Morning report — Norms shift on aging members of Congress

• Granger revelation fuels scrutiny of aging officials
• Kari Lake sparks concern at Voice of America
• People to watch on energy issues in 2025
• Israeli strikes in Yemen

The revelation that Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) has been living in assisted-living facility is fueling scrutiny of aging public officials and conversations over how long it is appropriate to hang on to power.

Granger missed every House vote after July 24 and she stepped down as chair of the House Appropriations Committee in March and declined to run for reelection.

Her office confirmed a Dallas Express report last weekend that she was living in the assisted-living facility, but denied she was in “memory care” — though Granger’s son told The Dallas Morning News that she had been “having some dementia issues late in the year.”

Her situation highlights that norms surrounding questioning lawmakers’ capabilities as they grow older have steadily changed through the decades, reports The Hill’s Emily Brooks.

“Sadly, you know, some of these members wait until it’s too long — things have gone too far,” Rep. Tony Gonzales said on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday. “I think this goes — gets back to the root of it. Congress should do its job, and if you can’t do your job, maybe you shouldn’t be there.”

President Biden, 82, faced attacks over and concerns about his mental fitness for years and White House staff and administration officials often forcefully defended his abilities. But, that reached a tipping point this summer when his dismal debate performance against President-elect Trump, 78, prompted a Democratic Party rebellion and forced him to end his reelection bid this year.

In the House, physical health problems have helped spur a shift. Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who is 76 and had missed House votes for the bulk of 2024 due to treatment for cancer, backed off seeking another term as ranking member on the House Natural Resources Committee after being challenged by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), 60. 

▪ The Hill: New York City is bracing for a chaotic mayoral race next year, with Mayor Eric Adams facing a criminal indictment.

▪ The Hill: Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan told NewsNation’s Ali Bradley in a interview that halfway homes for children of non-U.S. citizens may be a necessary part of mass deportation of immigrants lacking permanent legal status.

▪ Reuters: In his Christmas messages, Trump bashed “radical left lunatics” and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In Biden’s Christmas message, he called for Americans to set aside noise and division and to find moments of quiet reflection. 

3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY 

▪ NATO has called for a formal investigation into the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash that killed 38 people in Kazakhstan while transporting passengers from Azerbaijan’s capital city Baku to Grozny in Russia.

▪ Marianne Williamson announced she would run for chair of the Democratic National Committee, joining the already crowded race. 

▪ A new poll found 65 percent of adults have felt the need to limit their media consumption about the government and politics due to information overload, fatigue, or similar reasons, and half feel the same for overseas conflicts.

LEADING THE DAY 

© The Associated Press | Matt York

President-elect Trump nominated Kari Lake, former Arizona GOP Senate candidate, to lead Voice of America (VOA) and concerns are brewing over partisan meddling.

The Hill’s Dominick Mastrangelo reports that Lake’s attacks on the media and history of floating unfounded theories about voter fraud are sparking widespread concerns that VOA, a government-funded global news agency, could be used by the federal government as a megaphone to push pro-Trump propaganda around the world. 

Trump has said his vision is for Lake to “ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media.”

Lake, who also ran for Arizona governor and previously was a local news anchor, is one of a number of loyalists Trump has called on to serve in his Cabinet and administration. 

“The VOA was originally designed to be objective and independent,” Joe Peyronnin, a former broadcast news executive-turned-media commentator told The Hill. “Kari Lake’s appointment as head signals that the VOA will become a global mouthpiece for President Trump.”

▪ The Hill: Trump’s fixation on former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is escalating as he suggests she should be prosecuted for her work on the now-disbanded House Jan. 6 committee.

WHERE AND WHEN  

• The House is out on recess. The Senate is out on recess.
• The president and first lady Jill Biden are in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. They departed the White House on Thursday morning.
• Vice President Harris is in Washington, D.C.

ZOOM IN

© The Associated Press | Alex Brandon 

As President-elect Trump, backed by GOP majorities in both the House and Senate, looks to expand U.S. energy development, congressional Democrats worried about the effect on global warming are seeking to stymie those efforts.

With energy and climate expected to be divisive issues in 2025, The Hill’s Zack Budryk highlights five figures expected to make headlines in environmental issues this coming year — from Trump’s pick to chair the National Energy Council, former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R), to his selection to lead the Department of Energy, Chris Wright. 

▪ The Hill: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are defending the tech industry’s reliance on foreign-born engineers as the incoming Trump administration prepares to crack down on immigration.

▪ The Hill: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Thursday signed a law that will require companies responsible for large amounts of planet-warming pollution to contribute to climate damage repair efforts.

ELSEWHERE

© The Associated Press | Osamah Abdulrahman

STRIKES IN YEMEN: Israeli forces on Thursday launched a massive barrage of strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen and the targets included military infrastructure at Sana’a International Airport along with the Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations and three seaports [SP5] on the western coast. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that fighter jets struck military targets on the western coast of Yemen.

UKRAINE SUPPORT: Support for Ukraine “until it wins” among Western Europeans has fallen sharply, a new poll found. Support for Ukraine’s success against Russia, even if it means the war goes on for longer, among those in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom, The Guardian reported.

FINLAND RETALIATION: Finland seized a ship carrying oil for Russia in relation for the recent cutting of an undersea cable connecting electricity to Estonia, The Hill’s Brad Dress reports. The Police of Finland, said in a statement Thursday it had seized a Cook Islands-registered ship called the Eagle S, which is suspected in the rupturing of the Estlink 2 power transmission cable connecting electricity between Estonia and Finland.

NORWAY CRASH: A bus in Norway came off the road and crashed partially into the Åsvatnet lake, leaving at least three dead. The country’s Hadsel district is experiencing heavy snow and winds, the BBC reported.

OPINION

■ My son was murdered in Israel. I finally found a reason to live, by Michal Halev, Israeli American mother of Oct. 7 victim, The Washington Post.

■The DEA shows why officers cannot police themselves when seizing assets, by the editorial board, The Washington Post.

■ What happens in a second Trump term? Look to Richard Nixon, by John Kenneth White, opinion contributor, The Hill.

■ Why it matters that Jesus came from a dysfunctional family, by Peter Wehner, senior fellow at the Trinity Forum, The New York Times.

THE CLOSER

© William Anders | NASA via AP 

On this day in 1968, the first manned mission to the moon, Apollo 8, returned safely to Earth, landing in the Pacific Ocean after making history with astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr., and Williams Anders aboard. 

Apollo 8 was the first time a space agency sent human beings beyond Earth’s orbit. The astronauts launched on Dec. 21, orbited the moon 10 times and then returned six days later on Dec. 27. 

The mission made history by capturing iconic photos of the Earth and the moon from the spacecraft and sending them back home for the world to see. The mission also set the stage for Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to become the first people to walk on the moon the following year.

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