Principals

1. Zelenskyy to Capitol Hill
2. Zients joins border talks
3. New Freedom Caucus head
4. Texas abortion ruling
5. Jack Smith’s gamble
6. Trump’s Iowa march

PDB: House punts on Section 702 reauthorization

Inflation data out this morning … Politico: Biden steers clear of calling for university presidents’ resignation … Iran-backed militia strikes commercial ship in Red Sea

— edited by Benjy Sarlin, Jordan Weissmann and Morgan Chalfant

Zelenskyy faces a tough crowd

The stakes couldn’t be higher for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he returns to Capitol Hill later this morning. Washington is more deeply split over supporting his nation’s battle against Russia than during his two previous visits — and there is substantial uncertainty over future U.S. assistance. It’s looking increasingly unlikely that lawmakers will approve more aid before the end of the year. The Ukrainian leader will speak to senators behind closed doors at 9 a.m. in the Mansfield room, according to a Senate leadership aide. Then Zelenskyy will meet one-on-one with Speaker Mike Johnson, who repeated earlier any aid would be contingent on Congress passing stringent border security measures. Ukraine aid has cleaved the Republican Party, and tensions were running high ahead of Zelenskyy’s appearance. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. accused Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio of spreading “total and unmitigated bullshit” by claiming U.S. aid would line the pockets of Ukrainian government ministers.

At the White House, President Biden will attempt to quell uncertainty over future U.S. aid to Ukraine and “make it very clear to President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people that we’re going to continue to support them,” according to White House national security spokesman John Kirby. The Pentagon has only a few billion dollars left in military aid that can be used to immediately send weapons to Ukraine, and U.S. and European officials have warned that cutting off U.S. aid would significantly hamper Ukraine on the battlefield without any obvious plan B to replace the assistance. Zelenskyy offered a preview of his message in remarks at the National Defense University Monday afternoon, arguing that Russian President Vladimir Putin would take his war beyond Ukraine if Kyiv fails. “His real target is freedom,” Zelenskyy said. “Putin must lose.”

— Morgan Chalfant

Zients to the rescue?

The White House has plunged directly into the Senate’s wobbling bipartisan negotiations over the border, Semafor’s Joseph Zeballos-Roig writes. White House chief of staff Jeff Zients is now part of the discussions with Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.; James Lankford, R-Okla.; and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., according to a Senate aide. It’s the most direct involvement from the West Wing since the group began bargaining about a month ago. Another person familiar with the talks said Zients has been in conversations with the negotiating trio, along with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Several top lawmakers had previously suggested the White House would need to get involved to break the ongoing logjam in negotiations. Republicans have said they will not approve another round of aid to Ukraine without significant new limits on the U.S. asylum program, among other major changes to border policy. On Monday, Lankford told reporters that he didn’t think there was enough time to cinch an agreement before the Senate adjourns for Christmas. “I hope he’s wrong,” Murphy told reporters. “I hope tomorrow’s [Zelenskyy] visit will convince Republicans to put a bow on this agreement.”

The Freedom Caucus elects a new leader

Rep. Bob Good, R-Va. will take the helm of the House Freedom Caucus next year after he said his colleagues voted “overwhelmingly” to elect him as their new chairman. Ahead of the vote, Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, circulated a letter announcing he would not seek reelection to the group’s board and unsuccessfully urged fellow members to consider someone other than Good for the position. In his first interview as chairman-elect, Good, who will replace Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., told Semafor he plans to be the “conservative conscience” of House Republicans with a focus on reducing spending and securing the border. He vowed to help recruit more candidates for office who “reflect the conservative center of the Republican base,” but suggested he wouldn’t try to primary sitting GOP moderates. “We’re focused on recruiting conservative candidates to win in the seats where we have members that are not running again or retiring,” he said. “We’re certainly not targeting existing members from a primary standpoint.” Notably, Good could find himself once again going toe-to-toe with former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who has promised to spearhead his own effort to recruit GOP candidates after he leaves the House. Good also signaled the Freedom Caucus would continue to act as a stumbling block on Ukraine aid, even as he declined to say definitively how he’d steer the caucus on the issue. “Speaking for myself and many of my conservative colleagues, there certainly is not a consensus interest in sending more resources to Ukraine,” he said.

— Kadia Goba

Texas court rules woman must carry doomed, life-threatening pregnancy to term

The highest court in Texas decided Kate Cox, a 31-year old mother of two, cannot end her pregnancy, despite carrying a fetus with a fatal condition that threatened her own health. “Some difficulties in pregnancy … even serious ones, do not pose the heightened risks to the mother the exception encompasses,” the judges wrote, reversing a lower court ruling. Between the decisions, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an emergency petition with the Supreme Court and threatened to charge and arrest doctors if they followed the earlier court order. Cox, who is 20 weeks pregnant, has left the state to terminate her pregnancy. The Texas Supreme Court is still considering a separate lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights that seeks to clarify how exceptions apply under the state’s abortion ban.

SCOTUS will consider bid to fast-track Trump immunity decision

The Supreme Court may soon weigh in on whether Donald Trump is immune from federal prosecution. The court said it would consider special counsel Jack Smith’s petition to fast-track consideration of the claim, raised by Trump’s lawyers, that the former president can’t be held accountable for alleged crimes committed while in office. That puts the court — and the three justices nominated by Trump — at the center of an existential fight over his Jan. 6 prosecution. The move does not mean the justices will definitely make a decision on leapfrogging the usual appeals process, but that they will hear arguments from both sides. The court ordered Trump’s legal team to respond by Dec. 20 (a week from tomorrow). Trump doesn’t seem to be happy with the idea; a spokesperson released a statement accusing Smith of attempting to interfere in the 2024 election. “There is absolutely no reason to rush this Witch Hunt to trial, except to injure President Trump and his 150 million, at least, supporters,” it read. It’s rare for the high court to hear a case before an appeals court has ruled, but it has happened 49 times in history, according to University of Texas law professor Steve Vladeck.

Will Iowa end the 2024 GOP race before it begins?

Republican candidates hoped Iowa would be Trump’s glass jaw — but instead it’s looking like adamantium, Semafor’s Shelby Talcott reports. After the latest Des Moines Register/NBC News poll showed Trump with 51% support and no rival cracking 20%, campaigns spent Monday making the case for their continued viability. In the hot seat: Ron DeSantis, who has publicly promised a victory in the state and has so far shown little appeal in next-up New Hampshire. Polls are “never accurate with a caucus because it’s all about turning out the folks,” the candidate told voters on Monday. He’s counting on his ground game — and what’s left of the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down — to act as a secret weapon. Nikki Haley has the luxury of a potential slower ramp-up, since she’s proven more competitive in recent New Hampshire polls with a promising trove of additional votes there held now by Chris Christie. The hope is that even a strong losing performance in Iowa would force out DeSantis, build up momentum heading into the first-in-the-nation primary, and earn her a new look from Republicans currently defaulting to Trump.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: GOP senators said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit will not be a “light bulb” moment to convince Republicans to pass more aid unless President Biden shows he will agree to some Republican demands on the border.

Playbook: Twenty percent of Black voters would choose “someone else” over Biden or Donald Trump in the 2024 election, according to a GenForward poll out this morning. Of those surveyed, 63% said they’d vote for Biden and 17% would vote for Trump.

The Early 202: Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is taking on a “greater role” in the border talks as the two sides have struggled to find an agreement, with him and his department “providing technical assistance and information on the potential implications of policies to senators on both sides.”

Axios: “No issue is more likely to anger or sadden” Joe Biden than attacks on his son Hunter Biden, and only a few of his closest aides feel comfortable broaching the issue in private with the president.

White House

• National security spokesman John Kirby said the White House was “concerned” about a Washington Post report that Israel used U.S.-supplied white phosphorus in an attack in Lebanon. “We’ll be asking questions to try to learn a little bit more,” he added.
• At a fundraiser on Monday, President Biden weighed in on Donald Trump’s comments that he wants to be a dictator on day one if he’s elected back to the White House. “He’s saying it out loud,” he told the crowd.
• The White House is making a new push to promote what it says are investments totaling $37 billion from President Biden’s 2021 American Rescue Plan that have gone toward home and community-based healthcare services.

Congress

• The Senate will start taking votes on the National Defense Authorization Act today.
• The House will not be voting on competing proposals to reform and reauthorize the Section 702 surveillance law as planned, likely punting action until next year. The program will be extended until April under the NDAA. “It needs to be one bill,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. told reporters after a leadership meeting on the topic. “So extend it four months. Let’s get together for one bill. Let everybody get educated on it. Nine-tenths of the people in there other than Intel and Judiciary don’t know the specifics.”
• The House Judiciary Committee is meeting to consider a resolution that would formally open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden.
• But lawmakers will also take a break from partisan warfare this afternoon to celebrate Hanukkah with the Capitol Menorah Lighting. Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries will all co-host.
• Lawmakers are trying to fashion a bipartisan tax package. — Axios
• Dozens of pro-Palestinian activists were arrested on Monday for participating in a demonstration in the Hart Senate Office Building, during which one protester climbed the massive Calder sculpture that sits in the building’s lobby.

Economy

• The Consumer Price Index report is out today at 8:30 a.m. sharp, and economists expect it to show that inflation continued cooling in November. It’s the last big data point before this week’s highly anticipated Fed meeting, which investors are watching for any signs about when the central bank might start cutting rates.
• Virginia state lawmakers voted for a deal that would take the Washington Capitals and Wizards out of D.C. and into a new arena in Alexandria, Va.

National Security

• Following an internal investigation, the Air Force disciplined 15 Air National Guard members in connection with Jack Teixeira’s release of highly classified documents online. The investigation found that while Teixeira acted alone, members of his unit “had information about as many as four separate instances of his questionable activity” but that the information was not “fully disclosed” to the proper authorities. — Washington Post
• FBI Director Christopher Wray is in India this week, a trip that comes on the heels of the Justice Department charging an Indian official with directing a failed plot to murder a Sikh leader in New York.

Climate

Several countries threatened to walk away from a COP28 climate deal after language referring to a “phase out” of fossil fuels was removed from a draft text. A European Union representative called it “unacceptable.”

For more from COP28 in Dubai, subscribe to Semafor’s Net Zero newsletter. Sign up here.

Courts

• Prosecutors said in a Monday filing that they’re in plea talks with former congressman/current Cameo star George Santos.
• A New Hampshire man, Tyler Anderson, was charged with threatening GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy and his supporters leading up to a Portsmouth campaign event. “Great, another opportunity for me to blow his brains out!” Anderson allegedly responded to a campaign text message promoting the event.
• Attorneys for Hunter Biden moved to dismiss gun charges brought against him in Delaware.

2024

• After losing the election for Houston mayor, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas filed for reelection in Congress. She won’t have a clear path to the nomination this time: 41-year-old former city council member Amanda Edwards is already in the running and ended the last fundraising quarter with $800,000 in cash.
• Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the first eight endorsements for her Fight Like Hell PAC: Eight Democratic members of Congress in competitive seats, including Rep. Hillary Scholten in Michigan. “I started Fight Like Hell in order to do everything I can to support candidates up and down the ballot, like President Biden and Vice President Harris, who are fighting like hell for everyday Americans and the will of the majority,” Whitmer said in a statement shared first with Semafor. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev. is the only endorsee in an early primary state; the other six Democrats on her list come from seats Democrats held by single digits last year.

Big Read

Add Harold Meyerson, editor of The American Prospect, to the list of liberal voices worried that Democrats are “sleepwalking to disaster” by nominating Biden without a real primary challenge. “By most metrics, he’s been an excellent president, not just committed to restoring the country’s long-vanished mass prosperity but actually doing something about it,” Meyerson writes. “And yet, that hasn’t made him the favorite in an election that will almost surely pit him against a candidate who poses the greatest threat to American democracy of anyone in our country’s long history.”

Inside the Beltway

The Proud Boys will need to find a new place to gather, with the Hotel Harrington — Washington’s oldest continuously operating hotel — closing for good today.

Blindspot

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, according to data from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican, said he is investigating the left-wing group Media Matters over a report that the organization wrote alleging antisemitic content on Elon Musk’s X.

What the Right isn’t reading: The CEO of the right-wing group Project Veritas, Hannah Giles, stepped down from her position over what she said was a discovery of “strong evidence of past illegality” by the organization.

Principals Team

Editors: Benjy Sarlin, Jordan Weissmann, Morgan Chalfant

Editor-at-Large: Steve Clemons

Reporters: Kadia Goba, Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel

Stewart Baker is a partner at Steptoe & Johnson LLP and served as general counsel of the National Security Agency and later as assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security.

• COP28’s fossil fuel phase out has been phased out. The summit’s most controversial element was axed in a draft agreement — but the fight isn’t over yet.
• One of the most highly trafficked financial news sites is creating AI-generated stories that bear an uncanny resemblance to articles published by competitors.
• NBC News has demanded that Trump’s campaign remove a video that includes audio deceptively edited to seem like it comes from an NBC reporter.