Politics

The New York Post reports: House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Michael McCaul said Tuesday that he believes that some unidentified drones spotted above New Jersey and New York are “spy drones” from China — after Biden administration officials insisted many of the aircraft are innocent commercial aircraft. “We want answers but the response I’m getting is we don’t know whose …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Amid collapsing public confidence in U.S. courts, a federal judge has been found culpable of misconduct. The offense? Questioning the ethics of a Supreme Court justice. U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor published an essay in the New York Times arguing that the display of flags associated with President-elect Donald Trump’s MAGA movement at Justice Samuel …

The Washington Post reports: President Joe Biden endorsed banning members of Congress from trading stocks, throwing his waning political capital behind long-running efforts to prevent lawmakers from profiting off of their unique access to market-moving information. Biden expressed his support for changing the requirements for lawmakers during an interview with Democratic political adviser Faiz Shakir for the advocacy journalism outlet …

NewsNation reports: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is threatening to hold up a short-term funding package that needs to pass by the end of the day Friday to avoid a government shutdown unless leaders in Congress agree to vote on amendments to offset the cost of new spending in the proposal. Paul has significant leverage to force colleagues to vote on …

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports: U.S. Rep. Cory Mills, who was reelected to a second term by Florida 7th District voters in November, is under scrutiny by the House Ethics Committee. On Monday the committee stated it had “extended the matter regarding” Mills that had been provided by the Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent, non-partisan entity charged with receiving …

Axios reports: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is making a big opening bid in the 2025 tax battle, calling for the child tax credit to increase from a maximum of $2,000 to $5,000 per kid, Axios has learned. Such a plan could cost $2 trillion to $3 trillion over 10 years. That complicates the math for incoming Senate Majority Leader John …

The Hill reports: Three Democratic senators unveiled a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College system Monday, just more than a month after President-elect Trump stunned the Democrats by sweeping all seven battleground states, knocking off three Senate Democratic incumbents in the process. Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii,) Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), three leading progressive Senate voices, say …

The Washington Post reports: President-elect Donald Trump has told close aides he is no longer considering Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s daughter-in-law to serve as deputy director at the CIA, after a campaign by Republican lawmakers who feared she would seek to impose major changes at America’s top spy agency, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump’s decision to pass …

The Daily Beast reports: John Kirby, the spokesperson for the National Security Council, told CNN Monday that the drones reported recently over New Jersey and other East Coast states do not pose a threat to the public, and “represent lawful, legal, commercial [and] hobbyist drones—even law enforcement drones.” When asked by AC360 anchor John Berman whether the drones might pose …

Politico reports: Speaker Mike Johnson is facing a brewing rebellion from farm district Republicans after congressional leaders failed to secure an agreement to add economic aid for farmers to the next stop-gap spending bill. The threat of a new wave of GOP defections among farm district Republicans presents a fresh challenge for Johnson, who is already navigating a narrow majority …

From New York City’s Department of Health: As of December 15, pet stores in New York are banned from selling cats and dogs, as a 2022 state law takes effect. The New York City Health Department will be enforcing the ban and has communicated with all 24 permitted NYC pet stores to remind them of the deadline. Intro 1018, which …

The Texas Tribune reports: In an already heated race for Texas House Speaker, state GOP officials are hoping to wield new powers that would ensure their preferred candidate wins — and give them unprecedented control over who can run in Republican primaries. Last week, the Republican Party of Texas implied it would censure any GOP Texas House member who does …

Axios reports: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Sunday that he’s “working to pass a bill” to give local law enforcement “more tools for drone detection” following a spate of mysterious sightings in Northeastern U.S. states. Schumer in online statements urged Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to send “special drone-detection tech” to New York and New Jersey to tackle …

Law & Crime reports: A federal judge in North Carolina appointed by former president Barack Obama has rescinded his plans to take “senior status,” making him the third Democratic appointee — and second Obama pick — to unretire on President-elect Donald Trump before he can take office and choose their replacements. Fourth Circuit Judge James Wynn Jr. announced his decision …

“I’ve been pretty clean throughout my life. I’m not particularly worried about criminal investigations and I don’t know how much of what the president says is hyperbole, because there was a lot of this person ought to be jailed and that person ought to be jailed. That was said during the last two campaigns. “But I think President Trump is …

USA Today reports: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in a Saturday statement said runways were closed at the New York Stewart Airport for about an hour Friday night due to nearby drone activity and called on Congress to strengthen oversight of drones. Hochul’s statement comes among a rash of reported drone sightings, concern from some politicians and reassurances from federal …

Politico reports: One week out from the Dec. 20 government shutdown deadline, top lawmakers are still working through disagreements over funding and policies getting added onto the funding patch they’re trying to finalize. Leaders hope to release bill text of the stopgap spending measure over the weekend. But they’re currently locked in a battle over what to do about farm …

CBS News reports: Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi underwent a successful hip replacement after being hospitalized during a trip to Luxembourg, her office said Saturday. “Earlier this morning, Speaker Emerita Pelosi underwent a successful hip replacement and is well on the mend,” spokesperson Ian Krager said in a statement. The operation was conducted at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center at Landstuhl …

ABC News reports: No women will lead a House committee for the first time in two decades after House Republicans revealed their list of committee leaders for the 119th Congress on Thursday. The 17 standing committees, whose leaders were selected by the House Republican Steering Committee, will be dominated by white men when the new Congress is seated on Jan. …

USA Today reports: Former President Jimmy Carter would attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in January – were it not for health issues, a spokesperson for the Carter Center told USA TODAY. The 100-year-old has been in hospice care for nearly two years. In 2015, he was diagnosed with cancer that spread to his brain. So far, the 39th president of …