“The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has rolled out the first official rule proposal stemming from the new law governing stablecoin issuers, with its board voting Tuesday to open a 60-day public comment period on its system for handling applications from its regulated banks looking to issue stablecoins from subsidiaries. The agency — led by Acting Chairman Travis Hill, who is also President Donald Trump’s nominee for the permanent seat — will gather comments and review them before it can release a final rule. The Tuesday proposal, approved by all three members of the shorthanded board, would establish the procedures for accepting applications, reviewing them under a 120-day approval window and offering an appeal process for those rejected.” (12/16/25)
“House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday he won’t call for an amendment vote to renew enhanced subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, ensuring higher health insurance premiums through the healthcare marketplace next year. Speaking during a news conference after a House Republican Conference meeting, Johnson blamed the decision on about a dozen Republican members of the House in swing districts ‘fighting hard to make sure that they reduce costs for all of their constituents.'” (12/16/25)
THANK YOU to long-time supporters DH and RRS, whose $105 in contributions yesterday bring our year-end fundraiser total to $1,973.84!
We adore “the usual suspects” who’ve been supporting our work for years, and who always seem to come through at crunch time … but what about the rest of you?
We’re $776.66 short of the finish line. Once we reach $2,750.50, we’ve got a “matching funds” pledge from supporter GL for the rest … but we have to reach the halfway point to collect.
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“French lawmakers formally approved the country’s 2026 social security budget on Tuesday, handing Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu an important political victory and offering some optimism to skittish markets worried France isn’t serious about getting its public finances in check. The bill, which covers state health care and pensions spending, was expected to pass after having already been approved by the National Assembly, France’s more powerful lower legislative chamber, last week, but its rejection by the Senate over the weekend forced another vote.” (12/16/25)
“A Pakistani anti-terrorism court sentenced a senior leader of a banned Islamist party to 35 years in prison for inciting violence, more than a year after the cleric publicly called for the killing of the country’s then-chief justice, court officials and a defense lawyer said Tuesday. Zaheerul Hassan Shah, a leader of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, was arrested last year after a video circulated on social media showing him offering 10 million rupees ($36,000) to anyone who beheaded then-Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa. Isa had faced criticism from hardline religious groups last year after he granted bail to a man from the minority Ahmadi community in a blasphemy case.” (12/16/25)
“The White House rushed to defend chief of staff Susie Wiles on Tuesday after her blunt private views on President Trump’s first year were revealed in a series of stunning on-the-record interviews. Wiles is the most powerful aide in the White House — credited with running a more disciplined, loyal and effective operation than Trump’s first term, which was routinely undercut by leaks and internal feuds. That makes her candid commentary to Vanity Fair — in which she questioned the judgment, execution or consequences of many of Trump’s most aggressive policies — all the more striking.” (12/16/25)
“PayPal is the latest company looking to become a bank in the US. On Monday, the company announced it had submitted applications for PayPal Bank to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions (UDFI). PayPal is already a bank in Europe, based in Luxembourg. … Applications to become a bank have popped up left and right this year, with approval odds increasing under the Trump administration. On Friday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that five cryptocurrency companies, including BitGo, Circle and Ripple, received conditional approval to become federally charted trust banks.” (12/16/25)
“A wildlife photographer stumbled upon one of the oldest and largest known collections of dinosaur footprints, dating back about 210 million years to the Triassic Period, high in an Italian national park near the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympic venue of Bormio, officials announced Tuesday. The discovery in the Stelvio National Park was striking for the sheer number of footprints, estimated at as many as 20,000 over some five kilometers (three miles), and the location near the Swiss border, once a prehistoric coastal area, that has never previously yielded dinosaur tracks, experts said. … The dinosaur prints are believed to have been made by long-necked bipedal herbivores that were up to 10 meters (33 feet) long, weighing up to four tons, similar to a Plateosaurus, Dal Sasso said. Some of the tracks were 40 centimeters wide, with visible claws.” (12/16/25)
“US job growth remained sluggish in November and the unemployment rate rose to a four-year-high, pointing to a continued cooling in the labour market after a weak October. Nonfarm payrolls increased 64,000 in November after declining 105,000 in October, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The unemployment rate was 4.6 per cent last month, up from 4.4 per cent in September. The BLS had to forgo publishing an October jobless rate because it was unable to retroactively collect that data following the government shutdown. … The advance in November payrolls was driven by health care and social assistance as well as construction. Private payrolls increased by 69,000 in November after adding 52,000 jobs the prior month. Employment fell in transportation and warehousing as well as leisure and hospitality.” (12/16/25)
“Former President Joe Biden requested executive privilege amid the Congressional investigations into his administration’s use of the autopen, with the Trump administration rejecting the request Tuesday, Fox News Digital learned. ‘I am concerned that disclosure of these materials would damage important institutional interests of the Presidency, including by impairing the ability of future Presidents to receive robust, candid advice from their close advisers. For these reasons, I hereby assert executive privilege over the documents listed,’ Biden wrote in a letter to Archival Operations Division of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Oct. 1, 2025, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Fox News Digital. … White House Counsel David Warrington responded Tuesday to the request in a letter to NARA, denying the calls for executive immunity. Such immunity protects government officials, notably the president, from lawsuits or prosecution over actions conducted while performing official duties.” (12/16/25)
