☀️ Gross National Happiness

Good morning! The NYPD found a secret tunnel on Monday under a Brooklyn synagogue. Very on-brand NYC chaos ensued thereafter.

Both houses of Congress are back in D.C. after their well-deserved holiday break. With nine days remaining before half the government shuts down (due to a lack of budget), a lot of work remains. Congressional leadership announced a bipartisan deal on the big details, but some House Republicans aren’t thrilled. Are we in for a redux of 2023’s speaker drama? We’ll see.

 GOVERNMENT 

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is out of intensive care this week and into Washington’s fire. Details continue to emerge on the timeline of his health scare and what’s happened in response.

Recap: Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was MIA last week. He sent the deputy secretary of Defense to national security meetings in his place (she didn’t know why). Turns out he was in the ICU after surgery complications. Why’s that a problem? Because nobody at the White House (including President Biden) knew about any of it.

Updates: Austin was diagnosed with prostate cancer early last month. He had surgery to treat it on Dec. 22. Complications emerged and he was rushed to the hospital on Jan. 1 (sad New Year) and into the full-blown ICU the next day. The White House found out he was in the hospital on Jan. 4. They found out why…yesterday.

Response: White House Chief of Staff (by some measures, the second most powerful job in Washington) Jeff Zients sent a memo to the Cabinet requiring members and their agencies to ensure they have procedures in place to prevent this in the future. And they need to prove it to Zients by Friday.

Future: Complet details on Austin’s health and who’s responsible for the poor communication here haven’t yet emerged. Cabinet turnover in the Biden administration is extremely low and the president would presumably like to keep it that way. But Congress has expressed bipartisan fury (their favorite pastime) at the situation. So far, only a few have called for his resignation. Austin has since apologized and, frankly, it’s tough to get mad at a guy who has cancer (his prognosis is “excellent”).

 BHUTAN 

One of the world’s weirdest countries went to the polls yesterday. Bhutan is a tiny, mostly Buddhist country (of about 700,000 people) in the Himalayas between India and China. It’s roughly the size of Switzerland and its name means “Land of the Thunder Dragon.”

• TV was banned until 1999.

• No one had a clue how many people lived there until 2005.

• It was an absolute monarchy until 2008.

• It has official relations with only 54 countries (of ~200).

• Its government measures Gross National Happiness (GDP is so out)

It also has a sick flag with a dragon on it. Anyway, the royalist People’s Democratic Party romped and won 30 of 47 seats in parliament. Former Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay (a Pitt and Harvard alum) is back in charge.

 POLITICS: 

Note: In Monday’s issue, we told you the fifth Republican presidential debate was yesterday (Tuesday). It wasn’t. It’s tonight (Wednesday). Sorry. We’ll find an eight-year-old to help us brush up on our days of the week ASAP.

🔵 The bromance is back. Former President Barack Obama met President Joe Biden for a private lunch last month. Obama recommended Biden go to his former 2012 campaign staffers for 2024 strategy. And Biden took the advice. But some Democratic strategists are worried it's not enough. Former Obama operative David Axelrod called the race "winnable but worrisome."

🔴 The Iowa caucus, the first contest of the 2024 Republican presidential primaries, is next Monday, Jan. 15. Despite it being campaign crunch time, frontrunner Donald Trump will make two court appearances this week (in D.C. and NY). And another one of his many trials begins on Jan. 16, one week before New Hampshire votes on Jan. 23. His campaign and court calendars are colliding at breakneck speed. And it’s only going to get worse from here — his federal trial begins on March 4. That’s the day before Super Tuesday, when 15 states vote (plus the territory of American Samoa).

🔵 The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), is investing millions in two Senate races this year — Montana and Ohio. Democrats currently hold both seats (despite being in Republican-leaning states). One-third of the Senate is up for reelection every two years and the chances of Democrats keeping control of the Senate next year are…not great, Bob. They hold almost every competitive seat that’s up in 2024. And only control the Senate 51-49. But, on the bright side, Montana’s a cheap state to campaign in (it ranks #43 in population). And the current senators in both Montana and Ohio have successfully won elections for decades.

🔴 Nikki Haley received a big endorsement yesterday from…drumroll…Judge Judy. Judith Sheindlin said she wants a president “who’s not divisive." She endorsed former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg (D) in 2020. Depending on which poll you believe, Haley is either down by 7 or 20 points in New Hampshire. Either way, Trump's in the driver’s seat. But he might be feeling the heat. His supporters are airing TV ads in New Hampshire attacking Haley for being “too liberal” on border issues.

🔴 Campaign staffers bailing is never a good sign. And that’s exactly what’s happening to the campaign of biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy (R). One even gave a potential start date (to a new job) of Feb. 1 — just a week after the New Hampshire primary. Ramaswamy has focused his energy on Iowa, doing 239 events in the state (that’s more than twice the next candidate). But the hard work hasn’t paid off. Ramaswamy, for the first time yet, was not invited to tonight’s debate.

 BRIEFS: 

• The National Park Service reverses course, won’t remove Pennsylvania statue of state’s founder, William Penn, in a win for Gov. Josh Shapiro

• A federal lawsuit began trial yesterday to decide whether Georgia's electronic voting machines must be tossed in favor of paper ballots

• Fani Willis, the District Attorney prosecuting Trump in Georgia, may have an ethics issue

• Rep. Greg Pence, former VP Mike’s brother, isn’t running for reelection this year

• Ex-Rep. (and current candidate) Mayra Flores has been posting food pics on IG for ages that, turns out, she just grabbed off Google

• Airlines are finding loose parts on the Boeing 737 Max 9 planes the FAA grounded after one fell apart mid-flight

 TRIVIA 

We all know Switzerland is famously neutral. For much of the United Nations’ history (it was created in 1945), Europe’s home of chocolate, cheese, and rich people wasn’t even a member.

Question: In what year did Switzerland finally become a member of the United Nations?

 WORLD 

🇮🇱 Israel: Fighting between Hezbollah (a militia in Lebanon just north of Israel) and Israel is heating up. An Israeli strike took out a Hezbollah commander on Monday. Hezbollah fired back on Tuesday, hitting an Israeli base.

🇫🇷 France: France has a new prime minister. Gabriel Attal, at only 34 years old, is now the second most powerful person in France. In the French system, the president is the top dog while the PM is #2 (many countries reverse that). President Emmanuel Macron appointed him to the new gig.

🇪🇨 Ecuador: After a notorious gang leader escaped from prison Sunday, Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency. Now cops are being kidnapped and armed men took over a TV station live on air. Maybe skip that Ecuadorian vacay for now.

 QUOTE 

 SNACKS 

🎥 Star Wars: Baby Yoda's heading to the big screen. Disney announced a new Star Wars movie called "The Mandalorian & Grogu" will start filming this year. No word on a release date, but rumors point to Dec. 2025. Jon Favreau will direct.

🌜 The Moon: Remember that spacecraft headed to the moon carrying human remains? And how the Navajo called it a desecration of the moon, which they consider sacred? Well, it suffered a fuel leak after launch and has “no chance” of not crashing (into the moon).

🖥️ Tech: Samsung and LG are showing off transparent TVs at CES in Vegas. Because the one thing sexier than a blank TV screen is the blank wall behind it.

 ANSWER 

Switzerland joined the UN on September 10, 2002 after a nationwide popular vote on the matter.