Court appears to be split down partisan lines in favor of historic expansion of executive power – key US politics stories from 8 December 2025
The US supreme court on Monday appeared poised to back the Trump administration’s argument that the president should be able to fire independent board members that for almost a century have been protected from presidential interference.
The court heard arguments concerning the legality of Donald Trump’s firing of a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) member and appeared to be split down partisan lines in favor of a historic expansion of executive power, with the conservatives – including the sometimes swing vote of Justice Amy Coney Barrett – seeming to side with the administration.
The justice department has appealed a lower court’s decision that the Republican president exceeded his authority when he moved to dismiss Rebecca Slaughter, the Democratic FTC member, in March before her term was set to expire.
John Yoo, who served as a justice department lawyer under George W Bush, told Reuters the case presents “one of the most important questions over the last century on the workings of the federal government”. He added: “The future of the independence of the administrative state is at issue.”
The case gives the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, an opportunity to overturn a New Deal era supreme court precedent in a case called Humphrey’s Executor v United States that has shielded the heads of independent agencies from removal since 1935.
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Israeli operatives are conducting widespread surveillance of US forces and allies stationed at a new US base in the country’s south, according to sources briefed on disputes about open and covert recordings of meetings and discussions. The scale of intelligence gathering at the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) prompted the US commander of the base, Lt Gen Patrick Frank, to summon an Israeli counterpart for a meeting to tell him that “recording has to stop here”.
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The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, stated repeatedly in 2016 on Fox News that US service members should refuse “unlawful” orders from a potential president Trump – exactly the position he called “despicable” when Democratic lawmakers said it last month.
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A US invasion or attack on Venezuela could plunge South America into a Vietnam-style conflict, the chief foreign policy adviser to Brazil’s president warned. In an interview with the Guardian, Celso Amorim called Donald Trump’s recent decision to order the closure of Venezuelan airspace “an act of war”, and voiced fears the crisis could intensify over the coming weeks.
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Trump warned of potential competition problems over Netflix’s $83bn deal to buy Warner Brothers’ movie studio and streaming networks. The US president said he would be involved in deciding whether the government approved the takeover.
Netflix had a “big market share” and the companies’ combined size “could be a problem”, Trump said.
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David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance launched a hostile bid to acquire Warner Bros Discovery despite Netflix’s announced deal to buy the company’s studio and streaming operation.
After more than five years of litigation, a federal bankruptcy judge has approved the Roman Catholic archdiocese of New Orleans’ proposal to pay $230m to roughly 600 survivors of sexual abuse by the church’s priests, deacons and other personnel.
Washington police chief Pamela Smith is resigning after less than two years in the role amid a battle over control of the city’s law enforcement as Trump moved to federalize the Metropolitan police department.
Democratic representative Jasmine Crockett launched a bid for US Senate in Texas on Monday, bringing a high-profile official to a race that may be critical to Democrats’ bold ambition to reclaim a Senate majority in next year’s midterm elections.
The National Park Service will offer free admission to US residents on Trump’s birthday in 2026 – but is eliminating the benefit for Martin Luther King Day and Juneteenth.
The “yellow line” that divides Gaza under Trump’s ceasefire plan is a “new border” for Israel, the country’s military chief told soldiers deployed in the territory.
Tony Blair will not occupy a key position on Trump’s Gaza “peace council” after Arab and Muslim nations were reported to have objected to the involvement of the former UK prime minister.
The Brazilian-born mother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s nephew – who was recently detained by US immigration authorities – has rejected the Trump administration’s characterizations of her as an absentee parent.
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 7 December 2025.