Happy Monday and welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon digest of Puck’s best new reporting.

First up today, Leigh Ann Caldwell reports from inside Capitol Hill on the rising alarm among Republicans as Trump insists he’s “done” with legislation for the next three years—even as the G.O.P. desperately needs a new campaign message. As Leigh Ann writes, members know they need some kind of agenda to retain their majority (and keep their own political careers afloat). But their saving grace may be the president’s instinct for self preservation…

Plus, below the fold: Dylan Byers convenes the top minds in media to determine whether the industry is doomed. Bill Cohan enumerates Paramount’s alleged missteps in its pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery. Peter Hamby and Bill explore the Trump factor in the WBD bake-off. Marion Maneker reviews the major auction houses’ year-end totals and tours the Met’s new Helene Schjerfbeck exhibition. And Sarah Shapiro spotlights beauty’s breakout hero products of the year.

Meanwhile, on the pods: Matt Belloni reunites with Lucas Shaw on The Town to crown the winners of the fourth annual Townie awards. On Impolitic, John Heilemann and Christopher Anderson discuss the furor over his Vanity Fair portraits of Trump’s inner circle. And on The Powers That Be, Peter and Jon offer their first impressions of Bari Weiss’s evolving plans at CBS News.

WASHINGTON

Trump’s pronouncement that he’s “done” with legislation for the next three years has rattled and confounded House Republicans, who desperately need some kind of agenda to have any hope of retaining their majority. Good luck in ’26…

MEDIA

The inherent tension of the journalist-as-brand model, the continued erosion of institutional authority, the potential for an A.I. newsroom: Industry leaders weighed in on all this and more at a panel this week to unveil the results of our latest Puck–Orchestra survey.

WALL STREET

Everything you wanted to know about the Warner Bros. Discovery board’s doubts with the Ellisons’ bid (but were afraid to ask) is revealed in its 14D-9 filing—a mother lode of alleged Paramount missteps, from squabbles over consent provisions and breakup fee reimbursements to junior lien debt and the financial capacity of the world’s fifth-richest man.

WASHINGTON

Wall Street guru Bill Cohan on what’s next in the battle for Warner Bros., and the inevitability of presidential meddling.

ART

In the space of a few short months, we’ve seen the public art market return not only to viability, but vibrancy—even if we’re only just returning to a baseline level of sales.

ART

The new Helene Schjerfbeck show at the Met offers a rare opportunity to see the work of a truly important artist, whose significance was obscured only by the fact that she lived in a small country far from the center of culture.

FASHION

Beauty might be “recession-proof,” but influencers are monetizing anxiety with LED masks, not lipsticks. Herewith, our exclusive presentation of ShopMy’s top 10 list for 2025.

HOLLYWOOD

It’s podcasting’s most exclusive event of the year: the fourth annual Townies! Join Matt and Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw as they recap the year in Hollywood with exciting and hilarious categories like Biggest Flex, Most Destructive Behind-the-Scenes Drama, Most Baffling Success, Most Annoying Media Narrative, Deal of the Year, and much more in Part 1 of this year’s Townies.

WASHINGTON

John welcomes celebrated photojournalist Christopher Anderson to discuss the controversy over his portraits of Donald Trump’s inner circle in Vanity Fair. Anderson explains his trepidation over taking the assignment and his approach to it once he did; why the outrage over his pictures in some quarters is a result of a growing confusion between political figures and celebrities, the proliferation of photo filters and A.I. image distortion on social media, and a lack of comprehension that photojournalism is, in fact, journalism; and why no one should be shocked that he didn’t conceal signs of Karoline Leavitt’s cosmetic enhancements or shoot Stephen Miller as if he were Brad Pitt (beyond the obvious, that is).

MEDIA

Jon Kelly and Peter Hamby share some yuletide warmth as well as their impressions of Bari Weiss’s evolving plans at CBS News, which are starting to become clear. Then the duo pivot to Semafor’s surprising manifest destiny in the Middle East.

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