Principals

1. Democrats’ shifting tactics
2. Biden’s last infrastructure push
3. House-Senate beef heats up
4. TikTok’s day in court
5. DOGE’s new goal
6. Wildfires response

PDB: Biden plans foreign policy address

Trump to be sentenced in New York … Labor Department to publish December jobs numbers … FT: China’s Xi to send top envoy to Trump inauguration

‘People want change,’ and Democrats are shifting

Senate Democrats’ first vote of the new Republican era in Washington, to advance an anti-undocumented immigration bill, reflects their party’s stance as Donald Trump prepares to take office: Amplifying anti-Trump talk is out, and a more conciliatory stance is in. “Us just saying he’s a chaotic guy goes nowhere. That’s just baked into people’s consciousness,” Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., told Semafor’s Burgess Everett of the party’s strategy. “The fact is, people want change. So that means we have to be willing to change as well.” Democrats may also work to pass sanctions on the International Criminal Court soon and potentially try to engage in border and tax negotiations. That doesn’t mean they aren’t girding for big battles, though — and soon. “There’ll be plenty of opportunities for us to fight on matters of real principle,” Welch said. “But not just because we don’t like Trump.”

Biden distributes $5B in infrastructure funds

The Biden administration is making its final major infrastructure spending announcement today, devoting $5 billion to 560 projects across all 50 states, DC, and US territories, according to an announcement shared first with Semafor. The money from the bipartisan infrastructure law will fund improvements to rail safety, intercity rail service, surface transportation infrastructure, and airports, and will expand EV charging stations. President Biden is hoping to make the 2021 infrastructure law a lasting part of his legacy, in addition to bills boosting the US semiconductor industry and fighting climate change. “When President Biden took office four years ago, he immediately faced some of the most profound and wide-ranging transportation crises in the modern era,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “Through his leadership, this administration passed a sweeping investment in our nation’s infrastructure unlike anything since the Eisenhower years.”

— Morgan Chalfant

Senate Republicans raise reconciliation natsec risks

Senate Republicans are forging ahead with their border-then-tax gambit — and are warning that rolling everything into one big bill, as House members would prefer, presents a national security risk. “The recipe for failure is to delay doing what you can in the national security space as soon as you can,” said Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. “If there’s a major attack on our country, or somebody who’s here illegally that can be deported is not deported because we delayed fixing the system? We own that.” Graham is pushing on with his committee’s work to set up a border bill, and he’s got internal backing. “I don’t think we should delay funds to secure the border or to rebuild the military while the negotiations for the details of the tax cuts are ongoing,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Semafor.

— Burgess Everett

TikTok’s final chance to stop a US ban

TikTok goes before the Supreme Court today as it tries to avoid a looming ban. The high court will hear oral arguments about the constitutionality of a US national security law that bans TikTok unless its Chinese owners sell it, which TikTok argues violates the First Amendment. There are reasons to be skeptical of TikTok’s chances: An appeals court already upheld the law, and the justices may defer to Congress given the ban’s broad bipartisan support. But TikTok has an ally in Trump, who asked the high court to delay the Jan. 19 ban so he can “pursue a political resolution.” It’s unclear if or how Trump would try to stop the ban if the Supreme Court doesn’t delay it; he could refuse to enforce the ban or demand Congress repeal it, which wouldn’t go over well with Republicans.

Conservatives seek Hill ‘willpower’ on Musk’s target

Fiscal conservatives in Congress are eager for Elon Musk to slash government spending — and they’re more concerned about the ability to marshal support for his plan than the fact that he’s scaled back his original $2 trillion goal for proposed cuts. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told Semafor that conservatives already “found a trillion in waste just this year,” but warned that “Congress has to have the willpower to do it.” Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., praised Musk’s “aggressive, audacious thinking,” adding that party leaders have to exert pressure to follow through. “What creates those force functions to reduce spending? It’s going to have to be leadership of elected officials: the Trump administration, senators and members of Congress and members of the House,” Daines said. Musk suggested he may eye $1 trillion as a new target for his so-called Department of Government Efficiency.

— Shelby Talcott

Cost of wildfire damage skyrockets

As California grapples with devastating wildfires, Biden vowed the federal government would cover 100% of the costs of temporary shelters, first responders’ salaries, and debris removal for 180 days. “We are with you,” he told Southern Californians during a briefing on the federal response. “We’re not going anywhere.” The administration is tapping into the $100 billion approved by Congress in December to address the disaster, but lawmakers may need to pass more funding for the region’s long-term recovery — something that could be complicated by incoming President Trump’s tortured relationship with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Politico notes. The fires devastating Los Angeles are projected to be among the costliest in US history, with one estimate putting the economic loss at $50 billion. The destruction will worsen an already troubled home insurance market there.

What do the big tech leaders want, and where will they push the media in 2025?

The Consumer Electronics Show introduced a range of new gadgets, screens, and robots, but will these innovations actually transform how we consume media? Or will the real shifts come from Washington, where tech giants like Meta and Amazon are directing their focus? Ben and new co-host Max Tani delve into these questions with Jessica Lessin, founder and CEO of The Information, to discuss how tech and its leaders will shape the media industry in 2025 and beyond.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington delivered a presentation to House Republicans this week that at one point suggested they raise the corporate tax rate. He later said it was a “mistake.”

Playbook: Donald Trump is eyeing Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie to head up the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Axios: “We no longer need fact-checkers. We need reality-checkers.”

Blindspot

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: Patrick Lechleitner, the outgoing director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, conceded that President Biden should have taken action earlier to increase border security.

What the Right isn’t reading: Thousands of doctors signed a letter urging the Senate to reject Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

White House

• President Biden will deliver a foreign policy address at the State Department on Monday as he prepares to leave office, a senior administration official said.
• Vice President Harris scrapped a planned trip to Singapore, Bahrain, and Germany in order to stay in the US and monitor the federal response to the California wildfires.
• Former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral service Thursday drew all five living presidents to the National Cathedral.

Congress

• Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., plans to meet with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. — CBS
• Former Republican Senate candidate Sam Brown of Nevada got a senior Trump administration appointment at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Transition

• Vice President-elect JD Vance announced his resignation from the Senate, which took effect at midnight, in a letter to the Ohio governor on Thursday.
• Donald Trump’s advisers signaled plans for 100 executive orders during a private meeting with Senate Republicans. — Axios

Outside the Beltway

• Andrew Cuomo is eyeing a February launch for his bid to unseat New York City Mayor Eric Adams. — Politico

Polls

• More than seven in 10 US adults say there is a serious threat to the future of American democracy, according to a new Marist poll.

Courts

• An appeals court denied Donald Trump’s bid to block the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report.
• A federal judge in Kentucky struck down a Biden administration push to expand protections for transgender students under Title IX.

Foreign Policy

• Venezuela’s opposition leader, María Corina Machado, was arrested by President Nicolás Maduro’s regime as she attended a protest ahead of Maduro’s planned inauguration, and was later released.
• Donald Trump said he’s setting up a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Technology

• Google donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee.

Climate

• Greenhouse gas emissions dropped just 0.2% in 2024, suggesting US efforts to curb climate change pollution stalled out last year. — NYT

Media

• Vox Media announced the second round of layoffs in as many months.

Principals Team

Editors: Elana Schor, Morgan Chalfant

Reporters: Burgess Everett, Kadia Goba, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel

Jared Huffman is a Democratic congressman from California.

Startup fundraising in Africa fell by 25% in 2024 to $2.2 billion, marking a second successive year of reduced investment into technology companies on the continent, Semafor’s Alexander Onukwue reported.

The figure reflects expectations during the year that African startups would raise less money than in previous years. Fundraising has been falling since the peak of 2022.