| | | | |  | | By Bethany Irvine | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | NEW JMART — CHRIS LaCIVITA and TONY FABRIZIO sit down with Jonathan Martin for a rollicking conversation to get a download inside the historic 2024 campaign that returned DONALD TRUMP to the White House — from the JOE BIDEN alternative who tested the strongest against Trump, what they regret, what KAMALA HARRIS’ campaign missed, who they think will emerge as the 2028 GOP nominee and much more.
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Speaker Mike Johnson is inviting Republican after Republican into his Capitol office suite as he weighs his options for a stopgap funding bill. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN — With less than 36 hours until government expires, Speaker MIKE JOHNSON and his allies are scrambling to reassemble a plan that would keep the government while also assuaging Trump and his allies. Right now, Johnson is inviting Republican after Republican into his Capitol office suite as he weighs his options after Trump blasted apart what 24 hours ago seemed to be a done deal. With the president-elect demanding that Johnson raise the debt ceiling or eliminate it entirely, Johnson is now exploring a stopgap plan that “includes disaster aid, pushing off a debt limit fight for two years and a one-year farm bill extension,” Meredith Lee Hill, Jordain Carney and Olivia Beavers scoop. Trump doubled down on his desire for a debt limit patch today, telling NBC News’ Garrett Haake that he’s keen to get rid of the limit entirely, not just raise the ceiling: “Democrats have said they want to get rid of it. If they want to get rid of it, I would lead the charge,” Trump said. “It doesn’t mean anything, except psychologically.” He added to ABC’s Jonathan Karl: "There won't be anything approved unless the debt ceiling is done with,” Trump said, per Karl. “If we don't get it, then we're going to have a shutdown, but it'll be a Biden shutdown, because shutdowns only inure to the person who's president." Two questions here: First, would Democrats go for it? House Minority Leader HAKEEM JEFFRIES insists not, writing in a Bluesky(!) post today that “GOP extremists want House Democrats to raise the debt ceiling so that House Republicans can lower the amount of your Social Security check. Hard pass.” Jeffries rallied his members in a caucus meeting this morning to stick with the deal they’d already agreed to, Nicholas Wu and Daniella Diaz report, while also quoting President JOHN F. KENNEDY on the need to keep talking: ‘Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.’” Meanwhile, a host of rank-and-file Democrats said their attention had been piqued by Trump’s call for the elimination of the debt ceiling after years of arguing themselves that it should be scrapped. What they are saying: Said Rep. DON BEYER (D-Va.), “For years I have urged my colleagues for years to permanently eliminate the debt ceiling, which has never reduced our national debt,” Beyer wrote on X. “Let’s abolish the debt limit for good.” Added Sen. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-Mass.) also on X: “Congress should terminate the debt limit and never again govern by hostage taking.” Thought bubble: If Johnson puts up a clean CR with a straightforward debt limit increase attached, would Democrats really vote against it after spending 14 years tsk-tsking Republicans for playing politics with a possible federal default? Of course, there’s another party involved here, and most Republicans are typically lukewarm at best at the notion of hiking the debt limit, let alone eliminating it. A handful of hard-liners, in fact, are advocating for not doing anything at all and just allowing the federal government to shut down for a month until Trump is inaugurated. In the middle of it all is Johnson, who is facing a major dilemma, as we reported in this morning’s Playbook. He’s under pressure to deliver a bill that offers nothing to Democrats while requiring Democratic lawmakers’ votes and a Democratic president’s signature. And he’s already facing calls for his removal as speaker if he doesn’t deliver. Unlike the last speaker vote, Jeffries made clear today he won’t be able to rely on Democrats’ help. As with anything these days, it could all come down to Trump — who told Fox News’ Brooke Singman today that Johnson could "easily remain speaker" next year if he "acts decisively and tough" and eliminates "all of the traps being set by Democrats" in the spending package. And if he doesn’t? “Anybody that supports a bill that doesn’t take care of the Democrat quicksand known as the debt ceiling should be primaried and disposed of as quickly as possible," Trump said. Top-ed: “There they go again,” by Brendan Buck for WaPo: “Mike Johnson and the House GOP are showing that unified Republican control of Washington is a myth.” Good Thursday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at birvine@politico.com.
| | | | A message from Instagram: Congress can help keep teens safe online today.
By passing federal legislation requiring app store parental consent and age verification, Congress would put parents in charge of teen app downloads. This helps parents ensure teens download apps that are safe.
That's why 3 of 4 parents agree: teens under 16 shouldn't be able to download apps without parental consent.
Tell lawmakers: support a national standard requiring app store parental consent and age verification for teens. | | | |  Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) and an aide react to being photographed as they arrive at the Capitol. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | UGLY SCENE — As Rep. DAVID SCOTT (D-Ga.) went past a throng of journalists outside the House side of the Capitol yesterday afternoon, POLITICO photographer Francis Chung began taking photos of Scott as an aide pushed his wheelchair. As Chung continued taking photos — as is his right in a public place — Scott turned his head to the side where Chung was and yelled, “Who gave you the right to take my picture, asshole?” according to accounts from the scene, including from Punchbowl’s Melanie Zanona. The staffer who was assisting Scott then returned to the area where the journalists were gathered and confronted Chung, asking which outlet he was with and saying, “I’m going to ask you to not come and take a picture of us as we’re trying to get into the Capitol.” When Chung replied that he hadn’t gotten in the way, the aide pushed back, raising their voice and repeatedly saying “no,” adding: “I’m going to ask you very nicely to not do that. We will be reaching out to your editor, whoever it is we have to reach out to.” Scott’s office declined to comment on the exchange.
| | | | A message from Instagram:   | | | | | 6 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | | 
President Joe Biden’s inner circle worked to adjust, and often hide, his decline over the course of his four years in office. | Ben Curtis/AP | 1. THE AGE-OLD STORY: With just over a month left in the White House, WSJ’s Annie Linskey, Rebecca Ballhaus, Emily Glazer and Siobhan Hughes report in a buzzy new piece how Joe Biden’s inner circle worked to adjust, and often hide, his decline over the course of his four years in office. Staff “told visitors to keep meetings focused. Interactions with senior Democratic lawmakers and some cabinet members — including powerful secretaries such as Defense’s LLOYD AUSTIN and Treasury’s JANET YELLEN — were infrequent and “tightly scripted.” The White House denied that Biden has declined and that there has been any systematic effort to hide it. Still, Biden’s presidency has differed greatly from his predecessors’, the Journal reports: “Presidents always have gatekeepers. But in Biden’s case, the walls around him were higher and the controls greater, according to Democratic lawmakers, donors and aides who worked for Biden and other administrations. There were limits over who Biden spoke with, limits on what they said to him and limits around the sources of information he consumed.” Among the eye-opening tidbits:
- “[I]n the spring of 2021, a national security official explained to another aide why a meeting needed to be rescheduled. “He has good days and bad days, and today was a bad day so we’re going to address this tomorrow,” the former aide recalled the official saying.”
- “Biden’s team tapped campaign co-chairman JEFFREY KATZENBERG, a Hollywood mogul, to find a voice coach to improve the president’s fading warble.”
- “At least one cabinet member stopped requesting calls with the president, because it was clear that such requests wouldn’t be welcome, a former senior cabinet aide said.”
- “During the 2020 campaign, Biden had calls with JOHN ANZALONE, his pollster, during which the two had detailed conversations. By the 2024 campaign … Biden’s pollsters didn’t meet with him in person and saw little evidence that the president was personally getting the data that they were sending him.”
2. FANI’S FINALE: In a major victory for Trump and his legal team, a Georgia appeals court ruled that Fulton County DA FANI WILLIS and her office should be disqualified from the sweeping racketeering and election interference case brought against the president-elect and his allies related to the 2020 election results, Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report. The court agreed with the Trump teams’ assertions that Willis had “created an appearance of a conflict of interest” stemming from a romantic relationship with deputy prosecutor NATHAN WADE. The case will now be assigned to another prosecutor, but Trump’s imminent inauguration “means the charges against him are almost certain to either be paused while he is in office or dismissed entirely.” But, but, but … “The proceedings against Trump’s co-defendants — including close allies like former chief of staff MARK MEADOWS and lawyer RUDY GIULIANI — could continue to grind forward during Trump’s presidency.” 3. IN THE DOGE HOUSE: “Elon Musk Taps Loyalists to Boost Staffing for DOGE Effort,” by Bloomberg’s Shirin Ghaffary, Gregory Korte, and Sarah McBride: “STEVE DAVIS, president of Boring Co., [ELON] MUSK’s tunneling operation, and MICHAEL KRATSIOS, former U.S. chief technology officer, are among those leading interviews of potential candidates … Musk and [VIVEK] RAMASWAMY are still trying to figure out DOGE’s structure, but they’re considering incorporating [it] as a 501(c)(3) … It’s unclear who’ll be signing the paychecks of DOGE hires or if Musk or Ramaswamy are putting in any of their own funds for the effort.”
| | | | You read POLITICO for trusted reporting. Now follow every twist of the lame duck session with Inside Congress. We track the committee meetings, hallway conversations, and leadership signals that show where crucial year-end deals are heading. Subscribe now. | | | | | 4. BIDEN’S CLIMATE SWING: With just over a month left in office, the Biden administration is still pushing ahead with big promises to address global climate concerns. In a move the Trump administration is “certain to disregard,” the White House announced its plan to cut down climate-warming pollution from 66% to 61% by 2035, Sara Schonhardt and Zack Colman report: “The new goal marks an increase over Biden’s 2021 pledge to slash greenhouse gases 50-52 percent by 2030 over 2005 levels, but is a downgrade from what modelers say would have been possible.” Why it matters: “U.S. officials say it sends an important signal to the world of what the U.S. could do in the face of those challenges. … Other advocates echoed that sentiment, saying it could help guide federal policy after 2028 — or whenever a climate-focused president takes office.” 5. THE ECONOMIC LEGACY: “US economic growth beats expectations in final snapshot of Biden presidency,” by Victoria Guida: “GDP rose at a 3.1 percent annualized pace in the third quarter of the year, according to Commerce Department data released Thursday, after growing at a 3 percent rate in the second quarter. … That growth, fed by steady consumer spending, comes alongside a still-low unemployment rate of 4.2 percent and much-improved inflation … Still, the surging economy could also make it harder for the Fed to get inflation all the way back down to its 2 percent target.” 6. IMMIGRATION FILES: Homeland Security officials are bracing themselves for the demands of an incoming Trump White House, but the time and staffing needed to carry out operations against a single immigrant “reveals how difficult it may be to scale up to mass deportations,” NBC News’ Gabe Gutierrez and Olympia Sonnier report. The enforcement agency’s resources are already notoriously limited. For example, while executing “targeted enforcement” operations in Boston this week, “it took about 16 ICE agents an entire morning to arrest five immigrants who they said were undocumented, had criminal records, and had been released on bail by local jurisdictions.”
| | | | POLITICO Pro's unique analysis combines exclusive transition intelligence and data visualization to help you understand not just what's changing, but why it matters for your organization. Explore how POLITICO Pro will make a difference for you. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Get a glimpse inside the secretive State Department gift shop. John Cornyn was mistaken for Donald Trump. OUT AND ABOUT — Cristóbal Alex and Tusk Strategies’ D.C. Office hosted a holiday party at Dauphine’s on Wednesday night. SPOTTED: Reps. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Gabe Amo (D-RI), Don Graves, Sheila Nix, Ernesto Apreza, Marco Davis, Jan Singelmann, Damon Hewitt, Julie Chávez Rodríguez, Chris Coffey, Ed O'Keefe, Alex Thompson, Katharine Pichardo-Erskine, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Javier Cuebas, Evan Wessel, Luke McGowan, Helen Milby, Mark Colón, Bernadette Carrillo, Ayodele Okeowo, Annie Roome, Tanner Palin, Maria Restrepo and Elissa Nation. MEDIA MOVE — Long-time Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto is leaving the network today after 28 years, Mediaite’s Colby Hall reports. Cavuto previously anchored multiple shows, including "Your World" and “Cavuto Live” on Fox News Channel and "Cavuto Coast to Coast" on Fox Business Network. TRANSITION — Brian Smith will be director of nuclear reactor development at Idaho National Laboratory. He previously has been acting deputy assistant secretary for nuclear reactors at DOE and is a House Appropriations Committee alum. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Laura Howard Kilfoyle, development principal at the Kraft Group and a Paul Ryan and AEI alum, and Matt Kilfoyle, a VP at Fidelity, welcomed Piper Doherty Kilfoyle on Friday. She was born in a hospital a mile from where the couple met on the 2012 Mitt Romney campaign. Pic — Sarah Westwood, investigations editor at the Washington Examiner and a CNN alum, and Christopher Bedford, senior politics editor and author of "The Beltway Brief” newsletter at The Blaze, recently welcomed Josephine Jeanne Bedford. Pic ... Another pic BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Sean Themea of Young Americans for Liberty 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 and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
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