Morning Report is The Hill's a.m. newsletter. Subscribe here. In today's issue: ▪ DOJ defends partial Epstein files release ▪ US pursues more Venezuelan oil tankers ▪ Trump seeks DC golf course takeover ▪ Nicki Minaj appears at Turning Point conference The Trump administration
We should have outgrown all of this loony-tune nonsense. It is now 2025, after all.
City-owned grocery stores are perhaps the most hotly debated item on New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s proposed affordability agenda . Proponents point to runaway food prices and the need to provide fresh groceries to the Big Apple’s underserved communities. Critics
President Trump is eyeing a takeover of the Washington, D.C., public golf system, but local golf officials and elected leaders are vowing not to cede control of the city’s affordable courses. The administration earlier this fall sent a notice of default to the National Links
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Two lovers who are officially Going Through It decamp to a Cabin in the Woods to work things out. 2025 featured a series of sweaty, intimate thrillers about couples therapy exercises gone dangerously wrong. Both Osgood Perkins’s Keeper
It’s the end of an era. The GOP, in the person of Donald Trump, has fallen out of love with subjecting regulations to cost-benefit analysis. Our story begins in December 1980, when President Jimmy Carter signed (over the objection of four Cabinet agencies ) a law creating the
Minnesota’s Democratic Senate primary is setting up a high-profile clash within the party amid a broader fight over its future. A number of well-known Democrats have already thrown their support in the race for the reliably blue seat, which is pitting the more centrist Rep.
Senate Democrats are raising the threat of another government shutdown in late January as tensions with President Trump escalate over a series of recent maneuvers by the White House that Democrats say need a forceful response from Capitol Hill. Senate Democrats walked away from
In December 2024, Joe Biden, then in the last weeks of his presidency, made a final move to block the incoming Trump administration from resuming the execution of federal prisoners. With his clemency power, Biden transmuted the capital sentences of nearly all the men on federal
No tangible progress toward funding the government has been made with six weeks to go.
After Vice President Vance slammed Minnesota state Sen. Omar Fateh (D) on Sunday, Fateh fired back, saying Vance “took time away from the couch to try out comedy.” Vance, during his speech at Turning Point’s AmericaFest in Phoenix, said that Democrats “are not sending their
President Trump named Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) as his special envoy to Greenland on Sunday, after the president repeatedly expressed interest in acquiring the autonomous territory earlier this year. Trump said on Truth Social that Landry “understands how essential
Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Ca.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said Sunday that the House should hold Attorney General Pam Bondi in “inherent contempt” over the Department of Justice (DOJ) releasing an incomplete and heavily redacted tranche of files related to Jeffrey Epstein on Friday.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday that Russia and Ukraine are committed to achieving peace amid negotiations on ending the ongoing war between the two countries. Witkoff said on the social platform X that he, along with President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and
Paul Coakley, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), said Sunday that the Trump administration’s mass deportations are invoking fear in immigrant communities across the country. “It's instilling, as I said, fear in a rather widespread manner. So I
Rapper Nicki Minaj made a surprise appearance on Sunday at Turning Point USA’s annual "AmericaFest" conference, where she talked to the organization’s Erika Kirk about President Trump and mocked California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). Minaj criticized Newsom over his support for
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) predicted Sunday that an extension of subsidies offered under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will pass the House with backing from both sides of the aisle. “House Democrats are going to continue to fight to get this extension
Senate negotiators are set for a high-wire act on health care in the coming weeks after leaving Washington for the holidays without a resolution on the expiring enhanced subsidies, with lawmakers increasingly shifting into campaign mode as the calendar flips to the new year.
“Saturday Night Live” this week mocked President Trump’s new “Patriot Games” by likening them to the games in the famous “Hunger Games” book series. In the cold open, Trump, played by SNL’s James Austin Johnson, appears to be mimicking the address the president gave earlier
A new CBS News/YouGov poll found that less than 2 in 10 respondents believe President Trump’s policies are improving their current financial situation. The poll, released Sunday, found that 18 percent of respondents believe the president’s policies are making them financially
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) suggested on Sunday he would not back Vice President Vance as a hypothetical candidate for president in 2028. In an interview on ABC News’s “This Week,” Paul cited his opposition to the Trump administration’s tariff and trade policy when asked whether he
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Sunday that President Trump will likely back legislation to send $2,000 tariff rebate checks to Americans in the new year. “I would expect that in the new year, the president will bring forth a proposal to Congress to make
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said on Sunday he thinks it’s a “big mistake” for the Trump administration to release heavily redacted files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying the issue could now “plague them for months.” “I think it's a big mistake,” Paul said in an
White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Sunday that the United States is “going to see the biggest tax refund season of all time” in 2026. “There's so much good news in the new year, because you're going to see the biggest tax refund season of all
Congress has relinquished its constitutional authority to declare war by refusing to pass resolutions requiring congressional authorization for military operations against Venezuela, allowing the president to initiate military hostilities without debate or oversight.
President Trump is imposing collective punishment on millions of people around the world in response to deadly shootings, despite numerous studies showing that immigrants are far less likely to commit crimes than people born in the U.S.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday that he wishes for a Russia-Ukraine war peace deal “that would prevent a third invasion,” likely referencing the 2014 and 2022 Russian incursions on Ukrainian territory. “Listen, we've made great progress between Ukraine, Europe and the
Anti-abortion voices are growing increasingly impatient for the Trump administration to complete a review of the abortion pill mifepristone, potentially altering its approval. But changing abortion access at the federal level could imperil an already vulnerable GOP in the
I am furious at what my country has done to me by taking away the one person who has been my safety net.
Those planning to retire, or who have already retired, can expect to see some notable changes in the new year.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said Sunday that former President Clinton “should address” questions surrounding files linked to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “Former President Bill Clinton is featured prominently in the first batch, as I was just discussing now. To be
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said he would leave it to the American people to decide whether they blame Republicans for the lapse in enhanced ObamaCare subsidies at the end of the year, but he defended GOP efforts to strike a deal on the issue in recent weeks. In an interview
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Sunday called for an investigation into the heavily redacted files related to Jeffrey Epstein released on Friday, saying it appears the Justice Department has fallen “short of what the law requires.” In an interview on ABC
Although most pro-choice Americans remain unaware that telemedicine abortion is an option, patients seeking care have widely embraced it. More than a quarter of all abortions in the U.S. were provided via telemedicine in 2025.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said on Sunday that Democrats are considering various avenues of recourse after the Trump administration released a trove of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein that included heavy redactions. In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” the top
The Federal Communications Commission recently updated its interactive map that lets you check which internet provider is fastest where you live.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday that all material featuring President Trump in files linked to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be released. “The White House has said that President Trump is included in the files. Can you guarantee that every
The opening of space to human commercial activity is a prospect to be welcomed eagerly.
Yes the darkest day of the year is here, but that means brighter days are ahead.
Thanks to a number of changes to the tax code under the One Big Beautiful Bill, Trump administration officials are projecting Americans will enjoy the largest tax refund ever in 2026.
The White House threatened to withhold federal funding to the Smithsonian if the prestigious museum system does not submit additional documentation for the Trump administration’s sweeping content review. In a Thursday letter to Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch,
Last month, a message on the White House website declared that “the Trump Administration has been the most transparent and accessible administration in modern American history ... ensuring the American people are constantly in touch with what their government is doing.” But if