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| Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Dec. 31, and as you mull your new year’s resolutions, here is some fascinating scientific advice on how to make them stick. Now let’s get to the news. A quick note: The 7 podcast is taking a short break. It’ll be back Monday.  |  | ICE is planning a $100 million “wartime recruitment” push. | | | Recruitment posters seen across social media as ICE launched an effort to bolster its ranks. The Post was not able to determine whether the posters were created using AI. (Department of Homeland Security; Immigration and Customs Enforcement) | - The proposal: ICE officials would recruit gun-rights supporters and military enthusiasts using influencers and geo-targeted ads, according to an internal document seen by The Post.
- Why it matters: It would help President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation agenda dominate media networks, including through ads targeting people who have attended UFC fights.
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 | New images offer a closer look at the demolition of the White House’s East Wing. | | | The East Wing was built in 1902 and ultimately housed offices for the first lady and a movie theater before it was demolished in October. (Obtained by The Washington Post) | - In the fall: Trump launched one of the biggest transformations to the White House in its 233-year history, making way for a planned ballroom. The work was largely hidden.
- Until now: Treasury employees documented the project, photographing crews as they prepared for major construction. Scroll through the previously unseen photos here.
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| |  | The Kennedy Center changed board rules months before a vote to add Trump’s name. | | |
 | Vaccination rates among kindergarten students are plunging. | | | Statewide post-pandemic rates refer to 2024, while pre-pandemic rates refer to 2018 in almost all cases. (The Washington Post) | - Before the pandemic: Roughly half of counties had kindergarten vaccination rates high enough to prevent measles outbreaks. Now, only about a quarter have herd immunity.
- Zooming out: The decline reveals lasting consequences of a backlash against public health efforts during the pandemic, which radicalized many against vaccine mandates.
- Look up your local vaccination rate: Search schools in your area on this map.
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 | Tatiana Schlossberg, granddaughter of John F. Kennedy, died at age 35. | | | Tatiana Schlossberg speaks at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston in 2023. She is survived by her husband and their two children. (Steven Senne/AP) | - Her legacy: She was a journalist who told stories of the changing climate. Her terminal illness and position in the Kennedy family thrust her into the national spotlight late in life.
- Last month: Schlossberg published a deeply personal essay in the New Yorker. It revealed her cancer diagnosis and criticized her cousin Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
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 | A biotech company is trying to unlock a key to aging, in a long-overlooked body part. | - Which? The ovaries. Gameto says the organs may hold clues to aging in women, and its approach could ease a plethora of conditions including cardiovascular disease.
- How does it work? The company replaces unhealthy ovarian cells with lab-made ones. Experts say the method could also lead to major innovations in fertility treatments.
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 | What’s in and out for 2026? The Post has published its annual list. | | | Click the graphic to see the full list. (Illustration by Alla Dreyvitser/The Washington Post) | - A long-held tradition: We’ve published a list like this every year since 1978. It lets you know which celebrities are no longer “hot,” which slang terms to adopt and much, much more.
- Without further ado: Find this year’s full list here. It’s bad news for fans of matcha, quarter-zips and Sydney Sweeney. But 2026 will be great if you like fiber, DIY and Quad Gods.
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Jamie Ross and 
