Morning Report — Trump seizes stage from Biden 

IN TODAY'S ISSUE

• Trump’s tight hold on the GOP 
• House releases Gaetz ethics report 
• Mergers, bankruptcies and profits, oh my! 
• Arab diplomats meet with Syrian officials 

Trump seizes stage from Biden 

President-elect Trump’s inauguration isn’t for another four weeks, but he is already seizing the reins of power as President Biden keeps a low profile during the final days of his presidency. 

Lawmakers told The Hill’s Alexander Bolton that while Trump dictated last week’s negotiations on Capitol Hill over keeping the government open, Biden didn’t even reach out to Hill leaders until Friday.  

Trump and his team, including tech billionaire Elon Musk, have already spoken to leaders around the world and are now taking an aggressive stance toward international operation of the Panama Canal and attempts to purchase Greenland. This time, Trump’s tone had none of the trolling mirth that surrounded his repeated suggestions that Canada should become America’s “51st state.” 

The Hill: Five things to know about Trump’s threats to retake the Panama Canal. 

“It’s clear he’s in charge now,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said of Trump’s impact on the spending debate when Washington was only a few hours away from a potential shutdown. “Nobody is talking about, ‘Where’s Biden?’ in any of this. Trump is in charge.” 

Biden, meanwhile, largely stayed out of the infighting in Congress. 

Stephen S. Smith, a professor of political science at Washington University in St. Louis, said Trump is setting new standards by being so assertive weeks before Inauguration Day. 

“Trump’s involvement is unprecedented,” he said, noting that Trump’s opposition to the spending deal caught GOP leaders by surprise. He added that Biden likely decided that jumping into the spending fight in a public way wouldn’t help resolve the impasse. 

“I have no doubt he was being carefully advised about what was going on,” Smith said. “Surely there must have been the thought that his open involvement — which would have been a form of criticizing the Republicans for something — would have only made it more difficult for the Senate Democrats to win some concessions from the House Republicans.” 

• The Hill: Trump over the weekend announced a slate of tech appointments and a “crypto council.” 
• Politico: Biden had just a single term to try to transform the nation’s approach to energy, climate change, technology and jobs. What does he leave behind? 
• The Hill: Conservatives urged Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee to cut corporate rates and the capital gains tax.  
• The Wall Street Journal: The GOP spending rebellion is an ominous sign for Trump’s all-Republican government. Tensions within the party present challenges for tackling tax and spending priorities. 

As Trump asserts his powers ahead of his inauguration, Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) grip on his conference is loosening. The Hill’s Mychael Schnell reports a handful of conservative House Republicans voiced concerns about Johnson to Trump even before last week’s government funding fiasco, prompting even more uncertainty about the Louisiana Republican’s grasp on the gavel weeks before the Speakership vote.  

The sources — on Capitol Hill and in Trump World — said the Republicans had spoken to the president-elect in the weeks before the showdown, airing grievances and raising reservations about Johnson’s handling of various issues and his management of the House GOP conference. 

“Members are calling Trump to dump Johnson,” a Trump World source told The Hill. 

Johnson will face the next major test of his leadership in January, when the House votes to elect its next Speaker. With a razor-thin GOP House majority in the 119th Congress, Johnson can afford to lose only one Republican vote — provided all Democrats vote against him, as is expected. He already has one public “no” vote — Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — and other House Republicans have voiced their concerns. 

A second source told The Hill that “members are sharing their discontent and concern and he’s observing,” citing Johnson’s “inability to decide, inability to get it done.” 

“The president recognizes that [Johnson] is somebody he can push around,” they added. “I think he’s weighing the benefit of that with, can this guy get it done.” 

3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY  

• Texas, Florida, Arizona and Idaho are likely to gain House seats after the 2030 census. 
• Fear, joy and hope define eight months inside New York City’s migrant shelters. The New York Times documented life in the shelter system, through the eyes of those living there. 
• Former President Clinton has been hospitalized in Washington after developing a fever. Aides have said the situation is not urgent, and Clinton “remains in good spirits.” 

LEADING THE DAY    

ETHICS REPORT: The House Ethics Committee on Monday released its long-awaited report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) that capped the panel’s years-long, on-and-off investigation into the former congressman. 

The report found “substantial evidence” that Gaetz paid a 17-year-old high school student for sex when he was 35, used illicit drugs like cocaine and ecstasy, and obstructed Congress’s investigation into his conduct. The panel faced pressure to release the report when Trump named Gaetz as his original pick for attorney general; Gaetz eventually withdrew from consideration after having resigned from Congress. 

Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Last week, in anticipation of the report’s release, Gaetz said he had engaged in “embarrassing, though not criminal” past behavior. 

“These claims would be destroyed in court — which is why they were never made in any court against me,” Gaetz told The Hill on Monday ahead of the report’s release, in reference to the Department of Justice declining to file charges after investigating Gaetz for similar matters. Gaetz on Monday dropped an eleventh-hour lawsuit to block the report’s release. 

Most of the allegations in the report are not new, given that the panel publicly released the areas it was investigating. But the vast — and salacious — details included in the body of work are dealing an embarrassing blow to Gaetz, who tried until the final hours to keep the findings under wraps, writes The Hill’s Schnell. And the release showed that despite their best efforts, top Republicans could not keep a lid on the report. 

Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.), the chair of the Ethics Committee, told reporters he had “reservations about releasing any unfinished work” when asked about the report once Gaetz was nominated to be attorney general. At the end of the day Guest lost that battle, with at least one Republican voting with all Democrats to release the report. On the evenly divided committee, a majority vote is needed to release reports. 

• Axios: Reps. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) and Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) sided with the committee's five Democrats in voting to release the report. 
• The Hill: Four highlights from the scathing Gaetz Ethics report. 
• Politico: The Gaetz report renewed a debate about how he escaped federal charges. 

COMMUTATIONS: A chorus of supporters and critics have emerged after President Biden commuted the sentences of 37 federal death row inmates, reclassifying their sentences from execution to life in prison without the possibility of parole.  

The move leaves only three “hard cases” behind — that of two notorious mass shooters who carried out their killings in a church and synagogue and one of the brothers responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing. Biden said the choices were in line with his administration’s stance to impose a moratorium on federal executions, with the exception of terrorism cases and those of hate-motivated mass murder. 

“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss,” Biden said in a statement. “Guided by my conscience and my experience … I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.” 

His decision came at a time when he’s trying to frame a so-far troubled legacy, and weeks after he pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, who faced tax and gun possession charges. The president also hinted that possible action by the incoming Trump administration was part of his motivation. 

“In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted,” Biden said. 

The commutations drew praise Monday. Maya Wiley, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said Biden’s “courageous” decision shined a light on needed reforms. The American Civil Liberties Union’s executive director, Anthony Romero, said the move locked in Biden’s legacy as “a leader who stands for racial justice, humanity and morality.” And the Equal Justice Initiative said Biden’s clemency could mark a “turning point in the history of capital punishment in the United States.” 

But some conservatives were quick to criticize Biden, including Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who called the move “politically convenient.”  

“Democrats can’t even defend Biden’s outrageous decision as some kind of principled, across-the-board opposition to the death penalty since he didn’t commute the three most politically toxic cases,” the senator said on the social platform X. 

• The Washington Post: What to know about Biden’s death row commutations and what happens next. 
• The Hill: The Congressional Black Caucus applauded Biden’s death row clemency. 
• The Hill: U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel is calling for defense firms that miss deadlines and increase costs to be forbidden from bidding on new military contracts as a punishment. 
• CNBC: The Biden administration on Monday launched a new probe into legacy Chinese semiconductors that may go into everything from cars to household goods and defense systems. 

WHERE AND WHEN 

• Programming note: Morning Report’s Alexis Simendinger and Kristina Karisch will return after the holidays. Our colleagues from The Hill will guest write Morning Report for the remainder of the week, and the weekly quiz will return in January.  

• The House will meet at 10 a.m. for a pro forma session. The Senate will meet on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. for a pro forma session. 

• The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 10 a.m. 

• Vice President Harris is in Washington, D.C. and has no public schedule. 

ZOOM IN 

DEPARTMENT STORES: The founding family of the department store chain Nordstrom clinched a $6.5 billion deal to take the struggling chain private. The company said Monday that Erik, Pete and Jamie Nordstrom, along with other members of the family, are being joined by Mexican retailer El Puerto de Liverpool to acquire all of Nordstrom’s stores. The traditional department stores have suffered in the face of withering competition from giants like Walmart and Target, as well as fast fashion brands and online retailers. 

CONTAINING DEBT: The Container Store filed for bankruptcy protection in Texas over the weekend as it tries to rid itself of mounting debt and reverse a loss of shoppers in its stores. The retailer, like others in the home goods space, has shared grim outlooks during the holiday period, as housing market pressure puts a strain on the sector.  

AUTO MERGER: Japanese car manufacturers Honda and Nissan announced Monday they were exploring a merger that would allow them to better compete amid a changing automotive landscape. The companies plan to spend the next six months hammering out a deal, which would create the third largest automaker in the world behind Toyota and Volkswagen.  

TELEGRAM: Telegram, the lightly moderated social media app, is working to reassure investors that the company is viable after its founder, Pavel Durov, was arrested in France in August on charges related to illicit activities on the platform and as the company struggles with debt. The company told investors that it was tackling its legal troubles head-on — and is set to be profitable for the first time as it tries cryptocurrencies, subscriptions and ads. 

ELSEWHERE 

CEASEFIRE: Gaps between Israel and Hamas have narrowed over a possible Gaza ceasefire deal, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials, though crucial differences remain. Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the U.S. launched a new bid to end the fighting and release the remaining hostages this month. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said progress had been made in hostage negotiations with Hamas in Gaza, but that he did not know how much longer it would take to finalize a deal. 

• The Washington Post: Israel is demolishing northern Gaza and fortifying military positions, imagery shows. 
• The Wall Street Journal: The Houthis, Israel’s enemy in Yemen, prove hard for the U.S. to deter. Houthi militants haven’t pulled back attacks on global shipping and Israel despite a U.S. campaign to stop them. 

TOP ARAB DIPLOMATS visited Damascus on Monday, marking the latest in a string of diplomatic overtures by the international community as Syria emerges from years of isolation under Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The visits by ministers from Jordan and Qatar suggest that Arab countries are eager for better relations with a country that has been a source of regional instability. 

Meanwhile, Germany cautioned Turkey against using Assad's ouster to strike at Kurdish forces in Syria, saying such a conflict would have broader security implications. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the Islamic State (IS) would be the only group to gain from Turkey attacking Kurds in Syria, where Kurdish forces have played an integral role in defeating IS. 

• NPR: Syrians can finally tell their stories about Assad's chemical attacks. 
• The Washington Post: The U.S. military mission in Syria will pose an early dilemma for Trump. 
• The New York Times: Europe’s efforts to keep a united front against Russia over the war in Ukraine faltered with Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico’s visit to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin on natural gas and Ukraine. 

OPINION  

• Biden did the right thing granting clemency to 37 federal death row inmates, by Russ Feingold, opinion contributor, The Hill. 
• Democrats shouldn’t try to find “common ground” with Trump, by Jennifer Rubin, columnist, The Washington Post. 

THE CLOSER 

And finally … 🎅 Have a question for Santa? NORAD’s got you covered.  

The agency’s Christmas tradition has gone global: Children from around the world track Santa Claus as he sweeps across the earth. At least 100,000 kids call into the North American Aerospace Defense Command to inquire about Santa’s location each year, and millions more follow online in nine languages. 

It all started in 1955, during the Cold War, when a child called a number for Santa listed in a Sears advertisement in a Colorado Springs, Colo., newspaper. 

Except it was a misprint, and the boy instead reached an emergency-only “red phone” at the Continental Air Defense Command, now NORAD, a joint U.S. and Canadian effort to spot potential enemy attacks. Air Force Col. Harry W. Shoup picked up and was greeted by a tiny voice that began to recite a Christmas wish list. 

“He went on a little bit, and he takes a breath, then says, ‘Hey, you’re not Santa,’” Shoup told The Associated Press in 1999. Playing along, he put on his best deep, jolly voice and replied, “Ho, ho, ho! Yes, I am Santa Claus. Have you been a good boy?” 

And so, a tradition was born, and you can track Santa’s journey here. 

Stay Engaged  

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