Republicans are already bickering over how to pass major parts of President-elect Donald Trump’s platform.

There is serious disunity regarding how and when to pass Trump’s legislative agenda, Politico reported Wednesday. Senator John Thune told his fellow senators that he wanted to accelerate the president-elect’s plans via budget reconciliation so that both the border policy and tax policy portions can pass within the first 30 days of Trump’s presidency.

Some House Republicans don’t think that’s the right approach, though, as passing border policy so early could make it harder for their committee to pass tax law later on. And then there’s also the fact that Republicans already have some significant disagreements on tax policy in general.

While Republican House leaders Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise have been in Trump’s ear in Mar-a-Lago, dissent has been fomenting in D.C.

“Our members need to weigh in on that. This doesn’t need to be a decision that’s made up on high, okay?” said Texas House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington. “We’re all unified around the objectives, [but] how we roll it out, the tactics and strategies, still under discussion.”

Trump loyalist Marjorie Taylor Greene noted that Republicans ought to rebuke Thune if he doesn’t approve the entire bill, while Freedom Caucus member Chip Roy also thinks that reconciliation should be forced through and then they can “maybe do a second version that gets at true long-standing permanent tax reform.

Republicans have a very slim majority House that may make it difficult to pass some of their most extreme plans, as we’re seeing here. Sometimes they fall in line, but they’ve also squandered a congressional majority before—like when they dramatically failed to kill the Affordable Care Act in Trump’s first term. Let’s hope they haven’t learned from those mistakes.

Crypto bros rejoice: Trump has selected Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Paul is a proven leader for common sense regulations. He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World,” President-elect Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday. “He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before.”

That “digital assets” part of Trump’s statement is particularly important. Atkins has been a staunch advocate of the cryptocurrency market, even criticizing current SEC Chair Gary Gensler for having too many restrictions on what he thinks is a market that the United States should be dominating instead of regulating.

Trump changed his tune on crypto very recently. Once referring to the currency as a “scam” and a “disaster waiting to happen,” Trump has more recently vowed to make this country the “crypto capital of the planet.” This switch pleased the crypto industry and led to a surge in the market. Trump’s selection of Atkins will make the market even happier.

“Paul Atkins at the helm of the SEC will bring common sense back to the agency,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse wrote on X in reaction to the nomination. “It’s time to swiftly and definitively end the prohibition era on crypto, restoring freedom of choice, economic growth, and innovation.”

“Paul Atkins’ nomination as SEC Chair is a huge win for financial innovation,” pro-crypto Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis also wrote on X. “President Trump promised to have the most pro-digital asset admin in U.S. history, and I am looking forward to working with both of them to promote innovation and make our economy strong again.”

Atkins, who served as an SEC commissioner from 2002 to 2008, is also notoriously anti-union, has spoken in favor of “stand your ground” laws, and has been very critical of social activism more broadly.

Donald Trump is now trying to have his Georgia election interference case dismissed because he will be “completely immune” from criminal proceedings when he is president.

The president-elect argued in a legal filing to the Georgia Court of Appeals Wednesday that Fulton County’s case against him for trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the state should be thrown out “well before” he is sworn in as president on January 20, 2025.

Both the state and district court “lack jurisdiction to entertain any further criminal process against President Trump as the continued indictment and prosecution of President Trump by the State of Georgia are unconstitutional,” Trump attorney Steven Sadow argued in the filing.

The Georgia Court of Appeals is currently reviewing Trump’s case, with a hearing scheduled to determine whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be allowed to continue as prosecutor, with oral arguments scheduled for December. Trump successfully managed to delay his Georgia case until after November’s election.

Trump and his co-defendants are accused of launching a fake elector scheme, seizing voting machines, intimidating election workers, and intimidating Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger by asking him to “find” the 11,780 votes Trump needed to win the state in 2020.

If Trump’s motion for dismissal in Georgia is accepted, it will be yet another criminal case in which he escapes any consequences. The president-elect’s federal case for mishandling classified documents was dismissed by his appointee, Judge Aileen Cannon, in July. Special counsel Jack Smith successfully moved to have the remaining deadlines in his federal election interference case vacated last month, effectively ending that case. And the sentencing for his hush-money conviction in New York on 34 felony counts was canceled........

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