Today in one sentence: Trump blamed "criminal" immigrants for the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans that was carried out by a U.S. Army veteran from Texas; Mike Johnson doesn’t have the votes to remain speaker of the House with less than 24 hours until the start of the 119th Congress; Biden will award Liz Cheney and Bennie Thompson the Presidential Citizens Medal; a federal appeals court struck down the FCC’s net neutrality rules; and Chief Justice John Roberts warned that "violence, intimidation and defiance directed at judges because of their work undermine our Republic, and are wholly unacceptable."

1/ Trump blamed “criminal” immigrants for the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans that was carried out by a U.S. Army veteran from Texas. In the early hours of New Year’s Day, a man drove a truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, which left at least 15 dead. The driver behind the attack was Shamsud-Din Jabbar, is a Texas-born U.S. citizen and Army veteran. The FBI said Jabbar acted alone and had posted several videos online before the attack “proclaiming his support for ISIS.” Nevertheless, Trump posted: “When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true.” He added later: “Our Country is a disaster, a laughing stock all over the World! This is what happens when you have OPEN BORDERS, with weak, ineffective, and virtually nonexistent leadership.” Hours later, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside of Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas, which killed the driver and injured seven. The man inside the Tesla Cybertruck was an active-duty soldier in the Army. Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said their investigation indicates that the driver shot himself in the head immediately before the vehicle exploded. A gun was found at the driver’s feet. The FBI said “there is no definitive link between the attack” in New Orleans and Las Vegas. (Bloomberg / New York Times / HuffPost / New Republic / NBC News / Associated Press / CNN / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / NPR / Washington Post)

2/ Mike Johnson doesn’t have the votes to remain speaker of the House with less than 24 hours until the start of the 119th Congress. While Trump has endorsed Johnson for a second term and no other Republican has challenged him, several Republican lawmakers haven’t committed to voting for him yet because of the way he handled the year-end spending bill. Republican Thomas Massie is a firm no and several members of the House Freedom Caucus have said they are undecided. Failure to elect a speaker could delay certification of Trump’s victory, and Congress has never tried to certify a presidential election without a House speaker in place. To be elected speaker, Johnson needs to win a majority of members who vote. The House is divided 219-215, meaning with full attendance Johnson can only lose one Republican vote to retain the speakership if all Democrats vote against him. Trump, meanwhile, plans to host a “victory rally” the day before his inauguration at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. (Politico / CNN / Axios / New York Times / Associated Press / Bloomberg / Washington Post / CBS News)

3/ Biden will award Liz Cheney and Bennie Thompson the Presidential Citizens Medal, honoring two of the leaders of the House Jan. 6 committee that investigated the Capitol riot less than three weeks before Trump is set to take office a second time. Trump, meanwhile, has repeatedly threatened to jail Cheney and Thompson for their roles in investigating his actions on and around Jan. 6. (NPR / Axios / Washington Post / Associated Press / New York Times / Bloomberg)

4/ A federal appeals court struck down the FCC’s net neutrality rules, ending a two-decade effort to regulate broadband providers as utilities and shifting responsibility to Congress. The court ruled that the FCC lacked authority to regulate broadband internet providers as utilities, citing a Supreme Court precedent that limits agency power. (New York Times / Washington Post)

5/ Chief Justice John Roberts warned that “violence, intimidation and defiance directed at judges because of their work undermine our Republic, and are wholly unacceptable.” In his annual report, Roberts said that the number of violent threats against judges has more than tripled over the last decade and “highlight the vulnerability of judges who sign their names to the decisions they render each day and return home each night to communities.” Roberts, however, didn’t mention the Supreme Court’s ruling that Trump is entitled to “absolute immunity from criminal prosecution” for “official acts,” or its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and eliminate the constitutional right to abortion, or the numerous ethics controversies that have plagued Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, or its first-ever code of conduct that lacks an enforcement mechanism. (NBC News / Washington Post / Associated Press / New York Times / Axios)

Last year today: Day 1078: "Of course."
Six years ago today: Day 713: Enjoy the ride.
Seven years ago today: Day 348: Just a coffee boy.