Dec. 1: After two failed attempts to do so, New York Representative George Santos is expelled from the House in a 311-114 vote. He becomes the sixth-ever member of the House to be prematurely shown the door. The move came after Santos faced mounting allegations, investigations, and indictments for lying to constituents about his qualifications and mishandling campaign finances. In response to the decision, Santos told reporters, “Why would I want to stay here? To hell with this place.”
Dec. 6: Time Magazine names Taylor Swift their Person of the Year. With an ongoing tour that has accrued over $1 billion in ticket sales and a recent relationship with Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce that seems to have captured the hearts of the American public, the honor came as little surprise to many, especially Swift’s famously-dedicated fans or “Swifties.”
Dec. 12: The United Nations General Assembly votes to demand a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. The action followed multiple attempts to call for a ceasefire in the UN Security Council that were vetoed by the U.S. and the UK. The U.S. was among those who voted against the UNGA resolution.
Dec. 13: COP 28, the annual United Nations climate summit, concludes in Dubai, UAE. Positive outcomes include the implementation of the Loss and Damage fund — which would help underdeveloped nations financially address the effects of the climate crisis — and an unprecedented public acknowledgment of the role of fossil fuels in the climate crisis. Still, many attendees argued that the summit didn’t go far enough. Moreover, the UAE received backlash for the amount of fossil fuel executives present at COP 28 and reports that its government planned to use COP 28 to facilitate oil deals.
Dec. 21: A mass shooting occurs at Charles University in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. 15 students were killed and 25 more were injured when a postgraduate history student at the school opened fire before killing himself. The shooting was the deadliest mass murder in the country since it gained independence in 1993.
Dec. 28: Donald Trump is back in the Colorado primary elections after the Colorado Republican party appeals an earlier decision by the Colorado Supreme Court to remove him from the ballot. Before the appeal, the Colorado Supreme Court had found in early December that Trump’s behavior on January 6, 2021 ruled him ineligible to run for office under the Fourteenth Amendment’s so-called “insurrection clause.” If the appeal from Colorado does appear before the Supreme Court, it will mark the first time the high court has ever had to rule on the Fourteenth Amendment’s third clause, setting a new precedent.
