“Ben Sasse, a Republican former senator from Nebraska and a former president of the University of Florida, announced on Tuesday that he had received a diagnosis of terminal Stage 4 pancreatic cancer,” the New York Times reports.

Said Sasse: “Since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I’ll cut to the chase. Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die.”

“Senate Majority Leader John Thune rushed to advance a new funding package this month, he faced a familiar roadblock: a trio of conservatives from his conference’s right flank,” Politico reports.

“Republican Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Mike Lee of Utah banded together as they sought to advance key conservative priorities, including an end to spending earmarks — holding out for weeks as Thune strained to keep the 2026 funding process on track and avoid another costly government shutdown on Jan. 30.”

“The tensions between the fiscal hawks, who want to drastically slash spending, and more pragmatic corners of the Senate GOP, including members of leadership and the Appropriations Committee, are nothing new. But these hard-liners have now found a larger pool of allies as the conference’s center of gravity slowly shifts right. They also have new perches of authority that give each a powerful megaphone.”

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.”

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) talks to John Avlon about Pentagon intimidation, the rule of law, and his AI for America plan

At least two U.S. senators have placed holds on the nomination of Adm. Kevin Lunday to serve as the Coast Guard’s commandant after the service enacted a new workplace harassment policy that downgrades the definition of swastikas and nooses from hate symbols to “potentially divisive,” the Washington Post reports.

“A longstanding Senate practice has stymied President Trump’s efforts to install his preferred federal prosecutorial candidates in states represented by Democrats, as Republicans refuse to bow to the president’s demand to bulldoze past minority opposition and allow the nominees to be confirmed,” the New York Times reports.

“The tradition has armed Democrats with a strong defense against the elevation of U.S. attorneys they see as unqualified or partisan, and frustrated Mr. Trump as he seeks to impose his will on the federal justice system.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) — who once called Joe Biden “as good a man as God ever created” — told Fox News that Biden is to blame for the Australia mass shooting.

Said Graham: “Obama and Biden have a lot to do with this… Dumbass Biden—the biggest dumbass on the planet—withdrew from Afghanistan.”

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) delivered a withering critique of his own party, asserting that congressional Republicans are failing to help enact the agenda that President Trump ran on, Semafor reports.

Said Hawley: “Congress really has to act. I think you’ve seen a Congress that has not been as enthusiastic about his agenda as I would like.”

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.”

“Senate Republican leaders are hoping that President Trump will intervene to quell a conservative rebellion in the upper chamber against a package of spending bills that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is trying to advance before Christmas,” NewsNation reports.

“Conservative Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Rick Scott (R-FL) have brought a package of five appropriations bills — the so-called mini-bus — to a standstill because they object to the dozens of earmarks in the bill, a controversial practice that has divided Republicans for years.”

“Senate Majority Leader John Thune is in unfamiliar territory — taking heat from all sides of his conference with no clear path out of the mess. It’s a precarious position for Thune, one that’s testing the limits of the leadership philosophy that helped him win the job,” Punchbowl News reports.

“Less than a year into his tenure as Senate Republican leader, Thune has been able to successfully steer Republicans through some of the most challenging moments of his career. From the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to Cabinet nominations to a record-breaking government shutdown and a high-profile rules change, Thune has allowed the GOP conference to reach a consensus on its own rather than dictating an outcome from above.”

“And Thune has done all of this without getting on the wrong side of President Donald Trump, a huge feat on its own.”

“But amid the year-end frenzy, the strategy that helped Thune score big wins earlier this year is failing to produce results on multiple fronts, angering several GOP factions simultaneously and reviving longstanding tensions within the conference.”

Wall Street Journal: “Having cast the deciding vote to secure Kennedy’s confirmation, Cassidy is in the difficult spot of having supported someone who is working against his interests… The secretary this week stands to oversee the undoing of a vaccine norm that Cassidy has credited with preventing around 20,000 hepatitis B infections every year.”

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) celebrated his marriage to his partner Alexis Lewis in an intimate ceremony in Washington, D.C. on Saturday evening, less than three months after he announced their engagement in an Instagram post, the New York Times reports.