Source: Semafor
by Burgess Everett & Eleanor Mueller
“The rifts between Trump and the rest of the GOP are piling up. Indiana Republicans are declining to rewrite their congressional maps at the behest of the president, sparking a wave of redistricting regret on Capitol Hill. Trump’s pitch to eliminate Affordable Care Act subsidies is also drawing skepticism within the party, as is his bid to jam a moratorium on state AI regulations into a must-pass defense bill. Republicans spurned Trump’s plans to import Argentine beef and shunned suggestions like a 50-year mortgage. Then there’s the nearly unanimous bicameral vote to compel the Trump administration to release Jeffrey Epstein files and the Senate’s rejection of Trump’s personal appeal to gut the filibuster. … the fresh GOP resistance marks a new phase for a party that muscled through much of Trump’s agenda this summer with zero Democratic votes and quickly confirmed his Cabinet.” (11/20/25)
“Rich and Lori discuss the distance at which masking to prevent illness is effective, how sick can you get someone without violating the NAP, and the troll chimes in once again to misunderstand and misinterpret everything that is said.” (11/20/25)
“Bulgaria has arrested 35 people linked to a criminal network involved in large-scale trafficking of cultural goods across Europe, BTA news agency reported on Thursday, quoting the head of the country’s anti-organised crime unit. … international raids were carried out on Thursday, led by Bulgaria and coordinated with the Europol and Eurojust agencies, during which cars, safes and other items were seized. The criminal network had been operating for over 16 years in Western Europe, the Balkans, the United States and elsewhere, Sofia Deputy City Prosecutor Angel Kanev told the media briefing.” (11/20/25)
“Sen. Rand Paul explains why he wants the Epstein files released, lays out his case against Trump’s tariffs and military strikes in Venezuela, and argues that he and Rep. Thomas Massie are the last voices in Congress still committed to libertarian ideals.” (11/20/25)
“After years of deliberation, a bipartisan consensus is coalescing on the need for Congress to help states protect their Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs against improper payments and outright fraud, which cost the federal government, states, and taxpayers an estimated $135 billion during the COVID-19 pandemic alone. … An effective reform package would focus on fixing how UI administration is funded and establish new program guardrails. Congress can ensure that state UI agencies make use of more federal revenue raised specifically for program administration while offsetting past administrative funding lost to inflation.” (11/20/25)
“The Trump administration is proposing to open federal waters off the entire coastline of California to drilling, as well as an area off the coast of Florida. Neither state’s waters have been open to new drilling for decades. President Donald Trump’s Interior Department released a five-year offshore drilling plan on Thursday that would open up vast parts of California’s coastline to drilling, which hasn’t happened in that state since the late 1960s. The Department is also proposing new oil drilling in parts of the Eastern Gulf — located approximately 100 nautical miles off Florida’s coast — a decision previously opposed by Florida’s Republican leadership.” (11/20/25)
