• Congress passed a $2.3 trillion government funding and coronavirus relief measure that, once signed into law by President Donald Trump, will keep the federal government running for the rest of the fiscal year, send $600 in direct payments to Americans, revive a $300-per-week supplemental benefit for the unemployed and provide billions of dollars in aid for businesses. The passage of the $900 billion COVID-19 stimulus package caps months of negotiations that followed the $2.2 trillion CARES ACT enacted in March; earlier in the day, President-elect Joe Biden pledged that additional aid — especially relief for state and local governments, which was axed in negotiations over the latest package — would be forthcoming once he takes office. (The New York Times)

• The House and Senate are set to reconvene between Christmas and New Year’s Eve in order to override an anticipated Trump veto of the National Defense Authorization Act. Due to procedural hurdles, it could take days for the Senate to advance to a final vote, with some Republicans in the chamber suggesting it could be pushed to the morning of Jan. 3, before the swearing-in of the new Congress. (The Hill)

• Biden is set to select Miguel Cardona, the education commissioner of Connecticut, as his pick to lead the Education Department, according to two people familiar with the matter, with an announcement potentially coming as early as tomorrow. Cardona, a former teacher and principal, has been a leading proponent of sending children back to school, and Biden recently set a goal of reopening most schools within 100 days of taking office. (CNN)

• Prosecutors for the Southern District of New York have been in talks with the Justice Department about approval to seek electronic communications by Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, according to two sources familiar with the probe, who said the case is ongoing and “very active.” A news report earlier this month said Giuliani had recently discussed with the president the possibility of a pre-emptive pardon that would insulate him from federal charges. (NBC News)

Biden to push for more coronavirus relief, setting up a clash with GOP
Annie Linskey and Mike DeBonis, The Washington Post

Republicans brimmed with pride over the $900 billion stimulus package taken up by Congress on Monday, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell calling it “a historic bipartisan rescue package” and Sen. Dan Sullivan (Alaska) predicting it would be remembered when “the history of this challenging year is written.” President-elect Joe Biden saw it differently, calling the deal merely a “down payment.”

Biden receives first dose of Covid-19 vaccine on live television
Kate Sullivan, CNN

President-elect Joe Biden received his first dose of the Pfizer and BioNTech coronavirus vaccine on live television Monday afternoon and reassured Americans of the vaccine’s safety. The shot, which Biden received in his left arm, was administered at ChristianaCare’s Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware, by Tabe Mase, who is a nurse practitioner and the head of employee health services at the hospital, according to the Biden transition team.

‘Why bother?’: Biden, Trump advisers see little value in White House meeting
Theodric Meyer and Daniel Lippman, Politico

As of this weekend, President Donald Trump has now waited longer than any president in nearly a century to sit down with his successor at the White House — a tradition aimed at highlighting the peaceful transfer of power that is at the core of American democracy. And advisers to Trump say he and President-elect Joe Biden may never come face to face, even on Inauguration Day, blowing up another American political ritual.

Biden’s Choice of Vilsack for U.S.D.A. Raises Fears for Small Farmers
Alan Rappeport and Michael Corkery, The New York Times

Soon after President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. beat President Trump last month, Tom Vilsack, the former agriculture secretary and one of Mr. Biden’s early backers, received an exasperated call from a former aide. Despite the elation over Mr. Biden’s victory, Democrats were again defeated resoundingly in rural America.

Biden Adds New Members to His White House Economic Team
Andrew Restuccia, The Wall Street Journal

President-elect Joe Biden is rounding out his economic team, adding a longtime aide to Sen. Elizabeth Warren and a former Obama administration budget official to his National Economic Council. Mr. Biden announced on Monday that he was appointing David Kamin, the former Obama official, as deputy director of the NEC, the White House’s economic policy arm.

Arab states, Israel say they want in on Biden’s future Iran talks
Nahal Toosi, Politico

Some of the Iran nuclear deal’s fiercest opponents are urging President-elect Joe Biden to let them have a say — and maybe even a seat at the negotiating table — in future talks with Tehran. Representatives of some Gulf Arab countries as well as Israel are raising the idea in private and public conversations in the run up to the start of the Biden administration.

Trump assembles a ragtag crew of conspiracy-minded allies in flailing bid to reverse election loss
Toluse Olorunnipa et al., The Washington Post

With his baseless claims of widespread voter fraud rejected by dozens of judges and GOP leaders, President Trump has turned to a ragtag group of conspiracy theorists, media-hungry lawyers and other political misfits in a desperate attempt to hold on to power after his election loss. The president’s orbit has grown more extreme as his more mainstream allies, including Attorney General William P. Barr, have declined to endorse his increasingly radical plans to overturn the will of the voters.

Trump turns on everyone
Jonathan Swan, Axios

President Trump, in his final days, is turning bitterly on virtually every person around him, griping about anyone who refuses to indulge conspiracy theories or hopeless bids to overturn the election, several top officials tell Axios.

Treasury Department’s Senior Leaders Were Targeted by Hacking
David E. Sanger and Alan Rappeport, The New York Times

The Russian hackers who penetrated United States government agencies broke into the email system used by the Treasury Department’s most senior leadership, a Democratic member of the Senate Finance Committee said on Monday, the first detail of how deeply Moscow burrowed into the Trump administration’s networks.

Beijing Ransacked Data as U.S. Sources Went Dark in China
Zach Dorfman, Foreign Policy

In early 2013, as Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping prepared to assume the Chinese presidency, very few people in the West had any idea what kind of leader he was. In January of that year, the New York Times’ Nick Kristof, an experienced China correspondent, wrote that Xi “will spearhead a resurgence of economic reform, and probably some political easing as well.” It was a radically mistaken assessment.

Air Force investigation finds disparities in how Black and White members are treated
Dan Lamothe, The Washington Post

Black members of the Air Force are treated differently than their White counterparts when it comes to job placement, leadership opportunities, educational options, criminal investigations and administrative discipline, according to the findings of a months-long investigation by the service’s independent watchdog. In a 150-page report released Monday, the Air Force Inspector General’s office recommended that leaders develop action plans and schedule additional reviews to ensure that changes are made.

Trump Makes Classical Style the Default for Federal Buildings
Zachary Small, The New York Times

President Trump signed an executive order on Monday that establishes classical architecture as the preferred style for new federal buildings but stops short of banning newer designs from consideration. The executive order, titled “Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture,” mandates that federal buildings be “beautiful” and praises the characteristics of Greco-Roman architecture; by contrast, recent modernist designs are described in the text as “ugly and inconsistent.”

Feuds, Zoom and Italian food: How the stimulus got done
Burgess Everett et al., Politico

When the top four congressional leaders finally sat down after months of avoiding a meeting on coronavirus relief, things quickly grew heated. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer thought they were being lowballed.

House conservatives strategize with Trump and Pence in push to challenge Biden’s win
Manu Raju and Daniella Diaz, CNN

Alabama GOP Rep. Mo Brooks and fellow House conservatives met privately on Monday with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence as the lawmakers prepared to mount a long-shot bid in January to overturn the Electoral College results that made Joe Biden the official winner of the election. The discussion focused on Trump’s baseless claims and conspiracies that the election was stolen from him, participants said, and lawmakers emerged confident that there were would be a contingent of House and Senate Republicans who would join the effort and prompt a marathon debate on the floor on January 6 that would spill into January 7.

Thune Says Challenge to Biden Win to ‘Go Down Like a Shot Dog’
Billy House and Laura Litvan, Bloomberg

The Senate’s No. 2 Republican said Monday that any attempt by a handful of House conservatives to challenge the Electoral College’s results proclaiming Joe Biden the next president is “going down like a shot dog.” Senator John Thune said he knows of no senators who have committed to join an effort by several House Republicans to challenge Biden’s election when Congress convenes Jan. 6 to count certificates of electoral votes, usually a ceremonial process.

McConnell vows to hold votes on Biden’s Cabinet picks
Jordain Carney, The Hill

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is pledging to hold votes on President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet picks if Republicans retain control of the chamber’s majority next year. McConnell, in an interview with former adviser Scott Jennings that was published Monday, predicted that Republicans would be more receptive to Biden’s nominees than Democrats were to President Trump’s in 2017.

Senate Candidates Duel in Georgia as G.O.P. Voters’ Anger Persists
Astead W. Herndon and Rick Rojas, The New York Times

Five Republicans spoke at a rally on Monday in suburban Atlanta, including two state lawmakers, Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, and Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and senior adviser. None acknowledged President Trump’s defeat, or the reality of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory and his incoming Democratic administration.

House Panel Subpoenas HHS, CDC Heads in Coronavirus Probe
Michelle Hackman, The Wall Street Journal

A House oversight subcommittee subpoenaed two top Trump administration health officials on Monday for documents that could shed light on alleged political interference at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention throughout the coronavirus pandemic. The subpoenas, issued by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, were served to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and CDC Director Robert Redfield.

Congress authorizes Smithsonian museums focused on American Latinos and women’s history
Peggy McGlone, The Washington Post

The 5,500-page spending and relief bill that Congress passed Monday night includes the authorization of two Smithsonian museums — one focused on the American Latino, the other on American women — that pave the way for the world’s largest museum complex to become even more diverse.

Legislative Branch bill includes new accountability measures for Capitol Police
Chris Cioffi and Chris Marquette, Roll Call

The fiscal 2021 omnibus spending bill released Monday would prompt new Capitol Police transparency but leaves out House-backed language mandating the removal of statues and busts of Confederates and other figures from the Capitol.

Robert E. Lee’s statue removed from the Capitol
Chris Cioffi, Roll Call

The statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee is no longer on display in the Capitol’s collection. The statue, donated by the state of Virginia and located in the Capitol’s crypt in Washington, was taken out in the early hours of Monday morning.

Texas Challenges Legality of DACA in Latest Bid to End the Program
Michelle Hackman, The Wall Street Journal

Texas and eight other Republican-led states will ask a federal court on Tuesday to rule the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program unlawful, posing a fresh threat to the Obama -era program offering deportation protections to young immigrants that has been the subject of legal battles for the past few years. The Trump administration first attempted to end the program, known as DACA, in September 2017, but it was blocked by federal courts.

Concerns About Coronavirus Variant Cut Off U.K. From Europe
Mark Landler and Stephen Castle, The New York Times

Britain was all but cut off from the rest of Europe on Monday, with flights and trains banned by some 40 countries and freight deliveries halted at French ports, as its neighbors tried desperately to stop a fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus from leaping across the English Channel. The sudden disruption left Britain isolated and unnerved, its people stranded at airports or quarantined at home.

Google, Facebook Agreed to Team Up Against Possible Antitrust Action, Draft Lawsuit Says
Ryan Tracy and John D. McKinnon, The Wall Street Journal

Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google agreed to “cooperate and assist one another” if they ever faced an investigation into their pact to work together in online advertising, according to an unredacted version of a lawsuit filed by 10 states against Google last week. The suit, as filed, cites internal company documents that were heavily redacted.

Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny dupes spy into revealing how he was poisoned
Tim Lister et al., CNN

A Russian agent sent to tail opposition leader Alexey Navalny has revealed how he was poisoned in August — with the lethal nerve agent Novichok planted in his underpants. The stunning disclosure from an agent who belonged to an elite toxins team in Russia’s FSB security service came in a lengthy phone call following the unmasking of the unit by CNN and the online investigative outfit Bellingcat last week.

Arrests made after protesters attempt to enter Oregon State Capitol during session
Claire Withycombe and Virginia Barreda, Salem Statesman Journal

Monday’s special session at the Oregon Capitol was slightly disrupted as protestors —who appeared to oppose policies closing certain businesses to slow the spread of the coronavirus — tried in vain to get into a largely-empty Capitol.

Abbott: Proposal that would land Austin police under state control has been drafted ‘in time for Christmas’
Amanda O’Donnell and Ryan Autullo, Austin American-Statesman

In an ongoing fight over police funding, the Texas Legislative Council has submitted a draft proposal for a law that would land the Austin Police Department under state control, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a tweet Monday. Earlier this month, Abbott touched on the possibility of transferring large swaths of the city, including the downtown area and the University of Texas campus, to state policing.

Top Trump brass launch campaign firm
Alex Isenstadt, Politico

Three top officials on President Donald Trump’s reelection effort are going into business together to help Republicans navigate the post-Trump world. Bill Stepien, Justin Clark, and Nick Trainer are relaunching National Public Affairs, a political consulting shop that will aid the president as he decides which 2022 races to engage in, as well as bolster pro-Trump candidates and advise the party’s campaign committees.

$1 Trillion, Too Little, Too Late
Matthew Zeitlin, The New York Times

If this bill, which also includes new public health funding, were in response to a normal recession, its measures would be seen as a gargantuan effort. But in these times, several voices are reasonably arguing that it’s not enough, that it came too late and that it was driven by unsavory politics as much as it was by the needs of the population.

Is Trump Really All That Holds the G.O.P. Together?
Matthew Continetti, The New York Times

Republican officials who have indulged or assisted in President Trump’s effort to nullify the 2020 election have many motivations: partisanship, conviction, delusion, cynicism, ambition, paranoia, fear. But all these reasons for participation in an antidemocratic power grab point to a single truth: For many, Mr. Trump is all that binds the Republican Party together.

The Martini Lunch Tax Code
The Editorial Board, The Wall Street Journal

Congress’s latest Covid relief and omnibus spending bills are a mash-up of special favors for teachers unions, the booze industry, wind power, race horses, and so much more. There’s even a bailout for Broadway; take a bow, Chuck Schumer. But for a sign of the political times, and how far Congress has strayed from basic economic logic, you can’t beat the return of the full business meal deduction.

The Full(est Possible) Story of the Four Seasons Total Landscaping Press Conference
Olivia Nuzzi, New York Magazine

On the afternoon of November 13, Mike Siravo was standing outside his family’s landscaping business in Northeast Philadelphia, dressed in khakis and a company polo shirt, watching as strangers pulled up in nice cars, parked without care on the busy street, and approached the barbed-wire-topped fence with iPhones gripped in outstretched hands. They all came for the same reason: to see for themselves the words FOUR SEASONS TOTAL LANDSCAPING.

Nearly Half of Voters Say $600 in Stimulus Checks Isn’t Enough to Counter Financial Turmoil From COVID-19
Claire Williams, Morning Consult

Most voters back some form of stimulus payment, but the amount congressional negotiators have zeroed in on may be too small for some, according to new Morning Consult/Politico polling.