DeSantis Is ‘Begging’ Trump for Something to Do With His Life
It may not be the biggest headline in the news today, but longtime Where Things Stand readers may know that this author loves to revel in the humiliation of Gov. Ron DeSantis — at the hands of Trump.
The Governor of Florida is coming to the end of his current term as conduit of the MAGA agenda in the state of Florida. DeSantis is due to leave office in January at the end of his second term and has reportedly “begged” President Trump to give him a job in his administration. Specifically, DeSantis wants to fill the open attorney general position, the position his state’s former attorney general, Pam Bondi, once held until Trump lost patience with what he apparently saw as his slow pace in investigating and prosecuting his political enemies.
DeSantis is also said to be interested in the top job in the Department of Defense – watch out for Pete Hegseth – and he would even take a spot on the Supreme Court if the opportunity arises! But the attorney general would do just fine, too, Axios reported in a new article published this afternoon, citing six anonymous sources who were “briefed on the discussions.”
“Ron was begging me to be AG,” Trump reportedly recently told an anonymous “confidant,” in the words of Axios. The two reportedly met at Trump’s National Doral Golf Club in Miami two Sundays ago. Over lunch, the longtime foes discussed what might be next for the Florida governor — whose political career Trump has long taken credit for and whose once-rumored takeover of the MAGA mantle Trump assured would not come to fruition when he emerged as the clear favorite for the Republican nomination again in 2024.
DeSantis announced his candidacy for president well before Trump officially announced he was running for a second term and there was a brief but comical period during which pundits openly speculated whether DeSantis would take the MAGA movement out of Trump’s hands after Trump lost his reelection bid in 2020. DeSantis spent his first term and the start of his second term as governor making his own version of the anti-woke ideology synonymous with Republican politics of Florida and many saw the policies of his gubernatorial tenure as a test for where MAGA might go next.
DeSantis ultimately helped draft the blueprint for what the most bombastic elements of Trump’s agenda could look like at the state level — his state legislature emerged as a pioneer in enshrining anti-DEI policy into state law and he was responsible for sparking outrage over LGBTQ indoctrination in our nation’s schools, while helping usher in a whole new era of anti-trans sentiment among Republican voters. But he was humiliated by becoming MAGA’s heir apparent in the 2024 Republican primaries, and it’s unclear what conditions the two men have found themselves in since.
So far, according to Axios:
Another source said: “There was a conversation at that lunch. I don’t think AG is real. But he’s going to look for work and Trump likes him.”
—Nicole LaFond
Senate Budget Committee Republicans launch reconciliation process
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Tuesday unveiled Senate Republicans’ budget resolution – the plan and first step to officially begin completing the budget reconciliation process that congressional Republicans say will secure even more funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Republicans’ desire to fund ICE and CBP through the party process comes as Senate Democrats have refused to vote to give more money to these agencies without implementing serious and meaningful reforms to the practices of federal law enforcement officers within these agencies. The request came after the recent spate of killings by immigration enforcement officers.
“Republicans have rejected any common-sense reforms for these agencies, such as carrying ID or obtaining a warrant before breaking into homes,” Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said in a statement reacting to the budget resolution. “Instead, the Republican plan provides more money for more secret police tactics that terrorize communities across America. »
The text of the budget resolution tasks the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee with drafting the party’s bill and sets a $70 billion cap for each committee.
Although the bill’s total amount is capped at $140 billion, Republicans expect the final reconciliation plan to be around $70 billion.
Senate Republicans aim to pass the budget resolution this week. A procedural vote to begin considering the budget resolution passed Tuesday afternoon by a vote of 52 to 46. The upper chamber could begin the vote-a-rama as early as Wednesday, although many senators believe it will take place Thursday.
-Emine Yucel
Nine accused of sexual misconduct remain in office
The National Women’s Defense League — a nonprofit group dedicated to combating sexual misconduct in state-level politics — released a new report in light of recent congressional resignations related to sexual misconduct. The report focuses on cases of sexual misconduct that have been reported against members of Congress since 2006. At least 30 members of Congress from 13 states and Guam have been publicly accused of sexual misconduct in the workplace while in office, the report says.
“Including accusations of sexual misconduct outside of the workplace and instances that occurred before serving in Congress, 49 members were publicly accused, which includes 137 accusations in total,” the NWDL report said, suggesting that the true number of sexual misconduct incidents could be three times higher, as only 30 percent of survivors tend to report these incidents. The House Ethics Committee issued a rare public statement Monday, asking “any person who may have been the victim of sexual misconduct by a House member or staff member, or who has knowledge of such conduct” to report it to the committee.
The NWDL also found that 77 percent of sexual misconduct accusations against members involve legislative staffers and that “97 percent of those accused are men who target women.”
“Although some have left office, across the data in this report, nine of the accused members remain in Congress. Over the past 20 years, in the cases reported here, 20 accused members have resigned,” the report states. “Taken together, these findings demonstrate that sexual harassment and misconduct in Congress is widespread, targeted, and under-addressed. They span professional and non-professional contexts, often persist across career stages, and are reinforced by inconsistent accountability mechanisms.”
You can read more about the report here.
—Nicole LaFond
Warsh won’t say Trump lost the 2020 election
TPM reporter Layla A. Jones provides an insightful analysis of today’s confirmation hearing for Trump’s nominee for Federal Reserve Chairman, Kevin Warsh, which you can read here. In one memorable exchange, Warsh appeared to suggest that the independence of the Federal Reserve must be “earned.”
When it came time for her questions, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) weighed in on the point, emphasizing that it took courage to allow the Fed to operate independently of Trump’s outside influence; “Independence takes courage,” she said.
“Let’s check your independence and courage,” Warren continued. “We’ll start slowly. Mr. Warsh, did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?”
He did not want to answer the question directly.
—Nicole LaFond
In case you missed it
Just published, by Josh Kovensky: The far right rejoices over Amazon’s brief ‘removal’ of its favorite racist book
Layla A. Jones: Warsh hearing reveals how closely Trump tied himself to Fed control
Morning memo: EXPOSED: 2 CIA Agents Die After Drug Operation in Mexico
Josh Marshall: Personalist Rule and Cash Payments: Notes on Trump’s House of Corruption
Yesterday’s most read story
Kash Patel quickly pursues a devastating story
What we read
US abruptly rescinds subpoenas it had just issued in the John Brennan investigation
Trump’s approval on economy falls in AP-NORC poll, showing new warning signs for president
This scammer used an AI-generated MAGA girl to scam ‘super stupid’ men
