| | | | |  | | By Lauren Egan, Myah Ward, Eli Stokols, Megan Messerly and Ben Johansen | | Presented by |  | | | Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the preparations, personnel decisions and policy deliberations of Donald Trump’s transition. POLITICO Pro subscribers receive a version of this newsletter first. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Eli | Email Lauren | Email Megan If President-elect DONALD TRUMP lives up to even just a fraction of the governing promises he made in rally speeches, cable news town halls and podcast interviews — then he’s headed for a very busy Jan. 20. Over the last year, he’s made a litany of pledges of what he would do on “Day One” or “Week One” if he returned to the Oval Office. The policies represent some of the most bumper sticker-ready campaign promises that spoke to his base — ending birthright citizenship or banning gender-affirming care for children — with many that would take more than one day (or mere executive action) to fulfill. The highest-profile policy area may be immigration. On Day One or Week One in the White House, Trump has promised to: sign an executive order to end automatic citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants born in the U.S.; sign a separate executive order ending “birth tourism”; and restore the travel ban on some Muslim-majority countries that he implemented in his first administration. As for education, he promised to sign a new executive order that would cut federal funding to any school “pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content onto our children” and he’s said he would end Title IX discrimination protections for transgender students. On energy, he said he would end offshore wind projects on Day One, kill the Biden administration’s “electric vehicle mandate” and approve a rash of new drilling and pipeline projects. His health care related promises include revoking JOE BIDEN's “cruel” gender-affirming care policies and signing an executive order “instructing every federal agency to cease the promotion of sex or gender transition at any age.” He’s vowed to shake up U.S. trade policy by implementing steep tariffs on Day One on goods from Canada, Mexico and China. And perhaps his most ambitious (and improbable) Day One commitment of all: to end the war between Russia and Ukraine “in 24 hours.” The list goes on. (Read more here.) That wildly ambitious Day One to-do list that almost certainly cannot be accomplished within 24 hours. But how the president chooses to spend their first few hours in office is often used as a messaging tool, meant to communicate their policy ambitions and priorities for the coming years. The wide range of issues on Trump’s plate underscore his determination to reverse as much of Biden's agenda as he can, and shake up the contours of the federal government. It’s also something Trump and his team have done before. In 2017, Trump arrived in the Oval Office intent on tearing apart as much of President BARACK OBAMA’s legacy as possible. There’s a history of presidents — including Trump — making Day One campaign promises, only to fall short when they actually come to office. Often, some of these commitments are more aspirational, meant to convey something about the candidate, than they are practical. But unlike 2017, his team is returning to Washington with a more sophisticated understanding of how to wield the levers of government. “It’s not like 2017, 2016 where he staged a hostile takeover of the Republican Party and didn’t have a team waiting to move in. He does. And so I expect they’re going to have a lot of this stuff written up and drafted and ready to print out as soon as they get the keys to the copier in the White House,” said MARK KRIKORIAN, executive director for the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that pushes for less legal immigration and stricter enforcement of immigration laws. “I wouldn’t set the stop clock for 24 hours, for 12 o'clock noon on Tuesday. But yeah, the first week, I think they’re going to be able to get a lot of this stuff they’ve talked about as day one stuff rolling.” Plus, there’s plenty that Trump can do by executive action when he takes office. His first executive action in 2017 was aimed at “minimizing the economic burden” of the Affordable Care Act, Obama’s signature policy accomplishment. The order didn’t actually do much but it signaled the administration’s ultimately failed goal of repealing the law. Trump in his first week also withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Obama negotiated with 11 other pacific nations. What a president says he is going to do the first time he sits down at the Resolute Desk means a lot. But Trump might also have a fairly generous definition of what counts as Day One. “Day 1 — which I will consider to be Monday as opposed to Friday or Saturday. Right?” Trump said in an interview with the Times of London ahead of his 2017 inauguration, which was on a Friday. “I mean my Day 1 is going to be Monday because I don’t want to be signing and get it mixed up with lots of celebration.” MESSAGE US — Are you DONALD TRUMP? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!
| | | | Want to know what's really happening with Congress's make-or-break spending fights? Get daily insider analysis of Hill negotiations, funding deadlines, and breaking developments—free in your inbox with Inside Congress. Subscribe now. | | | | | | | | | Which president granted the most pardons since the start of the 20th century? (Answer at bottom.)
| | FEMA critic Garret Graves is a contender to lead that agency under Trump, via our THOMAS FRANK Doug Burgum, according to his former employees, via our ROBIN BRAVENDER The economic clashes looming in Trump 2.0, via our SAM SUTTON Steelworkers chief renews call for Biden to block Nippon takeover of US Steel, via our DOUG PALMER The reporting in this section is exclusively available to POLITICO Pro subscribers. Pro is a personalized policy intelligence platform from POLITICO. If you are interested in learning more about how POLITICO Pro can support your team through the 2024 transition and beyond, visit politicopro.com. Heads up, we're all transition all the time over on our live blog: Inside Congress Live: Transition of Power. Bookmark politico.com/transition to keep up with us.
| | | BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: The Trump transition team on Tuesday entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Justice, paving the way for the FBI to begin background checks into the president-elect's nominees. “Ultimately, this will afford the transition process additional insights, and it facilitates our agency landing teams gaining access to the information they need to prepare for leadership of the federal agencies and departments,” incoming chief of staff SUSIE WILES wrote in a statement. OVER ON CAPITOL HILL TODAY … Trump’s Defense secretary selection, PETE HEGSETH, who has been the subject of a plethora of controversies, met with lawmakers, including Sens. TED BUDD (R-N.C.), JIM RISCH (R-Idaho) and ERIC SCHMITT (R-Mo.). As our JOE GOULD and CONNOR O’BRIEN report, Budd and Schmitt sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee that will handle the nomination and have both expressed support for Hegseth. But Risch, who will chair the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, hasn’t committed to supporting him. Hegseth had two Washington insiders at his side today during his meetings: ERIC UELAND, a former Senate aide who served as Trump’s legislative affairs director, and former Republican Sen. NORM COLEMAN, a lobbyist who represented Minnesota from 2003 to 2009. On Monday, the embattled Hegseth met with Sen. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-Ala.), as well as vocal defense hawk Sen. DAN SULLIVAN (R-Alaska). Late Monday, Hegseth also met with a group of roughly 10 Republican senators, accompanied by his wife. Also on Monday, attorney general pick PAM BONDI and U.N. ambassador choice Rep. ELISE STEFANIK (R-N.Y.) made the rounds on Capitol Hill. Former New York Rep. LEE ZELDIN — Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency — was also at the Capitol on Monday attempting to shore up his nomination. Zeldin met with Sen. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO (R-W.Va.), who will soon chair the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. DOESN’T SOUND LIKE THE MOST RESOUNDING ENDORSEMENT: MICHAEL BLOOMBERG on Tuesday slammed ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. as “beyond dangerous” if confirmed as Health and Human Services secretary, NYT’s SHERYL GAY STOLBERG reports. Bloomberg, speaking at the two-day Bloomberg American Health Summit in Washington, said it would be tantamount to “medical malpractice on a mass scale.” Bloomberg pointed to Kennedy discouraging measles vaccination during a 2019 outbreak on the island nation of Samoa, which killed 83 people. Bloomberg urged Senate Republicans to persuade Trump to “rethink” his choice of Kennedy to lead his administration’s health policies. BRING IN THE BILLIONAIRES: Trump has selected STEPHEN FEINBERG — a secretive billionaire financier with no experience in the Defense department — to be deputy Defense secretary, our PAUL McLEARY and JACK DETSCH report. Feinberg, who had a role on Trump's intelligence advisory board during his first term, is a major Trump donor. His selection could pose some conflicts of interest. He’s the CEO of the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, which has investments in military aircraft training and maintenance, and holds a majority stake in Navistar Defense, a manufacturer of military vehicles. Feinberg has yet to make a decision, though one person familiar said he is expected to accept.
| | | | A message from the Defense Credit Union Council and America’s Credit Unions: THE DURBIN-MARSHALL CREDIT CARD BILL WILL HARM MILITARY FAMILIES. The Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Bill puts military families at risk, raising banking costs and jeopardizing transaction security. This flawed proposal benefits corporate mega-stores while exploiting service members and veterans. DCUC and America’s Credit Unions stand firmly opposed—our military and their families deserve better. | | | | | THE PARDON BLUEPRINT: In the sweeping pardon of his son, HUNTER BIDEN, President Biden handed Trump a template to shield his own allies and stretch the pardon power even further, our KYLE CHENEY and BETSY WOODRUFF SWAN report. Legal experts say the president-elect now has fresh precedent and political cover to issue expansive pardons not only of specific crimes, but of any undetermined crimes they may have committed. The terms of Hunter Biden’s pardon — “full and unconditional” — are so unusual, and the process leading to it was so secretive, that the DOJ’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, which typically advises the president on clemency issues, was taken by surprise. In the final days of Trump’s first term, former Rep. MATT GAETZ (R-Fla.) requested a similar sweeping pardon. But top White House aides made it clear that was not on the table. IMMIGRANT GROUP PREPS FOR TRUMP: A top immigration advocacy group on Tuesday announced the launch of a new political arm to combat Trump's staunch anti-immigration agenda and help Democrats proactively message on an issue that has long crippled the party, Myah reports. With the latest move from Immigration Hub, a pro-immigration group that was born in 2017 in response to the president-elect’s first term, advocates plan to drive major political advertising campaigns to counter Trump’s policy plans, which include rapidly ramping up deportations. The group’s political arm, Catalyze/Citizens, will also work to expand Immigration Hub’s reach by countering disinformation about immigrants, including pushing for reforms to a liability shield that allows platforms to disseminate content without being held liable for it. A HEFTY FIRST SWING: Incoming Senate Majority Leader JOHN THUNE (R-S.D.) is pushing for two major partisan bills next term, including one within the first 30 days of Trump’s inauguration, he told Republican senators at a private conference meeting Tuesday, our URSULA PERANO reports. The first piece of legislation — which would pass under a process known as budget reconciliation that can bypass the Senate filibuster — would focus on the border, defense and energy. A subsequent package, also enacted through the fast-track process, would focus on taxes and other Trump administration priorities.
| | | | A message from the Defense Credit Union Council and America’s Credit Unions:   | | | | | Ken Martin, in DNC bid, calls for ‘massive narrative and branding project’ for Democrats (POLITICO’s Elena Schneider) ‘It’s a Sad Statement About Where We Are’: A Pardon Expert Explains Biden’s Decision to Pardon His Son (POLITICO’s Ian Ward) She met Hunter Biden One Night at a Club. Then She Fell in Love (NYT’s Joseph Bernstein)
| | | | A message from the Defense Credit Union Council and America’s Credit Unions: REJECT DURBIN-MARSHALL–PROTECT OUR MILITARY’S READINESS!
Credit card interchange fees, which fund essential security, fraud protection, and efficient transaction processes, are vital to the financial operations of defense credit unions. These fees support low-interest loans, financial counseling, and other critical services tailored specifically for military and veteran members. Reducing interchange fees could threaten the ability of defense credit unions to provide these resources, which are crucial for the financial readiness that directly affects the overall mission readiness for U.S. service members. DCUC and America’s Credit Unions strongly oppose this bill and urge action to safeguard those who serve. | | | | | Although FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT pardoned or granted commutations to the most people (2,819), his 12 years in office skews his number. Out of the presidents who served one or two terms, HARRY TRUMAN had the most pardons (1,913), according to Pew Research Center. Obama easily had the most commutations at 1,715, but only gave out 212 pardons. (The stats exclude mass pardons for draft dodging by JIMMY CARTER.) A CALL OUT! Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents, with a citation or sourcing, and we may feature it! Edited by Jennifer Haberkorn and Zach Montellaro.
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