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Donald Trump has selected transition co-chair Howard Lutnick as his nominee for secretary of Commerce. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo | IN TRANSITION — President-elect DONALD TRUMP has selected transition co-chair HOWARD LUTNICK as his nominee for secretary of Commerce, Meridith McGraw, Eleanor Mueller and Michael Stratford report. Internal intrigue: That Lutnick lands at Commerce rather than Treasury marks a blow to ELON MUSK, who had lobbied for the Cantor Fitzgerald CEO to head the latter department. In recent days, the Treasury spot has been the source of intense internal campaigning between Lutnick and investor SCOTT BESSENT, another top contender for the post, as WSJ’s Andrew Restuccia and Brian Schwartz report. The also-rans: Lutnick’s fellow transition co-chair LINDA McMAHON and former USTR ROBERT LIGHTHIZER were both rumored to both be up for the Commerce job. The Journal reports that McMahon “is under consideration for other jobs, including education secretary and U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom.” Another note about Treasury: The Times’ Alan Rappeport has a smart read on the conflicting qualities Trump is looking for in his Treasury pick, which could make the post a tough needle to thread: He wants someone who “loves tariffs yet calms markets.” In the running: Bessent, former federal Reserve governor KEVIN WARSH and Apollo Global Management CEO MARC ROWAN. HACK ATTACK — As Capitol Hill awaits the House Ethics Committee’s decision on whether to release its report on former Rep. MATT GAETZ’s (R-Fla.) alleged sexual misconduct, an unidentified hacker has reportedly accessed transcripts of testimony potentially damaging to Trump’s pick for AG, NYT’s Robert Draper reports: “The file of 24 exhibits is said to include sworn testimony by a woman who said that she had sex with Mr. Gaetz in 2017 when she was 17, as well as corroborating testimony by a second woman who said that she witnessed the encounter. … The material does not appear to have been made public by the hacker.” MEET THE NEW BOSS, SAME AS THE OLD BOSS — The top three House Democratic leaders were reelected to their respective positions in a caucus meeting this morning: HAKEEM JEFFRIES will return as leader, KATHERINE CLARK (D-Mass.) as whip and PETE AGUILAR (D-Calif.) as caucus chair. All three were unopposed. In the race to helm the House Dems’ policy and comms arm, Rep. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-Mich.) was reelected, defeating challenger Rep. JASMINE CROCKETT (D-Texas), 152-59, Nicholas Wu reports. Dingell’s co-chairs: Reps. LAUREN UNDERWOOD (D-Ill.) and LORI TRAHAN (D-Mass.) were reelected, and MAXWELL FROST (D-Fla.) was elected to replace Rep. VERONICA ESCOBAR (D-Texas). What’s next for Jeffries: Even before his reelection, he’s facing major pressure from donors to help Democrats sort through their post-election identity crisis, CNN’s Sarah Ferris and Annie Grayer report. “So far, Jeffries has said little about his role in the party’s postelection rebuild. But his allies say he’s aware of the part he’s about to play. … He and his leadership team are already discussing how to avoid a repeat of 2016, when Democrats ‘chased Donald Trump every hour’ while failing to deliver their own message. … He believes he has a road map to flip the House in 2026 that looks a lot like the way he helped his party win back most of its New York seats this year.” ALL POLITICS IS PERSONAL — The culture war has arrived on Capitol Hill, where Rep. NANCY MACE (R-S.C.) is pushing to ban transgender women from using women’s restrooms and locker rooms in the Capitol — a move that’s aimed directly at incoming Rep. SARAH McBRIDE (D-Del.), who will be the first transgender member of Congress. Getting very personal: “Seeing a biological male in a women’s space, in a girl's restroom or in her locker room, it’s crazy. And if McBride wants to go to the gym, she can go to Planet Fitness,” Mace told Punchbowl’s Melanie Zanona. “It’s not going to happen, not on my watch.” Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.) added that she would physically fight a transgender woman who tries to use a women’s bathroom, per Olivia Beavers. In a GOP conference meeting this morning, House Speaker MIKE JOHNSON told lawmakers that transgender women won’t be allowed to use the women’s bathrooms in the Capitol. Olivia reports. Mace also confirmed to HuffPost’s Arthur Delaney that Johnson “said he’ll put it in the house rules package.” But after the meeting, Johnson sidestepped confirming plans for the rule change, instead telling reporters: “There's a concern about uses of restroom facilities and locker rooms and all that … We'll provide appropriate accommodation for every member of Congress. … We treat everybody with dignity, respect.” Mace has said that if Johnson doesn’t include the proposal in the rules package, she’ll file a motion to force a vote on it. More from Anthony Adragna and Jordain Carney Flashback: Notably, the proposal is a departure from Mace’s prior stance on LGBTQ+ issues, Semafor’s Dave Weigel points out. While supporting a legislative alternative to the 2021 Equality Act, Mace told the Washington Examiner’s Brad Polumbo that she “strongly support[s] LGBTQ rights and equality,” and that “I do believe that religious liberty, the First Amendment, gay rights, and transgender equality can all coexist.” “I have friends and family that identify as LGBTQ,” Mace said at the time. “Understanding how they feel and how they’ve been treated is important. Having been around gay, lesbian and transgender people has informed my opinion over my lifetime.” Good Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at birvine@politico.com.
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Learn more about open source AI. | | | LaCIVITA VS. LINCOLN PROJECT — Trump campaign manager and RNC Chief of Staff CHRIS LaCIVITA is going after The Lincoln Project in a new letter, with RNC lawyers accusing the anti-Trump PAC of defamation and demanding they retract a series of social media posts. In a letter to Lincoln Project general counsel MARIO NICOLAIS, LaCivita’s legal team specifically point to several posts of a video entitled “Sucker” that berates Trump and includes the caption: “If Trump's own campaign manager, Chris LaCivita, can pull a fast one on Trump, think what America’s enemies can do to him. We can’t let this patsy be President again.” “The allegations in the ‘Sucker’ video created by The Lincoln Project, and published on multiple online platforms controlled by the Lincoln Project, as well as the related posts … center around the false and defamatory claim that Mr. LaCivita received compensation in the amount of $22 million from Donald Trump and the Trump Campaign,” LaCivita’s lawyers claim. “The allegations in the video relating to Mr. LaCivita are categorically false and belied by public campaign finance records.” Read the full letter The Lincoln Project responds: "We're terribly, terribly sorry to have upset delicate snowflake Chris LaCivita for overstating how rich he actually got off the Trump campaign,” Lincoln Project general counsel Mario Nicolais said in a statement to Playbook. “As with all of our ads, we make sure to base our claims on information from trusted sources; however, it appears that one outlet may have made a mistake initially by overstating how much Trump campaign money was funneled to his company. It was first reported as $22 million, but it turns out it was only $19.2 million.”
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Ukraine’s military used six American-made ballistic missiles to strike Russia for the first time following President Joe Biden's policy reversal. | AP | 1. RUSSIA-UKRAINE LATEST — Ukraine’s military used six American-made ballistic missiles to strike Russia for the first time today, just two days after President JOE BIDEN announced a major policy reversal allowing Kyiv to move forward with an attack, AP’s Hanna Arhirova and Illia Novikov report from Kyiv. The strike is a major escalation from Ukraine, which just hit the grim marker of 1,000 days since Russia launched its invasion in 2022. More details on the attack: “Russia said its forces shot down five of six of the missiles, which were fired at a military facility in the Bryansk region. Debris of one hit the facility, starting a fire that was swiftly put out and caused no casualties or damage, it said,” per Reuters’ Tom Balmforth and Olena Harmash. “The Ukrainian military did not publicly specify what weapons it had used, but a Ukrainian official source and a U.S. official later confirmed it had used [U.S.-made] ATACMS.” The strike comes hours after Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN lowered Russia’s threshold for using nuclear weapons. The Kremlin also issued multiple warnings yesterday noting that Biden’s policy reversal on American-made weapons “fundamentally changes” the scope of the U.S.’s involvement in the war, and “added fuel to the fire” in the ongoing conflict. Related reads: “Undersea cables cut in Baltic Sea; U.S. allies warn of hybrid warfare amid Russia clash, by NBC News’ Freddie Clayton ... “Iran Sharply Expands Stockpile of Nuclear Fuel Ahead of Trump’s Return,” by WSJ’s Laurence Norman 2. WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN: Trump’s coming inauguration has left the Commerce Department scrambling to wrap up contract negotiations and disperse nearly $30 billion in manufacturing grants from the 2022 CHIPS Act before Biden leaves office, WSJ’s Asa Fitch reports. The program’s future under Trump remains murky. He criticized the CHIPS Act on the campaign trail, but the bill passed with widespread bipartisan support and several of the grants are likely headed for Republican lawmakers’ districts. 3. THE LOCAL ANGLE: It’s no secret that D.C.'s local officials clashed with Trump during his first term in office, as the then-president railed against city officials and threatened to usurp local control. Now, Mayor MURIEL BOWSER and the D.C. Council fear the next four years could bring more of the same — or worse, AP’s Aashraf khalil reports. With the Republican-controlled Congress able to vet and overturn D.C. laws, “councilmembers predict a wave of budget riders on the annual appropriations bill — designed to alter district laws in ways big and small.” Bad news for WFH: “Bowser, Trump and Republicans in Congress have all agreed for years on one particular issue: the need to end post-pandemic teleworking and bring all federal employees back to their offices five days a week.” Related reads: “Exploring what Trump might mean when he vowed to rebuild Washington, D.C.” by NPR’s Michel Martin 4. SAME PANIC, DIFFERENT DISCO: Big Pharma is on edge about the prospect of sweeping changes should ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. be confirmed to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. But despite their concerns, industry leaders say it’s unclear whether Kennedy will actually be authorized to make any major changes to drug pricing, WSJ’s David Wainer reports: “The market, it seems, is bracing for backbreaking measures,” but if “Trump’s first term is any indication, investors shouldn’t expect drastic changes in healthcare, largely because these reforms are complex and involve trade-offs. … earth-shattering changes, something the market is already pricing in, may be hard to deliver.”
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Ted Cruz was spotted on a flight to West Palm Beach. Buddy Carter says lawmakers should sleep in their offices. Dan Osborn launched a PAC to elect working-class candidates. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at an event celebrating the careers of retiring members of the GOP Doctors Caucus, co-hosted by BGR Group at Butterworth’s last night: Speaker Mike Johnson, Reps. Brian Babin (R-Texas), Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), Greg Murphy (R-N.C.), Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.), Drew Ferguson (R-Ga.), John Joyce (R-Pa.), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), Neal Dunn (R-Fla.) and Michael Burgess (R-Texas), Ryan Long, Brent Del Monte, John Stone, Robb Walton, Katie Williams and Dan Farmer. — SPOTTED at the National Alliance to Stop Impaired Driving Conference Reception at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel last night: Ana Fitzgibbons, Kristin Bodenstedt, Jonathan Adkins, Rick Birt, Chris Swonger, Leslie Kimball and Darrin Grondel. WHITE HOUSE DEPARTURE LOUNGE — Shelby Wagenseller will be head of comms for JPMorgan Chase’s research, policy and insights division. She previously was associate director for comms and strategic planning at OMB. TRANSITION — Mike Brandhuber is now EVP of government relations at Vita Inclinata Technologies. He previously was executive director of Washington operations at Textron. MEDIA MOVE — Sally Buzbee will be news editor for the U.S. and Canada for Reuters. She previously was executive editor at The Washington Post and is an AP alum. Read the announcement ENGAGED — Joe Diver, chief of staff for Rep. Yadira Caraveo (D-Colo.), proposed to Emily Crerand, chief of staff for Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.), at their D.C. apartment Sunday (before the Bills game). They met in 2019 as freshman chiefs of staff. Pic … Another pic — Joe Pelt, a cancer biology researcher in the Weill Cornell MD/PhD program, proposed to Sam Jordan, head of computing and emerging technology at Future Today Institute, on Friday at Signers’ Island on the Mall on their last long run as they were training for the Philadelphia marathon next weekend. They met in 2019 at Iron Gate. Pic … Another pic WEEKEND WEDDINGS — Wyatt Dietrick, EVP of polling and data analysis at National Public Affairs and an RNC alum, and Melanie Sheppard, an independent contractor in defense and global security, got married Saturday at Hideaway Beach Club on Marco Island, Florida. They met through mutual friends/work colleagues in 2018. Pic … Another pic — Connor Coughlan, who works at the State Department, and Ellie Wheeler, a senior marketing manager at AstraZeneca, got married Saturday at The Gallery in Kansas City. They met through mutual friends in his hometown of Chicago when he was working on the Chris Kennedy campaign. SPOTTED: Sheila Nix and Jim Coughlan, Michaela Sims, Mike and Danyel Henry, Scott Mulhauser, Bill Doerrer, Ally Biasotti, Judy Rainey, Sheila Murphy, Erin Owen, Annie Burns, John Monahan and Claudia Chavez. 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. Correction: Yesterday’s Playbook PM misspelled Katie Glueck’s name.
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