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John:


Good afternoon from Capitol Hill.

After passing a spending bill and heading home for Christmas, Congress was directed by President Trump to turn its attention to the debt limit ([link removed]) . Trump is asking Congress to raise or eliminate the debt limit altogether in the time between new members being sworn in on January 3rd and his inauguration on January 20th.

Members bristled at the idea of eliminating the debt limit; Senator Thom Tillis bluntly criticized the president-elect, saying, “Whoever advised the president that it was even possible needs to better understand how this place works.” Meanwhile, Trump criticized the deal former Speaker McCarthy made with President Biden in the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act, saying on Truth Social that it will "go down as one of the dumbest political decisions made in years.” On Friday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sent House Speaker Mike Johnson, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell a letter explaining that the U.S. will default on its financial obligations, and “extraordinary measures” to postpone such a default may be necessary as soon as January 2nd. The letter states that social security, Medicare, military salaries, interests on the national debt, and tax refund payments may be in jeopardy if the debt limit is not
increased so more money can be borrowed.

Many conservatives spent their Christmas break feuding online over a different aspect of the economy: H-1B visas, the type of visa given to guest workers in specialty occupations such as tech. Elon Musk began the firestorm by posting ([link removed]) that there is a shortage of talent in Silicon Valley. Prominent Conservatives like Steve Bannon strongly opposed Elon Musk’s endorsement of the program, writing in a post on Gettr that the “H1B Visa Program Should be Zeroed-Out—Used to Constantly Drive Wages Down and Replace American Tech Workers—the Foreign Worker Replacements are Treated Like Indentured Servants.”

On Saturday, President Trump signaled support ([link removed]) for the H-1B program, stating that “it’s a great program.” However, Trump also took action to limit H1-B visas during his first term ([link removed]) . The tension among Trump supporters demonstrates that the diverse coalition Trump pieced together to win in 2024 has some very real differences. Regardless of where Trump lands on the H-1B program, he will have his work cut out for him with immigration policy and deportations.

Outside of the immigration debates and debt talks that absorbed the conversation online, America First Legal broke a major story regarding corruption in the Biden Administration that shouldn’t be overlooked. America First Legal has revealed evidence ([link removed]) that President Joe Biden met with Hunter Biden's business associates from the Chinese Communist government in 2013, as previously disclosed in an August report ([link removed]) from the House Oversight Committee during its impeachment inquiry against the President.

AFL acquired photographs from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) depicting Biden's meeting with several Chinese representatives of BHR Partners, including CCP President Xi Jinping. This directly repudiates Biden’s claims that he never "interacted with their [BHR's] partners." ([link removed]) Due to the Presidential Records Act, NARA is obligated to disclose these photographs but agreed to postpone their release by 30 days at the request of the Biden Administration. Biden’s cover-up for his son’s shady behavior continues, as this follows Biden's pardon of his son for any offenses committed between January 1, 2014, and December 1, 2024.

The Latest from the Conservative Movement
* Crisis Magazine Gives an Optimistic Review of 2024: The Year Things Began to Turn Around ([link removed])

* The Top 10 Hoaxes the Propaganda Press Peddled in 2024 ([link removed])

* Sen. Mike Lee Shared This Report from Dr. Matt Mehan Titled, “The Higher Purpose of Children in American Society” ([link removed])

* Senate Republican Committee Assignments for the 119th Congress Were Announced ([link removed])

One More Thing
* From City Journal: What I Saw at the Daniel Penny Trial ([link removed])

Sincerely,

AJ Swinson, Senior Government Relations Coordinator

Babs Hough, Deputy Director of Government Relations

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