“Legislation to overhaul how Congress counts presidential electoral votes should hop on the must-pass spending omnibus on its way out of the Senate, Sens. Joe Manchin and Amy Klobuchar said Wednesday,” Roll Call reports.
Trump Taken Aback by Criticism Over Dinner
“Former president Donald Trump’s refusal to apologize for or disavow the outspoken antisemites he dined with last week is setting him increasingly at odds with leaders of his own party, providing the first test of his political endurance since launching his third run for the White House,” the Washington Post reports.
“The fracas is also testing how Republicans will handle the party’s extreme fringe in the months ahead after years of racist, misogynist and antisemitic speech flooding into the political bloodstream during the Trump era.”
“Trump has been taken aback by the backlash and maintained that the controversy over his Mar-a-Lago dinner with white nationalist Nick Fuentes and the rapper Ye, who has been vocally spouting antisemitic conspiracy theories, would blow over.”
McCarthy Caught in the Middle of Divided Caucus
“House Republicans are playing high-stakes tug of war with Kevin McCarthy’s speakership dreams. And now both sides are digging in their heels,” Politico reports.
“On the GOP leader’s right, conservatives are meeting with House rules officials to strategize ahead of a planned floor challenge to McCarthy during the speakership vote on Jan. 3. Meanwhile, centrist Republicans are making threats of their own to colleagues who’d bulldoze McCarthy — including that they’ll work with Democrats to recruit a GOP speaker candidate more to their liking.”
Meanwhile, McCarthy’s official website already lists him as speaker-elect, despite his bid not yet having enough GOP votes, TPM reports.
Quit Underestimating Biden
Newt Gingrich: “Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan both preferred to be underestimated. Both wanted people to think of them as pleasant – but not dangerous. They found being underestimated was a major asset. While people laughed at them, they were busy achieving their goals and getting their programs implemented.”
“Biden has achieved something similar…”
“Today there is not nearly enough understanding (or acknowledgement) among leading Republicans that our system and approach failed. We need to rethink from the ground up how we are going to Defeat Big Government Socialism – including almost inevitable second-time Democrat Presidential Nominee Biden.”
“This is a much bigger challenge than I would have guessed before the election.”
Biden Responds to ‘Four More Years’
In response to a crowd member seeming to shout, “four more years,” President Biden responded: “I don’t know about that.”
Warnock Has Edge in Runoff
A new Emerson College poll in Georgia finds Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) just ahead of challenger Herschel Walker (R) in the Senate runoff, 51% to 49%.
New York Assembly to Vote Against Seating Republican
“In an extremely rare move, the Democratic-led state Assembly is preparing to vote against seating the Republican winner of an Assembly race in Brooklyn, Lester Chang, because he may not have moved into the borough one year prior to the election as required by law,” NY1 reports.
Has Trump Already Lost 2024?
Tina Nguyen: “The Trump ’24 campaign, after all, was hardly off to a rollicking start even before Ye and his entourage rolled into Mar-a-Lago. First there was Trump’s deflating campaign announcement—a long-winded diatribe that prompted multiple audience members to attempt a mid-speech Irish exit—only a few days after a dismal midterm outcome. Trump had already been blamed by many in the G.O.P. for putting his thumb on the scale for a half-dozen oddball or extremist gubernatorial and midterm candidates, including Dr. Oz and Herschel Walker, among others, who likely cost Republicans the Senate. In the days and weeks afterward, Trump spent the bulk of his time holed up in Mar-a-Lago, shit-posting about stolen elections and imagined enemies, his own mounting legal headaches, and the gall of would-be primary challengers.”
“That Trump closed out this second week on the trail bunkered down in Mar-a-Lago with Ye has only punctuated the growing fear among allies and insiders that the ex-president, in the throes of his post-Twitter and post-double-impeachment woes, cares far more about his own personal relevance than his party (duh) or even his own potential victory.”
Said a GOP strategist: “Set aside the Fuentes thing. He is a relatively obscure figure, despite the attempts of the press to make him a household name. But Kanye alone—what are you doing? Why are you having dinner with him? What’s the upside here? We know the downside. He’s mentally disturbed. And if the answer is oh, he’s my friend and I’m trying to give him some tough love and advice, that’s fine. You can do that over the phone.”
U.S. Gas Prices Plunge Toward $3 a Gallon
“The cost of gasoline is falling so fast that it is beginning to put real money back in the pockets of drivers, defying earlier projections and offering an unexpected gift for the holidays,” the Washington Post reports.
“Filling up is now as cheap as it was in February, just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine touched off a global energy crisis.”
Judge Scolds Justice Department for Slow Gaetz Probe
“A federal judge scolded the Justice Department on Wednesday over what he characterized as slow-moving investigations during a hearing for one of GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz’s former associates, saying the probes have “no end in sight,” CNN reports.
“The Gaetz associate, former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg, has pleaded guilty to underage sex trafficking and five other felonies, and is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday in Orlando. As part of his plea deal, Greenberg cooperated extensively with prosecutors, including by providing information about Gaetz related to the sex-trafficking probe.”
Merrick Garland Praises Oath Keepers Verdict
“A day after a federal jury convicted two far-right extremists of leading a plot to unleash political violence to prevent the inauguration of Joe Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland vowed that his Justice Department would continue to ‘work tirelessly’ to hold accountable those responsible for efforts to overturn the 2020 election,” the Washington Post reports.
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ICE Releases Details of 6,252 Seeking Protection
“Immigration and Customs Enforcement accidentally posted the names, birthdates, nationalities and locations of more than 6,000 immigrants who claimed to be fleeing torture and persecution to its website on Monday,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Madison Cawthorn Warns About the ‘Soft Metrosexual’
Outgoing Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) gave a speech on the House floor warning of the danger the country faces from the “soft metrosexual.”
Said Cawthorn: “Our young men are taught that weakness is strength, that delicacy is desirable, and that being a soft metrosexual is more valuable than training the mind, body, and soul! Social media has weakened us, siphoning our men of their will to fight! To rise in a noble manner, square their jaws and charge once more into the breach of line to defend what they love.”
He added: “Will you reclaim your masculinity? Will you become a man to be feared, to be respected, to be looked up to, or will you let this nation’s next generation be its final generation?
Indiana AG Seeks to Punish Doctor Over Abortion
“Indiana’s Republican attorney general on Wednesday asked the state medical licensing board to discipline an Indianapolis doctor who has spoken publicly about providing an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim who traveled from Ohio after its more-restrictive abortion law took effect,” the AP reports.
Georgia GOP Chairman Singled Out by Judge
A judge ruled that either Georgia Republican Party chairman David Shafer or 10 other Republicans who falsely purported to be presidential electors must find new lawyers for the criminal investigation of what happened after the 2020 presidential election, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
Legal experts have said prosecutors may be trying to split up the electors’ representation in order to offer deals to some but not to others.
House Committee Finally Receives Trump’s Tax Returns
“The House Ways and Means Committee now has six years of Donald Trump’s federal tax returns, ending a yearslong pursuit by Democrats to dig into one of the former president’s most closely guarded personal details,” CNN reports.
“The Supreme Court declined last week to intervene after courts said the House had power to request the returns from the IRS.”
Hakeem Jeffries Made It Look Easy
“The strategy behind Hakeem Jeffries’ yearslong ascent to House Democratic leader, as his top allies see it, focused on making the outcome feel inevitable. And in the end, it did,” Politico reports.
“The New York Democrat culminated a remarkably frictionless climb of the party ladder on Wednesday, securing every vote and avoiding a single challenger. He became the highest-ranking Black congressional leader in U.S. history just 12 days after formally declaring his run.”
“That effortless appearance took work: Behind the scenes, House Democrats’ biggest power transfer in two decades was hardly a shoo-in. Democrats across the caucus said Jeffries — along with his top lieutenants, Reps. Katherine Clark (D-MA) and Pete Aguilar (D-CA) — succeeded thanks to years of careful maneuvering to consolidate support from every influential bloc in the party.”