Good morning and happy New Year! It’s been a few weeks but we’re glad to be back. Best of luck to everyone trying to stay warm in the polar vortex while also going back to work, dodging norovirus, and being nice to that friend who’s absolutely convinced this will be the month year they finally (insert overly ambitious resolution here).

CONGRESS

🏛️ Welcome to Washington, 119th Congress

The elections are won. The orientation is over. The staffers have been hired. The famed lottery for good office space is done. Now it’s time for the work to begin. New and returning members were sworn in on Friday to the 119th United States Congress. Hello, $174,000 salary.

Republicans control the House with a razor-thin majority. They’ve got 219 seats to the Democrats’ 215. One Republican-dominated seat is temporarily vacant due to a resignation.

• Without much drama, Republicans used their majority to elect current House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to a second term as Congressional Cat Herder.

• His first job? Swear in everybody and pass the rules that’ll govern the House for the next two years.

Republicans also control the Senate now, with 53 seats to the Democrats’ 47. One Republican-won seat is technically vacant until next week. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice decided not to take his Senate seat until his term as governor ends on January 13.

• Republicans chose Sen. John Thune (R-SD) to lead the Senate as majority leader. His first job? Hearings for Trump’s Cabinet picks. More on that below.

New members of Congress are busy learning the ropes, painting their offices, and figuring out if they were lucky enough to score an office in a building where the Capitol subway system stops. Things aren’t so glorious for the now-former members. They spent the past two months packing their own boxes, slowly losing their staffs, and getting booted from their offices.

GOVERNMENT

🏗️ President Biden might only have two weeks left in office, but he's still got the power. He's laying down the law on his way out, attempting to cement his favored policies into place before Trump takes over on the 20th. Later today, Biden will ban new offshore oil and gas drilling on a huge swath of America's coastline. Last week, he offered billions in tax credits to green hydrogen energy companies. And, over the weekend, he cited national security concerns to slam the door on Japan-based Nippon Steel's proposed purchase of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel.

📡 2017's hottest topic is back in the news. A federal court last week smacked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for reinstating so-called "net neutrality" rules, saying the law doesn't actually give the FCC that power. The FCC had declared the internet a public utility like water or power, subjecting it to more regulation. Net neutrality proponents say it protects consumer data and ensures high speeds. Opponents believe the policy regulates a service that is already getting faster and cheaper without intervention.

🏅 Forget the Golden Globes. President Biden bestowed 39 people with the nation’s two highest civilian honors. Twenty people received the second-ranked Presidential Citizens Medal, including former members of Congress and Vietnam War-era activists. Nineteen people lucked out with the top-ranked Presidential Medal of Freedom. Recipients of the big prize include self-proclaimed “hair icon” Hillary Clinton, billionaire investor George Soros, one-time “Grey’s Anatomy” director Denzel Washington, and Science Guy William S. Nye.

PRESIDENCY

🇺🇸 Peanut farmer receives state funeral

America lost its 39th president when Jimmy Carter passed away on December 29 at age 100. His six-day state funeral began on Saturday and will continue until Thursday.

Jimmy Carter began his adult life by graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy — the only president to do so — and serving mostly aboard submarines from 1946 to 1953. He later returned to his tiny hometown of Plains, Georgia, to run the family’s successful peanut farm. Carter later served in the Georgia Senate before winning election as governor in 1970.

• Owing to his mom’s job as a nurse, Jimmy Carter was the first president born in a hospital.

Despite an ill-fated interview with Playboy (hey, hindsight is 20/20), Carter won the White House in 1976. In the wake of the Watergate scandal, Americans turned against established political brands. The “dark horse” candidate whom nobody saw coming won it all.

His presidency was dominated by ongoing energy and inflation crises. Over his four-year term, the combined inflation rate totaled a nice, even, 50%. That’s, uh, tough to come back from. Though Carter lost his 1980 reelection race bigly to Ronald Reagan, he did notch some political wins. President Carter negotiated an Egypt-Israel peace agreement (the Camp David Accords) and created the Departments of Energy and Education.

• In another stroke of bad political luck, Carter wasn’t able to nominate a single Supreme Court justice.

His record-long retirement was far more popular. As a humanitarian, Carter helped build or repair more than 4,000 homes with Habitat for Humanity and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. The Carter Center also helped nearly eradicate guinea-worm disease, dropping annual cases from 3.5 million in 1986 to just 14 in 2023.

Carter’s state funeral began with a procession through Plains, Georgia on Saturday. His casket will lie in repose (for public viewing) at the Carter Center in Atlanta until Tuesday morning. His remains will then travel to the Capitol in Washington, D.C., where he will lie in state — the fancy, official government version of “repose” — until his funeral (which he helped plan) on Thursday. That’ll take place at Washington National Cathedral, with all living presidents invited.

• In keeping with tradition, President Biden directed that flags be flown at half-staff for 30 days after Carter’s death (which does awkwardly include Trump’s inauguration).

TRANSITION

🗳️ Congress counts the votes as inauguration draws

Things went, er, slightly awry last time around, but the show must go on. The 2024 presidential election will end today when Congress counts the Electoral College votes and seals the deal on Donald Trump’s win.

This process was modified in 2022 with the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act. The new law plugs some holes in the old 1887 version (which was also passed after a contentious election).

• It says states can only get involved in Electoral College business during disaster situations.

• It notably clarifies that the vice president has only a clerical role in the counting process.

In her constitutional role as president of the Senate, Vice President Kamala Harris will oversee the count. At its conclusion, she'll announce the final tally and Trump’s victory. And you think you don’t want to go to work today…

Donald Trump’s court cases are winding down ahead of his inauguration. He’ll appear virtually in a New York court on Friday to be sentenced for his “hush money” felony conviction. Judge Juan Merchan is planning a penalty-free "unconditional discharge" to close the book on this while still allowing Trump to appeal if he wants to.

• Trump lost his appeal of E. Jean Carroll’s $5-million lawsuit victory against him for sexual abuse in the 1990s.

Senate confirmation hearings for some of Trump’s Cabinet picks will begin next week. Hearings will be held by the Senate committees relevant to each job. For instance, the Foreign Relations Committee will question Sen. Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for secretary of State.

• Once he's inaugurated on January 20, Trump will make his selections official. Then the Senate will be able to quickly vote on those who’ve already had their hearings.

Elsewhere in Trump World:

• Greenland’s prime minister said the world’s largest island and its 57,000 people will seek independence from Denmark. That could complicate, or ease, Trump’s dream of buying it.

• Apple CEO Tim Cook joined the rest of Silicon Valley and donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund.

• Vice President-elect JD Vance underwent a long-planned minor sinus surgery on Friday.

TRIVIA

As you might expect, President Jimmy Carter’s funeral involves his casket being draped under an American flag. The honor is part of the standard-issue state funeral given to every U.S. president… except, it’s not quite every president. Who is the only U.S. president not laid to rest under the American flag?

Hint: Known as “His Accidency,” this guy was also the first vice president to take over after his predecessor’s death.

BRIEFS

● The stepson of Prince William’s childhood nanny was among the 14 people killed in the ISIS-inspired New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans. President Biden and the first lady will travel to the city today to “grieve with the families.”

● A U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation found that Oklahoma City police discriminate against people with behavioral health disabilities. The DOJ said the city uses too much force and institutionalizes people too often.

● Photos of the crashed Azerbaijan Airlines flight show the plane was torn up by shrapnel, which Azerbaijan’s president says was ground fire from Russia. Russia apologized for the “tragic incident” but didn’t directly admit fault.

● The security chief for South Korea’s president is refusing to cooperate with a warrant for his impeached boss’s arrest. President Yoon was impeached for his botched martial law declaration last month but hasn’t yet been removed from office.

● New York’s controversial congestion pricing plan kicked in yesterday. Drivers will shell out up to $9 to enter the busiest parts of Manhattan, which the state says will help fund subway upgrades and reduce gridlock.

● The U.S. State Department informed Congress of a planned $8 billion, multi-year arms sale to Israel. Israel has taken heat for recent airstrikes in Gaza that killed civilians but said it targets only terrorists and blamed Hamas for hiding in residential areas.

QUOTE

ANSWER

President John Tyler’s 1862 death was pretty much ignored by the U.S. government, owing to his support for the Confederacy in the then-ongoing Civil War. This wasn’t mild support, either — the guy literally served in the Confederate Congress. As such, he was given a grand, fancy-pants funeral by the Confederacy and was buried under the Confederate flag.

As a side note, Tyler was born in 1790 but still has a living grandson. The guy’s 96, but still. That’s what happens when old retired guys keep having kids in their 70s.