Principals

1. Trump antitrust cop talking return
2. Trump’s team takes shape
3. The path for Trump’s noms
4. No oil boost: Exxon CEO
5. Biden’s dwindling foreign meetings
6. Possible new DNC chief emerges
7. Trump’s Washington

PDB: Melania’s helper

Congress returns … GOP on brink of House control … Judge to decide whether to throw out Trump’s hush money conviction

Trump team eyes ex-antitrust cop for FTC

Makan Delrahim, a top antitrust cop during Donald Trump’s first term, has talked to the transition team about leading the Federal Trade Commission, Semafor’s Liz Hoffman and Shelby Talcott report. It’s a lightning-rod post after current FTC Chair Lina Khan used the regulator to block mergers under an expansive view of anti-competitive behavior. Trump’s Wall Street and corporate backers want a freer hand for mergers, but Vice President-elect JD Vance represents a populist wing of the GOP that’s as skeptical of corporate consolidation as progressives. While leading the Department of Justice’s competition division, Delrahim sued to block AT&T’s takeover of Time Warner, a deal clouded by public pressure from Trump. Big Tech favors FTC Commissioner Melissa Holyoak, but those ties could hurt her among some conservative groups.

What Trump’s picks say about his agenda

Trump is empowering immigration hardliners, a China hawk, and a deregulation-minded former congressman with his latest batch of adviser picks. The president-elect tapped his former White House aide Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff and former acting ICE director Tom Homan as his “border czar,” charged with ramping up deportations of undocumented people. Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, a China hawk and former Green Beret, is expected to be Trump’s national security adviser. Meanwhile, ex-New York Rep. Lee Zeldin is Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency; if confirmed, Zeldin would champion a sweeping rollback of climate-related regulations. Trump is also expected to nominate Sen. Marco Rubio as his secretary of state, elevating another staunch China critic who will be easier for the Senate to confirm than his other finalist, Ric Grenell (it’s possible Trump could still change his mind).

Recess appointments won’t be the answer for Trump

Trump can try to browbeat the Senate into allowing recess appointments of his nominees and he might even succeed. Trump can even use his constitutional power to force Congress to adjourn and install his picks. But … it would probably be easier and more efficient for him to just use the regular confirmation process, Semafor’s Burgess Everett reports. Recess appointments are temporary and unpaid, and most importantly the Senate GOP can confirm anyone Trump wants with just 50 votes. Plus, Democrats could try and fight an effort to scrap the Senate’s short “pro forma” legislative sessions that block recess appointments. Of course, the Senate can basically do what it wants by changing the rules and precedent with 50 votes. But if Trump has 50 votes to do that, then it stands to reason he’d have 50 votes to confirm his preferred nominees, too.

Exxon CEO downplays Trump’s call for drilling

The CEO of ExxonMobil told Semafor the Trump administration shouldn’t scrap Biden-era regulations on methane emissions, and said that a near-term boost in US oil production wasn’t in the cards. Darren Woods was in Baku for the COP29 climate summit, where he aimed to convince world leaders that dropping fossil fuels isn’t necessary to meet global climate goals. In an interview, he said that the ever-shifting landscape of US environmental regulations makes it challenging to navigate the energy transition, but that ExxonMobil, the US’ largest oil company, is still pursuing new technologies like hydrogen to cut its operational carbon footprint. He said it has no plan to taper off oil drilling, but that the market is already well-supplied: “I don’t know that there’s an opportunity to unleash a lot of production in the near term.” In a separate interview with The Wall Street Journal, Woods added that the US shouldn’t drop out of the Paris Agreement, as Trump has promised to do.

World leaders bid farewell to Joe Biden

As foreign leaders hurriedly prepare for a new Trump White House, they’re also taking final meetings with the current occupant. Israeli President Isaac Herzog is coming today for a brief “courtesy meeting” with President Biden “to say thank you for years of working together” and express appreciation for Biden’s “commitment to Israel’s security,” an Israeli embassy spokeswoman told Semafor. The US is still holding out hope for a ceasefire deal in Gaza and will soon evaluate whether Israel took steps to boost humanitarian aid, topics that may come up. Biden is also holding a more formal meeting with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto today. Later this week, Biden travels to South America for his last APEC and G20 summits. The former promises a possible meeting between Biden and China’s Xi Jinping, which would likely be their last before the US president leaves office. Meanwhile, South Korea’s president started practicing golf for the first time since 2016, to prepare for meetings with Trump.

— Morgan Chalfant

Dems look to Minnesota as DNC race begins

Minnesota DFL chair Ken Martin has emerged as a top early contender to replace DNC chair Jaime Harrison, as state party leaders consider their post-Biden strategy. Martin, who’s led Minnesota Democrats since 2011, leads the Association of State Democratic Committees, and had been talking with other state chairs about how the party should change after this election for months. No one has moved on the job yet — Harrison hasn’t announced his widely expected departure — but there’s heavy interest in giving the job to a veteran of swing state grassroots politics. Some Democrats who are better known in DC have been floated for the job, including defeated Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, two-time Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

— David Weigel

Trump’s Washington: Mike Johnson

Every week until Inauguration Day, Semafor’s team will profile someone who will play an influential role for Donald Trump in his administration, on Capitol Hill, or on the outside.

House Speaker Mike Johnson hasn’t worked closely with Trump for as long as other congressional Republicans, but he’s now arguably the most critical player in Trump’s Hill agenda. During Johnson’s first year in power, he diverged from Trump on Ukraine funding and the budget. But the Louisianan has carefully managed the relationship; Trump has responded positively, throwing his support behind Johnson when his speakership was threatened. Now, the likelihood of another slim House GOP majority means Johnson will be coordinating extra-closely with the White House, and he’ll have to keep Trump as close as he can to avoid the sort of conservative rebellion that brought down his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy. He happens to also do a mean Trump impersonation, which he busted out on Fox News on Election Day.

— Kadia Goba

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: The race to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik as House GOP conference chair is on after Donald Trump said he would nominate the New York congresswoman as US ambassador to the UN. Reps. Kat Cammack, Lisa McClain, and Erin Houchin have all thrown their hats into the ring, and the House Freedom Caucus is trying to recruit one of its members to run.

Playbook: Trump’s early staff picks also show that “loyalty is the coin of the realm.”

WaPo: House Republicans are worried about Trump digging into what’s expected to be a razor-thin GOP majority with his appointments.

Axios: Scientists at federal health agencies are faced with a choice of whether to “stay and fight” or leave as a second Trump administration looms.

White House

• President Biden and Vice President Harris marked Veterans Day at Arlington National Cemetery, their first joint appearance since Harris lost the US presidential election.

Congress

• Republicans are discussing a short-term bill that would fund the federal government into March. — WaPo
• House Republican leaders will hold a press conference this morning at 10 a.m.

Transition

• Goldman Sachs veteran John F.W. Rogers will help Melania Trump staff up the East Wing, Semafor’s Liz Hoffman reported. Rogers’ role is expected to be temporary, but he also has his eye on an ambassadorship.
• Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., took himself out of the running to be Donald Trump’s attorney general, Semafor’s Burgess Everett reported.
• Trump plans to nominate South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. — CNN
• Trump is planning to sign a series of executive orders on his first day in office, Susie Wiles told Republican donors. — NYT

Results

• Democrat Ruben Gallego defeated Republican Kari Lake in the Arizona US Senate race.
• Democrat George Whitesides defeated Republican incumbent Rep. Mike Garcia in California’s 27th Congressional District in northern Los Angeles County.

Economy

• Bitcoin hit another record.

Business

• Donald Trump Jr. is joining a venture capital firm.

Courts

• Career Justice Department attorneys fearful of what Donald Trump’s presidency will bring are considering leaving government. — Politico

Foreign Policy

• Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba survived a leadership vote, after his ruling coalition lost its majority last month in a snap election.
• Israeli President Isaac Herzog is expected to meet with Rep. Elise Stefanik, Donald Trump’s pick to serve as US ambassador to the UN, today. — Times of Israel

Technology

• The US government ordered TSMC to stop sending certain advanced semiconductors to customers in China. — Reuters
• TikTok executives pushed for a “major shift in the app’s content moderation principals” to make it more appealing for conservatives a year before Donald Trump was reelected. — The Information

Media

• Chris Wallace is leaving CNN and will focus on streaming or podcasting. — Daily Beast
• A top executive at Google News who served as the company’s liaison to publishers resigned. — WSJ
• The union representing tech workers at The New York Times ended its weeklong strike without a deal.

Blindspot

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer isn’t letting David McCormick participate in Senate orientation this week, despite the Associated Press projecting him as the winner of the Pennsylvania Senate race against Democratic incumbent Bob Casey.

What the Right isn’t reading: A study found a surge in harassment against women online following Donald Trump’s election win.

Principals Team

Editors: Benjy Sarlin, Elana Schor, Morgan Chalfant

Reporters: Burgess Everett, Kadia Goba, Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel

Meridith McGraw is a national political correspondent at Politico and the author of Trump in Exile.

Donald Trump’s victory reflects how legacy media is more limited in its reach and influence than ever, Semafor’s Max Tani wrote, after Democratic Sen. John Fetterman told him why he chose to appear on Joe Rogan’s popular podcast. “Critical political media coverage simply did not resonate with a large swath of the electorate,” Tani noted.