• December jobs numbers: December’s employment numbers came in below the Dow Jones estimate of 73,000, with 50,000 jobs added — lower than November’s revised number of 56,000. The slower job growth was buoyed by a drop in the headline unemployment rate to 4.4%, which came in below the expected 4.5%. Furthermore, the overall unemployment rate dropped to 8.4%. Meanwhile, average hourly wages grew by 0.3%, meeting expectations, while annual earnings increased by 3.8%, which was 0.2% higher than forecast. Overall workforce participation came in at 62.4%. Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth, called the report “a mixed bag” while noting, “The overarching takeaway in today’s report is that there is more good news than bad in the first on-time jobs report in three months.”

• Fraud federal task force: In a fiery press conference yesterday, Vice President JD Vance called out the news media’s coverage of ICE actions in Minneapolis, and he also announced a new interagency federal task force intended to root out fraud. The administration intends to use the task force to expand fraud investigations to other states, including Ohio and California. The task force comes on top of the 1,500 Justice Department subpoenas and 100 indictments already issued. Additionally, Vance announced that a new associate attorney general nominee will be named and given authority over fraud investigations nationwide. The nomination is expected in the “next few days.”

• Senate advances war powers measure on Venezuela: The Senate on Thursday narrowly advanced a war powers resolution in an effort to block President Donald Trump from taking further military action against Venezuela without congressional approval. Trump complained, “Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America.” He also called the measure unconstitutional for impeding his authority as commander-in-chief. Five Republican senators sided with Democrats — Rand Paul, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young. Trump said they “should never be elected to office again.” Only Collins is up for reelection this year. Sen. John Barrosso observed that this was about Democrats attacking Trump, not advancing American interests: “It does not reassert Congress’s powers. It does not make America stronger. It makes America weaker and less safe.”

• Russia spurns peace plan: Russia has now rejected the latest iteration of President Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Ukraine, calling certain provisions the formation of “a true axis of war.” Russia identified the core of the proposal as a multinational force deployed in Ukraine to aid in rebuilding that nation’s military. Russia’s announcement comes in response to the five-point security plan Trump’s peace envoys signed with European leaders on Tuesday. For Western observers, it seems clear that Russia will not agree to any plan that does not leave Ukraine more vulnerable than it was before the invasion in 2022. Naturally, Ukraine is insisting on security guarantees from Europe and the U.S. before agreeing to any peace plan.

• Billionaires begin to exit California: California Democrats’ plan to impose a wealth tax on billionaires is creating a predictable result: rather than staying and having their wealth looted by the state government, at least six billionaire residents are planning to move out. Topping the growing list of billionaires fleeing the Golden State are Google co-founder Larry Page and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. Six billionaires left before New Year’s Day to avoid a potential one-time 5% tax on all their assets exceeding $1 billion. Democrat lawmakers in the state have pushed this wealth tax, which residents will vote on in November. Silicon Valley investment firm co-founder Divesh Makan has been helping billionaires leave the state, and he estimates that as many as 20 additional billionaire families will move out. Given that California has roughly 200 billionaires, that’s no small number.

• Minneapolis update: Investigations into the death of a protester who was impeding law enforcement personnel acting in an official capacity on Wednesday are ongoing. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension attempted to insert itself into the federal investigation on Thursday before announcing its inability to do so. The FBI, which is investigating the case, opted not to share information with state authorities, likely because the anti-American fraud in that state is so rampant that the current governor was forced to end his reelection campaign. The disgraced Governor Tim Walz said it was “very, very difficult” to believe the investigation could arrive at the truth without his state authorities having access. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said she would like to know where Minnesota authorities were when paid protesters were harassing ICE in the line of duty. FBI Director Kash Patel announced an investigation into the funding of these paid protesters.

• Major takedown of Dominican gang: Many arrests have been made by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers of notorious Dominican gang members across New York and the United States, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Thursday. More than 50 members of the transnational criminal organization Trinitarios were charged with weapons trafficking, human smuggling, narcotics distribution, and armed robberies, and 60% of them have already been deported. Several of the gang members had been arrested for crimes multiple times but then released before shooting a Customs and Border Protection officer in July (the officer miraculously survived). The shooter’s accomplice was arrested eight times by the NYPD, but he was let go every time despite already having a deportation order. Noem stated, “These arrests and these removals represent a significant blow to the criminal network that has been terrorizing communities right here in New York City and throughout the United States.”

• Navy’s oldest carrier, USS Nimitz, ends final deployment: One of the backbones of the U.S. Navy has completed its final deployment and returned home to U.S. Naval Base Kitsap in Washington State. The USS Nimitz was the first of 10 Nimitz-class supercarriers. Commissioned in 1975, the Nimitz participated in nearly every major U.S. operation and conflict over the next 50 years. In its most recent nine-month deployment, it launched airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Somalia. The Nimitz is currently undergoing maintenance before making the voyage to Norfolk base in Virginia, where defueling and formal inactivation will begin. Due to the complexity of removing its nuclear power, the Nimitz is unlikely to become a museum ship. Nimitz-class supercarriers are still the backbone of the U.S. carrier groups, although their replacements, the Gerald R. Ford-class, have entered service with the eponymous USS Gerald R. Ford.

• House fails to override Trump’s first two vetoes: Last month, President Trump vetoed two bills, one of which was the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act and the other the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendment Act. Both bills had passed through Congress unanimously, but when it came to overriding Trump’s vetoes, the House was unable to secure the two-thirds majority required. Trump reasoned that, in the case of the first bill, it was a water pipeline project that had been green-lighted during the Kennedy administration with the understanding that it would be fully funded by the local community, not U.S. taxpayers. In the second bill, Trump argued that a region of the Florida Everglades occupied by the Miccosukee Tribe should not receive federal funding to fix problems in the area. The failure to override Trump’s vetoes indicates the strength of his sway among Republicans.

Headlines

• Trump announces cancellation of “second wave of attacks” on Venezuela (Washington Examiner)

• U.S. seizes another sanctioned oil tanker in Caribbean (Just the News)

• U.S. trade deficit shrinks to $29.4 billion, lowest since 2009 (Just the News)

• Crane removes Hilton sign from Minnesota hotel that denied service to DHS, ICE agents (Fox News)

• Humor: Eight perfect new jobs for Tim Walz (Babylon Bee)

The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.