“The United States sold the ambassador’s residence in Israel for more than $67 million in July, according to an official Israeli record of the sale that shines new light on a transaction that has been shrouded in secrecy,” the AP reports.
“The State Department confirmed the sale in September but refused to identify the buyer or disclose the sale price of the sprawling beachfront compound in the upscale Tel Aviv suburb of Herzliya.”
Gallup: “Americans are most likely to name President Donald Trump and Michelle Obama as most admired man and woman in 2020.”
“Trump tied former President Barack Obama for the honor last year but edged out his predecessor this year. Trump’s first-place finish ends a 12-year run as most admired man for Obama, tied with Dwight Eisenhower for the most ever.”
A Wall Street Journal editorial accused President Trump of sabotaging Republicans’ chances of winning the Georgia Senate runoffs with his push for $2,000 stimulus checks, calling it an “in-kind contribution to Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden.”
Axios: “It’s another sharp criticism from a newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch — co-chair of Fox Corp. and executive chair of News Corp — that comes one day after the New York Post said Trump is ‘cheering for an undemocratic coup’ with his efforts to overturn the election he lost.”
“What you have, I think, is a Democratic party driven by a cultural belief system that they’re now trying to drive through the school system so they can brainwash the entire next generation if they can get away with it.”
— Newt Gingrich, in an interview with The Guardian.
“President-elect Biden, who has vowed to be clear-eyed and straight about the pandemic, plans a renewed warning in remarks on COVID-19 in Wilmington today,” Axios reports.
“Echoing a CDC forecast from last week, Biden is expected to say that, tragically, the infection rates and the number of deaths are expected to increase in the coming weeks.”
“A federal judge in Georgia on Monday ordered two counties to reverse a decision removing more than 4,000 voters from the rolls ahead of the Jan. 5 runoff elections that will decide control of the U.S. Senate,” Politico reports.
“The judge, Leslie Abrams Gardner — the sister of former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, a prominent ally of President-elect Joe Biden who has led voter registration efforts across the state — concluded that the counties appeared to have improperly relied on unverified change-of-address data to invalidate registrations in the two counties.”
Washington Post: “With other key Republicans waylaid, it fell to Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) to talk the president down. So Graham raced to Trump’s Florida golf club and worked the problem: What possible solution could assuage Trump without forcing Congress to reopen negotiations? ‘We’d hit a shot, take a phone call. Hit a shot, take a phone call. Hit a shot, talk about what’s a good deal,’ Graham said in an interview Monday. ‘It was a very intense Christmas Day.’”
“Graham was far from alone. Republicans across Washington had blanched at Trump’s shocking threat to kill the coronavirus relief package — especially with the Georgia runoffs and the Senate majority hanging in the balance.”
New York Times: “As an exercise in raw presidential power, it was a flop. As a political tactic, it backfired. And as a coda to his final weeks in office, President Trump’s threat to veto a $900 billion Covid relief and government funding bill merely underscored his tumultuous tenure in the Oval Office.”
“Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will filibuster an override of President Trump’s defense bill veto unless the Senate holds a vote on providing $2,000 direct payments to Americans,” Politico reports.
“McConnell and the Senate want to expedite the override vote and I understand that. But I’m not going to allow that to happen unless there is a vote, no matter how long that takes, on the $2,000 direct payment.”
“The House of Representatives on Monday voted to override President Trump’s veto of the sweeping defense bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act, delivering a bipartisan rebuke to the President,” CNN reports.
“The bill initially passed both the House and Senate with veto-proof majorities, but amid Trump’s continued opposition, it had been unclear if the override attempt would be successful or if the veto would be sustained.”
“President Trump’s brash communication style — combined with a societal shift towards streaming, where there are no regulatory restrictions on speech — has forced the entire media industry to present information in a more candid and less polished way,” Axios reports.
“It’s no longer uncommon to hear cable anchors use foul language or for TV or radio personalities to make indecent remarks on air. Now that the standard has been set, it’s hard to see how networks and news outlets could go back to their postured presentations of the past.”
“President-elect Joe Biden on Monday accused President Trump and his political appointees of obstructing the transition of power to his incoming administration, particularly on national security issues, an escalation in tone after reports of isolated difficulties in the transition process last week,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Biden: “Right now, we just aren’t getting all the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. It’s nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility.”
He added: “My team needs a clear picture of our force posture around the world and our operations to deter our enemies. We need full visibility into the budget planning underway at the Defense Department and other agencies in order to avoid any window of confusion or catch-up that our adversaries may try to exploit.”
Nashville Mayor John Cooper (D) said that he has not spoken directly to President Trump since the intentional detonation of an RV in the city’s downtown on Christmas, The Hill reports.
President Trump said he will send Congress a list of items in the coronavirus relief and spending bills that he would like rescinded, Bloomberg reports.
Democrats immediately responded that they will ignore his request.
“A group of Republicans including Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas and Kelli Ward of Arizona is suing Vice President Mike Pence in a desperate, last-ditch attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,” the Daily Beast reports.
“The Electoral College is scheduled to certify the win on Jan. 6, a procedural task overseen by the sitting vice president—in this case, Pence, who has not yet publicly acknowledged the fact that Trump lost his bid for a second term.”
Politico: “Though the lawsuit itself is unlikely to gain legal traction, it does put Pence in the position of having to either contest the suit — putting him on the opposite side of Trump and his GOP defenders — or support it and lay bare the intention to subvert the will over the voters in the 2020 election.”
The New York Post reports President Trump and Melania Trump are are talking to real estate brokers “about buying a house in Palm Beach, or nearby, as the living space at Mar-a-Lago isn’t big enough, and there could be some potential conflicts.”
“The Trumps have also been looking at Palm Beach-area private schools for their son, 14-year-old Barron.”
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.