Politics

(MAYFIELD, Ky.) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday surveyed storm damage and met with families in neighborhoods ravaged by the deadly tornadoes .

Biden viewed damage in Mayfield before heading to Dawson Springs and also make remarks on the federal response and “extreme weather,” according to the White House.

Shortly before noon, Marine One landed in Mayfield, and Biden was greeted on the tarmac in Fort Campbell by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, stopping for a five-minute conversation.

Deputy principal press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden’s message on Wednesday “is that he and the federal government intend to do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, by providing any support that is needed to aid recovery efforts and support the people of Kentucky — and of other impacted states as they rebuild.”

“It is going to be a very long, long road ahead. And so that’s the president’s focus right now is to talk, specifically to hear from the elected officials on the ground,” she told reporters earlier on Air Force One.

Before receiving a briefing from state and local officials in Kentucky, Biden vowed all the federal support he can provide to the area, both now and in the months to come.

“Immediately after a disaster is a time when people are really, really moving, and trying to help each other and trying to get things done. But after a month, after six weeks, after two months, people can get themselves to a point where they get fairly depressed about what’s going on, particularly young kids, particularly people who’ve lost somebody. And so I just want you to know, the help that we’re able to offer at the federal level, is not just now,” Biden said.

“I’ve instructed my team to make you all aware of everything that is available from a federal level,” Biden added later on. “And some of it has to do outside of FEMA, outside of Homeland Security, there’s other programs, including education, there’s a whole range of things, but I’m here to listen.”

The president seemed struck by the scale of the damage he saw on his aerial tour.

“As you fly over here, as I’ve done in the past, I’ve not seen this tornado, this much damage from a tornado. You know, you think, but for the grace of God, why was I not 100 yards outside that line? Which makes it so different,” he noted.

After a briefing in Mayfield by local leaders “on the impacts of the tornadoes and extreme weather,” according to the White House, Biden will then continue on to Dawson Springs and that tour will culminate in remarks at 4 p.m. EST.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki earlier this week said Biden will not be delivering a “major speech” there but rather will be “trying to be a source of comfort to people who have gone through a devastating couple of days in their communities.”

“I would expect while he’s there, he will receive an update from local authorities on what their needs are, see local elected officials and discuss in person with them and make sure they’re getting what they need from the federal government,” Psaki said.

“He also wants to hear directly from people, and he wants to offer his support directly to them,” Psaki added. “People who have gone through over the last couple of days, really incredible challenges losing their homes, losing loved ones, losing parts of their community that they’ve grown up with and I think he wants to offer his support directly to them as well.”

Biden was joined for the visit by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, who were on the ground there on Sunday.

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(WASHINGTON) — Five Federal Bureau of Investigation officials “solicited” prostitutes while on an overseas trip, the Department of Justice inspector general said in a two-page report.

Four of the officials “solicited, procured, and accepted commercial sex overseas.”

“The OIG investigation also found that four of those officials lacked candor about their interactions with prostitutes and other misconduct during OIG compelled interviews and compelled polygraph examinations, in violation of FBI policies, and that one of those officials made false statements in an OIG compelled interview and compelled polygraph examination in violation of federal law, when the official denied having engaged in sex acts with a prostitute,” Inspector General Michael Horowitz wrote.

Soliciting a prostitute overseas while working for the FBI is a violation of FBI and DOJ policy.

One FBI official “lacked candor” to the Inspector General “when the official denied observing or placing pills in a package to be delivered to a foreign law enforcement officer and that another of the officials failed to report having been provided such a package.”

The inspector general says there were about 100 white pills that were seen being given to a foreign official.

A sixth FBI official did not report the misconduct in violation of DOJ policy.

The inspector general said of the five who solicited prostitutes two resigned, two retired, and one was removed. The report said three of the individuals also failed to report their interactions with foreign nationals.

There are no details in the report about where the prostitution solicitation occurred or the names of the officials involved.

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(WASHINGTON) — The House voted Tuesday night to hold former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack to appear for a deposition.

The vote was 222-208, with GOP Reps. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Liz Cheney of Wyoming voting with all Democrats.

Meadows is now the first former lawmaker ever held in criminal contempt by Congress — and the first held in contempt since 1832 — when former Rep. Sam Houston was held in contempt for beating a colleague with a cane.

The vote sends the matter to the Justice Department, which will determine whether to bring any charges against Meadows, after previously doing so against Trump ally Steve Bannon.

During debate on the floor Tuesday evening, and earlier in the day, in the House Rules Committee, members of the Jan. 6 select committee released new text messages from the tranche of records Meadows had turned over to the committee.

“I heard Jeff Clark is getting put in on Monday. That’s amazing. It will make a lot of patriots happy, and I’m personally so proud that you are at the tip of the spear, and I could call you a friend,” a text to Meadows from an unknown number read, according to Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

The new messages further underscored Meadows’s importance to the congressional investigation, as a key figure in Trump’s orbit who personally participated in discussions about challenging the election results and advocated for voter fraud investigations from his perch in the West Wing.

“Mr. Meadows’s testimony will bear on another key question before this committee: Did Donald Trump, through action or inaction, corruptly seek to obstruct or impede Congress’s official proceeding to count electoral votes?” Cheney, the panel’s vice-chair, said Tuesday.

On Jan. 3, Meadows told an unnamed member of Congress that Trump “thinks the legislatures have the power but that the Vp has power too,” according to Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., who read the message about the counting of the electoral votes on the House floor.

On Nov. 4th, an unnamed member of Congress texted Meadows that Republican-led legislatures should “just send their own electors to Congress” to challenge the official results in key states, and allow the Supreme Court to determine how to award the votes and the winner of the election.

Lawmakers on the panel argued that Meadows, despite his deference to Trump’s alleged claims of executive privilege, was improperly refusing to appear under subpoena to discuss topics referenced in the materials he already shared with Congress or mentioned in his new memoir.

Meadows turned over some 9,000 documents from personal email accounts and a cell phone to the committee, including urgent text messages from Republican lawmakers imploring him to get Trump to something to stop the violence.

But he then reversed course and refused to appear under subpoena to answer questions about the records he provided.

During Monday’s committee meeting, before members voted unanimously to recommend Meadows be held in contempt, Cheney quoted extensively from text messages sent to Meadows during the riot from Fox News hosts, GOP lawmakers and Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s eldest son.

Cheney said the messages left “no doubt” the White House “knew exactly what was happening” at the Capitol during the riot.

“He’s got to condemn [the riot] ASAP,” Trump Jr. told Meadows in a text message, according to Cheney, saying that Trump’s tweet about Capitol Police “is not enough.”

“I’m pushing it hard,” Meadows replied. “I agree.”

“We need an Oval Office address,” Trump Jr. said in a follow up message. “He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand.”

“Please get him on tv,” Fox News host Brian Kilmeade wrote to Meadows. “Destroying everything you have accomplished.”

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., read aloud from text messages Meadows received from unnamed GOP lawmakers before and after the riot.

“Yesterday was a terrible day,” one wrote. “We tried everything we could in our objection to the 6 states. I’m sorry nothing worked.”

Cheney quoted again from text messages Tuesday morning.

“It is really bad up here on the Hill,” one message read.

In another, an unnamed lawmaker texted Meadows: “Fix this now.”

“We need to question him about emails and texts he has given us without any claims of privilege,” Cheney said.

Commitee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said Tuesday that “only three people” of “over 300” have not cooperated with the committee. He shared that Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is among those scheduled to cooperate and speak to investigators.

“I have no great desire to be here seeking consideration of this contempt referral. Mr. Meadows was a colleague for more than seven years. But that doesn’t excuse his behavior. If anything, his time as a member of the House should make him more aware of the potential consequences of defying a congressional subpoena,” Thompson said.

Republicans for the most part defended Meadows and suggested the committee’s push to hold Meadows in contempt would squander any chance they had to secure his cooperation.

“Today they are destroying executive privilege,” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said on the House floor. “It is a vote to put a good man in prison.”

In a statement Tuesday, Meadows attorney George Terwilliger said his client “never stopped cooperating” with the panel. “What message does that duplicity send to him as well as to others who might be inclined to consider cooperating in good faith to the extent possible?”

Democrats and Republicans aligned with the committee blasted Meadows’ argument, pointing to the fact that he published a memoir detailing conversations with Trump around Jan. 6.

“This is a witness who is refusing to comply with the law,” Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., said. “But look at his book and you get more information than our committee did.”

Trump ally Steve Bannon was charged with two counts of contempt of Congress for rebuffing the committee’s subpoenas and has pleaded not guilty. That trial is scheduled to begin in July 2022.

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(WASHINGTON) — The House on Tuesday is expected to hold Mark Meadows, former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena for his testimony from the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Meadows, a former House member, would be the first former lawmaker to be held in criminal contempt by Congress — and the first lawmaker held in contempt — since 1832.

The vote would refer the matter to the Justice Department to decide whether to bring charges against the North Carolina Republican. Meadows could face up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine if convicted.

Meadows turned over some 9,000 documents from his personal cell phones to the committee, including urgent text messages from Republican lawmakers imploring him to get Trump to something to stop the violence.

But he then reversed course and refused to appear under subpoena to answer questions about the records he provided.

During Monday’s committee meeting, before members voted unanimously to recommend Meadows be held in contempt, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the vice chair of the panel, quoted extensively from text messages sent to Meadows during the riot from Fox News hosts, GOP lawmakers and Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s eldest son.

Cheney said the messages left “no doubt” the White House “knew exactly what was happening” at the Capitol during the riot.

“He’s got to condemn [the riot] ASAP,” Trump Jr. told Meadows in a text message, according to Cheney, saying that Trump’s tweet about Capitol Police “is not enough.”

“I’m pushing it hard,” Meadows replied. “I agree.”

“We need an Oval Office address,” Trump Jr. said in a follow up message. “He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand.”

“Please get him on tv,” Fox News host Brian Kilmeade wrote to Meadows. “Destroying everything you have accomplished.”

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., read aloud from text messages Meadows received from unnamed GOP lawmakers before and after the riot.

“Yesterday was a terrible day,” one wrote. “We tried everything we could in our objection to the 6 states. I’m sorry nothing worked.”

She quoted again from text messages Tuesday morning.

“It is really bad up here on the Hill,” one message read.

In another, an unnamed lawmaker texted Meadows: “Fix this now.”

“We need to question him about emails and texts he has given us without any claims of privilege,” Cheney said.

Commitee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told the committee that “only three people” of “over 300” have not cooperated with the committee. He shared that Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is among those scheduled to cooperate and speak to investigators.

“I have no great desire to be here seeking consideration of this contempt referral. Mr. Meadows was a colleague for more than seven years. But that doesn’t excuse his behavior. If anything, his time as a member of the House should make him more aware of the potential consequences of defying a congressional subpoena,” Thompson said.

Republicans for the most part defended Meadows and suggested the committee’s push to hold Meadows in contempt would squander any chance they had to secure his cooperation.

“Today they are destroying executive privilege,” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said on the House floor. “It is a vote to put a good man in prison.”

In a statement Tuesday, Meadows attorney George Terwilliger said his client “never stopped cooperating” with the panel. “What message does that duplicity send to him as well as to others who might be inclined to consider cooperating in good faith to the extent possible?”

Democrats and Republicans aligned with the committee blasted Meadows’ argument, pointing to the fact that he published a memoir detailing conversations with Trump around Jan. 6.

“This is a witness who is refusing to comply with the law,” Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., said. “But look at his book and you get more information than our committee did.”

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(SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla.) — Former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg, the one-time associate of Rep. Matt Gaetz who in May pled guilty to multiple charges including sex trafficking a minor, has reached a verbal agreement to pay back the county over $1.8 million in restitution, according to the Seminole County attorney.

County Attorney Bryant Applegate told Seminole County commissioners on Tuesday that he had reached a “verbal” deal for Greenberg — Gaetz’s self-described one-time wingman — to pay back nearly $1.9 million in restitution related to his time in office, a source familiar with the situation confirmed to ABC News.

If Greenberg fails to pay the restitution, the county will move to go after other entities, the source said.

Greenberg’s lawyer, Fritz Schiller, confirmed the verbal agreement to ABC News.

Greenberg, who reached a plea deal earlier this year and has been cooperating in the ongoing federal investigation into potential sex trafficking allegations against Gaetz and others, was initially charged with over 30 counts last year, including defrauding the Seminole County Tax Office out of hundreds of thousands of dollars through schemes ranging from buying sports memorabilia and cryptocurrency to paying women he met on a self-described “sugar daddy” website using the office credit card.

Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crime.

“When I became aware of some of Greenberg’s misdeeds, I deeply regretted my friendship with him,” Gaetz told Pensacola ABC affiliate WEAR in October. “I do believe that it’s fair for the people of Northwest Florida to judge me based on the associations that I’ve had, and I deeply regret my association with Joel Greenberg, politically, socially and otherwise.”

Greenberg is scheduled to be sentenced in March after his sentencing was delayed twice over the summer.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Senate narrowly averted financial calamity Tuesday by passing legislation to raise the federal borrowing limit by $2.5 trillion dollars.

All Democrats voted to raise the debt limit. No Republicans joined them.

The legislation heads to the House next, where it is expected to pass. Once signed by President Joe Biden, the congressional action will have prevented a U.S. default that could have halted Social Security and veterans’ payments, hiked interest on mortgages and loans and disrupted the global economy.

The Treasury Department predicted that the U.S. would be unable to pay its bills come Wednesday.

Congressional action was the last step in a months-long process aimed at raising the federal borrowing limit.

In October, Republican and Democratic leadership locked horns over the spending cap. Though both parties acknowledged the necessity of raising the debt limit, Republicans argued that Democrats ought to raise the limit on their own — wrongly claiming they needed to offset the cost of Biden’s yet-to-be passed $1.75 trillion social spending bill.

Democrats, who helped raise the debt limit multiple times under the Trump administration, insisted it be a bipartisan effort since the debt limit had to be raised to cover past spending.

The October dispute ended in the GOP blinking, with Republicans giving Democrats the votes necessary for a short-term raise to the debt limit, but vowing they’d be less cooperative in the winter.

Last week, however, party leaders announced an agreement on a two-step process to raise the debt limit. Republicans ultimately provided 10 votes to permit a one-time rule change altering the number of votes necessary to pass the debt-limit hike, and clearing a path for Democrats to pass the legislation without a single GOP backer.

The reached agreement required Democrats to name a specific amount they want to raise the debt limit by. They settled on $2.5 trillion — enough to prevent the government from defaulting through early 2023, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday.

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(WASHINGTON) — The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack on Monday recommended the full chamber hold Mark Meadows, former President Donald Trump’s last White House chief of staff, in contempt of Congress for refusing to appear for a deposition under subpoena.

After the unanimous committee vote, the full House could hold Meadows in contempt as early as Tuesday.

In the brief session Monday night, the committee blasted Meadows for refusing to appear for a deposition to field questions about some of the more than 9,000 pages of emails and text messages he had previously turned over to the committee.

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the vice chair of the panel, quoted extensively from text messages sent to Meadows during the riot from Fox News hosts, GOP lawmakers and Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s eldest son.

Cheney said the messages left “no doubt” the White House “knew exactly what was happening” at the Capitol during the riot.

“He’s got to condemn [the riot] ASAP,” Trump Jr. told Meadows in a text message, according to Cheney, saying that Trump’s tweet about Capitol Police “is not enough.”

“I’m pushing it hard,” Meadows replied. “I agree.”

“We need an Oval address,” Trump Jr. said in a follow up message. “He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand.”

“Please get him on tv,” Fox News host Brian Kilmeade wrote to Meadows. “Destroying everything you have accomplished.”

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., read aloud from text messages Meadows received from unnamed GOP lawmakers before and after the riot.

“Yesterday was a terrible day,” one wrote. “We tried everything we could in our objection to the 6 states. I’m sorry nothing worked.”

“A day after a failed attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power, an elected lawmaker tells the White House chief of staff, ‘I’m sorry nothing worked.’ That is chilling,” Schiff said. “We would like to ask Mr. Meadows what he thought about that.”

After initially signaling cooperation with the committee, Meadows reversed course and said he would respect Trump’s assertion of privilege even though the Biden White House declined to invoke executive privilege over his testimony.

In a 51-page report released Sunday night, the committee argued that Meadows is “uniquely situated to provide critical information” to its inquiry, given his proximity to Trump before, during and after the presidential election and Jan. 6 Capitol attack, as well as his own extensive involvement in efforts to contest the results.

Meadows, the committee said, played a central role in those challenges, communicating with GOP lawmakers, activists, Trump allies and campaign officials from the west wing, often using a personal email account and a nongovernment cell phone.

Meadows had initially agreed to cooperate with the inquiry, turning over more than 9,000 pages of records to investigators, including text messages with GOP lawmakers and a member of the president’s family during the riot, as well as emails with Justice Department officials encouraging them to investigate claims of voter fraud.

But he changed course before he was scheduled to appear for an in-person deposition on Capitol Hill last month, arguing instead that he would respect Trump’s assertion of privilege even though the Biden White House declined to do so over his testimony.

“To be clear, Mr. Meadows’s failure to comply, and this contempt recommendation, are not based on good-faith disagreements over privilege assertions. Rather, Mr. Meadows has failed to comply and warrants contempt findings because he has wholly refused to appear to provide any testimony and refused to answer questions regarding even clearly non-privileged information—information that he himself has identified as non-privileged through his own document production,” the panel wrote in its report.

In a Monday letter to the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack, George Terwilliger, an attorney for Mark Meadows, urged the panel and House not to hold Meadows in contempt for refusing to cooperate with a subpoena, saying it would be “unjust.”

“It would ill-serve the country to rush to judgment on the matter,” Terwilliger wrote.

“We recognize and do not dispute that the violence and interference with the processes of our democratic institutions as occurred on January 6, 2021, were deplorable and unjustifiable events,” he wrote. “But the real strength of our democratic institutions comes from the principles that undergird them, and no singular event can justify overrunning centuries-old safeguards of the republic.”

In addition to the records already turned over to investigators, the panel argued that Meadows’s claims were undercut by the fact that he recounted his experience on Jan. 6 in his just-released memoir, The Chief’s Chief.

“He can’t decline to tell the story to Congress and on the very same day publish part of that story in a book to line his pockets,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., a member of the committee, said Monday.

“It’s hard to reconcile how he can talk about Jan. 6 and his conversations about it and others for a book but not to Congress,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a member of the commitee, previously told ABC News.

If the Justice Department decides to charge Meadows, he could face up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine for refusing to appear before the panel.

Already, the Biden Justice Department has charged Trump adviser Steve Bannon with two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with the committee’s subpoena for records and testimony. His trial is set to begin in July, a federal judge announced last week.

Should the House vote go through, Meadows would become the first former lawmaker to be held in criminal contempt by his former chamber.

In 1832, former Rep. Sam Houston was detained and reprimanded by the House speaker for assaulting a former colleague, under the House’s “inherent contempt” powers.

“Whatever legacy he thought he left in the House, this is his legacy now,” Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said of Meadows. “His former colleagues singling him out for criminal prosecution because he wouldn’t answer questions about what he knows about a brutal attack on our democracy.”

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden is facing significant skepticism from the American public, with his job approval rating lagging across a range of major issues, including new lows for his handling of crime, gun violence and the economic recovery, a new ABC/Ipsos poll finds.

As the White House confronts rising and widespread concern about inflation, Americans are especially negative on how the Biden administration is managing this issue.

More than two-thirds of Americans (69%) disapprove of how Biden is handling inflation (only 28% approve) while more than half (57%) disapprove of his handling of the economic recovery. Partisan splits for inflation show expected negativity in Republican views (94% disapproving), but the survey also reveals weaknesses from Biden’s own party with only a slim majority of Democrats (54%) approving. Biden’s orbit is also hemorrhaging independent voters, with 71% disapproving of his handling of inflation.

The ABC/Ipsos poll, which was conducted by Ipsos in partnership with ABC News using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel, reveals these rocky ratings for Biden at a time when the bulk of Americans name inflation and paying everyday bills as a top concern. Concern about inflation has eclipsed worry about the coronavirus pandemic, according to recent polls from Monmouth and AP-NORC, as Republicans continuously spotlight rising prices at the gas pump and the grocery store as a key issue for the upcoming midterm elections — likely to be a referendum on Biden’s performance.

These low job assessments in areas of high public concern have led to a new low in Biden’s overall approval rating, measured by FiveThirtyEight at 43%.

The findings show Biden slightly above water in one sector: his handling of COVID-19. A slim majority (53%) of Americans approve of Biden’s handling of the pandemic. Even so, Biden’s COVID approval rating is now numerically at its lowest point in ABC/Ipsos polling since he took office, another warning sign for what might be a tough battle to maintain majorities in the U.S. House and Senate.

The White House has expanded federal COVID-19 mitigation efforts as the delta and omicron variants spur stricter vaccination and mask requirements across the country.

Biden has stood by his politically controversial decision to require vaccinations for federal employees and all contractors, a move affecting millions of workers in the public and private sectors. The decision, challenged by state GOP lawmakers, was recently blocked by a U.S. District Court. That said, a bare majority of Americans (51%) are on Biden’s side regarding vaccine mandates, and 7 in 10 Americans believe that mask mandates should remain the same or be more strict.

Biden also sees lagging support for his handling of rising rates of violence in many places across the county. As the national murder rates see historic jumps, only a little more than 1 in 3 Americans (36%) approve of Biden’s handling of crime, down from 43% in an ABC News/Ipsos poll in late October. Similarly, approval of Biden’s handling of gun violence is 32%, down from 39% in the October poll. That figure shrinks among nonpartisans with only 1 in 4 independents approving of Biden’s work on gun violence.

A slim majority of Americans (51%) disapprove of Biden’s handling of climate change. But a large majority of Democrats (81%) approve on this issue, despite some grumbling from progressives that the administration has not done enough. Soon after assuming office, Biden issued a series of executive orders in an attempt to reduce greenhouse emissions and pause new oil and gas leasing on federal property.

Biden’s recent two-hour video call with Russian President Vladimir Putin did not appear to have impressed the American public. This poll finds that most Americans (55%) disapprove of how Biden is handling relations with Russia. Further, only 38% of Americans trust Biden to negotiate on America’s behalf with Putin, which is down from 49% in an ABC News/Ipsos poll in June.

This ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted using Ipsos Public Affairs’ KnowledgePanel® Dec. 10-11, 2021, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 524 adults. Results have a margin of sampling error of 5.0 points, including the design effect. Partisan divisions are 29-25-36%, Democrats-Republicans-independents. See the poll’s topline results and details on the methodology here.

ABC News’ Dan Merkle and Ken Goldstein contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — Donald Trump’s public flirtation with the 2024 presidential race is complicating early stage campaigning for other Republicans who are criss-crossing the country to get an edge on their potential competition and pick up voters from Trump’s loyal and expansive base.

While a bulk of the political focus has been on the upcoming midterm elections, a group of GOP lawmakers have begun to position themselves as viable picks to lead the party.

Several key favorites, such as Florida Gov. Rick DeSantis; former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley; Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla; and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem have already appeared at highly publicized conferences in Nevada and Iowa. Just this week, former Vice President Mike Pence made the rounds in New Hampshire, site of the nation’s first primary, fresh off an appearance in Washington, D.C.

Despite their early legwork, nearly all of major 2024 contenders have been unable to definitively declare their ambitions due to one major setback: Trump. A Quinnipiac University poll from October showed 78% of Republicans want Trump to run in 2024, which could easily disrupt a primary cycle full of his allies and former staff.

The former president’s continued political ambitions are clear, but what’s less certain is how those ambitions will manifest. Trump’s political travel has been limited to his own properties or the occasional arena-style rally, swapping out typical campaign trail cattle calls for phone calls to radio and television stations from the comfort of his home in Mar-a-Lago. In some of these interviews, Trump himself counted his allies out.

During a call with radio host Hugh Hewitt earlier this week, Trump declined to name a successor if in fact he doesn’t run for president, but said his base “will be very angry” if he decides to remain a private citizen. He told Hewitt he’d chime in with a potential successor — whether it be another Republican or himself — in about a year and quickly shifted the conversation to his high approval ratings and President Joe Biden’s poor performance. In another radio interview this week, Trump told local Florida host Brian Mudd that he’s confident DeSantis will not run if he does.

Trump’s position is a threat to many Republican hopefuls, and potentially recreates a dynamic many party candidates found themselves in during the crowded and chaotic 2015 GOP presidential primaries. Then, several candidates undercut Trump’s legitimacy, ultimately undercutting their own potential and leaving a clear runway for Trump to clinch the nomination, Republican strategist Sarah Isgur explained to ABC News.

“Each campaign thought at some point Trump will be out of the race and then it would really be down to them and fill in the Black Republican candidate,” said Isgur, a staff writer at the Dispatch and ABC News contributor. “If Republicans approach 2024 with the same attitude of wait and see without any sort of strategic vision, they’ll repeat the same mistakes as before and that will inure to Trump’s benefit.”

Isgur said the primary field is “Trump’s to decide” and he is likely a shoe-in if he runs.

“The only way that Trump doesn’t become the nominee is if Republican candidates can put their egos aside and circle around one alternative instead of divvying up the field,” Isgur said. “The problem is … is [anyone] willing to step aside and put their chips in with someone else? Maybe. But it’s hard to imagine.”

Several high-profile Republican lawmakers with rumored presidential ambitions have signaled their willingness to bend the knee on Trump’s behalf. DeSantis and Haley both stated they would make way for a Trump candidacy. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott said he would “of course” support Trump. A spokesperson for Noem’s office confirmed to ABC News in an emailed statement that she has “no intention of running for president” and “hopes that President Trump runs again and would gladly support him.”

Scott’s office pointed ABC News to the senator telling Politico he has no plans to run for president.

But others have remained far more coy, leaving a potentially nasty and personal political battle on the table.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a vocal critic of the former president’s handling of the 2020 election, told CNN’s Dana Bash that he’s unsure if he or Trump will run, “but in the end, in 2021, the idea of making predictions for 2024 is a folly. There’s no reason to create tumult in a party that already has a lot of tumult in it.”

Pence told Christian Broadcast Network’s David Brody that he’ll “let the future take care of itself” when asked about his plans in 2024 if Trump also decides to run. Then, later in the week, Pence continued to hold his cards close, telling CNN: “I can honestly tell you in 2023, my family and I will do what we have always done. We’ll reflect, we’ll pray and determine where we might best serve. And we’ll go where we’re called.”

There’s some precedent for love lost between the pair. Recent revelations from ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl show Trump exacerbating his split with his former vice president, defending chants from Jan. 6 insurrectionists to “hang Mike Pence.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who shares a curious personal history with Trump, said in January 2021 that he’s “certainly looking” at a 2024 bid. Before the two were at odds during the 2016 election, Cruz considered Trump a “friend.” Tides shifted quickly once the pair hit the debate stage with Trump dubbing him “Lyin’ Ted.” Cruz eventually endorsed Trump and praised his administration’s policies from his perch on Capitol Hill.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is yet another name on the running list of former Trump allies who have signaled openness to taking him on, telling Fox News host Sean Hannity he’s “always up for a good fight.”

Isgur said she finds it difficult to see a sustainable path to the presidency for any of Trump’s allies if he’s in the mix as a candidate. Christie could dominate the anti-Trump lane, she said, but struggles to see any other current contender embracing that lane.

“That doesn’t mean that Trump can’t do something to turn voters off,” said Isgur. “[Trump voters] are open to another candidate, but does that candidate really exist when they get to know him? I hear a lot of voters talk about Ron DeSantis, but they haven’t seen him tested. They haven’t seen him up against Trump. In the end, if Trump runs, really throws his hat in the ring, what’s the upside to this? Having body blows from Trump may just not be worth it.”

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