Trump hits D.C. for victory tour
GOP to elect House and Senate leaders
Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for November 13, 2024:
Biden to host Trump at the White House.
House to hold UAP hearing.
GOP still figuring out lame duck agenda.
TRUMP. President-Elect Donald Trump comes to Washington, D.C. to take a victory lap today after his election triumph, as Trump will meet with Republicans in Congress and sit down with President Biden at the White House. "There's a lot of excitement - a lot of energy here," said House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday. "We're really grateful for President Trump leaving it all on the field to get reelected."
MANDATE. As the lame duck Congress returned to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Speaker Johnson and his leadership team declared victory before TV cameras outside the Capitol - one week after the elections which gave the GOP control of the House, Senate, and White House starting in January.
BAYOU STATE. "The American people delivered a mandate," said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of the wins by Trump and Republicans on Capitol Hill. "They want us to fix the problems that have been plaguing families all across this country for the last three and a half years."
ELECTIONS. Today, House Republicans will gather to elect their leadership team for the 119th Congress. It should be a joyous occasion for the GOP, right? But it doesn’t seem that way, as once again there's grumbling from some conservatives - who never seem happy with what Johnson does.
HOUSE GOP. The anonymous quotes about conservative dissatisfaction with the Speaker left Republicans aggravated. "Enough is enough with the unserious political games," said Rep. Erin Houchin (R-IA) as she very publicly frowned on the criticism of Johnson. "We have work to do."
VOTE. Speaker Johnson isn't going to be thrown overboard today by his own party. But the fact that some conservative hardliners still can't get on board with him speaks volumes. The Speaker has almost no wiggle room with a tight majority. The Freedom Caucus can’t spell the word ‘unity.’ And I'm not quite sure how anyone else could do any better.
SENATE GOP SHOWDOWN. While we know who House Republicans will pick for Speaker, Senate Republicans will meet to decide who should lead their party in the 119th Congress - taking over from outgoing Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell.
THUNE. If I were betting on this race, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) - the current GOP Whip - would be the favorite. "We have an ambitious agenda," Thune said, urging GOP Senators to heed the voice of the voters. "If we fail to deliver on President Trump's priorities, we will lose their support."
CORNYN. The other top contender, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), summed up his appeal this way: "In order to Make America Great Again, we must Make the Senate Work Again," as Cornyn vowed 'an aggressive legislative agenda' on border security, spending cuts and energy.
SCOTT. The outsider is Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL). He’s not the most popular guy, as he only won 10 votes when he ran against McConnell two years ago. In this race, Scott is trying to act as the MAGA candidate. But it may not help.
DELAY. I did think it was interesting that a key ally of Scott, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), was talking yesterday about delaying this leadership vote. Here’s what I know - you only talk about delaying something when you aren’t winning.
NO COMMENT. Most GOP Senators refused to say much of anything about the leadership race as they came to the Senate floor last night. "I'm not going to comment on anybody that has not been nominated," said Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY). "I don't talk about what I'm doing," added Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE).
WHITE HOUSE. After the 2016 elections, President Barack Obama invited Donald Trump to the White House. That's what you do for the election winner, as President Biden will host Trump at the White House today. Everyone knows Trump didn't offer that same courtesy four years ago, when he did everything possible to stay in power.
PRESS SEC. Asked why Biden was hosting Trump - after getting stiffed four years ago, the White House Press Secretary argued it's the right thing to do. "It's an easy question to answer," Karine Jean-Pierre said about the President's decision. "He believes in our norms. He believes in our institutions. He believes in a peaceful transfer of power."
TRANSITION. Biden has also pledged to fully help in the transition, something that Trump didn't do in 2020 - and it's frankly something that most GOP Senators didn't help with either. I'm going to be interested to hear what Biden has to say in the photo op as they sit together in the Oval Office.
SCHEDULE. 11 AM THE PRESIDENT meets with President-elect Donald Trump - Oval Office. In-House Pool Spray (Gather 10:45 am Brady Press Briefing Room).
DEFENSE. President-elect Donald Trump threw Congress a curve ball on Tuesday, when he announced his pick for Secretary of Defense. Most lawmakers have probably never heard of Pete Hegseth, as Trump dipped into the ranks of Fox News for a top position in his Cabinet. Yes, I wrote 'Fox News.'
GOP SENATORS. Asked about the choice, most GOP Senators had little to say about Hegseth, an Army veteran, who has been a frequent Fox News critic of the military. "Pete Hegseth is an anti-woke warrior," said Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), who won a seat in the Senate last week.
FLIP SIDE. One Democrat was not impressed. "A Fox & Friends weekend co-host is not qualified to be the Secretary of Defense," harrumphed Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). "Donald Trump’s pick will make us less safe and must be rejected."
CABINET. But Democrats don’t really matter when it comes to a Trump nominee, as it will take Republicans breaking ranks to defeat his choices. My rule of thumb is there is always at least one nominee who gets raked over the coals pretty good. We’ll see if that’s Hegseth or someone else.
DOGE. Trump also announced a plan on Tuesday to review government spending, which will be headed by billionaire Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Even though it doesn't exist, Trump is calling this review the 'Department of Government Efficiency.' We'll see if they're able to get Congress to make any changes.
SORE LOSER. In Wisconsin, Republican Eric Hovde has lost to Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). But Hovde is refusing to concede defeat, and now he's decided to grab a page from Donald Trump's post-election playbook in 2020 - and claim vote fraud, without any evidence.
BADGER. "Many people have reached out to me with concerns about the voting inconsistencies we experienced," Hovde said, as he released a video - but offered no evidence. Hovde blamed his loss on a late night surge of mail-in ballots in Milwaukee. "Statistically, this outcome seems improbable," he said.
DEMS. Democrats were livid. "Eric Hovde is spreading lies from the darkest corners of the internet to undercut our free and fair elections," said Sen. Baldwin.
NUMBERS. Hovde suffered from the same problem that GOP Senate candidates had in other swing states. A lot of people who voted for Trump did not vote for him. For example, Baldwin had 25,000 fewer votes than Trump. Hovde had 54,000 less. This wasn't a GOP loss because of ticket splitting.
PHOTO OP. On Capitol Hill yesterday, reporters and photographers went through a familiar post-election event - the photo op of each party leader with their new crop of Senators. It involves standing around for 20 minutes, and then rushing into a room, where you get about 45 seconds before they yell, "OUT! OUT! OUT!"
GOP. Here was the view of outgoing Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell with five of six new Republican Senators for the 119th Congress (Justice of West Virginia was not there). Left to right: Sheehy (MT), Banks (IN), McConnell, Curtis (UT), Moreno (OH) and McCormick (PA). You can see the cameras in the mirror.
NEW DEMS. As for the six new Democrats, they gathered for their own photo. Left to right: Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE), Adam Schiff (CA), Elissa Slotkin (MI), Andy Kim (NJ), Ruben Gallego (AZ), and Angela Alsobrooks (MD). Alsobrooks is the only one who is not a current member of the U.S. House.
NEW MEMBERS. Two new lawmakers were sworn into office last night in the House - one from each party. On the Democratic side, Rep. Erica Lee Carter (D-TX) - the daughter of the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) - will now fill the rest of her mother's term in office. Carter did not run for the 119th Congress.
BADGER STATE. From Wisconsin, Rep. Tony Wied (R-WI) was sworn in to fill out the term of ex-Rep. Mike Gallagher, who resigned way back in April. Wied won both the special election for the rest of this Congress and the election for the next term.
VACANT. One seat in the House remains vacant, that of the late Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ). His seat was won by Democrat Nellie Pou - but she won't take office until January, as no special election was held for that seat in New Jersey.
WHOLE NUMBER. So, the current makeup of the House is 221-213. The new House in January might be 221-214. Not much change.
BUSINESS. When it comes to the agenda of Congress, maybe the biggest unknown right now for House GOP leaders is what they should do about the 12 unfinished government funding bills for 2025. Should they cut a deal on an Omnibus spending package with Democrats before Christmas so they don't have to fight that battle early next year? Or do they leave it open and try to make some budget cuts early in 2025?
TBD. Speaker Johnson says he’ll hash things out with Trump. "My plan is to be at Mar-a-Lago all weekend to iron out details on the plans ahead," Johnson said. A temporary government funding measure expires on December 20, setting up a shutdown deadline the Friday before Christmas.
FULL YEAR. There was talk in the hallways yesterday about Republicans wanting a full-year funding measure through next September, but I would bet that a lot of Republicans wouldn't favor that choice. "I can make the case for a number of different options," the Speaker said to reporters. "But the President's preference on that will carry a lot of weight."
OTHER ITEMS. The government funding bills aren't the only big item on the to-do list for Congress. Lawmakers need to finish a major defense policy bill (NDAA), figure out some extension for the Farm Bill, all while avoiding a possible government shutdown on the Friday before Christmas.
UAP HEARING. If you're looking to focus on something other than the recent elections, a House panel will hold another hearing today on UFO's, what is now called 'Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena.' The basic argument from witnesses is that the feds are withholding all sorts of evidence which would 'reveal the truth' about alien spacecraft visiting the Earth.
GALLAUDET. One witness today is retired Navy Admiral Timothy Gallaudet, who says he was told by email of encounters with alien craft in 2015. "The very next day, the email disappeared from my account and those of the other recipients without explanation," Gallaudet will testify, claiming a Pentagon cover up.
ELIZONDO. A former Army counterintelligence officer will put in his two cents as well. "UAP are real," Luis Elizondo will testify, saying that there have been 'grave misdeeds' inside the government - "all to hide the fact that we are not alone in the cosmos."
BOTTOM LINE. I'm all for transparency and finding out if the government is sitting on evidence that some aliens are flying around like the Jetsons. But these hearings still lack one thing - actual evidence.
RAP SHEET. A Virginia man who broke windows just off the House floor and helped rioters push through police lines in several places at the Capitol, has been sentenced to 8 years in prison for his actions on Jan. 6. Zach Alam roamed through much of the building as he tried to kick in doors and yelled at police. He was also ordered to pay $4,484 in restitution.
LONE WOLF. I want to add something about the Alam case. He was arrested just a few weeks after Jan. 6. He's involved in all sorts of stuff that day. And yet, we have learned precious little about his ties to anyone else.
ORGANIZATION. This is the most puzzling thing about the attack to me - there are so many people involved in the Capitol attack, and yet the feds seem to have uncovered so little evidence of coordination or planning.
MUSE OF HISTORY. November 13, 1941. As Congress continued to debate how involved America should be in World War II, some lawmakers worried about the U.S. getting into a war with Japan. "The Congress is seemingly ready to fight Japan," said Rep. Charles Giffords (R-MA), "but I have great difficulty explaining just what Japan has done." Giffords didn’t have to wait long - the Japanese would attack Pearl Harbor in less than a month.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House convenes at 10 am.
The Senate meets at 12 noon.
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Biden should declassify all the documents in the Jack Smith briefs and then issue unredacted versions. After all, Trump claims he mentally declassified them so he shouldn't have an issue. And I'd love to see the reporters cover that and this way it would be on the record.
I had to google for a definition of "pool spray". Found a reminder of Kaitlin Collins being banned in 2018 for shouting "inappropriate" questions at DT about extramarital relationships. I can only imagine how the press will be punished in this next go-round.