Today’s notice: Appetites. Do Republicans really have the stomach to take on corporate power when it comes to food? New staff at the NRSC is not going down well. And: Even if you didn’t ask for another helping of No Labels, you’re getting one.
The Anti-Burger King
G. William Hoagland became famous as the face of the Reagan-era proposal to cut school lunch budgets by counting condiments as vegetables. Food policy advocates hated him, Republicans liked him. The experience led him to support greater nutrition in school lunches. Food policy advocates liked him, Republicans hated him.
Trending
With Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s rise, Hoagland, Sr. VP at the Bipartisan Policy Center, recently discovered that he’s a Republican again when it comes to food policy. “It seems like I began my career here, moved away from it, tried to, but I’m definitely back at it,” he told NOTUS.
Hoagland is one of the conservatives who is bullish on the potential for the Trump administration to change food policy. Call them the granola conservatives, ready to take on the powerful processed food lobby.
As Ben T.N. Mause and I report, there are a lot of granola conservatives around these days — including some Republicans from farming states that historically haven’t liked assaults on high-fructose corn syrup. (We remember Michelle Obama’s 2014 stand.)
The open question: How far can these granola conservatives go in facing down the industries with long-standing support in the GOP (we’re calling them the Lunchables conservatives)? So far, we’ve found the agricultural lobbyists staying out of the discourse. But there’s definitely some kind of consternation brewing. Sen. John Hoeven told us RFK Jr. “needs to understand the realities of how we farm.”
Then there’s Hoagland, a traditional conservative, sternly warning against Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs. He’s also a farm boy from Indiana who wants people to eat less red meat.
“By the way, my brother has beef cattle,” he said. “I wonder at times, how do I impact him by moving people away from red beef? But I’ll still have a hamburger every once in a while. It all comes back to being sensible and reasonable and having variety in your diet.”
—Evan McMorris-Santoro | Read the story with Ben T.N. Mause.
Tim Scott’s NRSC Turmoil
Last month, there was drama in Trumpworld about who Sen. Tim Scott would hire to lead the NRSC. This month, there’s more.
As NOTUS’ Reese Gorman and Alex Roarty reported, folks in Trump’s orbit are again pushing back on who Scott plans to hire as the committee’s executive director. This time, it’s against Scott’s former COS, Jennifer DeCasper.
“Can’t hire people who ran campaigns against the president, and then after primary did nothing to help him,” one source close to Trump said.
As Reese and Alex also reported last month, Stephen DeMaura was expected to become the committee’s new executive director. Pushback from Trumpworld seemingly changed the plan.
On Wednesday, Trump co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita blasted the NRSC’s leadership hires on X.
“Whoever is making decisions at the @NRSC needs their head examined …..” LaCivita posted.
Front Page
- How Pete Hegseth Turned His Nomination Around: Sources close to the transition see a revitalized nomination after a forceful public push.
- James Comer Won’t Commit to Pushing Presidential Ethics Bill After Trump’s Win: The Oversight chair spent more than a year investigating the Bidens.
- Republicans Are Wary of the Agency That Defends Against Cyberattacks: “When they decide that our enemies or cybersecurity enemies are those around the world and not Americans, then we can talk.”
We’ll Do It. We Just Don’t Know How We’ll Do It.
Moderate lawmakers at No Labels’ Power to the Middle conference believe 2025 could be a bastion of bipartisanship.
“I’m optimistic. I see in this administration an opportunity to pass a lot of policy proposals that we couldn’t get under a Democratic administration,” Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez said.
But as NOTUS’ Shifra Dayak reports, it appears more like concepts of bipartisanship. The symbols of collaboration — purple ties and in-the-middle themed music — didn’t come with details of how to make it happen.
Past bipartisan victories, like the Conservative Climate Caucus and the COVID-19 relief package, were praised. If plans exist for how to replicate those wins in the future, lawmakers didn’t reveal their cards at the conference.
When discussing how to resist partisan pressure, Sen. Thom Tillis said, “How do we deal with that? I’m not sure that I have the solution.”
Number You Should Know
700+
More than 700 safety threats were reported to Capitol Police in November, USCP Chief J. Thomas Manger told lawmakers this week. NOTUS’ Torrence Banks and Emily Kennard report that a postelection surge in bomb threats and swattings has rattled lawmakers.
Rep. Jahana Hayes, a recent bomb threat target, told NOTUS that the surge shows the political climate is “too hot.”
“This isn’t the way we deal with differences,” she said. “It’s inappropriate.”
Not Us
We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by… not us.
- The Press Is Down and Shut Out in Palm Beach by Charlotte Klein at New York magazine
- The Long, Contentious Battle to Regulate Gain-of-Function Work by Sara Talpos at Undark magazine
- Is this publisher/DJ the most powerful man in Trump’s transition? By Ben Terris and Marianne LeVine at The Washington Post
- Joe Manchin: The Exit Interview by Burgess Everett at Semafor
Be Social
One and the same.
i think she meant "ranking rizzler on appropriations" https://t.co/vU0qmfK6m8
— Oriana González (@OrianaBeLike) December 12, 2024
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