NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight’s 7 p.m. ET show. 

Programming Alert: Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the House Oversight Committee, joins us tonight. 

Well That Was Fun 

Hunter Biden turned what should have been a typically boring House Oversight Committee hearing into must-see television, starting with Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., telling Biden, “You have no balls.”

• Wait what? The embattled president’s son surprised everyone and showed up at the House Oversight Committee vote to hold him in contempt for defying its subpoena.
  • Hunter offered to testify publicly — House Republicans want a closed-door deposition first.
  • To be fair, Hunter is winning the messaging battle. 
  • We don’t have an exhaustive collection of the congressional record, so who knows if “you have no balls” was ever shouted by a congresswoman in a congressional hearing before, but it wasn’t on my 2024 bingo card.

Alex Griffing (@AlexGriffing) of Mediaite headlined his article on the hearing, “MAYHEM.”

Here’s some play-by-play from the Associated Press: “One Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, insisted that Hunter Biden be quickly arrested. GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia called him a coward as he left during her remarks. Democratic lawmakers argued that Biden, who has refused to testify to the panel behind closed doors, should be allowed to speak publicly.”

It won’t matter — the committee will likely hold Hunter Biden in contempt anyway. But the visit and some of his other tactics — like offering to testify publicly but not as the subpoena demanded in private — all muddies the waters for Attorney General Merrick Garland, who will (after full House votes) decide whether to criminally charge Hunter Biden. 

4D chess: Will Democrats encourage Garland to charge Hunter Biden, adding weight to the “nobody is above the law” arguments? 

Washington memo: Never underestimate Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden’s (and at one time Jared Kushner’s) defense attorney.

Austin’s Health isn’t the Problem — Biden’s Is 

The White House’s lack of transparency over Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s prostate cancer creates a far bigger problem for President Biden’s team: the focus on his own health and their candor about it.

Simple question for the White House: If you as an administration can’t be honest about the defense secretary, why should the American people believe you about the president’s health? 

Ground truth:

• The White House already plays hide the ball with Biden and his health.
  • It makes accommodations (short stairs, limited schedule, et cetera) but won’t allow his doctor to speak to the press. 
  • It won’t answer questions about what medications he takes. It discloses some but doesn’t provide a full list or answer questions about it. 
  • By any reasonable measure, Mr. Biden is the least accessible, by events, press availability and unscripted moments, of any modern president. 
• National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says the Pentagon’s secrecy was “not good.”
  • Don’t the Pentagon and secretary of defense work for Kirby’s boss, the president?
  • If it’s “not good,” wouldn’t firing a few people go a long way to restoring credibility?
  • Didn’t Biden run on transparency and restoring trust in government, and he won’t fire people who covered up the secretary of defense’s ICU stay? 
  • The White House chief of staff sent a memo ordering Cabinet secretaries to notify him if they can’t perform their duties. Really? A memo? 

Thought bubble: This could have all been avoided by a one-line statement on the Friday morning before Christmas: “The defense secretary will undergo minor surgery for prostate cancer today.” Nobody would have cared.  

Washington doesn’t charge: It’s not the crime — it’s the cover-up. It’s the arrogance to say the public doesn’t have the right to know. 

Lest we forget: The secretary of defense was incapacitated as war breaks out in the Middle East? 

William Mauldin (@willmauldin) and Thomas Grove (@tggrove) at The Wall Street Journal report Iran’s Houthi rebels welcomed Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region with their largest barrage yet of attacks against U.S. Navy ships and international shipping: “The barrage, including 18 drones, two cruise missiles and one ballistic missile.”

Imagine your son or daughter serving on a Navy ship in the Houthis’ range, and the secretary of defense can’t be bothered to let the White House know he is in the ICU? 

Follow the money 💰: The Iranians spend about $50,000 on a drone, we spend at least $1-2 million to shoot it down, and that assumes the Navy only fires one intercept per incoming drone. That’s a pretty good return on investment for Iran. 

Talk about embarrassing: As Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) and Bill Roggio (@billroggio) pointed out in the Long War Journal a week ago, the United States and a coalition warned the Houthis to stop. And a week later, the Houthis launched a punishing attack with zero consequences while the secretary of state traveled to the region. 

What are warnings worth if they aren’t backed up?

Down Eight in Michigan 

New polling shows Biden down eight to Trump in Michigan, which is home to large union, African American and Muslim populations. 

Ground truth: The president is in trouble. 

But first: Iowa

• On Monday, the Hawkeye State will caucus in temperatures that will feel like the North Pole with minus 35-degree wind chills.
  • On nights like that, enthusiasm and organization matter a lot.
  • Warren Buffett once said about investing that when the tide goes out, you find out who isn’t wearing pants. 
• Thought bubble: When it’s minus 36 degrees in Iowa, you will figure out the depth of a candidate’s support rather than the breadth. With Haley surging, DeSantis desperate and Trump tied up in court, it will be a long night. Bring your long johns. 

The “Sleazeball” Only Fetterman Will Talk About 

The conservatives’ new favorite son, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., renewed his call for Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., to resign from Congress, calling him a “sleazeball” and citing his own “aversion to gold bars in your mattress and over half a million dollars stuffed around your house,” a reference to the federal bribery charges Sen. Menendez is facing while still serving in the Senate. Watch here. 

How can you not love a guy in a Steelers hat talking about sleazeballs and gold bars?

Somehow, Fetterman became the Senate’s moral compass and the only one willing to keep pounding Menendez. Even the media yawns at the New Jersey Democrats mounting challenges against Menendez. There’s no one chasing him around the capital, shouting questions at him about gold bars, nor any stakeouts at his home. 

Thought bubble: Why isn’t there a media circus surrounding Menendez calling for him to be ousted as happened with Republican House backbencher and serial fabulist George Santos?

Finally Fauci Accountability

Occasionally, congressional oversight does something useful — like force Dr. Anthony Fauci to tell the “truth” about the National Institute of Health funding Wuhan lab projects. 

Cassidy Morrison (@Cassarolle) of the Daily Mail reports, “Fauci flip flops during Congress grilling: Ex-White House doctor ducks more than 100 questions about Covid and admits he approved risky Wuhan coronavirus research proposal without reading it.”

Watch tonight: Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, who led two days of questioning against Fauci, joins us with the highlights and lowlights of America’s favorite doctor. 

Remember when Fauci yelled at a humble correspondent for asking such questions? 

Gen Z Just Wants to Get Fat and Lazy

The same group that wants to get fat and lazy wants to pay fast-food workers $20 an hour and then complain on TikTok about $15 Big Macs. We’ve come a long way from the greatest generation. 

This segment started with a story by Erica Nardozzi in the Daily Mail about Suzi Guidroz, a “Gen Z woman, 23, (who) calls on people to ‘normalize getting ugly and fat’ after working a 9-to-5 job.” 

From Guidroz’s TikTok with 500,000 subscribers: “The last thing I wanna f—–g do after sitting in an office all damn day is go and work out, is go take care of my body, b—h. I wanna eat this f—–g Chick-fil-A sandwich. Is that too much to ask?”

We asked Suzi Guidroz to join us tonight, and she wanted a $1,500 appearance fee. 

If you watch one thing, make it this video of a Gen Z’er responding to the economy itself, which is pretty good and perhaps more emblematic of a generation (rightfully) disillusioned with the American dream.

There is an anger in America we need to understand. 

Our friend Erick Erickson responded on X, formerly Twitter, but might be missing the point about a generation without hope the economy will get better for them. That’s the difference between now and when all of us were in our 20s.

The other problem: 

• Progressives (dominated by Gen Z) love to demand higher minimum wages and massive social spending but then bristle at $18 value meals. 

Don’t say you weren’t warned: Eric Levitz (@EricLevitz) at Vox writes, “Are $18 Big Macs the price of falling inequality?”

Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 7/6C on NewsNation. Find your channel here. 

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.