Welcome to the online version From the political deskis an evening newsletter bringing you the latest reporting and analysis from the NBC News Politics team from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.
It was another busy day on Capitol Hill, with lengthy confirmation hearings for incoming Trump administration nominees. Jonathan Allen sorts it all out and provides his key takeaways. Plus, Andrea Mitchell looks back at the long road that led to the ceasefire in Gaza, and the roles played by the outgoing and incoming presidents.
—Adam Wallner
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Six of President-elect Donald Trump's nominees face Senate confirmation hearings on Wednesday, foreshadowing a series of policy and political battles that will define his second term.
Sitting in the hot seat is former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who Trump selected to be the next U.S. Attorney General. As Ben Kamisar and Ryan J. Reilly report as she wraps up her day on Capitol Hill, she faced questions about whether she would stand up to the president because he Pushed out two of his previous attorney general appointments.
Courtesy of Jonathan Allen, here are the key takeaways from Bondi’s hearings and those of other Cabinet nominees who appeared before Senate hearings.
Bondi won't say Trump lost in 2020: During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, questioned by Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., Bondi pointedly refused to say that Trump lost the 2020 election fair and square.
"President Biden is the president of the United States. He is officially sworn in as the president of the United States," Bondi said. "The transition of power was peaceful. President Trump left office and was elected in a landslide in 2024."
Durbin, the highest-ranking Democrat on the panel, noted that Bundy didn't give him a yes or no answer.
Later, Bondi refused to backtrack from her previous statement that Trump won Pennsylvania in 2020 and pushed back against an interruption by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif.
"I'm not going to be bullied by you," she told Padilla.
Democrats grill Bondi over Trump and Kash Patel's influence: Bondi told Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse that she would not use the power of attorney general to target political opponents — despite Trump's frequent calls to investigate and prosecute his rivals.
"There will never be an enemy list within the Department of Justice," Bondi said.
Last month, Trump told "Meet the Press" host Kristen Welker that decisions about who to investigate and prosecute would rest with his appointees, FBI Directors Bondi and Kash Patel.
Patel said judges, lawyers and journalists should be prosecuted for perceived misconduct in investigating Trump after the 2020 election. Bundy defended Patel to some extent.
"I don't believe he has an enemy list," Bundy said, adding that "Cash is the right man for the job right now."
But she told senators they must ask Patel directly about his promotion of the QAnon conspiracy theory.
No one ruined their chances of confirmation: In addition to Bondi, the following nominees also attended the hearing: Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Sean Duffy, Transportation Secretary; John Ratcliffe, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency; Chris Wright, Secretary of Energy; and Russell Vought, Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.
The bottom line: None of them appear to have said anything that would cost them Republican support, which bodes well for a smooth path forward.
Read more highlights from the day’s hearing →
After 15 months of painful negotiations that yielded no results, Gaza finally reached a ceasefire and hostage deal, with two US presidents taking the credit - one about to leave, the other about to take over.
Even before President Joe Biden announced the deal, President-elect Donald Trump announced the deal on Truth Social and then issued a lengthy statement that read, in part, "Only when we achieved this in November This historic victory, this epic ceasefire was only possible." "We accomplished so much without even being in the White House."
An hour and a half later, Biden said at the White House: "This agreement was developed and negotiated under my administration, but much of its provisions will be implemented by the next administration. Over the past few days, we have been as a The team spoke.”
Asked how much trust he puts in Trump's team, he responded: "I tell my team to coordinate closely with the incoming team to make sure we're all speaking with the same voice, because that's what the president of the United States does. of."
But the cooperation obviously only goes so far. As Biden left, a reporter shouted: "Mr. President, who should get the credit for this? You or Trump?" Biden stopped, turned around, smiled and said, "Is this a joke?" before leaving.
In fact, Trump did pressure Hamas to compromise, repeatedly threatening that Hamas would "pay a heavy price" if it did not reach an agreement before he took office.
The warning also pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to complete the deal. Negotiators also praised Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff for resolving last-minute hurdles over the past few days.
It was a dramatic ending: U.S., Israeli and Qatari negotiators in Doha, Qatar, and the Hamas team downstairs in the same building thought they had finally hammered out a deal at 3 a.m. Wednesday, according to a senior administration official. But hours later, Hamas made new demands. After some haggling, it gave in and that was that.
Negotiations almost collapsed when Israel captured Hamas negotiator Ismail Haniyah while he was in Tehran on July 31. A month later, on August 31, negotiations came to a complete halt when American hostage Hersh Goldberg and five others were killed in a tunnel in Rafah.
What happened next changed the balance of power in the region. Israel responded to Iran's missile attack by destroying its air defense systems. Israel then killed the leader of Lebanese Hezbollah, leading to a U.S.-negotiated ceasefire. Finally, Iran lost its other major ally, Syria, when the regime of neighboring Bashar al-Assad collapsed. With Iran severely weakened, Hamas is more willing to compromise.
Without intensive, non-stop negotiations over 15 months by White House Special Envoy Brett McGurk, 19 visits by CIA Director William Burns, and 13 visits by Secretary of State Antony Blinken (each Visits include stops in multiple countries), none of this will happen. McGurk now heads to Cairo to enforce the agreement and ensure the hostages begin returning home. No matter who gets the credit.
For now, that's all the Political Desk has to offer. Today's newsletter is edited by Adam Wollner and Ben Kamisar.
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