“A federal judge on Friday barred U.S. immigration authorities from re-detaining Kilmar Abrego García, acting on fears raised by his lawyers that officials intended to take him into custody just hours after he was ordered released,” the Washington Post reports.
‘Tis the Season for Inflation
A new AP-NORC poll finds the vast majority of adults say they’ve noticed higher than usual prices for groceries, electricity and holiday gifts in recent months.
Most U.S. adults, 68%, continue to say the country’s economy is “poor,” which is unchanged from December 2024, before Donald Trump returned to the presidency.
Trump’s Choice
Jonathan Bernstein: “Not only did Trump’s push for mid-decade redistricting lose in the Indiana state senate on Thursday, but it got clobbered, with a majority of Republicans voting with all the Democrats against it. That will (presumably) save two House Democratic seats in 2026.”
“It also means that Trump now has a choice: Make good on his threats to go to war against Indiana, a GOP state, risking turning more Republicans actively against him there and perhaps elsewhere…or Don’t go to war against Indiana, revealing that it was a bluff and convincing even more people he’s a paper tiger.”
Trump Is Weaker Now Than He’s Ever Been
Aaron Blake: “In the end, the situation in Indiana demonstrated quite the opposite of what Trump intended. Indeed, the state Senate’s rejection of his redistricting push wound up being one of the most significant GOP rebukes of Trump to date, and at a particularly inauspicious time for him.”
“The upshot is that Trump’s hold over his party – his most important political asset – appears weaker than at virtually any other point in his two presidencies.”
The Call Is Coming From Inside the White House
Paul Krugman: “To update Samuel Johnson, these days national security is the last refuge of a scoundrel. According to Donald Trump, anything he doesn’t like is a threat to national security. Question his clearly illegal tariffs? You’re a dark and sinister force trying to undermine America. When the New York Times reported on signs that age may be taking a toll on Trump’s stamina, he denounced the reporting as ‘seditious, maybe even treasonous.’”
“But some of America’s allies — and many of us here at home — are becoming increasingly open about saying that the real danger is coming from inside the White House: Trump himself has become the biggest security threat facing the U.S. and, indeed, all the world’s democracies.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene May Try to Topple Mike Johnson
As Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) prepares to take her leave from Congress in early January, she’s thinking about “one last act of defiance: a longshot bid to topple Speaker Mike Johnson,” MS NOW reports.
Greene has been “working behind the scenes to gauge whether there’s support for a motion to vacate the chair,” a gambit that requires nine Republicans to trigger a vote.
Hoosier Daddy?
Playbook: “The White House is waking up this morning to some brutal headlines and questions about whether President Donald Trump’s power over the GOP is waning after Indiana state lawmakers summarily rejected his redistricting push in the Hoosier State.”
“The president’s political team long set up what turned into the failed, blowout of a 19-31 vote against his proposed map that would have gerrymandered two more safe red seats as a loyalty test. The answer they got is not the one they wanted. The results imperil the party’s chances of holding control of Congress next November.”
That Was Fast
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Some Republicans Are Feeling Braver These Days
New York Times: “In Congress and across the conservative media sphere, cracks within the president’s MAGA movement have appeared on issue after issue, including the Epstein files, military action in Venezuela, health care, tariffs — and redistricting.”
“In Indiana, Mr. Trump unloaded his full arsenal of persuasion tactics on Republicans. When his charm offensive failed, he turned to his familiar methods, unleashing bombastic attacks on lawmakers and threatening to support primary challengers.”
“Several Republican legislators also faced anonymous bomb threats and swatting of their homes. Through it all, they held firm.”
Trump’s Redistricting Crash
Punchbowl News: “At this point, Trump’s redistricting war is a wash at best. Right now, Republicans may net two or three seats, but even that outcome is uncertain.”
“A couple of key states — Florida and Virginia — won’t draw new maps until next year. And that’s only if state legislators in both states overcome some significant obstacles.”
“The Supreme Court also hasn’t ruled in a major Louisiana Voting Rights Act case, although the full ramifications of that decision may not be felt until 2028.”
Trump Claims He’s Pardoned County Clerk
“President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has pardoned Tina Peters, a former county clerk in Colorado who was convicted in state court on felony charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election,” the Washington Post reports.
“It was unclear whether Trump was asserting that he has the power to free Peters from state prison. She is serving a nine-year sentence. Presidents have the power to pardon defendants convicted in federal courts, but previous presidents have not claimed that authority in a state case.”
New York Times: “The president has no power to pardon state crimes. Mr. Trump could not, for example, pardon himself for the 34 felony convictions handed down in a New York trial last year. Because Ms. Peters is in prison for a state offense, Mr. Trump’s announcement on Thursday was primarily symbolic.”
Trump Signs Order to Neuter State AI Laws
“President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that aims to neuter state laws that limit the artificial intelligence industry, a win for tech companies that have lobbied against regulation of the booming technology,” the New York Times reports.
Trump Seeks to Cut Restrictions on Marijuana
“President Donald Trump is expected to push the government to dramatically loosen federal restrictions on marijuana, reducing oversight of the plant and its derivatives to the same level as some common prescription painkillers and other drugs,” the Washington Post reports.
Indiana Republicans Rebuff Trump on Redistricting
“In a monumental rebuke of President Donald Trump’s wishes, Indiana’s supermajority Republican state legislature became the first to formally reject his push for mid-decade redistricting,” the Indianapolis Star reports.
“The Senate’s 19-31 vote caps months of anticipation and pressure from the White House and its allies, placing Indiana at the center of national intrigue and ire.”
Inside Trump’s War Against Wind Power
Politico: “The uprooting of wind projects is especially striking at a time when political leaders from both parties are calling for a massive increase in electricity generation nationwide, citing rising consumer prices and the soaring power demands of data centers.”
“During the Biden era, the idea of erecting turbines along the nation’s coasts symbolized a vision of greening the economy, easing the threat of climate change and creating a new generation of manufacturing jobs. But now, unraveling the industry has come to represent Trump’s push for a rapid ramp-up of fossil fuels.”
Trump’s Family Is Helping Saudi Royalty Buy CNN
Colby Hall: “Imagine if Hunter Biden were helping assemble billions in Saudi and Qatari financing so a progressive media owner could take over Fox News while quietly assuring the White House that he planned to replace hosts and reshape the network’s direction.”
“The national reaction would be immediate. Congressional hearings, emergency ethics panels, a weeklong media frenzy.”
What Trump’s Pardons Have in Common
The Wall Street Journal offers a visual breakdown of President Trump’s pardon spree.
Grand Jury Again Refuses to Indict Letitia James
“For a second time in a week, a federal grand jury in Virginia has refused to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James for alleged mortgage fraud, again rejecting the Department of Justice’s attempt to refile the case after a federal judge dismissed an earlier case based on the unlawful appointment of the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia,” ABC News reports.
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