Bipartisan Pushback – Physician and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) joined Democrats in heavy grilling over anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (pictured) on the second day of confirmation hearings for President Trump's nominee for HHS secretary (NYT). Cassidy, who could provide a crucial fourth Republican vote against RFK Jr.'s nomination, did not indicate how he would vote. Senate hearings also were held for controversial nominees Tulsi Gabbard, for director of National Intelligence and Kash Patel, for FBI director.

FRIDAY 1/31/25

President’s Favorite Word – On Saturday we could find out just how beautiful President Trump’s favorite word, tariff, is. That’s when the White House will, or maybe will not, impose tariffs of 25% on goods crossing the border from Canada and Mexico (per NPR’s Morning Edition). 

These tariffs may very well turn out to be yet another The Art of the Deal-style negotiating tactic Trump is using to call out what he says is unfair trade, as well as illegal drugs and immigrants crossing the border, even after his first administration negotiated the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) from the 1990s. 

That's what US businesses are hoping. Describing negotiations as a “fluid” situation, Trump aides are working on “several offramps” to avoid enacting such tariffs, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing unnamed sources.

If the tariffs are triggered, they will raise prices on everything from guacamole to gasoline, NPR notes. Automobiles, even if built in US plants have parts and components that come from Mexico and Canada, and typically cross the borders several times before final assembly, also will be hard-hit. Speaking to Wall Street analysts Tuesday for General Motors’ fourth-quarter and full year earnings report, CEO Mary Barra said that plant flexibility allows the automaker to shift production of its highly profitable full-size trucks between Mexican, Canadian and US plants.

“What we won’t do is spend large amounts of capital without clarity,” Barra told analysts. 

If nothing else, we should get some clarity on tariffs this weekend.

--TL

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THURSDAY 1/30/25

Trump Blames DEI for Crash – Less than 15 hours after an American Airlines flight carrying 64 passengers and crew from Wichita, Kansas, collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River as it approached Reagan National Airport, President Trump was ready to call out cause of the tragic accident. 

“We don’t know what caused this crash, but we have some pretty strong opinions,” he told reporters in his first appearance in the White House briefing room since his return to office.

“I changed the Obama standards from mediocre at best, to extraordinary,” during his first administration, Trump said, referring to standards for hiring air traffic controllers. After Trump left office in 2021, “Biden changed them back to lower than before.” But among Trump’s myriad executive orders since returning to the White House last week was an EO that would once again raise those standards, he said.

How?

Trump was referring to diversity, equity and inclusion programs for all federal agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration “eliminated” by one of his first EOs. Such DEI policies, Trump suggested, allowed the FAA to hire air traffic controllers with hearing, vision and even psychological disabilities. 

New administrator … Meanwhile, Trump has named Chris Rocheleau as interim FAA administrator, according to The Wall Street Journal, filling a vacancy opened when Mike Whitaker, who had served in the position for less than a year, stepped down just prior to Trump’s inauguration.

History lesson … The FAA has dealt with air traffic control staffing issues for over 43 years. Barely half a year into his first term, the president for whom Reagan National Airport is named fired air traffic controllers en masse over a dispute with their labor union. Prior to the dispute, air traffic controllers in the US were hired in staggered years. But with the need to hire replacements for 11,345 striking Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization members all at once in August 1981 came the end of the staggered retirements. 

•••

More Hearings – Two more Trump White House nominees, like RFK Jr., face perhaps the toughest Senate hearings since Pete Hegseth was confirmed as Defense secretary last week. Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) is nominated to become President Trump’s National Intelligence director, so she appears before the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday, while Kash Patel, nominee to become FBI director, answers to the Judiciary Committee.

•••

Chaos is Working – The Trump White House’s executive order that would have clawed back up to $2 trillion in funding for programs the administration does not like, since rescinded following a federal judge’s temporary suspension issued Tuesday, has set Washington back on its heels. But the Democratic Party appears to be on top of Trump’s unconstitutional executive order, despite all the ensuing chaos. 

“It’s called impoundment, and it is illegal,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition Thursday. The president cannot single out certain allocations passed by Congress, though it has been tried in the past, she said. But instead of fighting it in court, the Trump administration is trying to stoke confusion.

“His administration has made it clear they don’t think the (impoundment) law should be there,” Murray said. “So instead of fighting it in court, what they’re doing is saying ‘we’re just going to – we don’t believe it’s a good law, so we’re not going to do it.’”

•••

Menendez Gets 11 Years – Bob Menendez, Democratic senator for New Jersey from 2006 to 2024, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for his conviction last year on bribery, fraud and illegal foreign-agent charges, The Wall Street Journal reports. The 71-year-old career politician told a packed New York federal courtroom Wednesday; “I have made more than my share of mistakes and bad decisions, but I believe in my half-century of public service I have done far more good than bad.” --TL

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WEDNESDAY 1/29/25

UPDATE – President Trump has reversed his controversial order that froze federal funding assistance for programs already approved by Congress in a memo released Wednesday, signed by acting Office of Management and Budget Director Matthew Vaeth. The reversal came after behind-the-scenes pushback from congressional Republicans, according to The Hill. (Scroll down to "Frozen funds.")

Trump Offers Federal Employees Buyouts – The Trump White House offered a buyout for nearly all federal employees, NPR’s Morning Edition reports. The art of this deal is that career bureaucrats will get paid through September if they resign now. President Trump is looking to replace non-partisan federal bureaucrats, many with years to decades of experience, with workers who agree with his vision for the country. 

Frozen funds … The buyout offer comes hours after Judge Loren AliKhan, a Washington-based federal judge appointed by President Biden, issued an emergency administrative stay to block President Trump’s temporary freeze of about $3 trillion worth of federal funds, grants and loan disbursements that was to take effect at 5 pm Eastern time Tuesday. The judge’s order blocks the freeze until Monday, February 3. The Democracy Fund had filed a lawsuit to stop the executive order.

As with the federal buyouts, the president appears to lack the authority for such moves.

Trump’s federal funding freeze was aimed specifically at DEI programs, “woke gender identity” and the Green New Deal according to The New York Times, though opponents feared it would block state health agencies from Medicaid reimbursement. State officials believed pre-school community health centers, food for low-income families, housing assistance and disaster relief were at-risk, according to the report.

Just prior to Judge AliKhan’s ruling, Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller appeared on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper and said the order would not affect any government services, entitlements or individual benefits, but was directed at left-wing chiefs of non-governmental agencies (NGOs) who were funneling such funds into immigration and “child trafficking.” 

“Either Donald Trump gets political control over this government and ends waste, abuse and fraud on the American people,” Miller told Tapper, “or, we let bureaucrats autopilot federal spending.”

What does this mean? … Every Republican and Democrat knew going into last November’s presidential election that a second Trump term would mean 1.) A better-organized White House full of cabinet secretaries and aids happy to carry out whatever policies Trump thought reasonable; and 2.) Far greater presidential authority at the expense of the legislative and judiciary branches. 

All anyone can remember from the weeks after Trump’s first inauguration in 2017 is his “Muslim ban” of travel into the US by certain foreign nationals. 

In The Atlantic, Jonathan Lemire writes that the strategy for a flurry of Trump EOs was determined at an early January gathering at Mar-a-Lago, where incoming Chief of Staff Susie Wiles suggested staggering the orders out over the first few weeks in office. 

A unanimous source who had attended the meeting said Trump responded: “No. I want to sign as many as possible as soon as we show up. Day One.”

Trump was a very green political novice when he became president eight years ago, but he learned a lot about the way the federal government runs from his first administration’s seasoned Washington aides, advisors and cabinet secretaries – the ones who were to keep Trump’s authoritarian tendencies in-check. 

Last year, he won his non-consecutive re-election by promising to blow up the federal government, and now with a flailing, leaderless Democratic Party warning of a constitutional crisis, Trump prevails. His political victory is certain even if just a couple of these executive orders survive federal courts.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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WEDNESDAY 1/29/25

Democrats are taking a hard line on President Trump’s near-blanket pardon of more than 1,500 rioters convicted for the January 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol, including Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes. Republican reactions are mixed, with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) asserting that it’s the president’s right to sign clemencies and deflecting toward former President Biden’s last-minute pardons of family members The Hill reports.

In this edition, contributors Sharon Lintner and Rich Corbett offer their opinions on this controversial issue, in the left and right columns, respectively. To submit your COMMENTS email editors@thehustings.news and please use the subject line to indicate whether you lean left or right, so we may post those comments in the proper column.

Polls on the pardons … Latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll finds 62% disapprove of Trump’s pardons of January 6^th rioters, though 64% of Republicans in the poll approve. A Fabrizio, Lee & Associates/GBAO poll for The Wall Street Journal reports that 57% are opposed to the pardons.

While Trump’s actions have a substantial list of Republican supporters in the House, it’s far from unanimous. Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA) said he does not agree “with the pardons of people that committed violence or even damage to property. If you climbed in through a window, I think probably you knew what you were doing was against the law. And I don’t think it was appropriate to pardon them.” (Per The Hill.)

NPR interviewed Pamela Hemphill, 71, who was an ardent Trump supporter in 2020 when she participated in the insurrection. But she has turned down clemency for her conviction in storming the halls of Congress that day. 

“I broke the law that day, period,” she told All Things Considered. “Black and white. I’m not a victim. I’m a volunteer.” Hemphill added that accepting Trump’s pardon “would be a slap in the face to Capitol police officers, to the rule of law and to our whole nation.”

•••

It’s the Constitution, Stupid – In other Week 1 Trump 47 news, Federal District Judge John C. Coughenour signed a restraining order to block for 14 days President Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for babies born on US soil. Ruling by the judge, who was appointed to the bench by President Reagan, sides with a lawsuit by Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon to block the EO (per The New York Times). 

“This is blatantly an unconstitutional order,” Coughenour said in his ruling. Directed to Trump administration attorneys, the judge continued; “Frankly I have difficulty understanding how a member of the bar would state unequivocally that this is a Constitutional order. It just boggles the mind.”

•••

Hegseth Rising – Former Fox & Friends Weekend host Pete Hegseth appears headed for confirmation as President Trump’s pick for defense secretary after the Senate voted 51-49 Thursday to end debate on his nomination, according to The Hill. Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (AK) and Susan Collins (ME) joined all Democrats in voting against the procedural move, and Murkowski, at least, has vowed to oppose Hegseth in the full Senate vote.

Trump can afford to lose three Republicans in the vote, expected Friday.

The canary will live … Hegseth was considered the test-case among Trump’s most controversial cabinet member choices, meaning that if he can win Senate confirmation, pretty much anyone else can. But hold on -- both Republicans and Democrats appear skeptical about the president’s nomination of former Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to be Health and Human Services secretary, The Hill reports. 

Some Republicans are concerned about RFK Jr.’s support of abortion rights, while Democrats do not want an anti-vax, anti-fluoride HHS secretary (per The Hill). Meanwhile, there is some bi-partisan opposition to Trump’s nomination of former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) to become director of national intelligence, Semafor reports.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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FRIDAY 1/24/25

Whatever DOGE chief Elon Musk intended with his ‘salute’ at a speech Monday at the Capital One Arena, right-wing extremists are embracing it, The Associated Press reports. Musk gave the “straight-arm gesture” after telling the crowd, “I just want to say ‘thank you’ for making it happen,” referring to Donald J. Trump’s election as president.

‘Golden Age’ Without Musk? – DOGE chief/Tesla/SpaceX/Starlink CEO Elon Musk reacted Wednesday to his snub as not being part of the announcement of a “$500 billion” investment in “artificial superintelligence” in US factories that would create 100,000 jobs for Americans by posting on his $44-billion X/Twitter investment, “They don’t actually have the money.”

Fair enough: The announcement took place at the White House with President Trump along with Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son – he of the “artificial superintelligence” quip – with Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Open AI’s Sam Altman. Politico’s afternoon newsletter, Digital Future Daily sorted out this story of how the technoligopoly has decided AI (and not coincidentally, crypto currency) is so very good for our future. 

It’s that Altman appearance that must have Musk most vexed. 

Musk was an early investor in OpenAI and alleges in a suit filed last summer that he had secured an agreement with the company and founders Altman and Greg Brockman, also named in the suit, that the company would remain a non-profit with an open code. Musk pulled out of OpenAI in 2018 claiming potential conflict-of-interest with Tesla and its self-driving technology. OpenAI last month announced a new structure to become a for-profit company, according to The Verge.

Early in the last administration, Musk was said to break from the Democratic Party because then-President Biden held an electric vehicle “summit” with new EVs from General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Stellantis (ex-Fiat Chrysler), but not Tesla. 

But Musk’s skepticism about the $500-billion AI deal is not unfounded. Shortly after Trump 45 took office in 2017, he touted a Foxconn plan to build an LCD screen-making plant in Racine County, Wisconsin that would create 50,000 jobs. Accompanied by then-Gov. Scott Walker (R) and then-House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), Trump called it “the eighth wonder of the world.” (Foxconn had promised a $10-billion investment and 10,000 jobs.) 

Five years on, Wisconsin incentives have been cut to $80 million from an initial $2.85 billion, and it produces no phone screens, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 

But tech/internet-business journalist Kara Swisher said on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 Wednesday that Musk lashed out against the half-trillion-dollar announcement (coincidentally, just a few billion bucks more than his personal wealth) because “he is not part of it” and said the technoligopolists who appeared at the White House without him could raise that cash “in about four seconds.”

•••

Forty-six House Democrats joined Republicans Wednesday to pass the Laken Riley Act, 263-156, to impose more severe penalties on undocumented immigrants who commit crimes in the US. It is the first bill to come up for President Trump’s signature, CQ Roll Call reports. The Senate passed the bill last week.

The bill is named for Laken Riley, who at 22 was murdered last year by an undocumented immigrant who had been released after an arrest. After it is signed by the president, the bill will require the secretary of Homeland Security to issue detention for undocumented immigrants arrested or convicted for burglary, theft or shoplifting. An amendment by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) added assault of a police officer to that list of crimes.

--TL

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WEDNESDAY 1/22/25

Keeping Up With Trump 47 – President Trump issued 26 executive orders in the first 24 hours according to Marketplace, in launching his agenda and reversing Biden administration policies as quickly as possible. Yes, it is difficult to keep up, but we will try as we remind you that you are invited to comment, whether as a conservative for the right column, or a liberal for the left column, with an email to editors@thehustings.news.

First up … Trump’s EO ending birthright citizenship has drawn lawsuits from Democratic attorneys general in 18 states, plus San Francisco and Washington, D.C., according to NPR’s Morning Edition. 

The AGs site Section 1 of the 14^th Amendment to the Constitution, which reads: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

“We’re the only country in the world that does it, you know,” Trump has countered. “And it’s just absolutely ridiculous. We’ll see. We think we have very good grounds.”

Not on Trump’s assertion that we’re the only country that does it. World Population Review cites 33 countries including the US, plus two territories that have jus soli, or birthright citizenship. Another 32 nations have some form of restricted birthright citizenship, the website says.

Ending DEI … Trump issued a memo placing employees in federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs on paid leave until 5 pm Wednesday, per NPR’s Morning Edition. Agencies have to noon Thursday Eastern time to report on their compliance to the Office of Personnel Management. Agencies must develop a “reduction-in-force action” against the employees, according to Trump’s memo.

Wait for the tariffs … Not so fast, but quickly enough for the president’s favorite word.

“We’re talking about a tariff of 10% on China based on the fact that they’re sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada. Probably February 1 is the date we’re looking at. For Mexico and China we’re talking about approximately, approximately, 25%,” Trump told a press conference Tuesday, Politico reports.

•••

WHO’s Out First – About eight hours after President Trump was sworn in, he issued an executive order to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization, which will make it harder to fight the pandemic and undermine US standing as a global health leader, critics of Trump’s move told The New York Times. 

Trump cited WHO’s “mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the “failure to adopt urgently needed reforms” and a expensive membership payments, higher than what China pays. 

The withdrawal will leave the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention without access to global data such as the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus China handed over to WHO in 2020. 

The upshot … So, continue to blame Trump 45’s problems dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which certainly helped him lose re-election that year, on the WHO, which Trump 47 will likely need if/when there is another pandemic in the next four years?

•••

Meanwhile, in the Boardrooms – Business leaders are “scrambling” to sort out sweeping changes to tax, immigration, trade and energy policies brought on by President Trump’s flurry of executive orders, The Wall Street Journal reports. Among the scramble, JPMorganChase has set up a war room, law firm Fisher Phillips has created an immigration hotline to help its clients deal with potential workplace immigration raids and manufacturers and retailers have teams working to mitigate potential new tariffs. 

•••

Meanwhile, on the Pulpit – The inaugural prayer service at the National Cathedral is not normally a political event. But on Tuesday morning, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, leader of the Episcopal Diocese in Washington said, “I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.”

As President Trump, Vice President Vance and family members looked on, Budde said, “There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, some of who fear for their lives.”

Per The New York Times Budde continued that “the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.”

Later, from the White House, Trump told reporters, “I didn’t think it was a good service, no.”

•••

Replacing Vance – Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) has appointed Lt. Gov. Jon Husted to replace Sen. JD Vance now that he is vice president, The Columbus Dispatch reports. Elon Musk’s junior partner in the non-governmental Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was reportedly interested in the appointment, but dropped out of contention and will run for Ohio governor in 2026, instead. 

Husted is expected to run for the Senate seat in the November 2026 elections, winner of which would serve the rest of Vance’s term, to 2028.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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WEDNESDAY 1/22/25

President Trump after his inauguration Monday pardoned 1,500 defendants of the January 6^th attack of the US capitol, including rioters who attacked police. This included members of Oath Keepers and of Proud Boys, among them former national chair Enrique Tarrio, who was sentenced to 22 years for helping plot the insurrection, the AP reports.

By Todd Lassa

Donald J. Trump’s second official inauguration speech seemed a slight bit less-dark than it was eight years earlier, perhaps because it was held inside the Capitol Rotunda and thus no outdoor crowd for the new president to point to and declare the biggest ever in the history of inaugurations. Perhaps like the youngest of voters who have known little more than of Trump as the central political figure in their lives, we’re becoming accustomed to his style. Perhaps it was because Hilary Clinton laughed visibly when Trump declared he is renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.” 

No mention so far of Greenland.

“The Golden Age of America begins right now,” Trump said, adding that the United States will “flourish and be respected all over the world. … I will, simply put, put America first.”

The US, he said, “will be far more exceptional than ever before.”

The new president said he would immediately remove the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change and end the “EV mandate” and allow you to buy whatever car you want to buy – including the internal combustion-powered ones that accounted for about 92% of the US market last year.

Like former Secretary of State Clinton, President Joe Biden stood behind Trump during the inauguration. He appeared alternately tired and bemused as Trump took the opportunity to paint the last four years under Biden’s leadership as having fallen so far it can’t get up – if not for its new, resurgent savior. 

“From this moment on, America’s decline is over,” Trump said. 

And there was the airing of grievances, as Trump claimed that “Over the past eight years, I’ve been tested and challenged more than any other president in history.” 

Adding “They tried to take my freedom and my life,” Trump concluded that the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania,* pretty much assured his victory last November.

“I was saved by God to make America great again.”

In the closest Trump could come to JFK’s promise to put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s, he said the nation would strive to “plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars …” a nod to his biggest benefactor, SpaceX/Tesla/Starlink CEO and X/Twitter owner Elon Musk’s favorite cause. 

After Joe and Jill Biden copter’d out, Trump visited the Capitol Visitor Center where he addressed the citizens who could not watch his inauguration from outside – this included Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), on whom the president spent an inordinate amount of his 36 minutes there talking about plans for completing The Wall. 

The border is Trump’s number one issue, he said, not inflation.

“How many times can you say the price of an apple has doubled?” 

Though in later appearances Trump reiterated his promise to bring down prices, this seemed like another admission that slowing the rise of inflation, let alone reversing it, despite arguably being the major reason for his November victory, is a very difficult task best left to the Federal Reserve. 

The border will not be quite so problematic. Minutes after his inauguration, Trump’s officials shut down the mobile app CPB One that had allowed migrants to make appointments in order to enter the US through legal points of entry, The Hill reports.

*CORRECTION: This article initially misidentified the Pennsylvania town where there was an assassination attempt on Trump at one of his campaign rallies.

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TUESDAY 1/21/25

JACK SMITH DROPS MIC -- Special counsel Jack Smith reports he has the evidence to convict Donald J. Trump for election interference if not for Trump’s win in last November’s presidential election. Scroll down this column for details.

FRIDAY 1/17/25

TikTok Ban Upheld – The US Supreme Court Friday upheld Congress’ ban of social media site TikTok (per SCOTUSblog). Under the law passed last year, TikTok is to shut down on Sunday short of divestiture of its US operations by Chinese owner ByteDance. However, a US official told The Associated Press that President Biden will not enforce the ban before he leaves office Monday. 

In its per curiam ruling Friday (not assigned to a specific justice) on TikTok v. Merrick B. Garland, SCOTUS noted that “for 170 million Americans TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community. But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.”

Justices Sonya Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch issued separate opinions in support.

Upshot … What happens on the TikTok ban after President-elect Trump is inaugurated Monday? Though Trump signed an executive order, not implemented, to ban TikTok in the US near the end of his first term, he has apparently has made a u-turn on the issue and thus, like Biden, is not likely to enforce.

•••

Ceasefire Unceased – Israel’s security cabinet approved the Gaza ceasefire deal Friday after a delay by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, NPR reports, with his full cabinet expected to meet later in the day for full passage. Under the agreement scheduled to begin with Phase I Sunday, Hamas is to release three Israeli hostages, with another four to be released on day seven. The Israeli Defense Force is not expected to withdraw from Gaza until all hostages are released, according to Haaretz, but will allow residents north of the strip. 

•••

Anti-Russia Hawk Down – A hawkish supporter of US aid and military support to Ukraine for its defense against Russia, Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, is out as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) replaced Turner Thursday in a controversial move with MAGA Republican Rick Crawford, of Arkansas, Politico reports. Johnson also added to the committee five more Trump supporters who have been averse to continued aid to Ukraine; Ben Kline of Virginia, Pat Fall of Texas, Greg Steube of Florida, Claudia Tenney of New York and Ann Wagner of Missouri.

Meanwhile … UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer made an unannounced visit with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv to sign a “wide-ranging 100-year partnership” treaty, entailing defense, energy and trade, The Kyiv Independent reports. Kind of an in-your-face-Putin treaty short of full NATO membership for Ukraine.

•••

Treasury Secretary Hearings – Billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Bessent is said to be a shoe-in for as President-elect Trump's pick for Treasury secretary, with potential support even from some Democrats. Bessent’s top priority is to extend the Trump 45 tax cuts set to expire later this year, while conversely he could gently push back on Trump tariff threats.

In his opening statement before the Senate Finance Committee, Bessent said Trump’s economic policy presents a “generational opportunity to unleash a new economic golden age that will create more jobs, wealth and prosperity for all Americans.” (Per The New York Times.)

But ranking committee Democrat Ron Wyden, of Oregon, considers such a “golden age” more of a “gilded age.” 

“Trump’s going to be waging this class war instead of fixing what’s broken about our tax system, which is that there’s a special set of rules that only applies to the ultra-wealthy,” Wyden said. “Mr. Bessent is a case in point.”

--TL

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THURSDAY 1/18/25

Ceasefire in Trouble Already – Claiming that Hamas has “reneged on parts of the agreement,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday cancelled a cabinet meeting to vote on approval of the ceasefire agreement that would stop fighting on the Gaza Strip on Sunday, NPR’s Morning Edition reports. It seems unlikely that Phase I of the deal, which pretty much matches the proposal the Biden administration put out four months ago, but reportedly was pushed over the line by negotiators for the incoming Trump administration, will happen before President Biden officially leaves the White House. 

The way Haaretz puts it, President-elect Trump “scared” Netanyahu into agreeing to the deal with Hamas.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri refuted Netanyahu’s claim that Hamas had tried to make last-minute changes, according to Al-Arabi TV (per NPR). 

Two Israeli cabinet members have been very vocal in their opposition to the deal and have threatened to resign, thus collapsing Netanyahu’s government, according to the Morning Edition report. This raises the question of whether Netanyahu will scuttle the agreement to save his political career. 

Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry reported 81 killed and 188 wounded in Gaza between announcement of the agreement and the Israeli cabinet’s delay, Haaretz reports.

•••

Biden’s Farewell – President Biden touted the Gaza ceasefire agreement from the Oval Office in his farewell address to the American people Wednesday evening.

“This plan was developed and negotiated by my team,” Biden said, “and it will be largely implemented by the incoming administration. That’s why I told my team to keep the incoming administration fully informed. Because that’s how it should be: Working together as Americans.”

The 46^th president called out what he says are his administration’s successes, including strengthening NATO, keeping Ukraine free and pulling “ahead in our competition with China.

“I’m so proud of how much we’ve accomplished together for the American people, and I wish the incoming administration success. Because I want America to succeed.”

Then he warned about “the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultrawealthy people” without specifically naming Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg or any other tech billionaires.

“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”

--TL

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WEDNESDAY 1/15/25

Israel, Hamas Agree to Ceasefire -- Negotiators for Israel, Arab countries and the US -- including from the outgoing Biden administration and incoming Trump administration -- have agreed to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in an expected three-phase deal. In the first phase, Hamas will exchange some hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing Arab officials helping mediate the talks. The three parties met midday Wednesday local time in Doha, Qatar, to finalize the draft.

•••

Hegseth is Next Defense Secretary – Stop us if you’ve heard this sort of thing before. President-elect Trump will get what he wants with full (or nearly full) support of the Republican Party after some skepticism among a couple of moderates and/or dissidents. 

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) was a potential block to Trump’s choice of ex-Fox News host Pete Hegseth to become the next Defense secretary. After a lengthy Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday, Ernst, a former US Army lieutenant colonel who served in Kuwait and was concerned about Hegseth’s pre-nomination comments opposing women in combat, told Simon Conway of Des Moines’ Newsradio 1040; “Yes, I will be supporting President Trump’s pick for secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth,” The Hill reports. 

Committee Democrats attacked Hegseth for his lack of experience, infidelity and allegations of sexual and financial misconduct. Hegseth also faced questioning about his Jerusalem Cross tattoo, a symbol of the Christian far-right.

“In fact, interestingly, recently I attended briefly the memorial ceremony of former President Jimmy Carter, on the floor of our National Cathedral,” Hegseth replied, according to Newsweek. “On the front page of the program was the very same Jerusalem Cross.”

That does not mean Hegseth is not a devotee of Christian Nationalism. USA Today has reported that Hegseth is a follower of Idaho pastor Doug Wilson’s Communion of Reformed Evangelical Church, which has been strengthening ties with Hegseth’s Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship in Nashville. 

Such key players in the Christian Nationalism movement led a concerted effort to assure that Hegseth would have strong Republican support in the Senate (where he needs only a majority to be confirmed) leading up to the committee hearing. 

Upshot… After just one nominee, ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) had to withdraw his nomination, GOP support for Hegseth is a good indication Trump will get his way with the rest of his nominees, though there’s still the question of confirming Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) for National Intelligence director and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as national health secretary. 

Wednesday… Committee hearings are to be held for Pam Bondi, replacement nominee for Gaetz as Trump administration attorney general, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) to be secretary of state. Rubio, of all nominees, is considered the easiest shoo-in with likely support even from some Democratic senators.

--TL

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Enough to Convict – Former special counsel Jack Smith says he has the evidence to convict former President Donald J. Trump for interference in the 2020 election results, if not for Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, according to his 137-page final report released by the Department of Justice early Tuesday.

Trump “engaged in an unprecedented criminal effort to overturn the legitimate results of the election in order to retain power,” Smith says in his report's conclusion. 

Smith resigned as special counsel before Trump could fire him after next Monday’s presidential inauguration. But Smith and his team of investigators now face investigation themselves by the Republican-majority 119^th Congress in the coming months, likely to be led by the incoming president’s close allys. 

“While we were not able to bring the cases we charged to trial, I believe the fact that our team stood up for the rule of law matters,” Smith writes in the introduction. “I believe the example our team set for others to fight for justice without regard for the personal cost matters. The facts, as we uncovered them in our investigation and as set forth in my Report, matter. Experienced prosecutors know that you cannot control outcomes, you can only do your job the right way for the right reasons. I conclude our work confident that we have done so, and that we have met fully our obligations to the Department and to our country.”  

But not the other report … Judge Aileen Cannon – yes, the federal district judge in Florida appointed by Trump 45 – issued the five-page order Monday allowing the Justice Department to release the elections interference report but not the report from Smith’s investigation of Trump’s alleged refusal to return classified documents after he left office – the case she oversaw -- according to The New York Times.

That investigation led to the FBI’s seizure of classified government documents at Mar-a-Lago on August 8, 2022. 

Cannon ordered prosecutors and Trump defense attorneys to appear before her on Friday to argue whether Smith’s report on the classified documents case should be released to Congress.

Reaction ... Insert standard Trump insults of Smith and his investigators here.

--Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 1/13/25

This Week – The House and Senate are in session Monday through Thursday, and the Senate only is in session Friday. Monday is the fourth anniversary of President-elect Trump’s second impeachment, for incitement of the January 6^th attack on Capitol Hill. Trump was later acquitted by the Senate. 

Welcome – Readers of Columbia Spy.

Confirmation Week I – Pete Hegseth for Defense secretary, Pam Bondi for US attorney general and Marco Rubio for secretary of state are key Senate confirmation hearings beginning Tuesday, Jessica Taylor of the Cook Political Report told NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition. 

As the most controversial Trump nominee now that former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has withdrawn his nomination to be AG, former Fox News host Hegseth will face the toughest questioning beginning Tuesday. 

Senate committees also will question Interior Department secretary nominee Doug Burgum and Veterans Affairs nominee Doug Collins on Tuesday. 

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to take Wednesday and Thursday for its hearing on Bondi’s nomination to head the Justice Department, CQ Roll Call reports. Wednesday also is the day for Rubio to appear before the Senate Foreign Relations committee. John L. Ratcliffe, nominee for CIA director will appear before the Intelligence committee. Nominee for Homeland Security secretary, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) and nominee for Office of Management and Budget chief Russell Vought will appear before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee on Wednesday.

A confirmation hearing for former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) to be director of national intelligence appears to be delayed for a week, but not for the reasons you might expect – Gabbard is considered an ally of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and years ago met with now-deposed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. But Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) described Gabbard’s delay as a “paperwork problem.”

“She now has a top-level security clearance,” Barrasso told CBS News’ Face the Nation Sunday. “She is the right person to keep America secure and safe.”

Others, this week … Chris Wright for Energy secretary, Scott Turner for Housing and Urban Development secretary, Sean Duffy for Transportation secretary, Scott Bessent for Treasury secretary and Lee Zeldin for Environmental Protection Agency director are also scheduled for committee hearings this week.

•••

Are You Ready for Some Trump Tariffs? – After decades of catching up with Western Europe, Japan and the United States with its odd mixture of communist authoritarianism and state-supported capitalism, China has reached nearly $1 trillion in trade surplus for 2024, according to the nation’s General Administration of Customs. Even adjusted for inflation, China’s $990-billion trade surplus last year “far exceeded” any in the world in the last century, according to The New York Times, including the US after World War II.

Automakers in the European Union are battling stiff competition from Chinese makers of affordable electric vehicles, while in the US, President-elect Trump has threatened a tariff on all Chinese goods of up to 60%.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 1/13/25