| | | | | |  | | By Weijia Jiang | Presented by |  | | | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | Today is the first day of President Donald Trump's last full week in office. President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States in nine days. Since the assault on the U.S. Capitol, everyone is trying to figure out the answer to a question we have all explored before: Will Trump complete his full term? In short, yes. Well … probably. Here's the state of play this morning on the three ways that Trump could leave the White House early, in order of likelihood: 1) IMPEACHMENT — Timing is everything, especially when you're running out of time. Democrats are barreling forward with plans to impeach Trump for the second time. Last night, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced to members that the House will try to pass a resolution by unanimous consent calling on VP Mike Pence and cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office. If that fails, the resolution will be brought to the floor Tuesday. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) said articles of impeachment could be drafted by today but might not reach the House floor until Tuesday or Wednesday. But Clyburn also suggested on CNN's "State of the Union" that the House might hit pause before sending them to the Senate, since Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has indicated the earliest an impeachment trial could begin is Jan. 19, and even that's unlikely. A few other factors guiding Democrats' thinking: Impeaching Trump the day before Biden takes office might set a less-than-ideal tone to kick off his term. Senators have a lot on their plates, like confirming his Cabinet nominees. "Let's give President-elect Biden the 100 days he needs to get his agenda off and running," Clyburn, a close ally of Biden, said. "And maybe we will send the articles some time after that." If Trump were to be impeached and convicted, he could lose the ability to run for president again in 2024. 2) THE 25TH AMENDMENT — Cabinet members have not formally presented invoking the 25th Amendment to Pence, who would have to be on board. Two of them — Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Education Secretary Betsy Devos — bashed the president for his inflammatory rhetoric, but they resigned before having to publicly vote on the move. White House sources have told me that releasing the idea of exercising the 25th Amendment into the ether was meant to serve as a warning shot to Trump to rein in the chaos. Pence, for his part, hasn't commented on the possibility publicly. But CNN reported over the weekend that the VP "wants to preserve the option in case President Donald Trump becomes more unstable." The "more unstable" bit suggests that the vice president has already identified some instability regarding Trump's fitness to serve. 3) RESIGNATION — Democrats and even some Republicans (including GOP Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania on Sunday) are urging him to step down. Senior advisers have said he will not. It took Trump 65 days to acknowledge his defeat. In a statement Thursday, he still peddled the lie that the election was rigged and that the facts show he won. Trump would only abandon the presidency if he felt he had no other choice, most likely because staying put would thrust him into legal trouble. Or, if he had something to gain that he couldn't turn down, such as a pardon by the vice president. Neither is the case. Besides, there is nothing Trump dislikes more than a loser. A resignation would amount to quitting, and he views quitters as losers. I know this because I have covered Trump since the 2016 presidential campaign. This feels like a good place for a brief introduction. | | A message from the American Petroleum Institute: Meeting energy needs and tackling climate change isn't either/or. We have to do both. That's why America's natural gas and oil companies are working on climate solutions that will help the U.S. remain the world leader in reducing emissions. Let's make even more progress together. | | | My name is Weijia Jiang. I'm a CBS News White House correspondent. For over five years, I have thought about Donald J. Trump every single day. Sometimes for hours a day. The relationship between a reporter and her subject is, like all relationships, complicated. I have spent a lot of time reflecting about the assignment, especially during the past few exceptionally draining days. I keep coming back to a question that I wrote in my notepad in early December, when I thought the president might take questions from reporters. (He didn't. In fact, he has only done that twice since Election Day.) As a public servant, you are supposed to put the country first. How is refusing to concede putting America before your own ego? I realized that over the course of the past four years, there were many things I could have swapped out for "refusing to concede." Most recently, "calling on your supporters to act" and then "refusing to condemn the violence." It is notable that Trump has not acknowledged his part in the protests. I thought about this again yesterday, when I was at the White House the moment the flags were finally lowered to honor the lives of Capitol Police Officers Howard Liebengood, who took his own life over the weekend, and Brian Sicknick, who died five days ago. Why did it take so long? I should probably revise my original question to ask: What do you put before your own ego? I believe the bottom line of his likely answer led to his own undoing, which we have witnessed in real time. As a result, Trump will spend this week attempting to salvage what's left of the credibility of his presidency. | | | |   | | | My CBS News colleague Arden Farhi reports that the president is expected to make remarks today to highlight legacy items and attack Big Tech after losing his social media megaphones. He will likely bring up the Capitol riots, but they are not expected to be the centerpiece of his speech. On Tuesday, Trump plans to visit the U.S.-Mexico border to tout the 400-mile wall that his administration built, or rebuilt, since much of it was to reinforce what was already there. The White House is calling it a "promise kept." But the president promised a wall along the entire border, which is nearly 2,000 miles long. Then there's that immigration reform plan that never was. We are also watching the spiraling relationship with Pence. Sometimes, a lack of action tells us plenty. If one of my closest colleagues and I had a blowup fight, and he also happened to have the power to destroy me, I would probably butter him up with his favorite wine or a nice orchid. At the least, I would try my best to hash it out. But the two men have not spoken since Wednesday morning before the violence unfolded. That means the president didn't check in on his VP, whose safety was in jeopardy, during or after the attacks. Trump is still angry that Pence didn't use an authority that he does not possess to interfere in Congress' Electoral College vote count. And despite Trump's acknowledgement of defeat, he does not really believe he lost the election. Yet, the main question overshadowing his final stretch in office is whether he belongs there at all. | | | | KEEP UP WITH THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION WITH TRANSITION PLAYBOOK: It was a dark week in American history, and a new administration will have to pick up the pieces. Transition Playbook brings you inside the last days of this crucial transfer of power, tracking the latest from President-elect Biden and his growing administration. Written for political insiders, this scoop-filled newsletter breaks big news and analyzes 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. | | | | | | | WEIJIA'S PLAYBOOK READS | | — The U.S. vaccination effort is not inspiring much confidence so far. Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottleib said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that the country's vaccine distribution needs a reset. In the WSJ, he wrote about how the administration should deal with treating new variants. Important note: A senior official on the White House Coronavirus Task Force tells me there's no evidence of a "new" U.S. strain — yet. — It seemed as though nothing could have shaken Trump's allies from his pole of power, especially for those who aspire to have power themselves. But apparently, there was a bottom for many of his fiercest supporters. Now, his staff is barely holding on. Reuters' Jeff Mason and Steve Holland report that the "White House is in 'meltdown' as it lurches through his final days." One source told me the riots have left him feeling "physically ill" for days. — The images from the Capitol riots were unbelievable. I am in awe of the journalists who put their lives at risk so we could see and hear them. But pictures and video have limits, and they are subject to interpretation. This reporter captured raw fear without either, relying instead on her memory. NBC's Haley Talbot writes, "I started to think about what I would use to defend our group if the mob were to smash through the third-floor glass and enter the gallery. The congresswoman next to me had a cane. That's what I'd use. I thought about how I'd position myself to block as many people as possible." — Did you miss the Twitter notifications this weekend? THE ALL CAPS THREADS THAT SUDDENLY FLASHED ON YOUR PHONE SCREEN AT ALL HOURS OF THE DAY AND NIGHT? I wouldn't use the word "miss," considering the tweets contributed to five people losing their lives. But I and other reporters who cover him certainly felt their absence. The tweets not only gave the world an unfiltered look at the way in which Trump views it, they were also direct quotes from the president himself. People get paid good money to control our access to both, but he fired off tweets without permission. New York magazine's Olivia Nuzzi writes that Trump's tweets "were the Presidency. Stupid, grammatically incoherent, racist, false, mean, petty, hilarious. His online persona was the same as his private self." — If you're too embarrassed to say out loud, "Wait, what is Parler?", this NYT piece is a good primer. — Early on in my career, I used to transcribe Steve Hartman's stories so I could study his writing. I still do, even though we are now colleagues at CBS News. I've heard many pundits talking about why we will prevail after the Capitol attacks, but Steve explains it effortlessly with this line: "Because the soul of America can't be ransacked and the solution to what ails us sure as heck isn't under a dome." His piece is worth watching, especially if you need a reminder of what binds us. | | | | | WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD BE READING | | | 
PHOTO DU JOUR: The White House flies an American flag at half-staff on Sunday, Jan. 10, days after the fatal failed insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. | Patrick Semansky/AP Photo | Via the Playbook gang … BREAKING … WAPO'S DAVID IGNATIUS: "Biden plans to nominate William J. Burns, a former career diplomat, to run the CIA" THE BIDEN COVID RESPONSE — "Tensions grow on Biden's team over odds of making vaccination goal," by Adam Cancryn and Tyler Pager: "President-elect Joe Biden has grown frustrated with the team in charge of plotting his coronavirus response, amid rising concerns that his administration will fall short of its promise of 100 million vaccinations in the first 100 days, according to people familiar with the conversations. "Biden has expressed criticism on multiple occasions to groups of transition officials — including one confrontation where Biden conveyed to Covid coordinator Jeff Zients and his deputy, Natalie Quillian, that their team was underperforming. … In interviews, multiple senior transition officials defended Zients and stressed the enormity of the challenge, noting that the Trump administration has refused to share key information for weeks." CORONAVIRUS RAGING … 1,999 American deaths and 223,000 newly diagnosed cases were reported Sunday. IMPEACHMENT LATEST — "Pelosi to move forward with impeachment if Pence doesn't act to remove Trump," by Sarah Ferris, Heather Caygle and Kyle Cheney: "On Monday, multiple House Democrats plan to introduce impeachment resolutions that would become the basis of any impeachment article considered by the House later this week. … Currently, 211 voting members (plus three nonvoting members) support [the] legislation, and they are hoping to reach 217 voting members by Monday morning, enough for the House to impeach Trump, one Democratic source familiar with the matter told POLITICO." MODERATE DEMS: IMPEACHMENT WILL BACKFIRE ON BIDEN — A bipartisan group of House members and senators huddled virtually over the weekend in a bid to halt the impeachment train. Members of the House Problem Solvers Caucus along with a swath of senators worry that the eleventh-hour impeachment effort will only incite more violence and turn Trump into a martyr. Their preference: censure Trump instead of impeaching him . But Democratic leaders broadly agree censure isn't enough. Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) has been seeking signatures on a letter to Biden imploring him to call for unity and prevent what he's calling "snap-judgment impeachment." Reed's also been trying to get in touch with Biden personally. The president-elect so far has steered clear of endorsing or opposing impeachment, saying it's up to Congress. Some MAGA-aligned House Republicans are already whispering about exacting revenge on Democrats — by potentially using House procedures to instigate an impeachment of Biden. "Republicans will figure this out. … It will be their favorite new tool. We're such imbeciles," said another Democrat opposed to impeachment. "We never think about the consequences. It's going to be like: Game on. Let's impeach [Biden] 12 times in a week." (h/t Rachael Bade) — PELOSI on "60 Minutes": "This president is guilty of inciting insurrection. He has to pay a price for that." —STUDY HALL: "How the Constitution's 25th Amendment works" … "Can the President Pardon Himself?" … Impeachment … via The National Constitution Center SUND SPEAKS — "Outgoing Capitol Police chief: House, Senate security officials hamstrung efforts to call in National Guard," WaPo: "Two days before Congress was set to formalize President-elect Joe Biden's victory, Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund was growing increasingly worried about the size of the pro-Trump crowds expected to stream into Washington in protest. "To be on the safe side, Sund asked House and Senate security officials for permission to request that the D.C. National Guard be placed on standby in case he needed quick backup. But, Sund said Sunday, they turned him down. In his first interview since pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol last week, Sund, who has since resigned his post, said his supervisors were reluctant to take formal steps to put the Guard on call even as police intelligence suggested that the crowd President Trump had invited to Washington to protest his defeat probably would be much larger than earlier demonstrations." — "FBI, NYPD told Capitol Police about possibility of violence before riot, senior officials say," NBC: "[T]he FBI even visited more than a dozen extremists already under investigation to urge them not to travel to Washington." THE PUTSCH ARRESTS — NYT: "The F.B.I. arrests two men who had carried plastic restraints into the Capitol" OOPS: — Jacob Angeli Chansley "said he's not worried about being arrested for his actions in the Capitol on Wednesday. 'No, no, I've already spoken with the FBI. When I heard they were looking for me, I called them,' he said. 'That's the kind of guy I am.'" National Review — "Jacob Anthony Chansley, a.k.a. Jake Angeli, of Arizona, was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. Chansley was taken into custody today." DOJ press release | | | |   | | | REACTION FROM CORPORATE AMERICA — "Stripe Stops Processing Payments for Trump Campaign Website," WSJ: "The financial-technology company handles card payments for millions of online businesses and e-commerce platforms, including Mr. Trump's campaign website and online fundraising apparatus. Stripe is cutting off the president's campaign account for violating its policies against encouraging violence, the people said." — "Goldman, JPMorgan, Citi Suspend Political Donations," Bloomberg — FIRST IN PLAYBOOK … END CITIZENS UNITED is calling on corporations to demand their campaign contributions be returned from any members of Congress who voted to overturn the results of the presidential election last week. ECU also called on companies to demand their contributions back from the Republican Attorneys General Association, which it said "helped recruit for and incite the riot through its dark money organization." Twenty top corporations — including Amazon, Google and Walmart — gave about $16 million in total to these lawmakers. AP: "Lawmakers who voted against Biden are denounced back home" — Decatur Daily: "Rep. [Mo] Brooks should resign" — York Dispatch: Rep. Scott Perry "is a disgrace to Pennsylvania and our democracy, and he has to go." — Danville Register & Bee: "Please submit your resignation, Rep. [Bob] Good" — CHAD SWEET, LONGTIME CRUZ ADVISER, CONDEMNS THE TEXAS SENATOR: "Donald Trump and those who aided and abetted him in his relentless assault on our Democracy – including Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz – must be denounced." Read more PITCH PERFECT PARODY FROM ALEXANDRA PETRI: "I see no choice but to resign from this Death Star as it begins to explode" WaPo BIG NYT TICK-TOCK — "Inside a Deadly Siege: How a String of Failures Led to a Dark Day at the Capitol" JOHN HARRIS COLUMN: "Trump's Effort To Overturn The Election Should Be Investigated Like 9/11": "No previous transition has raised similar doubts about whether the executive branch, including the military, is being run with a clear and lawful chain of command, with a psychologically competent individual at the top. It is imperative that a multitude of urgent questions be answered in a comprehensive way, by an independent body with subpoena power to review documentary evidence and compel testimony under oath." GOP CONGRESSMAN SAYS MEMBERS VOTED OUT OF FEAR OF VIOLENCE: Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.): "[O]ne of the saddest things is I had colleagues who, when it came time to recognize reality and vote to certify Arizona and Pennsylvania in the Electoral College, they knew in their heart of hearts that they should've voted to certify, but some had legitimate concerns about the safety of their families. They felt that that vote would put their families in danger." Reason FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: The Campaign for Accountability is filing a complaint this morning against Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) with the House Office of Congressional Ethics over whether he "violated federal law by inciting a riot as part of a seditious conspiracy to use force to prevent Congress from carrying out its constitutional and statutory duties to count the votes of the Electoral College." The left-leaning group cites this passage from Brooks' Wednesday speech before the crowd at the Save America March: "Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass! Now our ancestors sacrificed their blood, their sweat, their tears, their fortunes and sometimes their lives ... Are you willing to do the same? My answer is yes! Louder!" Full complaint PATRIOT GAMES … "Trump to award Bill Belichick the Medal of Freedom amid House impeachment push," by Meridith McGraw. FORE! — "PGA Championship leaving Trump National in '22 tournament," AP/Kapalua, Hawaii — VIEW FROM THE RIGHT: "The Progressive Purge Begins: Tech's stampede against the right will lead to more populist anger," WSJ editorial BIG FOREIGN POLICY DECISION — "Exclusive: U.S. to designate Yemen's Houthi movement as foreign terror group as soon as Monday - sources," Reuters TRUMP'S MONDAY — The president has nothing on his public schedule. Pence will lead a coronavirus task force meeting in the Situation Room at 2 p.m. — Biden and Harris will receive the President's Daily Brief and meet with transition and economic advisers. Biden will also get the second dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Programming note: You'll notice some guest writers as we prepare to officially relaunch Playbook on Jan. 19. In the meantime, we also want to hear from you: What do you love most about Playbook? How could we be more valuable to you? Let us know — we'll read every submission. | | | | A NEW YEAR, A NEW CONGRESS, A NEW HUDDLE: It was an ugly and heartbreaking week inside the Capitol, particularly for all of those who work on the Hill. How are lawmakers planning to move forward? How will security change? How will a new Senate majority impact the legislative agenda? With so much at stake, our new Huddle author Olivia Beavers brings you the most important news and critical insight from Capitol Hill with help from POLITICO's deeply sourced Congress team. Subscribe to Huddle, the essential guide to understanding Congress. It has never been more important. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at politicoplaybook@politico.com. MEDIAWATCH — The Appeal is announcing a major expansion of its newsroom and product offerings this year, including six new editors and a daily news show produced with NowThis. Chris Geidner will be director of editorial strategy and senior legal analyst. He previously was senior adviser for law and policy at The Justice Collaborative, and is a BuzzFeed alum. TRANSITIONS — Jesse Hunt will oversee comms for the Republican Governors Association during the 2022 election cycle. He previously was comms director for the NRSC. (h/t Alex Isenstadt) … The Hudson Institute is adding Julia Sibley as comms director and Sarah Russell as manager of public programming. Sibley previously was deputy director of comms at the International Republican Institute. Russell most recently worked in the White House's Office of the Senior Counselor and Office of Presidential Advance. … … Lockwood Strategy, a Democratic digital firm that was mainly in-house for Acronym in 2020, is moving to become a full-service agency and taking on new clients. Shannon Kowalczyk will be CEO, and Clay Schroers and Victor Nguyen-Long will be principals. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Courtney Kube, NBC News Pentagon correspondent, and Eric Dent welcomed Andrew Joseph "AJ" Dent on Saturday afternoon. He came in at 8 lbs, 2 oz. Pic … Another pic BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Joe Lai, VP of government affairs at BGR Group. A fun fact about him: "My parents — who are immigrants from Hong Kong — own a small business that sells fruits and vegetables. I'm a good cook." Playbook Q&A BIRTHDAYS: Rashida Jones, incoming MSNBC president … Alex Stone, deputy director of White House management and administration, is 31 … Steven Law … C.R. Wooters, partner at FIO360 … John Emerson (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) … Ashley Czin, deputy VP of policy and research at PhRMA … Jonathan Kott … John Milne … Ben Barrett of the Aspen Institute … Emma Ernst, special assistant for strategy and comms at the CEA (h/t Rachael Slobodien) … Richard Posner is 82 … Gerald Rafshoon … Daria Grastara of Realtime Media … Jennifer Higgins … Mary Jacoby (h/t Tim Burger) … … Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) is 61 … Jessica Brouckaert, associate at Dickinson Wright (h/t fiance Brian Bartlett) … Chris Jusuf … Kevin Mooney … ABC News' Caragh Fisher O'Connor … Blair Brandt is 33 … Chris Beauregard is 31 … Alex Sarp … Brooke Anderson … Anne Cronin … Lynn Blitzer … Ron Phillips … Catherine Andrews … Ben Finkenbinder, senior director of executive comms at Salesforce, is 36 (h/t Ben Chang) … Travis Shank … Colton Henson … Randy Borntrager … Jim Hightower … Frederic Mishkin … John Sonsalla … Helen Gym … Alex White … A.J. Rice | | A message from the American Petroleum Institute: Reducing emissions and providing affordable, reliable energy shouldn't be a choice. We can and must do both. Today, America is leading the world in CO2 emission reductions. As we look toward tomorrow and the future, America's natural gas and oil companies are working with the country's brightest minds and organizations to continue that progress while reliably delivering essential energy. 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