Happy Friday, folks! The deadline for lawmakers to pass a spending bill and avert a government shutdown arrives at midnight tonight. Honestly, I could not think of a better early Christmas present…

• 🇺🇸 On this day in 1957, Elvis Presley was drafted

• 🆘 8 million illegals live in U.S. 'sanctuary cities'

• 🩻 24% of U.S. adults suffered chronic pain last year

• ❎ Neil Cavuto is leaving Fox News after 28 years

^{Sources: History, CIS, Washington Post, Daily Caller}

Fani gets spanked out of court

Fulton County DA Fani Willis has been disqualified from prosecuting President-elect Donald Trump after a judge found she had tainted the case with her corruption.

The details: In a 2-1 decision, the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled that Fani's personal affair with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor she appointed, created a “significant appearance of impropriety.”

• The court determined that the only way to restore public confidence in the case was to disqualify Fani.

• The ruling comes after Fani was accused of receiving kickbacks from Wade's appointments, including gifts and vacations.

Back up: Trump was indicted in Georgia in August 2023 for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election results. Trump argues [and we agree] that he was simply exercising his right to challenge the results.

What happens next? Technically, another Georgia prosecutor could pick up the case. However, that seems unlikely as Trump is set to take office as President, and the Supreme Court recently ruled that presidents have immunity from prosecution.

Big picture: This is another major win for Trump and another loss for the bad actors who organized the lawfare against him for the past three years.

[Source: Daily Caller]

Johnson comes up short on Trump-backed debt deal

Speaker Mike Johnson failed to pass a Trump-backed stopgap spending bill, which aimed to extend government funding until March and raise the debt ceiling for two years.

The Trump bill was just 116 pages — a fraction of the original 1,547-page bill. It included a clean extension of current spending until March 14, $110 billion for disaster relief, and farm aid. It

What it removed from the original bill: This version excluded pay raises for Congress, funding the ‘Global Engagement Center’ [which censored conservative media], and all the other items on the Democrat wish list.

The vote: The Republican-controlled House voted 174 to 235 to kill the bill, which included 38 Republicans — including many Trump allies. Two Democrats supported the bill.

Why did 38 Republicans oppose it? They took issue with the provision to extend the debt ceiling for two years. Rep. Chip Roy, one of the most outspoken Republicans against the new bill, wrote on X that he would not raise the threshold “without significant & real spending cuts attached to it.”

• President-elect Trump responded to Roy’s opposition, writing on Truth Social: “The very unpopular “Congressman” from Texas, Chip Roy, is getting in the way, as usual, of having yet another Great Republican Victory - All for the sake of some cheap publicity for himself.”

The debt ceiling is like a credit card limit for the government. It decides how much money the government can borrow to pay for its spending.

Why does Trump want the debt ceiling raised? The next time it needs to be raised [and it will, inevitably, until serious cuts are enacted], Trump does not want the vote hanging over his head to be used by Democrats as a negotiating tool.

What comes next? GOP leader Rep. Steve Scalise stressed that the door is not yet closed on the bill, saying: “We're going to have some more talks. I won't say anything's dead because we're going to continue having talks.“

The deadline to fund the government is Friday at midnight.

Real talk from G: I am all for fiscal conservatism and addressing out-of-control spending. But Republican lawmakers are missing the forest for the trees. Donald Trump was elected with a powerful mandate. However, when his own party denies him a win before he’s even taken office, it’s a momentum-killer that opens an opportunity for attack from the left and allows them to question his mandate. Chip Roy and the rest of them do not need to worry about a 2-year suspension of the debt limit because we will control the legislative branch for the next two years. This is a dumb argument to pick, and it feels like political grandstanding. This is why we can’t have nice things.

Here’s the full list of Republicans who opposed the bill.

[Source: Breitbart]

✅ Federal prosecutors in Manhattan brought four charges against Luigi Mangione, including a count of murder that could bring the death penalty. Read more.

📦️ Thousands of Amazon workers went on strike as shoppers rush to complete last-minute holiday shopping the week before Christmas. Read more.

🇲🇽 Far-left Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum bends, will accept Mexican nationals deported from the U.S. under incoming President Donald Trump. Read more.

🚁 The FAA threatened to use “deadly force” in a memo temporarily banning drone operations in many parts of New Jersey. Read more.

🪙 The murky group behind “Hawk Tuah” girl Haliey Welch’s meme coin — which crashed hours after its launch — was sued by investors for failing to register the cryptocurrency. Read more. If you put your money into a “Hawk Tuah” coin, you get what you paid for…

👨‍🦲 Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sánchez joined President-elect Donald Trump for dinner at his Mar-a-Lago estate Wednesday night. Read more.

🎤 Music industry celebs Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Marshmello, and others are being accused of misusing funds distributed during the COVID pandemic meant to help struggling artists survive ongoing shutdowns. Read more.

🤡 George Stephanopoulos was repeatedly told by his executive producer not to “use the word ‘rape'” before going on the air to discuss Donald Trump but the ABC News anchor ignored the warning — a decision that cost the network $16 million. Read more.

💰️ Jeff Bezos' ex-wife, MacKenzie Schott, revealed she's donating another $2 billion through her "mission-aligned ventures," bringing her total to $19.2 billion since 2019. Read more.

😷 Multiple blue states are reinstating mask mandates ahead of a surge of four viruses — flu, COVID, RSV, and Norovirus. Read more.

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🎥 Border Czar Tom Homan tells CNN when the mass deportations will begin. Watch.

🎥 I've never seen Tim Pool cook this hard. He demolishes a smug leftist over J6. Watch.

🎥 JD Vance has a firey response to a journalist asking about the debt deal. Watch.

🎥 The guy who shot a CEO in the back and peed his pants when caught, Luigi Mangione, gets perp-walked in NYC. Watch.

🎥 The internet blew up over Trump rocking slicked-back hair. Watch.

🎥 The trailer for the new Superman reboot feels like a hit. Watch.

🎥 The hags on The View float a wild conspiracy theory. Watch.

🎥 Man kills three people and then tries to kill controversial streamer Nick Fuentes. Watch.

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