The Conversation -- January 16, 2025

New York Times: "Senate confirmation hearings for the Trump cabinet have resumed. They include Doug Burgum for interior secretary, Scott Turner for housing secretary, Lee Zeldin for Environmental Protection Agency administrator, and Scott Bessent for Treasury secretary. Mr. Bessent, appearing before the Senate Banking Committee, called for extending the expiring 2017 tax cuts and for tougher sanctions on Russia." This is a liveblog.

Matt Dixon of NBC News: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed state Attorney General Ashley Moody to the U.S. Senate, setting her up to fill the seat of Sen. Marco Rubio, whom ... Donald Trump tapped to be secretary of state.... he will have to run in a 2026 special election to keep the seat for the final two years of Rubio's term."

Know Thy Neighbors. The New York Times has a detailed map of how voters voted in the 2024 presidential election, and how that compared to the vote in the 2020 election. MB: I'm happy to say that where I live, Kamala Harris beat Trump by 27 points & only a little less than the percentage by which Biden beat Trump in 2020. Thanks to laura h. for the link.

Yesterday, PBS found out what Americans think of Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio, Bobby Kennedy, Jr. & Elon Musk. As Ken W. noted, they do seem to like Bobby Junior the most. MB: In fairness to these opinionated Americans, I would posit that a substantial percentage who have expressed their favorable opinion of Junior think he is RFK Sr. One way or another, these people are not very bright.

Marie: I'm not sure, but it looks like RAS is wondering why Republicans are so opposed to what they like to call "DEI hires" when they're so enthusiastic about a DUI hire.

Unwashed's favorite local bartender has some new house rules.

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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.... The powerful forces want to wield their unchecked influence to eliminate the steps we've taken to tackle the climate crisis, to serve their own interest for power and profit. We must not be bullied into sacrificing the future, the future of our children and our grandchildren. We must keep pushing forward and push faster. -- President Biden, farewell address to the nation, Wednesday ~~~

~~~ Erica Green of the New York Times: "President Biden on Wednesday warned that an 'oligarchy' of the ultrawealthy was emerging in America, sounding the alarm about unchecked power as he gave a farewell speech to the nation just days before he surrenders office to a man he disdains. In an address from the Oval Office, Mr. Biden expressed concern about the 'dangerous concentration of power' and issued a plea for the preservation of democratic ideals and institutions under the administration of ... Donald J. Trump.... Mr. Biden's warning of an unelected oligarchy taking shape echoed a similar one by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who spoke about the military-industrial complex in his farewell address. The Biden version referred to the 'tech-industrial complex,' in which he warned of the erosion of truth itself, brought forth by unchecked social media platforms -- a reference to Meta doing away with fact-checkers this week -- and artificial intelligence. 'Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power,' Mr. Biden said." (This is an update of a story also linked yesterday.) Politico's report is here. NPR's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The transcript of President Biden's address is here, via the New York Times. MB: I'll look for a copy from a "free" site later; couldn't find one early this morning.

Today's New York Times liveblog of developments in Israel's wars is here. ~~~

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The long-sought, tortuously negotiated Gaza cease-fire deal announced on Wednesday came about in part through a remarkable collaboration between President Biden and ... Donald J. Trump, who temporarily put aside mutual animosity to achieve a mutual goal. The two presidents directed their advisers to work together to push Israel and Hamas over the finish line for an agreement to halt the fighting that has ravaged Gaza and release hostages who have been held there for 15 months. The deal is set to start on Sunday, the day before Mr. Biden turns over the White House to Mr. Trump.... The dramatic development, just five days before the transfer of power in the United States, cut against the natural grain in Washington, where presidents of opposing parties rarely work in tandem during a transition, even in the face of a major crisis.

"But the political planets quickly returned to their normal orbits as both sides argued over who deserved credit for resolving the standoff.While Mr. Biden waited for official word to come from the region, Mr. Trump got the jump on him by disclosing the deal himself in an all-caps social media post. 'This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November,' he added soon afterward. By the time Mr. Biden appeared before cameras at the White House later in the afternoon, he was more gracious, noting that the two teams spoke with one voice. But he bristled when asked who merited credit, he or Mr. Trump. 'Is that a joke?' he asked." Read on. CNN's report is here. ~~~

~~~President Biden delivered remarks Wednesday afternoon about the Gaza peace agreement:

~~~ ⭐New York Times: "Negotiators from Israel and Hamas have agreed to a cease-fire in Gaza after more than 15 months of devastating war, officials said on Wednesday. The agreement needs to be formally ratified by the Israeli cabinet, two senior Israeli officials said. In the run-up to the deal, officials said there was last-minute wrangling over the Egypt-Gaza border, which Israeli forces currently control. The office of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said in a statement that a number of clauses in the agreement still remained unresolved, but that it was hoped that they would be worked out on Wednesday night. The cease-fire would take effect immediately, according to a White House official. Its first phase will last six weeks, and hostages will start being released during that phase, though it was not clear when that could begin." This is a liveblog. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Aaron Boxerman: "The current outline of a cease-fire deal in Gaza is broadly similar to a three-phase framework publicized by President Biden in late May, according to several officials familiar with the talks. Negotiators have yet to confirm the start date and other technical issues, officials said, and the agreement could still be derailed."

Maggie Haberman: "... Donald J. Trump got ahead of the the Biden White House announcement about a cease-fire deal. 'WE HAVE A DEAL FOR THE HOSTAGES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THEY WILL BE RELEASED SHORTLY. THANK YOU!' he wrote. But Trump's win in the election and coming return to Washington, as well as his team's work, was according to multiple people a factor in the deal getting done." ~~~

~~~ Empty Threats → Horrors. Brett Murphy of ProPublica: "Early reports suggest the deal [reached Wednesday] looks similar to what has been on the table for months, raising the possibility that if the Biden administration had followed through on its tough words, a deal could have been reached earlier, saving lives.... Time and again, Israel crossed the Biden administration's red lines without changing course in a meaningful way.... Authorities in and outside government said the acquiescence to Israel as it prosecuted a brutal war will likely be regarded as one the most consequential foreign policy decisions of the Biden presidency. They say it undermines America's ability to influence events in the Middle East while 'destroying the entire edifice of international law that was put into place after WWII,' as Omer Bartov, a renowned Israeli-American scholar of genocide, put it." This is quite a long article. MB: The bits of it I read seemed fair to me, but a more expert analysis than mine would be helpful.

Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News: "President Joe Biden's administration is considering ways to keep TikTok available in the United States if a ban that's scheduled to go into effect Sunday proceeds, according to three people familiar with the discussions.... If the administration moves forward with any such plan, it would mean the popular app's going down would not define his last full day in office, and it would defer the issue to Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated Monday. Mike Waltz, Trump's incoming national security adviser, told Fox News on Wednesday that Trump is ready to intervene to preserve access to the Chinese-owned video app in the American marketplace. And Pam Bondi, his pick for attorney general, refused to commit to enforcing the ban when she was asked about it at her Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday. The moves represent parallel efforts by the rival presidents to execute an end-run around Congress and the Supreme Court, which is teed up to rule on the ban at any time. Still, a White House official insisted that not enforcing the ban, if it is upheld, is not an option." ~~~

I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok. -- Donald Trump, last month ~~~

(I would have said Trump has no heart, much less a warm spot in it, metaphorically speaking, of course. -- Marie) ~~~

~~~ AND/BUT. Drew Harwell & Elizabeth Dwoskin of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump is considering an executive order once in office that would suspend enforcement of the TikTok ban-or-sale law for 60 to 90 days, buying the administration time to negotiate a sale or alternative solution -- a legally questionable effort to win a brief reprieve for the Chinese-owned app now scheduled to be banned on Sunday nationwide.... Trump has expressed a keen interest in being seen as rescuing a platform on which he's been told he's widely admired, leading political aides and business allies to scramble for options that would allow him to deliver on his campaign promise to 'save TikTok,' as he has said repeatedly on his more than 14 million-follower TikTok account." More on TikTok linked below.

Trump Can Dance! Watch Him Do the Walkback Shuffle. Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: "Donald Trump made lots of big promises on the campaign trail.... But in the weeks since he won the election, Trump and his transition team have been quietly walking back some of his most significant commitments -- a reflection of how unrealistic they were to begin with.... Trump repeatedly bragged that he was uniquely positioned to resolve Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In March 2023, he said he could 'fix' the war before he was even inaugurated. 'I would fix that within 24 hours, and if I win, before I get into the office, I will have that war settled,' the president-elect said in a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity. '100% sure.'... In another vow that was central to his campaign, Trump said he would magically halt inflation and bring down the costs of everyone's groceries.... But shortly after the election, Trump was already moving the goal posts, conceding it would be impossible for him to single-handedly lower the costs of consumer goods.... Vice President-elect JD Vance is lowering expectations for Trump's repeated but vague plans to release his supporters from prison who were convicted for their roles in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021...."

Whaddaya Mean, Oligarchy and "Tech-Industrial Complex"?? Steve Overly of Politico: "Google CEO Sundar Pichai will join the growing list of tech executives sitting on the dais as ... Donald Trump is sworn into office on Monday, according to a person familiar with the company's plans who was not authorized to speak publicly. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a close confidant of the incoming president, is expected to attend the inauguration ceremony, along with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Apple CEO Tim Cook, according to media reports." ~~~

~~~ Maggie Haberman & Sapna Maheshwari of the New York Times: "The chief executive of TikTok plans to attend ... Donald J. Trump's inauguration and has been invited to sit in a position of honor on the dais, where former presidents, family members and other important guests traditionally are seated, two people familiar with the plans said Wednesday. The invitation to the executive, Shou Chew, went out from the Trump Vance Inaugural Committee, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss Monday's inauguration. Mr. Chew will join tech moguls like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk at the event; Jeff Bezos has also been invited. Mr. Trump's support for TikTok ​marks ​a stunning reversal from 2020, when he tried during his first term to block the app in the United States and force its sale to American companies.... Mr. Trump publicly ​changed his stance on TikTok last year, soon after he met with Jeff Yass, a Republican megadonor who owns a significant share of ByteDance[, TikTok's owner] .... ​The Supreme Court is set to rule ... in the coming days [on a law that would ban TikTok in the U.S. if it doesn't sell to a non-Chinese company]." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It's just remarkable. On the day President Biden warns of a tech-industrial oligarchy, we learn that Trump has invited another tech oligarch to his inauguration, and yet another tech oligarch, the second one only because yet another oligarch persuaded/bribed Trump to reverse his position on what he and Congress considered to be a potential national security danger. Update: It's not about the money; it's about the warm spot in Trump's heart.

Glenn Thrush, et al., of the New York Times: "Pam Bondi..., Donald J. Trump's pick for attorney general, refused to explicitly say that she would defy Mr. Trump's pressure during a confirmation hearing on Wednesday, but she offered a blanket promise that 'politics will not play a part' in deciding who to investigate.... But the daylong hearing had its contentious moments as Democrats repeatedly accused her of dodging basic yes-or-no questions about election denialism, the potential prosecution of Mr. Trump's political enemies -- and how she would deal with attempts by Mr. Trump to influence the department's actions. 'Politics has to be taken out of this system,' said Ms. Bondi, who repeatedly circled back to her argument that the Justice Department had been misused and misdirected under the Biden administration. 'This department has been weaponized for years and years and years, and it has to stop.'" An AP report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Bondi, paraphrased: "I'm totally impartial. Jack Smith is 'horrible.' Also not gonna enforce Supreme Court order." Marie: These people can't hear themselves. ~~~

~~~ The New York Times liveblogged the Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearing of Pam Bondi, whom Donald Trump named as his second choice for attorney general after his first nominee Matt Gaetz flamed out. (Also linked yesterday.)

Maxine Joselow of the Washington Post: "Oil executive Chris Wright..., Donald Trump's pick to lead the Energy Department, has argued that climate change has not fueled more frequent and severe wildfires -- a claim at odds with the scientific consensus. Wright's arguments drew scrutiny from Senate Democrats during his confirmation hearing Wednesday, as deadly wildfires continue to ravage the Los Angeles area, destroying thousands of homes and killing at least 25 people.... Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) slammed Wright's comment [that] 'hype' [over 2023 Canadian wildfires was used to justify 'harmful' climate policies] in a tense exchange during the confirmation hearing Wednesday before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.... Yet Republicans, who have a 53-47 majority in the Senate, remain confident they can confirm Wright to helm the Energy Department, which oversees the nation's energy policy but not wildfire response efforts." MB: Okay, so not Wright's problem, right? The Guardian's report is here.

Trump's Loyal House Pet Rolls Over Again. Karoon Demirjian & Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday removed Representative Michael R. Turner of Ohio from the helm of the House Intelligence Committee, in a shake-up that signaled he intends to align the pivotal national security panel more closely with ... Donald J. Trump. Mr. Turner, who emerged from a meeting with the speaker on Wednesday afternoon looking furious, has told people that Mr. Johnson informed him his ouster was the result of a request from Mr. Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to a person familiar with those conversations.... In jettisoning a Republican seen as insufficiently loyal to Mr. Trump, Mr. Johnson appeared to be paving the way for the president-elect to have tighter control over the committee that oversees intelligence matters. Mr. Turner, a mainstream conservative who has represented southwestern Ohio in the House for more than two decades, has at times been critical of Mr. Trump's actions. He broke with the majority of his party on Jan. 6, 2021, and voted to certify Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s 2020 election. He has also been a leading proponent of supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia, breaking with the 'America First' stance of the president-elect and many others in his party." Politico's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Good boy, Mikey! Did I mention that Trump hates puppy dogs & other house pets?

Marita Viachou of the Huffington Post: "Democratic senators on the upper chamber's Judiciary Committee on Monday asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to ensure the preservation all existing and future records and materials related to the Justice Department's prosecutions of ... Donald Trump as he prepares to return to the White House later this month.... The letter signed by 10 Democratic senators cites Trump's threats against special counsel Jack Smith, who recently resigned from his role, as well as pledges made by Pam Bondi, Trump's pick to lead the DOJ, to take action against those who were involved in Trump's prosecutions." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The AG's office has a fireplace. I don't see how a former AG can ensure that a current AG won't send up docs in smoke, so to speak.

Here's a pretty good discussion of Jack Smith's report on Trump's leadership of the insurrection of 2021: ~~~

Andrew Jacobs & Teddy Rosenbluth of the New York Times: "The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday banned the use of Red Dye No. 3 in food, beverages and drugs, more than three decades after the synthetic coloring was first found to cause cancer in male laboratory rats.... Although the dye is still used in hundreds of products, many companies have been switching to other food colorings, a move that accelerated after California in 2023 became the first state to ban Red 3 along with three other food additives that have been linked to disease. The dye has also been linked to health concerns for children. In announcing the ban, the agency downplayed the risks to humans, saying that researchers had not found similar cancer risks in studies involving animals other than male rats."

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Georgia. Cheating Is Irresistible. David Fahrenthold of the New York Times: "A nonprofit founded by Stacey Abrams, a Georgia Democrat, admitted on Wednesday that it had violated state law by concealing the fact that it had campaigned for her during her 2018 run for governor. At the time of that campaign, the group was led by Raphael Warnock, who was later elected to the Senate as a Democrat from Georgia. At a meeting of the state's ethics commission, the nonprofit New Georgia Project conceded that it had paid for fliers and door-to-door canvassers telling voters to support Ms. Abrams and other Democrats. Under federal law, tax-exempt charities like this one are forbidden to campaign for candidates, but this case was about a violation of state law.... A related nonprofit, the New Georgia Project Action Fund, admitted the same. As a result, the two nonprofits agreed to pay a $300,000 penalty. David Emadi, the executive director of the commission, said it was the largest fine in its 38-year history....

"A spokesman for Ms. Abrams said in a statement that 'Stacey hasn't been involved in the organization's work since she departed in 2017.' Mr. Warnock's Senate staff issued a statement saying that, while he was the leader of the New Georgia Project in 2018, 'compliance decisions were not a part of that work.' The ethics commission's charges were aimed at the nonprofits. It did not seek to punish Ms. Abrams or Mr. Warnock personally." The AP story is here.

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Canada Strikes Back. Matina Stevis-Gridneff of the New York Times: "The Canadian government is preparing billions of dollars in retaliatory measures on U.S. exports to Canada if ... Donald J. Trump makes good on a threat to impose tariffs on Canadian goods, setting up a potential showdown between two countries that are each other's largest trading partners.... But the government made clear that it will wait to see what Mr. Trump might do before responding. 'Everything is on the table,' Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during a news conference in Ottawa, flanked by senior members of his government and the leaders of most of Canada's provinces and territories. Mr. Trudeau spent most of Wednesday discussing with provincial leaders how to best prepare for potential U.S. tariffs.... Any tariffs would violate a trade agreement among the United States, Mexico and Canada, originally known as NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), which was renegotiated during Mr. Trump's first presidency.... In ... recent weeks..., [Mr. Trump] has repeatedly spoken about Canada becoming another U.S. state, even threatening economic force to annex the country."

South Korea. Andrew Jeong of the Washington Post: "After [President] Yoon [Suk Yeol] was detained Wednesday morning, he was taken to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, south of Seoul. Prosecutors questioned him for more then 10 hours. Yoon refused to cooperate. Yoon was then taken to the nearby Seoul Detention Center around 10 p.m. Yoon, a former prosecutor, was allowed to sleep in his clothes and not forced to don prison garb. This was not because he's president, but because he is not a felon, said Lim Wanseob, a spokesman for the center.... The cell Yoon stayed at in the detention center measures about 100 square feet, Lim said. Cells usually contain thick blankets that can be laid on the floor to serve as a makeshift bed, according to Lim, who declined, on security grounds, to confirm details or elaborate on Yoon's quarters.... Lawmakers impeached Yoon last month, suspending his powers as president. But he technically remains in office while the Constitutional Court reviews the impeachment." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, if only Donald Trump were sleeping on the cold floor of a 100-sq.ft. cell. Unfortunately, if Trump got a cell like Yoon's, he also would get a teevee. And that's really all he needs, though I suppose he might throw his breakfast against the wall. Yoon's morning fare is cereal, boiled eggs, nuts and milk.

News Ledes

New York Times: "David Lynch, a painter turned avant-garde filmmaker whose fame, influence and distinctively skewed worldview extended far beyond the movie screen to encompass television, records, books, nightclubs, a line of organic coffee and his Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace, has died. He was 78."

New York Times: "Dangerous winds were subsiding in the Los Angeles area on Thursday, but frustration was growing among displaced residents desperate to return to their neighborhoods after more than a week of devastating wildfires. Nine days after the blazes ignited, no timeline has been announced for lifting evacuation orders that have affected tens of thousands of Southern California residents. Firefighters were still working to contain the biggest blazes in the region, the Palisades and Eaton fires. Experts said it could take weeks before people can return to the hardest-hit neighborhoods." This is a liveblog.

New York Times: "On Thursday morning..., Jeff Bezos' space company sent its first rocket into orbit. At 2:03 a.m. Eastern time, seven powerful engines ignited at the base of a 320-foot-tall rocket named New Glenn. The flames illuminated night into day at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The rocket, barely moving at first, nudged upward, and then accelerated in an arc over the Atlantic Ocean." This is a liveblog.

The Conversation -- January 15, 2025

⭐New York Times: “Negotiators from Israel and Hamas have agreed to a cease-fire in Gaza after more than 15 months of devastating war, officials said on Wednesday. The agreement needs to be formally ratified by the Israeli cabinet, two senior Israeli officials said. In the run-up to the deal, officials said there was last-minute wrangling over the Egypt-Gaza border, which Israeli forces currently control. The office of Benjamin Netanyahu ... said in a statement that a number of clauses in the agreement still remained unresolved, but that it was hoped that they would be worked out on Wednesday night. The cease-fire would take effect immediately.... Its first phase will last six weeks, and hostages will start being released during that phase, though it was not clear when that could begin." This is a liveblog. ~~~

Aaron Boxerman: "The current outline of a cease-fire deal in Gaza is broadly similar to a three-phase framework publicized by President Biden in late May, according to several officials familiar with the talks. Negotiators have yet to confirm the start date and other technical issues, officials said, and the agreement could still be derailed."

Maggie Haberman: "... Donald J. Trump got ahead of the the Biden White House announcement about a cease-fire deal. 'WE HAVE A DEAL FOR THE HOSTAGES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THEY WILL BE RELEASED SHORTLY. THANK YOU!' he wrote. But Trump's win in the election and coming return to Washington, as well as his team's work, was according to multiple people a factor in the deal getting done."

The New York Times is liveblogging the Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearing of Pam Bondi, whom Donald Trump named as his second choice for attorney general after his first nominee Matt Gaetz flamed out.

Erica Green of the New York Times: "President Biden plans to deliver a prime-time farewell address to the nation on Wednesday, putting a capstone on his five-decade political career just days before he leaves an office he has long revered and is leaving only reluctantly. The White House would not disclose what Mr. Biden plans to say in his speech, set for 8 p.m. Eastern."

Here's a pretty good discussion of Jack Smith's report on Trump's leadership of the insurrection of 2021: ~~~

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Abigail Hauslohner, et al., of the New York Times: "Senate Democrats on Tuesday hammered Pete Hegseth..., Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary, in a tense confirmation hearing during which lawmakers scrutinized his romantic relationships and alcohol use, cast doubt on his qualifications, and condemned his political rhetoric and past assertions that women do not belong in combat.... [Senate Republicans] deliver[ed] a resounding defense of Hegseth's selection, which has been plagued by claims of misconduct ranging from an alleged sexual assault in 2017 to accusations of financial mismanagement, excessive drinking and sexism in his previous jobs -- all of which he denies.... Tuesday's hearing ... quickly became a heated rhetorical battle -- marked at times by raised voices -- as Democrats repeatedly quoted Hegseth's divisive past statements and Republicans offered him opportunities to clarify controversial views, praised his claims of being a God-fearing and changed man, and chastised Democrats for 'hypocrisy' and being 'ignorant of the facts.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: "Romantic relationships"? Really? I don't see where (alleged!) drunken sexual assault, multiple infidelities and hitting on work colleagues are in any sense "romantic." ~~~

~~~ The New York Times' liveblog of Tuesday's Senate Armed Services Committee's confirmation hearing of Pete Hegseth is here. "Pete Hegseth..., Donald J. Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon, sought to defend himself against a raft of criticism during a confirmation hearing on Tuesday, as Democrats pressed him on his views about women in combat and support for convicted war criminals. Mr. Hegseth also claimed to have been the victim of a 'smear campaign' that raised allegations of past misconduct. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the committee, said in his opening statement that he believed Mr. Hegseth was not qualified to serve as defense secretary, adding that accusations against him, which include an allegation of sexual misconduct and episodes of drinking to excess, were 'alarming.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post has some takeaways: "Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) ... was the first senator to ask tough questions about parts of Hegseth's past that have dogged him, including affairs and allegations of sexual assault, alcohol abuse and financial mismanagement. Kaine wound up laying some gloves on Hegseth, who strained to talk around the subjects the senator was broaching.... He had said for years that women shouldn't serve in combat. But he recently walked that back after meeting with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a combat veteran who initially balked at his selection.... Democrats made a point throughout the hearing to suggest that Hegseth and Republicans were trying to avoid tough questions.... [Hegseth] largely avoided a game-changing moment, even as his nomination is still somewhat in doubt." The AP's "key takeaways" are here. ~~~

~~~ Benjamin Wittes of Lawfare: Hegseth, when addressing his lack of qualifications to head the DOD, testified "'... as President Trump ... told me, we've repeatedly placed people atop the Pentagon with supposedly "the right credentials" ... and where has it gotten us? He believes, and I humbly agree, that it's time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm.' This is actually a radical position -- and very Trumpy.... You can see in it so many of the central tenets of Trump's approach to governance: the contempt for expertise and traditional qualifications; the insistence that the only real qualification is authenticity -- and that authenticity is somehow wrapped up in performative masculinity; the belief that sounding tough and being tough are the same thing; and the conviction that complexity necessarily reduces to weakness. It's all right there in the nomination of a proudly unqualified individual who frames his lack of qualifications as qualification of a different, more authentic, variety that reflects what he calls a 'warrior ethos' America has somehow lost in its infatuation with equity." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, although the National Security Act of 1947 specifies that the Secretary of Defense must come "from civilian life," many of our recent secretaries have had military experience & did get "dust on their boots." In fact, both Secretaries Mattis & Austin had to get waivers of the "civilian" requirement of the 1947 law, because they had so recently served on active duty. ~~~

~~~ Here's Another Kind of Nonqualification "Qualification." Jonathan Last of the Bulwark poses the theory that Hegseth (and other Republicans) are attractive because of their vices, not in spite of them: "My theory is this: Republicans embrace vice not because they believe that the accused Republican figures are innocent, but because they believe they are guilty. And so these voters exist in the hope that their champion will go on to hurt their enemies on their behalf. After all: If a guy is willing to rape a woman, surely he can be counted on to visit destruction on Democrats, or woke generals, or whoever." ~~~

~~~ Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: :Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, announced on a local news radio show on Tuesday that she would vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as the next secretary of defense, ending weeks of speculation over whether she would break with ... Donald J. Trump over his pick.... Her decision dramatically increases the likelihood that Mr. Hegseth will have enough votes to be confirmed by the Senate. Because Democrats are expected to oppose him en masse, Mr. Hegseth can afford to lose no more than three Republican votes. After Ms. Ernst's announcement, only a handful of G.O.P. senators' votes may be in play; Senators Susan Collins of Maine, John Curtis of Utah, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Todd Young of Indiana have not yet said how they will vote." Politico has an item here. ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Chait of the Atlantic: "Hegseth's liabilities can be divided into four categories, each of them individually disqualifying: 1. personal behavior, including allegations of drunkenness on the job, of maintaining a hostile workplace, and of sexual assault[;] 2. lack of managerial experience, or at least positive managerial experience (According to The New Yorker's Jane Mayer, Hegseth ran two tiny advocacy groups so poorly that he was forced to step down.) 3. a disregard for the laws of war and a habit of excusing the actions of convicted war criminals[;] 4. an enthusiasm for domestic political combat that blends into an inability to distinguish Democrats from enemy combatants[.]... Democrats tried to probe Hegseth's long record, only to meet endless evasions." Thanks to laura h. for this gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Chait provides a fair summary of the hearing, but he isn't harsh enough. The hearing was an utter farce, worse than the Kavanaugh hearing where Republicans at least found a woman to sit at a tiny desk & ask Bart a few real questions. Joy Reid of MSNBC captured the Republicans' performance when she put her head in her hands, batted her false eyelashes at the camera and sweetly asked, "Do tell us why you're so wonderful, Mr. Hegseth." (or words to that effect) ~~~

~~~ ⭐Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post: "A gross dereliction of duty on the part of the Republican-controlled Senate and the Trump-directed FBI. That is a harsh but unavoidable assessment of the confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth to serve as Donald Trump's defense secretary. Both institutions should be ashamed of their performance -- Republican senators most of all, as, bullied by the president-elect and intimidated by deep-pocketed, no-holds-barred pressure campaigns, they abdicate their constitutional advice-and-consent responsibility." MB: Hard to believe that squishy liberal Ruth Marcus wrote such a strong condemnation of Republican senators & Chris Wray's FBI (RAS pointed to Wray's failure in yesterday's Comments). But she did. Even if you don't have a subscription to the WashPo, Marcus' column might be a good place to "spend" one of your freebies. ~~~

~~~ Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "... this is Trump's America; abusing and degrading women is obviously not disqualifying for high office." ~~~

~~~ Marie: David Ignatius, Eugene Robinson & Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post make some sensible observations in their discussion of the hearing, but IMO, they mostly nibble around the edges of the overarching catastrophe Hegseth's confirmation may foretell. Oh, and in the end, they both-sides their little chat by faulting Senate Democrats for being "ill-prepared" to rebut MAGA doctrine. ~~~

~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: During the hearing, "Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) ... [asked Hegseth,] 'In June of 2020, then-President Trump directed former secretary of defense Mark Esper to shoot protesters in the legs in downtown D.C., an order Secretary Esper refused to comply with... Would you carry out such an order from President Trump?' [After some back-and-forth during which Hegseth deflected the question, and Hirono persisted, she concluded,] 'That sounds to me that you will comply with such an order.... You will shoot protesters in the leg.' Hegseth didn't reject her conclusion." MB: And this (along with other non-answer answers Hegseth gave during the hearing) brings me to drawing my own, larger, conclusion: ~~~

~~~ Marie: The U.S. has the strongest, or certainly one of the strongest, armed forces in the world. Trump not only plans to control those forces; he has set up a method for doing so. He will install an extremely weak Secretary of Defense who is completely in his control. That weak Defense Secretary has pledged to purge the armed services of "woke" (i.e., [progressive or assertive] leaders. The Secretary-in-Waiting yesterday also refused to say he would countermand an unconstitutional or illegal order if issued. (Trump demonstrated a few times in his first term that he was willing to do that; it was only because of pushback from Secretaries of Defense Mattis & Esper that he did not succeed.) Trump has bullied GOP weaklings in the Congress to do his bidding. In addition, Trump has the Supremes under his thumb. That is, there will be absolutely no checks on Trump's schemes and no one in the military chain of command to stop Trump from initiating violent attacks against Americans who cross him, no one to stop him from attacking other countries without provocation. The campaign and election constituted our first live lesson in how democracy dies. We are now witnessing the second phase of that rapid death spiral.

Perry Stein & Jeremy Roebuck of the Washington Post write a useful overview of some of the highlights of Jack Smith's report on Donald Trump's direction of the January 6, 2021, insurrection. The report itself (also linked yesterday), via the Justice Department, is here.

Jacob Bogage & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will create an 'External Revenue Service' to collect revenue from tariffs, a signal of his determination to impose sweeping duties on imports. In a post on ... his social media platform, Trump said the External Revenue Service will collect revenue from tariffs starting Monday, after he is inaugurated for a second term. The structure of the new government operation was unclear from his post, although two outside advisers ... suggested it could involve renaming an existing office within the Treasury Department."

S.E.C. Sues Musk. Matthew Goldstein & Kate Conger of the New York Times: "U.S. securities regulators sued Elon Musk in federal court in Washington on Tuesday in an enforcement action arising from his $44 billion purchase of Twitter, now called X. The lawsuit against Mr. Musk, who has become a close adviser to ... Donald J. Trump, is likely to be one of the more contentious final acts of the Securities and Exchange Commission under Gary Gensler, its departing chair. It could also be undercut in just a few days, when Mr. Trump appoints new leadership to take charge of the regulator. The S.E.C. contends that in buying Twitter in 2022, Mr. Musk violated securities laws by amassing a large stock position in the social media company without filing the proper notification. The complaint said he had waited 11 days before filing the required disclosure with the S.E.C. The regulatory filings are required so investors in the marketplace can monitor the moves of large investors and potential takeover bids." A CNBC report is here.

For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. See, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black. -- Michelle Obama, Democratic National Convention speech, August 2024 ~~~

~~~ Only Black U.S. First Lady Will Skip White Racist's Inauguration. Erica Green & Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "Michelle Obama ... will not attend the inauguration of ... Donald J. Trump, her office said in a statement on Tuesday. 'Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies,' the statement said. 'Former First Lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration.'... It is the second high-profile event in the past two weeks that she has declined to take part in that would have brought her face-to-face with Mr. Trump.... Mr. Trump and the former first lady, Melania Trump, did not attend President Biden's inauguration in 2021, after Mr. Trump falsely claimed that the election was stolen from him." ~~~

~~~ BUT There Will Be Billionaires! Cat Zakrzewski, et al., of th Washington Post: "Tech moguls Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are planning to attend ... Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday, underscoring the deepening ties between prominent tech leaders and the incoming administration after years of acrimony. The billionaire trio is expected to sit together on the dais, a prominent location alongside former presidents, Trump's family, Cabinet picks and lawmakers, according to a Trump official...." The NBC News story is here. MB: Nothing says "populist" like inviting a trio of billionaires to replace Michelle Obama on the dais. ~~~

~~~ AND There Will Be Flags Flying High! Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: :Flags at the U.S. Capitol will now fly at their full height on Inauguration Day and be lowered again the following day in honor of president Jimmy Carter's death, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) announced Tuesday.... After Carter's death, President Joe Biden ordered U.S. flags be flown at half-staff for 30 days 'at the White House and on all public buildings and grounds ... of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions' as well as at federal facilities, military installations and vessels abroad.... Republican governors in at least five states -- Florida, Iowa, Alabama, Texas and Tennessee -- have also ordered U.S. flags be raised on Inauguration Day and lowered again to half-staff on Jan. 21 in honor of Carter."

Karen DeYoung & Mary Beth Sheridan of the Washington Post: “Less than a week before leaving the White House, President Joe Biden is lifting the state sponsor of terrorism designation for Cuba, nearly four years to the day from when ... Donald Trump, in one of his own last acts in office, put Havana back on the list. The Cuban government is 'concurrently' expected to free 'a significant number of political prisoners' under an agreement it has made with the Catholic Church, including an unspecified number 'before the end of the Biden administration on Jan. 20,' said a senior Biden administration official.... Trump's pick for secretary of state, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), has been one of the most vociferous critics of Cuba's communist government and has long advocated harsher sanctions." The AP's report is here.

Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times: For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency has warned that 'forever chemicals' present in sewage sludge that is used as fertilizer can pose human health risks, saying in a study on Tuesday that, in some cases, the risks could exceed the agency's safety thresholds 'sometimes by several orders of magnitude.' The agency maintained, however, that the general food supply was not at risk. A growing body of research has shown that the sludge can be contaminated with manmade chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, which are used widely in everyday items like nonstick cookware and stain-resistant carpets. The chemicals, which are linked to a range of illnesses including an increased risk of cancer, do not break down in the environment, and, when tainted sludge is used as fertilizer on farmland, it can contaminate the soil, groundwater, crops and livestock." (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: Gosh, sure looks to me as if Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) would like to beat up on Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas). Luckily, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) is here to set me straight: according to Brianna Tucker of the Washington Post, Comer ruled that ruled that "take it outside" could mean "you could go outside and have a cup of coffee or have a cup of beer" and did not go against [House] committee rules." Update: Here's the NBC News story.

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine, et al. Wafaa Shurafa & Samy Magdy of the AP: "Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages, two officials involved in the talks said Tuesday. Mediators from the United States and Qatar said Israel and the Palestinian militant group were at the closest point yet to sealing a deal to bring them a step closer to ending 15 months of war. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the proposed agreement, and an Egyptian official and a Hamas official confirmed its authenticity. An Israeli official said progress has been made, but the details are being finalized."

South Korea. Choe Sang-Hun, et al., of the New York Times: "President Yoon Suk Yeol became the first sitting South Korean leader to be detained for questioning by criminal investigators on Wednesday, ending a weekslong standoff over his declaration of martial law that thrust the country into a political crisis. Mr. Yoon's security guards successfully blocked the investigators from detaining him on Jan. 3, when they made their first attempt to serve a court-issued detention warrant. Since then, the country has been gripped by fears that a violent clash might occur if both sides refused to back down. But when the investigators returned on Wednesday morning with far more police officers, some of them carrying ladders to scale defensive barricades, Mr. Yoon's bodyguards put up no obvious resistance. Mr. Yoon then struck a deal with massed law enforcement officials to go with them. He was not handcuffed and was allowed to travel to the investigators' headquarters in a presidential motorcade, rather than in a police car. In a video message released shortly afterward, Mr. Yoon said he agreed to submit to questioning in order to prevent a 'bloody' clash between his bodyguards and the police. But he called the investigation and warrant to detain him illegal."

U.K. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Catherine, Princess of Wales, said on Tuesday that her cancer was in remission, lifting a major cloud from the British royal family, which had struggled with serious health concerns for both her and King Charles III.... Her announcement that she was in remission came as she visited the hospital, the Royal Marsden, in west London, where she had been treated.... During the visit to the hospital, Catherine thanked staff members and spoke with other cancer patients.."

The Conversation -- January 14, 2025

The New York Times' liveblog of the Senate Armed Services Committee's confirmation hearing of Pete Hegseth is here. "Pete Hegseth..., Donald J. Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon, sought to defend himself against a raft of criticism during a confirmation hearing on Tuesday, as Democrats pressed him on his views about women in combat and support for convicted war criminals. Mr. Hegseth also claimed to have been the victim of a 'smear campaign' that raised allegations of past misconduct. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the committee, said in his opening statement that he believed Mr. Hegseth was not qualified to serve as defense secretary, adding that accusations against him, which include an allegation of sexual misconduct and episodes of drinking to excess, were 'alarming.'"

Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times: "For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency has warned that 'forever chemicals' present in sewage sludge that is used as fertilizer can pose human health risks, saying in a study on Tuesday that, in some cases, the risks could exceed the agency's safety thresholds 'sometimes by several orders of magnitude.' The agency maintained, however, that the general food supply was not at risk. A growing body of research has shown that the sludge can be contaminated with manmade chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, which are used widely in everyday items like nonstick cookware and stain-resistant carpets. The chemicals, which are linked to a range of illnesses including an increased risk of cancer, do not break down in the environment, and, when tainted sludge is used as fertilizer on farmland, it can contaminate the soil, groundwater, crops and livestock."

~~~~~~~~~~

⭐Alan Feuer & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Jack Smith, the special counsel who indicted ... Donald J. Trump on charges of illegally seeking to cling to power after losing the 2020 election, said in a final report released early Tuesday that the evidence would have been sufficient to convict Mr. Trump in a trial.... '... but for Mr. Trump's election and imminent return to the presidency, the office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.' The Justice Department delivered the 137-page volume -- representing half of Mr. Smith's overall final report, with the volume about Mr. Trump's other federal case, accusing him of mishandling classified documents, still confidential -- to Congress just after midnight on Tuesday.

"The report amounted to an extraordinary rebuke of a president-elect.... Mr. Smith laid the attack on the Capitol squarely at Mr. Trump's feet, quoting from the evidence in several criminal cases of people charged with taking part in the riot who made clear that they believed they were acting on Mr. Trump's behalf. In several lengthy footnotes, Mr. Smith explored the trauma experienced by Capitol Police officers who were attacked during the riot, including 'shell-shock' and the inability to move." Read on.

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Trump is only off the hook, the special counsel wrote, because he won back the White House in 2024, forcing the Justice Department to shut down the historic prosecution.... The report draws from 250 interviews his staff conducted, as well as information gleaned from 55 grand jury witnesses and transcripts from congressional investigations.... The report describes a multifaceted scheme, orchestrated by Trump, to stay in power despite losing the 2020 election. That plan, Smith said, included spreading false claims of election fraud to drive up public distrust in the results. Trump then used that sentiment to lean on GOP allies in statehouses and Congress -- as well as his own vice president -- to help him corrupt the results, the report says....

"The details [in the report] underscore claims by [Merrick] Garland's defenders that the investigation was active earlier than many people realize. Smith also said his own team worked at an extraordinary pace to make sure charges were ready before Trump's reelection campaign began in earnest.... In a letter accompanying the report, Smith directly challenged Trump's repeated claims that the election case ended in his 'complete exoneration.' 'That is false,' the special counsel wrote....

"The unusual overnight release of the first volume of the report followed last-ditch legal maneuvering by Trump on Monday night seeking to persuade U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to keep the entire report secret.... 'Jack is a lamebrain prosecutor who was unable to get his case tried before the Election, which I won in a landslide,' Trump wrote in an early-morning taunt Tuesday on social media. 'THE VOTERS HAVE SPOKEN!!!'"

Marie: IOW, Trump is not on his way to Club Fed because Republicans, specifically those in the Senate, led by Mitch McConnell, who refused to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, and specifically the Republican-appointed "jurists" on the Supreme Court, who slow-walked the various appeals Trump made to them. They are all accessories-after-the-fact. I mean that.

⭐The report, via the Justice Department, is here.

"He Got Away with Everything." digby: "It's pretty clear from the report, although he doesn't say it, that [Jack Smith] believes the Supreme Court decision was an abomination, not least because it left so many loose ends that it would have taken years to unravel (which I assume was a feature not a bug.) I'd guess that was all for the purpose of protecting Dear Leader had he lost the election. They were never going to let him be tried. I think they would have dragged it out until he was in his grave if need be."

Alana Richer & Eric Tucker of the AP: "The Justice Department can publicly release its investigative report on ... Donald Trump's 2020 election interference case, [Judge Aileen Cannon] said Monday. But a temporary injunction barring the immediate release of the report remains in effect until Tuesday, and ... defense lawyers may seek to challenge it all the way up to the Supreme Court.... She set a hearing for Friday on whether the department can release to lawmakers the volume on the case that accused Trump of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after he left the White House in 2021. The department has said it will not publicly disclose that volume as long as criminal proceedings against two of Trump's co-defendants remain pending." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ From Cheney & Gerstein's Politico report, also linked above: Cannon "wrote in a brief order that she only had authority to act in connection with the classified-documents case that she previously presided over. She lacked the power, she acknowledged, to dictate what the Justice Department made public about the 2020 election-focused case brought in Washington."

Jerry Lambe of Law & Crime: "Trump's co-defendants in the classified documents case, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, over the weekend implored Cannon, the presiding judge in their criminal case, to extend the order blocking both volumes of the report, arguing the release of the first volume would unconstitutionally prejudice their due process rights.... Nauta and De Oliveira on Sunday filed a 12-page reply [to a DOJ filing reiterating that publication of the first part of Smith's report] seeking to keep Cannon's order in place, arguing that the government was motivated by politics ahead of Trump taking office. 'The Government, driven by political priorities that have no place in a criminal trial setting, seeks to strong-arm its way through this orderly process and has repeatedly failed to abide by established rules and procedure,' the filing states. 'Political preference must yield to due process of law.'" MB: As Cheney & Gerstein remind us in their report linked above, Nauta & De Oliveira's "defense is being bankrolled by Trump political committees."

Devlin Barrett & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "David C. Weiss, the special counsel who spent years investigating Hunter Biden, criticized President Biden for making 'baseless accusations' about his inquiry that threatened 'the integrity of the justice system as a whole' in a final report made public on Monday. 'The president's characterizations are incorrect based on the facts in this case, and on a more fundamental level, they are wrong,' Mr. Weiss wrote. His inquiry had been a subject of fierce debate until the president issued a broad pardon that ended the case against his son, saying that the prosecution was the result of 'raw politics.'...

"'Like all his court filings, David Weiss's 27-page report continues to ignore some of the major mysteries of his seven-year investigation,' said [a] lawyer for Hunter Biden, Abbe Lowell, adding that 'what is clear from this report is that the investigation into Hunter Biden is a cautionary tale of the abuse of prosecutorial power.'... Because the presidential pardon had effectively ruled out any such analysis, the report said, Mr. Weiss reached no conclusions about the possibility that Hunter Biden had committed other crimes." (The embedded link to Weiss's report is to a DOJ file, not a subscriber-firewalled NYT file.) The CBS News report is here.

My administration is leaving the next administration with a very strong hand to play And we're leaving them an America with more friends and stronger alliances, whose adversaries are weak and under pressure -- an America who once again is leading. -- President Biden, in a foreign-policy speech yesterday ~~~

~~~ Cleve Wootson & Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "Speaking as much to the history books as to the civil servants gathered at the State Department on Monday afternoon, President Joe Biden said U.S. foreign policy during his term had put the United States and its allies on a stronger footing, another effort to use his final days in office to burnish his presidential legacy. The nearly 30-minute speech touched on dozens of issues on nearly every continent, from fraying alliances Biden said he encountered after he took office to recent Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks that he expressed optimism about as he makes his exit. Biden said he had sought at nearly every turn to have the United States lead alliances on global issues -- a rebuke, if oblique, to the 'America First' agenda of Donald Trump...." A CBS News report is here. You can watch the speech on this YouTube video.

Zach Montague of the New York Times: "The Education Department announced on Monday that it had canceled student loans for more than 150,000 borrowers, bringing the tally of Americans whose loans were forgiven under President Biden to over five million.... The latest cancellations were most likely the administration's final round of relief. They covered borrowers who have worked in public service for at least 10 years, students who had applied after being defrauded or misled by their school, and some students with disabilities.

"With Monday's authorization and 27 previous ones, the Biden administration has canceled more than $183 billion in outstanding student loans.... Mr. Biden will leave office next week with many of his boldest ambitions for student debt reform stymied, after a wave of legal challenges brought by Republican attorneys general chipped away at plans that once envisioned student loan forgiveness for over 40 million people.... Both ... Donald J. Trump and the America First Policy Institute, where his pick for education secretary, Linda McMahon, has served as a chair, have been intensely critical of the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness policies." Politico's report is here.

     ~~~ Marie: Opposition to student loan forgiveness programs arises out of cruelty, stupidity or both. It's true that the federal government is losing the debt-repayment revenue stream in the short run. But in the long run, consider this a stimulus package that will pay dividends: well-educated, working-aged people freed from burdensome, expanding debt will be among the greatest contributors to the U.S. economy as well as some of the highest taxpayers.

Paul McLeary of Politico: "The nation's next two aircraft carriers will feature the names of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, President Joe Biden announced Monday in a bipartisan salute that might irritate the next occupant of the White House. The new, nuclear-powered carriers will be officially named the USS William J. Clinton and the USS George W. Bush when they enter service in the mid-2030s, the White House said in an announcement. Biden said in the statement that he personally delivered the news to 'Bill and George.' It's a traditional honor for former presidents but somewhat unusual decision since Bush's appearance on an aircraft carrier marked an awkward point of his tenure -- when he made a speech on board the USS Abraham Lincoln in front of a 'Mission Accomplished' banner in May 2003 to incorrectly proclaim major combat over in Iraq." ~~~

     ~~~ President Biden's statement, via the White House, is here.

Harris Is Bitter. Jennifer Jacobs of CBS News: "Vice President Kamala Harris has not extended an invitation [to JD & Usha Vance] for a formal sit-down or tour [of the Naval Observatory residence], multiple Democratic and Republican sources told CBS News. In November, Usha Vance, via intermediaries, reached out to staff for the home's current occupants, Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, seeking details including what they would need to childproof it. Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel Vance are all under the age of eight. The questions were initially rebuffed by a Harris political appointee. But there has since been communication between the Vance team and Navy aides who oversee the residence. Before Christmas, Navy officials provided an overview of the house to discuss the layout of the residence, logistics and practicalities of the move-in, and to help answer any questions the Vances had, a person familiar with the call said. Usha Vance spoke with Emhoff for about 40 minutes last week, sources said. Harris sources said that arrangements are underway to accommodate the Vance children." Read on for an account of Pence-Harris transition.

Darlene Superville of the AP: "U.S. flags at ... Donald Trump's private Mar-a-Lago club are back to flying at full height. Flags are supposed to fly at half-staff through the end of January out of respect for former President Jimmy Carter, who died on Dec. 29. A large flag on Trump's property in Palm Beach was initially lowered to half-staff according to protocol but has since been raised in the days after Carter was buried Thursday in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. Both President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, directed that U.S. flags be flown at half-staff for 30 days from the date of Carter's death -- or through Jan. 28. Trump has expressed annoyance that flags will be at half-staff on Jan. 20 when he takes the oath of office for his second term. During the presidential campaign, the Republican repeatedly criticized Carter, a Democrat, but offered praise for the 39th president in a statement after his death at the age of 100." Related story linked below under "Texas."

Tom Friedman of the New York Times: "Some may think Trump's remarks on taking Greenland and the Panama Canal are just a joke from an attention-seeking leader with no filter. They are not a joke. They are a prescription for chaos.... If the U.S. president can decide that he wants to seize Greenland and explicitly refuses to rule out the use of force to do so, that is like a giant permission slip for China to seize Taiwan.... Trump's remarks are reckless stupidity beyond belief.... How does America get off telling [Putin] that by invading Ukraine he has violated international laws and norms..., while Trump muses about seizing Greenland and forcibly reimposing U.S. sovereignty over the Panama Canal? Ukraine's territory was once part of Mother Russia, as was Crimea, which Putin has already fully taken back. No wonder Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, told CNBC on Thursday that Russia is 'watching the rhetoric on these topics coming out of Washington with great interest.'" More on Greenland linked below.

Aamer Madhani & Zeke Miller of the AP: "Incoming senior Trump administration officials have begun questioning career civil servants who work on the White House National Security Council about who they voted for in the 2024 election, their political contributions and whether they have made social media posts that could be considered incriminating by ... Donald Trump's team, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter. At least some of these nonpolitical employees have begun packing up their belongings since being asked about their loyalty to Trump -- after they had earlier been given indications that they would be asked to stay on at the NSC in the new administration, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters. Trump's pick for national security adviser, >Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, in recent days publicly signaled his intention to get rid of all nonpolitical appointees and career intelligence officials serving on the NSC by Inauguration Day to ensure the council is staffed with those who support Trump's agenda." (Also linked yesterday.)

Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "Pete Hegseth..., Donald J. Trump's pick to head the Pentagon, is scheduled to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday to answer questions on a range of issues, including a sexual assault allegation, his lack of management experience and his comments against women serving in combat. Mr. Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has a slew of commentary, opinions and allegations to explain, as Democratic lawmakers get their chance to question him about his qualifications to lead the Defense Department, an $849 billion enterprise with nearly three million employees. Eyes will also be on Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, who is an Army Reserve and National Guard veteran and a sexual assault survivor. Ms. Ernst received a barrage of criticism from Trump supporters last month after she said that Mr. Hegseth needed to address issues including the role of women in the military and sexual assault prevention. Her support is viewed as critical to Mr. Hegseth's confirmation chances. Whether Mr. Hegseth has the votes to be confirmed remains an open question." ~~~

~~~ Looks Like the Dog Ate Part of the FBI's Homework. Julie Tsirkin, et al., of NBC News: "The FBI background check on Pete Hegseth... does not include interviews with Hegseth's ex-wives or the woman who accused him of sexual assault in a California hotel room in 2017, according to three sources with direct knowledge.... It is standard protocol to interview current and former spouses in conducting FBI background checks.... But it is also contingent on cooperation from the interviewees, and it is not clear whether the FBI attempted outreach to those people. Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which will hold Hegseth's confirmation hearing Tuesday, also sent inquiries to counsel for Hegseth's ex-wives, but they did not share information with the committee.... Senate Democrats have already been raising alarms about delays producing the FBI check and concerns about its thoroughness...." ~~~

     ~~~ Liz Goodwin & Abigail Hauslohner of the Washington Post: "Democratic senators on the Senate Armed Services Committee are now slamming the report as inadequate as they prepare to question the candidate picked to lead the Defense Department at Tuesday's public confirmation hearing. 'Several of the witnesses were not interviewed by the FBI, even though they wanted to be,' Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) said as she left a meeting of committee Democrats on Monday, declining to say which witnesses she was referring to."

Dr. Paul Offit in a New York Times op-ed: "The news media labels [label!] Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a 'vaccine skeptic.' He's not. I'm an actual vaccine skeptic. In fact, everyone who serves with me on the Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisory committee is a vaccine skeptic. Pharmaceutical companies must prove to us that a vaccine is safe, that it's effective.... Mr. Kennedy, on the other hand, is a vaccine cynic, failing to accept studies that refute his beliefs. He claims that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine causes autism despite more than a dozen studies performed in seven countries on three continents involving thousands of children showing that it doesn't. He has claimed that 'there is no vaccine that is safe and effective.' (Childhood vaccines have prevented more than one million deaths and 32 million hospitalizations over the past three decades). He has encouraged people not to vaccinate their babies.... [And more.] Given the lack of appropriate guardrails that would normally prevent an anti-vaccine activist, science denialist and conspiracy theorist from heading the country's most important public health agency, it's a dangerous time to be a child in the United States." (Also linked yesterday.)

Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "Elon Musk is expected to use office space in the White House complex as he launches the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which aims to slash government spending in the Trump administration, according to two people briefed on the plans. The space anticipated for Mr. Musk's use is in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is adjacent to the White House. The location would allow Mr. Musk, who owns companies with billions of dollars in contracts with the federal government, to continue to have significant access to ... Donald J. Trump when he takes office this month.... DOGE staff members are currently working out of the Washington, D.C., offices of Mr. Musk's SpaceX company.... The work around DOGE has so far been shrouded in secrecy, with the transition revealing little to nothing about how it will function, or how it will be budgeted for."

Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "Melania Trump ... said in an interview broadcast on Monday that she planned to live and work full time in the White House during Donald J. Trump's second term, addressing speculation about whether she would be a regular presence in Washington. Mrs. Trump told 'Fox and Friends' that she would travel as needed to New York, her longtime home where she stayed regularly during Mr. Trump's first term, and his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, which has become Mr. Trump's official state of residence. 'When I need to be in New York, I will be in New York,' she said. 'When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach. But my first priority is, you know, to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife.'" MB: I dunno. Doesn't sound too definitive to me. At least we know Donald comes after Barron & the blood-red Christmas decor. (Also linked yesterday.)

Meredith Hill of Politico: "A group of House Republicans and ... Donald Trump talked about tying wildfire aid to a debt ceiling increase Sunday night, as the fires spreading across huge swaths of Los Angeles are estimated to become one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history. Of the nearly two dozen House Republicans who attended the Sunday dinner at Mar-a-Lago, where this option was discussed, several are caucus leaders and appropriators with major influence in upcoming budget reconciliation and government funding negotiations." MB: This is sort of ironic-laced cruelty -- as Krugman points out in the post linked below, the debt would be a lot higher if not for Californians' contributions to the federal coffers. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Here's Philip Bump of the Washington Post forcefully backing me up: "Within hours [of the fires' spreading], Republicans and others on the right were spreading claims (often false ones) presenting the disaster as fundamentally a function of Democratic mismanagement. With that baseline established, various legislators have suggested that the state needs to change its policies before it should receive federal funding.... [This] rhetoric ... is not only disingenuous; it presents the state as supplicant. In reality, California pays far more to the federal government than it receives in benefits -- one of only a handful of states for which that is true.... IRS data looking at the 2021 tax year shows that residents of [Los Angeles] county filed tax returns owing a cumulative $20 billion -- more in L.A. itself than in all but four entire states. The funding to which those Republicans are tying political strings can accurately be described as California's money in the first place." Emphasis added. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Meredith Hill of Politico: "House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed to reporters Monday there's 'been some discussion' of tying California wildfire aid to a debt limit increase, after GOP members raised the issue with Donald Trump in several meetings at the President-elect's Florida resort this weekend.... Johnson told reporters, 'we'll see where it goes,' acknowledging that he, personally, supported putting 'conditions' on California wildfire aid. 'That's my personal view,' he said.... The notion that Congress could make the release of disaster relief dollars conditional upon also agreeing to raise the debt ceiling is already facing pushback from some Democrats." ~~~

     ~~~ Philip Bump of the WashPo writes in his analysis linked above, "On Monday afternoon, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) ... said that it 'appears to us that state and local leaders were derelict in their duty in many respects,' bolstering the idea that 'there should be conditions on that aid.'" ~~~

~~~ "Bumbling Callousness." Noah Berlatsky of Public Notice: Donald Trump "and his minions are already using the fires to score cheap political points while Americans suffer. It's an ominous reminder of, and prelude to, Trump's mob boss approach to disaster relief in particular and to the presidency in general." Berlatsky reminds us that Trump's reactions to disasters -- as occurred when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico and the pandemic hit the whole country -- could not be worse: "a cocktail of incompetence and malice." Definitely worth a read. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Philip Bump notes in the analysis linked above that Trump, in the midst of decrying "incompetent" California politicians, wrote, "'There is death all over the place. This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country.' There have been 24 confirmed fatalities in the fires, as of writing. Scores more are missing. But contrast that with the nearly 3,000 people killed by Hurricane Maria on the island of Puerto Rico.... Maria struck the island when Trump was president. His response was to downplay the death toll and to insist that the extent of the damage was the fault of Puerto Rican leaders." MB: AND of course to toss a few residents rolls of paper towels so they could do their own clean-up.

Andrew Solender of Axios: "House Republicans on Monday introduced a bill that would allow ... Trump to enter into negotiations with Denmark to acquire Greenland.... It's the latest in a series of proposed Republican legislation to bring Trump's vision of a new, sprawling American empire to fruition....Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) also introduced a bill last week along with 15 other Republicans that would authorize talks to repurchase the Panama Canal.... Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) is introducing the two-page 'Make Greenland Great Again Act.'... The bill would authorize the president -- at the moment of Trump's swearing in on Jan. 20 -- to seek to enter into negotiations with the Kingdom of Denmark to secure the acquisition of Greenland by the United States.'... Ogles, a member of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, has 10 GOP co-sponsors, including some moderate and establishment members like Reps. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) and Mike Rulli (R-Ohio)."

Annals of Journalism, Ctd.

Dave Enrich & Katie Robertson of the New York Times: "With ... Donald J. Trump returning to the White House, media outlets large and small are taking steps to prepare for what they fear could be a legal and political onslaught against them from the new administration and Mr. Trump's allies inside and outside the government.... Mr. Trump's choice to run the F.B.I., Kash Patel, said before the election that a new Trump administration would 'come after the people in the media.' Brendan Carr, the expected chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, recently raised the prospect of revoking federal broadcast licenses for television stations that he perceived as biased against conservatives.... Among the most pressing concerns, media lawyers said, was that the Trump administration would increase the use of subpoenas to ferret out journalists' confidential sources." Read on.

Brian Stelter of CNN: "Veteran opinion columnist Jennifer Rubin is becoming the latest in a long list of Washington Post figures to leave the troubled institution. Rubin is partnering with former White House ethics czar Norm Eisen and launching something new: a startup publication called The Contrarian. The startup's tagline, 'Not owned by anybody,' is a pointed reference to billionaire Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos and other moguls who, in Rubin's view, have 'bent the knee' to ... Donald Trump.... Rather than anti-Trump, the founders describe their venture as pro-democracy. They said they have already enlisted about two dozen contributors, including people who played prominent roles in debunking 2020 election denialism and investigating the January 6, 2021, attack at the US Capitol." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Jennifer Rubin of the Contrarian, a Substack site: "Corporate and billionaire owners of major media outlets have betrayed their audiences' loyalty and sabotaged journalism's sacred mission -- defending, protecting and advancing democracy. The Washington Post's billionaire owner and enlisted management are among the offenders. They have undercut the values central to The Post's mission and that of all journalism: integrity, courage, and independence. I cannot justify remaining at The Post. Jeff Bezos and his fellow billionaires accommodate and enable the most acute threat to American democracy -- Donald Trump -- at a time when a vibrant free press is more essential than ever to our democracy's survival and capacity to thrive. I therefore have resigned from The Post, effective today." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jonathan Chait of the Atlantic considers why Bidenomics or "post-neoliberalism" was not enough to give either Biden or Harris a win over the Bloated Buffoon. Thanks to laura h. for the gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) See discussion of Chait's hypothesis in yesterday's Comments.

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California. A $50MM Anti-Trump Bill. Blake Jones & Lindsey Holden of Politico: “California Democrats have reached a $50 million agreement to shore up state and local legal defenses against the incoming Trump administration just a week ahead of the president-elect's inauguration. Half the money would go to fending off any mass deportation plan the new president might enact early in his administration. The move -- the first of its kind in the nation that positions California to lead a second term resistance against Donald Trump -- comes as Republicans bash state Democratic leaders for focusing on a highly partisan issue even as the southern part of the state suffers from historically devastating fires. The deal includes $25 million Newsom had proposed for the state Department of Justice to fight the federal government in court shortly after Trump's reelection in November -- plus $25 million more proposed by state Senate leaders to defend immigrants against deportation, detention and wage theft. The $25 million proposed by the Senate would fund grants for legal nonprofits and immigration support centers."

MEANWHILE. Florida. Kate Payne of the AP: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling state lawmakers into a special session to help carry out ... Donald Trump's promises for a swift crackdown on immigration. But he's facing pushback from the legislature's Republican leaders, who have pledged their support for the incoming president but said a special session would be 'premature' and 'irresponsible.'"

Texas. Steven Rosenbaum of CBS News: "Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has directed that American flags on state property be flown at full staff to mark ... Donald Trump's inauguration next week, bypassing the national mourning period for former President Jimmy Carter. The move has sparked both praise and criticism on social media. On Dec. 29, President Biden ordered flags across the country to fly at half-staff for 30 days following Carter's death. On Monday, Gov. Abbott released a statement that he would be directing flags on state property to be flown at full staff on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day. 'While we honor the service of a former President, we must also celebrate the service of an incoming President and the bright future ahead for the United States of America,' Abbott's statement said in part." Thanks to laura h. for the link.

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Israel/Palestine et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Tuesday in Israel's wars are here: "Israel and Hamas are at their 'closest point' in months to agreeing on a ceasefire deal that could halt the devastating 15-month-long war in Gaza and release hostages, Qatar said Tuesday. 'We believe that we have reached the final stages,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said in Doha, where negotiators are meeting, while seeking to temper expectations until a final deal is in place. An Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the deal is now in Hamas's hands. The first phase of the proposed deal would involve the release of 33 living hostages during a 42-day ceasefire, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, according to U.S. officials. Over the course of the war, ceasefire negotiations have faltered at the 11th hour on several occasions."

U.K. Musk Defends Another Violent Nazi. Megan Specia of the New York Times: "Hours after a deadly knife attack in the northern English town of Southport last July, [Neo-Nazi] Andrew McIntyre set up a Telegram channel called 'Southport Wake Up.' Amid posts riddled with anti-Islamic, antisemitic and anti-immigrant abuse, he urged people to take to the streets, directing them to a mosque and calling for 'war.'... On July 30, a violent mob targeted the mosque that Mr. McIntyre had highlighted, and dozens of police officers were injured.... Mr. McIntyre, 39, who took part in two of several riots that rattled Britain last summer, was sentenced to seven years in prison last Monday. He pleaded guilty to encouraging violent disorder and criminal damage, and to possession of a knife. A day after his conviction, Elon Musk, the billionaire tech mogul, bemoaned Mr. McIntyre's sentencing in a post on his social media platform X, declaring: 'Over 7 years prison for social media posts ... Whoever gave that sentence deserves prison themselves.'... 'I think it's really important to note here just how extreme the individuals that Musk has been defending and engaging with in Europe and in the U.K. in recent months are,' said Joe Mulhall of Hope Not Hate...."

News Lede

New York Times: "Severe winds are whipping through Southern California, creating conditions for new fires in an area where the most destructive blazes in state history have left tens of thousands scrambling to find temporary housing. Tuesday's forecast for the Los Angeles area is extreme by any measure, even after a week in which high winds and perilously dry conditions fueled fires that have killed at least 24 people, with at least 23 others missing. More than 100,000 people have been displaced and whole neighborhoods destroyed." This is a liveblog.