Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. often talked like fairly conventional Democrats when they ran for that party’s presidential nomination. Senate Republicans are treating that past political history as water under the bridge.

That’s not to suggest either nominee — both of whom very publicly left the Democratic Party — will get a free pass during the confirmation process. Republicans have promised tough questions for Kennedy, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, over his position on abortion rights and anti-vaccine views. And Gabbard, Trump’s pick to be director of national intelligence, is sure to face questions about prior meetings with (now former) Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and her positioning on national surveillance.

Yet despite those potential roadblocks, Republicans largely seem unfazed by Kennedy and Gabbard’s fairly recent support for mainstream Democratic policies in areas as diverse as climate change, raising the minimum wage and stricter regulation of big banks.

“We’re focused on today. I can’t explain what happened four years ago,” said Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), who’s supporting Kennedy for the health perch after meeting with him.

Kennedy started out his 2024 campaign in the Democratic primary against President Joe Biden before switching to an independent bid, while Gabbard was one in a crowded field of Democratic contenders in 2020. Both have begun making the rounds with Republicans on Capitol Hill — Gabbard started with defense hawks while Kennedy Jr. is flooding the zone this week with GOP lawmaker meetings.

“These are the president’s nominees and he has full trust and faith in them regardless of their party,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of Senate leadership. “Having voices that are not exclusively Republicans is probably a good idea.”

Still, some GOP senators are vowing to press the nominees for answers on their political evolutions through the confirmation process.

“Typically, there are policy differences that distinguish the political parties and so changing horses like this makes me wonder where people are coming from,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told POLITICO.

Without any Democratic votes, Kennedy or Gabbard could only afford three GOP defections to get confirmed — and only then with Vice President-elect JD Vance breaking a tie.

One notable potential red flag from Republican senators is Kennedy’s vague and at times contradictory record on abortion, which has fired up some conservatives. During his presidential run, Kennedy and his running mate voiced support for a national 15-week ban before walking it back and offered scant policy details on how he’d approach abortion in office. Many Republicans have said they’ll be pressing Kennedy for clarity on where he is on the issue as he makes the rounds on Capitol Hill.

And Gabbard drew plenty of skepticism and outright condemnation for some idiosyncratic decisions while in office — she met with Assad in 2017 and voted ‘present’ on the first impeachment of Trump — but largely voted like a traditional Democrat.

She had a 100 percent score from the Human Rights Campaign, a pro-LGBTQ+ rights group, during her final term in Congress; she boasts a 92 percent lifetime score from influential green group the League of Conservation Voters and has just a ten percent lifetime score from the conservative Heritage Foundation.

But many Republicans see the fact that Kennedy and Gabbard don’t hail from traditional Republican backgrounds as a major selling point given the need, in their minds, to significantly revamp how the federal government operates.

“I’m looking for the best person to help us, and he’s got a lot of great ideas,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said of Kennedy. “Hey, he’s outside the box.”

House Democrats are once again likely to bail out Speaker Mike Johnson on a stopgap spending bill, as conservatives largely vow to oppose it on the floor.

“I expect we’re going to pass the CR,” said Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee.

“Because Republicans can’t pass this on their own, we were able to have a lot of that leverage to make sure that significant Democratic priorities are part of this resolution,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.).

Democratic lawmakers emerged from a closed-door leadership meeting Wednesday without taking a formal position on whether to support or oppose the stopgap bill, and they’re unlikely to whip on it. But Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday were touting the wins for their side in the legislation, including $100 billion in disaster aid, childcare funding and health care provisions.

Congressional leaders released the bill text Tuesday evening, which would fund the government through March 14 and includes a handful of unrelated policy bills, including legislation to renew expiring health care programs, another measure that would restrict U.S. investments in China and a one-year extension of the farm bill, which sets agriculture and food policy.

Dozens of Republicans are expected to oppose the legislation when it comes to a vote this week, and conservatives are signaling they would even block it in the Rules Committees, which determines what legislation makes it to the floor. That means Johnson likely would have to pass it under a process known as suspension, which requires a two-thirds majority in the House. Conservatives are fuming about the legislation arguing the package is a “bad deal.”

That means Johnson would need a huge number of Democrats to back it on the floor to avoid a shutdown that would kick in on Friday night. He’s likely to get it, though some Republicans won’t be thrilled that he’s once again relying on the opposing party to pass major legislation.

“We’re at that point primarily because the Republicans hate themselves and they can’t get anything to pass on the floor,” said Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.)

There are still some Democrats who might oppose the stopgap bill, known as a continuing resolution or a CR, namely over a provision that could result in a cost-of-living pay increase for members of Congress. Lawmakers haven’t gotten a raise since 2009, amid fears that voters might punish them for approving salary increases for themselves.

“Mainers can’t wave a wand and give themselves a raise, and Congress shouldn’t either — especially when most voters would tell you our job performance is poor at best,” purple-district Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) said in a statement. “Until the pay freeze is reinstated, I will not vote for this CR.”

It’s a concern that senior Democrats, including those who had long pushed for the cost-of-living increase, brushed aside.

“We don’t change the law. We’re following the law. It’s a very small part,” said Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).

In the latest sign of trouble for Speaker Mike Johnson’s spending bill, members of the Freedom Caucus, incensed over the package, are demanding a vote on steep funding cuts.

The group laid out what it wants in an X post on Tuesday night, including needing 72 hours to review the 1,550-page stopgap spending bill as well as two votes on conservative priorities, one on huge non-defense funding cuts and another on an amendment meant to preserve unused border wall material.

The Freedom Caucus said the three things should be included as part of a rule, which would govern the debate on the House floor for the short-term funding bill. The stopgap package as written would fund the government into mid-March as well as provide aid for natural disasters and farmers, among other things.

Members of the group appear to already be conceding that they won’t get their demands.

“That’s all we asked for, and we’re trying to help the conference … even though I hate all this garbage and we couldn’t get that,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said during an interview with Glenn Beck on Wednesday.

But Roy has filed legislation — known as the Disaster Offset and Government Efficiency, or DOGE, Act — laying out the changes to spending that the group is pushing for.

Johnson has said that he wants to, ideally, move the short-term spending bill through the Rules Committee and to the floor under a rule. Passing it through the Rules panel would require Johnson to win over three potential roadblocks on the committee, including Roy and Reps. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.).

Not to mention, Johnson would need nearly unified support from his conference to get it to the floor, which would be a tall order at this point.

Johnson hasn’t yet publicly landed on a strategy as he continues to negotiate with his conference. But some members expect the current funding bill to come to the floor under suspension, which requires a two-thirds threshold for passage on the House floor. With dozens of Republicans expected to oppose the bill, Johnson will need to lean on Democrats for support.

Roy added in the interview that Republicans aren’t “taking it though the Rules Committee” and that the short-term spending bill could come up under suspension as soon as Wednesday, though he said the “rough plan” is currently Thursday morning.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are primed to get their first pay bump since 2009 in the new spending bill. Many of them aren’t happy about it.

Members in competitive districts have long-feared political blowback for voting to give themselves a raise. But language blocking an automatic pay increase that has been included in past government funding bills is absent from the stopgap bill. That legislation, known as a continuing resolution or a CR, is needed to avoid a government shutdown that would kick in on Friday. And some lawmakers are now threatening to vote against it unless language to block a pay raise is restored.

“Members of Congress earn more than 90 percent of Americans. If any of my colleagues can’t afford to live on that income, they should find another line of work,” Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) said in a statement Wednesday morning.

“Mainers can’t wave a wand and give themselves a raise, and Congress shouldn’t either — especially when most voters would tell you our job performance is poor at best. Until the pay freeze is reinstated, I will not vote for this CR,” he added. Some Republican members oppose any pay increase as an emblem of overzealous federal spending.

It’s not the first time this has come up. For 15 years, lawmakers have included language in spending bills and CRs to explicitly ban member pay increases tied to cost of living increases that would otherwise be automatic under a 1989 statute. Other leaders have tried to bring up a pay raise before, but tend to get shouted down by lawmakers wary of political blowback from constituents.

There are vocal advocates on both sides of the aisle for reinstating these automatic bumps. Many cite the high cost of maintaining two residences and say the stagnant pay rate discourages working and middle class candidates from running for Congress.

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), a longtime champion of the cost of living increase, called the bump “de minimis,” a Latin phrase that means something is too small to be considered or taken into account, and that “we don’t change the law, we’re following the law.”

Hoyer, a former House Democratic leader, acknowledged that some in his caucus are “not happy in some instances” but he expects general unity in voting for the stopgap.

Rank-and-file lawmakers in both chambers earn $174,000 annual salary, with those in leadership earning more. The maximum potential member pay adjustment in January 2025 under the stopgap spending bill would be 3.8 percent, which would result in a salary of $180,600, an increase of $6,600.

The bill would also allow lawmakers to opt out of the Obamacare health insurance marketplaces and use the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. The lawmaker mandate was a dramatic element of the fight over passage of the Affordable Care Act on Capitol Hill back in 2009 and 2010, and Republicans have been trying to overturn the transformative health care bill since then. However, the bill does not release congressional staff from the requirement that they seek health insurance on the exchange.

Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.

The landing team for the Transportation Department includes an official from President-elect Donald Trump’s first term and a former aide to the chair of the House Transportation Committee, according to four people familiar with the matter.

That includes Brigham McCown and Andrew Giacini, according to the people, who are former or current DOT officials or aides on Capitol Hill, all granted anonymity to discuss internal matters.

There are expected to be several additional people who form DOT’s landing team, which is still being finalized.

McCown is a veteran Trump transition official who served on the transition in 2016 and in preparation for Trump’s second term. He was one of the original leaders in the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration during the administration of George W. Bush and worked as a senior adviser to Trump’s DOT Secretary Elaine Chao.

Giacini had a stint in government relations for the FAA and also at the House Transportation Committee under Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.) where he worked on drafting the 2024 FAA reauthorization law. He currently serves as a special assistant to NTSB member Todd Inman.

The Justice Department is urging a federal judge to deny a Jan. 6 defendant’s request to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next month, saying she still “presents a danger to the D.C. community” and the police who protect the Capitol.

“Many of these officers will, once again, be tasked in protecting the Capitol and Constitution on January 20, 2025,” prosecutors wrote in a three-page filing to a federal magistrate judge in Washington. “As such, her presence at an event staffed by law enforcement would not only present a danger but would cause further victimization for the officers.”

The defendant, Cindy Young, was convicted by a jury in August of four misdemeanors for her role in joining the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Young helped overwhelm officers guarding the House of Representatives and remained in the building until a Capitol Police officer fired a shot that killed rioter Ashli Babbitt. Young is barred from visiting Washington as a condition of her sentence, which also included a four month jail term.

But prosecutors say the danger Young poses extends beyond her actions on Jan. 6.

“Young has continuously endorsed calls for retribution against those involved in January 6 prosecutions — specifically jurors, judges, and law enforcement — all whom help make up the ‘D.C. community,’” they wrote. “Beyond seeking retribution, Young has also mocked officer victims.”

It’s a notable position from the Justice Department just weeks before Trump has pledged to pardon many Jan. 6 defendants. Most allies expect him to pardon misdemeanor defendants like Young who were not accused of violence, while taking a more deliberate approach to felony defendants — though many allies have asked him to issue a “blanket pardon” of all defendants, even those who assaulted police.

Young is one of three defendants who have asked for permission to attend Trump’s inauguration.

One of them, Russell Taylor, was invited by members of Utah’s congressional delegation and has requested permission from U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth to attend. Lamberth has yet to weigh in on the request.

Another, Eric Peterson, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanors in November but has not been sentenced, emphasized to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan that he is “a military veteran who has no criminal history before this case.”

“There is no reason to believe that Mr. Peterson will be violent or present any danger to the residents of the District if the Court grants his request to attend the inaugural event,” Peterson’s attorney Michael Bullotta wrote.

Young had similarly argued that she does not present a danger to Washington, noting there were “no incidents” when she traveled to the city to prepare for court-related matters, including her trial. But prosecutors said that argument was no reason for the court to diverge from its restriction on Young’s ability to visit the city now that trial has ended.

President-elect Donald Trump reignited his longstanding feud with former Rep. Liz Cheney, saying she “could be in a lot of trouble” following a House subcommittee report accusing her of wrongdoing while serving on the panel that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Trump’s post cites a 128-page report released Tuesday by the House Administration Oversight Subcommittee chaired by GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk that accuses Cheney of colluding with top witnesses and calls for her to be investigated for witness tampering. “Liz Cheney could be in a lot of trouble based on the evidence obtained by the subcommittee,” Trump wrote. “Which states that ‘numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, and these violations should be investigated by the FBI.’”

The report also accuses members of the Jan. 6 committee of withholding evidence and failing to preserve records from its investigation. It places blame for the attack on a “series of intelligence, security, and leadership failures at several levels and numerous entities” rather than Trump, who urged his supporters to march on the Capitol that day during an earlier rally near the White House.

Trump has made no secret of his plans to seek retribution against political foes once he returns to the White House, telling NBC’s “Meet the Press” earlier this month that members of the House Jan. 6 panel “should go to jail.” But he also dialed back a promise to pursue criminal investigations against President Joe Biden and his family, telling NBC News that “I’m not looking to go back into the past” and that “Retribution will be through success.”

Trump has also indicated he will consider pardons for those who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6 “within the first nine minutes” of his term.

“And if they were non-violent, I think they’ve been greatly punished,” Trump told Time when he was announced as the magazine’s “Person of the Year.” “And the answer is I will be doing that, yeah, I’m going to look if there’s some that really were out of control.”

In a statement, Cheney defended her work while taking a shot at Trump.

“January 6th showed Donald Trump for who he really is — a cruel and vindictive man who allowed violent attacks to continue against our Capitol and law enforcement officers while he watched television and refused for hours to instruct his supporters to stand down and leave,” Cheney said in a statement.

“Now, Chairman Loudermilk’s ‘Interim Report’ intentionally disregards the truth and the Select Committee’s tremendous weight of evidence, and instead fabricates lies and defamatory allegations in an attempt to cover up what Donald Trump did.”

In the final days of the 2024 campaign, Trump called Cheney a “radical war hawk” who should face “nine barrels shooting at her,” suggesting she should be placed on the front lines.

Cheney, a one-time member of GOP House leadership before losing a primary contest following her criticism of Trump, played a central role in the Jan. 6 committee as one of the only two Republicans on the panel.

Some of the most influential conservatives in Congress are throwing their weight behind a two-step approach to enacting President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda early next Congress.

In a letter Wednesday led by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.), the influential bloc of Republicans voiced support for an initial effort aimed at border security policies and a second bill that would extend the Trump administration tax cuts while “including necessary spending reforms and cuts.”

“We believe it is critical that we prioritize the prompt passage of a border security focused reconciliation bill,” the conservatives wrote. “Mindful that our slim majority in the House and the filibuster in the Senate means that success is far from guaranteed, we believe that a two-step reconciliation process gives us the best chance of securing passage of this transformational border security legislation.”

As they think of how to pay for the second measure, the Republicans said they’d prioritize “repealing the green tax credits” within the Inflation Reduction Act and “the estimated $2.5 trillion worth of cuts that the Department of Government Efficiency will identify as necessary to restore the fiscal health of the nation.”

This group of conservatives will have enormous influence in a House expected to temporarily have just a 217-215 effective GOP majority, meaning the party cannot afford a single defection on major legislation with full attendance. Senate Republicans can only afford three party defections on major bills.

Still, the two-step approach has its prominent detractors, notably House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.). However, conservatives may take some solace from the fact that incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated recently that “failure is not an option” on tax policy.

Trump himself has yet to publicly weigh in.

Here’s what we’re watching in transition world today:

🗓️ What we’re watching:

• Congressional leaders released bill text Tuesday night that would fund the federal government into March, allowing the incoming Trump administration to officially weigh in on a final funding deal.
• House Democrats have largely set their team for countering Trump’s agenda next year with contested races to lead Democrats on the Oversight, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committees.
• Trump donor Andrew McKenna is a leading contender for secretary of the Air Force. He would be the latest of Trump’s picks to take on a top job at the Pentagon without significant experience inside the building.
• Trump sued retired Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer over her pre-election survey that showed Vice President Kamala Harris leading in the state, calling it “brazen election interference.” First Amendment advocates are worried about Trump using civil litigation to target journalists he dislikes.

🚨What’s up with the nominees?

• Trump’s pick to lead the IRS, former Missouri Rep. Billy Long, has little experience with tax policy or large-scale organizational management. He’s also stirred discomfort for another reason: Long has been deeply involved in touting a tax break that’s been plagued by fraud, Brian Faler reports. 

📝ICYMI: Here are the latest Trump administration picks 

• Trump picked former Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker for ambassador to the Bahamas and Nicole McGraw to serve as the next ambassador to Croatia.
• Trump has tapped John Brooks to lead his Department of Health and Human Services landing team, which is tasked with preparing the incoming administration to hit the ground running when it takes over the government on Jan. 20.