Senate Rejects Extension of Obamacare Subsidies

 The Senate on Thursday rejected legislation to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, essentially guaranteeing that millions of Americans will see a steep rise in costs in 2026.

Senators rejected a Democratic bill to extend the subsidies for 3 years and a Republican alternative that would have created new health savings accounts -- an unceremonious end to a months-long effort by Democrats to prevent the COVID-era subsidies from expiring on Jan. 1.

Ahead of the votes, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York warned Republicans that if they did not vote to extend the tax credits, "there won't be another chance to act," before premiums rise for many people who buy insurance off the ACA marketplaces.

"Let's avert a disaster," Schumer said. "The American people are watching."

Republicans have argued that ACA plans are too expensive and need to be overhauled. The health savings accounts in the GOP bill would give money directly to consumers instead of to insurance companies, an idea that has been echoed by President Donald Trump.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said ahead of the vote that a simple extension of the subsidies is "an attempt to disguise the real impact of Obamacare's spiraling healthcare costs."

But Democrats immediately rejected the GOP plan, saying that the accounts wouldn't be enough to cover costs for most consumers.

The dueling Senate votes are the latest political messaging exercise in a Congress that has operated almost entirely on partisan terms, as Republicans pushed through a massive tax and spending cuts bill this summer using budget maneuvers that eliminated the need for Democratic votes. In September, Republicans tweaked Senate rules to push past a Democratic blockade of all of Trump's nominees.

The Senate voted 51-48 not to move forward on the Democratic bill, with four Republicans -- Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, and Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska -- voting with Democrats. The legislation needed 60 votes to proceed, as did the Republican bill, which was also blocked on a 51-48 vote.

No Interest in Compromise

Some Republicans have pushed their colleagues to extend the credits, including Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who said they should vote for a short-term extension so they can find agreement on the issue next year. "It's too complicated and too difficult to get done in the limited time that we have left," Tillis said Wednesday.

But there appeared to be little interest in compromise. Despite the potential for bipartisan agreement, Republicans and Democrats have never engaged in meaningful or high-level negotiations on a solution, even after a small group of centrist Democrats struck a deal with Republicans last month to end the 43-day government shutdown in exchange for a vote on extending the ACA subsidies. Most Democratic lawmakers opposed the move as many Republicans made clear that they wanted the tax credits to expire.

Still, the deal raised hopes for bipartisan compromise on healthcare. But that quickly faded with a lack of any real bipartisan talks.

An Intractable Issue

The votes were also the latest failed salvo in the debate over the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's signature law that Democrats passed along party lines in 2010 to expand access to insurance coverage.

Republicans have tried unsuccessfully since then to repeal or overhaul the law, arguing that healthcare is still too expensive. But they have struggled to find an alternative. In the meantime, Democrats have made the policy a central political issue in several elections, betting that the millions of people who buy healthcare on the government marketplaces want to keep their coverage.

"When people's monthly payments spike next year, they'll know it was Republicans that made it happen," Schumer said in November, while making clear that Democrats would not seek compromise.

Even if they view it as a political win, the failed votes are a loss for Democrats who demanded an extension of the benefits as they forced a government shutdown for 6 weeks in October and November -- and for the millions of people facing premium increases on Jan. 1.

Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said the group tried to negotiate with Republicans after the shutdown ended. But, he said, the talks became unproductive when Republicans demanded language adding new limits for abortion coverage that were a "red line" for Democrats. He said Republicans were going to "own these increases."

A Plethora of Plans, but Little Agreement

Republicans have used the looming expiration of the subsidies to renew their longstanding criticisms of the ACA, also called Obamacare, and to try, once more, to agree on what should be done.

Thune announced earlier this week that the GOP conference had decided to vote on the bill led by Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD, the chairman of the Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pensions Committee, and Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, even as several Republican senators proposed alternate ideas.

In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has promised a vote next week. Republicans weighed different options in a conference meeting on Wednesday, with no apparent consensus.

Republican moderates in the House who could have competitive reelection bids next year are pushing Johnson to find a way to extend the subsidies. But more conservative members want to see the law overhauled.

Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) has pushed for a temporary extension, which he said could be an opening to take further steps on healthcare.

If they fail to act and healthcare costs go up, the approval rating for Congress "will get even lower," Kiley said.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/washington-watch/118975

Expand Labeling for Testosterone Replacement Therapy, FDA Panel Says

 Members of an FDA expert panel urged the agency to expand labeling for testosterone replacement therapy and remove its classification as a controlled substance.

Like previous FDA expert panels, the group was convened by Commissioner Marty Makary, MD, MPH, and included a dozen like-minded experts and stakeholders representing perspectives from medicine, industry, and government. All panelists were supportive of testosterone replacement therapy -- a treatment for men whose bodies don't produce enough on their own -- and said that outdated concerns about prostate cancer and other health risks had left the therapy underutilized.

"There are 10 million men taking testosterone," said Makary during his opening remarks. "We don't talk about this stuff enough."

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., for instance, has previously stated he takes testosterone replacement therapy as part of his "anti-aging protocol."

Makary drew comparisons between testosterone replacement therapy and menopausal hormone therapy, which was the topic of an earlier expert panel, stating that both topics faced medical dogma. The previous menopause panel was also like-minded and urged FDA to remove the boxed warning on menopausal hormone therapy, which the agency ultimately did. Many ob/gyns were pleased with this, but concerned about how it was done and how potential benefits were overstated by federal health regulators.

During Wednesday's panel, Makary referenced a 2007 study that found that 5.6% of men between age 30 and 79 had low testosterone and associated symptoms and said that men with low testosterone report increased depression and decreased vitality, strength, and libido. However, testosterone is a schedule III drug, alongside ketamine and anabolic steroids, because of past doping scandals, Makary said. He added that it's "time to revisit the scheduling of testosterone, given the potential clinical benefits and the barrier that that scheduling may present."

Makary said FDA didn't "have preconceived ideas" about testosterone replacement therapy for men and told panelists that FDA was "not promoting any medical recommendation or any product, but we are here to listen."

The discussion was led by Brian Christine, MD, assistant secretary for health; Richard Iorio, MD, principal medical advisor for FDA; and Mohit Khera, MD, MBA, MPH, professor of urology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Khera was first to present and explained that testosterone had been mainly thought of as a performance-enhancing and lifestyle drug.

He noted that in 2015, FDA both added a cardiovascular warning on testosterone and gave guidance for the TRAVERSE trial, of which Khera is a co-author. He said TRAVERSE was "the largest randomized placebo-controlled trial ever published on testosterone."

The pivotal trial was published in 2023 and found that men with hypogonadism treated with testosterone replacement therapy did not have an increase in adverse prostate events, including prostate cancers, putting to bed concerns about prostate risks. Khera said the study also found that testosterone did not increase heart attack risk or worsen lower urinary tract symptoms but did have benefits like improved libido and depression.

FDA removed the cardiovascular warning on testosterone products earlier this year as a result of the trial, though testosterone products are still only FDA-approved for men "who lack or have low testosterone levels in conjunction with an associated medical condition," according to the agency.

Khera said that guidelines from professional societies like the Endocrine Society and American Urological Association are more expansive, recommending testosterone therapy for men with symptoms of low testosterone and low serum testosterone levels.

"You can see that there's a discrepancy here between the FDA and professional guidelines, and this only leads to confusion for patients and providers, and is a further barrier to treatment," Khera said.

Other panelists, like John Mulhall, MD, MSc, director of sexual and reproductive medicine, urology service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, also brought up these medical society guidelines and said the current FDA labeling for testosterone was too limiting.

"Given the label restriction, we can make the argument that thousands of patients in need of testosterone therapy have been and are being deprived of it," Mulhall said. "In fact, in my practice, almost one half of all men who are diagnosed with testosterone deficiency who start on testosterone therapy do not technically meet the label requirements."

Another panelist, Helen Bernie, DO, MPH, associate professor of urology and director of the male sexual and reproductive medicine program at Indiana University in Indianapolis, sang the praises of testing serum testosterone.

"Serum testosterone is one of the most powerful yet underutilized biomarkers of men's health, and yet in the U.S., we do not screen for it -- not routinely, not proactively, and not preventatively," Bernie said. "Testosterone is still regulated as if it were a dangerous performance-enhancing drug from the athletic doping scandals of the 1980s, and because of this outdated classification, many physicians fear prescribing it or even screening for it."

As a whole, the panel resoundingly urged FDA to expand labeling and reconsider the scheduled drug classification of testosterone to make it easier for more men to access the therapy.

The single-mindedness of the panel was one of many concerns Gary Schwitzer highlighted on his Health News Review Substack.

"Maybe it is time to revise the labeling of testosterone products. But such self-congratulatory, conflicted, one-sided, hyperbolic performances are not an impressive pathway," he wrote.

PharmedOut, a project at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., also called out the panel as "highly biased" and said that "many presenters were clinicians expressing non-evidence-based opinions."

"These sham 'expert' panels, made up of people selected because they uphold Commissioner Makary's personally held opinions on hormones, are a shame," PharmedOut wrote. "The FDA can no longer be trusted to make decisions based on best evidence."

https://www.medpagetoday.com/urology/urology/118961

'Prepare For Coming World War, NATO Chief Says'

 NATO chief Mark Rutte on Thursday gave a major address in Berlin wherein he pleaded with members of the alliance to drastically step up joint defense efforts, in order to face down a coming conflict with Russia that could be "on the scale of war our grandparents and great-grandparents endured."

It in the "keynote speech" he chastized those alliance partners who don't feel the urgency of the 'Russian threat' to Europe.  "We are Russia's next target. I fear that too many are quietly complacent," he said. "Too many don't feel the urgency. And too many believe that time is on our side. It is not. The time for action is now."

"Conflict is at our door. Russia has brought war back to Europe. And we must be prepared," he added while warning of the next world war.

He further asserted that Russia could be ready to use military force against NATO within five years, at a moment the Ukraine war shows no signs of stopping. Rutte argued that more than just higher spending thresholds should be implemented, and he urged that alliance members must shift to a "wartime mindset".

"This is not the time for self-congratulation," Rutte continued. "I fear that too many are quietly complacent. Too many don't feel the urgency. And too many believe that time is on our side. It is not. The time for action is now."

"Putin is paying for his pride with the blood of his own people," Rutte elsewhere stated. "And if he is prepared to sacrifice ordinary Russians in this way, what is he prepared to do to us?"

Of course, none of this acknowledged what from Moscow's point of view are the root causes of the war, especially the issue of constant NATO expansion.

Rutte is also hyping a coming 'world war' even while European leaders by and large have rejected the Trump-proposed peace plan, given they find the prospect of territorial concessions in Donbas and Crimea to be intolerable. It seems the hawks are still in control of Europe.

Another interesting moment was the NATO chief placing a lot of blame on China. He alleged that Moscow would not be able to execute the war without help from Beijing.

"China is Russia's lifeline," he alleged. "Without China's support, Russia could not continue to wage this war. About 80 percent of critical electronic components in Russian drones and other systems are made in China. So, when civilians die in Kyiv or Kharkiv, Chinese technology is often inside the weapons that kill them."

But ironically the same could be said of many Western military systems, even ones deployed by the Pentagon. Chinese tech is basically everywhere and this is no secret.

* * *

One commentator had this astute observation on the sad state of affairs in Europe:

Frenzied, desperate Boomers passing laws to ban young people from free speech, home ownership, or stable employment, while also berating them uhh this is just like WWII, so we are reintroducing military conscription too.

Dropping out, lying flat, giving up—are rational choices.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/prepare-coming-world-war-nato-chief-says

 

2.5 Million Illegal Immigrants Deported Under Trump Admin: DHS

 by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

More than 2.5 million illegal immigrants have left the United States under the Trump administration, a “record-breaking achievement” in a year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a Dec. 10 statement.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection security agents guide illegal immigrants onboard a C-17 Globemaster III assigned to the 60th Air Mobility Wing for a removal flight at Fort Bliss, Texas, on Jan. 23, 2025. Dept. of Defense photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Nicholas J. De La Pena

The 2.5 million figure includes more than 605,000 individuals deported as part of DHS enforcement operations and around 1.9 million illegal immigrants who have voluntarily self-deported since January.

“Since January 20, DHS has arrested more than 595,000 illegal aliens,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said. “Illegal aliens are hearing our message to leave now. They know if they don’t, we will find them, we will arrest them, and they will never return,” the department said.

DHS encouraged illegal immigrants to use the CBP Home app, which allows them to notify the federal government of their intent to depart the United States willingly. Those who self-deport via the app get $1,000 and a free flight home.

According to DHS, it has prioritized the removal of the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal immigrants as part of the administration’s push to ensure law and order in the country.

The rapid decline in the illegal immigrant population is showing effects nationwide, such as a “resurgence in local job markets,” DHS said. In October, 12,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy, which followed 431,000 additions in September.

President Donald Trump recently commended DHS Secretary Kristi Noem for a closed, secure border.

“We have a border that is the best border in the history of our country,” he said.

In a Dec. 10 post on X, Noem said that DHS’s accomplishments this year under Trump have been “historic.”

“None of it would be possible without the Homeland Security Advisory Council,” she said. “The men and women of this council provide their experience and insights to help deliver seven consecutive months of zero illegal entries, a revitalized Coast Guard, and more than 2.4 million deportations.”

The council provides the DHS secretary with advice and recommendations on homeland security issues and comprises leaders from state and local governments, academia, the private sector, and first responder communities.

However, the Trump administration’s enforcement against illegal immigrants has faced pushback from lawmakers.

Earlier this month, a group of lawmakers introduced the Dream Act of 2025, seeking to allow noncitizens who do not have lawful status and were brought to the United States as children to potentially qualify for lawful permanent residence and citizenship provided they meet certain work, military, or education requirements, according to a Dec. 4 statement from the office of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).

These individuals, referred to as Dreamers, must pass security and law enforcement background checks while proving proficiency in the English language and possessing knowledge of American history.

They must not have committed a felony or other serious crimes and should not pose a threat to the United States, the statement said.

“For decades, gridlock and partisan politics have forced Dreamers to live in limbo. And under the Trump Administration, they now have to fear being swept up in Trump’s cruel mass deportation campaign at any moment,” Padilla said.

Nearly 2 million “Dreamers” are estimated to live in the United States.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s policies are continuing to be a robust barrier against the uncontrolled influx of illegal immigrants.

In October and November, there were 60,940 total encounters with illegal immigrants by border patrol agents nationwide, which is the “lowest start to a fiscal year ever,” Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a Dec. 4 statement.

Since Trump took office, nationwide apprehensions have averaged less than 10,000 per month, which is a “level of deterrence unmatched in modern border history,” CBP said.

“For the seventh consecutive month, U.S. Border Patrol released zero illegal aliens into the United States. Every individual apprehended was processed according to law—a milestone unmatched in modern border history,” it said.

On Dec. 8, DHS announced the launch of a new “Worst of the Worst” webpage on its website that details information on criminal illegal immigrants arrested by the department under the Trump administration.

Americans can search through data of criminal illegal immigrants who have been arrested from all 50 states with criminal histories including homicide, rape, assault, child molestation, drug trafficking, armed robbery, and battery.

According to DHS, 70 percent of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests are of criminal illegal immigrants who have been charged or convicted of a crime in the United States.

“As the media whitewashes the facts, day in and day out, our brave men and women of ICE risk their lives for the American people. Americans don’t have to rely on the press for this information—with this transparent tool, they can see for themselves what public safety threats were lurking in their neighborhoods and communities,” McLaughlin said.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/25-million-illegal-immigrants-deported-under-trump-admin-dhs

Pritzker Signs Law Limiting Federal Immigration Enforcement In Illinois

 by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill into law on Dec. 9 that will limit federal immigration enforcement in the state, including in its courthouses and hospitals.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker speaks during a press conference with Texas Democrats at the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades union hall in Aurora, Ill., on Aug. 5, 2025. Scott Olson/Getty Images

“With my signature today, we are protecting people and institutions that belong here in Illinois,” Pritzker said in a statement. “Dropping your kid off at day care, going to the doctor, or attending your classes should not be a life-altering task.”

HB 1312, which went into effect immediately, allows people to take legal action against law enforcement officers they believe violated their constitutional rights during civil immigration operations in the state.

The legislation also bars civil arrests in and around courthouses for anyone attending certain state court proceedings and provides a pathway for affected individuals to seek damages for false imprisonment.

Hospitals are required under the new law to restrict the release of protected health information and implement policies governing interactions with law enforcement agents, according to the governor’s office.

The bill also prohibits schools and child care centers from disclosing the actual or perceived immigration status of students, employees, or anyone associated with them to third parties unless required by law.

The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) welcomed the governor’s move to sign the bill, calling it a “necessary legislative step” to protect people’s constitutional rights.

“The fear of being abducted by federal immigration agents when attending a hearing in state court is disrupting people’s ability to engage with the justice system for critical matters, such as seeking a protection order in a domestic violence situation or addressing a traffic ticket,” Cecilia Mendoza, NIJC associate director of government relations, said in a statement.

Homeland Security Department (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Pritzker violated the U.S. Constitution and his oath of office when he signed the bill into law.

The bill comes as the Trump administration has expanded immigration enforcement in Illinois, sparking protests near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Chicago, which prompted President Donald Trump to deploy hundreds of National Guard troops to protect ICE personnel and facilities. A federal judge later issued an injunction to temporarily block the deployment.

According to a DHS statement on Dec. 8, Illinois released about 1,768 criminal illegal immigrants back into the community this year despite federal detainer requests. Those who were released were convicted of various crimes, including homicide, burglary, serious drug offenses, weapons offenses, and sexual predatory offenses.

This follows ICE Director Todd Lyons’s September letter to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul asking him to honor ICE arrest detainers for criminal illegal immigrants in state custody.

The detainers require the state to notify ICE when a criminal illegal immigrant is due for release to ensure that the person can be safely transferred into federal custody.

In its Dec. 8 statement, the DHS said Raoul’s office did not respond.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/pritzker-signs-law-limiting-federal-immigration-enforcement-illinois

"Fraud On Epic Scale": Do Kwon Gets 15 Year Prison Sentence For $40BN Terraform Fraud

 Many will point to the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in May 2022 as the trigger for the last crypto crash/winter which eventually culminated with the collapse of FTX. And moments ago, a judge added a prison sentence for the mastermind behind it all. 

Terraform Labs co-founder and onetime fugitive Do Kwon, who in August pled guilty over one of the largest frauds in crypto history, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the fraud that led to the company’s $40 billion collapse in 2022 and triggered a series of cascading crises in the cryptocurrency world, Bloomberg reported.

Kwon, 34, was sentenced at a hearing Thursday in New York by US District Judge Paul Engelmayer, capping US efforts to prosecute the crypto entrepreneur after a legal fight to extradite him from Montenegro, where he was imprisoned for using a fake passport.

He still faces fraud charges in his native South Korea.

“This was a fraud on an epic generational scale,” Engelmayer told Kwon. “In the history of federal prosecutions very few cases have caused more monetary harm than you did.”

Prosecutors had sought a 12-year sentence, saying Kwon’s lies to customers contributed to the “crypto winter” of 2022 and the failure of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX (who is also in prison for a similar massive fraud).

Kwon’s lawyers asked for no more than five years, arguing his crimes were motivated not by greed but a desire to prop up Terraform’s TerraUSD stablecoin. The judge called that request “wildly unreasonable.”

Kwon's prison term comes at a time when the Trump admin has weakened enforcement in crypto markets. On Oct. 23, Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who was convicted of failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program at the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/fraud-epic-scale-do-kown-gets-15-year-prison-sentence-40bn-terraform-fraud

4 arrested in Newark mass shooting that killed 3, including 10-year-old

 Four people have been arrested in the mass shooting in Newark that left three people dead, including a 10-year-old boy, authorities said Thursday.

Almuta Thomas, 31; Quayon Williams-King, 26; Furquan Boykin Jr., 19, and an unnamed 16-year-old male have all been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the Nov. 15 shooting, according to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Kiyah Mae Scott, 21; Masi Rogers, 19, and Jordan Garcia, 10, were killed in the shooting, which happened around 7 p.m. at the corner of Leslie St. and Chancellor Ave.

The suspects were also charged with two counts of aggravated assault for wounding Sheppard Miller, 60, and Garcia’s 11-year-old brother, Jayceon. The two wounded victims have since been released from the hospital.

Cops tracked down the four suspects by connecting them to a stolen vehicle, which the crew used for the shooting and then set it on fire, Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stevens II said at a press conference Thursday morning. Surveillance video captured them leaving the scene of the fire in a different car.

Two days after the shooting, police stopped the second car in Newark after a short chase and arrested Williams-King, according to investigators. Another man in the car was also arrested but was not involved in the shooting, authorities said.

Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images

Newark Police work the scene of a reported mass shooting with multiple victims and multiple fatalities in the area of Chancellor Avenue and Leslie Street in Newark, New Jersey, United States on November 15, 2025. (Photo by Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Boykin and the 16-year-old boy were the gunmen but all four suspects planned the attack, which targeted one of the victims, Stevens said. A motive for the shooting is still under investigation and may have been connected to a robbery earlier in the day, but authorities couldn’t say for sure.

Thomas and Williams-King drove Boykin and the teenage suspect to and from the murder scene, cops said. All four were charged with murder conspiracy, while Thomas and Williams-King were charged with arson and motor vehicle theft for stealing the car and torching it.

https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/12/11/newark-mass-shooting-suspects-arrested/