Welcome back to The Washington Mall, my biweekly email focused on what’s really happening in this town, from the White House to the Capitol, K Street, and the media orgs covering it all.

As you know, January 3rd isn’t just the first day of the new Congress. It’s also the debut of The Best & The Brightest, our new daily newsletter, featuring yours truly on Mondays and Thursdays, plus my incredibly talented partners Julia Ioffe on Tuesdays and Tina Nguyen on Wednesdays. (We’ll be time-shifted by one day next week on account of the New Year’s holiday.)

I’m closing out the year in conversation with Peter Meijer, the talented but outgoing Republican congressman who voted to impeach Trump and was primaried by a far-right challenger (with a little help from the Democrats). He’s got a lot to say about “Team Crazy,” the G.O.P.’s primary problem, and the DeSantis alternative.

But first, a few notes from around town...

Alas, within a fortnight of his sojourn to Washington, Meijer would take a vote that would alter his fortune. He was the only freshman among 10 Republican members with the guts to vote for...