Welcome to the beat. I'm Ari Melbert. We're tracking several stories right now, including ongoing

sparring over the end of the year spending bill in Washington. You can see preparations where the

Democratic leader Jeffries is preparing to speak. We're told that could come here any moment,

and we're going to listen to what Democratic Leader Jeffries has to say about this ongoing

spending clash when he comes out there.

So you've watched the news before. You know how this works. It's a development in these ongoing

battles to get the government fund. And Elon Musk has been weighing in, complicating the situation

for Republicans. So we'll go to that when we see action and news. We'll turn, though,

right now to the other top story that we're covering,

which is government activity that follows Trump's vows to take revenge on his perceived

foes. There are people, you may have heard some of them, who said this was campaign rhetoric,

or you can't always believe Trump, or wait and see. Well, tonight I can tell you, the time for

that kind of talk and waiting is over.

House Republicans are using their government power to go after a conservative official who

investigated the January 6th insurrection. Before I get to what they're doing, I want to begin

with the facts. Imagine that. Fact number one, all members of Congress,

regardless of the party, have wide legal protection from prosecution for the work they do inside

Congress, for what they say on the House floor or how they carry out their duties on a committee.

It is a very high bar for the government in a different branch to prosecute a lawmaker for that kind of work, for those activities, unless you really find something like evidence, say, of bribery to sell government activity.

We have seen members of both parties get in that kind of trouble. It relates to their government work, but it is a high bar.

Fact number two,

there is no such public evidence right now against any of the members of the January 6th committee.

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