Playbook PM: Covid comes home for Christmas

Dec 23, 2021

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We're two days out from Christmas Day, and the torrent of Covid-related news is not ceasing. As a tumultuous year nears its end, there is seemingly no escaping the crashing wave and the reality that we will be carrying the pandemic into a third year — and potentially beyond.

— The Omicron wave (which has not peaked) has officially surpassed the height of the Delta surge. Via WaPo: "The United States logged a seven-day average coronavirus case count of 168,981 on Wednesday, amid a nationwide spike driven partly by the omicron variant, Washington Post figures show, surpassing a summer peak of just over 165,000 infections on Sept. 1."

In Washington …

— White House press secretary JEN PSAKI quote-tweeted an interview with former President DONALD TRUMP in which he encouraged people to get vaccines and booster shots. "Just going to echo former President Trump here on the safety and efficacy of the vaccines," Psaki added. "Merry Christmas eve eve. go get boosted."

— Sen. CHRIS COONS (D-Del.) announced today that he tested positive for the coronavirus and experiencing "minimal symptoms." He's the third senator and 10th member of Congress to recently test positive.

— Seven Pentagon staffers who traveled with Deputy Defense Secretary KATHLEEN HICKS last week tested positive — though Hicks herself has since tested negative.

Even the blinks of good news are met with a swift dose of caution.

— The FDA authorized Merck's Covid treatment pill — the second of its kind — but the approval comes with a caveat: "Its ability to head off severe Covid-19 is much smaller than initially announced and the drug label will warn of serious safety issues, including the potential for birth defects," AP's Matthew Perrone writes.

— President JOE BIDEN is reportedly considering a plan to better prepare the U.S. for the next disease outbreak. But if the past is prologue, that might be hard to actually see into fruition. NYT's Chris Hamby and Sheryl Gay Stolberg write that "three times over the past three decades, presidential administrations explored plans for a vaccine overhaul like the one President Biden is now considering, only to be thwarted by pharmaceutical lobbying, political jockeying and cost concerns. … In each case, the nation was left ill prepared for the next crisis — while creating a vacuum that Emergent eagerly filled."

— Early on in the pandemic, it seemed there was a constant stream of data that was missing or incomplete. And even entering the third year, it's more of the same. This time, it's a big hole in available data on infection and deaths in special nursing homes for elderly veterans, Joanne Kenen, Darius Tahir and Allan James Vestal report.

— WaPo's Ashley Fetters Maloy and Will Oremus write about the latest arena where "scare stories, conspiracy theories, and outright falsehoods about the safety of vaccines" are running rampant: What to Expect's "Pregnancy & Baby Tracker" app.

— In a glimpse of what could be to come, Israel — one of the first countries to mount a successful booster campaign amid the Delta surge — is now considering offering a fourth shot (or a "second booster," if you prefer) to subdue its latest surge. "The decision is still awaiting confirmation by Health Ministry Director Nachman Ash before becoming national policy. But facilities across the country are preparing to begin administering the vaccine, with many saying they are ready to start as early as Sunday," WaPo's Shira Rubin writes in Tel Aviv.

Good Thursday afternoon.

IN MEMORIAM — via NYT's William Grimes: "JOAN DIDION, whose mordant dispatches on California culture and the chaos of the 1960s established her as a leading exponent of the New Journalism, and whose novels 'Play It as It Lays' and 'The Book of Common Prayer' proclaimed the arrival of a tough, terse, distinctive voice in American fiction, died on Thursday at her home in Manhattan. She was 87."

PROGRAMMING NOTE — This is the last Playbook PM that will publish in 2021. We'll be back in your inbox on Jan. 3. Thanks so much for reading. Talk to you in the new year!

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THE WHITE HOUSE

A MUST-READ ON HARRIS — NYT's Katie Rogers and Zolan Kanno-Youngs put KAMALA HARRIS' first year as VP under the microscope today. In the story — headlined "Heir Apparent or Afterthought? The Frustrations of Kamala Harris" — the duo reports on the growing fear among Harris' allies that "while Mr. Biden relied on her to help him win the White House, he does not need her to govern."

That paranoia is summed up perfectly in the opening anecdote: "It was summertime, and President Biden was under immense pressure to win the support of Senator JOE MANCHIN III, whose decisive vote in a 50-50 chamber made him the president's most delicate negotiating partner. Mr. Biden had invited Mr. Manchin to the Oval Office to privately make the case for his marquee domestic policy legislation. Just before Mr. Manchin arrived, he turned to Vice President Kamala Harris.

"What he needed from her was not strategy or advice. He needed her to only say a quick hello, which she did before turning on her heel and leaving the room. The moment, described as an exchange of 'brief pleasantries' by a senior White House official and confirmed by two other people who were briefed on it, was a vivid reminder of the complexity of the job held by Ms. Harris."

And then there's this view from Rep. HENRY CUELLAR (D-Texas): "When Mr. Cuellar heard Ms. Harris was traveling to the border in June, he had his staff call her office to offer help and advice for her visit. He never received a call back.

"'I say this very respectfully to her: I moved on,' Mr. Cuellar said. 'She was tasked with that job, it doesn't look like she's very interested in this, so we are going to move on to other folks that work on this issue.' In the future, Mr. Cuellar said he would go straight to the West Wing with his concerns on migration rather than the vice president's office. Of the White House, Mr. Cuellar said, 'at least they talk to you.'"

THE ECONOMY

INFLATION UP — The latest inflation numbers show that consumer prices over the past year rose at the highest rate — 5.7% — since 1982. "The November increase, reported Thursday by the Commerce Department, followed a 5.1% rise for the 12 months ending in October, continuing a string of annual price gains that have run well above the 2% inflation target set by the Federal Reserve," AP's Martin Crutsinger writes . "Consumer spending, which accounts for 70% of U.S. economic activity, rose 0.6% in November, a solid gain but below the 1.4% surge in October."

THE UNEMPLOYMENT PICTURE — Meanwhile, the Labor Department reports today that new unemployment claims for the last week remained unchanged from the prior week at 205,000. "The four-week average, which smooths out week-to-week ups and downs, rose to just over 206,000. The numbers suggest that the spread of the omicron variant did not immediately trigger a wave of layoffs," AP's Paul Wiseman writes.

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JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH

TRUMP TURNS TO SCOTUS — Trump this morning took his effort to block the release of White House records to the Jan. 6 select committee to the Supreme Court, "his last attempt at blocking investigators from accessing a massive trove of documents from the highest levels of his administration," Kyle Cheney reports . "Trump's filing effectively pauses the committee's efforts until the Supreme Court decides how to handle the case. The appeals court panel, in making its ruling, said it would delay the effect of its decision until the Supreme Court resolved whether to grant Trump's injunction request. Whether the Supreme Court steps in to slow down the case could be decisive for the Jan. 6 committee's efforts to peer inside the most closely held secrets of the Trump White House."

ANNIVERSARY TALK — On Jan. 6, 2022, the one-year anniversary of the deadly attack on the Capitol, the Senate will be in session — leading some, like Sen. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-Alaska), to question the decision. "I wish that before [Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER] had done that, he had talked to the staff around here. I wish he had talked to the police officers. I talk to the police officers a lot ... I don't think any of them are anxious to have to protect us — to be here on Jan. 6 when we don't need to be," she told Anthony Adragna for Congress Minutes.

— But Sen. BEN CARDIN (D-Md.) told Anthony that the Senate "will have an appropriate way to have people that are here that day. I have confidence we recognize the sensitivity ... It's got to be dealt with in a way that is mindful of those emotions."

POLICY CORNER

IMMIGRATION FILES — The Biden administration is making headway in its effort to reunite children and parents who were separated by the Trump administration's border policies. "The Department of Homeland Security planned Thursday to announce that 100 children, mostly from Central America, are back with their families and about 350 more reunifications are in process after it adopted measures to enhance the program," AP's Ben Fox reports.

STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.

ALL POLITICS

DIVERSIFYING THE RANKS — The DCCC is committing to a new plan to boost diversity among its ranks and place staffers at top posts on campaigns, Zach Montellaro reports. "The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Blue Leadership Collaborative announced on Thursday that the two organizations would partner for the 2022 cycle. The goal of the program is to recruit and retain people of color, women and people who identify as queer as senior staff."

TRUMP CARDS

CLOCK RUNS OUT ON CY VANCE — Manhattan D.A. CYRUS VANCE JR. is out of time. "Even as prosecutors in his office have ramped up their long-running investigation into former President Donald J. Trump in recent weeks, Mr. Vance is set to leave office soon without seeking criminal charges against Mr. Trump. Mr. Vance, a three-term Democrat who declined to seek re-election this year, will hand the inquiry over to his successor, ALVIN BRAGG, on Jan 1," NYT's Ben Protess, William Rashbaum and Jonah Bromwich write. "Mr. Bragg plans to retain the leaders of the investigative team that has been working on the inquiry, including MARK F. POMERANTZ, an experienced former federal prosecutor and white-collar defense lawyer, and CAREY DUNNE, Mr. Vance's general counsel."

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

FOR YOUR RADAR — U.S. intel agencies have a new assessment: "Saudi Arabia is now actively manufacturing its own ballistic missiles with the help of China, CNN has learned, a development that could have significant ripple effects across the Middle East and complicate the Biden administration's efforts to restrain the nuclear ambitions of Iran, the Saudis' top regional rival," CNN's Zachary Cohen reports. "Saudi Arabia is known to have purchased ballistic missiles from China in the past but has never been able to build its own -- until now, according to three sources familiar with the latest intelligence. Satellite images obtained by CNN also suggest the Kingdom is currently manufacturing the weapons in at least one location."

AFGHANISTAN FALLOUT — "The United Nations is planning an $8 billion program of aid and services in Afghanistan for next year, taking on many government functions at a time when the Taliban regime remains under economic sanctions and lacks diplomatic recognition, according to international officials," WSJ's Saeed Shah writes. "From providing hot meals for children in schools, to generating jobs or finding ways to pay Afghanistan's energy bills to its neighbors, the U.N.'s plan would move beyond its current humanitarian mission to rebuilding governing systems and social services."

UNDER THE INFLUENCE — In response to rampant foreign interference and meddling, Congress created the Foreign Malign Influence Center to root out undue influence from abroad. "But the intelligence community and Congress remain divided over the center's mission, budget and size, according to current and former officials. While separate efforts to counter interference continue, a person identified this year as a potential director has since been assigned elsewhere and the center likely will not open anytime soon," AP's Nomaan Merchant writes.

PROMISES MADE … NOT KEPT? — WaPo's Josh Rogin writes about another one of Biden's campaign pledges that has not been kept as of yet: His promise to hold Syria's BASHAR AL-ASSAD accountable for war crimes. "The U.S. government under Biden has neither reinvigorated U.N. diplomacy nor used American leverage and influence to significantly turn up the heat on Assad. On the contrary, lawmakers and activists no longer believe the Biden administration's claims that it is working to oppose the normalization of the Assad regime. They see it doing the opposite."

GREECE-ING THE WHEELS — After years of struggle and tumult, Greece has emerged as a growing ally for the U.S. "In defense and security, energy investment and business development, the country that for years embodied European crises is increasingly a constructive partner for the U.S., as well as neighboring allies," WSJ's Daniel Michaels writes in Athens. "The warming ties are notable because they began about five years ago under a far-left-led Greek coalition and have accelerated under the current center-right government. In the U.S., Greece has won bipartisan support through the Biden, Trump and Obama administrations."

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