The senator that could sail or sink Donald Trump’s pick to run the Pentagon is giving him another shot. But first, you should know:
- Lawmakers released the annual defense policy bill that’s expected to get a House vote this week.
- Trump’s crypto-AI czar is more of a regulation fighter than a big industry player.
- Apprentice-style firings by Trump could mean big consequences for the administrative state.
Ernst to Meet Hegseth with Trump Insistent
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst said she’ll meet with Donald Trump’s Defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth again this week and “that he deserves the opportunity to lay out his vision for our warfighters at a fair hearing.”
Trump Insistent: Ernst (Iowa) made the announcement in a Friday post on X — hours after Trump reaffirmed his support. Not long after, Hegseth said on X, “I just had another substantive conversation with Senator Ernst, I appreciate her sincere commitment to defense policy, and I look forward to meeting with her again next week.”
Ernst’s announcement follows a tumultuous week for Hegseth, after more allegations of sexual misconduct, alcohol abuse and mismanagement of two veterans organizations — and with the president-elect’s team examining alternative candidates for the position.
Ernst, a combat veteran and rape survivor who is a powerful voice on military matters in the Senate, wrote that she and Hegseth would “continue our constructive conversations as we move forward together in this process,” and that she looked forward to having him vetted. Read More
- Trump said in an interview Friday he’s confident Hegseth can secure Senate confirmation and his team is working to advance it. Read More
Read BGOV’s Congress Tracker for our breakdown of lawmakers’ agenda and the politics driving it.
Defense Bill Keeps Abortion Travel Policy
The Pentagon would keep its policy allowing troops to travel to obtain an abortion, but gender-affirming care for troops and their children would be restricted under a compromise defense authorization measure out Saturday, Roxana Tiron reports.
- Rep. Adam Smith (Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee decried as the gender-affirming care restriction as “partisan.” and urged Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to let the massive defense authorization bill proceed without the provision.
- Democratic votes for the must-pass measure hinge on whether the provision is stripped from the bill. Otherwise, Republicans would have to provide all the votes to pass the traditionally bipartisan measure, and that would prove a hard proposition given the margins in the House.
The $883.7 billion spending authorization in the legislation is within the funding caps in last year’s debt-limit deal, with $850 billion of it going to the Pentagon. The massive measure would authorize a 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted troops and a 4.5% raise for the rest of the military.
House lawmakers plan to vote this week on the bill. Senate negotiators tried to add $25 billion to the legislation, but any move to increase spending faced significant opposition from House Republicans. Read More
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X’s Yaccarino Praises Child Safety Bill Deal, Urges Passage
Key senators reached an agreement with Elon Musk’s social media platform X on how to word changes to a bipartisan children’s online safety bill, X chief executive Linda Yaccarino said.
The Senate easily passed the Kids Online Safety Act this summer, but House Republicans have stalled the legislation amid criticism from tech companies that it could censor conservative content.
- “After working with the bill authors, I’m proud to share that we’ve made progress to further protect freedom of speech while maintaining safety for minors online,” Yaccarino said in a post on X this weekend, urging the House to pass the measure before the end of the year.
Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) led the effort to broker the agreement, the lawmakers said in a joint statement.
If passed by the House, the Senate-approved legislation would break Congress’ recent trend of unsuccessful pushes to regulate Big Tech. President Joe Biden previously said he would sign the bill into law. Read More
Trump’s Crypto Czar Opposes Tech Regulation
Donald Trump’s crypto-AI czar pick David Sacks has a tech-friendly worldview and a long history of skepticism about government regulation.
He’s only made a handful of crypto investments, and isn’t seen as a key player in the industry. But Sacks has long been critical of too much government involvement in the affairs of private companies. The 52-year-old founder of VC firm Craft Ventures and member of the so-called PayPal Mafia has been one of the loudest right-leaning voices in the industry for years.
The pick is seen as a boon to the startup world, where AI and crypto executives view government intervention as a potential threat. US action against crypto companies drove many startups overseas. And AI leaders worry overly burdensome regulations could stifle the fledgling industry in the name of safety.
Crypto supporters celebrated the selection, which Trump said would give startups regulatory clarity. “Crypto and AI are two of the United States’ most pressing strategic priorities right now, and David Sacks is one of the only people in the world that is uniquely qualified to lead in this pivotal role,” said Kyle Samani, a managing partner at Multicoin Capital, where Sacks is an investor. Read More
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