Transition
With Impeachment Trial And Relief Plan On Deck, Harris Stresses Need To ‘Multitask’
Scott Detrow, NPR News
On Wednesday, Kamala Harris will become the first woman, and the first woman of color, to serve as vice president of the United States. Twelve years ago, hundreds of thousands of people filled the National Mall to watch Barack Obama make history as the nation’s first Black president.
Anita Dunn to join Biden White House as senior adviser
Hans Nichols, Axios
Veteran communications and campaign strategist Anita Dunn will join Joe Biden’s White House on a temporary basis, helping him to advance his opening agenda from inside the West Wing, people familiar with the plans tell Axios. Dunn, a former communications director to President Barack Obama, took on an expanded role in Biden’s campaign when it faltered last winter, helping guide it through a party nomination and general election victory.
Norquist to serve as acting defense secretary; acting service secretaries named
Aaron Mehta, Defense One
David Norquist will serve as acting secretary of defense for the start of the Biden administration, Defense News has learned. The Biden team has decided that Norquist, the current deputy secretary of defense, is the best choice to keep the day-to-day operations of the Defense Department running while Lloyd Austin, the retired Army general who is President-elect Joe Biden’s choice to lead the department, awaits his confirmation from Congress.
Ex-Obama official who helped fix botched healthcare.gov rollout to join Biden’s Covid-19 team
MJ Lee and Jessica Dean, CNN
Andy Slavitt, the former acting chief of Medicare and Medicaid under the Obama administration, is expected to join President-elect Joe Biden’s Covid-19 team in a senior advisory role, CNN has learned. Slavitt’s role is expected to be temporary, sources said, as the incoming Biden administration is days away from inheriting the daunting task of getting the spread of Covid under control and quickly vaccinating the country.
Biden inauguration rehearsal is postponed due to security threats
Tyler Pager and Olivia Beavers, Politico
A rehearsal for Joe Biden’s inauguration scheduled for Sunday has been postponed because of security concerns, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. After last week’s riots in Washington, security officials have locked down the Capitol complex, and the National Guard is expected to deploy more than 20,000 troops to assist with security.
White House & Administration
Trump wants billions cut from global Covid vaccine distributor
Caitlin Emma et al., Politico
President Donald Trump has sent lawmakers a sweeping package of spending cuts to consider before he leaves office, including billions in funding for a global health and vaccine distribution program involved in the Covid fight, according to the package obtained by POLITICO. The $27.4 billion in proposed cuts is known as a rescission request — a largely symbolic package of spending claw-backs that the White House presents to Congress.
Trump Orders U.S. Military Reorganization Favored by Pro-Israel Groups
Michael R. Gordon and Gordon Lubold, The Wall Street Journal
President Trump has ordered that the major U.S. military command for the Middle East be expanded to include Israel, in a last-minute reorganization of the American defense structure that pro-Israel groups have long advocated, U.S. officials said Thursday. The move means that the U.S. Central Command would oversee American military policy involving both Israel and Arab nations, a departure from decades of U.S. military command structure put in place because of acrimony between Israel and some of the Pentagon’s Arab allies.
Trump and Aides Drove Family Separation at Border, Documents Say
Michael D. Shear, The New York Times
President Trump and top aides in the White House aggressively pushed the get-tough policy that led migrant children to be separated from adults at the border with Mexico, according to a top Justice Department official in a new report from the department’s inspector general and other internal documents. In the report, formally released on Thursday, Gene Hamilton, a top official, said the policy was put in place after complaints by the president and others at the White House involved in carrying out his immigration agenda.
Leaked documents show White House blocked a critical government website to recruit election workers during the COVID pandemic and while Trump railed against voter fraud
Dave Levinthal, Business Insider
The ask seemed non-controversial at a time when the nation, pummeled by the coronavirus pandemic, was desperate for volunteers to staff polling stations for the 2020 elections. “I formally request that authority over the HelpAmericaVote.gov domain name be delegated to the EAC,” Election Assistance Commission Executive Director Mona Harrington wrote last July 15 to a Government Services Administration contractor that administers US government websites that end in “.gov.”
Trump Struggles to Find Lawyers as Impeachment Trial Nears
Tom Schoenberg, Bloomberg
President Donald Trump, on the eve of facing a historic second impeachment trial for inciting the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week, is having trouble finding a legal team to defend him. Allies of the outgoing president have been canvassing Washington’s legal landscape looking for representation but so far are coming up short.
Trump administration staffers are getting snubbed while hunting for jobs. One recruiter tried to place 6 of them and couldn’t land any interviews.
Claire Atkinson and Sean Czarnecki, Business Insider
Former White House staff can usually walk into top jobs after years of dealing with some of the toughest crises in government. But as businesses begin to shun Trump enterprises, the group leaving 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is already getting the cold shoulder.
Trump Plans to Live at Mar-a-Lago, Employ Some Current Aides
Jennifer Jacobs and Saleha Mohsin, Bloomberg
Donald Trump plans to fly to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida the morning of Joe Biden’s inauguration, where several current White House staff are expected to work for him or his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, after his presidency, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump intends to live at the Palm Beach resort, the people said, though some of his future neighbors are trying to stop him from taking up permanent residence.
The $3,000-a-month toilet for the Ivanka Trump/Jared Kushner Secret Service detail
Peter Jamison et al., The Washington Post
Many U.S. Secret Service agents have stood guard in Washington’s elite Kalorama neighborhood, home over the years to Cabinet secretaries and former presidents. Those agents have had to worry about death threats, secure perimeters and suspicious strangers.
Congress
Senate postpones confirmation hearing for Biden intel pick Avril Haines
Zachary Basu, Axios
The Senate Intelligence Committee has postponed a confirmation hearing — originally scheduled for Friday — for President-elect Biden’s nominee for director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, until next week. Biden’s team has pushed for swift confirmation hearings for his national security nominees, especially in the context of last week’s attack on the Capitol, threats of violence surrounding next week’s inauguration and global political tensions.
Kevin McCarthy opposes efforts to eject Liz Cheney from House GOP leadership
David M. Drucker, The Washington Examiner
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy opposes attempts by some Republicans to oust Rep. Liz Cheney from the conference’s leadership as punishment for voting to impeach President Trump. Some Republicans are demanding that Cheney, the conference chairwoman, relinquish her leadership post or that a vote be scheduled to replace her, if necessary, to remove her.
Rick Scott’s rocky start atop GOP Senate campaign arm
James Arkin, Politico
Sen. Rick Scott has been chair of the Senate GOP’s campaign committee for all of one week, and some Republicans are already concerned that Scott has dug the party a hole for the 2022 midterms. Scott officially took over the National Republican Senatorial Committee after the GOP’s two losses in Georgia gave Democrats control of a 50-50 Senate.
Congress intelligence, security panels to probe lapses before U.S. Capitol rampage
Mark Hosenball, Reuters
U.S. Congressional Intelligence and Homeland Security oversight committees are opening investigations into why federal and local law enforcement agencies did not pay closer attention to a warning the day before pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol, congressional aides said on Thursday. They join the Senate Homeland Security and Rules Committees investigating security lapses at the Capitol complex on Jan. 6 which resulted in rioters entering the building and threatening legislators, congressional staff and members of the media.
Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat tests positive for Covid-19
Daniella Diaz, CNN
Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York said Thursday he has tested positive for Covid-19 and is isolating at home, he announced in a series of tweets. “I am following guidance from my physician and quarantining at home after having tested positive for COVID-19,” he tweeted.
Some Democrats in Congress are worried their colleagues might kill them
Benjy Sarlin, NBC News
After last week’s deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump, members of Congress are expressing something once unthinkable: that some of their own colleagues may be endangering their lives. Not in a rhetorical sense, but in a direct and immediate way. “It’s the most poisonous I’ve ever seen,” Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., said in an interview.
Sen. James Lankford apologizes to Black Tulsans for questioning presidential election results
Randy Krehbiel, Tulsa World
U.S. Sen. James Lankford apologized to Black Tulsans on Thursday for not recognizing that his involvement in questioning presidential election results would offend them. In a letter addressed to “My friends in North Tulsa,” Lankford acknowledges that his actions “caused a firestorm of suspicion among many of my friends, particularly in Black communities around the state. I was completely blindsided, but I also found a blind spot.”
Porter loses seat on House panel overseeing financial sector
Sylvan Lane, The Hill
Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) lost her seat on the House Financial Services Committee after House Democratic leaders on Thursday rejected her request for a waiver to serve on the Financial Services panel and other committees simultaneously, two House Democratic sources told The Hill. The Financial Services Committee is one of five House panels deemed “exclusive” by Democratic leaders under caucus rules adopted in July 2020.
Julia Letlow, widow of U.S. Rep.-elect Luke Letlow, will run for Congress
Greg Hilburn, Monroe News-Star
Julia Letlow, the widow of U.S. Rep.-elect Luke Letlow, will run for the 5th Congressional District seat her husband was unable to fill because of his COVID-19 death Dec. 29. “Everything in my life and in my marriage has prepared me for this moment,” she said in a statement.
General
Dozens of people on FBI terrorist watch list came to D.C. the day of Capitol riot
Devlin Barrett et al., The Washington Post
Dozens of people on a terrorist watch list were in Washington for pro-Trump events Jan. 6, a day that ended in a chaotic crime rampage when a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, according to people familiar with evidence gathered in the FBI’s investigation. The majority of the watch-listed individuals in Washington that day are suspected white supremacists whose past conduct so alarmed investigators that their names had been previously entered into the national Terrorist Screening Database, or TSDB, a massive set of names flagged as potential security risks, these people said.
Prosecutor: Capitol rioter aimed ‘to take hostages’
Jake Bleiberg, The Associated Press
A retired Air Force officer who was part of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol last week carried plastic zip-tie handcuffs because he intended “to take hostages,” a prosecutor said in a Texas court on Thursday. “He means to take hostages. He means to kidnap, restrain, perhaps try, perhaps execute members of the U.S. government,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Weimer said of retired Lt. Col. Larry Rendall Brock Jr. without providing specifics.
‘We got to hold this door’: How battered D.C. police made a stand against the Capitol mob
Peter Hermann, The Washington Post
Blinded by smoke and choking on gas and bear spray, stripped of his radio and badge, D.C. police officer Michael Fanone and his battered colleagues fought to push back rioters trying to force their way into an entrance to the U.S. Capitol. The officers had been at it for hours, unaware that others in the mob had already breached the building through different entrances.
Parler helped the FBI identify at least one person charged in connection with the Capitol riot
Jacob Shamsian, Business Insider
Parler is sharing information with the FBI for the Department of Justice’s investigations into the riot at the US Capitol. An affidavit from an FBI special agent filed in court Tuesday says Eduardo Florea stockpiled more than 1,000 rounds of ammo and threatened to kill Sen.-elect Raphael Warnock of Georgia.
Large bitcoin payments to right-wing activists a month before Capitol riot linked to foreign account
Jenna McLaughlin, Yahoo News
On Dec. 8, someone made a simultaneous transfer of 28.15 bitcoins — worth more than $500,000 at the time — to 22 different virtual wallets, most of them belonging to prominent right-wing organizations and personalities. Now cryptocurrency researchers believe they have identified who made the transfer, and suspect it was intended to bolster those far-right causes.
Nikki Haley’s new PAC steers clear of Trump brand
Lachlan Markay, Axios
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley is starting a new political action committee and, so far, she’s conspicuously avoiding any mention of President Trump. Haley is widely considered a contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, potentially pitting her against a Trump comeback bid.
States
Doug Ducey ignores looming censure from Arizona GOP with warm welcome for Biden
David M. Drucker, The Washington Examiner
Gov. Doug Ducey is thumbing his nose at the Arizona Republican Party, announcing that he looks forward to representing his state at the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, “a good man who wants to serve his country.” Ducey is a Republican in his second term and the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, the political organization charged with winning gubernatorial contests for the GOP in 2021 and 2022.
N.Y. attorney general sues NYPD over response to George Floyd protests
Thomas Tracy and Stephen Rex Brown, New York Daily News
City police violated New Yorkers’ First Amendment rights by suppressing “overwhelmingly peaceful” protests over the death of George Floyd, New York State Attorney General Letitia James charged Thursday in a lawsuit. James’ 69-page suit seeks a court-appointed monitor to manage an overhaul of NYPD practices at large demonstrations, which she says have devolved into police abuse for decades.
D.C. attorney general seeks to interview president’s son in inauguration spending suit
David A. Fahrenthold, The Washington Post
The D.C. Attorney General’s office has notified Donald Trump Jr. that it wishes to interview him as part of a lawsuit alleging that President Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee improperly funneled money to the president’s business, an official in the attorney general’s office said Thursday. D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine’s lawsuit, filed in January 2020, alleges that the Trump Inaugural Committee — a tax-exempt nonprofit — wasted $1 million of donors’ money on an overpriced, little used ballroom at the president’s D.C. hotel, and then paid a $49,000 hotel bill that should have gone to the Trump Organization.
Pelosi endorses McAuliffe for Virginia governor
Hans Nichols, Axios
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is endorsing Terry McAuliffe’s campaign in a very crowded Democratic primary that will winnow the field of those seeking to be the next governor of Virginia. McAuliffe, who already served one term as governor, faces competition from four other Democrats.
Advocacy
After speaking out about an insurrection, CEOs are eager to move on
Ben White, Politico
Many of America’s most influential companies spent the past week swiftly issuing statements of condemnation and pausing campaign contributions after the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. Now they’re trying to quietly fade into the background with an impeachment trial looming and warnings proliferating of further turmoil across the nation.
How Facebook and Twitter decided to take down Trump’s accounts
Dylan Byers, NBC News
Mark Zuckerberg started to consider indefinitely suspending President Donald Trump’s Facebook account late on the night of Jan. 6, just hours after a mob of Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, for years had taken a mostly hands-off approach to Trump’s false and incendiary claims, championing free expression and the newsworthiness of his statements as a growing chorus of critics outside and inside the company called for him to take more aggressive action.
A Message from The Better World Campaign
In recent years, we have seen a sharp decline in U.S. leadership and a growing debt of over $1 billion to the UN, leaving a void that countries like China have shown they are more than willing and able to fill. In the first 100 days of the Biden-Harris Administration and the 117th Congress, lawmakers have an opportunity to get America off the sidelines and get us back on the global stage.
Getusback.org
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
Where do Republicans go from here?
Nathan L. Gonzales, Roll Call
If I didn’t write about the future of the Republican Party within the next 12 hours, my political analyst card would have been revoked. I don’t make the rules, I’m just trying to abide by them. So here are some thoughts on the state of the union between Republicans and President Donald Trump.
Research Reports and Polling
Conflicts to Watch in 2021
Paul B. Stares, Council on Foreign Relations
A crisis stemming from North Korea’s continued development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile testing is the top-ranked conflict concern for 2021, according to the Council on Foreign Relations’ (CFR) thirteenth annual Preventive Priorities Survey. The survey identifies potential violent overseas conflicts where U.S. troops might be deployed in the year ahead.
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