| | | | |  | | By Bethany Irvine | | | DOUG OUT — North Dakota Gov. DOUG BURGUM announced this morning that he is suspending his presidential campaign, further narrowing the 2024 GOP presidential field just a month out from the Iowa caucuses. Burgum, whose campaign struggled to reach the escape velocity necessary to move beyond footnote status, consistently polled in the low single digits and failed to gather enough support to qualify for the third and fourth primary debates. Even so, Burgum said in a statement that he is proud of his campaign, which began with a “clear-eyed about our mission: bring a business leader and proven governor’s voice to the fight for the best of America." He went on to criticize the Republican National Committee’s debate rules: “The RNC’s mission is to win elections. It is not their mission to reduce competition and restrict fresh ideas by ‘narrowing the field’ months before the Iowa caucuses or the first in the nation New Hampshire primary.” More from Kierra Frazier IMPEACHMENT LATEST — After House GOP leaders signaled on Friday that a vote green-lighting a formal impeachment probe into President JOE BIDEN could come as as soon as this week, the White House is returning fire at Speaker MIKE JOHNSON, alleging that Johnson “is throwing red meat to MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE and the far right flank of the House GOP by pushing a full House vote on this illegitimate impeachment stunt," White House spokesperson IAN SAMS tells The Messenger’s Stephen Neukam. Johnson hits back: A spokesperson for Speaker Johnson said the White House is "stonewalling on numerous witnesses, tens of thousands of responsive documents and has been repeatedly caught lying about the president’s involvement in the nearly $20 million from America’s adversaries and approximately 80,000 pages of pseudonym emails. … Republicans will continue pressing for answers.”
|  Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) pushed back Monday against Democrat's claims that the GOP is asking for a complete shutdown of the southern border. | Francis Chung/E&E News | MEANWHILE, IN THE UPPER CHAMBER — The Senate’s talks on border security (and aid to Ukraine) are in full disarray as the sides even disagree about whether talks have fully stalled, Jennifer Haberkorn reports. The crux: In exchange for signing off on providing aid to Ukraine, Republicans are insisting on tightening border policies and other border provisions that Democrats have no desire to budge on. How Democrats see it: “Right now, it seems pretty clear that we’re making pretty big compromises and concessions and Republicans aren’t willing to meet us anywhere close to the middle,” said Sen. CHRIS MURPHY (D-Conn.). Murphy expressed an openness to reengaging, but that “there’s no path based upon the place where things were at the end of last week.” How Republicans see it: “We’re still swapping paperwork and we’re still having conversations,” said Sen. JAMES LANKFORD (R-Okla.), the GOP’s top negotiator. “That doesn’t feel like a breakdown to me. That feels like we’re still working, just not making progress fast enough.” Lankford also pushed back against Dems’ claims that the GOP is asking for a complete shutdown of the southern border: “We’re not asking for some sort of total shutdown of the border in the sense that no one can cross it anytime, anyplace … We’re asking for an orderly process. Right now, it’s total chaos.” So where does that leave us? As reported in this morning’s Playbook, the standoff may come to a head this week, with Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER indicating that a vote could come as soon as Wednesday or Thursday. Still, “Lankford reiterated that if Schumer held a vote on the supplemental without a border deal, he would back a filibuster to block it. That’s currently the most likely scenario without a deal, as several other Republicans indicate they have the requisite 41 votes to tank it.” Good Monday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at birvine@politico.com.
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Learn how Amazon innovates for sellers. | | | 2024 WATCH INTERNAL DEBATE — Though the 2024 debate schedule is still in flux, both ABC and CNN are considering sponsoring upcoming GOP presidential debates, Alex Isenstadt reports this morning: “ABC News is considering hosting a debate just ahead of New Hampshire’s Jan. 23 primary. … At the same time, CNN has begun reaching out to the presidential campaigns to inform them of their interest in hosting. … While the Republican National Committee has hosted each of the party’s debates … it is not clear if the party will play a role in any future debates.” ON THE MONEY — Americans for Prosperity’s announcement last week they were backing former South Carolina Gov. NIKKI HALEY’s presidential bid has spurred grumbling amongst both current and former operatives of the CHARLES KOCH-backed network, NBC News’ Brian Schwartz and Katherine Doyle report: “The decision by Americans for Prosperity's super PAC to get behind a candidate with seemingly little chance of prevailing in the GOP primary — and, more critically, one who espouses views contrary to key parts of the Koch network’s well-financed advocacy efforts — has confounded longtime Koch-world operatives alike.” The Trump angle: “Some critics believe that if Trump prevails in 2024, AFP’s endorsement risks driving the network’s influence into the ground, with people close to Trump saying they expect it to be a problem for them to have any future influence over his White House.” CONGRESS FINANCE FOLLY? — GOP lawmakers taking aim at Stripe, a major financial services company, for allowing a fundraiser benefiting an Israeli-designated terrorist group to take credit card donations on their platform, The Washington Examiner’s Gabe Kaminsky scoops this morning. Lawmakers from both sides of the chamber have called on the company to sever all ties with the fundraiser, while “[I]n the House, the Foreign Affairs, Financial Services, and Ways and Means committees are eyeing investigations into Stripe and other payment processors that could be boosting terrorism.” SPY GAMES — “House Judiciary set to unveil new spy powers bill with broad warrant requirement,” by Jordain Carney: “The new legislation would require a warrant to search for any American’s information under Section 702, according to draft text obtained by POLITICO, which is meant to target foreigners abroad but in the process sweeps in citizens’ communications. The current program does not require a warrant when that occurs.”
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO CALIFORNIA CLIMATE: Climate change isn’t just about the weather. It's also about how we do business and create new policies, especially in California. So we have something cool for you: A brand-new California Climate newsletter. It's not just climate or science chat, it's your daily cheat sheet to understanding how the legislative landscape around climate change is shaking up industries across the Golden State. Subscribe now to California Climate to keep up with the changes. | | | | | TRUMP READS MEET ME IN NYC — JARED KUSHNER and IVANKA TRUMP reportedly hosted a private meeting in New York with Qatari Prime Minister MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN AL THANI and a group of primarily Jewish billionaires and businessmen, Axios’ Barak Ravid scoops this morning: “A source who attended the meeting said the Qatari prime minister spoke about his country's efforts to release the hostages in Gaza and answered several questions about Qatar's relationship with Hamas. … That participant said some of the business leaders still have questions about what Qatar will do about Hamas after the war — and whether its relationship with Hamas will change.” HERE YOU COME AGAIN — “Why a Second Trump Presidency May Be More Radical Than His First,” by NYT’s Charlie Savage, Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman: “As he runs for president again facing four criminal prosecutions, Mr. Trump may seem more angry, desperate and dangerous to American-style democracy than in his first term. But the throughline that emerges is far more long-running: He has glorified political violence and spoken admiringly of autocrats for decades.” AMERICA AND THE WORLD LATEST IN THE MIDDLE EAST — As unrest continues in the Middle East, Israel announced that it has expanded military ground operation in Gaza and renewed orders for mass evacuations of Palestinians from South Gaza, AP’s Wafaa Shurafa, Samy Magdy and Jack Jeffery report from the Gaza Strip. A worsening crisis: “The expanded assault posed a deadly choice for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians — either stay in the path of Israeli forces or flee to squeeze into progressively tinier slivers of the Gaza Strip, with no guarantee of safety. Aid workers warned that the mass movement would worsen the already dire humanitarian catastrophe in the territory. … Already under mounting pressure from [the U.S.], Israel appears to be racing to strike a death blow against Hamas … before any new cease-fire.” CRASH AFTERMATH — “Remains of Crew From U.S. Military Aircraft Found in Japanese Waters,” by WSJ’s Alastair Gale
| | | | Sponsored Survey WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU: Share what you think in a short, 1 minute survey about one of our advertisers | | | JUDICIARY SQUARE HAPPENING TODAY — “US Supreme Court set to review Purdue Pharma bankruptcy settlement,” by Reuters’ John Kruzel and Andrew Chung: “Purdue's owners under the settlement would receive immunity in exchange for paying up to $6 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits filed by states, hospitals, people who had become addicted and others who have sued the Stamford, Connecticut-based company over its misleading marketing of the powerful pain medication OxyContin.” POLICY CORNER IMMIGRATION FILES — A new report from the End SIJS Backlog Coalition and Tulane Law School’s Immigrant Rights Clinic shows that the number of abused or neglected young people unable to obtain green cards has nearly doubled since 2021, NBC’s Daniella Silva reports this morning. The report finds that as of March 1, “more than 107,000 youth from 151 countries ‘are trapped in a legal limbo, unable to obtain permanent protection even after being granted humanitarian status.’” AI ON THE BRAIN — As Washington and Silicon Valley continue to grapple with the political implications of artificial intelligence, Punchbowl’s Max Cohen and Jake Sherman report this morning that the NRCC has launched a new ad campaign that includes AI-created images of national parks “overrun with illegal immigrants.” More details: “The GOP messaging takes aim at a number of vulnerable House Democrats who voted against a Republican resolution last week that would bar federal agencies from using funds to house migrants. The resolution, sponsored by Rep. NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS (R-N.Y.), would affect the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Forest Service.”
| | | | GET A BACKSTAGE PASS TO COP28 WITH GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Get insider access to the conference that sets the tone of the global climate agenda with POLITICO's Global Playbook newsletter. Authored by Suzanne Lynch, Global Playbook delivers exclusive, daily insights and comprehensive coverage that will keep you informed about the most crucial climate summit of the year. Dive deep into the critical discussions and developments at COP28 from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS FOR YOUR RADAR — The Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation announced this morning its finalists that will advance in competition to design the Fallen Journalists Memorial on the National Mall. The finalists include architecture and design teams from Massachusetts, Illinois, New York and California. Full announcement FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Democracy Forward has added Tory Nugent as legal director for states and Kelsey Speers as senior engagement and education adviser. Nugent previously was a partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll. Speers previously was a research director at American Oversight. TRANSITIONS — De’Marcus Finnell is now press secretary for LA Mayor Karen Bass. He previously was deputy press secretary for HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge. … Cassie Hammond is now director of accounts at Politicoin. She previously was manager of BUILD-PAC at the National Association of Home Builders. … Abigail White is now press and digital assistant for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Julie Bush, SVP of federal strategic initiatives at Palantir Technologies and Nick Bush, principal at Calfee Halter & Griswold, welcomed Olivia “Livvy” Scout Bush on Nov. 4. She joins big sister Cassidy. Pic via AnnMarie Graham Photography Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton, producer Andrew Howard and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
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