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Photo by Joe Raedle/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.

POSTCARD FROM THE REPUBLICAN RETREAT
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews ([link removed])
Correspondent

Hello from Miami!

The landscape is bright blue sky, palm trees and an array of dark sports jackets.

One week into Donald Trump’s second presidency, House Republicans are extending Washington 1,000 miles south to his resort: Trump National Doral Golf Club.

They are trying to work out the herculean — and politically precarious ([link removed]) task — of passing a massive tax cuts bill, with sweeping spending cuts to match.

For reporters, this is an annual journey, covering members of Congress outside of the Capitol, but gathered together. In this case, the trip has told us a lot about Trump as well.
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The PBS News team (left) approaching the Miami resort. A view of the closed-off pool (right). Photos by Lisa Desjardins/PBS News
Walking up to the resort, it is a lush scene, with towering palms in a long line leading to a series of well-kept beige buildings with red-clay tile roofs.

There is a massive American flag at the entrance, and it is at half-staff in keeping with former President Joe Biden’s order following the death of former President Jimmy Carter. As I look around, I see nearly no flags on resort grounds. This is the first time I’ve been at a Trump-related event where there are no large TRUMP signs.

The press is working out of a large room of tables with gold chairs (golden plastic, to be exact) and gold tablecloths. And it is crowded. There are more journalists than there are seats.
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A view from the lectern of the “golden” press room at Trump National Doral. Photo by Lisa Desjardins/PBS News
There’s also a greater presence of Spanish-speaking media at this Miami event. Local Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., is surrounded and holds multiple gaggles in Spanish.

As Trump and Republicans gather inside, across the street a handful of Trump supporters wait to spot the president’s motorcade with Trump flags in hand.

One of them has a larger purpose.

Esther Pino is here with a handmade poster and two Mylar stars-and-stripes balloons. On the poster is a plea for Trump to pardon her daughter, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison ([link removed]) for millions of dollars in medical fraud. Her mother insists her daughter is innocent.

“It was a set-up, she was a scapegoat,” Pino tells me.

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Esther Pino holds up a handmade plea to President Donald Trump to pardon her daughter. Photo by Lisa Desjardins/PBS News

Pino has sent multiple letters to Trump. I saw her at the gate for at least five hours. When Trump’s motorcade went by, Pino held her sign up so high it covered much of her face.

The news here is not what I expected.

While Republicans in Congress deliberate the intricacies of tax policy and the country’s difficult debt math, Trump has ordered a freeze on grants and loans ([link removed]) in the federal government.

And over the course of a few hours, I observe an evolution from Republicans. Early in the morning, when I asked lawmakers about the funding freeze, I was met with deer-in-headlights reactions, with lawmakers often looking at their phones in hopes that they needed to be somewhere else.

Most said they were unsure what they thought yet.

Within a few hours, they found a message.

“It’s a reset,” South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson said. This was echoed by House Oversight Chair James Comer of Kentucky, Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke, and Michigan Rep. Lisa McClain, among others.

House Republicans are broadcasting — and hoping, frankly — that this temporary pause, as the executive order defines it ([link removed]) , is in fact temporary.

But it is clear House Republicans were caught by surprise and are not sure how long this will last or what it will mean for their districts.

Just a few express concern.

“I know a lady that runs a before-school program and an after-school program,” Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon, told me and a group of reporters. “Part of it is funding by the grants. And it obviously affects her ability to do that job.”

He closed by saying, “I believe it should be short-term.”

Bacon told a colleague of mine from Reuters, “We don’t live in an autocracy.”

A few hours later, he too, softened his rhetoric, telling us that his understanding was that the scope of the freeze was narrowing. When asked, he also confirmed he did get a bit of backlash over his initial comments.

This funding freeze, which has set off high-stakes confusion over precisely what it affects, is a test of how far Trump can reach, how much he will expand the powers of his presidency, and how much Congress, especially his own Republicans, pushes back.

Republicans, getting the news in the 70-degree shaded walks of Trump’s Miami property, are so far indicating Trump has a wide berth.
More on politics from our coverage:
* Watch: Fear spreads in immigrant communities as raids and deportations escalate. ([link removed])
* One Big Question: The U.S. immigration system is complex. How did we get here? ([link removed])
* A Closer Look: A public spat with Colombia could be a sign of Trump’s Latin America strategy. ([link removed])
* Perspectives: A former inspector general for the Justice Department on why Trump’s firing of independent watchdogs raises concerns about government fraud and ethics. ([link removed])

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT TRUMP’S FUNDING FREEZE

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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended President Donald Trump’s funding freeze Tuesday. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

By Joshua Barajas
Senior Editor, Digital

It’s a pause that’s given pause.

The White House ordered a halt on federal grants and loans. And it’s scheduled to take effect at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday.

Administration officials say the Trump order is meant to be temporary, but how sweeping this funding freeze will be, and how long it will last, remains to be seen.

Reporters repeatedly asked for specifics in Tuesday’s first White House briefing. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said the order is “not a blanket pause,” ([link removed]) and added that it was the president and his administration’s responsibility to “be good stewards of taxpayer dollars.”

Leavitt said the pause should not affect any benefits received directly by individuals.

The two-page memo sent to agencies late Monday said it was directed at grants and loans that conflict with Trump’s other executive orders. But it went further, speaking to Trump’s ideology, in writing, “The use of federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve.”

Here’s what we know so far about the freeze and what it could mean for you.

What’s affected? The memo specifies that Medicare and Social Security benefits won’t be touched by the freeze. Leavitt reiterated this in Tuesday’s briefing, giving reporters other examples of individual benefits that are unaffected, such as food stamps and welfare benefits.

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Watch the clip in the player above.

Leavitt promised reporters at the briefing to release a list of all things affected. This as there is deep uncertainty about the outlook for other federal assistance, such as free and reduced price school meals, and disaster assistance, among others. This order could affect trillions of dollars, even if temporary.

PBS News has asked the White House for any coming list and will update on air and online once we learn more specifics. The Office of Management and Budget sent PBS News’ Laura Barrón-López a fact sheet ([link removed]) regarding the freeze.

What about Medicaid? Several lawmakers said Medicaid portals were down in their states. After the briefing, Leavitt said the White House was aware of an outage and that portals ought to be “back online shortly.” ([link removed])

“We have confirmed no payments have been affected — they are still being processed and sent,” she wrote on X.

OMB later clarified that “mandatory programs like Medicaid and SNAP will continue without pause."

What about student loans and Pell grants? The Education Department clarified Tuesday morning that the money for these things will continue to flow. ([link removed])

Why do this freeze? Defending the freeze, Leavitt said it’s part of an ongoing review of federal spending and again repeated that direct aid to individuals would not be affected by this freeze.

How long will it last? Not clear. Leavitt cites the ongoing spending review. And lawsuits are already in the works.

Can Trump do this? As Lisa lays out above, this is a question of how far Trump could expand his executive power, and whether Congress steps in. The legal arguments over whether a president can do this are yet to be determined.

For his part, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer denounced Trump's order as "destructive" and "lawless." ([link removed])
RFK JR. AT THE MIC

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How RFK Jr. could change the rules on vaccines, processed food and fluoride. Video by PBS News

By Matt Loffman
Senior Producer, Elections

Joshua Barajas
Senior Editor, Digital

President Donald Trump's Cabinet is taking shape ([link removed]) , and more key nominees face Senate questioning this week.

Upcoming hearings include two appearances for Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic whom Trump has encouraged to “go wild” on health policy ([link removed]) if confirmed.

Here are three things to know before Kennedy’s scheduled hearings on Jan. 29 ([link removed]) and 30. ([link removed])

Back-to-back hearings. Kennedy will face the gauntlet at not one but two Senate hearings this week as he promotes his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. ([link removed]) The former Democrat-turned-independent presidential candidate is expected to face tough questions on a host of controversial health views he has taken in the past. Kennedy, an environmental lawyer with no medical degrees, has long questioned vaccine safety, a fact highlighted in an onslaught of ads from Democratic-aligned groups.

Since his nomination, he has sought to moderate his views publicly, including resigning from his position ([link removed]) at an anti-vaccine organization. A conservative group linked to former Vice President Mike Pence is also running ads opposing Kennedy, arguing his stance is not sufficiently anti-abortion ([link removed]) , and his sister Caroline Kennedy penned a letter to senators ([link removed]) calling her brother a “predator” who is “addicted to attention and power” and has misled members of his own family as well as parents of sick children.

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Watch RFK Jr.’s first of two hearings, scheduled for Jan. 29, in the player above.

Food safety, pesticides, fluoride. As he makes his case to lead one of the largest agencies in the federal government, expect Kennedy to also face questions about food safety ([link removed]) , banning pesticides and the addition of fluoride to municipal water supplies. All of those topics have raised concerns among different senators and interest groups in the past few months.

A thorough check-up. Several physicians sit on the committees that will be vetting Kennedy this week. And two independent-leaning Republicans — Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine — sit on the health committee. Both of them bucked their party and voted against Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary nominee, last week. (He got the job after a tie-breaking vote ([link removed]) from Vice President JD Vance.)

Other hearings to watch

Here's the full schedule of hearings ([link removed]) this week. There are two more we’re watching closely:

Kash Patel, a Trump loyalist and “deep state” conspiracy theorist ([link removed]) who has been tapped for FBI director, faces senators at 9:30 a.m. EST on Thursday, Jan. 30. ([link removed]) If confirmed, Patel is Trump’s opportunity to reshape the FBI and its highest echelon of leadership.

Tulsi Gabbard, the president’s controversial pick for director of national intelligence, is also expected to face tough questioning ([link removed]) from both sides of the aisle. Her hearing is also on Thursday, at 10 a.m. EST. ([link removed])
More on the confirmation hearings from our coverage:
* Major Moments: Read and watch key highlights from the hearings here. ([link removed])
* Who’s who?: A list of every major Trump Cabinet pick ([link removed]) and their backgrounds.
* Confirmed: Sean Duffy, Trump’s pick for transportation secretary, is the latest Cabinet nominee to get confirmed ([link removed]) by the Senate.

THIS WEEK’S TRIVIA QUESTION

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Portrait of Challenger crew. Photo by Bettmann via Getty Images

By Joshua Barajas
Senior Editor, Digital

Seventy-three seconds.

That’s how long after liftoff the Challenger exploded on this day 39 years ago.

The seven astronauts aboard — Ellison S. Onizuka, Mike Smith, Dick Scobee, Greg Jarvis, Ron McNair, Judy Resnik and teacher Christa McAuliffe — died on Jan. 28, 1986, when the spacecraft broke apart. President Ronald Reagan delivered a televised eulogy ([link removed]) that night.

It was the first time a civilian had flown on a shuttle; NASA selected McAuliffe, a middle school teacher in Concord, New Hampshire, to join the mission after a nationwide search as part of its Teacher in Space Project.

The primary goal of shuttle mission 51-L was to launch two satellites into space.

Our question: One of the Challenger satellites was meant to observe which famous “cosmic snowball” as it orbited the sun?

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

Last week, we asked: Under which president was a Cabinet nominee last rejected by the Senate?

The answer: George H.W. Bush. ([link removed]) More than 30 years ago, senators rejected John G. Tower, the first Republican senator from Texas since Reconstruction, for the role of defense secretary. There were concerns over allegations of alcohol misuse and sexual misconduct.

Congratulations to our winners: Brenda Radford and Will Randazzo!

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