The Week Evening Review
Trump's impoundment plan, other uses for weight-loss drugs, and bipartisan credit card rate cuts

 
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION

Could Trump's impoundment plan sidestep Congress?

Donald Trump might be looking to add a long-dormant tool back into the executive branch's arsenal that could allow him to circumvent checks on his power: impoundment. This little-known executive move occurs when the president refuses to spend money that Congress has already allocated, giving the president unilateral control over the federal budget. 

Impoundment has mostly been illegal since 1974. That year, Congress passed the Impoundment Control Act to "prevent the president and other government officials from unilaterally substituting their own funding decisions for those of the Congress," said the House Committee on the Budget. However, during this year's campaign, Trump said he would use impoundment to implement budget cuts, claiming the law that prevents impoundment is unconstitutional. 

What did the commentators say?
Even with the GOP controlling both chambers of Congress, impoundment "threatens to provoke a major clash over the limits of the president's control over the budget," said Franco Ordoñez at NPR. If Trump's cost-cutting commission were to "assert a power to kill congressionally approved programs, it would almost certainly tee up a fight in the federal courts" and could "fundamentally alter Congress' bedrock power," said Molly Redden at ProPublica. 

Trump faced impeachment over impoundment in his first term, when he blocked aid to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy unless he opened an investigation into Joe Biden. This time, if Trump were to mount a major effort to overturn the impoundment law, he "might think he will fare well challenging impoundment at the Supreme Court," said Zachary B. Wolf at CNN. But it "does not take a leap of faith to guess that even many Republican lawmakers may not want to cede the power of the purse back to the White House."

What next?
Reinstating impoundment powers is not a new idea and has been supported in the past by presidents from both parties. But politicians are bound to be skeptical. If something "further weakens Congress' ability to do its job the way they should be, then I'm going to look at that real carefully," Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) said to Business Insider. 

Congress "can't just be pushed aside," Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) said to Business Insider. "When we talk about how the American people have not elected a king — we don't have a sovereign — this is what we're talking about."

 
 
QUOTE OF THE DAY

'There is no propaganda in the world that will convince you prices are not rising when prices are rising.' 

Russian economy expert Janis Kluge responding to Vladimir Putin's assertions that "there are certainly no grounds for panic" after the rouble plunged to its lowest rate against the dollar since the immediate aftermath of the country's invasion of Ukraine 

 
 
The Explainer

Ozempic and similar weight-loss drugs have been hailed as a boon for the treatment of obesity, but scientists are beginning to test a host of other illnesses that seem to benefit from the medications. These are some of the ailments experts are studying due to their potential link to these so-called miracle drugs.

Alcohol use disorder
One of the notably surprising side effects of taking semaglutide drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy has been that some users report losing interest in alcohol. Anecdotally, some people have said the medications have made them want to drink less and, in some instances, have turned them off alcohol altogether.

A study published last month in the journal JAMA Psychiatry used data from over 227,000 people in Sweden's patient data registry, all of whom were diagnosed with alcohol use disorder between 2006 and 2021, and found that the people "using the drugs were less likely to be hospitalized for problems linked to alcohol use disorder," said Live Science. 

Polycystic ovary syndrome
Polycystic ovary syndrome is a disorder that can cause irregular menstrual periods, hormonal imbalances and infertility. A so-called Ozempic baby boom has encouraged some doctors to use GLP-1 drugs as an off-label treatment for the disorder to help with infertility. 

Dr. Rekha Kumar, an endocrinologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, warned that even if clinical trials indicate a clear benefit, GLP-1 agonist drugs are not likely to be a cure-all for PCOS. Symptoms can vary quite a bit, and "not all women experience the metabolic symptoms most likely to benefit from GLP-1 agonists," said NBC News. 

Alzheimer's disease
Ozempic has been linked to a lower risk of getting diagnosed with Alzheimer's among people with type 2 diabetes in a large-scale analysis of existing medical records, "supporting the case for further research of the blockbuster GLP-1 drug in neurodegenerative diseases," said STAT News. The researchers found that Ozempic was associated with a 40% to 70% lower risk of an Alzheimer's diagnosis over three years "compared with other diabetes treatments such as insulin, metformin, SGLT2 inhibitors and older GLP-1 drugs."

 
 

Statistic of the day

$148M: The surplus that will be used to continue restorations on Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral, according to France24. This next phase of construction will continue work on the outside of the building. After the church was significantly damaged by a fire in 2019, French officials recently unveiled its renovated interior after five years.

 
 
Talking Points

Will Trump (and Sanders) cut credit card rates?

Can bipartisanship survive in Donald Trump's Washington? Credit cards might offer a way. The president-elect has talked about capping credit card interest rates — a position also endorsed by progressives like Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

If Trump "really wants to take on the credit card industry, count me in," said Warren in a social media post. Sanders, too, is ready to work with Trump on capping the fees. If Trump follows up on his campaign pledge to limit credit rates to 10%, Sanders said to The New York Times, "absolutely I will be there." 

Bringing Trump to the table
"There's a catch," Natasha Sarin said at The Washington Post. Americans right now face credit card rates that can climb above 20%, so a new limit "sounds like a win for struggling Americans" who face "hefty costs" when trying to pay down their debt. But card companies like Visa and Mastercard say rate limits mean they'll be less likely to issue cards to risky borrowers, who might then turn to payday lenders who charge even higher rates. 

Finding common ground on credit cards is part of the "new progressive strategy for warring with Trump," said Politico. If Sanders and Warren succeed, they get credit for "bringing him to the table" on progressive priorities, and if not, they can "bash him for it," said Politico. If Trump can't follow through on his campaign promise to cap rates, Warren said, he "should be held accountable."

Will Trump's 'populist streak' win?
The financial markets are betting that Trump "won't fix high card rates," said The Wall Street Journal. Following the election, card lenders became "some of the best-performing stocks" in evident anticipation of favorable "regulatory changes." But there should be some caution on those companies' part: Trump's "populist streak" might win out, and so might the instincts of Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, who in the Senate co-sponsored a bill to limit rates. 

Americans have a "record high" of $1.14 trillion in credit card debt, said CNN. But similar plans to cap have previously "stalled in Congress." If a cap passes, said LendingTree analyst Matt Schulz, companies might respond by eliminating credit card rewards programs to preserve profits. "The house," he said, "always wins."

 
 

Good day 🍶

… for sake. The Japanese rice wine has been enshrined by Unesco as an "intangible cultural heritage of humanity." Sake was put on the list with 45 other cultural practices and products, including Brazilian white cheese, Caribbean cassava bread and Palestinian olive oil soap, by members of the organization's committee for safeguarding humanity's cultural heritage.

 
 

Bad day 📰

… for The Guardian. Almost 500 journalists are on strike at the U.K. newspaper and its sister publication, the Sunday-only Observer, to protest the planned sale of the latter to a small digital startup. "We believe it's a total betrayal of The Guardian's values and promises that it has made," says Carole Cadwalladr, a reporter at The Observer. Selling the paper to a "loss-making startup" is "potentially the death of this historic brand."

 
 
Picture of the day

Eye-grabbing feat

A man performs the Sikh martial art of gatka at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, during a religious procession to mark the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth of the 10 Gurus who founded Sikhism. 
Narinder Nanu / AFP / Getty Images

 
 
Puzzles

Test your general knowledge with The Week's daily crossword, part of our puzzles section, which also includes sudoku and codewords

 
 
The Week recommends

If you hail from a warmer climate and are heading to a really cold place, you might not grasp just how substantial your cold-weather items need to be. Warming help is on the way.

Smartwool classic thermal merino base layer crew
Layering is crucial, so start with one made of merino wool, as its "porous construction does an excellent job of holding in your body heat while not keeping sweat trapped against your skin," said GQ. Smartwool's classic base layer crewneck top comes in a wide range of colors and sizes and offers a "dependable and warm option for below-freezing days," said Runners World. (women's $115, men's $115, REI)

Bombas merino wool blend calf socks
Thin socks are not gonna cut it in frigid temperatures. Instead, go with Bombas' cushy, non-itchy merino wool blend calf socks, which work for "anything from a brisk winter day to a movie night spent at home," said Esquire. This moisture-wicking pair has arch support and a "seamless toe design for comfort" and keeps feet "warm — very warm — so kiss your cold feet goodbye." (women's $22, men's $22, Bombas)

Turtle Fur Luxe Quantum balaclava
This balaclava is versatile. Its "super cozy microfleece lining" offers softness and warmth, said GearJunkie, but if you find yourself getting overheated after snowboarding or snowshoeing, peel back the hood and wear it as a neck gaiter. The "breathable" material dries quickly, provides protection from UV rays (with a UPF score of 50+) and easily tucks into a jacket or base layer. ($40, Amazon)

 
 

Poll watch

About half (51%) of American workers say they are stressed on a daily basis at their job, according to a Gallup survey. The poll also found that many of these employees experience other negative feelings daily, including 40% who are worried, 22% who are sad and 18% who are angry. 

 
 
INSTANT OPINION

Today's best commentary

'South Korea's democracy prevailed, but it wasn't guaranteed'
Byunghwan Son at MSNBC
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol "may offer some valuable implications for other countries with a presidential system," including the U.S., says Byunghwan Son. It's "reasonable to assume, though far from certain, that a politically cornered Yoon decided to gamble on declaring martial law." American politicians "should be following along closely," because "no matter how unlikely it might seem, a politically cornered president can resort to martial law with surprisingly little initial resistance."

'How Democrats could use the lame duck to save medication abortions'
Erwin Chemerinsky and Miles Mogulescu at the Los Angeles Times
Democrats "should push through legislation to repeal the Comstock Act, which could be used to prevent legal medically induced abortions everywhere" in the U.S., say Erwin Chemerinsky and Miles Mogulescu. It's "imperative that lawmakers do so in the upcoming lame-duck session." Abortion is the "one issue that Democrats won in this election," so Democrats "need to think about what they can do before they lose the White House and the Senate."

'$8 billion for Intel won't fix America's chip problem' 
Bloomberg editorial board
The Chips and Science Act has been "at best a mixed success," says the Bloomberg editorial board. Such "measures rarely work out as intended, and Intel is a good example." So does "showering this company with billions of taxpayer dollars really make sense"? Subsidies "can prop up a struggling company, but they will also shield it from competition, crowd out new entrants, delay hard choices and set the government's interests at odds with those of shareholders."

 
 
WORD OF THE DAY

e-tattoo

Scientists have developed a new technology that can measure brain waves using temporary electronic scalp tattoos. Compared to EEG tests, said Live Science, these e-tattoos can "act as a quicker and more convenient way to monitor brain activity and diagnose neurological conditions." 

 
 

Evening Review was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Joel Mathis, Summer Meza and Anahi Valenzuela, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Illustration by Stephen Kelly / Getty Images; NurPhoto / Contributor /Getty Images; Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images