| | | | | |  | | By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun | Presented by |  | | | VERY SCARY … NBC NEWS has compiled U.S. coronavirus totals from each month. March: 186,200 … April: 883,199 … May: 723,166 … June: 845,736 … July: 1,926,970 … August: 1,479,756 … September: 1,215,901 … October: 1,940,522 … November: 4,252,822. The tweet ON THE DOORSTEP OF DECEMBER, A CHRISTMAS TRADITION … BURGESS EVERETT: "Bipartisan Senate group revives coronavirus relief talks": "A bipartisan group of senators is trying to jump-start stalled coronavirus stimulus talks during the lame duck, with congressional leaders still at odds over providing more relief as cases and deaths spike ahead of the coming winter. "The effort is an uphill battle given the entrenched positions of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his GOP conference and Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). So whatever this collection of senators can achieve is likely to be modest, if they can accomplish anything at all. … "Among the senators involved are Chris Coons (D-Del.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), the sources said. Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has always been involved in some discussion." ARIZONA DEMOCRAT MARK KELLY will be sworn in as a senator Wednesday at noon. That shifts the balance of the Senate to 52-48 for the final weeks of the Congress. IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING … KAY BAILEY HUTCHINSON IS ON PLANET EARTH, via the Dallas Morning News: "Former Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, on Monday vowed there would be a 'smooth' and 'seamless' transition to President-elect Joe Biden's administration, even as President Donald Trump continues to fight the election result. The Republican's comments, delivered at a news conference in Brussels, put her at odds with many of her GOP counterparts, who've mostly refused to acknowledge Biden's victory. "'We are going to work in a transition for a new administration coming in,' she said ahead of a NATO ministerial meeting. 'We are going to make sure it's smooth. That's what we have in democracies, and that's what we are going to produce.'" WHIP LIST … -- SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D-Ohio) said he's in favor of NEERA TANDEN for OMB director. Brown's tweet -- BILL KRISTOL said TANDEN is the right person for the job. He doesn't have a vote, and we're not sure if this helps or hurts TANDEN'S cause. He is, perhaps for the first time in his career, on the same page as Rep. BARBARA LEE (D-Calif.), who also said TANDEN should be confirmed. Kristol's tweet … Lee's tweet -- REP. PATRICK MCHENRY (R-N.C.) -- the top Republican on House Financial Services -- doesn't have a vote in the Senate, but praised JOE BIDEN'S choice of JANET YELLEN for Treasury secretary. That's an important indication of the GOP support for YELLEN. McHenry's tweet | | | | A message from PhRMA: Today, there are several promising vaccine candidates in stage three clinical trials. These trials have tens of thousands of participants, from every walk of life. From development to robust clinical trials, and throughout manufacturing, these vaccine candidates follow the same rigorous process of other vaccines that have saved millions of lives. More. | | | ANOTHER STEP CLOSER … "Moderna to submit Covid-19 vaccine to FDA as full results show 94% efficacy," by Stat's Matthew Herper and Damian Garde: "The company said it would immediately seek regulatory clearances in the U.S. and Europe. The milestone suggests that there could be two vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus before the end of 2020. … "The next step in the process relies on a panel of expert advisers to the FDA, called the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, which will convene Dec. 10 to review Pfizer's vaccine and recommend whether it should be cleared for use in health workers and other vulnerable populations. A committee meeting to review Moderna's data is set to take place Dec. 17." Stat Good Monday afternoon. We misstated the name of Biden's deputy White House comms director in this morning's Playbook -- it's PILI TOBAR. We apologize for the error. THE BIDEN INAUGURAL COMMITTEE: Tony Allen … Maju Varghese … Erin Wilson … Yvanna Cancela. More from Quint Forgey … The inaugural logo, via Alex Thompson SEN. ROY BLUNT (R-Mo.) may not be willing to call BIDEN the president-elect yet -- but the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, which BLUNT chairs, is already there. -- LAST WEEK the committee sent an email to Hill offices inviting lawmakers "to record a brief video message for the President-elect and Vice President-elect. These videos will be compiled for the incoming Administration, and could be played on the Jumbotrons along the West Front before the Swearing-In Ceremony and for other virtual inaugural elements. You will also receive a copy of your Member's message for office use. These messages will not be used prior to Inauguration Day." ON POWER … ANITA DUNN PROFILE, by The Atlantic's ISAAC DOVERE: "She made history of her own with Biden's election, becoming the only person in modern presidential politics who has been in the inner circle of two winning candidates—first Barack Obama's and now Biden's. Most top operatives who have helped elect presidents retire from advising candidates and cash out, figuring there's not much point to playing anymore once they've won the Super Bowl. "Dunn has done just fine for herself—she has her name (via an initial) on her firm, SKDK, and she can get booked on TV whenever she wants. But after guiding the campaign since February, she's so far the only senior member of the team to say she won't be working at the White House." JOHN HENDEL: "Trump's FCC chief leaves legacy of deregulation and 5G fights": "Federal Communications Commission Chair Ajit Pai said Monday that he will step down on the day that President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in. … Pai's departure seals the doom, though, for any prospects that the FCC will carry out Trump's request for the agency to whittle down the liability protections of social media companies accused of discriminating against conservatives." AFTERNOON SNACK -- First lady MELANIA TRUMP unveiled this year's White House Christmas decor. | | | | TRACK THE TRANSITION: President-elect Biden has started to form a Cabinet and announce his senior White House staff. The appointments and staffing decisions made in the coming days send clear-cut signals about Biden's priorities. Transition Playbook is the definitive guide to one of the most consequential transfers of power in American history. Written for political insiders, it tracks the appointments, people, and the emerging power centers of the new administration. Track the transition and the first 100 days of the incoming Biden administration. Subscribe today. | | | | | SIDNEY POWELL NOT DONE YET … "Judge freezes voting machines in three Georgia counties," by Josh Gerstein: "A judge assigned to a Republican-led lawsuit alleging widespread fraud in the presidential election in Georgia issued an order late Sunday night blocking plans to wipe or reset voting machines used in three counties in the state. U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten Sr. revealed in his four-page directive that he held a hearing via Zoom Sunday evening on the suit — one of two cases filed in federal courts last week by Sidney Powell … "The hearing was not announced on the court's docket and appears not to have been open to the press or public. … Batten's temporary restraining order issued after 10 p.m. Sunday applies to Dominion voting machines in Cobb and [Gwinnett] counties, which favored President-elect Joe Biden, as well as smaller Cherokee County, which favored Trump." POLITICO SCOTUS WATCH -- "Conservative justices appear reluctant to immediately block Trump immigrant census plan," by Reuters' Lawrence Hurley and Andrew Chung: "The court's conservatives, who hold a 6-3 majority, signaled that such a ruling might be premature based on the administration's admission that it does not know how or if it will be able to implement the proposal … "A ruling tossing the current legal challenge to the plan would leave open the possibility of subsequent lawsuits if the administration does actually exclude certain subsets of immigrants from the population count." Reuters -- NYT'S ADAM LIPTAK: "Justice Barrett's Vote Could Tilt the Supreme Court on Gun Rights": "After Justice Barrett succeeded [Ruth Bader Ginsburg], she joined the court's four most conservative justices to strike down [pandemic] restrictions in New York. Those same four justices are now on high alert for a promising case in which to expand Second Amendment rights, having written repeatedly and emphatically about the court's failure to take gun rights seriously. Justice Barrett seems poised to supply the fifth vote they need. "A Second Amendment case decided last week by the federal appeals court in Philadelphia is a promising candidate for Supreme Court review, not least because it presents an issue on which Justice Barrett has already taken a stand. It concerns Lisa M. Folajtar, who would like to buy a gun. But she is a felon, having pleaded guilty to tax evasion, which means under federal law she may not possess firearms." NYT VALLEY TALK -- "Facebook, Google to Face New Antitrust Suits in U.S.," by WSJ's John McKinnon: "Big Tech's legal woes are expected to worsen in the coming weeks as federal and state antitrust authorities prepare to file new lawsuits against Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google, people familiar with the matter said. "The authorities are readying as many as four more cases targeting Google or Facebook by the end of January, these people said, following the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit against Google last month. Federal and state officials are probing whether the tech giants abused their power in the internet economy—Google to dominate search and advertising, and Facebook to dominate social media." WSJ | | | | NEXT WEEK - DON'T MISS THE MILKEN INSTITUTE FUTURE OF HEALTH SUMMIT 2020: POLITICO will feature a special edition Future Pulse newsletter at the Milken Institute Future of Health Summit. The newsletter takes readers inside one of the most influential gatherings of global health industry leaders and innovators determined to confront and conquer the most significant health challenges. Covid-19 has exposed weaknesses across our health systems, particularly in the treatment of our most vulnerable communities, driving the focus of the 2020 conference on the converging crises of public health, economic insecurity, and social justice. Sign up today to receive exclusive coverage from December 7–9. | | | | | MUCK READ -- "'Mercenary' donor sold access for millions in foreign money," by AP's Alan Suderman and Jim Mustian with a Los Angeles dateline: "As an elite political fundraiser, Imaad Zuberi had the ear of top Democrats and Republicans alike — a reach that included private meetings with then-Vice President Joe Biden and VIP access at Donald Trump's inauguration. He lived a lavish, jet-setting lifestyle, staying at fine hotels and hosting lawmakers and diplomats at four-star restaurants. Foreign ambassadors turned to Zuberi to get face time in Congress. A CIA officer called him the 'best connected person I know,' marveling at the depth of his Rolodex. "But federal prosecutors say Zuberi's life was built on a series of lies and the lucrative enterprise of funding American political campaigns and profiting from the resulting influence. … Prosecutors describe Zuberi as a 'mercenary' political donor who gave to anyone — often using illegal straw donor cutouts — he thought could help him. Pay to play, he explained to clients, was just 'how America work(s).'" THE NEW COLD WAR -- "China Complains of U.S. Harassment of Chinese Airline and Ship Crews," by WSJ's Chun Han Wong in Hong Kong: "China accused American officials of harassing Chinese airline and shipping crews that arrive in the U.S. in attempts to single out Communist Party members, and warned that Beijing may retaliate against Washington for what it considers to be provocative behavior. "Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said U.S. law-enforcement personnel have recently conducted surprise raids on sailors aboard arriving Chinese ships and questioned arriving Chinese airline crews to ascertain whether they are members of the Communist Party. She didn't offer details. Ms. Hua, speaking at a routine briefing on Monday, denounced these enforcement actions as a severe political provocation designed to 'provoke ideological confrontation.'" WSJ AFTERNOON READ -- "How climate change could spark the next home mortgage disaster," by Zack Colman: "Buyers and lenders are now able to assess the risks of climate change damage by using simple apps — a technological revolution that is placing a warning label on millions of properties from seaside New England to low-lying areas vulnerable to hurricanes across the Southeast to the arid, fire-prone hills of California. "And once buyers start refusing to pay top dollar for such homes — and insurers stop underwriting policies on them — the more than trillion-dollar Fannie-Freddie portfolio could take an enormous hit, big enough to knock the economy into recession or worse. … The [situation], many current and former federal housing officials acknowledge, is a peculiar kind of stasis — a crisis that everyone sees coming but no one feels empowered to prevent, even as banks and investors grow far savvier about assessing climate risk." BIG WAPO INVESTIGATION, by Wesley Lowery, Hannah Knowles and Mark Berman: "Indifferent Justice | Part 1: The Perfect Victim": "For more than 40 years, America's deadliest serial killer went undetected. He claims to have killed at least 93 people, nearly all women, many of whom remain unidentified. He got away with it by preying on those on the margins of society whose murders police failed to solve." TRANSITIONS -- Susan Lagana is now a partner in the Brunswick Group's D.C. office. She most recently was managing director for public affairs and crisis at Burson, Cohn & Wolfe, and is a Department of Transportation alum. … Jonae Wartel, Tracey Lewis, Andrew Childs and Jeremy Halbert-Harris are joining Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff's coordinated campaign in the Georgia Senate runoff. Announcement, via AJC's Greg Bluestein | | | | A message from PhRMA:   America's biopharmaceutical companies are working day and night until they defeat COVID-19. Because science is how we get back to normal. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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