Elaine Godfrey: “The normal rules of public disgrace may no longer apply to Donald Trump. But at least some expectation of good behavior remains, it seems, for a politician in Trump’s orbit…”
“A man who reportedly dreams of being Florida governor is now facing the blunt reality of his own political irrelevance.”
New York Times: “Heading into the 2024 election, the conservative group Turning Point Action made a risky and expensive bet as it tried to fix Republicans’ early-voting problem: It zeroed in on infrequent voters who seemed to lean to the right.”
“Calling its effort ‘Chase the Vote,’ the group focused heavily on Arizona, where it is based and says it spent tens of millions of dollars to help elect Donald Trump. Hundreds of paid staff members worked to build enduring relationships with Arizonans whom Turning Point saw as friendly to Republicans, targeting a smaller universe of voters than traditional canvassing operations.”
“Turning Point’s gamble appears to have paid off, at least in Arizona.”
Ron Brownstein: “This time, Trump’s fate will be much more in his own hands. If he can deliver greater economic stability for working families, while avoiding too many firefights on militant MAGA priorities, strategists in both parties agree that he will be in a strong position to consolidate the gains he’s made among traditionally Democratic constituencies, such as Black, Latino, and younger white men.”
“But if an unbound Trump veers in directions that too many voters don’t want to follow—including vaccine skepticism, politicizing the criminal-justice system against his opponents, and the separation of undocumented parents from their U.S.-citizen children—he could quickly shrink his coalition again. And if his economic agenda rekindles inflation, as many independent analysts forecast, that effect will only be stronger.”
“Even in our highly polarized age, the fundamental hydraulics of America’s two-party system still govern elections: When one party falls in the public’s esteem, the other inevitably rises.”
The House Ethics Committee officially released its report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).
Associated Press: “While ethics reports have previously been released after a member’s resignation, it is extremely rare.”
President-elect Donald Trump announced he will bring back Mount McKinley after the mountain was changed in favor of the native population.
Said Trump: “We’re going to bring back the name of Mount McKinley. He deserves it.”
“House Democrats are sending an early warning signal to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) that he shouldn’t count on them to rescue him again,” Axios reports.
“Johnson will have the barest of majorities next year — and he’s staring down growing unrest within the Republican conference.”
Said one swing state Democrat: “I have thought multiple times that I would help Johnson in a tough Speaker vote because he was true to his word even in hard times. That has absolutely changed now. Trust is all we have in these negotiations. I thought Johnson was truly different. He’s no better than McCarthy. He’s getting no help from me and I know many of my colleagues feel the same.”
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on Monday filed a lawsuit against the House Ethics Committee in a last-minute attempt to block the panel from releasing its report on the Florida Republican, The Hill reports.
New York Times: “The push against TV drug ads threatens to dent the revenues of pharmaceutical companies, which can make back in sales five times as much as they spend on commercials, according to some analysts. It could also create uncertainty for major television networks, which bring in substantial revenue from pharmaceutical advertisers trying to reach older viewers, who tend to take more medications.”
“Though it’s not clear how such a ban might happen — Mr. Kennedy has called for an executive order — any attempt would face an uphill battle. Efforts to modestly restrict drug ads have repeatedly been defeated in the courts, often on First Amendment grounds. The first Trump administration tried to require that commercials mention the drug’s price, but a judge blocked the move, saying that it lacked authority from Congress.”
Semafor: “Trump is inheriting a particularly strong post-pandemic economy, meaning he enters office with considerable leverage in trade negotiations, The Wall Street Journal reported. Already, the president-elect has floated a blanket 10% tariff on all imported goods, a 25% tariff on Canadian and Mexican products, and levies of up to 60% on Chinese goods.”
“But the Republican’s notorious unpredictability means many world leaders are unclear exactly how to prepare for Trump 2.0, with many hoping to score a meeting with him and begin negotiations even before he takes office.”
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) was hospitalized after being bucked off a horse he was riding on Sunday, the Lincoln Journal Star reports.
New data from the progressive group Navigator Research shows that “even voters who previously backed Democrats cast the party as weak and overly focused on diversity and elites,” Politico reports.
“When asked to compare the Democratic Party to an animal, one participant compared the party to an ostrich because ‘they’ve got their heads in the sand and are absolutely committed to their own ideas, even when they’re failing.’”
“Democrats, another said, are ‘not a friend of the working class anymore.’”
“Everyone keeps asking me if I’m pregnant. Actually, a member, a Republican, came to me on the floor this week and asked me if I was pregnant… I’m not pregnant guys. I had a lot of food at Thanksgiving, OK? It happens.”
— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), quoted by the Daily Beast.
Rachel Bade: “After the House passed a shutdown-averting spending bill Friday, a very relieved Speaker Mike Johnson proclaimed to reporters that President-elect Donald Trump was ‘certainly happy about this outcome.’”
“Not by a long shot.”
“Amid the chaos in Washington, I was in Palm Beach talking to people close to the past and future president and called up other confidants afterward. This much became clear to me: Not only is Trump unhappy with the funding deal, he’s unhappy with Johnson, too.”
Playbook: “Trump is backing away from Johnson just at the moment where the speaker most needs the new president’s help. Johnson won’t be able to lose more than four Republican votes on Jan. 3, and it’s impossible to see him mustering that kind of unity without Trump’s vocal backing.”
“His best friend right now? Circumstance. No Republican wants a reprise of last fall’s two-week power vacuum, least of all with the official electoral college tally scheduled for just three days later. No elected speaker means no certification. And it definitely means no progress on reconciliation — forget the one-bill-or-two debate.”
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was found by congressional ethics investigators to have paid numerous women — including a 17-year-old girl — for sex, and to have purchased and used illegal drugs, including from his Capitol Hill office, according to a final draft of a comprehensive investigative report obtained by CBS News.
From the report: “The Committee determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress.”
More: “The record overwhelmingly suggests that Representative Gaetz had sex with multiple women at a 2017 Florida party, including the then-17-year-old, for which they were paid… Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex. At the time, she had just completed her junior year of high school. Victim A said that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her age.”
“President Biden, citing moral and policy objections to capital punishment, said he was commuting the death sentences of 37 inmates Monday, a move that prevents President-elect Donald Trump from executing most men on federal death row,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Said Biden: “Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss.”
But, citing his early experience as a public defender as well as decades in federal office: “I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level. In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.”
“As Joe Manchin prepares to leave Congress after nearly 15 years, the West Virginia senator — who left the Democratic Party and registered as an independent earlier this year — is further distancing himself from his former party, calling the Democratic brand ‘toxic,’” CNN reports.
Said Manchin: “The D-brand has been so maligned from the standpoint of, it’s just, it’s toxic.”
“President-elect Trump floated taking ownership of Greenland as he named PayPal co-founder Ken Howery as his pick for U.S. ambassador to Denmark on Sunday,” Axios reports.
“Trump said during his first administration that he was looking into the U.S. buying Greenland and canceled a state trip to Denmark after Danish officials said the autonomous territory that’s part of its kingdom was not for sale.”
President-elect Donald Trump said on Sunday that he intended to nominate Callista Gingrich, who served as his ambassador to the Vatican during his first term, as ambassador to Switzerland, the New York Times reports.
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.