Welcome to the beat. I'm Ari Melbert, and this week is ending with Donald Trump's first loss as

president-elect, his first pick for Attorney General dropping out Thursday. That's a key post where

Trump had vowed a fight only to drop it. And now it's putting more heat on some other potentially

problematic picks that face similar questions. Trump has prioritized the Justice Department more than any other division of government.

And he picked Firebrand Matt Gates, and that was seen as his true desire.

He wanted a total warrior, but it was also very clearly this week a test of his power.

He didn't consult the senators who have votes on the matter, Trump just acted and basically

dared them to oppose him by claiming he might try to ice out their confirmation vote anyway with

a recess appointment. And MAGA leaders spent the last week or two saying this was a preview of

Trump's second term, an unbridled Trump who would mow down even Republican opposition or just

route around it. And he would dare the Senate or the courts to then stop those recess appointments.

In other words, let him get what he wants or he'll go around you anyway. And so here, as we

take stock of the world as it really is, how did that go? It failed. Trump lost this first cabinet clash before this new Senate

was even sworn in, let alone hearings for some of these nominees. There was a week of the tough

headlines about both Trump and Gates, and now he ends this week with reports that you see here

about the failure, the brutal reality check that maybe he won't get his way on everything.

Now, I can only tell you the facts as we get them. None of that dictates anything about the

future of the whole Trump term or this Justice Department. It simply shows that these tests,

as they were calling them, are tests for everyone. They work both ways. That's typical for politics. Trump claimed he was

testing the Senate. In fact, the Senate tested him, and it found his resolve to even wage this uphill

battle did not extend two weeks. And we are working in a field where you need a lot more than weeks of resolve.

He couldn't go two weeks, let alone the seven weeks left until the Senate's even, well,

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