Today in one sentence: Four House Republicans broke with Speaker Mike Johnson and joined Democrats to force a House vote on extending enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year; the U.S. unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in November – its highest level since 2021; the Senate passed the $901 billion National Defense Authorization Act, using the must-pass bill to compel the Pentagon to turn over unedited video and written orders for U.S. strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats near Venezuela; White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles offered an unusually candid, on-the-record portrait of Trump and his second term in a yearlong series of interviews with Vanity Fair; former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith told the House Judiciary Committee that his investigations produced “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump conspired to overturn the 2020 election and “powerful evidence” he illegally retained classified documents; and the Trump administration claimed that construction of the White House ballroom must continue as a matter of national security.

1/ Four House Republicans broke with Speaker Mike Johnson and joined Democrats to force a House vote on extending enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. The lapse is projected to raise premiums for more than 20 million people who buy health insurance through the ACA marketplace. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Mike Lawler, Rob Bresnahan, and Ryan Mackenzie signed a discharge petition led by Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, pushing it to the 218 signatures required to compel a vote, likely in January after the subsidies have already expired. The Senate, however, has already rejected the plan. Johnson, meanwhile, downplayed the defections saying, “I have not lost control of the House.” Hours later, the House approved a Republican bill that doesn’t renew the ACA tax credits and has little chance of passing through the Senate. The health policy group KFF estimates premiums will rise by an average of $1,016 next year if the subsidies lapse. (Associated Press / Axios / Politico / ABC News / New York Times / Bloomberg / CNBC / NBC News / CNN / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / Politico / The Hill)

  • poll/ 82% of Americans said they’re currently satisfied with their health insurance coverage, including about one-third who said they are very satisfied. Satisfaction was higher among adults over 65 and those on Medicare or Medicaid, while 77% of people with private insurance also said they’re satisfied. (NBC News)

2/ The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in November – its highest level since 2021. Delayed Labor Department data also showed the economy lost 105,000 jobs in October, largely driven by federal employees who accepted deferred resignation buyouts, but added 64,000 jobs in November. The government has lost about 271,000 federal jobs since January. Wage growth, meanwhile, cooled, with average hourly earnings up 3.5% over the past 12 months – about a half-percent more than the inflation rate. The White House nevertheless touted the report, saying: “THE BEST IS YET TO COME!” (Washington Post / Axios / NBC News / ABC News / Associated Press / Politico / Wall Street Journal / CNN / CNBC / Bloomberg / New York Times)

3/ The Senate passed the $901 billion National Defense Authorization Act, using the must-pass bill to compel the Pentagon to turn over unedited video and written orders for U.S. strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats near Venezuela. The measure passed 77-20 and would withhold 25% of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget until the House and Senate Armed Services committees receive the footage tied to a Sept. 2 strike that killed two survivors after an initial attack. Hegseth said a day earlier that the video wouldn’t be made public, telling reporters, “Of course we’re not going to release a top-secret, full unedited video of that to the general public.” The bill also includes a 3.8% pay raise for troops and now heads to Trump. (Washington Post / Associated Press / New York Times / Politico / CNN / Wall Street Journal / NPR)

  • Trump ordered what he called a “total and complete blockade” of U.S.-sanctioned oil tankers going to and from Venezuela and designated the Maduro government a foreign terrorist organization. “Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” Trump said, after U.S. forces seized the tanker Skipper last week and officials said they were tracking other sanctioned vessels for possible seizure in international waters. Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez condemned the move as a violation of “free trade” and “free navigation” and said the government would denounce it at the United Nations. (Associated Press / New York Times / Washington Post / Politico)

👑 PORTRAIT OF A PRESIDENT.
4/ White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles offered an unusually candid, on-the-record portrait of Trump and his second term in a yearlong series of interviews with Vanity Fair. Wiles said she told Trump, “This is not supposed to be a retribution tour,” saying they reached what she called “a loose agreement that the score settling will end before the first 90 days are over.” She conceded, however, that “I don’t think he wakes up thinking about retribution. But when there’s an opportunity, he will go for it.” Wiles described Trump as having “an alcoholic’s personality,” saying he “operates [with] a view that there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing,” while noting that “he doesn’t drink.” She said “There have been a couple of times where I’ve been outvoted,” adding, “And if there’s a tie, he wins.” On tariffs, Wiles said the rollout involved “so much thinking out loud” and concluded that “It’s been more painful than I expected.” On foreign policy, Wiles said Trump’s motivation is “to stop the killing,” but she also said of Venezuela that “He wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle.” On Jeffrey Epstein, Wiles said Trump was “wrong” about Bill Clinton, saying “There is no evidence” Clinton visited Epstein’s island. She confirmed Trump’s name appears in the records, saying, “[Trump] is in the file,” but added, “He’s not in the file doing anything awful.” Wiles also called JD Vance “a conspiracy theorist,” described Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought as “a right-wing absolute zealot,” and said Attorney General Pam Bondi “completely whiffed” the early handling of the Epstein files. Rejecting the suggestion that she enables Trump, Wiles said, “I’m not an enabler. I’m also not a bitch.” Trump later defended her publicly, saying she is “fantastic” and that he has “full confidence” in her. (Vanity Fair Part 1 / Part 2)

5/ Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith told the House Judiciary Committee that his investigations produced “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump conspired to overturn the 2020 election and “powerful evidence” he illegally retained classified documents. Smith told lawmakers in closed-door testimony that “the basis for those charges rests entirely with President Trump and his actions” and that he would make the same charging decisions against any former president regardless of party, rejecting Republican accusations that his investigations were political. Both cases, however, were dropped after Trump won the 2024 election, citing Justice Department policy barring prosecution of a sitting president. Smith testified under subpoena from the Republican-led committee, while Democrats said Republicans blocked a public hearing and argued his testimony would have been politically damaging to Trump. (Reuters / Associated Press / Politico / NBC News / The Hill)

⏭️ Notably Next: Trump to address the nation tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern time; The 2026 midterms are in 321 days.

✏️ Notables.

  1. The Trump administration said it will dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research, calling the lab “one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country.” Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought said the National Science Foundation would break up NCAR and move “any vital activities such as weather research” elsewhere, but he didn’t say where, when, or how. (Politico / Washington Post / New York Times / Axios / NBC News / Bloomberg)

  2. The CDC ended its decades-long recommendation that all newborns receive a hepatitis B vaccine at birth. Acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill approved the guidance advising mothers who test negative for hepatitis B to consult a doctor about delaying the first dose until at least two months of age, while keeping the birth dose for infants born to mothers who test positive or have unknown status. After the CDC adopted a universal birth dose in 1991, acute hepatitis B cases in U.S. children fell by about 99% between 1990 and 2019. Before routine vaccination, the CDC estimated that about 18,000 U.S. children under age 10 were infected with hepatitis B each year in the late 1980s. (Washington Post / NBC News / Axios)

  3. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr told a Senate committee that his agency “is not an independent agency, formally speaking,” and that he’s removed the word “independent” from the FCC’s mission statement. (Axios / CNBC / The Hill)

  4. Trump sued the BBC for at least $10 billion, claiming it defamed him by editing his Jan. 6 speech to make it appear he urged supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol. The lawsuit seeks $5 billion for defamation and $5 billion under Florida’s deceptive and unfair trade practices law, claiming the edit omitted his call for peaceful protest and caused reputational harm. (Reuters / Associated Press / The Guardian / NBC News / New York Times)

  5. The Trump administration claimed that construction of the White House ballroom must continue as a matter of national security. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon rejected a request by historic preservationists for an immediate stop, but ordered the administration to submit its still-unfinished plans to federal review panels by the end of December. (Washington Post / NBC News / Politico / New York Times / Associated Press)

Four years ago today: Day 332: "Deliberate efforts."
Five years ago today: Day 1428: "A grave risk."
Seven years ago today: Day 697: A form of compromise.