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FIRST UP…
► As talk of mass deportations in the next Presidential administration continue to grow, Rep. Jason Crow (D-Aurora) is pushing for more transparency. From Colorado Public Radio:
Colorado Democratic Rep. Jason Crow is again pushing to improve oversight at Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers. He and Republican Rep. John Rutherford of Florida introduced the Public Oversight of Detention Centers Act Tuesday.
If passed, the bill would allow any member of the House or Senate — or their staff members — to gain immediate access to any immigration detention facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security, including Colorado’s GEO Group facility in Aurora.
Crow says the legislation was inspired by his own experience of being denied entry for 24 days to the Aurora facility following reports of multiple disease outbreaks there. In August, he wrote a letter with other members of the state delegation to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Professional Responsibility demanding more information on findings and recommendations from unannounced inspections there.
“My experience being denied access to conduct an oversight visit of an immigration detention facility in my own community highlighted the importance of these visits in ensuring government accountability and the humane treatment of all those detained,” Congressman Crow said in a statement.
► In related news, Colorado four-year colleges reiterated their support for immigrant students. From Chalkbeat Colorado via The Aurora Sentinel:
Colorado public university leaders say they’re better prepared now to support the immigrant students on their campuses than they were during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term.
College administrators said many will follow a similar blueprint to the one they created in 2016 and have sustained since that time. But Trump’s upcoming second turn in office – and his calls for mass deportations – bring a renewed need from Colorado universities and colleges to remind undocumented immigrant students that they’re not only welcome on campus, but they will support them to help them realize their dreams, they said.
College administrators said that’s especially true as they hear more undocumented students are feeling worn out by the constant threat of deportations.
► Senator John Hickenlooper (D-Denver) is among several Members of Congress encouraging President Biden to act to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana during his final days in office.
► Former Fox News television host Pete Hegseth is circling the drain as his nomination by President-elect Trump to become Secretary of Defense runs into one new problem after another. As The Washington Post reports, Hegseth’s latest red flags regard his frequent use of alcohol:
Allegations of excessive drinking have shadowed Hegseth’s career in the years since as he has risen from running a veterans nonprofit to becoming a star Fox News host and now President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to head the Defense Department — a selection that hangs in the balance on Capitol Hill as some senators question his relationship with alcohol…
…At Fox News, Hegseth had a reputation as a heavy drinker, according to six former Fox News employees who worked directly with Hegseth and saw him drinking on the job or visibly drunk at work events and who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.
Hegseth’s apparent alcohol problem is a big no-no for Donald Trump personally:
Trump has stood by numerous aides and appointees accused of sexual assault or indiscretion, but he has long disdained the abuse of alcohol by those around him dating back to the death of his brother, Fred Trump Jr., who suffered from alcoholism and died of related diseases at the age of 42.
Trump has been troubled by the allegations about Hegseth’s excessive drinking, said two people familiar with his thinking who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. Trump does not drink alcohol, he frequently tells those around him. Trump has been asking transition aides to ramp up their defense of Hegseth and defend him against all accusations. His transition team did not respond to a request for comment.
The news gets worse for the 2 million Americans who make up the largest federal workforce: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantismight be the next option for Secretary of Defense.
► The final makeup of Congress is now known after the conclusion of a last pending race in California. As it turns out, Democrats did better than things appeared on Election Night.
As The Washington Post notes, such a thin Republican majority could be a serious problem for Trump — particularly as he tries to implement his agenda in his first couple of months.
Click below to keep learning things…
Check Out All This Other Stuff To Know…
► We could be seeing just the beginning of a potentially-significant level of corruption in a new Trump administration. From The New Republic:
Justin Sun, a Chinese national accused of fraud, sent Donald Trump $18 million last week.
The newsletter Popular Information reports that Sun, most recently famous for spending $6.2 million on a banana and then eating it, paid $30 million for cryptocurrency tokens from World Liberty Financial, which is backed by Trump. In a pinned post on his X profile, Sun bragged about the purchase, saying his own blockchain start-up, TRON, was “committed to making America great again and leading innovation.”
Until Sun’s purchase, Trump’s crypto start-up appeared headed for failure with only $22 million in tokens sold, far short of its goal of $300 million in sales. The purchase not only keeps the WLF going, but also guarantees a windfall for Trump. A filing from the venture in October states that “$30 million of initial net protocol revenues” will be “held in a reserve … to cover operating expenses, indemnities, and obligations.”
After that reserve is met, a company owned by Trump is then entitled to 75 percent of WLF’s revenues from the sale of all other tokens. As of Sunday, WLF has sold $24 million in tokens, giving Trump a solid $18 million payoff. Sun’s purchase has also gotten him an advisory position in Trump’s venture, making him business partners with the president-elect.
During the 2024 Presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly made strong overtures to cryptocurrency executives and investors.
► As The Colorado Sun reports, State Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis of Longmont is losing access to paid staff help in the next legislative session:
Senate leaders Tuesday barred a Democratic state lawmaker from having state-paid aides after two of her most recent staffers filed a workplace misconduct complaint claiming she used one of them to do chores like yard work and bartend at a party at her home.
The complaint marks the second time in the past year state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis of Longmont has been accused of mistreating her legislative aides.
“This is now clearly a recurring issue,” outgoing Senate President Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder, said in a letter to Jaquez Lewis. “In good conscience we cannot support placing an aide in your office while this behavior and complaints continue.”
The workplace misconduct complaint filed Nov. 15 with the legislature’s Office of Legislative Workplace Relations alleges that Jaquez Lewis paid the aide who did the landscaping work and tended bar over the summer with a check from her campaign’s bank account. She also allegedly used campaign money to pay the same aide for knocking on doors on behalf of an Adams County commissioner candidate who was running in the Democratic primary against the wife of one of Jaquez Lewis’ intraparty legislative rivals.
Gah!
► James “SpongeDob” Dobson is thrilled that Donald Trump will be back in the White House. Because of course he is.
► Senator Michael Bennet (D-Denver) and Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Boulderish) are taking a stand against invasive zebra mussels! From Colorado Newsline:
Neguse introduced legislation on Tuesday aimed at boosting efforts to slow the spread of highly invasive aquatic species in waterways across Colorado and the West, following the detection of zebra mussels in several locations on the Western Slope this summer.
Neguse’s Stop the Spread of Invasive Mussels Act mirrors bipartisan legislation being sponsored in the Senate by U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, a Colorado Democrat, and Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines. Bennet and Daines have introduced several versions of the bill dating back to 2019.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced in July that testing had confirmed the presence of zebra mussel larvae, known as veligers, in the Colorado River and in the Government Highline Canal near Grand Junction. The species poses an “extreme risk” to water ecosystems because it strips plankton, an essential food source, from the water. Adult zebra mussels can also threaten water supplies and irrigation systems by impeding or stopping water flows and attaching to infrastructure, causing millions of dollars in damages and increased maintenance costs.
Perhaps the Trump administration will provide more assistance if someone informs The Big Orange Guy that these zebra mussels are illegal immigrants.
►Colorado Public Radio looks at preparations for new jobs in Congress for three Colorado Republicans: Jeff “Bread Sandwich” Hurd (CO-03); Jeff Crank (CO-05); and Gabe Evans (CO-08).
► Colorado now leads the country in market share of sales of new electric vehicles, according to a press release from the office of Gov. Jared Polis:
Colorado has passed California to reach the highest EV market share of any state in the nation, according to Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM).
“Coloradans are purchasing electric vehicles at a higher rate than any other state because they are affordable, quiet, and a great ride. EVs are helping us reach our bold climate goals and protect our clean air. This new data shows that demand for EVs continues to increase and especially with competitive state and federal rebates, drastically cutting the cost of an EV and saving people money,” said Colorado Governor Jared Polis.
Newly released data from NESCAUM comparing EV sales across all US states shows that in the 3rd quarter of 2024, Colorado passed California to become the top state in the country for EV Sales, with EVs making up 25.3% of new vehicles sold in the state. 82% of EVs sold in Colorado were full electric vehicles with the remaining 18% being plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
Earlier this year, according to the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association, Colorado became 2nd in the nation in electric vehicle (EV) sales in 2024 through the first nine months of the year.
► Colorado leaders are trying to figure out how to shield important programs from budget cuts ahead of the 2025 legislative session. As The Colorado Sun explains:
The Colorado Water Conservation Board would see a $6.9 million increase in the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, rising from $98.1 million in revenue this year to $105.1 million, according to the governor’s office.
But in 2026, funding would drop to $97.6 million due to a decline in severance tax revenue, which is derived in part from oil and gas production and is a key part of the CWCB’s funding.
The conservation board is the state’s primary water planning agency, and helps fund an array of water projects and planning initiatives using a combination of grants and loans. Its revenues come from interest on loans, money from the state’s operating funds, sports betting tax revenues, and severance tax revenues, among other sources.
► The Coloradoan breaks down seven new laws that go into effect at the beginning of the new year.
► As POLITICO reports, Republican leaders in Congress are already signaling disagreements over Trump’s policy priorities:
Congressional Republicans are clashing over sweeping legislation on taxes, energy and immigration that will be the heart of President-elect Donald Trump’s legislative agenda — underscoring the hurdles ahead as the party tries to unify amid thin margins.
Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune sparked heartburn across the Capitol this week when he told GOP senators that the package, which under budget reconciliation rules would allow the GOP to bypass a Democratic filibuster, would be split into two parts. The first would focus on border and energy, with a goal to pass it in the first 30 days of the new Trump administration, and the second on tax. Speaker Mike Johnson quickly endorsed the two-step strategy, though he noted leaders were still working out what would be included in each package.
But a number of House Republicans, including committee chairs key to pulling off the plan, are already raising red flags over the strategy, saying they don’t feel the need to stick to that. The disconnect illustrates the challenge that Republican leaders will have next term: They can preach unity, but they have no room for error as they wrangle at-times raucous members with varied priorities.
From “MAGA” to “MADA” (Making America Dysfunctional Again).
► Investigators in New York City continue to search for the suspect accused of murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
► It’s a good thing that the Bowlen family no longer owns the Denver Broncos, because John Michael Bowlen shouldn’t be anywhere near a microphone with his white power diatribes.
ICYMI
► State Democratic Party leaders are seeking another term in 2025. From a press release earlier this week:
Shad Murib, Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party (CDP), and 1st Vice Chair Indira Duggirala & 2nd Vice Chair Scott Mangino announced their intention to run for reelection to their respective positions during the CDP’s 2025 reorganization. CDP will set the location, method, and date of the state reorg in the coming days.
“Serving as CDP Chair has been one of the greatest honors of my life. Described as a “blue island in a red wave,” Colorado Democrats went on the offense, winning close contests up-and-down the ballot and piling sandbags against a red wave thanks to our dedicated volunteers, elected officials, Party leaders across the state, and a shared vision of investing in rural and far-flung places to take our success from the Front Range everywhere across the state,” said Shad Murib, Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party. “While other states saw Democrats lose majorities, and even their electoral votes go to Donald Trump, Colorado remained a bright spot for Democrats across the nation. Despite this success, it’s more important than ever to be honest about the challenges ahead, and to tackle them together.”
Colorado party “reorg” votes typically take place in late February/early March.
December 05, 2024 10:12 AM UTC
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