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HILL LETTERS | 17 Jan. 2025

Letters from Capitol Hill that Members of Congress have written and signed on to lately.


Letters that Members of Congress have written and signed on to lately.

 

UPDATE | Around 2:00 p.m. on Jan. 18, just hours before the deadline to close TikTok or change its Chinese parent company ownership stake for its operations in the U.S., President-elect Trump said he would most likely extend the divestment drop dead date by 90 days. This is a developing matter.

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A day late, but short of no dollars, here's the Dec. 17 word in today's Hill Letters:


The Gulf of Mexico has had its name since 1609.  President-Elect Trump wants to change this in 2025, and that’s not the only thing he’s said he wants to change/do facing a less-than-certain future. 


No notes on Kristi Noem’s panel hearing to serve as National Security Director on Friday, and the same for Marco Rubio on Thursday who was revered by Senate colleagues from both parties for his preparedness to serve as Secretary of State. 


Rubio is headed for confirmation in a full Senate floor vote on Monday, coming into the job with several years’ experience serving on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.  Noem said she earned her credentials dealing with national security issues as Governor of South Dakota, and, when the Majority Leader introduces you for the hearing and a super majority President-elect has your back, questions are limited. 


It’s likely Noem will be approved, as well, but her appointment won’t pose a threat to a slim majority number count for Leader Thune (R-SD) and the Republicans. Florida law says the governor appoints a fill in for Rubio, to which DeSantis has charged Attorney General Ashley Moody. 


A highly endorsed Trump supporter, Moody will serve through 2026, when she’ll have an opportunity to run for a full senatorial 6-year term, but, before then, she’ll have an opportunity to vote in a wide variety of bills of legislative consequence. 


Moody will become the 26th woman in the Senate, the 10th Republican woman, a record, and she is only the 2nd woman to serve in the Senate representing the Sunshine State.  She also makes for the 52nd member of the GOP majority, with the 53rd being Ohio’s Lt. Gov. Jon Husted (R) to replace JD Vance who will be inaugurated as VP Monday. 


Husted will also be seated through 2026, when he’ll be eligible to run for a full term, too. 


Speaking of inauguration, staffers who spent months planning for the festivities received word on Friday that the affair will be moved to the Capitol Rotunda, where Regan was the last president to be sworn in inside.  The adjustment rendered a great deal of their preparations moot, and the countless constituent tickets issued became commemorative in an instant. 


Holding a consolation inauguration rally at the Capital One Arena for those traveling to see his reinstallment, Trump and his team said the change was due to weather.  However, a Biden staffer shared with Proxenos that they were advised to be outside of D.C. on inauguration day by their boss at the White house, and a number of fringe inaugural threats have been shared across social media, allegedly sourced from incoming administration insiders. 


Regan’s indoor inauguration was held on a 7-degree day, colder than it’s supposed to be in the mid-20s in Washington this MLK Day, but there is a history of U.S. Presidents succumbing to the elements after lengthy speeches on the west lawn of the Capitol on their special days. 


RIP to sleeper President William Henry Harrison, whose historically long speech was insightful and inspirational as it proved to be lethal, we’re sure. 


Across the street from the Capitol on Friday, the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) was making its own mark on history, ruling in support of the TikTok case calling for Chinese divestment on account of national security.  


In a nutshell, Congress passed a law that said Chinese-owned ByteDance, parent company of TikTok, must divest itself of Chinese ownership to continue operating in the U.S.  


ByteDance and TikTok, of course, pushed back, asserting First Amendment arguments for its more than 170 million U.S. users, the Amendment which guarantees the right to free associations and freedoms of speech, among other entitlements to American citizens. 


The SCOTUS ruling is not the signed final decision of the Court, but its conservative majority members, the two newest of which were confirmed under Trump the first time, are signaling a sort of departure from previous First Amendment rulings.  


Not TikTok, but just as potentially addictive and related on similar themes, SCOTUS also issued a ruling in another case brought by PornHub challenging some states’ laws requiring age verification before pornographic sites can be accessed. 


For PornHub’s lack of articles and other educational material that was a deciding factor in previous porn and prurient interest cases, SCOTUS said the states may require ID, citing a change in the times and a need to recognize how technology is fundamentally reshaping our society. 


This was the common thread with TikTok’s case for the Court to say a threat of national security is greater than needing to preserve First Amendment protections, siding with Congress to uphold its codified law calling for Chinese divestment. 


Of course, among the flurry of federal regulations, pardons, and orders issued by Biden and his administration on the way out the door, was an announcement that the Department of Justice would not be enforcing criminal charges for TikTok remaining active past its Sunday drop dead divestment date.


Leaders in Congress are still insisting ByteDance divest from Beijing with a sale, but Biden’s announcement essentially leaves it up to Trump to decide what to do with TikTok.  


As his first move, Trump extended an invitation to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to attend inauguration.  Politely declining, President Xi and Trump reportedly spoke on the phone Friday, covering everything from cultural differences to the fentanyl trade, but the VP of the PRC RSVPd yes, and the U.S. CEO of TikTok will also be among the special envoy due to be seated at the exclusive indoor affair.  


The move to approve the divestment law is establishing a potentially dangerous precedent.  This is the case, as the U.S. is a country that does not have nationalized assets, and it will not participate in ownership of strategic assets outright, even those ports and critical infrastructure facilities supporting the DoD and NATO. 


Instead, the U.S. Government (USG) relies on Americans with the stomach and wallet to invest independently, then be volun-told to serve as courier to USG.  


With the U.S. basically working to bounce out a foreign owner here, the question becomes what is to stop other countries doing the same to American firms in positions of ownership of global assets when the wind blows policy to a different whim. 


American investment may sometimes be more buttoned up and guaranteed than, say, when it comes from countries of origin with obvious geopolitical issues and unstable markets; Americans also do less game playing in negotiations and deal flows, but U.S. owners put their pants on just like the rest of the world, subject to mistakes just the same. 


Trump said he likes PRC President Xi, and the invitation to inauguration is nice and all, but the Donald has promised a storm of tariffs to appease the China Hawks in Congress among the deeply conservative Members of the GOP.


While America First is a popular sentiment among his most staunch voter supporters, Trump may prove himself to be a China Dove, expressing his belief that a compromise can be achieved on TikTok.  


Ultimately, cooperation instead of manufactured competition with China could produce real benefits for the American public. After all, Americans are practicing their Mandarin, and Chinese students aren’t shy to ask for help with their English homework, all via TikTok. 


This is a rare convergence of American and Chinese cultures brought on by technology and a global means of communication supported by a growing number of Members - even some that originally voted for the law to sell, not to mention American small business owners earning income and driving revenue for their enterprises from TikTok. 


Of course, a number of other Trump cabinet nominations pending confirmation have said they believe the U.S. needs a hardline stance on China, including Department of Interior Nom Doug Burgum, who said there should be a plan to address rapid advancement of AI and its growing energy demands to support processing. 


Jan. 20 is a big day this year with inauguration and Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the U.S., as well as commencement of the annual World Economic Forum in Davos.  The biggest thing we are watching there is how former White House Press Secretary and Special Forces on Fox celebrity contestant alum’s Anthony Scaramucci's annual wine party goes down. 


We’re also keeping an eye on the reported Hamas-Israel ceasefire deal, waiting for the ink to dry. 


Another thing we’re watching is what colors the President will hang in the Oval when he moves back in to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. He replaced the red hung by Obama with gold, which Biden kept, but no word from First Lady and First Decorator Milania on if there’s a new vibe for her husband’s new term. 


As if we didn’t have enough going on next week, six planets are due to align on Jan. 21.  


Before adjourning for the weekend, on Friday, the Senate passed a key procedural vote on the GOP-led Laken Riley Act.  This immigration bill would empower states’ attorneys with more authority to arrest persons in the U.S. illegally that have committed crimes. 


More on alleged plans for mass deportations and raids next week in tomorrow’s Hill Letters Weekend Edition recap, where we’ll also take a closer look at the feigned Equal Rights Amendment. 


While House and Senate Republicans, along with a notable number of Dems in the Senate and two more in the House, agree on this immigration bill, there is lingering party infighting on what to do about the debt ceiling and how the Treasury is permitted to repay U.S. sovereign debt. Specifically, there is debate on whether one big beautiful bill to push all of Trump’s policy ambitions through would be better as two. 


Come Monday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the agency will be forced to utilize extraordinary measures to continue payments for the country before the end of the month without action from Congress.  This announcement comes from a Congressional Budget Office announcement this week that reported the national debt is due to exceed $1.9 trillion this year and nearly $3 trillion by 2035. 


“The debt limit does not authorize new spending, but it creates a risk that the federal government might not be able to finance its existing legal obligations that Congresses and presidents of both parties have made in the past,” Yellen wrote to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Friday. “I respectfully urge Congress to act promptly to protect the full faith and credit of the United States.”


To extend the U.S.’ ability to repay its obligations, the President-elect asked Congress to raise the debt limit as part of a funding bill passed last Congress set to expire this March 14, which was technically exceeded on Jan. 1. While the extension didn’t happen and some accounting maneuvers that would make Arthur Anderson proud kept things afloat, addressing the debt ceiling has become a top-line priority for Republicans in the current Session, with supporters working to clear it off of Trump’s list of potential stumbles, including the deeply conservative House Freedom Caucus proposing a bill to raise the ceiling by $4 trillion. 


The plan did offer a number of pay-fors with cuts to Medicare and Social Security, but some Republicans outside the caucus have earned a name for themselves with their constituents for taking hard line stances on budget matters, refusing to vote for bills that would raise the debt limit or grow the national debt without an offset out of principle. The Republican majorities are slim in both Chambers, and it is unclear whether even Trump himself could persuade them to do differently. 


At any rate, big promises were made, perhaps prematurely, that Trump’s grand policies could be passed by a special procedural method known as reconciliation to fast track passage and limit debate on the terms of a prospective package. 


Reconciliation requires financial action for all provisions, and policy decorations are often ruled as non-germane by the chambers’ parliamentarians, but the debt ceiling is shaping up to be a bargaining tool for both sides. 


The Senate confirmation hearing for next week is as follows: 


  • Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who’s slated for a confirmation vote to be secretary of State in the Foreign Relations Committee Monday.

  • Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) — tapped to be Trump’s ambassador to the UN — gets a hearing in Foreign Relations Tuesday.

  • Doug Collins‘s nomination to lead the VA gets a hearing in the Veterans’ Affairs Committee Tuesday and a vote Thursday.

  • Office of Management and Budget director nominee Russell Vought appears before the Budget Committee Wednesday.

  • Sean Duffy gets a vote to become transportation secretary in the Commerce Committee Wednesday.

  • Brooke Rollins testifies on her nomination to lead the Agriculture Department in the Agriculture Committee

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Jan. 21 | A Letter (from the future) to the Predecessor and Successor 


History and politics now have intertwined to put President Biden in the unique position of writing a letter — if he so chooses — to Trump, his successor and the predecessor who left a note for him.


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Jan. 17 | A $6 Million Mistake


U.S. Senator Ron Wyden urged federal health regulators to fix their mistake that’s unfairly cost St. Charles Health System $6 million over a nearly three-year period.


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Jan. 16 | Time to Talk Turkey About Tyson Chicken


U.S. Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA), alongside Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA-02), urged the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for updates on the status of the investigation into the tragic explosion that occurred at the Tyson Foods poultry plant on December 27, 2024, in Camilla, Georgia, and to request a briefing on the results of this investigation at the appropriate time.


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Jan. 16 | Hickory-Dickory More Time for TikTok 


Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) held a press conference announcing their letter to President Joe Biden, urging him to trigger the 90-day extension in the Protection Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act to allow ByteDance additional time to divest from TikTok before facing a ban in the United States. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) also signed the letter.


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Jan. 16 | Senators Want Assurances from FDIC


U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and John Fetterman, D-Pa., urged the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to better protect consumers’ timely access to their savings in the event of a market disruption.


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Jan. 16 | Not Messing Around with NATO


U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Co-Chairs of the Senate Baltic Freedom Caucus, along with U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Thom Tillis (R-NC), both Co-Chairs of the Senate NATO Observer Group, and U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) sent a letter to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte urging greater attention to Russian hybrid attacks on alliance members, particularly in the Baltic region.


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Jan. 16 | Lawler Wants Leader for Abraham Accords


Congressman Mike Lawler, Chairman of the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released the following statement after leading a letter with over 45 other members of Congress to President Trump requesting he immediately nominate a Presidential Envoy for the Abraham Accords.


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Jan. 16 | Rooting for Rural Schools


Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03) sent another letter urging House Leadership to immediately prioritize a three-year extension of the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program to ensure rural communities can continue to access vital funds for infrastructure and schools.


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Jan. 16 | Short on Info on Kash


U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent letters to the Department of Defense (DOD), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) requesting they produce all relevant materials related to Kash Patel’s, President-elect Trump’s presumptive nominee to be Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), alleged misconduct with respect to those agencies.


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Jan. 16 | Slowing Down the TikTok of the Clock


Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) held a press conference today announcing their letter to President Joe Biden, urging him to trigger the 90-day extension in the Protection Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act to allow ByteDance additional time to divest from TikTok before facing a ban in the United States. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) also signed the letter.


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Jan. 16 | Warner Wants No Secrets on AI


U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, urged the leaders of federal departments and agencies to promote data collection and transparency around their adoption of artificial intelligence (AI).


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Jan. 16 | Congressman Calls for Committee Hearing on Conduct, Health Conglomerates


Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and Oversight and Reform Committee Ranking Member Gerry Connolly (D-VA) sent a letter to Chairman James Comer (R-KY) requesting the committee conduct a hearing on commercial health insurance conglomerates limiting and denying access to medically appropriate care.


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Jan. 16 | Multiple Letters on Mortgages


U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) sent letters to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac questioning the Enterprises on how they assess and manage climate-related risks for the home mortgage loans they purchase and hold.


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Jan. 16 | Lummis Letter to FDIC


U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) sent a letter to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chair Marty Gruenberg after her office was contacted by whistleblowers alleging the FDIC was destroying materials with respect to the digital asset activities of the agency and threatening retaliation against staff for speaking out.


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Jan. 16 | Cotton the War College


Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today sent a letter to Army War College leaders Commandant Major General Hill and Command Sergeant Major Gregory demanding answers about an upcoming presentation titled “Race, Gender, and Public Perceptions of Legitimate U.S. Drone Strikes: An Intersectional Approach.” In the letter, Senator Cotton questions how such a presentation aligns with the Army’s core mission: to fight and win wars.


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Jan. 15 | Congress Wants to Cancel Free File


U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and U.S. Representatives Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), and Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) led over 130 members of Congress this week in writing to Treasury Secretary-Designate Scott Bessent and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner-Designate Billy Long, urging them to keep and expand the IRS Direct File program.


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Jan. 15 | Senator Wants Safety Resources for the Oglala Sioux Tribe


U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of the Department of Interior Deb Haaland asking them to address the public safety crisis on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.


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Jan. 15 | Congress Wants the Special Counsel Report


Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) and Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-08)led their Democratic House Judiciary colleagues in sending a letter to Attorney Merrick General Garland urging him to dismiss the Department of Justice’s cases against Trump’s codefendants in order to release ‘Volume 2’ of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on President-elect Trump’s classified documents case.  


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Jan. 15 |  Wyden Wants Swift Insight on California Wildfires 


U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and seven of his Senate colleagues urged the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Federal Insurance Office (FIO) to immediately publish data and analysis about how the climate crisis impacts homeowners insurance nationwide. They also called for the data to be shared with the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), which includes key federal and state financial regulators whose decisions about housing and insurance policy could be shaped by insights from this data.


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Jan. 15 | Tough on Trade Show Vape Transactions


Senators Ted Budd (R-NC), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) have sent a letter to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf concerning “the continued presence of unauthorized electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and illicit vaping products among vendors at large trade shows across the country.”


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Jan. 14 | Congress Calls Off Closed-Door Deal Discussions


U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) joined a bipartisan group of senators in calling on the Biden Administration to cease secret negotiations with foreign trading partners. The United States Trade Representative (USTR) is attempting to change at least three major trade agreements in secret, while sacrificing valuable leverage that USTR could use to win concessions from trading partners that would benefit Americans.


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Jan. 14 | A New New York Home for HUD


Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) sent a letter to Acting Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Adrianne Todman urging HUD to reestablish its San Juan Field Office jurisdiction to Region II in New York in order to safeguard Puerto Rican interests ahead of the incoming administration. 


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Jan. 14 | H2Mexico


U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), along with Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Representatives Monica De La Cruz (TX-15), Vincente Gonzalez (TX-34), Tony Gonzales (TX-23), and Henry Cuellar (TX-28), yesterday sent a letter to Secretary of State Nominee Marco Rubio calling for renewed efforts to push Mexico to comply with the 1944 Water Treaty and ensure consistent water deliveries for South Texas communities. 


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Jan. 14 | Congressional Concerns - A to Zinc


Vin Weber, who served as a Republican congressman from 1981 to 1993, expressed deep concerns in a letter sent to the U.S. Department of State on the 14th about the potential acquisition of controlling stakes in Korea Zinc by MBK Partners. Former Congressman Weber noted that, considering MBK Partners' investment history, there are valid reasons to expect that entities based in China or funded by China will participate in several transactions.


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Jan. 10 | Reps. Call for Repeal ASAP


U.S. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) and Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Ron Estes (KS-04) sent a letter to the Social Security Administration (SSA) regarding the recent repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO).


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