| | | | |  | | By Eugene Daniels and Rachael Bade | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
| | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | CR UPDATE — Nope, no bill yet. Negotiators worked through the night, but text of the year-end continuing resolution has yet to be posted with a government shutdown deadline now less than four days away. (Reminder: Speaker MIKE JOHNSON says he has every intention of adhering to the House’s 72-hour-notice rule.) “While negotiations on the funding patch itself are resolved, disputes continue over agriculture aid and other potential add-ons, as leaders look to attach year-end priorities like extending expiring health programs and a bill to restrict U.S. investment in China,” Katherine Tully-McManus, Jennifer Scholtes and Meredith Lee Hill wrote last night. Still, our POLITICO colleagues have been able to give you some idea of what to expect: What’s in: An extension of government funding through March 14 … a one-year farm bill extension … $10 billion (or more) in farm economic assistance … one-year extension of health programs … outbound Chinese investment restrictions What’s out: Permitting reform What’s in limbo: Year-round E15 ethanol sales … Pharmacy Benefit Manager reforms … transfer of RFK Stadium to the D.C. government … 100 percent federal funding for Baltimore’s Key Bridge What it all means: “Funding meltdown foreshadows Johnson’s tough year ahead,” by Meredith Lee Hill, Jordain Carney and Olivia Beavers
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A government shutdown is now less than four days away. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | DEMS’ BIG SHOWDOWN — While we wait for a bill to materialize, let’s delve into the other big Hill drama this week: Democrats’ sudden-onset youth movement. A recap: On this day two years ago, the Democratic party’s standard bearer was 80-year-old President JOE BIDEN. Its House majority was led by 82-year-old Speaker NANCY PELOSI, 83-year-old Majority Leader STENY HOYER and 82-year-old Majority Whip JIM CLYBURN, supported by a cast of multiple 70- and 80-something committee chairs. Fast forward to today: After years of resisting calls of generational change, Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn stepped down from leadership after losing the majority in the 2022 midterms. Biden’s age (and stubbornness) is widely blamed for DONALD TRUMP’s stunning presidential comeback this year. In recent weeks, two longtime House Democratic committee leaders — RAUL GRIJALVA (Ariz.), 76, of Natural Resources and JERRY NADLER (N.Y.), 77, of Judiciary — removed themselves from contention under challenges from younger colleagues. And yesterday a third — Agriculture’s DAVID SCOTT (Ga.), 79 — dropped out of the running after badly losing an important vote of House Democratic insiders. But the biggest symbolic test of old guard vs. new guard will play out in just a few hours — and it’s hard to say what exactly is going to happen. That’s because the battle between 35-year-old ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (N.Y.) and 74-year-old GERRY CONNOLLY (Va.) to lead House Oversight Democrats doesn’t necessarily fit neatly into that narrative. Connolly triumphed in yesterday’s vote of the House Democratic Steering Committee, 34-27, signaling real strength among the caucus’ top echelon. Usually winning a steering vote is decisive for would-be committee leaders, but not always (just ask California Rep. ANNA ESHOO about that Energy and Commerce gavel she wanted), and Ocasio-Cortez is taking her case to the full Democratic Caucus this morning, where she is hoping to find a friendlier audience. Here’s what we’re hearing going in: It’s going to be a crapshoot. And that’s in no small part because the age gap isn't the only divide at play here: Generational: While Connolly is literally twice AOC’s age, he is by and large not seen in the same vein as the other vanquished senior Democrats. For one thing, he’s never led a full committee, having been passed over by Rep. JAMIE RASKIN (D-Md.) on Oversight two years ago. And he’s been a workhorse on that committee, grinding away on federal workforce and Postal Service issues and diving deep on Trump’s hotel entanglements during the incoming president’s first term. But Connolly is also facing a serious cancer diagnosis and questions about whether he is capable of being the tip of the Democratic spear on a key committee where communications — AOC’s forte — is everything. “If we’re going to try to win, why not have one of the strongest voices in our party at that table?” one member of the steering committee told Playbook last night. “She has an incredible ability to communicate with so much of the country. And I think there's a missed opportunity to not have that at the table.” Ideological: Yes, Ocasio-Cortez is seen in a vastly different light among House Democrats today than six years ago, when she beat unseated future speaker JOE CROWLEY in an NYC primary. But there’s still a sense among some moderate Democrats that she might be too much of a lightning rod as the party tries to fix its branding issues post 2024. She did not hesitate last week, for instance, to call the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO BRIAN THOMPSON a “wake-up call” about people’s frustrations with the healthcare system. That’s a connection many of her colleagues were not comfortable making. As one House Democrat texted us last night: “While AOC is young, talented and incredibly inspiring to the progressive base, there’s been much conversation about whether it’s wise to promote the GOP’s favorite foil to lead a high-profile committee sure to provide the very content Republicans will use during the midterms to effectively define Dems as woke, Trump-hating leftists.” Interrelational: Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Ocasio-Cortez’s bid to lead Oversight is that she wants it at all. Once the leader of a “Squad” of outsiders committed to pushing party leaders left, she now wants to be one of them. It’s the culmination of a transformation that has played out over years, culminating this year in her work as a surrogate for the Biden and KAMALA HARRIS presidential campaigns — something she put at the center of her steering committee presentation, we’re told, talking about wants to represent the whole caucus, not the liberal fringe. But she has scar tissue to overcome, including the Squad’s past targeting of other members for primary challenges (as our colleagues Daniella Diaz and Nicholas Wu report, she signaled that might be coming to an end). And there’s the fact that Connolly, a garrulous native Bostonian, is genuinely well liked across the caucus. Good Tuesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade and Eugene Daniels.
| | | | A message from Instagram: Congress can help keep teens safe online today.
By passing federal legislation requiring app store parental consent and age verification, Congress would put parents in charge of teen app downloads. This helps parents ensure teens download apps that are safe.
That's why 3 of 4 parents agree: teens under 16 shouldn't be able to download apps without parental consent.
Tell lawmakers: support a national standard requiring app store parental consent and age verification for teens. | | | BREAKING OVERNIGHT — “Ukraine kills top Russian general in Moscow it accuses of chemical weapons crimes,” by Reuters’ Andrew Osborn and Guy Faulconbridge: “Lieutenant General IGOR KIRILLOV, who was chief of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, was killed outside an apartment building along with his assistant when a bomb hidden in an electric scooter went off, Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, said. An SBU source confirmed to Reuters that the Ukrainian intelligence agency had been behind the hit." DEAR ELON — “Elizabeth Warren asks Trump to set conflict-of-interest rules for Musk,” by WaPo’s Michael Scherer: “It is not clear what ethics rules, if any, [ELON] MUSK, has agreed to follow in his role as a Trump adviser.
| | | | A message from Instagram:   | | | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | On the Hill The Senate is in. The House will meet at 10 a.m. 3 things to watch …
- FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: House Administration Committee Republicans will convene a hearing tomorrow on “Preventing Foreign Interference” in American elections. But to an array of unions and liberal groups, that is a first step toward advancing legislation that they fear could be used to silence advocacy groups under the guise of protecting democracy. Today those groups — including the AFL-CIO, Indivisible and SEIU — are launching Americans Against Government Censorship, a coalition aimed at opposing those efforts, such as bills allowing any nonprofit to be designated a “terrorist supporting organization” or to have its tax-exempt status revoked for inadvertently accepting donations from foreign nationals. See the group’s website
- Witness two triumphs of citizen lobbying on the House floor this week: Last night lawmakers sent a bill establishing the bald eagle as the national bird to President JOE BIDEN’s desk — heeding, as NBC’s Frank Thorp and Ryan Nobles report, the efforts of Minnesota eagle enthusiast PRESTON COOK. And there will be a vote later today on passage of the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, a bill that would commission an ongoing study of residential programs for troubled youth and the product of years of D.C. lobbying by heiress and media personality PARIS HILTON.
- Time to lay your tax cards on the table: With Republicans ready to start a 2025 reconciliation sprint, Sen. JOSH HAWLEY (R-Mo.) is pushing for a major increase to the child tax credit, from a max of $2,000 to $5,000 per child, Axios’ Stef Kight scoops. It piggybacks on a proposal floated by VP-elect JD VANCE but adds some twists: Parents could claim the credit as soon as there’s a pregnancy, and while Hawley is not proposing to make the credit fully refundable, he is proposing to apply it against payroll taxes as well as income taxes. The catch: It’s super expensive, to the tune of $2 trillion-plus over the 10-year budget window.
At the White House Biden will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 2 p.m. In the evening, Biden and First Lady JILL BIDEN will depart the White House en route to Wilmington, Delaware. VP KAMALA HARRIS will deliver remarks in the morning to young leaders who are active and engaged in their local communities in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
| | | | Billions in spending. Critical foreign aid. Immigration reform. The final weeks of 2024 could bring major policy changes. Inside Congress provides daily insights into how Congressional leaders are navigating these high-stakes issues. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | TRANSITION LENSES
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President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Dec. 16, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. | Evan Vucci/AP | WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE — Tech leaders are zeroing in on Donald Trump ahead of his inauguration, pouring money into the Jan. 20 event and “parading through West Palm Beach for meetings with the president-elect,” write Myah Ward, Lisa Kashinsky and Gabby Miller. “It’s a dynamic Trump himself has noticed, telling reporters during his Palm Beach press conference today that ‘this term, everybody wants to be my friend.’” The details: “Starting last week, at least four tech CEOs or their companies have announced giant checks to Trump’s inauguration fund. So far, Amazon, Meta, OpenAI’s SAM ALTMAN and Perplexity say they’ll donate $1 million each. … In the past, tech inaugural contributions have been smaller and more subtle.” Yesterday’s tech mogul meeting … Trump met with TikTok CEO SHOU ZI CHEW yesterday ahead of a possible U.S. ban on the video app, NBC News’ David Ingram and Vaughn Hillyard report. As a reminder, “a federal law President Joe Biden signed this year would ban TikTok in the U.S. effective Jan. 19, unless its Chinese ownership agrees to divest its interest.” Today’s tech mogul meeting … Trump will meet Netflix co-CEO TED SARANDOS at Mar-a-Lago today, CNN’s Alayna Treene reports. Historically, Sarandos has backed Democratic presidential candidates, and has donated to Biden, former President BARACK OBAMA and presidential nominee HILLARY CLINTON in past elections. Related read: “CEOs Are Feeling a Lot More Upbeat About the New Year,” by WSJ’s Ben Glickman More top reads:
- Naming names: Trump announced a slew of new ambassador picks yesterday, including his picks to represent the U.S. in Japan, Dominican Republic, Austria, Luxembourg and Uruguay, Kierra Frazier reports: GEORGE GLASS, LEAH FRANCIS CAMPOS, ARTHUR GRAHAM FISHER, STACEY FEINBERG and LOU RINALDI, respectively.
- Happening today: Former Sen. KELLY LOEFFLER (R-Ga.) will hit Capitol Hill today to meet with more than a dozen GOP senators as she tries to shore up support for her nomination to lead the Small Business Administration, Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser scoops.
CONGRESS
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Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) speak to reporters on Russia's invasion of Ukraine at the U.S. Capitol on March 02, 2022 in Washington, D.C. | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images | CIRCUS MAXIMUS — Rep. VICTORIA SPARTZ made an unusual announcement yesterday: “I will stay as a registered Republican but will not sit on committees or participate in the caucus until I see that Republican leadership in Congress is governing. I do not need to be involved in circuses,” the Indiana Republican wrote on X. The reaction: “The decision to step down confused some Republicans, but others suspected the move had something to do with the House GOP Steering Committee not giving her a coveted post on the House Ways and Means Committee,” Olivia Beavers reports. “Spartz, who has had problems with retaining staff, said she’d prefer to ‘spend more of my time helping’ the mission of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which is meant to help cut government spending.” Thought bubble: With three House members set to depart for the Trump administration early next year, Speaker MIKE JOHNSON could be left to manage a single-vote majority for several months — and the famously mercurial Spartz could well be that majority.
| | | | A message from Instagram:   | | | AMERICA AND THE WORLD
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Marc and Debra Tice, the parents of journalist Austin Tice, give a press conference in the Lebanese capital Beirut on December 4, 2018. | Joseph Eid/AFP via Getty Images | SYRIA AND BEYOND — The U.S. conducted airstrikes targeting Islamic State camps in areas of Syria yesterday that were formerly controlled by Russia and BASHAR AL-ASSAD, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement. “The strikes against the ISIS leaders, operatives and camps were conducted as part of the ongoing mission to disrupt, degrade, and defeat ISIS,” the agency said, adding there were no indications of civilian casualties following the strikes. “The latest U.S. strikes came on the same day that the Kurdish-led administration governing much of northern Syria pleaded for unity and for a countrywide cease-fire,” NYT’s Eve Sampson reports. “[Turkish-backed] rebels, supported by Turkish air support and drones, are fighting to take territory from the Kurdish administration. … The top commander of the main Kurdish militia, the Syrian Democratic Forces, said the assaults had forced fighters to be diverted from defending the prisons that house people accused of being ISIS members.” Elsewhere in the region … The mother of missing American journalist AUSTIN TICE wrote a letter to Israeli PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU urging the Israeli military to pause their strikes near Damascus to allow for rescuers to search for her son, who is believed to be held prisoner in the area, NYT’s Adam Entous and Patrick Kingsley report. More top reads:
- From Russia, with love: Russian Defense Minister ANDREI BELOUSOV said in a meeting yesterday that the Kremlin is prioritizing winning the war in Ukraine in 2025 and is preparing for “a possible military conflict with NATO in Europe in the next decade,” Semafor’s Mathias Hammer reports. “Speaking at the same meeting, President VLADIMIR PUTIN said Russia has the ‘strategic initiative’ on the battlefield in Ukraine, and that the West is pushing Russia toward ‘the red line.’”
- You’ve got mail: The Commerce Department moved last week to ban China Telecom Americas, the U.S. subsidiary of one of China’s largest communications firms, NYT’s David Sanger reports. The move marks the Biden administration’s first formal response to China’s broad hack of American telecommunications networks earlier this fall.
TRUMP CARDS NEW YORK STATE OF MIND — Justice JUAN MERCHAN rejected one of several paths that Trump’s legal team is pursuing to overturn the president-elect’s conviction for falsifying business records to cover up an extramarital affair, Erica Orden reports. Merchan, who oversaw Trump’s hush money trial back in May, shot down Trump’s legal team claims that Manhattan prosecutors had improperly introduced evidence of Trump’s official conduct. What’s next? “While Merchan’s ruling on the immunity question handed Trump a legal loss, the reality is that Trump will likely face few, if any, consequences stemming from the conviction, even if it is ultimately upheld.” POLICY CORNER SOUTH OF THE BORDER — The Trump transition team is already maneuvering on the president-elect’s sweeping immigration agenda, hosting back-channel meetings with leaders in Mexico and El Savador to discuss “taking in some of the millions of undocumented migrants set to be expelled under his mass deportation plan,” Bloomberg’s Eric Martin scoops. “The goal of the outreach is to prepare broad understandings so that detailed work on deportations can begin immediately after he takes office.” But, but, but … “[T]he conversations with other governments in the region won’t be easy. The U.S. is on poor terms with countries that are the original home to many undocumented migrants … and many of those countries don’t generally accept deportation flights. Trump would need to persuade them to do so or find other places to send their citizens.” Related read: “Trump says border wall material shouldn’t be sold despite congressional requirement,” by WaPo’s Meryl Kornfield and Nick Miroff ALL POLITICS FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — MICHELLE DEATRICK is launching a campaign for DNC vice chair. Deatrick is currently chair of the DNC Council on the Environment and Climate Crisis and is a former battleground state organizer from Michigan. BEYOND THE BELTWAY THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE — Lawmakers and officials are still pushing the federal government for answers after a series of purported drone sightings across the East Coast went viral over the past week: “The White House said Monday that the Biden administration conducted an assessment of the drone activity in the Northeast, so far finding that the drones don’t pose a national security threat to Americans,” WSJ’s Joseph De Avila reports. Members of the House Intelligence Committee will receive a classified briefing this afternoon on the drone activity from FBI, Defense and CIA officials, Punchbowl’s Mica Soellner reports. ROTTEN APPLE — “Eric Adams’ troubles pile up, just as he seems to get his post-indictment footing,” by Sally Goldenberg, Joe Anuta and Jeff Coltin
| | | | Write your own chapter in the new Washington. From the Lame Duck Congress Series to New Administration insights, POLITICO Pro delivers intelligence across 22+ policy areas to help you anticipate and navigate change. Discover how a Pro subscription empowers you. Learn more today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Ketanji Brown Jackson made her Broadway debut in “& Juliet.” Jerome Powell is a “Call Her Daddy” fan. Alex Bruesewitz is grateful after fainting at the New York Young Republican Club gala. Joy Woodhouse gave us C-SPAN’s greatest moment 10 years ago yesterday. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED on Saturday afternoon at a farewell and birthday party for Kirsten Powers at her and Robert Draper’s D.C. residence, as she goes to Italy to write a book about late-stage capitalism’s impacts on the U.S.: Elisabeth Bumiller and Steven Weisman, Karen Tumulty and Paul Richter, Steven Hayes, Adam Green, Jim Kessler, John Scofield, Sally Quinn, Susan McCue, John Harwood, Clover Stroud and Peter Browning, Paul Kane and Kristin Wilson. — SPOTTED Wednesday at the Line celebrating 15 years of Bully Pulpit International: Andrew Bleeker, Anna Soellner, Ben Coffey Clark, Ben LaBolt, Courtney Corbisiero, Danny Franklin, Jeff Nussbaum, Jenny Yeager Kaplan, Joel Kliksberg, Jon Kelly, Kara Carscaden, Mark Patricof, Mike Allen, Mike Schneider, Paulette Aniskoff, Rob Flaherty, Scott Mulhauser and Xochitl Hinojosa. — SPOTTED at Valeria Ojeda-Avitia’s apres-ski 30th birthday party Saturday: Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), Adán Serna, George Flynn, Clarissa Rojas, Lucia Rodriguez, Hugo Rojo, Nikki Santos, Natalie Armijo, Emily Hartshorn, Cecilia Belzer, Caleb Young, Audrey Jimenez, Julian Duque, Caroline Sweeney, Manuela Luque, Carlos Mark Vera, Jesse Barba, Jasey Cárdenas, Jose Borjon, José Muñoz, Lauryn Fanguen, Louise Bentsen, Diana Marrero, Lubna Sebastian, Guillermo Pérez, Tanner Palin, Rachel Montoya, Grant Tosterud, Norberto Salinas, Kris Schneider, Aaron Trujillo, Isabelle Rodas and Michael Panek, and Martin Valderruten. — Friends of the National World War II Memorial hosted an 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge commemoration yesterday at the National World War II Memorial. SPOTTED: Kevin Griess, Jane Droppa, Harry Miller, Frank Cohn, Alex Kershaw, Sophie Karlshausen, Luc Tremblay, Julien Resplandy and Frank Biever. MEDIA MOVE — Courtney Boland will be director of comms for the U.S. at The Economist. She was most recently a global comms manager for Bloomberg and is an MSNBC alum. WHITE HOUSE DEPARTURE LOUNGE — Judith Teruya will be executive director for the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. She previously was a senior adviser to the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders and is a Grace Meng alum. TRANSITIONS — Kasper Zeuthen is now head of comms for the U.S. for Topsoe. He previously was VP of comms at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. … Jeremy Ruch is now a managing director at Purple Strategies. He previously was a partner at Brunswick Group. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Hilary Pinegar, legislative director and trade staff member to Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), and Phillip Pinegar, staffer for the House Administration committee, welcomed Margaret Jean yesterday. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Tracey Mann (R-Kan.) … Chelsea Manning … Randall Gerard of Cogent Strategies … Kelli Arena of State … Bloomberg’s Allan James Vestal and Chris Collins … POLITICO’s Brendan Bordelon, Samantha Bailey and Claudine Hellmuth … Kam Burns … WaPo’s Sabrina Rodríguez … Olivia Shields of America’s Communications Association … Adam Finkel … National Review’s Noah Rothman … Valeria Ojeda-Avitia … Taylor Foy of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission … Shane Smith … Holly Harris of the Justice Action Network … former Rep. Steve Knight (R-Calif.) … Mike Abramowitz ... Doug Landry ... Bailey Childers … Joe Ballard … Clare Gannon ... Jessica Lovejoy of 50+1 Strategies … Tommy Hicks … Carol Thompson O’Connell … Jessica Stone … Eli Pariser of New_Public … Tom Quinn … Mark van de Water … BGR Group’s Emma Vaughn (3-0) … Aryeh Bourkoff … Kristin Slevin of the Archewell Foundation … Pope Francis (88) 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 and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
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