Phoenix Fire: Explosions, Fire Rock Mobile Home

“The battle over President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet choices will escalate this week with Senate confirmation hearings set for more than a dozen prospective nominees, who will face a barrage of questions from Democrats hoping to enlist Republicans in knocking at least a few out of contention,” the New York Times reports. “The most high-profile and potentially contentious hearing is set for Tuesday, when the Senate Armed Services Committee is scheduled to consider the expected nomination of Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News personality and combat veteran, for secretary of defense.

“Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo trounces Mayor Eric Adams and other candidates in a Democratic mayoral field Cuomo has not yet entered — but his negatives are among the highest of the contenders, a third-party poll found,” Politico reports. “The well-known Cuomo topped the candidates with 32 percent when likely Democratic voters were asked to choose a favorite candidate in what will be a ranked-choice election.

Politico: “According to nearly a dozen retired officers and current military lawyers, as well as scholars who teach at West Point and Annapolis, an intense if quiet debate is underway inside the U. S. military community about what orders it would be obliged to obey if President-elect Donald Trump decides to follow through on his previous warnings that he might deploy troops against what he deems domestic threats, including political enemies, dissenters and immigrants.”

The Washington Post’s daily traffic last year “reached a nadir of just a quarter of what it was at its peak in January 2021,” Semafor reports. “That month, the Post had around 22.5 million daily active users. But by the middle of 2024, its daily users hovered around 2.5-3 million daily users.”

New York Times: “Her broken promise to cut off overseas travel and her busy international schedule since becoming mayor in December 2022 scarcely registered with the public before the wildfires, and Los Angeles voters accepted — and in some cases even welcomed — the mayor’s identity not just as a municipal leader but also as a Washington-style global player.

“A group of House Republicans and President-elect Donald Trump talked about tying wildfire aid to a debt ceiling increase Sunday night, as the fires spreading across huge swaths of Los Angeles are estimated to become one of the costliest natural disasters in U. S. history,” Politico reports. Playbook: “Though no final decisions were made about the way forward, the fact this discussion took place shows just how desperate Republicans are for a plan on how to raise the debt ceiling, given the deep split in their own conference about doing just that.”