Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 195
Shake Up
“Iran said it’s not obliged to submit to full nuclear monitoring while under threat from U.S. military attacks, hardening its position against international inspectors,” Bloomberg reports.
“In a 10-page report sent to the International Atomic Energy Agency and circulated among diplomats late last week, Iran said assaults on its nuclear facilities and the threat of renewed strikes have made normal inspections impossible.”
“After this year’s historic blue wave, more women than ever before are set to serve in the next Congress,” CNN reports.
“The new record — 159 women from both parties — is seven more women than currently serve in the House and Senate.”
“It’s no secret that Democrats intend to force President Donald Trump to end his war with Iran once they take control of the House and Senate next year. But Democrats also believe they may not have to wait that long,” MS NOW reports.
“With lawmakers needing to address government funding and a major defense policy bill before the new year — as well as the prospect of an impeachment vote on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — Democrats believe they may have some unexpected leverage to end the eight-month war in the coming weeks.”
“Katie Miller announced she’ll end her podcast as her husband, Stephen Miller, becomes White House chief of staff,” Politico reports.
Paul Krugman: “Although the U.S. right has long wanted to Orbanize America, on the eve of the midterms the U.S. wasn’t Hungary — that is, it wasn’t a state that had lived for years under one-party rule, rule that party had used to rig the political system to make that rule permanent.”
“But while America as a whole wasn’t like Hungary, Texas was. Republicans have dominated the state’s politics since the 1990s, and have been ruthless about using gerrymandering, crony capitalism that rewards their allies, and other tactics to preserve that dominance. The effects of gerrymandering are still highly visible if we look at the state’s Congressional representation: Democrats swept every statewide office, yet only 14 of the 38 representatives Texas will be sending to the next House of Representatives will be Democrats. And while Republicans lost the state’s own House, they retain control of its heavily gerrymandered Senate.”
“Yet Democrats did sweep every statewide office.”
“President Donald Trump is acknowledging that parts of his immigration crackdown may have gone too far. But as Stephen Miller takes over as White House chief of staff Monday, administration officials are signaling there are no plans to slow down deportations,” NewsNation reports.
“The messaging comes less than a week after the midterm elections, when voters expressed growing concerns about immigration enforcement and Republicans suffered significant losses, including Texas.”
The Guardian: How Stephen Miller appointment shows Trump hasn’t learned his lesson on immigration.
“As the Mississippi Senate race still remains too close to call, Democrat Scott Colom and GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith have taken completely different approaches towards the public,” CNN reports.
“Since Election Day, Colom has held at least eight events and capitalized on the national attention of the race to flood the airwaves and make his case for why Democrats should no longer count out a state historically considered a Republican stronghold. Meanwhile, Hyde-Smith has not been seen publicly since she left her election night watch party just outside of Jackson after declaring that she would remain her state’s junior senator.”
NewsNation: Hyde-Smith faces upset in tight Mississippi poll.
“The world’s most powerful AI executive admitted Sunday to an affair with a suspected Chinese spy, sending shock waves through an industry built on his singular influence,” Axios reports.
“Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has fashioned himself as the indispensable leader of an indispensable company — a $4.5 trillion behemoth with unparalleled clout in Silicon Valley, on Wall Street and inside President Trump’s White House.”
“Trump stood by Huang on Sunday evening, telling reporters that the Nvidia CEO is ‘an honorable guy’ and ‘probably has an excuse’ for his infidelity.”
New York Post: Trump defends “honorable” Nvidia boss after explosive affair with Chinese “spy” revealed.
“Vice President JD Vance’s message on Israel last week was as blunt as anything coming from Democratic politicians,” the New York Times reports.
“For Republicans to win elections after the midterm wipeout, Mr. Vance wrote on Wednesday, they must end the war against Iran, which President Trump and Israel started, and also ‘change our relationship with Israel.'”
“Coming from a leading Republican who is considering a presidential run in 2028, it was an extraordinary volley against U.S. policy on Israel, which over decades has received robust military, diplomatic and economic support.”
“That backing had long been a bipartisan pillar of U.S. foreign policy. But it has eroded in recent years, first among Democrats angry about Israel’s war in Gaza and the treatment of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and more recently among some Republicans who blame Israel’s government for encouraging Mr. Trump to launch the war in Iran.”
“Last week, voters elected a historic new Congress, handing Democrats unified control after two years shut out of power,” the New York Times reports.
“On Monday, the old Congress returns to Washington with a full list of unfinished business, a large flock of lame-duck members who may or may not show up for key votes, and a transformed political landscape that will shape Republicans’ final weeks in the majority.”
“Hanging in the balance are a spending agreement that must be reached to keep the government funded beyond early December, a bill that would speed the approval of infrastructure projects throughout the country, major defense and agricultural legislation, as well as a slew of nominations that President Trump wants to push through while he still has the chance. Also on the agenda is an effort to impeach Pete Hegseth, the embattled defense secretary, whose leadership of the war with Iran has drawn bipartisan criticism.”
“Brace yourself for the most progressive — and aggressive — Senate Banking Committee chair in decades,” Politico reports.
“Elizabeth Warren, the longtime Wall Street antagonist poised to take over the Banking panel next year, is preparing a sweeping policy and oversight agenda that will put her in a key position to influence the Democratic Party’s debate over economic populism ahead of 2028.”
“President Donald Trump said after Tuesday’s midterm drubbing he wants to ‘work with’ Democrats. Now Hakeem Jeffries has to decide if his party will play ball,” Politico reports.
“As he prepares to lead a massive House Democratic majority, perhaps the presumptive speaker’s toughest call will be how to handle Trump. After years of dismissing and denigrating the president, Jeffries has to weigh varying opinions inside his caucus: Some, including incoming red-district freshmen, want to attempt collaboration, while plenty of others want total war.”
“Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s most recent calendar, released Friday, shows no record of a conversation with President Donald Trump, even while Trump has said he spoke with Warsh about how to vote at a meeting in September,” the Washington Post reports.
“It’s the fifth calendar since Warsh took office in May to list no meeting or call with the president, though several Senate Democrats asked him this summer to add any such contacts to his publicly released calendars.”
“Lawmakers return to Washington on Monday for the first time since Democrats reclaimed the House and the Senate in the midterm elections, setting up a legislative sprint before the transfer of power on Jan. 3,” the Washington Post reports.
“Some Republicans are pushing to do as much as they can before they lose control.”
“Congress is scheduled to be in session for five more weeks before the end of the year — but some Republicans in both chambers are urging their colleagues to work weekends and holidays to confirm as many of President Donald Trump’s nominees and pass as much legislation as they can in the lame-duck session.”
“And we know the truth. Donald Trump led an insurrection. His goal was to remain in power after the American people had voted him out of office. That’s the truth. It was a violent assault. The rioters weren’t ‘peaceful protesters.’ They came armed to stop the official certification of a legitimate election. The criminals who attacked law-enforcement officers that day didn’t deserve pardons. They deserved prison terms. To this day, Trump and his supporters continue to preen and posture like they’re supporters of law enforcement. Here’s my view: You don’t get to turn a blind eye to cops being punched, speared, sprayed, and brutalized and call yourself a friend of law enforcement. What Trump did on January 6, 2021, should never be forgotten. It should follow him to his grave.”
— Former President Joe Biden, in an excerpt of his new memoir in The Atlantic.
“Democrats intend to find a more prominent location to display a memorial plaque honoring the law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — which Republicans currently have relegated to the basement of the building,” Politico reports.
“Rep. Joe Morelle of New York, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, confirmed to Politico he plans to facilitate the move when his party retakes the majority in January. And while he is still working out the logistics, the relocation would send a strong message about how Congress remembers a widely traumatic event that remains politically divisive.”
Punchbowl News: “What was supposed to be a hectic lame-duck session is now a power struggle between ascendant Democrats and President Donald Trump. The odds of a government shutdown have increased dramatically since Democrats’ big win on Tuesday – fueled in part by the public’s opposition to the Iran war – with a Dec. 11 funding deadline looming.”
“House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer meet privately this week. One of the challenges they face is whether to provoke a shutdown over Iran. Especially Schumer.”
“Despite helping deliver a massive Election Day, Schumer is facing calls from some progressives for his ouster. It won’t happen, but it raises the stakes for him in the funding fight.”
“Dozens of Democratic House freshmen descended on the Hill this week for new member orientation as their party starts debating how exactly it’ll flex its newfound power,” Politico reports.
“More than 100 incoming members and prospects — overwhelmingly Democrats, but also new Republicans — flooded the halls of Capitol Hill yesterday, with vibes landing somewhere between excitement and newbie nervousness.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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