The Dems cozying up to Elon Musk

Dec 12, 2024

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DRIVING THE DAY

BREAKING — President JOE BIDEN announced this morning that he is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes and commuting the sentences of about 1,500 more. “It’s the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history,” AP’s Colleen Long notes. The White House did not immediately make available a list of those affected, but an administration fact sheet said mercy was granted to federal convicts who “have shown successful rehabilitation and a strong commitment to making their communities safer.”

“I will take more steps in the weeks ahead,” Biden said.

Elon Musk is surrounded by his entourage and pursued by journalists as he walks in the U.S. Capitol.

Elon Musk, one of the co-leaders of President-elect Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, is surrounded by his entourage and pursued by journalists as he walks to a meeting at the U.S. Capitol, on Dec. 5, 2024. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

TRUMP’S WASHINGTON TAKES SHAPE — Today marks roughly the halfway point between Election Day and Inauguration Day, and we are seeing the transition of power happen in real time. And if you had any doubts that President-elect DONALD TRUMP’s coming administration has begun to fundamentally change the layout of power in Washington, well … take a look around you.

Let’s start with what’s new this morning …

DEMS WARM UP TO MUSK — As Trump “prepares to install [ELON] MUSK as the federal government’s cutter-in-chief, some ambitious Democrats are taking a warmer approach to the billionaire businessman than their party leaders have in the past,” Holly Otterbein and Brittany Gibson report this morning.

What’s behind it? Three big factors:

Some of them “want to shape the thinking of someone who will have an outsize microphone regardless of what they do.” In this category: Sen. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-Ma.) and Washington Rep. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-Wash.).
Some want Musk to “develop his businesses in their backyards.” In this category: Pennsylvania Gov. JOSH SHAPIRO.
And some are “eyeing presidential runs in 2028, and may want to avoid getting on his bad side for political reasons.” In this category: Shapiro; Rep. RO KHANNA (D-Calif.), who called Musk “an extraordinary entrepreneur” and likened him to FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT’s WWII-era corporate execs who helped the nation mobilize for war; and Sen. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-Pa.), who told POLITICO this about Musk’s foray into election politics: “I’ve warned Democrats, if you’re just going to make fun of it or to dismiss it, you do it at our peril.” (Also worth noting here: Between this and becoming the first Democratic senator to join Truth Social, Fetterman sure is behaving a lot like a guy who now realizes his reelection bid will share a cycle with a presidential campaign in a state Trump just carried.)

To be sure, not all Democrats are Musk-curious. Just last night, Rep. MAXWELL FROST (D-Fla.) ripped into the world’s wealthiest man on MSNBC: “You expect me to believe that someone like Elon Musk — who is worth over $340 billion — is going to be in charge of helping us decide what my mom's Social Security check is going to be?” (NB: As of yesterday, Musk is now worth more than $400 billion, the first human ever to cross that threshold, according to Bloomberg.)

But that a substantial number are open to Musk is yet another sign that “resistance” in the Trump 2.0 era is going to look a whole lot different than it did during Trump 1.0.

DEMS’ LEADERSHIP SHUFFLE — Likewise, the party’s attitude is changing in the House, as they continue oust the old mandarins in favor of (relatively) youthful members that can more vigorously combat the Trump administration in the media. The latest comes from Oversight, where ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-N.Y.) now has the inside track to become the ranking member, Nicholas Wu and Daniella Diaz report. In doing so, she would leapfrog Virginia’s GERRY CONNOLLY, who is nearly four decades her senior.

Simultaneously, the Congressional Black Caucus is facing pressure to hold off on formally endorsing members for committee races, including Rep. DAVID SCOTT (D-Ga.), Meredith Lee Hill and Nicholas Wu report. “Such a move would signal a stunning shift for the group … Scott, the first Black Agriculture Committee chair in history, has long been protected by the Black Caucus and Democratic leaders amid calls from fellow Democrats for him to step aside and concerns about his health and leadership. But those alliances are crumbling.”

WRAY TO GO — Far and away the most consequential story that broke yesterday is FBI Director CHRISTOPHER WRAY’s announcement that he will resign at the end of Biden’s term. Wray had come under heavy criticism from Trump — who appointed him to a 10-year term in 2017 — and other Republicans, and his coming resignation avoids his likely firing after Jan. 20.

The move effectively clears the runway for KASH PATEL to take the top spot at the bureau — pending Senate confirmation, of course. And it is provoking a fresh round of concern about its integrity in the very near-term future — and not just from the typical cadre of Chicken Littles. (“Am I worried now about the independence of the FBI? You bet!” Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman MARK WARNER (D-Va.) told CBS.)

Food for thought: “Trump may actually have an easier time confirming Patel if he hasn’t just engaged in a norm-violating firing of another FBI director for purely self-interested reasons,” Benjamin Wittes writes for Lawfare.

ON THE INVITE LIST — Trump has invited Chinese President XI JINPING to his inauguration next month, CBS News’ Jennifer Jacobs scooped. In case you were wondering, yes, that is unusual: “State Department records dating back to 1874 show that a foreign leader has never attended a transfer-of-power ceremony.” (We also have to wonder if Xi will avoid being there, lest he be seen as endorsing democracy.)

NOT BIDEN’S WASHINGTON ANYMORE — Former Biden adviser ANITA DUNN got candid about the president’s pardon of his son, HUNTER BIDEN, in an interview for the NYT’s DealBook Summit that was made public yesterday, per Kierra Frazier. But it wasn’t the pardon so much as the way it was handled and explained by the White House that bothered her. “The argument is one that I think many observers are concerned about,” Dunn said. “A president who ran to restore the rule of law, who has upheld the rule of law, who has really defended the rule of law kind of saying, ‘Well, maybe not right now.’”

TRUMP’S NEW WAR ON TECH — With a trio of key appointments — ANDREW FERGUSON atop the FTC, GAIL SLATER at the head of the DOJ’s antitrust division and BRENDAN CARR helming the FCC — Trump is “setting the stage for going after Big Tech in a way he was never able to achieve in his first term,” John Hendel reports this morning.

What they’re eyeing: Forcing social platforms to roll back content moderation (which some Republicans argue disproportionately targets conservative political speech) and possibly “reinterpreting the liability protection that tech platforms enjoy under the Communications Decency Act’s Section 230, which shields websites from lawsuits over their content moderation calls.”

Friend request: Of course, the tech industry isn’t going to just roll over and let this happen without trying to curry Trump’s favor. Late last night, WSJ’s Dana Mattioli and Rebecca Ballhaus scooped that Meta has donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, a departure from the company’s tradition and “the latest step by CEO MARK ZUCKERBERG to bolster his once-fraught relationship with the incoming president.”

Good Thursday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade and Eugene Daniels.

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THE MOST REMARKABLE THING YOU’LL SEE TODAY — Take a few minutes to watch this one. “While searching a secretive prison in the belly of the Assad regime’s legacy of torture for American journalist AUSTIN TICE, CNN’s CLARISSA WARD made a startling discovery when a rebel fighter uncovered a hidden prisoner still unaware of [BASHAR AL-]ASSAD’s ouster.”

A NAME YOU SHOULD KNOW — WaPo’s Ben Terris and Marianne LeVine are just out with a profile of SERGIO GOR, the “cherubic 38-year-old” Maltese immigrant, makeshift DJ at MAGA parties, former Fox News booker and, most importantly, incoming director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, “an unglamorous position with vast power to help find, vet and hire around 4,000 officials — giving the administration its new shape.”

You’re going to want to read it for the trademark Terris-ian details — we didn’t know, for instance, that Gor was the officiant at MATT GAETZ’s wedding, the genuinely disturbing particulars of his treatment of ELISE JORDAN or that he owned a beagle named MACHIAVELLI — and for the surprising on-the-record interview with JARED KUSHNER.

LAND O’ LAKE — Trump tapped KARI LAKE, the former local news anchor, current election denier and failed Arizona gubernatorial and senate candidate, to head up Voice of America. Lake, who was recently rumored to be in the mix for the ambassadorship to Mexico, is now set to “sit atop an organization that broadcasts in 48 languages and has a weekly audience of more than 326 million people,” per the Times’ Minho Kim.

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WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY

On the Hill

The Senate is in.

The House will meet at 9 a.m. will last votes expected by 3 p.m.

3 things to watch …

The House Republican steering committee meets later today to finish choosing next term’s committee chairs, with a pair of big showdowns at hand. As Olivia Beavers runs down in Inside Congress, the Financial Services gavel is a four-way scramble, but it appears to be coming down to ANDY BARR (R-Ky.) vs. FRENCH HILL (R-Ark.) in a battle of internal GOP alliances. Education and Workforce is a tossup between veteran member TIM WALBERG (R-Mich.) and BURGESS OWENS (R-Utah), who would likely be the House’s only Black committee chair if selected.
The murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO BRIAN THOMPSON has sparked debate about the health insurance industry — and a dilemma for politicians who have long participated in that debate. There’s the Sen. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-Pa.) not-the time-for-this approach — “It’s vile,” he told NBC’s Sahil Kapur. And then there’s the Sen. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-Mass.) yes-but approach: “Violence is never the answer,” she told HuffPost. “But people can only be pushed so far.” So which is more politically savvy? Well, consider that Warren later issued a backtracking statement to POLITICO: “I should have been much clearer that there is never a justification for murder.”
Senate Democrats’ lame duck confirmations campaign hit a pothole yesterday with the rejection of NLRB nominee LAUREN McFERRAN. They’ll try to get back on the horse today, with the Senate Judiciary Committee scheduled to advance two California district judges — BENJAMIN CHEEKS and SERENA MURILLO — potentially setting them up for floor consideration next week. If confirmed, they likely will be Biden’s final judges — and enough to just break Trump’s first-term record for judicial confirmations.

At the White House

Biden will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 10 a.m.

VP KAMALA HARRIS will receive briefings and conduct internal meetings with staff.

Billions in spending. Critical foreign aid. Immigration reform. The final weeks of 2024 could bring major policy changes. Inside Congress provides daily insights into how Congressional leaders are navigating these high-stakes issues. Subscribe today.

PLAYBOOK READS

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

Secretary of State Antony Blinken deplanes on the outskirts of Mexico City.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken deplanes at the Felipe Ángeles International Airport in Zumpango, on the outskirts of Mexico City, Dec. 27, 2023. | Fernando Llano/AP

SYRIA LATEST — Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN and White House national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN are headed to the Middle East today. Blinken will travel to Jordan and Turkey this week, while Sullivan will visit Israel in hopes of reigniting negotiations to end the war in Gaza, NYT’s Edward Wong, Michael Crowley and Eric Schmitt report. Advisers say a “central part of Blinken’s discussions will revolve around the future governance of Syria.”

Blinken has a big job ahead of him. State officials say he plans to press Turkish and Arab leaders on ensuring the transition to an “accountable and representative government” that can prevent Syria from being used “as a base of terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbors, and ensure that chemical weapons stockpiles are secured and safely destroyed.”

Meanwhile, U.S. officials are growing increasingly concerned about the security of the camps and detention facilities holding suspected ISIS members in Syria’s north after “the US’ most important partner there, the SDF, has come under relentless attack by Turkish-backed militants in recent days,” CNN's Natasha Bertrand, Katie Bo Lillis and Nechirvan Mando report.

A look ahead: “What the Future of Syria Might Actually Look Like,” by Rolf Dobelli for POLITICO Mag

WAR IN UKRAINE — Russia could use its lethal new intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine “in the coming days,” Pentagon spokesperson SABRINA SINGH told reporters yesterday, citing a new intel assessment, AP’s Amer Madhani, Lolita Baldor and Tara Copp report. Singh said she couldn’t provide any other details, including where Russia may strike.

TRANSITION LENSES

President-elect Donald Trump attends a meeting.

President-elect Donald Trump attends a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Dec. 7, 2024. | Pool photo by Sarah Meyssonnier

WHAT COULD LIE AHEAD — With just 40 days until his inauguration, challenges are already mounting for Trump across several policy areas:

Syria and beyond: Things are already growing tense among some GOP lawmakers over Trump’s foreign policy plans. Though Trump has signaled he wants to stay out of the recent government upheaval in Syria, several Republicans say they are prepared to push Trump towards a “more active role” in the country, Semafor’s Morgan Chalfant and Burgess Everett report. “One former Trump national security official said in an interview that withdrawing troops is ‘going to be on the table.’ As he prepares to enter office, however, national security-focused Republicans in Congress are urging against anything rash.”

The economy question: Yesterday’s numbers suggest that the battle against inflation is stalling out, and the president-elect may have very few options to put things back on track, WSJ’s Justin Lahart reports. “Despite his pledge to lower inflation, if Trump follows through on some of his tariff and immigration plans, economists worry he might do just the opposite. … The problem presidents face with inflation is that there is only so much they really can do to cool it off.”

On the border: “Pritzker questions whether Trump's border czar has the 'authority' to implement massive immigration changes,” by Shia Kapos: “Being a border czar is not an official position in the government, and it will be up to the President of the United States and up to the leaders of the Customs and Border Patrol to make decisions about how we'll manage the border,” [Illinois Gov. JB] PRITZKER said.

More top reads …

Conflicts of interest?: Trump’s selection of several billionaires to his cabinet — including HOWARD LUTNICK and WARREN STEPHENS — is likely to prompt conflicts of interests “that could span the federal government and complicate Senate confirmations,” Jasper Goodman, Alice Miranda Ollstein and Eli Stokols report. And yet: “[T]he ho-hum response to a new administration populated with so many ultra-wealthy picks is yet another example of how Trump has shattered the Overton window on ethics.”
Pete pivots: Trump’s pick for Defense secretary, PETE HEGSETH said he “supports all women serving in our military” after being questioned about previous remarks expressing concerns about women in combat roles, CNN’s Manu Raju, Morgan Rimmer, Alison Main and Kayla Tausche report.

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CONGRESS

Mike Johnson speaks with a reporter.

House Speaker Mike Johnson stops to speak with a reporter as he walks into his office at the U.S. Capitol Dec. 3, 2024. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

ON DEFENSE — The House passed the NDAA yesterday in a 281-140 vote despite a last-minute revolt by Democrats over a provision on healthcare for transgender people. Most Democrats voted against the typically bipartisan bill after Speaker MIKE JOHNSON added language that would restrict gender-affirming care for transgender children.

The introduction roiled the monthslong negotiations around the bill as Democrats accused Johnson “of trying to shore up conservative support so he could keep his gavel next year,” Connor O’Brien reports.

Worth watching: “House Armed Services Chair MIKE ROGERS (R-Ala.) also expressed dismay at the inclusion of the provision, arguing that President-elect Donald Trump could simply reverse it, and many other personnel policies, when he returns to the White House.”

What’s next: “While some Democratic senators may be swayed by the transgender health care issue, the bill is still likely to pass,” Connor writes. “Despite the partisan split, the compromise bill drops many of the conservative-backed culture war issues included in an earlier version Republicans muscled through the House in June, largely along party lines.”

More top reads:

Scary stuff … U.S. Capitol Police Chief THOMAS MANGER said that over 50 members of Congress have been victims of swatting attacks over the past month, CBS News’ Scott McFarlane reports.

THE WHITE HOUSE

THE RARE BIDEN-COONS SPLIT — Joe Biden said yesterday that he would veto a bill led by Sen. CHRIS COONS (D-Del.) that would expand the number of federal judgeships to avoid giving Trump new appointment opportunities, Adam Cancryn reports. “Coons called the decision a ‘regrettable outcome,’ blaming partisan politics for bogging down a once-bipartisan effort. He added that Biden told him his only objection to the bill was its timing.”

ALL POLITICS

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Nevada DNC Committeewoman ARTIE BLANCO is launching a run for vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. Blanco first worked for the DNC in 2005 as southwest political director, and later moved to Nevada to work for then-Sen. HARRY REID, with a focus on expanding the state’s Latino electorate. The announcement

BEYOND THE BELTWAY

STICKIER THAN A TARHEEL — “NC Republicans overturn Cooper’s veto, taking power from Stein and other Democrats,” by The News & Observer’s Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan, Avi Bajpai and Korie Dean

UP IN THE AIR — “Are Those Drones Over New Jersey? Sightings Mount, and Still No Answers,” by NYT’s Alyce McFadden: “The F.B.I. cannot explain the sightings and has not been able to identify where the reported drones are coming from, or going.”

Write your own chapter in the new Washington. From the Lame Duck Congress Series to New Administration insights, POLITICO Pro delivers intelligence across 22+ policy areas to help you anticipate and navigate change. Discover how a Pro subscription empowers you. Learn more today.

PLAYBOOKERS

Matt Gaetz is in talks to join Morgan & Morgan.

Bob Good truly has no regrets.

WaPo is out with their photos of the year.

IN MEMORIAM — “Jim Leach, former US representative from Iowa, dies at 82,” by AP’s Hannah Fingerhut and Thomas Beaumont: “Leach … represented Iowa as a moderate Republican until 2006, when he was defeated by Democrat Dave Loebsack in a midterm cycle that gave Democrats control of the U.S. House. He was chair of the banking and foreign relations committees, and in 2002 he was among six Republicans, who then held the House majority, to vote against a resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq. The measure paved the way for the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, which Leach also opposed.”

— “William Hennessy, a veteran sketch artist who brought courtroom scenes to the nation, has died,” by CNN’s John Fritze and Katelyn Polantz: “From the Supreme Court to high-profile criminal trials to the Senate chamber during President Donald Trump’s impeachment in 2020, Hennessy’s work allowed the public to picture history unfolding in places where cameras either aren’t allowed or are heavily restricted. In many cases, his sketches are the only visual record of those proceedings. … Hennessy’s death was announced Wednesday by his son, John Paul Hennessy. He died Monday, on his 67th birthday.”

OUT AND ABOUT — No Labels hosted a bipartisan group of lawmakers last night on the rooftop of the Hay-Adams Hotel as part of its “Power to the Middle” national meeting. SPOTTED: Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.), Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.), Jared Golden (D-Maine), Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Susie Lee (D-Nev.), Dan Meuser (D-Penn.), Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), Sen.-elect John Curtis (R-Utah) and Rep.-elect Rob Bresnahan (R-Penn.).

— SPOTTED at a kick-off fundraiser for Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) at La Collina yesterday: Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Mike Enzi, Landon Stropko, Randi Reid and Rai Downs.

— SPOTTED at the Entergy holiday party at their D.C. office Tuesday: FERC Chair Willie Phillips, Reps. Michael Guest (R-Miss.), Mike Ezell (R-Miss.), Carol Miller (R-W. Va.), Randy Weber (R-Texas), and Trent Kelly (R-Miss.), Drew Marsh, Patricia Vincent-Collawn, Steven Benjamin, Vanessa Griddine-Jones, Vincent Evans, Yebbie Watkins, Jonathon Jones, Bryan Anderson, Martin Doern, Timla Washington, Doug Davis, Zach Butterworth and Adam Ingols.

TRANSITIONS — Jenn Pellegrino is now senior director of media affairs and chief spokesperson for the America First Policy Institute. She most recently was an anchor at Newsmax and is an OAN alum. … Seven Letter has added Kelly Devers-Franklin as a partner, Kayla Boswell as a manager and Danny Jackson and Jody Gallinger as content specialists. … Karl Kilb is now operating partner and chief strategy officer for the ENIGMA Zero Trust platform at Option3. He currently is founder and CEO of Kilb Enterprises LLC and is a Bloomberg LP alum.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Cassidy Hutchinson … Christian Martinez of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office … Lanny Davis … Jesse Ferguson … Chris Plante … POLITICO’s Taylor Miller Thomas, Vrinda Agarwal and Sonia Fernandes … Becky Perlow … Peter Fenn … Charli Huddleston of the National Association of Manufacturers … Bret Wincup … Jeff Burton … Google’s José Castañeda and Nick Pearson … Larry Duncan of Monument Advocacy … Fox Business’ Liz Claman … former Reps. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) and Steve Kagen (D-Wis.) … Rebecca Neale Hampson … Jamie Brown … Todd Bertoson of Capitol Hill Policy Group … Danny Russel … Tina-Maria Giordano Henry ... Tanner Hishta … Dawn Laguens … Riley Nelson of the Meridian International Center … AP’s Seth Borenstein … Morgan Brummund … David Pasch … Keri Ann Hayes … Noel Torpey … Courtney Ellis … BGR Group’s Bob Wood … Nora Boustany … Yu Wu

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