Cancellations at the Trump-Kennedy Center

Today’s notice: The Epstein files release remains deeply politicized. Don’t take Roger Stone to karaoke. Nicki Minaj changes her mind. A huge increase in whistleblower retaliation complaints. And: Performers aren’t happy about the Kennedy Center’s new name.

THE LATEST

Shocker: The Epstein files dispute is not over. Yes, Congress overwhelmingly passed a law requiring the release of all the Epstein files. And yes, Donald Trump signed it. But the disagreement between the White House and the Hill remains the defining characteristic of this story — and the executive branch is the one with the power to decide, at least initially, what “release the files” means.

And guess what? There’s a trust deficit at play. The lawmakers who pushed the discharge petition, Republican Thomas Massie and Democrat Ro Khanna, are hopping mad at what they see as the purposely slow and over-redacted nature of the DOJ’s release efforts.

By yesterday morning, the pair of lawmakers said they had landed on seeking inherent contempt charges against Attorney General Pam Bondi. Just hours later, the DOJ re-released more than 100 pages of slightly less redacted documents from grand jury proceedings in the case against Ghislaine Maxwell, while promising to review even more documents for release.

What we don’t know: Enough Republicans were frustrated by the politics around this process last time to put pressure on the White House. Will that level of frustration return?

What we do know: There’s a lot of politics in the way these files are being released. The first dump of files Friday focused largely on Bill Clinton.

Open tabs: U.S. pursuing third oil tanker near Venezuela (Reuters); Four ICE detainee deaths in four days spark alarm as arrests grow (WaPo); Inside a Democratic Socialist Convention Galvanized by Mamdani’s Big Win (NYT)

From HHS

MAHSA? HHS’ influence over what does and does not qualify for purchase with Health Savings Accounts is a new avenue for MAHA to push its ideas into traditional medicine, NOTUS’ Margaret Manto and Emily report.

“If HHS has a priority, like getting people healthy and getting people to eat organic foods, HHS … will effectively say to the Treasury Department, ‘Hey, we think it would be smart for you to add gym memberships and organic food into the definition of medical care, to which there’s preferred tax treatment associated with,’” Chris Condeluci, an employee benefits attorney, said.

From the campaign trail

“I am the worst singer you’ve ever heard,”" MAGA architect Roger Stone texted NOTUS’ Taylor Giorno after she asked about Stone’s appearance on “Thank You Mr. President,” the closing track of “Thank You President Trump,” an album released by Anthony Constantino, a Republican running for Rep. Elise Stefanik’s seat.

Constantino is the CEO of a custom printing company and gained fame in New York’s 21st Congressional District last year when he placed an absolutely ginormous (and local code-violating) “Vote For Trump” sign on top of his company’s headquarters. The new album features a number of MAGA stalwarts, proving that Constantino has a lot of national reach for his congressional run.

Meanwhile, Stefanik’s looong year ended with a whimper Friday, putting her once-impressive national profile at risk. She suddenly abandoned her bid to be the Republican nominee for New York governor next year and said she’s not running for reelection to Congress.

The goss: Stefanik was expecting a glide path to the gubernatorial nomination, multiple sources familiar with the matter told NOTUS’ Reese Gorman, but was frustrated when another MAGA-aligned figure, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, jumped into the primary and Trumpworld didn’t say anything.

Trump was “surprised but supportive” of Stefanik’s decision to quit, a source familiar with a phone conversation between Stefanik and the president on Friday said.

As for Blakeman, Trump endorsed his candidacy yesterday, effectively clearing the primary field.

From Phoenix

Star power: The first major Turning Point USA conference since the death of the organization’s founder, Charlie Kirk, got extra buzz yesterday thanks to a surprise appearance from rapper Nicki Minaj. The former Trump critic has spent months flirting with MAGA during Trump 2.0 and praised the “handsome” president while telling audience members that it’s “OK to change your mind.”

But the real takeaway from the event: The bitter infighting that’s riven TPUSA and the MAGA movement in recent weeks broke out into the open in a big way. In his opening remarks Thursday, right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro called out fellow pundits like Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson, who he felt were peddling conspiracy theories around Kirk’s death. He also called Steve Bannon a “PR flack for Jeffrey Epstein.”

They all responded in kind: Carlson called Shapiro “pompous,” Kelly said she no longer considered Carlson a friend and there is a whole lot more where that came from, NOTUS’ Amelia Benavides-Colón reports.

THE BIG ONE

The whistle is blowing, but why? “It could be that the new Trump administration is ethically challenged, or it could be that people are trying to weaponize the IG by drowning them in complaints,” Mark Greenblatt, who was inspector general at the Interior Department until Trump fired him, told NOTUS’ Anna Kramer. She reports on a huge increase in whistleblower retaliation complaints and investigations at the federal agencies that deal with the environment.

The numbers are striking. The Department of Energy’s inspector general opened nine times as many whistleblower-retaliation cases in 2025 as it did in 2024, public reports show. At the EPA, the IG opened roughly six times as many complaints. Those two agencies plus Interior also reported increased activity on their hotlines, where internal employees or people externally can call in and submit reports to watchdogs.

The offices are in chaos. DOGE tried to defund the IGs but was rebuffed by Republican senators. The message, however, was sent – in addition to the IG firings, there have been a steady stream of staff losses. Energy’s IG office is down about 30% of its staff.

NEW ON NOTUS

Exclusive: Fallout from Trump’s Kennedy Center name change. A spokesperson for musician Kristy Lee, who is scheduled to perform Jan. 14 on the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, told NOTUS, “We are in the process of canceling her scheduled performance.”

Lee is not alone: A number of other artists expressed disdain and frustration about the name change, NOTUS’ Torrence Banks reports.

More: Cynthia Lummis Won’t Seek a Second Term in the Senate, by Helen Huiskes

Trump Announces Nine More Drug Pricing Deals with Pharmaceutical Companies, by Margaret Manto

Wisconsin Democrats’ Race for Governor Could Be ‘Wide Open’, by Christa Dutton and Jade Lozada

NOT US

• U.S. Oil Blockade of Venezuela Pushes Cuba Toward Collapse, by By Juan Forero and Ryan Dubé for The Wall Street Journal
  
• The year Trump and DOGE broke the federal government, by Hannah Natanson and Meryl Kornfield for The Washington Post
  
• The 20-something billionaires ushering in a betting bonanza in Trump’s Washington, by Declan Harty for Politico
  
• I Drove 700 Miles Through California’s Absurd New Congressional District, by Will McCarthy for Politico

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