Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) said she would consider running for independent Sen. Bernie Sanders’ seat should he decide not to run for reelection in 2030, NOTUS reports.
Said Balint: “I’m not going to play coy and say ‘No, I’ve never thought about it,’ — of course I think about it.”
CNN: Even as most of the GOP faithful remains squarely behind the president or unwilling to publicly step out of line, the list of those confident enough to defy Trump over policy and politics is growing. It’s a new moment for Trump, who has kept a tight hold over his party for most of the last decade.”
“The stresses and strains of the upcoming midterm election year may show whether the fractures in Trump’s base are truly deepening. That, of course, is far from certain. Yet this group of eight Republicans is notable for how they’ve gone against the grain to openly challenge Trump.”
Julia Azari: “There’s already evidence that Republicans are looking toward the prospect of a post-Trump GOP after 2028. The president is mortal and, more importantly, term-limited. As the first year of his second term comes to a close, it seems worthwhile to look at some potential weaknesses in his hold over the Republican Party.”
“During an absolute blizzard of other news on Friday afternoon, two Republican lawmakers—Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York and Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming—announced they would not seek re-election next year,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“That brings the total number of lawmakers who aren’t running for re-election to 52, according to Ballotpedia. The most in any election cycle since 2012 are the 54 who retired in 2018. This Congress is likely to surpass that total, perhaps by a huge margin (a lot of lawmakers will chat about their political futures over the holidays with family and, well, the tide seems to be going out, not coming in).”
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“The Department of Justice restored online a photo from the Jeffrey Epstein files that contained images showing President Donald Trump after backlash over its removal,” CNBC reports.
“Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche earlier said the DOJ removed several Epstein file documents from its website to comply with part of a federal court order aimed at protecting victims.”
USA Today: Epstein drop raises new questions.
“Let me be clear. Anyone who attacks my wife, whether their name is Jen Psaki or Nick Fuentes, can eat shit. That’s my official policy as vice president of the United States.”
— Vice President JD Vance, quoted by the Daily Beast.
Politico: “The impediments to reaching a deal that can pass both chambers are more extensive, starting with the fact that Republicans and Democrats on both ends of the Capitol have yet to start negotiating the details of the nine pending funding bills.”
“The lack of bipartisan offer-trading is raising the likelihood of another short-term punt — or another shutdown.”
Inside 60 Minutes, where journalistic independence is sacrosanct, “people are threatening to quit” over the network killing a story the White House did not like, Brian Stelter reports.
“Democrats eyeing 2028 presidential runs are losing weight, upgrading their wardrobes and changing their hairstyles — a time-honored tradition for White House hopefuls that has taken on new urgency in the TikTok era,” Axios reports.
“The makeovers by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin and others are the latest signs that the pre-primary has begun.”
Washington Post: “With the future of the party up for grabs in a Donald Trump-less 2028 primary, Cruz has in recent months positioned himself as a loud voice for a more traditional, hawkish Republican foreign policy. He’s also urging the GOP to rid itself of popular MAGA pundit Tucker Carlson, whom he argues is injecting the ‘poison’ of antisemitism into the movement with his broadsides against Israel. Carlson has rejected that characterization.”
“As he feuds with Carlson, Cruz is weighing a second presidential bid, according to a person close to the senator and another briefed on his thinking, who spoke like others on the condition of anonymity to disclose internal conversations. A White House run would be politically risky for Cruz, 55, putting him on course to collide with Vice President JD Vance, who many Republicans expect to enter the 2028 race.”
“After a chaotic year filled with trade wars, market gyrations and the longest government shutdown in history, the U.S. economy has, once again, proved more resilient than many forecasters feared,” the New York Times reports.
“But ‘resilient’ isn’t quite the same thing as ‘good.’”
“Many Americans are entering 2026 worried about their jobs, stressed about their finances and unconvinced that things will improve in the new year.”
“The bitter infighting over antisemitism, free speech and bigotry during Turning Point USA’s annual national conference not only exposed fissures in President Trump’s movement but also laid bare a challenge for his potential successor,” the New York Times reports.
“How would his likely heir apparent handle an explosive debate among Republicans over whether extremists and conspiracy theorists should be embraced or excluded from the conservative coalition?”
“On Sunday, Vice President JD Vance gave an answer, suggesting he was more than willing to forgo imposing any moral red lines.”
“Since President Trump was elected a second time, he and his allies have raised nearly $2 billion for his favored political causes and passion projects. That total likely eclipses the amount raised to support his 2024 campaign,” the New York Times reports.
“The astounding haul hints at a level of transactionalism for which it is difficult to find obvious comparisons in modern American history. The identities of the donors behind much of the cash are not legally required to be, and have not been, publicly disclosed. In some cases, Mr. Trump’s team has offered donors anonymity.”
“Lawmakers in both parties view simmering fury over the cost of living as the top issue in next year’s midterm elections and are pitching a growing profusion of proposals to tackle the notoriously difficult problem of affordability,” the Washington Post reports.
“Republicans are touting the tax cuts they passed in July and considering a second party-line package to address health care and other matters. Democrats, meanwhile, are drafting proposals aimed at making everything from health care and housing to energy and groceries more affordable.”
“President Trump said he’s nominating Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as US special envoy to Greenland, in the latest signal that the president retains designs on increasing US influence over the island he’s suggested he wants to purchase,” Bloomberg reports.
“CBS News abruptly pulled an investigative 60 Minutes segment on the Trump administration’s deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s CECOT prison after the Trump administration refused to grant an interview,” the Washington Post reports.
“The decision came directly from the network’s editor in chief, Bari Weiss, according to an internal email sent to producers from the segment’s correspondent, Sharyn Alfonsi, who called the decision tantamount to handing the White House a ‘kill switch.’”
“In the United States of America you don’t have to apologize for being white anymore.”
— Vice President JD Vance, speaking at the Turning Point USA summit.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) talks to John Avlon about Pentagon intimidation, the rule of law, and his AI for America plan
Bret Stephens: “Though I tend to think it’s usually a waste of space to devote a column to President Trump’s personality — what more is there to say about the character of this petty, hollow, squalid, overstuffed man? — sometimes the point bears stressing: We are led by the most loathsome human being ever to occupy the White House.”
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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