'close To A Thousand' Feared Dead On French Island Of Mayotte After Cyclone - Bbc.com

“The one thing I’ve always believed about public service, and especially about the presidency, is the importance of asking yourself: ‘Have we left the country in better shape than we found it?’ Today, I can say, with every fiber of my being, of all my heart, the answer to that question is a resounding ‘yes.’“ — President Biden, quoted by ABC News,at a holiday party for DNC staff.

“More than 120 House Democrats have signed a letter asking President Joe Biden to urge the nation’s archivist to recognize the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment by publishing the amendment first proposed 101 years ago — a move they believe would finally enshrine sex equality in the Constitution,” the Washington Post reports. “If the president does as the Democrats ask, the publication of the ERA would probably spark legal challenges over the validity of the amendment, which, despite having met all the constitutional requirements, has not been added to the Constitution because not enough states ratified it in time to meet a deadline mandated by Congress.”

New York Times: “Many lieutenant governors toil in the deep shadows to serve their state governors. But Mr. Delgado has apparently gone rogue, fueling speculation that he may seek to challenge Ms. Hochul’s re-election bid in 2026.” “He has done little to tamp down the rumors, telling donors that he plans on running for a statewide office.

Appeals Judge James Wynn Jr. of the Fourth Circuit “is the third Democratic-appointed federal judge to reverse their retirement plans since Trump’s election, and the trend has Senate Republicans hopping mad,” Politico reports.

Politico: “Since the funding measure is expected to be the last major bill Congress passes this year, lawmakers have been eyeing it as a path to clearing several other major policy priorities, including a package to authorize expiring health care programs, a long-sought bipartisan deal to overhaul rules for permitting energy projects and a measure to restrict U.

Mitch McConnell: “To pretend that the United States can focus on just one threat at a time, that its credibility is divisible, or that it can afford to shrug off faraway chaos as irrelevant is to ignore its global interests and its adversaries’ global designs. America will not be made great again by those who simply want to manage its decline.”