| | | | | |  | | By Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer | Presented by |  | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | IN CASE IT WASN'T PLAINLY OBVIOUS, Senate and House negotiators hope to announce a Covid relief deal today. The government shuts down tomorrow night -- they passed a short-term stopgap Friday night -- and getting this $2 trillion package through Congress in one day will be a heavy lift, but will be necessary. There seems to be a recognition that the government needs to be funded by Monday morning, and that means a vote on this big package in the House and Senate on Sunday -- or another stopgap. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL spoke when the Senate convened at 11 a.m. "There's a kind of gravitational pull here in Congress, where unless we are careful any major negotiation can easily slide into an unending catalog of disagreements. Let's guard against that." "WE NEED TO CONCLUDE our talks, draft legislation and land this plane," MCCONNELL said. HOUSE DEMOCRATS have a noon Zoom call in part to "update on our ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic." (h/t Heather Caygle) -- LEADALLS: POLITICO, by SARAH FERRIS, HEATHER CAYGLE and MARIANNE LEVINE … NYT, by EMILY COCHRANE … WAPO, by JEFF STEIN, MIKE DEBONIS, LISA REIN and RACHEL SIEGEL WARNING SIGNS FOR BIDEN: In considering this package, we've seen a new posture from Republicans that's worth considering for a moment. Sen. PAT TOOMEY (R-Pa.) slowed the negotiations to a crawl to end an emergency Fed lending program, and Sen. RON JOHNSON (R-Wis.) twice voiced skepticism of new direct checks programs. -- PUT TOGETHER, this shows that the appetite for some of the extraordinary tools to combat the economic devastation has waned considerably since the beginning of the crisis. -- BUT, BUT, BUT … Sen. JOSH HAWLEY (R-Mo.), not a traditional Republican by any measure, is articulating a digestible and perhaps articulate version of Trumpism. He's an economic populist (More checks! Bigger checks!), a social conservative and has beef with Big Tech and elites. As many have pointed out, he's a Stanford and Yale Law grad, but alas. HAS A PRESIDENT ever been so absent during a crisis? CONGRESS has been struggling with a Covid-relief deal, and the man who got to the White House on his deal bonafides has been completely silent, uninvolved and seemingly uninterested. … VP MIKE PENCE took his vaccine on live television, while President DONALD TRUMP tweeted mask conspiracy theories. PLAYBOOK P.S.A.: At least two Capitol Hill reporters have tested positive for the coronavirus in the last few days. Members of the Capitol Hill press corps all socially distance, wear masks and many are tested frequently. But this is something that news organizations and members of Congress should be aware of. Reporters and members of the House have tested positive this week. STATES SURPRISED: NOT ENOUGH VACCINES … Star Tribune: "Minn. caught in vaccine shortfalls" … Dayton Daily News: "Ohio to receive fewer vaccines than expected" … Richmond Times-Dispatch: "Va. learns it will get fewer vaccine doses this month" … Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Evers, health officials say state to get less vaccine than expected" -- WSJ: "Covid-19 Vaccine Makers Tap Contractors to Produce Billions of Doses," by Matthew Dalton and Joseph Walker SIREN … IT WAS RUSSIA … SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMPEO on the "MARK LEVIN SHOW": LEVIN: "Now, this attack, I guess our government is still sorting it out and so forth. Reports are coming out that this is a massive attack on our computer systems and our software systems, correct?" POMPEO: "That's right. I can't say much more as we're still unpacking precisely what it is, and I'm sure some of it will remain classified. But suffice it to say there was a significant effort to use a piece of third-party software to essentially embed code inside of U.S. government systems and it now appears systems of private companies and companies and governments across the world as well. This was a very significant effort, and I think it's the case that now we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity." Happy Saturday. THE TUNE INN -- the legendary Pennsylvania Avenue bar -- is closing. WAPO'S FRITZ HAHN (@fritzhahn): "The Tune Inn has decided to close 'until further notice' after the 23rd. 'The city shutting down indoor dining leaves us no choice.' There will be to-go specials on Xmas, NYE, and in January." | | A message from UnitedHealth Group: UnitedHealth Group is committed to leading in the development of a next-generation health system in a socially conscious way. Learn more here. | | | WHAT AMERICA IS READING … THE NATION'S FRONT PAGES: Arizona Republic: "Charter's PPP loan called into question: School gave shareholder company a $10M bonus" … L.A. Times: "Brutal choices could await doctors: L.A. County considers healthcare rationing if the COVID-19 surge continues to worsen at its four hospitals" … Miami Herald: "Intel chairman Rubio says 'America must retaliate' for massive cyberattack"... … Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Voter turnout nears presidential levels" … Portland Press Herald (Me.): "Maine's job recovery has slowed to a crawl" … Dallas Morning News: "Texas unemployment rate jumps to 8.1%" NATIONAL FRONTS: WaPo … WSJ … NYT WAPO'S JOSH DAWSEY and DAVID FAHRENTHOLD: "Even as Trump vows to keep fighting, his aides are quietly starting to move on": "Vice President Pence has begun looking for a new home in the Washington suburbs, and he's planning a valedictory foreign trip to begin the day Congress counts the electoral college votes. Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has discussed opening a consulting firm with other White House aides and allies. "Top economic adviser Larry Kudlow has told friends he is planning to return to broadcasting, and he has his next gigs lined up. As President Trump remains defiant, refusing to publicly acknowledge that he lost the Nov. 3 election, all signs around the White House point to a four-year whirlwind coming to an end. Aides are quietly lining up next jobs, friends are wrangling last-minute favors and Cabinet secretaries are giving exit interviews." L.A. TIMES: "Biden's Cabinet: Expertise, diversity and an Obama class reunion," by Janet Hook | | | | A message from UnitedHealth Group:   UnitedHealth Group is committed to a future where every person has access to high-quality, affordable health care. | | | THE PRESIDENT'S SATURDAY: The president has nothing on his schedule. PRESIDENT ELECT JOE BIDEN and VP ELECT KAMALA HARRIS will "introduce key members of their administration in Wilmington." | | | | EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT TRANSITION PLAYBOOK, SUBSCRIBE TODAY: A new year is quickly approaching. Inauguration Day is right around the corner. President-elect Joe Biden's staffing decisions are sending clear-cut signals about his priorities. What do these signals foretell? Transition Playbook is the definitive guide to the new administration and one of the most consequential transfers of power in American history. Written for political insiders, this scoop-filled newsletter breaks big news daily and analyzes the appointments, people and emerging power centers of the new administration. Track the transition and the first 100 days of the incoming Biden administration. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | 
PHOTO DU JOUR: Speaker Nancy Pelosi receives a Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine shot on Friday, Dec. 18. | Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times via AP, Pool | BIG MEDIA MOVES… WSJ: "From BuzzFeed to Axios, Digital Media Players Prepare for Deal Frenzy," by Benjamin Mullin: "BuzzFeed Inc. and NowThis owner Group Nine Media Inc., two of the largest venture-backed outfits, are exploring deals to buy competitors or go public through special-purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, according to people familiar with the matter. Those blank-check companies raise capital by going public and can put the proceeds into deals. "Among relatively smaller players, short-form publisher Axios is exploring potential acquisitions, while local news network Patch is weighing a sale after receiving inbound acquisition interest, the people said. Other potential targets are beginning to emerge, including the youth-culture media company Complex Networks and news curation startup theSkimm. Neither company is currently in talks to sell, some of the people said." DAVID SIDERS in L.A.: "For Garcetti, there's no escape from L.A.": "Eric Garcetti was so widely presumed to be heading for his friend Joe Biden's administration that his would-be successors were recruiting donors and staff for a special election to fill his soon-to-be vacant seat. Supporters and critics alike envisioned Garcetti escaping Los Angeles just in time — the term-limited mayor of a beleaguered city finding new life in Washington. "Instead, Garcetti watched as the president-elect announced one pick after another for jobs he'd been in contention for, most recently as a domestic climate envoy or secretary of Transportation. "On Thursday night -- after Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of a much smaller city, South Bend, Ind., got the transportation post -- Garcetti put an end to his public suffering, announcing he'd stay put in City Hall. "For a Democrat who entered the presidential election cycle with high prospects, it marked the end of a hard fall. 'For a long time, there's been this aura around Eric Garcetti that he's somebody with a great future, that he will ascend to great heights of power,' said Darry Sragow, a longtime Democratic strategist in Los Angeles. 'And in the world of politics, that means that everybody's nice to him and lots of people like to be around him. And then that feeds the sense that he's somebody of consequence.'" -- L.A. TIMES: "Garcetti's decision to stay is a relief for some L.A. community leaders," by Dakota Smith | | | | A message from UnitedHealth Group:   Learn about UnitedHealth Group's ideas to lower out-of-pocket health care costs for consumers. | | | CLICKER -- "The nation's cartoonists on the week in politics," edited by Matt Wuerker -- 15 funnies GREAT WEEKEND READS , curated by Margy Slattery and the staff of POLITICO Magazine: -- "'No Choice but to Do It,'" by Justine van der Leun in The New Republic and The Appeal: "Many of the 230,000 women and girls in U.S. jails and prisons were abuse survivors before they entered the system. And at least 30 percent of those serving time on murder or manslaughter charges were protecting themselves or a loved one from physical or sexual violence." TNR -- "How Russia Wins the Climate Crisis," by Abrahm Lustgarten in The New York Times Magazine and ProPublica: "Climate change and its enormous human migrations will transform agriculture and remake the world order — and no country stands to gain more than Russia." NYT -- "China's 'Tainted' Cotton," by John Sudworth in the BBC: "China is forcing hundreds of thousands of Uighurs and other minorities into hard, manual labor in the vast cotton fields of its western region of Xinjiang." BBC -- "Tethered to the Machine," by Lizzie Presser in ProPublica: "For years, JaMarcus Crews tried to get a new kidney, but corporate healthcare stood in the way. He needed dialysis to stay alive. He couldn't miss a session, not even during a pandemic." ProPublica -- "The Obsessive Life and Mysterious Death of the Fisherman Who Discovered The Loch Ness Monster," by Paul Brown in Narratively: "A humble Scotsman saw something strange in the water—and daringly set out to catch it—only to have lecherous out-of-towners steal his fame and upend his quest." Narratively -- "Tome Raiders: Solving the Great Book Heist," by Mark Wilding in The Guardian: "When £2.5m of rare books were stolen in an audacious heist at Feltham in 2017, police wondered, what's the story?" Guardian -- "Panic! in the Pod," by Anna Silman in New York Magazine's The Cut: "Parents who barely knew each other are suddenly running makeshift schools together. What could go wrong?" N.Y. Mag -- "The Most American Religion," by McKay Coppins in The Atlantic's January/February issue: "Perpetual outsiders, Mormons spent 200 years assimilating to a certain national ideal—only to find their country in an identity crisis. What will the third century of the faith look like?" Atlantic -- "What If You Could Do It All Over?" by Joshua Rothman in The New Yorker: "The uncanny allure of our unlived lives." New Yorker | | | | KEEP UP WITH THE PEOPLE AND POLITICS DRIVING GLOBAL HEALTH IN 2021: The pandemic revealed just how critical it is to keep up with the politics, policy and people driving global health. The Covid-19 vaccine is here — now what? What will the distribution look like globally? Our Global Pulse newsletter connects leaders, policymakers and advocates to the politics impacting our global health. Join the conversation and subscribe today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at politicoplaybook@politico.com. SPOTTED: House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn at Circa Navy Yard on Friday night with two security guards and two guests. MEDIAWATCH -- James Blue III is joining MTV Entertainment as SVP and head of the Smithsonian Channel. He most recently was special projects and senior producer at PBS NewsHour. TRANSITIONS -- Rep.-elect Tracey Mann (R-Kan.) has hired Laura Schlapp as comms director and military legislative assistant and Katherine Thomas as deputy legislative director. Schlapp is currently regional media director for VP Mike Pence, and Thomas most recently has been senior agriculture policy adviser for Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.). WEDDING -- Allan James Vestal, senior newsroom developer at POLITICO, and Jennifer Graffunder, reference librarian at Venable, got married Dec. 5 in Iowa City, Iowa, with immediate family attending and his father officiating. The couple met in Milwaukee, where he was working his first job out of college and she was in graduate school. Pic … Another pic BIRTHDAYS: Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) is 6-5 … Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) is 5-0 … retired Marine Gen. Jim Jones is 77 … Ronan Farrow is 33 … Taara Rangarajan (h/ts Ben Chang) … Michael Duncan, founding partner at Cavalry … Tal Kopan, Washington correspondent at the San Francisco Chronicle … NPR's Kelsey Snell … Chris Meagher, deputy comms director for the DNC … Ethan Todras-Whitehill, co-founder and president of Swing Left, is 4-0 … Ryan Jackson … Recode's Teddy Schleifer … Joey Scarborough … Sameer Punyani … Patrick Ventrell … Jill Slabey … Kelsey Moran … Erin Taylor of the Climate Reality Project (h/t Jon Haber) … Molly Pattison … Bronwyn Lance Chester, comms director for Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) … LinkedIn's Callie Schweitzer … Ann McDaniel … … Kerri Lyon, partner at SKDKnickerbocker … Shannon McGahn, chief advocacy officer at the National Association of Realtors … Amy Best Weiss, VP of federal government affairs at American Express … Michaela Balderston, head of comms at Tusk Ventures … WETA's Daniel Yang … Craig Winneker … POLITICO's Alec Gaffney … Henry Longley … Tomicah Tillemann ... Max McClellan ... Kate Mize … Rebecca Edgar … Maggie Polachek is 31 ... John Vail ... Catherine Hormats ... Michael Feinberg … Kasey Hampton ... Jim Oberman ... Bernard Weinraub … Ashley Snee Giovannettone … Whitney Patton ... Russ Caso ... Patrick B. Donohue ... WaPo's Josh Freedom du Lac ... Ann Lewis … John Pederson … Jim Whitney (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) … Sarah Scott … Jenny Murphy ... CBS' Sean Gallitz ... Jeff Kiernan … Shaun Doherty … Holland Burton … Anne Stewart THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here): | NBC | "Meet the Press": Vivek Murthy … Kyle McGowan and Amanda Campbell … Chris Krebs. Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, Hallie Jackson and Rich Lowry. | CNN | "State of the Union": Moncef Slaoui … Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) … Pete Buttigieg … Chris Krebs. | CBS | "Face the Nation": Surgeon General Jerome Adams … Ron Klain … Kevin Mandia … David Ricks … Mary Daly … Scott Gottlieb. | ABC | "This Week": Adm. Brett Giroir … Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) … Jennifer Granholm. Panel: Chris Christie, Rahm Emanuel, Sara Fagen and Yvette Simpson. | FOX | "Fox News Sunday": Jen Psaki … Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.). Panel: Ben Domenech, Susan Page and Juan Williams. Power Player: Morrill Worcester. | Sinclair | "Full Court Press": Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) … Francesca Chambers. | Gray TV | "America This Week": Brad Parscale … Adm. Brett Giroir… Peter Schweizer … Peter Navarro … Bob Unanue. | | | | A message from UnitedHealth Group: UnitedHealth Group supports actionable, impactful policy solutions to make health care more affordable.
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