January 6, 2026
Donald Trump
- Mexico
- Canada
- Cuba
- Colombia
- Kalaallit Nunaat
- Panama
Bombed:
- Iran
- Nigeria
- Yemen
- Somalia
- Syria
- Iraq
- Venezuela
Threatened to depose leader of:
- Cuba
- Colombia
Kidnapped the leader of:
- Venezuela
Health
NPR - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reducing its number of recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11. The agency’s new schedule, which includes vaccines that had previously been recommended for all children — such as those for rotavirus, hepatitis A and B, meningitis and seasonal flu — is now more restrictive. The agency made these changes in response to a memo Trump issued in December directing health officials to align the U.S. schedule with those in "peer, developed countries" such as Germany and Japan.
The new restrictions will lead to fewer children getting vaccinated, with consequences that could be seen for years down the line, Dr. Sean O’Leary, with the American Academy of Pediatrics, tells NPR's Pien Huang. The agency implemented these changes without any new scientific developments behind them, Huang notes. The agency sidestepped its own advisory committee and didn’t consult vaccine makers.
Axios - The slimmed-down vaccine schedule resembling Denmark's suggests that the administration is undaunted by public support for childhood vaccines — or by warnings about the return of preventable diseases.
Driving the news: The U.S. is now only recommending that all kids receive 11 vaccines, with additional shots for high-risk children. Before Trump's second inauguration, the U.S. had recommended 17 vaccines.
The CDC now says that parents should consult with physicians before inoculating their children with previously recommended shots for six diseases, including rotavirus, COVID-19 and influenza.
All vaccines previously recommended by the federal government will continue to be covered by insurers, officials said.
"We are aligning the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule with international consensus while strengthening transparency and informed consent," said Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "This decision protects children, respects families, and rebuilds trust in public health."
The big picture: Such significant changes to the childhood vaccine schedule will have an impact on public health, one way or another. But they also all but ensure vaccines will be front and center in the political discourse.
Administration officials maintain the decision — announced without any new data exactly one month after Trump demanded a review of the vaccine schedule — will actually restore public trust in vaccines, by focusing on what one called "the most important diseases."
But many medical experts argue they'll have the exact opposite effect, an argument Democrats have quickly adopted as their own.
What we're watching: The vaccine schedule change is likely to prompt litigation — either in the form of direct challenges to the schedule change or new vaccine injury lawsuits testing whether the revised recommendations have loosened federal liability protections for manufacturers. More
The Supremes hard right turn
, Daily Beast - A new study has bolstered a scathing dissent from liberal Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson that warned the court appeared to favor the rich.
The study, published Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research, investigated whether the Supreme Court has contributed to rising income inequality by ruling in favor of policies that favor wealthy parties.
Its authors—two academics from Columbia University in New York and one from Yale University—found that in cases pitting the rich against the poor, Republican appointees were far more likely than their Democratic colleagues to side with the wealthier party.
Back in 1953, Democratic and Republican appointees were statistically indistinguishable on the issue, with justices appointed by members of both parties favoring the rich in 45 percent of cases on average.
By 2022, the average Republican-appointed justice was voting in favor of the rich a whopping 70 percent of the time.
The average Democratic justice cast a “pro-rich” vote—which was defined as a vote that would directly shift resources to the party that was more likely to be wealthy, including votes that supported businesses over consumers or workers—just 35 percent of the time.
Reclaiming January 6 as the day democracy prevailed
Robert B. Hubbell - Many things happened on January 6, but the most important was this: democracy prevailed. It held against a violent mob, a corrupt president, and a Republican Party willing to look away. The insurrection that began on January 6 is not over, nor is our defense of democracy. But as we did on January 6, pro‑democracy forces are holding the line through vigilance, persistence, and the collective refusal to surrender.
January 6 is a dark day in American history, not the least because it is compounded by Trump’s shameful pardon of insurrectionists who assaulted law enforcement officers defending Congress as it completed the transfer of power commanded by the Constitution. Congressional Republicans continue the shameful effort to rewrite the narrative of January 6 by refusing to install a plaque in the Capitol—as required by law—honoring the law enforcement officers who served as the last line of defense on January 6. See CBS News, Congress defies its own law, fails to install plaque honoring Jan. 6 police officers.
We must reclaim January 6 as a celebration of the day democracy held. We can do so by completing our defense of democracy, a defense that includes taking control of Congress and the presidency, reforming the Supreme Court (and undoing its corrupt jurisprudence), and holding to account everyone who facilitated Trump’s lawless reign, including cabinet secretaries, agency heads, military leaders, and corrupt business executives.
We can transform January 6 into a day celebrating democracy through our ongoing resistance to the antidemocratic forces that assault the Constitution to this day. Protest by protest, postcard by postcard, streetcorner by streetcorner, and election by election, we will remake January 6 into a day celebrating the victory of democracy over the forces of darkness.
On the fifth anniversary of January 6, be part of the process to reclaim it as a day of celebration. Raise your voices. Exercise your rights to assemble and to petition the government for redress of grievances. Contact your representatives. Be seen. Be heard. Inspire others to action. Remind others—and ourselves—that we are “the governed” whose consent is necessary for the government to exist.
Reclaim January 6 for ourselves and for democracy by completing the work that began five years ago today.
January 6 is a dark day in American history, not the least because it is compounded by Trump’s shameful pardon of insurrectionists who assaulted law enforcement officers defending Congress as it completed the transfer of power commanded by the Constitution. Congressional Republicans continue the shameful effort to rewrite the narrative of January 6 by refusing to install a plaque in the Capitol—as required by law—honoring the law enforcement officers who served as the last line of defense on January 6. See CBS News, Congress defies its own law, fails to install plaque honoring Jan. 6 police officers.
We must reclaim January 6 as a celebration of the day democracy held. We can do so by completing our defense of democracy, a defense that includes taking control of Congress and the presidency, reforming the Supreme Court (and undoing its corrupt jurisprudence), and holding to account everyone who facilitated Trump’s lawless reign, including cabinet secretaries, agency heads, military leaders, and corrupt business executives.
We can transform January 6 into a day celebrating democracy through our ongoing resistance to the antidemocratic forces that assault the Constitution to this day. Protest by protest, postcard by postcard, streetcorner by streetcorner, and election by election, we will remake January 6 into a day celebrating the victory of democracy over the forces of darkness.
On the fifth anniversary of January 6, be part of the process to reclaim it as a day of celebration. Raise your voices. Exercise your rights to assemble and to petition the government for redress of grievances. Contact your representatives. Be seen. Be heard. Inspire others to action. Remind others—and ourselves—that we are “the governed” whose consent is necessary for the government to exist.
Reclaim January 6 for ourselves and for democracy by completing the work that began five years ago today.
Best cities for jobs
WalletHub - To determine the strongest local job markets in the U.S., WalletHub compared more than 180 cities across 31 key metrics. The data set ranges from job opportunities per job seeker to employment growth to the monthly average starting salary.
Best vs. Worst
| Best Cities for Jobs | Worst Cities for Jobs |
| 1. Scottsdale, AZ | 173. Huntington, WV |
| 2. Columbia, MD | 174. Toledo, OH |
| 3. Portland, ME | 175. Fayetteville, NC |
| 4. South Burlington, VT | 176. Columbus, GA |
| 5. Pittsburgh, PA | 177. Augusta, GA |
| 6. Orlando, FL | 178. Las Cruces, NM |
| 7. Plano, TX | 179. Shreveport, LA |
| 8. Washington, DC | 180. Stockton, CA |
| 9. Austin, TX | 181. Memphis, TN |
| 10. Huntsville, AL | 182. Detroit, MI |
Best vs. Worst
- Columbia, Maryland, has the highest median annual household income (adjusted by cost of living), which is 3.4 times higher than in Detroit, Michigan, the city with the lowest.
- San Jose, California, has the highest monthly average starting salary, which is 3.1 times higher than in Juneau, Alaska, the city with the lowest.
- Fremont, California, has the fewest part-time employees for every 100 full-time employees, which is 3.7 times fewer than in Burlington, Vermont, the city with the most.
- Fremont, California, has the lowest share of workers living in poverty, which is 9.7 times lower than in Huntington, West Virginia, the city with the highest.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting says it is beginning to shut down
The Guardian - The nonprofit charged by Congress with allocating funds to NPR, PBS and other US public radio and television stations announced is dissolving after massive federal funding cuts under Donald Trump.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced on Monday that its board of directors had voted to dissolve the organization after nearly 60 years in operation.
Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of CPB, said in a statement Monday that the organization’s board of directors voted to dissolve the organization as it “faced a profound responsibility”.
She added: “CPB’s final act would be to protect the integrity of the public media system and the democratic values by dissolving, rather than allowing the organization to remain defunded and vulnerable to additional attack.”
The organization was created by the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, which built the organization to support NPR and PBS, along with 1,500 locally owned and operated public media stations. The organization was tasked with distributing $500m worth of funding annually to NPR, PBS and its network of local broadcast stations.
“CPB remains committed to fulfilling its fiduciary responsibilities and supporting our partners through this transition with transparency and care,” her statement continued.
The CPB cited legislation passed by Republicans last month that yanked back two years’ of advanced funding at the request of President Trump, amounting to a clawback of more than $1 billion for fiscal 2026 and 2027.
It also pointed to a lack of funding for the CPB in an annual funding bill advanced by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday, saying it was the first time in more than five decades the funding had been left out.
Trump moves to dominate Western Hemisphere
The Hill - President Trump is signaling the U.S. plans to be much more aggressive spreading its influence in the western half of the world following the operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
The president's foreign policy focus in the Western Hemisphere has been almost exclusively on Venezuela for months as he faced off with Maduro and oversaw dozens of strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and East Pacific.
But the administration has quickly shown in the days since Maduro’s arrest that it's eyeing changes beyond just one country, with Trump repeatedly targeting Cuba, Columbia and Mexico, railing against the communist regime in the first and drug cartels operating in the latter two.
“This is our hemisphere,” the State Department said in a poster shared Monday on the social platform X.
▪ The Hill: Trump signals U.S. power flex.
▪ The Hill: The Memo: U.S. signals imperialist muscle.
Venezuelan opposition leader praises Trump
NY Times - María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader, repeatedly praised President Trump on Monday during a prime-time appearance on Fox News, her first televised interview since the United States captured Nicolás Maduro and Mr. Trump ruled her out as a successor.
Ms. Machado, who led a successful election campaign against Mr. Maduro in 2024, spent much of the 10-minute interview appealing to Mr. Trump, who has declined to throw his support behind the opposition. She even offered him the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded in October, a prize Mr. Trump has coveted for years.
“Because this is the prize of the Venezuelan people, certainly we want to give it to him and share it with him,” Ms. Machado told the Fox News host Sean Hannity. She said that she had not spoken to Mr. Trump since October, when she dedicated the prize to him.
Mr. Trump has chosen to conditionally back Mr. Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, as interim leader instead of Ms. Machado or Edmundo González, who ran after Ms. Machado was barred from being a candidate. Ms. Machado and Mr. González have said that he is the legitimate president of Venezuela.
“She doesn’t have the support within, or the respect within, the country,” Mr. Trump said of Ms. Machado on Saturday. “She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”
One less job for humans
Source: Boston Dynamics
Hyundai Motor’s Boston Dynamics unit unveiled the latest iteration of a humanoid robot designed to work in its manufacturing plants.
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