With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine

DRIVING THE DAY

UNITING THE TRIBES — JONATHAN COWAN, co-founder and president of Third Way, is endorsing Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair BEN WIKLER to lead the DNC, he writes in a buzzy, just-posted POLITICO Magazine piece — a notable gesture across the party’s ideological divide.

MEET THE NEW BOSS — CHRIS WINKELMAN will be the new president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, Ally Mutnick scoops. Winkelman, currently the NRCC’s executive director, takes over from DAN CONSTON as leader of the House GOP’s mega super PAC.

‘PETE’S NEXT’ — In the hours after MATT GAETZ withdrew from consideration for AG, one Republican senator gave us a rather blunt prediction: “Pete’s next.”

Indeed, DONALD TRUMP’s nomination of PETE HEGSETH to run the Pentagon now appears to be on life support as he faces allegations of drunken misbehavior, sexual misconduct and financial mismanagement of the veterans’ nonprofit he once ran.

The latest drip, via NBC: Hegseth’s drinking habits caused concern “on more than a dozen occasions” among current and former Fox News employees, where he was until recently a prominent host.

Last night, WSJ’s Alex Leary broke news that Trump is entertaining a shocking Plan B for DOD: nominating his longtime rival, Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS, for Defense secretary should Hegseth be forced to withdraw. (Our colleagues Meridith McGraw, Gary Fineout and Kimberly Leonard confirmed Trump’s thinking; the Bulwark’s Marc Caputo reported Trump and DeSantis have discussed the plan.)

Here’s what we know this morning: He is in a deep hole with Republican senators, one GOP official told us, and there is rising doubt inside the transition that he will be able to dig his way out — particularly with the women senators who are his biggest skeptics.

Consider the pivot of one Republican, Wyoming’s CYNTHIA LUMMIS, who on Monday dismissed the allegations against Hegseth as “side issues,” then yesterday struck an entirely different tone: “These allegations that have come up just in the last 12 to 14 hours are a surprise to all of us, and so, yes, he does need to address those, because this was not something of which we were aware, nor was President Trump aware of them.”

Hegseth is getting a chance today to make his case, first publicly in a Fox News interview this morning (his mom, who criticized him in a withering 2018 email, will also be there, per Kaitlan Collins), then in private meetings with key senators later today — including Thune, incoming Senate Armed Services Chair ROGER WICKER (R-Miss.) and, crucially, Sen. JONI ERNST (R-Iowa).

Barring a major turnaround, we’re told, Hegseth could be out by week’s end, and yet another Floridian could be in.

DUELING DEMS — There was a time when Rep. JERRY NADLER’s longtime chief of staff AMY RUTKIN referred to Rep. JAMIE RASKIN as “Little Jerry.”

The two progressives spent all of 2019 tag-teaming then-Speaker NANCY PELOSI into launching impeachment proceedings against Trump, finding common cause as constitutional experts on the House Judiciary Committee.

But times have changed. Raskin (D-Md.) is full steam ahead with his challenge to the New Yorker’s seven-year leadership of the committee’s Democrats. It’s a key perch with Trump seeking to remake the Justice Department and crack down on immigration — two keystones of the panel’s jurisdiction.

Since we closely covered the two men through both Trump impeachments, we couldn’t help but call up some old sources to get inside this unlikely and painful rivalry. We’re told they have kept in contact as Raskin considered and then proceeded to challenge his old friend.

He did so reluctantly, bowing to fellow members’ desires to have a younger, more telegenic persona standing up to Judiciary Chair JIM JORDAN. The question now goes to the House Democrats’ steering and policy committee and, ultimately, to the full Democratic caucus.

Multiple well-plugged-in Democrats tell us they think Raskin will triumph in this rare head-to-head battle of longtime allies and may already have the votes locked down. While the exact timing of the votes are to be determined, Nadler may be starting to see the writing on the wall.

He’s been making calls to colleagues to gauge his support, and multiple Democrats predicted he might withdraw from the race — much as Rep. RAUL GRIJALVA (D-Ariz.), the longtime Natural Resources Committee leader, bowed out in the face of a similar challenge earlier this week.

If so, it would represent a major shift inside a Democratic Caucus where seniority used to be everything. As one senior Democratic aide put it, it’s a “hard lesson that our caucus — that our party, frankly — may have learned going back to RUTH BADER GINSBURG and Biden and everything else. … You can’t just wait until you die in these positions.”

Related reads: Rep. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-N.Y.) is weighing a bid for the top Democratic position on the Oversight Committee should Raskin prevail, she told reporters Tuesday, per Nicholas Wu. And Rep. MELANIE STANSBURY (D-N.M.) is touting support from Grijalva as she tests the waters on a long-shot bid to succeed him atop the Natural Resources Committee, Josh Siegel and Nicholas report.

Good Wednesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade and Eugene Daniels.

THE AGENDA TAKES SHAPE — We are starting to get a peek at what the first months of GOP government might look like on Capitol Hill, though the picture so far has yet to come into focus.

Yesterday JOHN THUNE, the soon-to-be Senate majority leader, took a major step toward organizing the Republican governing agenda, laying out his plan for back-to-back partisan megabills using the fast-track procedural tool known as reconciliation.

The first bill — a package focused on the border, energy and national defense — would land on Trump’s desk within the first 30 days of his inauguration, under Thune’s plan. The second — a sprawling tax package focused on extending the 2017 tax cuts that expire at the end of next year — would follow later in the year.

Within a few hours, House Ways and Means Chair JASON SMITH panned the idea, telling Punchbowl’s Laura Weiss that it would be “reckless” to put taxes on the back burner even temporarily and that it would be “creating an opportunity to increase taxes for all Americans.”

Consider this a little foreshadowing of what’s to come, with Republicans bickering as they try to synchronize their policies and priorities — just as any party has to when it gains a Washington trifecta. We saw it in 2021 with Democrats and in 2017 with the GOP. Don’t expect 2025 to be any different.

But just how profound are the differences? We made some calls last night, and while Smith is not alone in raising concerns about the Thune plan — expect other gavel-holders to squawk about being made to wait in line — the senior echelon of Republican leadership appears to be on board in principle with what Thune laid out.

Thune pitched Trump personally on the plan, we’re told. And while the president-elect hasn’t weighed in on the minutiae of reconciliation vehicles and budget resolution toplines, we hear he’s eager to put wins on the board and likes the idea of doing a bill that can tackle the border — his central campaign issue — right away. (Back in 2017, you’ll recall, Republicans started with health care and failed miserably, wasting precious time and political capital.)

Speaker MIKE JOHNSON, we hear, is also read in on this plan. While he hasn’t endorsed the idea outright, it carries a certain amount of logic for a House leader who will be dealing with a razor-thin majority.

News last night of Rep. JOHN DUARTE’s (R-Calif.) loss means Johnson will be dealing with a maximum of 220 seats under ideal circumstances, and with anticipated vacancies, he could have a 217-seat, zero-margin majority into early April. Pushing the tax bill into the fall, the thinking goes, will give Johnson time to assemble every spare vote he can get.

Meanwhile, though, Johnson and Thune will have to work together to write and pass a budget resolution through both chambers to unlock reconciliation powers. (Thune is already talking about getting that done in early January, before Trump is inaugurated.)

Amid all of that, they’ll also likely have to deal with government funding — with Johnson now eyeing a continuing resolution into March that will likely run out in mid-March. Yes, that will allow Trump to put an early stamp on federal spending, but it also means fighting a separate fight that will suck up oxygen in the first 100 days.

NEW JMART — “Tom Vilsack on Democrats’ Rural Woes: ‘You Gotta Be Selling a Vision’”: The nation’s longest-serving Agriculture secretary says he’s given his party a winning program, but they need to go out and sell it.”

WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY

On the Hill

The Senate is in.

The House will meet at 10 a.m.

3 things to watch …

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Three prominent Hispanic Democrats are urging President JOE BIDEN to protect immigrants as part of his final “Trump-proofing” efforts. Sens. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO (Nev.), BEN RAY LUJAN (N.M.) and ALEX PADILLA (Calif.) want Biden to “act decisively” by expanding and extending Temporary Protected Status for migrants from Ecuador, Nicaragua and El Salvador while also speeding up processing of DACA renewals and other applications for legal pathways. Those moves, they write, would “protect long-term immigrant communities and ensure that families are not returned to countries where they would face immense danger.” Read the letter

MATT GAETZ might have withdrawn as Trump’s AG nominee, but that doesn’t mean his House Ethics entanglements are old news. Rep. SEAN CASTEN (D-Ill.) yesterday updated his privileged resolution calling for the release of the report into Gaetz’ personal conduct, including allegations of underage sex and drug use. The new resolution cites four instances where Ethics reports were released after a member left the House. As a privileged matter, it will have to be disposed of by tomorrow. More from NBC

Farewell, GEORGE HELMY, we hardly knew ye: New Jersey’s very junior senator will go on his merry way Sunday, Daniel Han reports, resigning roughly three months after he was appointed by Gov. PHIL MURPHY to replace the disgraced BOB MENENDEZ. That will allow Murphy to give Democratic Sen-elect. ANDY KIM an early start in office — and potentially an early claim on a committee gavel vis-a-via his Class of ’24 colleagues many years hence.

At the White House

Biden will travel back to D.C. from Angola.

PLAYBOOK READS

TRANSITION LENSES

ON BACKGROUND — The Trump-Vance transition has given the green light for FBI background checks to proceed for the president-elect’s nominees, signing an agreement with DOJ to proceed with the process, the transition said in a statement yesterday, per Betsy Woodruff Swan and Alice Miranda Ollstein.

The MOU will be a major relief to senators in both parties who have called for thorough vetting of Trump’s selections, and while the Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment yesterday, a spokesperson said last week that officials were ready to begin processing requests for clearances for staff who will need access to sensitive materials.

Trump lost another one of his nominees yesterday, though, when his pick to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, CHAD CHRONISTER, abruptly withdrew his name from consideration just days after being chosen. Chronister said in a post on X that he made the decision “as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in,” but didn’t cite a reason for his withdrawal other than concluding he wanted to continue in his current role as a sheriff in Florida. More from Ben Leonard and Kimberly Leonard

More top reads:

KASH PATEL, Trump’s FBI director-designate, “and a few others on Trump team were the targets of an ‘Iranian cyber attack,’” Semafor’s Shelby Talcott reports, though she notes that it is “unclear if [the] hack was successful or material compromised.”

ROBERT LIGHTHIZER, Trump’s former U.S. trade chief, is unlikely to rejoin the Trump administration in an official capacity, Gavin Bade, Adam Behsudi and Ari Hawkins report, “throw[ing] into doubt the president-elect’s promises to pursue an even more aggressive second term trade policy.” Related read: “The economic clashes looming in Trump 2.0,” by Sam Sutton

Checking the list: “Trump’s plans to remake America in 1 week,” by Greta Reich, Emmy Martin and Kierra Frazier: “POLITICO compiled a list of the biggest promises Trump made on the campaign trail or since winning the election to provide a snapshot of what his first week in office might look like.”

THE WHITE HOUSE

BEG YOUR PARDON — While most high-level Dems are dodging the pardon question, California Gov. GAVIN NEWSOM is publicly breaking with the president, becoming the most notable figure to do so thus far.

“With everything the president and his family have been through, I completely understand the instinct to protect Hunter,” Newsom told our colleague Chris Cadelago. “But I took the president at his word. So by definition, I’m disappointed and can’t support the decision.” Newsom didn’t elaborate further.

Back in D.C., House Minority Leader HAKEEM JEFFRIES called on Biden to pardon more people convicted of nonviolent offenses, saying he “should exercise the high level of compassion he has consistently demonstrated throughout his life, including toward his son.”

One person who’s definitely not happy? The federal judge presiding over Hunter Biden’s criminal case for tax evasion. In an order Tuesday evening, U.S. District Judge MARK SCARSI bashed Biden’s claim that the charges were politically motivated, Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein write. Read the order

More top reads:

Lawyers for Trump deployed the president’s statement explaining his pardon of Hunter in a filing seeking the dismissal of the hush money case against him in New York. Lawyers TODD BLANCHE and EMIL BOVE — now nominated to top DOJ positions — “argued that Biden’s assertions about Hunter Biden having been ‘selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted’ and ‘treated differently’ were tantamount to an ‘extraordinary condemnation of President Biden’s own DOJ,’” Erica Orden writes.

Biden administration officials “will not finalize highly anticipated guidelines on new clean fuel production tax credits aimed at the airline and biofuel industries before they leave in January,” Reuters’ Jarrett Renshaw reports, “casting doubt on the future of a key piece of the U.S. president’s climate agenda.”

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

SEOUL SEARCHING — The fallout from South Korea, where the National Assembly voted to end emergency martial law imposed earlier in the day by President YOON SUK YEOL, is setting the U.S.-South Korea relationship up for its “biggest test in decades,” NYT’s Edward Wong and Michael Crowley write. “Biden, who has used democracy versus autocracy as a defining framework of his foreign policy, will have to make hard choices on how to handle the crisis, after years of cultivating relations with Mr. Yoon, a conservative leader, and enhancing military ties to better counter China, North Korea and Russia.”

Latest: Yoon is facing an impeachment effort from opposition parties, Reuters reports, with a vote possible as soon as Friday: “There were deep divisions in Yoon’s ruling People Power Party as well, as its leader called for Defence Minister KIM YONG-HYUN to be fired and the entire cabinet to resign.”

Related reads: “Martial law, then a reversal: An astonishing six hours in South Korea,” by WaPo’s Michelle Ye Hee Lee in Seoul … “South Korea’s president declared martial law. Could it happen in the U.S.?” by WaPo’s Amber Phillips

POTUS ABROAD — Biden in Angola yesterday announced that the U.S. will “provide more than $1 billion in humanitarian aid for people displaced by drought or conflict in 31 African countries,” per the Agence France Presse. During a stop at the National Museum of Slavery, Biden also called attention to the slave trade that once connected the U.S. to the country.

“The president’s decision to emphasize that connection served not only as a nod to the injustices inflicted on generations of Africans, but also as a statement of principle in the contemporary debate underway in his own country about how to teach and remember history,” NYT’s Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Peter Baker write from Luanda, Angola.

JUDICIARY SQUARE

HAPPENING TODAY — As the Supreme Court prepares to hear a marquee case over Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, “conservatives defending the law plan to point to an unexpected place as a model: Europe,” Josh Gerstein reports. “Two decades ago, Republicans appeared allergic to foreign influence on the U.S. legal system, decrying Supreme Court decisions that looked abroad — often to Europe — for guidance on culture-war issues like gay rights and the death penalty. Now, that aversion seems to have eroded.”

GEORGIA ON MY MIND — “Republican Lawmakers in Georgia Press Case for Fani Willis Testimony,” by NYT’s Danny Hakim and Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon

CONGRESS

FIGHTERS FOR OLD D.C. — The fight over where the Washington Commanders’ new stadium will be built is ramping up in the halls of Congress as Maryland’s two senators lay out a new demand: “If D.C. gives their state one of its Air National Guard squadrons, they may support a bill allowing the District to redevelop the RFK Stadium site,” WaPo’s Erin Cox, Sam Fortier, Meagan Flynn and Paul Kane report.

PLAYBOOKERS

Tucker Carlson said he returned to Russia to interview the foreign minister.

Rashida Jones is mulling a departure from MSNBC.

Jill Biden is also set to attend the reopening ceremony of the Notre Dame Cathedral on Saturday.

Zoë Kestan is recounting her relation to Hunter Biden.

IN MEMORIAM — “Lance Morrow, Time magazine essayist of history and infamy, dies at 85,” by WaPo’s Brian Murphy: “ Morrow, a journalist, author and essayist who helped define Time magazine’s once-dominant place in American commentary, using a historian’s eye and taut prose to distill the country’s tragedies, triumphs and evolving culture, died Nov. 29 at his home in Spencertown, New York. He was 85. The cause was prostate cancer, said his wife, Susan Brind Morrow.”

PLAYBOOK REAL ESTATE CORNER — “After Leaving New York, Sean Hannity Pays $23.5 Million for Florida Estate,” by WSJ’s Katherine Clarke: “The roughly 12,000-square-foot house, built around 1990, has eight bedrooms, a wine room and a rooftop observation terrace. While it is in good condition, local real-estate agents said, some buyers might consider it a teardown.”

OUT AND ABOUT — The Washington Post celebrated George F. Will’s 50 years at the publication in an intimate penthouse cocktail reception hosted by Opinion Editor David Shipley last night. SPOTTED: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), William Lewis, Kathy Baird, Eleanor Breen, Debra Lerner, Sally Quinn, Donald Graham, Jonathan Turley, Jonathan Capehart, Gloria Borger, Dana Milbank, Susanna Quinn and Ruth Marcus.

— InterDigital held its annual holiday reception last night, hosted at the Résidence de France by French Ambassador Laurent Bili. The event was a festive gathering that celebrated the season and featured remarks from French Deputy Chief of Mission Agnes Van der Muhll, InterDigital CEO Liren Chen and InterDigital’s Lionel Oisel. SPOTTED: Rob Stien, Blair Watters, Samantha Breslin, Laura McPherson, Jeff Ricchetti, Manus Cooney, Phillip Wallace, Stuart Chapman, Layth Elhassani, Harriet Melvin, Heather McHugh and Maya Patel.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is joining The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School as a senior fellow.

— Peter Nonis is joining global investment and transformation company General Catalyst as VP of policy comms for the newly launched General Catalyst Institute. He is VP of marketing and comms at the Business Council for International Understanding.

TRANSITIONS — Matt Miltenberger is leaving his longtime role as chief of staff to Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) to join the private sector. Amelia Breinig is moving up to be the new chief, and Daniel Yarbrough is now legislative director. Yarbrough most recently was a legislative assistant for Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.). … Hannah Thoburn is now EUCOM strategy director at Anduril Industries. She previously was a senior professional staff member for Europe and Eurasia for the Senate Foreign Relations GOP. …

… Independent Sector has added Jennifer Mellen as VP of institutional advancement, Rashid Mosley as VP of programs and Andrea Risotto as VP of comms. Mellen most recently was SVP of development at Human Rights First, Mosley was senior policy program manager at the Urban Institute, and Risotto was chief comms officer at the Brookings Institution. … Katheryne Richardson is now a managing director in BRG’s health care practice. She previously was VP for global pricing and health systems analytics at Bristol Myers Squibb.

ENGAGED — Brian Johnson, EVP of government and public affairs and head of the D.C. office for Veterans Guardian, and Caroline Reynolds, principal at Lilly & Company, got engaged on Nov. 26 in Caroline’s hometown in East Texas. The couple met at a golf tournament in Pinehurst, North Carolina, at an event for NRCC Chair Richard Hudson. Pic

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.), Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) … The Boston Globe’s Jackie Kucinich … Suzanne Malveaux … NPR’s Danielle Kurtzleben and Ximena Bustillo … Al Hunt … Meg Badame ... Sarah Paulos … Amazon’s Rachael Lighty … Peter Freeman … Colin Rogero … Claire Lucas … Kevin O’Neill of Arnold & Porter … PBS NewsHour’s Anne Davenport … Sarah Baron of the Hub Project … Brian Svoboda … Chad Heflin … Mark Cowan of Cowan Strategies … Jennie Westbrook Courts of the Information Technology Industry Council … former Rep. Francis Rooney (R-Fla.) … Nick Gass … former Transportation Secretary Mary Peters … Meghan Patenaude Bauer … Matthew Bevens … Andrew Shult of TAG Strategies … EEOC’s Yana Mayayeva … Whitney Ksiazek … Campbell Marshall … Tim Ranstrom ... Jon Fleischman … POLITICO’s Jen Karacki … Bob Mulholland

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