US/World News
Briefs
SCOTUSblog: Supreme Court rejects Trump’s effort to deploy National Guard in Illinois
The Supreme Court refused to lift a lower-court order blocking President Trump from deploying the National Guard in Chicago, ruling the administration failed - at this stage - to show legal authority to use the military to execute domestic laws, despite dissents from the most extreme justices warning the decision could hinder protection of federal officers.
Stateline: Republicans could gain nearly 200 state legislative seats in voting rights case
A Supreme Court ruling weakening Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act could hand Republicans roughly 200 additional state legislative seats in the South, according to an analysis by Fair Fight Action and Black Voters Matter Fund, which warns the change would enable racial gerrymanders that sharply reduce Black and Hispanic representation.
Jezebel: Now They’re Coming for Your Citizenship
The Trump administration has quietly ordered Citizenship and Immigration Services to massively ramp up denaturalization, imposing quotas of 100-200 citizenship-stripping cases per month in 2026 - a more than 100× increase over historical norms - despite experts warning it’s legally unsustainable and designed less to win cases than to intimidate naturalized citizens and deter future immigrants.
Politico: ‘Incredibly reckless’: Trump’s wind halt stuns even some allies
President Trump ordered an immediate pause on five offshore wind projects - at various stages of completion and potentially capable of powering ~2.7 million homes - escalating his campaign against wind energy and triggering warnings of higher electricity prices, grid reliability risks, and a freeze in bipartisan permitting talks.
AP: Cloudy future for bourbon has Jim Beam closing Kentucky distillery for a year
Jim Beam will halt bourbon production for at least a year at its Clermont, KY distillery beginning in 2026, as the industry grapples with falling US drinking rates, tariff-driven export declines - especially to Canada - and the long lead time required to age bourbon. Fortunately, the company will keep other operations running and avoid layoffs by reassigning workers.
ABC News: US regulators approve Wegovy pill for weight loss
The FDA approved the first daily pill for obesity - an oral version of Wegovy from Novo Nordisk - giving the company a lead over Eli Lilly and potentially expanding access to GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, as the pill delivers near-injectable weight-loss results, could be cheaper to produce, and may reach patients who can’t afford or won’t use weekly injections.
International News
Guardian: Zelenskyy to travel to US for Trump meeting amid push for Ukraine deal
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is traveling to Florida to meet President Trump as the US pushes a potential Ukraine-Russia peace deal; the talks are framed as urgent and could shape negotiations before the end of the year.
The core disputes are still unresolved: Ukraine wants NATO-style security guarantees, clarity on reconstruction, and limits on territorial concessions in the Donbas and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
Trump is asserting control while Russia stays maximalist: Trump says no deal matters without his approval, Putin continues to demand all of Donbas, and diplomacy is unfolding alongside ongoing missile attacks and active fighting.
Common Dreams: House Dems Call Out Israel’s ‘Near-Daily Violations’ of Gaza Ceasefire
Nearly 50 House Democrats urged Donald Trump to pressure Israel to stop violating the Gaza ceasefire, citing hundreds of alleged Israeli violations, mass civilian casualties, destruction of homes, and severe restrictions on humanitarian aid since the truce began.
Lawmakers say Israel’s response has been “severe and disproportionate,” pointing to airstrikes, shootings, the killing of children, and the destruction of more than 1,500 buildings, while noting Hamas violations but stressing that Israeli actions are driving catastrophic civilian harm in Gaza.
They’re urging Trump to use US military assistance to force compliance, warning that continued violations risk collapsing the ceasefire and deepening the legal and moral crisis already facing Israel at international courts, including a “genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice as well as the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, which the Trump administration has retaliated against with sanctions targeting ICC judges.”📌
BBC: Trump says US ‘has to have’ Greenland after naming special envoy
Donald Trump reignited a diplomatic fight with Denmark by appointing Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry as a special envoy to Greenland, openly repeating his claim that the US “has to have” the island for national security and refusing to rule out the use of force.
Denmark and Greenland forcefully rejected the move, with Copenhagen calling it an affront to Danish sovereignty and Greenland’s prime minister insisting the island alone decides its future, as EU leaders publicly backed Denmark.
‘As with his military and rhetorical aggression towards Venezuela, it indicates Trump is determined to gain greater control over what his recent National Security Strategy called “the Western hemisphere”, a sphere of influence that he hopes will cover the whole of the Americas.’
The thing about dividing the world into “spheres of influence” is that it never seems to take into account the desires of the people living within those “spheres” - Greenlanders overwhelmingly oppose becoming part of the US.
NBC News: Trump says he ordered strikes on ISIS targets in Nigeria
President Trump ordered US military strikes against ISIS-linked militants in northwest Nigeria, claiming they were targeting and killing Christians; the Pentagon confirmed the strikes were carried out jointly with Nigerian authorities.
Trump framed the operation explicitly as religiously motivated, warning Nigeria over an alleged “existential threat” to Christians and escalating rhetoric that Nigerian officials and experts say misrepresents a conflict that affects Muslims and Christians alike.
The strikes come amid broader pressure on Nigeria, including its addition to US religious freedom and travel restriction lists, even as Nigerian leaders stress that extremist violence is not sectarian policy and that religious coexistence remains official government policy.
Wall Street Journal: New Class of Warship to Be Named After Trump
The president announced a new “Trump-class” battleship as the centerpiece of a new “Golden Fleet,” claiming the Navy urgently needs bigger, faster, more powerful ships; the first vessel, the USS Defiant, would begin construction almost immediately and could take 2 ½ years to build - at a cost of $5B.
The plan revives the battleship concept in name and scale, proposing massive surface combatants larger than current destroyers, potentially armed with nuclear cruise missiles, hypersonic weapons, rail guns, and directed-energy systems, alongside a new class of smaller frigates.
Defense experts are sharply divided, with critics warning the program prioritizes aesthetics and presidential branding over real threats like China, while supporters argue larger, missile-heavy ships are needed to better defend aircraft carriers in an era of long-range and hypersonic warfare.
Media
Politico: US sanctions former EU commissioner and four Europeans over efforts to curb online hate speech 📌
Donald Trump’s administration imposed visa bans and sanctions on European officials and NGO leaders involved in combating online hate and disinformation, including former EU commissioner Thierry Breton and Center for Countering Digital Hate head Imran Ahmed, accusing them of promoting “digital censorship” against American speech and tech companies.
The move directly targets Europe’s tech regulations, especially the EU’s Digital Services Act, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other officials framing European enforcement actions against platforms like X, Meta, and Apple as coercive attacks on US free expression.
European governments pushed back hard, condemning the sanctions as an assault on sovereignty and democratic regulation, while analysts say the visa bans are likely a pressure tactic by Washington to undermine EU digital rules without triggering a full-scale trade war.
Guardian: Bari Weiss defends decision to pull 60 Minutes episode on El Salvador prison
Bari Weiss, now editor-in-chief of CBS News, defended pulling a 60 Minutes episode investigating alleged torture and abuse at a notorious El Salvador prison, saying the segment lacked sufficient response from the Trump administration and didn’t yet meet her standards for “fairness.”
The decision triggered internal revolt and public backlash, with the episode’s reporter calling the move “political” and warning that allowing government nonresponse to block publication gives administrations a de facto veto over inconvenient journalism; the episode later aired online via a Canadian broadcaster.
The controversy sits inside a broader struggle between the administration and corporate media, following Trump’s lawsuit against CBS over their editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, Paramount’s $16 million settlement with him in that case, Weiss’s appointment by Paramount’s new MAGA-allied leadership, and growing concern that corporate consolidation and political pressure are reshaping editorial independence at one of America’s most storied news institutions.
Epstein
Politico: Schumer moves to sue the Trump administration over Epstein files rollout
Recall last week, when Trump’s DOJ only partially released documents related to the disgraced child-trafficking financier - revealing little new information and triggering bipartisan anger after Congress had overwhelmingly passed a law requiring near-total disclosure within 30 days, with only narrow exceptions to protect victims
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to force a vote in the upper chamber authorizing litigation against the Department of Justice for failing to fully release the files by the legal deadline, accusing the Trump administration of breaking the law through excessive redactions.
Pressure is building across both chambers, as House members threaten contempt proceedings against Attorney General Pam Bondi, while Republicans are unlikely to back Schumer’s resolution, setting up a public confrontation when the Senate returns in January.
RAW Story: Jeffrey Epstein’s brother hurls bombshell claim at DOJ: ‘There’s a facility in Virginia’
Epstein’s brother Mark accused the Trump administration of sanitizing the files, claiming - without providing evidence - that documents are being scrubbed - to remove Republican names before further release.
This deepens existing suspicion around the case, as Mark Epstein reiterated doubts about his brother’s 2019 death and his claim echoed prior reports that references to Donald Trump were flagged inside DOJ records for potential suppression.
NPR: Justice Department releases more Epstein files and some mention Trump
On Tuesday, DOJ released a new batch of Epstein files containing hundreds of references to Donald Trump, including documentation that Trump flew on Epstein’s private jet multiple times in the 1990s.
An internal prosecutor email says Trump appeared on at least eight Epstein flights between 1993 and 1996, including several with Ghislaine Maxwell, and one flight involving only Trump, Epstein, and a then-20-year-old whose name was redacted.
The release included a letter allegedly written on the eve of his suicide by Epstein to former USA Gymnastics doctor - and fellow convicted pedophile - Larry Nassar, that the FBI says is fake.
BBC: Officials discover a million more documents potentially related to Epstein case
Then on Wednesday, the DOJ announced it had uncovered more than one million additional documents tied to Jeffrey Epstein, discovered by the FBI and federal prosecutors, and plans to release them in batches over the coming weeks.
Officials say lawyers are reviewing the material “around the clock,” claiming delays are necessary to protect victims’ identities, though critics argue the law explicitly forbids redacting names solely to avoid embarrassment or reputational harm.
Released documents already reference at least 10 possible Epstein co-conspirators, including internal FBI emails noting subpoenas served across multiple states - the identities of which are a central demand from victims and lawmakers.
Democrats Don’t Get It
Politico: Democratic National Committee blocks release of its 2024 election autopsy
The DNC has decided not to publicly release its internal 2024 election “autopsy,” walking back a pledge by Chair Ken Martin and signaling continued unease over revisiting how Democrats lost the White House to Donald Trump.
The report, based on hundreds of interviews nationwide, identifies structural weaknesses - including outdated data systems, ineffective organizing metrics, losses among young voters, and defensive positioning on immigration and public safety - but avoids publicly assigning blame or naming specific campaigns or leaders.
Notably absent from shared excerpts is any direct reckoning with President Joe Biden’s decision to run again or the late transition to Kamala Harris, deepening frustration among Democrats who see transparency as essential while the party struggles with internal divisions and low approval ratings despite recent off-year wins.
CNN: ‘They’re attacking their own’: DC Democrats irked by surge of left-wing challengers with House majority on the line
A surge of progressive primary challengers is rattling House Democrats, highlighted by Dan Goldman facing a serious challenge from Brad Lander, as younger and more left-wing candidates argue incumbents haven’t fought hard enough against Donald Trump.
Party leaders and incumbents are openly annoyed, warning that left-wing primaries waste money, time, and focus that should be aimed at flipping competitive seats, with several Democrats calling the insurgent challenges “dumb,” self-indulgent, or internet-driven.
The fights expose a deeper Democratic identity crisis, as progressives push a “did you fight or didn’t you fight” message while establishment leaders insist unity and protecting incumbents is the fastest path back to a House majority - even as challengers continue to outraise sitting members in some deep-blue districts.
NBC News: All in the family: In 2026, a surge of politicians’ kids are running for office
As veteran lawmakers retire, a wave of political relatives are running for office in 2026, with high-profile examples across both parties, including children, siblings, and relatives of current and former members of Congress, governors, and presidents.
Political family ties offer real advantages but real risks, providing instant name recognition and fundraising access while also exposing candidates to accusations of nepotism and backlash amid strong anti-establishment sentiment among voters.
Many political scions are trying to distinguish themselves from their famous relatives, sometimes publicly breaking with them on policy or strategy, as they argue that elections - not lineage - ultimately determine legitimacy in a more skeptical and volatile political environment.
Dispatches From a Collapsing State: Lock Them Up: Send the Trump Administration to Prison
“Every person running for office in either 2026 or 2028, if there are even elections, needs to do a few things. They need to call for the abolishment of ICE, they need to make reform a central plank in their platform, they must call for taxation of the wealth class that has tried to destroy democracy and an end to historic inequality, reestablishment of voting protections and civil liberties, and they must wholeheartedly and full-throatedly promise to hold these criminals accountable.”
Indiana News
WaPo: The state of the year? Here is the first winner: Indiana
The op-ed openly celebrates pre-MAGA Republican orthodoxy - low taxes, deregulation, weakened unions, school privatization, zoning rollbacks, and austerity - presenting these policies as “responsible governance” while ignoring that this exact governing model dominated Republican politics for 30-40 years and directly produced the economic inequality, institutional decay, and public rage that made MAGA inevitable.
Indiana is crowned “State of the Year” for resisting Trump procedurally while embracing Trump-adjacent policy substance, pairing a refusal to redraw congressional maps with aggressive tax cuts, universal private-school vouchers, charter expansion, and spending cuts - policies that hollow out public institutions and fuel the same anti-government resentment MAGA feeds on.
The article’s core argument is historical amnesia: it treats MAGA as a deviation caused by personality and tone rather than as the logical outcome of decades of pro-business, anti-regulatory governance that stripped states of capacity, undermined democracy, and convinced millions that government only works for the wealthy - which is precisely why MAGA took over the party in the first place.
National/State Intersection
IndyStar: Indianapolis man believes ICE wrongfully detained his husband
Eliazar Sanchez-Ayala was stopped by the Indiana State Police on I-70 for an alleged speeding violation. Despite having a valid driver’s license, work permit, Social Security number, and only two resolved speeding tickets on his record, federal immigration agents arrived and detained him, though neither state police nor US Immigration and Customs Enforcement have explained why he was targeted or who initiated ICE’s involvement.
Sanchez-Ayala was moved through multiple detention facilities in Indiana and Kentucky, spent days effectively “disappeared” from public systems, and still does not appear in ICE’s online detainee locator - a system that normally updates within 48 hours.
His husband, Isaac Reeves, spent days calling jails and detention centers just to locate him, while Sanchez-Ayala remains jailed without access to a public defender, forcing the family to fundraise privately for legal representation.
The case illustrates how intensified immigration enforcement can ensnare long-term residents with legal work authorization, separating families without transparency, clear charges, or meaningful due process - even in states like Indiana where local police cooperate with ICE task force programs.
AP: Addiction-stricken community struggles to keep a syringe program going after Trump’s order
A July executive order from Donald Trump cuts off federal funding for key harm-reduction supplies, forcing syringe exchange programs to halt or destroy items like cookers and tourniquets, despite decades of evidence showing these tools reduce disease and save lives.
In Clark County, health officials are boxing up federally funded supplies marked “DO NOT USE,” scrambling to keep programs alive with private money as Indiana’s syringe exchange law is set to expire next year - a dangerous echo of the HIV catastrophe that struck nearby Austin in Scott County.
The data from these communities is stark and consistent: Indiana exchanges have reversed nearly 25,000 overdoses statewide, cut HIV and hepatitis C transmission roughly in half, and returned over 90% of used syringes - while Scott County’s HIV rates plummeted after exchanges were introduced and remained low until the program ended.
Public health officials warn that politicizing harm reduction puts entire communities at risk, not just people who use drugs, arguing that programs in places like Clark County prevent outbreaks, reduce health care costs, and serve as critical entry points to treatment - even as opponents frame them as “promoting drug use” in defiance of the evidence.
IndyStar: Trump administration issues emergency orders to keep 2 aging Indiana coal plants open
The US Department of Energy ordered two aging Indiana coal plants to stay online for at least 90 more days, blocking their planned retirement and citing rising electricity demand from AI data centers and concerns about grid reliability.
The move fits a broader push by the Donald Trump administration to prop up coal, using emergency powers under the Federal Power Act that critics say are meant for true crises - not to override long-term energy transition plans approved by utilities, regulators, and grid operators.
Environmental and consumer advocates are warning the orders are legally dubious and costly, arguing there is no real grid emergency and pointing to similar federal interventions elsewhere that have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per day to keep uneconomic coal plants running.
Capital Chronicle: Indiana lawmakers to weigh joining Trump’s tax cuts
Indiana lawmakers are weighing whether to conform to Donald Trump’s new federal tax cuts, a move that Gov. Mike Braun’s administration estimates could cost the state more than $900 million over two years if adopted in full.
The federal changes include tax breaks for tips, overtime pay, vehicle loan interest, and major business deductions, delivering hundreds of millions in taxpayer savings but also shrinking Indiana’s tax base, even as the state projects ballooning cash reserves by 2027.📌
Democrats and tax policy analysts warn the cuts skew toward wealthier earners and threaten core priorities, arguing Indiana should instead protect Medicaid funding, expand child care assistance, and reduce regressive sales taxes rather than rush to mirror Trump-era tax policy.
Capital Chronicle: New forecast shows big growth in Indiana surplus📌
Indiana’s revenue picture has flipped dramatically, with updated forecasts projecting tax collections strong enough to push state cash reserves to nearly $5 billion by mid-2027, more than double earlier estimates and well above the 10-15% cushion lawmakers usually target.
Republican leaders are downplaying the windfall and resisting new spending, with Gov. Mike Braun framing the surplus as proof that tax cuts and wage growth are working - and signaling caution despite the much rosier outlook.
Democrats argue the surplus should reverse earlier budget cuts, saying lawmakers were “spooked” by a bleak spring forecast and now have an obligation to reinvest in programs serving children, seniors, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable Hoosiers.
Medicaid costs are now projected to grow far more slowly than expected, largely because enrollment has dropped by about 15% after the state increased income-verification checks - a change that reduced coverage mostly among healthier recipients, not overall program intensity.
Despite the improved fiscal picture, the state is moving ahead with cost-cutting measures, including a planned 10% cut to Medicaid reimbursement rates for autism-related ABA therapy📍, affecting more than 8,000 children and young adults even as overall state reserves swell.
Education/Childcare
Fox 59: FSSA announces 10% reimbursement rate cuts for most autism therapy services📍
Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration plans a 10% cut to most Medicaid reimbursement rates for ABA autism therapy, arguing current rates are unsustainably high and could push spending toward $800 million, even as officials insist the new rates will remain above national and regional averages.
State officials say the cuts are meant to improve “quality” and rein in excess providers, but comments from agency leadership suggest the policy may deliberately thin the provider field - raising alarms among lawmakers and therapists about access, especially outside major cities.
Providers warn the cuts will shut down small, local clinics and worsen waitlists for families, with at least one rural autism center already closing and others saying children may be forced to travel long distances or lose services entirely when the changes take effect in April 2026.
NPR: It’s the ‘gold standard’ in autism care. Why are states reining it in?
ABA autism therapy is delivering dramatic, life-changing gains for children, helping with communication, safety, social connection, and basic daily skills - often providing families their first “moments of normalcy” after years of struggle.
States across the country are slashing or threatening Medicaid funding for ABA despite soaring demand, citing explosive cost growth (hundreds to thousands of percent increases in states like North Carolina, Nebraska, and Indiana), looming federal Medicaid cuts, and audits revealing fraud and overbilling by some providers.
Families and providers warn that blunt budget cuts risk collapsing access to care, particularly home-based and rural services, prompting lawsuits, provider withdrawals, and political backlash - with some states reversing course under pressure even as long-term Medicaid funding gaps remain unresolved.
Axios: Group suggests using tax referendums to fund child care
Indiana’s child care crisis is universally acknowledged but unresolved, with the state ranked worst in the nation for access, more than 30,000 families stuck on voucher waitlists, and providers able to serve only about 60% of the children who need care as centers continue to close.
With lawmakers reluctant to add state spending in a short legislative session, advocates are floating a local workaround: a referendum model that would let communities raise property taxes to fund preschool — an idea pitched as flexible but criticized as creating uneven access.
Republican leaders are skeptical of local tax hikes and instead favor tax-credit-based approaches, while advocates argue no single fix will be enough, underscoring the gap between bipartisan agreement on the problem and deep disagreement over how — or whether — to meaningfully solve it.
ILEA Fallout:
Chalkbeat: How a fractured Indianapolis school system reached the verge of a huge power shakeup
Indianapolis Public Schools are on the brink of a historic power shift decades in the making, driven by desegregation-era enrollment collapse, aggressive charter expansion backed by Democratic and Republican elites alike, and repeated financial blows that steadily stripped IPS of students, money, and political leverage.
ILEA, a state-created task force now recommends replacing elected school board authority with a mayor-appointed structure overseeing both IPS and charters, marking the near-culmination of a long-running education “reform” project that began with charter growth and now threatens to permanently sever IPS’s control over governance, property taxes, and its own future.
Mirror Indy: Pro-charter Dem Maggie Lewis to be next Indy council leader
City-County Council Democrats plan to elect Maggie Lewis as council president in 2026, succeeding Vop Osili and reshuffling leadership with John Barth as vice president and Jared Evans as majority leader.
Lewis’s elevation is politically charged, given her role on ILEA and the board of The Mind Trust - positions that link her to the charter school movement.
Her return to the presidency sets up renewed tension between council leadership and public-school, labor, and civil-rights advocates, especially as backlash grows over proposals to strip power from the elected IPS school board.
Mirror Indy: IPS advocates prepare to take their fight back to the Statehouse
IPS teachers, parents, and civil-rights groups are regrouping to take the fight to the Statehouse, planning renewed testimony, public pressure, and coalition organizing to block legislation that would implement the ILEA’s recommendations, which they view as an attack on democratic governance and public education.
Advocates say this is a long fight, not a single vote, with unions, school board members, NAACP affiliates, and community groups signaling sustained opposition into the 2026 legislative session to defend local control, district jobs, and the future of IPS students.
Briefs
Capital Chronicle: Fishers realtor becomes latest candidate in open Indiana Senate race
Democrat Catherine Torzewski, a Fishers-area realtor and small business owner, has entered the race for the open Indiana Senate District 31 seat, framing her campaign around public education, safety, and depolarizing state politics as Democrats and Republicans alike line up to succeed State Senator Kyle Walker (R-Lawrence), who announced he is not seeking reelection in the competitive district.
Capital Chronicle: Liz Brown ousted as Judiciary Chair in wake of redistricting split
Sen. Liz Brown was stripped of her powerful Judiciary Committee chair after breaking with GOP leadership over the failed Trump-backed congressional redistricting push, signaling internal fallout inside the Indiana Senate following the 31–19 rejection of new maps.
While Brown framed her removal as lingering consequences of the caucus’s failure to deliver “fair maps,” Senate leaders quickly installed Sen. Cyndi Carrasco in her place, underscoring that support for redistricting wasn’t the issue — defiance of leadership was.
IndyStar: Search Underway for Missing Autistic Teen
A 16-year-old Indianapolis teen with autism, Robert “RJ” Williams Jr, has been missing since Dec. 17 after last being seen at a McDonald’s in Broad Ripple; he never boarded his usual IndyGo bus home, which his family says is highly out of character given his strict routines and medical needs.
His mother says police initially classified RJ as a runaway despite clear evidence he lacks the capacity to do so, delaying a Silver Alert that she believes should have been issued the first night.
Few leads have emerged: RJ’s backpack and gym bag were found near the White River, his phone briefly powered on twice the next day, and surveillance footage shows him walking toward a bus stop — but not what happened after.
Multiple agencies have conducted ground, drone, sonar, and water searches without success, while the family has criticized slow cooperation from businesses in releasing security footage.
Contact Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department at 317-327-6541
