Congress
Pritzker: ‘You come for my people, you come through me’
Gov. JB Pritzker spoke to reporters Thursday for the first time since Donald Trump’s victory, saying he expects to work with the next administration, but he issued a warning.
“You come for my people, you come through me,” Pritzker said, referring to the minority and underserved communities of Illinois who remember the “chaos, retribution and disarray radiated from the White House the last time Donald Trump occupied.”
Pritzker, who served as a surrogate to Kamala Harris’ campaign, said his administration “was not unprepared” for a Trump win.
Pritzker said his administration has worked with the Democratic-led General Assembly to take “proactive steps” to shore up abortion rights and other laws that could draw scrutiny under a Trump White House. And he said Illinois would take action if the Trump administration were to circumvent government grants that were headed to Illinois. The governor said he’s had similar conversations with fellow Democratic governors around the country.
“We have like minds about protecting certain rights and making sure that we’re going to be able to withstand four years of a Donald Trump presidency and also the areas where we might work with the administration, whatever those may be,” he said.
Pritzker’s comments weren’t as inflammatory as they were on the campaign trail, when he was known to refer to Trump as racist, homophobic and xenophobic, but they were just as pointed.
The Illinois governor who is also seen as a possible presidential candidate in 2028 said Americans should be “focused on a peaceful transition of power, even if Donald Trump didn’t afford that to his successor.”
Pritzker told reporters it was too early to offer an explanation as to why Democrats failed to win over swing-state voters, including in neighboring Wisconsin, where thousands of Illinois Democrats canvassed over the past two months on behalf of Harris’ campaign.
“I haven’t seen anybody show up with an analysis of the data. There are a lot of people with opinions, and certainly Republicans are spouting off their opinions about what Democrats have done wrong in order to lose an election,” Pritzker said. “But the reality is, it’s going to take a little while, I think, before we have real answers.”
Illinois remained a blue state after the election, but Trump even made inroads here, including in the Democratic enclave of Chicago.
Congress
GOP senators expect to meet with RFK Jr. soon
Republican senators expect Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to soon make the rounds on Capitol Hill as he seeks to win their votes for his confirmation to be Trump’s Health and Human Services secretary.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said Thursday Kennedy was likely to journey to Blue Light News in the coming days, suggesting he’d meet with GOP senators after the Thanksgiving break.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the top Republican on the HELP Committee, confirmed there has been “some preliminary reach out” to organize the meetings. Cassidy is also a member of the Finance Committee that will ultimately decide whether to send Kennedy’s nomination to the full Senate for a vote.
Kennedy has a smoother route to confirmation than several other Trump picks. Democrats are sure to attack his vaccine skepticism and embrace of Covid-19 conspiracy theories. But his more urgent task will be to calm concerns among GOP senators about his past support for abortion rights and reassure those from farm states concerned about his desire to overhaul the U.S. food system, which could send shockwaves through the agriculture sector.
Kennedy wants to ban certain pesticides, soybean products, corn syrup and other processed items from the current U.S. food supply as part of his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a member of the Finance and Agriculture Committees, told reporters earlier this week that he’s pushing for a meeting with Kennedy before any confirmation hearing, citing some apprehension about Kennedy’s views on food production.
“I’m willing to have a discussion with him and find out where he’s coming from,” Grassley told reporters Tuesday. “But I may have to spend a lot of time educating him about agriculture, and I’m willing to do that.”
Congress
What does Gaetz’s withdrawal mean for the Ethics report?
House Democrats vowed to press forward with their plan to force the release of a long-awaited report into Matt Gaetz even after he withdrew from consideration as President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Attorney General.
But there are early signs that House Republicans, some of whom had indicated prior to Gaetz’s withdrawal that they supported the Democratic-led effort, are no longer on board. And Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.) the top Republican on the Ethics panel, told CBS Thursday that Gaetz’s withdrawal “should end the discussion of whether or not the Ethics Committee should continue to move forward in this matter.”
Democrats introduced a measure on Wednesday that would theoretically force a House floor vote that would make the Ethics panel release the report. It’s still unclear if that vote will be permitted under the House rules, but the vote could potentially occur as soon as the House returns from its Thanksgiving break in early December.
“While I welcome the news that Matt Gaetz is withdrawing from consideration for Attorney General, it remains important that the Gaetz report be made available to the American people,” Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.), one of the Democratic sponsors of the effort, said in a statement.
A spokesperson for Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), who introduced a similar measure, said he planned to press ahead, too.
Prior to Gaetz’s decision to withdraw from consideration, at least five House Republicans said they were prepared to support those efforts to force the report’s release. One GOP lawmaker who indicated they were planning to vote for the resolution, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said it’s “not a factor now.”
“Many of my colleagues told me they were voting yes” before Gaetz withdrew, the lawmaker said, adding that they would still vote for the resolutions if Gaetz indicates he’s returning for the next Congress.
It’s still unclear if Gaetz could return to the House in January, since he was reelected in November, and there have been rumors that he plans to run for Florida governor in 2026, with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis term-limited. Gaetz did not immediately respond to a request for comment but has previously denied any intentions to mount a gubernatorial bid. His resignation letter had said he did not intend to serve again in the next Congress, though it’s unclear if he can reverse course now that he’s withdrawn from consideration for attorney general.
Democrats are still trying to iron out if they can actually force a vote, and some Republicans are arguing their colleagues can’t trigger a vote on a report that is not a final Ethics Committee product. Guest said the report was still in draft form on Wednesday, though two people familiar with the matter disputed that assertion.
Democrats had argued the report needed to be released because Gaetz was up for the highest-ranking law enforcement position in the country, though other lawmakers may find the argument less persuasive now that Gaetz is out of contention.
Another unresolved question: whether the motions introduced by Casten and Cohen are eligible for the fast-track legislative process that would force a vote on the floor. Ethics panel attorneys are in the process of discussing parliamentary issues with the two lawmakers, according to a person familiar with the matter, granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.
The Democratic effort has already sparked one vow of procedural revenge from Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.), who told Blue Light News on Thursday that he would introduce his own privileged resolution to try to force the release of other Ethics Committee reports after Congress returns from the break in December. Bishop declined to say which members he will target but smiled when asked if it was Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.).
“If we’re going to release the report, let’s release a lot of reports. Let’s go for full transparency,” added Bishop, who is retiring at the end of this term.
Meanwhile, it’s not just Republicans who are signaling they’re ready to move on from Gaetz.
“My interest in him, in his political future, our government’s future, is diminished dramatically by this decision. So there are lots of other things we need to do,” said Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).
Jordain Carney, Olivia Beavers and Ursula Perano contributed to this report.
Congress
SEC Chair Gary Gensler to step down Jan. 20
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, who pursued a sweeping and controversial agenda as Wall Street’s chief overseer over the last three-plus years, plans to step down on Jan. 20, the agency said Thursday.
His departure will clear the way for President-elect Donald Trump to install his yet-to-be-named pick to lead the top U.S. financial markets regulator.
Gensler’s exit will cap one of the most memorable periods in the SEC’s history, as the 67-year-old veteran regulator sought to enact a slate of ambitious rules and pursue lawsuits that led to high-profile clashes with both the traditional financial world and the cryptocurrency industry.
Among the rules enacted under Gensler were measures seeking to shore up the U.S. Treasury market and to force corporate America to tell investors about climate-related risks. His agenda also included rules aimed at shedding light on the more opaque corners of finance, such as the massive private funds market, as well as a contentious push to bring crypto squarely under the SEC’s authority.
“The Securities and Exchange Commission is a remarkable agency,” Gensler said in a statement. “The staff and the Commission are deeply mission-driven, focused on protecting investors, facilitating capital formation, and ensuring that the markets work for investors and issuers alike. The staff comprises true public servants. It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve with them on behalf of everyday Americans and ensure that our capital markets remain the best in the world.”
Gensler plans to step down at noon on Jan. 20, according to the SEC.
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