• Senate Dems keep voting to extend shutdown: Another seven-week funding bill failed to pass the Senate yesterday in a vote of 55-45. Three Democrats have now broken with their party twice: Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman, and Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. Only one Republican, Rand Paul, has voted against the funding bill. Paul wants an end to Biden-era spending levels, while Democrats are trying to save expiring COVID-era ObamaCare subsidies. Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune says no negotiations on the expiring subsidies will take place until after Democrats help pass this funding bill. Even then, Thune insists no subsidies can be renewed without major reforms.

• SCOTUS says Lisa Cook can stay for now: The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal for an emergency ruling from the Trump administration regarding Donald Trump’s August firing of Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook. The Court did not give an explanation for its decision. The case will now continue according to schedule, with SCOTUS hearing arguments in January and issuing a ruling by early summer. In the meantime, Cook will maintain her position on the board. Trump’s firing of Cook is the first time a president has taken such an action against a member of the Federal Reserve Board since it was established in 1913. His administration is arguing that Cook’s firing is for cause related to alleged mortgage fraud and not for political reasons. Cook disputes that claim.

• Kilmar Abrego Garcia will not remain in the U.S.: A saga of Democrat desperation began this spring, when they pulled out all the stops to try to protect the right of a “Maryland Man” (read: wife-beater and MS-13 gang member) to remain in the U.S. Kilmar Abrego Garcia was initially deported to El Salvador, and after much legal wrangling, the Democrats successfully had him returned to the U.S. That was the basis of this most recent attempt to keep the human-trafficking scumbag here. Garcia’s lawyers argued that he had a year from his most recent entry to the U.S. to apply for asylum. Regional Deputy Chief Immigration Judge Philip Taylor shut down Garcia’s motion to seek asylum as “untimely,” coming as it did six years after his immigration proceedings. Garcia will be deported, and justice will at last be served.

• Appeals court rejects illegal alien journalist’s deportation avoidance bid: The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Mario Guevara’s effort to negate a deportation order. Guevara, a journalist and illegal alien, sought to frame the deportation order as the Trump administration retaliating against his critical reporting. However, the court noted that the deportation order preceded his latest request for a stay. Indeed, Guevara, who is from El Salvador, first entered the U.S. in 2004 on a visitor’s visa. He later applied for asylum, which was denied, and in 2012 he was ordered deported. He appealed the deportation order and has now lost the appeal. Unsurprisingly, Reporters Without Borders is decrying this as “an outrageous miscarriage of justice and a devastating blow to American press freedom.” The obvious problem with that claim is that following the law is how justice is legally identified, and an illegal alien, by definition, is not an American.

• FBI cuts ties with ADL over TPUSA designation The Anti-Defamation League designated Turning Point USA as an extremist group in its now-retired “Glossary of Extremism,” saying the late Charlie Kirk’s organization had garnered support from anti-Muslims and white supremacists. Former FBI Director James Comey often expressed his “love” for the ADL and had drawn the FBI into a closer partnership with it. After the political assassination of Kirk, Elon Musk accused the ADL of being a “hate group” over the fact that it was investigating Kirk and TPUSA instead of his murderers. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna pointed out that the “hate group” designation seems to have a lot to do with disagreements with the ADL. Yesterday, FBI Director Kash Patel announced, “That era is OVER. This FBI won’t partner with political fronts masquerading as watchdogs.” Not a moment too soon.

• Musk calls for cancellation of Netflix to protect kids: Clips from an already canceled animated show on Netflix called “Dead End: Paranormal Park” circulated on X this week, along with charts shared in a company report highlighting its DEI policies. Responding to the viral posts, Elon Musk wrote, “Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids.” This was due to a scene from Paranormal Park in which one character in the kid-aimed animated show comes out as trans and proclaims resulting happiness. Netflix has a long history of downright despicable programming. The call for cancellation has had some effect, with Netflix shares dropping 2.3% on Wednesday and down another 2.99% at the time of writing.

• UPenn’s Michael Mann steps down: Michael Mann, a climate professor at the University of Pennsylvania, infamous for his alarmist “hockey stick” graph depicting spiking global temperatures, has stepped down from his role as vice provost for climate science, policy, and action at the Ivy League school. Mann came under criticism from Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Dave McCormick for reposting a social media comment the day after Charlie Kirk was assassinated that called Kirk the “head of Trump’s Hitler youth.” McCormick called Mann’s behavior and rhetoric “despicable” and “dangerous,” and he demanded UPenn condemn it and take action. Before stepping down, Mann defended his rhetoric, dubiously claiming, “I was not criticizing Charlie Kirk. I was criticizing those who were lionizing him as a paragon of free speech and good faith discourse.” Mann held the position of vice provost for less than a year.

• CA red tape blocks fire rebuilding: In the immediate aftermath of the Pacific Palisades fire that consumed hundreds of homes in Malibu, California, Democrat politicians led by Gov. Gavin Newsom promised to ensure that rebuilding would happen quickly and that crippling regulations would be set aside. Nine months later, of the 720 structures destroyed, the vast majority of which were people’s houses, the state has granted just two rebuilding permits. The reason has everything to do with the state’s overly onerous building regulations, the very regulations Newsom promised would not impact efforts to rebuild. Democrat politicians love to talk about solutions but never seem to do anything except hinder actual progress.

Headlines

• Trump admin halts $18 billion in funding for NYC projects over DEI (Newsweek)

• Trump admin cancels nearly $8 billion in climate funding to blue states (CNBC)

• UK attack outside synagogue leaves two dead, three injured (Fox News)

• Greta Thunberg’s flotilla detained by Israel yet again (NY Post)

• Humor: 7 most terrifying consequences of a government shutdown (Babylon Bee)

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