• Associated Press

    The Latest: Trump threatens Republicans who support funding measure with primary challenges

    President-elect Donald Trump has rejected a bipartisan plan to prevent a Christmastime government shutdown, instead telling House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republicans to essentially renegotiate two days before a deadline when federal funding runs out. The sudden, new demands have sent Congress spiraling even as lawmakers are trying to wrap up work and head home for the holidays. House Speaker Mike Johnson is left to scramble ahead of a Friday deadline for keeping the government open.

  • Yahoo Finance Video

    Bipartisan lawmakers appear 'aligned' on PBM, insurance reform

    President-elect Donald Trump pledged earlier this week that he will "knock out the middlemen," in a jab against pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Major health insurers Cigna (CI), UnitedHealth Group (UNH), and CVS Health (CVS) saw their stock prices drop following this statement in Tuesday's session, but appear to be recovering in Wednesday trading. "They're helping patients kind of manage through the treatment paradigm with respect to which drugs to take, which formulary drugs are on, and kind of managing that whole process. So there is a benefit they are providing," Mizuho Healthcare Equity Strategist Jared Holz tells Madison Mills and Brad Smith on the Morning Brief.  "Within the construct of the industry, there are so many players that are making tons of money in the middle here — we have to be cognizant of that. And it's a little bit akin to what Trump said in his first term or first administration. So some consistencies here... there are definitely some truths to it," Holz says, labeling wanted healthcare reform to be a partisan effort. Holz goes on to illustrate what reform could look like under a second Trump administration, namely whether these companies will have to take on any rightsizing approaches. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Morning Brief here. This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.

  • Associated Press

    Trump brings chaos back to Washington by attempting to kill bipartisan budget deal with Musk's help

    President-elect Donald Trump delivered a likely death blow to bipartisan congressional budget negotiations on Wednesday, rejecting the measure as full of giveaways to Democrats as billionaire ally Elon Musk whipped up outrage toward the bill and cheered on Republican lawmakers who announced their opposition. Trump's joint statement with Vice President-elect JD Vance, which stopped the bill in its tracks, punctuated a daylong torrent of social media posts by Musk attacking the budget legislation as full of excessive spending. “Kill the Bill!” Musk wrote on his social media platform X as he dangled primary challenges against anyone who voted for the budget deal, a threat Trump later echoed in a post of his own.