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Donald Trump's appointment of "MAGA disciples" to key diplomatic roles in Europe has led many to "raise eyebrows" at the blatant disregard for experience, with one source telling The Guardian it shows "total contempt for human dignity."

Political appointees such as ambassadors, as The Guardian's report explained, have often been "a euphemism for big supporters and donors," even before the Trump era, when the practice got supercharged by his favoritism towards his biggest loyalists. Sources speaking to the outlet say that his latest round of diplomatic postings has "never been quite this blatant."

"[The appointees are] basically all relatives, close friends or big [donors]," one European Union diplomat said, under the promise of anonymity. “That’s always been the US tradition, but it’s never been quite this blatant. These are like MAGA disciples.”

Under Trump, Charles Kushner -- the father-in-law of his daughter Ivanka, and a businessman once convicted of tax evasion, making false statements and witness tampering -- was appointed ambassador to France.

“He’s here to do a job, and from Washington’s standpoint he’s doing it pretty well,” a source at the Quai d’Orsay, France’s foreign ministry, told the outlet about Kushner's appointment. “He’s close to Trump. They go back a long way. He’s not going to be questioning his remit.”

Elsewhere on the continent, he has appointed his former daughter-in-law Kimberly Guilfoyle ambassador to Greece, former fast food franchisee CEO Andrew Puzder as ambassador to the EU, prominent GOP donor and Broadway producer Stacy Feinberg as ambassador to Luxembourg, and Tilman Fertitta, a hotel magnate and co-owner of the Houston Rockets, as the ambassador to Italy.

"Many are multimillionaires, some billionaires," The Guardian's report explained. "Together, they have poured tens of millions of dollars into the MAGA coffers. Nearly all have sung the president’s praises long and loud. Almost none have any kind of diplomatic experience at all."

While some sources were somewhat delicate in their estimations of this new diplomatic crop, former French envoy to the US Gérard Araud was notably blunt in his assessment.

"The craziness of these nominations reflects a total contempt for human dignity, custom, and the law," Araud said. "Only whim matters."

Donald Trump plans to hold a mixed martial arts event on the White House grounds next year, but one formerly diehard MAGA UFC fighter has opted out of the event, telling the president, "I'm good, dude," and referring to the potential crowd as the "Epstein list."

The event, tentatively known simply as "UFC White House," is set take place on the residence's South Lawn on June 14 of next year, a date meant to help it coincide with the United States’ 250th anniversary. The event was first suggested by Trump at a rally in July, and later finalized in late August by UFC CEO Dana White, a longtime MAGA supporter and friend of the president.

Sean Strickland, a highly-ranked former UFC Middleweight Champion with a 29-7 win-loss record, was also once a fervent supporter of Trump and known for espousing many right-wing cultural beliefs. Since Trump returned to the White House in 2025, however, he has gradually disavowed his past support, citing disagreements with Trump's pro-Israel stances, and saying that reelecting him was a "mistake."

Now, Strickland is speaking out against the UFC White House event and expressing opposition to appearing on the fight card, suggesting that it would be a performance for the "Epstein list" instead of MMA fans.

"If there was some kind of inclusion for fans I’d be more [inclined]," Strickland said in a mid-workout video interview shared to X. "But just to go hang out with the f—— Epstein list, I’m good dog. I’m good, dude."

Strickland also said that he was initially up for the idea until hearing about another unspecified fighter who "said he doesn’t really want to fight in front of billionaires."

"And I was like, ‘That makes sense, bro,'" he said.

The UFC White House event will not be open to the general public, leading to the perception by Strickland and others that it will be exclusively for the pleasure of Trump's wealthy associates, though it is also expected to be livestreamed on Paramount+. In a report about Strickland's comments, the Daily Beast summarized the event as being "perceived by some as a spectacle of gladiatorial bloodletting in [Trump's] honor."

Friday, December 19 is the deadline for compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act of 2025, which calls for the release of the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) "unclassified" files on the late billionaire financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But a variety of figures across the political spectrum, from MAGA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) to veteran feminist attorney Gloria Allred, are voicing concerns that some important information won't be made public.

Allred, during a December 19 appearance on MS NOW, told host Ana Cabrera, "Some files may not be released today. The survivors want all of them released, and they don't want excuses."

In an article published by The Nation that day, journalist Jeet Heer warns that "the word 'unclassified' potentially gives (President Donald) Trump and the CIA wide latitude to hold back Epstein-related materials that they claim are too sensitive to release."

"In this," Heer observes, "they have the support of House Speaker Mike Johnson, who insisted that U.S. intelligence agencies be allowed to 'protect their critical sources and methods.'"

Johnson argued, "It is incredibly dangerous to demand that officials or employees of the DOJ declassify material that originated in other agencies and intelligence agencies." But in contrast, Greene, at a November 18 press conference, told reporters, "The real test will be: Will the Department of Justice release the files, or will it all remain tied up in investigations?'Will the CIA release the files?"

Heer emphasizes that questions need to be asked about Epstein's connection to the CIA and possibly the Israeli intelligence agency the Mossad.

"Epstein was a power player in global politics, a kind of diplomat without portfolio with better access to the wealthy and politically powerful than most real ambassadors," Heer explains. "One way to understand him is as a product of a hyper-privatized neoliberal age. Just as much of the policing of the American empire is now done by private military companies — notably, Constellis, formerly known as Academi and Blackwater — billionaires like Epstein have their own private foreign policy."

Heer continues, "Whatever work Epstein did with the CIA or the Mossad would have been as a peer rather than an employee…. Epstein and (former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud) Barak were masters of what (author) Naomi Klein and others have called disaster capitalism, profiting from the 'desperation of those in power.' But it is unlikely they could have done this without the complicity of American intelligence. That's why Epstein's intelligence ties are central to understanding his crimes."

Read Jeet Heer's full article for The Nation at this link.

Consumer sentiment data shows that it increased in December, but by less than expected.

The University of Michigan’s final December sentiment index increased at the end of 2025 by 1.9 points to 52.9, according to a report released Friday said, cited Bloomberg.com.

Bloomberg said that its survey of economists called for a reading of 53.5.

“Despite some signs of improvement to close out the year, sentiment remains nearly 30 percent below December 2024, as pocketbook issues continue to dominate consumer views of the economy,” said Joanne Hsu, director of the survey.

It means that the "conditions gauge" slipped to 50.4 points, despite expectations being at a four-month high.

"Consumers’ perception of current buying conditions for big-ticket items deteriorated to the lowest on record," said the report.

Speaking to CNBC's "Squawk on the Street," Rick Santelli said he has data going back to the 1970s and things aren't looking good.

"So, the mid-month read gets tossed, 53.3 was the mid-month read on the headline. It now moves lower to 52.9. That would be the weakest since it was 51 in November. And I'd like to point out that if you look at the absolute low, it is 50 from June of 22. We're not far away from the low," Santelli warned.

"Now, if we look at current conditions, same dynamic 50.7 mid-month becomes 50.4 and 50.4 is a new all time low, replacing the 50.7. Also, my database goes back into the 1970s. Look at expectations. Same dynamic," he added.

"Mid-month 55 now becomes 54.6, and 54.6 would be the weakest since November, when it was 51. And finally, on the inflation front. Well, 4.2 replaces 4.1. it's one tenth hotter on the one year inflation. On the 5 to 10 year inflation rate. It remains the same at 3.2 percent," Santelli rattled off.

The news comes after economists questioned November inflation data showing that inflation fell.

Donald Trump got a sharp rebuke from his Fox News on Friday as hosts decried the recent addition of insulting plaques about Democratic presidents at the White House as "trolling" and "repulsive."

While not the largest and eye-catching change Trump has made to the White House, his addition of a "Presidential Walk of Fame" has nonetheless made headlines for insulting jabs at his political opponents. When the feature was first introduced in September, former President Joe Biden was represented with a photo of an autopen instead of a portrait, referencing the tool for signatures which Trump has falsely claimed invalidates some of the executive orders and pardons that his predecessor issued.

More recently, reporters noticed the addition of new plaques beneath the photos of Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Under Biden's photo, the new plaque reads "Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American History. Taking office as a result of the most corrupt Election ever seen in the United States, Biden oversaw a series of unprecedented disasters that brought our Nation to the brink of destruction." It also added references to Trump's long-debunked claim that Biden's win in the 2020 election was the result of widespread voter fraud.

The new plaque for Obama refers to him as "divisive" and attacks him for the passage of the "Unaffordable Care Act" and joining the Paris Climate Accords. It also repeated Trump's unfounded claims that the Obama administration spied on his 2016 campaign and fabricated claims that it colluded with Russia. While less directly insulting, Clinton's plaque was given a new note about his wife, Hillary Clinton, losing the 2016 election to Trump.

During a Friday broadcast, Fox News anchor Brian Kilmeade said that he was not in favor of these changes and suggested that Trump's two plaques add bits of mockery to balance things out.“

No, I’m not for this at all,” Kilmeade said. “So they’ve got to mock President Trump or put something on his plaque... I am not for the autopen. If [Trump] is going to do it outdoors, just put the profiles up there. I am not for dispelling or saying anything bad. Plus, a lot of presidents that people think were bad, ended up being looked at as great. I don’t think it’s going to happen with Joe Biden. But I am not for the trolling."

One of Kilmeade's co-anchors, Jessica Tarlov, agreed with his sentiments, calling the new plaques "repulsive behavior."

President Donald Trump is scheduled to travel to North Carolina Friday to address the affordability crisis as his poll numbers in the state drop to record lows.

Newsweek reported Friday that the new survey by Elon University and YouGov from the second half of November shows his disapproval rate is at 51 percent. His approval rating dropped to just 35 percent.

North Carolina hasn't voted for a Democrat for president since the 2008 election for President Barack Obama, but there is an open U.S. Senate seat up for grabs in the 2026 midterms, as well as newly drawn congressional districts.

The report cited North Carolina State Board of Elections data showing that there are a little over 1,200 more Democratic voters in the state than Republicans.

The House and Senate have small Republican majorities, and if Democrats are able to win a minor number of seats it could sway the power balance to block the GOP agenda, effectively making Trump a "lame duck president" for his final two years in office.

One of Trump's strongest voting blocks in 2024 was men, but the new numbers show just 40 percent of men approve of his job while 48 percent disapprove.

"Separately, the poll also revealed that the overall approval rating of North Carolina's Democratic Governor Josh Stein stood at 44 percent, while 22 percent disapproved and 34 percent were unsure," Newsweek noted.

Read the report here.

Born in 1933 during President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first year in office and first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1980 — the year President Jimmy Carter suffered a landslide defeat at the hands of Ronald Reagan — 92-year-old Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is the longest-serving current member of Congress' upper chamber. And he plans to seek reelection in 2028.

Grassley's allies have long touted him as a leader of judicial oversight. But in an article published on December 19, Bloomberg Law reporters Tiana Headley and Jonathan Tamari stress that he is now drawing vehement criticism from those who believe he has grown "tepid" where President Donald Trump is concerned. And some of the criticism is coming from the right, including conservative attorney and Trump foe Gregg Nunziata.

"After President Donald Trump fired two federal watchdogs in 2020," Headley and Tamari explain, "Sen. Chuck Grassley defied the leader of his party. The Iowa Republican — who, for over four decades, has cultivated a reputation as someone who challenged Democratic and Republican administrations alike — blocked two Trump nominees for roles at the National Counterterrorism Center and the State Department. The (Trump) Administration had failed to give Congress the required advance notice for the terminations. But when Trump returned to office this year with a more aggressive approach and removed inspectors general at 18 federal agencies, Grassley's response was more muted. He sent Trump a letter on January 28 requesting answers, saying, 'This is a matter of public and congressional accountability.' The administration took eight months to respond to it."

The Bloomberg reporters add, "Meanwhile, Grassley, as chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, kept Trump's judicial and US attorney nominees moving through his panel when he could have delayed their progress to exert pressure on the White House."

Nunziata didn't hold back when he discussed Grassley with Bloomberg Law.

The conservative attorney, who served as Republican chief counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee under President George W. Bush and is now executive director of the Society for the Rule of Law, is an outspoken Trump critic. And he believes that Grassley is going much too easy on him.

Nunziata told Bloomberg Law, "I have been puzzled and disappointed by his apparent lack of interest in continuing in his own tradition of rigorous oversight."

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Massachusetts) is disappointed with Grassley as well, telling Bloomberg Law, "He's been one of the (Trump) administration's biggest enablers. The way he's run the Judiciary Committee, is that Trump could do no wrong."

Read the full Bloomberg Law article at this link.

President Donald Trump's hand-picked board of appointees at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted this week to add the president's name to the building. And it appears they're already at work doing so.

CNN and Reuters confirmed on Friday that work is already being done on the signage on the outside of the building less than 24 hours after the board voted to change the name.

A large blue tarp was strung up between the large pillars, partially shielding some work being done behind it. Two bucket-lifts hoisted a group of workers up to the letters.

Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) posted photos a source texted him of the physical change to the sign.

"If that’s correct, this needs to stop as it’s illegal to change without Congress," he warned.

CNN's Edward-Isaac Dovere pointed out on X that while Kennedy Center already has "struggling finances," it appears they "already had new signs made and delivered to install."

"The separation of powers fight that's at once totally absurd and wholly predictable," said Politico's Jonathan Martin on X.

In deep blue Maryland, some top officials in Democratic Gov. Wes Moore's administration have, at times, been using the platform Google Chat for communications. The program offers a "history is off" option, which automatically deletes messages permanently after 24 hours. And according to Baltimore Banner reporters Brenda Wintrode and Pamela Wood, the use of that function within parts of the Moore Administration is raising "accountability" concerns.

In an article published on December 19, Wintrode and Wood report, "Hundreds of pages of documents obtained by The Banner through the state's public records law showed dozens of message threads created on the state's Google Chat platform with the 'history is off' function activated…. The messages were heavily redacted, but the ones that weren't indicated that the officials were discussing the federal government shutdown and congressional redistricting, among other state-related topics."

The Baltimore Banner reporters add, "State law requires every 'unit of the state government' to have policies spelling out which records need to be saved and which don't. The Office of the Governor does not have a policy."

According to Wintrode and Wood, "open-government experts and archivists" told The Banner that "setting messages to vanish could hinder accountability, dash the public's right to inspection and keep archivists from reviewing documents for historical value."

Arian Ravanbakhsh, an expert on digital records and former U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) official, told the Baltimore Banner, "If that's how you're conducting business, there is a responsibility inherent in a democracy that those records are being managed and preserved."

Moore's office, however, is defending his administration's use of the "history is off" option with Google Chat.

In a December 19 post on X, formerly Twitter, Wood noted, "The governor's office told The Banner it 'complies fully with all Maryland records laws and retention policies.' When we pressed for details, the governor's office said it was working with the AG on a records retention policy."

Read Brenda Wintrode and Pamela Wood's full article for The Baltimore Banner at this link (subscription required).

President Donald Trump has frequently boasted about ending or preventing several wars when listing off the accomplishments of his second term, but according to a new analysis from the Washington Post, his focus on creating "flashy headlines" is causing these deals to fall apart.

The piece, written by Post columnist and veteran foreign correspondent Keith B. Richburg, highlighted a few notable conflicts Trump has claimed to have quelled via ceasefire agreements, including disputes between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as Thailand and Cambodia, and Israel's ongoing war in Gaza.

Trump hosted a meeting between the leaders of Rwanda and the DRC, claiming "a new year of harmony and cooperation" had begun. However, as Richburg explained, "fighting raged on" between the two nations, with a Rwandan militia seizing the Congolese town of Uvira just days after the summit in Washington, D.C.

In October, Trump hosted a similar ceasefire signing event between leaders of Thailand and Cambodia, but just a few months later, in early December, fighting along the border between the two nations broke out. So far, 11 Thai troops and at least 11 Cambodian civilians have been killed as the two sides trade artillery fire, with over half a million displaced. Trump claimed that a ceasefire had been reached after calling the prime ministers of each country, but the two leaders said this was not true.

One of Trump's most heavily touted accomplishments of his second term was a peace plan aimed at ending the war in Gaza. Despite much hype, the disarmament of Hamas and the appointment of a Gaza peace board have failed to materialize, and Hamas has continued to assert its control in the area.

"The setbacks show that in the complicated business of peacemaking, signing a ceasefire deal before the cameras is usually just the beginning," Richburg wrote. "Changing the realities on the ground — and getting combatants to lay down their weapons — requires a more sustained level of follow-through and commitment."

The issues at play in these conflicts, Richburg explained, are deeply complex and steeped in decades of disputes. Fixing them requires long-term commitments to diplomacy, not Trump's favored tactic of deadlines and media-friendly ceasefire meetings.

"In all these conflicts, enmities run deep, and are passed on through generations," Richburg wrote. "They are not easily undone by handshakes in Washington, Kuala Lumpur or Cairo. And they defy quick and easy solutions. Trump fancies himself a peacemaker and a dealmaker. But solving historically complex conflicts is not like making a real estate deal, where everyone can walk away satisfied. Solving a war takes time, patient diplomacy and follow through. Artificial deadlines are meaningless."

Next year will be the ten-year anniversary of the so-called "Pizzagate" conspiracy, and one Republican Senator is trying to reignite the lie that inspired at least one gunman.

"Pizzagate" was the conspiracy that claimed Hillary Clinton was involved in a child trafficking ring that was being run out of the basement of a Washington, D.C., pizza parlor. The pizza place in question doesn't have a basement, nor did it have any connections to trafficking or trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

The Huffington Post's Yashar Ali noticed that Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) reposted a video from "a conspiracy theorist who regularly spreads neo-Nazi propaganda."

The video he reposted came from Ian Carroll, who uploaded it in Jan. 2024. He challenged the claim that reports and fact-checks had officially debunked the "Pizzagate" conspiracy. Clicking on links, he called it "nepotism circles" of news links from "left of center" sites.

Carroll followed the path from Bill Gates giving funding to a fact-checker to Gates taking a photo with Epstein, a sex offender.

"The 'Pizzagate' conspiracy came out way before the Epstein revelations came out," Carroll claimed.

In fact, "Pizzagate" was a 2016 election conspiracy. Epstein was first arrested in Florida in 2006, following complaints that first began in Nov. 2004, the Washington Post reported, citing court documents.

Carroll then makes the leap that Epstein's trafficking of young girls make the conspiracy all the more likely.

"Am I, like, way out of line to say that Epstein is pretty solid evidence that there might be some child trafficking going on with elites?" Carroll asked. "Right? Like, is that too far out there?"

Lee reposted the video nearly two years after the initial video went live, touting those who are merely asking questions.

"What comes to mind first when you hear that mainstream-news media sources have 'debunked' a particular 'conspiracy theory'? I don’t know this guy, but he asks some legitimate questions. Watch the video and see for yourself," Lee wrote

The meme "I'm just asking questions" mocks conspiracy theorists who use the "pseudoskeptical" concept to distort claims under the guise of questions, author and researcher Tim Wise wrote in 2022.

Ali noted that Lee's promotion of Carroll's video perpetuates this false narrative.

"Carroll is a conspiracy theorist who regularly spreads neo-Nazi propaganda. The video Senator Lee is promoting is filled with thoroughly debunked nonsense about 'Pizzagate' and also repeats various lies about public figures. In the past, Carroll has spread neo-Nazi propaganda, including claims about the Rothschilds being involved in the Scofield Study Bible, among other dangerous conspiracies that target Jews," wrote Ali.

The gunman who went to the pizzeria in 2016 was ultimately released from prison after serving four years. Police have since killed the gunman in an unrelated incident.

During his presidential speech on Wednesday night, December 17, Donald Trump forcefully defended his record on the economy. Trump claimed that inflation soared under his predecessor, Democratic former President Joe Biden, but has plummeted since his return to the White House almost 11 months ago.

Voters, however, are giving Trump low marks on the economy in poll after poll.

A recent Associated Press/NORC poll found that only 31 percent of Americans approve of Trump's handling of the economy (AP), and in an Emerson College poll, 36 percent of respondents gave Trump an "F" on the economy.

In an article published by the National Review on December 19, conservative/libertarian scholar Jack Salmon — a research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University outside Washington, DC — warns Republicans that Trump's poll numbers will continue to suffer as long as voters are feeling frustrated over inflation.

"This week's release of the latest Consumer Price Indices underscores the one issue area where polls consistently show President Trump performing particularly badly," explains Salmon, who has also conducted research for the libertarian Cato Institute. "It isn't immigration, it isn't trade, and it isn’t even the overall handling of the economy. It's the cost of living, or inflation."

Salmon continues, "The president's net approval rating on the first three issues ranges from −5 percent to −17 percent. On inflation, voters give the president a net approval of −28 percent, with nearly two-thirds disapproving. It's easy to see why. Year-over-year inflation, stuck at 2.7 percent as of November, remains well above the Federal Reserve's target of 2 percent. The underlying drivers of that inflation remain cause for concern today — namely, out-of-control deficits and a rapidly growing national debt."

The scholar, citing New York Federal Reserve Data, notes that consumers "expect inflation to be above 3 percent a year from now." The "cost of living," he adds, "is the issue that will likely decide the outcome of the 2026 midterm elections."

"If the inflation surge of the last few years taught us anything," Salmon argues, "it is that nothing topples a government's political standing faster than rising prices. Unless policymakers change course, voters will once again make their discontent unmistakably clear."

Jack Salmon's full article for the conservative National Review is available at this link.

President Donald Trump announced a few months ago that he would likely name the large White House ballroom after himself. This week, the board of the Kennedy Center voted to allow Trump to add his own name to the name of historic building so it will be called the Trump-Kennedy Center.

The Bulwark's Andrew Egger penned a satirical morning newsletter post proposing that Americans simply let Trump remake The Moon in his image as well.

"He’s been acting more like Caligula — spending more and more time on a series of empty gestures intended to spite his enemies and feed his own ego," Egger began.

Another project of Trump's this week was to install "trollish plaques beneath a row of presidential portraits at the residence, sketching out a brief narrative that reads all of U.S. history as mere prelude to the capstone project of his reign."

The Trump-Kennedy Center plan is "a classic Trump-era story," Egger explained. "One where the facts are so openly clownish that one struggles to know how seriously to take it."

He said that on one hand it's "silly" to see the president of the United States focusing his time on vanity projects. However, as Egger wrote back in March: “Every minute spent critiquing the upholstery in the Kennedy concert hall is one less minute the president has to search out new beefs with Canada or personally vet FBI agents to no-knock Liz Cheney’s home.”

The other battle over such issues, however, deal specifically with the broader debate over presidential authority. The Supreme Court has given Trump supreme authority over Congress in several cases litigated over the course of his first year in office. The name of things like the Kennedy Center and the Department of Defense, were established by U.S. laws through an act of Congress.

"But in the strange law-optional world into which Trump is trying to usher us, that simple fact—words in the U.S. code—isn’t what matters. What matters is that the White House controls the actual power in question ... isn’t this how they’re running everything these days?" he askd.

Eggar closed by speculating what Trump will decide is next: the Trump Highway, the Trump-Washington Monument? The Trump-Lincoln Bedroom?

"We’re only a year down, after all. Who knows how far his ambitions will reach in three more? Let’s get the big guy’s name on the moon," said Egger.

Read the full newsletter here.

During the United States' 2012 presidential race, conservative GOP nominee Mitt Romney and incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama aggressively debated one another on economic policy. And they had more than their share of disagreements. Ultimately, voters — still feeling pain from the Great Recession — trusted Obama more on the economy, and he defeated Romney by roughly 4 percent in the popular vote while picking up 332 electoral votes compared to 206 for his Republican challenger.

But Romney, in an op-ed published by the New York Times on December 19, has a recommendation that is more likely to come from Democrats than Republicans: raise taxes on the ultra-rich.

"Social Security and Medicare benefits for future retirees should be means-tested — need-based, that is to say — and the starting age for entitlement payments should be linked to American life expectancy," argues Romney, a former U.S. senator and ex-Massachusetts governor. "And on the tax front, it's time for rich people like me to pay more. Our roughly 17 percent average tariff rate helps the revenue math. Doubling it — which seemed possible shortly after 'Liberation Day' — would further burden lower- and middle-income families, and would have severe market consequences."

Romney continues, "I long opposed increasing the income level on which FICA employment taxes are applied; this year, the cap is $176,100. No longer; the consequences of the cliff have changed my mind."

The conservative notes some "loopholes" in the U.S. tax code that enable ultra-wealthy Americans to significantly lower their tax burden. And he is critical of the Trump Administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), saying that DOGE took a "slash-and-burn approach to budget cutting and failed spectacularly."

"I believe in free enterprise, and I believe all Americans should be able to strive for financial success," Romney argues. "But we have reached a point where any mix of solutions to our nation's economic problems is going to involve the wealthiest Americans contributing more. Of course, a much faster growing economy would save us from the debt cliff. This truism has long rationalized politicians' failure to act: Faster growth, promised with tax cuts, is always just around the corner, but that corner never arrives."

Romney adds, "Yes, taxes can slow growth. But most of the measures I propose would have a relatively small impact on economic growth. If my party wants to be the one to give working- and middle-class Americans greater opportunity — to be the party that is trying to restore some sense of confidence in our capitalist system — this would be a start."

Former U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney's (R-Utah) full op-ed for The New York Times is available at this link (subscription required).

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth flew into a rage when, in a video posted online in November, Sens. Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin and other Democratic lawmakers urged members of the U.S. Armed Forces to disobey orders if they are clearly "illegal." Trump, on his Truth Social platform, described the video as "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!"— a claim that Florida International University Eric R. Carpenter denounced as nonsense, saying, "In the video, the elected officials are just telling service members to follow the law. They are not telling service members to overthrow the government."

But the issue of military leaders disobeying orders if they are illegal persists. According to CNN reporters Natasha Bertrand and Zachary Cohen, a U.S. Army brigadier general had a recommendation for responding to illegal orders: ask to retire.

Bertrand and Cohen, in an article published on December 19, report, "How should a military commander respond if they determine they have received an unlawful order? Request to retire — and refrain from resigning in protest, which could be seen as a political act, or picking a fight to get fired. That was the previously unreported guidance that Brig. Gen. Eric Widmar, the top lawyer for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave to the country's top general, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, in November, according to sources familiar with the discussion."

Caine, according to the CNN journalists, was given that recommendation after watching the video with Kelly, Slotkin and others.

"He asked Widmar, according to the sources, what the latest guidance was on how to determine whether an order was lawful and how a commander should reply if it is not," Bertrand and Cohen explain. "Widmar responded that they should consult with their legal adviser if they're unsure, the sources said. But ultimately, if they determine that an order is illegal, they should consider requesting retirement."

The CNN reporters add, "The guidance sheds new light on how top military officials are thinking about an issue that has reached a fever pitch in recent weeks, as lawmakers and legal experts have repeatedly questioned the legality of the U.S. military's counternarcotics operations in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, including intense scrutiny of a 'double-tap' strike that deliberately killed survivors on September 2."

According to legal experts interviewed by CNN, there is a clear distinction between disobeying an order because it is "patently illegal" and disobeying an order simply because they disagree with a policy.

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Dan Maurer told CNN that "in the face of an unlawful order," military leaders should "disobey it if confident that the order is unlawful" and "report it through the chain of command."

"If the guidance does not explicitly advise service members that they have a duty to disobey unlawful orders," Maurer told CNN, "the guidance is not a legitimate statement of professional military ethics and the law."

Read Natasha Bertrand and Zachary Cohen's full article for CNN at this link.

A new law passed required that the Justice Department release all of the investigation documents associated with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by Friday, but according to Democratic lawmakers, that won't be the end of the story.

NOTUS reported Thursday that lawmakers say they're waiting to review the DOJ documents before they decide on next steps.

“There’s so many different things that could happen,” said Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calf.), the ranking member on the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

He noted that he has concerns that the administration might try to hide further documents from the public.

“Ideally, they release everything. I highly doubt that’s going to happen,” he said. “But post Friday, everything has to be on the table. And so the legal approach absolutely has to be on the table, and then the Senate’s already talking about that. So we would like to see what actually happens. And so I think we’re preparing ourselves. Our team’s ready. We’re ready to review what comes out. Everyone knows, everybody’s going to be working for the weekend, and we’re ready to go.”

NOTUS reported that many Democrats believe the Trump administration will withhold some documents.

Garcia said that lawmakers may be able to cross-check the DOJ documents with the Epstein estate files.

"What are they releasing? What are they not releasing? I think that will be interesting for us, but we’re going to be releasing more photos and more documents from the estate that the DOJ may or may not have, so that will, that will continue,” Garcia said.

Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.) told the reporters that he is concerned they won't know what is missing since they never had access to the totality of the information to begin with.

“I’m skeptical that they [the administration] will release all of the files,” Subramanyam continued. “They haven’t answered any questions about what they think the Epstein files are. I don’t quite know how they define the Epstein files right now, or whether they’ve tampered with them in any way, or whether they will selectively release files.”

Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-Minn.) told NOTUS that lawmakers may have to rely on Epstein's survivors to fill some information gaps.

She alleged, “We will know if they have omitted any files.”

“We can expect that if the files are fully released, there will be a mountain of evidence of both criminal and civil liability against individuals who were never prosecuted,” Stansbury said. “It’s likely that if that is the case that there will be legal ramifications for individuals that are exposed to have been complicit in crimes, and I think it will also help shed insight as to why the U.S. government did not prosecute the case.”

For the past two weeks, House Oversight Democrats have released photos from a trove of 95,000 images that came from the Epstein estate. The first batch had a number of photos of Epstein with famous people in filmmaking, Wall Street and politics. The second batch features a number of photos of quotes from the book "Lolita" written on the skin of an individual.

Trump and his administration deny any wrongdoing.

Read the full report here.

Late Thursday morning, December 18, the news broke that federal Judge Trevor McFadden —an appointee of President Donald Trump — had rejected a lawsuit brought by major Trump allies: the America First Legal Foundation, a far-right MAGA legal group.

According to Politico's Josh Gerstein, America First Legal was "trying to demand records" using the Freedom of Information Act. But Gerstein notes that McFadden, in his America First Legal Foundation v. John G. Roberts ruling, "says Congress 'excused' itself [and] judiciary."

McFadden, in a 21-page court document, wrote, "The Freedom of Information Act announced a policy of broad disclosure of government documents. Broad disclosure, however, does not mean unlimited disclosure. While FOIA promises access to many Executive Branch records, Congress excused itself and the courts from FOIA’s reach. In 2024, America First Legal Foundation ('America First') requested various documents from the Judicial Conference of the United States and Administrative Office of the United States under FOIA. Both entities rejected the request on the basis that they are part of the Judiciary, so FOIA does not apply to them. America First disagreed."

The Trump-appointed federal judge continued, "Taking a narrower view of FOIA's court-documents carve out, America First sees the Judicial Conference and Administrative Office as agencies subject to FOIA. So America First sued and asks the Court to compel the heads of the Judicial Conference and Administrative Office to comply with its FOIA request. See Am. Compl., ECF No. 2."

McFadden noted that the "defendants moved to dismiss America First's Complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim."

The judge wrote, "Under Rule 12(b)(1), this Court presumes it lacks subject matter jurisdiction. See Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins., 511 U.S. 375, 377 (1994). Federal courts have limited jurisdiction and 'possess only that power authorized by Constitution and statute.' Id. And when a defendant brings a challenge under Rule 12(b)(1), the plaintiff bears the burden of establishing that the court has jurisdiction. See id."

On Wednesday night, December 17 — ahead of President Donald Trump's State of the Union address — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was dining in a Washington, DC wine bar when he was confronted by an angry protester who voiced her opposition to Trump's economic policies.

In video posted on X, formerly Twitter, by journalist Brian Allen, the woman is heard saying she wanted to "make a toast for the secretary of treasury, Scott Bessent." However, she wasn't really honoring Bessent, but rather, attacked him for "eating well" in a pricy wine bar "as people starve across the world." And she attacked Bessent's policies are "economic warfare."

The protester's comments drew loud boos from Bessent's supporters, but a man who agreed with her told them, "Of course you're going to boo. It's the truth."

The protester continued, saying that Trump "cheers for the Monroe Doctrine" and attacking his Venezuela policy as a pursuit of "oil."

Bessent shouted at her, "You are ignorant, and you have no idea how ignorant you are."

And she responded, "You are responsible for the death of 600,000 people annually because of sanctions…. The blood is on your hands."

Allen tweeted, "After the encounter, Bessent complained to the staff and when it didn't work in his favor, he spat into his own food before storming out."