| | | | | |  | | By Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer | Presented by |  | | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | MAYBE IT'S THE COLD, the impending wintry mix that's bearing down on Washington. Maybe it's because we're about to leave 2020 -- that retched, disgusting year -- in the rear view. As PETER BAKER put it on A22 of the NYT this morning, 2020 was "a grueling year of disease, death, racial strife, street violence, economic collapse and political discord the likes of which have not been seen in the United States in generations." WHO KNOWS WHAT EXACTLY PROMPTED THIS, but reality is beginning to intrude in Washington. REALITY 1) JOE BIDEN is going to be the president of the United States. This was obvious to most breathing, thinking human beings with a pulse, but many Republican members of Congress were willfully blind to it. NYT on the Electoral College making it official BUT A FEW OF THEM BEGAN JOINING THE REST OF US on Planet Earth on Monday. Sen. THOM TILLIS (R-N.C.) called BIDEN the "presumptive president." Sen. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-S.C.) -- who was calling around to state election officials a few weeks ago -- said "it's a very, very narrow path for the president. I don't see how it gets there from here, given what the Supreme Court did. But having said that, I think we'll let those legal challenges play out." SEN. ROY BLUNT (R-Mo.), the chair of the inauguration, said: "We'll deal with Vice President Biden as the president-elect. The president continues obviously to have all the options he has available to him, but the electoral vote today was significant." RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN took it further than most Republicans, straight up congratulating BIDEN after a month of saying he was waiting for the process to play out. (AP/Moscow) … Putin's congrats tweet REALITY 2) It seems painfully obvious to nearly everyone on Capitol Hill that a Covid relief deal is at hand -- should the leaders want it. This deal would include a mix of a renewal of the Paycheck Protection Program, vaccine money, rental assistance, unemployment benefits and school money. If President DONALD TRUMP wakes up from his fever dream in which he's won the presidency, he could probably convince enough people to support direct payments, since Republicans and Democrats are on board with this. SENATE MINORITY LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER and Speaker NANCY PELOSI on Monday both said they were for state and local funding, but declined to draw a bright red line -- as they had before. Senate Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL did not even mention liability overhaul in his floor remarks. State and local and liability are not attainable at the moment. Those two pieces are clearly falling away. Now the question becomes: Do the two sides have the courage, desire and political will to get this done? The scary thing is if they don't get it done this month, it might never get done. REALITY 3) THIS COVID-OMNIBUS COMBO can get real messy real quickly. If they release the omnibus bill today -- that's Tuesday -- maybe it can make it to the House floor Thursday. Floor consideration in the Senate by Friday -- the deadline -- seems tough, since all senators would need to consent for a quick debate and vote. If Congress needs a short-term stopgap, then maybe the Senate would stay in for the weekend to get it done. In that scenario, would they give themselves longer to try to reach a Covid deal? Could the government shut down? Good Tuesday morning. 36 DAYS until BIDEN takes office. | | 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. | | | YES, BIDEN IS OFFICIALLY PRESIDENT … AND HE RAPS TRUMP FOR HIS ALTERNATE REALITY -- NYT'S MICHAEL SHEAR: "Biden calls Trump's attacks on voting 'unconscionable'": "President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Monday denounced the attacks on voting by President Trump and his allies, calling them 'unconscionable' and saying that no officials should ever face the kind of pressure they received to falsely proclaim an election to be fraudulent. "'They saw it with their own eyes,' Mr. Biden said, speaking in Wilmington, Del. 'And they wouldn't be bullied into saying anything different.' Mr. Biden's forceful denunciation of the president's tactics over the past several weeks came hours after the Electoral College formally cast its votes to replace Mr. Trump on Jan. 20. It was time, Mr. Biden said, 'to turn the page' on the election and move on with the business of the country. "'We the people voted,' he said. 'Faith in our institutions held. The integrity of our elections remains intact. And so now it is time to turn the page, as we've done throughout our history. To unite. To heal.'" -- IN MICHIGAN … DETROIT FREE PRESS: "Michigan House punishes GOP Rep. Gary Eisen for hinting at Electoral College disruption," by David Boucher -- AND THIS … MICHIGAN REP. PAUL MITCHELL announced on Twitter he was leaving the Republican Party. This is two weeks before the end of the session. MITCHELL did not run for reelection. So he's out with a few weeks left in his political career, with very little on the line. BARR IS OUT … WAPO'S MATT ZAPOTOSKY, JOSH DAWSEY and DEVLIN BARRETT: "William P. Barr to depart as attorney general, Trump announces": "William P. Barr is stepping down as attorney general, ending a controversial tenure in which critics say he repeatedly used the Justice Department to aid President Trump's allies, only to have Trump turn on him when he did not announce investigations of political foes and disputed White House claims of widespread election fraud. "Trump revealed the move on Twitter, writing that he and Barr had a 'nice meeting' at the White House, and that Barr would 'be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family.' Trump also posted a copy of Barr's resignation letter, in which Barr indicated he had just provided the president an 'update' on the department's review of voter fraud allegations. "Barr's letter said he was 'greatly honored' to have served in the administration, and heaped praise on Trump for his 'many successes and unprecedented achievements.' Trump on Twitter claimed of Barr, 'Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job!'" WaPo NEXT UP -- WSJ: "Who Is Jeffrey Rosen, Who Will Succeed Attorney General William Barr?" by Aruna Viswanatha: "Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, who President Trump said Monday would succeed outgoing Attorney General William Barr, is expected to lead the Justice Department in an acting capacity until President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. Since his confirmation to the No. 2 post in May 2019, Mr. Rosen has taken a leading role on some corporate cases, including the antitrust case against Google. He doesn't have prior experience as a prosecutor. "He will take over the top job at the Justice Department upon Mr. Barr's departure on Dec. 23. Mr. Barr resigned on Monday. Other Justice Department officials said they didn't expect Mr. Rosen to deviate from Mr. Barr's policies. However, they noted he had been involved in sensitive litigation that the White House had an interest in, including a lawsuit against Mr. Trump's former national security adviser, John Bolton, over the publication of his book in June. "Mr. Rosen has spent most of his career in the private sector and at several other government agencies. They include the Transportation Department where he served in the No. 2 job before joining the Justice Department as deputy attorney general." WHAT JARED AND AVI ARE READING … WAPO'S STEVE HENDRIX in Dubai: "Package-tour diplomacy: Thousands of Israeli tourists flock to Dubai after peace deal" CONFIRMATION HEARING PREP … NYT'S ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS: "Families at Border Present Familiar Test for Biden's Homeland Security Pick: The Biden administration will be expected to balance demands for more lenient policies with moderates' concerns that any show of tolerance could lead to more illegal migration." THE CORONAVIRUS CONTINUES TO RAGE … 16.5 MILLION Americans have tested positive for the coronavirus. … 300,482 Americans have died. -- "'The most lopsided economic event imaginable': Wave of evictions threatens Black, Latino tenants," by Katy O'Donnell and Janaki Chadha -- "Washington navigates ethical minefield on getting first Covid shots," by Alice Miranda Ollstein: "The first Covid shots will soon be available to top officials and essential staff in the White House, the Pentagon and Congress. But they're already facing a political and ethical dilemma over who should be at the front of the line. "While most of the scarce Pfizer vaccine is now on its way to hospitals and nursing homes across the country, some of the first tranche was reserved for federal leaders to ensure the government can continue to function as U.S. deaths and hospitalizations peak. President Donald Trump, President-elect Joe Biden and leaders in Congress could help themselves to it in the coming days. The question is: should they? "On Monday, Biden's transition team said no decision had been made, and that the president-elect is consulting with his chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci on timing. Trump will hold off for now, but Secret Service agents, the White House medical unit staff and those who run critical operations like the Situation Room will be vaccinated on a staggered basis in the coming weeks, to ensure they don't all suffer unexpected side effects at once. Congress still is waiting to find out how many doses will be available and when, but some lawmakers are already vowing not [to] elbow their way ahead. "'I will not skip the line,' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) declared in a floor speech on Monday. But 'as soon as it's appropriate and recommended,' he added, 'We should all lead by example, take the vaccine and tell our constituents to take it as well.'" THERE'S AN ARGUMENT THAT MANY MAKE IN THE CAPITOL that members of Congress are not like us -- nor should they be. They're forced to congregate when the rest of the world is staying at home, they travel during a pandemic, and some say they should be first in line to get the vaccine. This is the same argument they made months ago when they declined to test members in the Capitol. They wised up, now testing is readily available in the Capitol, and everyone is much safer and happier. | | | | A message from UnitedHealth Group:   UnitedHealth Group is committed to a future where every person has access to high-quality, affordable health care. | | | TRUMP'S TUESDAY -- The president has nothing on his schedule. VP MIKE PENCE will travel to Bloomington, Ind., and tour the pharmaceutical company Catalent at 1:25 p.m. He will lead a roundtable discussion on Operation Warp Speed at 1:45 p.m. before returning to Washington. BIDEN will receive the President's Daily Brief. He will travel to Atlanta to campaign for Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. VP-elect KAMALA HARRIS will receive the President's Daily Brief. She will also host a virtual meeting with Democratic attorneys general. | | | | HAPPENING TODAY - CONFRONTING INEQUALITY IN AMERICA TOWN HALL : The pandemic-induced recession has put over 40 million Americans at risk of foreclosure and eviction and caused a steady decline in Black homeownership. What solutions need to happen to make housing more inclusive and fair? Join POLITICO for its fourth town hall in the series "Confronting Inequality in America." Our latest town hall explores "The Housing Gap" and will convene policymakers, lawmakers, advocates and mortgage industry leaders to discuss various approaches for eliminating housing inequality as we begin to recover from the Covid-19 recession. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | 
PHOTO DU JOUR: Democratic Senate nominee Raphael Warnock casts a vote during Georgia's first day of early in-person voting Monday in the runoffs. | Megan Varner/Getty Images | MORE CABLE CATNIP … NYT'S JOHN KOBLIN and MICHAEL GRYNBAUM: "CNN and MSNBC Fret Over Post-Trump Future" -- "'This is the reality': Newsmax and One America grapple uneasily with Biden's electoral college victory," by WaPo's Jeremy Barr HMM -- ALEX ISENSTADT: "Trump antagonizes Republicans with Georgia fundraising ploy": "President Donald Trump couldn't make it any clearer: He needs his supporters to fork over cash for the all-important Georgia Senate runoff elections. 'We MUST defend Georgia from the Dems!' he wrote in one recent text message. 'I need YOU to secure a WIN in Georgia,' he said in another. 'Help us WIN both Senate races in Georgia & STOP Socialist Dems,' he pleaded a few days later. "There's just one hitch: Trump's new political machine is pocketing most of the dough — and the campaigns of the Georgia senators competing in the Jan. 5 races aren't getting a cent. Trump's aggressive fundraising blitz appears to be devoted to helping the party defend Georgia's two Senate seats and, with them, the Senate majority. But the fine print shows that most of the proceeds are going toward Trump's newly launched PAC, which he plans to use to fund his future political activities. Only a fraction is going to the Republican National Committee, which is investing $20 million into the runoffs." DEEP DIVE … WAPO: "Inside the 'nasty' feud between Trump and the Republican governor he blames for losing Georgia," by Ashley Parker, Amy Gardner and Josh Dawsey: "The first major fissure in the relationship between President Trump and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp came a year ago, when Kemp paid Trump a clandestine visit in the White House residence. "On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Kemp flew up to Washington to introduce Trump to Kelly Loeffler, an Atlanta business executive he wanted to appoint to fill his state's open U.S. Senate seat. But when Kemp and Loeffler finally got their audience with the president, Kemp presented Loeffler as a fait accompli — telling Trump that he wanted the president to meet the woman he was planning to name to the Senate. "Well, if you've already made your decision, Trump grumbled, then I'm not sure why you're here, according to people familiar with the conversation. Trump later complained to aides that Kemp was rude and impolite -- never forgiving the Georgia governor for what he viewed as a major slight. "The strain between the two Republicans has now boiled over into a full-blown feud in the aftermath of Trump's 2020 electoral defeat, as the president has fixated on his loss in Georgia as a humiliation that he blames in large part on Kemp. Trump lost the solidly Republican state by approximately 12,000 votes and is furious with Kemp for not heeding his calls to question the integrity of the state's election results." | | | | A message from UnitedHealth Group:   Learn about UnitedHealth Group's ideas to lower out-of-pocket health care costs for consumers. | | | DAN DIAMOND: "Trump's drug cards clear key hurdle following pressure from White House": "President Donald Trump's stalled campaign promise to send $200 drug-discount cards to seniors has new life after an obscure-but-important industry panel on Monday night gave its blessing, ending weeks of resistance to the plan. "The Trump administration has been trying to revive the Medicare discount cards after the plan, abruptly announced in September, ran into resistance inside the administration over questions [about its] cost and legality. But as POLITICO reported last week, a new hurdle had recently emerged: an industry consortium that helps the Internal Revenue Service oversee benefit cards balked at the plan, raising concerns that Trump's promised, one-time drug discounts didn't meet typical standards for health-benefit cards. "That group, the Special Interest Group for Inventory Information Approval System Standards, or SIGIS, helps govern electronic point-of-sale transactions, and its approval is essential for mass-producing millions of cards. The panel had come under pressure from the White House and Treasury Department to support the plan. After weeks of appeals from the administration, it did so Monday — stunning even some officials who were involved with the plan and believed the panel wouldn't budge." VALLEY TALK -- "FTC Demands Social-Media, Operations Data From Big Tech Companies," by WSJ's Ryan Tracy: "The Federal Trade Commission on Monday ordered nine prominent social-media and internet companies to provide a litany of data about their operations as part of a wide-ranging study into their business practices. "The orders demand the companies turn over detailed, private business information about how they track Americans' online activities and how they use that data. Companies receiving letters included Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc. and its subsidiary WhatsApp Inc., Reddit Inc., Snap Inc., Twitter Inc., Alphabet Inc.'s YouTube LLC, Discord Inc. and TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd., which is based in Beijing. "The announcement isn't a law-enforcement action and doesn't carry any immediate penalties, though the information gathered could form the basis for future action by the FTC. The agency has broad legal authority to seek information from U.S. companies and is also empowered to police unfair and deceptive business practices." | | | | NOT TRAVELING? NO PROBLEM KEEP UP WITH THE WORLD FROM HOME: Our Global Translations newsletter, presented by Bank of America, layers international news, trends and decisions with contextual analysis from the world's sharpest minds. When traveling is a challenge, we can bring information from around the world to you. For news, insight and a unique perspective that you cannot find anywhere else, SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at politicoplaybook@politico.com. SPOTTED at Bluelight Strategies' 26th annual Latkes & Vodkas over Zoom on Monday night, hosted by Steve Rabinowitz and Aaron Keyak: Reps. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Tom Vilsack, Mel Levine, Sam Coppersmith, Joan Nathan, Paula Shoyer, Jacob Blumenthal, Julie Schonfeld, Avis Miller, Burt Visotzky, Jan Caryl Kaufman, Jack Moline, Rob Satloff … … David Makovsky, Mark Levin, Jonathan Jacoby, Ann Lewis, Toby Dershowitz, Heather Booth, Matt Nosanchuk, Marc Stanley, Cherrie Daniels, Chanan Weissman, Ira Forman, Tevi Troy, Noam Neusner, Ken Marcus, Teresa Vilmain, William Daroff, Aviva Kempner, Tom Kahn, Laurie Moskowitz, Judy Bartnoff, Gil Preuss, Doug Finch, Ari Roth, Linda Lourie, Greg Rosenbaum, Keith Allred and Laura Quinn. TEAM SCALISE MOVES -- Marty Reiser will be policy director for House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), taking over from Bill Hughes, who is retiring after 31 years in Congress. Reiser previously was deputy policy director for Scalise. … … David Planning -- special assistant to the president for legislative affairs -- will be GOP staff director on the House Small Business Committee. He is also a Scalise and Patrick McHenry alum. TRANSITIONS -- John Walsh will be COS for Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.). He previously was Markey's campaign manager. … Arie Dana will be COS for Rep.-elect Michelle Steel (R-Calif.). Dana previously was COS for Steel on the Orange County Board of Supervisors. … Kristin Walker and Josh Arnold will be COS and deputy COS for Sen.-elect Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.). Walker previously was owner of Three Elephant Public Relations. Arnold previously was director of strategic partnerships at Heritage Action. … … Patrick Mocete and Callie Strock are joining Rep.-elect Young Kim's (R-Calif.) office as COS and comms director. Mocete previously was Kim's campaign manager and is an Ed Royce and John Katko alum. Strock previously was press secretary for the House Energy and Commerce GOP and is a Will Hurd alum. … Dillon Iwu is now director of government affairs at the American Investment Council. He most recently was a senior field representative for Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.). … Kendall Ridley will be senior director of comms at the Council for Responsible Nutrition. She previously was senior manager of external communication at CoStar Group. ENGAGED -- Eli Woerpel, legislative director for Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.), and Annie Humphrey, legislative assistant for Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), got engaged Saturday. Both are from Kansas, but they didn't meet until they both moved to D.C. The two met at Molly Malone's watching their Kansas City Royals win the World Series. Pic … Another pic BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Jeff Le, U.S. state and local public policy lead for VMware. How he got his start: "My career has taken a winding path in the areas of external and foreign relations, national and homeland security, and managing cabinet affairs for former California Gov. Jerry Brown. My big break in public policy? Lending my laptop plug to a Hill staffer at a crowded Starbucks a month after moving to town and chatting about the Backstreet Boys. This led to a Hill internship. Two lessons here: you never know when or who will see potential in you. And appreciation for boy bands may play an important role in your professional life." Playbook Q&A BIRTHDAYS: Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is 66 … Rep.-elect Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) is 34 … retired Gen. John R. Allen, president of Brookings, is 67 … Ruy Teixeira … Donna Brazile … Bill Knapp (h/ts Hilary Rosen) … Erin Dwyer … Heather Booth is 75 (h/ts Jon Haber) … Tim Dickson … Marc Mezvinsky … Matt Paul … Tanya Bjork … Karen Hicks … Maggie Brickerman … Maggie Gau … Carson Pfingston (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) … Corey Sherman … Andrew Cote, acting deputy assistant secretary of Defense for special operations and combating terrorism … John Phillips is 78 … Jim Dornan, VP for business and policy development at 720 Strategies … Lauren French, senior comms director for Climate Power 2020 … POLITICO's Isabel Dobrin … Anna Jager … Facebook's Devon Kearns … Tara Corrigan, COO of the Messina Group … … Lenny Young, COS for Rep. Julia Brownley (D-Calif.) … Fox News' Griff Jenkins is 5-0 … Katie Hunt … Meridith Webster … Kristen Scholer, senior anchor at Cheddar … David Adler, chair of BizBash (h/t Tammy Haddad) … Winter Casey (h/t Tim Burger) … Gavin Ross … Patrick Oakford … Bobby Moran … Danyell Tremmel … Mark Siedlecki … Gabriel Groisman … Andy Polesovsky … Israel "Izzy" Ortega … Oliver Koppell is 8-0 … Alison Omens … Deborah Koenigsberger Gutierrez ... McCauley Mateja … Tony Kreindler is 51 … Holly Lane … Jordan Richardson … Frannie LaSala … Diane Kepley … Emily Pierce … Sarah Sullivan … Abby Matousek … Jimmy LaSalvia is 5-0 … Mark Patterson … Jan Eberly … Laura Nevitt … Theana Kastens … Schuyler Softy … Brian Haley … Arkady Rotenberg is 69 | | A message from UnitedHealth Group: UnitedHealth Group supports actionable, impactful policy solutions to make health care more affordable.
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· Spend 28% less on prescription drugs by transitioning to value-based arrangements.
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