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Jobs Report Reveals Continued Weakening of the Labor Market
In response to today’s jobs report, Center for Economic and Policy Research Senior Economist Dean Baker released the following statement:
“The labor market continued to weaken in November. The unemployment rate rose to 4.6 percent, the highest level since September 2021.The economy generated just 64,000 jobs in the last two months, all of them in healthcare. And wage growth fell to 3.5 percent over the last year, only slightly higher than the rate of inflation. The unemployment rate for Black workers rose to 8.6 percent, the highest since August of 2021. This a story of the continued weakening of the labor market that we have seen since early this year.”
The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) was established in 1999 to promote democratic debate on the most important economic and social issues that affect people's lives. In order for citizens to effectively exercise their voices in a democracy, they should be informed about the problems and choices that they face. CEPR is committed to presenting issues in an accurate and understandable manner, so that the public is better prepared to choose among the various policy options.
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Rights Groups Demand Stronger Congressional Action Over Trump 'Murder' on High Seas
"This ramping up of the bombing campaign despite increased pressure from Congress signals the administration’s total disregard for the law."
Dec 16, 2025
Human rights groups are demanding that the US Congress intervene to bring an end to President Donald Trump's boat-bombing spree.
Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday released statements condemning the Trump administration for launching more military strikes on purported drug trafficking boats, and they called on US lawmakers to assert their powers over American foreign policy to restrain the White House.
Daphne Eviatar, director of security and human rights for Amnesty International USA, argued that the administration does not seem at all deterred by potential congressional probes of its policies, and urged lawmakers to take a more aggressive approach.
"This ramping up of the bombing campaign despite increased pressure from Congress signals the administration’s total disregard for the law," said Eviatar. "Congress must do everything in its power to rein in this administration’s lawless behavior. Congress must exercise its oversight power to ask how these decisions are made, what intelligence is being used, and what the legal justification the administration is claiming and push back forcefully on these illegal actions."
Eviatar emphasized that the administration's killings "amount to extrajudicial executions, a form of murder, in clear violation of both domestic and international law," while adding that the administration has legal methods at its disposal to intercept suspected drug boats that don't involve slaughtering everyone onboard.
HRW, meanwhile, released a lengthy analysis breaking down the illegality of the Trump boat strikes, while also demanding Congress use its oversight powers to hold administration officials accountable for lawbreaking.
"Congress should intervene urgently," the group declared. "The administration’s lethal boat strikes, conducted without a clear legal basis and outside any armed conflict, demand immediate congressional scrutiny."
HRW also outlined actions that Congress should take, including forcing the White House to release its full legal justification for the bombing campaign, holding public hearings and demanding testimony from top officials, establishing a select committee with subpoena power to investigate the attacks, and setting aside funds to pay out as compensation to the families of the people killed by the strikes.
With Monday's attacks, the death toll from the administration's boat-bombing campaign, which began in September, now stands at at least 95 people.
The human rights groups' calls for great congressional intervention come as the Congressional Progressive Caucus is urging their colleagues to support resolutions aimed at blocking Trump from launching a war with Venezuela without congressional approval.
The first resolution would require Trump to "remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities with any presidentially designated terrorist organization in the Western Hemisphere, unless authorized by a declaration of war or a specific congressional authorization for use of military force."
A second resolution supported by the caucus "directs the president to remove the use of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Venezuela, unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific statutory authorization for use of military force."
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'Gambling With Lives of Their Constituents,' House GOP Leaders Refuse Vote on ACA Tax Credits
"They are actively choosing to go into the holiday break, knowing healthcare premiums are doubling and tripling for millions of Americans in 2026, and doing nothing about it."
Dec 16, 2025
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that he will not allow a vote to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the month, solidifying his party's decision to let tens of millions of Americans face massive premium increases in the new year.
Speaking to reporters, Johnson acknowledged that some swing-district Republicans pushed him for a vote on the ACA subsidies as people across the country face sticker shock, with premiums more than doubling on average.
"We looked for a way to try to allow for that pressure release valve, and it just was not to be," Johnson said of the ACA tax credit vote. "We worked on it all the way through the weekend, in fact. And in the end there was not an agreement."
Johnson's comments, which sparked angry backlash from some of his GOP colleagues, came less than a week after Senate Republicans voted down a Democratic measure that would have extended the enhanced ACA subsidies for three years.
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) called Johnson's obstruction of a subsidy vote "bullshit" and "political malpractice."
Around 22 million Americans received the subsidies, which were first put in place in 2021 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. A survey released earlier this month by the health policy group KFF found that 25% of ACA marketplace enrollees would "very likely" go without insurance if their monthly insurance premiums doubled.
The ACA open enrollment period ended Monday for those with coverage starting start January 1, 2026.
"With no extension of enhanced tax credits, ACA enrollees are going to start the year with premium payments increasing by an average of 114%, or over $1,000 a year per person," Larry Levitt, KFF's executive vice president for health policy, noted Tuesday. "Some will find a way to pay it, some have switched to higher deductibles, and some have dropped coverage."
"Johnson is choosing chaos, higher costs, and uncertainty for working families."
Ahead of next week's holiday recess, House Republicans are expected to vote on legislation that cobbles together various GOP healthcare ideas that experts say wouldn't do much to lower healthcare costs. Even if the bill—which would not extend the ACA tax credits—passes the House, it stands no chance of getting the necessary 60 votes in the Senate.
"They are actively choosing to go into the holiday break, knowing healthcare premiums are doubling and tripling for millions of Americans in 2026, and doing nothing about it," Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said of Republican lawmakers.
Last-ditch, bipartisan efforts to force Johnson to allow a vote using a discharge petition also appear unlikely to garner enough support. NBC News noted that "even if a discharge petition secured the votes to pass, which is far from certain, it would take time to reach the House floor," effectively guaranteeing "it’ll be pushed into next year, with Republicans hoping to adjourn after this week."
Brad Woodhouse, president of the advocacy group Protect Our Care, said in a statement Tuesday that "Mike Johnson is running out the clock while millions of families face higher premiums and the loss of affordable coverage in just a couple of weeks."
"Across the country, working Americans are preparing for unimaginable sacrifices," said Woodhouse. "They are getting ready to shut down the small businesses they spent blood, sweat, and tears building because the GOP healthcare hikes are simply unbearable. Many are preparing for what life looks like without insurance. Others are considering leaving their jobs or making the impossible choice between paying for medications, rent, or groceries."
“The solution is simple and already on the table: a clean, three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits," he added. "Johnson is choosing chaos, higher costs, and uncertainty for working families. The choice for House Republicans is clear. If not, the out-of-touch Republican Party will be in for another electoral reckoning in 2026 for raising costs, ripping away coverage, and gambling with the lives of their constituents."
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IRC Warns of 'Surging Crises and Shrinking Support' as Sudan, Palestine Top 2026 Watchlist
"The New World Disorder is here," said the head of the International Rescue Committee. "The question is whether to respond with vision, an opportunity for reinvention—or with further retreat," said the head of the International Rescue Committee.
Dec 16, 2025
The International Rescue Committee on Tuesday released its annual humanitarian crisis forecast, along with a stark warning that civilians in the countries on its watchlist "are on the front lines of a disintegrating international order and global action is needed to reverse course."
Sudan, Palestine, and South Sudan topped IRC's Emergency Watchlist for 2026, followed by Ethiopia, Haiti, Myanmar, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mali, Burkina Faso, and Lebanon. Afghanistan, Cameroon, Chad, Colombia, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen also made the list.
People in some of those countries—including Sudan, Palestine, and Myanmar—are enduring genocidal violence and privation, while nearly all of the other nations on the list are experiencing war or other unrest. Some are also ravaged by climate-driven extreme weather, hunger, and other crises.
"This year’s watchlist identifies a dangerous divergence: surging crises and shrinking support," IRC said on Tuesday. "Home to just 12% of the global population, watchlist countries account for 89% of those in humanitarian need and are projected to host more than half of the world’s extreme poor by 2029."
IRC noted that "117 million people are forcibly displaced" and "nearly 40 million people are facing such severe hunger" in the watchlist countries.
"While crises grow, global humanitarian funding has shrunk by 50%," the group said. "What remains is a humanitarian system underfunded, undercut, and unprepared to meet unprecedented humanitarian crises in 2026."
The world has retreated from humanitarian aid—but violence, hunger and climate threats haven't slowed down. We must not forget about the people for whom crisis is a daily reality. This is our 2026 Emergency Watchlist: www.rescue.org/watchlist2026
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— International Rescue Committee (@rescue.org) December 16, 2025 at 6:28 AM
IRC continued:
This “New World Disorder” is replacing the post-WWII international system once grounded in rules and rights. Defined by intensifying geopolitical rivalries, shifting alliances, and transactional deal-making, this disorder is driving a cascade of crises and eroding global support for the world’s most vulnerable. Global cooperation is unraveling; together with major aid cuts, the [United Nations] Security Council has seen a surge in vetoes, stalling responses to atrocities in Sudan, Syria, and the occupied Palestinian territory. Conflict is increasingly used as a tool for power and profit. In Sudan, warring parties and their backers are profiting from the gold trade, deepening violence and devastating civilians. Meanwhile, impunity is enabled on a dangerous scale. 2025 is on track to be the deadliest year for humanitarians. Attacks on schools have risen nearly 50%, and in Gaza, hospitals, shelters, and essential infrastructure have been bombed or cut off from aid.
“What the IRC is seeing on the ground is not a tragic accident. The world is not simply failing to respond to crisis; actions and words are producing, prolonging, and rewarding it," IRC president and CEO David Miliband said Tuesday in a statement. "The scale of the crisis in Sudan, ranking first on this year’s watchlist for the third year in a row and now the largest humanitarian crisis ever recorded, is a signature of this disorder."
Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces—a paramilitary militia born from the Janjaweed co-perpetrators of the first Darfur genocide—continues, with all warring parties, especially the RSF, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to human rights groups. The conflict in Sudan has fueled one of the world’s most acute humanitarian catastrophes, with more than 12 million people displaced and famine confirmed in Darfur's largest refuge camp last year. More than 20 million people are facing acute hunger.
In order to respond more efficiently to global humanitarian crises, IRC recommends:
- Reinvigorating diplomacy, including by empowering the UN to collectively address global challenges by supporting the suspension of Security Council veto power in cases of mass atrocities;
- Protecting civilians and fighting impunity, including by withholding arms sales when violations occur or are at risk of occurring and supporting UN accountability mechanisms; and
- Improving the allocation and delivery of aid, including by reorganizing allocation, prioritizing most vulnerable populations when planning climate adaptation finance, and expanding donor bases.
“This year’s watchlist is a testament to misery but also a warning: Without urgent action from those with power to make a difference, 2026 risks becoming the most dangerous year yet," Miliband said.
That urgent action won't be coming from the United States, where the Trump administration has dramatically slashed international humanitarian assistance despite warnings that such cuts would cause millions of deaths. One of many examples stands out for sheer crassness: As South Sudanese babies and others died of cholera following the closure of local health clinics, US officials celebrated successfully slashing aid budgets and services with congratulations and cake, according to a report published Monday by ProPublica.
"Civilians in watchlist countries are paying the price today. The IRC stands with them to deliver practical solutions that save lives and restore hope," said Miliband. "But the New World Disorder is here, and winds are picking up everywhere. Disorder begets disorder. The question is whether to respond with vision, an opportunity for reinvention—or with further retreat.”
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