With Congress set to spend its remaining time this yr pushing via judicial nominees and some must-pass items of laws, Biden has no extra political capital to spend and little greater than his pen and cellphone to get something achieved earlier than he closes the e-book on a full half-century in public life.

But on the identical time, he would possibly nonetheless have levers he can pull to make some issues occur earlier than he leaves the Oval Workplace for the final time.

Some issues Biden can do himself whereas he nonetheless has the powers of the presidency:

Consultant Jerry Nadler dismissed Jamie Raskin’s difficult him for the highest spot on the Home Judiciary Committee on Tuesday night.

“I believe we’re going to be okay,” Nadler instructed reporters on Tuesday night throughout votes, calling the state of affairs “unlucky.”

His tune had modified by Wednesday. Late that afternoon, he tapped out in a shocking transfer, and endorsed Raskin to change into the highest Democrat on Judiciary. That units Raskin as much as change into chairman the following time Democrats take the Home.

Sitting down with the Fox & Buddies crew, Penelope kicked off her interview by primarily pleading with President-elect Donald Trump to not drop her son as his nominee for secretary of protection. It has been reported that Trump is contemplating an inventory of different potential nominees following the controversies surrounding the ex-Fox star, together with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Justin Barangoa has the story.

President-elect Donald Trump introduced Wednesday that he intends to appoint cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins to chair the Securities and Trade Fee.

Trump mentioned Atkins, the CEO of Patomak Companions and a former SEC commissioner, was a “confirmed chief for widespread sense rules.” Within the years since leaving the SEC, Atkins has made the case in opposition to an excessive amount of market regulation.

In an announcement first posted to Reality Social, Trump mentioned he was bringing on Peter Navarro, the previous head of the Nationwide Commerce Council throughout his first time period, as a “Senior Counselor for Commerce and Manufacturing.”

Since successful the election, President-elect Donald Trump has been speaking about immigration, border safety and authorities effectivity.

However in California farm nation, his feedback about water are additionally getting high consideration.

The Golden State grows three-quarters of the nation’s fruits and nuts and greater than a 3rd of its greens, largely due to a posh community of dams and canals that funnel water to the state’s fertile Central Valley.

Lately, farmers have confronted extra limits on how a lot water they will entry from this community due to environmental considerations, in addition to on how a lot groundwater they will pump after years of overuse and drought.

President-elect Donald Trump admitted that he un-nominated Chad Chronister from Drug Enforcement Company (DEA) administrator after studying the sheriff publicly scolded and arrested a Florida pastor for internet hosting giant church providers through the pandemic.

Chronister, the sheriff of Hillsborough County, Florida, introduced on Tuesday he was backing out of the nomination course of citing the “gravity” of the “accountability” of heading the company in command of coordinating and pursuing drug investigations domestically and internationally.

Ariana Baio has the story.

Republican pollster and strategist Lee Carter mentioned on Wednesday that she discovered it “offensive and incorrect” that a lot consideration has been paid to the allegations of Pete Hegseth’s extreme consuming and sexual impropriety, describing the startling accusations as merely “extracurricular actions.”

Shortly after Hegseth’s mom appeared on Fox & Buddies to vociferously defend her embattled son as his appointment to guide the Pentagon hangs perilously within the stability, Carter instructed CNN that she had identified the previous Fox Information star for years and loved working with him prior to now.

Chatting with visitor Jane Fonda on his podcast Membership Random, Maher mentioned he already felt exhausted by the prospect of getting to cowl the Trump administration for one more 4 years.

“I imply I’ll stop,” mentioned Maher.

Kevin E G Perry experiences from Los Angeles.