Principals

1. Republicans’ agenda
2. Trump nominee background checks
3. Patel targeted in cyberattack
4. US allies face chaos
5. Ongoing Chinese hack
6. AOC running?
7. DOE rushes loans
8. Biden caps Angola trip

PDB: Another media company stands up a paywall

Dems flip last House seat … Supreme Court hears transgender rights case … WSJ: Trump weighs replacing Hegseth with Desantis

Republicans release a 2025 plan with key details unresolved

Senate Republicans unveiled a border-then-taxes approach to 2025’s agenda on Tuesday, as Semafor’s Burgess Everett reported. But even though House Speaker Mike Johnson attended that rollout, there’s still disagreement on his side of the Capitol about what order to proceed in. Some House Republicans argue that tackling a border-related bill first sweetens the pot for conservatives who are expected to reject the hefty price tag of the Trump tax cuts. Still others see merit to quickly moving a clean extension of those cuts and leaving the rest of the year to hash out a broader tax bill. “Dems already had the text for [their Covid bill] by this point,” one GOP operative told Semafor. For now, House leadership is in flux. “We’re still having a lot of conversations about the structure,” Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters.

— Kadia Goba

Trump picks may skirt FBI background check

The Trump transition’s agreement with the Justice Department to do background checks on incoming officials seemed to settle the question of whether nominees will get the traditional FBI scrutiny. Or did it? Some Trump nominees are still looking to skirt FBI background checks via a third party and Senate Republicans aren’t necessarily opposed to it, provided the vetting is thorough, Semafor’s Shelby Talcott and Burgess Everett report. The agreement between the transition and DOJ certainly seems to allow full background checks, although several sources said they were scratching their heads at how ironclad that commitment really is. Regardless, GOP senators are firm on keeping a rigorous confirmation process. Nominees “are going to have access to very, very sensitive information, national security, especially, and they need to be vetted,” said Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb.

Kash Patel target of Iranian cyberattack

Kash Patel, Donald Trump’s pick to head up the FBI, was told by the bureau that he was recently the target of an Iranian cyberattack, Semafor has learned. It’s unclear if the attack was successful or what, if any, material was compromised. In a statement, Trump spokesman Alex Pfeiffer declined to comment directly on the attack, describing Patel as “a key part of the first Trump administration’s efforts against the terrorist Iranian regime” and noting he “will implement President Trump’s policies to protect America from adversaries as the FBI Director.” This is not the first time Trump insiders have been targeted by foreign actors: In August, the Trump campaign said it was hacked by foreign actors who gained access to some internal communications.

— Shelby Talcott

Political crises test France, S. Korea

Two close US allies are facing immediate political crises. In South Korea, President Yoon Suk Yeol is facing impeachment after his short-lived attempt to impose an emergency martial law order sparked backlash from lawmakers and protesters. The situation spooked global markets and lawmakers in Washington who watched it unfold carefully. South Korea is a critical US partner in Asia, housing tens of thousands of US troops, and its shakiness could undermine American efforts to push back on China’s aggressive behavior in the region. Meanwhile, France’s government is staring down a no-confidence vote today after Prime Minister Michel Barnier sidestepped Parliament to force his budget through. He faces likely defeat, despite President Emmanuel Macron’s plea that lawmakers not topple the government.

Feds grapple with broad Chinese hack

Federal investigators are still wrapping their arms around a far-reaching and ongoing Chinese cyber espionage campaign targeting US telecommunications firms. The Salt Typhoon hackers compromised calls and texts belonging to a “limited number” of political and government officials, in addition to a much larger set of communications data that included information about where, when and with whom individuals were communicating but not voice or text content, an FBI official told reporters. Officials, who have been investigating the breach since late spring, couldn’t say how many people were impacted, or when the hackers will be kicked out of the systems. “We cannot say with certainty that the adversary has been evicted because we still don’t know the scope of what they are doing,” said Jeff Greene, an official with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Top officials including Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and NSA Director Timothy Haugh will brief US senators on the details later today.

— Morgan Chalfant

Democrats scramble for top committee seats

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is interested in leading Democrats on the House Oversight Committee next year — a major new potential platform for the progressive. “I am interested in the position,” she told reporters Tuesday. “I’ve been receiving a lot of outreach from colleagues and members, and you know, I’ll be making a decision shortly.” She’d be considerably younger than current Democratic committee leaders as the party grapples with aging members ahead of a second Trump term. Any move is contingent on whether or not the party’s current lead on Oversight, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., wins a challenge to Rep. Jerry Nadler. D-N.Y., to become the top member on Judiciary. Ocasio-Cortez already has company if she decides to jump in. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., who lost the same position to Raskin in 2022, announced he’s also vying for the spot.

— Kadia Goba

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Energy Department races to dole out loans

The Department of Energy is accelerating the pace at which it’s disbursing loans ahead of feared cuts under the Trump administration. The DOE’s Loan Programs Office agreed on Monday to lend up to $7.5 billion to automaker Stellantis for two electric-vehicle battery factories in Indiana. The deal follows nearly $12 billion in other clean energy loans LPO has announced in the last week, adding up to about $41 billion in loans the office is now racing to finalize before Jan. 20. Realistically, most won’t close before Trump takes office, creating a risk that the new administration could pause or rescind them. LPO could be drastically scaled back under Trump, current and former DOE staff told Semafor, leaving roughly $340 billion in loan authority either untouched or directed to projects favored by the fossil fuel industry.

Biden highlights ambitious rail project before leaving Africa

President Biden capped his trip to Africa with a visit to a multibillion-dollar project in Angola that serves as a cornerstone of US efforts to counter China’s influence on the continent. Biden toured the port of Lobito alongside the heads of state of Angola, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo this morning, and also pledged nearly $600 million more in financing for the ambitious Lobito Corridor rail project. As the sun sets on Biden’s time in office, questions are turning to the Trump administration’s position on the project, which will link critical mineral hubs in Zambia and the DRC to global markets through Angola’s Lobito port. A senior Biden administration official told reporters that the Trump administration would likely continue it because it benefits US national and economic security.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: GOP House and Senate leaders are working towards a continuing resolution to keep the government funded until late March, and Speaker Mike Johnson says he has “hope and intention” that both houses will complete FY2025 spending bills “well before” that deadline in the spring.

Playbook: Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, could be out by week’s end as he struggles to navigate controversy.

WaPo: Republican senators are grappling with potential primary challenges if they vote against Trump’s nominees, but some insist they aren’t worried. “I think the person who challenges me should worry because we’ll come after them,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC, said. “And I think we’ll have the support of the administration, so we’ll see how well that works out.”

Axios: President Biden’s decision to pardon his son “opened the floodgates” to requests from members of Congress for additional pardons. Some are advocating for pardons for Julian Assange and Edward Snowden, while others hope for a more sweeping push that focuses on non-violent or low-level offenders.

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: Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., became the first Democrat to join the DOGE caucus.

What the Right isn’t reading: A new rule would crack down on so-called data brokers that sell sensitive data on Americans.

White House

• First lady Jill Biden will attend the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris this weekend — and will potentially cross paths with Donald Trump, who is also going. Her visit is part of a broader trip to Europe and the Middle East.

Congress

• Senate Democrats reelected Chuck Schumer as their leader, and the rest of his leadership team was set.
• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell complained after two Democrat-appointed federal judges called off their retirements after Donald Trump’s election.

Transition

• Trump offered the No. 2 job at the Pentagon to Steve Feinberg, a billionaire who leads a firm that has invested in hypersonic missiles. — WaPo
• Robert Lighthizer looks unlikely to join the next Trump administration after all. — Politico
• Chad Chronister, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, withdrew his name from consideration on Tuesday.

Economy

• The Labor Department is moving to end a program that allows employers to pay disabled workers under minimum wage, but the decision on a final rule will be left up to the incoming Trump administration. — WaPo

Business

• Intel began its CEO search outside the company. — Bloomberg

Courts

• Donald Trump’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss his New York criminal conviction and in it cited President Biden’s decision to pardon his son.
• An Exxon Mobil consultant has been under investigation by the FBI over alleged involvement in a hack-and-leak campaign targeted at the oil giant’s critics. — Reuters

National Security

• A Secret Service agent opened fire outside Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s home after a confrontation with a group of people who were allegedly breaking into cars along her street.

Foreign Policy

• China imposed new restrictions on the export of critical minerals following the Biden administration’s new semiconductor curbs.
• Germany’s foreign minister said NATO membership for Ukraine could be part of a deal to end Russia’s war.

Media

• Vox Media’s technology-focused site, The Verge, became the latest news outlet to roll out a sitewide subscription service, putting some content behind a paywall. The move, editor-in-chief Nilay Patel told Semafor’s Max Tani, is designed to drive revenue to insulate The Verge from changes made by social media platforms that impact story traffic.

Principals Team

Editors: Benjy Sarlin, Elana Schor, Morgan Chalfant

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

Zach Nunn is a Republican representing Iowa in Congress.

Amazon and Anthropic are teaming up to build a massive compute cluster containing hundreds of thousands of powerful AI chips designed to train the next generation of models, Semafor’s Reed Albergotti reported.

The project is unique in another way: The compute cluster is spread out across multiple locations rather than housed in a single facility, which could help solve some of the big problems facing AI development.