| | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza and Eugene Daniels | | | With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross
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Senate reconciliation talks are expected to heat up this week while the Jan. 6 House select committee preps for a Tuesday hearing. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | BREAKING — "Former President DONALD TRUMP's attorney JUSTIN CLARK interviewed with federal investigators two weeks ago, the Justice Department revealed in a court filing early Monday morning, a significant development that could reverberate in multiple investigations facing Trump's inner circle." More from Kyle Cheney THE WEEK — Today : Congress is back and Senate reconciliation talks will heat up. At the White House, in the morning President JOE BIDEN hosts an event celebrating the recently passed gun legislation, and in the late afternoon he previews the first images from the Webb Space Telescope. … Tuesday: The Jan. 6 committee holds its next public hearing at 1 p.m. … Wednesday : Biden leaves for a four-day trip to Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia. The June consumer price index report is released. … Thursday: The Jan. 6 committee reportedly holds a primetime hearing. … Friday: The University of Michigan releases its next consumer sentiment report, a closely watched survey that recorded historic levels of pessimism about the economy in June. SIREN FOR HOUSE DEMS — "House GOP marches into deeper blue terrain as Dem prospects fade," by Ally Mutnick and Sarah Ferris: "Biden's toxicity has given the GOP optimism about seriously contesting a fresh crop of about a dozen seats that the president won in 2020 by 9 points or more — from western Rhode Island to California's Central Valley to the suburbs of Arizona's capital. The result is a House map that has expanded to an uncomfortable place for Democrats. Survey data obtained by POLITICO shows the president underwater by double-digit margins in 11 districts he carried." SIREN FOR SENATE REPUBS — "Candidate challenges, primary scars have GOP worried about Senate chances," by WaPo's Michael Scherer, Colby Itkowitz and Josh Dawsey: "[F]our months from Election Day, Republicans are struggling in several of the marquee Senate races because of candidate challenges and campaigns still recovering from brutal Republican primaries, putting control of the upper chamber of Congress in 2023 up for grabs." SIREN FOR BIDEN — "Most Democrats Don't Want Biden in 2024, New Poll Shows," by NYT's Shane Goldmacher: "President Biden is facing an alarming level of doubt from inside his own party, with 64 percent of Democratic voters saying they would prefer a new standard-bearer in the 2024 presidential campaign, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll, as voters nationwide have soured on his leadership, giving him a meager 33 percent job-approval rating." JAN. 6 COMMITTEE PREVIEW — This will be another big week for the select committee, which will return Tuesday to where its public hearings started: focusing on the domestic extremists who answered DONALD TRUMP's call to descend on Washington and the Capitol as Congress counted electoral votes. At its seventh hearing the focus will be on the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, whose leaders face seditious conspiracy charges. Kyle Cheney emails with a rundown of what to watch for tomorrow: — "Expect an intense focus on the reaction within the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers to Trump's Dec. 19 tweet urging supporters to come to D.C. for a 'wild' protest. This was seen within the groups as a call to action, and led to a flurry of coordination and planning. — "Expect the committee to zoom in on what Trump was doing just hours before he issued the fateful tweet: huddling with attorney SIDNEY POWELL, former national security adviser MIKE FLYNN and other fringe figures discussing plans to potentially seize voting machines or invoke the Insurrection Act. Trump also edged toward a plan to name Powell special counsel to pursue election fraud, prompting what some witnesses say was a resignation threat from White House counsel PAT CIPOLLONE. — "Which brings us to Cipollone himself. His taped testimony last Friday may come into play for the first time during the discussion of this extraordinary meeting. — "The bill of the hearing will likely be about the tacit but understood impact Trump's words and actions had on domestic extremist groups — and the awareness that those in Trump's orbit had about the people his words were activating. Though the hearing is unlikely to show any explicit planning or coordinating between Trump and members of these groups, the key word is 'convergence' — the alignment of interests between the extremist groups and Trump as they sought to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power." Worth noting: "Select committee intrigue isn't limited to Tuesday's hearing. In fact, it'll begin today, when STEVE BANNON heads to the federal courthouse across from the Capitol for a crucial hearing ahead of his July 18 criminal trial for defying the Jan. 6 committee. It's likely that Judge CARL NICHOLS will press him, DOJ and committee attorneys about Bannon's abrupt offer to testify — and whether that affects prosecutors' calculus. Bannon is seeking to postpone his trial to October, and he's also fighting a longshot battle to subpoena members of the select committee for trial testimony." Also from Kyle, Betsy Woodruff Swan and Nicholas Wu: "Meet the key players in the next Jan. 6 hearings" Good Monday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line and tell us your most counterintuitive midterm prediction: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | A message from PhRMA: Inflation is causing pain for people across the country. As policymakers search for ways to help provide relief, some are erroneously tying inflation to prescription medicines. To make matters worse, this false premise is being used to build support for harmful policies.
It's important to make medicines affordable for patients, but let's get a few facts straight – starting with the fact that prescription drugs are not fueling inflation. | | | GRIN AND BEAR IT — Biden heads to the Middle East on Wednesday. He begins the long-awaited trip in Israel. He'll then make a stop in the West Bank before flying to Saudi Arabia. Biden laid out his plans and justification for the trip in a WaPo op-ed that pointed to successes in the region on his watch, such as a truce in war-ravaged Yemen.
Nahal Toosi, our senior foreign affairs correspondent — follow her on Twitter! — sends Playbook a few thoughts about the president's fraught journey to the Middle East:
— "It's clear from his public statements that Biden would rather avoid this trip, but he can only put off for so long the reality that the Middle East still matters. Despite Biden aides' efforts to engage Middle East officials, the region's leaders feel neglected and pine for some presidential attention. The trip comes as Russia's war on Ukraine has spiked energy prices and threatened food supplies, making the Middle East's oil stocks and transit points all the more important, and Biden is sure to raise those issues. It also comes as China continues to cast itself to the region as a trustworthy alternative to the West, a prime example of the competition with Beijing for which Biden is trying to prepare the United States. — "One word you will hear a lot: integration — the idea that the U.S. will encourage greater political, economic and security linkages among the countries of the Middle East, including Israel. Biden is likely to highlight everything from the Abraham Accords to potentially the idea of an air defense alliance between Israel and its Arab neighbors. The common enemy that is fueling some of this still-nascent Israeli-Arab unity is, of course, Iran. Don't be surprised if Tehran tries to somehow grab attention — satellite launch, anyone? — amid the Biden visit. — "There likely will be announcements of new investments, new transportation links and new aid, including funding to help the Palestinians. Few expect any major diplomatic breakthroughs, however, on the biggest issues — so no new normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, no revival of the Iran nuclear deal, and no restarting of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. — "But let's face it: What everyone really wants to know is how Biden will act around Saudi Crown Prince MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN, aka the guy the U.S. intelligence community has accused of ordering the killing of JAMAL KHASHOGGI. Will Biden shake his hand? Smile? Shake his hand while smiling? No matter what Biden says behind closed doors or in front of a mic to the powerful young prince, the images will linger longer." ICYMI: Check out Nahal's story about how Israel is the biggest winner out of Biden's trip FLASHBACK — From the DNI's Feb. 11, 2021 report, "Assessing the Saudi Government's Role in the Killing of Jamal Khashoggi" : "We assess that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi." On Sunday night, "60 Minutes" featured an interview with SAAD ALJABRI , the former second in command of Saudi intelligence, who said this about MBS: "I am here to sound the alarm about a psychopath, killer, in the Middle East with infinite resources, who poses threat to his people, to the Americans and to the planet." More POTUS trip previews: "Biden Will Find a Changed Middle East on His Coming Visit," NYT … "Biden's Middle East Trip Is a High-Risk Bid to Reset Saudi Relations," WSJ … "In Mideast, Biden struggling to shift policy after Trump," AP … "Biden's Quest for Saudi Oil Faces Reality-Check of Slim Capacity," Bloomberg … "Parents of slain Israeli-American girl seek Biden meeting," AP | | | | A message from PhRMA:   What's fueling inflation? Not prescription drugs. The administration's own economic data proves it. | | | BIDEN'S MONDAY: — 9 a.m.: The president will receive the President's Daily Brief. — 11 a.m.: Biden will host a South Lawn event celebrating the gun reform bill, with Biden and VP KAMALA HARRIS speaking. — 5 p.m.: Biden and Harris will get a NASA briefing and preview the inaugural Webb Space Telescope images. Press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE will brief at 3:45 p.m. THE SENATE will meet at 3 p.m. to take up ASHISH VAZIRANI's nomination as deputy Defense undersecretary for personnel and readiness, with a cloture vote at 5:30 p.m. THE HOUSE is out.
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | PHOTO OF THE DAY
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Campaign signs for republican candidates for U.S. Senate stand on the side of the road on Sunday in Anchorage, Alaska. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | CONGRESS RECONCILIATION LATEST— WaPo's Tony Romm has a nice update on where the Dems' reconciliation negotiations stand. Recall that two of the easier items have been worked out between Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER and Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) and submitted to the Senate parliamentarian, who will decide if they pass muster with budget rules: (1) a plan to cut prescription drug prices for seniors, and (2) a tax on high earners to shore up the Medicare trust fund. The main news in the Romm piece is about the state of play over the toughest part of the talks: climate and energy policy. Some news:
- Manchin and Schumer are expected to have their next private meeting "early in the week" to discuss the bill's climate provisions.
- "Lawmakers for months have haggled over ideas including new fees on producers of methane gas, a major contributor to global warming. In recent days, though, Democrats have discussed scaling back the penalties to a smaller number of energy producers, as Manchin has sought.
- "The two sides remain divided over Democrats' plans to pay the producers of clean energy, a policy known as direct pay, and give tax credits to people who buy electric vehicles. To assuage Manchin, party leaders recently have sought to scale back earlier initiatives on direct pay to cover only nonprofits and state-owned facilities. And they have weighed whether to restrict any tax credits for EVs so that they don't benefit high earners. In the end, the talks could yield a climate package around $300 billion to $350 billion , two people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said. The sources added they hope to complete negotiations around climate policy this week."
The fate of expiring Obamacare tax credits that subsidize health insurance premiums for some 13 million Americans is less clear:
- "Manchin privately has rejected Democrats' initial plans to extend them, one of the people familiar with the matter said, though the two sides have discussed paring back eligibility on the basis of income as a way to lower costs."
THE BIG PICTURE — "Congress Juggles China Bill, Democrats' Climate and Drug-Pricing Ambitions," by WSJ's Natalie Andrews and Richard Rubin TIP OF THE SPEIER — Retiring Rep. JACKIE SPEIER (D-Calif.) has intimate connections to the debates on abortion, as the first member of Congress to acknowledge on the House floor that she'd had one, and gun violence, as the survivor of a gun massacre. Now, the progressive who "detests incremental changes" is nonetheless "urging her party to prepare for what could be a decades-long struggle for the kinds of gradual wins she's notched throughout her career," Sarah Ferris writes in a new profile this morning . And Speier says legislators need to time their big policy pushes right: "Take advantage of the moments that present themselves." ABORTION FALLOUT EMERGENCY NOT RULED OUT — Biden told reporters Sunday that, contra to some reporting last week, he's looking into the possibility of declaring a public health emergency to protect abortion access post-Roe v. Wade. The president said he'd asked staff to investigate whether he'd have the authority to do so. More from Forbes MIDTERMS IMPACT — Abortion is emerging as a key political battering ram in Democratic primaries around the country, as politicians hammer their opponents for insufficient abortion rights support, Gary Fineout and Lisa Kashinsky report. The dynamic is particularly pronounced in the Florida gubernatorial race, where state Agriculture Commissioner NIKKI FRIED is seeking to gain on Rep. CHARLIE CRIST by hitting the former Republican on abortion. REAL-WORLD IMPACT — States that have restricted/banned abortion are seeing a massive increase in orders of medication abortion, along with a major rise in demand for appointments at clinics in neighboring states, Ruth Reader and Ben Leonard report. "The dramatic increase highlights a post-Roe nation where patients seeking abortions in states that ban the procedure are beset by logistical hassles and worries about legal consequences at a time when many doctors are trying to adjust to the new terrain." COMING SOON TO A FOX CHYRON — RiseUp 4 Abortion Rights has been a prominent group advocating for abortion rights since the end of Roe, including controversial protests with fake blood. But other groups in the space are now warning that "it's a front for the Revolutionary Communist Party, a fringe far-left group dating back to the 1960s with a reputation for latching onto social movements for its own benefit," The Daily Beast's Will Sommer reports. They're calling it a cult; RiseUp says the criticisms are lies and cancel culture. THE WHITE HOUSE SQUARING THE QUAD — Biden's public support for ERIC SCHMIDT's "Quad Fellowship" raised some internal administration concerns about the suitability of such an endorsement, Alex Thompson reports this morning . "The red flags prompted the State Department to draft talking points in case questions of impropriety came up. … It is one of many instances of Schmidt's efforts to cultivate a close relationship with the Biden administration." | | | | A message from PhRMA:   What's fueling inflation? Not prescription drugs. The administration's own economic data proves it. | | | TRUMP CARDS RNC NEUTRALITY IN 2024 PRIMARY QUESTIONED — The RNC will face a significant conundrum if and when Trump declares his 2024 candidacy: The committee has vowed to stay neutral in the race, but it's currently promoting him constantly in its fundraising appeals, Meridith McGraw reports this morning. "[B]ehind the scenes there have been conversations at the upper ranks about the quagmire," rekindling past debates about the RNC's neutrality — or lack thereof — when it comes to its party's most powerful figure. But some Republicans say support for Chair RONNA MCDANIEL remains strong, and that the press is likely to focus on this issue more than party members. THE ECONOMY GOOD NEWS — "Average U.S. gasoline price falls 19 cents to $4.86 per gallon," AP THE PANDEMIC BAD NEWS — "As the BA.5 variant spreads, the risk of coronavirus reinfection grows," WaPo BEYOND THE BELTWAY DISINFORMATION DIGEST — To the long list of issues on which America is cleaving along partisan lines, you can add information itself. NYT's Steven Lee Myers and Cecilia Kang report that without federal action, blue states are increasingly forcing social media companies to block misinformation, while red states are pushing the platforms to avoid censoring conservative perspectives. Both approaches face First Amendment challenges. "The result has been a cacophony of state bills and legal maneuvers that could reinforce information bubbles." THE NEW NORMAL — "Property owners and officials find ways around century-old laws as the West runs out of water," CNN VALLEY TALK DRIVING UP THE WALL — A major new Guardian expose based on 124,000 leaked files from Uber lays bare the ways that the company "flouted laws, duped police, exploited violence against drivers and secretly lobbied governments" around the world, Harry Davies, Simon Goodley, Felicity Lawrence, Paul Lewis and Lisa O'Carroll report. "The Uber files," from the TRAVIS KALANICK era, include a text from the co-founder when then-VP Biden was late to a meeting: "I've had my people let him know that every minute late he is, is one less minute he will have with me." Biden then apparently changed his Davos speech to laud a company giving workers "freedom to work as many hours as they wish, manage their own lives as they wish." The document dump comprises plenty of other stories, including this one on DAVID PLOUFFE's and JIM MESSINA's crucial roles in lobbying for Uber. And the files, which were shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, are yielding many articles in other top outlets, too.
| | | | INTRODUCING POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Chuck Schumer has Covid-19, with "very mild symptoms," and will work remotely this week — another blow to Dems' ability to hit 50 votes in the Senate. Katherine Clark and Hakeem Jeffries were friendly baseball rivals. Larry Hogan and Charlie Baker hung out at Mission on the Bay in Swampscott, Mass. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Herschel Walker's Senate campaign is announcing several big additions to its senior leadership team this morning. Chip Lake, a longtime Georgia GOP operative, is now senior adviser for campaign operations. Will Kiley is joining as communications director. Gail Gitcho has signed on as communications consultant. She was previously comms director for the RGA and Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. Scott Howell is the campaign's media consultant. Meredith O'Rourke is finance director, and, the press release notes, "is also a fundraiser for President Trump." Cora Alvi is deputy finance director. Erik Iverson is pollster. Phil Vangelakos is running the digital comms operation. Mike Alm leads digital fundraising efforts. Tom Willis is leading the campaign's political mail operation. Steve Brown is leading direct mail fundraising. Salvatore Purpura is campaign treasurer. Jon Black is research director. Tim Saler leads microtargeting. Taylor Crowe is joining as political director and will oversee the field operation. TRANSITIONS — Caroline Franklin is now comms director for Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas). She most recently was comms director for the Alabama Senate Republican Caucus. … Jordan Moon is now director of federal government relations at Kimberly-Clark. He most recently was senior manager of federal government affairs at automaker Stellantis. … Jon Otto is now chief commercial officer for ad sales at Crain Communications. He previously was SVP of client partnerships at Axios. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) … Education Secretary Miguel Cardona … Garrett Graff … Chris Maloney of Black Rock Group … Page Gardner … Josh Wachs of Wachs Strategies … Emily Benavides of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs GOP … Urmila Venugopalan of the MPA … Nora Connors … KayAnn Schoeneman … Stacy Merrick Montejo … Paige Rusher of Sen. Richard Burr's (R-N.C.) office … ONDCP's Anne Sokolov … Joe Wall of Goldman Sachs … Andrew Kirell … Ali Schmitz of PBS NewsHour … Michael Wong of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's (D-Ariz.) office … Stephen Hostelley … Scott Graves … AMA's Sandy Marks … POLITICO's Sophie Read … Jamie Stiehm … Chris Vaeth … Matt Lahr of Sen. Todd Young's (R-Ind.) office … R&R Partners' Paul Smith Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Mike Zapler, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine.
| | | | A message from PhRMA: What's fueling inflation? Not prescription drugs. The administration's own economic data proves it.
Even though medicines aren't fueling inflation, there are still patients who struggle to afford their treatments. But their challenges largely stem from a broken insurance system that too often forces patients to pay more for medicines than insurance companies pay.
The current system isn't fair for patients, but government price setting won't help. There is a better way to help lower drug costs for patients, while preserving choice, access and future innovation. | | | | | | | 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 | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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