| | | | | |  | | By Renuka Rayasam | Presented by |  | | With help from Myah Ward A CRISIS OF ANTITRUST — In 1890, 20 years after John Rockefeller co-founded Standard Oil, Congress nearly unanimously passed the first antitrust legislation, the Sherman Antitrust Act. Today, 16 years after Mark Zuckerberg started The Facebook as a Harvard sophomore, attorneys general from 46 states, Washington D.C. and Guam and the Trump administration sued the social media giant in an effort to make it spin off its messaging service WhatsApp and the photo-sharing app Instagram. Antitrust legislation is something both Republicans and Democrats have supported . During the 130 years since the Sherman Act, Congress expanded the scope of antitrust legislation, often uniting free-market advocates who say big monopolies are antithetical to competition and labor groups who say they hurt workers. It's been used to break up tobacco companies and AT&T. Microsoft was almost broken in two after losing an antitrust suit in the 1990s. Robert Bork pretty much defined how antitrust lawsuits work in the U.S. today, an approach that elevates consumer well-being over pretty much everything else. Big technology companies are bipartisan targets. Trump supporter Sen. Josh Hawley and progressive Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have been vocal opponents of big technology companies and their market power. In October the Trump administration, along with a handful of GOP states sued Google, accusing it of abusing its market power to stifle competition. House Democrats have proposed overhauling antitrust laws to make it easier to break up tech companies. The lawsuits are the latest marker of a stunning reputational fall for tech companies. Less than a decade ago, former president Barack Obama held a town hall at Facebook's Palo Alto headquarters. Zuckerberg and company executives at Google, Amazon and Apple, which are all under scrutiny, are among the wealthiest people in the world. Their products and services are ubiquitous in our lives, all the more so as Covid has pushed more of us to rely on technology in the absence of in-person interaction. Now, in a moment when Republicans and Democrats can hardly agree on anything, not even the pandemic, they've found a common enemy. Yet POLITICO deputy managing editor Bob King adds, with an assist from Cristiano Lima , in an email to Nightly: "Republicans and Democrats alike think big tech has grown too powerful, but aren't going to necessarily align on all the same fixes. We saw that in play on the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee earlier this year — Dems called for sweeping changes to antitrust laws to make it easier to go after all kinds of monopolistic companies. But some Republicans recoiled at a big rewrite of antitrust law, despite their own calls for action to rein in the tech giants. And it's unclear where Biden's administration will come down on the issue." Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Turns out I'm not the only one who has been screaming "Snap out of it!" this year. Reach out at rrayasam@politico.com, or on Twitter at @renurayasam .
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President-elect Joe Biden and retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin stand by as aides clean the lectern and desk during an event at the Queen Theater in Wilmington, Del., announcing Austin as Biden's choice to be Defense secretary. | Getty Images | MR. CLEAN — Small and infrequent public events. Repeated testing of staff, press, and the president-elect. Aides debating policies and Cabinet picks without ever meeting face-to-face. Preparations for a pared-down, mostly virtual inauguration. Joe Biden's team has meticulously carried the virus safety practices of his campaign over to the transition and plans to take them to the White House on move-in day — intent on setting a good example for the country and avoiding the dangerous and embarrassing outbreaks of Covid-19 that have infected dozens in Trump's inner circle this year, most recently sickening his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Alice Miranda Ollstein and Daniel Lippman write. The protocols have worked — preventing the 78-year-old Biden and nearly everyone in his circle from getting sick, so far — but they have not been easy. Job-seekers are unable to learn about opportunities and pitch their talents over a cup of coffee. And while the team gained access to publicly funded office space in the Commerce Department and the Pentagon when the General Services Administration certified Biden the winner of the election on Nov. 23, the vast majority of Biden staff are still working from home. Everything from policy committee meetings to high-level interviews for administration positions are mostly conducted over video. These and other safety protocols are reassessed at least every two weeks and sometimes more frequently, transition sources told POLITICO, and updated based on the trajectory of the pandemic, new scientific discoveries about treatments and countermeasures for the virus, and evolving guidance from states, the CDC and the World Health Organization. "It's more gain than pain, but there is pain of course," one person close to Biden told POLITICO. "The whole country feels it. We're all sick of it. When people actually see human beings in person again, it will be a shocking revelation."
| | | HUNTER BIDEN'S TROUBLES CONTINUE — Federal prosecutors are investigating Hunter Biden over his tax affairs, the president-elect's son said in a statement today , marking another troubled chapter for the lawyer and investment adviser a little more than a month before his father is to take office. In a statement, Hunter Biden said the U.S. Attorney's Office in Delaware advised his legal counsel about the matter Tuesday. "I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors," Hunter Biden said. The statement was sent out via president-elect's transition team. US-TAI-R — Biden will nominate House Ways and Means trade lawyer Katherine Tai as U.S. trade representative, two people familiar with the decision tell Gavin Bade, Tyler Pager and Sabrina Rodríguez . Biden's pick will be responsible for repairing economic ties with allies chastened by outgoing President Donald Trump's trade wars while fulfilling his campaign pledge to stay tough on China. The post is a Cabinet-level position within the Executive Office of the President.
| | | | LISTEN TO THE NEW SEASON OF GLOBAL TRANSLATIONS PODCAST: Our Global Translations podcast, presented by Citi, examines the long-term costs of the short-term thinking that drives many political and business decisions. The world has long been beset by big problems that defy political boundaries, and these issues have exploded over the past year amid a global pandemic. This podcast helps to identify and understand the impediments to smart policymaking. Subscribe for Season Two, available now. | | | | | | | | ON THIN ICE — When Biden takes office in January, Speaker Nancy Pelosi will have only a five-seat majority in the House. The 220-seat majority is the smallest since 2001 and the smallest Democratic majority since 1893, at least until there are special elections to fill the seats of Marcia Fudge, nominated for HUD secretary, and Cedric Richmond, who was tapped to be a special adviser to Biden. Nightly caught up with Burgess Everett and Heather Caygle, POLITICO's newest Congress bureau chiefs, over Slack today to hash out what this all means for policy. This conversation has been edited. Democrats will have a very slim majority in the House and slim or no majority in the Senate during Biden's first 100 days — what does that mean for his agenda? Burgess : Forget expanding the Supreme Court, "Medicare for All," gutting the filibuster and the Green New Deal. Democrats have no room for error in the House and at best a 50-50 Senate, and that restricts Congress' work to confirming Cabinet members and basic economic and health issues that actually have some middle ground between the two parties. Lawmakers are already talking about yet another stimulus bill next year. Heather : Everything will be much smaller and more moderate than Democrats were hoping. Dealing with the long lasting health and economic impacts of the pandemic will consume Biden's first several months in office, if not longer. Do you expect Pelosi to hold her caucus together? Or will this be harder than when Trump was president? Heather: Pelosi has the most power of any speaker we've seen in decades. But she will face some unique challenges in the upcoming Congress that she didn't deal with under Trump. Anything Democratic leaders put on the floor will have to either have near unanimity within their caucus or bipartisan support. In addition, as one Democrat told me, with Trump gone there is no "common enemy" for the party to rally against. That means more time for them to focus intra-caucus squabbles over generational and ideological divides. Will centrists in Congress get a lot more powerful in 2021? Seems like with the narrowly divided House and Senate a handful of lawmakers will have a lot more power to influence negotiations. Burgess: Maybe. Take a look at what's happening now: A group of centrists are trying to cut a deal on coronavirus aid. It's probably not going to be the ultimate solution, because party leaders likely need to make the final deal. But they did get a new round of offers rolling, so that's something. Whether moderates will rule the day next year probably depends on how hard a line they are willing to take. If a bloc of senators or House members demands work on an issue and uses their leverage over Congress' daily business to draw a hard line, the moderates could be as influential as party leaders. But they haven't really done that yet. Heather: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was just asked about the slim majority impact on the Hill tonight and here's what she said: "I think it forces us to conference more, to talk to each other more. It's something that I've already started to sense and I think that is kind of a silver lining." Who should we watch closely? Heather: I would keep an eye on progressives — Rep. Pramila Jayapal consolidated power in the Congressional Progressive Caucus recently and could use that to be a much bigger force next Congress. In addition, Ocasio-Cortez has expanded her "squad" by adding several new incoming and outspoken liberal lawmakers including Reps.-elect Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush. There are also several younger Democratic leaders who will likely be positioning themselves for bigger roles in 2022, including Reps. Hakeem Jeffries and Katherine Clark. In addition, Republicans will be welcoming 17 new female lawmakers after nearly depleting their ranks in 2018. Several of the incoming GOP women are already talking about how they want to be counterweights to the Democratic squad. Burgess : Aside from the centrists in each party, I would say Republican Sen. Rick Scott, who is running the GOP's campaign arm next cycle, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and is often mentioned as a potential presidential candidate in 2024. Watch Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who could be a major force internally for Democrats.
| | | |   | | | | | | Welcome to Bidenology, Nightly's look at the president-elect and what to expect in his administration. Tonight, our Myah Ward looks at Biden and his faith: Biden's Election Day began with Mass at St. Joseph on the Brandywine in Wilmington, Del., with his wife, Jill, and two of their granddaughters. Then he visited the cemetery where his son, Beau, first wife and daughter are buried. He keeps a rosary in his pocket, one that belonged to Beau. Biden will become only the second Catholic president of the United States, 60 years after John F. Kennedy was elected. Biden's faith is no secret, even in his campaign pledge to "restore the soul of the nation." The president-elect attended Catholic schools in his hometown of Scranton, Pa., and later when his family moved to Wilmington when he was 10. His grandfather taught him to pray the rosary, and "church always felt like an extension of home," Biden wrote in his memoir, "Promises to Keep." Biden even briefly considered becoming a priest. In a 2015 interview with Stephen Colbert, Biden described his faith like this: "Some of it relates to ritual, some of that relates to comfort and just what you've done your whole life," he said. "All the good things that have happened, have happened around the culture of my religion and the theology of my religion." Biden then turned to the audience and admitted that he's struggled in the face of tragedy. "A lot of you have been through this," Biden said. "The faith doesn't always stick with you. Sometimes, it leaves me." Some conservative Catholic organizations, like faith-based advocacy group CatholicVote, opposed Biden's candidacy because of his support for abortion rights, even as Biden has said he personally believes life begins at conception. "What I'm not prepared to do is impose a precise view that is borne out of my faith on other people," Biden said in a 2015 interview with America magazine, which is published by the Jesuits. CatholicVote launched a $9.7 million ad campaign against the Democratic nominee in September, targeting swing-state Catholic voters. The majority of Catholics voted for Biden in 2020, 52 percent to 47 percent nationwide, a reversal from Trump's 50 percent to 46 percent edge in 2016.
| | | 2 RUNOFFS 2 FURIOUS — Both political parties will have to wait until Jan. 5 for the holiday present they most want: control of the U.S. Senate, which will be decided in Georgia's Senate runoff elections. Eugene Daniels talks to campaigns reporter James Arkin in the latest 2020 Check-In about the state of the races.
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| | | | BRITAIN GETS SMALL 1776 REVENGE — If you felt FOMO while watching British seniors receive coronavirus vaccinations on Tuesday, you're not alone. In the latest POLITICO Dispatch, host Jeremy Siegel talks with health care reporter Sarah Owermohle about why Britain beat the U.S. to those first doses — and when we can expect FDA authorization. Plus, Biden pledges to vaccinate tens of millions and reopen schools in his first 100 days.
| | | | | | Nightly asks you: Every December, the news media reflects on the lives we lost this year, and 2020 has been especially deadly. Tell us who you'll miss the most — a family member, a civic leader, a celebrity — and how you'll remember them. Send us your answers in our form, and we'll publish select responses this week.
| | | | HAPPENING THURSDAY - CLOSING THE ORAL HEALTH CARE GAP : Oral health care remains out of reach or limited for millions of people living in the United States, particularly for those with low income, those living in rural communities, and in communities of color. What will it take to improve access and quality of oral care for Americans, especially for the most vulnerable? Join POLITICO for a virtual conversation exploring the challenges in oral care disparities and the policies and strategies that can help solve them. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | STUCK BETWEEN SUPERPOWERS — The wife of a Canadian caught in the geopolitical struggle between the U.S. and China says he was relieved to discover he has not been forgotten after months of hearing nothing from the outside world in his Chinese jail cell, Andy Blatchford writes. Michael Kovrig will mark two years behind bars in China on Thursday. The former diplomat and fellow Canadian Michael Spavor were detained in December 2018 in an apparent retaliation for the arrest, days earlier, of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on a U.S. extradition warrant. Vina Nadjibulla said as the two-year milestone approaches, the ordeal is taking a toll on her husband, and that 2020 has been particularly harsh — including a "very difficult" stretch from March to October when Kovrig heard nothing from the outside. Nadjibulla is hoping the incoming Biden administration — and the new multilateral approach to China expected to come with it — will help the cases of Kovrig and Spavor.
| | | BACK TO DOUBLE RAINBOW ON LOOP — YouTube said today it will begin removing any videos that falsely claim widespread voting fraud changed the outcome of the 2020 presidential race, now that the deadline for states to resolve disputes over the results has passed. It's a policy shift that could put the tech giant at odds with Trump and his GOP allies in the remaining days of his administration, but one that will be welcomed by Democrats who have called for more aggressive action. What's changing: The Google-owned video-sharing platform announced in a blog post that it will begin outright removing content published today or later that "misleads people by alleging that widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election." The company in recent months has taken steps to label election-related posts and direct users to "authoritative news sources" regarding the outcome, but stopped short of outright banning unsubstantiated claims of a rigged election.
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