Alexander Bolton

President Joe Biden gently mocked Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) for touting $1.4 billion in federal funding his home state is set to receive for expanded broadband internet access despite voting against it in 2021. “See you at the groundbreaking,” President Biden wrote along with a retweet of Sen.

Staffers for the Trump transition team have been meeting with career staff at the White House ahead of Jan 20’s presidential inauguration to outline their plans for shrinking the federal bureaucracy. The changes they propose are dramatic.

Overall, the blueprint being used by Trump’s team would reduce federal spending by $10.5 trillion over 10 years. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting would be privatized, while the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities would be eliminated entirely. At the Department of Justice, the blueprint calls for eliminating the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, Violence Against Women Grants and the Legal Services Corporation and for reducing funding for its Civil Rights and its Environment and Natural Resources divisions. “The Trump Administration needs to reform and cut spending dramatically, and targeting waste like the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities would be a good first step in showing that the Trump Administration is serious about radically reforming the federal budget,” said Brian Darling, a former aide to Paul and a former staffer at the Heritage Foundation.

Retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) urged the media to double their efforts as power changes hands in Washington during what may be his last press conference on Capitol Hill.

"Right now your work is more important than ever," Minority Leader Reid said, acknowledging that he may not address them again as Democratic leader. Referring to the proliferation of fake news stories that Democrats felt played a role in tipping the presidential election to Donald Trump, Minority Leader Reid said: "You have an extremely difficult responsibility now, and it’s more important than ever." “Taking tough questions from journalists is part of the job and I wish you all the very best, recognizing your burden at this stage of America is extremely heavy, and I wish you the very best in doing what you can to help our great country,” he said.

The Senate Majority PAC, a super PAC linked to Senate Democratic leaders, reported that it raised $19.3 million through the first 20 days of October, setting a record. It’s the most the political action committee, run by former advisers to Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and his deputy, Sen Charles Schumer (D-NY), has ever reported raising.

“Record-setting support has us well-positioned for this final stretch of the cycle. In less than two weeks Democrats are going to take back the Senate,” said Shripal Shah, a spokesman for the group. Senate Democrats expect to pick up five to seven seats on Election Day and are focusing their spending in battlegrounds such as New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Nevada, Indiana and Missouri. They need a net pickup of four seats to win Senate control if Hillary Clinton is elected president. Without her in the Oval Office, they need five. The fundraising report shows Democrats are catching up with outside Republican-allied groups. The Senate Leadership Fund, a group linked to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), announced that it plans to spend $25 million on half a dozen Senate races in the final days of the campaign.