| | | | | |  | | By Laura Barrón-López | Presented by Facebook | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | Before we get down to business, Sergio Gor took his Instagram followers inside the gilded ballroom at Mar-a-Lago for its New Year's Eve dance party, and gave them a peek of the Covid denial that's defining the last throes of DONALD TRUMP'S presidency. SPOTTED dancing like nobody's watching: Rudy Giuliani, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Don Jr., Eric, Lara, Tiffany, MyPillow guy Mike Lindell, Vanilla Ice, Mike Love of the Beach Boys, and Teri Nunn, who sang "Highway to Hell." Don't miss the finale with Gor and Don Jr. singing "Play That Funky Music (White Boy)." Video MOVING ON … Gird your loins ( as the president-elect once said). Lots of drama on the Hill and beyond this week: a potential squeaker of a vote Sunday on NANCY PELOSI'S bid to remain speaker of the House for what she has pledged would be her final term running the place, two runoffs in Georgia on Tuesday that will determine control of the Senate, and a last-ditch attempt Wednesday by Trump and his allies in Congress to overturn the results of an American presidential election. (We can't quit you, 2020!) BUT ON THIS FIRST WEEKEND of the new year, coming off a long stretch covering the presidential election, I've got some other matters on my mind, too. Naturally, they revolve around the president — what doesn't these days? — and what he's doing in his final weeks before he boards Marine One on Jan. 20, presumably en route to Palm Beach. I like to look at things numerically, so here goes: Since the November election, Trump has issued at least 15 pardons for people who were allies convicted in relation to Robert Mueller's Russia probe, lawmakers charged with corruption, a family member convicted of tax evasion, and Blackwater guards involved in the killing of Iraqi civilians. Fifty-plus lawsuits were filed by the Trump campaign to reverse his loss and subvert the will of the electorate. Trafficking in conspiracy theories and unsubstantiated claims of rampant fraud, he lost all of them. And more than 63,000 Americans died due to Covid-19 in December, making it the deadliest month since the start of the pandemic. The pardons, lawsuits and Covid deaths continue to rightfully receive a fair amount of media focus. But one figure that's getting less attention is the three federal civilian executions carried out since November. Three other prisoners are scheduled to be executed by lethal injection before Trump leaves office at the end of the month, including two who recently contracted the coronavirus as well as the only woman currently on federal death row. It's the first time in more than 100 years that an outgoing president has carried out a single execution during a transition, let alone six. July was a turning point: States halted their executions due to the pandemic while Trump's administration resumed federal executions for the first time in nearly two decades. A total of 10 federal prisoners were executed in 2020 between July and December. But voters aren't aware of the administration's rush of executions — only 13% say they knew of the surge, per a recent HuffPost/YouGov poll. The Trump-authorized executions have led lawmakers like Rep. AYANNA PRESSLEY (D-Mass.), Rep.-elect CORI BUSH (D-Mo.) and dozens of others to call on President-elect JOE BIDEN to commute the sentence of every person on death row (which would lead them to be resentenced), halt executions and bar U.S. attorneys from seeking the death penalty. Biden can do all three, they say, with the stroke of a pen on Day One in office. Biden has been cool to unilateral executive action, but Pressley has had multiple positive conversations with his transition about the request. As president, Biden "will work to end" the use of the death penalty, spokesman TJ Ducklo said. Biden wants to ban it with legislation, but his transition didn't respond to a question about whether he would commute the sentences of roughly 50 federal death-row prisoners to life without parole — an option raised by some legal experts who oppose capital punishment. GOHMERT HOUR: "A federal judge has tossed out a GOP-led lawsuit aimed at empowering Vice President Mike Pence to unilaterally overturn President-elect Joe Biden's victory," write Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney. Plaintiffs, including Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and 11 Arizona Republicans, lacked standing to sue, U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Kernodle, a Trump appointee, said Friday evening. Pence had urged the court Thursday to reject Gohmert's suit against him. More from Gerstein and Cheney REPUBLICANS IN DISARRAY: From Georgia to Congress, Republicans are attacking their own as they face an outgoing president refusing to concede. "President Donald Trump won't get his coveted $2,000 stimulus checks — and he's blaming the very Senate Republican leaders he's trying to protect in the closing days of Georgia's runoffs," James Arkin and Andrew Desiderio report from Georgia. "Though he is actively campaigning for the state's two incumbent GOP senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, holding a Monday night rally to drive turnout to help save the Republican majority, Trump is continuing to run roughshod all over the party's message for Tuesday's must-win runoffs and, some Republicans worry, giving Democrats a perfect opening." More from Arkin and Desiderio here MEANWHILE, Senate Republicans are blasting Sen. JOSH HAWLEY (R-Mo.), who plans to "challenge Joe Biden's election victory as the party hurtles toward its most consequential confrontation with Donald Trump of his entire presidency," writes Burgess Everett. "I THINK IT'S AWFUL. I am going to support my oath to the Constitution. That's the loyalty test here," said Sen. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-Alaska). … Sen. MITT ROMNEY (R-Utah) called Hawley's move "disappointing and destructive." Burgess adds: "Republicans either risk blowback or a primary challenge by approving Biden's win amid Trump's baseless claims of widespread fraud, or they can align themselves with Trump's attempt to subvert the election results." TO PUT A BOW ON THE INFIGHTING, TRUMP attacked the No. 2 Senate Republican, JOHN THUNE of South Dakota. Upset about Thune's opposition to the Electoral College gambit, the president is urging South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to primary Thune in 2022. Thune seemed almost offended that Trump hadn't singled him out before now. His reaction, per CNN's Ted Barrett: "Yeah, well finally an attack tweet. What took him so long? … It's fine, that's the way he communicates." | | | | A message from Facebook: It's time to update internet regulations
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Learn More | | | THREE DAYS TILL GEORGIA RUNOFFS: Stories of note from the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION … Trump's Monday night rally in Dalton is causing some consternation about a super-spreader event. And an astonishing 3 million people voted early according to the final tally — a figure that would have been met with disbelief among Democratic consultants had it been predicted on Nov. 4. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Former Bernie Sanders advisers CHUCK ROCHA and KARA TURRENTINE are launching their own national political media firm, BLACKBROWN PARTNERS, to aid Democratic candidates in reaching young, diverse and progressive electorates. The firm, Rocha said, will "create much-needed space for people of color in the consulting and vendor space of campaigns." The firm launches Monday with a virtual party that will feature former Senate candidate and DNC chair hopeful JAIME HARRISON and Democratic Reps. MARC VEASEY (Texas), NANETTE BARRAGÁN (Calif.), RO KHANNA (Calif.) and RUBEN GALLEGO (Ariz.), along with eight other House members. "There were zero Black and brown-owned firms working at the highest parts of any campaign in 2020, so we created a firm to fix this problem," Rocha said. EYES EMOJI — AOC jumped to the defense of the mainstream media over its coverage of the millions of dollars that JANET YELLEN has made in past speaking fees. | 
| ON THE WAY OUT … The Senate formally handed Trump his first veto override Friday afternoon, voting 81-13 to enact the National Defense Authorization Act. More from Connor O'Brien —The NYT says, "The vote ended a devastating legislative week for Mr. Trump …" — FWIW: Georgia GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler did not partake in the vote, per NBC's @frankthorp. The full list of 'no' votes and non-voters | | | |   | | | THE CORONAVIRUS CONTINUES TO RAGE … 20.1 million Americans have tested positive. … 348,000 have died. — The Roanoke Times: "State Sen. Ben Chafin, R-Russell, died Friday from complications related to COVID-19, according to his legislative office. Gov. Ralph Northam and the Virginia Senate Republican Caucus confirmed Chafin died Friday night. He represented a swath of far Southwest Virginia, including part of the New River Valley. He was 60." — "32 More Countries Have Found the More Contagious Virus Variant First Seen in Britain," NYT TRUMP'S SATURDAY — The president and VP Mike Pence have nothing on their public schedules. Biden and VP-elect Kamala Harris have nothing on their public schedules. 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 like most about Playbook? How could we be more valuable to you? Let us know — we'll read every submission. | | | | GET THE BIG SCOOPS IN TRANSITION PLAYBOOK: A new year is upon us. Inauguration Day is just weeks away. President-elect Joe Biden is building an administration and quickly staffing up. What do his selections and decisions tell us about his priorities? Find out in Transition Playbook, the definitive guide to the new administration and one of the most consequential transfers of power in American history. Written for political insiders, this scoop-filled newsletter breaks big news daily and analyzes the appointments, people, and emerging power centers of the new administration. Track the transition and the first 100 days of the incoming Biden administration. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | 
PHOTO DU JOUR: Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Raphael Warnock speaks at a drive-in rally on Friday, Jan. 1 in LaGrange, Ga. | Brandon Bell/Getty Images | BACKSTORY — "Before Embracing America-First Agenda, David Perdue Was an Outsourcing Expert," NYT: "The man who has lately voiced support for some of President Trump's signature tariffs built his career as an unapologetic, free-trading practitioner of the outsourcing arts. As a top executive at companies including Reebok, Sara Lee and Dollar General, he was often deeply involved in the shift of manufacturing, and jobs, to low-wage factories in China and other Asian countries. "A review of that business record shows a man who achieved significant successes, making millions, managing complex periods of corporate growth and change and creating domestic jobs, particularly at Dollar General. But there were also disappointments, like the failed trucking business he ran with Sonny Perdue and his fruitless effort to rescue a company called Pillowtex that brought heartbreak to a North Carolina mill town." NYT FOR YOUR RADAR — WSJ: "U.S. and Iraqi authorities warned Iran and Iranian-backed militias that any attacks on American diplomats or military forces here would be met with swift retaliation as the anniversary of a U.S. drone strike that killed one of Tehran's top military leaders approached." CLIMATE FILES — "How Trump Tried, but Largely Failed, to Derail America's Top Climate Report," NYT THE FRESHWOMAN CLASS — "'Badasses in Their Own Right': Meet the Freshwomen of Congress," POLITICO Magazine THE YEAR OF THE BLACK VOTER — Teresa Wiltz, also in POLITICO Magazine, weighs in with a provocative essay: "It goes without saying that 2020 ranks as one of the all-time worsts, particularly if you come wrapped in melanin. Goodbye and good riddance to 2020's cascade of horrors: a once-in-a century global pandemic. … disproportionately slamming people of color. Worldwide recession as a result of said pandemic. Not to mention that 400-year-old epidemic — American-style racism—laid bare for all to see. "But something else happened in 2020. It saw the gestation of a new kind of Black power, the political maturation of a people who decided collectively that a change was gonna come. And that meant voting by any means necessary, damn the pandemic. … And with that flexing came Black joy — hopeful, pragmatic to the bone, and an act of defiance and power in the face of hardship." POLITICO Magazine — "The Southern state where Black voters are gaining in numbers, but not power," by Renuka Rayasam: "If Georgia is the epitome of the 'New South,' Mississippi remains very much still the old South: a conservative stronghold where the GOP is composed almost exclusively of white voters, and the Democratic Party of Black voters. "At first blush, Mississippi would seem to be fertile terrain for Democrats. It has the highest percentage of Black people of any state in the country, 38 percent, and virtually all of them of voting age are Democrats. … After fracturing over the past decade, political alliances have settled along racial lines because of defections of white Democrats. About 90 percent of white people in the state vote Republican, a higher share of conservative white voters than any other state, according to Tom Bonier, CEO of TargetSmart, a Democratic data firm." POLITICO | | | | A message from Facebook: Internet regulations need an update
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Learn More | | | TRIGGERING THE RIGHT — "Proposed House Rules Eliminate Gendered Terms Like 'Father' and 'Daughter,'" Daily Caller: "The resolution would change 'pronouns and familial relationships in the House rules to be gender neutral or removes references to gender, as appropriate, to ensure we are inclusive of all Members, Delegates, Resident Commissioners and their families – including those who are nonbinary,' [House Rules Chair Jim] McGovern's announcement said." PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — "D.C. is becoming a protest battleground. In a polarized nation, experts say that's unlikely to change," WaPo: "D.C. is no stranger to protests. The city has averaged more than 800 permitted demonstrations annually in recent years and many more that gather without permits. While arrests have increased as protesters have sought to use civil disobedience to make a point, the arrests often are planned and choreographed. "When violence has erupted, it has largely targeted property — not people. But security experts who study extremist movements and terrorism threats say street brawls are part of the ethos of far-right agitators. Experts said these groups will continue to return to Washington well after Biden is sworn into office." WaPo CLICKER — "The nation's cartoonists on the week in politics," edited by Matt Wuerker — 14 funnies GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Margy Slattery and the staff of POLITICO Magazine: — "What the Hole Is Going On?" by Rachel Handler in New York magazine's Grub Street: "The very real, totally bizarre bucatini shortage of 2020." New York — "The Cruise Ship Suicides," by Austin Carr in Bloomberg Businessweek: "Confined mostly to tiny cabins as the pandemic unfolded, crew members struggled to cope." Businessweek — "Tallying Up a Year of Loss," by WaPo's Jerry Brewer: "I'm not quite done shaving pounds off my body. However, I cannot bear losing anything else." WaPo — "The Tale of Franco A.," by NYT's Katrin Bennhold: "In broken English, he presented himself as a Syrian refugee. … In reality, he was a lieutenant in the German Army." NYT — "The Secret Formula," by Steven Lance in The Atavist: "Could shrunken heads from the Amazon hold the key to curing cancer? One man thought so—and spent a lifetime trying to prove it." Atavist — "My Dinners With le Carré," by Jeff Leen in the WaPo Magazine: "What I learned about writing, fame and grace when I spent two weeks showing the master spy novelist around Miami." WaPo Magazine | | | | A NEW YEAR, A NEW HUDDLE: Huddle, our daily must-read in congressional offices, will have a new author in 2021! Olivia Beavers will take the reins on Jan. 4, and she has some big plans in store. Don't miss out, subscribe to our Huddle newsletter, the essential guide to all things Capitol Hill. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at politicoplaybook@politico.com. SPEAKER'S SAN FRANCISCO HOME VANDALIZED — Details from KRON4 News: "Nancy Pelosi's home vandalized with pig's head, fake blood" IN MEMORIAM — "Richard Bates, Disney's Longtime Head of Government Relations, Dies at 70," Variety: "Richard Bates, the longtime head of government relations for Disney, died Dec. 31 at his home outside Washington, D.C. He was 70. Disney said the executive's death was sudden. Bates had represented Disney in the halls of Congress and other public policy arenas since 1991. "Disney insiders are 'heartbroken' over Bates' death, Disney executive chairman Bob Iger and CEO Bob Chapek said in a joint statement. Friends and co-workers described Bates as a 'gentleman' who was extremely knowledgeable about governmental issues. … He was the first to open a Washington, D.C. office for the studio when he signed on. Before joining Disney, Bates served as executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, where he steered a staff of 80." MEDIAWATCH — Per Peter Baker, Bob Costa is leaving his moderator gig on PBS' "Washington Week." No word yet on a replacement. Costa earlier announced he's working on a book with Bob Woodward. TRANSITION — Mason Di Palma will be comms director for Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio). He most recently was campaign manager for Rep. Mike Turner's (R-Ohio) reelect. ENGAGED — Eric Bovim, CEO of Avisa Partners U.S., and Cathryn Donaldson, who's in commercial real estate, got engaged Thursday at L'Auberge Chez Francois. They were introduced by mutual friend Robb Watters in summer 2019. Pic BIRTHDAYS: Playbook's own Mike Zapler … Judy Miller ... CRC Public Relations' Greg Mueller … Erin Hughes, SVP of public affairs and comms at Marathon Strategies ... Will Jawando ... NBC's Cyrus Farivar ... Michael Webb is 55 ... Christi Layman ... Chris Hartline is 31 ... Rachel Perrone … former Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-Texas) is 67 ... former Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), president of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace, is 6-0 … Cheyenne Foster, federal affairs specialist at Koch Industries … Rebecca Bill Chavez (h/t Evelyn Farkas) … Annie Starke, associate and policy adviser at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck … Facebook's Annie Lewis and Marc Johnson … … John Thornton, executive chair of Barrick Gold … James Tisch, CEO of Loews Corp., is 68 … NYT's Annie Tressler … Scott Cullinane … Anna Wishart is 36 … Lizzie Langer ... Rachel Hicks, director of federal affairs and PAC at American Beverage Association ... Masango Ngole Ngeh … Jane Krause ... Kelly Schulz ... Douglas Faulkner … Alexa Barchuk ... Faridon Abbas … Craig Varoga (h/t Teresa Vilmain) … Kyle Gazis, a litigation associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell's Washington office … Fox Business Network's Elizabeth MacDonald … Ben Sheffner (h/t Tim Burger) … Anna Lee, managing director of marketing for Morning Consult … Alice M. Greenwald THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here): | NBC | "Meet the Press": Anthony Fauci … Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) … Stacey Abrams. Panel: Peter Baker, Geoff Bennett and Leigh Ann Caldwell. Panel: Clint Watts and Brandy Zadrozny. | CNN | "State of the Union": Surgeon General Jerome Adams … Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine … Jon Ossoff … Stacey Abrams. | CBS | "Face the Nation": Moncef Slaoui … Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson … Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti … Jo Ann Jenkins … Scott Gottlieb. | ABC | "This Week": Anthony Fauci … Stacey Abrams. Panel: Chris Christie and Rahm Emanuel. Panel: Matthew Dowd, Byron Pitts, Julie Pace and Susan Glasser. | FOX | "Fox News Sunday": Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) … Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). Panel: Jason Chaffetz, Catherine Lucey and Juan Williams. | Gray TV | "Full Court Press": Jeanne Marrazzo … Yasmeen Abutaleb … Lauren Warren. | Sinclair | "America This Week" (re-air): President Donald Trump town hall. | | | | | | 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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