Morning Report — Trump heads to Capitol Hill, White House

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In today’s issue:

Trump to meet with Biden, Congress
New hires: Huckabee, Hegseth, Noem, Ratcliffe
Democrats look to their governors for salvation
Louisiana judge reverses Ten Commandments mandate

President-elect Trump is in Washington today, meeting with Hill Republicans before heading to the White House for a sit-down with President Biden.

The appointment on Pennsylvania Avenue promises to be highly awkward as Biden welcomes his successor — a man he labeled a danger to the country — to his residence, writes The Hill’s Alex Gangitano. The meeting is meant to underscore the peaceful transition of power in America, four years after Trump contested the results of Biden's 2020 win and never invited him to the White House, an post presidential election tradition.

Yet it also promises to be a painful day for Biden, his staff and Democrats around the country, who saw Trump roll to a decisive victory over Vice President Harris, winning all seven of the key swing states and the popular vote. Republicans also won majorities in the House and Senate on Trump's coattails.

“It’s very hard to imagine that President Trump won’t take the moment to at least spike the football a little bit — after all he did vanquish both President Biden and his hand-picked successor,” said Stewart Verdery, who served in former President George W. Bush’s administration and is a founder of Monument Advocacy. “But he also knows that he is being handed a series of overseas crises and how much cooperation he can get during the handoff will be a big factor in what the world looks like on Jan. 20.”

Over on Capitol Hill, leadership fights are in full swing. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), pictured above, who led his conference to a narrow victory in the House elections, faces criticism from conservative hard-liners, who won’t nominate a challenger to Johnson’s bid for the gavel, but still want to make their resistance known.

The plan B — which members of the House Freedom Caucus are plotting — would involve forcing a secret, recorded vote on Johnson’s nomination, The Hill’s Mychael Schnell reports, allowing them to indicate their level of disapproval.

It’s not Johnson’s only challenge: House Republicans are facing another razor-thin majority in the upcoming Congress, and Trump has already tapped two House members for positions in his administration. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) will be nominated to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) received the nod for national security adviser.

Johnson said Tuesday that he does not “expect” Trump to nominate more members for administration positions, but at least a dozen more House members have been discussed as other picks.

Stefanik and Waltz’s vacancies pose a math problem for Johnson, as they could take months to fill. Decision Desk HQ projects GOP victories in 219 House seats and Democratic victories in 210, with six seats still to be called — three in which the GOP candidate currently leads, and three in which a Democrat has the edge.

“President Trump fully understands and appreciates the math here, and it’s just a numbers game,” Johnson said Tuesday. “We believe we’re going to have a larger majority than we had last time — it’s too early to handicap it, but we’re optimistic about that. But every single vote will count, because if someone gets ill or has a car accident or a late flight on their plane, then it affects the votes on the floor. So I think he and the administration are well in tune to that.”

▪ The Wall Street Journal: Republican euphoria has been punctured by tough math in the House.

▪ The Hill: The eight House Republicans who took a leading role defending Trump during his first impeachment trial are reaping the benefits. Two are set to join his Cabinet, one is Speaker, one became Trump’s chief of staff and another could still be named to an administration post.

Meanwhile, House Democrats returned to the Capitol dejected and licking their wounds, write The Hill’s Mike Lillis and Schnell. While Democrats in the lower chamber outperformed Harris at the polls, that moral victory was a dim consolation for a party that had hinged its campaign on warnings that Trump posed a material threat to America’s foundational democratic traditions.

“It’s catastrophic,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), a 30-year veteran of the House who was the first Democratic lawmaker to call on Biden to step aside. “There have been other challenges in the past, but this is certainly the greatest one of my political life.”

In the Senate, it’s GOP leadership election day. Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) was viewed as the early frontrunner to become the next Senate GOP leader, but he is now under a barrage of opposition from Trump allies ranging from Elon Musk to Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. The intervention of prominent conservative voices in opposition threatens to shake up the race, writes The Hill’s Alexander Bolton.

Senate insiders say Thune is under pressure to win a three-way race with Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) in the first round of voting to avoid the possibility that a majority of the GOP conference might coalesce behind one of his two rivals once the race narrows down to two men.

The biggest wildcard in the race is Trump, who has yet to make an endorsement. Asked if Trump would heed his advice to stay out of the race, Thune replied: “Don’t know.”

“We’re just keeping our heads down, doing the work and leaving it in the hands of the voters,” he said.

SMART TAKE FROM THE HILL'S BOB CUSACK:

Democrats will probably be looking at a governor as their next presidential hopeful in 2028.

Since 2000, the Democratic Party has nominated a senator or former senator for the top of the ticket. The combined record is three wins and four losses. Former President Obama collected two of those triumphs, and he didn’t complete a full term in the Senate.

Democratic governors who could run in 2028 include Josh Shapiro (Pa.), Wes Moore (Md.), Gavin Newsom (Calif.), Gretchen Whitmer (Mich.), Andy Beshear (Ky.), JB Pritzker (Ill.) and Tim Walz (Minn.), among others.

Senators have long and complicated voting records that can be used as fodder for devastating presidential campaign ads. Republicans, for example, used then-Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass.) voting record on funding for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in 2004. Kerry narrowly lost.

Governors don’t have that type of baggage. They call the shots back home and can run on their track records — not on a controversial Senate amendment that was debated in the middle of the night.

Of course, the 2028 Democratic presidential nominee will have to earn the right to take on the GOP standard-bearer. And the field should be enormous. But based on recent history, Democratic voters should take a hard look at the pool of talented governors four years from now.

3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY:

▪ The Medicare Part B standard premium will rise next year to $185, up $10.30 from the current rate. The annual deductible will increase by $17 to $257 in 2025.

▪ A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced former Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira to 15 years in prison under the Espionage Act after he pleaded guilty to leaking highly classified military documents about the war in Ukraine.

▪ Scientists and conservationists say they succeeded after nearly four decades in bringing a zebralike mammal back from the dead. It’s called a quagga. Not everyone is impressed with the “less stripey” result.

LEADING THE DAY

© The Associated Press | Matt Rourke

Trump tapped some conservative and TV-savvy allies to serve in his administration.

The pastor-turned-Fox-personality-turned-diplomat: Trump chose former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be U.S. ambassador to Israel. He would be the first non-Jewish ambassador to Israel since 2011. “Mike has been a great public servant, governor, and leader in faith for many years,” Trump said in a statement. “He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East!” Huckabee is a former Fox News host and contributor and father of Arkansas’s GOP governor, former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Defense (against “woke”): To be Pentagon chief, Trump surprised many on Tuesday with his announcement he’ll nominate Pete Hegseth, 44, a longtime Fox News host, author and Minnesota Army National Guard veteran. Hegseth last week in a podcast interview summarized his opinions about the Defense Department: “First of all, you’ve got to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs,” he said, referring to Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. “Any general, any admiral, whatever,” who was involved in diversity, equity and inclusion programs or “woke s---” has “got to go.” Related headline: A draft Trump executive order would create a “warrior board” of retired senior military personnel to review and recommend generals and admirals deemed “unfit” for leadership and subject to ouster, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Not her first rodeo: That was the title of one of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s memoirs. There’s no doubt she’s familiar with Washington as a former tea party House member. Trump wants Noem, 52, to join his Cabinet as secretary of the sprawling Homeland Security Department, with its focus on border issues. Noem, whose state has no international borders, left the House to be governor in 2019. During Trump’s first term, the department had five different leaders, only two of whom were Senate-confirmed. The department has a $60 billion budget and hundreds of thousands of employees. Noem campaigned with Trump a month ago in Pennsylvania.

CIA: Trump named John Ratcliffe to be CIA director in the next administration, to succeed Biden appointee William Burns, who has played a key role in Middle East peace negotiations. Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman, served as director of national intelligence in Trump's first term after an initial attempt to install him in that position failed in 2019.

Big thinkers, fast talkers: Trump tapped tech entrepreneurs Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to advise by July 4 how to shrink the size of government and the federal debt, eliminate “wasteful” spending, erase “excess regulations” and make government more efficient. The endeavor began in conversations on the campaign trail between Musk and Trump. Because there have been many similar efforts in history (examples: Reinventing Government in 1993 and the Grace Commission in 1982), experts point out that advice is nice, but implementation is key, especially in league with Congress.

What about law and Justice? Trump has not identified his choice to be attorney general. But his ire about the Justice Department’s prosecution of him is well understood. Special Counsel Jack Smith plans to wrap up his team’s report on its investigation of Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and retire before January when the president-elect has vowed to fire him and his colleagues, The New York Times reports.

Treasury: Trump allies are reportedly urging the president-elect to choose Scott Bessent, 62, founder of Key Square Group and former Soros Fund Management investing chief, to lead the Treasury department. Bessent donated about $3 million this cycle to Trump and other Republican causes, calling the GOP nominee and now president-elect “very sophisticated on economic policy.” Trump’s campaign pledges to cut taxes, raise tariffs and slash government spending to quickly help working-class Americans present hurdles for his economic team and Congress. Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson, often mentioned on Wall Street for the Treasury role, told The Wall Street Journal he was prevented from joining the administration because of his “complex financial obligations.” Paulson said he wants to remain “actively involved” with Trump’s team.

Turning the page: The next Education secretary could be the last. Trump and his allies pledge to eliminate the department or shrink its sway over public and private schools to back a school choice movement. All of that requires a willing Congress. State education superintendents, House members and even Trump rivals have been floated for the top department job, which is perennially assailed by conservatives. Here are some names in the mix.

Speaking for Trump (and the U.S.): Representing the views and decisions of the president to journalists and the public is a challenging job performed with mixed results. Trump, 78, prefers to speak for himself and still pays close attention to mainstream media and cable TV, even as he turned to popular podcast hosts and alternative outlets as a candidate this year. Trump’s attacks on the First Amendment, threats to pull broadcast licenses, nods to journalists as targets of violence and resistance to fact-checking resonate with his supporters at home and abroad. Here are possible candidates to be White House press secretary: Karoline Leavitt, Steven Cheung, Alina Habba, Scott Jennings and Tucker Carlson. Reminder:Trump spokespeople during his tumultuous first term included Sean Spicer, Sanders, Stephanie Grisham and Kayleigh McEnany. Anthony Scaramucci served 10 days as Trump’s communications director, a separate role. Trump recently called Scaramucci, now a Trump critic, a “major loser.”

▪ The Hill: To be White House counsel, Trump picked William McGinley, a former Cabinet secretary in his first term.

▪ The Hill: Trump’s choices to lead the State Department and to serve as his national security adviser quieted anxiety among some critics.

▪ The Hill: What to expect for artificial intelligence under Trump.

▪ The Washington Post: Keep an eye on pro-crypto candidates for key federal financial agencies. The industry spent more than $130 million during this election cycle, often with no obvious fingerprints in ads, and it paid off. Trump’s aides have considered a mix of current regulators, former federal officials and financial industry executives, many of whom have publicly expressed pro-cryptocurrency views. The president-elect wants the U.S. to be the “crypto capital of the planet.”

WHERE AND WHEN

The House will meet at 10 a.m. The Senate will convene at noon.
The president and first lady Jill Biden will address a Classroom to Career Summit in the East Room at 10 a.m. Biden will meet with Trump at 11 a.m. as part of transition protocol. The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 1:15 p.m.
Vice President Harris has no public schedule.
The first lady will fly to Philadelphia to speak at 5:30 p.m. during an event for PHILADELPHIA250.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Brussels meeting with NATO and European Union allies about Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion.
The White House daily press briefing is scheduled at 12:30 p.m.

ZOOM IN

© The Associated Press | Matt Rourke

The Democratic Party is limping through the political equivalent of the five stages of death and dying: The first stages have been denial and anger and by the end, they’re aiming for acceptance and perhaps a cure.

If there’s any early consensus about what’s needed for the future of the party, it’s a new leader. One in the wings is Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro, pictured above, who was a possibility to be Vice President Harris’s running mate but is perhaps glad he was instead a less-prominent cheerleader for the ticket, which wound up losing in his state (and in every swing state).

Many in his party say Shapiro’s popularity and history of winning statewide put him center stage heading toward 2026 and 2028. “Any path for a Democrat to win the White House in 2028 likely also involves Pennsylvania,” said J.J. Balaban, a Democratic ad maker based in the state. “And someone who is uniquely popular in Pennsylvania is going to get a lot of attention and that makes sense.”

▪ The Hill: Lindy Li, an outspoken Democratic donor and Harris-Walz supporter-turned-campaign-critic, spoke with NewsNation (which, like The Hill, is owned by Nexstar).

▪ The Hill: Progressives seek to push Democrats to the left to support America’s working class in the aftermath of Trump's resounding win.

▪ The Hill: With Trump’s pending nomination of Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of State, the idea of a vacant Senate seat has sparked conjecture about a temporary successor, including speculation that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who is term-limited, or his wife, Casey DeSantis, might be interested themselves.

ELSEWHERE

TEN COMMANDMENTS: A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a Louisiana law requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in all public school classrooms. The Jewish, Christian, Unitarian Universalist and nonreligious parents’ coalition argued the law “substantially interferes with and burdens” their First Amendment right to raise their children with whatever religious doctrine they want (The Hill).

The Wall Street Journal: Justice Samuel Alito, 74, has no plans to retire from the bench amid speculation Trump might want to install a younger judge to an aging court.

HUSH MONEY: Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan on Tuesday delayed a decision on whether to scrap Trump’s conviction in the hush money case until Nov. 19, at the request of Trump’s lawyers. Merchan had been set to rule on an earlier request to throw out Trump’s conviction because of a Supreme Court ruling this summer on presidential immunity. Trump’s sentencing, which would be the first of any former president, is scheduled for Nov. 26. He was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment made to porn actor Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election (The Hill).

▪ The Hill: The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a push to move to federal court a Georgia state criminal election interference case against former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

▪ The Hill: The Supreme Court said Tuesday it will not consider a challenge to a misdemeanor charge used against scores of Jan. 6, 2021, rioters for unlawfully “parading” in the Capitol.

▪ The Associated Press: A U.S. jury on Tuesday awarded $42 million to three former detainees of Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison, holding a Virginia-based military contractor responsible for contributing to their torture and mistreatment two decades ago.

INTERNATIONAL

AID FOR GAZA: The State Department on Tuesday said that Israel is not in violation of U.S. law related to the delivery and access of humanitarian assistance in Gaza, despite pushback from aid groups and the United Nations, who said Israel has failed to improve the dire conditions for Palestinians’ access to food, medical care and shelter.

The assessment came at the end of a 30-day timeline at the start of which U.S. officials issued a warning to the Israeli government that concrete steps needed to be taken to increase humanitarian assistance deliveries or risk triggering a block on U.S. weapons deliveries (The Hill and CNN).

The New York Times: Israel said its forces had returned to northern Gaza to fight a Hamas resurgence. That has brought a new round of suffering for residents.

OPINION

■ Decoding the Trump trades, by Jessica Karl, columnist, Bloomberg Opinion.

■ Trump’s ‘January Seventh Test’ of loyalty, by Karen Tumulty, columnist, The Washington Post.

THE CLOSER

And finally … 🎶 Schoolhouse rock: Music is a language college and university students speak, know and study. As pop superstars take the world by storm, academia has noticed. Yale is now offering a course on Beyoncé’s influence and legacy. In 2022, New York University held a course on Taylor Swift, and the singer herself spoke at NYU’s commencement that year.

Other artists — including Britney Spears, Drake and Harry Styles — have been the subject of academic study at colleges and universities across the world.

That’s a good thing, said associate professor A.D. Carson, who teaches about hip-hop at the University of Virginia College of Music. In an op-ed for Inside Higher Education,

Hip-hop and rap classes, even minors, have been around for years.

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