In today’s issue:
- Trump measures fealty in GOP Senate
- Cabinet picks under scrutiny
- Q&A with British ambassador to US
- Biden in Brazil for the G20
© The Associated Press | J. Scott Applewhite
GOP Senate and Trump: Salutes or ‘cooling saucer’?
President-elect Trump learned a few things about Congress during his first term in the White House. The question is which lessons he applies next year to his heady confidence that Republican majorities in the House and Senate will do his bidding.
In 2017, when GOP lawmakers enacted major tax changes, they handed Trump a victory. When their regional discord over public-private investments in toll roads, bridges and airports became clear, Trump’s anticipatory boasts about “infrastructure reform” curdled into a four-year running joke about the opposite.
Trump has promised Washington his own version of “shock and awe” revolution, but the nation’s capital, even under one-party rule, knows a million ways to grind the gears. There is a reason the Senate is referred to as the “cooling saucer.”
Trump has frequently denounced the late Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain for rejecting a House-passed measure in 2017 that would have permanently repealed the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, among other provisions. Minutes before his dramatic, career-defining thumbs-down gesture on the Senate floor, McCain was in the cloakroom taking a last-minute call from Trump. The “maverick” senator had made up his mind. He voted with two of his moderate GOP colleagues and the Democrats to reject Trump’s position. His Senate admirers on both sides of the aisle said McCain voted for “what he thought was right.” He died the next year at 81.
Senators have six-year terms and their own ambitions. House members, who face voters every two years, are quick to detect shifting political dynamics in their districts. By 2026, voters’ assessments will mean everything in Washington.
At this moment in the nascent transition, several Trump Cabinet choices face headwinds. The president-elect will need to draw on valuable political capital to get some of his appointees confirmed by the Senate. Both chambers will have to link arms to turn his policy pledges into law.
There are at least nine GOP senators who could derail Trump’s Cabinet nominees, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports. And Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who becomes a back bencher in January while ceding his leadership role to Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), may play a key role behind the scenes on more than just nominations.
At 83, McConnell is an institutionalist and a master Senate tactician. Importantly, he is not a MAGA member and his views, for example on U.S. backing for Ukraine, differ from the president-elect’s.
“I think his influence is real and his voice will matter,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a Trump ally, said of McConnell. “When he speaks, people will listen.”
The Daily Mail: A reported McConnell comment about recess appointments, shared by a journalist on X and later deleted, agitated some senators.
Meanwhile, House Republicans, with a slim majority, are not without their own jitters.
Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), tasked with rounding up votes for the party’s legislative priorities, told The Hill, “It may not always be smooth sailing, and we may have some disagreements along the way, but I’ve always been a firm believer that there’s more that unites us than divides us.”
Former President Clinton, who campaigned for Vice President Harris this fall, remembers when having his own party in majorities in the House and Senate in 1993 did not smooth the way for his showcase ambition to get universal health care through Congress. By shutting lawmakers and key committees of jurisdiction out of the West Wing’s idea factory, Clinton and former first lady Hillary Clinton ended up without a single vote on a complex bill. By 1994, the push for universal coverage was dead, and the heavy lift cost Democratic candidates.
“Public opinion eventually has an awful lot to do with what happens in the capital,” former Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.), then No. 2 in House leadership, told reporters in late 1994 while describing his party’s miscalculations over legislation that he said frightened millions of Americans. It was an understatement.
Clinton, interviewed over the weekend on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” noted that in Trump’s situation, “the Senate’s shown some indigestion about some of these suggested appointments. We’ll see what happens there.”
Speaking like a man who learned some lessons during two tumultuous terms in the Oval Office (and from Trump’s defeat of his wife in 2016), Clinton added, “I think the rest of us just have to be diligent, watch the signs, and be willing to stand up for what we think is right.”
“You know, somewhere along the way,” he continued, “[Trump will] have to think about whether, at this chapter of his life, he still thinks the most important thing is to have unquestionable domination, because that’s not what a democracy is about.”
BOB’S SMART TAKE
Trump wants to eliminate the Department of Education, but so did other GOP presidents, most notably Ronald Reagan.
Republicans have been seeking to sunset the Department of Education for decades, maintaining it’s unnecessary because the states are the driving force on funding and curriculum.
Blake Burman, host of “The Hill” on NewsNation, asked Trump campaign senior adviser Corey Lewandowski on Friday whether Trump would nominate an Education secretary. It was a good question.
Like a good adviser, Lewandowski said he never gets ahead of his boss. (He did say to expect Trump to flesh out his economic team this week).
Eradicating the Education Department is strongly opposed by Democrats. In a vote last year, 60 House Republicans voted against abolishing the department. That doesn’t bode well for getting 60 votes in the Senate. Trump has defied the odds many times, but this will be an uphill battle.
3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY
▪ Library of Congress emails were hacked for at least nine months this year by an adversary and the breach is under investigation by law enforcement. Communications between congressional offices and some Library staff, including the Congressional Research Service, were affected.
▪ Sales of morning-after contraceptives soared as Nov. 5 election results became clear, telehealth companies report.
▪ Thanksgiving travel tips (booking, cost-saving, crowd-avoidance and unexpected locales) abound, says travel expert Peter Greenberg.
LEADING THE DAY
© The Associated Press | Alex Brandon
TRANSITION: Trump on Saturday announced he would nominate Chris Wright, a donor and fracking company leader, to serve as his Energy secretary. Wright, a Trump donor, is the CEO of Liberty Energy, a fracking and oilfield services company. Wright will require Senate confirmation to lead the Department of Energy.
In addition to that role, Trump said Wright would serve on a newly formed Council of National Energy being led by his nominee for Interior secretary, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who will also serve as the administration’s “energy czar.”
Trump on Sunday chose Brendan Carr to be chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. The veteran Republican regulator has publicly agreed with Trump’s promises to slash regulation, go after Big Tech and punish TV networks for political bias.
Not so clear is the choice for Treasury secretary. Last week, Trump was said to be deciding between two leading candidates for Treasury Secretary. The shortlist has now expanded to four.
How will the Senate measure imperfection? Meanwhile, reactions to Trump’s other Cabinet picks — including Gaetz for attorney general and Hegseth for secretary of Defense — are heating up, and their Senate confirmation hearings are expected to be tense and combative.
Trump has told advisers he is standing by Hegseth, the defense secretary nominee, after the transition team was jolted in recent days by an allegation that the Fox News host sexually assaulted a woman in 2017. Hegseth insists the interaction was consensual, but he entered into a financial settlement with the woman that had a confidentiality clause.
A former National Guard member, Hegseth was barred in 2021 from serving at Biden’s inauguration after an intelligence officer posted concerns to social media. The officer was concerned by a photo showing a shirtless Hegseth with a tattoo on his bicep inscribed, “Deus Vult.” The Latin phrase means “God wills it,” which served as a battle cry for Christians during the Crusades and has become associated with white extremist groups.
▪ The Hill: No women in combat roles? Trump’s Pentagon chief pick raises eyebrows.
▪ The Hill: Trump has talked about using the military on the “enemy from within,” at the border and potentially even in Mexico against cartels. The rhetoric has sparked increasing worry among Democrats. Republicans, however, largely downplayed the concerns.
Sen.-elect Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday that he considers Gaetz, Trump’s choice for attorney general, “disqualified” for the top law enforcement job in the country. Schiff suggested that Trump is trying to test how far the Congress will go as the former president prepares for a second term with Republican control of the White House, House and Senate.
“Are we really going to have an attorney general who has credible allegations he was involved in child sex trafficking, potential illicit drug use, obstruction of an investigation, who has no experience serving in the Justice Department, only being investigated by it?” Schiff asked.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet The Press” that the Senate “absolutely” should have access to the House Ethics Committee report. But Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told Tapper on Sunday he has not spoken to Trump about releasing the House Ethics Committee report on Gaetz. The Florida lawmaker resigned from Congress shortly after Trump tapped him for the job of attorney general.
While Trump’s pick of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services set off immediate alarm among Democrats and public health experts, so far, the reception among key Senate Republicans has ranged from enthusiastic to open-minded. Kennedy is a prominent vaccine skeptic who argues the rise of chronic diseases in America can be traced to ultra-processed foods, environmental toxins and chemical additives. He also blames fluoridated water and vaccines and wants to increase access to raw milk.
Kennedy, 70, has spoken about his addictive personality many times over the years. By his account, his recovery taught him humility and opened his heart toward God. But the redemption stories were preceded by years of darker media accounts about his reckless behavior — his serial adultery during his second marriage and claims that he helped lead his younger brother David into what became a fatal heroin addiction.
Trump on Friday announced Karoline Leavitt, the top spokesperson for his 2024 campaign, will be his White House press secretary when he takes office in January. Leavitt, 27, previously served in the Trump White House as assistant press secretary under Kayleigh McEnany, now a leading host on Fox News. Leavitt will be the youngest person to serve in the White House’s top press role.
Biden administration: With all deliberate speed last week, the Democratic-led Senate confirmed a head of the Office of Government Ethics, who will serve throughout Trump’s term with a five-year assignment. The vote was 50-46. David Huitema, currently a State Department ethics official, will be in charge of weighing federal conflicts and other challenges posed by Trump and his new team after Jan. 20.
Legal challenges: Democratic attorneys general across the country are readying their legal defenses against the incoming Trump administration, preparing to pounce on potential violations and even take the president-elect to court if he implements controversial policies.
“The number of venues for Democrats to advance their policies has shrunk on the federal level,” said Paul Nolette, a Marquette University political scientist and the director of a database on state litigation and attorney general activity. “Whenever that happens, what we’ve seen is that parties then really use the states as a way to advance their own policy.”
Federal programs: Immigrants with humanitarian or temporary legal status in the United States are at risk of being rendered effectively undocumented by the incoming Trump administration. Without the protections granted by these programs, immigrants who are accustomed to living and working in the United States legally could lose those rights overnight.
▪ The Hill: Despite his election victory, Trump’s allies remain in legal peril.
▪ The Hill: Trump’s gains with minority voters fuel GOP optimism.
▪ The Hill: Trump is compiling one of the most pro-Israel teams of any administration in history. Here are the key players.
WHERE AND WHEN
- The House will meet at noon. The Senate will convene at 3 p.m.
- The president is in Brazil to participate in the G20 summit. Biden will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 8 a.m. local time. He will attend a Rio de Janeiro event in the morning to launch the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty. The president will join the first session of the G20 summit in the morning, held in the Museum of Modern Art. Biden will join a reception for global leaders in the evening and remain overnight in Brazil.
- Vice President Harris is in Washington andhas no public schedule.
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken is traveling with the president in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the G20 summit.
ZOOM IN
© The Associated Press | Evan Agostini, Invision
British Ambassador to the U.S. Dame Karen Pierce is nearing the end of her tenure in Washington D.C. But even amid rife speculation in the U.K. over her replacement, the seasoned diplomat prefers to keep things vague. In a conversation last week with The Hill’s Sarakshi Rai, Pierce said only that she will “stay as long as the government wants me to do it” — refusing to be drawn into speculation about whether she’ll leave or stay in the U.S. capital that she’s called home for four years.
Pierce’s tenure here has, by any estimation, been successful. After her predecessor left in controversy and an ugly diplomatic spat after leaked documents showed him criticizing then-President Trump, she turned things around, navigating skillfully through a revolving door of four British prime ministers during the Biden administration and arranging a critical dinner between Trump and current Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
With an eye on the future, Piece shared her views on the “special relationship” between the two countries.
On NATO, burden-sharing and Ukraine:
“It’s imperfectly understood here in Washington exactly how much the Europeans are doing for Ukraine. Europe, including the U.K., is doing a lot for Ukraine. When you put all the economic help, the humanitarian help, the military help together and include the U.K., we’ve spent over $190 billion dollars and $29 billion of that is because we’ve been buying American equipment to give to the Ukrainians.”
On criticisms of Trump on social media from U.K. politicians:
“In my experience, politicians accept all this as part of the wear and tear of political life. We went to dinner with him in his private apartment up in Trump Tower in New York. President Trump got on really well with the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister, so I don’t think those comments are relevant anymore, and we’ve moved on.”
On Washington, and why HMA Pierce likes it:
“The U.S. is where power is definitely across the world, as well as America being the largest economy in the world. I;m just fascinated by American politics and the level of ambition in America, that can-do [spirit] land of opportunity. My second posting, by which time I was married and had a three-month-old, was Washington as the Ambassador’s Chief of Staff. That was for the last year of George H.W. Bush and the first three years of Bill Clinton.
On the future:
“It is the best job in the British Foreign Service. It’s a great job, and I’m lucky to do it, so I’ll stay as long as the government wants me to do it.”
ELSEWHERE
© The Associated Press | Manuel Balce Ceneta
CLIMATE: Leaders of the world’s biggest economies gathering in Brazil for the G20 summit today must agree to provide the finances for the world’s poorest countries to tackle the climate crisis or face “economic carnage,” warned Simon Stiell, the U.N.’s climate chief. As the G20 gather in Rio de Janeiro, many of their ministers remain in Azerbaijan where crucial negotiations at the COP29 climate summit have stalled. Rich countries’ governments have not yet put forward the hundreds of billions of dollars that economists say are needed to help poorer countries cut their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of extreme weather.
Biden, who will attend the G20 meetings, over the weekend met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru. In their final meeting, Xi Jinping told Biden that his nation was “ready to work with a new administration,” as Trump prepares to take over. At the meeting, Biden was expected to urge Xi to dissuade North Korea from further deepening its support for Russia’s war on Ukraine.
▪ The Hill: Biden became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Amazon rainforest on Sunday, flagging the dangers of global warming.
▪ Politico: While hosting the COP29 climate summit, Azerbaijan’s president used his opening speech to praise the country’s oil and gas resources as a “gift of the God.”
UKRAINE: Biden authorized Ukraine to use a powerful American long-range weapon for limited strikes inside Russia in response to North Korea’s deployment of thousands of troops to aid Moscow’s war effort, according to two senior U.S. officials. The move is in part aimed at deterring Pyongyang from sending more troops, officials told The Washington Post. The White House wants to put Ukraine in the best possible place ahead of peace talks that Trump is expected to spearhead early in his term, they added.
Meanwhile, Russia on Sunday launched a massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine, targeting energy infrastructure and killing civilians.
MIDDLE EAST: In a renewed offensive, Israeli airstrikes pummeled two areas in central and north Gaza on Sunday, killing more than 30 people and wounding several others. Israeli troops, tanks and armed drones have bombarded northern Gaza almost daily in an effort to stamp out what the military has called a Hamas resurgence.
▪ CNN: Israel’s war conduct in Gaza is “consistent with the characteristics of genocide,” according to a United Nations Special Committee.
▪ The Associated Press: Pope Francis has called for an investigation to determine if Israel’s attacks in Gaza constitute genocide, according to excerpts released Sunday from an upcoming new book.
▪ The Atlantic: The Israeli high command now sees all of its conflicts as elements of a single, multifront war with Iran.
▪ The Times of Israel: U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein will travel to Beirut on Tuesday for talks on a cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel.
OPINION
■ A Trump U.S. energy renaissance, by The Wall Street Journal editorial board.
■ Trump can speed up the inevitable in Ukraine, by Megan K. Stack, opinion contributor, The New York Times.
THE CLOSER
© The Associated Press
And finally … Interested in hearing deceased celebrities read newsletters and books to you, spice up your digital greetings and remind you to buy milk? Artificial Intelligence makes it possible, and companies including ElevenLab jumped on the tech novelty of having AI-revived versions of Judy Garland, Burt Reynolds, Sir Laurence Olivier and James Dean narrate material (and to generations) that they wouldn’t recognize. Compensation contracts reached with their respective estates haven’t been detailed.
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