Welcome to the online version of Political officeAn evening newsletter that brings you the latest report and analysis of the NBC News Policy team from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign campaign.
In today’s edition, Sahil Kapur reports from Capitol Hill on how the Republicans largely put their concerns next to the candidates of President Donald Trump. In addition, Steve Kornacki plunges into election results in 2024 in Virginia with the state race for the governor at the corner of the street.
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– Adam Wollner
Republicans comply with Trump candidates
By Sahil Kapur
Two of the most controversial firm of the most controversial office of President Donald Trump qualified Tuesday in the full Senate on the votes of the party line, the republican skeptics putting aside their concerns to give their approval to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for health and the secretary to human services. And Tulsi Gabbard for the Director of National Intelligence.
The votes of favorable committees came after a vigorous pressure campaign, with Warning from the White House That the Republicans of the Senate who voted against one of the president’s candidates would face political “consequences”. Faced with the possibility of annoying Trump and his powerful voter base, most Senators in the GOP get online.
With less unexpected developments, all the choices of Trump’s office that have come before the Senate so far are now on the right track to be confirmed. It was not certain a few months ago, when Matt Gaetz, a square of scandal, dropped his attempt to become a prosecutor general and defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, was involved in controversy.
In the end, Hegseth creaks through the narrowest margins after obtaining the support of senator Thom Tillis, RN.C., while Pam Bondi is now on track to become AG of Trump. (A persistent questioning point is Lori Chavez-Deremer, Trump’s friendly candidate for the work secretary, who faces a certain opposition of conservative senators and has not yet received an audience.)
For Kennedy, the key vote came from Senator Bill Cassidy, R-La. A few minutes before the vote of the senatorial finance committee to advance the appointment of Kennedy, Cassidy said he would support him After having “very intense conversations” with him and the White House during the weekend.
Cassidy, a doctor, had expressed serious concerns On Kennedy’s founded comments from which connect vaccines and autism. He did not see this in his Tuesday declaration.
Shortly after, a similar dynamic took place within the Senate Intelligence Committee, with an undecided key member, Senator Todd Young, R-Ind., announcing that he would support Gabbard. Young said he had received “commitments” from Gabbard that she would not recommend Protection for Edward Snowden And that she will support section 702 of the FISA, the spying power without a mandate for foreign targets.
(In particular, Cassidy and Young The vice-president chose JD Vance For the role he played in their talks with the nominees.)
Senator Jim Justice, RW.VA., a first -year student who replaced Joe Manchin, summed up the attitude that many Republicans have adopted towards Trump’s candidates. He told NBC News that he was “fair” to “allow the person that this country elected his team – and then if they do not play, it is on him and the team”.
“So I hope he will get his team,” said the judge. “The most difficult to cross the finish line are probably Tulsi and Bobby. And it’s controversial and everything, and we want to look at them. »»
When asked if he was a “yes” on both, the judge said, “Well, I am probably. I’m probably. But at the same time, I will be objective. I promise you. “
Read related: The legislators have traditionally announced their surveillance responsibilities and the power of the bag as points of pride in a city where there is a constant push and traction among the three branches of the government. But in the second Trump administration, the Republicans have so far reported to the president in the midst of a wave of unilateral movements. Learn more →
What to know of the Trump presidency today
In addition to scoring victories in the Senate’s confirmation process, Trump held his first meeting with a foreign leader since he took office and signed more decrees. Here are the upper lines of the White House:
- At an oval office meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said the Palestinians had “no alternative” But to leave their homes in Gaza.
- The White House is Prepare a decree To eliminate the Ministry of Education, although Trump cannot unilaterally abolish a federal agency without the approval of the congress.
- Trump signed the order to restore his “maximum pressure” Iran policy and to withdraw the United States from United Nations Human Rights Council.
- China immediately retaliated during the night as The price of 10% of Trump on all Chinese products entered into force, announcing a series of measures, including its own 10% to 15% levies on certain American products. And as Matt Dixon writes, political uncertainty remains even after Trump temporary tariff agreements struck With Canada and Mexico.
- Two groups of FBI agents filed for prosecution against the Ministry of Justice alleging “remuneration” on their work in the cases of January 6.
- Trump said he wanted access to Ukraine’s overabundance of natural resources In exchange for billions of dollars In military aid, Washington provided Kyiv.
What the 2024 results in Virginia tell us about the race of the Governor to come
By Steve Kornacki
This year’s Governor’s Governor’s race will offer a prior overview of whether the 2024 elections’ demarcation lines were scrambled with Donald Trump in the White House.
Trump made impressive gains in Virginia last November, reducing what was a 10.1 -point defeat in 2020 against Joe Biden at 5.8 points against Kamala Harris. He did this by winning new support from non -white voters, in particular Americans of Asian origin and Hispanics in North Virginia. But in the rest of the state, Trump mainly struck a brick wall, especially in areas with very educated white voters.
He will set up key questions for the 20125 governor’s race: Will this new support from Trump be transferable to the Republican candidate? And will these Trump resistant voters refuse to support a Republican now that Trump is back to power-or are they potentially winning for an unnamed Trump candidate?
These dynamics can be seen in the November results of the County of Loudoun massif and diversified, apart from Washington, DC
The fast -growing county, like the rest of Northern Virginia, has become firmly democratic since 2008. But it has taken a slightly lighter shade last year, while Trump reduced what had been a loss from 25 points in 2020 to 16 points. His earnings, however, were not also distributed through Loudoun and had clear demographic contours. This becomes obvious when examining the results at the constituency.
Since Loudoun has such a high concentration of Americans of Asian origin (21%, the highest in the State) and Latinos (14%, above the average state), Trump could Move the needle considerably on a county scale, even as an educated university white voters, a group which has become a basic democratic constituency in the Trump era, barely moved.
In particular, these same constituencies where the white voters formed by the University predominate the republican who republican suited Glenn Youngkin of 5 points in his successful campaign in 2021, indicating that they are not definitively prohibited to the candidates of the GOP. But Youngkin was running with a Democrat in the White House and with the political future of Trump in doubt at the time. The candidate for the Governor of this year’s GOP will present himself with Trump on the central scene of American politics.
This same scheme could be seen in the north of Virginia last November, where American and Latinos Asian voters are in abundance with white voters formed by the university. In Manassas Park, for example, more than 40% of the population is Latin, the highest concentration of any county or city of the state. He exceeded 14 points to Trump, a margin of Biden of 33 points to 19 for Harris.
Apart from North Virginia, however, demographic data has been much less favorable to Trump. The county of Suburban Chesterfield, just outside Richmond, provides a good example.
Like Loudoun, Chesterfield is also large and diverse. But the American and Asian populations are much smaller, while the black population (almost 25% of residents) is much higher. The changes here seem different.
While Trump made a break into the enclosure with important black populations, they were not as pronounced as his gains with Americans of Asian origin and Latinos elsewhere. And striking, areas with the deepest concentrations of high white voters have evolved by more than 10 points to the Democrats, compensating more for Trump’s new non -white support. (These same constituencies also supported 13 -point Youngkin in his campaign in 2021.)
All this suggests a somewhat ironic challenge for the Republicans as they seek to keep the governor this year. Historically, they had trouble building non -white support, but it could end up being white voters who present their greatest obstacle to victory.
The other best stories today
Doge bites man: Elon Musk moved to lightning speed to redo the federal government. Many Democrats and Republicans say that his efforts are illegal. Learn more → 
Stop watch: With a deadline of March 14 to finance the government, the recent unilateral moves of Trump have damaged an already heavy thrust for a bipartite agreement on Capitol Hill. Learn more → 
Controversial hiring: Darren Beattie, a conservative author who disseminated conspiracy theories on the January 6 attack on the Capitol and wrote on social networks that “the competent white men must be in charge”, was appointed to a position high in the State Department. Learn more → 
Hiking Hikes: The Democrats of the Senatoric Banking Committee call on the Ministry of Defense to investigate what stimulates an increase in military housing costs. Learn more → 
VP abroad: JD Vance will embark on his first international trip to power next week to attend a summit of artificial intelligence in Paris. Learn more → 
Red 47: Trump will attend the Super Bowl in New Orleans on Sunday, and will sit for a pre-match interview with Bret Baier from Fox News. Learn more →
It’s all of the political bureau for the moment. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner and Faith Wardwell.
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