Washington, DC

1. Danish ambassador on Hill
2. Venezuela war powers vote
3. Machado backers lobby Trump
4. Trump team in Davos
5. Trump’s housing proposal
6. Overriding Trump vetoes
7. Conservatives’ subsidy alternative

PDB: New ‘MAHA’ dietary guidelines 

ICE killing in Minneapolis sparks protests nationwide … US posts initial jobless claims … Hoyer to retire

GOP concerned over Greenland threats

President Donald Trump’s designs on Greenland are creating a huge kerfuffle on Capitol Hill. Denmark’s ambassador to the US, Jesper Møller Sørensen, will head to Congress today to meet with a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, after Sørensen briefed staffers on Wednesday. It’s a high-stakes moment as Republicans grow increasingly concerned about the White House’s refusal to take military action off the table and the degrading effect on the NATO alliance. “At a time when the president has been so successful in increasing the support for defense among NATO countries,” Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., told Semafor, “we ought not to be in a position in which we’re threatening to use military force in Greenland, against Greenland or Denmark.”

— Burgess Everett

Republicans weigh war powers resolution

Some Republicans remain undecided on Sen. Tim Kaine’s, D-Va., war powers resolution limiting military actions in Venezuela. Kaine said Republicans told him they opposed his November vote “because they felt like Trump was bluffing and that there was not going to be military action. So we’ll see what they say now.” Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, backed the last effort, which failed 49-51. Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., is undecided, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is “still working through it,” and Moran said he’s on the verge of finalizing his decision. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., indicated to leaders he’ll oppose it but said he’s “willing to listen to” the case for the resolution. Meanwhile, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is a wild card — he wants to make sure it wouldn’t preclude an operation like the one to capture Maduro.

— Burgess Everett

Machado’s supporters not giving up

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado’s allies are redoubling their efforts to boost her chances of ultimately running the country, Semafor’s Shelby Talcott and Eleanor Mueller report. But doing so would involve winning a currently withheld endorsement from Trump. “It’s just now a matter of convincing the president of her capabilities,” said Rep. Carlos Giménez, R-Fla., adding that fellow Florida Republican Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart and María Salazar are involved in the lobbying. As Machado takes to the airwaves to flatter Trump, her camp sees light at the end of the tunnel — one person close to Machado noted she “absolutely” will return to Venezuela soon, and is “in this for the long term.” While the White House notably has not foreclosed the possibility of the president supporting Machado in the future, Trump told The New York Times Wednesday that the US could be running Venezuela for years.

White House heavyweights go to Davos

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright will join Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland later this month, Semafor’s Liz Hoffman and Ben Smith scoop. Jamieson Greer, head of US trade policy; Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East; AI and crypto czar David Sacks; Michael Kratsios, head of the White House’s science and technology policy; and Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are also part of the planned delegation to the global gathering, an official familiar with the planning told Semafor. “The administration is coming in force,” said Dave Ackerman, who is organizing the USA House in Davos.

Trump housing idea surprises GOP

Republican lawmakers are seeking clarity after Trump said he wants them to pass legislation “ban[ning] large institution investors from buying more single-family homes.” The historically Democrat-championed proposal, which sent homebuilder shares tumbling, will likely face fierce opposition from Wall Street. It “can mean a lot of different things,” House Financial Services Chair French Hill, R-Ark., said. “That’s why I don’t want to generalize and give an impromptu answer.” Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., who chairs the committee’s housing panel, said he, too, “want[s] to see what the president’s proposal is” before weighing in. “The good thing here is that our nation’s chief executive is identifying housing as one of the big issues of this Congress,” Flood added. Some GOP senators, like Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, were meanwhile quick to voice their support. Politico reported Trump will include the plan in a broader executive order.

— Eleanor Mueller

House GOP rebukes Trump on two fronts

House Republicans are poised to deliver two rare rebukes of Trump today. First, lawmakers will likely vote to override the president’s veto of two GOP-supported bills that would greenlight projects in Florida and Colorado. Then, conservative hardliners will oppose one of three White House-backed appropriations bills over its inclusion of earmarks, or funding for specific projects in members’ districts. Leaders already agreed to scrap one such earmark in exchange for the members’ help advancing the bills Wednesday. “We wanted a few other things on this package — but we were willing to move forward with it if we could get separate votes so some of us can vote against the underlying bill,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said afterward. The legislation is still expected to advance given robust Democratic support.

— Eleanor Mueller

Republicans’ health care conflict deepens

House Speaker Mike Johnson is warming to a new reconciliation bill, telling radio host Scott Jennings he’s working “methodically” to see what they can squeeze into another party-line package. Conservatives want it to include health care: Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Republican Study Committee Chair August Pfluger, R-Texas, are pushing their legislation creating health savings accounts from the Affordable Care Act’s original subsidies (not the enhanced subsidies that just expired). Pfluger said it’s a clear “alternative” to the bipartisan negotiations in the Senate on reviving those enhanced subsidies. “I don’t think there’s much appetite for extending the COVID subsidies,” Scott said. “I’m not supporting that.” Nine House Republicans voted to advance Democrats’ three-year subsidy extension on Wednesday and Pfluger said approximately “99-plus percent” of the RSC is against them. Pfluger said the RSC will release its own reconciliation framework next week.

— Burgess Everett

Blindspot: Hyde and Jan. 6

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: A prominent anti-abortion group issued a warning to President Trump following his comment about the need for Republicans to be “flexible” on the Hyde Amendment when passing health care legislation. 

What the Right isn’t reading: Former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn told HuffPost that the US can’t move on from Jan. 6 “until we acknowledge what happened correctly and without this administration trying to lie and rewrite what happened that day.”

Semafor this week announced it secured major financing, funding it plans to use for an expansion of its global newsroom and live journalism business. The Wall Street Journal described our audience as “C-suite executives, government leaders and public policymakers,” and reported that we’re building “a brand on par with business publications such as The Economist or the Financial Times.” Crucially, Reuters noted, whereas major publishers are “facing declines in traffic,” Semafor generated a profit in 2025, our third full year of operations. Media and business executives taking part in the fundraising included founding backers such as Henry Kravis of KKR and Carlyle’s David Rubenstein, with new backers including European media investors and former US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: “Republicans support what the president has done,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso said of the Venezuela operation to capture Nicolás Maduro. “It was an incredible act and the military was absolutely superb.”

Playbook: While some have speculated that Vice President JD Vance would be against the raid, one source said the opposite was true. “He f*ck*ng loves it… When you’re in our backyard, you don’t get to steal sh*t and get away with it.”

Axios: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will announce his reelection bid today.

WaPo: Some of President Trump’s proposals that drew the most mockery in his first term are those being pursued most seriously in his second.