Fortune reports: The embattled Trump SoHo Hotel was finally put out of its misery last night. As of midnight on Thursday, the business now operates as The Dominick Hotel. The property will be run by an affiliate of CIM Group, which has owned the hotel since 2014. Hotel staff and guests who have already made bookings will not be affected …

Politico reports: Democrats will enter 2018 with a substantial lead in next year’s congressional elections, with President Donald Trump and the GOP congressional leadership serving as anchors on Republicans’ poll numbers. The midterm election is more than 10 months away, but polls this month — including a new POLITICO/Morning Consult survey — show Democrats opening up a double-digit lead on …

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports: A Kentucky Family Court judge who refused to hear adoption cases involving gays and lesbians has been found guilty of misconduct by the state’s Judicial Conduct Commission. The commission issued a public reprimand Tuesday against W. Mitchell Nance, who announced his intention to resign earlier this year amid the ethics and misconduct inquiry. That resignation was …

The decision came near a month ago but Roy Moore and his wife were too busy defending pedophilia allegations to react. Via press release: The Foundation for Moral Law, an Alabama-based nonprofit corporation, applauded the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to review a decision of the Texas Supreme Court not to extend spousal benefits to same-sex couples. After the U.S. …

NBC News reports: Life expectancy in the United States fell for the second year in a row in 2016 — and it’s clear the epidemic of drug overdoses is at least in part to blame, government researchers said Thursday. Overall life expectancy for a baby born in 2016 fell to 78.6 years, a small decline of 0.1 percent, the National …

Via Mediaite: President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Thursday morning to congratulate Fox & Friends for being number one on Mediaite’s most influential in media list. “You deserve it,” Trump wrote of his favorite morning show, “three great people!” Trump’s tweet congratulating Fox & Friends came minutes after Kellyanne Conway appeared on the top-rated breakfast show and congratulated its …

The Hill reports: Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said he skipped a gathering of congressional Republicans at the White House on Wednesday because he did not want to attend an event where lawmakers are expected to simply “stand around and clap.” The event, attended by House and Senate GOP leaders and a number of Republican lawmakers, was held to celebrate congressional …

The Associated Press reports: A powerful Florida state senator and Republican candidate for governor resigned Wednesday the day after an investigation found credible evidence of sexual misconduct. Republican Sen. Jack Latvala continued to deny any wrongdoing as he announced he’s stepping down Jan. 5, and took parting shots at Republican leaders who he said called for his resignation before he …

CNBC reports: AT&T was quick to respond to news of U.S. tax reform, announcing it would give some employees bonuses once the legislation is signed into law. The telecom giant said in a press release Wednesday that it would give more than 200,000 U.S. union members a special bonus of $1,000. The company also increased its capital expenditures budget by …

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports: U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., plans to resign from Congress on Jan. 2, a spokesman said Wednesday. Minnesota Lt. Gov. Tina Smith, who Gov. Mark Dayton appointed to replace Franken, will be sworn in the next day. Franken announced his resignation earlier in December after several women made allegations of unwanted sexual advances or touching and …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump has prematurely declared “Obamacare” dead and displayed a misunderstanding of where the money comes from to make the health law work. A look at his remarks Wednesday about the tax plan he will soon sign into law and its effect on President Barack Obama’s health insurance overhaul: TRUMP: “Obamacare has been repealed in …

Kyle Mantyla reports at Right Wing Watch: End Times prepper pastor Jim Bakker said on his television program today that there is so much hatred of Christianity in America that he cannot even preach the Gospel on his show because he could be killed for doing so. The people who hate God, Bakker said, “have beat back all opposition, they …

Starting in the next hour: President Trump planned to hold a victory celebration at the White House on Wednesday after a massive tax reform bill cleared the House. The vote was 224-201. No Democrats voted for it, and they were joined by 12 Republicans. Republican lawmakers were expected to attend the White House ceremony, although it is unclear when Trump …

Reuter reports: The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on five Russians and Chechens, including the head of the Russian republic of Chechnya, for alleged human rights abuses. The new sanctions blacklisted Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Treasury Department said in a statement. U.S. authorities accused Kadyrov of …

Via Mediaite: Because he’s Donald Trump, one slam against the political press per day is never enough. Trump held a cabinet briefing where he gloated about his first year in office and the imminent success of the GOP’s tax bill. During his round table, Trump invited HUD Secretary Ben Carson to say a prayer for the room and the president …

The Washington Post reports: The Alexandria, Va., pastor told his parishioners they could benefit themselves while doing good if they invested in his Christian-based company lending small amounts of money to entrepreneurs in developing countries. Instead, a jury in Alexandria federal court agreed that Terry Millender and his wife Brenda Millender, who together ran Victorious Life Church, defrauded their friends …

Business Insider reports: Republican Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey said that White House senior adviser and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner “deserves the scrutiny” he’s getting from the ongoing Russia probe that has so far ensnared three former Trump aides. “I’m telling you that he deserves the scrutiny, you know why? Because he was involved in the transition …

Politico reports: Partying with President Donald Trump on New Year’s Eve is getting more expensive. Ticket prices for the annual Dec. 31 bash at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in South Florida are going up to $600 for dues-paying members and $750 for their guests, according to members of the private Palm Beach club. Last year’s tickets went for $525 for members …

The Associated Press reports: Republican Roy Moore hasn’t conceded his 20,000-vote loss to Democrat Doug Jones in Alabama’s Senate race, and provisional ballots and military votes still being counted show Moore can’t close the deficit. Jones beat Moore on Dec. 12 to become the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Alabama in a quarter-century. Moore was beset by allegations …

Yahoo News reports: The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday was expected to give final approval to a sweeping tax bill and send it to President Donald Trump to sign into law, sealing his first major legislative victory in office. In the largest overhaul of the U.S. tax code in 30 years, Republicans in mere weeks steamrolled over the …