| | | | | |  | | By Rachael Bade | Presented by |  | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | QUICK, someone tell us: What on earth was KAMALA HARRIS thinking? The vice president's move to troll Sen. JOE MANCHIN in his own state last week is backfiring — at a critical moment for President JOE BIDEN'S agenda. This week, congressional Democrats are planning to take their first step toward passing the president's $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill without Republican help. But now they've got a problem: an unhappy Manchin — who, like it or not, has the power to grind this entire thing to a halt. REWIND — here's what happened: For days the moderate West Virginia Democrat has been imploring the White House to cut a deal with Republicans on coronavirus assistance. Stimulus checks shouldn't be going to people making $300,000, he's made clear, and the overall price tag should come down after Congress has already spent upward of $4 trillion. Democratic leaders, however, have balked at the notion of slowing down to negotiate and will put a budget on the floor this week to prepare reconciliation. But here's the thing: They need Manchin's support to do it. Enter Harris and what one of my Democratic sources called a "ham-handed" interview on local West Virginia television Thursday. It was clearly meant to up the pressure on Manchin to support Biden's package, but it only antagonized him. "I couldn't believe it," Manchin said in a video that went viral Saturday. "No one called me [about it]. … We're going to try to find a bipartisan pathway forward … but we need to work together. That's not a way of working together, what was done." I'm told Manchin also conveyed his displeasure privately to senior White House officials late last week. Another head-scratcher in all this: Harris isn't exactly popular in West Virginia. And in the interview, she referred to "abandoned land mines" instead of "abandoned mine lands" in West Virginia, a slip-up sure to cause eye rolls in the state. Even before Harris' interview, senior Democrats on the Hill were privately a little worried about Manchin, noting that he has the power to stop Democratic leaders from jamming through the Covid package without Republicans. Two options at Manchin's disposal: refuse to back the budget this week until there are more talks with Republicans, or insist that Biden and Democrats lower the price tag before doing so. It's a situation Biden and Democratic leaders will have to deal with all year. As NBC's Sahil Kapur noted on Twitter on Saturday night, in a 50-50 Senate, Biden and Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER need Manchin more than he needs them. In West Virginia, Manchin won't pay politically for voting against Democrats; if anything, it's a net plus. "Manchin controls everything," one senior Democratic aide told me last week before this brouhaha. Biden's White House would be wise to remember that. | | A message from Google: Free digital coaching for Black and Latino small businesses. Grow with Google Digital Coaches provide digital skills training and coaching to help Black and Latino small businesses reach customers, thrive online, and grow. Offerings include digital skills workshops, hands-on coaching, and opportunities to learn from successful local businesses. Learn more. | | | NEW THIS MORNING: REPUBLICANS REQUEST BIDEN MEETING — Our Burgess Everett reports that 10 Senate Republicans are requesting a meeting with Biden to negotiate on coronavirus relief, despite Democratic leaders moving to prepare reconciliation this week. Burgess writes that the group, led by Sen. SUSAN COLLINS (R-Maine), "informed the president that they are working on a counterproposal focusing on spending $160 billion on vaccines, testing, treatment and personal protective equipment." Here's the letter Why this matters: These moderate Senate Republicans are, essentially, calling Biden's bluff about wanting to work across the aisle. They've been hoping that Biden will pump the brakes on congressional leadership's move to pass the package quickly and without Republicans. So far, though, Biden has not signaled he's willing to do that. Their offer, per Burgess (more details coming Monday): "Sunday's letter indicated [the GOP proposal] will also extend unemployment benefits that expire in March, match Biden's request for nutrition assistance and send a new round of payments to 'those families who need assistance the most, including their dependent children and adults.' It will also address child care, small business aid and school funding." REACTION FROM THE SUNDAY SHOWS: — BRIAN DEESE, director of the National Economic Council, had this to say about the GOP letter on NBC's "Meet the Press" this morning: "The president has said repeatedly he is open to ideas, wherever they may come, that we could improve upon the approach to actually tackling this crisis. What he's uncompromising about is the need to move with speed on a comprehensive approach here." On CNN's "State of the Union," Dana Bash pressed Deese on where, exactly, the White House was willing to compromise with the GOP. Does that mean Biden is open to smaller checks? "We're open to that idea. We're open to ideas across the board." MEANWHILE, Sen. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.) dismissed working with Republicans on the Covid package in an interview with Martha Raddatz on ABC's "This Week": "So the question is not bipartisanship, the question is addressing the unprecedented crisis that we face right now. If Republicans want to work with us, they have better ideas on how to address those crises, that's great. But to be honest with you, I have not yet heard that." Sanders also hinted in the interview that Democrats, while moving forward quickly on relief, could work with Republicans on other issues later, including infrastructure and prescription drugs. But Sen. ROB PORTMAN (R-Ohio) on CNN's "State of the Union" had this warning for the Biden White House: "It's not in the interest of the Democratic Party to [jam the GOP on coronavirus] in my view because it will set President Biden down a path of partisanship that I think will poison the well for other bipartisanship." YIKES! — "Five of Trump's impeachment defense attorneys leave team less than two weeks before trial." Quite the Saturday night scoop from CNN's Gloria Borger, Kaitlan Collins, Jeff Zeleny and Ashley Semler: "Five of former President Donald Trump's impeachment defense team attorneys have stepped aside a little more than a week before his Senate trial is set to begin … It was a dramatic development in the second impeachment trial for Trump, who has struggled to find lawyers willing to take his case. And now, with legal briefs due next week and a trial set to begin only days later, Trump is clinging to his election fraud charade and suddenly finds himself without legal representation." The standoff appears to be over legal arguments. Remember a year ago when Trump wanted his legal team to argue in the first Senate trial that his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was "perfect"? Looks like he's again insisting on steering their talking points. This passage has the goods: "A person familiar with the departures told CNN that Trump wanted the attorneys to argue there was mass election fraud and that the election was stolen from him rather than focus on the legality of convicting a president after he's left office. Trump was not receptive to the discussions about how they should proceed in that regard." This presents a serious conundrum for the Senate: They have to give Trump due process, but if he goes out and hires attorneys to make the arguments he wants, the chamber could find itself giving a platform to the very conspiracy theories that led to the deadly Jan. 6 riot. Our Tara Palmeri writes from Palm Beach: "A source close to Donald Trump said he wants 'killers' defending him. There was a legitimate disagreement with the lawyers on strategy — Trump's view is that this is a political battle, not a legal one, and therefore he wants people out there beating the drum for him. Another adviser said while Trump is angry, he's a bit 'checked out' on the details of impeachment. He's hoping to lean on defenders like Freedom Caucus leader JIM JORDAN and Rep. LEE ZELDIN to make his case, possibly as impeachment managers in the Senate." | | | | A message from Google:   Small businesses can receive hands-on coaching from Digital Coaches in free Grow with Google workshops. They'll learn how to connect with customers and more. Explore. | | | CHIEF PLAYBOOK METEOROLOGIST STEVE SHEPARD with an update that will actually drive the day for many people: "Part one of a potential two-step winter storm is already underway in Washington, which has already received more snow this morning than the rest of this winter *and* the winter of 2019-20 combined. By the time you go to sleep tonight, expect 3"-5" of snow on the ground. "After tonight, the forecast gets messy, with warmer air intruding into the area. A coastal storm will develop offshore, but it could be too late to produce significant snow inside the Beltway. The current forecast is for an additional 1"-3" of snow Monday through Tuesday morning, but we could get more than that if the storm comes together sooner — or just a cold drizzle if the storm doesn't form in time or brings in too much warm air. "Snow amounts will be greater farther north up Interstate 95 and the Acela Corridor. Upwards of a foot of snow is possible in Wilmington and Philadelphia, with potentially more than a foot in New York if all the precipitation falls in the form of snow." BIDEN'S SUNDAY — The president and Harris have nothing on their public schedules. | 
| | | | | TRACK FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: The Biden administration hit the ground running with a series of executive orders his first week in office and continues to outline priorities on key issues. What's coming down the pike? Find out in Transition Playbook, our scoop-filled newsletter tracking the policies, people and emerging power centers of the first 100 days of the new administration. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | 
PHOTO OF THE DAY: Cars line up for a mass senior vaccination event in Denver on Saturday. | Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images | UP ON CAPITOL HILL — NYT's Jonathan Martin: "For McCarthy and McConnell, Two Paths on Trumpian Crisis Management": "For Mr. McConnell, the path to reclaiming the majority decidedly does not go through Mr. Trump. The Kentucky senator has stopped speaking to Mr. Trump, hasn't taken his calls since after the Electoral College met last month and has told associates that he envisions 2022 as an outsized replay of the Tea Party era, when party leaders clashed with the far right. "He was puzzled by Mr. McCarthy's trek to see Mr. Trump this week because he fears a Trump-dominated party will lead to disaster in party primaries and losses in key Senate races like those in Pennsylvania and Arizona." — QAnon conspiracy theorist Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE on Saturday tweeted that Trump called her and offered his support for her antics. "I had a GREAT call with my all time favorite POTUS, President Trump! I'm so grateful for his support and more importantly the people of this country are absolutely 100% loyal to him because he is 100% loyal to the people and America First," she wrote. That Trump reached out when Greene is under fire is significant and an apparent move to warn the GOP to back off one of his favorite fans in Congress. House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY is set to meet with Greene this week about the conspiracy theories and violent rhetoric she's spewed in the past — including against lawmakers. Democrats want to expel or at least censure her. McCarthy is also facing pressure to remove her from committees. Trump getting involved, however, would almost certainly make it harder for McCarthy to take action. THE WHITE HOUSE NYT'S PETER BAKER FROM 30,000 FEET: "Copying Roosevelt, Biden Wanted a Fast Start. Now Comes the Hard Part": "In the weeks before taking office, President Biden and his aides spent time digging into books about Franklin D. Roosevelt, both biographies and volumes exploring his iconic first 100 days, on the theory that no president since then has taken office with the country in a crisis quite so grave. They devised their own opening-days blitz by essentially compressing 100 days into 10. … "But if Mr. Biden has gotten off to the fastest start of any president since Roosevelt, the speed bumps ahead threaten to drain his momentum. … Even as he assembles a government and seeks to sweep away the vestiges of President Donald J. Trump's tenure, Mr. Biden finds himself managing the outsize aspirations of the progressive wing of his party while exploring the possibilities of working with a restive opposition that has resisted him from the start." — "Biden wants to undo Trump's family separation legacy. It won't be easy," by Sabrina Rodríguez: "In his first days in office, Biden automatically built goodwill among advocates and human rights groups just because he's not former President Donald Trump. … "Now, he has to follow through with undoing Trump's family separation policy and starting a reunification process, one of his signature campaign promises — and it won't be easy." PANDEMIC TRACKER — The U.S. reported 2,972 Covid-19 deaths and 147,000 new coronavirus cases Saturday. SIREN — "Case of new coronavirus variant discovered in Baltimore area, Maryland officials say," Baltimore Sun: "Maryland officials are investigating the extent to which it's spread in the community. … That the individual had not traveled internationally is concerning because it's likely they contracted it in the community." — "Plan to vaccinate Guantanamo Bay detainees against Covid-19 has been paused," CNN — "10 days of struggle: Inside Biden's early coronavirus vaccine effort," WaPo: "Whether those additional [200 million] doses can really be delivered by summer will be a test of the new administration's capacity to augment supply beyond forecasts made last year. Biden and his advisers, for instance, have assured the public that they are making greater use of the Defense Production Act … but the behind-the-scenes reality is more complicated." — "Trump officials actively lobbied to deny states money for vaccine rollout last fall," Stat: "The push, described to STAT by congressional aides in both parties and openly acknowledged by one of the Trump officials, came from multiple high-ranking Trump health officials in repeated meetings with legislators. Without the extra money, states spent last October and November rationing the small pot of federal dollars they had been given. And when vaccines began shipping in December, states seemed woefully underprepared." | | A message from Google: Over 58,000 small businesses are being helped by Google's Digital Coaches program. Grow with Google Digital Coaches provide Black and Latino small business owners with digital skills workshops, hands-on coaching, and opportunities to learn from other successful businesses. The program now reaches 20 cities, including Los Angeles and Chicago, with more to come. Learn more. | | | JAN. 6 FALLOUT — "Jan. 6 Rally Funded by Top Trump Donor, Helped by Alex Jones, Organizers Say," WSJ: "Mr. Jones personally pledged more than $50,000 in seed money for a planned Jan. 6 event in exchange for a guaranteed 'top speaking slot of his choice,' according to a funding document outlining a deal between his company and an early organizer for the event. … "Mr. Jones also helped arrange for Julie Jenkins Fancelli, a prominent donor to the Trump campaign and heiress to the Publix Super Markets Inc. chain, to commit about $300,000 through a top fundraising official for former President Trump's 2020 campaign, according to organizers. Her money paid for the lion's share of the roughly $500,000 rally at the Ellipse where Mr. Trump spoke." ALSO — "Text Messages Show Top Trump Campaign Fundraiser's Key Role Planning the Rally That Preceded the Siege," ProPublica IMPEACHMENT FALLOUT — "South Carolina GOP censures Rep. Rice for impeachment vote," AP … @AlexBurnsNYT notes: "so far the only people to be censured by any entity over the 1/6 attack are Republicans who voted for impeachment" POLITICS CORNER THE MONEY SPIGOT — "Trump Raised $255.4 Million in 8 Weeks as He Sought to Overturn Election Result," NYT: "Mr. Trump's strongest fund-raising came in the immediate aftermath of the election … The donations were made public over the weekend in a Federal Election Commission filing by WinRed … "The new records show that his fund-raising fell sharply in December compared with November, with an especially notably dip after Dec. 14, the day the Electoral College formally cast its ballots to make Mr. Biden the nation's 46th president ..." NBC: "Pence plans to form fundraising group as he moves beyond Trump, Capitol riot": "Former Vice President Mike Pence is beginning to build a political future without Donald Trump, including making plans to form a policy-focused fundraising committee that would help him maintain a relationship with donors, according to multiple sources familiar with his plans." THE NOD — "Hillary Clinton calls on Rep. Tim Ryan to run for Ohio Senate seat," by Ben Leonard NYT: "21 Men Accuse Lincoln Project Co-Founder of Online Harassment": "John Weaver, a longtime Republican strategist and co-founder of the prominent anti-Trump group the Lincoln Project, has for years sent unsolicited and sexually provocative messages online to young men, often while suggesting he could help them get work in politics, according to interviews with 21 men who received them. "His solicitations included sending messages to a 14-year-old, asking questions about his body while he was still in high school and then more pointed ones after he turned 18. … [N]one of the men accused Mr. Weaver of unlawful conduct. Rather, many of them described feeling preyed upon by an influential older man in the field in which they wanted to work, and believing they had to engage with his repeated messaging or lose a professional opportunity." Part of Weaver's response: "I am truly sorry to these men and everyone and for letting so many people down." DESSERT — "'Who pours the kibble?' And other answers about daily life for dogs in the White House," WaPo: "Barbara and George H.W. Bush were do-it-yourselfers, and the president even bathed the dogs in the residence shower … The Kennedys used to stroll down Pennsylvania Avenue with their dogs at night, when they were less likely to be recognized. … Warren G. Harding took his Airedale, Laddie Boy, on golf outings. … "The most notorious breach of diplomacy was perpetrated by Pete, Teddy Roosevelt's bull terrier mix, who reportedly pantsed the visiting French ambassador and chased him up a tree on the White House grounds in 1906, according to the White House Historical Association. After a similar situation the next year involving a Navy Department clerk, Pete was exiled to the [Roosevelts'] family farm." | | | | KEEP UP WITH CONGRESS IN 2021: Get the inside scoop on the Schumer/McConnell dynamic, the debate over the filibuster and increasing tensions in the House. From Schumer to McConnell, Pelosi to McCarthy and everyone in between, new Huddle author Olivia Beavers brings the latest from Capitol Hill with assists from POLITICO's deeply sourced Congress team. Subscribe to Huddle, the indispensable guide to Congress. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | CLICKER — This compilation imagining what long-dead presidents would look like today — think George Washington with a modern hair cut in a sport coat and tie — is super fun. Magdalene Visaggio , who writes "YA fiction for unpopular high school sophomore girls," according to her Twitter handle, explained her technique: "A lot of people think I'm a digital artist or whatever, so let me clarify how I work. Everything you see here is done in Faceapp + Airbrush on my phone. On the outside, each takes between 15-30 mins." Check it out here IN MEMORIAM — A must-read obit, especially for journalists: "Maxine Cheshire, Post reporter and columnist with 'the guts of a cat burglar,' dies at 90," WaPo: "Ms. Cheshire, who embarrassed occupants of the White House, uncovered the 'Koreagate' influence-peddling scandal of the 1970s and faced the fury of at least one peeved Hollywood star, died Dec. 31 at her home in McAllen, Tex. She was 90. The cause was cardiovascular disease, said a son, Marc Cheshire. "Ms. Cheshire came to The Post in 1954, hoping to be a crime reporter but was assigned to the section then known as 'For and About Women.' She covered social gatherings, embassy parties and the lives of women in Washington, approaching the beat as if she were investigating a murder scene. She ended up as one of the paper's most feared reporters." VACCINATED: O.J. Simpson, 73, in Nevada TRANSITION — Jewelyn Cosgrove is joining Melwood as VP of government relations. She previously was director of federal government affairs at the Healthcare Distribution Alliance. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: CNN's Clarissa Ward … Reps. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), Garret Graves (R-La.), Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) and Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) … Dick Gephardt (8-0) … Dylan Byers … BuzzFeed's Katherine Miller … Al-Monitor's Barbara Slavin … Biden climate advisor Ali Zaidi … CNN's Christine Romans … Fox's Martha MacCallum … NBC's Sarah Blackwill … NPR's Peter Sagal … Amos Friedland … Lisa Duvall … John Lydon … Edelman's Brooke Buchanan Got a document to share? A birthday coming up? Do you know who Trump's next impeachment lawyers will be? Drop us a line at playbook@politico.com or individually: Tara Palmeri, Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Mike Zapler and producers Allie Bice, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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