Today’s newsletter highlights:
- State lawmakers get an early look at a portion of Gov. Brian Kemp’s budget.
- U.S. Rep. Mike Collins tries to rewrite history.
- A veteran prosecutor gets a new job.
Early Monday afternoon, former Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan received an email from a Georgia GOP official spelling out a trio of punishments for his embrace of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign last year.
The state executive committee formally expelled Duncan from the party, demanded he cease referring to himself as a Republican and banned him from attending any state GOP events.
“Be governed accordingly,” wrote Justin Rice, the party’s executive director.
For Duncan, it’s the latest tiff in a long-running battle with the party’s MAGA wing — staunch supporters of Donald Trump. He and pro-Trump Republicans have long been at odds, even during his single term as Georgia’s lieutenant governor.
Credit: Ben Hendren for the AJC
Credit: Ben Hendren for the AJC
And back in August, after Duncan endorsed Harris, Georgia GOP chair Josh McKoon warned him to “cease referring to yourself as a Republican.”
Of course, a party can’t decree who can declare themselves a member — although far-right activists in some deep-red counties have tried.
But this latest clash highlights the party’s ongoing efforts to purge itself of the remnants of the Never Trump faction as the president-elect prepares to take office. The party even sent us a request that we refer to Duncan as an “expelled Republican” from now on.
You can hear more from Duncan on today’s “Politically Georgia” show, either the podcast or when it airs live on WABE starting at 10 a.m. For now, Duncan seemed to take the punishment in stride.
“Hard to believe this is a good use of time for a party that’s only got a limited amount of time to figure out mass deportations, world peace and global tariffs,” Duncan said. “Learn how to take a victory lap — not light another dumpster fire, McKoon.”
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Credit: Adam Gray/AP
Credit: Adam Gray/AP
GOOD MORNING! Georgia’s legislative session starts in six days. President-elect Donald Trump’s second term starts in 13 days.
Here are four things to know for today:
- Former President Jimmy Carter’s casket departs Georgia today for Washington, where a motorcade and then a horse-drawn caisson will bring it to the U.S. Capitol. He will then lie in state until funeral services on Thursday.
- Georgia lawmakers will get a preview of Gov. Brian Kemp’s budget during a 1 p.m. hearing today at the state Capitol (more on that below).
- A federal judge found former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in contempt of court for not responding to requests for information related to a $148 million defamation judgment granted to two former Georgia election workers.
- Georgia Republicans are pushing for new “election integrity” laws, only this time without the false claim that the election was stolen, the AJC’s Mark Niesse reports.
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Credit: Ryon Horne/AJC
Credit: Ryon Horne/AJC
BUDGET PREVIEW. Gov. Brian Kemp won’t reveal his budget for another week. But we’ll get a sneak peek at a big part of it today during a special meeting at the state Capitol.
Department of Corrections Commissioner Tyrone Oliver is set to present his troubled agency’s budget request today during a joint hearing of some House and Senate budget subcommittees.
This isn’t normal. Lawmakers usually don’t hold hearings like this until the week after the governor reveals his budget. But they’re getting a head start on the prison budget, in part, because its problems are much more difficult to solve.
The AJCs Carrie Teegardin and Danny Robbins have chronicled those issues in detail, including a record number of killings behind the bars and a U.S. Department of Justice investigation that said conditions inside the prisons were “unconstitutional.”
A big question heading into this session is how the Kemp administration would respond. We’ll get a better idea of that today.
“The governor is making an exceptional investment in the Department of Corrections,” said state Rep. Matt Hatchett, a Republican from Dublin and chair of the House Appropriations Committee.
We expect the hearing to last about three hours, which will include lots of questions and commentary from lawmakers. State Sen. Blake Tillery, a Republican from Vidalia and chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, signaled he wants to focus on inmates smuggling cellphones behind bars.
“The public is tired of watching prisoners post dance videos on TikTok while serving time. Prisons are meant for rehabilitation and accountability, not for viral trends and social media stardom,” Tillery said. “We’re taking this seriously, and change is coming.”
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Credit: Jose Luis Magana/AP
Credit: Jose Luis Magana/AP
REWRITING HISTORY. If history is written by the victors, then President-elect Donald Trump has a lot of opportunities ahead when he takes office later this month.
Near the top of his list may be rewriting the narrative surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The New York Times and others have documented how Trump and his supporters have tried to downplay the more violent aspects of that tragic day. Now, Trump appears to have an ally in Georgia U.S. Rep. Mike Collins of Jackson.
“On #ThisDayInHistory in 2021, thousands of peaceful grandmothers gathered in Washington, D.C., to take a self-guided, albeit unauthorized, tour of the U.S. Capitol building,” Collins posted to X on Monday, hours before lawmakers certified Trump’s victory without being threatened by a violent mob.
The post, predictably, got a lot of engagement. And maybe that was the point. Asked about it later, Collins said he wasn’t concerned with how people were interpreting his post, saying, “they’re going to read it however they’re going to read it.”
“The people that committed crimes, they are being punished,” he said. The point of his post, he said, was highlighting that “there were a lot of nonviolent people who got arrested.”
“We have been targeted by weaponized agencies for too long now, and it’s time to stop that,” he said.
Federal prosecutors say more than 140 police officers were assaulted during the attack, which caused an estimated $2.8 million worth of damage. To date, more than 1,500 people have been charged, including 44 with Georgia ties.
U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia, was one of the last members of Congress to be evacuated from the Capitol, meaning he witnessed firsthand the rioters’ attempt to break into the gallery. He was not aware of Collins’ post but said it was part of a troubling pattern from Republicans.
“It’s clear that this incoming administration is going to do everything it can to try to whitewash what happened on January 6th,” Johnson said.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
SPREADSHEETS. For much of her life, Noelle Kahaian wasn’t the one out front. In school, she baked the cookies that earned her twin sister votes for class office. Later, at the Henry County Republican Party, she worked on countless campaigns for other candidates as a local party official.
But starting next week, it will be Kahaian’s turn to take the lead when she is sworn in as one of 22 new members of the Georgia General Assembly.
Kahaian grew up in Michigan, where she went to college with her mother as they both earned counseling degrees. She moved to Georgia about a decade ago with her husband, a forensic accountant whose job, she jokes, makes it difficult for her to hide shoe purchases.
A paralegal, Kahaian works for Child and Parental Rights Campaign, a nonprofit public interest law firm. She got involved with her local Republican party, first as a precinct manager and later as a first vice chair. She first ran for office two years ago, narrowly losing to Republican state Rep. Lauren Daniel, R-Locust Grove, in the primary.
She tried again in 2024, and this time she won.
Kahaian says she plans to support issues that strengthen parental rights, which she says includes Republican efforts to ban transgender girls from women’s sports.
And she wants to use her paralegal skills to help her colleagues.
“I’m just naturally a supportive role,” she said, adding: “I want to keep everybody prepared and organized and make them spreadsheets.”
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
LISTEN UP. Today on “Politically Georgia,” former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan joins the show to talk about the Georgia Republicans formally expelling him from the party. Then Republican political operative Brian Robinson talks about the new GOP majorities in Congress.
Be sure to download the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Episodes are uploaded by noon each day, just in time to have lunch with us. You can also listen live at 10 a.m. EDT on 90.1 FM WABE. Have a question for the show? Give us a call at 770-810-5297.
On Monday’s show, Dr. William Foege, the first executive director of the Carter Center, discussed his work with former President Jimmy Carter, who died last week. The Washington Post’s Marianna Sotomayor shared thoughts on how Republicans plan to implement President-elect Donald Trump’s vision for his second term.
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Credit: Alex Brandon/AP
Credit: Alex Brandon/AP
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Jimmy Carter’s casket will arrive in Washington. After a stop at the U.S. Navy Memorial, there will be a ceremony at the Capitol attended by members of Congress before he lies in state for the next two days.
- President Joe Biden is traveling to California where he will announce the creation of two new national monuments on tribal lands.
- Vice President Kamala Harris will announce a new federal rule that removes medical debt from consumer credit reports.
- The U.S. House has scheduled a vote on the Laken Riley Act, a bill named for the college student killed on the University of Georgia’s campus. The bill would allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain immigrants accused of burglary or theft who are living in the country without legal permission.
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Credit: AJC file photo
Credit: AJC file photo
SHOUTOUTS. Transitions:
- Veteran prosecutor Linda Dunikoski has been hired by the Augusta Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office after she was let go in Cobb County. Dunikoski was the lead prosecutor in the Ahmaud Arbery case. She also worked on the cheating scandal case in Atlanta Public Schools.
Kudos to:
- Nathaniel Van Brimmer for earning the rank of Eagle Scout, scouting’s highest honor. Nathaniel is the son of regular Politically Georgia contributor and former newsletter editor Adam Van Brimmer. Nathaniel’s achievement was celebrated Monday night in a ceremony in Savannah. Among those sending commendation letters were Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Savannah native; President-elect Donald Trump; and the members of the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels flight demonstration team.
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
Want a birthday shoutout in the Politically Georgia newsletter? There’s a form for that! Click here to submit the shoutouts. It’s not just birthdays. We’re also interested in new jobs, engagements, birth announcements, etc.
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AS ALWAYS, send your best scoops, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.
