Welcome to the online edition of From the Politics Desk, our evening newsletter that brings you the latest reporting and analysis from the NBC News political team from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.
It was another busy day at the U.S. Capitol, with long confirmation hearings for candidates for the next Trump administration. Jonathan Allen organizes it all and provides the key points. Additionally, Andrea Mitchell looks back at the long road to the Gaza ceasefire and the roles played by the outgoing and incoming presidents.
— Adam Wollner
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Pam Bondi takes her turn in the hot seat during a crowded day of confirmation hearings
Six of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees held Senate confirmation hearings Wednesday, previewing the parade of policies and political battles that will define his second term.
The person who received the most attention was former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, whom President Trump nominated to be the next U.S. attorney general. As Ben Kamisar and Ryan J. Reilly report in their recap of the day on Capitol Hill, the question of whether she will stand up to the president who ousted two of her previous appointees as attorney general was facing.
Courtesy of Jonathan Allen, here are key takeaways from Bondi’s hearing and a series of hearings for other Cabinet nominees that have appeared before senators.
Bondi won’t say Trump lost in 2020: In response to a question from Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Bondi said Trump won’t lose in 2020. He vehemently refused to admit that he lost the 2020 election fairly and squarely.
“President Biden is the president of the United States. He has officially been sworn in and becomes the president of the United States,” Bondi said. “There was a peaceful transition of power. President Trump left office and was elected with an overwhelming majority in 2024.”
Mr. Durbin, the committee’s top Democrat, noted that Mr. Bondi did not give a yes or no answer.
Bondi then refused to retract his previous statement that Trump won Pennsylvania in 2020, pushing back against Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), who interrupted him.
“I’m not going to be bullied by you,” she told Padilla.
Democrats slam Bondy over Trump and Kash Patel’s influence: Bondy told Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse that he is a political rival despite Trump’s frequent calls for investigations and prosecutions of his rivals. He said he had no intention of using his attorney general’s powers to target the United States. .
“There will never be an enemy list within the Department of Justice,” Bondi said.
Last month, Trump told “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker that deciding who to investigate and indict would be up to Bondi and his pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel. He said he would be entrusted with it.
Patel said judges, lawyers and journalists should be indicted on charges deemed unfair in pursuing investigations into Trump after the 2020 election. Bondi defended Patel to some extent.
“I don’t think he has an enemy list right now,” Bondi said, adding, “Kash is the right person for the job at this point.”
But she told senators they needed to ask Patel directly about promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory.
No one was going to ruin his chances of approval. In addition to Mr. Bondi, the following candidates also attended the hearing: Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Sean Duffy, Secretary of Transportation; John Ratcliffe as CIA Director. Chris Wright, Secretary of Energy; Russell Vought has been appointed Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Bottom line: No one seems to have said anything that would cost him support from the Republican Party, which suggests a smooth road ahead.
Read more takeaways from today’s hearing →
Biden and Trump seek trust after long road to Gaza ceasefire deal
andrea mitchell
After 15 months of fruitless negotiations, a cease-fire and hostage agreement was finally reached in Gaza, with two American presidents receiving credit – one on his way out, the other on his way back.
Even before President Joe Biden announced the deal, President-elect Donald Trump said in part that “this EPIC ceasefire could only have happened as a result of November’s historic victory.” The agreement was declared at Truth Social before issuing a lengthy statement. “We accomplished a lot without being in the White House.”
An hour and a half later, Biden said from the White House: “While this agreement was developed and negotiated under my administration, most of its terms will be implemented by the next administration, and in recent days we have been talking as one team. ”
Asked what he thought of the Trump campaign, he said: “I told my team to work closely with the incoming team to make sure we’re all speaking with the same voice.” That’s the job of the president of the United States.”
But collaboration can only go so far, it seems. As Biden left, a reporter shouted: You or Trump? ” Biden stopped, turned around, and laughed. “Are you kidding me?” and left.
Indeed, President Trump repeatedly threatened Hamas with a “hell of hell” if it did not reach an agreement before he took office, pressuring Hamas to compromise.
The warning put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to complete the deal. Negotiators also praised President Trump’s envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, for resolving last-minute impasses in recent days.
It was a dramatic ending. U.S., Israeli and Qatari negotiators in Doha, Qatar, and a Hamas team downstairs in the same building thought they had finally struck a deal at 3 a.m. Wednesday, a senior government official said. But a few hours later, Hamas issued new demands. After further haggling, they withdrew and the matter ended.
Negotiations nearly collapsed on July 31 when Israel expelled Hamas negotiator Ismail Haniyeh while in Tehran. A month later, on August 31st, American hostage Hersh Goldberg and five others were killed in the Rafah tunnels, and negotiations came to a complete halt.
The balance of power in the region has since changed. Israel countered Iranian missile attacks and destroyed its air defenses. Israel then killed Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon, resulting in a US-negotiated ceasefire in Lebanon. Finally, with the fall of the neighboring Bashar al-Assad regime, Iran lost another key ally, Syria. With Iran significantly weakened, Hamas became more willing to compromise.
All of this involved 15 months of intensive, non-stop negotiations by White House Special Envoy Brett McGuirk, 19 visits by CIA Director William Burns, and 13 visits by Secretary of State Antony Blinken (each with multiple This would not have been possible without the visit to the country. And McGuirk is now on his way to Cairo to carry out the deal and begin ensuring the return of the hostages. It doesn’t matter who gets the credit.
🗞️ Today’s Top News
👋 Goodbye, goodbye: Biden is scheduled to deliver a farewell speech in the Oval Office on Wednesday evening. Continue reading → 🏃 He’s running: Bernie Sanders’ former campaign manager Faiz Shakir is in a last-minute bid to lead the Democratic National Committee. Continue reading → ⬅️ Out of office: Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has informed Representative Mike Turner (R-Ohio) that he will resign as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Continue reading → 🔴 Successor: Vivek Ramaswamy is in talks to fill Vice President-elect J.D. Vance’s seat in the Ohio Senate. The development is a reversal for Ramaswamy, who said in November that he would be removed as a candidate for the Senate seat because he works alongside Elon Musk in President Trump’s Office of Government Efficiency. was. Continue reading → 📚 Next on my reading list: Vice President Kamala Harris is considering her next step and is considering writing a book. Continue reading → ➡️ Job openings: A key position in the incoming Trump administration remains unanswered: Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Department of Emergency Management, is at the top of the list of candidates. Read more → 🇲🇽 Tariffs: President Trump’s plan to impose high tariffs on imports from China could have the unintended consequence of boosting manufacturing in Mexico. Continue reading → ⚖️ In court: The Supreme Court heard a challenge to a Texas law aimed at banning young people from accessing pornographic content online. Continue reading → 👀 “If you want to take it outside…”: Rep. Nancy Mace (RS.C.) and Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) get into a heated argument during a House hearing, with Mace turning to Crockett It culminated in a dissent. By asking if they would like to “take it outside.” Read more →
That’s all from the political desk for now. Today’s newsletter was edited by Adam Wolner and Ben Kamisar.
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