Congress Returns, Trump's Justice Department , Biden's Global Bind
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Congress is back in session, and president elect Donald trump has already trying to influence .

who will lead the republic and majority. Will the top rally around familiar faces or trump .

realists and pass the this is up first from npr music. The justice department will be in for a shake up when trump, in his vice president.

take office the most important job after president ted states in the next administration. It's not me. It's who we select as a torney general.

Republicans criticize the FBI, N, D, O, J in the campaign trail, so what changes are they planning to make?

And president joby will travel south amErica this week to meet with world leaders, where trump return is already reshaping the conversation. Stay with. We've got all the news.

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Now congress is back this week with a busy agenda. First, a list select the person who will lead each chAmber.

President Alexander trump has made IT known that he wants to influence these choices, and his allies are pushing hard to accommodate him. So who will get these top jobs .

here to talk us through? This is N. P. R. Congressional responded. Barbera spon. So Barbara, first up, the senate minority leader, which micro stepping down from leadership, who are the top contenders to replace them now that republicans will be in charge in january.

while senators john corny of texas and john thone of south dakota are seen as the front runners going into this, they're both well liked by their peers. They both have leadership experience. Corn on previously served leadership thon is currently the second highest drinking senate republican. That said, there is a pressure campaign from trump world for four rick Scott to get this top leadership gig.

He's a employ alist previously ran against mcconnell two years ago, got less than a dozen votes then, but he now has the vocal support of a lot of trump allies, including iron mask, R, F K, junior, a conservative commentator, tucker carson and match lap of the conservative political action conference. They see corny and soon as to establishment. And Scott has never publicly been in conflict with trump.

How much though, does that trump pressure change the dynamics?

While the odds that this campaign changes the hearts and minds of most due pee senators are slim? Most of them aren't running for another four years or more. Most of them don't like this kind of online campaign trying to change their potential votes. And most importantly, perhaps this is a secret vote. But IT is an open question as to whether trump himself decides to publicly put his finger on the scale and what kind of consequences that might have so speak.

That prompted demand over the weekend on social media saying any top senator wanting the leadership job has to agree to recess appointment, and he said that's key to getting his nominees confirmed. That timely manner walk us through barbo what that means.

So basically, if the senate is in a recess, the president can a point and mostly get around a longer senate confirmation, which makes IT easier to fill vacancies or usher in temporary, perhaps controversial pics. Senate leaders in both parties have tried to prevent this in order to retain their full power of checking the president's nominees, and they do that by having what's called performance sessions during a scheduled recess.

Kind of a short hand way to block these research. pointless. Now, Scott came out strongly and support of trump s post tweet quote, I will do whatever IT takes to get your nominations through as quickly as possible.

Thon and corn also signalled some openness there. Now research ppos tons are only allowed when congress is out of session for at least ten days, and a recess appointment expires at the end of a senate session. So it's an inefficient way to fill out a cabinet, for example. But I can be an easier way to get judges approved OK.

Now lets shift to the house. So republicans currently hold a thin majority in that chAmber, but not all the races have been called yet. So what does that path look like?

Well, the G, O, P appears to be on track to retain a narrow majority in the house. New member orientation is starting this morning, and there will be leadership elections for the speaker tomorrow afternoon. Mike Johnson is expected to keep the gavel, and democrats will hold their own leadership elections in the house next week.

right? That's M P R. Barber brand arber thinks. Thank you.

President electoral trump is making some big decisions.

Yeah, one of them is who will lead the justice department on the campaign trail. Trump has blasted the D. O, J and the FBI. Soon he will have a chance to do something about his resentment.

And he has Carried Johnson has covered the justice apartment for nearly two decades. And he said with me now to talk about what the trumpet administration might do there, Carry, good morning. Good morning. How big a priority is this for dannel trump?

This is a huge priority, and you don't need to take my word for IT. Here's j events, the vice president, a lack talking recently on the campaign trail.

The most important job is a bit of a hit to meet my ego, but the most important job after present united states in the next administration. It's not me. It's who we select as attorney general.

Michelle, the attorney general, leads more than one hundred thousand people the department prosecute to crimes police as businesses. IT defends laws about anti trust in the environment, and IT protects civil rights and the FBI, the drug enforcement administration and the U. S. Marshals all report to the attorney general .

who might be in line for this job.

There are a lot of names floating around from members of congress like senator mike of utah. There are people like jeff Clark. He's the D.

O. J. official. Thump tried promote in late twenty twenty Clark advances phony claims of election fraud, dies face some legal discipline for that.

Then there are other lawyers like todd blanch, a former federal prosecution who represented trump in several of trumps criminal cases. I hear bench might be more likely to leave the U. S.

Chinese office in manhattan, but another strong candidate is mark pale letter. He is a long time to seek lawyer who's been advising the transition, also very close to justice clearance. Thomas.

so what are some of the top priorities for the new tromp? D, O, J.

special counsel jack Smith is already unwinding the two federal criminal cases against danel trump. Trump city plans to harden people involved in the january six ride at the capital. But there are a bunch of other things unrelated the president might try to do, and they're wide ranging because the D.

O J is involved in so many things. Here are just a few of them. He could try to cut federal grant funds for local police who won't go along with his immigration plans. He could try to enforce the comstock act and criminalize the use of the mail for abortion medication and equipment. He could restart the engine of federal capital punishment for the forty years. So people on federal death row and some conservative advisors have also suggested trying to overhaul the FBI to try to make its director accountable to more junior officials inside the justice department with more political control.

Can you talk a little bit about that whole question of who the FBI is accountable to because Donald trump pointed the current FBI dir in two thousand and seventeen. But it's my understanding that his term isn't contemporaneous with the president and that's intentional because they don't want the FBI director to be subject to political pressures per say.

So how would this work? yeah. The ten year term was imposed by congress after jae rahul lorded over the bureau's decades and decades.

And the thinking was he got too involved in politics in his own personal vendetta, ald trump, a point at the current FBI directer, Chris ray, only after he fired jim comme. And the FBI has only one political appointed of the director. Chris ray has now served just over seven years, so he has some time left.

But trump had a really tense relationship with ray. Lawyers close to trump expect him to dismiss the ebi director sometime next year. As the ebi director, Chris ay, i'm told he continues to oversee the day to day Operations, and he's actively planning with his team to leave the FBI into next year and beyond. IT sounds to me like if trump wants a way to go, he's gonna to fire him.

That is imperious. Kerry Johnson, kerry.

thank you. My pleasure.

President biden travels to pool and brazil this week.

He's made him with leaders of the world's biggest economies at two summits, APEC in lama energy, twenty in rio. IT is last big foreign trip. We'll meet a large group of world leaders, and I might be his last chance to make a major statement on the global stage.

But IT comes on the heels of Donald trumps Victory. It's an awkward mod. So how does he shape his parting message?

M, P, R, White house correspondent, us. Holiday will be traveling along that trip. But so president biden has said many times that americans, back when he talking about working with allies as Donald trump, is back to so what's going to saying?

Well, biding came into office after trump shocked world leaders with the way that he conducted for rem policy. You'll part your call. You know, trump did not like nato, and he was openly skeptical of a whole bunch of other alliances.

And so biden has spent the last four years trying to rebuild alliances, expanded nato, working to counter china. But as you say, he is now in this awkward position. Prop is back with his same world view that was threatening broad based terrains on friends and foes.

So how does bindings message have to shift now after this election?

Yeah, I mean, he is still expected to provide some reassurances about the long term U. S. Commitment to the world uniform president barack obama was in a similar position in the fall of twenty sixteen. He also traveled to prove shortly after trumps first Victory and then roads who was former obamas um one of his advisors was on that trip and he told me at that point obama's message was wait and seat you know you don't know exactly how trump will govern and engage with the world but he says that is not the message biting can give.

Now I think what's changed in eight years, the rest of the world has really Price trump in. And I don't think that there's any time in the last four years where any country wasn't hedging against the trump turn.

And you know, multiple former obama aides told me that there was a sense to twenty sixteen that the world we have seen trump as an abortion tion that is no longer the case um you know when I spoke to other people though, I say who point out that international partners have a longer view of the united states relationship with the world. Take Daniel black cut. She's with the conservative thing.

Take the american enterprise to tute. And SHE told me that trump pt. May have an untraditional approach, but he is still going to be engaged in the world.

U. S. Global leadership is based not simply on sentimental ideas about the beauty of nato or about what great charter day we all get together at the G.

U. S. Global leadership is based on the fact that we are the largest economy in the world.

Name Better, be really good. So let me know you would think the g seven. okay.

So how does the return of Donald m then affect global relation? China is the world's second largest economy. Yeah.

I mean, that's one thing i'll be watching closely for this week because china's choosey pain is also expected to travel to south amErica for these meetings. Brother, I will say biden has not drastically broken with trump on china policy. He largely maintained the trump era turfs on china, and he's deepen CoOperation with india, japan and australia, building an an initiative that trump p began. And you know, one practical message biden could try to make this week is that the threat of more tariff s from trump is real. And so china and other countries auto play by the rules.

right? That's mp r asmah lid.

Thank you very much. Good to speak with you.

And that's a first for tuesday, november twelve. A Martina.

I am sure, Martin, your next listen is consider this from npr. President elect Donald m. Has suggested that in his second term, he will take on the news media with more than just words. How might he do IT and how will the press respond? Listen to consider this from N P R today.

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And our body's automatic response to conflict doesn't always help. We may start to feel anxious or angry, making IT even more difficult for us .

to see I to eye over time. That becomes contempt. And contempt is a very destructive interpersonal process here.

how science can help us reframe and make the most of our conversations on the shore of podcast .

from M P R on in years. Wildcard podcast comedian set mires talks Frankly about his early career.

I was a far more temporal and Younger, and things ran very hot at S. D. L. And there were definitely times where my instincts were to say something that would have been relationship ending to people.

I'm region, Martin said. Mires is on wild card, the show where cards control the conversation.