| | | | |  | | By Eugene Daniels, Rachael Bade and Ryan Lizza | Presented by ACLI, Finseca, IRI, NAFA and NAIFA | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
| | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | ABOUT THAT ‘LIST’ — “Unsealed documents name associates of Jeffrey Epstein but offer few revelations,” by Erica Orden: “[M]ost of those mentioned have been publicly linked to Epstein for years.”
|  Ron DeSantis speaks during a "Stop the Swamp" campaign event in Davenport, Iowa, on Dec. 29, 2023. | Christian Monterrosa/AFP via Getty Images | TRUMP VS. HALEY VS. DeSANTIS — For almost a year, political scientist Seth Masket has been studying the grasstops of the GOP for POLITICO Magazine — seeing where the Republican presidential campaign stands by surveying GOP county chairs. This morning, Seth is up with his final pre-Iowa, pre-New Hampshire survey, and finds that the Republican race has been “more fluid than the conventional wisdom suggests.” In recent months, DONALD “TRUMP’s strength grew while [RON] DeSANTIS waned,” Seth writes. “All the while, many county chairs remained undecided. But lately, they’ve been coming off the sidelines, first moving to Trump and now to [NIKKI] HALEY, though she is almost certain to fall short in catching up to the former president.” While Trump is firmly in the lead with GOP county chairs — 37% of whom have committed to supporting him in the primary — Haley, with 16%, has now eclipsed DeSantis’s 9% for second place. That’s a gain of about 5 percentage points for her since October, as DeSantis’ numbers have remained stagnant. You can expect those numbers to remain solid. “I asked if a candidate being convicted of a crime would alter their preferences; just eight of the 106 respondents said this would change their mind about their chosen candidate — and seven of those were Haley supporters,” Seth writes. “Only six said they would shift if their candidate performed poorly in Iowa or New Hampshire. … The majority said they would not change their support no matter what.” HALEY VS. TRUMP IN NEW HAMPSHIRE — “With polls showing Haley gaining on Trump in New Hampshire, the former U.N. ambassador is ratcheting up her attacks on her one-time boss,” Lisa Kashinsky reports from Londonderry, where Haley used a speech last night to knock a pro-Trump super PAC ad that accusing her of flip-flopping on a gas tax in South Carolina. Lisa writes that for “much of her campaign, Haley has sought to have it both ways on Trump … But the stakes are changing for Haley, who, with the support of the state’s popular governor, CHRIS SUNUNU, has been rising in recent polls in New Hampshire. And Trump and his allies have taken notice.” Hence Trump world’s attack on Haley on as populist an issue as gas taxes. (If there’s one thing voters in general dislike, it’s high gas prices; if there’s one thing Granite State Republican voters in particular dislike, it’s taxes. Combine the two, and you’re cooking with, um, gas.) Haley is betting the farm on a strong showing in New Hampshire. And because of that, parrying the Trump PAC’s attack has somewhat existential stakes for her campaign. “You know, Iowa starts it. You know that you correct it,” Haley said at her New Hampshire rally yesterday. “And then my sweet state of South Carolina brings it home.” DeSANTIS VS. HALEY IN IOWA — That, naturally, caught the ire of the DeSantis campaign and his chief Iowa endorser, Gov. KIM REYNOLDS, who tweeted: “I trust Iowans to make their own decisions. No ‘corrections’ needed!” (To be fair, New Hampshire does have a better recent track record than Iowa when it comes to supporting the eventual Republican nominee.) "[H]er closing argument is insulting Iowans by saying their votes will need to be corrected,” DeSantis campaign communications director ANDREW ROMEO told Playbook last night. “Meanwhile, Ron DeSantis is closing strong in Iowa by outworking and outorganizing the competition day in and day out." Reporting from Waukee, Reuters’ James Oliphant and Gram Slattery write that less than two weeks out, “no candidate has staked more on a strong result in Iowa than DeSantis: He visited all 99 counties in the state, fiercely courted its socially conservative voters and secured the backing of its governor.” The expectations game: “Associates of DeSantis say he needs at least a second-place finish in Iowa, and a poor showing there would likely doom his bid.” TRUMP VS. HALEY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE — Trump is launching another new ad criticizing Haley in the Granite State — this time over the border, NYT’s Maggie Haberman reports. Watch it here Good Thursday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | A message from ACLI, Finseca, IRI, NAFA and NAIFA: Annuities deliver financial certainty like traditional pensions of old.
They are a legally enforceable promise made by an insurance company to provide guaranteed monthly income throughout retirement.
A Department of Labor proposal would shut down access to options for middle-income savers. It’s out of step with bipartisan support in Congress to expand access to guaranteed lifetime income. Stand with us. Protect retirement for all. | | | NEW THIS MORNING — The Commerce Department is announcing its next big grant to fund semiconductor chips manufacturing, with a $162 million preliminary memorandum of terms for Microchip Technology in Oregon and Colorado. The administration says it will create 700+ jobs. CHANGE OF PLANS — With a winter storm expected Saturday, Biden moved his big Valley Forge speech on democracy and the Jan. 6 anniversary to tomorrow, the White House said. He also lunched yesterday with historians and scholars to talk about democracy concerns. Among those invited were EDDIE GLAUDE JR., SEAN WILENTZ, ANNETTE GORDON-REED, BEVERLY GAGE, HEATHER COX RICHARDSON and JON MEACHAM, Lauren Egan and Jonathan Lemire report. DON’T SAY GAY — CLAUDINE GAY is out at Harvard, but the political squabbling over her resignation as president continues: Gay penned an NYT op-ed warning that the campaign to oust her was “merely a single skirmish in a broader war to unravel public faith in pillars of American society.” And BILL ACKMAN, along with other critics, is now tussling with PENNY PRITZKER, Harvard’s board chair, Shia Kapos, Michael Stratford and Hailey Fuchs report.
| | | | A message from ACLI, Finseca, IRI, NAFA and NAIFA:   Everyone should be able to achieve retirement security. A Department of Labor proposal would limit access to guaranteed lifetime income. Protect retirement for all. | | | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | On the Hill The Senate and the House are out. What we’re watching … Gay’s resignation at Harvard probably would not have happened if House Education and the Workforce Chair VIRGINIA FOXX (R-N.C.) hadn’t scheduled a December hearing on campus antisemitism. Despite the resignations of Gay and fellow hearing participant LIZ MAGILL of Penn, Foxx told reporters yesterday that her investigation into the “learning environments” at Harvard, Penn and MIT will continue “in terms of how they are handling antisemitism, DEI and where is their focus these days.” At the White House Biden will receive the President’s Daily Brief in the morning. VP KAMALA HARRIS will get briefings and have internal staff meetings.
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Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) speaks with reporters outside her office on Capitol Hill after a meeting with other senators on border policy Jan. 3, 2024. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | IMMIGRATION FILES — Senate negotiators emerged from the latest in-person tussling over immigration policy with some mixed messages yesterday: Sen. KYRSTEN SINEMA (I-Ariz.) told reporters they were “closing in” on a deal, with details possible by next week, while Sen. CHRIS MURPHY (D-Conn.) sounded more skeptical about committing to a timeline. Even though the deal being ironed out would likely constitute a huge shift to the right on immigration, however, a big swath of House Republicans are prepared to reject it, CNN’s Manu Raju, Melanie Zanona and Lauren Fox report. They want something akin to the hardline H.R. 2, which most Democrats wouldn’t accept. Republicans kept the pressure up with a splashy visit to the Texas border, where Speaker MIKE JOHNSON slammed the Biden administration for a “catastrophe” that he said requires a policy overhaul. Notably, Johnson did not go as far as Freedom Caucus members who said they’ll shut down the government if the border isn’t closed. (That threat prompted a White House admonition for “choosing extreme politics” over compromise.) The House GOP also moved a step closer to impeaching DHS Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, as House Homeland Security Chair MARK GREEN (R-Tenn.) announced an initial hearing slated for Wednesday. Further immigration news: “U.S. Justice Department sues Texas to halt new state law targeting illegal immigration,” The Texas Tribune … “How Democrats got cornered on the border crisis,” Axios … “A Skeptic of the G.O.P.’s Hard Immigration Line Becomes Its Champion,” NYT SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN — “Congressional leaders see new hope for a spending deal to prevent a shutdown,” by NBC’s Sahil Kapur, Frank Thorp V and Kyle Stewart: “‘We’ve made real good, good progress’ on the budget negotiations, Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER, D-N.Y., told reporters Wednesday. ‘And we’re getting quite close.’” MEDIAWATCH
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Jimmy Finkelstein is seen at The Hollywood Reporter 35 Most Powerful People in Media event, April 11, 2012 in New York. | Evan Agostini/AP Images for The Hollywood Reporter | DON’T SHOOT — The Messenger seems to be in dire financial straits: The new media outlet is slated to burn through its money by the end of the month, and its board considered shuttering it last week, Semafor’s Max Tani scooped. JIMMY FINKELSTEIN and board members reportedly weighed options including significant cuts, a sale and a shutdown. While the centrist outlet grew quickly and got lots of traffic after launching last year, “it has struggled to translate those audience metrics into business success.” The news comes on top of layoffs that began hitting the 300-person organization yesterday, with TOM LoBIANCO, KHAYA HIMMELMAN, BENJAMIN POWERS and JONATHAN LAMBERT among those affected. After the story came out, there was significant internal panic on Slack, report The Daily Beast’s Justin Baragona and Lachlan Cartwright, who write that it’s “potentially on its last legs financially.” But The Messenger officially pushed back hard to both outlets, saying in a statement that it has “already secured investment as part of our second raise, and so the notion of us discussing closure is beyond absurd.” TRUMP CARDS NEXT UP FOR 14A — “Trump appeals Colorado Supreme Court ruling on 14th Amendment ballot disqualification,” by The Denver Post’s Nick Coltrain: “All the parties involved have now urged the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the matter, and quickly.” ONE TO WATCH — Trump told NYT’s Maggie Haberman he intends to testify this month in the damages trial for E. JEAN CARROLL’s defamation case against him, in which a jury found that he sexually abused her. (Not everyone on his team thinks that’s a good idea.)
JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH
WHISTLEBLOWER WATCH — “Former Guard Official Says Army Retaliated for His Account of Jan. 6 Delay,” by NYT’s Luke Broadwater and Maggie Haberman: “Col. EARL MATTHEWS, the top lawyer for the D.C. National Guard during the assault on the Capitol, said in a whistle-blower complaint that he was punished for contradicting the testimony of two top generals.” | | | | A message from ACLI, Finseca, IRI, NAFA and NAIFA:   Americans deserve financial guidance. Learn how a DOL proposal would shut down access. | | | 2024 WATCH SPOILER ALERT — ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. officially filed yesterday to get on the November ballot in Utah, the first state where he’s crossed that threshold, the Deseret News’ Hanna Seariac reports. PROMISES VS. REALITY — “Trump’s vows to deport millions are undercut by his White House record and one family’s story,” by AP’s Adriana Gómez Licón: “People affected by ‘Operation Wetback’ and historians on immigration argue Trump is using fragments of history and rhetoric for political reasons while discounting his own administration’s failures to carry out mass deportations.” SCREAMING ABOUT DEAN — “Watchdog files FEC complaint against Dean Phillips,” by Axios’ Alex Thompson: “The complaint filed by Campaign for Accountability … argues that ‘there could scarcely be a more blatant and egregious example of a presidential campaign illegally coordinating with a super PAC.’” AMERICA AND THE WORLD
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A picture taken from northern Israel shows smoke billowing from across the border in south Lebanon on Jan. 3, 2024. | Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images | MIDDLE EAST LATEST — The Biden administration is watching Israel’s gradual reduction of forces in Gaza as a slow but substantive piece of proof that the U.S. is successfully influencing Israel’s prosecution of the war, Lara Seligman and Alex Ward report. The U.S. and allies also managed to extract a U.S. citizen and family member from Gaza in the “only known operation of its kind” thus far in the war, AP’s Ellen Knickmeyer and Matthew Lee report. On another front, Israel’s killing of a Hamas leader in Beirut raised fears of additional war with Lebanon, per WaPo, but both sides sought to downplay that prospect, per Reuters. At the same time, the U.S. is considering multiple new paths to shape events in the region: The admin is thinking about creating a post for an envoy on long-term Israeli-Palestinian issues, per Alex and Nahal Toosi. Growing concern about Houthi attacks in the Red Sea led to a White House meeting yesterday to flesh out tougher potential military actions, NBC’s Courtney Kube and Carol Lee scooped, while the U.S. and a dozen allies sent the Yemeni group a public final warning to stop. More from the WSJ Back at home, internal dissent within the Biden administration widened as TARIQ HABASH resigned his post as a special assistant at the Education Department over the war, the second administration staffer to do so publicly, WaPo’s Yasmeen Abutaleb reports. “I cannot represent an administration that does not value all human life equally,” he wrote in a letter, adding to MSNBC’s Joy Reid that some of Biden’s comments had been “dehumanizing.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — A new national TV ad from the families of U.S. citizens still held hostage by Hamas calls on U.S. officials to do more to help bring them home alive, and soon. “Act now, or more will die,” a narrator says. “Every second counts.” The eight Americans have spent nearly three months in captivity, and the spot highlights the brutality of the Oct. 7 attack. Targeting elite audiences, the six-figure ad buy from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum will run for a week. Watch it here THE LITTLE PETROSTATE THAT COULD — “Menendez Case Focuses on How Qatar Trades Its Riches for Clout,” by NYT’s Vivian Nereim and Tariq Panja: “[W]hile the indictment does not accuse the Qatari government or the Qatari royal family member of illegal activity, it is the latest in a line of cases in which Qatar … has appeared to seek greater influence in the United States and Europe by forging relationships with powerful government officials.” BEYOND THE BELTWAY SCARY STUFF — “FBI ‘aware’ of hoax bomb threats sent to state capitols around the country,” by ABC’s Luke Barr: “Law enforcement sources said they believe that threat emanated from overseas. The buildings that were targeted were located in Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, Oregon, Nebraska, Rhode Island, Montana, Oklahoma, New York, South Dakota, and South Carolina.” FOR YOUR RADAR — “First U.S. execution by nitrogen gas would cause ‘painful and humiliating death,’ U.N. experts warn,” by CBS’ Emily Mae Czachor MORE POLITICS BATTLE FOR THE HOUSE — “Wealthier Asian American and Latino voters in Orange County may be pivotal in upcoming elections,” by the L.A. Times’ Hannah Fry: “Orange County’s transformation into a more culturally, economically and politically diverse region has forced congressional candidates to find ways to appeal to voters without a strong party preference.”
| | | | POLITICO AT CES® 2024: We are going ALL On at CES 2024 with a special edition of the POLITICO Digital Future Daily newsletter. The CES-focused newsletter will take you inside the most powerful tech event in the world, featuring revolutionary products that cut across verticals, and insights from industry leaders that are shaping the future of innovation. The newsletter runs from Jan. 9-12 and will focus on the public policy-related aspects of the gathering. Sign up today to receive exclusive coverage of the show. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Sean O’Brien met with Donald Trump. Dionne Warwick is not pleased about being listed for a Robert F. Kennedy Jr. event. Liz Cheney is going on “The View” for the first time next week. Jeff Zients is throwing a big party for White House staffers. Gabriel Sterling’s family was swatted. Mike Pompeo and Brian Hook had their taxpayer-funded protection renewed. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Tom Erickson will head the NRCC’s independent expenditure team this cycle. He most recently has been the committee’s battleground director, leading House GOP candidate recruitment efforts. MEDIA MOVES — Alex MacCallum is leaving WaPo, where she’s been chief revenue officer, per Axios’ Sara Fischer, as Puck’s Dylan Byers reports that she could be up for a big job at CNN. … The Atlantic is adding Christine Emba and Thomas Chatterton Williams as staff writers and Robert Worth as a contributing writer. Emba previously was a columnist and editorial board member at WaPo. WHITE HOUSE ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Kana Smith is now deputy director of legislative affairs for VP Kamala Harris. She previously was deputy chief of staff and legislative director for Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.), and is a Kai Kahele and Ed Case alum. TRANSITIONS — The Biden campaign is adding Megan Jones as senior political adviser to VP Kamala Harris and Josh Marcus-Blank as states comms director. Jones previously was director of public engagement in the VP’s official office. Marcus-Blank previously was official and campaign comms director for Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.). … Cody Sargent is now comms director at Heritage Action. He previously was assistant director of media and PR at the Heritage Foundation and is a Tommy Tuberville and Plus Communications alum. … Katherine Ellen Foley is now director of media at the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World. She most recently was FDA reporter at POLITICO. … … James O’Brien will be a director at Invariant. He most recently was a professional staff member at the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee. … Tom Egan is now leading Amplifire Strategies’ paid media and digital strategy practice. He previously was director of digital media at the Department of Defense, and is a Purple Strategies and Priorities USA alum. … Alex Payne is now director of advocacy, higher education at Arnold Ventures. He previously was director of higher education and oversight strategy at the Education Department. ENGAGED — Kyle Turk, head of government affairs at the Natural Products Association, and Stami Williams, public affairs director at PhRMA, got engaged this weekend in the Poconos. They met at a BGR Christmas party. Pic … Another pic — Matt Haskins, director of government relations at Anduril Industries and a Trump DOD alum, and Kaitlin Kirshner, director of comms and public affairs at Duke Energy, got engaged Dec. 27 during a trip to Bermuda. They met in D.C. working for Amazon. — Jon Kuehn, head of state and local government partnerships for Uber, proposed to Brittany Caplin, deputy chief of staff at the Commerce Department, over the holidays at Bryant Park in NYC. They met six years ago at a concert in D.C. Pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Nick Simmons, deputy chief of staff to Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and a Biden Education Department alum, and Rachel Munsie, founder and CEO of Ounce, welcomed Lucas Robert Simmons on Dec. 27. Pic … Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Emilia Sykes (D-Ohio) … Doris Kearns Goodwin … NBC’s Ben Mayer … Amos Hochstein … Rob Gifford of CBS News Streaming … POLITICO’s David Kihara and Caitlin Emma … Axios’ Adriel Bettelheim … WaPo’s Jill Martin … Alex Campau of Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies … Kyle Hupfer … Nan Aron … Jim Warren of NewsGuard … Courtney Piron of Novartis … Doug Campbell … Erin Moffet … Patrick Purtill … Marie Sanderson … Chip Kahn of the Federation of American Hospitals … Marc Brumer of the Herald Group … Eric Cortellessa … Emily Samsel of Boundary Stone Partners … Joshua Zeitz … C-SPAN’s Michele Remillard … Anthony Terrell … Blue State’s Chris Huntley … Belén Mendoza … Gabby Birenbaum … Greg Smith of Rep. Eli Crane’s (R-Ariz.) office … Samantha Slosberg … Audrey (Hickenlooper) White … Andy Borowitz … Peter Schorsch … Paul Foldi of the Professional Services Council … Jeremy Funk … Victoria Bautista of Rep. Adam Smith’s (D-Wash.) office … Casey Kasprzyk 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 DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton, producer Andrew Howard and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. Corrections: Yesterday’s Playbook included a quote that was mistakenly attributed to White House spokesperson Andrew Bates and also misspelled Matt Friedman’s name.
| | | | A message from ACLI, Finseca, IRI, NAFA and NAIFA: Annuities close retirement security gaps for workers.
They help people navigate anxieties about savings lasting throughout retirement amid economic uncertainty and market volatility.
Congress recognized the real challenges people are facing and the importance of annuities in addressing them. Bipartisan legislation in 2019 and 2022 made guaranteed lifetime income more accessible to savers.
A Department of Labor proposal undermines this good work by limiting access to options for a protected retirement. Stand with us to protect options for retirement savers. Protect retirement for all. | | | | | | | 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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