Gaetz courts senators as ethics panel deadlocks
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The House Ethics Committee deadlocked Wednesday afternoon on releasing a report from its investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), President-elect Trump's pick to be attorney general, deciding against releasing the results of an investigation after a party-line vote.
A swarm of reporters waited outside an Ethics Committee meeting for more than two hours before Chairman Michael Guest (R-Miss.) emerged to announce there was no agreement by the panel to release the report.
Guest told NBC News on his way into the meeting that he didn’t believe the report was complete.
Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) said he would introduce a resolution seeking a vote on the House floor over whether to force the Ethics panel to release the report. The resolution would need majority support in the GOP-led House. Several Republican senators, who will eventually vote on whether to confirm Gaetz as attorney general, have said they want to see the results of the Ethics Committee report, whether it’s made available to the public or not. Lawmakers have heard testimony from several women who have accused Gaetz of sexual misconduct. Gaetz denies the allegations and the Department of Justice has not brought any charges against him. Gaetz abruptly resigned from Congress last week after Trump nominated him. The House Ethics Committee has traditionally shied away from releasing reports on former members. |
VANCE SEEKS TO SMOOTH THE PATHWAY FOR GAETZ |
Vice President-elect JD Vance, a senator from Ohio, shepherded Gaetz around Capitol Hill on Wednesday, as Trump’s attorney general nominee took meetings with the senators who will decide whether he is confirmed to lead the Justice Department. Gaetz received support from some Trump allies who argue the Florida Republican, a pugilist with a long list of enemies in both chambers, is being treated unfairly.
“I fear the process…is turning into an angry mob, and unverified allegations are being treated as if they are true. I have seen this movie before,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Meanwhile, Democrats on the Judiciary panel escalated the battle for records on Gaetz, asking the FBI for “the complete evidentiary file” on the former congressman. Their letter to the FBI was signed by 10 of the 11 Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, with only Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) declining to join his colleagues. |
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Welcome to Evening Report! I'm Jonathan Easley, catching you up from the afternoon and what's coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here. |
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© AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite |
How big of a majority will House Republicans have?
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Republicans have secured a majority in the House, but with two races still too close to call, they currently only hold a 220-213 advantage.
Trump has nominated three House Republicans to be in his administration, and it could take months to sort out their replacements.
If Democrats win the two outstanding races, the GOP would only have a 217-215 majority when the new Congress begins. That would mean every Republican would have to remain united for legislation to pass along party lines.
That’s important to keep in mind as budget talks heat up ahead of the Dec. 20 deadline to fund the government.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wants to pass a short-term extension into early next year to give Republicans and President-elect Trump “a little more say in what those spending bills are.”
Not all Republicans agree that’s a good strategy, The Hill’s Aris Folley reports.
“We’ve got to break this cycle, and this kicking it into next year is not good,” said House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.). “It’s not fair to the new president, it’s not fair to the new members. They’re going to have to vote on this. I’m not okay with any of this, I would like to finish the bills.”
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House Republicans are debating what bathroom incoming Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) will use.
Speaker Johnson announced Wednesday that transgender women are not permitted to use bathrooms in the Capitol that match their gender identity, following a vocal lobbying campaign from Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.).
Mace has been recording social media videos about keeping transgender women out of women’s bathrooms on Capitol Hill and says she’s received death threats over it.
McBride responded in a statement saying she'll follow Johnson's rules, even if she disagrees with them: "I'm not here to fight about bathrooms. I'm here to fight for Delawareans and bring down costs facing families." |
Some GOP senators are voicing anger at their colleagues for skipping votes that have allowed Democrats to confirm President Biden’s judicial nominees.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Trump’s pick to lead the State Department, is among those who have been absent in recent days.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) is furious, according to The Hill’s Al Weaver.
“If we don’t show up, we lose,” Tillis said. “I don’t care what the reasons were. We have fewer than 15 scheduled legislative days. You have to show up. Period. End of story. There’s nothing more important. We’ve got potentially dozens we could have shoved down our throat — except for us being here…We’ve got to talk to these folks like adults and show up.”
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GOP BREAKS WITH TRUMP OVER MASS DEPORTATIONS |
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a longtime ally to Trump, said Wednesday he opposes the president-elect’s plan to use the military to carry out mass deportations of illegal immigrants.
“I’m not in favor of sending the army in uniforms into our cities to collect people. I think it’s a terrible image,” Paul said on Newsmax. Paul said the incoming administration should focus on arresting and deporting the estimated 28,000 in the country illegally who have been accused or convicted of violent crimes.
“I will not support an emergency to put the army into our cities,” he added. “I think that’s a huge mistake.” |
What do Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have in mind for their Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)?
The duo laid out their plans Wednesday in an editorial in The Wall Street Journal, saying they’re eyeing “mass head-count reductions” and a “drastic reduction in federal regulations.” “The two of us will advise DOGE at every step to pursue three major kinds of reform: regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions and cost savings,” they wrote. “We will focus particularly on driving change through executive action based on existing legislation rather than by passing new laws.” The latest nominations: • Trump tapped former former acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker to be his ambassador to NATO.
• Linda McMahon is Trump’s pick for Education secretary. Here are 5 things to know about her.
Here is the updated list of all of Trump’s Cabinet selections so far.
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💡Perspectives:
• The Guardian: Trump's Cabinet picks are agents of his rage and vengeance. • Spiked: Why they're terrified of Trump's Cabinet picks. • Slate: Republicans should cool it with the 'mandate' talk. • The Wall Street Journal: How science lost America's trust. • The Hill: Americans want mass deportations. |
27 days until electors vote in their states. 30 days until the government funding deadline.
44 days until the new Congress begins and the House leadership elections. 47 days until Congress counts the electoral votes.
61 days until Inauguration Day. |
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© Paul Ellis/Pool Photo via AP |
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Biden bolsters Ukraine defenses as Russia war escalates
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President Biden made another big move Wednesday to bolster Ukraine’s defense, supplying Ukraine with controversial anti-personnel mines, in a major policy reversal. This comes after Biden agreed to allow Ukraine to use American-made long-range missiles to strike deeper into Russia.
Ukraine fired the storm shadow missiles for the first time this week, hitting a Russian weapons arsenal. Biden’s moves during his lame-duck period mark a major escalation in the 1,000 day-long war between Russian and Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin responded, changing a policy to lower the bar for his use of nuclear weapons. He’s said previously that the U.S. moves are tantamount to “direct involvement” in the war. The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv has shut down after warning about a potentially “significant air attack.”
Reuters reports that Putin is open to discussing a ceasefire deal with President-elect Trump, but under the conditions that Russia doesn’t make any major territorial concessions and that Ukraine cannot join NATO.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hopes the U.S. and Ukraine maintain “unity” through the presidential transition, saying it could be “very dangerous” if relations fray.
Meanwhile, political analyst Nate Silver, who supported Vice President Harris’s presidential run, said Wednesday that Biden should resign and let Harris serve out his term, citing the Ukraine situation: “Is there any particular reason to assume Biden is competent to be president right now? It's a very difficult job. It's a dangerous world. Extremely high-stakes decisions in Ukraine. He should resign and let Harris serve out the last 2 months.” |
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