The Gov Hub Newsletter: December 16, 2025

The U.S. military posted an image of a soldier wearing a military helmet emblazoned with what has long-been a symbol of White Nationalists, the Jerusalem Cross. The symbol is also one that’s tattooed on SecDef Hegseth’s chest – a tattoo that had prevented him from serving on security detail at former President Biden’s 2021 inauguration. 

ICE continues to terrorize people across the country, including in Minneapolis where they were caught on camera putting a U.S. citizen in a chokehold as he tried to show them his ID.

A New Jersey man is facing charges of impersonating a police officer and possessing a weapon for an unlawful purpose, after he falsely claimed to be a Homeland Security officer, a claim that came to light during a property check. Turns out the man’s wife actually works for DHS and is away on deployment, and while she’s been away, he’s allegedly been using her marked vehicle, overhead lights on and all.

At Trump’s Department of Edu, the Christian Nationalist “an appeal to heaven” flag was spotted hanging outside of an employee’s office.

At Brown University over the weekend, a mass shooting left two students dead. Amongst those on campus were survivors who had already experienced deadly school shootings earlier in their education. The president’s reaction to the violence? “Things can happen.” The search for the shooter – led by Trump’s FBI, led by Kash Patel – is still ongoing, meaning the gunman is still on the loose.

A new report from Climate Power revealed that energy bills have risen 13% since Trump took office for his second term.

Holiday gift giving is costing a fortune thanks to tariffs, which have brought the cost of holiday gifts up at least 26%.

The latest unemployment numbers are out and they show an increase to the highest level of unemployment in four years at 4.6%.

The fight over the future of the ACA tax credits that millions of Americans rely on to access affordable-ish healthcare has continued, namely in the Senate, following the failure of an ACA extension bill from the Dems and a bill from the GOP that would a tiny bit of money to HSA’s but not reduce overheard costs for consumers. Some Republicans like Rep. Keith Self [TX] have openly admitted they want the tax credits to expire, while the President had this to say about the dire situation. 

An already stretched within an inch of its life, VA has MAJOR cuts coming its way, with plans from the Department of Veterans Affairs coming to light that will eliminate 35,000 healthcare positions. The positions range from doctors, nurses, and more, and consist currently of mostly unfilled positions [translation: instead of hiring more people to help veterans, they’re just getting rid of the openings that would make that possible].

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has kept his crown as the 50 Cent of politics [for the moment] by hiring two former CDC top dogs forced out by RFK Jr. to work on the launch of the Public Health Network Innovation Exchange [PHINX] with the CDPH. The hires include former CDC Chief Medical Officer, Deb Houry who resigned in protest of RFK Jr.’s policies and former CDC Director, Susan Monarez, who was selected by RFK Jr., approved by the Senate, and then fired by RFK Jr. a month later for refusing to rubber stamp his anti-vax policies.

A new peer-reviewed study out of the University of Arizona has found that drinking well water that’s down gradient from a PFAS-contaminated site had the following impacts: an increase in infant mortality by 191%, an increase in pre-term birth by 20%, and an increase in low-weight birth of 43%.

Trump signed an executive order “classifying” illicit fentanyl as a “weapon of mass destruction” – a move that doesn’t actually appear to do much…. Anyways, the signing comes after pardoning the former Honduran president and violent cocaine kingpin, Juan Orlando Hernandez.

New insights via a multi-part Vanity Fair expose featuring the often tightlipped Susan Wiles [White House Chief of Staff] reveal not just her actual thoughts on her colleagues but the behind the scenes reality of the Trump administration. The top-line: she thinks Trump “has an alcoholic's personality,” that JD Vance “has been a conspiracy theory for a decade,” and that Elon is “an odd, odd duck.”

Gwen Stefani attempted to return to relevance by promoting a Christian prayer app backed by Peter Thiel and current VP JD Vance. The app includes anti-abortion prayers and requires a paid subscription to use – literally pay-to-pray. The #ad has caused a stir with Selling Sunset’s Chrishell Stause criticizing the endorsement.

Churches are using Nativity scenes to protest ICE and DHS’s inhumane immigration policies. In some instances, churches are showcasing the most famous refugee of all –  baby Jesus – in zip ties, while others are leaving the manger empty and posting signs that say things like “ICE was here” instead. The goal is to illustrate the cruelty, the hypocrisy, and the anti-Christian reality that these policies embody.

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert [R-CO] has sparked chatter about a possible “romance” between her and Kid Rock yet again after FEC data revealed that it appeared her campaign had paid for travel, accommodations, and event tickets to a bull riding event hosted by Kid Rock in May. For context, candidates are not allowed to use campaign funds for personal use. 

The New York Young Republican gala was a hot pot from hell of far-right nationalist voices, that according to Politico, included an influencer that went viral on Halloween for wearing black face, white nationalist Jared Taylor, and a fired OAN “reporter” who’d lost his job for posting a video that depicted Jewish people as cockroaches. Given that the statewide young Republicans club was disbanded earlier in the season following the leak of a deeply racist, anti-semitic group chat, the guest list was perhaps… on brand?

New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte [R] raked in a $15,000 donation from firearms manufacturer Sig Sauer mere weeks after signing a bill into law that shields gun manufacturers like Sig Sauer from lawsuits related to safety features in their guns not working. Mind you, according to the Granite Post, gun owners including police officers have sued the gun maker for injuries they’ve gotten while using their signature piece that fails to have a basic safety feature.

The Pentagon has put the pedal to the metal in their sham investigation of Senator Mark Kelly [D-AZ] over his participation in a video with fellow veteran electeds that told members of the armed forces to disobey illegal orders. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is back in the spotlight for something bad – money, as in $36.2M in taxpayer funds that were meant for child welfare and medical related funds, were instead used to pay consultants and for ads to defeat two ballot measures last year. Those measures, which didn’t pass, and would’ve legalized recreational weed [amendment 3] and overturned the state’s six-week abortion ban [amendment 4]

The White House ballroom project is hitting some snags with a lawsuit stopping construction on the garish project in its tracks for now – the Trump Admin is arguing that the show must go on because the ballroom is somehow a “matter of national security.”

Congressman Bennie Thompson [D-MS] got his flowers while questioning FBI agent Michael Glasheen on the realities of “ANTIFA.” When asked by Thompson whether or not he could share the HQ of ANTIFA, well, this was Glasheen’s attempt at an answer.

In a hearing with DHS’s Kristi Noem on ICE’s policies and conduct, Congressman Seth Magaziner [D-RI] came with the receipts in the form of a deported U.S. veteran via Zoom. Following Noem denying that U.S. veterans had been deported, Magaziner whipped out an ipad and introduced a veteran she’d deported to South Korea.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear chatted about their style of campaigning on the Andy Beshear Podcast. The takeaway? Knock on every door, shake every hand.

Senator Amy Klobuchar [D-MN] shared the presser to her TikTok feed of a Minnesota man and U.S. citizen that was detained by ICE when venturing out for his lunch break. 

Trump’s Department of Education has added a new feature to the FAFSA – earnings data about the higher ed institutions that students are applying to. Specifically, it will flag what’s being referred to as “lower earning schools” or schools where the graduates on average don’t make more than workers in the state. The argument for is that it's a transparency move that will help students determine if student debt is “worth it,” while the argument against is that it’s a veiled push to keep people less educated and reduce pathways to careers often dominated by women like social workers.

A combination of the political environment and the current job market have resulted in a 13-year high in first-year law school enrollment in the U.S. The increase is up 8% from last year alone.

Head Start employees were sent a six-page long list of “banned words” that they were not allowed to use when applying for grants. The words on the list include “women,” “disabilities,” “barrier,” “equity,” and more. Notably, as pointed out here, the words “male” and “men” are not included on the banned words list.

Trump’s DOJ is on a suing spree trying to access sensitive voter info, rounding their total of lawsuits so far to 18. Many of the states being sued are denying the requests over privacy concerns, as well as concerns over the legality of the requests at-large.

Trump has decided to take legal aim at the BBC. He’s now suing the broadcaster for $10B, accusing it of defamation over the way a speech from Jan. 6, 2021 was edited, as well as “deceptive practices.” 

ICYMI the White House has been standing against providing ASL interpretation in press conferences, which has resulted in the National Association for the Deaf suing. Trump’s DOJ argues in reaction – wait for it – that having ASL interpretation would "severely intrude on the President’s prerogative to control the image he presents to the public.”

The 19th: In New Mexico, grandparents caring for grandkids can also get free child care now

USA Today: “They’re Relentless.” how a conservative Christian group is remaking Ohio

NPR: The cookies that fueled votes for women