Lara Trump, President-elect Trump’s daughter-in-law, said Saturday she is removing herself from consideration for Florida Republican Marco Rubio’s seat in the U.S. Senate. “After an incredible amount of thought, contemplation, and encouragement from so many, I have decided to remove my name from consideration for the United States Senate,” she wrote on X Saturday. The president-elect has nominated Rubio to be secretary of state.

“Rockin’ around the Christmas treeAt the Christmas party hop” – Brenda LeeIt’s a yuletide tradition on Capitol Hill. An annual custom of rockin’ around a congressional Christmas tree, festooned with hundreds of legislative ornaments, Advent appropriations and mistletoe modifications.A political Polar Express chugs through the halls of Congress nearly every December.

President-elect Trump announced Saturday he has tapped the creator of “The Apprentice” to serve a diplomatic role in the United Kingdom.In a Truth Social post, Trump named Mark Burnett, a British-American TV producer who was born in London, as the next U.S. special envoy to the United Kingdom.”It is my great honor to appoint Mark Burnett as the Special Envoy to the United Kingdom,” the president-elect said.

As the dust settles on Congress frantically passing a stopgap bill at the eleventh hour to avoid a government shutdown, lawmakers are having their say on a chaotic week on Capitol Hill.President Biden signed the 118-page bill into law on Saturday, extending government funding into March, the White House announced. The bill provides over $100 billion in disaster aid for those affected by storms Helene and Milton in the U.S. Southeast earlier this year.

President-elect Trump dropped his latest round of nominations Saturday afternoon, including two picks to help lead the Department of Justice (DOJ) and one to work within the Department of Transportation (DOT).In a Truth Social post, the president-elect announced he was nominating Aaron Reitz to lead the DOJ’s Office of Legal Policy.

Senators voted to pass a new version of a stopgap spending bill early Saturday morning after the midnight deadline for a partial government shutdown came and went.The Senate advanced the third version of a short-term spending bill by 85 to 11, and it will now head to President Biden’s desk, who has already signaled that he will sign it.

A partial government shutdown began at 12:01 on Saturday morning after Congress failed to pass a stopgap spending measure before the deadline and send it to President Biden’s desk.However, the Senate is actively working through amendment votes and other considerations in order to send the measure to Biden. The stopgap bill is expected to be passed in the Senate in the coming hours. The partial shutdown comes only days before Christmas and New Year’s.

As President Biden’s term comes to an end, he is reportedly considering commuting the sentences of most, if not all, of the 40 men on the federal government’s death row.The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that the move would frustrate President-elect Trump’s plan to streamline executions as he takes office in January.

House lawmakers voted Friday to approve a newly negotiated spending bill that included many of the same components of the earlier legislation — but without the debt limit provision that had sparked consternation among many in the party.Republican leaders shared the text late Friday, shortly before lawmakers approved the spending legislation, 366-34.

Over 30 House Republicans voted Friday against a bill to avert a partial government shutdown.Lawmakers scrambled to reach consensus on a spending package ahead of the looming partial government shutdown deadline Friday. An initial 1,547-page bipartisan deal that would have extended the government funding deadline until March 14 was released Tuesday night, but the proposal crumbled after Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy criticized the spending bill.