In today’s issue:

• The House and Senate are back in session
• Trump Cabinet: Rubio, Stefanik, Zeldin
• Business bets under Trump: crypto, taxes, oil
• With Trump win, China eyes climate-leader role

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Congress is back in town.

Lawmakers begin their lame-duck session today and are facing a Dec. 20 funding deadline ahead of the holidays and the swearing in of the 119th Congress in January. 

Republicans, bolstered by President-elect Trump’s win and their gains in both the House and Senate last week, are anxious to turn the page and move on to next year. 

Although California is still counting ballots, Republicans are projected to keep control of the House, handing the party total control of Washington, according to Decision Desk HQ. It would be a win for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who skyrocketed up from obscurity to lead the House GOP not only legislatively, but also in a large role in its campaign infrastructure. He will address reporters this morning.

Democrats, meanwhile, are hoping to get in as many of their priorities as possible while they hold control of the Senate.

Top of the to-do list for both parties is funding the government to keep the lights on in Washington, but with Republicans having gained uniform control, GOP lawmakers are eyeing a temporary measure that would fund the government into March, well into Trump’s second term, The Washington Post reports.

The extension would allow the Senate to begin to confirm Cabinet members, and the House could focus on tax legislation — a major issue facing lawmakers in 2025. And with only 20 planned working days until Dec. 20, aides said a stopgap bill could be the only viable way forward.

Still, Democrats will be key in passing any funding legislation. Already facing a narrow House majority, the GOP’s final-tally edge could shrink from its current number, and Republicans’ majority in the Senate is too small to bypass a filibuster.

“As I’ve said time and again, in both the majority and the minority, the only way to get things done in the Senate is through bipartisan legislation while maintaining our principles — and the next two years will be no different,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.

▪ The Hill: Leaders of the hard-line conservative House Freedom Caucus went rogue with parliamentary procedure on the House floor while the world was looking the other way on Election Day, raising questions about whether its chair will face any repercussions from House GOP leadership. 

▪ The Hill: The pressure campaign being waged by allies of Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) to boost his chances to become the next Republican leader is having a boomerang effect, as it has increasingly antagonized GOP senators and could doom his already dim odds in the race.

▪ The New York Times: Trump’s allies are pushing him to torpedo GOP Whip John Thune’s (S.D.) bid to become the next Senate Republican leader.

Senate Republicans are celebrating their new majority, but they will be confronted with hard questions over how much leeway to give Trump and whether to stand up to him if he crosses the line, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports. If Senate Republicans let Trump walk all over them, it could put their power at serious risk in 2026. 

Trump is already testing the loyalty of his skeptics in the upper chamber by calling on them to allow him to make recess appointments to the executive and judicial branches without the advice and consent of the Senate. Senate Republicans are also bracing for Trump to pardon many of the people convicted of Jan. 6, 2021-related crimes, a step that a number of GOP senators who lived through the Capitol riot would not approve of.

And the president-elect has threatened to impose steep tariffs on imports that many GOP lawmakers worry would hurt the economy.

“If legislators get out of line, he will threaten to support a primary challenge to them in two years,” said Darrell West, a senior fellow specializing in governance studies at the Brookings Institution. “That threat will quiet many possible critics.”

Then there are taxes: But the vast majority of Senate Republicans agree with Trump on the biggest legislative agenda item on the table — extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Trump’s win is setting up a fight between Republicans who want to cut taxes and those who want to rein in the deficit, writes The Hill’s Tobias Burns. In addition to wanting to extend his 2017 tax cut law at a potential price tag of about $4.6 trillion, Trump promised a host of specific tax cuts while on the campaign trail, totaling as much as $15.5 trillion. Now Republicans are jockeying for position on how far they want to go with additional tax cuts that could expand the national debt.

GOP leaders expect a tax cut bill to be the party’s first legislative priority and defended Trump’s 2017 bill despite its steep price tag.

“We thought it was a huge success,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said at a press conference last week. “It produced more revenue than less, and I’m sure virtually all of us would like to see most of that extended.” 

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SMART TAKE FROM THE HILL'S BOB CUSACK:

Trump will be returning to the White House for many reasons, most notably because of the economy. 

But his biggest challenge in a second term will likely be foreign policy. Trump will need to come up with peace solutions to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza while also dealing with brazen efforts by foreign actors seeking to undermine and trigger panic in the U.S.

The Department of Justice last week unveiled charges that accuse Iran of a murder-for-hire plot against Trump. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal first reported that Russia put incendiary devices on planes this summer as part of a terror campaign against North America. 

China is becoming more aggressive in the South China Sea and might try to invade Taiwan in the next few years. And don't forget North Korea, which has strengthened its alliance with Russia.

Trump's second-term legacy could very well hinge on his foreign policy decisions. 

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3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY:

▪ In Manhattan today, Justice Juan Merchan will decide whether Trump’s criminal conviction on 34 counts will stand in a case involving falsified business records and hush money paid to a porn star.  

▪ Dreaming of a move abroad? What it takes to immigrate in five countries.

▪ Veteran journalist Chris Wallace, 77, is leaving CNN for streaming or podcasting, where he says the action is.

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LEADING THE DAY 

Trump’s new administration features loyalists and initially scattershot announcements for some Cabinet and Senate-confirmable positions, plus a few West Wing heavy hitters. Is there a Treasury nominee and economic team, a Pentagon command, a Justice Department team? Has Trump said “you’re fired” to officials hoping to keep their jobs, or will he demand resignations from officials serving lengthy terms set in statute? It could happen. Personnel picks are just getting started. (The Washington Post has a tracker HERE.)

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is likely to be nominated by Trump as secretary of State, according to The New York Times. Rubio challenged Trump in the 2016 GOP presidential primary and Trump derided “Little Marco” in return, but the senator, a foreign policy hawk who has called for the end of the war in Ukraine, patched things up when Trump was elected and has been a stalwart supporter during this year’s presidential contest. 

The defenders: Naming Rep. Elise Stefanik, 40, Trump’s choice to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, rewards a fierce partisan from upstate New York. The GOP lawmaker’s shift from the legislative to executive branch would place a staunch U.N. critic in the U.S. seat. During Trump’s first term and during the Obama and Biden administrations, the post featured women. In addition, the president-elect is expected to name Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) to be his White House national security adviser, an influential post that does not require Senate confirmation.

Border closers: Longtime Trump speechwriter and adviser Stephen Miller, 39, will be White House deputy chief of staff for policy in the new administration, The Associated Press reported. Miller, a hard-liner about immigration who wields extensive insider influence, explained his role during an interview with The Washington Post in 2019. Miller will work hand-in-hand with Tom Homan, Trump’s incoming White House “czar” for immigration policy. Homan told Fox News Monday that workplace raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in search of undocumented employees will be part of the administration’s deportation roundups. He told CBS’s “60 Minutes” before the election that a revival of Trump’s criticized family separations and deportations program “needs to be considered.”

The influencer: Billionaire Elon Musk has “loomed over” all the action at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club since Trump's election night victory, CNN reported. Musk is “weighing in on staffing decisions, making clear his preference for certain roles.”

The New York Times: Meet the insiders who have outsize influence on the presidential transition.

Congressional loyalist: Trump will nominate former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, he said Monday. The incoming administration hopes to shrink the agency and has discussed relocating it out of Washington. Zeldin on Monday told Fox News that he will pull back “left-wing” regulations and focus on “unleashing economic prosperity” through the agency. “President Trump, when he called me up, gosh, he was rattling off 15, 20 different priorities, a clear focus. He wasn’t reading off of some sheet. It’s the top of his head. And if I challenged him to give me 50 more ideas of what to do with this agency to improve the economy, I’m confident he would have done that,” Zeldin said.

Targets for turnover: Trump transition lawyer and adviser Mark Paoletta on Monday warned Justice Department employees on the social platform X, they risk firings for politically motivated “resistance” to the president-elect’s agenda, including immigration crackdowns, presidential pardons or commutations for Jan. 6, 2021, defendants. “If these career DOJ employees won’t implement President Trump’s program in good faith, they should leave,” he added.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is ready for a legal fight if Trump tries to fire him. His term ends in May 2026.

Federal Trade Commission head Lina Khan is viewed in the tech world and by Republicans in Congress as a foe. Her replacement will be vetted by a lawyer who works with Vice President-elect JD Vance, Bloomberg News reports. Experts caution that Big Tech may not be untouchable under a second Trump presidency, particularly with populist undertones that could keep antitrust enforcement at the forefront. 

FBI Director Christopher Wray was appointed by Trump, but has subsequently felt his wrath. Wray, who reports to the attorney general, was appointed after Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey in 2017. He has three years left on his 10-year term, and many are wondering whether he will retire or risk being purged by the president-elect. Wray is reportedly preparing for that possibility. He has given no indication he plans to exit. The FBI seized classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after Trump failed to return materials to the National Archives after leaving office. The bureau, responding to a subpoena, searched Trump’s Florida home and club. It also investigated allegations Trump sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election. 

Securities and Exchange Commission head Gary Gensler may be a short-timer with the incoming administration. His five-year term ends in 2026. Crypto backers are rooting for his departure, and a list of potential replacements is making the rounds.  

The Washington Post: Trump eyes pro-crypto candidates for key federal financial agencies.

Supreme Court retirements? Trump’s White House victory has sparked tussles among conservatives and liberals over whether the Supreme Court’s oldest justices should retire, including Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, 76, and Samuel Alito, 74, both conservatives, and the court’s most senior liberal associate justice, Sonia Sotomayor, 70. There are no signs the justices plan to step down.

The manager: Susie Wiles, 67, the president-elect’s pick to be White House chief of staff, brings an experienced working relationship with Trump to the West Wing. “What makes her different from previous chiefs of staff is she’s been in the trenches with him. She knows what he wants to do and where he wants to go,” said one Trump ally who knows the Florida political operative, the first woman chosen for one of the most challenging roles in Washington. Trump went through four chiefs of staff before losing a bid for reelection in 2020.

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WHERE AND WHEN

• The House will meet at noon. The Senate will convene at 3 p.m.
  
• The president will meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog at 11:15 a.m. in the Oval Office. Biden will host Vice President Harris for lunch. He will meet at 2 p.m. with President Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia. 
  
• Vice President Harris will join Biden for lunch at 12:15 p.m. at the White House.
  
• The White House daily press briefing is scheduled this afternoon.

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ZOOM IN

Let’s get down to business, or at least what animates some in the business community about the incoming administration and Republican-led Senate. 

Here are ways Trump could reshape the economy, including through lower taxes, higher tariffs, immigration changes and deregulation. And let’s not forget expectations that Trump’s term almost immediately spells boom times ahead for petroleum, natural gas and mining.     

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ELSEWHERE

ISRAEL’S CONFLICTS in Gaza and Lebanon will dominate meetings in the Middle East and at the White House this week, after deadly Israeli airstrikes over the weekend highlighted the increasingly brutal toll of the wars. Anticipating Trump’s return to the White House in January, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Monday that “the time has come” to extend full Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank.

His comment came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has spoken with Trump three times since the election and that they “see eye to eye on the Iranian threat” (The Washington Post).

▪ The Times of Israel: Israel’s military announced a small expansion of Gaza’s humanitarian zone. The move comes just before a Biden administration deadline for Israel to deliver more aid to the enclave or risk a cutoff of military supplies.

▪ The Guardian: Despite the U.S. ultimatum, the amount of aid reaching Gaza has dropped to the lowest level since December.

▪ BBC: Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide.”

▪ The New York Times: Some in Iran’s new, more moderate government think the result of the presidential election provides an opportunity to make a lasting deal with the United States.

CLIMATE: With Trump’s victory, the U.S. is headed again for the exits of the Paris accord, the international climate agreement signed nearly a decade ago. China, on the other hand, appears more committed to the agreement than ever — and has vaulted to global leadership in renewable-energy deployment and spending for green-energy projects across the developing world (The Wall Street Journal). 

Meanwhile, this week at the U.N. climate conference COP 29, U.S. climate envoy John Podesta (pictured above) called on governments to believe in the U.S.’s clean energy economy, saying Trump can slow but not stop its climate change pledges (Al Jazeera).

NPR: A transition council created to reestablish democratic order in Haiti signed a decree Sunday firing interim Prime Minister Garry Conille.

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OPINION 

■ Trump’s recess appointments gambit? A power grab hiding in plain sight, by columnist Ruth Marcus, The Washington Post.

■ Trump’s mass deportation promise: He has a mandate on the border and to deport criminals. But more than that could get ugly fast, by The Wall Street Journal editorial board.

■ What a Trump-Musk government efficiency program should do in its first 100 days, by Dan Lips, opinion contributor, The Hill.

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THE CLOSER

And finally … 🐕‍🦺 They’re all very good boys and girls, but not all of them are future working dogs. 

Working dogs must have a certain temperament, specific cognitive skills and months of formal instruction before they join the four-legged workforce — and at least half the dogs in training fail. Now, in an effort to better identify successful future service and working dogs, canine behavioral scientists are studying puppies to develop a behavior model to predict the likelihood of a dog completing their training.

“Never has scientific research been so adorable,” said Brian Hare, a professor of evolutionary anthropology and psychology and neuroscience and founder of the Duke Canine Cognition Center.

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Stay Engaged 

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