Longtime GOP strategist Steve Schmidt announced on his podcast that he is registering as a Democrat after nearly 30 years with the Republican Party.
Said Schmidt: “I spent 29 years as a Republican, I’ve spent two and a half as an independent, and later this afternoon I will register as a member of the Democratic Party. Because in America today, it’s only the Democratic Party—which is the oldest political party in the world—that stands for the ideas and ideals of American liberty.”
“President Trump is considering pushing to have a special counsel appointed to advance a federal tax investigation into the son of President-elect Joe Biden, setting up a potential showdown with incoming acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen,” the AP reports.
“Trump — angry that out-going Attorney General William Barr didn’t publicly announce the ongoing, two-year investigation into Hunter Biden — has consulted on the matter with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, White House counsel Pat Cipollone and outside allies.”
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos urged career employees at the Education Department to “be the resistance” when the Biden administration comes into power next month, Politico reports.
“Only a tiny fraction of the more than 900 guests invited to an indoor holiday party hosted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife Susan showed up on Tuesday following an outcry from public health officials and U.S. lawmakers warning that the reception bore all the hallmarks of a super-spreader event,” the Washington Post reports.
“Pompeo, whose name was on the invitation and who was scheduled to speak at the event, canceled his speech and tapped a substitute speaker.”
“Roughly 70 people RSVP’d for the event as of Monday night and even fewer showed up.”
“Next-door neighbors of Mar-a-Lago, President Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Fla., that he has called his Winter White House, have a message for the outgoing commander in chief: We don’t want you to be our neighbor,” the Washington Post reports.
“That message was formally delivered Tuesday morning in a demand letter delivered to the town of Palm Beach and also addressed to the U.S. Secret Service asserting that Trump lost his legal right to live at Mar-a-Lago because of an agreement he signed in the early 1990s when he converted the storied estate from his private residence to a private club.”
“The contretemps sets up a potentially awkward scenario, unique in recent history, in which a former Oval Office occupant would find himself having to officially defend his choice of a place to live during his post-presidency.”
“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called White House chief of staff Mark Meadows Tuesday morning to say he planned on congratulating Joe Biden on winning the Electoral College and would officially address him as president-elect on the Senate floor,” Axios reports.
“President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Gina McCarthy, who ran the Environmental Protection Agency under President Barack Obama and now leads a major advocacy group, to coordinate the new administration’s domestic climate agenda from a senior perch at the White House,” the Washington Post reports.
“Michael Regan, the top environmental regulator in North Carolina, has emerged as a leading candidate to head the Environmental Protection Agency,” Axios reports.
“A state judge ruled Tuesday that the Trump Organization must turn over documents related to a property whose tax abatements were being investigated by New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office,” CNN reports.
“The Trump Organization previously claimed the documents were protected by attorney-client privilege.”
“President-elect Joe Biden will pick former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to run the Energy Department, the agency that would play a key role in helping develop the technologies needed to fulfill his pledge to move the country off fossil fuels,” Politico reports.
“Granholm, who served two terms as Michigan’s governor, is experienced in dealing with the auto industry — a potentially big advantage as the new president seeks to speed the rollout of electric vehicles and the network of charging stations needed to power them.”
Virginia state Sen. Amanda Chase (R), who is running for governor, called on President Trump to declare martial law to keep Joe Biden from being sworn in as the next president, The Hill reports.
Said Chase: “Fair elections we can accept but cheating to win; never. It’s not over yet. So thankful President Trump has a backbone and refuses to concede. President Trump should declare martial law as recommended by General Flynn.”
“National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien has returned early from a trip to the Middle East and Europe to deal with the hack of U.S. government agencies,” Bloomberg reports.
“O’Brien had planned to return to Washington on Saturday, but visited only Israel and France before canceling stops in Italy, Germany, Switzerland and the U.K. He arrived back in the U.S. Tuesday afternoon.”
New York Times: “Until Jeffrey Toobin’s fateful appointment with Zoom on Oct. 15, his quarantine was going better than most people’s… Then in a matter of minutes, Mr. Toobin committed the act that would make him subject, not observer, of scandal, investigation and commentary.”
Georgia’s two Republicans senators are still refusing to acknowledge Joe Biden as president-elect a day after Electoral College voters met to cast their ballots and officially name him the winner over President Trump, The Hill reports.
One day after the Electoral College affirmed Joe Biden’s presidential victory, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he acknowledged Biden as the president-elect and believed the election was legitimate.
But he added he will still hold a Senate hearing Wednesday on election “irregularities,” saying there are “legitimate questions” about the way the election was administrated in Wisconsin and other states.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that masks will now be required at all times in the chamber, including on the floor, “without exception including while members are under recognition…and recognition will be withdrawn if they remove the mask while speaking.”
Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM) appears to be President-elect Joe Biden’s top choice to head the Interior Department, a pick that would make her the first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency, Reuters reports.
“Sources familiar with the proceedings said Biden’s team was close to finalizing the decision on Haaland but weighing concerns about the loss of a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives, where Democrats are hanging on to a slim majority.”
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.