By Eugene Daniels and Rachael Bade

With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine

NARRATIVE VS. REALITY — Michael Schaffer pens his latest Capital City column: “Calling Trump’s Win ‘Resounding’ Isn’t Just Wrong. It’s Risky: Right and left have bought the narrative of a crushing triumph. They’re wrong.”

Eight days after his shock nomination for attorney general, Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration for the post. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP

AS GOOD AS IT GAETZ — That great whooshing sound you heard yesterday around 12:24 p.m. was the collective sigh of relief coming from Senate Republicans.

Eight days after his shock nomination for attorney general, MATT GAETZ withdrew his name from consideration for the post. Within hours, President-elect DONALD TRUMP named a new AG nominee from the same state — albeit one with a much greater likelihood of confirmation than Gaetz ever had: former Florida AG PAM BONDI, a longtime Trump loyalist who defended him during his first impeachment in 2019.

New this morning: “Pam Bondi has been quietly by Donald Trump’s side this whole time,” by Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney

As the smoke begins to clear from Gaetz’s crash-and-burn nomination, we’re left with a few discrete thoughts about what it all means and where things head from here.

— FIRST, even Trump has his limits on drama.

For years, the conventional wisdom around Trump is that he has a sweet tooth for chaos and that his appetite is bottomless as long as he ultimately gets the outcome he desires. But Gaetz-gate suggests that when that chaos becomes a distraction — or worse in his eyes, when it makes him look bad — he’s willing to cut bait and head home.

Trump’s flood-the-zone approach often works when it comes to the public: overwhelm people with news and it becomes difficult to prioritize what matters and what doesn’t. But that strategy doesn’t really work when you’re dealing with the Senate, which is built to move at a tortoise’s pace in the best of times.

As our Kyle Cheney put it: “Rather than showcasing Trump’s absolute power over his GOP allies, it revealed his limits. The doomed nomination lasted just eight days — and its failure is an unwelcome lesson for the president-elect, who has been projecting invincibility and claiming a historic mandate despite his reed-thin popular vote victory.”

— SECOND, Senate Republicans might have some gumption after all.

Gaetz’s path to helm the DOJ was based on one calculation: That, yes, his nomination would be painful for Senate Republicans to swallow, but that they would ultimately capitulate to Trump. Sure, they might trash Gaetz to reporters on background, but they’d either hold their nose and vote for him, or skip town and allow Trump to make a recess appointment.

That calculation was incorrect. 

Senate Republicans were the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back here. They back-channeled to Trump and his advisers about their concerns. They made clear that Gaetz was unlikely to get confirmed, and that even if he went down, he might consume a fair amount of Trump’s political capital.

It shows that the Senate GOP might actually be a soft check on the leader of their party when they feel like he is going too far.

Granted, it’s entirely possible — even likely — that this is a one-off, and that Trump will abide this behavior only once. But it hints that Trump might have a completely different relationship with Republican Leader JOHN THUNE’s Senate conference than he did with then-Leader MITCH McCONNELL’s — one where he trusts, or at least entertains, their advice.

— THIRD, Trump’s other nominees are about to face real scrutiny.

For the last week, Gaetz’s nomination — and the allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor that have dogged him for years despite his denials — has been at center stage.

Now that Gaetz has been stage-hooked back to Florida, other controversial Trump nominees are going to face heightened attention — especially DOD nominee PETE HEGSETH, DNI nominee TULSI GABBARD and HHS nominee ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.

Any one of them could become the transition’s next problem child — whether it’s Gabbard, with her lack of foreign policy experience and her puzzling affinity for Syria’s Assad regime, or RFK Jr., with his controversial and extreme opinions on a litany of health topics and, for Senate Republicans, his support of abortion rights.

And then there’s Hegseth, who stands accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2017 — which he denies — and paying her to sign a nondisclosure agreement. Speaking to reporters on the Hill yesterday, he maintained that he was clear of all charges stemming from the allegations. (More on Hegseth below)

But it’s one thing to brush aside those questions when they come from reporters in a scrum, and it’s quite another thing to face questions from senators in individual one-on-one meetings.

True, there are plenty of Senate Republicans who have a bit of affinity for him. But he hasn’t really ventured out beyond senators from the MAGA-adjacent right. At some point soon, he’s going to have to meet with those members who have privately pooh-poohed his nomination. And, just like with Gaetz, that might hasten his downfall.

Related: “With Gaetz gone, Trump’s troubled Pentagon nominee is in the hot seat,” by Connor O’Brien, Joe Gould and Paul McLeary … “How Gaetz crashed and burned,” by Meridith McGraw, Natalie Allison, Mia McCarthy and Ursula Perano …  “‘He’s at the Peak of His Power Right Now’: Our Insiders’ Views on Trump 2.0,” by Michael Kruse

Happy Friday. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade and Eugene Daniels.

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Just days ago, Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-S.D.) was on a plane lobbying Donald Trump to consider a Plan B for attorney general. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

THE PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW: KEVIN CRAMER — When the news of Gaetz’s withdrawal broke, Rachael was sitting directly across the table from North Dakota’s junior senator, who just days ago was on a plane lobbying Trump to consider a Plan B for attorney general. You can hear that conversation — and his real-time reaction to the Gaetz news — on this morning’s episode of Playbook Deep Dive.

We got a detailed download on what, specifically, Cramer thinks Hegseth needs to do to have a shot at actually getting confirmed. We heard his take on how the Senate GOP’s relationship with Trump has evolved in a way that could make the party more effective this time around. And you’ll hear why Cramer sees the Gaetz implosion as an example of how the Senate Republicans still have backbone — and that’s telling coming from Cramer, a man who boasts that he was one of Trump’s first Hill supporters way before it was fashionable. Listen to the full interview on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

On the Hegseth nomination: “None of this is done until there's background checks … and then we'll see it. We'll see. At this point, he's the president's choice. From everything that I know to be true, I think he'd be a fine secretary. But we'll see how all the rest of this plays out.”

On using the military for mass deportations: “Our military can be helpful in lots of ways that could be helpful — even, you know, the deportation process. But what they don't have is policing powers; they don't have arrest authorities …. I would rather see us give [Trump] the police resources, ICE and Customs and Border Protection … than [to] use our military.”

On Hegseth's accuser testifying: “You know, we may be nicer than people think we are, but it's a pretty intimidating thing to sit across the table from a bunch of senators and have to relive an incident that may have happened or that happened to you. … I wouldn't want to force her to do that. But if she wanted to, yeah — why wouldn't we hear from her?”

MAN BITES DOGE — Despite all of the bluster surrounding ELON MUSK and VIVEK RAMASWAMY’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency, “concern is bubbling up — even in the tech world — that the project might suffer from a couple other very Silicon Valley qualities: ego and overpromising,” Derek Robertson writes.

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On the Hill

The Senate and the House are out.

3 things to watch …

1. The endgame for President JOE BIDEN’s judicial appointments campaign is coming into focus. Despite angry opposition from Trump, Senate Republicans cut a deal late Wednesday night to allow votes on advancing seven district-level judges, Anthony Adragna reports. Another five emerged from the Judiciary Committee Thursday and are expected to get floor time. The price Democrats paid was giving up on four circuit-level nominees that were having trouble getting sufficient support. If the nominees now in line ultimately get confirmed, that will bring Biden’s four-year total to 233 judges — just shy of the 234 Trump appointed in his first term.
   
2. Outgoing Minority Leader MITCH McCONNELL’s next chapter in the Senate is taking shape: As expected, the Kentucky Republican is returning to active service on the Appropriations Committee. And as expected, he is not invoking the full extent of his seniority rights and leapfrogging SUSAN COLLINS (R-Maine) as chair, but will instead take the gavel of the Defense subcommittee (as Playbook suggested might happen back in June). Never fear for his influence: He’ll still have direct oversight of more than half of yearly discretionary spending. McConnell will also take the gavel of the Rules and Administration Committee, which has a pet priority in its jurisdiction: campaign finance.
   
3. Here’s something you probably didn’t know: Under current House rules, member offices are prohibited from referring constituents in need to any nongovernmental entity.  Even after a disaster, congressional staff can’t recommend contacting nonprofit shelters, food banks or the Red Cross. That has prompted Texas Reps. LIZZIE FLETCHER (D), MORGAN LUTTRELL (R) and five other members to petition House leaders for a rule change in the next Congress, allowing referrals to “a list of Ethics and House Administration Committee approved non-partisan, non-profit organizations during times of a federally or state declared disaster event.” Read their letter

At the White House

Biden will receive the President’s Daily Brief in the morning. The president and first lady JILL BIDEN will host a dinner on the South Lawn at 6:30 p.m.

Want to know what's really happening with Congress's make-or-break spending fights? Get daily insider analysis of Hill negotiations, funding deadlines, and breaking developments—free in your inbox with Inside Congress. Subscribe now.

TRANSITION LENSES

A police report offering new details of the allegations against Pete Hegseth reportedly blindsided members of Trump’s team. | Angelina Katsanis/POLITICO

HEGSETH ON THE HOT SEAT — With Gaetz off the table as AG now, Hegseth’s nomination becomes the most volatile of Trump’s Cabinet picks so far, as the former Fox News star faces allegations of sexual assault.

Hegseth himself made his first comments on the matter yesterday, telling reporters in the Capitol that “as far as the media is concerned, I’ll keep this very simple: The matter was fully investigated, and I was completely cleared, and that’s where I’m going to leave it.” More from Joe Gould, Mia McCarthy and Connor O’Brien

But the fresh police report offering new details of the allegations against Hegseth “blindsided” members of Trump’s transition team, WSJ’s Lara Seligman, Vera Bergengruen and Nancy Youssef report. One source close to the transition said that although Trump backs Hegseth for now, “if this continues to be a drumbeat and the press coverage continues to be bad, particularly on TV, then I think there is a real chance that he loses Trump’s confidence.”

Vance’s role in shepherding Hegseth through the nomination process is under further scrutiny, too, as the VP-elect tries to lean on his Senate allies to hold up support for Hegseth. Thus far, he seems to be doing the job. A number of Senate Republicans — including BILL HAGERTY, ROGER WICKER and MARKWAYNE MULLIN — all indicated confidence that Hegseth would ultimately move toward confirmation. More from NYT’s Michael Bender

Inside the Pentagon, the release of the police report is stoking concerns among current and former officials that the DOD could backslide on efforts to put an end to sexual assaults in the military, Jack Detsch and Paul McLeary report. Officials also fear that the appointment of Hegseth, who has voiced opposition to women serving in combat, could also hurt efforts to recruit women into the military.

Related read: “The Metamorphosis of Pete Hegseth: From Critic of War Crimes to Defender of the Accused,” by NYT’s Dave Philipps and Carol Rosenberg

More top reads:

• Trump is working on a two-birds-one-stone approach to his Treasury pick. The president-elect has “floated selecting the financier KEVIN WARSH as his Treasury secretary with the understanding that he could later be nominated to lead the Federal Reserve when JEROME POWELL’s term as chair ends in 2026,” WSJ’s Brian Schwartz, Vivian Salama and Andrew Restuccia scoop. Meanwhile, Trump might pick SCOTT BESSENT “to lead the National Economic Council with an eye toward nominating him as Treasury secretary later in his term if Warsh becomes Fed chair.”

• Despite once dubbing Project 2025 “absolutely ridiculous and abysmal,” Trump in recent days has tapped nearly a half-dozen Project 2025 authors and contributors to fill out his administration, with alums of the effort are slated to have key roles on a range of issues like the economy, immigration and dismantling the administrative state, Adam Wren, Gavin Bade, Alice Miranda Ollstein and Natalie Allison write.

• But there are limits. Trump’s transition team rejected a push to install ROGER SEVERINO, a prominent Project 2025 contributor, at HHS due to concerns over his strident anti-abortion views, Megan Messerly and Adam Cancryn report.

• Guess who’s back: BEN CARSON — the former neurosurgeon who helmed the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the first Trump administration — is a favorite to return to the role, Katy O'Donnell and Victoria Guida report for Pros.

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a "test" missile strike on Ukraine yesterday in direct response to the Biden administration’s recent policy reversal. | Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

WAR IN UKRAINE — Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN put the West on notice with a missile strike on Ukraine that he called a “test” and a direct response to the Biden administration’s recent decision to permit Ukraine’s use of U.S. weapons to strike deep into Russia.

“In what appeared to be an ominous threat against Ukraine’s western allies, Mr. Putin also asserted that Russia had the right to strike the military facilities of countries ‘that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities,’” NYT’s Marc Santora, Lara Jakes, Valerie Hopkins, Andrew Kramer and Eric Schmitt report.

Speaking of strikes: Western officials said yesterday that a “senior North Korean general was wounded in a recent Ukrainian strike in Russia’s Kursk region,” WSJ’s Michael Gordon reports. It’s the “first time that Western officials have said that a high-ranking North Korean military officer has become a casualty in the escalating Russia-Ukraine conflict.”

More top reads:

• Current and former NATO officials are struggling to get a read on MATTHEW WHITAKER, Trump’s pick for ambassador to the alliance. “But there’s one common refrain: It could have been worse,” Robbie Gramer and Jack Detsch write.

• Sharp analysis: “For Netanyahu, Subject to Landmark Warrant, a Smaller World,” by NYT’s Mark Landler and Steven Erlanger: “The arrest warrant … will confront governments around the world with a dilemma: whether to detain the leader of a democracy that is also an ally of many of their countries.

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CONGRESS

THE FIRST 100 (OR SO) DAYS — “Why Trump may get off to a slow start,” by Semafor’s Kadia Goba: “On top of their small majority, Republicans may also have two troublesome tasks to handle next year: funding the government for the rest of the fiscal year and raising the debt limit.”

FOR YOUR RADAR — “Promotion delayed for general who oversaw Afghanistan pullout,” by Joe Gould and Connor O’Brien: “The apparent delay for Lt. Gen. CHRISTOPHER DONAHUE — [Biden’s] nominee to lead the Army in Europe and Africa and set for promotion to four-star general — suggests a senator is holding the nomination.”

MAKING IT OFFICIAL — “Bob Casey concedes to Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania Senate race,” by Meredith Lee Hill

POLICY CORNER

AN ODD ASK — Top auto manufacturers are strategizing together over "how to make a delicate request of President-elect Donald J. Trump: Don’t scrap the federal regulations that compel the industry to sell electric vehicles,” NYT’s Coral Davenport and Jack Ewing report.

While many automakers aren’t huge fans of the Biden rules, “they have already invested billions in a transition to electric vehicles, and fear that if Mr. Trump made an abrupt change as he has promised, they could be undercut by automakers who sell cheaper, gas-powered cars.”

BEYOND THE BELTWAY

MEGATREND — “What’s Behind the Remarkable Drop in U.S. Overdose Deaths,” by NYT’s Jan Hoffman and Noah Weiland: “For seven straight months, according to federal data, drug fatalities have been declining.”

TV TONIGHT — PBS’ “Washington Week”: Laura Barrón-López, Andrew Desiderio, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Ashley Parker.

SUNDAY SO FAR …

CNN “State of the Union”: Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) … Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) … Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.). Panel: Scott Jennings, Karen Finney, Shermichael Singleton and Jamal Simmons.

CBS “Face the Nation”: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) … Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) … Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) … retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster.

FOX “Fox News Sunday”: Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) … Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) … Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.). Panel: Mollie Hemingway, Josh Kraushaar, Mario Parker and Kevin Walling.

NBC “Meet the Press”: Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) … Sen.-elect Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). Panel: Stephen Hayes, Jeh Johnson, Kelly O’Donnell and Anna Palmer.

MSNBC “The Weekend”: Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.) … Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-Del.).

Don't just read headlines—guide your organization's next move. POLITICO Pro's comprehensive Data Analysis tracks power shifts in Congress, ballot measures, and committee turnovers, giving you the deep context behind every policy decision. Learn more about what POLITICO Pro can do for you.

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