MIKE’S HARD TRUTH

Moderate House Republicans are defying Donald Trump and Mike Johnson over health care, foreshadowing tough times for the GOP in the new year.

• President Donald Trump has ruled his party with a perplexingly powerful MAGA mind control for years, especially when it comes to House Republicans. Lately, however, cracks in the foundation of his iron-clad rule have appeared — and a big new one just opened up over health care. Speaker Mike Johnson fought for weeks to kill efforts to extend government subsidies, convincing Trump that House Republicans wouldn’t support such a move. But today, several moderate Republicans rebelled against Johnson and Trump, joining Democrats on this issue.

• These moderates are outraged that health care premiums are set to spike on January 1, and that Johnson helped crush all efforts to stop that from happening, including their own proposals. Now, they’re backing Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ discharge petition, which would allow lawmakers to bypass Johnson and schedule a new vote soon on a three-year extension for those subsidies.

• One of the lawmakers, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), directly attacked Johnson: “House leadership…. decided to reject every single one of [Republicans’] amendments,” he said. “The only policy that is worse than a clean three-year extension without any reforms, is a policy of complete expiration without any bridge. Unfortunately, it is House leadership themselves that have forced this outcome.”

• This rebellion doesn’t mean that the health care subsidies will be saved, at least not for now. While the plan may well pass the House, Johnson can delay that vote until after January 1, when subsidies officially expire. The petition would face more hurdles in the Senate.

• The upshot: Health care premiums are still going to spike next year, thanks to Republicans. But politically speaking, the logjam has now been broken, raising the possibility that something real could happen next year.

Expect more Republicans to push back on Trump’s policies ahead of the midterms.

• House Republicans are proving that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) had a point, when she said last night that a “dam is breaking” in the Republican Party against Trump.

• GOP lawmakers “are entering the campaign phase for 2026, which is a large signal that lame duck season has begun,” Greene said. “[Trump has] real problems with Republicans within the House and the Senate that will be breaking with him on more things to come.”

• Trump’s approval ratings have hit all-time lows, as he continues pushing policies that Americans don’t like. Johnson can’t keep his own members happy. The right controls the House, Senate, White House, and even the Supreme Court — and they’re failing to get things done.

As the 2026 midterms get closer, the pressure will keep building on GOP lawmakers to deliver on stuff people actually want — like, y’know, health care.

WHAT ELSE? 👀

What the hell is Trump gonna talk about during tonight’s much-hyped address at 9 p.m. Eastern? Esquire’s prediction: “I assume the major themes will be that we all don’t know how good we have it, how deserving of huge monuments he is, how he is the most abused world leader since Charles I, how he won in a landslide in 2020, Epstein? Who’s he?, and Biden, Obama, blah blah blah. You’re going to have to sort through all this blather, and the off-English, and the scrambled yarn-box of his brain to realize that, maybe, he’s going to actual war with Venezuela.”

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced he will step down in January… because he misses podcasting, apparently. “I think he wants to go back to his show,” Trump said. Ah yes, his show where he criticized the FBI and touted conspiracy theories… which, it turns out, is a lot more fun than actually trying to fight crime.

Former special counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers that, yes, he’d charge Trump again, if he had to do it all over, according to the Associated Press. He said investigators “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump’s team criminally conspired to overturn the 2020 election. Smith said he would “prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether the president was a Republican or Democrat.”

DHS quickly approved a $1 billion contract for a company run by a pro-Trump donor, according to the Washington Post. The same donor leads another company, which recently received a separate $140 million government contract. “There is zero indication that there was any wrongdoing on anyone’s part,” DHS told the Post in a statement. Phew! That clears things up!

Trump installed plaques in the White House bashing former President Joe Biden and Barack Obama. Biden took office “as a result of the most corrupt Election ever seen in the United States,” one reads, describing him as “the worst President in American History.” Yes, I’m sure this is how you win over voters who just want affordable health care!

The FCC removed language from its website describing the agency as “independent,” following Chair Brendan Carr’s testimony to lawmakers that it’s “not an independent agency formally speaking.” 1) It is supposed to be independent, and 2) This doesn’t mean you can cancel beloved late night hosts!!!

The trailer for Melania Trump’s movie, “MELANIA”, dropped today, and it looks like a cross between “House of Cards,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” and “Scream.” The movie will be released in theaters on January 30.

LIGHT AT THE END… ☀️

It looks like Jared Kushner and Trump’s buddies won’t be taking over CNN anytime soon. Warner Bros. Discovery’s management urged the company’s shareholders to reject Paramount’s hostile bid, arguing that Netflix’s deal to acquire the studio and HBO Max is better. There are still many concerns about Netflix winning the bid, but at least CNN won’t be renamed MAGA TV… I think….

A portrait of George Washington that inspired the former president’s picture on the $1 bill is up for auction. How many dollar bills do we think it’ll cost?

Move over, Hallmark: Hockey romances are one of the hottest genres on the book and television markets. Amazon’s top-selling sports romance books are all about hockey, and “Heated Rivalry” is one of HBO Max’s top shows. What’s the deal? One author credited “the unique athleticism of hockey players,” the Wall Street Journal writes. “It’s a fast, dangerous and macho sport that also requires graceful skating. Plus, because they’re constantly crouched in a semi-squat posture, players are ‘famous for their thighs and butts.’”

Costco’s travel business is doing very well, even though the wholesaler barely markets itself as a tourism company. In the week after Thanksgiving, members booked more than $100 million in travel, the Wall Street Journal reports. That’s up 12 percent more than a year ago (shocker that more people wanna leave the United States now…) It’s time to put down that hot dog and pick up a travel brochure!

Scientists are learning more about woolly mammoths after extracting 40,000-year-old RNA from one of the giant beasts. “While the path to de-extinction might be a little bit longer than most people appreciate, I think this is actually a very important steppingstone on the way,” one of the researchers said.

A husband used his late wife’s snowman figurines to build a snow village diorama in a vacant mall storefront, showing off her beloved collection. Thousands of people have visited the exhibit, named “KATHY ALLEN DUNCAN’S SNOWPEOPLE VILLAGE,” and more than one million people have seen it on social media. “Mom was a safe space for so many people, and what is created there is a safe space to share,” said one of the children she helped raise, who came from a troubled home. I’m not crying, you’re crying!