Good morning! It’s Wednesday, January 21, 2026. I’m about to head to the Supreme Court, where I’ll be covering this morning’s oral arguments in Trump v. Cook, which focuses on whether President Trump can fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
This was already one of the most highly anticipated Trump-related cases of the year; it now takes on added meaning after the Trump administration deepened its clash with the central bank by opening a criminal probe into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Both Powell and Cook are expected to be in the courtroom today. Here’s the link to listen along to oral arguments at 10 a.m. ET; here’s my piece on Cook’s firing back in August if you want a preview of the case.
This morning, I’m sharing video of the conversation I recorded with former FiveThirtyEight podcaster Galen Druke — now the host of GD POLITICS — on Substack Live yesterday, which you can watch as a video or listen to as a podcast by clicking the “play” button above. Galen and I discuss Trump’s first year in office, run through some questions for the year ahead, and I show off a visual prop from Trump’s briefing yesterday. I hope you enjoy!
A few more headlines for your awareness before I head over to the courtroom:
After some plane troubles, President Trump has touched down at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he will come face to face with many of the European leaders who have been terrified by his rhetoric about Greenland recently. Trump is set to address the conference at 8:30 a.m. ET.
The S&P 500 dropped over 2% for the first time since October yesterday, as investors fretted about Trump’s threats to increase tariffs on European countries until Denmark gives Greenland to the U.S. Asked at a press briefing yesterday how far he was willing to go to acquire Greenland, Trump replied: “You’ll find out.” Per the New York Times, the Pentagon has not been directed to make any plan for an invasion.
Lawmakers have reached a bipartisan deal to finish funding the federal government. The House is set to vote on the package this week in two parts, with funding for the Department of Homeland Security separated out, as many House Democrats are expected to oppose the DHS piece.
The House Oversight Committee is expected to meet at 10 a.m. to vote on holding Bill and Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress. The Clintons have refused to comply with subpoenas to testify before the committee as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. When Democrats controlled the House, they similarly held four former Trump aides in contempt for refusing to follow subpoenas.
The Justice Department issued subpoenas to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, and other Democratic officials on Tuesday, as part of a probe into whether the officials sought to impede the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in the state. Per CNN, top DOJ officials have also pushed the FBI to probe whether money that was obtained fraudulently for charities in Minnesota was directed to Democratic campaigns there; the bureau has yet to find evidence to support that allegation.
Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA) launched a primary challenge against Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) yesterday, shortly after Trump pledged that he would support her campaign if she ran. Cassidy was one of the seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, but has been a reliable backer of Trump’s agenda since then, including casting a key vote to confirm HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last year. Trump had reportedly been planning to back Letlow since March, but decided to keep quiet to ensure that Cassidy kept voting in his favor.
Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance announced that they are expecting their fourth child in July. Vance will be the first VP to have a child in office since Ulysses Grant’s VP, Schuyler Colfax, in April 1870. The last president to have a child in office was John F. Kennedy, whose son Patrick was born prematurely in August 1963 and died 39 hours later.
