December 1, 2025: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

A weary Congress stares down a whirlwind December sprint

Congress has endured an 11-month marathon that included a fight over the so-called Epstein files, a massive reconciliation bill, a contentious rescission bill, a handful of ethics scandals and censure attempts, a near government shutdown and an actual, record-setting government shutdown. Now, exhausted and miserable, Congress is staring down a three-week sprint to the end of 2025. And with expiring Affordable Care Act tax subsidies and another government funding deadline on the horizon, lawmakers will be limping to the finish line. At the top of Congress’ agenda is dealing with ACA subsidies set to expire on Dec. 31. Short of legislative intervention, health care premiums will skyrocket for millions of Americans. Members of both parties have vowed to find a fix. But a remedy that can realistically pass both chambers does not appear to be forthcoming, especially before Congress is slated to leave Washington on Dec. 19 — 13 legislative days from now. “It’s going to be tough,” Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi told NOTUS of a compromise solution, “just because everything’s so toxic.”

click here for more

That toxicity has intensified since Senate Democrats refused to vote for a government funding patch without some ACA subsidy extension during a 43-day government shutdown. While a few ultimately changed their minds and reopened the government without any certain ACA concessions, Democrats succeeded in amplifying their message that Republicans were making health care less affordable. While moderate lawmakers in the House and the Senate attempt to broker a bipartisan solution, many Republicans are generally predisposed against bills that extend the ACA that aren’t paired with reform like income caps. “Any effort to address this cliff needs to include income caps and make serious reforms to the credits, including addressing the rampant fraud and abuse in the program,” Rep. Mike Flood, who chairs the 80-plus-member, leadership-aligned Main Street Caucus, said in a statement. Conservative lawmakers swiftly shot down a trial balloon from the White House that included a two-year extension of the subsidies, telling NOTUS they are holding out to force broader ACA reform. But more moderate members who are involved in talks, like Rep. Don Bacon, are concerned that major reform isn’t achievable before the credits expire, setting Republicans up for a major intra-party clash in the next three weeks.

"The new price of eggs": The political shocks of data centers and electric bills

As loyal Republicans, Reece Payton said that he and his family of cattle ranchers in Hogansville, Ga., had one thing on their minds when they cast their ballots in November for the state’s utility board — “to make a statement.” They were already irked by their escalating electric bills, not to mention an extra $50 a month levied by their local utility to cover a new nuclear power plant more than 200 miles away. But after they heard a data center might be built next to their Logos Ranch, about 60 miles southwest of Atlanta, they had enough of Republicans who seemed far too receptive to the interests of the booming artificial intelligence industry. “That’s the first time I ever voted Democrat,” Mr. Payton, 58, said. Message sent. In some of Georgia’s reddest and most rural counties, Republicans crossed party lines this month and helped propel two Democrats, Peter Hubbard and Alicia Johnson, to landslide upsets, ousting the incumbent candidates on the Georgia Public Service Commission.

click here for more

No Democrat has served on the five-person commission, which regulates utilities and helps set climate and energy policy, since 2007. Across the country, Democrats have seized on rising anxiety over electricity costs and data centers in what could be a template for the 2026 midterm elections. In Virginia, Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger pledged during her campaign to lower energy bills and make data centers pay more. In the House of Delegates, one Democratic challenger unseated a Republican incumbent by focusing on curbing the proliferation of data centers in Loudoun County and the exurbs of the nation’s capital. In New Jersey, Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill promised to declare a state of emergency on utility costs and freeze rates. And in Memphis, State Representative Justin J. Pearson, who is challenging Representative Steve Cohen in a high-profile Democratic primary next year, has vowed to fight a supercomputer by Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, that would be located in a predominantly Black neighborhood. Strong opposition by citizens forced the Tucson City Council in August to pull the plug on an Amazon data center slated for that Arizona city, and then in September forced Google to call off one in Indianapolis.

Rep. Tony Gonzales tries to guide Republicans on immigration policies ahead of midterms

U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales has heard the concerns that President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration operations are sweeping up individuals who shouldn’t be targeted, or at least shouldn’t warrant high priority for deportation. “The No. 1 thing that I see, that I hear, in a lot of these communities, people are just anxious,” Gonzales said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News. The San Antonio Republican represents Texas’ 23rd congressional district, which includes more than 800 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. He said many district residents, including some die-hard Democrats, have horror stories about local services being overwhelmed by the record-setting flood of migrants who crossed the border when President Joe Biden was in the White House.

click here for more

They’re grateful the Trump administration has closed the border and taken some hardened criminals off the street, Gonzales said, but the waters are being muddied by stories of people without criminal records being snared. It’s a nuanced picture Gonzales has been trying to paint for his fellow Republicans since taking over earlier this year as chair of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, the first Texan to hold the position. Whether the party listens to him could have an impact on the midterm elections in Texas and across the country, as Republicans try to hold onto gains they made among Hispanic voters in 2024. Founded in 2003, the group consists of about a dozen Republican lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz of Edinburg, and serves as a counterpart to the Democrats’ older and larger Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Gonzales, De La Cruz and others sent a letter to immigration officials in June seeking information about how many people deported by the administration had criminal convictions.

Lawmakers voice support for congressional reviews of Trump's military strikes on boats

Lawmakers from both parties said Sunday they support congressional reviews of U.S. military strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, citing a published report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order for all crew members to be killed as part of a Sept. 2 attack. The lawmakers said they did not know whether last week’s Washington Post report was true, and some Republicans were skeptical, but they said attacking survivors of an initial missile strike poses serious legal concerns. “This rises to the level of a war crime if it’s true,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, when asked about a follow-up strike aimed at people no longer able to fight, said Congress does not have information that happened. He noted that leaders of the Armed Services Committee in both the House and Senate have opened investigations.

click here for more

“Obviously, if that occurred, that would be very serious and I agree that that would be an illegal act,” Turner said. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump on Sunday evening while flying back to Washington from Florida, where he celebrated Thanksgiving, confirmed that he had recently spoken with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The U.S. administration says the strikes in the Caribbean are aimed at cartels, some of which it claims are controlled by Maduro. Trump also is weighing whether to carry out strikes on the Venezuelan mainland. Trump declined to comment on details of the call, which was first reported by The New York Times. “I wouldn’t say it went well or badly,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, when asked about the call. The Venezuelan communications ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the call with Trump.

State Stories

Texas loan program for gas power plants makes progress after a rocky start

After an inauspicious start, a state incentive program created to encourage the construction of natural gas power plants has begun issuing loans. State lawmakers created the Texas Energy Fund in 2023 and have dedicated roughly $7 billion to the fund. After seeing numerous proposed projects drop out and one allegation of fraud, energy regulators can now point to progress that began this summer. Since June 26, the Public Utility Commission of Texas has authorized about $2.5 billion in loans to six power plant projects that, when completed, will have the capacity to power at least 875,000 homes. They include a $278 million loan to Houston-based Calpine, which said it plans to use the government loan to finance a 460-megawatt plant about 85 miles southeast of Dallas in Freestone County.

click here for more

The Legislature created the Texas Energy Fund in response to the February 2021 winter blackouts that killed more than 200 Texans. Many Republican lawmakers blamed renewable energy for the power outages, despite clear evidence fossil-fuel power plants also failed during the record-breaking freeze. With that in mind, the fund was created to encourage companies to build power plants that can generate electricity on demand, also known as dispatchable power. In Texas, the vast majority of dispatchable power is fueled by natural gas. Calpine appeared cognizant of the distinction in an Oct. 14 news release from Gov. Greg Abbott’s office. “This 460-megawatt, state-of-the-art facility is designed to start within minutes and will deliver safe, reliable power exactly when Texans need it most,” Caleb Stephenson, Calpine’s executive vice president of commercial operations, stated in the news release. The Public Utility Commission’s approval gave Calpine access to a 20-year, 3% loan to finance up to 60% of the plant’s construction cost. Other companies to take advantage of the loan program include NRG and Competitive Power Ventures. The issuance of the loans comes after the Texas Energy Fund got off to a rocky start. Lawmakers involved in the program’s creation fumed after it was discovered that one of the initial loan applicants chosen for the program may have committed fraud in their application and was selected despite the company’s leader being a federal felon.

Patrick wants Texas Senate to probe solar firms for alleged China ties

A pair of solar companies with footprints in Texas are in the spotlight after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced that lawmakers would investigate their financial ties to China. Executives from Ontario-based Canadian Solar and Austin-based T1 Energy, which have both invested in Texas-based solar manufacturing facilities and infrastructure, will be asked to testify before the Texas Senate in early 2026, Patrick said. He cited a Fox News report published Tuesday that detailed alleged ties between the two companies and larger Chinese-backed corporations. “Based on a new report, it appears China may have a major stake in 2 solar companies in Texas,” Patrick wrote on social media Saturday. The companies’ leaders will be called early next year for a hearing before the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce, Patrick said. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, has been the chamber’s leading lawmaker on energy issues and chairs the committee that will hold the hearings.

click here for more

The Republican-led state Legislature in recent sessions has ratcheted up efforts to counter Chinese influence in the state, including passing new laws in 2023 and 2025 that Republicans said would limit foreign interference on the Texas power grid. Patrick also backed a ban, passed this year, on Chinese nationals and businesses from buying Texas land.

Identical twin brother wants to replace Republican Troy Nehls in Congress

Representative Troy Nehls's identical twin brother, Trever Nehls, has announced that he wants to replace his brother in Congress. In response to a request for comment, a representative for Troy Nehls directed Newsweek to remarks he shared on social media, where he endorsed his brother. "I am endorsing my brother, Trever, to succeed me in Congress because I trust him, I believe in him, and I know he will fight every single day for the people of this district. He won’t need on-the-job training; he’s ready now," he wrote. Newsweek reached out to Trever Nehls via social media message outside of regular working hours. Troy Nehls, a Texas Republican, has added his named to a growing list of lawmakers who are planning on leaving office soon. Troy Nehls is an ally of President Donald Trump and has been an advocate of his immigration crackdown, along with other policies.

click here for more

The upcoming midterm elections come as the Republican Party has been in turmoil, split over multiple issues, including the public falling-out between Trump and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. This public spat has led to Greene announcing she will leave office in January before the end of her term. A number of other lawmakers, including Democratic Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, have announced they will not campaign for reelection in 2026. Both parties are pushing for redrawn congressional maps and seeking more favorable lines in hopes of gaining seats and securing a House majority. Republicans have a narrow majority in the House, 219-213. Historically, the party that does not hold the White House has tended to perform better in midterm elections. Trever Nehls announced his candidacy in a post on Facebook. “I am honored to announce my candidacy for Congressional District 22 to continue fighting for the people of this district,” he wrote.

Texas grid operators and regulators iron out new rules for data centers

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law in June that empowers the state’s grid operator to remotely disconnect data centers and other large energy users if the grid is under extreme stress. The so-called “kill switch” is just one aspect of the wide-ranging state legislation meant to govern the growing number of energy-intensive supercomputer warehouses being planned and built out across the state. The legislation comes as Texas, like other states across the country, tries to balance remaining an attractive place to do business for the booming data center industry while addressing the challenges that come with the huge amounts of electricity the facilities demand, especially when grid capacity has been maxed out by extreme summer heat or freezing winter storms. Much of the legislation around energy and the grid in recent years has aimed at preventing a rerun of the February 2021 winter storm. During the dayslong freeze, millions of households went without power and at least 246 people died, while some industrial sites’ lights stayed on.

click here for more

The new law, Senate Bill 6, which currently applies to electricity customers using at least 75 megawatts — equivalent to a medium-size power plant — aims to shift transmission costs to the large load users, so upgrades and new connection costs aren’t paid through residential and small commercial customer rates. The legislation also looks to establish grid reliability protection measures and add credibility to electricity demand forecasting. As with other aspects of Senate Bill 6, which created the new rules, the Public Utility of Commission of Texas, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and other stakeholders are still working out how the new responsibilities and rules around data centers will be put in place. The public comment period for stakeholders on SB6 rulemaking ran through October. Both the energy and data center industries are expected to participate in and follow the rulemaking closely, as the two sectors have grown accustomed to the free trade of energy with few state-imposed restrictions.

What Texas cannabis consumers have to look forward to (eventually)

Two weeks ago, I was the cannabis columnist for The Pitch Kansas City. I had just published an article regarding the unregulated hemp industry in Missouri, met with a local entrepreneur to highlight his cannabis manufacturing company’s recent expansion to Arizona’s legal market, and gobbled down a package of edibles for a product review. Now, I sit in my new Austin apartment as the Chronicle’s assistant news editor, wondering what I have gotten myself into. After MO legalized recreational cannabis in 2022, I thought I had it made. To walk down the street, stare at a large menu with a variety of products, and be out the door with whatever form of THC I was feeling that day … yeah, I’d say it was a pretty good deal. As I grew accustomed to the process, I constantly found myself wondering why anyone would want to live in a state where weed is illegal. Then I moved to Texas, one of the most restrictive states in terms of cannabis access, alongside my previous neighboring state, Kansas. Prior to making my 730-mile move, I thought to myself, At least Texas has a more open hemp industry. We’ll see what it has to offer.

click here for more

But even that is changing. On my very last day with The Pitch, the U.S. House passed the Republican-proposed spending bill, which reopened the federal government after a historic nearly month-and-a-half-long shutdown. Within that spending bill is a provision that will change the nation’s hemp industry. Due to the 2018 Farm Bill, which created a federal loophole that allows for retailers to legally sell products that contain less than 0.3% THCa, states across the nation vary in terms of local hemp regulation. In turn, it has led to retailers selling products that contain well over the legal THCa limit. This is great for consumers in states like Texas, with an absent recreational cannabis industry, as it creates an easily accessible path to marijuana products. But in Missouri, along with others that already have an established cannabis market, the loophole creates consumer confusion. Now, after years of debates, the federal government has suddenly taken a stance on hemp that will phase out many of the products that are currently freely available in these states. And although there is a 12-month delay before the new rules are implemented, reform is on the horizon, and it has me curious about what’s next. If you are a Texan who has turned to your local hemp shop to get your fix, you are also probably wondering what’s next. As far as where the hemp market will go, that is pretty much up in the air, as anything can change within the next year before the new laws go into effect. What I can tell you is what’s next when legal recreational cannabis eventually hits the Lone Star State, albeit five, 10, or 20 years down the line.

Glenn Rogers: The Texans mixing far-right politics with a fringe religious movement

“Trump has put God back in the White House!” Those were chilling words I heard on a chilly morning while attending a community Easter sunrise service overlooking Possum Kingdom Lake. I had no idea our omnipotent God could ever be taken out of the White House, public schools or anywhere else, or that God required Donald Trump to put him back. The speaker followed the Trump proclamation with a few statements about the “Seven Mountains Mandate.” My family and I had risen well before the crack of dawn and traveled to an outdoor Easter service, but not to receive a fringe right political message. Fortunately, the service was otherwise a meaningful experience. The sights and aromas of God’s creation clashed with unpredictable weather. The majestic sunrise and message about the empty tomb provided a joyful spiritual experience.

click here for more

But on the drive home I couldn’t shake the feeling that we had witnessed the mixture of something holy with something profane. The Seven Mountains Mandate is part of a hyperpoliticized theology which teaches that believers should control seven spheres of society: religion, family, education, government, media, arts and entertainment, and business. It doesn’t just teach Christians to contribute to those spheres, but to dominate them. It is also called dominionism. This charismatic, spiritual warfare movement, now closely aligned with far-right-wing politics, started in the 1970s, becoming more widely known in 2013 after publication of Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate, by Lance Wallnau and Bill Johnson. It’s also intricately linked to the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and proselytized through figures like Paula White-Cain, senior adviser to the White House faith office in the Trump administration. The NAR is a controversial Christian supremacist movement, also associated with the far right, that contains Pentecostal and evangelical elements. The movement advocates for spiritual warfare to bring about Christian dominion over all aspects of society and end the separation of church and state. NAR leaders often refer to themselves as apostles and prophets. Landon Schott, pastor of a Fort Worth church called Mercy Culture, has claimed Christians cannot vote for Democrats and that critics of his church are witches and warlocks. In January, Nate Schatzline, another Mercy Culture pastor and a Texas state representative, prayed to remove demonic spirits from the state Capitol and give it back to the Holy Spirit. I could not agree more that the place needs cleansing. Perhaps part of the cleansing occurred last month when Schatzline announced he will not seek reelection. Instead, he will assume a new role with the National Faith Advisory Board, founded by White-Cain.

Texas AG Paxton blocks universities from signing CSC’s participation agreement

Seven universities in Texas have been ordered by the state's attorney general not to sign the College Sports Commission NIL participation agreement. On Nov. 25, Texas AG Ken Paxton sent out a letter to Texas Tech, the University of Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor University, University of Houston, Southern Methodist and Texas Christian urging them not to sign the CSC agreement, stating numerous issues with the agreement. "As the chief legal officer for the State of Texas, whose duties include providing advice, counsel, and legal representation to Texas public universities, I am particularly interested and gravely concerned by the wide-ranging implications entering into such an agreement portends for our state and its institutions," reads the letter.

click here for more

For context, the 11-page university participant agreement would bind SEC, ACC and Big 12 schools to the terms of the House v. NCAA settlement and to the enforcement decisions of the new CSC, which stipulates that they waive their rights to contest whatever sanctions or rule changes the commission would make in the court of law. This sparked the attention of mega donor and chairman of the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents, Cody Campbell, who said Texas Tech would not sign the agreement, arguing to the rules are not in compliance with Texas state Laws and university bylaws. "We will eagerly and fully engage in conversation aimed at finding a legal and workable solution, and I will personally commit to facilitating such discussions," Campbell said in a social media post. According to the CSC's website, it's "the organization overseeing the new system that allows schools to share revenue directly with student-athletes and ensures that NIL deals made with student-athletes are fair and comply with the rules." It stems from the House v. NCAA settlement on NIL deals for student-athletes and is led by inaugural CEO Bryan Seeley, who formerly served as the executive vice president of Legal and Operations at Major League Baseball. It reports that all current members of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC are participating in the new revenue-sharing model overseen by the CSC.

UT Arlington researchers call for more insight on ‘potential lifeline’ for rural hospitals

Researchers in North Texas are calling for more insight into whether a federal program is improving access to care for rural communities. Certain rural hospitals were able to convert to “Rural Emergency Hospitals” beginning in 2020. The designation allows hospitals to participate in a new federal payment program designed to provide financial stability and ensure access in rural areas. Elizabeth Merwin, a nursing professor at UT Arlington, said researchers have questions about how the conditions of the program affect care. “There's very little evidence or research-based information on the outcomes of the use of –or the switch to rural emergency hospitals,” she said. About 1,500 hospitals were eligible for the program based on the specific requirements.

click here for more

Since the first hospitals converted in 2023, 40 have joined the program. Currently, Texas is home to four of those hospitals. “In order to be eligible, a hospital had to be enrolled in Medicare,” said Suzanne Daly, another professor at UTA’s Center for Rural Health and Nursing. Daly said there were also stipulations based on the size of the hospital and the designation it already had. When hospitals enter the program, they can’t provide inpatient care. The program “does potentially provide a lifeline” for struggling rural hospitals and preserving “a baseline of care,” according to a recent paper written by the UTA researchers. The baseline focuses on emergency and outpatient care that “might ultimately be more profitable,” the paper said. Focusing on those services does mean losing vital inpatient services in rural communities, but keeping a source of care open in a community can be critical – especially with so many rural hospitals closing or facing a risk of closure.

Why ousted Alamo Trust CEO Kate Rogers isn't going quietly

In the weeks since Kate Rogers was ousted from her role as CEO of the Alamo Trust, Inc., the GOP state leaders who called for her resignation say the half-billion dollar redevelopment plan she was overseeing is moving forward without a hitch. But Rogers isn’t going quietly after passages from her two-year-old doctoral dissertation were held up as evidence her personal politics were “incompatible” with the way state leaders want the eventual museum, visitors center and surrounding plaza to convey the site’s history. Last week, Rogers sued Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham and members of the Alamo Trust’s board of directors, shedding new light on their efforts to influence such projects and asking that she be reinstated to her role.

click here for more

In an interview with the San Antonio Report, Rogers said the current political environment compelled her to fight back against what she sees as a violation of academic freedom laws. Texas’ higher education institutions face increasing scrutiny from GOP leaders, who’ve spent the past year pushing out professors they disagree with, auditing curriculum for references of race and gender and appointing political allies to top leadership roles at the state’s largest public universities. University leaders have little leverage to push back, given the tremendous influence state and federal leaders have over their funding. But Rogers is now free to speak her mind — and hopes doing so could make a difference beyond her case. “People separate from their employment all the time. What’s unique about this situation is that the reason that I was asked to resign was because of something I wrote in my dissertation, which is protected speech under the First Amendment,” Rogers said. “I felt compelled to fight that, because that’s a dangerous precedent,” she continued. “Somebody took the trouble to find my dissertation. I think it puts a lot of people at risk.”

Failure to launch: Don’t expect to take flying taxis to the World Cup after Arlington's plan delayed

Arlington won’t have flying taxis in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, as city leaders had hoped last year. Arlington Mayor Jim Ross first announced the city was partnering with a startup with the hopes of making Arlington the first American city with advanced air mobility during his state of the city address in October 2024. “Theoretically, when it's all done and we expect it to be done for the World Cup in 2026, you can be flying these air taxis right into the Entertainment District,” Ross said during the address. But a year later, Ross and other experts say that won’t happen. This is due to a combination of factors, but the biggest obstacle is Federal Aviation Administration regulations that haven’t been completed.

click here for more

Still, Ross told KERA News in a recent interview, Arlington hasn’t given up on being among the first in the country to have flying taxis. Those taxis would be eVTOL aircraft – electronic vertical take-off and landing. The vehicle would be powered by an electric motor instead of a combustion engine and would take off and land the same way as a helicopter. While the air taxis won’t be ready to move people in time for the World Cup, Ross said it’s not unreasonable to expect at least one of them to be in the skies over the Arlington Entertainment District in what the mayor referred to as a World’s Fair type demo. Ernest Huffman agrees. The aviation planning and education program coordinator for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, Huffman’s job includes researching new forms of air travel often called advanced air mobility. The millions of visitors expected in North Texas for the World Cup wouldn’t be able to hop on an eVTOL and fly to the games, but Huffman said it could still benefit the region.

Austin light rail moves closer to construction with federal approval

After years of setbacks and uncertainty, Austin’s light rail project is now one step closer to fruition. Federal transit officials last week gave Austin Light Rail a key vote of confidence, issuing a “medium-high’’ rating in an annual funding recommendation report that keeps the project on track for a 2027 groundbreaking. The rating positions Austin to compete for a federal Capital Investment Grant expected to cover roughly half the system’s cost. The federal mark is the latest sign of momentum for a transit plan that has struggled through years of redesigns, cost escalations and political blowback.

click here for more

Since Austin voters approved Project Connect in 2020 — signing off on a generational $7 billion transit overhaul and an ongoing 20% property tax increase — the light rail component has repeatedly been scaled back as projected costs ballooned. The initial 27-mile vision shrank to fewer than 10 miles, even as the price tag grew and questions mounted about how far local dollars would stretch. The Austin Transit Partnership, the entity created to build the system, has also spent years recalibrating designs amid lawsuits, legislative pushback, inflation, right-of-way challenges and pressure to deliver something close to what voters were promised. Even with those complications, November’s rating brings ATP closer to securing about $4 billion in federal funding. The rating, the strongest overall grade FTA assigned for the 2026 fiscal year, signals that federal staff view the project as financially and technically viable. Greg Canally, ATP’s CEO, said the rating is one stage of a multistep, highly competitive funding gauntlet.

United Airlines And Southwest's billboard battle becomes irrelevant after nightmare weekend of nearly 3,000 flight disruptions combined

It isn't uncommon for major airlines to take a swipe at one another. We have seen several examples throughout the year. Heck, just a couple of days ago, United Airlines' CEO Scott Kirby took a shot at American Airlines, claiming that its days may be numbered. Now, United Airlines seems to be in another feud. This time, the airline is battling Southwest Airlines over billboards in Denver. We'll take a closer look at the billboard feud. However, all the talk on Saturday wasn't about the billboards. Instead, passengers across the U.S. faced delays and cancellations on one of the busiest travel weeks of the year. Here's a closer look at the breakdown of the cancellations and delays, and what travelers can anticipate during the coming days.

click here for more

Starting things on a lighter note, users online had some fun with the ongoing feud between United Airlines and Southwest Airlines. The rivalry took yet another turn, this time with some noticeable jabs on billboards in Denver, an area both airlines have many flights out of. It appears as though United launched the billboard feud. They wrote in their massive Denver billboard, "more flight southwest than, well, you know." Southwest Airlines wasted no time responding. The airline placed its own billboard atop United's message. Southwest Airlines wrote on its billboard, "These trophies sit united on our shelves." The billboard added, "#1 in Economy class customer satisfaction 4 years in a row." As expected, users online had a blast with the ads. One person wrote on Instagram, "One of their ads by terminal 1 at O'hare says: do we only fly out of midway? O’hare no." Another person wrote, "This is hysterical! They’re probably gonna lose all those awards with all the changes, which means maybe we will get a clap back from United soon!" Despite the attention of the feud, things have changed over the weekend. In fact, Denver International Airport was one of the hubs that proved disastrous for both airlines due to weather concerns. This shifted the focus for both airlines, which had to deal with thousands of delays and hundreds of cancellations.

National Stories

December will begin with investors owning little stock. Is a year-end rally at play?

Wall Street thinks you don’t own enough stock. Not “you,” specifically, but investors as a collective are viewed as too lightly exposed to equities given the S & P 500 is three years into a bull market and is back to within 1% of its all-time peak from a month ago. Deutsche Bank’s comprehensive investor positioning gauge is hovering around neutral. John Flood, head of Americas equities sales trading at Goldman Sachs, says: “Our sentiment indicator has spent most of the year in negative territory reflecting relatively conservative institutional investor positioning. The wall of worry has been extremely high this year and remains omnipresent (this is a bullish signal).”

click here for more

The reason to note such assessments is that we’ve entered the season when “flow-of-funds” trends and the mechanical maneuvering of investors toward a final scorecard for the year tend to form the core of the bulls’ argument. Essentially all earnings for 2025 are in the books. Recent Federal Reserve messaging has restored expectations of a rate cut on Dec. 10. Business-news flow is set to slow down as holidays encroach. Which leaves market handicappers trying to sort out how much latent buying power remains among investors. Through this lens, the S & P 500's first 5% setback in seven months, culminating a week ago Friday, was a big help in shaking out anxious investors, resetting investor sentiment and testing the key fundamental premises that have animated the bull market. Was that all that was needed to refresh a market uptrend that had grown pretty overheated with speculative momentum, complacency about the macroeconomic picture and low-quality-stock leadership into late October? Warren Pies, founder of 3Fourteen Research, last week upgraded equities to an overweight in part because he believes the answer to that question is “Yes.”

Trump’s focus on drug war means big business for defense startups

The U.S. military has turned its attention southward, and the defense industry is lining up to sell it the tools for a different kind of war. Defense-tech companies and artificial-intelligence startups have found a vital new market in President Trump’s rapidly escalating drug war. Weapons and AI platforms that were designed for a future conflict with China or struggled to prove themselves on the Ukrainian battlefield have found a niche in the administration’s tech-enabled crackdown on drug trafficking. Drone and imaging companies are assisting the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy with interdiction operations in the Caribbean. AI companies from Silicon Valley to Dubai are pitching platforms that promise to map the hidden networks of fentanyl traffickers. On the southern U.S. border, a counterdrone system developed in Ukraine is being repurposed to deflect incursions from Mexico. As Washington has revived the rhetoric and legal tools of the global war on terror, more companies large and small have staked their claims to the emerging market, at times retooling to fit the latest mission.

click here for more

They have rebranded their drones, sensors, AI tools and data platforms as custom tools for Trump’s fight against “narco-terror.” The effort has accelerated since early September, when the U.S. military began an unprecedented campaign against small drug-trafficking vessels, executing strikes that have killed more than 80 people. Some regional allies have accused the U.S. of extrajudicial killings of civilians. The Trump administration maintains that drug cartels pose an imminent threat to America’s national security. The legality of the boat strikes has been contested by U.S. lawmakers, foreign allies, the United Nations and human-rights groups. But the pushback mostly hasn’t deterred companies jockeying for a role in the Trump administration’s broader counternarcotics operations. In an interview, Palantir Technologies Chief Executive Alex Karp declined to say whether his company’s technology was involved in counternarcotics operations, but voiced support for the strikes. “If we are involved, I am very proud,” Karp said. “I believe that fentanyl is a scourge on the working class of America and that if this scourge was affecting non-working-class people we would use extreme violence and so I support what they’re doing.” While the administration’s upcoming national-defense strategy hasn’t been publicly released, people familiar with the document said much of it is devoted to homeland defense and hemispheric security—a significant shift toward the Western Hemisphere that gives concern over China a back seat. “The counternarcotics mission has already opened new, unanticipated revenue lines,” said Aubrey Manes, senior director of mission at Vannevar Labs, a startup providing intelligence to national-security agencies. The company said it uses AI to help U.S. authorities uncover and disrupt drug-supply chains by mapping transnational criminal organizations and China-based suppliers, and to gauge public sentiment regarding U.S. operations against suspected Venezuelan drug boats.

White House launches tracker to call out 'media offenders'

The White House launched a new page on its website on Friday called "media offenders," listing news sites, reporters, and stories it claims misled the public. The top publications cited as "media offenders of the week" were the Boston Globe, CBS News, and the Independent. Reporters from those outlets were singled out for stories about a controversial video released last week by six Democratic lawmakers. The lawmakers, all of whom are military veterans or former intelligence officials, reminded service members they are not obligated to follow illegal orders. In a video posted online last week, the lawmakers said, "Right now, the threats to our Constitution aren't just coming from abroad, but from right here at home."

click here for more

"Our laws are clear: You can refuse illegal order. ... You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution," they added. US President Donald Trump called the lawmakers' actions "seditious" and "treason." The page included an "offender hall of shame" with a list of stories the White House considers mistruths. Each story is explained and categorized under labels such as "lie," "omission of context," or "left-wing lunacy." The White House described the site as "a record of the media’s false and misleading stories flagged by The White House." The page also features a leaderboard of news sites the administration claims reported stories incorrectly. The Washington Post tops the list, followed by MSNBC (recently rebranded as MS NOW), CBS News, CNN, The New York Times, Politico, and The Wall Street Journal. There's also a section with "repeat offenders" with outlets that the Trump administration objects to.

The next big battleground test: A Wisconsin race that has tortured Republicans

Republicans looking to recover after bruising electoral losses in November are sharply divided over one of the next big electoral tests: a statewide judicial race in battleground Wisconsin. Wisconsin voters will head to the polls in April to pick the state’s next Supreme Court justice for the fourth time since 2020. In the last three contests, liberal candidates have demolished the GOP-backed ones, sending conservatives — who in as recently as 2023 enjoyed a majority on the court — deep into the wilderness. And some Republicans in the state are already at odds over how to try to reverse that losing streak: Embrace the Republican Party brand, Trump and all, or try to separate as much as possible from a partisan label in a throwback bid to less contentious judicial contests. “If you don’t tell your voter where you are, you’re likely going to lessen their incentive,” said Brandon Scholz, the former executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party.

click here for more

“Think about the liberal side. They’re going to turn on every anti-Donald Trump voter that’s been known to man in Wisconsin.” The elections are technically nonpartisan, but both Republicans and Democrats have poured tens of millions into the most recent contests because of the scope and potential cases appearing before the court. In July, liberals on the bench voted to overturn Wisconsin’s 176-year-old abortion ban. And in April, the court ruled that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers could lock in a 400-year school funding increase using his line-item veto power, a decision that also split along ideological lines. And Democrats hope the court will take up a redistricting case in time for the 2026 election. The conservative candidate for the court, Maria Lazar, said in an interview that the best way to recapture the seat is to refocus the election away from the political extremes. “This is not a Republican versus a Democrat,” said Lazar, a longtime judge who has spent the last three years on an appellate court in the Milwaukee metro-area city of Waukesha. “This is a judicial race, and the reason why it’s going to be different is that I am, through and through and all the way, a judge, not a politician.”

Fewer international students are enrolling at U.S. colleges, which could cost the country $1 billion, reports find

After a battle over immigration policies and international student visas, fewer new international students chose to study on U.S. college campuses this fall, which comes at a significant economic cost. In the fall 2025 semester, the tally of new international students studying in the U.S. sank 17%, according to a fall snapshot from the U.S. Department of State and the Institute of International Education released earlier this month. Altogether, international students at U.S. colleges and universities contributed nearly $55 billion to the U.S. economy over the 2024-25 academic year, including tuition revenue as well as student spending, according to the IIE’s Open Doors report. This year’s sharp enrollment decline — largely due to the Trump administration’s changes to the student visa policy — is projected to cost the economy $1.1 billion, according to a separate analysis from NAFSA: Association of International Educators.

click here for more

A separate analysis by Implan, an economic software and analysis company, found that when accounting for the direct loss of student spending as well as the ripple effects across the economy, the drop in enrollment amounts to a nearly $1 billion loss to gross domestic product. “International students do far more than attend classes — they sustain local economies,” said Bjorn Markeson, an economist at Implan. “Their spending supports thousands of jobs, stimulates local businesses, and generates tax revenue that underpins community services.” Before the Trump administration put a temporary pause on new visa applications in the spring, there were nearly 1.2 million international undergraduate and graduate students in the U.S., mostly from India and China, making up about 6% of the total U.S. higher education population, according to the Open Doors report. The U.S. has been the top host of international students, but the enrollment pipeline was already under pressure. Fewer new students from abroad also enrolled for the fall 2024 semester, notching the first decline since 2020-2021, during the Covid pandemic, according to the Open Doors data. More restrictive student visa policies in the U.S. and changing attitudes abroad about studying here were factors contributing to that decline, other research shows.

Trump invites families of 2 National Guard members who were shot to White House

President Donald Trump on Sunday said he's invited the family of a National Guard member fatally shot last week to the White House, saying he spoke to her parents and they were "devastated." U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom died after the Wednesday shooting in Washington, D.C., while her seriously injured colleague, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, remained in critical condition. The president said he's discussed a White House visit for the parents of both members of the West Virginia National Guard.

click here for more

"I said, 'When you're ready, because that's a tough thing, come to the White House. We're going to honor Sarah," Trump told reporters. "And likewise with Andrew, recover or not." In recent days, local vigils in West Virginia have honored the soldiers, including one Saturday evening at Webster County High School, where Beckstrom attended classes. "Sarah was the kind of student that teachers hoped for, she carried herself with quiet strength, a contagious smile and a positive energy that lifted people around her," said Jarrod Hankins, the school's principal. "She was sweet, caring and always willing to help others." Beckstrom, 20, and Wolfe, 24 were deployed with the West Virginia National Guard as part of Trump's aggressive crime-fighting plan that federalized the D.C. police force. A 29-year-old Afghan national faces one count of first-degree murder and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed in the shooting, which prompted the Trump administration to halt all asylum decisions and pause issuing visas for people traveling on Afghan passports.

Trump’s pick to replace DeSantis faces a Republican pile-on in Florida

President Donald Trump’s endorsement was supposed to clear the field for Rep. Byron Donalds. Instead, the GOP governor’s race in Florida is veering toward a bitter and unpredictable brawl — with Gov. Ron DeSantis and his clout still lurking, adding to the drama in the fight to succeed him. Donalds has every reason to expect a glide path to the nomination: He’s got Trump behind him, support from many top state Republicans, millions in his campaign accounts and a steady presence on Fox News. Polls show him far out in front of other GOP hopefuls. But instead of the field collapsing, Donalds is drawing in new challengers with sharper attacks — including allies of term-limited DeSantis. The result is a disjointed and increasingly nasty primary in the nation’s third-largest state — one unfolding as Republicans continue to widen their voter registration advantage in the former battleground.

click here for more

DeSantis has still not publicly backed any Donalds rival, and speculation abounds as to what steps he may be taking to block him. His pick for lieutenant governor — Jay Collins — appears poised to jump in the race, though it’s unclear if DeSantis will back him if he does. In short, Florida’s GOP primary is getting messy. “He just knows he doesn’t want Byron to be governor, but there isn’t a solid plan to stop him,” said one longtime Republican consultant familiar with DeSantis’ thinking, who was granted anonymity to candidly discuss the state of the race. This past week saw investor and online provocateur James Fishback splash into the governor’s race, where he immediately ripped into Donalds and even called the Black Republican a “slave” to donors and corporate interests. Even before he entered the contest, Fishback clashed online with top Trump advisers, including deputy chief of staff James Blair. On a conservative podcast this week, Trump adviser Alex Bruesewitz called Fishback a “total scam artist.”

Copyright December 02, 2025, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved