[guest post by Dana]

Let’s go!

First news item

President-elect Donald Trump makes a joke floats a trial ballon:

President-elect Trump floated the prospect of seeking a third term in an apparent joke to House Republicans on Wednesday as they met ahead of internal leadership elections.

“I suspect I won’t be running again, unless you do something,” Trump said, according to pool reports and audio shared with The Hill. “Unless you say, ‘He’s so good, we have to just figure it out.’”

Raise your hand if you think he’s just joking.

Obviously the Constitution prohibits anyone being elected to the office of the President more than twice, yet Trump is not known for his respect or adherence to the Constitution. When he has his hands on the levers of power and Republicans control the House and Senate, I’m just saying, it would be foolish to assume this is only a joke.

Second news item

Ed Whelan’s warning about Trump and recess appointments:

President-elect Donald Trump is threatening to turn the Constitution’s appointment process for Cabinet officers on its head. If what I’m hearing through the conservative legal grapevine is correct, he might resort to a cockamamie scheme that would require House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) to play a critical role. Johnson can and should immediately put an end to this scheme.

. . .

It appears that the Trump team is working on a scheme to allow Trump to recess-appoint his Cabinet officers. This scheme would exploit an obscure and never-before-used provision of the Constitution (part of Article II, Section 3) stating that “in Case of Disagreement” between the houses of Congress, “with Respect to the Time of Adjournment,” the president “may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper.”

Third news item

Republican members want to see the details of the the House Ethics investigation into Matt Gaetz:

Republican senators are preparing for a robust vetting of Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department, with a keen interest in details from a House Ethics Committee investigation into the former congressman from Florida.

The ethics panel has been investigating Gaetz off and on since 2021, most recently focusing on alleged sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, accepting improper gifts, obstruction and other allegations. But the results of that probe may not become public because Gaetz resigned from the House at noon on Thursday. The Ethics Committee has jurisdiction only over sitting House members.

. . .

Many Republican senators, including members of the GOP-led Judiciary Committee that will oversee Gaetz’s nomination for attorney general, said they’ll want to see the details of the House Ethics investigation into Gaetz.

There’s a lot of talk from Republicans that Gaetz is not a good candidate for attorney general, but I’m laying down a marker here: Gaetz will still be approved because Republicans are not willing to go against Trump. My goodness, they were afraid to go against him when he wasn’t in office, how much less willing will they be now that he is in power. As reported this morning, and for example:

“It’s a given Trump’s going to beat us into submission,” said one House Republican.

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The soon-to-be president, who vowed to shake up Washington, this week tapped several highly unconventional candidates for his Cabinet, pressured Senate leadership candidates to back his plans for recess appointments, and is pushing lawmakers to back policy positions that violate traditional Republican orthodoxy, such as tariffs.

Early signs point to a House and Senate largely unwilling to buck his will, at least publicly.

And yet behind closed doors:

One person familiar with the conversations among Republican senators said “significantly more than four” of them are opposed, which would be enough to tank Gaetz’s chances. “People are pissed,” the person said.

Other estimates ranged from more than a dozen Republican “no” votes to more than 30. “It won’t even be close,” another person said.

P.S. Also announced this morning:

The House Ethics Committee won’t be meeting after all on Friday as pressure builds to release the findings of its report on Rep. Matt Gaetz.

Anticipation was high for the closed-door meeting after Donald Trump announced he was picking the Florida member of Congress to be attorney general. . .

No reason was given for the “abrupt” cancellation.

Ah, okay, here we go:

House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Friday that he does not think a House Ethics Committee report on allegations related to Matt Gaetz should be released and is “going to strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report.”

Johnson called on the ethics panel to withhold the report shortly after returning from visiting with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday, and said he plans to speak with the panel’s chairman, GOP Rep. Michael Guest. . .

“I’m going to strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report because that is not the way we do things in the House, and I think that would be a terrible precedent to set,” Johnson told reporters on Friday.

Raise your hand if you are surprised.

Fourth news item

How is this *not* seriously problematic:

The Times—citing two unnamed Iranian officials—reported Musk met with the ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, for more than an hour at a secret location in New York on Monday.

The two Iranian officials said Musk and Iravani discussed how to defuse tensions between the U.S. and Iran and that the meeting was “positive” and “good news.”

Since Trump became the president-elect last week, Musk—who was one of Trump’s most prolific supporters, donating more than $118 million toward Trump election efforts after endorsing him in July—reportedly has taken on a significant role in Cabinet appointments and conversations with other world leaders.

A civilian meeting with a member of a terrorist state? What’s the problem, eh?

Have a good weekend.

—Dana