Principals

1. Dems cheer Hunter Biden pardon
2. FBI pick challenge
3. Trump’s Africa policy
4. US watches Syria
5. Dem leadership elections
6. Trump’s Washington
7. DNC chair race

PDB: Trump taps in-laws for administration posts

California’s special session begins … NYT: Biden echoes Trump in pardon move… WSJ: US-China tensions cause Navy to speed missile reloading at sea

Democrats shrug off ‘fake outrage’ to laud Hunter Biden pardon

President Biden’s decision to reverse himself and pardon his son Hunter weeks before he leaves office is drawing conspicuous praise from fellow Democrats. “If he hadn’t, I would have told him to do so. In the words of Lizzo, it’s about damn time,” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., told Semafor. Democrats repeatedly criticized Republicans’ investigations into Hunter Biden’s finances and business dealings — now that Donald Trump is in power, many of them saw no reason for Biden to shrink from a Trumpian use of the pardon power. “Trump not only pardoned Charles Kushner — he made him a fucking Ambassador to France!!! Spare me the fake outrage folks,” another Democratic House member said. Republicans still charged the outgoing president with an overreach. “This is an outrageous abuse of the rule of law,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said in a post on X.

— Kadia Goba and Dave Weigel

Senate faces Patel vote

Donald Trump’s choice of staunch FBI critic Kash Patel to lead the bureau creates another confirmation challenge for his administration. The selection drew conservative plaudits inside and outside Washington (“Very strong,” said Sen. Ted Cruz), and several other Republican lawmakers fell in line after the weekend announcement. Patel’s ascension is a win for Trump’s MAGA base, where many leading voices (like Donald Trump Jr.) pushed for the appointment and want to see a major, politically inclined shakeup at the bureau. But confirming him is going to take work. In interviews earlier this fall, Republican senators warned that FBI Director Christopher Wray’s term doesn’t expire until 2027 – and several had favored former Rep. Mike Rogers to replace him, not Patel. “Normally, these [appointments] are for a 10-year term,” Sen. Mike Rounds said on ABC’s This Week, adding that he had no issues with Wray.

— Burgess Everett and Shelby Talcott

Angola readies for the Trump era

Biden’s arrival in Angola’s capital, Luanda, today will be the culmination of several years of focus and millions in lobbying fees in the US by the Angolans, Semafor’s Yinka Adegoke writes. The big question now is whether Angolan President João Lourenço’s government will face backlash with an unpredictable Trump in the White House. At stake is the US-backed Lobito Corridor project, which includes building and revamping railways from Angola’s western Lobito port through to critical mineral hubs in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Trump is unlikely to fundamentally shift the US position on the Lobito Corridor from the Biden administration, Yinka writes, but his advisers will probably cast the project more explicitly as an anti-China initiative.

What a weakened Assad means for US

The regime of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad suffered a swift, stunning blow as rebel forces stormed Aleppo. While the US is no fan of Assad, the situation poses a fresh challenge for Washington. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan noted that the US considers the rebel group leading the effort a terrorist organization. “We have real concerns about the designs and objectives of that organization,” he said on CNN. Steven Cook, a Middle East expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, observed that a collapse of the Syrian government could lead to a resurgence of extremism in the country. “The 900 US soldiers in Syria are there to help the [Syrian Democratic Forces] contain ISIS, but there is a possibility that this mission may become more urgent,” he told Semafor. Meanwhile, Trump is widely expected to reprise efforts to withdraw US forces from Syria.

— Morgan Chalfant

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Democrats’ leadership scramble

Senate Democrats will iron out their leadership team on Tuesday morning, with some intrigue stemming from the retirement of Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the current No. 3 leader and chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. Sen. Cory Booker, a member of Chuck Schumer’s extended leadership team, is interested in the vacancy at the DPCC and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the No. 4 Democrat, may also be in line for a promotion. We’re told that Schumer and his team might be able to work out the musical chairs without the drama of a contested election, however, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, House Democrats are seeing their own leadership churn this month, with potential challenges to three top committee leaders: Jerry Nadler on the Judiciary Committee, David Scott on the Agriculture Committee and Raúl Grijalva on the Natural Resources Committee.

— Burgess Everett

Trump’s Washington: Elbridge Colby

Elbridge Colby is among the top foreign policy thinkers on the Trump-era right. A former Pentagon official in Trump’s first administration, Colby is a prolific media presence, sharing his argument for why the US needs to focus on threats from China rather than the land war in Europe. He is a member of JD Vance’s circle and is a rumored candidate for several administration positions, including the vice president-elect’s national security adviser (special envoy for Ukraine, another post he was talked about for, went to retired Gen. Keith Kellogg). Overseas, officials look to Colby as an emissary of the Trump foreign policy doctrine. He took part in a European Union event on the sidelines of the GOP convention, and his name came up multiple times among Japanese officials during a reporting trip to Tokyo earlier this year.

— Morgan Chalfant

DNC chair race heats up

Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler joined the race to lead the DNC on Sunday, promising a “permanent nationwide campaign” to win back power. In an interview with Semafor, Wikler said that inflation was the chief reason for Democrats’ losses last month and that the party needed to reestablish itself as a voice for working people as it competed in “state by state, low-profile battles that have enormous long-term consequences.” Wikler is the fourth candidate to officially hop in the race to replace retiring chair Jaime Harrison, joining Minnesota DFL chair Ken Martin, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, and New York State Sen. James Skoufis. Wisconsin’s congressional delegation quickly endorsed Wikler on Sunday. This weekend’s meeting of the Association of State Democratic Committees will be the first chance for candidates to meet with a mass of DNC members in person.

— David Weigel

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: House Republican leaders are planning to attach a one-year extension of the farm bill to a short-term bill to fund the government, drawing ire from Republican governors, who wrote to leadership today pushing back against the idea.

Playbook: President Biden discussed the possibility of pardoning his son Hunter Biden with his family over the long weekend in Nantucket, and his senior staff received word late Saturday that a pardon could be coming. Biden made a final decision yesterday.

WaPo: Mehmet Oz’s previous promotion of the anti-obesity drug Ozempic could present a hurdle in his confirmation battle to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Axios: Biden offered a broad pardon to his son to “lighten” the guilt he has felt for years regarding the investigations and convictions facing Hunter.

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: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are meeting with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week to discuss regulatory reform and government spending cuts.

What the Right isn’t reading: Donald Trump’s former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb warned that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s policies could “cost lives” if he is confirmed to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

White House

• President Biden met with Cabo Verde Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva this morning, before traveling on to Angola and greeting staff and families at the US embassy in Luanda.

Congress

• House Speaker Mike Johnson condemned bomb threats that targeted Democrats over the Thanksgiving holiday.
• Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., warned against doing away with the Inflation Reduction Act. — WSJ

Transition

• Donald Trump tapped his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s father, Charles Kushner, to be US ambassador to France, and also named businessman Massad Boulos, whose son is married to Trump’s daughter Tiffany, as his Middle East adviser.
• Trump has told people he didn’t choose Robert Lighthizer for a Cabinet position because he is “too scared” to take big risks. — Axios
• Trump selected a longtime Florida sheriff to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Economy

• Donald Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on BRICS member countries who move away from the dollar, raising fears of a multi-front trade war.

Business

• Corporate America executives are stepping up their outreach to Donald Trump and his allies and even investing in the Trump-backed cryptocurrency project to get in the incoming president’s good graces. — WSJ
• Stellantis chief executive Carlos Tavares resigned over a disagreement with the automaker’s board over reversing falling sales and its dropping stock price.

Foreign Policy

• Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the country will step up border security “in a visible and muscular way” after meeting with Donald Trump in Florida on Friday.

• Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te stopped in Hawaii as part of a broader Pacific trip, drawing China’s ire.

Technology

• The US will restrict the exports of chips to 140 manufacturers, its third crackdown in as many years on the Chinese semiconductor sector. — Reuters
• BYD, China’s largest EV maker and Tesla’s biggest rival, assembles more than 30% of Apple’s tablets. — WSJ

Principals Team

• Editors: Benjy Sarlin, Elana Schor, Morgan Chalfant
• Reporters: Burgess Everett, Kadia Goba, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel

Yinka Adegoke is the editor of Semafor Africa.

It’s open season for media companies big and small next year. Media insiders expect investment and dealmaking to whir back to life, Semafor’s Max Tani reported.

Max broke down what the landscape for consolidation looks like in big media, news, and audio.