![](https://img.semafor.com/7f2f5143ed7b8a30b30855b80aed703b8ec2f186-1140x533.png?w=1140&h=533&q=95&auto=format) Beltway NewslettersPunchbowl News: Both Democrats and Republicans are “hesitant” to release a framework for their deal before the Senate leaves for its Christmas break since that would give critics lots of time to “bludgeon” it. Playbook: The Biden campaign has compared Donald Trump’s rhetoric with Adolf Hitler’s four times in the last six weeks, most recently after the former president said immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country.” The Early 202: Democrats on the Congressional Hispanic Caucus are already gearing up to fight the unfinished border deal. They “will absolutely work to slow momentum on this and slow forward progress on this absent dramatic changes,” according to a person familiar with the conversations. Axios: Joe Biden is having some trouble accepting his age, and it’s frustrating staff, Axios reports. The president has a habit of tiring himself out with an overly demanding schedule, which can make him look weary in public. “He is his own worst enemy when it comes to his schedule,” a former Biden aide said. White House- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Israeli officials in Tel Aviv Monday to discuss how they could shift to a “more surgical” strategy in Gaza, as he put it at a joint press conference. According to the New York Times, the Biden administration wants Israel to “switch to the more precise tactics in about three weeks.”
- Austin’s Israeli counterpart, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, signaled that the IDF would eventually transition to more precise tactics without offering a specific timeline. “In every area where we achieve our mission we will be able to transition gradually to the next phase and start working on bringing back the local population,” he told the press conference, adding it may shift approaches sooner in Gaza’s heavily bombarded north than its south.
Congress- Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md. addressed reporters for the first time since firing a staffer who allegedly filmed a sex tape in a Senate hearing room. “I was angry, disappointed,” he said. “It’s a breach of trust. All of the above. It’s a tragic situation and it’s presented a lot of anger and frustration.”
- Comedian Ziwe and George Santos: The perfect marriage of interviewer and subject. In one meta moment, Ziwe discussed how difficult it was to make Santos “go away” even after his expulsion. “The lesson is to stop inviting you places,” she said. “But you can’t — because people want the content,” Santos (accurately) replied.
- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. posed with — and defended — Jacob Chansley, the infamous “QAnon Shaman” who was convicted, jailed, and apologized after storming the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Outside the BeltwayTexas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill allowing state authorities to arrest migrants who cross the border illegally — a direct challenge to legal precedents reserving those powers for the federal government. EconomyRussia’s central bank raised interest rates to 16% to combat inflation that’s been spurred by massive military spending and labor shortages from workers moving to the frontlines in Ukraine — or fleeing the country to avoid them. Courts Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS- The Supreme Court and former law clerks paid tribute to the late Justice Sandra Day O’Connor at the Capitol, where she lied in repose on Monday.
- Why have wealthy Republicans provided Clarence Thomas so many gifts over the years? Possibly just to keep him on the bench, a new Pro Publica scoop suggests. During the early 2000s, the Supreme Court Justice complained regularly about his salary and pushed to end the ban on members of the court giving paid speeches, at one point telling a Republican congressman that “one or more” members of the court would leave if their pay didn’t go up.
- The 11th Circuit rejected former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows’ effort to move his trial on election-related racketeering to federal court.
- A Florida man pleaded guilty on Monday to threatening to kill a Supreme Court Justice, according to the Justice Department.
- Google agreed to pay $700 million and give app developers more options to charge users directly in order to settle an antitrust suit brought by a group of state attorneys general.
PollsBiden hit yet another new polling low, this time a 34% approval rating in Monmouth’s latest survey. It could be worse, though: Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s approval rating is 6%, with 60% disapproving. 2024- The pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. is going up on the New Hampshire airwaves with an ad targeting Nikki Haley, the first time Trump allies have gone after the former South Carolina governor. (Haley’s response, via X: “#BringIt.”) — NBC News
- Top cryptocurrency boosters, including big firms like Andreessen Horowitz and big names like the Winklevoss twins, are pumping $78 million into a trio of super PACs aimed at boosting supportive candidates. — CNBC
- Trump’s allies are preparing to staff a second administration with loyalists more closely aligned with his “America First” agenda. Among the policy ideas being floated, per his former national security adviser Robert O’Brien: Tariffs on NATO countries who don’t spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense. — Reuters
Global- A candidate from the populist far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party was elected mayor in the eastern German town of Pirna on Sunday, the first time the party has won a mayoral election in a mid-sized town. The AfD has surged to second place nationally in the polls in recent months, polling above 20%, and Pirna is the latest in a string of local- and regional-level victories for the party.
- The U.S. outlined the creation of a 10-nation task force to protect ships traveling through the Red Sea, part of a crucial global shipping route, after increasing drone and missile attacks from Iran-backed Houthi fighters in Yemen forced many ships to divert around Africa.
Big ReadJeff Bezos and Amazon are placing a $10 billion bet on a space-based broadband service to rival Elon Musk’s Starlink, Bloomberg’s Matt Day reports, which is being built with help from Starlink engineers fired by Musk. The hope is that by going second, Amazon will be able to incorporate more cutting-edge technology that leapfrogs Starlink. And there’s another reason to think there may be demand for their services, Day writes: “Amazon is building an alternative to Musk’s service at a time when governments and corporations alike are looking for ways to reduce their reliance on the erratic and controversial businessman.” See The WorldIt’s not true — at least not that true — that Americans are insular. Nearly half the U.S. population now have passports, compared to just 5% in 1990, according to the State Department. The overall number of passports in circulation, 160 million, has doubled since 2007, with 24 million issued in the year to September, a record. BlindspotFor this week’s Blindspot, we’re doing a special look back at 2023, courtesy of Morning Consult’s annual Seen, Read, Heard report. The report asks Americans about the stories they followed in 2023 and looks at which news events had the biggest partisan gap when it came to who was paying attention. ![](https://img.semafor.com/8d7ed5d1216865a875efaa5798db1a86a1a2cce4-1106x650.png?w=1140&h=670&q=95&auto=format) What the Left wasn’t reading: About the conservative boycott of Bud Light after it sent transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney a personalized can. Republicans were more likely to say they’d heard “a lot” about the story by 15 percentage points. What the Right wasn’t reading: About the 84-year-old white homeowner in Kansas City, Mo. who shot a Black teenager who rang the wrong doorbell last April. By a margin of 25 percentage points, Democrats were more likely to say they’d heard “a lot” about it. Principals TeamEditors: Benjy Sarlin, Jordan Weissmann, Morgan Chalfant Editor-at-Large: Steve Clemons Reporters: Kadia Goba, Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel |