — are walking a tightrope. They have to balance raising menu prices enough to cover at least some of their expenses, but not so much that consumers stop walking through their doors.”
Tara Palmeri: “Trump made a quiet admission that his tariffs aren’t working as intended: he rolled out a $12 billion bailout for farmers.”
“The irony is hard to miss. This is a president who loves the word ‘tariffs,’ but ‘socialism’ is one of his harshest insults, second only to communism. Yet here he is, redistributing wealth from one group of Americans to another because his voters, farmers, are hurting.”
President Trump on Wednesday said the Federal Reserve’s latest decision to cut benchmark interest rates by a quarter percentage point could have been “at least doubled,” CNBC reports.
Trump, who has long urged the central bank to slash rates in order to spur further economic growth, called Fed Chair Jerome Powell “a stiff” who approved a “rather small” cut.
New York Times: “Trump’s refusal to use his influence to halt Mr. Blakeman — and his subsequent neutrality since the announcement — sent shock waves through Republican circles, where many party loyalists had already committed to supporting Ms. Stefanik and wish to avoid a primary.”
President Trump just launched the Trump Card, a direct path to citizenship if you can pay at least $1 million.
Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) is declaring war on New Jersey’s Democratic bosses, announcing in a video Wednesday that he plans to recruit challengers to elected officials who protect “machine politics,” Politico reports.
Playbook: “It’s looking all but certain that the Affordable Care Act subsidies — which have emerged as a campaign cudgel for Democrats and health care headache for Republicans — will expire at the end of the month. Though lawmakers have devised multiple solutions, none have brought real consensus.”
“Kamala Harris is extending her book tour into 2026 – but now it’s going to be about more than selling books,” CNN reports.
“The former vice president and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee on Wednesday morning announced a slate of stops starting in January and going every week through April, taking her beyond the bluest areas she focused on for most of the tour that started at the end of September.”
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.
