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Punchbowl News: “A New York judge ruled Rep. Nicole Malliotakis’ (R-NY) district is unconstitutional and ordered the redistricting commission to redraw the map by Feb. 6.”
“This is a big win for Democrats who sued to try to reopen the redistricting process in the Empire State. But the real test will be whether this ruling holds up on appeal, which Republicans are sure to attempt.”
“Federal immigration officers are asserting sweeping power to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judge’s warrant, according to an internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo obtained by The Associated Press, marking a sharp reversal of longstanding guidance meant to respect constitutional limits on government searches,” the AP reports.
Nancy Lacore, a three-star admiral and former chief of the Navy Reserve before she was fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, announced a run for Congress in South Carolina’s 1st congressional district, The Hill reports.
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The House Oversight Committee voted to advance two resolutions to the House floor recommending that Bill and Hillary Clinton be found in contempt of Congress, The Hill reports.
Both votes were bipartisan. The Bill Clinton resolution passed 34-8 and the Hillary Clinton resolution passed 28-15.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was spotted on a flight to California, ahead of an arctic storm that is set to hit Texas this weekend.
Philip Elliot: “President Donald Trump assured nervous European allies on Wednesday he ‘won’t use force’ to take Greenland while adding with a mob-like menace that the world’s largest island will eventually be under the U.S. flag, one way or another…”
“Still, one line stood out, as if it were a cutting-room-floor discard from Goodfellas: ‘We want a piece of ice for world protection, and they won’t give it. You can say yes and we will be very appreciative. Or you can say no and we will remember.’”
“Another way to read that familiar frame? We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
“Gov. Gavin Newsom of California was denied entry to an American venue at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and his scheduled speaking engagement there was abruptly canceled on Wednesday,” the New York Times reports.
“Rahm Emanuel, a prominent Democrat who has signaled his desire to run for president in 2028, on Wednesday called for a mandatory retirement age of 75 for the president, cabinet officials, members of Congress and federal judges,” the New York Times reports.
President Trump said he wouldn’t impose tariffs on several European nations after he reached the “framework of a future deal” on Greenland and the Arctic region with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, the Wall Street Journal reports.
New York Times: “The details of any framework aside, the president’s decision to back down from steep new tariffs on European countries came days after financial markets recoiled over the prospect of a tit-for-tat trade escalation across the Atlantic. Some analysts felt that a protracted battle threatened to harm the U.S. economy, not just the countries that Trump had been trying to pressure over Greenland.”
“Nevertheless, it was not the first time that the president has retreated from his tariff plans, particularly in the wake of a strong market reaction. Since the beginning of his trade war, he has taken an on-again, off-again approach with some of his most punishing duties.”
“One year into his second term, President Trump is speaking far more words in public than in the first year of his first term, often in more unscripted settings, and talking less about Obamacare and jobs and more about foreign countries and consumer goods,” the New York Times reports.
“Overall, Mr. Trump has delivered fewer scheduled speeches and prepared remarks, and spoken at fewer news conferences. But he has given more interviews and engaged in nearly six times as many so-called press gaggles, unscheduled remarks made to journalists in passing.”
“And on average, he has spoken many more words at each event than in 2017, part of a trend of longer, less focused public appearances.”
Variety: “Ten people familiar with the workings of CBS News say the Paramount Skydance unit is veering toward dysfunction, with a management team led by Bari Weiss that doesn’t value the standards held by veteran journalists.”
Peter Baker: “It is a measure of how much Mr. Trump has changed the definition of normal that his appetite for seizing land that does not belong to him is debated as a serious proposition rather than dismissed out of hand as a brazen violation of U.S. treaty obligations and international law.”
Peter Wehner: “Trump is causing incalculable damage to the Christian faith, yet most evangelicals will never break with him.”
“President Trump seemed to confuse Iceland — a Nordic nation of around 400,000 people known for volcanoes and glaciers — and Greenland, the semiautonomous Danish territory on which he has set his sights for reasons that he and his advisers say include U.S. security, access to minerals and ‘psychological’ necessity,” the New York Times reports.
The Pentagon has ordered active-duty military police soldiers based in North Carolina to prepare for possible deployment to Minneapolis, MS NOW reports.
“Coming into Wednesday’s argument, Justice Brett Kavanaugh was one of the court’s strongest voices emphasizing the importance of the Federal Reserve’s independence,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“He wrote about the topic in a 2009 law review article. And just last month, during oral argument in a different case, he emphasized that he had ‘concerns’ about eroding the central bank’s independence.”
“Forty-five minutes into the Cook argument, he forcefully returned to the theme in a long exchange with Solicitor General D. John Sauer.”
David Graham: “Donald Trump retains the ability to shock; the day he loses that, he will, like the biblical Samson—another man notable for his coiffure—lose his power entirely. When Trump started his second term as president a year ago, however, I doubted whether there was much more to learn about how his mind works. Even before he’d entered politics, Trump was overexposed. Since then, he has become the most scrutinized person in the world. His tendencies and foibles are well known to voters, politicians, and world leaders.”
“Yet in breaking one of his most entrenched patterns, he has provided perhaps the biggest surprise of the past year. During his first term, Trump was defined by his tendency to back down in any negotiation or fight: As I put it in a May 2018 article, he almost always folded, agreeing to concessions whether he was negotiating on trade with China or a budget resolution with Senate Democrats. More recently, though, he’s been following through, no matter how aberrant his ideas.”
“The exact reason for this is difficult to pin down, though it likely includes the fact that he has more experience under his belt, fewer prudent voices in his ear, and a lame duck’s liberation from having to worry about reelection. In any case, his new determination is forcing countries around the world to reassess how to deal with him.”
“Congress is on track to avoid another shutdown, but it needs to clear several hurdles in a short amount of time in order to beat its month-end deadline,” Politico reports.
“The pressure is on the House to pass four of the most challenging spending bills Thursday — to fund the departments of Defense, HHS, Labor, HUD, Transportation, Education and Homeland Security — then bundle them up with the two-bill package the chamber previously passed to fund Financial Services and State-Foreign Operations.”
“Senators will then have one week to take a big swing at passing all six bills before sending them to President Donald Trump’s desk.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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