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 6th 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 Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has withdrawn his nomination to be AG, former Fox News host Hegseth will face the toughest questioning beginning Tuesday.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.
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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