Axios

The House voted Thursday to beat back a Democratic effort to make public a potentially scathing ethics report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz's (R-Fla.) conduct.

Why it matters: The 206-198 vote came shortly after Ethics Committee members met behind closed doors on the matter. Republicans on the panel last month blocked the findings pertaining to Gaetz from becoming public.

Roughly 15 demonstrators were arrested in a House building Thursday amid a protest against Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) recent bathroom and facility ban affecting transgender and nonbinary people on Capitol Hill.

The big picture: The policy, which Johnson announced last month after GOP firebrands pushed an effort to restrict Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-Del.) from using women's restrooms, has been slammed by human rights and LGBTQ+ activists, along with several Democratic members of Congress.

House Democratic leadership on Thursday laid out their timeline for deciding their committee ranking members in the 119th Congress.

Why it matters: Democrats will have to adjudicate several hotly contested battles as part of effort by some lawmakers to oust some of their party's oldest panel leaders.

The acting Secret Service director and a Republican representative got into a prolonged shouting match about a 9/11 memorial service at a Thursday hearing about the assassination attempts on President-elect Trump.

Driving the news: The hearing devolved when Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) accused acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe of standing too close to President Biden at a 9/11 remembrance event as an attempt to win the top Secret Service position.

A federal judge on Thursday rejected Boeing's plea deal over a criminal fraud charge stemming from two fatal 737 crashes in 2018 and 2019.

Why it matters: The plane crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed a total of 346 people and ignited scrutiny about quality control and safety at Boeing — concerns that have only become starker in recent years.

Mexico's record seizure of fentanyl pills on Tuesday night was promoted as a blockbuster win, but an expert tells Axios Latino the timing is suspect.

Why it matters: The seizure comes on the heels of President-elect Trump's threats to impose tariffs on Mexico and Canada, claiming it will pressure them to stop the flow of migrants and drug-trafficking along the border.

Immigrants arrested for homicides accounted for less than 1% of "at-large" arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the last six years, an Axios review found.

Why it matters: President-elect Trump has vowed to launch the "largest deportation of criminals in American history" — often focusing on the slaying of college student Laken Riley by an undocumented immigrant — but data shows crimes like homicide and sexual assault feature in only a small fraction of ICE arrests.

President-elect Trump hosted the chief executives of Pfizer, Eli Lilly and PhRMA Wednesday night at Mar-a-Lago, where they discussed how the public and private sectors can collaborate on finding cures for cancer, among other topics, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The patio dinner is a potential indication that Trump's administration will see the pharmaceutical industry as a partner — not just an adversary — for parts of its "Make America Healthy Again" agenda.

Don't get baited. Stick to your knitting — but be clear and firm on issues where the law is on your side.

The big picture: That's the playbook that Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and the Fed used when President-elect Trump was last president and regularly pilloried the central bank for pushing interest rates too high. Powell has dusted it off for Trump 2.0.

Tech titans with billions at stake are scrambling for access and influence with President-elect Trump in the wake of his reelection.

Why it matters: Trump's victory will have enormous consequences for the tech industry — particularly the nascent AI boom — as it grapples with federal regulations and antitrust efforts.

Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, who President-elect Trump tapped to head the Department of Defense, is facing an increasingly difficult path to Senate confirmation.

Why it matters: Senate Republicans have expressed concerns about Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon as he has faced mounting allegations of sexual misconduct, financial mismanagement and alcohol abuse.

President-elect Trump isn't working the phones for Pete Hegseth in his hour of need, leaving the embattled Department of Defense nominee to press his own case to skeptical senators, Axios has learned.

• "I don't think it's going anywhere," one senator told Axios about Hegseth's nomination chances.

Why it matters: Trump is on path to lose his third nominee in two weeks, and this time he's leaving his candidate out to dry.

President Biden's post-presidency now looks as bleak as his brutal final months.

• Some top Democrats tell us they're so furious about Biden's abrupt, clumsy pardon of his son Hunter that they're threatening to withhold donations from his future presidential library.
• "If they had their sh*t together, they would have been doing the work on this over the summer — right after he announced he was stepping aside," one well-wired Democrat told us. "Now, it's just too late. Hopefully they are rightsizing their expectations and budget!"

South Korean police announced an "insurrection" investigation into President Yoon Suk-Yeol and other top officials in relation to his since-retracted martial law declaration following a formal complaint from opposition lawmakers, per multiple reports.

Why it matters: Presidential immunity does not apply to this crime in South Korea and it can carry the death penalty, AFP notes.

The Department of Justice announced Wednesday its civil rights investigation into the Memphis Police Department found the MPD used excessive force, conducted illegal stops, searches and arrests and unlawfully discriminated against Black people.

The big picture: The DOJ launched the probe in July 2023 after the death of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man​ who was fatally beaten by then-MPD officers.