Political Wire

The End of Stephen Miller’s Recusals

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Michael Scherer: “Stephen Miller spent his first weekend as White House chief of staff on the patio at Mar-a-Lago, huddling with President Trump and Natalie Harp, his executive assistant, about how to approach the next two years with the House and Senate under Democratic control. Katie Miller—the podcaster, political consultant, and wife of Stephen—spent the weekend in the Washington area, rearranging her own life.”

“But that was not all that was changing. For months, Stephen Miller has recused himself from matters of policy that involve Katie Miller’s other financial interests at the direction of the White House counsel.”

“That meant that Stephen did not work on issues involving the media company Paramount, where his wife had been seeking a podcast deal, or anything to do with space policy or artificial intelligence, because his wife, a longtime adviser to Elon Musk, also worked for SpaceX, the owner of the Grok artificial-intelligence assistant. All of that changed today.”

Trump Says War in Iran Is ‘Effectively Over’

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“Donald Trump has said that the war in Iran is ‘effectively over’ as he played down concerns that the U.S. would escalate its military campaign against Tehran after the midterm elections,” The Guardian reports.

Said Trump: “At this point, taking the military action doesn’t seem to be a very necessary thing – but we’re locked and loaded, ready to go for any reason.”

Senator Takes Aim at Big Banks Over Epstein Ties

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“The incoming Democratic chairman of the Senate Finance Committee signaled three major banks with ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein would be top investigative targets for the panel when his party takes control next year,” Bloomberg reports.

Said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR): “We’ve got three Wall Street banks who if they had done nothing, nothing except follow the law for years on end, we could’ve stopped Epstein cold.”

Nvidia CEO Is in Congress’ Sights After Spy Scandal

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“Nvidia and its embattled CEO can add Washington to their list of huge problems,” Semafor reports.

“Members of Congress in both parties are pushing for strengthened export controls and investigations of company chief Jensen Huang after he admitted an affair with a woman accused by U.S. intelligence of spying for the Chinese government. Beyond the corporate governance questions raised by the furor, lawmakers are incensed by reports that Nvidia may have pushed for access to its chips by dubious Chinese companies.”

Los Angeles Times: Lawmakers briefed on Nvidia affair as security concerns mount.

Democrats’ Fight with Trump Is Just Getting Started

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New York Times: “After they won the House in the 2018 midterms, Democrats spent months squabbling among themselves over whether or not to impeach Trump over the various dramas that had consumed Washington. They did it once in 2019, for threatening a pre-invasion Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call, and again after Jan. 6, 2021.”

“It’s not clear that those impeachments, which both ended with Senate acquittals, conferred a political benefit for Democrats.”

“That might be why we’re not yet hearing the same colorful exhortations to impeach Trump that we did during the first term — it would just be so 2019.”

“What we are hearing is an attempt to carry the central plank of Democrats’ midterm campaign — the accusation that a corrupt administration has raised costs for regular Americans — into the halls of Congress. Democrats are promising to start investigations and pass anti-corruption bills that would ban congressional stock trading.”

Jeffries Says He Won’t Work with Stephen Miller

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“House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller a ‘stone-cold racist’ and said he can’t work with him,” Punchbowl News reports.

Said Jeffries: “Stephen Miller is a stone-cold racist. His track record speaks for itself, and I’ve got zero interest in working with that kind of individual.”

“This isn’t terribly surprising, but this is an inauspicious start for the White House’s relationship with congressional Democrats.”

Mike Johnson Won’t Say If He’ll Stay in Congress

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“Speaker Mike Johnson declined to say he would finish out his two-year term,” Punchbowl News reports.

“Instead, Johnson told reporters in the Capitol on Monday to ‘stay tuned.'”

Said Johnson: “I’m focused on finishing this Congress well and helping the Republicans succeed in the 120th Congress, so stay tuned.”

Trump Backs Nvidia CEO Amid FBI Probe

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“President Donald Trump defended Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang during a surprise press briefing Monday that started after his meeting with UFC founder Dana White, saying that he’d spoken with Huang and that Huang denied knowing that a woman he had a relationship with had ties to the Chinese government,” the Washington Sun reports.

Said Trump: “I asked him that question: ‘Did you have any idea that she was a spy?’ He said, ‘I had no idea that she was a spy.’ And I really believe him.”

Trump Moves to Rescue Texas Planned Parenthood Case

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“The Trump administration is intervening in a high-profile Texas lawsuit against Planned Parenthood, taking ownership of a case that could fall by the wayside under the state’s newly elected Democrat attorney general,” the New York Times reports.

“The move, just days after an election loss in deep red Texas, was a signal that the Trump administration could seek to supplant the Democrats’ power in former Republican strongholds, where officials had used litigation to further their agenda on social and policy issues.”

Mike Johnson Could Sit On Hegseth Impeachment

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“The House may vote to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week. But even if the articles pass, they may never reach the Senate,” Politico reports.

“The ultimate decision on that question comes down to Speaker Mike Johnson, who could simply refuse to send the articles to the Senate before the current Congress expires — kicking the matter to the next one, when both chambers will be under Democratic control.”

Scott Colom Takes Aim at ‘Prognosticators’

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“Scott Colom, the Mississippi Democrat who is leading in the count of the state’s U.S. Senate race, says that polling analysts like the Cook Political Report make it harder for candidates like him in Southern states to compete and fundraise,” the Mississippi Free Press reports.

“Cook Political had the Mississippi race labeled as ‘Solid Republican’ in its analysis ahead of the election, suggesting the state was an impossible flip.”

Said Colom: “At some point, we have to talk about the Cook Political Report and other ‘prognosticators’ who had me and other southern candidates labeled as solid R for much of the campaign cycle. They made it much more difficult to fundraise and are part of the reason the South has been neglected for so long.”

Hakeem Jeffries Is ‘Confident’ He Will Be Speaker

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“House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is ‘confident’ in his chances of being elected Speaker of the House in January, he told reporters Monday, even as some of the soon-to-be members of his caucus declined to offer immediate support for the man who would be the first Black speaker,” the Washington Sun reports.

Steve Scalise Wants to Lead Battered House Republicans

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“Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise is making what colleagues see as his final bid to become the top House Republican, looking to lead a battered party in the new Democratic-run Congress,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Scalise, 61 years old, is squaring off against Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) for House minority leader after Republicans suffered sweeping losses in the midterm elections and Speaker Mike Johnson said he wouldn’t run to lead the party next year. Scalise and Jordan had a bruising clash three years ago when they competed to replace former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) after his ouster in October 2023—and neither got the top job.”

Katie Zacharia Auditioning Again for Press Secretary

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“Former White House press secretary Katie Zacharia, who held the job for just five days last month before being fired, is again the talk of Washington as several high-profile advisers to President Trump believe she’s angling for a second chance at the podium,” the New York Post reports.

“Three sources close to President Trump told The Post that Zacharia has been working to charm him and new chief of staff Stephen Miller into giving her another shot.”

Introducing Gift Links

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I’m trying out a new benefit for Political Wire members: Gift Links.

Members can now share up to five Talking Points pieces each month with friends who aren’t yet members. Just click the gift icon beneath the headline to get a link to share.

It’s a simple way to pass along some analysis you enjoyed — like perhaps the piece I wrote yesterday and why Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries were safe in their leadership roles — and give friends a taste of Political Wire membership.

This feature is still in testing, so I may adjust the number of monthly shares. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Thanks, as always, for supporting Political Wire.

Another Bonus Quote of the Day

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“I think this president just wanted someone even more unlikable than him in the cuck chair in the Oval Office.”

— Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE), quoted by LGBTQ Nation, on Stephen Miller being selected as White House chief of staff.

The Problem with Mississippi’s Voter Rolls

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“Last summer, Mississippi began an effort to ‘continue to build on the accuracy of Mississippi’s voter rolls and strengthen the integrity of elections,’ as Republican Secretary of State Michael Watson put it,” The Atlantic reports.

“Using data from the credit-reporting agency Experian, the state scrutinized its list of registered voters, searching for anyone who may have moved, left the state, or died. Tens of thousands of Mississippians had their active registrations shifted to inactive—a crucial step toward purging them from the rolls.”

“On Tuesday, many of those inactive voters showed up at the polls, only to be told that they were not properly registered. Their best option was to fill out an affidavit ballot, a more involved process that increases the likelihood that a vote will not count.”

Taegan Goddard

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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