Homeland Security could see an influx of cash as Republicans pursue a sweeping border and immigration enforcement package. But first, you should know:
- Republican rabble-rouser Rand Paul has a new platform that could mean grief for the Senate GOP.
- Lobbyists are suiting up for the inauguration party circuit with an eye toward future business.
- Jack Smith says he could have convicted Trump of trying to overturn the 2020 election.
Border Wall, Agents, Tech Top GOP Wish List for Budget Bill
Congressional Republicans are pursuing a budget reconciliation package to address many longstanding border funding asks, while likely bypassing thornier policy changes they say are needed to overhaul the immigration system.
Early estimates of border funding needed have come in at $85 billion or higher.
The potential funding influx comes as Homeland Security officials have decried for years inadequate funding for infrastructure, technology, and personnel, with accounts caught in perennial appropriations battles and broader political debates even as border crossings surged during swaths of President Joe Biden’s term.
Many Democrats support increased funding for border-related expenses, but Republicans largely rebuffed Biden’s requests for emergency border cash, arguing his administration needed to focus on policy changes. Now many are eager to provide the funding as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to tighten border restrictions and conduct mass deportations.
While Republicans’ plans are evolving, Ellen M. Gilmer breaks down several key border and immigration funding items have emerged on the GOP’s to-do list. Read More
Read BGOV’s Congress Tracker for our breakdown of lawmakers’ agenda and the politics driving it.
Empowered Rand Paul has Major Say on Border
Iconoclastic libertarian Rand Paul is assuming chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, giving him significant say on border security — one of the central pillars of the incoming Trump administration.
But Paul (R-Ky.) is taking his own approach. In an interview with BGOV’s Ellen Gilmer, the senator emphasized the government oversight aspects of his job, and suggested no new laws are needed to tighten border controls, setting up some potential contrasts with fellow Republicans.
As Republicans walk a tightrope in both chambers to try to enact Donald Trump’s agenda, Paul’s unique approach — and willingness to cut against the grain — are dynamics to watch. Some of his priorities will likely conflict with those of other Republicans as the party stitches together legislation to tighten border laws and extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts.
Paul pushed back on some Republicans’ argument for new laws to make border policies more restrictive. Instead he plans to bring a Senate resolution asserting the president has all the authority needed under current law to drastically tighten border restrictions. “Many of us believe that there are enough existing powers because, frankly, Trump controlled it last time through existing powers,” Paul said. Read More
DOJ Report: Trump Would Have Been Convicted
There was enough evidence to convict Donald Trump of trying to overturn the 2020 election if he had not won a second term in November, Special Counsel Jack Smith said in a report to the DOJ released early Tuesday after extensive court wrangling to keep it under wraps.
The 137-page report includes new details of Trump’s efforts to convince then-Vice President Mike Pence to block certification of the electoral vote on Jan. 6, 2021, the day supporters rioted and stormed the Capitol.
Trump’s prosecution never came close to going to trial. Smith dropped both cases, citing DOJ policy that prohibits prosecution of a sitting president. Smith has resigned as special counsel and “separated” from the Justice Department.
The president-elect maintained his innocence while deriding Smith as a “a lamebrain prosecutor who was unable to get his case tried before the Election, which I won in a landslide.” Trump also complained about the report being released in the middle of the night. Read More
Lobbyists Suit Up for Inaugural Parties
Industries seeking to influence the incoming Trump administration will be out in force for upcoming inaugural events, Kate Ackley reports.
Lobbying firms, associations, and the corporations that fuel their business will host, sponsor, and partake in myriad festivities — from balls to in-office watch parties — over the coming week as the nation’s capital ushers in a second Trump era and GOP-controlled Congress.
“People are viewing it as one big party,” said GOP donor and lobbyist Ozzie Palomo, a founder of Chartwell Strategy Group, whose firm is co-hosting with Socko Strategies a late-night reception in Georgetown on Sunday. “Events like these bring everybody together,” Palomo added, and give a firm an opportunity to “showcase its skillset.”
What’s unusual this year is how even companies that clashed with Trump over the years are shelling out big bucks to mark his return. Companies or top executives, including Google, Amazon, Meta, and others lavished $1 million-plus contributions on the inaugural committee, according to news reports, but those disclosures won’t be made public until April, campaign finance lawyers and ethics advocates said.
Coinbase and the crypto advocacy group Stand With Crypto will sponsor a Crypto Inaugural Ball on Friday, while the Warehouse Party franchise will put on an Inauguration Edition. Longtime Warehouse headliner and former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) plans to attend and his firm, Squire Patton Boggs, is sponsoring, according to Dave Schnittger, a principal at the firm. Read More
The Trump Transition
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Members of President-elect
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Senator
Hegseth Reaped $6 Million in Two Years From Fox, Books, Speeches
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President-elect
Drugmakers Will Ask Trump to Pause Price Negotiations
Biden Banking Rules Hit With Lawsuits Even as GOP Eyes Rollbacks
Financial industry powerhouses are going full steam ahead in court fighting Biden administration banking rules, even as Republicans set for a power trifecta in Washington consider reversing the eleventh-hour rulemaking.
Justice Department Attorneys Vote to Unionize on Cusp of Trump
Civil rights and environmental trial attorneys have voted to form the Justice Department’s first two known unions of litigators, the labor group they’ve chosen to represent them said.
Harvard Hires Lobbying Firm Linked to Trump’s Chief of Staff
Harvard University has hired a lobbying firm linked to key advisers to President-elect
What Else We’re Reading
Texas Lawmaker Sees California Fire Aid Tied to Conditions
As deadly wildfires continue to rage in Los Angeles, a Republican congressman from Texas says federal lawmakers will consider tying relief funding for California to policy changes in the state.
Cleveland-Cliffs and Nucor Said to Mull Joint US Steel Bid
Biden Says US Is Stronger Now in His Foreign Policy Farewell
President
HHS, Labor Pull Plan to Require Contraceptives Without Copays
The Biden administration on Monday withdrew a proposed rule that would have required health insurers to cover certain over-the-counter contraceptive items without a prescription and without imposing cost-sharing requirements.
China Weighs Sale of TikTok US to Musk as a Possible Option
Chinese officials are evaluating a potential option that involves
Greenland Is Ready to Cooperate With Trump, Premier Says
Greenland’s prime minister said he will seek a closer relationship with the US, highlighting the Arctic island’s push for independence amid renewed interest from
Trump and Biden Say Israel, Hamas Near a Gaza Ceasefire Deal
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