New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s newly tapped director of appointments, Catherine Almonte Da Costa, resigned on Thursday afternoon after her history of antisemitic online posts — including complaining about “money hungry Jews” — was exposed, Jewish Insider reports.
Tar Heel Target
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Nancy Mace ‘Declined’ Effort to Oust Mike Johnson
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), a sharp critic of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), said she won’t try to take away his gavel, despite her disapproval of his leadership and management of the House GOP conference, Bloomberg reports.
Said Mace: “I was asked to be a part of that, and I declined. I don’t see nine members coming forward to oust the speaker. Not happening.”
Trump to Declare Three-Day Christmas Holiday
President Trump is planning to issue an executive order establishing two new federal holidays: Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas, Axios reports.
It’s not clear if this would be a one-off move or a longer term shift.
Trump Renames Kennedy Center
President Trump’s handpicked board voted Thursday to rename Washington’s leading performing arts center as the Trump-Kennedy Center, the AP reports.
Of course, the building is statutorily named the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Sarah Palin Denied New Trial in Libel Case
Sarah Palin’s bid for a new libel trial against The New York Times was rejected by a New York federal judge who also refused Palin’s request that the judge recuse himself, the AP reports.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I’ll give you a little anecdote: Stephen Miller was perhaps the most concerned about the portrait session. He asked me, ‘Should I smile or not smile?’ and I said, ‘How would you want to be portrayed?’ We agreed that we would do a bit of both. And then when we were finished, he comes up to me to shake my hand and say goodbye. And he says to me, ‘You know, you have a lot of power in the discretion you use to be kind to people.’ And I looked at him and I said, ‘You know, you do, too.’”
— Vanity Fair photographer Christopher Anderson, quoted by the Washington Post.
Political Realities of Red, Blue and Purple America
Charlie Cook: “These results raise some interesting questions. First, why do Republicans perform better than Democrats in the U.S. House, state Senate, and state House seats in the purple states, even though Democrats do better at the U.S. Senate and gubernatorial level in those seven?”
“Second, why do Republicans win a higher share of state legislative seats in blue states (35 percent of state Senate seats, and 38 percent in state Houses), than Democrats do in red states (23 and 27 percent, respectively)? Republicans also hold majorities in two blue-state legislative chambers (both in New Hampshire). In contrast, Democrats hold no such majorities in red states.”
“My hunch is that these results are the product of decades of Republicans investing far more money in local, county, and state party-building than Democrats, with the Obama years a key period when his party could and should have done much more. Indeed, the last time Democrats made down-ballot party-building a priority was during the years 2005-2009, when Howard Dean chaired the Democratic National Committee.”
Pentagon Surprised by Trump’s Blockade Order
The U.S. military was blindsided by President Trump’s announcement of a blockade of Venezuela, the New York Times reports.
Democrats Release 68 New Photos from Epstein Estate
“Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a batch of 68 photos obtained from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday, one day before the deadline for the Trump administration to release a much larger group of Epstein files,” CBS News reports.
“The release includes images of lines from the novel ‘Lolita’ written on a person’s body; various travel documents; a screenshot of text messages about an 18-year-old from Russia and more. The photos can be accessed here.”
This Is What Presidential Panic Looks Like
Tom Nichols: “The president of the United States just barged into America’s living rooms like an angry, confused grandfather to tell us all that we are ungrateful whelps.”
“When a president asks for network time, it’s usually to announce something important. But tonight, Donald Trump did not give anything like a normal speech or address. He was clearly working from a prepared text, but it sounded like one he’d written—or dictated angrily—himself, because it was full of bizarre howlers that even Trump’s second-rate speech-writing shop would probably have avoided…”
“In effect, Trump took to the airwaves, pointed his finger, and said: Quiet, piggy.”
The Trump–Epstein Story Isn’t Going Away
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The DNC Is Killing Its Autopsy of What Went Wrong
New York Times: “Ken Martin, the chairman of the DNC, said on Thursday that he had decided not to publish a report that he ordered months ago into what went wrong for the Democratic Party last year. Party officials have conducted more than 300 interviews with Democrats in all 50 states to create a document that Mr. Martin had once pitched as crucial to charting a path forward.”
“Mr. Martin will instead keep the findings under seal. He believes that looking back so publicly and painfully at the past would prove counterproductive for the party as it tries next year to take back power in Congress.”
Said Martin: “Here’s our North Star: Does this help us win? If the answer is no, it’s a distraction from the core mission.”
Wall Street Journal: “The DNC’s postelection review included hundreds of interviews with people from all 50 states, according to a DNC official. The insights uncovered issues specific to the 2024 cycle—both presidential and down-ballot—as well as other structural challenges for the party.”
Washington Post: “But by declining to make the report public, the party is also keeping the lessons learned from its 2024 failures limited to a small group of insiders and dodging a public accounting that many Democrats believe is necessary to avoid repeating past mistakes.”
Unprecedented Errors Erode Justice Department Credibility
“In years past, it was relatively rare for a federal court to question the Justice Department’s competency or good faith. But such questions are becoming more common, thanks to a growing pattern of legal missteps that have dogged the department since January,” Reuters reports.
Stephen Miller Behind Deadly Boat Strike Policy
“President Donald Trump’s homeland security adviser, Stephen Miller, and other senior officials were looking for a fight,” the Washington Post reports.
“In the first months of the administration, Miller, the architect of Trump’s anti-immigration and border policies, and his team discussed starting a new war on drugs by striking cartels and alleged traffickers in Mexico.”
“Reducing the power of cartels, an idea that dated back to the first Trump administration, would ease the flow of migrants and narcotics, creating early political wins. But as the administration surged thousands of U.S. troops to the southern border, increased U.S. surveillance flights and boosted intelligence sharing with its neighbor, Mexican military operations across the border curbed cartel action, the people said. That left Miller and his team looking for another target.”
Trump’s ‘Warrior Dividends’ Are Just Rebranded Payments
President Trump’s $1,776 checks for more than a million troops, announced last night, come from Congressionally-allocated reconciliation funds intended to subsidize housing allowances for service members, Defense One reports.
Johnson to Meet With Lawmakers on Stock Trading Ban
“Speaker Mike Johnson will meet with a small group of House Republicans on Thursday afternoon who will use the meeting to push to make a congressional stock trading ban part of the GOP’s agenda,” Bloomberg reports.
Why Four Republicans Broke Ranks with Mike Johnson
“Four House Republicans snubbed Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and teamed up with Democrats to force a House vote on a three-year extension of expiring Obamacare funds,” NBC News reports.
“All of them have one thing in common: They face re-election in swing districts in next year’s midterm elections.”
“And since the GOP hasn’t come up with a replacement plan, voters will have little doubt about whom to blame when those premium hikes hit.”
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