Welcome to the online version of From the political editorial teaman evening newsletter bringing you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the election campaign.

It was another busy day on Capitol Hill with a long list of confirmation hearings for the Trump administration’s new nominees. Jonathan Allen has looked through them all and offers his takeaways. Additionally, Andrea Mitchell looks back on the long journey that led to the ceasefire agreement in Gaza – and the roles played by the outgoing and incoming presidents.

– Adam Wollner

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During a packed day of confirmation hearings, it’s Pam Bondi’s turn

Six of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees faced Senate confirmation hearings on Wednesday, previewing a series of political and political battles that will define his second term.

The person sitting hottest was former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick to be the next U.S. attorney general. She faced the question of whether she would stand up to a president who had ousted the two men he had previously appointed as attorney general, as Ben Kamisar and Ryan J. Reilly report in their conclusion to their day on Capitol Hill.

Courtesy of Jonathan Allen, here are key takeaways from Bondi’s hearing, as well as the series of hearings for other Cabinet nominees who have appeared before senators.

Bondi wouldn’t say Trump lost in 2020: Bondi specifically refused to say that Trump lost the 2020 election fair and square when questioned by Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Illinois, at her hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“President Biden is the President of the United States. He has been duly sworn in and is the President of the United States,” Bondi said. “There was a peaceful transfer of power. President Trump left office and was overwhelmingly elected in 2024.”

Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the panel, noted that Bondi didn’t give him a yes-or-no answer.

Bondi later declined to retract her earlier statement that Trump won Pennsylvania in 2020, pushing back against Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., for interrupting her.

“I’m not going to let you bully me,” she told Padilla.

Democrats question Bondi over Trump’s – and Kash Patel’s – influence: Bondi told Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R-I., that she would not use the attorney general’s power to target political opponents — even though Trump has often called for investigating and prosecuting his rivals.

“There will never be an enemies list in the Justice Department,” Bondi said.

Last month, Trump told “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker that decisions about who to investigate and prosecute would rest with Bondi and Kash Patel, his pick for FBI chief.

Patel said judges, lawyers and journalists should be prosecuted for alleged impropriety in conducting investigations into Trump after the 2020 election. Bondi defended Patel – to a certain extent.

“I don’t think he has an enemies list,” Bondi said, adding that “Kash is the right person for the job right now.”

But she told senators they needed to ask Patel directly about his promotion of QAnon conspiracy theories.

Nobody ruined their confirmation chances: In addition to Bondi, the following candidates also took part in the hearings: Marco Rubio, for Secretary of State; Sean Duffy, for Transport Minister; John Ratcliffe for CIA director; Chris Wright, for Energy Secretary; and Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.

The bottom line: None of them appeared to say anything that would cost them Republican support, suggesting a smooth road ahead.

Read more insights from the day’s hearings →

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Biden and Trump are both looking for credit after a long road to a Gaza ceasefire agreement

By Andrea Mitchell

After 15 agonizing months of fruitless talks, there is finally a ceasefire and hostage-taking deal in Gaza, with two American presidents taking credit for it – one on the way out, the other on the way home.

Even before President Joe Biden announced the deal, President-elect Donald Trump announced it on Truth Social before releasing a lengthy statement that read, in part: “This EPIC ceasefire agreement could only come about as a result of our historic victory in November come.” and “We have accomplished so much without even being in the White House.”

An hour and a half later, Biden said from the White House: “This deal was developed and negotiated under my administration, but its terms will largely be implemented by the next administration. “And over the last few days we have spoken as a team.”

Asked how much credit he gave the Trump team, he replied: “I told my team to coordinate closely with the new team to make sure we all speak with the same voice, because that’s what American ones do Presidents.”

But cooperation apparently only goes up to a certain point. As Biden left, a reporter shouted, “Who deserves credit for this, Mr. President?” You or Trump?” Biden stopped, turned around and said with a smile, “Is this a joke?” and left.

In fact, Trump put pressure on Hamas to compromise when he repeatedly threatened that “there will be hell to pay” if Hamas does not make a deal before he takes office.

This warning also put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to finalize the agreement. Negotiators also praised Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff for resolving last-minute issues in recent days.

It was a dramatic ending: U.S., Israeli and Qatari negotiators in Doha, Qatar — and the Hamas team in the same building below — thought they had finally sealed the deal at 3 a.m. Wednesday, according to a senior administration official. But a few hours later, Hamas made new demands. After further haggling, they backed out and it was done.

The talks almost collapsed on July 31 when Israel eliminated Ismail Haniyah, the Hamas negotiator, while he was in Tehran. Then, a month later, negotiations came to a complete standstill when American hostage Hersh Goldberg and five others were killed in a tunnel in Rafah on August 31.

What followed changed the balance of power in the region. Israel responded to Iran’s missile attack by destroying its air defenses. Then Israel killed Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon, leading to a U.S.-brokered ceasefire there. Finally, Iran lost its other key ally, Syria, when Bashar al-Assad’s regime collapsed next door. Since Iran was greatly weakened, Hamas was more willing to compromise.

None of this would have been possible without intense, uninterrupted negotiations over 15 months with White House envoy Brett McGurk, 19 trips by CIA Director William Burns and 13 visits by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, each with stops in multiple countries. And McGurk now heads to Cairo to implement the deal and ensure the hostages return home. No matter who gets the loan.

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That’s all from the policy desk for now. Today’s newsletter was put together by Adam Wollner and Ben Kamisar.

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