National
2026 started with a bang as the United States conducted a series of strikes on Venezuela, culminating in the Sunday capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Maduro has gained notoriety across South America for his authoritarian leadership style, with corruption, electoral fraud, and human rights abuses all alleged to have been committed by the administration. The United Nations estimates that thousands have been extrajudicially killed and that seven million Venezuelans fled the country between 2013 and 2023.
Maduro, also the President of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, became the Vice President of Venezuela under former Marxist president Hugo Chávez in 2012, and became the President of Venezuela in 2013. Waves of protests due to economic hardship saw calls for Maduro to be recalled. The Supreme Tribunal, the nation’s highest court, stripped the National Assembly of its power. The crisis led Maduro to call for a rewrite of the constitution.
In 2018, Maduro was re-elected president with results heavily challenged and seen as illegitimate by the United States and the European Union. More power crises would emerge and Maduro would be re-elected in 2024, again under dubious circumstances.
In March 2020, the U.S. government indicted Maduro on cocaine trafficking conspiracy charges. Last year, the U.S. alleged that the Cartel of the Suns, a Venezuelan drug gang designated by the U.S. as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), was led by Maduro.
In November 2025, Maduro was named a member of a foreign terrorist organization by the United States.
In the early hours of January 3, U.S. forces launched Operation Absolute Resolve Venezuela. By 4:20a.m., President Donald Trump (R-FL) announced on social media that Maduro and his wife had been captured and flown out of the country. The two are currently in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. They pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Reactions in Venezuela are nothing short of celebratory, while the legal community questions Trump’s ability to capture a foreign head of state without congressional approval.
Trump’s moves in Venezuela have renewed his calls for American intervention in Greenland. Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) has teased a war power vote to forestall a U.S. takeover of the Danish Arctic territory.
In domestic political news, Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R, CA-01) died on Tuesday at 65, according to statements from party leaders and congressional offices. His death leaves his seat vacant and trims the Republican margin in the U.S. House of Representatives to 218 seats, the bare minimum required for a functional majority.
LaMalfa, first elected in 2012, represented CA-01, a largely rural district which spans the northern interior of the state. A fourth-generation rice farmer, he built a record focused on agriculture, water policy, forestry management, and rural economic issues. Over seven terms, he served on committees with jurisdiction over natural resources and transportation, reflecting the priorities of his district.
California law requires that vacancies in the House be filled by special election rather than appointment. Under state procedures, the governor issues a proclamation setting the election timeline. A spokesperson for Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) indicated that a special election would be called in accordance with state law, with dates to be determined.
Under the Proposition 50 gerrymander, CA-01 went from a safely Republican district to one that would have backed former Vice President Kamala Harris (D-CA) by twelve points – a tectonic shift that all but certainly nets the Democrats one seat in this year’s crucial midterms.
LaMalfa is survived by his wife, Jill, and their children, according to statements released Tuesday.
Additionally, Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) has suspended his re-election campaign for governor of Minnesota as the fallout of the Somali day care fraud scandal continues to shape national discourse.
The scandal grows in scope as Health and Human Services (HHS) has confirmed that Somalia’s Ambassador to the United Nations Abukar Dahir Osman is linked to Progressive Health Care Services, a home health agency in Cincinnati, Ohio. HHS is now taking action against Progressive Health “in response to a conviction for Medicaid fraud,” according to the Trump Administration.
Osman is listed as having served as the “Managing Director” of Progressive Health Care Services from 2014 to 2019, during which time he also served as Somalia’s permanent representative to the UN. HHS also claims that the agency occupied the “same suite” as another company and that multiple other companies were listed at the same address – all with Somali names.
HHS has frozen federal child care funding to all states pending an investigation.
Governor Walz, a two-term governor first elected in 2018, refused to take questions from the press amid his suspension announcement. Moreover, he’s resisted calls to resign, defiantly stating, “over my dead body” at a press conference on Tuesday.
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is now reportedly giving serious consideration to running for governor of Minnesota, which would create a vacancy in the Senate and likely a special election alongside Minnesota’s other Senate seat. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) is not running for re-election this year, leaving the seat open.
For the gubernatorial race, several high-profile candidates on both sides have emerged. For the Democrats, Bill Gates Jr. is the only declared candidate, while Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) and Secretary of State Steve Simon (D) are considered potential candidates. Meanwhile, the GOP sees Scott Jensen, a former state senator who came just a few points away from defeating Walz for re-election in 2022, as well as Mike Lindell, the CEO of My Pillow.
Finally, U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) has announced she will not seek a second term. Congresswoman Harriet Hageman (R, WY-AL) is passing on re-election to the U.S. House to vie for the open Senate seat.
Both seats are safely and reliably Republican, as Wyoming is by many metrics the most Republican state in the country. Even the bluest of waves likely wouldn’t be able to topple the GOP’s firm grip on the Equality State.
Raheem Soto contributed to this section.
State
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D-Astoria) gave his inaugural speech on January 1, and many have taken note of a particular line.
“We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.”
Mamdani reiterated some of his cornerstone campaign promises, such as providing free buses, rent freezes, and universal childcare subsidized by “taxing the wealthiest few.”
Mamdani is also in hot water with the Jewish community for declining to renew two executive orders signed by former Mayor Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn). One act adopted a broad definition of antisemitism. The other prohibited city employees from engaging in movements against Israel that include boycotts, divestments, and sanctions.
Mamdani said that the order of defining antisemitism, which was provided by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), is not recognized by many Jewish organizations in the city.
“On his very first day as @NYCMayor, Mamdani shows his true face: He scraps the IHRA definition of antisemitism and lifts restrictions on boycotting Israel. This isn’t leadership. It’s antisemitic gasoline on an open fire,” said the Israel Foreign Ministry on X, formerly known as Twitter, on January 2.
The new mayor also opted not to renew most of Adams’ executive orders, but kept several in place, including one to establish the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism. Another he kept in place prohibits protests within certain distances of houses of worship.
Local
Just before Christmas, the Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA) announced in a statement they have been awarded $7 million in grant funding to eliminate PFAS, or “forever chemicals.”
The grant was awarded by the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation to support “five Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) treatment projects” to eliminate PFAS from the public water supply.
Last year, the SCWA celebrated its adherence to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) drinking water standard of four parts per trillion (ppt) – meaning the allowable limit of non-detectable PFAS that can be found in drinking water. The SCWA also met the deadline early, as the EPA set the deadline for 2031.
SCWA is already meeting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s national 4-parts-per-trillion drinking water standard for PFAS ahead of the regulatory deadline in 2031. These new GAC projects will move SCWA closer to its long-term goal of treating all water delivered to customers to non-detectable levels.
“Grant funding is critical to protecting water quality without putting the full cost on our customers,” said SCWA Chairman Charlie Lefkowitz in a statement. “These projects allow us to continue installing advanced treatment systems, meet strict PFAS standards ahead of schedule and keep rates affordable. I want to thank the state for their continued investment in high quality drinking water.”
The SCWA has secured about $112 million in state and federal grants since 2019, which the public-benefit corporation says has helped them in reaching these clean water goals.
“We made a commitment years ago to get ahead of PFAS, not wait for mandates. This funding helps us continue that work and accelerates our ability to fully remove these compounds from drinking water while maintaining long-term financial stability,” said SCWA CEO Jeff Szabo.
