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Here’s who’s in the running to be Trump’s White House counsel

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Two lawyers who have played key roles in investigations into Donald Trump and his top allies are now under consideration for a crucial gig in his administration: White House counsel.

David Warrington, the general counsel for the Trump campaign; and Stanley Woodward, a defense lawyer who has represented many prominent Trump aides, are both in the mix, according to two people familiar with the transition team’s deliberations. Other candidates are also under consideration.

“President-Elect Trump will begin making decisions on who will serve in his second Administration soon,” said Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt in a statement. “Those decisions will be announced when they are made.”

Both men are also advising the transition on legal matters. Woodward and Warrington did not respond to requests for comment.

The White House counsel represents the presidency as an institution, helming a staff of lawyers who specialize in federal government operations. During the first Trump term, then-White House Counsel Don McGahn prioritized the appointment of young conservatives to the federal judiciary — one of the most enduring parts of Trump’s first four years.

Warrington, a partner at Dhillon Law Group, helped guide the Trump campaign through a maze of unprecedented political and legal challenges.

He represented Trump during the Jan. 6 select committee’s investigation, along with former national security advisor Michael Flynn, former White House personnel adviser Johnny McEntee, and “Stop the Steal” organizers Amy and Kylie Kremer. And Warrington represents Trump in ongoing civil lawsuits brought by members of Congress and police officers over the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Previously, he was general counsel for Ron Paul’s 2012 campaign and advised the Trump campaign during the 2016 Republican National Convention.

Woodward, once a big-law denizen specializing in complex civil litigation, has spent the last few years rising to prominence along with his law partner former House counsel Stan Brand. The pair represented Trump aide Dan Scavino before the Jan. 6 select committee and special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump and his allies’ effort to subvert the 2020 election.

Woodward also expanded his client roster to include other prominent Trump allies ensnared in related probes, including former adviser Kash Patel, former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro and Trump’s body man Walt Nauta, who was charged alongside Trump in the Florida classified documents probe. Woodward played a role in fighting the Justice Department’s effort to access Rep. Scott Perry’s phone as part of the 2020 election probe.

Woodward has also represented several notable defendants who participated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, including Kelly Meggs, a member of the Oath Keepers convicted of seditious conspiracy; and Ryan Samsel, who helped instigate the first breach of police lines that day.

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Congress

Luna pushes to force a vote banning congressional stock trading

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Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said in a brief interview Tuesday that she’s pushing forward with a discharge petition to end run Speaker Mike Johnson and force a vote on a congressional stock trading ban.

The politically-explosive topic is still divisive within House Republicans, but broadly popular with the public. Luna said she’s done with waiting around for accountability on Capitol Hill.

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), who is working on the effort with Luna, said they are “tired” of the GOP leaders pushing off the legislation.

It’s just the latest internal GOP fight facing Johnson. Almost simultaneously Tuesday afternoon, Johnson faced a GOP revolt on the House floor over a procedural move involving legislation to regulate name, image and likeness compensation in college sports.

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Thune says abortion language a sticking point in health care talks

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday that while bipartisan discussions are ongoing around the fate of soon-to-expire Affordable Care Act subsidies, abortion restrictions are a major sticking point.

“There are conversations that continue, but as you know the Hyde issue is a difficult and challenging one on both sides,” Thune told reporters.

The fight over the so-called Hyde Amendment, which bars federal funding for abortion, has been looming over any potential deal to extend the enhanced Obamacare tax credits. And GOP lawmakers, not to mention a cadre of influential anti-abortion groups, quickly noticed the White House’s framework was silent on the issue.

The White House ultimately held off on releasing that framework as it faced a mountain of GOP criticism from conservatives who felt caught off guard that Trump would back a two-year extension of the subsidies — even when paired with new income caps and other restrictions.

The Senate is expected to vote next week on a proposal from Democrats to extend the ACA subsidies, but Democrats haven’t yet detailed what bill they will put on the chamber floor.

Republicans are separately working on a potential counterproposal that would come from Sens. Mike Crapo and Bill Cassidy, chairs of the Senate Finance and HELP Committees, respectively. GOP senators also have yet to decide whether they’ll roll out that plan in time for a vote next week, though, and the substance remains in flux.

Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said Monday night that while efforts to reach a bipartisan agreement persist, many lawmakers believe they are ultimately headed toward a failed vote next week. Some senators are already looking at Jan. 30, the next government funding deadline, as the real cut-off for a health care deal.

“I don’t think we’re close to a 60-vote threshold yet,” Thune said of bipartisan health care talks.

There’s also uncertainty on the other side of the Capitol about how Republicans will respond to the looming expiration of the subsidies, which could cause premiums to skyrocket in the new year. Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters at his weekly press conference that he “didn’t commit to” a short-term extension during a closed-door House GOP members’ meeting Tuesday morning but that “there will be a Republican response to this.”

“What I’ve got to do is build consensus deliberately around the best ideas,” Johnson said. “We’re pulling those ideas together … I can’t project in advance what that will be because I don’t know what the consensus is in that room.”

Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.

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Stefanik accuses Johnson of lying, ‘blocking’ her defense bill provision

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Rep. Elise Stefanik is taking aim directly at Speaker Mike Johnson over signals a provision she has championed won’t be included in the annual defense policy bill the House wants to pass next week — marking a notable and unusual split inside the House GOP leadership team.

Stefanik, a New York Republican who serves as a member of Johnson’s leadership team, said in a social media post Tuesday morning she would help tank the National Defense Authorization Act if it doesn’t incorporate her provision that would require the FBI to notify Congress when it opens investigations into candidates running for federal office.

“This is an easy one,” the New York Republican posted on social media Tuesday morning. “This bill is DOA unless this provision gets added in as it was passed out of committee.”

Stefanik also blamed Johnson for the expected omission.

“[T]he Speaker is blocking my provision to root out the illegal weaponization that led to Crossfire Hurricane, Arctic Frost, and more,” she wrote on X. “He is siding with Jamie Raskin against Trump Republicans to block this provision to protect the deep state.”

Stefanik’s proposal, which would require the public disclosure of all “FBI counterintelligence investigations into presidential and federal candidates seeking office,” is designed to combat what many Republicans consider politically motivated investigations related to Russian interference in the 2016 election and former special counsel Jack Smith’s probe into President Donald Trump’s efforts to subvert the election in 2020.

Asked about whether he thwarted the provision’s inclusion in the NDAA, Johnson said Stefanik’s retelling of events is “false.” He said he supported the provision and that there could still be a path for its passage in some other legislative vehicle.

“I don’t exactly know why Elise just won’t call me,” he said, recalling that he told his colleague over text, “What are you talking about? This hasn’t even made it to my level.”

Johnson explained the bipartisan leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, who he suspected have jurisdiction over this issue, had not agreed to include the language, leading to the provision being dropped from the defense bill. A spokesperson for Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary panel, deferred to Johnson’s explanation.

Stefanik quickly responded in another post on X, “Just more lies from the Speaker,” while insisting the Intelligence Committee, on which Stefanik sits, has jurisdiction over her provision.

Leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees have been negotiating the NDAA for weeks and could roll out a compromise package as soon as Thursday; Stefanik said in her social media post that she got early details of that package in an Intelligence Committee briefing.

The narrow GOP majority in the House means that Johnson can barely afford to lose any Republican support if Democrats reject the legislation en masse, but it’s far from guaranteed Stefanik’s opposition will doom the NDAA on its own.

While most Democrats opposed the hard-right version of the Pentagon bill the House passed in September, more Democrats might come on board to support a compromise measure and make up for a shortfall of votes on the Republican side of the aisle. The NDAA is typically a broadly bipartisan package.

Connor O’Brien contributed to this report.

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