| | | | |  | | By Eugene Daniels | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | WHAT TRUMP WILL SOON BE POSTING ABOUT — Today at 5 p.m., President JOE BIDEN will award former Rep. LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.) and Rep. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-Miss.) with the nation’s second-highest civilian medal for leading the congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. For Biden, it’s a parting thumb in the eye of President-elect DONALD TRUMP — one sure to get his dander up. Last month, Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “for what they did,” Cheney and Thompson “should go to jail.” He has repeatedly downplayed the seriousness of the Jan. 6 attack, and continues to deny the outcome of the 2020 election. Other honorees of the award in today’s ceremony include longtime Biden aide and former Sen. TED KAUFMAN (D-Del.); close Biden friend and former Sen. CHRIS DODD (D-Conn.); former Senate colleagues BILL BRADLEY (D-N.J.) and NANCY KASSEBAUM (R-Kan.); former Rep. CAROLYN McCARTHY (D-N.Y.); and attorney MARY BONAUTO (who argued Obergefell in front of the Supreme Court) and EVAN WOLFSON (for his work in the same-sex marriage movement), among others. Full list from the NYT
|  In New Orleans, a U.S. citizen killed 15 people by speeding his truck through crowded areas filled with pedestrians celebrating New Year’s Eve. | George Walker IV/AP Photo | WHAT TRUMP IS ALREADY POSTING ABOUT — This morning, Trump posted on Truth Social that “With the Biden ‘Open Border’s Policy’ I said, many times during Rallies, and elsewhere, that Radical Islamic Terrorism, and other forms of violent crime, will become so bad in America that it will become hard to even imagine or believe.” In itself, that’s hardly a noteworthy statement, given the frequency with which the president-elect has linked crime and border security. But in the aftermath of yesterday’s terrorist attack in New Orleans, Trump’s rhetoric on this matter is worth clocking. What we know is true: In New Orleans, a man killed 15 people by speeding his truck through crowded areas filled with pedestrians celebrating New Year’s Eve. The suspect in that attack, HAMSUD-DIN JABBAR, apparently had an ISIS flag in the truck with him. What Trump insinuated: Yesterday, Trump pointed to the New Orleans attack as evidence that “the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country,” a claim he echoed with this morning’s post. The suggestion, of course, is that Jabbar was proof of Biden’s failed immigration policies. The reality: According to the FBI, Jabbar was a 42-year-old Army veteran. He was not an immigrant; he was born in the U.S. and is a citizen. He posted videos online just hours before indicating a desire to kill and that he’d been inspired by ISIS, and authorities are looking into whether he has any formal affiliation with terror organizations. ABC News reports that the FBI is looking into videos that Jabbar may have recorded on his drive to Louisiana. Per their sources, “the suspect is not seen but is allegedly heard talking about his divorce and about a desire to kill members of his family before ultimately deciding to carry out the attack on Bourbon Street.” What we don’t yet know: Is there a link between the New Orleans attack and the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside of the Trump hotel in Las Vegas? Investigators are looking into the possibility. What Biden says: “The law enforcement and the intelligence communities continue to look for any connections, associations or co-conspirators,” Biden said in remarks to reporters yesterday. “The investigation is continuing to be active, and no one should jump to conclusions.” What the FBI says: “We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible,” said ALTHEA DUNCAN, the FBI assistant special agent in charge in New Orleans, at a press conference yesterday. “We are aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates.” What to watch for in Washington today: The House Homeland Security Committee will be briefed on the attack this morning, per Punchbowl’s Melanie Zanona. The GOP talking point: Republicans are using the terrorist attack to pressure senators to get Trump’s national security nominees into their jobs as soon as possible, after weeks of senators expressing concerns about a number of them. “The U.S. Senate must confirm President Trump’s national security team as soon as possible,” Sen. JOHN BARRASSO (R-Wyo.) posted on X. “Lives depend on it.” Expect to hear more of that from Republicans in the coming days. Good Thursday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop me a line at edaniels@politico.com.
| | | | A message from The National Association of REALTORS®: The National Association of REALTORS® is leading the charge to update America’s tax law to make housing more available.
The U.S. still lacks 4.7 million homes, and middle-income buyers are feeling the inventory shortage the most.
Real estate makes up nearly one-fifth of the U.S. economy. Addressing housing availability through tax reform is a smart way to create economic growth, unlock supply, and solve a national crisis. | | | BIG GET — Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER is endorsing BEN WIKLER to lead the DNC, Elena Schneider scooped. Schumer is the highest-ranking Democrat to weigh in on the DNC race so far. The election is due to be held on Feb. 1, and there will be four candidate forums between now and then. Schumer said that Wikler “has what Democrats need right now — proven results — and that’s why I’m backing Ben,” emphasizing the Wisconsin Dem chair’s “work in 2024, when Democrats in Wisconsin held on to their Senate seat and flipped 14 state legislative seats, even though KAMALA HARRIS did not win the state.” NAMES YOU SHOULD KNOW — Incoming Senate Majority Leader JOHN THUNE is bringing in the big guns for his legal team. Playbook has learned that MEGAN LACY OWEN is leaving Jones Day to become Thune’s lead counsel — a role in which she’ll head up ushering Trump’s nominees through the GOP-controlled Senate. It’s a big get for Thune. During the first Trump administration, Lacy Owen worked with White House counsel DON McGAHN on BRETT KAVANAUGH’s SCOTUS confirmation (she then clerked for Kavanaugh during the 2018 term). She previously worked as counsel for Sen. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-Iowa), and at Jones Day was known as former Trump 1.0 Solicitor General NOEL FRANCISCO’s right-hand woman. Thune is also adding GEORGE EVERLY as general counsel. Everly is a former Senate staffer (he was chief counsel of the Budget Committee) who more recently has served as budget director for the Supreme Court.
| | | | A message from The National Association of REALTORS®:   The pathway to more housing availability runs through the tax code. See our blueprint to unlock supply. | | | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | At the White House Biden and first lady JILL BIDEN will return to the White House from Camp David this morning. Biden will speak at 2 p.m. about reaching 235 confirmed judges during his tenure. At 5 p.m., he’ll speak at the Presidential Citizens Medal ceremony. Harris and second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF will return to D.C. from LA.
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | | 
Speaker Mike Johnson rolled out a new rules package ahead of the speaker vote. | Angelina Katsanis/POLITICO | 9 THINGS FOR YOUR RADAR 1. PLAYING BY THE RULES: House Republicans yesterday released their rules package for the next Congress, which notably includes raising the motion-to-vacate threshold from one member to nine, Jordain Carney and Meredith Lee Hill report. That would offer some extra protection for the speaker. The rules also pave the way for votes on a dozen pieces of legislation. They tweak the name of the Office of Congressional Ethics to the Office of Congressional Conduct. And they continue the select committee on China competition. The GOP will have to adopt the rules after the speaker vote tomorrow — and with Speaker MIKE JOHNSON facing tight margins, “[s]ome holdouts have continued to float changes to the rules.” Johnson world is trying to win over the GOP members he still needs to convince by emphasizing that voting for someone else could delay Trump’s Electoral College victory certification, CNN’s Sarah Ferris and Alayna Treene report. 2. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “If they thought I had no Fs to give before, I definitely have no Fs to give now,” Rep. THOMAS MASSIE (R-Ky.) tells WSJ’s Siobhan Hughes about his defiance in opposing Johnson after a brutal year in which his wife died and he staved off political threats. “I’ve lost my wife, and she was probably the nicest part of me,” he adds. “What do I have to lose?” Massie remains firm that Johnson has lost his vote by not cutting spending and working with Democrats. And as he posted on X, he’s not happy that the rules package includes legislation to protect Israeli PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU from the International Criminal Court. The big question is whether any other Republican will join Massie in voting against Johnson tomorrow, potentially denying him the speakership. 3. DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS: In the latest tit-for-tat escalation, China slapped export controls on dozens of American companies, including defense behemoths like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, NYT’s Alexandra Stevenson reports. Those and other new measures may have limited practical effect, but they represent an expansion of China’s clampdown on trade of national security-related products. These kinds of measures have become more frequent throughout the Trump and Biden administrations as the U.S. has also imposed controls, and the situation could ramp up further as Trump threatens more tariffs. Related read: “U.S. Companies Vouched for China During Trump’s First Term. Not Anymore,” by WSJ’s Stu Woo 4. IMMIGRATION FILES: “Republicans’ real immigration dilemma: How big to go in Congress,” by Semafor’s Burgess Everett: “There’s a twist: To get an immigration bill done without a filibuster, Republicans may need to bend or even break some of the Senate rules. … If Republicans don’t like [the parliamentarian’s] ruling, they could simply vote to overrule or ignore the parliamentarian. That decision would have sweeping consequences, for this Congress and beyond. … [Sen. KYRSTEN] SINEMA warned that doing so would be ‘a backdoor elimination of the filibuster, and very dangerous.’”
| | | | A message from The National Association of REALTORS®:   Tax reform is the key to more housing supply. See our plan. | | | 5. BEYOND THE BELTWAY: “Democratic-led states still grapple with housing migrants,” by Shia Kapos and Kelly Garrity in Chicago: “The migrant crisis in major Democratic-led cities has eased in the year since it was a full-blown emergency. But the problem hasn’t gone away. … Even before Trump takes office, officials in some states are limiting housing options for asylum seekers.” 6. REMEMBERING JIMMY CARTER: As the nation prepares to memorialize the 39th president, AP’s Bill Barrow has a look back from Plains at the evangelical’s “unusually prolific, nuanced explanations of his beliefs” throughout his life on the public stage. Carter, a born-again Christian, tied his faith to his missions in public service and his progressive politics, and he tapped into religious connections to help seal the Camp David Accords. In Atlanta, Reuters’ Maria Cardona has the story of another legacy Carter left: a home he helped build through Habitat for Humanity. 7. TO RUSSIA, WITH LOVE: “Are Russian Sanctions Working? Debate Takes New Urgency With Trump,” by NYT’s Patricia Cohen: “Predictions in the early months of the war that economic restrictions would soon undermine President VLADIMIR V. PUTIN’s regime or reduce the ruble to ‘rubble’ did not pan out. … A better measure of success, [economist SERGEI] GURIEV said, is to ask whether sanctions hampered Moscow’s ability to wage war effectively. And the answer to that, he and several other analysts argue, is yes. … There is widespread agreement that the most effective sanctions have been those involving the global financial system, an arena where the United States can exert unique power.” 8. EXIT INTERVIEW: As she leaves Congress, Rep. BARBARA LEE (D-Calif.) reflects to AP’s Lisa Mascaro on an often trailblazing career with significant highs and lows. Having once faced death threats for being the only vote against the post-9/11 authorization for use of military force, she now “has watched her views come to be respected, accepted and even emulated.” She helped get the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief created. Lee was only the 20th Black woman elected to the House, and in this Congress she helped get the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to the first: her mentor SHIRLEY CHISHOLM. “My mother told me that ‘can’t’ is not in the dictionary,” Lee says. 9. INTERESTING DEBATE: “The Battle Over What to Tell Americans About Drinking,” by NYT’s Roni Caryn Rabin: “A report that is intended to shape the next edition of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines has broken sharply with an emerging scientific consensus that alcohol has no health benefits. The evidence review, by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in December, revived a once-dominant hypothesis that moderate drinking is linked to fewer heart attack and stroke deaths, and fewer deaths overall, compared with never drinking. Many scientists now take issue with that view. And some fear that, based on the new analysis, the influential dietary guidelines may fail to address recent research into the harms of drinking.”
| | | | 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 | | Brian Anderson wants to shape the future of AI in health care. Madison Alworth got engaged. OUT AND ABOUT — British Ambassador Karen Pierce and Charles Roxburgh hosted their annual black-tie New Year’s Eve celebration at their residence, where guests enjoyed Scotch whiskey, cigars and English sparkling wine. SPOTTED: AG Merrick Garland, Justice Neil Gorsuch, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Reps. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Mike Turner (R-Ohio), Don Beyer (D-Va.) and Jim Himes (D-Conn.), USTR Katherine Tai, DNI Avril Haines, Chris LaCivita, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, Liz Sherwood-Randall, Mark Milley, David Petraeus, Canadian Ambassador Kirsten Hillman, Irish Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason, Megan Beyer, Steve Ricchetti, Mike Donilon, Michael Beschloss, Tammy Haddad, Andrea Mitchell, Matt Kaminski, Anna Palmer, Josh Dawsey, David Chalian, Keenan Austin Reed and Michael Reed, Anthony Polcari and Kevin Walling. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Sen.-elect Jim Banks (R-Ind.) is staffing up with David Keller as chief of staff, James Hitchcock as legislative director, Bill Mallison as senior policy adviser, Jessica McCune as comms director and Jeremy Hayes as national security adviser. Keller, Hitchcock and McCune held the same roles in Banks’ House office. Mallison previously was at the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Hayes previously was at Heritage. — Miranda Green has been named national investigative reporter at HuffPost. She most recently was director of investigations at Floodlight and is a CNN, The Hill and The Daily Beast alum. MEDIA MOVE — Tyler Pager is joining the NYT’s White House team. He currently is a White House reporter at WaPo. TRANSITIONS — Rep.-elect Gabe Evans (R-Colo.) has named Tyler Moore as chief of staff, Delanie Bomar as deputy chief of staff and comms director, Brighton Mayor Greg Mills as district director, and Scott Watson as legislative director. Moore previously was Evans’ campaign manager. Bomar previously was at the NRCC. … Noah Yantis is now chief of staff for Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.). He previously was executive director of the Congressional Western Caucus and is a Jim Hagedorn alum. … … Rep.-elect Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.) has named Pierce Frauenheim as chief of staff, Dan Horning as legislative director, Hannah Pope as comms director, Edie Doman as director of operations, Brian Langan as district director, and Derek Rockey as deputy district director. Frauenheim most recently was national field director for the NRCC. Horning most recently was legislative assistant for Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.). Pope most recently was comms director for Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.). … Houston Keene and Abby Keene have started the boutique comms firm Keene Communications. Houston is a former Fox News Digital reporter, and Abby used to work in political fundraising. WEDDING — Matthew Walker, founder of Walker Media Agency, and Erica Kolo, a corporate law and mergers and acquisitions attorney at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, got married on New Year’s Eve at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, with a reception full of country music and a midnight balloon drop. Instapic via his father, Scott Walker … SPOTTED: Alex Walker, Dani Kirby-Smith, Candee Arndt, Brad Courtney, Nathan Craft, Wade Goodsell, John Hiller, Maria Lazar, Will Martin, Mike and Georgia Maxwell, Greg and Patty Reiman, and Bailey Walker. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Daniel Fisher, SVP of government and external affairs at Associated Equipment Distributors, and Liz Fisher, a physician assistant, welcomed Henry Alyn at 12:09 a.m. Wednesday — one of the first babies born in 2025 in the D.C. area. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: POLITICO’s Mike Zapler, Ben Storrow and Braden McMahon … Chris Hartline … CRC Advisors’ Greg Mueller … Judith Miller … Erin Hughes of Marathon Strategies ... Rachel Perrone … former Reps. Henry Bonilla (R-Texas) and Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) … Kyle Gazis … Koch Industries’ Cheyenne Foster … Rebecca Bill Chavez … Annie Lange of the Beer Institute … Meta’s Annie Lewis and Marc Johnson … Scott Cullinane … Rachel Michael of McDonald’s ... Douglas Faulkner … Bully Pulpit Interactive’s Alexa Barchuk ... Craig Varoga … Ben Sheffner … Anna Wishart … Chandler Dean of West Wing Writers … Forbes’ Cyrus Farivar … Michael Webb … Jane Krause … Jason Resendez of the National Alliance for Caregiving … Kel McClanahan of National Security Counselors … Will Jawando … Fox Business Network’s Elizabeth MacDonald 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.
| | | | A message from The National Association of REALTORS®: The National Association of REALTORS® is leading the charge to update America’s tax law to promote homeownership and boost economic growth.
The U.S. still lacks 4.7 million homes, and middle-income buyers are feeling the inventory shortage the most. More than 375,000 listings in the $250,000 and under price range are missing from the market.
We’ve worked with Congress to endorse a package of bills with broad support that would unlock housing inventory.
Legislation like the More Homes on the Market Act would incentivize long-term homeowners to sell by increasing the amount of capital gains they can exclude from the sale of a principal residence.
Real estate makes up nearly one-fifth of the U.S. economy, and each home sale generates $125,000 in local economic activity and two jobs.
Addressing housing availability in tax reform is a smart way to create economic growth, unleash housing inventory, and solve a national crisis. | | | | | | | 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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