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58%
A new polling memo urges Senate Democrats to “play hardball” ahead of a looming partial government shutdown and use their “leverage to reform ICE,” Politico reports. The polling found that 58% of likely midterm voters want ICE to be reined in. More voters prefer reforming ICE than the number who prefer eliminating the agency entirely by 30% to 19%.
84.5
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® fell by 9.7 points in January to 84.5 (1985=100), from an upwardly revised 94.2 in December. A 5.1-point upward revision to December’s reading of the Index resulted in a slight increase last month, reversing the initially reported decline. However, January’s preliminary results showed confidence resumed declining after a one-month uptick. The Present Situation Index—based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions—dropped by 9.9 points to 113.7 in January. The Expectations Index—based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions—fell by 9.5 points to 65.1, well below the threshold of 80 that usually signals a recession ahead. The cutoff for preliminary results was January 16, 2026.
1,500
The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active duty soldiers to be ready in case of a possible deployment to Minnesota, where federal authorities have been conducting a massive immigration enforcement operation, the Associated Press reports.
2/3
CNN Poll: “A two-thirds majority of Americans say the federal government is intentionally holding back some information about the Epstein case that should be released, while just 16% say the government is making an effort to release all information possible. The remainder say they haven’t heard enough about the case to say.”
362
New York Times: “House members cast 362 votes in 2025, the second-lowest count in the last quarter century. The only other year in that time frame when the House cast fewer votes was 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States.”
58%
Public opinion on nearly every aspect of President Trump’s first year back in the White House is negative, a new CNN poll finds, with a majority of Americans saying Trump is focused on the wrong priorities and doing too little to address cost of living. A majority, 58%, calls the first year of Trump’s term a failure.
51.6%
A new AtlasIntel poll finds a majority of Venezuelans want María Corina Machado to lead their country, contradicting Donald Trump’s claim that the opposition leader doesn’t have the support to rule. More than half of Venezuelans living in their homeland — 51.6% — say Machado should take over, compared with 14% who endorse Delcy Rodríguez, who assumed the presidency this month following Trump’s military intervention.
15 million
There have been at least 15 million flu cases this season, according to the latest estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reports ABC News. This year, outpatient visits for flu-like symptoms reached the highest recorded level since the agency began tracking cases more than 30 years ago.
335,000
New data reveals that a staggering 335,000 federal workers left government work last year, with the vast majority quitting or retiring — only 11,000 were a result of layoffs from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, the Washington Post reports.
10%
“President Donald Trump has called on credit card companies to cap interest rates at 10 percent for a year, effective from Jan. 20, without specifying how the proposal could be implemented or enforced,” the Washington Post reports. Associated Press: Americans would save $100B if credit card rates were capped as Trump proposed.
