It’s Tuesday, the traditional day for elections and for our pause-and-consider newsletter on politics and policy.

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Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

It’s Tuesday, the traditional day for elections and for our pause-and-consider newsletter on politics and policy. We think of it as a mini-magazine in your inbox.

COVERING WHAT’S NEXT IN CONGRESS
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews ([link removed])
Correspondent

It’s a new year and new Congress. But some familiar, critical issues are ahead.

We want to start with a group huddle. Obviously, the next Trump term is front and center, but his biggest agenda items cannot happen without Congress.

So, we’d like to hear from you: How should we cover the next Congress?

Would you like to see more on policy? On politics? The people on Capitol Hill? More process explanations? Any other words starting with “p”? (Or, of course, any letter!) Include any particular issues or lawmakers of interest.

Help us start on the right foot. Please send your thoughts to [email protected]. (mailto:[email protected])

To kick things off, there are four things I’m watching as the 119th Congress gets underway.

1. The budget mountain

Trump has a big vision: One massive “beautiful bill” ([link removed]) that combines tax cuts, the debt ceiling, immigration, a farm bill and everything else Republicans want.

The details for all of that will be tricky. But first, to pass something like this with just 53 Republicans in the Senate ([link removed]) , Trump must get around the Senate’s 60-vote requirement using the budget procedure — some of you can say it with me — **reconciliation. ([link removed]) **

But to do that, Republicans in both chambers must agree on a budget ([link removed]) for the government.

While Trump boasts about constructing things “under budget, ahead of schedule ([link removed]) ,” Congress more often than not passes no budget and extends their own deadlines. ([link removed])

Add to that: Republicans will have a single-vote margin in the House for the first months of this Congress. And clearly, they have active disagreements over budgeting. (I will be closely watching the Freedom Caucus members who sent a warning ([link removed]) to Speaker Mike Johnson last week.) I also spoke with a Democratic ranking committee member yesterday who openly laughed at the idea that Republicans can get a budget together quickly. We’ll see.

2. Confirmation fights

This is an obvious one.

Trump has several controversial nominees ([link removed]) who have survived their first challenge: press coverage and general public debate. But they now face their next, and perhaps most important, test: committee hearings.

I’ll be spending the next few days researching, checking with sources and preparing. (That includes Robert F. Kennedy’s book about health care, Dr. Anthony Fauci and government.)

Hearings start next week ([link removed]) with testimony set for defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, attorney general nominee Pam Bondi, agriculture secretary nominee Brooke Rollins, among others.

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Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., during a 2023 fiscal budget hearing in the U.S. Capitol. Photo by Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA

3. Trump, Thune and the Senate schedule

Trump has an ardent loyalist in Johnson. (The speaker frequently travels with and appears in photos with ([link removed]) and behind ([link removed]) Trump. ([link removed]) )

But Senate leader John Thune has had a rockier history ([link removed]) with Trump, including openly calling on him to leave the 2016 race. ([link removed]) They patched things up earlier this year after Thune endorsed Trump. ([link removed]) But the South Dakota Republican is known as far more of an institutionalist than Trump. Thune has made it clear he will attempt to smoothly thread this needle, but he is one to watch closely.

This includes the Senate itself. I invite you to look at this calendar ([link removed]) , which Thune has set for the chamber. I’ve covered the Senate a long time, but have never seen this aggressive of a work schedule. (Yes, five-day work weeks in Washington are unusual for lawmakers, in part so they can get back home and in part because they simply have gotten used to it.)

4. The issues

This is by no means comprehensive, but to start:
* Immigration. This includes border security, deportations, asylum policy and migrants who have temporary legal status or recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program
* U.S. foreign policy. This includes Ukraine funding, China policy, and tariffs
* Social issues. This includes transgender rights and abortion
* But wait, there’s more! Internet policy affecting speech, internet policy affecting children, cryptocurrencies, drug prices, potential spending cuts, changes for or limits on federal workers (let us know if you are one!), environmental and drilling policy, Social Security, Medicare, the justice system and, of course, anything to do with the debt or deficit.

It is a classic firehose of pivotal decisions and issues. Stay tuned!
More on politics from our coverage:
* Watch: Congress certified Donald Trump’s election ([link removed]) in a smooth and swift session on Monday, a striking contrast to the violent Jan. 6 insurrection four years ago.
* One Big Question: How are Trump and his allies rewriting the history of Jan. 6? NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter discuss. ([link removed])
* A Closer Look: Lisa Desjardins answers audience questions ([link removed]) after Congress certifies Trump’s election victory.
* Perspectives: Journalist Kara Swisher on why the Washington Post, facing editorial turmoil, needs new leadership. ([link removed])

A FINAL GOODBYE FOR CARTER
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Watch the official state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter in the player above.
By Joshua Barajas
Senior Editor, Digital

Former President Jimmy Carter will lie in state in the nation’s capital on Tuesday, part of a dayslong farewell that began in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.

The funeral observances for Carter, who died in late December ([link removed]) at the age of 100, have focused on his achievements as president, as well as his post-White House efforts to elevate human rights.

PBS News will cover the public memorial events as the nation pays tribute to the former president.

How to watch Carter's official state funeral

Carter’s remains traveled to the nation’s capital Tuesday following a ceremony at the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta, where residents gathered for public viewing at the start of the week.

Starting Tuesday, Carter will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol for about 48 hours.

The official state funeral will be held on Thursday, Jan. 9 at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. All five living U.S. presidents are expected to attend. The service is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. EST.

PBS News will stream the event live here ([link removed]) , starting at 9 a.m. EST.

President Joe Biden is expected to deliver a eulogy at Thursday’s funeral. Biden has declared a national day of mourning for Carter on Jan. 9, closing some federal offices in observance of the day.

Starting at 9 a.m. EST on the day of the funeral, anchors Amna Nawaz ([link removed]) and Geoff Bennett ([link removed]) will host a PBS News special with a group of panelists and special guests, including:
* Barbara Perry ([link removed]) , presidential historian at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center
* E. Stanly Godbold Jr., historian and Carter biographer
* Randy Lewis, former Carter staffer
* Doris Crenshaw, former Carter staffer
* Andra Gillespie ([link removed]) , political science professor at Emory University

Check your local listings to find the PBS station near you, or watch online here ([link removed]) .

You can also follow the PBS News’ live coverage on YouTube ([link removed]) , X ([link removed]) , Facebook ([link removed]) and TikTok ([link removed]) , and see highlights on our Instagram. ([link removed])

After the funeral, the Carter family will return to Plains for a private burial service at Maranatha Baptist Church, where Carter taught Sunday school for years. Carter will then be buried alongside Rosalynn Smith Carter, his wife of 77 years, beneath a willow tree. ([link removed])

ROAD TO INAUGURATION

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A scene from George H.W. Bush’s 1989 inauguration as the 41st president of the United States. Photo courtesy of Library of Congress ([link removed])

By Deema Zein
Video Producer, Digital

We’re less than two weeks away from Donald Trump being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.

Each day until Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, Lisa Desjardins and the rest of the PBS News correspondents have been sharing some facts about this presidential ceremony and its history.

Co-anchor Amna Nawaz kicked us off (tiny mic in tow) with a fact about an Inauguration Day mainstay: taking the oath of office. ([link removed])

Follow along with all of our Inauguration Day facts on YouTube ([link removed]) , Instagram ([link removed]) and TikTok. ([link removed])

THIS WEEK’S TRIVIA QUESTION
By Joshua Barajas
Senior Editor, Digital

Trivia this week combines several topics grabbing headlines at the moment: the winter storm barreling the nation ([link removed]) , the memorialization ([link removed]) of Jimmy Carter and the upcoming inauguration.

Thanks to various weather records, we know what the conditions were like for many an Inauguration Day, past and present.

The nation’s inaugural inauguration for George Washington in 1789 started with gray skies that later cleared up, according to a historian. Sunny skies marked Carter’s ceremony in 1977, while the crowd in attendance for Franklin D. Roosevelt’s second inauguration weathered heavy rainfall.

One president’s inauguration was among the coldest on record.

Our question: Which president took the oath of office inside the Capitol Rotunda after the bitter cold outside forced the proceedings indoors?

Send your answers to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) . The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.

Last week, we asked: Astronomer Dr. Vera Rubin, who will appear on the U.S. Mint’s final coins as part of its American Women Quarters Program ([link removed]) , helped confirm the existence of this mysterious, invisible substance. What is it?

The answer: Dark matter. ([link removed]) Scientists now know that invisible dark matter makes up some 85 percent of all matter ([link removed]) in the universe.

Congratulations to our winners: Glenda Noble and Paul Alves!

Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.
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