• Senate passes defense bill: The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was passed by the Senate 77-20 yesterday, sending the bill to President Donald Trump’s desk. The $901 billion spending bill came in $8 billion above the administration’s request. Many of the provisions restrict the executive’s freedom to withdraw support from Europe by leaving NATO leadership or by reducing American troops there below 76,000 without prior agreement. The bill also provides $400 million in aid for Ukraine over two years. The Senate passed the bill without major hurdles. While the bill’s language requiring military aircraft to signal their location to air traffic controllers came under scrutiny, the Senate decided to address the issue in future legislation to avoid sending the bill back to the House.

• House passes bill without enhanced ObamaCare subsidies: On Wednesday, House Republicans passed the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act, meeting Speaker Mike Johnson’s commitment to pass legislation before the Christmas break. No Democrats voted in favor, and only one Republican, Kentucky’s Thomas Massie, joined them. The legislation does not extend the expiring enhanced ObamaCare subsidies that Democrats have demanded; instead, it seeks to lower healthcare costs for all Americans, not just those on ObamaCare. Texas Republican Rep. August Pfluger called the bill a “good first step” to fix ObamaCare, with Republicans looking to explore additional fixes in the new year. Democrats decried the bill, saying 22 million Americans will see their health insurance premiums spike. The bill, which will be challenging to pass through the Senate, would expand consumer choice in health insurance and allow self-employed individuals and small businesses to band together to create association healthcare plans.

• Bongino leaving the FBI: Come January, “I will be leaving my position,” FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino has announced. “I want to thank President Trump, AG Bondi, and Director Patel for the opportunity to serve with purpose. Most importantly, I want to thank you, my fellow Americans, for the privilege to serve you. God bless America, and all those who defend Her.” For months, rumors have swirled that Bongino would be resigning after a narrative arose that he and AG Pam Bondi had crossed horns over the handling of the so-called Epstein Files. Bongino did not address his reason for leaving. Still, given his past criticism of the FBI before he took the job, calling it “irredeemably corrupt,” one wonders whether his efforts to change the agency’s culture as an outsider who had never worked in the agency were so frustrated that he decided it was time to leave.

• Inflation up 2.7%, not the expected 3.1%: The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its inflation report today, and the markets reacted positively to the slowing rate of inflation. This was the first inflation report released since the historically long Schumer Shutdown, so statisticians likely had to adjust their usual analysis processes, which may cast doubt on the report’s reliability. Food and housing were the areas with the most positive signs, with current food prices bringing the annual rise in costs down from 3.1% to 2.6%. Despite these hopeful signs, costs are still rising. Meanwhile, a new report shows that federal spending has risen nearly 10,000% from 1916 to today. In 2025, the federal government set a spending record of $7.035 trillion, which amounts to around $20,000 per living human in the U.S.

• House Judiciary Committee hears Jack Smith’s testimony: The closed-door deposition held on Wednesday was a low-drama affair, since only secondhand accounts are available. Democrats painted former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s eight-hour testimony as taking the committee to school and “boring.” Chairman Jim Jordan provided no details beyond his intention to release a transcript of the event in the coming weeks. The few quotes from Smith that have been made available include him taking full responsibility for the decision to bring charges against President Trump. He did laughably claim, “I would [have brought charges] regardless of whether the president was a Republican or Democrat.”

• House passes MTG’s legislation to protect kids from gender cultists: Marjorie Taylor Greene will soon be retiring from the House of Representatives, but if ever there were a high note to end a career on, a bill making gender mutilation for children a felony would be it. The bill, which passed the House 216-211, faces an uphill battle in the Senate, but if it becomes law, it would make the prescription of “puberty blockers” and hormones to children a felony. The bill also makes gender-mutilation surgeries and the transport of children to receive these procedures a felony. Exceptions can be made for physical health conditions, but none for “mental health.” This is a bill whose time has come, and the Senate must fight to pass it. Democrats called the bill “cruel” and “creepy,” but Republican Rep. Barry Moore clapped back, “How about we just don’t mutilate our children?”

• Tyler Robinson was radicalized by trans boyfriend: The Washington Post has published a deep dive into Charlie Kirk’s accused killer, Tyler Robinson, and his motives. While the Leftmedia outlet attempts to dismiss the claim that Robinson was motivated by leftist ideology, it becomes clear that he was, in fact, radicalized by his leftist trans-identifying boyfriend. Before meeting his boyfriend, Robinson expressed a rather dismissive view of both political parties. However, his mother noted that after moving in with his roommate-turned-boyfriend, he increasingly expressed pro-gay and pro-trans views. After Donald Trump’s election, Robinson’s boyfriend became distraught, claiming it was a loss for trans rights. Robinson clearly took on his boyfriend’s views, increasingly expressing anger against conservatives for “fearmongering” over trans issues. The two became more isolated from other friends, and as one friend put it, “And then he killed Charlie Kirk.”

• Judge orders Trump admin to stop firing federal workers: A federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration to stop its reduction of federal government employees. Judge Susan Illston contended that the stopgap spending bill that Donald Trump signed last month eliminated the need for a reduction-in-force. Furthermore, Illston ruled that thousands of government employees who had been “RIF’d” during the shutdown would get their jobs back and some back pay. Democrats were successful in getting language in the stopgap spending bill that blocked force reduction. As Illston wrote, “The court finds this is one of those rare cases where ‘the facts and law clearly favor the moving party’ and such relief is appropriate, in light of Congress’s clear instruction.”

• China plays hardball over Panama Canal: Economically and militarily, the Panama Canal is crucial to American interests. China is threatening to block a U.S.-proposed sale of two ports on the Panama Canal controlled by the Hong Kong firm CK Hutchinson to the American firm BlackRock. Having previously demanded that Shanghai-based firm Cosco be brought in with an equal stake in the ports, the CCP now demands that the company be given a majority stake. The Heritage Foundation’s Steve Yates views the situation as an “accidental admission” that confirms the accusations that these Hong Kong companies are actually “fronts for Chinese influence and potential control.” Yates sees Chinese control of the companies as the influence they would need to disrupt global trade during a crisis. The most obvious scenario where China could exploit a shutdown of traffic in the Panama Canal is if China invades Taiwan.

Headlines

• Senator Schmitt sued and targeted by Communist China in $50 billion lawfare campaign (Senate.gov)

• Trump unveils disparaging “Presidential Walk of Fame” plaques under Biden and Obama portraits (Washington Examiner)

• ICE suffers legal blow over blocking detention center visits (Newsweek)

• Legendary conservative intellectual Norman Podhoretz dead at 95 (Daily Caller)

• Maryland to study slavery reparations after lawmakers override Dem governor’s veto (Fox News)

• New York wins lawsuit against Hyundai and Kia for not making cars harder to steal (Not the Bee)

• There’s no evidence Australia’s strict gun control laws are effective (The Federalist)

• Humor: Trump imposes 25% tariffs on all incoming Christmas presents from the North Pole (Babylon Bee)

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