🤫 Scoop: Manchin's new play

Plus: "Gallery Group" sticks together | Sunday, January 02, 2022

Open in app View in browser     Axios Sneak Peek By the Axios Politics team ·Jan 02, 2022 Welcome back to Sneak. Happy 2022! We hope you had a restful — and healthy — holiday break. 🚨Breaking: "Harry Reid to lie in state week of Jan. 10," Axios' Hans Nichols just scooped. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,036 words ... 4 minutes. Edited by Glen Johnson.     1 big thing: Scoop - Manchin's new play Sen. Joe Manchin walks alongside the Senate subway last month. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images   Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is open to reengaging on the climate and child care provisions in President Biden's Build Back Better agenda if the White House removes the enhanced child tax credit from the $1.75 trillion package — or dramatically lowers the income caps for eligible families, people familiar with the matter tell Hans. Why it matters: The holdback senator's engagement on specifics indicates negotiations between him and the White House could get back on track, even after Manchin declared he was a "no" on the package on Dec. 19. The senator's concerns with the size and the scope of the package remain. His belief it could cost more than $4 trillion over 10 years extends beyond the CTC issue, and he continues to tell colleagues he's concerned about the inflationary effects of so much government spending, Axios is told. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its next Consumer Price Index on Jan. 12. Last month's reading put inflation at 6.8% for the year — fueling Manchin's opposition. The big picture: Manchin and top White House aides traded recriminations after their negotiations fell apart — but President Biden and the senator subsequently spoke by phone late in the evening of Dec. 19. They agreed to continue to talk, and Manchin stayed in touch with senior White House officials over the holidays. One possible solution to the stalemate would be to remove the CTC from the Build Back Better legislation, which the Senate plans to pass with only Democratic votes. The chamber could then have a separate, focused debate during a midterm year about making the tax credits permanent. Be smart: Families who make up to $400,000 had been receiving some CTC payments under the program that ended yesterday. Keep reading.     2. Gallery survivors plan 1/6 blitz Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a member of the "Gallery Group," hugs fellow House members in July following a meeting of the Jan. 6 Select Committee. Photo: Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post/Bloomberg via Getty Images   One member will kick off a yearlong democracy initiative this week. One is introducing a bill commemorating Jan. 6 as "Democracy Day." Several are coordinating plans to deliver "gratitude food" to Capitol Police officers who risked their lives to protect them. The big picture: The "Gallery Group" — about 20 House Democrats who formed an impromptu support group via text-chain after huddling together in the House Gallery during the insurrection — has turned its near-daily communications since then into a diverse friendship circle with a call to action, Axios' Andrew Solender reports. The group "shows the best of what Congress can be, and really helped me process the trauma we all went through and develop lifelong friendships," one member, Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), told Axios. She'd been in Congress for four days when the attack took place. What we're watching: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tapped Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), a decorated Army Ranger, to lead a members' testimonial as part of Thursday's official commemoration. Crow tells Axios he's also "launching an initiative to reaffirm democracy and make 2022 a year of democracy in action." It will kick off on Tuesday with a virtual roundtable about democracy efforts in his district. Other members could follow. Crow said he wants to highlight "people around the country taking concrete action to reaffirm their commitment to democracy." Flashback: Our friend and Axios alum Kadia Goba first reported on the "Gallery Group" last April. By then, it already was morphing from support group to friend group that bridged ideological, demographic and geographic divides inside the caucus. Keep reading.     3. New urgency on BBB Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images   The Senate Democratic caucus sees salvaging the Build Back Better package as key to boosting the party's chances in this fall's midterms, especially as Biden's popularity sags in the polls, Axios' Alayna Treene reports. Why it matters: The White House isn't the only one still courting Joe Manchin or his all-important vote. What we're hearing: Democratic leaders are largely in the same place with the BBB talks as they were before breaking for their holiday recess. "People have had time to cool off; Manchin's had time to cool off," a senior Senate Democratic aide told Axios. "We'll have to see now what becomes possible." What to watch: All eyes are on tomorrow night's Senate leadership meeting, which Manchin will attend, and Tuesday's weekly caucus lunch. The lunch will be the first time all Senate Democrats are together in one room since Manchin made his opposition to the bill public last month. Schumer will use the occasion as the marker for whether to hold a vote to proceed on BBB or hold off to try to negotiate more, Senate leadership aides tell Axios. Also this week: The one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection is Thursday. While the House won't be in session this week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi laid out in a "Dear Colleague" letter a series of events leaders have planned to commemorate the anniversary. Schumer's office says he will plan to engage in those events and is not planning separate engagements. Keep reading.     A message from Axios Local D.C. news in your inbox     Axios D.C. features the best local news written and curated by the reporters who know the city best. Subscribe for free.     4. By the numbers: Dems' social edge Data: Quorum; Chart: Jared Whalen/Axios Democrats posted on social media and sent out press releases more than Republicans last year on all platforms except YouTube. By the numbers: Members of Congress posted on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube 793,483 times between the start of the year and the end of November — slightly up from a total of 784,614 in 2020, according to data and analysis provided to Axios' Stef Kight by Quorum. The uptick was largely due to members being more active on Facebook than Twitter compared to 2020. March 2021 had the highest number of social media posts and press releases, driven by the passage of the American Rescue Plan and the exploding crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. Between the lines: Not much legislation can be accomplished in a 50-50 Senate, but Congress remained active on messaging. For every one bill introduced last year, senators and House members: Tweeted 53 times. Posted on Facebook 33 times. Shared 2 YouTube videos. Published 7 press releases.     5. Tweet du jour Via Twitter   Twitter permanently suspended the personal account of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) today, as Axios also reported. "While the move is an important one in the company's effort to slow the spread of COVID misinformation, it also will bolster conservative critiques that they are being targeted," Axios chief technology correspondent Ina Fried — author of Axios Login — writes for Sneak. "It also may fuel Republican efforts to go after tech companies that moderate content."     A message from Axios Local D.C. news in your inbox     Axios D.C. features the best local news written and curated by the reporters who know the city best. Subscribe for free.   🚀 Thanks for starting the year with us. A reminder your family, friends and colleagues can subscribe to Sneak or any of Axios' other free local and national newsletters through this link. Like this email style and format? Bring the strength of Smart Brevity® to your team — more effective communications, powered by Axios HQ.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 1300, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? 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