IN the NDAA: —$8B topline increase —limits on reducing troops in Europe/South Korea —$400M for Ukraine security assistance —repeal of 2002 Iraq and 1991 Gulf War AUMFs —Outbound investment —BIOSECURE OUT of NDAA: —IVF —DoD collective bargaining protections —Road to housing —CBDC

Whenever Notre Dame is involved, politics are at play. Their last-moment exclusion from the CFP felt like a message about their independence and outsized role in college football governance. My ⁦@YahooSports⁩ column

A newsy wrinkle from Bevacqua: As part of an MOU signed last spring, Notre Dame is assured of a CFP berth if it is ranked in the top 12 starting next year. If this year’s situation unfolds next year, the final at-large team (Miami) would have gotten bumped for No. 11 Notre Dame.

In an exclusive with @YahooSports, Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua says the Irish are shocked about snub and calls the weekly rankings process an “absolute joke” and one that gave ND false hope. “We feel like the playoff was stolen from our student-athletes.” https://t.co/0v135QyJ7O

So, BYU was penalized for getting blown out in its conference championship game (dropped one spot). Which allowed Miami to move up and get compared directly to Notre Dame. But Alabama was not penalized for getting blown out in its conference championship game.

Manufacturing is one of America’s hottest growing professions, with 3.8 million new jobs expected to open up by 2033. But half of those roles are predicted to go unfilled, as only 14% of Gen Z say they’d consider industrial work as a career. https://t.co/8nxV7VAFKg

As Democrats we're used to hearing the "turnout over persuasion" myth from Democrats, but @PatrickRuffini debunks its mirror image on the Republican side: There is not a bloc of "Trump only" voters that only turns out for Trump.

Deputy Secretary of State: “we cannot pretend that we are partners” with the European Union

The elderly of this country really should not pull the thread of "people should not have to pay for things that they don't use."

New: Vanity Fair is dropping Olivia Nuzzi, as I first reported would happen on Wednesday. Wednesday: https://t.co/DyjklczlXH Today:

DeSantis's comprehensive AI agenda has provisions about chatbots, NIL, data centers, China, insurance, privacy, etc

Virginia Dem Climbed Political Ladder Despite Allegations of Threatening Behavior in the Home VA Dem Del. Michael Jones is running in the special election primary for Virginia’s 15th state Senate district’s unassembled caucus on Sunday with the endorsement of Democratic

I just read the Trump administration's National Security Strategy. Five initial thoughts: 1) Where's the geographic focus? A little all over the place... - Western Hem is discussed first - Europe gets the most mentions - Asia gets the most pages, but nearly all about China

Very interesting piece from @tina_nguyen

Senator John Kennedy & Steve Bannon with strong statements on Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and selling chips to China 👇

The Blaze has now rightly retracted the viral Jan 6th Pipe Bomb story. I hope they review how it managed to get published and reconsider using the sources that convinced them it had sufficient support.

The National Security Strategy dropped this evening. There’s a lot to take in, but this phrase is perhaps the most consequential element about China in the document. The Trump admin believes in the possibility of a mutually advantageous economic relationship with China.

What song is going through your head now?

Bipartisanship on China isn't quite dead. Ricketts, Coons, Cotton, McCormick, Shaheen, and Kim come together to sponsor legislation codifying existing export controls on AI chips to China.

The GOP’s newest voters are not ideologically consistent paleoconservative populists. They’re disgruntled Obama-to-Trump or Biden-to-Trump voters whose politics are all over the map. Many have imported conspiratorial and bigoted worldviews into the GOP without simultaneously