US politics

US politics

The GTOs (FinCEN's geographic targeting orders) came in 2017. They started off kind of slow five boroughs in New York and a few counties in Florida. Fast forward to the current GTO, it affects transactions in 11 states, plus Washington, D.C., and about 58 or 59 counties or boroughs. The FinCEN reporting that is now going to be required is all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, about 3,600 recording jurisdictions. That gives you the magnitude of how much this will impact the industry.

And we just clean out that whole thing I don't know, something has to happen, but it's literally a demolition site right now. Almost everything's demolished, and people are dying there, so I'd rather get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing in a different location where I think they could maybe live in peace for a change.

We're extending the deadline to submit Federal 100 nominations into 2026. Our final, no-extensions deadline is Jan. 14, 2026. This gives you an extra two weeks to finalize your nominations to make sure the superstars in the federal IT community get the recognition they deserve. Anyone in the federal IT community is eligible: career civil servants, political appointees, contractors, academics, members of Congress and congressional staff.

PG&E, the utility company that last week reintroduced one third of San Franciscans to the Dickensian joys of wearing coats indoors and tabulating the losses of spoiled food by candlelight, is not popular. Last night, in a move that would be on the nose if you could locate your face in the dark, a planned power outage was rudely preceded by an unplanned power outage.

The governor has worked for years to crack down on fraud and ask the state legislature for more authority to take aggressive action. He has strengthened oversight including launching investigations into these specific facilities, one of which was already closed. They added that Walz has hired an outside firm to audit payments to high-risk programs, shut down the Housing Stabilization Services program entirely, announced a new statewide program integrity director, and supported criminal prosecutions.

Only days remain until Zohran Mamdani ascends the throne of New York City, and nearly all his great opponents have given up. Andrew Cuomo, vanquished. Financier Bill Ackman, reduced to congratulations for the mayor-elect and even offers of support. Donald Trump, singing his praises after inviting him over to hang. Maybe the great socialist boogeyman isn't so scary after all.

In 2025, people who built their careers by being some form of Very Online are now some of the most powerful people in the world. Topping the list-as we predicted he would last year-is Donald Trump. The 79-year-old president of the United States quite literally rules by decrees posted to his social network, Truth Social. The US government, meanwhile, is run by a ramshackle crew of former conspiracy theory podcasters, TV hosts, vaccine skeptics, and entertainment moguls.

Zoom in: The assassination of Charlie Kirk, the Turning Point USA co-founder, garnered the most search interest in Axios' analysis of the biggest stories of the year. His murder - which followed a string of political violence both this year and in 2024 - sparked calls for softened political rhetoric for some and prompted finger-pointing from the president and others. It also opened a new chapter - and exposed new fractures - in the MAGA media landscape.

Two years ago, a $575 million battery factory planned in St. Louis, Missouri, was set to be the first large-scale lithium iron phosphate (LFP) facility in the U.S. This November, after the Trump administration withdrew a grant for the project, it was cancelled -becoming one of more than 50 major clean energy projects to be scrapped or scaled back in 2025.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

The administration has used federal agencies to try to slow or stop the development of wind and solar projects. And this summer, the GOP-controlled Congress voted to get rid of tax credits for renewable energy, threatening to drive up the cost of projects. As a result of those moves, the United States is forecast to add a lot less power from renewables in the coming years than analysts previously expected, according to the International Energy Agency.

"Yeah, that's changed," the Massachusetts Democrat said with a laugh this month, explaining that she now finds ChatGPT to be "really valuable" for basic research questions, even if she still catches the occasional hallucination. Warren said that she began using ChatGPT more after seeing her daughter use it. She says she doesn't "rely" on the technology, but uses it to "start to approach a problem."

And the senator called it the most consequential technology in the history of humanity that will transform the US and the world in ways that had not been fully discussed. If there are no jobs and humans won't be needed for most things, how do people get an income to feed their families, to get healthcare or to pay the rent? Sanders said. There's not been one serious word of discussion in the Congress about that reality.

Would you commit to just letting his mother know - as a mother-to-mother - if Andry is alive?

A Trump administration official credited the president with making small business owners excited to pay their taxes thanks to tax cuts and less regulation. Kelly Loeffler, administrator of the Small Business Administration, told Fox News's Sunday Morning Futures that small business optimism is above its 52-year average. Loeffler said a lot of the optimism is due to the Working Families Tax Cut in Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill.

The, kind of, divide in MAGA, Karl said. Which is a relatively new phenomenon I mean, there was always a little bit there, but if I were to say what the most surprising story [of the year] was, I would say Marjorie Taylor Greene becomes not just a Trump critic, but a Jennings cut him off. MTG becomes a lib! Jennings said.

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. The stories that resonated most with our readers this year include reporting that led the political conversation, analysis that unraveled deep mysteries, and meditations on our evolving culture. Spend time with some of our most popular stories of the year.

To paraphrase President John F. Kennedy: Ask not what the federal government can do for you... because the federal government under Donald Trump and his spineless sycophants don't care about you and don't care about governing. Those in power within the current three branches of government should be disqualified from holding public office. Their misguided initiatives, legislation, and rulings show us all very clearly that We the People must govern in coalition to save what remains of our republic and its institutions.

the strikes are a continuation of our conflict with [the Islamic State]. It's been, you know, around the world, Iraq, Syria. You're seeing it now in Nigeria.