By Eugene Daniels and Rachael Bade

With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine

TRUMP-PROOFING IN OVERDRIVE — “Raimondo’s new mission: Leave no cash for Trump,” by Steven Overly: “The Biden administration is aiming to commit nearly every unspent dollar in its $50 billion microchip-subsidy program before President-elect DONALD TRUMP takes over in January, an effort that would effectively cement a massive industrial legacy before the GOP can reverse course. ‘I’d like to have really almost all of the money obligated by the time we leave,’ [Commerce Secretary GINA] RAIMONDO said in an interview with POLITICO.”

Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow is considering a run for Democratic party chair.

BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THE PARTY — Democrats have been tussling over the various fault lines dividing the party over the past two weeks as they’ve sought to come to terms with their electoral drubbing — ideology, race and class, to name a few.

But as the party approaches its first major post-Trump-comeback decision point — electing a new DNC chair — it’s the generational divide that is emerging as a crucial factor.

Put simply, what we have picked up in our recent conversations are enormous frustrations about a party leadership that has defined of late by the likes of JOE BIDEN (82 — happy birthday, Mr. President) and NANCY PELOSI (84). Both are now leaving the scene, and we’re hearing about an overwhelming desire to move on entirely.

“It is a huge problem in the Democratic Party that we have such an ossifying class of leadership that it needs to become a crisis before they leave,” one Dem operative told us last night.

So far there are two officially announced candidates for party chair: Social Security Administrator and former Maryland Gov. MARTIN O’MALLEY and Minnesota DFL Chair KEN MARTIN. Others are potentially waiting in the wings: Ambassador to Japan RAHM EMANUEL, Wisconsin Dems Chair BEN WIKLER, strategist CHUCK ROCHA and former Rep. MAX ROSE, to name a few.

Here’s one more rising young Democrat whom Playbook has learned is considering a run: Michigan state Sen. MALLORY McMORROW, who went viral two years ago after responding to a Republican who accused her of being a “groomer” in a fundraising email and had a prime time role at this year’s Democratic convention.

“If enough people ask, I'm leaving myself open to all kinds of opportunities,” she told Playbook.

We’ve also learned DAVID HOGG, the Gen-Z gun rights activist who now runs a PAC that recruits young people to run for office, is a potential candidate for vice chair; he told us he is “seriously considering” a run. (Longtime DNC member JAMES ZOGBY is already in that race, Holly Otterbein reports.)

The debate over the future of the party is set to play over the next three months. As Elena Schneider and Holly noted last week, the chair elections will be held at the DNC’s yet-to-be scheduled winter meeting, likely sometime in mid-February.

The votes belong to the most insider-y of insiders, which has some Democrats playing down how much the race is going to reflect the debates roiling the party writ large. “I don't think it's a particularly relevant bellwether,” one veteran Democratic operative told us last night.

But many others we spoke to said the cliche about elevating a “new generation of leadership” is about to take on some very real dimensions over the next few months. In short, there’s a feeling that those who dug the hole can’t and shouldn’t be in charge of digging out of it.

That’s less about age, strictly speaking, and more about understanding what type of messages, communication styles and issues actually move voters. In other words, O’Malley might not be out of the conversation at 61, but he’s going to have to make a case that he’s still a change guy nine years after he tried to wrest the party away from that generation-defining Democratic dynasty, the CLINTONS.

It might be an easier sell for the likes of McMorrow (38), Rose (37) and Wikler (43).

Generational change, that frustrated operative told us, is about “a state of mind … when your political sort of awakening came in. When did you get engaged in politics? When did you show up into this?”

That’s a question that is going to be driving change at all levels of the party over the next few years, not just in the top echelons. We’ll note that Democratic leadership in the House is a lot less ossified, to use that person’s term, than it used to be. And members yesterday left in place their top leaders (ages 54, 61 and 45) even after this month’s disappointing election results.

McMorrow told us “a lot more of our voices that need to be at the table and not be in fake positions” as the party starts to rebuild itself.

“There's a difference between being a token to say, ‘Look, we have young people,’ and actually bringing some of us to the table to make decisions about how we message and how we communicate in a bunch of different states and a bunch of different kinds of districts,” she added. “Because the only thing that has to matter to this party is winning in the next four years.”

Related read: “Chris Murphy Wants Democrats to Break Up With Neoliberalism,” by NY Mag’s Sarah Jones

Good Wednesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade and Eugene Daniels.

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THE GAETZ KEEPERS — The House Ethics Committee meets early this afternoon to discuss and potentially vote on what to do with its investigation into former Rep. MATT GAETZ as he faces confirmation proceedings. What’s becoming increasingly clear is that the as-yet unpublished report might not be the end of the story for the embattled AG nominee.

While two witnesses to his alleged presence at Florida sex parties do not want to testify publicly, according to their lawyer, senators are indicating that they are prepared to have them speak privately to the Judiciary Committee, per the WSJ. The Democratic-affiliated group American Oversight is suing for FBI investigative documents, per the NYT. And further details and evidence continue to trickle out, including records of Venmo payments from Gaetz to the two women, per ABC. Gaetz has firmly denied any wrongdoing.

Trump world is preparing for war. VP-elect JD VANCE is starting to shepherd Gaetz (and similarly controversial DOD nominee PETE HEGSETH) around the Senate, per Bloomberg. Still, National Review and NOTUS report, members are queasy about the prospect of confirming Gaetz for reasons that go beyond the tawdry allegations. Asked yesterday if he were reconsidering the nomination, Trump gave a one-word answer: “No.”

THE LONG SHADOW — “House Republicans are playing the Trump card in committee chair races,” by Eleanor Mueller: “Republican lawmakers jockeying to lead House committees in the next Congress are touting their loyalty to [Trump] as much as their ability to advance policy priorities as they make appeals to colleagues over the next two weeks. … The extent to which allegiance to Trump carries the day will be a key first test of his hold on Congress, particularly since most of the races will be decided by secret ballot.”

AND THE AWARD GOES TO — Our colleague BENJAMIN GUGGENHEIM won the prestigious Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress from the National Press Foundation. The prize honored his April investigation that peeled back the curtain on how lobbyists and members of Congress expanded 401(k) tax breaks to deliver hundreds of billions of dollars to the wealthy. Read it here

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On the Hill

The Senate is in. Transportation Secretary PETE BUTTIGIEG, SBA Administrator ISABEL GUZMAN, FEMA Administrator DEANNE CRISWELL and acting HUD Secretary ADRIANNE TODMAN will testify before the Appropriations Committee about disaster funding at 10 a.m. Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN will brief the Foreign Relations Committee behind closed doors at 3 p.m.

The House will meet at 10 a.m. and take up a variety of bills at noon, with votes expected at 4:45 p.m. DHS Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS and FBI Director CHRISTOPHER WRAY will testify before the Homeland Security Committee at 10 a.m. HHS Secretary XAVIER BECERRA will testify before a Judiciary subcommittee at 2 p.m.

3 things to watch …

1. As central as the Israel-Hamas war has been to American politics over the past 13-plus months, only on rare occasions has it manifested itself in a Senate floor vote. One of those occasions is set for later today, when Sen. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.) plans to call up several measures that would block the sale of offensive weapons to Israel. Sanders is, of course, swimming against the pro-Israel sentiment shared by most Democrats, including Biden, and the soon-to-be-majority Republicans, but today’s vote could be a useful yardstick all the same before Trump adopts an even harder line. Read Sanders’ WaPo op-ed 
   
2. When’s the last time you read Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution? Prepare to get a lot more familiar with the never-before-wielded presidential power to adjourn the House and Senate “in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment.” It’s at the crux of legal theories now being examined by some conservatives, Fox’s Elizabeth Elkind reports, potentially allowing Trump to force Congress to adjourn in order to allow for recess appointments. But there’s bipartisan skepticism that there’s One Neat Trick to circumventing the Senate’s advice-and-consent power. Sen. THOM TILLIS (R-N.C.) told CNN it could be “a huge mistake … to cede power to any other branch.”
   
3. Just how much of a cushion will House Republicans have in their majority next year?  Things are looking increasingly hairy for Speaker MIKE JOHNSON as vote counting continues in California. GOP Rep. JOHN DUARTE’s lead dwindled yesterday while fellow Republican MICHELLE STEEL fell further behind in the latest vote tallies. If Duarte loses and other current leads hold, Republicans could be left with 220 seats at full strength. And with three expected vacancies due to Trump Cabinet nominations, the House could spend months at 217-215 — meaning Republicans could not lose a single member on a straight party-line vote.

At the White House

Biden will receive the President’s Daily Brief in the morning.

VP KAMALA HARRIS has nothing on her public schedule.

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TRANSITION LENSES

Dr. Mehmet Oz as a late-breaking inclusion in Donald Trump's search for HHS secretary. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

THE LAND OF OZ — Trump announced that he’ll nominate MEHMET OZ as Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the latest unorthodox pick with a high-profile TV background. Best known to Americans as Dr. Oz, he was a late-breaking inclusion in the CMS search, as HHS secretary pick ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. (under whom he’d serve) didn’t like more establishment-friendly PAUL MANGO, Ben Leonard and Robert King report. Kennedy ally MARTY MAKARY is also a top candidate for FDA commissioner, WSJ’s Liz Essley Whyte, Natalie Andrews and Anna Wilde Mathews report.

Oz has been a big booster of the Medicare Advantage private option, and he’d have major power over the sprawling Medicare and Medicaid program — which may not be at the top of Kennedy’s priority list. Drug price negotiations would also fall under his purview, and Trump indicated that he wanted Oz to slash wasteful spending. Some Democrats immediately sounded unimpressed by Oz’s lack of specific relevant experience, but Sen. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-Pa.), who beat Oz two years ago, said he’s open to voting for confirmation.

Linday McMahon had reportedly wanted to be Commerce secretary, not Education secretary. | Manuel Balce Ceneta, File/AP Photo

LINDA McMAHON’S SOFT LANDING — The former SBA administrator and former wrestling CEO was tapped as Trump’s nominee for Education secretary, as CNN’s Kristen Holmes, Kaitlan Collins and John Towfighi scooped. It’s something of a musical-chairs consolation prize for McMahon, who had reportedly wanted to be Commerce secretary — the post to which her fellow Trump transition co-chair, HOWARD LUTNICK, was shunted yesterday after losing out on Treasury.

McMahon, a major GOP donor and longtime Trump friend, doesn’t have much specific education policy experience, Betsy Woodruff Swan, Natalie Allison and Bianca Quilantan write. But she has publicly backed school choice, parental rights efforts and greater career and technical education, while opposing apprenticeship diversity mandates.

More top reads:

• Siren: In 2020, Kennedy lent credence to the baseless conspiracy theory that the U.S. government — i.e., the Trump administration — had planned the Covid-19 pandemic, The Bulwark’s Sam Stein and Andrew Egger report. Kennedy’s challenge to the food industry is another obstacle to confirmation: Sen. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-Iowa) said he needs to meet with and educate Kennedy about agriculture, Meredith Lee Hill reports.

• Getting the gang back together: RUSSELL VOUGHT is in the running to return to his old job as OMB director, Gavin Bade, David Lim and Betsy Woodruff Swan report. That would give the Project 2025 architect a powerful post to ax regulations and spending. Vought is also in the mix for a White House economic policy role, ABC’s Katherine Faulders and Will Steakin report.

• Confirmation contretemps: PETE HEGSETH’s passage through the Senate to become Defense secretary is not yet assured, Connor O’Brien and Joe Gould report. In the wake of sexual assault allegations against him, which Hegseth denies, multiple GOP senators say they have questions and are waiting to learn more. Hegseth said yesterday on a prayer call that “the battle is just beginning,” per CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.

• One to watch: Rep. LORI CHAVEZ DeREMER (R-Ore.), who just lost reelection, is a possibility for Labor secretary, Holly Otterbein and Meredith Lee Hill report. Teamsters President SEAN O’BRIEN is advocating for her.

• Musk read: Though some Trump aides are sick of ELON MUSK, the president-elect himself “still can’t seem to get enough of it,” Meridith McGraw and Natalie Allison report.

CONGRESS

THE BATHROOM BROUHAHA — Rep. NANCY MACE (R-S.C.) has gone all out on her effort to bar transgender Rep.-elect SARAH McBRIDE (D-Del.) from using the women’s bathroom, tweeting dozens of times yesterday and emphasizing that she now doesn’t believe transgender women are women. But McBride told fellow House Democrats she wants to cast Mace’s effort as a distraction from substantive policy issues, messaging that her party quickly adopted, NOTUS’ Oriana González reports.

MUSICAL CHAIRS — Sen. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-N.Y.) is expected to be Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER’s choice for DSCC chair, Axios’ Stephen Neukam scooped. … Rep. YVETTE CLARKE (D-N.Y.) will run unopposed to be the next Congressional Black Caucus chair after current leader STEVEN HORSFORD (D-Nev.) decided against another run, NOTUS’ Tinashe Chingarande and Violet Jira scooped.

POLICY CORNER

CLIMATE FILES — The Trump team intends to take a second look at Biden administration policies on fuel economy requirements, tailpipe emissions and more, Bloomberg’s Allyson Versprille and Jennifer Dlouhy scooped.

TRADE WARS — Massive tariffs are one of Trump’s top policy priorities. But he could face GOP resistance on multiple fronts: Many Hill Republicans are skeptical of or outright opposed to paying for tax cuts by passing new tariffs through Congress, Semafor’s Burgess Everett and Kadia Goba report. And KEVIN WARSH, one of Trump’s top contenders for Treasury secretary, holds far more traditional GOP/Wall Street policy views, from free trade to a strong dollar, which has worried some MAGA figures, Victoria Guida and Sam Sutton report.

UP IN SMOKE — “DEA faces legal challenge as uncertainty clouds plan to reclassify marijuana,” by WaPo’s David Ovalle

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TRUMP CARDS

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg said Donald Trump's criminal hush money conviction should be postponed for now. | Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

THE TRUMP TRIALS — Manhattan DA ALVIN BRAGG’s office said in a legal filing yesterday that Trump’s sentencing for his criminal hush money conviction should be postponed for now — and they acknowledged that it could be delayed all the way until after his presidency, per CBS’ Graham Kates. Trump’s team hailed the latest filing as a win: “The Manhattan DA has conceded that this Witch Hunt cannot continue,” STEVEN CHEUNG said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Georgia and Arizona cases against Trump and his allies for allegedly trying to subvert the 2020 election can continue. But there, too, “recent complications in each case have fueled speculation about whether the prosecutions are in more fragile shape than they were before Mr. Trump won the election,” NYT’s Danny Hakim reports.

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

ANOTHER BIG UKRAINE MOVE — “Biden approves antipersonnel mines for Ukraine, undoing his own policy,” by WaPo’s Michael Birnbaum and Alex Horton

MIDDLE EAST LATEST — AMOS HOCHSTEIN said yesterday that an Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire deal is “within our grasp,” per AP’s Kareem Chehayeb, Wafaa Shurafa and Fatma Khaled. Meanwhile, the Treasury Department slapped new sanctions on half a dozen top Hamas officials, per Reuters.

FOUR MONTHS LATER — “US Is Now Calling González the President-Elect of Venezuela,” by Bloomberg’s Eric Martin: “The move is designed to increase pressure on [President NICOLÁS] MADURO.”

MEDIAWATCH

STAT OF THE DAY — “Even before 250,000 digital readers unsubscribed from the Washington Post in protest, the paper was on track to lose at least as much money as it lost last year: $77 million,” N.Y. Mag’s Charlotte Klein reports in a look at tensions at the Post under JEFF BEZOS’ heavier hand.

CH-CH-CH-CH-CHANGES — Comcast intends to spin off a number of cable networks from NBCUniversal, notably including MSNBC, WSJ’s Amol Sharma scooped.

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