How Jeffries sees Congress’s big pre-Christmas to-do list
Plus: A few words on the Hunter Biden pardon.
First Things First
👋🏾 Hi, hey, hello! Welcome back to Once Upon a Hill. ICYMI: President Joe Biden issued his son Hunter a blanket pardon on Sunday night.
The announcement came after President Biden, as recently as this summer, said he had ruled out a pardon for his only living son. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said last month that a pardon or commutation for the 54-year-old was off the table.
The pardon covers offenses Hunter committed or may have committed from January 2014 to Dec. 1, including the three federal gun-replayed felony charges he was convicted of in June after admitting to illegally owning a gun while using drugs. Biden also pleaded guilty to several tax-related charges in September.
President Biden defended the decision based on what he called unfair and selective prosecution influenced by political motives. He emphasized that similar cases, such as those involving late tax payments due to addiction or technical violations on gun forms, are typically resolved without criminal charges. The president also criticized the breakdown of Hunter’s plea deal and alleged that political opponents instigated the charges to target him and his presidency.
“I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice—and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further,” the president said in a statement. “I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision.”
Unsurprisingly, President-elect Donald Trump, who nominated his son-in-law’s dad to be the next US ambassador to France over the Thanksgiving break after pardoning him during his first term, called for the convicted insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 to be pardoned.
While some Democrats—including Gov. Jared Polis of California and Rep. Greg Stanton of Arizona—publicly disagreed with the decision, the Democratic members and operatives I texted with last night universally appreciated what they viewed as Biden liberating himself from the political correctness that has become a liability in the MAGA era.
I can understand where they’re coming from because Biden was damned no matter what he decided. On one hand, Democrats have criticized Biden throughout his term for his deference to institutions in the face of Trump making it clear he plans to buzzsaw through them. The pardon is a salve on the wounds of voters who feel he was held to a double standard and are disappointed by Vice President Kamala Harris’s underperformance in the election last month. On the other, Republicans thought he was a swamp creature before the pardon so perhaps Biden saw no value in attempting to prove otherwise in the final days of his presidency.
Meanwhile, lawmakers return to Washington this week with an enormous amount of unfinished business to complete before skipping town for the Christmas break.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) will be at the center of it all since House Republicans will likely lack the votes to govern independently. So, I thought I’d offer you a quick guide to the four most urgent tasks awaiting members and what Jeffries recently said about each.
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The task: Keep the government open.
Allow me to explain: There won’t be a government shutdown before Christmas but Republicans and Democrats in each chamber have yet to agree on the length of a continuing resolution to keep the lights on at current funding levels while appropriators hammer out the details of the measures that would fund the government through the end of September. President-elect Trump started his first term with a funding negotiation, dragging his first 100 days down—and it looks like his second term will begin in a similar fashion.
What Jeffries is saying: “We need to make sure that we keep the government open, that we fund the government in a manner that meets the needs of the American people in terms of their health, their safety and their economic well-being—and we should do so before Dec. 20 in a manner consistent with the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act that Democrats and Republicans supported last year.”
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The task: Pass the National Defense Authorization Act
Allow me to explain: Congress also has to green-light the annual defense policy bill,
a duty it has fulfilled each year for more than six decades. The House and Senate Armed Services Committees passed its versions of the NDAA this summer but neither have been taken up by either chamber. Read my summary of the House version and a breakdown of the Senate’s.
What Jeffries is saying: “We have to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, and we should do so, as has been the case for decades, in a bipartisan manner, free of extreme right wing policy riders.”
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The task: Approve another farm bill extension
Allow me to explain: The one-year extension of the farm bill—a sweeping piece of legislation Congress passes every five years to set national agriculture, nutrition, conservation and forestry policy—expires at the end of the year, so lawmakers will either need to pass a new measure or pass an additional extension. Hill Republicans rejected a proposal Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) introduced before Thanksgiving so expect an extension to be attached to the short-term funding bill.
What Jeffries is saying: “It’s our hope that we can find the common ground necessary in order to reauthorize the farm bill in a manner that meets the needs of everyday Americans, of farmers, particularly family-owned farmers, and that meets the needs of the health and food safety of the American people.”
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The task: Replenish the disaster aid fund
Allow me to explain: Despite numerous deadly storms and disasters striking communities across the nation, Congress hasn’t passed a comprehensive disaster package since December 2022 as part of the 2023 omnibus bill. President Biden submitted a request last month for $98 billion in emergency funding for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund and the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program, which has completely exhausted its funding. The request also would help farmers that have experienced crop or livestock losses, communities recover through block grants administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, rebuild and repair highways and bridges in more than 40 states and territories and cover upgrades to long-term water systems to prevent future damage from natural disasters. Providing disaster relief is a bipartisan pursuit but both sides continue to figure out the final number and legislative vehicle for the measure.
What Jeffries is saying: “We have a disaster supplemental appropriations bill that also has been sent up that we need to consider and take up so that we can, first and foremost, meet the needs of the American people who are dealing with the aftermath of these extreme weather events have had their life turned upside down. We’ve got to address that issue while ensuring, of course, as we move forward, that we have the best, most effective FEMA possible.”
Happenings
The House is out.
The Senate will meet this afternoon and vote to confirm Anne Hwang to be District Judge for the Central District of California.
President Biden arrived in Cabo Verde this morning for a brief refueling stop on his way to Luanda, Angola. Before leaving, he met with Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva and will greet staff and families of the US Embassy in Luanda this evening.
Vice President Harris will be in Washington, DC, and receive briefings and hold internal staff meetings.
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden will unveil this year’s White House holiday theme and seasonal décor. The event will include remarks to National Guard families from across the country who will be the first members of the public to experience the White House holiday décor before Dr. Biden speaks to offer her holiday message to the nation, and thank the volunteers from across the country who helped decorate the White House for the season.
Biden’s week ahead:
Tuesday: President Biden will participate in an official arrival ceremony before meeting with President João Lourenço of Angola and speaking at the National Museum of Slavery.
Wednesday: The president will leave Luanda, Angola to travel to Lobito, Angola, where he will tour the Lobito Port Terminal, visit the Carrinho Food Processing Factory and participate in the Lobito Corridor Trans-Africa Summit before traveling back to Cabo Verde on his way back to the White House.
Thursday: President Biden will arrive at the White House.
Do you have questions about the lame-duck session or the incoming Trump presidency? Drop me a line at michael@onceuponahill.com or send me a message below to get in touch and I’ll report back with answers.
In the Know
— Several House Democrats in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts were targeted with bomb threats at their homes on Thanksgiving after similar threats were made against nominees of President-elect Trump’s cabinet days earlier. Hakeem Jeffries said members’ homes were swatted and each threat was signed with “MAGA” at the end of the message. He also called on Congress to provide maximum protection for all members and their families moving forward.
Read All About It
“Trump’s return heralds litigation peace for crypto” by Dave Michaels: “The president-elect’s new SEC chair will likely withdraw from lawsuits aimed at forcing crypto to follow Wall Street rules.”
“How Kristi Noem, Trump’s homeland security pick, became an immigration zealot” by Isaac Stanley-Becker and Peter Jamison: “By sending the South Dakota National Guard to the border, the governor built her national profile but paid less attention to the legal details.”
“How our messed-up dating culture leads to loneliness, anger and Donald Trump” by Sarah Bernstein: “A generation of resentful young men has arisen from the cultural norm dictating that men must be the breadwinners.”
“A generation of drug-addiction survivors is entering old age” by Julie Wernau: “Overdose deaths are dropping, but millions of former users live with compromised health and prospects.”
“Googling is for old people. That’s a problem for Google.” by Christopher Mims: “And it’s not just demographics that are weighing on the search giant. Its core business is under siege from pressures that threaten to dismantle its ecosystem of search dominance and digital advertising.”
“Shoppers fight back as retailers crack down on returns” by Suzanne Kapner: “Consumers are reading the fine print of return policies and some have stopped buying altogether from retailers that charge for returns.”
“How do NFL players put their thoughts to rest? By writing them down.” by Adam Kilgore: “Hut, hut, write: Why journaling is the NFL’s not-so-secret weapon.”
“Tune in to the healing powers of a decent playlist.” by Daniel Levitin: “Music therapy will move from the fringes of modern medicine to become a sophisticated tool for improving health outcomes.”
The Bright Side
Editor’s note: There’s a lot to be anxious, upset or worried about over the next four years and reasons for optimism and joy may be hard to find. Think of this new section as a moment of uplift at the bottom of each edition to spotlight good deeds by members and remind you that there’s always light if you’re willing to search for it—or to be it.
— Hakeem Jeffries last week celebrated the rededication of an office building in Brooklyn named after the late Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to be elected to Congress. Chisholm would have turned 100 years old this past Saturday.
Jeffries, joined by Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) and local officials, called the building a living testament to what Chisholm accomplished during her life and what she represents to the people who follow in her legacy.
The leader also led a 10-member congressional delegation to Barbados over the weekend to commemorate Chisholm, a Barbadian American, and the 58th anniversary of Barbados’s independence.
Jeffries, who now represents much of the same areas Chisholm did when she served in Congress, led the passage of a bill to rename the building after Rep. Chisholm when he was a New York state assemblyman as part of an effort to prevent it from being sold to developers.
The House will vote this week to pass the Shirley Chisholm Congressional Gold Medal Act, a bill that would posthumously award her the highest civilian award given by Congress.
— The White House Office of National AIDS Policy will host a symposium this week with more than 100 HIV advocates, community leaders and federal partners and release a first-of-its-kind National HIV/AIDS Strategy progress report as part of its World AIDS Day programming.
President Biden and Dr. Biden commemorated World AIDS Day on Sunday at the White House with survivors, their families, and advocates to honor the lives lost to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
The president was introduced by the mom of Ryan White, who was banned from attending school in the ‘80s following a diagnosis of AIDS. She said Biden was the first senator she met with when she came to Capitol Hill to lobby for the bill that would be named after her son and provide grants to improve the quality and availability of care for individuals and families affected by HIV.
As part of the commemoration, the AIDS Memorial quilt was displayed for the first time ever on the South Lawn. A red ribbon was displayed on the South Portico of the White House to commemorate those who have died due to AIDS-related illnesses and honor the more than 40 million individuals with HIV around the world.
The quilt, which is overseen by the National AIDS Memorial, honors over 105,000 lives lost through nearly 50,000 panels and serves as a tool for education and remembrance. The red ribbon—first displayed in 2007 under the Bush Administration and has been displayed each year during the Biden administration—commemorates those who have died due to AIDS-related illnesses and honors the more than 40 million individuals with HIV around the world.
During his term, Biden has overseen historic investments to expand equitable access to HIV prevention and treatment, such as PrEP, implement a national strategy to end the HIV epidemic, advance HIV research, and accelerate prevention efforts through PEPFAR—the largest single-nation commitment to fighting a disease in history.