WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch

A cease-fire deal in Gaza is delayed after Israeli President Benjamin Netanyehu said Hamas reneged on part of the agreement. What will it take for the deal to get done and what effect did Donald Trump have on it? Plus, Joe Biden delivers his farewell address from the Oval Office with a bitter tone and warnings about an "oligarchy taking shape in America” and the “tech industrial complex.”  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nominated by Donald Trump to be the next Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth faces hostile inquiries at his Senate confirmation hearing regarding his alleged past personal conduct. But did the televised theatrics provide much insight about Hegseth's views on national-security issues or how he would lead the Pentagon, and does he seem to have won enough votes to get the job? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The justices hear a challenge to a Texas law that requires websites with sexual content to verify the ages of their users, which the Free Speech Coalition says is too burdensome for the First Amendment rights of adults. Plus, the high court sounds skeptical about saving TikTok, which faces a Jan. 19 deadline either to be divested from Chinese ownership or banned from app stores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How will history remember Joe Biden’s one term in office? On this episode of All Things, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer recounts his investigation into the Biden family business, and his belief that the 40th president will not escape a public judgment of "corruption." Upon the publication of his new book about the probe--"All the President's Money: Investigating the Secret Foreign Schemes That Made the Biden Family Rich--Mr. Comer details the main takeaways of the inquiry, his argument for why President Trump should sign his Presidential Ethics Reform Act and what his committee has teed up for the 119th Congress.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fires in California have claimed at least 24 lives in what is becoming one of the costliest natural disasters in American history. What decisions made it harder to mitigate the damage, and how will Congress navigate the politics of providing federal aid for the recovery?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the president-elect about to take office, Judge Juan Merchan says a sentence of "unconditional discharge," meaning no penalties for a jury conviction on 34 felonies, is the only option that won't interfere with Trump's official duties. The Supreme Court split 5-4 on letting the sentencing go forward, but could it help Trump in the end, if it permits his appeals on the merits to proceed? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The president-elect meets the press at Mar-a-Lago and makes news by calling to rename the Gulf of Mexico, combine Canada and the U.S., end construction of wind turbines, and potentially invade Panama and Greenland. How much of this rhetoric reflects Trump's actual policy views, how much of it is political theater, and could such bullying be counterproductive diplomatically? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Zuckerberg, citing "too much censorship," says that Meta will quit fact-checking content and switch to a "community notes" system, the same approach being taken by Elon Musk’s X. Plus, the House passed the Laken Riley Act, which cracks down on illegal immigrants who commit theft, with 48 Democrats voting yes. Will that bipartisan support extend to the Senate? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The president claims that the $15 billion acquisition by Nippon Steel could threaten national security, even though Japan is a close ally that would have been investing in U.S. industry and workers. What signal does it send, if the review process for such deals can be corrupted by union politics? Plus, Biden puts millions of acres of U.S. waters off limits for oil-and-gas leasing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 119th Congress is steaming ahead, with a mountain of work that includes everything from confirming Donald Trump's cabinet nominees to sealing a reconciliation spending bill (or two) into law. How will the House and Senate navigate it all? On this episode of All Things, Kim Strassel speaks with the Vice Chair of the Senate GOP Policy Committee, Sen. James Lankford, about where things stand in the reconciliation wars, the wisdom of Trump's quick nominations, Joe Biden’s aggressive midnight regulations and how the new GOP Senate majority will function under new GOP leader John Thune.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress certifies Donald Trump’s electoral victory, but the memories of Jan. 6 four years ago still loom large as the President-elect considers pardons and clemency for rioters. Plus, Donald Trump says he wants 'one big beautiful' reconciliation spending bill but signals he would be open to two, which many lawmakers prefer.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The House GOP avoids an embarrassing crackup, after two Republicans who initially opposed Speaker Mike Johnson switch their votes to him at the last minute. But the leaders of the Freedom Caucus post a letter afterward with a list of demands, suggesting that Republican disunity could return as soon as the House tries to pass a significant bill on spending or the debt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The FBI says Shamsud-Din Jabbar acted alone when he killed at least 15 people in the early hours of New Year’s Day, but questions remain about his motive and how the military veteran was radicalized. Plus, what happens if Mike Johnson fails to win another term as House Speaker as the 119th Congress begins? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Justices take up an expedited challenge to a law that could ban TikTok on Jan. 19, unless the social app agrees to divestment from Chinese ownership. Why did the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals uphold this ultimatum passed by Congress? Plus, Donald Trump files a brief asking the Supreme Court to pause the law, though he's making less of a legal case than a political one. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jimmy Carter, who won the Oval Office after the Watergate scandals by portraying himself as an earnest evangelical, dies at age 100. The 39th president served only one term, which was marred by an energy crisis, economic woes and a failed hostage rescue mission in Iran. But how will he be remembered for what he did while President and afterwards?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The president spares 37 of the 40 inmates facing the federal death penalty, commuting their sentences to life in prison. Is this an appropriate use of the pardon power, issuing mass clemency based on policy disagreements with the law? Will this action in Biden's last days in office, so soon after he pardoned his son Hunter, add to the arguments for a constitutional amendment? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump has seemingly put the expansion of the United States on his agenda with threats of reclaiming the Panama Canal, acquiring Greenland, and wanting to make Canada the 51st state. How much of this should be taken seriously, and what does it say about the worldview of the next administration?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress passes a bill to fund the government, narrowly averting a shutdown over the holidays, but what did Donald Trump and Elon Musk accomplish by going nuclear on the initial legislation? Is this a bad omen for 2025, when Republicans will take control of Washington and begin negotiations on their priorities? And can Speaker Mike Johnson muster the votes to keep his gavel? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of All Things, Kim Strassel looks back at some of the podcast’s 2024 all-stars, including candidates who correctly predicted their own victories, as well as at experts who called the issues that would lead Donald Trump to the White House and a Republican majority in both the House and Senate. Guests include Sen. Ted Cruz, Senator-elect Tim Sheehy, pollster Scott Rasmussen and Faith and Freedom Coalition Founder and Chairman Ralph Reed.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices