| | | | |  | | By Kimberly Leonard | | Presented by |  | | | |  President-elect Donald Trump | Sarah Meyssonnier/AP | Good morning and welcome to Monday. Past feuds and grudges may not end up mattering as to whether Gov. RON DESANTIS gets the nod to lead the Pentagon. That’s because as of this morning, former Army National Guard major, combat veteran and former Fox News host PETE HEGSETH is still President-elect DONALD TRUMP’s pick to be secretary of Defense. And Hegseth has shown no sign that he’ll back down from fighting the allegations against him that he says are false, including anonymous leaks about drinking on the job and sexual assault. Trump and his allies waded into the fight over the weekend. Trump defended Hegseth on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” saying he still had confidence in his nomination and calling him a “very smart guy.” He’d already doubled down on Truth Social ahead of the weekend, declaring Hegseth a “winner.” Asked on “Meet the Press” whether he was worried about Hegseth’s drinking, Trump replied: “I've spoken to people who know him very well, and they say he does not have a drinking problem.” (Several Fox News colleagues have publicly defended Hegseth, saying they didn’t see any such instances. And Hegseth also denies the allegations of assault from 2017, where he was never charged and maintained the encounter was consensual.) On top of that, our POLITICO Playbook colleagues in Washington reported that MIKE DAVIS, a former Senate Republican aide and ally of the president-elect who leads the Article III Project, is threatening to hire private eyes to look into senators who don’t commit to confirming Hegseth and seeing what dirty laundry can be dug up about them. So far, no Republican senator has said he or she is opposed to the nomination, and Hegseth can afford to lose support from three lawmakers — assuming a tie-breaking vote from Vice President-elect JD VANCE — to get confirmed. Sen. JONI ERNST (R-Iowa), who is one of the most-watched people in the confirmation process, said she’ll meet with Hegseth again this week. “At a minimum, we agree that [Hegseth] deserves the opportunity to lay out his vision for our warfighters at a fair hearing,” she said in a post on X. One advantage DeSantis would have in a secretary of Defense nomination process is that he already faced deep vetting by the media and rivals when he ran for president. Though of course, if nominated, he would face additional scrutiny of his proposals for the military, as well as his time in the Navy. But he may never get to that point — or face MAGA backlash — depending how resolute Hegseth is and whether he can win over senators. Regardless of how this week goes for Hegseth, all eyes will be on Trump and DeSantis this Saturday, given that they’re both set to attend the Army-Navy football game. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget that Playbook should look at? Get in touch at: kleonard@politico.com.
| | | | A message from Instagram: Instagram Teen Accounts: automatic protections for teens
Parents want safer online experiences for their teens. That's why Instagram is introducing Teen Accounts, with automatic protections for who can contact teens and the content they can see.
A key factor: Only parents can approve safety setting changes for teens under 16.
Learn more. | | | |  | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | | THIS WEEK — The state Senate is in Tallahassee for interim committee meetings. (The schedule is here.) SPIN THE WHEEL — LOU TROMBETTA, a veteran state gambling regulator, has left his post as executive director of the Florida Gaming Control Commission. Trombetta, who had previously worked as director of the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, helped run the agency since its inception in July 2022 after legislators decided to place gambling regulation under a stand-alone entity instead of having it part of a bigger and broader agency. Trombetta’s last day on the job was Friday. While he submitted his resignation letter in November, Trombetta has “taken an opportunity in the private sector” that is expected to be announced this week, according to a spokesperson for the agency. While Trombetta worked at the commission, state regulators took on a much more visible and active role in battling against illegal gambling operations as well as pushing against outfits engaged in activities that were seen as potentially in conflict with activities authorized to the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The commission’s actions sparked a behind-the-scenes lobbying battle during the 2024 legislative session over whether to regulate fantasy sports — a battle that ultimately resulted in no legislation being passed. ROSS MARSHMAN, who has been serving as deputy executive director and chief legal officer, will serve as acting executive director. — Gary Fineout LEGISLATIVE ROUNDUP — Democratic state Rep. HILLARY CASSEL has reintroduced a bill that would have Citizens Property Insurance Corporation assume all hurricane-related risk. … A bill by Democratic state Rep. YVONNE HAYES HINSON would create storage requirements for guns in cars, boats or other vessels. … Democratic state Rep. JOHANNA LÓPEZ has reintroduced a bill to repeal Florida’s “free kill” law, which blocks parents and adult children from suing for emotional damages after a medical malpractice claim if an alleged victim is 25 or older. FINED — “Medical board rebuffs DeSantis administration’s push to revoke abortion doc’s medical license,” reports Christine Sexton of the Florida Phoenix. “Members of the state’s medical regulatory board [have] rejected a push by the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis to revoke a doctor’s medical license for providing 193 abortions without adhering to a 24-hour waiting period requirement. Dr. Candace Cooley was charged with a single violation of ‘failing to perform any statutory or legal obligation placed upon a licensed physician’ stemming from abortions she performed between April 25, 2022, when the 24-hour waiting period went into effect, and that May 7. … The board, meeting in Orlando on Friday, instead accepted the judge’s recommendation and fined the physician $10,000 and ordered her to take five hours of continuing medical education.” — “Florida has installed the second most solar power capacity in the country in 2024,” reports Mitch Perry of the Florida Phoenix.
| | | | REGISTER NOW: As the 118th Congress ends, major decisions loom, including healthcare appropriations. Key focus: site neutrality. Can aligning hospital and clinic costs cut federal spending, reflect physician costs, and lower patient expenses? Join policymakers and providers to discuss. | | | | | | | PENINSULA AND BEYOND | | ‘NEVER TOO LATE’ — “Florida prosecutor seeks to clear records of people charged with buying police-made crack in 1980s,” reports The Associated Press. “A Florida prosecutor says he will seek to vacate as many as 2,600 convictions of people who bought crack cocaine manufactured by the Broward County Sheriff's Office for sting operations between 1988 and 1990. The Florida Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that people couldn't be charged in cases where the sheriff's office had made the crack cocaine and undercover deputies then sold it to buyers who were arrested and charged.”
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | | | 
Republican state Sen. Randy Fine | State Cannon/AP | SPECIAL ELECTIONS STATUS — So much for clearing the field. Trump threw his support behind Florida Chief Financial Officer JIMMY PATRONIS and state Sen. RANDY FINE to take the two Florida congressional seats that have come open due to the departures of former Rep. MATT GAETZ and the soon-to-happen departure of Rep. MIKE WALTZ. But after qualifying for the 1st and 6th Districts wrapped up on Friday and Saturday, respectively, there are crowded Republican primaries for both seats. There are three candidates who will be in the GOP primary ballot for FL-06, the northeast Florida seat that has been held by Waltz: Fine, AARON BAKER and EHSAN JOARDER. There are also three Democrats who jumped into the race and who will square off against one another in the Jan. 28 primary: PURVI BANGDIWALA, GES SELMONT and JOSH WEIL. The general election on April 1 will have four candidates on the ballot because libertarian candidate ANDREW PARROTT — as well as RANDALL TERRY, running with no party affiliation — also qualified. Terry is a well-known anti-abortion activist who mounted a third-party bid for president this year. The race for FL-01, the seat in northwest Florida, wound up having a total of 10 Republicans vying for the seat. Among the last-minute candidates who joined the race was AARON DIMMOCK, who mounted an unsuccessful challenge to Gaetz this year with the backing of groups aligned with former Republican House Speaker KEVIN MCCARTHY. Dimmock and Patronis will be on the primary ballot with KEVIN GAFFNEY, JEFF MACEY, GREG MERK, JOHN MILLS, JEFF PEACOCK, State Rep. JOEL RUDMAN, MICHAEL DYLAN THOMPSON, and GENE VALENTINO. GAY VALIMONT is the lone Democratic candidate while STEPHEN BRODEN will be on the April 1 ballot running with no party affiliation. — Gary Fineout
| | | | A message from Instagram:   | | | | | TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP | | BREAKING OVERNIGHT — Trump daughter-in-law LARA TRUMP says she’ll step down from her role as Republican National Committee co-chair, as speculation continues to swirl over the possibility that DeSantis might tap her to replace Sen. MARCO RUBIO (D-Fla.), picked by Trump to be secretary of state. She told Juliet Linderman and Martha Mendoza of The Associated Press in an interview that she would “seriously consider” the Senate. “If I’m being completely transparent, I don’t know exactly what that would look like,” she said. “And I certainly want to get all of the information possible if that is something that’s real for me. But yeah, I would 100 percent consider it.” EYES EMOJI — Gaetz’s wife, GINGER LUCKEY GAETZ, posted over the weekend that “Big News” was coming this week. BUT ALSO — Axios’ Juliegrace Brufke reports that some members of Congress are threatening to vote on releasing the ethics report probing into allegations against Gaetz if he is tapped for a different Trump administration job. RUBIO’S TEAM — Trump on Sunday night announced a slew of hires for the Department of State, reports POLITICO’s Eric Bazail-Eimil. Among those headed to State is MICHAEL NEEDHAM, who was Rubio’s chief of staff and went on to work as chair for American Compass and executive director of American 2100. CROSSWISE — “Pam Bondi’s lobbying past will create an ethics morass at DOJ,” reports POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs. “Over the past six years, Pam Bondi has worked as a Washington lobbyist for one of the top firms in the country, representing corporate behemoths such as Amazon and Uber. Now, some of the same clients her firm represents are squaring off against the Department of Justice she’s poised to lead. And corporate interests are cautiously optimistic that her selection will shepherd in an administration more friendly to their interests than President Joe Biden’s.” MORE ON AG NOMINATION PROGRESS — CHAD MIZELLE, formerly acting general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security during the first Trump administration, is escorting Bondi on many of her hearings with senators, reports POLITICO’s Betsy Woodruff Swan. Woodruff Swan writes: “Mizelle is general counsel for Affinity Partners, the investment firm helmed by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. And like Bondi, he has Florida roots: Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, his wife, is a Trump-appointed federal judge in Tampa.” DEVASTATION AT HOME — “How childhood tragedy near Orlando shaped doctor Trump picked for surgeon general,” by Joseph Goldstein of The New York Times. “A police report obtained by The New York Times contains the account that 13-year-old Janette [Nesheiwat] gave an officer who responded to a 911 call. ‘I was in Father’s bedroom at about 7:15 a.m. getting some scissors,’ she said, according to the incident report. ‘I opened the fishing tackle box and the whole thing tipped over.’ Before calling 911, she added, she went to the bathroom to get a towel and then ice, which she put on her father’s head.” MAGA HUB — “Trump's private club is ground zero for a disruption-themed second term: Inside Mar-a-Lago,” reports Antonio Fins of The Palm Beach Post. “There's a lot of disruption-themed brainstorming going on at the president-elect's South Florida club these days. Mar-a-Lago — the Mediterranean-style estate that an American cereal heiress first envisioned as a presidential retreat a half-century ago — is today the giddy center of the American political universe.” TRIAL UPDATE — Defense lawyers for alleged attempted Trump assassin RYAN ROUTH want a 10-month delay of his trial, which would postpone it to December 2025, per POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein. Prosecutors say they’d agree to some delay but not as long.
| | | | Billions in spending. Critical foreign aid. Immigration reform. The final weeks of 2024 could bring major policy changes. Inside Congress provides daily insights into how Congressional leaders are navigating these high-stakes issues. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN | | — Gaetz got the SNL treatment this weekend. — “The Daily Show” interviewed Florida’s No. 1 book banner, as recapped by Douglas Soule of USA Today Network - Florida. BIRTHDAYS: State Rep. Webster Barnaby … Rick Hirsch, director of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications and former Miami Herald managing editor.
| | | | A message from Instagram: Instagram Teen Accounts: a protected experience for teens, guided by parents
Instagram Teen Accounts are designed to address parents’ biggest concerns, providing automatic protections for who can contact their teens and the content they can see.
The impact: Built-in limits give parents more peace of mind when it comes to protecting their teens.
Learn more. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment