| | | | |  | | By Bethany Irvine | | | |  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks with aides during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 12, 2023. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | Beginning shortly, Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER will hold two votes aiming to force Republicans’ hands now that the bipartisan Senate border deal has crashed ashore. The first vote is on the foreign aid package (Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan) that bipartisan negotiators hammered out — the one with the border security provisions long sought by Republicans, but which the GOP is now poised to reject. The second vote will be on a foreign aid package sans the border provisions but including the Fend Off Fentanyl Act. Schumer told reporters this morning he wanted to give his GOP colleagues “both options.” “It’s not clear whether Republicans will be ready to advance the second package, according to several people familiar with party strategy. It will need 60 votes to get over the first filibuster, and then eventually 60 votes to end debate,” Burgess Everrett reports. “A two-week recess is scheduled to start this weekend, and any one senator can drag out the foreign assistance package; several conservative senators are likely to do so over opposition to Ukraine funding. But there’s also a possibility Republicans are ready to move on.” However it shakes out, Republicans in both chambers are licking their wounds after yesterday’s high-profile failures. In the House, some Republicans are pushing back against GOP leadership after yesterday’s failed vote on the Israel aid bill and doomed effort to impeach DHS Secretary ALJEANDRO MAYORKAS. Rep. THOMAS MASSIE (R-Ky.) bluntly summed up the mood this morning in a post on X: “Getting rid of Speaker [KEVIN] McCARTHY has officially turned into an unmitigated disaster. All work on separate spending bills has ceased. Spending reductions have been traded for spending increases. Warrantless spying has been temporarily extended. Our majority has shrunk.” So what’s next? Jordain Carney and Athony Adragna report that some moderate House Republicans are working across the aisle to create their own “Plan B” backup plan. House Minority Leader HAKEEM JEFFRIES noted today “several Republicans who are not in leadership" have been open to working with them to pass a “comprehensive” package, while Rep. BRIAN FITZPATRICK (R-Pa.) said “he was working on a new national security package with Democrats that would include funding for Ukraine and the border, among other priorities.” But for now, all eyes are on the Senate. Speaker MIKE JOHNSON said he’s waiting to “see what the Senate does,” per Burgess. "We spend a lot of time on the House side of waiting, awaiting the Senate's action," Johnson told reporters. "And it's frustrating sometimes but that's the way the process works." Related read: NYT’s Kayla Guo goes deep on Sen. JAMES LANKFORD’s (R-Okla.), the man whose border deal was tanked after months of painstaking work — making him the “latest in a long line of lawmakers who had been burned by failed efforts to push through a bipartisan immigration deal.” “The plight of Mr. Lankford, a slim, understated Baptist minister with a neatly combed shock of red hair and a baritone voice that regularly delivers deadpan quips, reflects the extraordinary rise and fall of the border and Ukraine deal … and the political forces within the Republican Party that brought it down,” writes Guo. Lankford “had honorable intentions, but he took on a herculean task,” said CHAD ALEXANDER, the former chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party. “The sentiment has gotten even more intense since he began this four months ago. And now it’s a powder keg.” Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at birvine@politico.com.
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The Supreme Court is set to take up Trump's Colorado ballot case tomorrow. | Francis Chung/E&E News | 1. SCOTUS PREVIEW: All eyes are on the Supreme Court ahead of tomorrow’s hearing on whether Colorado is justified in banning former President DONALD TRUMP from the 2024 ballot over his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection — which, the plaintiffs argue, disqualifies him from the presidency under the 14th Amendment. Legal experts have “implored the justices to definitively decide the key question of whether Trump is disqualified,” and settle the issue for other states where similar 14th amendment cases are making their way through the courts, WaPo’s Ann Marimow reports. But “[w]hatever the court decides is likely to polarize voters just as the court’s decision in Bush v. Gore split the country 24 years ago. … [R]eaching a decision that avoids the court’s 6-3 ideological split may be difficult.” Read more: Chief Justice JOHN ROBERTS’ legacy will, at least in part, “be on the line,” writes CNN’s John Fritze. … WSJ’s Jess Bravin speaks with the Republican plaintiffs challenging Trump’s eligibility, including former Colorado Senate Majority Leader NORMA ANDERSON. … WaPo’s Ann Marimow on the lawyers representing Trump before the high court. 2. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN met earlier today with Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU and is scheduled to speak with Israel Defense Forces chief of staff HERZI HALEVI and other key officials as he attempts to broker a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hostages. “The stakes for a crucial day of discussions in Tel Aviv were made even higher by news on Tuesday that Hamas has put forward a response to a proposal meant to secure the freedom of the remaining hostages,” writes CNN’s Jennifer Hansler. “Under the militant group’s proposal, both sides would observe a three-stage cease-fire over 135 days, each stage lasting 45 days, during which hostages and Palestinian prisoners in Israel would be released,” NYT’s Adam Rasgon and Aaron Boxerman report. “It calls for the Israeli military to ultimately leave Gaza altogether — a demand Israeli officials so far have publicly rejected. … [A] key point of contention between Israel and Hamas has been the truce’s duration: Hamas demands a permanent cease-fire, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed Israel will fight until ‘complete victory.’” 3. LORDY, THERE ARE TAPES: A new legal filing in the case against Sen. BOB MENENDEZ reveals that “a confidential informant had made recordings of conversations and shared details about the case with investigators” ahead of the indictment of the New Jersey Democrat, his wife NADINE and three others on bribery and conspiracy charges, NYT’s Tracey Tully and Benjamin Weiser report. (That explains how the indictment contained this direct quote from Nadine at dinner with someone trying to curry favor with her husband: “What else can the love of my life do for you?”)
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE GOLDEN STATE POLITICAL ARENA: POLITICO’s California Playbook newsletter provides a front row seat to the most important political news percolating in the state’s power centers, from Sacramento and Los Angeles to Silicon Valley. Authors Lara Korte and Dustin Gardiner deliver exclusive news, buzzy scoops and behind-the-scenes details that you simply will not get anywhere else. Subscribe today and stay ahead of the game! | | | | | 4. THAT’S THE TICKET — Longshot independent candidate ROBERT KENNEDY JR. is reportedly reaching out to potential running mates, including to former presidential candidate and businessman ANDREW YANG to join a presidential ticket as VP, Puck’s Teddy Schleifer reports this morning, before pouring cold water on it: “Yang declined to comment, but I’m told he was non-committal on the call, and this probably isn’t going to happen.” Why now? “The timing of these entreaties is all about ballot access: In several states, candidates are required to have a V.P. nominee in order to submit signatures, and for Kennedy to be considered for the top of the ticket.” 5. DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS: “China and US hold economic talks as trade issues heat up on the campaign trail,” by AP’s Elaine Kurtenbach: “Chinese and U.S. officials have met in Beijing for talks on tough issues dividing the two largest economies, as trade and tariffs increasingly draw attention in the runup to the U.S. presidential election. … Exchanges between the two powers picked up last year, gaining momentum after President Joe Biden met with Chinese leader XI JINPING at a November summit … But despite the slight improvement in relations, tensions remain high, particularly over Taiwan.” 6. FOR YOUR RADAR: “U.S. detects and tracks 4 Russian warplanes flying in international airspace off Alaska coast” by CBS News’ Stephen Smith
| | | | CONGRESS OVERDRIVE: Since day one, POLITICO has been laser-focused on Capitol Hill, serving up the juiciest Congress coverage. Now, we’re upping our game to ensure you’re up to speed and in the know on every tasty morsel and newsy nugget from inside the Capitol Dome, around the clock. Wake up, read Playbook AM, get up to speed at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report, and fuel your nightly conversations with Inside Congress in the evening. Plus, never miss a beat with buzzy, real-time updates throughout the day via our Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | A Senate GOP super PAC is taking a big swing at Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED in the halls of Congress during Special Olympics’ annual Capitol Hill Day yesterday, where Special Olympics Chair Tim Shriver, CEO Mary Davis and more than 250 volunteers, including 70 athlete ambassadors, took more than 300 meetings: Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Tom Carper (D-Del.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), John Larson (D-Conn.), Julia Letlow (R-La.), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Mark Alford (R-Mo.), Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), David Trone (D-Md.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Gabe Amo (D-R.I.), Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.). Pic — SPOTTED at an NRCC reception and dinner at Bistro Cacao last night hosted by Invariant and the NRCC with Chair Richard Hudson (R-N.C.): Reps. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), Tom Cole (R-Okla.), Glenn “G.T.” Thompson (R-Pa.), David Valadao (R-Calif.), Michelle Fischbach (R-Minn.), Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), Mike Carey (R-Ohio), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) and Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), Drew Griffin, Lindley Kratovil Sherer, Katie Wise, Danielle Beck, Amy Swonger, Kelly Hitchcock, Tim Martin, Landon Stropko, Carolyn Coda, Jeremy Wilson-Simerman, Rachel Michael, Robin Bowen, Elizabeth Brown, Gary Kline, Dean Sackett, Jennifer Stettner, Brandon Todd, Michael Wall, Jeff Morehouse, Mike Thom, Andrew Renteria and Emily Hytha. TRANSITIONS — Elizabeth Kelly will be the inaugural director of the U.S. AI Safety Institute. She currently is special assistant to the president for economic policy at the White House National Economic Council. … Henry Timms will be CEO of the Brunswick Group. He currently is the president and CEO of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. 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.
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