Dec 20, 2024

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THE CATCH-UP

LAST MAN STANDING — WaPo CEO WILL LEWIS is expected to name MATT MURRAY as the permanent executive editor following a winding, and ultimately unsuccessful, search and effort to recruit a new newsroom chief, Puck’s Dylan Byers scoops. “The news, which Will has been delaying for unspecified reasons, will bring an anticlimactic end to a long and tortured recruitment effort at a storied paper that … has endured a rather miserable and ignominious few years of financial irresponsibility, soul-searching, and chaos.”

MUSK READ — “Musk vows to fund ‘moderate’ Democratic primary challengers,” by Anthony Adragna

House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks with reporters gathered around.

Speaker Mike Johnson is moving onto Plan C to avoid a government shutdown. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

THE SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN — This morning, we asked pretty plainly whether President-elect DONALD TRUMP and Speaker MIKE JOHNSON actually want a government shutdown to take effect overnight ahead of the holidays, with the hopes that Democrats would be tagged with blame.

Well, here’s @realDonaldTrump’s answer on Truth Social at 7:52 a.m.: “If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration, not after January 20th, under ‘TRUMP.’ This is a Biden problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!”

But efforts continue anew on the Hill. Here’s the current state of play:

Johnson is now onto Plan C — a gambit to break up the stopgap deal into three separate bills, Jordain Carney and Meredith Lee Hill report.

In the House GOP’s latest plan, Johnson will divy things up as such: (1) a short-term funding bill, (2) money for recent natural disasters and (3) a one-year farm bill extension with aid for farmers. This track, of course, would punt the thorny debt-limit debate down the road.

The needle to thread: “Members believe Johnson is taking the proposal through the Rules Committee, trying to pass it through regular order so it only requires a simple majority on the House floor. Rep. RALPH NORMAN (R-S.C.), who is on the panel, said that he will back the plan, meaning it should have enough support to get out of the committee.

If Johnson can secure the blessing of his conference to bring the measures to the floor, members could then vote for the individual bills that they support and vote against the ones they don’t — meaning Congress could avert a shutdown while other pieces of the previous GOP-backed bill could be dropped, at least for now. “The fallback plan is that Johnson will try to pass the individual bills via suspension, which requires a two-thirds majority to clear the House.”

On the Democratic side of things, House Minority Leader HAKEEM JEFFRIES privately told his caucus this morning that communication had restarted with Republicans, Nicholas Wu and Daniella Diaz report. “Because of our display of unity, the lines of communication have been reopened,” Jeffries said, according to the people in the room.

Across the Capitol, senators are signaling they're open to near anything — except moving on their own government-funding deal first, with no appetite for a shutdown, Ursula Perano and Anthony Adragna report.

As for Johnson’s three-bill approach? “I'm not going to Vegas to put bets on anything,” Sen. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO (R-W.Va.) said. “We're sort of in that ‘don't react to anything' space, because nobody knows what's going on.”

And despite Trump’s threats of backing primary challengers against members who defied his wishes on last night’s vote, many of the Republicans aren’t exactly sweating it. “It’s real for some people, but CHIP ROY can survive it. I can survive it,” Rep. THOMAS MASSIE (R-Ky.) said, per our colleagues Anthony Adragna and Olivia Beavers. “It’ll move the needle 20 points in a race. But if you were going to win 80-20 percent you can be okay.”

INFLATION NATION — “Key Fed inflation measure shows 2.4% rate in November, lower than expected,” by CNBC’s Jeff Cox

TALK OF THIS TOWN — Michael Schaffer pens his latest Capital City column, and it’s about as This Town as it gets: “Political Pattie’s Flopped as a Bipartisan Watering Hole. Now DC’s Most Hated Bar Is Becoming a Super PAC”

BIRD IS THE WORD — “The bald eagle will soon become the national bird thanks to one man,” by WaPo’s María Luisa Paúl: “The story of how [PRESTON] COOK unearthed and fought to correct the 248-year-old oversight begins in a dark movie theater in the mid-1960s with a single line: ‘You can’t have too many eagles.’”

Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Tonight, the first-ever 12-team college football playoff kicks off with the Indiana Hoosiers against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. I’m trying to project confidence about my alma mater Penn State’s chances this year, but the Nittany Lions always seem to come up short in the big moments. Send me your predictions at gross@politico.com.

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8 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a rally in Washington.

Trump's intention to pardon the Jan. 6 rioters is leading to some stark alarm and dismay among federal judges. | Jacquelyn Martin/AP

1. DOOM AND GLOOM ON THE BENCH: Federal judges in D.C. are signaling increasing alarm at the likelihood that Trump will grant clemency to the Jan. 6 rioters, whom they view as responsible for a grave crime against democracy, Kyle Cheney reports. “In extraordinary but little-watched court proceedings since Election Day, judges appointed by presidents of both parties have emphasized the need for accountability for the people who stormed the Capitol in an attempt to derail the certification of JOE BIDEN’s 2020 victory.

“These judges have sounded dire warnings about the fate of the country if the lessons of the 2020 election go unlearned, and they are bluntly bracing for a turbulent start to the second Trump presidency.”

Just listen to District Judge TANYA CHUTKAN, who has often reassured police officers traumatized by the violence of Jan. 6 that “the rule of law still applies.” But amid Trump’s push, Chutkan now says, “I’m not sure I can do that very convincingly these days.”

2. SINEMATOGRAPHY: Sen. KYRSTEN SINEMA (I-Ariz.), who has been known for her flair and sense of drama, is keeping her same energy as she heads for the exit doors on Capitol Hill. Sitting down with Semafor’s Burgess Everett for an exit interview, Sinema disclosed that a fellow Democratic senator (she won’t say who) reached out to her following Trump’s victory to apologize and admit she was right about keeping the filibuster intact. “I was surprised about that one. I was very surprised. And I appreciate it,” she told Semafor. She went on to dub her opposition to scrapping the filibuster the “most important vote I’ve ever taken in my life.”

As for her legacy and how she should be remembered? “I know some people think I’m, like, this enigma or whatever, but I don’t think that’s true at all,” Sinema said. “I think, maybe, this is a place where sometimes people say things that they don’t mean. I am not one of those people … I think I’m highly predictable.”

And, perhaps predictably, Sinema declined to comment on her successor, Rep. RUBEN GALLEGO, nor would she disclose who she voted for in the presidential election: “‘I’m not telling you that. Of course, I voted.’ She also knows what she’s going to do next but won’t divulge that either, though she’s already growing ‘happier’ as her tenure draws to a close. She did confirm that she’s done with politics after a lengthy career in state politics and then in Congress, first as a House member. ‘No,’ she said. ‘We’re good.’”

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3. TRUMP INC.: Trump in a regulatory filing last night transferred all of his shares — worth about $4 billion — in his social media venture, Trump Media & Technology Group, to a trust controlled by his eldest son, DONALD TRUMP JR., NYT’s Matthew Goldstein reports. “He did not sell the shares or receive any financial consideration for the transfer, which was described as a gift to the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. … It’s unclear what prompted the move. Mr. Trump had said during the presidential campaign that he had no plans to sell any of his shares. With Mr. Trump’s eldest son now making decisions for the trust, it could open the door for shares to be sold without violating that pledge.”

4. FOR YOUR RADAR: Uline, a Wisconsin-based shipping supply company owned by Republican megadonors LIZ and DICK UIHLEIN, “routinely brought dozens of its workers from Mexico to staff its warehouses in Wisconsin and other locations even though they do not appear to have permission to work in the US,” The Guardian’s Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Alice Herman report. The company “shuttles in its own workers from Mexico, who are using tourist visas and visas meant for employees who are entering the US temporarily to receive professional training, known as B1 visas. But instead of being part of a dedicated training program, the Mexican employees stay for one to six months and – sources with direct knowledge of the matter allege – perform normal work in Uline’s US warehouses.”

5. THE VIEW FROM OVERSEAS: “Trump Is Threatening Europe With Tariffs. Is It Ready?” by NYT’s Jim Tankersley, Jenny Gross, Liz Alderman and Melissa Eddy: “Their nascent plans, including a closely guarded effort at the top levels of the European Commission, appear to be more proactive than what they were the first time Mr. Trump took office. But any attempt to form a united front on trade could be hampered by the sclerotic politics across much of Europe. … And no clear consensus has emerged on how to respond to whatever Mr. Trump might have in store. Divisions are already emerging between officials who favor a strategy of retaliation if he tries to impose new taxes on European exports and those who favor negotiation.”

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6. WHAT LINDA McMAHON IS READING: “Why It’s Hard to Control What Gets Taught in Public Schools,” by NYT’s Dana Goldstein: “The American education system is ‘radically decentralized’ in the words of one historian. Local schools and even individual teachers are often left to work independently, choosing their own curriculum materials and writing their own lesson plans — a structure that could restrain President Donald J. Trump in his second term. … Despite book bans and other forms of pressure from policymakers and politically engaged parents, there are signs that many teachers are able to ignore — or subtly complicate — mandates to address race, gender and U.S. history in proscribed ways.”

7. TALES FROM THE CRYPTO: A group of conservative activists are “turning to a new tool to fulfill their anti-’woke,’ free-enterprise mission: pushing Fortune 100 companies to convert some of their assets to bitcoin,” WaPo’s Julian Mark reports. “Since October, the National Center for Public Policy Research, a right-wing think tank, has filed shareholder proposals asking Microsoft and Amazon to consider investing in bitcoin, arguing that would insulate the companies and their investors from inflation. More bitcoin proposals are on the way, the group says, while also arguing that advancing the adoption of bitcoin fits into their ‘pro-freedom’ agenda because cryptocurrency largely operates outside of the control of governments.”

8. WAR IN UKRAINE: The Biden administration in the coming days is set to roll out the final installment of its “Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative package, using up the remaining funds set aside to buy new weapons for Ukraine,” Reuters’ Mike Stone reports. “The package includes air defense interceptors and artillery munitions, according to a third source, but the exact contents are expected when the package is announced in the coming days. The package will be worth about $1.2 billion, said the sources.” But the weapons could still take months or years to make it to Ukraine. Meanwhile, officials in the Ukraine and several allied nations are grumbling that Biden’s last-ditch, on-the-way-out assistance is “too little too late,” Bloomberg’s Alberto Nardelli, Alex Wickham, Daryna Krasnolutska, and Natalia Drozdiak report.

Related read: “Russia launches missile strike on Kyiv following Putin’s ‘duel’ threat,” by WaPo’s David Stern and Serhii Korolchuk

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PLAYBOOKERS

Pete Buttigieg is still talking like he’s running.

Elon Musk’s friendship with Nigel Farage has the U.K. bracing for a Musk-led shakeup.

Donald Trump is sort of bringing the majlis to Mar-a-Lago.

IN MEMORIAM — “William J. Hennessy Jr., Sketch Artist of Courtroom Drama, Dies at 67,” by NYT’s Richard Sandomir: “William J. Hennessy Jr., a prominent courtroom artist whose sketches documented important chapters in history, including the impeachment trials of Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald J. Trump and the Supreme Court case that decided the 2000 presidential election, as well as thousands of scenes of quotidian courtroom drama, died in Key West, Fla., on Dec. 9, his 67th birthday.”

— “Joanne Pierce Misko, Ex-Nun Who Made F.B.I. History, Dies at 83,” by NYT’s Clay Risen: “Joanne Pierce Misko, a former Roman Catholic nun who in 1972 became one of the first two women sworn in as special agents for the F.B.I., breaking the bureau’s longstanding bar against women in frontline law-enforcement roles, died on Friday in Wheatfield, N.Y., east of Niagara Falls. She was 83.”

— “It is with profound sadness that Littler shares the passing of Michael J. Lotito. A shareholder at the firm, Michael was an integral part of Littler for more than a decade, serving on the firm’s Board of Directors and founding its preeminent Workplace Policy Institute. … Michael was legendary in the Washington, D.C., political community. He was one of the firm’s foremost thought leaders on global workplace topics and workforce transformation issues. He fearlessly advocated for the interests of employers and was on the forefront of the ever-changing laws, regulations and policies impacting the workplace.” Read the full release

MEDIA MOVE — Karen Pensiero is joining WaPo as standards editor. She previously was a managing editor at WSJ. The announcement

TRANSITION — Todd Malan is joining Blackstone-owned QTS Data Centers as EVP of government relations and external affairs. He previously was chief external affairs officer and head of climate strategy at Talon Metals and is a veteran of the Rio Tinto and Goldman Sachs external affairs teams.

ENGAGED — Johnny Rubin, speechwriter for the House Ways and Means Committee, and Lillie Russell, product owner for Black Airplane, got engaged on Dec. 14 in D.C. in Lincoln Park, a place where the couple has spent many happy moments.

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