| | | | | |  | | By Ben White | Presented by The Great Courses Plus | Editor's Note: Morning Money is a free version of POLITICO Pro Financial Services' morning newsletter, which is delivered to our subscribers each morning at 6 a.m. The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day's biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro. | | | Still no stimulus deal — Never mind that the economy is starting to slip quite badly (more below), Congress continues to haggle over a nearly $1 trillion coronavirus relief package with a brief government shutdown possible tonight. Members plan to stay put for the weekend to get a deal done. Per our Heather Caygle, Burgess Everett, and Jake Sherman: "As of Thursday evening, Republicans and Democrats were still sparring over tens of billions of dollars in government spending. Disagreements remained over who is eligible for stimulus checks, how to spend money for health care, disaster relief funds and winding down the Federal Reserve's emergency lending program." Job market tanking — As MM suggested they might, weekly initial jobless claims spiked again to 885K, the highest level since September. Covid-19 deaths keep topping breaking records. Every signal is flashing bright red that the economy is on the cusp of sinking again before vaccines are widely available. And yet, here we are. HFE's Rubeela Farooqi: "The signal from the data is one of deterioration. ... Initial filings have averaged 813K over the latest four weeks, the highest since mid-October. … The weakening in the economy implied by the claims data is coming alongside manufacturing surveys that are still showing expansion but are suggesting a substantially slower pace of growth." And it was really worse than it looked. Via Pantheon: "Seasonal pressures pointed to a clear drop ... so the increase suggests that the underlying trend is now rising rapidly." Department of whaaat? — WP's Jeff Stein: "White House aides intervened Thursday to prevent President Trump from issuing a statement calling for substantially larger stimulus payments for millions of Americans … "On a phone call Thursday afternoon, Trump told allies that he believes stimulus payments in next relief package should be 'at least' $1,200 per person and possibly as big as $2,000 per person, the officials said. Congressional leadership is currently preparing a stimulus package that would provide checks of $600 per person." MM Sidebar — It will baffle MM forever that Trump didn't do this months ago, in summer or early fall, when he could have bullied McConnell and Senate Republicans into backing another big Covid bill including more large checks with his name of them that could well have led to his re-election. Maybe it would have conflicted with his message that economy was fine and Covid was no big deal. But Trump still could have just done it. But grievances with "blue states" and cities stopped him. GOOD FRIDAY MORNING — Happy weekend, everyone. Thankfully next week is blissfully curtailed by the Christmas and New Year's holidays. We all need a break, for sure. Email me on bwhite@politico.com and follow me on Twitter @morningmoneyben. | | | | A message from The Great Courses Plus: Don't be stagnant, keep your mind active with The Great Courses Plus . Learn at your own pace with the ability to stream lectures like the Art of Investing anytime, anywhere. Tap into an expansive selection of over 13,000 video streaming lectures from some of the world's greatest minds. Learning should be enjoyable, so start learning today with The Great Courses Plus! | | | | | | THIRD WAVE PEAKING? — Via Brad McMillan, Chief Investment Officer for Commonwealth Financial Network: "The third wave of the pandemic may be showing signs of a peak. While new cases remain very high, the seven-day daily average was down for two days in the past week, suggesting we may be close to a peak. "Given the lag from Thanksgiving, that conclusion seems reasonable as much of the travel surge should be starting to play out, while control measures are becoming more widespread.
While the top-line numbers look less bad, that is not the case in many states, with the virus resurging in areas that thought they had it under control." TOOMEY'S FED ISSUES STAND IN THE WAY — Our Victoria Guida: "Sen. Pat Toomey is leading a Republican push to curtail the Federal Reserve's emergency lending authority in the economic relief deal taking shape, a move that would seal off major avenues of future aid without congressional action. "The language would prevent Treasury Secretary-designate Janet Yellen from restarting Fed lending programs for small and midsized businesses, as well as for state and local governments, that are set to wind down at the end of the year. Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican, said the move had 'very broad support; from Senate Republicans." | | | | BIG SCOOPS IN TRANSITION PLAYBOOK: In the runup to Inauguration Day, 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 one of the most consequential transfers of power in American history. Written for political insiders, this scoop-filled newsletter is breaking big news and analyzing the appointments, people and emerging power centers of the new administration. Track the transition and the first 100 days of the incoming administration. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | | MASSIVE HACK HITS TOP LEVELS OF U.S. GOVERNMENT — Our Natasha Bertrand and Eric Wolff: "The Energy Department and National Nuclear Security Administration, which maintains the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, have evidence that hackers accessed their networks as part of an extensive espionage operation that has affected at least half a dozen federal agencies … "On Thursday, DOE and NNSA officials began coordinating notifications about the breach to their congressional oversight bodies after being briefed by Rocky Campione, the chief information officer at DOE. They found suspicious activity in networks belonging to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories in New Mexico and Washington, the Office of Secure Transportation at NNSA, and the Richland Field Office of the DOE." BIDEN PLEDGES RESPONSE — Our Eric Geller: "President-elect Joe Biden … promised a strong response to the newly revealed, highly sophisticated cyber espionage campaign that has stoked alarm throughout the federal government — even as President Donald Trump remains silent about the latest suspected provocation from Russia … "Government officials have briefed the transition team about the attacks, including on Monday during a meeting with personnel from the FBI and other agencies, according to a U.S. official … Despite constituting his most extensive remarks on cybersecurity to date, Biden's statement stuck to generalities and did not clarify how he views key cyber issues." | 
President-elect Joe Biden. | Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo | | | | | LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST, SPONSORED BY CHEVRON: Check out our daily five-minute brief for the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. For must-know stories and candid insights to analysis from POLITICO's 10-person energy team, don't miss out. Subscribe for free and start listening today. | | | | | GRASSLEY WANTS ANSWERS ON TAX INFO IN HACK — Our Bernie Becker: "The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee are pressing the IRS for more information on whether a hack that penetrated a string of federal agencies endangered private taxpayer information. "American officials suspect that Russian intelligence is behind the SolarWinds hack, and Senate Finance Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and the panel's top Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, stressed that a breach of IRS systems would inflict 'harm both to Americans' privacy and our national security.' … Hackers are believed to have burrowed into the systems at the Treasury Department, of which the IRS is the largest bureau." CONGRESS TO GET LIMITED AMOUNT OF VACCINE — Our Melanie Zanona, Marianne LeVine, and Sarah Ferris: "Congress will receive a limited batch of the coronavirus vaccine in the coming days, according to multiple sources, marking a major development for lawmakers and frontline workers in a Capitol complex that has battled dozens of outbreaks this year. "Vaccines for federal agencies and officials across Washington have been arriving at Walter Reed Medical Center in recent days, and thousands of doses are expected to be designated for the House and Senate, though congressional leadership offices said they have no information to provide." MODERNA VACCINE MOVES AHEAD — Our Sarah Owermohle: "The nation's second coronavirus vaccine, produced by Moderna, could be on its way to thousands of sites nationwide by this weekend — a major accomplishment for a company that has never before brought a product to market. "An independent Food and Drug Administration advisory committee … endorsed the shot for adults 18 and over, and the agency is expected to issue an emergency use authorization on Friday. But while the maker of the first authorized shot, Pfizer, is a global pharmaceutical giant that has pumped out dozens of blockbusters including Viagra and even ChapStick, Moderna had never had a vaccine reach late-stage trials before" | | | | A message from The Great Courses Plus:   | | | | | | HOLIDAY GOOFS FROM BLACKSTONE — Via Bloomberg on the private equity firm's annual holiday spoof video: "President Jon Gray uses a megaphone in the office to communicate with socially distanced colleagues. Chief Executive Officer Stephen Schwarzman puts a cardboard cutout of himself in front of his computer to attend Zoom meetings. And David Blitzer and Ken Caplan have grown their hair to their shoulders." GAO REPORT PUSHBACK — Via Americans for Financial Reform's Carter Dougherty: "The industry's spin on the GAO's leveraged lending study is way off base. So let's be clear. 'It won't crash the banking system!' is one lame excuse not to do something soon about the plague of leveraged lending and the private equity firms who exploit it. "The fallout from over-leveraged companies is measured in laid-off workers and closed stores, not a 2008-style financial crisis. That's what Treasury nominee Yellen has emphasized at a macro level: leveraged lending will prolong downturns. Time for action." DEFINING "RETAIL INVESTOR" — Nasdaq Chief Economist Phil Mackintosh in Traders Magazine writes about who should count .. TRANSITIONS — Adam Korzeniewski is now White House liaison at the Treasury Department. He most recently was a senior adviser at the U.S. Census Bureau. Alex Hinson is now WH liaison and senior adviser to the chairman and president of the Export-Import Bank. He most recently was WH liaison at Treasury … Jack Groarke has been hired as deputy chief of staff for federal affairs for Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf. He most recently was director of economic development for Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.). | | | | A message from The Great Courses Plus: Are you an inquisitively curious individual that loves learning? Join a community of life-long learners, and learn more about any topic with The Great Courses Plus. Stream thousands of videos by some of this world's brightest minds. From the Art of Investing to the Theory of Everything, quench your thirst for knowledge with courses designed for the endlessly curious cat. With The Great Courses Plus, you'll enjoy being able to learn anytime, anywhere at your own pace. Now there's nothing keeping you from starting your educational journey. Learn now with The Great Courses Plus! | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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