“The honeymoon period of the second Trump administration has given way to a new phase where elected Republicans have grown emboldened to defy the president and push back on his administration,” Axios reports.
“As Trump approval numbers sag and concerns grow over the 2026 midterms outlook, Republicans are fending for themselves and stepping out of line from their party leaders.”
“Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is preparing to enter the race for New York governor as soon as Tuesday,” Politico reports.
“Blakeman’s decision to seek the Republican nomination is a major snag in Rep. Elise Stefanik’s efforts to secure GOP backing in her challenge to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is running for a second full term next year.”
“Eggs are down. Really everything is coming down. But listen, we’re not tone deaf. We know that a lot of Americans are like, ‘Well, we’re still not feeling the relief.’ The relief is coming… it really is a golden age just right around the corner.”
— Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, on Fox News.
“Come January, Zohran Mamdani will trade his Queens one-bedroom apartment for 11,000 square feet of living and entertaining space at Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side,” the New York Times reports.
“The mayor-elect made his upcoming move official on Monday morning, saying in a statement that he and his wife, Rama Duwaji, would move to Gracie next month, as is typical, some time after he is inaugurated on Jan. 1.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) told Semafor that President Trump’s working-class support “is at risk” if Congress doesn’t deliver more to improve people’s lives.
Said Hawley: “I think it is at risk. I think there’s no doubt about that. The president knows it’s at risk. Voters aren’t stupid. They’re not in this because they’re loyal to some party or another. They’re in it to try to improve the conditions of their lives.”
“First a Democratic gerrymander pushed California House Republicans to the brink of extinction. Now they’re fighting each other for scraps,” Politico reports.
“In a state where Republicans had long counted on congressional races to exert some influence in Washington, just four of California’s 52 House seats are now safe for the GOP. And a decades-long slide for the party has reached a new nadir as Republicans surveying the landscape use words like ‘demoralized,’ ‘massacred’ and ‘obliteration.'”
“Ukraine will not surrender territory, President Volodymyr Zelensky declared on Monday, rejecting a central Russian demand that President Donald Trump had incorporated into his latest proposal to end the Kremlin’s war,” the Washington Post reports.
“The unequivocal declaration that Ukraine would not surrender land could mark the collapse of Trump’s latest plan to end the war, which critics condemned as fulfilling a wish list of Russian President Vladimir Putin.”
“Unfortunately, under Sleepy Joe Biden—he’s a sleepy guy—our farmers were crushed by the worst inflation in modern history.”
— President Trump, announcing a $12 billion bailout for American farmers.
Just published: Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds by John Fugelsang.
The extremists who weaponize the Bible for earthly power aren’t actually on the side of Jesus—and historically they never have been.
“Alina Habba resigned as U.S. attorney in New Jersey on Monday after a panel of federal judges ruled last week that she was serving in the position unlawfully,” the New York Times reports.
“Ms. Habba will become a senior adviser to Attorney General Pam Bondi and is expected to have a role overseeing U.S. attorneys across the country.”
“Congress is using its marquee defense bill to force the Pentagon into turning over videos of strikes against suspected drug-smuggling boats off the coast of Latin America,” Politico reports.
“Lawmakers plan to withhold a quarter of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget until the Pentagon provides them with the videos.”
“New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said he wants undocumented immigrants to push back against improper law enforcement, urging residents to refuse entry, remain silent and legally record agents during an encounter,” Bloomberg reports.
He added: “New York will always welcome immigrants.”
“The Supreme Court on Monday appeared poised to make it easier for President Trump to fire independent government officials despite laws meant to insulate them from political pressure in what would be a major expansion of presidential power,” the New York Times reports.
Associated Press: The Supreme Court seems likely to back Trump’s power to fire independent agency board members.
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Heather Cox Richardson argues that the Trump administration’s vision behind the National Security Strategy is to achieve a “white supremacist country” and, to this end, they reject immigration and call for the U.S. to “help Europe correct its current trajectory” by “restoring Europe’s civilizational self-confidence and Western identity.”
She notes observers referred to the document as National Security Council Report 88 and noted that it could have been written in just 14 words. White supremacists use 88 to refer to Adolf Hitler and “fourteen words” to refer to a popular white supremacist slogan.
President Trump lashed out at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) after she appeared on “60 Minutes” to discuss her rift with him, NewsNation reports.
Said Trump: “The only reason Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Brown (Green turns Brown under stress!) went BAD is that she was JILTED by the President of the United States (Certainly not the first time she has been jilted!).”
He added: “Marjorie is not AMERICA FIRST or MAGA, because nobody could have changed her views so fast, and her new views are those of a very dumb person.”
“President Trump said in a social media post Monday that he will issue an executive order this week to curb state laws on artificial intelligence, the latest win for a tech industry lobbying for deregulation,” the New York Times reports.
“After a year mired in reflection and recrimination over the future of their party, Democratic governors are suddenly showing some swagger,” the New York Times reports.
“As they gathered this weekend for the annual holiday meeting of the Democratic Governors Association, the group’s new chair, Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, predicted that Democrats would expand on their 23 governorships and reclaim a majority of the nation’s top state jobs for the first time in 16 years.”
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.
