Latest Headlines

When Donald Trump returns to the White House in a matter of days, he will complete a rare GOP trifecta of the federal government, but his legislative agenda still faces tough obstacles in Congress, according to the Atlantic’s Russell Berman.

Taking into consideration the slugfest House Speaker Mike Johnson faced before narrowly retaining the speaker’s gavel Friday, Berman told readers that the vote “was a bad sign” for the future of Trump’s political priorities.

Vice President-elect J.D. Vance was in the hospital on Friday, Fox News reported.

"Fox has learned that Vice President-elect JD Vance went to George Washington Hospital this afternoon for a planned minor surgery," reported Chad Pergram on X. "Vance spokesman: 'The Vice President-elect is having long-planned, minor sinus surgery and will be back at work tomorrow.' Vance remains a senator for the time being. He was on CapHill earlier today as VP Harris swore-in new senators."

President-elect Donald Trump offered a very peculiar nomination announcement on his Truth Social platform Friday, seeming to attack the very person he appointed to a critical diplomatic role — and warning her to stay in line, even as he said she would deliver "great results" for the country.

"I am pleased to announce Morgan Ortagus as Deputy Special Presidential Envoy for Middle East Peace, to the Honorable Steven Witkoff," wrote Trump. "Early on Morgan fought me for three years, but hopefully has learned her lesson. These things usually don’t work out, but she has strong Republican support, and I’m not doing this for me, I’m doing it for them. Let’s see what happens. She will hopefully be an asset to Steve, a great leader and talent, as we seek to bring calm and prosperity to a very troubled region. I expect great results, and soon!"

A Massachusetts Democrat flagged a change in the congressional rules that one reporter called a "big deal."

Reporter Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News cited Rep. Jim McGovern's concern over the new GOP rules package, which states that the speaker "cannot entertain a motion that the House suspend the rules except on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays."

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) took a victory lap in an op-ed published Friday where he put opponents of President-elect Donald Trump on blast and teased the “leftists” post-election stages of grief.

Writing for the conservative RedState publication, Biggs fumed about what he said were years of lies about Trump and his supporters – and wondered out loud if those who voted against the incoming president would grow to accept his electoral victory, or “get stuck in anger – the second stage of grief?”

A spokesman for Donald Trump took aim at Judge Juan Merchan in a fiery statement after he ordered the incoming president to return to court for sentencing in his New York fraud case on Jan. 10.

Trump communications director Steven Cheung on Friday hurled insults at Merchan, who ruled against Trump’s motion to dismiss the guilty verdict that resulted in 34 felony convictions. Cheung claimed the ruling conflicted with the Supreme Court’s immunity decision last year and criticized the case being brought to begin with.

Judge Juan Merchan issued a decision on the matter of President-elect Donald Trump's sentencing in the New York criminal hush money case on Friday, ordering the sentencing to move forward on Jan. 10, days ahead of Trump's inauguration.

Merchan said he would not impose prison as a punishment due to the impracticalities of incarcerating a president — and suggested he was inclined to discharge the case without punishment on condition of Trump avoiding rearrest.

A former senator thinks House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is headed for a coming storm.

Johnson held open the first vote as long as he could Friday for the speaker's chair so he could work out deals to get Republicans to support him after they initially refused to vote for him.

Judge Juan Merchan ruled against Donald Trump's motion to dismiss the guilty verdict in the New York fraud case in which Trump was found guilty on 34 counts. Trump must now return to court virtually or in person on Jan. 10.

The judge also took a moment to shame Trump's attorneys, saying, "There have, however, been instances when in written submissions, counsel has come dangerously close to crossing the line of zealous representation and professional advocacy one would respect from members of the bar and officers of the court and this Court has at times, made counsel aware of its observations and concerns. Now, counsel has resorted to language, indeed rhetoric, that has no place in legal filings."

A congresswoman from the Virgin Islands rose in the House during the speakership vote on Mike Johnson (R-LA) to protest the more than a century-long refusal of the House to give a vote on the floor to elected officials from U.S. territories.

"I note that the names of representatives from American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia were not called, representing, collectively, 4 million Americans," said Stacey Plaskett to broad applause from the Democratic side of the chamber. "Mr. Speaker, collectively, the largest per capita of veterans in this country."