The Latest: 4 Republicans join Democrats on extending ACA subsidies, defying Speaker Johnson

Four centrist Republicans broke with Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday and signed onto a Democratic-led petition that will force a House vote on extending for three years an enhanced pandemic-era subsidy that lowers health insurance costs for millions of Americans.

House Republican leaders have instead pushed a GOP health care bill that does not address the soaring monthly premiums people will soon endure as the tax credits for those who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act expire.

President Donald Trump says he will address the nation on Wednesday night: Trump announced his plans in a post on his social media site, saying he will speak live from the White House at 9 p.m. EST. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the president will discuss what he accomplished this year, the first of his second term, and his plans for the next three years.

And the West Wing went into damage control after Trump’s understated but influential chief of staff, Susie Wiles, criticized Attorney General Pam Bondi’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case and offered an unvarnished take on her boss and others in his orbit in interviews published Tuesday in Vanity Fair

Here’s the latest:

Ghislaine Maxwell is asking a federal judge to free her from her 20-year prison sentence

Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriend and longtime associate says “substantial new evidence” has emerged to prove there were constitutional violations at her trial that prevented her exoneration on sex trafficking charges.

The request in the form of a habeas petition in Manhattan federal court comes just two days before evidence gathered for her trial four years ago is set to be released publicly as a result of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Epstein, a millionaire financier, was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges. A month later, he was found dead in his cell at a New York federal jail, and the death was ruled a suicide.

Maxwell, a British socialite, was arrested a year later and was convicted of sex trafficking in December 2021.

Trump administration cancels health grants to doctors’ group that criticized vaccine policy changes

Federal health officials have canceled millions of dollars in grants to the American Academy of Pediatrics — a strong and steady critic of Trump administration vaccine policies.

Leaders of the medical organization learned this week that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are ending seven grants. The money funded work on adolescent health, mental health, early identification of autism and other topics.

A HHS spokesman said the grants were terminated “because they no longer align with the Department’s mission or priorities.” AAP officials say they are considering legal action or other possible responses.

The Washington Post first reported the funding terminations.

Trump fumes anew about Venezuela’s seizure of US oil company assets as he makes case for blockade

Under Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan government seized assets from some American oil companies after the country nationalized oil fields in 2007.

Trump on Wednesday assailed his White House predecessors for not pushing back against Venezuela earlier and that his intention is “getting land, oil rights, whatever we had” returned by the government in Caracas.

“They took it away because we had a president that maybe wasn’t watching. But they’re not going to do that again,” He added, “We want it back. They took our oil rights—we had a lot of oil there. As you know they threw our companies out, and we want it back.”

Trump signals Bongino’s forthcoming departure from FBI

Trump has signaled that FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino intends to leave his position soon.

Asked Wednesday about reports that Bongino intended to resign, Trump said, “Dan did a great job. I think he wants to go back to his show,” referring to Bongino’s prior career as a popular conservative podcaster.

Trump also insisted that he has confidence in FBI Director Kash Patel, who has faced criticism in recent weeks over his use of a government plane for personal purposes and social media posts about active investigations.

Judge temporarily blocks Trump administration policies limiting lawmakers’ access to ICE facilities

A federal judge in the nation’s capital has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing policies limiting members of Congress’ access to immigration detention facilities.

The judge ruled on Wednesday that it is likely illegal for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to demand a week’s notice from members of Congress seeking to visit and observe conditions in ICE facilities.

U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Joe Biden, concluded that the seven-day notice requirement also likely exceeds the Department of Homeland Security’s statutory authority.

Twelve members of Congress sued in Washington, D.C., in July to challenge ICE’s amended visitor policies after they were denied entry to detention facilities.

Government attorneys argued that the plaintiffs don’t have legal standing to bring their claims.

Melania Trump releases the trailer for an upcoming documentary on the 20 days before she became first lady again

Just over a minute in length, the trailer opens with a scene from Inauguration Day as she waited to be escorted into the Capitol Rotunda for the ceremony.

She then turns, looks into the camera and in a low voice says, “Here we go again.”

The clip from “Melania: Twenty Days to History” shows her giving the president advice as he practices his speech, reviewing sketches of her inaugural gown and appearing with their son, Barron, among many other scenes from the 20 days before she resumed the role of first lady.

The documentary was directed by Brett Ratner and distributed by Amazon Prime Video. The trailer says it will be exclusively in theaters on Jan. 30.

▶Read more about the film

Trump admin moves to break up climate research center in Colorado

White House budget director Russ Vought described the National Center for Atmospheric Research as “one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country″ and said a comprehensive review is underway. Vital activities such as weather research will be moved to another entity or location.

The research lab, which houses the largest federal research program on climate change, supports research to predict, prepare for and respond to severe weather and other natural disasters.

A senior White House official accused the lab of a “woke direction” that wastes taxpayer funds on what the official called frivolous pursuits and ideologies, including one project that aimed to make the sciences more inclusive and “justice-centered.”

Katharine Hayhoe at Texas Tech University said that for climate scientists, the lab “is quite literally our global mothership.”

DOE watchdog will audit $8B in canceled clean energy grants

An internal watchdog in the U.S. Department of Energy will investigate the Trump administration’s termination of nearly $8 billion in grants for clean energy projects across more than a dozen states.

Sarah Nelson, assistant inspector general for the Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General, said in a letter to members of Congress on Wednesday that the audit “will help ensure that these activities are conducted consistently with applicable laws, regulations, and Departmental policies and procedures.”

The Energy Department announced in October that 321 funding awards across 223 projects were canceled across 16 targeted states, all of which supported former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

Several Democratic members of Congress from California later requested the acting inspector general launch an investigation on the basis of “significant unlawful bias” across the cuts.

Dignified transfer has ended

Trump and military officials offered a final salute to the fallen guardsmen and interpreter as the solemn ritual ended.

The president, who traveled to Dover several times in his first term, once described the dignified transfer as “the toughest thing I have to do” as president.

Trump salutes fallen soldiers, interpreter at dignified transfer at Dover

Trump, with head bowed, briefly stood with other military officials at the foot of the ramp of the C-17 as the ritual began.

The president and other military officials saluted as the flag-draped cases holding the two Iowa guardsmen, Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, as well as interpreter, Ayad Mansoor Sakat, were transferred from the belly of the aircraft to awaiting vehicles on the Dover tarmac.

No change to list of foreign terrorist organizations after Trump announcement on Venezuela

There’s been no change Wednesday to the list of foreign terrorist organizations after Trump said the “Venezuelan Regime” has been designated as one.

Trump said that when announcing a blockade on “sanctioned oil tankers” into and out of Venezuela.

Officials at several national security agencies were told not to take Trump’s remarks about the designation literally and that they should be treated as a figure of speech, according to one U.S. official involved in the discussions.

That official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal interagency communications, also stressed that the “blockade” Trump announced on Venezuelan oil tankers applies only to previously sanctioned vessels against which certain actions are already authorized, such as the seizure last week of one such ship.

The State Department, which oversees the foreign terror list, didn’t respond to requests for clarification. The list most recently was updated with Colombia-based drug cartel Clan del Golfo.

Republicans more likely to support action in international waters than inside Venezuela

A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found that Republicans are much more divided on U.S. military action inside Venezuela than U.S. military attacks to kill suspected drug smugglers on boats in international waters.

About half of Republican voters support U.S. military action inside Venezuela, while about 8 in 10 support military attacks on suspected drug smugglers in international waters.

Democrats and independents are broadly opposed to U.S. military action in both international waters and inside Venezuela, but there aren’t major partisan differences in how closely voters are following the news related to Venezuela.

Trump meets with families of fallen soldiers, interpreter

The president met privately with the families after arriving at Dover Air Force Base, according to the White House.

Most oppose US military action inside Venezuela, new Quinnipiac poll finds

U.S. military action targeting Venezuela isn’t broadly popular, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

The survey found that about half of registered voters oppose U.S. military attacks to kill suspected drug smugglers on boats in international waters, while about 4 in 10 are in support.

Military action inside Venezuela is even more unpopular, with about 6 in 10 voters opposed and only about one-quarter in support.

About 4 in 10 voters are following news about the U.S. military buildup and actions in the Caribbean and Pacific targeting Venezuela “very” closely. About one-third are following it “somewhat” closely and about one-quarter are following “not too” closely.

Trump holds 2028 Olympic talks on flight to dignified transfer

Kevin McCarthy, who served as speaker for nearly 10 months in 2023, flew aboard Air Force One with Trump to Dover Air Force Base.

Trump and McCarthy, a Republican from California, were on the books to meet on Wednesday at the White House before the dignified transfer was scheduled to discuss the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, according to a White House official.

Rather than cancel, Trump invited McCarthy to come along and conduct their meeting on the plane, according to the official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Casey Wasserman, who is heading the organizing committee for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, also joined Trump for the trip to Dover

White House explains plaques under presidential portraits in Trump’s newly installed portrait walkway

“The plaques are eloquently written descriptions of each President and the legacy they left behind. As a student of history, many were written directly by the President himself,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement.

The plaques frequently use phrases, punctuation and the capitalization of words similar to the president’s writing style in his social media posts.

Kansas’ governor says a new US House map is unlikely after elections and Indiana’s debate

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly predicted Wednesday that Republican lawmakers in Kansas won’t be able to enact a new U.S. House map following the failure of a GOP redistricting push in Indiana.

Top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Kansas Legislature want to oust the lone Democrat in the state’s congressional delegation, Kansas City-area Rep. Sharice Davids. But they’ll need two-thirds majorities in both chambers to overcome Kelly’s expected veto, and they haven’t mustered that margin in the House.Kelly said in an Associated Press interview Wednesday that recent Democratic victories in off-year elections also will bolster GOP dissention in Kansas.

“I’m sure that legislators here in Kansas heard and saw what happened in Indiana, and it just reinforced for a lot of them that this is a really bad idea,” she said.

Kansas legislators open their 2026 session on Jan. 12.

Trump arrives in Delaware for dignified transfer of 3 Americans killed in Syria

Trump exited Air Force One accompanied by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

He did not speak with reporters who traveled with him before he got into the limousine and the motorcade rolled away.

Former special counsel Smith testifying about his investigation into Jan. 6

Smith has been testifying for more than three hours behind closed doors at the House Judiciary Committee, and he’s being asked and answering questions about his investigations into Trump, particularly over election interference in the run-up to the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol.

Smith wanted to appear publicly and Democrats say there’s a reason Republicans are keeping his deposition private.

“It would have been absolutely devastating to the president and all the president’s men involved in the insurrectionary activities of January the 6th,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the panel.

Democrats are demanding that Smith’s testimony be made public, along with his full report on the investigation.

“The American people should hear for themselves,” said Rep. Dan Goldman, D-NY.

Trump adds partisan plaques to presidential portraits outside Rose Garden

A couple months ago, Trump refashioned the colonnade that runs from the West Wing to the residence into what he calls the “ Presidential Walk of Fame.”

Now, there are new plaques underneath each portrait describing each leader in rather Trumpian terms.

Former President Barack Obama is labeled “one of the most divisive political figures in American history.”

Former President Joe Biden’s plaque repeats false claims that Biden took office “as a result of the most corrupt election ever.”

And the plaque below former President George W. Bush’s portrait decries that Bush “started wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which should not have happened.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about how and why the new plaques were developed.

UN chief calls for immediate de-escalation of US-Venezuela dispute and diplomatic solution

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ focus is on avoiding any escalation of situation, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Wednesday when asked about the legality of Trump’s order of a blockade of all “sanctioned oil tankers” into Venezuela.

“We are looking at what the applicable laws are … but certainly the parties have to abide by the U,N. Charter,” Haq told U.N. reporters. The Charter requires all 193 U.N. member nations – including the an d United States and Venezuela – to refrain from the use of force against all other nations and settle all disputes peacefully.

“We want any escalatory steps to be avoided,” Haq said. “At this stage, it’s critical to continue diplomatic engagement and pursue a peaceful way forward through dialogue.”

He said Guterres is following the situation very closely and engaging “with relevant parties.”

Navy Admiral who ordered boat strike briefs congressional committees

Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley gave a classified briefing and showed video of a Sept. 2 strike that killed two survivors of an initial attack on an alleged drug boat to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees.

Several Republican senators emerged from the meeting backing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his decision not to release the video publicly, but other GOP lawmakers stayed silent on their opinion of the strike.

Democrats are calling for part of the video to be released publicly and for every member of Congress to have access to the full footage.

US, Qatar hold strategic dialogue talks as Trump pushes implementation of Gaza peace plan

The United State and Qatar held annual strategic dialogue talks as Trump continues to press for the full implementation of his peace plan to end the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani led Wednesday’s discussions at the State Department, which came as Qatar is playing an increasingly important role in organizing Trump’s so-called “Board of Peace” for the territory and an international force to provide security there.

The two men “reaffirmed the strategic partnership between the United States and Qatar, and discussed opportunities to deepen cooperation on shared economic and security goals,” the State Department said in a statement after the meeting.

Rubio “expressed appreciation for Qatar’s role in supporting American objectives in the Middle East, Africa, and the Western Hemisphere, and reiterated both countries’ desire for close collaboration on shared goals,” it said.

In late September, Trump signed an executive order committing the U.S. to broad security guarantees for Qatar’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. That took place after Israel launched military strikes against Hamas operatives in Doha, outraging the Qataris and other Arab nations.

FCC removes ‘independent’ description from website during Senate hearing

Senate Democrats told FCC leader Brendan Carr that his testimony Wednesday that the agency wasn’t independent conflicted with the agency’s own website, which described it as an “independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress.”

Soon after, the FCC’s website changed, removing “independent” from a section describing its mission.

Senate passes $901 billion defense bill that pushes Hegseth for boat strike video

The Senate gave final passage to an annual military policy bill Wednesday that will authorize $901 billion in defense programs while pressuring Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to provide lawmakers with video of strikes on alleged drug boats in international water near Venezuela.

The annual National Defense Authorization Act, which raises troop pay by 3.8%, gained bipartisan backing as it moved through Congress, and the White House has indicated that it is in line with Trump’s national security priorities. However, the legislation, which ran over 3,000 pages, revealed some points of friction between Congress and the Pentagon as the Trump administration reorients its focus away from security in Europe and toward Central and South America.

The bill pushes back on recent moves by the Pentagon. It demands more information on boat strikes in the Caribbean, requires that the U.S. keep its troop levels in Europe at current levels and sends some military aid to Ukraine.

But overall, the bill represents a compromise between the parties.

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