The Biden administration on Monday withdrew its proposed plans to reverse a Trump-era policy that made it easier for employers to refuse to offer birth control coverage in company-sponsored health plans.

Why it matters: With Democrats' loss of the White House and Congress in the 2024 elections, Republicans are in a strong position to undermine President Biden's legacy — including his administration's work to bolster reproductive rights post-Roe.

Driving the news: The Department of Health and Human Services said in a Federal Register notice on Monday that it's withdrawing the proposed regulations "to focus their time and resources on matters other than finalizing these rules" in the administration's final weeks.

• The plan would have made some 130,000 people eligible to receive coverage for contraceptives, Politico reports.

Context: During President-elect Trump's first term, his administration rolled back the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive mandate — allowing organizations to opt out of coverage, citing moral objections. Prior to that, exemptions were limited to religious grounds.

• The Biden administration's proposed rule would have scrapped the "moral" exemption and retained the "religious" one.
• It also would have created an "independent pathway" for people who have insurers with religious exemptions to access birth control through a "willing contraceptive provider" at no cost, the HHS said when announcing the plan last year.

The big picture: Patients have been rushing to get reproductive care — including getting IUD replacements, backup contraception and abortion pills — before the incoming Trump administration takes office next month.

• Access to reproductive health care more broadly could be in jeopardy, especially under a conservative Supreme Court, experts say.
• Republicans, who will soon control Congress, have vowed to restrict abortion care. They're likely to try to restrict access to medication abortion and could attempt to pass a national abortion ban.
• But Trump, after waffling on the issue, said he'd veto a national ban and prefers to leave the issue of abortion to the states. He also recently vowed for this first time to ensure the FDA not block access to abortion pills.
• Millions of women of reproductive age could be impacted if the cost of care increases or access to contraceptives is limited.

More from Axios:

• Patients rush to get reproductive care before Trump takes office
• Patient requests for long-term birth control on rise after Trump reelection
• Biden admin floats expanded contraception coverage

Congratulations on your engagement — but is that a "real" diamond?

Why it matters: Flashy, lab-grown gems are dividing jewelry lovers.

The big picture: Rings have grown bigger as lab-grown diamonds catch on, mainly because they cost a fraction of natural stones.

What they're saying: Many young couples choose lab-grown diamond rings to save money for a home or other priorities, jewelers and experts say.

• Others want to score their dream bling for less or see the gems as more ethical.

Reality check: Lab-grown diamonds are just as real as mined ones.

But not everyone is sold on the trend. Naysayers have compared sporting lab-grown jewels to carrying a knockoff designer bag.

• "Buy what you can afford and be happy with it. Don't be fake," one TikTok user wrote on custom jeweler Erica Sett's page, which captures the debate.

The latest: Some critics press ring owners to share if their stones are lab-grown.

• "It's the people who have a 4-carat lab [diamond] and lie or aren't upfront about it that make it annoying for the natural girlies," another TikTok user commented on the page.

By the numbers: Posts tagged #LabGrownDiamond and #LabGrownDiamonds each more than doubled in the first 10 months of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023, according to TikTok.

"It used to be such a flex to have a 3-carat diamond or a certain color or clarity" grade, says Sett, who's based in New York City and works with natural and lab-grown stones.

• "People feel like their natural diamonds become less special to them when everyone else has what they have, and only they know it's natural," she tells Axios.

Follow the money: In 2020, the average lab-grown diamond was 1.2 carats and cost $3,887, Axios' Felix Salmon reports from industry data.

• By 2024, the average size had swelled 60% to 1.9 carats, while the average price had dropped by 30% to $2,657.

What we're watching: "Giant diamond" fatigue could push shoppers toward smaller or colorful stones, Sett says.

Meanwhile, natural diamond jewelers are courting millennials and Gen Z.

• A new marketing campaign from two major companies promotes their diamonds as "worth the wait."

The bottom line: Sharp opinions aside, your rock is between you and your partner.

Christmas Day and the first night of Hanukkah fall on the same date this year for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Flashback: Hanukkah last started on the evening of Christmas Day in 2005 — the only other time the two have aligned in the last 50 years.

• Hanukkah has started the night of Christmas Eve twice in the last 50 years: in 1978 and 2016.

How it works: The first day of Hanukkah comes on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar, which is based on lunar cycles with the occasional "leap month."

• Jewish calendar days begin at sundown, meaning 25 Kislev starts this year on the evening of Dec. 25, when the first candle is lit.
• Hanukkah can start in late November through late December on the more commonly used Gregorian calendar.

By the numbers: The earliest first nights of Hanukkah on the Gregorian calendar over the last 50 years came in 1994 and 2013, when it fell on Nov. 27.

• The latest came in 1986, on Dec. 26.
• The most common first night over the last 50 years? Dec. 8 (1974, 1993, 2012).

💬 Our thought bubble: This year's "Chrismukkah" is both a simple celestial coincidence and a blessing for people who take part in both holidays, giving us a rare chance to truly blend and share end-of-year celebrations and traditions with our different family groups and loved ones.

What's next: The next Hanukkah-Christmas alignment is in 2035.

President-elect Trump promised Tuesday that his Justice Department will "vigorously pursue the death penalty," one day after President Biden announced he had commuted sentences for most of the people on federal death row.

The big picture: The Trump administration set records with a spree of executions during his first term, and he appears poised to reverse Biden's moratorium on federal use of capital punishment once he's sworn into office.

• Biden, in a statement announcing he would convert the inmates' sentences to life without possibility of parole, said he could not "stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted."

Driving the news: "As soon as I am inaugurated, I will direct the Justice Department to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters," Trump wrote in a Christmas Eve Truth Social post.

• He added, "We will be a Nation of Law and Order again!"

Context: Biden emphasized in a statement that he does "condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss."

• The three men who did not receive a commutation are the convicted gunman in the Mother Emanuel AME Church shooting, the Tree of Life synagogue shooter and the surviving Boston Marathon bomber.
• The Biden administration in 2021 announced a moratorium on federal capital punishment pending a study of policies and protocols.
• The president said his Monday commutations were in line with the standard of the administration's moratorium, which applies "in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder."

Flashback: The first Trump administration announced in 2019 that it would instruct the Federal Bureau of Prisons to reinstate the death penalty after a 16-year hiatus.

• There were 13 federal executions during Trump's first term. They mainly occurred toward the end of his White House tenure.

Zoom out: Trump has previously said he plans to expand use of the death penalty to drug crimes.

• "We're going to be asking everyone who sells drugs, gets caught selling drugs, to receive the death penalty for their heinous acts," Trump said during his official announcement of his 2024 presidential candidacy.

Go deeper: Biden commutes sentences of 1,500 Americans in single day record

All American Airlines flights nationwide were halted for about an hour Tuesday morning after what the airline called a "technical issue."

Why it matters: The nationwide outage threatened to snarl traffic on Christmas Eve for the world's largest carrier.

Catch up quick: Bloomberg reported the airline potentially experienced a software issue calculating weight and balance for flights.

• The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all American flights at the airline's request as of 6:49 a.m. ET.
• It was cancelled at 7:50 a.m. ET.

What they're saying: "A technical issue is affecting American flights this morning," the airline said in a statement.

• "Our teams are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, and we apologize to our customers for the inconvenience."
• Multiple passengers posted on X that their planes had been forced to return to gates, and in some cases all passengers had to get off.

Between the lines: Even a temporary morning pause can throw an airline's daily schedule into chaos.

• FlightAware showed just over 300 flight delays nationwide around 8 a.m. ET, mostly impacting East Coast airports like New York's John F. Kennedy International and Boston's Logan International Airport.
• Christmas Eve is one of the lightest air travel days of the holiday season, though nearly 2 million people flew on Dec. 24 last year, per the TSA.

The intrigue: On Monday, American touted its recent performance in a note to reporters, boasting it had more on-time departures than any competitor since the holiday season started.

Flashback: American isn't the only airline to have suffered holiday snafus.

• Southwest Airlines was fined $140 million and spent months rebuilding customers' trust after an extended Christmas week meltdown in 2022.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated with further details on the outage.

More North Pole mail is being answered, according to U.S. Postal Service data shared with Axios.

Why it matters: Children's letters to Santa shouldn't go unnoticed.

USPS Operation Santa, which started in 1912, authorizes Santa's helpers to read and respond to North Pole letters. In the past several years, the program has seen record participation, according to data shared with Axios.

• By mid-January, USPS will share the total number of adopted letters for this season.

How it works: People visit the Operation Santa website to create an account and read letters from children of all ages across the country. Verified users "adopt" letters and send requested gifts by a deadline to ensure children receive packages by Christmas Day.

💭 Ashley's thought bubble: It took me about two minutes to create an account through the site and filter letters by state, but a lot longer to read the letters full of wishes for everything from toys to school supplies to groceries — and even a little Christmas magic.

If you're dreaming of a white Christmas, be jealous of those in the Mountain West, upper Midwest and northern New England.

• Those are the regions that most often had at least an inch of snow on the ground or actively falling on Christmas Day between 2003 and 2022, per historic satellite data.

Yes, but: Past performance is no guarantee of future results — especially as climate change shrinks the length of snow seasons in parts of the country, changing the odds of a white Christmas over time.

The latest: As of Dec. 16, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center is calling for heavy snow in parts of the Northwestern U.S. on and around Christmas.

• The best, timeliest forecasts for your area will come by way of your local National Weather Service office.

The once-fringe idea of Democrats appearing on conservative-leaning media is suddenly going mainstream in the wake of the party's 2024 election losses.

Why it matters: Nearly a dozen House Democrats tell Axios that party members need to increase their appearances on conservative-leaning and non-traditional platforms, or risk irrelevance.

• They say they no longer can look past the huge audiences offered by Fox News and conservative podcasts, whose messaging power became evident when Republicans swept the White House and both chambers of Congress in last month's election.
• "If half the country is watching and we gotta win 50% plus one, how can you reach anybody when you're not talking where they go?" Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) told Axios.

Driving the news: Most Democrats still prefer to stick to friendly outlets such as MSNBC or the more neutral CNN, where they can typically avoid confrontations and adversarial interviews.

• "I think one of the lessons learned from the 2024 election is that we have all but ceded alternative media to the conservative movement," said Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.).
• "If we have confidence in our message, we should be prepared to take our message to every corner of the ecosystem — including in politically hostile environments."

Zoom in: Some Democrats — inside and outside of Congress — have expressed post-election jealousy over how President-elect Trump used a hyper-focused media strategy to connect with specific voter demographics, particularly young men, by appearing on podcasts and YouTube shows with massive followings.

• Democrats say many of their own campaigns — from Vice President Harris' on down — focused too much on friendly outlets with declining audiences that already agreed with them.

Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) — who was re-elected in a district where Trump defeated Harris by nearly 10 percentage points — outlined a more local approach to this strategy.

• Golden told Axios that he goes on local conservative radio shows in Maine: "You've got to contest every corner ... Otherwise all they hear is what's said about you by the other side."

Zoom out: Adversarial media appearances by Democrats were rare during Trump's first presidency until several 2020 Democratic presidential candidates — including Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg — appeared in Fox News town halls.

• As transportation secretary, Buttigieg has gone further, using Fox as a venue to clinically defend Democrats' positions while skewering Republicans in front of many of their own voters.
• But only now — in the wake of 2024's election disappointments and amid calls for a Democratic rebrand— is Buttigieg's approach being widely embraced.

Between the lines: As cable news networks face declining viewership numbers across the board, Fox News Channel is still maintaining its relevance. It ended 2024 as the most-watched network during the election cycle — and saw increasing viewership among Democrats and independents.

• Fox News was the most-watched news network across the seven swing states last month's election.

Even progressives are beginning to embrace the idea of expanding Democrats' media reach: "My view is, as much engagement as possible is good," Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) told Axios.

• Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), another progressive, told Axios that "as a gay woman, I have a particular view on the world and I actually think that it could be really helpful in this moment."

Several Democrats told Axios that revamping their party's media strategy should involve much more than simply going on conservative-leaning media.

• Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), co-chair of House Democrats' political messaging arm, underscored that appearing on conservative media is important, but it's not "where the jackpot is."
• "We need to speak to people who don't consume news as a hobby.... That's not just going on Fox News ... it's going on places of culture, sports, different things like that," he said.

The other side: Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) is among the Democrats who are more skeptical about engaging with conservative media.

• "People that watch Fox News have their minds made up about the type of rhetoric that they want to listen to," Crockett said.
• "God bless those that go on there, but I don't think that we're really changing the minds of the people that have decided that they want to watch that bullsh*t," she added.

The bottom line: Beyond simply going on alternative media himself, Moskowitz said he has actively been trying to persuade colleagues to follow his lead.

• Asked whether he thinks he's changed some minds, he told Axios: "I think I have, because I think you're seeing the number of people increasing that are doing that."

Go deeper: Fetterman on an island as he reaches out to MAGA

President-elect Trump has big plans to make America greater, in terms of square mileage.

Why it matters: Trump has been in a strikingly imperial mood since his election victory. He has floated acquiring Greenland, reclaiming the Panama Canal, annexing Canada, and potentially invading Mexico — to the intense consternation of their leaders.

• In each case, Trump is blending trolling, negotiation and intimidation.
• He pitched statehood for Canada at least in part to needle "Governor" Justin Trudeau.
• But he has doubled down in the last 48 hours (including via memes) on taking over Greenland and claiming the Panama Canal. It's unclear how exactly either would be accomplished short of an invasion.

Between the lines: This is Trump's foreign policy playbook, or lack thereof. He says wild stuff, sometimes acts on it, and often doesn't.

• Prepare for whiplash after four years of President Biden extolling alliances and institutions.
• Trump has little regard for the "global order," and thinks throwing foreign partners off balance — or, when possible, steamrolling them — better serves American interests.
• Even if his proposals aren't always entirely serious, they can't be ignored.

State of play: Greenland's prime minister, Múte Egede, hit back at Trump on Monday: "Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom."

• A day earlier, Trump had labeled taking "ownership" of the world's largest island "an absolute necessity."
• People involved in Trump's transition have been discussing how an acquisition or custodianship of Greenland would work, according to Reuters.
• The island's attractions include its natural resources and its location, as the U.S., Russia and other powers scramble for footholds in the Arctic.

Flashback: It was widely treated as a joke when Trump first floated buying Greenland in 2019.

• Then Trump canceled a trip to Denmark, which controls Greenland as an overseas territory, after Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen rebuffed him.

Meanwhile, Trump pronounced Saturday that the U.S. would "demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us" if fees for U.S. ships to transit the waterway — which the U.S. returned to Panamanian control beginning in 1977 — were not reduced.

• Panama President José Raúl Mulino declared in an on-camera address Sunday that Panama would not hand over a single square meter of the canal, to which Trump replied on Truth Social: "We'll see about that!"
• Trump followed up with a picture of an American flag flying over the canal, captioned: "Welcome to the United States Canal!"
• Trump also cited "China," which increasingly dominates trade throughout the Americas, as a reason to take control of the canal.

Zoom out: That's the second time this month that Trump proposed a land grab in the context of trying to renegotiate trade terms.

• Trump previously told Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that his country could avoid tariffs if it became America's 51st state — a message he has repeatedly re-upped through memes and jokes.

But it's not all fun and games. Trump's allies have also been discussing a potential "soft invasion" of Mexico, as one adviser phrased it to Rolling Stone. That could involve targeting cartels through cross-border special forces operations or drone strikes.

• Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called that idea "entirely a movie" and said: "of course we do not agree with an invasion or the presence of this type in our country."
• But Trump's picks to run the State Department, Pentagon, National Security Council and border policy have all endorsed some form of U.S. military operation against the cartels.

The bottom line: America First is colliding with American imperialism. No one, including Trump, really knows how it will all play out.

Spending the holidays with family and friends may be more of an emotional wringer this year if you're a Democrat or independent, according to the latest Axios-Ipsos American Health Index.

Why it matters: While an overwhelming majority of Americans say their emotional well-being is good, our first polling since the elections shows those who didn't vote for President-elect Trump appear to be bracing for added strife.

Driving the news: In the poll of 1,002 adults taken between Dec. 6 and Dec. 9, roughly half of all respondents said spending time with friends or family at the holidays didn't affect how stressed they felt, echoing prior polls.

• But dig a little deeper and there's a big split in those answers: More than 61% of Democrats said spending time with family or friends during the holidays makes them more stressed out. Independents are right behind them at 60%.
• Meanwhile, 39% of Republicans said the same.

Democrats appear likelier to be searching for holiday cheer after a fractious election and GOP trifecta.

• Nearly 1 in 5 Democrats (17%) said their emotional health was poor whereas 7% of Republicans said the same.

But overall, more than 8 in 10 respondents (84%) said their emotional well-being was very or somewhat good — a sign that election anxiety, too many, may have been temporary, or hasn't left lasting scars.

• "For all the gnashing of teeth since the election, people are rating their mental health virtually the same as earlier this year," Ipsos pollster and senior vice president Chris Jackson told Axios.
• "There may have been high anxiety in the electoral context but generally there has not been any change."

The big picture: A recent Harris Poll of more than 2,000 adults conducted for the American Psychological Association found more than 2 out of 5 adults aged 44 and younger are skipping holiday gatherings because of political differences.

• Three quarters of all adults (72%) said they hoped to avoid discussing politics with family this holiday season.
• 83% of respondents said they saw the holidays as a time to put political differences aside — although among those whose candidate lost, that figure was slightly lower (82%.)

The bottom line: Pass the potatoes — and pass on the political talk — this year.

Methodology: This Axios/Ipsos Poll was conducted Dec. 6-9 by Ipsos' KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,002 general population adults age 18 or older.

• The margin of sampling error is ±3.3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults.

Inflation has driven the cost of goods and services upwards — but the highest inflation of all can be found in the rising price of a dream.

Why it matters: When the Mega Millions lottery was launched in May 2002, a ticket was one of America's real bargains. For a mere $1, you could buy days' worth of hopes and dreams of what you might do were you to become stupendously wealthy.

• As of April, however, the cost of such escapist contemplation will rise to a gulp-inducing $5.
• The next drawing, on Tuesday, is expected to be near $970 million, one of the 10 richest jackpots in the game's history.

By the numbers: Consumer prices have risen 75% since 2002 — which is to say, the $1 that a lottery ticket cost back then is worth the equivalent of $1.75 today.

• A $5 ticket therefore represents a 285% price hike in real, inflation-adjusted terms — for an item that has almost nothing in the way of supply-chain costs.

How it works: The Mega Millions revamp fiddles around a little bit with the odds of winning the jackpot, which will change from 1 in 302.6 million to either 1 in 290 million or 1 in 278.4 million, depending on which state lottery official you believe.

• Which is to say, the odds are basically staying the same, with bettors having less than a 0.000001% chance of winning.
• The idea is to make the jackpot probability so remote that even when there are millions of bettors per week, the chances are that no one will win, the jackpot will roll over, and the prize will eventually soar to $1 billion or more.
• The current configuration has had six jackpots over $1 billion, five of them post-pandemic.

Between the lines: A $5 sticker price will put off many folks who feel like it's just too much to throw away. After all, the overwhelming likelihood is that you lose everything you bet.

• Even so, Mega Millions anticipates that jackpots will be larger and grow more quickly — which means that more money will be bet in total, often from people who can't afford it.
• One commenter on Reddit said that the move "seems like a scummy way to suck more money out of the addicted instead of pooling loose change from casuals."

The bottom line: Buying lottery tickets can be a rational thing to do — but only when the price is negligible. For most people, the Mega Millions game has now graduated out of that zone.

The Starbucks baristas strike is spreading to more cities — and the union organizing the workers warned the walkout would affect hundreds of stores on Christmas Eve, the last day of the five-day walkout.

Why it matters: The escalating strikes that are taking place during one of the coffee giant's busiest periods resulted in the temporary closure of about 60 stores on Monday, per a statement from Starbucks that emphasizes the "overwhelming majority" of stores remain open.

• Starbucks Workers United, the union representing baristas, told media the work stoppages would affect more than 300 stores across the U.S. on Tuesday.

The big picture: The strike that began in Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle last Friday had expanded to cities including New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Dallas and Los Angeles by Monday.

• Starbucks Workers United said Atlanta and Buffalo will on Tuesday be among the cities joining the biggest-ever strike against the company, per the Washington Post.

Driving the news: Contract negotiations between the two sides that have been ongoing since April broke down after the union said Starbucks' offers were not economically viable, per Axios' Emily Peck.

• The union said its workers are striking to "win fair raises, benefits and staffing, protest unfair labor practices, and resolve outstanding litigation with Starbucks."
• Starbucks has said Workers United's proposals calling for "an immediate increase in the minimum wage of hourly partners by 64%, and by 77% over the life of a three-year contract" are "not sustainable."

What they're saying: Sara Kelly, executive vice president and chief partner officer, said in a statement Christmas Eve that while Workers United will seek to cause more stores to close, the work stoppages would have "a very limited impact to our overall operations."

• That's because 97-99% of stores would continue to operate, according to Kelly, who said Starbucks "offers a competitive average pay of over $18 per hour, and best-in-class benefits" that include health care, free college tuition and paid family leave.

Zoom out: 535 of the 10,000 U.S. Starbucks stores have unionized since 2021.

• Representatives for the union did not immediately respond to Axios' requests for comment in the evening.

Flashback: Starbucks workers strike at 200 union stores on Red Cup Day

A government review board was unable to reach a consensus in Nippon Steel's planned $15 billion purchase of U.S. Steel and has referred the matter to President Biden, the two companies said on Monday night.

The big picture: The Washington Post first reported on Monday's deadlock by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) over the potential impact on national security if U.S. Steel were sold to Japan's largest steelmaker.

State of play: White House spokesperson Saloni Sharma confirmed in a media statement that they had "received the CFIUS evaluation and the President will review it."

• Both Biden and President-elect Trump have signaled their opposition to the purchase of the Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel, which the United Steelworkers (USW) union is also against.
• Nippon Steel urged Biden late Monday to reflect during the 15-day period that he has to make a final decision "on the great lengths that we have gone to address any national security concerns that have been raised."

What they're saying: U. S. Steel said in a statement late Monday that the deal "enhances U.S. national and economic security through investment in manufacturing and innovation" by a company "based in one of the United States' closest allies."

• The emailed statement said the proposal "forges an alliance in steel to combat the competitive threat from China" and the sale should be approved on its merits and it should be a model for "friendshoring" investment.
• "Nippon Steel has made extraordinary commitments, including over $2.7 billion of investments in our USW facilities, that will be in a binding legal agreement enforceable by the U.S. government, to ensure these virtues are realized," the statement added.
• "It is our hope that President Biden will do the right thing and adhere to the law by approving a transaction that so clearly enhances U.S. national and economic security."

Nippon Steel wants Biden to reflect on the "significant commitments we have made to grow U. S. Steel, protect American jobs, and strengthen the entire American steel industry, which will enhance American national security," said a spokesperson for the world's fourth-largest steelmaker.

• "We are confident that our transaction should and will be approved if it is fairly evaluated on its merits," added the spokesperson over email.
• Representatives for the CFIUS and Biden did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Go deeper: Inside U.S. Steel's decision to be acquired by Japan's Nippon Steel

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

Honda and Nissan face a litany of difficult decisions about their competing vehicles and overlapping U.S. manufacturing jobs if they move forward with a merger.

Why it matters: A combination of Honda and Nissan — formerly fierce competitors — would create the world's third-largest automaker by vehicle sales behind Toyota and Volkswagen.

• It would also raise concerns about plant consolidation for two companies that have invested heavily in U.S. manufacturing.

Driving the news: The Japanese automakers confirmed Monday that they are aiming for a merger via a joint holding company.

• They plan to sign an agreement by June 2025 and get shareholder approval by April 2026.
• The tie-up could also bring along Mitsubishi, a longtime partner of Nissan's.

Between the lines: Honda is the bigger and healthier of the two and would appoint a majority of the holding company's board, the automakers said.

• The proposal comes as Nissan is urgently cutting costs, having fallen behind in the global EV race, while both companies are struggling in the bruising Chinese automotive market.
• The companies said in a statement they expect to standardize their vehicle platforms, "optimize" their manufacturing footprints, "create stronger products, reduce costs, enhance development efficiencies, and improve investment efficiencies."

The intrigue: In a press conference in Japan, Honda's CEO was forced to fend off suggestions his company "was being railroaded into a deal by Japanese officials concerned about the survival of Nissan," the Wall Street Journal wrote.

• "This is not a rescue," Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said, though the WSJ said he "struggled when asked what attracted him to Nissan as a partner."

Reality check: A deal, no matter the terms, poses vexing questions.

• Which vehicles will survive? Their vehicle lineups are not complimentary — indeed, there's significant overlap. In the U.S., for example, the Honda Accord competes with the Nissan Altima in the sedan segment, while the Honda CR-V competes with the Nissan Rogue in the crossover category.
• Will they cut jobs in the U.S.? Honda has more than 23,000 workers at 12 factories in the U.S., while Nissan has some 15,000 workers at three plants here. The companies said they "anticipate ... optimizing their manufacturing plants." Honda's factories are heavily concentrated in Ohio, Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama, while Nissan's are located in Tennessee and Mississippi.
• How will a merger help them compete in China? Chinese automakers are exerting extraordinary pressure on their competitors in the EV space. A combined Honda-Nissan would have greater scale to compete in China, but Mibe reportedly said at the press conference there wouldn't be any significant merger benefits until 2030.
• Can they avoid culture clash? Honda is known for its high quality standards and commands higher prices than Nissan, which has shown more willingness to discount vehicles in the past.

The bottom line: Making this a good fit will require some heavy lifting.

Greenland's leader on Monday responded to President-elect Trump suggesting the U.S. should take ownership of the autonomous territory that's part of the kingdom of Denmark by making clear it's not for sale.

What they're saying: "Greenland is ours," Prime Minister Múte Egede said on Facebook. "We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our years-long struggle for freedom. However, we must continue to be open to cooperation and trade with the whole world, especially with our neighbours."

The big picture: Trump said in announcing PayPal co-founder Ken Howery as his choice for United States ambassador to Denmark on Sunday, "For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity."

• He did not elaborate further on his intentions for the world's largest island that's not a continent after he takes office on Jan. 20, and his representatives did not immediately respond to Axios' requests for comment on Sunday or Monday evening.

Flashback: Trump expressed interest in buying Greenland during his first term as president, but Danish officials made clear it was not for sale.

Go deeper: Trump demands return of Panama Canal if rates aren't cut

Editor's note: This article has been updated with further context.

A trial for the man accused of a second assassination attempt on President-elect Trump was delayed until next year by a federal judge in Florida on Monday.

The big picture: Ryan Wesley Routh's defense team sought a delay from the scheduled trial start of Feb. 10 to December 2025, but U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon ruled this was "excessive" and moved the trial to September.

• Routh, 58, has pleaded not guilty to five counts in West Palm Beach, Florida, including the attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate.
• He's accused of waiting for Trump at his Florida golf club for hours last September before a Secret Service agent spotted him pointing a rifle through a fence.

Driving the news: Routh's defense cited the need to review an "extraordinary volume of discovery" and "evaluate potential defenses," along with "logistical difficulties" associated with his detention in Miami, according to Cannon's order.

• Cannon noted that Routh's lawyers have indicated "that mental health evaluations are ongoing to assess a potential insanity defense and competency evaluation."

Editor's note: This a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Former President Clinton,78, was hospitalized in Washington, D.C., this afternoon, his spokesperson said in a statement.

Driving the news: Clinton was admitted for "testing and observation after developing a fever," Angel Ureña, his deputy chief of staff, said on X.

What they're saying: "He remains in good spirits and deeply appreciates the excellent care he is receiving," Ureña said.

• Clinton is receiving care at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

Flashback: Clinton was previously hospitalized in California in 2021 when an infection spread to his bloodstream.

• He has had two heart procedures — a quadruple bypass in 2004 and the insertion of two stents into an artery in 2010. Both were performed at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

The House Ethics Committee's report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) had been poised to stay officially buried — until two centrist Republicans on the panel unexpectedly voted to release it, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The vote, which took place quietly earlier this month, defied House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) urging that the report stay under wraps.

• Gaetz, who has denied any wrongdoing, filed an 11th-hour lawsuit Monday morning seeking to block the report's publication, alleging it "contains untruthful and defamatory information."
• The effort failed — The committee had voted, and the report was released.

What we're hearing: Reps. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) and Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) sided with the committee's five Democrats in voting to release the report, two sources familiar with the matter told Axios.

• Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.), along with Reps. Michelle Fischbach (R-Minn.) and John Rutherford (R-Fla.), opposed doing so, arguing the panel lost jurisdiction after Gaetz resigned, the sources said.
• It was a reversal from when the committee split along party lines in a November vote on releasing the report, thus keeping it under wraps.

What they're saying: Guest, in a statement after the report was released on Monday, confirmed that he "did not vote to support the release of the report."

• "I take great exception that the majority deviated from the Committee's well-established standards and voted to release a report on an individual no longer under the Committee's jurisdiction," he said.
• Guest also led a one-page dissent that was appended to the report "on behalf of the members of the committee" who voted against its release that said the lawmakers "do not challenge the Committee's finding."
• Spokespeople for Fischbach, Joyce and the Ethics Committee declined to comment, while spokespeople for Garbarino and Rutherford did not respond to requests for comment.

Zoom in: The report accused Gaetz of violating state and federal law, as well as House rules, including by "regularly" paying for sex between 2017 and 2019, having sex with a 17-year-old in 2017 and using illicit drugs "on multiple occasions" between 2017 and 2019.

• The report also alleged Gaetz "continuously sought to deflect, deter, or mislead" the committee to the point of obstruction.
• Gaetz has vigorously denied the allegations in the report and publicly disparaged the Ethics Committee and some of its members, including Guest and Joyce.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.

American consumers are not feeling the holiday cheer: concerns about what's ahead for the economy shot up as tariffs loom, according to a barometer of consumer confidence released on Monday.

Why it matters: The post-election bump in consumer confidence in November now looks like a blip, at least by one measure.

• Long-running economic pessimism lives on despite solid economic conditions — a sign the next administration might see consumer moods at odds with economic indicators.

What they're saying: "Compared to last month, consumers in December were substantially less optimistic about future business conditions and incomes," says Dana Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board, the group that has measured consumer confidence for decades.

By the numbers: The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell by 8.1 points this month, reversing the prior two months' gains and remaining at the somewhat depressed level that has prevailed in the past two years.

• December's drop was overwhelmingly a result of more pessimism about income, business and labor market prospects in the months ahead.
• A sub-index that measures consumer expectations fell almost 13 points last month alone, "just above the threshold of 80 that usually signals a recession ahead," the Conference Board said in a release.

The intrigue: It's more likely now than ever before that politics will skew measures of confidence. That is why Republicans' economic outlook surged after the election and Democrats' view soured, with little change in the actual economic backdrop.

• The Conference Board does not report consumer confidence by political party. But the group said consumers mentioned politics more often this month as the key factor affecting how they view the economy.
• Mentions of tariffs, the centerpiece of Trump's agenda, continued to rise. Roughly 45% of consumers expected tariffs to raise the cost of living, while 21% said it would create more jobs.

Between the lines: Worries about the inflationary fallout from potential tariffs has not translated into diminished buying plans for cars, the group said — among the items that could be most impacted by Trump's tariff plans.

• Plus, the average inflation expectation in the year ahead in the survey was steady at 5%, the lowest since March 2020.
• Inflation remains somewhat elevated, with little progress in recent months toward dropping further — the reason why the Federal Reserve does not expect to reduce interest rates in 2025 nearly as much as it did earlier this year.

With 28 full days left in office, President Biden announced Monday he is commuting the sentences for 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life without possibility of parole.

The big picture: Biden promised to abolish federal use of the death penalty when he campaigned for the White House in 2020.

• Monday's move spares the lives of people convicted in killings, including the slayings of police and military officers, people on federal land and those involved in deadly bank robberies or drug deals, as well as the killings of guards or prisoners in federal facilities, AP reports.

What he's saying: "Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss," Biden said in a statement. "But guided by my conscience and my experience, ... I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level."

• In a jab at President-elect Trump, Biden added: "In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted."

Between the lines: Three federal inmates still face execution.

• Dylann Roof, the white supremacist who carried out the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C.
• Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who helped carry out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, which left three dead and scores injured.
• Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history.

Zoom in: Earlier this year, Biden's Justice Department asked a federal judge to impose the death penalty for the first time in a new case.

• The request was for Payton Gendron, the white gunman who killed 10 Black people in a mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
• New York doesn't have the death penalty, but the federal government has jurisdiction to seek the punishment with federal interest and alleged violations of federal statutes, the Death Penalty Information Center said in January.

Context: Biden in 2021 announced a moratorium on federal capital punishment to study the protocols used.

• There were 13 federal executions during Trump's first term, more than under any president in modern history.
• Biden this month faced sharp criticism, including from Democrats, after pardoning his son, Hunter Biden. He faced sentencing after being convicted of felony gun charges and pleading guilty to felony tax charges.
• Monday's announcement comes after recent pressure from advocacy groups urging Biden to act to make it more difficult for Trump to increase the use of capital punishment for federal inmates.

Go deeper:

• Biden has some catching up to do on pardons
• Utah executes first death row inmate since 2010

Editor's note: This story was updated with additional context. Axios' April Rubin contributed reporting.