WASHINGTON — In a remarkable rebuke of Republican leadership, the House passed legislation Thursday, in a 230-196 vote, that would extend expired healthcare subsidies for those who get coverage through the Affordable Care Act as renegade GOP lawmakers joined essentially all Democrats in voting for the measure.
Forcing the issue to a vote came about after a handful of Republicans signed on to a so-called “discharge petition” to unlock debate, bypassing objections from House Speaker Mike Johnson. The bill now goes to the Senate, where pressure is building for a similar bipartisan compromise.
Together, the rare political coalitions are rushing to resolve the standoff over the enhanced tax credits that were put in place during the COVID-19 crisis but expired late last year after no agreement was reached during the government shutdown.
“The affordability crisis is not a ‘hoax,’ it is very real — despite what Donald Trump has had to say,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, invoking the president’s remarks.
“Democrats made clear before the government was shut down that we were in this affordability fight until we win this affordability fight,” he said. “Today we have an opportunity to take a meaningful step forward.”
Ahead of voting, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill, which would provide a three-year extension of the subsidy, would increase the nation’s deficit by about $80.6 billion over the decade. It would increase the number of people with health insurance by 100,000 this year, 3 million in 2027, 4 million in 2028 and 1.1 million in 2029, the CBO said.
Growing support for extending ACA subsidies
Johnson (R-La.) worked for months to prevent this situation. His office argued Thursday that federal healthcare funding from the COVID-19 era is ripe with fraud, pointing to an investigation in Minnesota, and urged a no vote.
On the floor, Republicans argued that the subsidies as structured have contributed to fraud and that the chamber should be focused on lowering health insurance costs for the broader population.
“Only 7% of the population relies on Obamacare marketplace plans. This chamber should be about helping 100% of Americans,” said Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.
While the momentum from the vote shows the growing support for the tax breaks that have helped some 22 million Americans have access to health insurance, the Senate would be under no requirement to take up the House bill.
Instead, a small group of senators from both parties has been working on an alternative plan that could find support in both chambers and become law. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said that for any plan to find support in his chamber, it will need to have income limits to ensure that the financial aid is focused on those who most need the help. He and other Republicans also want to ensure that beneficiaries would have to at least pay a nominal amount for their coverage.
Finally, Thune said there would need to be some expansion of health savings accounts, which allow people to save money and withdraw it tax-free as long as the money is spent on qualified medical expenses.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who is part of the negotiations on reforms and subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, said there is agreement on addressing fraud in healthcare.
“We recognize that we have millions of people in this country who are going to lose — are losing, have lost — their health insurance because they can’t afford the premiums,” Shaheen said. “And so we’re trying to see if we can’t get to some agreement that’s going to help, and the sooner we can do that, the better.”
Trump has pushed Republicans to send money directly to Americans for health savings accounts so they can bypass the federal government and handle insurance on their own. Democrats largely reject this idea as insufficient for covering the high costs of healthcare.
Republicans bypass their leaders
The action by Republicans to force a vote has been an affront to Johnson and his leadership team, who essentially lost control of what comes to the House floor as the Republican lawmakers joined Democrats for the workaround.
After last year’s government shutdown failed to resolve the issue, Johnson had discussed allowing more politically vulnerable GOP lawmakers a chance to vote on another healthcare bill that would temporarily extend the subsidies while also adding changes.
But after days of discussions, Johnson and the GOP leadership sided with the more conservative wing, which has assailed the subsidies as propping up ACA, which they consider a failed government program. He offered a modest proposal of healthcare reforms that was approved, but has stalled.
It was then that rank-and-file lawmakers took matters into their own hands, as many of their constituents faced soaring health insurance premiums beginning this month.
Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Robert Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie, all from Pennsylvania, and Mike Lawler of New York, signed the Democrats’ petition, pushing it to the magic number of 218 needed to force a House vote. All four represent key swing districts whose races will help determine which party takes charge of the House next year.
Trump encourages GOP to take on healthcare issue
What started as a long shot effort by Democrats to offer a discharge petition has become a political vindication of the Democrats’ government shutdown strategy as they fought to preserve the healthcare funds.
Democrats are making clear that the higher health insurance costs many Americans are facing will be a political centerpiece of their efforts to retake the majority in the House and Senate in the fall elections.
Trump, during a lengthy speech this week to House GOP lawmakers, encouraged his party to take control of the healthcare debate — an issue that has stymied Republicans since he tried, and failed, to repeal Obamacare during his first term.
Mascaro and Freking write for the Associated Press. AP writer Matt Brown contributed to this report.
Spirits. Cosmetics. Apparel. Fragrance. As the categories most closely associated with the rise of celebrity brands become increasingly saturated, A-list talent is venturing into new terrain — and taking on names like Clinique, L’Oreal, Kiehl’s and Harry’s in the process.
With the likes of Beau Domaine, Papatui and Loved01, male stars such as Brad Pitt, Dwayne Johnson and John Legend, respectively, have broken into the growing market for men’s skincare, which was estimated at $18 billion in 2025 and is projected to nearly double by 2034, according to Precedence Research.
“Beauty is almost becoming its own genre, like music and sports,” says Katie Martin, executive vice president and managing director of e-commerce and marketing agency Front Row. “It’s becoming more genderless, community-based and something people talk about and share.”
Even as men’s shaving products and fragrances aligned with celebrities — think Johnny Depp for Dior’s Sauvage — have long been accepted, there’s been a cultural shift when it comes to beauty. Quickly vanishing is the stigma of men buying and using their own skincare products. In many quarters, it’s desirable and even expected for men to care about their skin. And celebrity skin, often seen in revealing high-def and on the big screen, is certainly a model to emulate.
“Men’s personal care habits have shifted significantly in the past decade, and many more men are open to and interested in taking care of themselves, skin included,” says Allison Collins, co-founder and managing director of advisory firm the Consumer Collective. “This shift started with younger millennial and Gen Z men, but has stretched upwards — and now skincare is something many men are into.”
(Photos by Dana Richards / Golden Hours)
With Papatui, Johnson, whose long career as a wrestler and actor defines a certain brand of masculinity, hopes to change the perception that skincare for men is complicated. “That’s something we’re actively changing. Taking care of yourself on the outside is just as important as the inside,” he says. “Just like training, nutrition or recovery. Papatui removes the intimidation and makes it straightforward and focused on what men really need.”
Johnson founded the company after learning important tips from dermatologists over the years, which he says made a difference given his long work days, demanding training regimen and constant travel.
“I wanted products that feel good, are powered by high-performing formulas, and fit into a busy guy’s routine. I’m hands-on with everything along with our incredible team of experts,” Johnson says.
Another selling point is the line’s availability at Target and Walmart. “Dwayne Johnson’s line is super-approachably priced, which is good for today’s market when consumers are a bit more strapped for cash,” notes Collins.
Johnson is especially proud of the fact that he’s getting guys to use under-eye patches for hydration, brightening and smoothing fine lines. His own routine is pretty basic: cleanse, tone and moisturize along with using the line’s other products including facial scrub, antiperspirant and body washes.
(Photos by Tamera Darden and John Campos / Loved01)
After collaborating with other brands including Kiehl’s and SKII, Legend’s Loved01 launched in 2024 with a pop-up store at Westfield Century City and at CVS locations around the country. It is now sold mostly via QVC, on Amazon and on the company’s website. A TikTok shop launched in early December.
“We’re really trying to meet our customers where they are and adjust to the way they’re buying things,” Legend says. “We were getting much more traction through e-commerce and so we’ve really been focused on that along with television.”
The company just released its hydrating cream cleanser, joining other bestselling products like hand wash, face and body moisturizer, cleansing wipes and face and body oil.
“We believe that it shouldn’t cost luxury prices to get the kind of care that everybody deserves,” Legend says. ”That was one of the beats for the company from the very beginning, that everybody deserved great skincare with great ingredients and that are vegan and cruelty-free with wonderfully sourced ingredients from Mother Nature.”
“John Legend is famous for being a really good family guy and his brand is about increasing equity and how people buy into their family,” says Martin.
Pitt espouses a concept of simplicity in his men’s skincare routine — a three-step ritual starting with cleansing, serum to target signs of aging and then cream to lock in moisture.
Teaming with the Perrin family, winemakers in the South of France, Beau Domaine incorporates organic grape water, known for its soothing and moisturizing properties, into some of its products. The three-step regimen lists for $279 on the brand’s website, which also boasts enthusiastic reviews from users.
“Brad Pitt does have a higher price point, and you could say he’s leaning on ease, but it is probably much more about being premium. And of course Brad Pitt is premium,” says Martin. “He is obviously very well known for being very good-looking. They’ve been really smart there with the equity that Brad holds as a celebrity.”
Whatever the target demographic, all three companies are representative of the evolution of celebrity brands to include the full gamut of product categories and meet the needs of a changing marketplace. And with men’s skincare set for further growth, you can bet you’ll see more Hollywood names in the space before long.
Borussia Dortmund will only attempt to sign Norway attacker Oscar Bobb, 22, on loan from Manchester City if US midfielder Cole Campbell, 19, or Belgium winger Julien Duranville, 19, depart in January. (Sky Sports Germany), external
Crystal Palace forward Eddie Nketiah’s chances of joining West Ham have been scuppered after the 26-year-old England forward suffered a hamstring injury. (Talksport), external
West Ham are closing in on a deal for 21-year-old Gil Vicente striker Pablo, with the Portuguese expected in London for a medical. (Guardian), external
Brighton are monitoring 19-year-old Nordsjaelland and Ghana midfielder Caleb Yirenkyi, having previously signed Ivory Coast winger Simon Adingra, 23, and Ghana forward Ibrahim Osman, 21, from the Danish club. (Sky Sports), external
Celtic are in talks with Bournemouth over a loan deal for defender Julian Araujo, 24, and want to have the Mexico international available for their meeting with Rangers on 3 January. (Daily Record), external
Tottenham‘s 18-year-old Croatian centre-back Luka Vuskovic has caught the eye of Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig, although Spurs are reluctant to part with the teenager who is currently on loan at Hamburg. (CaughtOffside), external
France midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, 23, wants to stay at Real Madrid amid interest from Liverpool. (Teamtalk), external
Brennan Johnson will meet Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner on Thursday before making a final decision on whether to complete a £35m move from Tottenham.
BBC Sport understands the growing expectation is for the deal to be completed, but the talks will be pivotal towards the transfer’s successful progression.
Palace have agreed the fee with Tottenham to sign the 24-year-old forward but are still waiting for the green light to conclude the deal.
Wales international Johnson’s talks with Glasner will centre around the player’s role in the team and the club’s future and ambitions to ensure all parties are aligned.
If talks are successful, Johnson is expected to sign for Palace in the coming days.
Brennan Johnson is set decide whether he wants to join Crystal Palace after the south London club agreed a £35m deal to sign the Tottenham attacker.
BBC Sport revealed on 18 December that the Eagles were advanced in their efforts to land the Wales international but decided not to make a formal move until after the two clubs faced each other in the Premier League on Sunday.
There is now an agreement between the clubs for Johnson to move across London.
However, the 24-year-old is yet to agree to join the Selhurst Park club.
Johnson is set for talks over his future in the next 48 hours, amid interest from other Premier League sides.
Tottenham are in the market for a new attacker this January which would limit Johnson’s opportunities even more.
It is understood that they have an interest in Red Bull Leipzig’s winger Yan Diomande, 19, and Manchester City attacker Savinho, 21.
LANDOVER, Md. — Dak Prescott threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns, and the Dallas Cowboys blew most of an 18-point lead before squeezing past the Washington Commanders 30-23 Thursday.
Dallas (7-8-1) scored touchdowns on its first three possessions to go up 21-3. Although the Commanders (4-12) cut the gap to a touchdown on three different occasions, they couldn’t complete the comeback and absorbed their 10th loss in 11 games.
Both teams were previously eliminated from playoff contention, which severely lessened the significance of this matchup between longtime NFC East rivals.
Prescott completed 19 of 37 passes and helped Dallas convert all six of its fourth-down tries. His two TD passes gave him 30, tying Tony Romo’s franchise record of four seasons with at least 30 touchdown throws.
Prescott shrugged off six sacks, including three by Jer’Zhan Newton.
Playing without injured quarterbacks Jayden Daniels (elbow) and Marcus Mariota (quad, hand), Washington turned to 39-year-old journeyman Josh Johnson. Making his 10th career start and first since 2021, Johnson went 15 for 23 for 198 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt scored on runs of 10 and 72 yards for Washington. The latter touchdown got the Commanders to 24-17 in the third quarter, but Dallas restored its double-digit lead with a 52-yard field by Brandon Aubrey.
Aubrey added a 51-yarder to make it 30-20 with 3:59 remaining.
After Prescott threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jake Ferguson on the game’s opening drive, Johnson went 3 for 3 for 68 yards to get Washington to 7-3. The key play was a 41-yard completion to Deebo Samuel, Johnson’s longest since 2018. Samuel finished by running into Donovan Wilson, knocking the safety’s helmet off.
On their second possession, the Cowboys converted three fourth downs on a 17-play march that ended with a touchdown run by Javonte Williams. Prescott then made it three TDs in three drives with an 86-yard scoring pass to KaVontae Turpin.
C. Montgomery Johnson, 81, a veteran political strategist and former Washington state Republican Party chairman, died of complications from a stroke and diabetes May 21 in Olympia, Wash.
Widely known as “Gummie,” Johnson directed Daniel J. Evans’ successful 1964 gubernatorial campaign.
He was the first full-time chairman of the state Republican Central Committee from 1964 to 1971, during which he helped purge members of the John Birch Society from the state party.
During that time, Johnson also served as an executive member of the Republican National Committee.
In partnership with his third wife, Democratic lobbyist Ann Quantock, he founded the political consulting firm C. Montgomery Johnson Associates.
The cigar-smoking Johnson, who was known for being opinionated, profane and progressive, campaigned for public education, the environment, Native Americans, libraries and hospitals. As a champion of equal rights for women, Johnson advised the campaign that elected the state’s first female governor, conservative Democrat Dixy Lee Ray, in 1976.
The Seattle native received a master’s degree in forestry from the University of Washington in 1950, and later worked as a forest ranger before becoming public relations director for Weyerhaeuser, a forest products company.
The fact quarterback Luke Fahey of Mission Viejo High signed with Ohio State is impressive enough. Then look at his 2025 statistics and you begin to realize he’s going to be next in line to continue Southern California’s success in developing top quarterbacks.
Over 11 games, he only had three passes intercepted while completing 71% of his passes. He threw for 3,199 yards and 25 touchdowns. He ran for six touchdowns. He had a school-record 569 yards passing against Los Alamitos. He made a clutch touchdown pass in the second half to beat eventual Southern Section Division 1 champion Santa Margarita 7-6 in the season opener.
He clearly performed at his best when the pressure was on and Mission Viejo needed him to lift up his teammates.
“He’s the best leader I’ve had in 25 years of coaching. He’s the total package,” coach Chad Johnson said.
Fahey has been selected The Times’ back of the year.
Jack Junker catches 33-.yard TD pass from Luke Fahey. Junker used to play at Santa Margarita. 7-3 Mission Viejo with 1:31 left in third. pic.twitter.com/1MAx5shs2q
Before this season, he was sharing time at quarterback, showing incredible unselfishness while putting his trust in the process that everything would work out when it was his time to be the full-time starter. And it did.
“He’s always been real good,” Johnson said. “He was sharing reps and didn’t allow everyone to see his greatness and what he could be. Ohio State saw it. It’s going to be crazy what he can do at the next level.”
There’s one memory Johnson won’t soon forget. It was in the visiting locker room after a game at St. Paul. Fahey stayed behind as the last person to pick up trash to leave the locker room clean. Then he headed to the bus. Only the head coach saw it. The best player on the team doing work others ignored.
Just a little over a year after an all-time performance as “Saturday Night Live” host (one of the best of that season, truth be told), Ariana Grande returned again to show off some of her talents: mimicry and comic timing, dance moves, and, of course, a spectacular singing voice.
But she also showed a lot of grace by ceding the spotlight to her “Wicked” co-star Bowen Yang, who confirmed before this week’s episode that he is exiting “SNL” midway through his eighth season. At several turns of this week’s show, particularly in a closing sketch about a retiring Delta Sky Club employee that served as Yang’s emotional goodbye, it was clear that Grande understood the assignment: this was Yang’s night, not hers.
Which isn’t to say Grande wasn’t great. She started strong with an “All I Want For Christmas” takeoff in her monologue, played an Elf on the Shelf who’s been cut in half in a support group sketch, exchanged a costume soul patch with Marcello Hernández as one of two dramatic dance instructors, and perhaps most memorably in this outing, played Macaulay Culkin‘s character Kevin in an extremely bloody parody of “Home Alone.”
But in his last show as a cast member, Yang got to appear in nearly every sketch as well, from a brief appearance in the “Home Alone” sketch to playing Yoko Ono in the Peacock special skit to reprising his Trend Forecaster character on “Weekend Update” with former cast member Aidy Bryant.
If Grande wasn’t as locked in as last time (she broke character laughing a few times), it didn’t matter much because she was as funny, energetic and eerily accurate in all her impressions. It felt very much like Grande was there less to promote the new “Wicked” movie than to help a friend say goodbye.
Not surprisingly, President Trump (James Austin Johnson) had a lot to say in a holiday address to the nation while also hugging a Christmas tree (“Remember when I did this with flag? I’m hugging tree now.”) and reading his stage directions out loud, an interesting new wrinkle to Johnson’s masterful impression. Trump reminded the country that “Arctic immigrants are coming in through our chimneys and stealing our milk and cookies” and discussed the recently voted on name change to the Kennedy Center, now “The Trump-Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts No Homo,” saying it is just the beginning. His name will be on the Trump Washington Monument, the Trump Lincoln Memorial and “Big Elphaba,” his name for the Statue of Liberty. Why so many names on things? “We had to take it off so many files,” he said, a reference to the much-redacted, newly released Epstein Files. Johnson’s impression is getting slurrier and even more meta, but continues to deliver on random pop culture references, which this week included the Indigo Girls, “The Hunger Games” and the videogame “Metal Gear Solid.”
Grande’s monologue briefly touched on the idea of bringing back old sketches such as “Domingo” from her last appearance before declaring cheekily, “When something is perfect, it doesn’t need a sequel.” She talked about how hard it is to find gifts for people she doesn’t know well, like her cousin’s boyfriend, Steve, which led to a whole music number to the tune of “All I Want for Christmas,” including Yang and other cast members giving suggestions on gifts like back massage coupons or a box of raw oysters. The lyrics weren’t all easy to understand unless you had captions enabled, but Grande sang the heck out of the Mariah Carey song.
Best sketch of the night: Take a bow, Bowen
Was it the funniest sketch of the night? No, that would probably be the Elf on the Shelf support group or the “Love is Blind” reunion. But Yang’s last sketch, about an elderly Delta Sky Club worker passing out eggnog and working his last shift, was heartfelt and sweet. Even a casual fan of Yang and “SNL” would be hard pressed not to get choked up by Yang talking about his time on the show to his wife (Grande), who replied, “All the egg nog you’ve made over the years. Some of it was great. Some of it was rotten.” “And a lot of it got cut,” he replied. Bowen broke down a few times while expressing his love for the people who work on “SNL” and sang through tears a version of “Please Come Home for Christmas” with Grande. “Egg nog is kind of like me — it’s not for everyone, but the people who like it are my kind of people,” he said to riotous applause. When he said he wanted to go out on top, she responded, “Oh, everyone knows you’re a bottom.” The capper to the sketch: Cher appearing as his Delta boss to tell him, “Everyone thought you were a little too gay. But, you know what? You’re perfect for me.”
Also good: The holiday duets you didn’t know you needed
When you’ve got Grande on board, it’s hard to resist falling back on lots of celebrity impressions, especially if they involve singing. For this piece, random performers are paired up for duets to try to replicate the magic of David Bowie and Bing Crosby’s “Little Drummer Boy” to varying degrees of success. Grande and Johnson were paired up twice: as Katy Perry and Bob Dylan and then again to close the sketch as Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion. It’s impossible to overstate how good Grande is at mimicking other singing voices, but the surprise here is how well Johnson keeps with her as Bocelli. Other standouts: Hernández as Bad Bunny, a backflipping Benson Boone (it was likely a stunt person and not a cast member, we never see his face) and Veronika Slowikowska as Bjork.
‘Weekend Update’ winner: Mistletoe, you are on watch!
Kam Patterson did well as Michael Che’s 12-year-old nephew Tyson, who goes back and forth between being a sweet kid and threatening Santa Claus for not bringing him a bike for Christmas last year. And this year’s holiday joke swap was weirdly one-sided with only Michael Che writing heretofore-unseen jokes for “Update” co-host Colin Jost to read. But Bryant returning to reunite with Yang for their arch Trend Forecasters bit won the week. They targeted mistletoe, musical intros that go “1, 2, 3, 4!” and in Chinese Trends, orange chicken. The duo repeated their catchphrase, “Go to bed, b—!” to each of these outgoing trends before declaring that waving pride flags, Marge Simpson hair and Michael Che are out. Of course, a stunned Michael Che was shown with a big blue wig and little pride flags in his hands.
Manchester United open talks with Antoine Semenyo but Kobbie Mainoo keen to leave Old Trafford, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace in for Brennan Johnson and three Premier League clubs interested in Denzel Dumfries.
England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, 20, sees no future for himself at Manchester United under manager Ruben Amorim and would consider a permanent move away from his boyhood club in January. (Mail – subscription required), external
Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham have opened talks with 25-year-old Ghana winger Antoine Semenyo over a £65m move but must wrap up a deal with Bournemouth by 10 January to secure his services. (The i – subscription required), external
Manchester United believe Semenyo could strengthen their left side with Amorim having doubts over Denmark international Patrick Dorgu, 21, who was signed for £25m in February from Leece. (Sun), external
Bournemouth view Tottenham and Wales winger Brennan Johnson, 24, as an option to replace Semenyo. (Teamtalk), external
However, the Cherries are likely to face competition from Crystal Palace, who have registered an interest in signing Johnson from Spurs. (Guardian), external
Barcelona are increasingly likely to trigger a £26m clause to sign Marcus Rashford from Manchester United with the 28-year-old England forward rediscovering his form on loan in Spain. (Mundo Deportivo – in Spanish, external)
Sassuolo’s 27-year-old French forward Armand Lauriente is set to push for a January exit amid ongoing speculation linking him with Sunderland. (Sunderland Echo), external
Real Madrid have emerged as a possible January destination for Al-Hilal and Portugal midfielder Ruben Neves, 28. (Fichajes – in Spanish), external
AC Milan want Brazilian defender Thiago Silva, 41, to return to the club in the winter transfer window, after he terminated his contract with Fluminense by mutual consent. (ESPN), external
Brighton captain Lewis Dunk, 34, has triggered an appearance-related one-year contract extension that will keep the England centre-back at the club until 2027. (Sky Sports, external)
Manchester United, Newcastle and Aston Villa are all interested in Inter Milan and the Netherlands wing-back Denzel Dumfries, 29. (Teamtalk), external
Barcelona are set to seal a sensational deal to sign 15-year-old Norwich starlet Ajay Tavares, who has played for England at Under-17 level. (Sun), external
Former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane, Strasbourg’s Liam Rosenior and Como boss Cesc Fabregas are among the candidates Chelsea are looking at if Italian head coach Enzo Maresco leaves Stamford Bridge. (Caught Offside, external)
ALBANY, N.Y. — Rep. Elise Stefanik announced Friday that she is suspending her campaign for New York governor and will not seek reelection to Congress, bowing out of the race in a surprise statement that said “it is not an effective use of our time” to stay in what was expected to be a bruising Republican primary.
Stefanik, a Republican ally of President Trump, said in a post on X that she was confident of her chances in the primary against Bruce Blakeman, a Republican county official in New York City’s suburbs. But she said she wanted to spend more time with her young son and family.
“I have thought deeply about this and I know that as a mother, I will feel profound regret if I don’t further focus on my young son’s safety, growth, and happiness — particularly at his tender age,” she said.
Stefanik has been an intense critic of incumbent Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is also seeking reelection but faces a primary challenge from her own lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado.
The announcement marks an abrupt end, at least for now, for a once-promising career for Stefanik. She was the youngest woman ever elected to Congress when she won her first campaign in 2014 at just 30 years old, representing a new generation of Republicans making inroads in Washington. She ultimately rose to her party’s leadership in the House when she became the chair of the House Republican Conference in 2021.
First viewed as a moderate when she came to Washington, Stefanik became far more conservative as Trump began to dominate the party. Once someone who refused to say Trump’s name, she became one of his top defenders during his first impeachment inquiry. She would go on to vote against certifying the 2020 election results, even after a violent mob stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Stefanik was expected to have a bitter Republican primary against Blakeman, who also counts himself as an ally of Trump. The president had so far seemed keen on avoiding picking a side in the race, telling reporters recently: “He’s great, and she’s great. They’re both great people.”
Stefanik’s decision follows a clash with Speaker Mike Johnson, whom she accused of lying before embarking on a series of media interviews criticizing him. In one with the Wall Street Journal, she called Johnson a “political novice” and said he wouldn’t be reelected speaker if the vote were held today.
The tumultuous early December episode appeared to cool when Johnson said he and Stefanik had a “great talk.”
“I called her and I said, ‘Why wouldn’t you just come to me, you know?’” Johnson said. “So we had some intense fellowship about that.”
Still, Stefanik, the chairwoman of the House Republican leadership, has not fully walked back her criticisms. A Dec. 2 social media post remains online in which, after a provision she championed was omitted from a defense authorization bill, Stefanik accused Johnson of falsely claiming he was unaware of it, calling it “more lies from the Speaker.”
State Republican Chairman Ed Cox said the party respected Stefanik’s decision and thanked her for her efforts.
“Bruce Blakeman has my endorsement and I urge our State Committee and party leaders to join me,” Cox said in a prepared statement. “Bruce is a fighter who has proven he knows how to win in difficult political terrain.”
Izaguirre writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Steven Sloan and Joey Cappelletti contributed from Washington.
It is often said that film directors are siloed off from one another, that they don’t get to watch how others work. So when you put a group of them together, as with the six participants in The Envelope’s 2025 Oscar Directors Roundtable, they are quick to share all sorts of ideas. Like where they prefer to sit in a movie theater — centered in a row or on an aisle? How far back is the best for sound, or so the screen runs up to the edges of your peripheral vision? Should you even take the worst seats in the house, since somebody will eventually be asked to pay money to sit there?
Guillermo del Toro, there with his adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic novel “Frankenstein,” likes the top of the first quarter of the theater. Rian Johnson, who finds new twists for Benoit Blanc in his third “Knives Out” detective story, “Wake Up Dead Man,” says, “I look for wherever Guillermo’s sitting.” Nia DaCosta, who made the bold, adventurous Ibsen adaptation “Hedda,” likes the top of the first third. Mona Fastvold, who explores the life of the founder of the religious movement known as the Shakers in “The Testament of Ann Lee,” likes the center a little farther back. Jon M. Chu, who made the second part of a musical adaptation with “Wicked: For Good,” sits dead center — and has been known to talk to the theater manager if the sound isn’t loud enough. And Benny Safdie, who explores the rise and fall of mixed martial arts fighter Mark Kerr in “The Smashing Machine,” tries to find a spot where he can fidget in his seat and not bother anyone.
Read on for more excerpts of their conversation about the art of adaptation, navigating budget constraints at any scale and much more.
Jon, I’ve heard you say that with “Wicked: For Good,” you wanted the film to be deeper but not darker. And it doesn’t pull any punches as far as dealing with themes of antiauthoritarianism. What was it like to have those very serious ideas and yet still have this be a buoyant, crowd-pleasing musical?
Chu: The reason we made it was because it had that meat to it, and it was always a two-movie, yearlong experience that set up the fairy tale first. And Movie 2 is kind of where we all are, this moment of this fairy tale shattered in front of us.
I have five children now, so I’m thinking about how to present stories to my kids. Do I still believe in the possibility of dreams and the American Dream? “For Good” really gets to delve into that stuff. And because it was shorter than the first half, we get more room to do it. We added new songs to explore that idea. So it all felt really fitting. Movie 1 could be an answer. Movie 2 is much more of a challenge: Who are we gonna be now that we know the truth?
All of your films in their own way are speaking to right now. Rian, “Wake Up Dead Man” is specifically set in the year 2025 and all the “Knives Out” pictures have been dealing with our contemporary reality. What makes you want to do that?
Johnson: That kind of started for me with the first movie. This is a genre, the murder mystery genre, that I love and that I’m just seeing so much of growing up. But it’s also a genre where most of what I had seen throughout my whole life, murder mysteries are period pieces set usually in a cozy little bubble of a little “Queensfordshire” place in England.
And I guess my realization was, that’s not what Agatha Christie did. She was not writing period pieces. She wasn’t an incredibly political writer, but she was always writing to her time. It’s not trying to do anything radical in terms of making it new or updating it, but let’s set it very much unapologetically in the modern moment. … You have a group of suspects that have a hierarchy of power amongst them and the person at the top they all wanna bump off — it’s such a potent vehicle for building a little microcosm of society.
Benny, one of my favorite things in “The Smashing Machine” is that it’s funny to realize setting a story at the turn of millennium is a period piece now. What was it like crafting this very specific, recent time period?
Safdie: It’s a time period that I think everybody thinks is just yesterday. But when you actually get into the nitty-gritty, it’s a long time ago. And things were very different and everybody knows exactly what those things are too. Because it was heavily documented, there was so much footage of it, it’s so top of mind. And I think a large amount of people also want to go back there a little bit, to this time where the internet was just kind of happening. People want to go back to this simpler moment. But trying to re-create what that feels like is what I was really going after — just thinking about how you would live in that time, and then represent that in the movie. Because I did want it to kind of feel like time travel.
Guillermo, you’ve spoken so much about how “Frankenstein” has been a lifelong dream project for you. Now that it’s done, where does that leave you?
Del Toro: There’s a massive postpartum depression, No. 1, and it’s real. And it affected me more than I thought it would, to be candid. But fortunately, I’ve been very interested in two new themes that are going to be sure to produce blockbusters, which is memory and regret. The dynamic duo of past 60. And I always thought about that in the abstract, but now I try to make the movies not only about the moment I’m in, but about me.
And I’m seriously trying to express what makes me uneasy, what makes me believe in the possibilities of grace even in the most horrible circumstances. And I’m not talking only social, but personal or philosophical. Something happens when the six clicks in on the counter. And all you can do is [ask], “Do I feel I have something to say, genuinely?” And then you go to that. Cronenberg, I had dinner with him when he was turning 74, and he said you have to scare yourself into being young again.
Nia, “Hedda” is such a bold adaptation of the play “Hedda Gabler.” You switched the gender of one of the main characters. You aren’t afraid to inject issues of race and class and sexual identity into the story. Were you ever concerned that you were asking too much of this classic text?
DaCosta: I wrote it on spec, so I wasn’t thinking about anything besides letting my freak flag fly, basically. I just thought, “This character makes more sense as a woman.” OK, what does that mean now? How does that affect the rest of the story? And then I just go from there. And then it ended up being really bountiful and generative.
And then when I met Tessa [Thompson] three years later, I thought, “Oh, when I write this, eventually Tessa will play Hedda.” So now she’s Black. OK, what does that mean? And Tessa’s also mixed-race. So then you get that element of it as well. And then I chose the 1950s, and then I chose England and the country house. You just treat these things as truths, and the story has to go in a certain direction. So I never worry about those things. Maybe because I’m a Black woman, so my presence or my identity for some people will complicate the story. But for me, it just is life.
Guillermo, in adapting “Frankenstein,” did you feel like you were dealing with the Mary Shelley text and also all the Frankenstein movies that we know?
Del Toro: I put all the cinematic stuff on the side. I didn’t want to make an erudite cinematic movie or a referential movie. I have lived with the three iterations of the text for my entire life. And there’s a lot of the interstitial stuff that I took from her biography, fusing with my biography, because even if you sing a song everybody knows, you’re doing it with your lungs. And your passion and your pain and your throat. … It’s the difference between seeing a living animal and taxidermy. If you just want the text, then buy the text. You cannot be more faithful to that text than reading the text. But if you want to see how we interact and resuscitate something into being emotional again, then that’s what we try to do.
Mona, “The Testament of Ann Lee” is a story told with music, but is it a musical? Is that a question you asked yourself as you were making it?
Fastvold: I consider it a musical. I do. But it’s just a different kind of musical. No one’s singing dialogue. It’s not magic when they start to sing. I think, as I was writing the script with Brady [Corbet], we realized early on it had to be a musical because the Shakers worship through ecstatic song and dance. They would be moved by the divine spirit and then receive a song or a piece of movement, and then they would start to sing and dance. Their life was a musical, so that’s what it had to be. And that was exciting to me, to create the whole structure of that.
But it couldn’t be, “OK, here’s a story and then here’s an amazing musical number.” It had to come from this place of worship. So all the musical bits and pieces of the film, our moments of feeling moved by the spirit and having this sort of religious experience, it had to be grounded in that and it had to be really organic-sounding and -looking. So we had to ground it in live recordings and create the soundscape and the music in dialogue with my choreographers. Every body slap and stomp is part of the rhythm and the music of it, because it couldn’t just be where diegetic audio fades out and then there’s this great, wonderful piece.
Chu: In a weird way, we all make musicals. All the movies, everybody has a take on how music integrates with it.
Del Toro: I was aiming for opera.
Guillermo, Jon, both of your films have a sense of scale to them. What kind of challenges does that present? Is it wrangling all the extras? Is it having the sets built on time? Jon, just the number of florists credited at the end of “Wicked: For Good” is wild.
Chu: It’s like building Disneyland, essentially. We had the warehouses going — there’s first a recording studio, so we’re recording music while their dance rehearsals are going on. You have hundreds and hundreds of people. Then you go to the costumes department and then you have the hair, just the wigs alone. People are getting there at 2:30 in the morning. And that’s before you even start the day.
We were planning two movies at the same time. So we had 20-something musical numbers rehearsed and worked with our cinematographer and our team to understand everything and build sets around these pieces. And then you get there on the day and how do I say, “Hey, all that stuff we did, this is actually happening over here. Let’s move everything over here”? I felt the hardest thing was being OK with wasting money if it was the right thing to do at that moment. I needed to feel free and had everybody aware that if I’m moving all of a sudden, we’ve got to go and we’ve got to figure it out. And I think that’s where the magic is.
Del Toro: To me, it’s three things. The first one is tonal, meaning everything that you do, you’re not doing eye candy, you’re doing eye protein. You’re telling a story. So it’s not about looking good or looking big. It’s about, does the gesture happen at the right moment? Because you can make gestures on the wrong moment of the film, and they don’t have a dramatic impact. I say we designed the movie for the Creature to feel real, of a piece with the world. So that’s the first one.
The second one: Is it expressing something different every time we go to a bigger thing? It’s not about the scale. And the final one to me is, does it feel real in the world? So the way I go at it is, there’s no typeface, no paint, no photograph, nothing, that cannot be investigated and designed to within an inch of its life. Even great movies, I’m very fidgety. I go, “That’s not a painting from the 1930s. Somebody painted it much later.” Or a typeface or a carnival banner or something like that. So at the end of the day, if you do your job right, you have a world and people just get into it almost like a vibe. Nobody should notice, but if you do it right, they want to experience it over and over again.
Rian, you make a really bold decision in “Wake Up Dead Man,” where the signature character of the series, Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc, is offscreen for much of the first 45 minutes or so of the movie. Did you have to convince people that’s the way things should go?
Johnson: Not really. For this one, first of all, it is a little closer to actually a traditional detective structure. That’s kind of how most Agatha Christie books work, is you meet the suspects in the first act. You get a very good idea of who’s gonna get bumped off. And then, end of the first act, the murder happens, and then the detective shows up and starts to solve it. So there was a precedent for it. But the real reason I had done backflips in the previous two movies to get around that was so we could get Blanc in there earlier. The reason it made sense for this [is] because Father Jud, who’s played by Josh O’Connor, [is] kind of the protagonist of it because of the themes of religion, and so the whole lay of the land was more complicated and delicate in this one to set up. I felt like the audience would be best served by having that runway and getting the time before this powerhouse that is Daniel playing Benoit Blanc comes in and brings this whole new energy to it.
The other thing that I’ve landed on with them is you have to constantly resist the candy of the mystery. You have to always remind yourself [that] the mystery elements are not a load-bearing wall, that those are never going to keep an audience entertained or engaged. You need to do the same thing you do in any movie where you have an emotional, bold line going that’s thrown at the beginning, that lands at the end. And the mystery then has to support that.
Mona, with “Ann Lee,” but also with “The Brutalist,” it seems like the movies that you and Brady Corbet are collaborating on together, you’re doing so much with relatively limited resources. What is it that the two of you are doing in these films that you’re able to make them seem so grand?
Fastvold: I mean, there’s no trick. I had to prep for almost a year for this one, because I knew that no one was going to give me a lot of money to make a musical about the founders of the Shakers. It was not gonna be this sexy pitch. It was a hard pitch. So I knew that it was going to be a limited budget. But at the same time, I just desperately wanted “Ann Lee” to have a really grand story. And I wanted there to be a believable, lush world. And I wanted to tell a story about her whole life, not just a day in her life.
So I had to make it work somehow. It was so much about saying, “OK, I’m working with my [director of photography], my production designer, my costume designer every weekend and night for months and months before we started official prep. And same with my choreographer and composer and with all of the cast as well, just rehearsing. Amanda [Seyfried] was rehearsing at night while she was shooting something else. She would go and have dance rehearsals at night, on the weekends, so we could keep on adjusting.
So the only way that I could, to quote David Lynch, get dreamy on set, which was something I really wanted, was by having so much prep time, and then just really knowing what my Plan A and B was, and to sort of experiment in advance more. And because I knew there’s no way that you can try and build a world and then have the same flexibility on this budget, it’s all about knowing every line item in my budget, what everything costs in Hungary, what everything costs in Sweden. “OK, this is how much a cherry picker in Hungary costs, and therefore I’m gonna take out two shots and only build half the roof.”
The 2025 Envelope Directors Roundtable. Top row, left to right: Rian Johnson, Benny Safdie, and Mona Fastvold. Bottom row, left to right: Nia DaCosta, Jon M. Chu and Guillermo del Toro.
Chu: I think that’s one of the biggest lessons I learned being a director. You don’t have a right to make your movie, because it costs so much and you need so much help. You do have to earn the right to make your movie. That is a part of our job.
Nia, you come to “Hedda” having just made a Marvel movie. You’ve just also finished a sequel to “28 Years Later.” Is there a secret through line for you that connects all these projects?
DaCosta: Being a nerd, Marvel, horror, comic books, for me, those things that I’ve done that I haven’t written are worlds that I loved as a kid. So “Candyman” was hugely important to me when I was younger. I used to love Marvel comics as a kid. “28 Days Later” is one of my formative films that I watched. And so when the opportunities came up to be a part of those worlds, it was really exciting for me. And then “Hedda,” I’m a theater nerd too, so I just really go by my passion, and I’m really compelled by just interesting characters.
“Hedda” and “28 Years Later” are very different films, but for me, they were so similar because I learned from my experience jumping into the studio system after making a sub-million-dollar movie [“Little Woods”] what works for me and what doesn’t work for me. And what works for me is really being given authorship. And so I’m setting the tone early. We’re not here to battle. We’re here to make the vision that I have. And if you’re into it, cool and great, let’s work together. If you’re not into it, then it doesn’t have to exist or I’ll find another way for it to exist.
Del Toro: The ambition should always be beyond the budget. If they give you $130 [million], you want to make a movie that is $260 [million]. But the way to that I found by doing “Devil’s Backbone,” which is $3 million, or “Shape of Water,” which is $19.3. “Shape of Water” opened with all the different sets in the first 15 minutes. And then it’s two sets. Lab, apartment, lab, apartment, lab, apartment. I always tell the departments, let’s choose meatballs and gravy. Where do we put the real resources? You reach a plateau no matter what the budget. Never spend money on a plateau. It always needs to mean something.
Safdie: You pick and choose the moments when you’re gonna get big. We were doing the hospital scene and then we built the plane in the hallway of the hospital. Because that was the most affordable. But there was a column in the middle of the plane, and I would always joke that we should go through the column. I find those limitations exciting. Because you really have to figure it out.
Rian, “Glass Onion” had a more robust theatrical release than “Dead Man” has gotten. Do you feel like as filmmakers that all of you are being put in this position of fighting for the future of theaters and moviegoing?
Johnson: I actually feel incredibly optimistic at this moment about the future of moviemaking. I don’t feel that way because we’re all picking up signs and marching down the street and preaching to people that they need to keep this sacred. I feel optimistic about it because I go to movie theaters and I see them packed with young people who want to go to movie theaters and have that experience.
And I see them coming out for new movies. I see them at revival cinemas. I see theaters at 2 p.m. on a Tuesday showing a Melville film that are just full of young people who are excited. And then you see it with movies that have come out this year. You see it with something like Ryan [Coogler]’s movie, “Sinners,” or with so many films that have struck chords with audiences and created cultural events. You can’t wag your finger at people and say, “You should be going to the theater and having this theatrical experience,” but you feel it rising right now. And so for me, it’s less that I want to advocate for it. It’s more that I want to ride that wave of it coming up.
Johnson was Tottenham‘s leading Premier League goalscorer last season with 11, and etched his name in Spurs folklore by scoring the winner in their Europa League final triumph over Manchester United in Bilbao, ending the club’s 17-year wait for a trophy.
But the departure of Ange Postecoglou and arrival of Thomas Frank as new head coach has meant Johnson has played more of a peripheral role this season.
Johnson, 24, has made only six top-flight starts under Frank this season.
As a result, a number of clubs have been alerted to his potential availability before the January transfer window.
Given his lack of action and the prospect of a World Cup on the horizon with Wales, a move away from Tottenham may suit Johnson next month.
Johnson joined Tottenham from Nottingham Forest in a deal worth £47.5m in the summer of 2023 and has scored 27 goals for the club.
WASHINGTON — Four centrist Republicans broke with Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday and signed onto a Democratic-led petition that will force a House vote on extending for three years an enhanced pandemic-era subsidy that lowers health insurance costs for millions of Americans.
The stunning move comes after House Republican leaders pushed ahead with a health care bill that does not address the soaring monthly premiums that millions of people will soon endure when the tax credits for those who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act expire at year’s end.
Democrats led by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York needed 218 signatures to force a floor vote on their bill, which would extend the subsides for three years.
Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Robert Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie, all from Pennsylvania, and Mike Lawler of New York signed on Wednesday morning, pushing it to the magic number of 218. A vote on the subsidy bill could come as soon as January under House rules.
“Unfortunately, it is House leadership themselves that have forced this outcome.” Fitzpatrick said in a statement.
Origins of a Republican revolt
The revolt against GOP leadership came after days of talks centered on the health care subsidies.
Johnson, R-La., had discussed allowing more politically vulnerable GOP lawmakers a chance to vote on bills that would temporarily extend the subsidies while also adding changes such as income caps for beneficiaries. But after days of discussions, the leadership sided with the more conservative wing of the party’s conference, which has assailed the subsidies as propping up a failed marketplace through the ACA, which is widely known as “Obamacare.”
House Republicans pushed ahead Wednesday a 100-plus-page health care package without the subsidies, instead focusing on long-sought GOP proposals designed to expand insurance coverage options for small businesses and the self-employed.
Fitzpatrick and Lawler tried to add a temporary extension of the subsidies to the bill, but were denied.
“Our only request was a floor vote on this compromise, so that the American People’s voice could be heard on this issue. That request was rejected. Then, at the request of House leadership I, along with my colleagues, filed multiple amendments, and testified at length to those amendments,” Fitzpatrick said. “House leadership then decided to reject every single one of these amendments.
“As I’ve stated many times before, the only policy that is worse than a clean three-year extension without any reforms, is a policy of complete expiration without any bridge,” Fitzpatrick said.
Lawler, in a social media post, similarly said that “the failure of leadership” to permit a vote had left him with “no choice” but to sign the petition. He urged Johnson to bring the plan up for an immediate floor vote.
Path ahead is uncertain
Even if the subsidy bill were to pass the House, which is far from assured, it would face an arduous climb in the Republican-led Senate.
Republicans last week voted down a three-year extension of the subsidies and proposed an alternative that also failed. But in an encouraging sign for Democrats, four Republican senators crossed party lines to support their proposal.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., argued against the Democratic extension as “an attempt to disguise the real impact of Obamacare’s spiraling health care costs.”
