Sabrina Siddiqui

And so their argument is that if people's healthcare costs go up, Republicans are more likely to bear the blame.

And that's actually borne out in polling, which shows that most Americans support extending the subsidies.

And one recent poll by that same healthcare nonprofit KFF found that enrollees, ACA enrollees, would be more likely to blame Republicans and President Trump compared to Democrats if the subsidies were to expire.

The big unknown here is President Trump, because he has not publicly waded into this debate in a meaningful way.

He has

floated at times extending the subsidies, but he just has not put his full support behind any proposal.

And so one other thing that could change the status quo is if Congress comes back in January and President Trump says, I want these subsidies to be extended, at least in the short term, and then it's unlikely that Republican leadership in Congress would not allow for that to happen.

U.S.

home sales hit their highest level in months and how the art market is adapting to a new demographic of bidders.

Plus, a media deal that went for peanuts.

It's Friday, December 19th.

I'm Sabrina Siddiqui for The Wall Street Journal, sitting in for Alex Ossola.

This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

Kicking things off with some breaking news.

The Justice Department has released a batch of files related to the government's investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, marking a milestone in a long-running fight over the sex offender's case.

The move comes after Congress voted overwhelmingly last month to mandate the disclosure of records into Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

The first batch came today, and additional releases are expected in the coming weeks.

For more details, visit wsj.com.

New data shows that U.S.

home sales rose last month to their highest level since February.