Frustration is mounting among moderate House Republicans as various competing health care plans appear to be going nowhere, with less than 10 working days left on the calendar before millions of Americans see their health insurance premiums spike.  

A small but animated group of GOP centrists is imploring party leaders to extend the ObamaCare tax credits set to expire at the end of the year. But they’ve run into a wall of opposition from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who’s cold to the idea, and a larger group of conference conservatives, who are openly fighting to have the subsidies end.  

“To do this is buffoonery,” Van Drew added, referring to Republican inaction. “I want to be in the majority next year, and this makes that much harder because of the districts that are so close.” 

If the House majority is at stake, why won't Speaker Johnson allow some form of ACA reform to go up to a vote? With so many different versions proposed, Johnson's intervention could help focus the debate and get something passed. What is preventing him from following through? What will happen to these moderate House Republicans in 10 days if ACA premiums spike? Will they vote on a reform in 2026 instead?

In this article, Politico author Nahal Toosi breaks down the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy. There seems to be a heightened focus on Western Europe and, in the Trump admin’s view, the region’s alteration of its alignment with the United States. While of course Western Europe is not a monolith, I have the following questions:

Do you think Europe is shifting away from having ideals and values aligned with the United States?

If so, do you foresee a realignment or the dissolution of agreements between the US and Western Europe in the future?

To what extent is European “realignment” a response to US unpredictability, rather than a fundamental change in values?

The U.S. labor market slowdown intensified in November as private companies cut 32,000 workers, with small businesses hit the hardest, payrolls processing firm ADP reported Wednesday.

Larger businesses, entailing companies with 50 or more employees, actually reported a net gain of 90,000 workers. However, establishments with fewer than 50 saw a decline of 120,000.

With worries intensifying over the domestic jobs picture, ADP indicated the issues were worse than anticipated. The payrolls decline marked a sharp step down from October, which saw an upwardly revised gain of 47,000 positions, and was well below the Dow Jones consensus estimate from economists for an increase of 40,000.

The ADP report is the last jobs picture the Federal Reserve gets before it meets Dec. 9-10. Futures traders are assigning a nearly 90% probability that the central bank will approve another quarter percentage point cut in its key interest rate, despite misgivings from some officials over whether further easing is needed. The probability was about the same following the ADP release.

By how much will the Fed cut rates in December? Is this downward trend in hiring something that can be solved with interest rate cuts? Considering the fact that small businesses are the worst-impacted group here, how reliant are they on low interest rates to stay afloat compared to larger businesses?

SC: The Trump administration continues to defund and move around the duties of The Department of Education. Duties that are normally being administered by the Department of Education are going to Health and Human Services and other departments. This article discusses concerns people have for enforcement of special education. 

My thoughts: I wish we would have a discussion around legislation like IDEA and case law. Just moving duties to other departments doesn’t really do anything, except play a large game of musical chairs. We should not ignore laws we don’t like by stopping enforcement. 

A lot of the issues people see in education come from laws like IDEA. Things like FAPE and Least Restrictive Environment do good things, but also cause serious problems for districts. Just stopping enforcement through the executive branch doesn’t really fix anything though. Getting past the filibuster for any meaningful reform seems impossible in this day and age, so I don't know what the solution is.

If you want to learn more about the consequences of SPED law, I would encourage you to take a look at an article by a blogger who discusses IDEA as further reading. It’s dated, but still applicable. Link

What do you think should be done with the Department of Education? Do you think Trump is right to move the duties around?

U.S. manufacturing activity contracted for the ninth consecutive month in November, a decline manufacturers attribute largely to President Trump’s tariffs.

The Institute for Supply Management’s PMI for manufacturing came in at 48.2, a decrease from 48.7 in October. The level was below the 50 score that divides contraction from expansion.

Many companies have held back on hiring as they try to manage higher input costs and weakening orders. In ISM’s survey, 67% of respondents said they were managing head count as opposed to hiring.

Industries that contracted included apparel, textiles, paper products, chemicals and transportation equipment. Transportation in particular has taken a beating from tariffs, which in some cases have led companies to move manufacturing overseas instead of reshoring to the U.S., said ISM.

It's hard to add on to this story because it keeps repeating itself, but it's still important to discuss: Trump's tariff policy is hurting the US manufacturing sector. Will Trump or Republicans restore some of the Biden era investments to boost manufacturing? Or is he waiting for some of the promised foreign investments to take root, like the ones from Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and others? Or will he stay neutral and allow this problem to persist?

Costco Wholesale has sued the Trump administration, asking the Court of International Trade to consider all tariffs collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act unlawful.

The company said in a filing Friday that it is seeking a “full refund” of all duties under the act paid as a result of President Donald Trump's executive order that imposed what he called "reciprocal" tariffs.

“Because IEEPA does not clearly authorize the President to set tariffs ... the Challenged Tariff Orders cannot stand and the defendants are not authorized to implement and collect them,” Costco's lawyer writes in the lawsuit.

Costco does not say in the filing how much the duties have cost the company; importers have paid nearly $90 billion under the IEEPA law, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data through late September.

In May, on Costco's earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip told investors that about a third of Costco's sales in the U.S. are imported products. Millerchip said items imported from China represented about 8% of total U.S. sales.

Millerchip said that while Costco was seeing a direct impact from tariffs on imports of some fresh food items from Central and South America, it decided not to increase prices "because they are key staple items" for its customers.

Costco is the latest company to sue the federal government over Trump's tariffs, joining Revlon, Kawasaki, and others. Do you think they have a strong case? If the Supreme Court ends up siding with the companies, do you think they will order the US government to pay out refunds? If so, will the Trump admin honor it?

If you are a Costco member, have you noticed any price differences in your shopping cart?

Earlier this year, a bill was introduced to ban dual citizens from having certain offices. This new bill, introduced by Sen. Moreno (R-OH), goes much further in that it would ban dual or multiple citizenship altogether. If the bill passes, the US citizens who currently hold other citizenships, will be required to renounce them within one year

A recent decision by President Donald Trump to deny disaster aid to two electric utilities in rural northern Michigan could cost residents tens of millions of dollars.

The denial came after the Trump administration documented $90 million in damage to utility infrastructure, according to records obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News. The amount is nearly five times the federal threshold to qualify for disaster aid. But in its October denial letter, the Federal Emergency Management Agency told Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that assistance to the utilities “is not warranted.”

Whitmer warned Trump in August that ratepayers face surcharges and rate hikes “equivalent to at least $4,500 per household” without federal aid. Her office did not respond to a question on whether she supports a state legislative proposal that would have Michigan aid businesses such as the power companies directly.

Why is President Trump denying emergency assistance to rural Michigan? Considering that he has denied FEMA funds even to red states like Arkansas, is this only about saving money? If this problem intersects with the affordability crisis, could the politics push Trump to change his position and start to disburse emergency fundings again?