Good afternoon from Capitol Hill,
There’s a lot to cover this week. President-elect Trump’s cabinet is now complete with the nominations of new appointees to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Scott Turner; Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins; Secretary of Treasury, Scott Bessent; Head of the Office of Management and Budget; and Secretary of Labor, Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration for the attorney general position and also announced he won’t be returning to Congress. Pam Bondi, a lawyer with a long track record as a prosecutor and former Florida Attorney General, was quickly named as the new DOJ nominee. Bondi endorsed Trump in 2016 and has represented him in court, most notably during his first impeachment trial.
In the Senate, Senator Chuck Schumer made judicial nominations his priority and spent the week forcing votes on as many liberal judges as possible in the few remaining session weeks of the year, and was on track to surpass the 234 Article II judges President Trump appointed during his first term in office. Votes on Wednesday night went into the early hours of Thursday morning, and Schumer confirmed multiple controversial judges, including Embry Kidd and Mustafa Kasubhai, both of whom were rejected by Senate Republicans earlier this year due to their controversial views.
Kidd had six of his decisions reversed where he was lenient toward child sex offenders, two of which he failed to disclose to the Senate Judiciary Committee in his nominee questionnaire. Kasubhai required everyone to use preferred pronouns in his courtroom and shared in his Oregon State Bar interview that “We have to set aside conventional ideas of proof when we are dealing with the interpersonal work of equity, diversity, and inclusion.”
In response, Senator Mike Lee and conservative senators worked with the incoming Majority Leader, Senator John Thune, to drastically slow down the confirmation process using procedural hurdles. Democrats, eager to push through as many judges as they could and fearful that moderates like Senator Krysten Sinema and Senator Joe Manchin would become wary of pushing through such extreme ideologues, agreed to give President Trump four circuit judge appointments in exchange for allowing the consideration of seven district court judges the week following Thanksgiving.
Senate leadership posts also were formalized. Conservative stalwart Sen. Mike Lee was selected to serve as Chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Sen. Lee said it’s “time to get to work and unleash American energy.” Other notable Senate chairmanships include Sen. Susan Collins as head of the powerful Appropriations Committee, Sen. Ted Cruz to the Commerce Committee, Sen. Rand Paul to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and Sen. Tim Scott to the Senate Banking Committee.
In the House, Republicans held elections for the steering committee, which selects committee assignments and committee rosters for the forthcoming 119th Congress. The committee is comprised of party leaders, committee leaders and regional representatives. Each of the 20 regions elects a representative who advocates for their respective needs on the committee. Rep. Julia Letlow beat Rep. French Hill from Arkansas in their regional elections, making Louisiana an incredible power broker, now having another vote in addition to Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise. When the panel meets in January, Louisiana will have a total of seven votes.
Rep. Sarah McBride, a biological man, was barred from using the women’s bathroom after Reps. Nancy Mace and Marjorie Taylor Greene voiced their concerns about allowing transgender men in women’s bathrooms. Speaker Johnson released a clarifying statement on the situation, stating that “all single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings—such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms—are reserved for individuals of that biological sex” and that “women deserve women’s only spaces.”
The Latest from the Conservative Movement
One More Thing
Russ Vought, who will be returning to head OMB, on the Tucker Carlson Show
Bellator awards
CPI held it’s Second Annual Bellator Awards event at the Intercontinental at the Wharf last week, celebrating its new class of fellows and recognizing Billy Gribbin, Sr., Andrea Loving, and Nate Madden for the incredible work as conservative hill staff.