Americans are feeling the strain already with less than three weeks to go until the expiration of COVID-era tax credits that have helped many people pay for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. For one Wisconsin couple, the loss of government-sponsored health subsidies in 2026 means choosing a lower-quality insurance plan with a higher deductible. For a Michigan family, it means going without insurance altogether. For a single mom in Nevada, the spiking costs will mean fewer Christmas gifts this year. She’s stretching her budget while waiting to see if Congress will act. But a legislative fix seems increasingly unlikely.

The Justice Department has asked an appeals court to block a contempt investigation of the Trump administration for failing to turn around planes carrying Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador in March. In a court filing Friday, the department also sought Chief Judge James Boasberg’s removal from the case. The department asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to rule on its requests before Monday, when Boasberg is scheduled hear testimony from a former government attorney who filed a whistleblower complaint. The judge is trying to determine if Trump administration officials should be prosecuted for willfully defying his March 15 order blocking the Venezuelan migrants' deportations to El Salvador.

House Democrats have released several photos from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein, including some of Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and the former Prince Andrew. The 19 photos released by Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee on Friday are a small part of more than 95,000 they received from the estate of Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting sex trafficking charges. The photos were released without captions or context and include a black-and-white image of Trump alongside six women whose faces are blacked out. The Democrats also released a photo of Clinton posing alongside Epstein and his longtime girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.