Speaker to huddle with Trump on agenda

Dems outraged as Trump taps RFK Jr. for top health post

Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for November 15, 2024:

• Johnson and Thune prep for 119th Congress.

• GOP Senators want to see ethics files on Gaetz.

• The shocked faces of my colleagues on Capitol Hill.

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TRUMP-CONGRESS. As President Trump continues to roll out his Cabinet nominees, GOP leaders in Congress are trying their best to focus on his legislative agenda. Trump will huddle this weekend at Mar-a-Lago with House Speaker Mike Johnson, discussing plans for 2025. "We have an extraordinary opportunity ahead of us," Johnson told reporters at the Capitol. "Nobody wants to squander that."

• CAP HILL. Johnson met on Thursday with the new Senate Majority Leader, Sen. John Thune (R-SD). "We are ready to get to work with unified Republican leadership to implement President Trump’s agenda," Thune declared. "Congress has been given a clear mandate from the American people," Johnson added.

• HOUSE-SENATE. In many ways, Thune will have a much more difficult job than Speaker Johnson, because of the Senate filibuster. That's why it's so important for Republicans to forge a giant 'budget reconciliation' bill, as they try to extend the expiring Trump tax cuts, and make major changes in health care and energy policies.

THIS YEAR. One thing Speaker Johnson still needs to figure out with Trump is what to do about the unfinished agenda from this year. There was very little talk about that from lawmakers this week - as they just wait to see what Trump wants to do. He is definitely the wild card. If Trump tells them to get it done now, they will. If he wants it delayed, they will.

• FUNDING. I still can’t see Republicans selling their members on a deal with Democrats to approve a package of 12 government funding bills for next year. But even just kicking the can into February will also aggravate some in the GOP. The next government shutdown deadline is December 20.

• SCHEDULE. The House works next week, and then takes a week off for Thanksgiving. Lawmakers still need to act on a major defense policy bill (NDAA), a Farm Bill extension, government funding, and whatever other legislative cats and dogs can make it out of Congress.

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CABINET. President-elect Donald Trump continues to torture his critics and excite his followers with his choices for top posts in his administration. On Thursday, Trump tapped noted anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services - which was swiftly denounced by Democrats in Congress.

• DEMS. "This could not be more dangerous," said Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), as Democrats labeled RFK Jr. a threat to public health. "This is the definition of insanity," added Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). "Dangerous. Unqualified. Unserious," added Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA).

• GOP. On the other side, Republicans were thrilled. "He’s a brilliant, courageous truth-teller," said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI). "No one has done more to expose corruption in big pharma and big food," added Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL). "Another fantastic choice," said Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN).

VETERANS. In less contentious news, Trump picked a former Congressman from Georgia to head the VA, as ex-Rep. Doug Collins was tapped for Veterans Secretary. Collins left Capitol Hill after he lost a bid for the U.S. Senate in 2020. The affable Georgia Republican now serves as a chaplain in the Air Force Reserve.

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GAETZ. As for Trump’s choice of ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to be U.S. Attorney General, that was still causing a lot of controversy in the halls of the Capitol on Thursday. Gaetz’s resignation letter was read to the full House - making it official - as he said he does ‘not intend’ to fill his seat for the 119th Congress. But there were plenty of warning signs about his nomination.

• ETHICS. Some GOP Senators on Thursday demanded that the House Ethics Committee turn over investigative materials about Gaetz and sex trafficking allegations. "I think there should not be any limitation on the Senate Judiciary Committee's investigation," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).

• PROBE. The stories about Gaetz are well known in GOP circles. Fellow House Republicans have repeatedly told of Gaetz showing off pictures and videos - on the House floor - of girls that he had been involved with.

• ALLIES. But some Gaetz allies bristled at handing over his ethics files to the Senate. “The Department of Justice never charged Matt Gaetz,” said Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), who criticized Democrats for attacking Gaetz. “Why aren’t they interested in uncovering what happened with Jeffrey Epstein?”

REPORT. I would be amazed if the Republican House handed over any documents about one of their members who has been chosen by Trump. And there is no way the Senate can enforce a subpoena on the House.

• BACKGROUND. For those old enough to remember the Gaetz stories sort of bring back memories of John Tower’s ill-fated nomination for Defense Secretary.

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PROTESTS. Forgive me for being skeptical, but I don't really take the protests of GOP Senators about Gaetz all that seriously right now. Why not? Because I've seen this show way too many times. Republicans roll their eyes, furrow their brows, raise questions about what Trump is doing - and then they fall in line.

• SHOW ME. "My presumption is I'll vote for all of the President's nominees," Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) told a group of reporters. "He's the leader of my party. He's just won a resounding victory. My state voted for him overwhelmingly, and I support him. So my intent is, my presumption is, to vote for all these folks."

RON JOHN. Maybe the weirdest scene in the hallways on Thursday was when reporters asked Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) about the Gaetz situation. Johnson responded by pulling out a photo of a transgender Biden Administration appointee, and asking reporters if they asked questions then. It made no sense.

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MAJORITY. House Republicans head home today knowing they will be in the majority next year, but with nowhere near the elbow room that they dreamed about before the November elections. Making things worse is that Donald Trump is picking at least three House members for his administration, which will make that edge even smaller.

• TOO CLOSE TO CALL. As of last night, eight House races remain uncalled by the Associated Press. The only vote counting still going on is out in California, where Rep. Michelle Steel (R-CA) now leads in CA-45 by only 236 votes, as Democrats could be on the way to flipping her seat. Here's the latest update:

  • GOP 218 wins + 4 leading minus Gaetz = 221 seats

  • Dem 209 wins + 4 leading = 213 seats.

CALIFORNIA. Democrats still have hopes of flipping CA-13 and defeating Rep. John Duarte (D-CA) - but time is running out for Democrat Adam Gray. He cut 2,000 votes off his deficit yesterday, and now trails by 1,764 votes - with 84 percent of the vote in.

• OVECHKIN. Here's the list of the eight seats which have not yet been called.

  • Alaska GOP leads Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) by 9,435 votes

  • CA-13 Rep. John Duarte (R-CA) leads by 1,764 votes

  • IA-01 Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R) leads by 801 votes

  • CA-45 Dems lead Rep. Michelle Steel (R) by 349 votes

  • ME-02 Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) leads by 726 votes

  • OH-09 Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) leads by 1,193 votes

  • CA-21 Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA) leads by 4,739 votes

  • CA-09 Rep. Josh Harder (D-CA) leads by 8,099 votes

MAINER. The ranked choice voting tabulation for the seat in Maine held by Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) is expected to come to a close today. This has been going on since Tuesday, as I keep checking the live feed from the Maine Secretary of State and wondering - why the hell isn't this finished yet???

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DISASTER RELIEF. There was no serious public discussion this week in Congress about how much money will be needed for FEMA to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton. There was chatter that Republicans would like to have offsetting budget cuts for any new disaster relief - but that's been an unpopular cause in the past.

• ANTI-TRUMP. The biggest story to pop in recent days about FEMA has been the charge that certain FEMA employees in Florida were avoiding homes that had Trump campaign signs. As you might imagine, that has aggravated the living daylights out of Republicans in the House and Senate - and rightfully so.

• LETTER. "The blatant disregard of President-elect Trump supporters directly contradicts FEMA’s core mission and values," a group of 57 House Republicans wrote in a letter to the FEMA chief, Deanne Criswell. She is being called in next Tuesday for a hearing on FEMA's response in North Carolina and Florida. Look for some fireworks.

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FROSH. Today wraps up the first week of freshmen orientation for the nearly five dozen new members of the 119th Congress. The hard work was getting elected. But it's not easy to hire a staff and figure out how to run a Congressional office. Some of these new members will do fine. A few might struggle.

• MINORITY. While the new freshmen Democrats are excited to be here, it's obvious they’re gritting their teeth about their party’s election loss last week. "It's bittersweet," said Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia. "Obviously, I wish I was coming into a majority."

• SECOND TIME. Not everyone is a rookie. It's the second orientation for Democrat Gil Cisneros of California, who was elected in 2018 - but lost in 2020. "I'm excited to get to work," Cisneros said. "We still need to go back out and communicate to the American people why we think our policies work."

• POTOMAC FEVER. For some, the dream of serving in Congress started long ago. "I used to work here on the Hill, back when I was a 17-year-old intern," said Democrat Sam Liccardo of California. "So it's sort of a full circle for me."

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NEWS MEDIA. I had to chuckle this week at the shocked reactions from some of my younger colleagues in the press corps at the wild pace of news on Capitol Hill. Why? Because they haven't been here in the halls of Congress when Donald Trump is in power. This week was a reminder of how Trump can generate waves of news cycles like no one else.

• TRUMP. What Trump does - in an extraordinarily effective way - is he uses wave after wave of news, tweets, announcements, attacks, and over-the-top comments to basically overwhelm the press corps, as well as his political critics. There is almost too much information to grasp, too much news to digest, and too much from him almost every day.

• WEDNESDAY. Trump's visit to Washington, D.C. this week was a perfect example of how he floods the zone.

  • His remarks to House Republicans were big news.

  • His visit to the White House with President Biden was next.

  • He made more news by picking Tulsi Gabbard as DNI.

  • Then he nuked everything with his pick of Matt Gaetz for AG.

  • All of that happened in about four hours.

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WHITE HOUSE. I want to circle back to Donald Trump's visit to the White House this week. It didn't get much attention - and it deserves much more. Four years ago, Donald Trump refused to concede. He refused to help Joe Biden with the transition. He didn't invite Biden to the White House. Trump was a very sore loser.

• 2024. That's why this week was so important for the nation. To have Biden invite Trump to the White House - and not retaliate - was a welcome change. Those norms and customs are so important. He may hate Trump's guts, but Biden did the right thing. That's my column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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RAP SHEET. Federal judges in Washington, D.C. who are dealing with Jan. 6 cases issued different rulings on Thursday about the trials of those accused of crimes. Two judges postponed upcoming trials - suggesting that it would be a waste of time because of Donald Trump's promise to pardon those convicted.

• SUNFLOWER. In the case of a Kansas man, William Pope, Judge Rudolph Contreras decided to delay a trial scheduled to begin on December 2. "He agreed a long trial was not a good use of judicial resources considering the likelihood of January 6 charges being dropped," Pope tweeted.

• IRRELEVANT. It was a different story in a different courtroom, as a judge rejected a call for delay by three men who fought with police on Jan. 6. "Whatever the President-elect may or may not do," wrote Judge Paul Friedman, "is irrelevant to the Court's independent obligations." Sentencing for the men is scheduled for December 10.

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MUSE OF HISTORY.  November 15, 1895.  On this date, future British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was in New York on his first visit to America.  In a letter to his brother, Churchill was captivated.  "Picture to yourself the American people as a great lusty youth - who treads on all your sensibilities - perpetrates every possible horror of ill manners - whom neither age nor just tradition inspire with reverence--but who moves about his affairs with a good hearted freshness which may well be the envy of older nations of the earth," Churchill wrote.

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LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:

The House convenes at 9 am.

The Senate is back on Monday.

Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree.

Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com

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