New York Times:
Senate Advances Measure to Curb Trump’s Use of Force in Venezuela
In a rebuke to the president, the Senate narrowly agreed to bring up a War Powers Act resolution for a vote next week. The measure would require Mr. Trump to seek congressional authorization for military operations in Venezuela.
The move on Thursday was largely symbolic, since it is unlikely the House would approve the measure even if the Senate enacted it, and Mr. Trump could always veto the resolution should it end up on his desk.
You know what? No one knows what the House will do because Mike Johnson is such a putz.
FOX:
9 House Republicans defy Mike Johnson, join Dems to advance Obamacare extension vote
A vote on extending Obamacare subsidies is expected in the House on Thursday
Nine House Republicans bucked their party leaders on Wednesday evening to advance a vote on a Democrat-led healthcare bill.
The nine GOP lawmakers' support was key to pushing ahead on a vote to extend enhanced Obamacare subsidies that expired at the end of last year. A vote on the bill itself is now expected Thursday afternoon.
It's a blow to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who argued for weeks that the majority of House Republicans were opposed to extending the COVID-19 pandemic-era tax subsidies.
Note how it’s covered on FOX. Not at all sympathetic to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Embattled from LA).
In any case, 17 Republicans voted on Thursday to pass Hakeem Jeffries’ bill.
New York Times:
Deadly Minneapolis Encounter Is the 9th ICE Shooting Since September
All those targeted in the shootings were fired on while in their vehicles.
An ICE agent shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday, the latest in a series of shootings by federal agents carrying out immigration enforcement operations in American cities.
In the last four months alone, immigration officers have fired on at least nine people in five states and Washington, D.C. All of the individuals targeted in those shootings were, like the woman killed on Wednesday, fired on while in their vehicles. In each case, officials have claimed that the agents fired in self-defense, fearing they would be struck by the vehicle.
Will Bunch:
After federal agents’ senseless killing of Renee Nicole Good, will Americans believe a rogue government or their own eyes?
In reality, the violent, reckless actions by masked agents of an American secret police were nothing new, and neither was the government’s massive assault on the truth of what happened in Minneapolis, ripped from the pages of a fascist playbook.
But this time, millions of Americans could see what really happened to Good, thanks to multiple videos taken on that south Minneapolis street by everyday citizens with a righteous distrust of their own government. It’s the deep skepticism that began with three gunshots and a blurry home movie in Dallas’ Dealey Plaza on Nov. 22, 1963. Now, the digital clarity of three gunshots at 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 7, 2026, may have marked a kind of Waterloo, a righteous turning point in our existential war over the truth.
New York Times:
Trump Lays Out a Vision of Power Restrained Only by ‘My Own Morality’
On topic after topic, President Trump made clear that he would be the arbiter of any limits to his authorities, not international law or treaties.
On Thursday, in a rare assertion of congressional authority over the president’s war powers, the Senate agreed to debate a resolution aimed at curbing Mr. Trump’s use of military force in Venezuela. Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, said one factor that may have tipped the vote was the president’s comment during Wednesday’s interview that the United States might remain involved in Venezuela for years.
On the domestic front, Mr. Trump suggested that judges only have power to restrict his domestic policy agenda — from the deployment of the National Guard to the imposition of tariffs — “under certain circumstances.”
That’s not at all scary.
Jason Furman/New York Times:
Trump Is About to Lose Control of the Economy
These developments, affecting cornerstones of Mr. Trump’s domestic agenda, will have a large impact on what our economy looks like and how it works. But in a sharp contrast to last year’s rule by fiat, none of the expected changes in these extremely consequential arenas are in the president’s control. At a minimum, these events may thwart his efforts to further impose his will. At a maximum, they will begin undoing the changes he’s made so far. Either way, we’re likely to end up well past peak Trump.
The tariff decision may be the first of these seismic events. In November the Supreme Court heard arguments about the limits of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the basis of a majority of the tariffs introduced last year (including the so-called reciprocal tariffs of at least 10 percent imposed on almost all U.S. trading partners).
David Shuster/Blue Amp:
Under Trump, U.S. Manufacturing Is in Retreat
Ten straight months of contraction—and no slogans can hide the math
As Barron’s reports, The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) manufacturing index fell to 47.9 from November’s 48.2 reading, the lowest of 2025 despite modest improvements in employment.
The consistent decline since Trump 2.0 took office is particularly noteworthy when you consider Old man Orange sold us his tariffs in 2025 as medicine. Trump said the tariffs would discipline foreign competitors, resurrect factories, and restore American industrial dominance.
In practice, the Trump tariffs have functioned more like a recurring fever: raising costs for manufacturers, snarling supply chains, and making long-term planning an exercise in guesswork.
Dylan Byers/Puck:
The Tony Accords
Tony Dokoupil’s disastrous debut as anchor of CBS Evening News highlights the uncomfortable truth about Bari Weiss’s tenure: While her politics take center stage, it’s her inexperience that’s her real liability.
Shit happens, as Shakespeare said, but the Dokoupil blunder drew predictably heavy, if slightly hyperbolic, fire against the backdrop of all the recent Bari Weiss player-hating—her controversial preemption of a 60 Minutes segment, her Erika Kirk misfire, her naive Bret and Anderson poaching efforts, etcetera. Admittedly, Tony brought some of it on himself. Days earlier, he’d channeled Bari’s warmed-over anti-media schtick into his own mission statement about the need to restore “trust,” throwing his fellow travelers—including his wife, MS NOW anchor Katy Tur—under the bus in the process. He’d also promised to be “more accountable and more transparent than Cronkite,” yet couldn’t seem to muster a modicum of his predecessor’s composure. In his early broadcasts, Tony has also developed a newfound sycophancy for the Trump administration—saluting Marco Rubio, both-sidesing January 6—effortlessly showcasing the malleability of people who get paid to read teleprompters.
