By Ellis Kim, CNN

(CNN) — The House on Wednesday voted to pass a bill that could imprison health care providers for providing gender-affirming care for minors.

The bill — titled the “Protect Children’s Innocence Act” and sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia — would make it a class C felony to treat minors with gender-affirming care like surgeries and puberty blockers. If enacted, the bill could imprison doctors who provide such care for up to ten years.

It’s unclear whether the GOP-led Senate will take up the measure, though it is unlikely it would get enough Democratic support to pass out of that chamber.

The House vote was 216-211. Three Democrats supported the measure, while four Republicans were opposed.

Greene said last week she secured floor consideration of her bill as part of a deal with leaders who wanted her to drop her opposition to advancing a critical defense policy bill.

Civil rights groups including the American Civil Liberties Union described Greene’s bill as “the most extreme anti-trans legislation ever considered by Congress.”

Ahead of the vote, Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride criticized congressional Republicans as being “obsessed with trans people.”

“I actually think they think more about trans people than trans people think about trans people,” said McBride, who is the first out transgender member of Congress.

“They are consumed with this, and they are extreme on it,” the Delaware Democrat added.

A second bill, sponsored by GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas, prohibits federal Medicaid funding for “gender transition procedures for minors.” The House is expected to vote on that bill on Thursday.

McBride said Wednesday that Republicans were “trying to politicize a misunderstood community and misunderstood care.”

“No one’s healthcare should be politicized,” she said.

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CNN’s Michael Williams contributed to this report.

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WASHINGTON D.C. (KEYT) – On Wednesday, federal regulators agreed with Sable Offshore that local pipelines used to transport oil are subject to exclusively federal oversight and no longer under the jurisdiction of the California Office of State Fire Marshal.

"PHMSA [Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration] agrees with your [Sable Offshore] determination that the Las Flores Pipeline is an interstate pipeline," stated a letter from the Department of Transportation Wednesday. "The PSA [Pipeline Safety Act] vests with PHMSA exclusive regulatory authority over interstate pipelines and preempts States from adopting or continuing in force safety standards for interstate pipelines."

In September, Sable Offshore submitted official paperwork to restart oil production with the California Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM) and the state-based safety agency responded the next month that there were still unmet conditions before an official restart.

The image below, from an informational slide presented to investors by Sable Offshore, shows the assets that make up the Santa Ynez Unit in both federal and state waters as well as onshore facilities.

The energy company responded the following day in a letter that stated the OSFM's conclusions, "are in error" and the requirements mentioned by the OSFM regarding safety tools only had to be conducted within seven days of achieving initial steady state operation, but not before restart.

In November, Sable Offshore requested that federal regulators with the U.S. Department of Transportation take over supervision of the Houston-based company's attempts to restart oil production.

According to an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Sable Offshore informed investors that it had determined that the pipeline connecting the Santa Ynez Unit to Pentland Station in Kern County is technically an interstate pipeline under the Pipeline Safety Act and therefore not subject to oversight by the state's Office of State Fire Marshal.

That designation was sent for confirmation with the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Safety Administration and included a request to transfer all regulatory authority from the California regulator to the federal agency.

According to Wednesday's letter, federal regulators conducted on-site inspections earlier this month alongside representatives from the State Fire Marshal and reviewed written procedures and field observations across the Santa Ynez Unit which extend oil pipelines to refineries across the state.

"As portions of the Las Flores Pipeline were previously considered to be intrastate and regulated by OSFM, PHMSA is notifying OSFM that the Las Flores Pi

By Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN

(CNN) — It’s been a rough year for job seekers. The last thing they wanted was a Spotify Wrapped-style reminder of that. They got one anyway, when LinkedIn launched an inaugural Year in Review.

The summaries informed users how many days they visited the platform, how many new connections they made and how many connections landed new jobs, among other insights.

LinkedIn’s timing wasn’t great. The nation’s unemployment rate just hit a four-year high as layoffs rose and employers took on fewer new workers. Earlier this year, the number of job seekers exceeded the number of jobs available for the first time in four years. With only December’s jobs report remaining, 2025 is on track to be the weakest year of hiring since 2020.

One user shared a screenshot of their Year in Review on X, which showed 865 of their connections started new jobs.

“Ah. LinkedIn reminding me that I was a top applicant for 28,388,338 jobs… and landed 0 of them this year,” the user wrote. “Woohoo. Thanks, LinkedIn Wrapped.”

“LinkedIn Wrapped be like (…) Congrats you’re unemployed and no one is hiring right now!” another wrote on X.

“We know this has been a challenging year for many job seekers, and the market has felt especially uncertain for people navigating transitions or looking for their next opportunity,” Dan Roth, LinkedIn’s editor-in-chief, said in a statement to CNN.

“Year in Review is meant to reflect the full picture of how people showed up professionally this year – not just in searching for jobs, but learning new skills, building networks, sharing ideas, and supporting each other through change,” Roth said.

On LinkedIn, users’ reactions to Year in Review were more upbeat.

Many boasted about new connections and time spent widening professional networks. Some also tagged the connection they interacted with the most.

LinkedIn is part of a growing pool of companies seeking to commemorate users’ accomplishments. But many consumers wish they wouldn’t bother.

“Stop reviewing my life,” TikTok user @litty_city said in a video on Wednesday, noting year-end summaries from a range of media, including LinkedIn. “Stop wrapping it up.”

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Por Elisabeth Buchwald

El Gobierno de Estados Unidos ha recaudado US$ 1.000 millones en ingresos por aranceles de “minimis” desde que eliminó la exención para paquetes de bajo valor esta primavera, según nuevos datos que la Oficina de Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza (CBP, por sus siglas en inglés) compartió en exclusiva con CNN.

La exención se aplicaba a bienes con un valor inferior a US$ 800 y contribuyó a la proliferación de compradores estadounidenses en sitios web de comercio electrónico chinos como Temu, Shein y Alibaba. Sin embargo, los datos de CBP sugieren que, con la entrada en vigor de esos aranceles, los estadounidenses han reducido sus compras.

El presidente Donald Trump cerró inicialmente la laguna jurídica para los productos procedentes de China y Hong Kong en mayo y posteriormente la aplicó a todas las exportaciones de países por debajo de US$ 800. Trump argumentó que esto no solo ayudaría al Gobierno a aumentar los ingresos por aranceles, sino que también impediría la entrada de drogas y otros productos ilícitos en el país, dado que los paquetes estarían sujetos a inspecciones más rigurosas por parte de la CBP.

Desde que se cerró la laguna jurídica sobre los productos procedentes de China y Hong Kong, “las incautaciones de productos de bajo valor inseguros y no conformes han aumentado en un 82 %. Entre ellos se incluyen falsificaciones, narcóticos, productos electrónicos defectuosos y productos que contienen sustancias químicas peligrosas”, informó CBP en un comunicado compartido con CNN.

Antes de que se cerrara la laguna jurídica de “minimis”, la CBP afirmaba que cada día pasaban por la aduana un promedio de 4 millones de paquetes. No obstante, a finales de agosto, antes de que la exención entrara en vigor para los productos de todos los países y solo fuera aplicable a China y Hong Kong, la CBP afirmaba que cada día entraban en el país en promedio 1 millón de paquetes.

Las cargas arancelarias oscilan entre el 10 % y el 50 %, dependiendo del país de origen. (En algunos casos, se aplica una tarifa fija de entre US$ 80 y US$ 200, pero esta expira en febrero).

Si bien es cierto que el Gobierno de EE.UU. ha recaudado más ingresos al cerrar esta laguna jurídica, el cambio ha supuesto un dolor de cabeza para las grandes y pequeñas empresas, así como para los consumidores estadounidenses particulares, que a menudo no son conscientes de que serán responsables del pago de estos aranceles en los casos en que el transportista no los incluya en el precio de los productos.

Es probable que este cambio lo hayan sentido más profundamente los hogares con bajos ingresos, que cada vez tienen más dificultades para cubrir sus necesidades básicas. De acuerdo con un estudio realizado en febrero por economistas de la UCLA y Yale, alrededor del 48 % de los paquetes de “minimis” se enviaron a los códigos postales más pobres de Estados Unidos, mientras que el 22 % se entregó en los más ricos.

Sin embargo, para cerrar la laguna jurídica, Trump citó la Ley de Poderes Económicos de Emergencia Internacional, una ley que ha utilizado para imponer la mayor parte de los nuevos aranceles durante su segundo mandato.

Su capacidad para imponer aranceles de esa manera podría verse pronto limitada, ya que la Corte Suprema de Justicia de Estados Unidos emitirá un fallo a principios del próximo año sobre si tiene esa autoridad. Si el tribunal falla en su contra, los importadores, incluidos consumidores estadounidenses que hayan pagado aranceles sobre paquetes de bajo valor, podrían recibir reembolsos.

By Sarah Ferris, Tami Luhby, Ellis Kim, CNN

(CNN) — House Republicans on Wednesday approved a narrow package designed to lower health care costs for some Americans in the coming years – marking a win for leadership even as some of their own members complain it falls woefully short of tackling rising prices in 2026.

Speaker Mike Johnson and his team were aggressive in pushing their health care plan to the floor this week, vowing it will be the first step of a major GOP agenda on lowering costs next year.

They are specifically ignoring, however, the issue of the expiring enhanced Obamacare subsidies that were passed during the pandemic to help people afford premium costs. Those tax credits will expire at the end of the month, spiking premiums for tens of millions of Americans next year.

The House GOP package, instead, would allow small businesses — as well as self-employed people — to band together across industries to buy coverage through association health plans in an effort to lower premiums. It would also, once again, provide federal funding for the cost-sharing subsidies that lower-income Obamacare enrollees receive to reduce their deductibles and out-of-pocket costs for care.

House Republicans would also require pharmacy benefit managers, which act as middlemen between drugmakers and insurers or employers, to provide employers with data on the price of drugs, the rebates they receive from manufacturers and other operations.

The House voted 216-211 to send the measure to the Senate, which is not expected to vote on it before lawmakers leave town for the holiday recess.

The last-minute health care push from GOP leaders comes at a fraught moment for the party: President Donald Trump is striving to show he is making progress to lower costs for everyday Americans. But his own members are attacking Johnson and other GOP leaders for ignoring the looming Obamacare subsidies cliff, which would raise costs for tens of millions of Americans starting in January.

If the enhanced subsidies lapse, enrollees will see their annual premium payments increase by 114% — or about $1,000 — on average in 2026, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group. Roughly 2 million more people are also expected to be uninsured next year if the subsidies end, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The more generous assistance was enacted in 2021 as part of a Biden administration Covid-19 relief package.

A group of GOP centrists have been pressuring Johnson for months to reverse course on the subsidies — pushing bipartisan efforts to extend the subsidies while adding “guardrails” to ensure the dollars are not misused.

But Johnson has only dug in. Those centrists then decided Wednesday to openly defy Johnson and potentially issue him a humiliating defeat in January by signing onto a Democratic effort to extend the subsidies for three years. That plan from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is detested by most Republicans because it includes no reforms.

But centrists insist they had no other options to keep the money flowing in January – and prevent millions from losing coverage altogether – after party leaders repeatedly blocked their attempts to get a floor vote on the compromise proposals.

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