Garrett Graff: “There was some speculation in the hours following Wray’s announcement to leave before January 20^th that it was some advanced bureaucratic maneuver to forestall Kash Patel being installed as FBI director under a recess appointment or under what’s known as the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which governs who and how someone can be appointed an ‘acting’ leader in the government.”

“And, indeed, in various ways Wray’s resignation would preclude Patel from being installed via an FRVA appointment if Trump’s plan had been to wait until day 91 of the administration to fire Wray — Patel (or anyone else named acting) needs to have been in government for 90 days in the year period *preceding* the vacancy, for instance, among other FVRA provisions — but there’s also an open legal debate about whether FVRA can even be used if a firing happens, because the president is then creating the vacancy he’s trying to fill, so legally and procedurally it feels sort of a wash in that sense…”

“But I think, practically, Wray’s decision not only doesn’t hinder Patel taking over the bureau, it accelerates it.”

Earlier for members: Washington Shrugs at Christopher Wray’s Departure

A new AP-NORC poll finds only around 3 in 10 Americans are “extremely” or “very” confident that Donald Trump will pick qualified people to serve in his administration.

However, a majority of Republicans say they do have high confidence.

“Vice-president elect JD Vance will bring Daniel Penny, a Marine veteran recently acquitted on homicide charges related to an incident on a New York City subway, to the Army-Navy game on Saturday,” Politico reports.

Said Vance: “Daniel’s a good guy, and New York’s mob district attorney tried to ruin his life for having a backbone.”

“President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Middle East adviser, Massad Boulos, has enjoyed a reputation as a billionaire mogul at the helm of a business that bears his family name,” the New York Times reports.

“In fact, records show that Mr. Boulos has spent the past two decades selling trucks and heavy machinery in Nigeria for a company his father-in-law controls. He is chief executive of the company, SCOA Nigeria PLC, which made a profit of less than $66,000 last year, corporate filings show.”

“There is no indication in corporate documents that Mr. Boulos, a Lebanese-American whose son is married to Mr. Trump’s daughter Tiffany, is a man of significant wealth as a result of his businesses. The truck dealership is valued at about $865,000 at its current share price. Mr. Boulos’s stake, according to securities filings, is worth $1.53.”

Ron Brownstein: “Donald Trump’s support in rural America appears to have virtually no ceiling. In last month’s election, Trump won country communities by even larger margins than he did in his 2020 and 2016 presidential runs. But several core second-term policies that Trump and the Republican Congress have championed could disproportionately harm those places.”

“Agricultural producers could face worse losses than any other economic sector from Trump’s plans to impose sweeping tariffs on imports and to undertake what he frequently has called ‘the largest domestic deportation operation’ of undocumented immigrants ‘in American history.’ Hospitals and other health providers in rural areas could face the greatest strain from proposals Trump has embraced to slash spending on Medicaid, which provides coverage to a greater share of adults in smaller communities than in large metropolitan areas. And small-town public schools would likely be destabilized even more than urban school districts if Trump succeeds in his pledge to expand ‘school choice’ by providing parents with vouchers to send their kids to private schools.”

Politico: “As they reckon with the ramifications of Trump’s resounding win, his mixed messaging on key issues is fueling uncertainty among Democratic leaders about how to adjust their approach to the president-elect as they prepare for him to return to power under markedly different political circumstances than in 2017 — when the energy and mandate, for Democrats, appeared clearer.”

“Instead, in 2024, Trump’s unpredictability and the depth of their own losses is clouding their conversations about how to revamp their party’s broader messaging.”

“Donald Trump’s second inauguration will be a triumphant return for a former president many believed to be permanently barred from Washington four years ago after denying his 2020 election loss,” USA Today reports.

“But for Democrats and their allies, Jan. 20, 2025 is a dreaded date coming off a bruising 2024 presidential election. And they’re not sure about attending the time-honored transfer of power in person.”

“Donald Trump, eager to turn his inauguration into a global event, is personally extending invitations to some foreign leaders, including heads of state that have clashed with the United States in the recent past,” CNN reports.

“Amazon.com is planning a $1 million donation to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, as founder Jeff Bezos and other tech leaders shore up ties with the incoming administration,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is not expected to travel to Washington next month as an inauguration guest of President-elect Donald Trump, CBS News reports.

Trump had personally invited Xi to the swearing-in ceremony shortly after Election Day.

“Amaryllis Fox Kennedy — a former undercover CIA operative who managed her father-in-law Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign — met this week in Washington with President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for CIA director, John Ratcliffe, and others about a possible job as deputy director of the spy agency,” the Washington Post reports.

A new Monmouth poll finds if Donald Trump did suspend some laws and constitutional provisions, 52% of the public would be bothered a lot by this. This number is down from 65% who felt this way in June.

Those who say they would be bothered a lot by this ranges from 77% of Democrats (down from 86% in June) to 55% of independents (down from 68%) and just 23% of Republicans (down from 41%).

President-elect Donald Trump told Time that he “may reject spending bills sent to him from Congress if they do not match the cuts prescribed by a cost-cutting plan being drafted by billionaire advisers Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.”

“The potential threat may give the pair the juice they need to force lawmakers to take their recommendations seriously, avoiding the irrelevance that met so many of their predecessors.”

Trump also “discounted potential conflicts of interest for Musk, whose private businesses have received more than $15 billion in federal contracts going back a decade and stand to have billions more funneled their way in years to come.”

“Presidents have expansive power over trade policy — but that power is derived from specific legal provisions that dictate multistep processes for deploying that power,” Axios reports.

“That means that businesses may not face the overnight imposition of large-scale tariffs but instead have time to prepare their supply chains, and the opportunity to seek exclusions for goods they have no choice but to import — at least, to the extent President-elect Trump follows his first-term trade playbook.”

“Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is meeting with Donald Trump next week, the president-elect said Thursday, highlighting his contacts with tech titans, including those with extensive contracts with the US government, in the run-up to his return to the White House,” Bloomberg reports.