With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team
Welcome to the new Inside Congress — your first read on Capitol Hill politics and policy. Our mission is to give you a comprehensive preview of the day — focusing on the news that matters most in Congress, whether it comes from leadership offices, committee rooms or K Street. We’ll showcase POLITICO’s best Capitol Hill coverage from across our newsroom, including POLITICO Pro and E&E News. We want to hear what you think of the new approach, so please send a note to [email protected].
IN TODAY’S EDITION:
- Welcome back to Congress in Trump’s Washington
- All eyes on whether Schumer allows Rubio through on Day One
- Scoop: House GOP plans vote to crack down on fentanyl dealers
- GOP angst over Trump and TikTok
Donald Trump has had four years to plot what he would do if he ever became president again. Today, he’ll start making that a reality — and Republicans in Congress are ready to fall in line.
Trump is planning to sign some 200 executive orders once he’s sworn in for his second term this afternoon that will cover everything from immigration, to energy, to eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives from federal offices. Our colleagues Benjamin Guggenheim and Meredith Lee Hill scooped details you can read here.
Meredith and Rachael Bade also reported late Sunday that advisers to Trump have discussed having him sign an order to “save” TikTok shortly after his swearing in — a move that could ratchet up tensions with GOP lawmakers who supported legislation forcing the app’s parent company to sell or face a ban. (More on that below.)
It’s sending a clear signal to Congress about who’s calling the shots in the new Republican trifecta.
Trump plans to execute several orders on the border and energy that House and Senate Republicans would have loved to carry to Trump’s desk but need more time to muscle through the legislative branch. Expect Hill Republicans to build on Trump’s orders, attempting to write policies like “Remain in Mexico” and funding the southern border wall into law, so future administrations can’t overturn them on a whim. And Congress can say bye to being the one to rename the Gulf of Mexico — Trump’s about to do that, too.
The executive moves also underscore just how tough it will be for Trump to wring big wins out of Congress. Speaker Mike Johnson is operating on a razor-thin margin in the House, with an incredibly ideologically diverse membership.
Even his most ambitious timeline for getting sweeping legislation encompassing Trump’s signature border, energy and tax policies to the president’s desk drags out to Memorial Day. And that, Meredith writes, is only if all the different factions of Republicans play nice — hardly a safe gamble. As Meredith reports, congressional leaders are facing doubts about just how quickly they will be able to deliver major wins for Trump.
“Everybody is feeling the pressure now of time,” said Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, a member of the hard-right Freedom Caucus. “In a short period, we’ve got to make something happen.”
That’s to say nothing of the Senate, where Majority Leader John Thune’s ability to speed through Trump’s appointees hinges in no small part on Democratic cooperation. For all of Republicans’ emphasis on getting Trump’s national security picks through quickly, only secretary of State nominee Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is likely to come up for a vote today, as we previewed last week.
Defense pick Pete Hegseth and CIA director nominee John Ratcliffe are expected to hit the floor later this week. Hegseth, in particular, is another reminder of Trump’s significant congressional influence — his nomination looked like it was toast weeks ago, and now he seems on track to get confirmed in the first week.
Trump thanked Thune during his rally last night for “doing a great job in moving the process along quickly” for his nominees. “We’re going to have a lot of them hopefully approved very quickly,” he said.
Also on stage last night were reflections of the new hierarchy of power in Washington. Notably, it was Tesla CEO Elon Musk (and his son X) who took the stage with the soon-to-be president inside the Capital One Arena — not JD Vance, his vice president and the former senator ostensibly in charge of advancing the new administration’s dealings on the Hill.
Stay tuned to real-time coverage of the inauguration on our live blog beginning at 8 a.m.
GOOD INAUGURATION MORNING. We’re Lisa Kashinsky and Mia McCarthy, your new Inside Congress co-authors.
A little about us: We’re both from Massachusetts — though only one of us (Mia!) was actually born there — and we definitely run on Dunkin’. Lisa comes to the Congress team from the presidential campaign trail and has priors covering state government. Mia you might have seen on the Hill before; she mainly covered state delegations and JD Vance during the 2024 campaign.
And we want to meet you! Email us at [email protected] and [email protected] to grab a coffee. Meet us at the Longworth Dunkin’, where we’ll complain the whole time that Boston Dunkins are better.
THE SKED
The House is not in session. The Senate is in session.
— Inauguration at the Rotunda: Per the 20th Amendment, Trump will be sworn in shortly after noon. And lawmakers are fretting there won’t be enough room for all of them.
— The Senate votes at 5:30 p.m. on passage of the Laken Riley Act.
The rest of the week: The House is set to take up the Laken Riley Act, quickly sending it to Trump’s desk. The House is also set to vote on the Fix Our Forest Act and the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, among other bills.
The Senate will take up nominations this week. There are no confirmation floor votes scheduled yet, but expect Rubio to be up first, likely today unless Democrats object. The Senate is also set to take up a bill from Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) on abortion, similar to the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act in the House.
THE LEADERSHIP SUITE
Johnson aims for early legislative wins
The speaker will be walking Trump into today’s inauguration. The rest of his week will be focused on sending Trump some initial legislative wins — the Laken Riley Act looks like the first one, after it gets another House vote. Of course, he also has to settle ongoing debates around budget reconciliation, the debt limit and spending that will go on for weeks. He said on “Meet the Press” this weekend that additional disaster aid might potentially be linked to the debt ceiling — but wouldn’t commit to providing the aid without conditions.
Will Hakeem Jeffries greet Trump?
We’ll see if the House minority leader chats with Trump at the inauguration proceedings today and what that interaction will look like. He already started taking swipes at how much Trump’s mass deportation plan will cost on “Meet the Press” Sunday.
Thune’s nominees test
Getting Trump’s Cabinet nominees confirmed — and in a timely manner — is one of Thune’s first big challenges as majority leader, one that will test his ability to control his own caucus and work with Democrats. If he fails, it could be a stain on his historically fraught — but recently improved — relationship with Trump.
Chuck Schumer’s big call
All eyes are on the Senate minority leader to set the stage for how Democrats will treat Trump’s nominees on the floor. If Rubio’s nomination goes to the floor today as expected, we’ll see whether Schumer and other Democrats make Republicans wait. Without unanimous consent, it’ll take a couple more days to confirm him as secretary of State.
A message from PCMA:
Big Pharma is back with the same self-serving agenda designed to undermine the only real check on their otherwise limitless pricing power. By targeting pay-for-performance incentives for pharmacy benefit managers that maximize prescription drug savings for employers, unions and patients in the private health care market, Big Pharma’s plan would help them keep drug prices high, boost their profits, and hike health care costs for the American people. Stop Big Pharma’s money grab. Learn more.
POLICY AGENDA
SCOOP: FENTANYL BILL ON TAP — Ben Leonard reports that House Republicans plan to quickly bring up a bill to increase penalties against fentanyl dealers. Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), the bill’s lead sponsor, said he expects a floor vote in February. It’s among a menu of options Republicans are weighing to address the deadly addiction crisis, which they see as a top policy — and political — goal.
Two-thirds of House Democrats voted against the legislation last Congress, arguing it would exacerbate mass incarceration. But Trump successfully campaigned on cracking down on drug smugglers at the border, and Democrats in both the House and the Senate might be more willing to support it now.
TIKTOK ON THE CLOCK — Trump’s pledge to extend the deadline for ByteDance to divest TikTok is putting him on a collision course with Republicans who supported the law requiring the sale.
Johnson said Sunday that “we will enforce the law.” And Ben reports that Rep. Diana Harshbarger, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which played a key role in passing the law targeting TikTok, said she was “willing to look at any deal President Trump puts together,” but that “I still have data safety concerns.” Meanwhile, the legality of that executive order is questionable, our Christine Mui writes.
RAMASWAMY’S DOGE ROLE IN DOUBT — Adam Wren scoops that Vivek Ramaswamy could withdraw from working with the incoming Department of Government Efficiency as he gears up to run for governor of Ohio. DOGE aims to cut government spending by up to $2 trillion by July 4, 2026.
The best of POLITICO Pro and E&E:
THE BEST OF THE REST
Trump to take more than 200 executive actions on day one, from Brooke Singman at Fox News
House conservative defies Johnson over remote voting for new moms in Congress, from Sarah Ferris at CNN
7 Democrats who boycotted Donald Trump’s first inauguration are going this time, by Ally Mutnick, Nicholas Wu, Daniella Diaz, Paula Friedrich, Anna Wiederkehr and Abhinanda Bhattacharyya.
‘Lady McBiden’: Alexandra Pelosi Blasts the First Lady, by Jonathan Martin
A message from PCMA:
JOB BOARD
Hiring in your office? Send us what job opportunities you’re hoping to fill, and we’ll flag them here!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Senate Banking GOP’s Ben Watson … former Reps. Bill Owens (D-N.Y.), Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) and Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) … WSJ’s Gavin Bade … and your new Inside Congress host, Mia McCarthy.
Want your birthday in the newsletter? (Don’t lie, we know you do.) Email it to us!
TRIVIA
FRIDAY’S ANSWER: Jack Howard correctly answered that in 1958 the room (H-235) was assigned as the “Congresswomen’s Reading Room” and in 1991 it was renamed the “Lindy Claiborne Boggs Congressional Women’s Reading Room.”
TODAY’S QUESTION, from Mia: How many other presidents (besides Trump later today) have taken the oath of office in the Capitol Rotunda?
The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to [email protected].
GET INSIDE CONGRESS emailed to your phone each evening.
A message from PCMA:
Big Pharma is attempting to pull off a money grab, asking Congress to intervene in the private health care marketplace to increase drug companies’ pricing power and help them keep their drug prices high.
By undermining pay-for-performance in health care and flexibility and choice for employers to design their pharmacy benefits, their plan would boost Big Pharma’s profits, and hike health care costs for everyone else. Learn more.
