Good morning and Merry Christmas! Today is November 22, or, as Mariah Carey likes to call it, “payday.” It’s the earliest day on which Thanksgiving can fall. It happened most recently in 2018 and will hit us again in 2029. That means it’s also the first day on which it’s socially acceptable to listen to Christmas music.

TRANSITION

⛔ The gates shut on Gaetz, open for Bondi

Botox aficionado Matt Gaetz withdrew his name yesterday from consideration to be the next attorney general as it became clear that the math just didn’t math. At least five Senate Republicans were reportedly a hard “no” on voting to confirm Gaetz to lead the Department of Justice.

• Gaetz was under investigation by the House’s internal Ethics Committee for potentially sleeping with a 17-year-old. He fiercely denied the allegations as politically motivated lies.

• The growing ethics cloud was enough to force him out and a rocky relationship with other congressional Republicans didn't help.

Gaetz served in the House until resigning last week to focus on his nomination. But quitting also offered a nice lil side bonus. The Ethics Committee only investigates current members of Congress, so his resignation nixed the release of a potentially damaging ethics report.

Resignation shenanigans: Gaetz resigned from his current term in the House. But that term ends on January 3 and he was just reelected to another two-year term set to begin that same day. His resignation letter said he did not “intend” to take the oath of office for the next term. So… takesies backsies?

• That’s up to Congress. The Constitution gives Congress the final say on whether someone is or isn’t a member.

• But going back to the House in January would result in that ethics report being published — a situation Gaetz might prefer to avoid.

Trump quickly announced a new nominee. Should the Senate confirm her, Pam Bondi will lead the Department of Justice (DOJ) as the next U.S. attorney general. In his post, the president-elect accused the DOJ of being "partisan" and "weaponized" against Republicans. He believes Bondi is a fighter who will "refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting crime.”

• From 2011 to 2019, Bondi served as attorney general of Florida. She has since been a ferocious defender of Trump and leader of a pro-Trump think tank.

Trump’s other picks are also going through the wringer. Education nominee Linda McMahon’s company, WWE, has been sued for all sorts of unsavory things. On an unrelated note, here’s the now-mayor of Knox County, TN tombstoning the future U.S. secretary of Education.

• Commerce nominee Howard Lutnick is taking heat for his business ties to China.

• Defense nominee Pete Hegseth is fighting off a 2017 sexual assault allegation, which he says was a consensual encounter. And Republican senators seem inclined to believe him.

Elsewhere, Trump reportedly rejected an anti-abortion stalwart for the #2 job at the Department of Health and Human Services over concerns the guy would alienate moderates. He also selected former Department of Justice staffer Matthew Whitaker as the next U.S. ambassador to NATO. The biggest question still up in the air? The next Treasury secretary.

GOVERNMENT

📺️ Kamala Harris's cameo on "SNL" three days before the election is bringing some legal heat to NBC. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has received more than 70 official complaints alleging the appearance violated the FCC's equal-time rule. The rule says that, since old school TV and radio airwaves are owned by the public, broadcasters can’t give one political candidate more air time than another.

📱 The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will launch an app in December that allows migrants to bypass in-person check-ins at their local immigration office. Opponents, like the incoming Trump administration, say the app makes it easier for illegal migrants to flee and doesn’t check for arrests or outstanding warrants. One Trump official said it amounted to Biden’s team throwing up “roadblocks and obstacles” on their way out.

💻️ The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed court papers requesting that Google be forced to sell its Chrome browser. A judge ruled in August, after a lawsuit from the DOJ, that Google held an illegal monopoly in search. The sale would, in the DOJ’s eyes, “permanently stop Google’s control of this critical search access point…” and allow Bing other search engines to flourish. Even if the court goes with this plan, it won’t happen for a while — the original ruling is still being appealed.

POLITICS

⚖️ Senate cuts deal on Biden judges

Seventeen days later, the dust is still settling in the battle for control of Congress. Republicans have won 220 House seats, Democrats have won 213, and two races in California are too close to call. With Trump plucking three House Republicans for administration jobs, things could get dicey in Congress next year.

• On the Senate side, Pennsylvania Democrat Bob Casey finally conceded after a recount confirmed his loss to Republican Dave McCormick.

• Never a group to let the calendar get in the way of a good time, politicians are already kicking off campaigns for the November 2026 elections.

Speaking of the Senate, Democrats are racing to confirm Biden-nominated judges before they lose power in January. Now they've cut a deal with Republicans to do just that. Republicans have agreed to stop stalling on some lower-level district court judges if Senate Democrats agree to stop pushing on a few higher-level appeals court judges.

• Federal judges serve for life. So pushing through as many as possible is a key part of either party’s agenda when they’re in power.

TRIVIA

With Biden winning in 2020 and Trump winning in 2024, it’s no surprise that a bunch of states will have voted more Republican this year than they did last time around. What is surprising, however, is the scale. Compared to 2020, Trump’s margin increased this year in every single state. All 50. So the question is this: Which state swung the most toward Trump from the 2020 election to the 2024 election?

Hint: He didn’t win this state in either race. But he lost it by way less than last time.

WORLD

👩‍⚖️ ICC comes after Israel’s Netanyahu

The International Criminal Court (ICC), sometimes called "The Hague" for its Dutch HQ, issued arrest warrants for two Israeli officials and one Hamas leader. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are accused of various "crimes against humanity" for their actions since Hamas's deadly attack on Israel last year.

• Hamas leader Mohammed Deif helped plan the October 7 attacks. He's wanted for a slew of crimes including murder, torture, taking hostages, and more.

• Arresting this guy may prove difficult as Israel claims to have killed him back in September.

The ICC is not part of the U.N. It was instead created in 2002 by a treaty between 124 countries. Neither the United States nor Israel are members. This is the first time it has issued a warrant for the leader of a democratic country.

• Israel's government called the charges "absurd" and said the ICC is "biased and discriminatory."

• President Biden called the warrants "outrageous" and members of Congress lashed out at the ICC, threatening sanctions and demanding an investigation of the “kangaroo court.”

Will these guys be arrested? Unlikely. The ICC relies on its member states to make arrests. Don't want to get arrested? Don't travel to those countries. Additionally, the U.S. could pose a problem if either of the two Israelis are taken in. A federal law commonly called "The Hague Invasion Act" allows the president to full-on invade the Netherlands if an American official or one of an ally — like Israel — is arrested.

In other Israel news… Netanyahu is offering $5 million and safe passage out of the war-torn Gaza Strip to anyone returning an Israeli hostage.

BRIEFS

● The FBI arrested a Florida Man™ for plotting to blow up the New York Stock Exchange and somehow "reboot" the U.S. government. Like many dumb criminals, this guy explained his plans in spectacular detail to undercover FBI agents.

● The father of an alleged school shooter in Georgia pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder yesterday. Prosecutors say he knew his son was a danger and gave the kid a gun anyway. A Michigan couple was convicted on similar charges last year.

● Illegal Venezuelan migrant and gang member Jose Ibarra was sentenced to life in prison without parole for murdering Georgia college student Laken Riley. Ibarra’s crime became a focal point of Trump’s campaign promise for mass deportations.

● Comcast, NBCUniversal’s owner, is spinning off its cable networks like MSNBC and CNBC but (awkwardly) holding onto NBC itself. The company hopes the move will help it focus more on its streaming (Peacock) and theme park (Universal Studios) businesses.

● The U.S. Department of Justice charged Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, one of the world’s richest men, with securities fraud. He allegedly duped investors into throwing billions at a fraudulent scheme involving selling solar power in India.

QUOTE

ANSWER

In 2020, Donald Trump lost it by 23%. In 2024, he lost it by less than 12%. New York’s ~11.5% swing toward Trump was larger than any other state’s. New Jersey and Florida came in second and third, both with ~10% rightward shifts. Down at the bottom of the list, Washington voted just 0.9% more Republican this year than it did in 2020.