| | |  | BY CHARLIE MAHTESIAN | Presented by TSMC | | 
A voter casts his ballot at a polling station for the U.S. Senate runoff election today in Atlanta, Georgia. | Alex Wong/Getty Images | KING OF SWING — It’s hard to imagine now, with the nation’s eyes fixed on Georgia’s Senate runoff tonight: as recently as a decade ago, the state was viewed as so irrelevant to national politics that it was dropped from the roster of 2012 presidential exit polls. It was one of 19 states that didn’t make the cut that year, all of them sharing the same essential trait — they just weren’t competitive enough to warrant the investment. Today, however, Georgia is at the center of the political universe. It was the scene of some of former President Donald Trump’s most aggressive attempts to subvert the election results after its surprise flip to President Joe Biden in 2020. The outcome of its two Senate races in 2021 determined control of the Senate in the current Congress. It’s poised to join the ranks of the early presidential primary states in 2024. This year’s Senate contest between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker is again a high-stakes affair, not because it will decide control of the Senate — that was already decided on Election Day — but because it could give Democrats an outright 51-49 majority. That would mean more slots on Senate committees and more breathing space for Democrats in 2024, when the party faces a highly unfavorable election map where it’s forced to defend more than twice as many Senate seats as the GOP. In just the last two years, Georgia has seen more than $1.3 billion in campaign spending on Senate races alone, a testament to the unique position the swing state suddenly occupies. It’s the place where key political trendlines are unfolding in real-time — such as the power of the Obama coalition, suburban resistance to Trumpism and the GOP’s increasing dominance in rural America. At a time when the traditional presidential swing state map is evolving, Georgia is playing a central role in rebalancing it. As Ohio and its 17 electoral votes continue to move rightward and out of Democratic reach, Georgia’s 16 electoral votes offer Democrats a much-needed potential replacement — only seven states offer a bigger cache of electoral votes. Along with North Carolina, Georgia is the largest state currently in play in the Electoral College. But unlike North Carolina, which voted for Trump twice and hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since 2008, Georgia has displayed an aversion to Trump’s brand of politics. In addition to flipping to Biden in 2020 and sending two Democrats to the Senate, voters rewarded Republicans like Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger who defied Trump and were targets of his wrath. If Georgia rejects Walker, Trump’s hand-picked Senate candidate, in today's runoff, it will be sending a powerful message to the GOP about the kind of candidate it must nominate to win there in 2024. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s author at cmahtesian@politico.com or on Twitter at @CharliePolitico .
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| | A message from TSMC: TSMC is proud to share that in addition to its first fab in Arizona, which is scheduled to begin production of N4 process technology in 2024, the company has also started the construction of a second fab which is scheduled to begin production of 3nm process technology in 2026. The overall investment for these two fabs will be approximately US$40 billion, one of the largest foreign direct investments in the history of the United States. | | | | | | 
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy speaks to the media following a meeting at the White House in November. | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images | FAMILY FEUD — Like many big families and the cast of “Seinfeld,” House Republicans are airing their grievances this holiday season, write Olivia Beavers and Jordain Carney . Simmering frustrations over the slow-burning conservative campaign to derail Kevin McCarthy‘s speakership bid boiled over during a closed-door House GOP conference meeting today, with Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) and other allies of the minority leader standing up to advocate on his behalf, according to three people in the room. The pro-McCarthy camp is privately at odds over how potent a threat they will face on Jan. 3, when the full House meets to elect a speaker — and when dissenters are vowing to deny the California Republican the votes he’ll need. A growing number of members, though, believe the House’s leader will not be elected on the first day of voting, let alone on the first ballot. And centrists have already warned McCarthy’s opponents in the Freedom Caucus that if they tank him, a backup speaker may get elected who they’ll like even less. Making good on that threat might require some House Democrats to vote present on Jan. 3, thus decreasing the total number of votes needed to win the speakership. But it’s not clear if any Democrats would be willing to work with the GOP to help McCarthy out of a tight spot. And McCarthy has already publicly said he would not seek or accept votes from Democrats.
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| | JOIN WEDNESDAY FOR A POLITICO DISCUSSION ON THE NEW TRAVEL EXPERIENCE : Americans are now traveling in record numbers — but the travel experience has changed drastically in recent years, not always for the better. What lessons can we learn from the pandemic and different responses around the globe? And in the face of a possible recession, what will help the travel industry remain vibrant and deliver jobs? Join POLITICO on Dec. 7 for “The Travel Experience Redefined” to discuss these questions and more. Breakfast and coffee will be provided. REGISTER HERE . | | | | | | | — Special counsel subpoenas Trump-related documents from state and local election officials: The federal grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election has issued subpoenas to a slew of state and county officials for their communications with Trump and other figures in his orbit during his final months in office. Officials with the office of the clerk of Dane County, Wisc., and Maricopa County, Ariz., confirmed they had received subpoenas connected to the investigation, which is now being overseen by special counsel Jack Smith. The subpoenas, which were issued last month, seek documents and communications they had with 19 people, including Trump himself. — DOJ pursues unusual case of car shipping price-fixing and extortion: Federal antitrust and gang prosecutors indicted a dozen people , including a ring leader with alleged ties to Mexico’s Gulf Cartel, on charges of price-fixing, extortion and money laundering involving the shipment of used cars to Mexico, according to an indictment unsealed on Monday. The group, led by Carlos Favian Martinez, led a scheme to fix prices and illegally carve up business between competitors in the market for “transmigrante forwarding agency services,” or the transporting of used cars from the U.S. through Mexico and on to Central America, according to the indictment. The defendants enforced their operation through a pattern of violence and extortion that included beatings and kidnappings; several people were killed. None of the defendants were charged with those deaths. — ‘Constant turmoil’ at FDA’s food regulatory agency, report says: The Food and Drug Administration’s Human Foods Program lacks leadership and mission clarity , leading to slow decision-making and weak regulation of foodborne illness, according to a highly-anticipated, independent report on the FDA’s Human Foods Program. The FDA commissioned an independent expert panel to review the Human Foods Program in July 2022, in part due to the ongoing infant formula crisis, which critics say demonstrated the agency’s pattern of slow responses. The formula crisis included nationwide shortages sparked by a key Abbott plant in Michigan shutting down and issuing a recall, after FDA belatedly took action after detecting strains of a bacteria at the facility that can be deadly to babies.
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| | A message from TSMC:  
| | | | | BUY EUROPEAN — For decades, more globalization was a no-brainer for Brussels. But now, the European Union is thinking about joining the U.S. and China in a game of economic self-interest and protectionism , write Barbara Moens and Hans von der Burchard . The key trigger this time is not Chinese economic aggression but climate-friendly reforms emanating from the White House. The Inflation Reduction Act paves the way for $369 billion worth of subsidies and tax breaks for American green businesses — but only if they are assembled and key parts, such as car batteries, are made in the U.S. The law was seen as a “slap in the face” and a “game changer” in Brussels, especially coming from a Democratic president. Angry EU politicians accused Washington of following in China’s footsteps. The IRA has also led to a push from first Paris and then Berlin, to develop new subsidy measures that could include requiring European manufacturers to use home-grown products or technologies for them to qualify for EU state subsidies. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it was time for Brussels to reassess its rules over state subsidies for European industries. A trade war with the U.S. is in neither side’s interests in the middle of an actual war, she said. But a robust response to the threat to European manufacturing posed by the IRA will be needed. “There is a risk that the IRA can lead to unfair competition, could close markets, and fragment the very same critical supply chains that have already been tested by COVID-19," she said. “We have all heard the stories of producers that are considering relocating future investment from Europe to the U.S.”
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$1.6 million The amount of money that the Trump Organization could have to pay after being found guilty on all counts in a criminal tax fraud scheme . A New York Supreme Court jury reached the verdict in the case after two days of deliberation following a month-long trial that included convicted former Trump Org. chief finance officer Allen Weisselberg as a star witness. Trump himself was not charged. |
| | | MOSCOW’S MALWARE — Microsoft warned its users in a blogpost that all signs point to a prolific winter for cyber threat actors affiliated with Russian military intelligence. The software giant expects Moscow to ramp up disinformation and cyberattacks directed at Ukraine and its western allies in the months to come in an attempt to undermine the region’s access to humanitarian and military assistance . Tech Radar’s Sead Fadilpašić investigates Sandworm, the notorious Russian hacking group responsible for engaging in cyberwarfare with Ukraine during the 2015 and 2016 blackouts.
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Capitol Police officers display the Congressional Gold Medal ahead of the ceremony for United States Capitol Police and the Washington D.C Metropolitan Police officers who protected the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6th, in the Rotunda today in Washington, D.C. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images | Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here .
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| | A message from TSMC: TSMC is proud to share that in addition to its first fab in Arizona, which is scheduled to begin production of N4 process technology in 2024, the company has also started the construction of a second fab which is scheduled to begin production of 3nm process technology in 2026. The overall investment for these two fabs will be approximately US$40 billion, representing one of the largest foreign direct investments in the history of the United States. In addition to the over 10,000 construction workers who helped with construction of the site, TSMC Arizona’s two fabs are expected to create an additional 10,000 high-paying high-tech jobs, including 4,500 direct TSMC jobs. When complete, TSMC Arizona’s two fabs will produce the most advanced semiconductor technology in the United States, manufacturing over 600,000 wafers per year, with estimated end-product value of more than US$40 billion. Learn more | | | | |
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