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This year produced a seemingly endless array of history-making events and nearly constant change to immigration policy, tariffs, the Education Department, and federal health care programs.

President Donald Trump came back into office emboldened by a decisive 2024 election victory and empowered by Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress. The unified GOP government enacted a major tax cut and domestic spending law in July, but it hit a roadblock in late September when the federal government shut down for a record-breaking six weeks.

States Newsroom provides a look back at some of the biggest news stories from Washington D.C.

January

The U.S. House began the year reelecting Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson as speaker and pushing through a series of GOP-favored bills focused on immigration and transgender student athletes.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., officially took over the role from Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., pledging to protect the legislative filibuster, the 60-vote procedural hurdle that requires at least some bipartisanship for major legislation to advance. Meanwhile, several committees began the confirmation process for Trump’s nominees.

Just days ahead of his second inauguration, a judge sentenced Trump in the New York hush money case for paying off an adult film star in the lead-up to the 2016 election.

Trump, who moved his inauguration indoors amid arctic weather, marked the first day of his second term by signing a series of executive orders addressing immigration and birthright citizenship, as well as climate change and LGBTQ rights. He also pardoned 1,500 people who were convicted of various crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Just before the end of the month, Read more

SAN FRANCISCO (KEYT) – A federal court has declined to halt plans to restart oil production in Santa Barbara County after environmental groups challenged the Trump Administration's approval last week.

The request to stay the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's decision to take over oversight of the restart process and issue emergency permits was denied.

Despite Wednesday's decision to not halt restart plans, the court did grant that the lawsuit would receive expedited processing and the opening brief in the case is due by Jan. 26, 2026.

Environmental groups noted in their suit filed on Dec. 24 in the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, that the federal regulator had, "bypassed the required public notice, opportunity for public participation, statement of reasons for its decisions, and other conditions generally required for pipeline safety regulation waivers under the federal Pipeline Safety Act".

In response, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration argued that the emergency permits granted to Sable Offshore were based on a national energy emergency declared by President Trump earlier this year.

"[T]he current energy emergency, particularly inadequate oil supplies and high energy prices on the West Coast, weighs heavily against Petitioner's request [to halt restart plans]," argued the Department of Transportation in its response. "PHMSA [Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration] concluded that granting the permit was necessary to address the national energy emergency...the need for immediate action precluded preparing an environmental assessment."

An 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that the U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration informed Houston-based energy company Sable Offshore that it had approved its restart plans for Line CA-324 and Line CA-325 on Dec. 22, 2025.

Line CA-324, formerly known as Line 901, has remained dormant since it ruptured, causing the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill which impacted 150 miles of California coastline and destroyed thousands of acres of shoreline habitats.

The image below from a slide presented to investors by Sable Offshore, courtesy of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, shows Line CA-324 as Line 901 and Line CA-325 as Line 903 and how they connect to the larger Santa Ynez Unit.

By Michael Williams, Zachary Cohen, CNN

(CNN) — The US military on Tuesday struck what it described as a “convoy” of three boats participating in the trafficking of narcotics — the latest salvo in the United States’ escalating actions against what it says are drug traffickers.

Officials said three people were killed in one of the targeted vessels, while the remaining people on the other two vessels abandoned ship, according to an announcement from US Southern Command posted to X on Wednesday.

It’s also unclear where the strikes happened. The military only described them as taking place in “international waters.” Previous strikes have taken place in both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

It’s also unclear where the strikes happened. The post to social media only described them as taking place in “international waters.” Previous strikes have taken place in both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

CNN has reached out to the Coast Guard and Southern Command regarding the search and rescue mission for the survivors.

The new strikes bring the total number of vessels targeted by the US to at least 34 and the number of fatalities to at least 110 since the US began its campaign in September.

The Trump administration has claimed it is carrying out the strikes to stop the flow of drugs into the United States, but administration officials have also suggested they are part of a pressure campaign aimed at ousting Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, from whose country many of the stricken vessels have originated.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles told Vanity Fair in interviews for a story published earlier this month that Trump wants to keep targeting boats until Maduro “cries uncle.”

Last week President Donald Trump said the United States took out a “big facility” as part of a pressure campaign against Venezuela that has included a massive US naval and troop buildup in the Caribbean and a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers, in addition to the strikes.

The CIA carried out a drone strike earlier this month on a port facility on the coast of Venezuela, sources familiar with the matter told CNN, marking the first known US attack on a target inside that country.

Trump, who has provided few additional details on the “big facility” action, told reporters on Monday that “there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs” and that an “implementation area” was “no longer around.”

Maduro has repeatedly criticized the US military deployment in the Caribbean and accused the US of waging a campaign of “psychological terrorism” against his country.

In a response to Trump ordering a “complete” blockade of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela earlier this month, Venezuela’s National Asse

Por EFE

Los combates entre el Frente 33 de las disidencias de las FARC y la guerrilla del Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) causan zozobra en el último día del año en la región del Catatumbo, en el noreste de Colombia, donde desde hace una semana estos grupos han perpetrado ataques con drones que afectan a la población civil.

La situación más grave se vive en el poblado de Filo El Gringo, que hace parte del municipio de El Tarra, cuyo alcalde, Eyder Robles, afirmó en un comunicado que los enfrentamientos entre el ELN y la disidencia de las FARC han “ocasionado una afectación humanitaria de gran magnitud, impactando de manera directa a la población civil”.

El gobernante señaló que la violencia ha “obligado a numerosas familias a desplazarse, mientras otras permanecen confinadas en el territorio, en un escenario marcado por el temor, la incertidumbre y la pérdida de bienes y viviendas”.

“Ante la gravedad de la situación humanitaria, la administración municipal solicita de manera expresa a los grupos armados que hacen presencia en el territorio el respeto irrestricto por la población civil y la habilitación inmediata de un corredor humanitario”, agregó el alcalde.

En videos publicados en redes sociales se ve cómo los ataques de estos grupos en Filo El Gringo han causado destrozos en la iglesia, en viviendas y comercios en la víspera del Año Nuevo.

“Hago un llamado urgente al Gobierno Nacional para que actúe de manera decidida frente a la crisis humanitaria sin precedentes que atraviesa nuestra región”, expresó por su parte Uber Conde, alcalde del municipio de Teorama, quien es el presidente de la Junta Directiva de la Asociación de Municipios del Catatumbo.

Conde instó a los actores armados a “sumar esfuerzos en la creación de espacios de diálogo abiertos y constructivos que permitan mitigar esta situación, promoviendo soluciones que dignifiquen la vida” de los ciudadanos de la región.

La Oficina de la ONU para los Derechos Humanos en Colombia manifestó también su preocupación por lo que sucede en Filo El Gringo y señaló que “oficialmente no se ha reportado un número de heridos o muertos”.

“Sin embargo hay llamados de las comunidades y de las autoridades locales para que las autoridades competentes hagan presencia y desplieguen todas las acciones de prevención y protección para la población civil”, agregó la información.

La defensora del Pueblo, Iris Marín, pidió al ELN y al Frente 33, que hace parte de la disidencia denominada Estado Mayor de los Bloques y el Frente (EMBF), “mostrar algo de humanidad”.

Por eso les solicitó “suspender los enfrentamientos de inmediato”; aislar “a la población civil y salvaguardarla de los efectos de las confrontaciones, es decir, respetar el principio de distinción”, y “permitir el ingreso de asistencia a la población, a través de un corredor humanitario”.

La región vive desde el 16 de enero una grave crisis humanitaria por la guerra declarada por el ELN contra el Frente 33 de las disidencias de las FARC, motivada por el control territorial y de las economías ilícitas.

Esta disputa ha provocado este año la muerte de cerca de un centenar de personas y el desplazamiento forzado de por lo menos 78.000 campesinos, muchos de los cuales no han podido volver a sus tierras porque la violencia persiste.

El Catatumbo, que abarca parte del departamento de Norte de Santander, está formado por los municipios de Ábrego, Convención, El Carmen, El Tarra, Hacarí, La Playa, San Calixto, Sardinata, Teorama y Tibú, y es una región que, a pesar de ser rica en recursos naturales, tiene altos índices de pobreza y bajos niveles de desarrollo.

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