Should states require parental consent for minors to get on social media? Elon Musk sharply pares back his promise on cutting government waste. And the first Democratic senator to head south to meet with President-elect Trump will be …? Plus, a funny moment from Jimmy Carter’s funeral.

Welcome to the first Decision Points Roundup of 2025.

As we mention here regularly, DP primarily focuses on national and international news. But each week, we also deliver a roundup of local, regional or under-the-radar news with a political dimension – something unusual or interesting, or that may illustrate a broader trend.

Here’s this week’s look.

Parental Consent for Social Media in Tennessee

A new law in the Volunteer State requiring parental consent for minors to use social media platforms like TikTok came into effect on Jan. 1. The measure applies to new and existing accounts.

HB 1891 aims to empower parents or guardians to set daily screen time limits and require breaks during which the minor cannot access the account. It also lets the adults view the account’s privacy settings.

  • “What it does is try to give parents some control over what their children are watching, how long they’re spending on social media and when they can watch it,” GOP state Sen. Richard Briggs said, according to local outlet WVLT.

Legal hurdles aren’t out of the question; in fact, a similar Tennessee bill was halted by a judge. But yes, it’s a trend. Other states have laws on the books – or are fighting legal challenges to those laws, or have proposed statutes making their way through state legislatures.

That’s all against the backdrop of the legal battle over a federal law that could lead to a TikTok ban at the national level and was the subject of arguments Friday at the Supreme Court. That law requires TikTok to sever ties with its China-based parent, ByteDance, or be banned from app stores and web-hosting services in the United States, effective Jan. 19.

 

Elon Musk Cuts His Cuts Forecast

At an Oct. 27 campaign rally for Trump, the billionaire and owner of X (The Hellscape Formerly Known as Twitter) confidently predicted he could identify “at least $2 trillion” in cuts to federal spending. Total discretionary spending (the stuff that is not automatic/required) runs about $1.6 trillion.

  • In an interview this week with political strategist Mark Penn, Musk – a co-leader of Trump’s not-actually-part-of-the-government Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE – changed his tune, saying $2 trillion was a “best-case outcome” and adding: “I think if we try for $2 trillion, we’ve got a good shot at getting $1 [trillion in cuts].”

That’s still a huge lift politically and economically, absent some huge bipartisan agreement.

Fetterman Goes to Florida

John Fetterman of Pennsylvania will apparently be the first Democratic senator to meet with the president-elect post-election at his Florida club/home, Mar-a-Lago. CBS first reported the planned tête-à-tête.

  • “He’s the president, or he will be officially,” Fetterman said. “And I think it’s pretty reasonable that if the president would like to have a conversation – or invite someone to have a conversation – to have it. And no one is my gatekeeper.”
    • “Eventually, he did get a cellphone. And one time he called me, sort of early on in that process, and on my phone it said, ‘PawPaw mobile.’ So I answered it of course.
      I said, ‘Hey, PawPaw.’
      He said, ‘Who’s this?’
      I said, ‘This is Jason!’
      He said, ‘What are you doing?’
      I said, ‘I’m not doing anything, you called me!’
      He said, ‘I didn’t call you. I’m taking a picture.’”

      The meeting, assuming it happens, will surely ruffle Democratic feathers, something Fetterman may see as a feature, not a bug. No date or time was available as this column came together.

      Oooooh, Gen X Knows This One

      Years ago, my younger brother declared over a college break that he always knew he was home because every digital clock pulsed with, “12:00 … 12:00 … 12:00.”

      So one particular section of Jason Carter’s eulogy for his grandfather, the late president Jimmy Carter, really touched us … and made us laugh:

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