In today’s newsletter: Nicolás Maduro will make his first court appearance today since his capture in Venezuela. Lawmakers return to Capitol Hill with a substantial to-do list. And the biggest storylines of the NFL playoffs.
Here’s what to know today.
Maduro to appear in court as Trump issues new warnings
Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores are expected to make their first court appearances in New York City today, two days after the United States captured them in a surprise attack. They are charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy and weapons offenses.
Top congressional leaders and intelligence committee heads will also get a classified briefing this evening about the operation in Venezuela, four sources told NBC News. Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth and Pam Bondi are all expected to attend.
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Uncertainty remains for Venezuela’s governance after the strike, but President Donald Trump laid out a stark warning to the country’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez.
“If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” he said in an interview yesterday.
Rodríguez, who was previously serving as vice president, had called for Maduro’s “immediate liberation.” She invited the U.S. to work together on an agenda but said Venezuela maintains its right to “peace, development, sovereignty, and a future.”
Trump said he needs “total access” from Rodríguez: “We need access to the oil and to other things in their country that allow us to rebuild their country.”
More Venezuela news: Oil prices swung last night as investors and traders weighed political instability and Trump’s comments about Venezuela’s massive oil reserves.Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the goal of the attack was to halt drug trafficking and said he believes Cuba is “in a lot of trouble.”U.S. allies and foes fear Maduro’s capture sets precedent for more American intervention.Analysis: A new Trump foreign policy doctrine emphasizes threats of regime change.Congress returns with a substantial to-do list
The US Capitol is seen at sunset in Washington, D.C., Dec. 2, 2025.Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images
Congress is scheduled to return this week after the holidays and will confront a growing list of tasks and potential agenda items in early 2026. These are the ones to watch:
🏥 Health care fight: A vote is expected this week on a three-year extension of expired Obamacare subsidies. While it’s likely to pass the House, Senate Republicans told NBC News that the bill is dead on arrival.
💰 Funding: Lawmakers’ critical task is to fund the government by the Jan. 30 deadline. If the GOP can unify and pass a short-term funding bill through the House on their own, the Senate will face immense pressure to pass it.
📈 Stock trading ban: A bipartisan duo of representatives from Texas and Rhode Island are spearheading the Restore Trust in Congress Act, which would ban members of Congress and spouses from owning and trading stocks.
💻 AI: Regulating AI and protecting kids on the internet have been the subjects of considerable debate, but Congress has failed to pass laws on either front. Some lawmakers hope that will change this year.
More politics news: Josh Shapiro is grappling with Pennsylvania’s divided state Legislature ahead of a possible 2028 bid.The children of slain Minnesota state lawmaker Melissa Hortman urged Trump to remove a post that promotes a conspiracy theory about her killing.The NFL playoffs have arrived. Here’s what we’re watching. 
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford drops back to pass during against the Atlanta Falcons on December 29th.Rich von Biberstein / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The champion of the 2025 NFL season will be crowned during a four-week sprint to the Super Bowl that begins with this weekend’s Wild Card round.
Following a regular season that saw no dominant team emerge, the championship race is wide open. Usual frontrunners like the Kansas City Chiefs didn’t even make the playoffs. Neither did the Detroit Lions, the NFC’s top seed last season.
The regression of some title favorites opened the door for the Denver Broncos to grab the No. 1 seed in the AFC for the first time since 2015 — the last time they won the Super Bowl. In the NFC, the Seattle Seahawks enter as the top seed.
How might these playoffs unfold? Here’s what the NBC News sports team thinks.
More football news: Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett set the NFL’s single-season sacks record with his 23rd of the year.The Steelers secured the AFC North title and final playoff spot on “Sunday Night Football” after the Baltimore Ravens missed a field goal on the final play.Read All About ItMarvel franchise actor Evangeline Lilly shared that she’s been dealing with the effects of a traumatic brain injury after falling months ago.Manchester United fired its coach Ruben Amorim after just 14 months in the job over poor results and provocative comments.Jury selection is scheduled to begin today in the long-awaited trial of a New Jersey man accused of killing four relatives in a murder and arson plot.All the victims, including numerous teenagers, have been positively identified in the deadly inferno that erupted at a New Year’s party in Switzerland last week.Novak Djokovic is cutting ties with the Professional Tennis Players Association, a group he co-founded.Staff Pick: Right-wing influencers descend on day cares across the U.S. after Minnesota fraud claims
Leila Register / NBC News; Getty Images
Over New Year’s week, the conservative media ecosystem reverberated with a viral video from a right-wing YouTuber that purported to identify millions in fraud at Minnesota child care facilities run by Somali immigrants. And in its wake, many other right-wing influencers began posting copycat videos of themselves patrolling day cares connected to Somalians in states like Ohio and Washington.
Advocates for refugees say it’s a “witch hunt,” but prominent pro-Trump accounts with millions of followers amplified the videos and some Republican politicians began calling for investigations and deportations. My colleague Dave Ingram and I tracked these and dug into how day care fraud suddenly became the top story for conservatives.
— Tyler Kingkade, reporter
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