“House Republican leaders signaled on Monday that they would not support President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose a heavy tax on companies that move jobs overseas, the first significant confrontation over the conservative economic orthodoxy that Mr. Trump relishes trampling,” the New York Times reports.
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Biden Says He Would Run In 2020
Vice President Joe Biden told CNBC that he may run for president in 2020.
Said Biden: “Yeah, I am. I am going to run in 2020. For president. And also, you know so, what the hell man, anyway.”
He added: “I’m not committing not to run. I’m not committed to anything. I learned a long time ago, fate has a strange way of intervening.”
Why Kushner Got Payback Against Christie
Vanity Fair looks at why Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is believed to have sunk Gov. Chris Christie’s chances at a job in the new administration:
Much has been made of Kushner’s familial loyalty even within the Trump campaign, as reports swirled that he convinced his father-in-law to pass over New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, first as the vice-presidential pick, and again, when he got ousted last month as head of the White House transition team. Christie, as U.S. Attorney, was responsible for putting Charlie Kushner behind bars. A source close to the campaign told me recently that there was a major sticking point in the Christie relationship that Jared could not let go of, and that’s what led him to convince Trump to bypass him.
According to the source, Charlie Kushner was going to be released 28 days early from his sentence. The family was ready, eager, anticipating his arrival home. But he ended up finishing out the time. This source claims that Jared Kushner believes that Christie made sure that Charlie Kushner stayed behind bars for the full sentence, even though the family had already started preparing for his early release. “That really sort of twisted the knife in and he just couldn’t let go of that part of it,” the source said. A source close to Kushner confirmed that this is true.
Democrats Pressure Heitkamp and Manchin to Stay Put
“Senior Senate Democrats are putting pressure on their red-state colleagues to turn down any offer from Donald Trump to serve in his administration, warning that their party could suffer if they join forces with the incoming president,” CNN reports.
“Democrats are worried that if Trump adds two Democrats to his Cabinet — potentially North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin — the balance of power in the chamber could tilt further to the GOP. So they are making the case to their colleagues to stay put.”
Scott Won’t Run for South Carolina Governor
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) said he has ruled out a bid for South Carolina governor in 2018, the Spartanburg Herald Journal reports.
Said Scott: “The more I pray, the more I am comfortable that where I am is where I want to be right now. You’ve got to have fire to run for governor. We are finding fire and that is staying (in the Senate).”
GOP Elector Won’t Vote for Trump
A Republican member of the Electoral College wrote in the New York Times that he will not be casting his vote for Donald Trump.
Said Christopher Suprun: “The election of the next president is not yet a done deal. Electors of conscience can still do the right thing for the good of the country. Presidential electors have the legal right and a constitutional duty to vote their conscience.”
Gore Meets with Trump to Discuss Climate Change
“Former Vice President Al Gore, a leading voice in the fight against climate change, and Donald Trump, who at one point called it a hoax, met on Monday in what Gore called a ‘productive’ session,” Reuters reports.
Gore “spent about 90 minutes in meetings at the president-elect’s Trump Tower apartment and office building in Manhattan. In addition to seeing Trump, he also met briefly with the Republican’s daughter, Ivanka, who attended a series of high-level meetings since her father won the Nov. 8 election.”
Trump Called a ‘Conspiracy Theorist’
CNN media critic Brian Stelter called President-elect Donald Trump “a conspiracy theorist,” according to Politico.
Stelter said Trump “latched on to a number of theories” during the campaign, including an unsubstantiated claim that he saw thousands of Muslims in New Jersey cheering on 9/11.
He added: “And he’s also in a few different cases tweeted out links to clearly fake news stories. Now, that hasn’t happened in recent days. I would say it’s been about a week since he tweeted something that was clearly false — he said there have been millions of illegal votes. That didn’t happen.”
Attention Turns to the Governor’s Races
Cook Political Report: “The 38 Governors races on the ballot in 2017 and 2018 may end up being the biggest story of the cycle. There is a lot at stake for both parties as most of the Governors elected this cycle will be in office in 2021 when the next round of redistricting takes place. Thus, there is no time like the present to unveil the first iteration of gubernatorial ratings of the cycle.”
“In 2018, Republicans have 26 seats up, at least 16 of which will be open largely due to term limits… Democrats have just nine seats up in 2018, including three that will be open.”
The Alternative to Obamacare Is Tax Cuts for the Wealthy
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Trump Adviser Defends Taiwan Call
“Stephen Moore, an economic adviser to Donald Trump, defended the President-elect’s recent call with the president of Taiwan, saying in a local radio interview that he didn’t care if it upset China,” CNN reports.
Said Moore: “Taiwan is our ally. That is a country that we have backed because they believe in freedom. We oughta back our ally, and if China doesn’t like it, screw ’em.”
McCrory Finally Concedes In North Carolina
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) announced that he’s conceded the election to Attorney General Roy Cooper (D) and will support transition efforts, the Raleigh News & Observer reports.
Said McCrory: “It’s time to celebrate our democratic process and respect what I see to be the ultimate outcome of the closest North Carolina governor’s race in modern history.”
Rogue Electors Brief Clinton Campaign
“Advocates of the long-shot bid to turn the Electoral College against Donald Trump have been in contact with close allies of Hillary Clinton, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions, but the Clinton camp — and Clinton herself — have declined to weigh in on the merits of the plan,” Politico reports.
“The electors leading the anti-Trump push say they’re operating without regard to the Clinton campaign’s views and without its assistance. To some leaders of the anti-Trump effort, the lack of formal Democratic Party engagement is an asset as they attempt to woo Republicans.”
Christie Passed Over Again?
Gov. Chris Christie “may be pressing his own candidacy to be the next chairman of the Republican National Committee, but Mr. Trump, who has the final say, appears to have other ideas,” the New York Times reports.
“A person close to Mr. Trump said the president-elect’s allies are coalescing around Nick Ayers, a member of the transition team, to be the party’s chairman. Mercedes Schlapp, another Republican operative, is being considered for a role as co-chairwoman.”
Defeated GOP Lawmaker Won’t Coordinate Transition
Rep.-elect Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) told the Bergen County Record that Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) “has not returned his calls or responded to a certified letter asking about a transition, especially to ensure constituent requests do not fall through the cracks.”
“While polarizing politics is all too common, Garrett’s apparent unwillingness to discuss a transition with his successor is not.”
The Stunt Presidency
Julia Turner: “The Carrier deal is a triumph for Donald Trump, and it’s one that should terrify those concerned about what his presidency might bring (and how long it may last). The incident shows how keenly Trump understands the power of a concrete example. The Carrier deal will be good for the workers whose jobs will stay in Indiana, yes, but it functions primarily as a stunt that expertly reinforces Trump’s brand. As a candidate, he promised to use his deal-making skills to improve the lot of the American worker. Now, nearly two months before he even takes the oath of office, he has delivered. No matter what happens on Trump’s watch—to Carrier, to the manufacturing sector, to employment numbers overall—there will be some set of voters, and not just Trump fans, who vividly remember this moment, thanks to its clarity, to its tangibility.”
“Each critique of the Carrier deal requires the listener to hold in his or her head several levels of abstraction: ideas about how systems and incentives work, ideas about cause and effect, ideas about how corruption can unfurl or how policy can affect millions of people. And so each critique has less impact than the sturdy story: Last week in Indiana, Donald Trump saved a thousand jobs.”
Why Carson Is the Perfect HUD Secretary for Trump
Jonathan Chait: “HUD is traditionally a magnet for scandal under Republican administrations, for two reasons. First, its mission of providing affordable housing for the urban poor is marginal, at best, to the core Republican agenda… Second, the agency’s program structure lends itself naturally to profiteering. HUD works closely with private developers to build affordable housing. Without careful oversight, the agency can easily become a slush fund to distribute sweetheart contracts to the administration’s buddies.”
“There is an additional risk factor in Trump’s administration. The president is planning to continue to run his business empire in office, without disclosing his income. And so Carson, a man with no experience in government but extensive experience in the field of bilking, and a proven loyalist of Donald Trump, will apparently oversee an agency whose mission lends itself to corruption. If Trump’s priority was to ensure the most effective and efficient use of every housing dollar, Carson would make a very strange choice. But that may not be Trump’s priority at all.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“Donald Trump is post ideological. His movement transcends ideology.”
— GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio, quoted by the Washington Post.
