| | | | | |  | | By Olivia Beavers | Presented by The National Domestic Workers Alliance | With assists from Burgess and Andrew Here's where we are: The Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump is expected to begin shortly as Joe Biden starts his term as the 46th president of the United States. Think about that. As a new president is sworn in this week, his predecessor will soon be put on trial for charges that he incited the deadly insurrection at the Capitol after claiming the 2020 election was "stolen." As my colleagues Andrew and Kyle report: "Congress, by deciding to hold an impeachment trial after Trump's exit, is daring the courts to wade into territory that judges typically avoid. The Constitution gives the House and Senate the 'sole power' to handle matters of impeachment. Judges have frequently cited this to determine that they have no role in telling lawmakers how to wield their own constitutional power. It's safe to think they'll end up there again." Not all impeachments are the same: This impeachment trial is wholly different than the previous one, where a conviction in the GOP-controlled Senate was dead-on-arrival last year and no House Republicans voted for the two impeachment charges in 2019 over Trump's contacts with Ukraine. This time, 10 House Republicans voted for impeachment, and some Republican senators are leaning 'yes' and some surprising names are checking the box as a 'maybe.' Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is waiting to see the evidence, is the biggest name to watch. Getting the required 17 GOP senators to vote to convict a president of their own party is certainly a steep climb for the House impeachment managers, but this year that's a possibility, particularly if McConnell votes to impeach Trump -- a stunning 'yes' vote from the No. 1 Senate GOP leader will certainly give cover to other Republicans seeking to convict. | | A message from The National Domestic Workers Alliance, Community Change Action, and FWD.us: We can't fight this pandemic without essential workers, many of whom are immigrants. For almost a year, essential workers have risked their lives to care for those most at risk for COVID-19 without access to relief given to other workers or assurance that they would be safe from being torn from their families. They are getting us through this crisis, so relief plans must include a fast track to citizenship for essential workers>> | | | Lindsey's move: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a close ally to Trump, is calling on Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the soon-to-be Senate majority leader, to support a vote to dismiss the House's article of impeachment against Trump, saying it will indefinitely delay "the healing of this great nation if we do otherwise." But that's likely a road to nowhere in a Senate that will be split 50-50 along party lines and which also appears to have some GOP support. Also TBD: How much time will each side have to make their arguments? Who is going to serve on Trump's impeachment defense team? Oh, and when is Speaker Nancy Pelosi going to send the Article of impeachment to the Senate to start the Senate trial? She could send the article today or tomorrow if she wanted to, but all signs indicate she doesn't want to interfere with Biden's big day and Democrats want to confirm at least some of his national security team, so your Huddle host is looking to see what the speaker does on Thursday and Friday, or even next week. And what about witnesses? Even with Republicans aside, it is not clear if Democrats will fiercely push for witnesses this time around, with some raising concerns that holding a trial during the start of Biden's presidency will likely delay Senate action on his Cabinet picks and potential additional Covid-19 relief legislation. In some ways, Democrats may already have witnesses speaking before the Senate: Each of the nine impeachment managers that Pelosi tapped were in the Capitol during the attack on Jan. 6. and they say they are already planning to lean on this experience during the trial. But if you keep with this line of thinking, that also means the jurors are witnesses as well… Andrew and Kyle unpack it all for you here: http://politi.co/3bRXKaF Related Reads: Biden's Inauguration is going to look very different by NPR's Barbara Sprunt: http://n.pr/2N8RFw6 | Kamala Harris resigns her Senate seat, LA Times with the video: http://lat.ms/3inW5uO | | | | A NEW YEAR, A NEW WASHINGTON, A NEW PLAYBOOK TEAM: Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri, Eugene Daniels and Rachael Bade take the reins of Playbook this week to set the agenda for the political day and days ahead; break news and make sense of it; and provide a steady dose of insider nuggets and intrigue for and about the power players in Washington. Delivered to your inbox twice a day, POLITICO Playbook keeps you up to speed with everything happening in the world of politics as a new administration enters the White House. Subscribe today to the unofficial guide for official Washington. | | | | | HAPPY TUESDAY! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill on this Jan. 19, where you realize early into 2021 that this is exactly what we need more of in politics. FRIDAY'S MOST CLICKED: The Tulsa World's story about Sen. James Lankford's open letter to the black community was the big winner on Friday. THE SOON-TO-BE'S : A Senate aide tells POLITICO the upper chamber is now expecting to swear in Sen.-elects Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), as well as Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a few hours after Biden's Inauguration -- around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, though that plan is not locked in. THE NERVES ARE REAL: The U.S. Capitol Police issued an alert Monday morning announcing that the Capitol complex was under lockdown as officials examined a threat several blocks away from the Capitol, triggering the anxiety for many who are worried how this week's events will unfold. While it proved to be a false alarm over a propane tank exploding near a homeless camp, the quick jump to action shows just how tense and serious security is ahead of Wednesday. POLITICO's Nick Niedzwiadek and Lara Seligman have more: http://politi.co/35QHV0f THE GOOD NEWS: Biden's Inauguration rehearsal went off mostly without a hitch on Monday, after being postponed over the looming security threats, according to a source involved in the matter. The source said they felt safe during the rehearsal as they were surrounded by many, many uniforms: Marines, Navy, Army, Honor Guard. Related Reads: FBI vetting Guard troops in DC amid fears of insider attack by the AP's Lolita Baldor: http://bit.ly/2Y6OGqx | QAnon adherents discussed posing as National Guard to try to infiltrate inauguration, according to FBI intelligence briefing by Carol Leonig and Matt Zapotosky: http://wapo.st/35URuuZ | Investigators Eye Right-Wing Militias at Capitol Riot by NYT's Adam Goldman, Katie Benner and Alan Feuer: http://nyti.ms/3p1jZyO FIRST IN HUDDLE: Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.), who was the first member of the GOP conference to recognize the threat posed by QAnon, is starting a new company focusing on intelligence activities in the domestic terrorism and disinformation space. The company, Riggleman Information and Intelligence Group (RIIG), will help with network modeling and advanced analysis, which will complement his work at the Network Contagion Research Institute. Riggleman and Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) set themselves apart in combating QAnon by putting forward a resolution that made their colleagues on the record in condemning the threat of QAnon in early October. Other lawmakers are now fiercely speaking out against QAnon, which comes after Jan. 6 revealed just how dangerous of a threat it is. LET'S RECONCILE: Biden's got a big number in mind for Covid relief: $1.9 trillion. And given that Congress just passed one of roughly half that size, there's a question of whether there's much of a chance that Senate Republicans will cough up the 10 or more votes Democrats would need to do another aid package. The Senate needs to pass a budget to start reconciliation, and Sen. Bernie Sanders is ready to go on the Budget Committee, but many Democrats hope they can do something bipartisan instead of passing a totally partisan bill with the narrowest of majorities. And some conservatives have made it clear they are not keen on Biden's proposal, but there are a number of centrist Republicans who may entertain working with Biden on confronting the pandemic. EXCLUSIVE: The U.S. Conference of Mayors, a collective of more than 280 Republican and Democratic mayors across the nation, will be sending a letter to Hill leaders calling for swift action on Covid relief – including an endorsement of state and local aide the Senate GOP has long resisted: "The $350 billion in direct relief to state and local governments included in President Elect Biden's American Rescue Plan would allow cities to preserve critical public sector jobs and help drive our economic recovery." Read it here: https://bit.ly/35Utbxb (H/t to Rachael Bade, a new Co-author of Playbook) | | | |   | | | WANT TO MOVE IT, MOVE IT: Democrats are aiming for the quick approval of Biden's national security picks, including at least two of his top national security officials who they want promptly confirmed, particularly following the siege of the Capitol that left five dead and dozens others injured. The top two noms they are gunning to confirm: Alejandro Mayorkas to DHS and retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to the Pentagon. IF the Senate confirms them, then Biden would be on equal footing with Trump, who had his DHS and Defense secretaries confirmed on Inauguration Day. Burgess with more: http://politi.co/3nWqnWD ALEJANDRO, ALEJANDRO: Of particular note: Mayorkas plans to address the Capitol insurrection head-on in his opening statement, in which he is expected to vow to do everything in his power to prevent similar attacks from happening in the future, as Washington locks down ahead of Biden's inauguration. Andrew with the story: http://politi.co/2LEz7DQ RUSSIA, IF YOU'RE LISTENING...? Federal authorities are investigating whether a woman allegedly stole a laptop or hard drive from Pelosi's office while storming the Capitol WITH the intention of selling it to the Russians (though Pelosi's office hasn't confirmed that this tech was stolen). This investigative thread was detailed in an affidavit describing the criminal case against Riley June Williams from Pennsylvania, whose ex helped the FBI! Kyle has the latest: http://politi.co/38WD1k8 Related Watch: A reporter's footage from inside the Capitol's siege: http://bit.ly/3qxkXTM | WHAT WE ARE ALL WONDERING: How many signatures has the petition to oust Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) from her top House leadership spot garnered in response to her impeachment vote? A senior GOP staffer who works for an office that is actively whipping signatures on the Cheney petition projected a lot of confidence to your Huddle host about the number of signatures they're getting, but declined to provide exact numbers. Other GOP sources, however, are skeptical that a majority of the House GOP conference would sign on, chalking such talk as possible saber rattling. What do you think? Send me your thoughts on how you think this is going to go → obeavers@politico.com BIG WHEELS KEEP TURNING ON...: Is Trump now turning on Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, his longtime loyal House ally, like he did Vice President Mike Pence? The president reportedly wasn't happy after McCarthy's floor speech about the violence at the Capitol. NYT's Maggie Haberman with some good reporting: https://bit.ly/3oSnIyq BLAMING BOEBERT? House Democrats have avoided fully tipping their hand as to who they are alleging guided rioters around the Capitol ahead of the violent attack or offering evidence to support this claim. Then on Monday, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) claimed GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) took a group of people for a tour of the Capitol between the 3rd and the 6th -- an allegation the gun-toting freshman is directly denying. Boebert quickly knocked down this allegation down, telling USAToday's Christal Hayes that she "did not give any tours between Jan 3rd and 6th."AND in a response to a follow-up question from Huddle host, Boebert says: "No one on my staff has given any tours ever while working for me as the Capitol has been closed for Capitol tours since I was sworn in on 1/3/21." So file this under, let's wait and see how it plays out. QUICK CLICKS FROM OVER THE LONG WEEKEND: -Hackers target Warnock's annual MLK Shabbat service in Atlanta by AJC's Greg Bluestein: http://bit.ly/3bUCsJs -Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene suspended from Twitter for 12 hours by Forbes' Jack Brewster: http://bit.ly/39J5uZN - Pelosi sends letter to top Defense official demanding halt to attempts to install "unqualified NSA general counsel candidate. Her press release: http://bit.ly/39H33Hn -Wyoming GOP chair claims Western states 'paying attention' to Texas effort to secede by the Star Tribune's Nick Reynolds: http://bit.ly/2KwjaPs -Hawley loves to tout his Missouri hometown. Residents split over loving him back by Kansas City Star's Eric Adler: http://bit.ly/3sEevfh | | | | TUNE IN TO NEW EPISODE OF GLOBAL TRANSLATIONS: Our Global Translations podcast 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. | | | | |
|  | TRANSITIONS | | Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), chairman of the Senate Republican Conference (SRC), announced new SRC staff roles who will help the GOP's messaging in the new Congress, including: Steven Stafford who joins as SRC's communications adviser and speechwriter; Madison Alexander joins the team as a production assistant in the SRC studios; Zach Kahler has been promoted to digital strategist; and Lane Marshall is now production manager and senior videographer. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) has added Teri Weathers, a Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) alum, to serve as his deputy COS. And Francesca Amodeo, who has worked in Van Hollen's comms shop since 2017, is now his communications director. Vanessa Valdivia is now comms director for Sen.-designate Alex Padilla (D-Calif.). She most recently was comms director for Sen. Gary Peters' (D-Mich.) reelect. Ashley Smith will be deputy staff director for the House Agriculture Committee, while Mickeala Carter will become communications director, Chairman David Scott (D-Ga.) announced Friday. Kasey Lovett is joining Sen. Tommy Tuberville's office as his press secretary. She is a comms alum of both the House and HUD. Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) is staffing up his D.C. and state offices, including tapping Kirtan Mehta to serve as his chief of staff; Kaaren Hinck and Kristin Lynch will both be senior advisers; Kate Cassling will be his legislative director; Alyssa Roberts will serve as a communications adviser; and Shad Murib will serve as his state director. Coloradopolitics.com has the full readout of Hickenlooper's team: http://bit.ly/3iqx9CS | | TODAY IN CONGRESS | | The House meets at 1 p.m. in a pro forma session. The Senate meets at noon for a period of morning business. | | AROUND THE HILL | | NOMINATION NATION: 10 a.m. The Senate Finance Committee will have a full committee hearing on the nomination of Janet Yellen to be Treasury secretary at 10 a.m. 10 a.m. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will also have a 10 a.m. full committee hearing on the nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas to be Homeland Security secretary. 10 a.m. The Senate Intelligence Committee will hold the third 10 a.m. confirmation hearing of the day with a full committee hearing on the nomination of Avril Haines to be director of National Intelligence. 2 p.m. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will have a full committee hearing at 2 p.m. on the nomination of Antony Blinken to be secretary of State. 3 p.m. The Senate Armed Services Committee will have a full committee hearing on the nomination of Lloyd Austin to be Defense secretary. Others: 2:30 p.m. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) is hosting a Zoom press availability at 3:30pm to announce the introduction of the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act along with Sen. Dick Durbin, Rep. Don Bacon (D-Neb.), and others. | | TRIVIA | | FRIDAY'S WINNER: Waleed Alim was the first person to guess that the father-son duo to chair the same House committee was John Quincy Adams and his son Charles Francis Adams. TODAY'S QUESTION: From Waleed: The Republican Party was founded in 1856 to oppose the spread of what? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answer to obeavers@politico.com. GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning. | | A message from The National Domestic Workers Alliance, Community Change Action, and FWD.us: 5.2 million essential workers in the U.S. are undocumented immigrants, serving in frontline industries. They care for our sick, put food on our tables, and risk their health and lives to serve their neighbors. We can't get through this without them. Yet they've been left out of previous stimulus relief packages and live in fear of being torn away from their families by a cruel immigration system.
We call on the new Congress to build a more fair, humane, and functional immigration system. This begins with putting immigrant essential workers on a fast track to citizenship as a part of the COVID recovery package. These workers sacrifice for their communities every day, and deserve stability. If you agree, join us in thanking an essential worker by telling Congress to include them in the next COVID relief bill. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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