| | | | |  | | By Adam Wren | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
| | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | THE LATEST FROM CALIFORNIA — LA Times: “5 dead, more than 2,000 structures burned as new fire hits Hollywood Hills” … AP: 130,000 people under evacuation orders
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President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump pause at the flag-draped casket of former President Jimmy Carter as he lies in state in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 8, 2025. | Pool photo by Andrew Harnik | HAIL AND FAREWELL — For a fleeting moment today, official Washington’s muscle memory will override its fast-twitch, knee-jerk partisanship as a distinctly American tableau plays out for former President JIMMY CARTER’s funeral. At a time when this town’s norms are in question with President-elect DONALD TRUMP’s return to office, and when an era of bipartisanship seems dated, Carter will accomplish what perhaps no other president could do at this moment: bringing together all five living current and former presidents — two Republicans and three Democrats. Whatever your opinion on Carter’s presidency, his widely regarded decency in life is enough in death to briefly unite a divided national capital at odds on any number of issues. TODAY’S SCHEDULE: Just a matter of minutes after this edition arrives in your inbox, at 7 a.m., Carter’s lying in state at the Capitol will end. At 8:45, the Carter family will depart Blair House in a motorcade. At 9:15, following a brief departure ceremony, Carter’s casket will leave the Capitol for Washington National Cathedral, where there will be an arrival ceremony. At 10, his funeral service will begin. President JOE BIDEN will deliver a eulogy. At 11:15, after the service ends, a motorcade will carry Carter to Joint Base Andrews. An hour later, a flight will take Carter and family back to Georgia. At 2 p.m., the flight will arrive at Lawson Army Airfield, Carter will be transferred to a hearse, and at 2:30, the motorcade will begin its hourlong drive to Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, where Carter taught Sunday school for decades. There, the Carter family will hold a private funeral service before a cortege through downtown Plains. At 5:20, the motorcade will arrive at Carter’s residence for a private interment next to ROSALYNN, his late wife of 77 years. Beforehand, the U.S. Navy will conduct a missing man formation flyover in honor of Carter’s naval service and time as commander-in-chief. MORNING READ: “Son of the South: How Jimmy Carter Transformed America,” by Jonathan Martin: “After 100 years of segregation, an integrationist from Georgia brought a new vision to the old Confederacy.” FOOD FOR THOUGHT: “Let’s imagine that FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT had possessed the same gift for longevity as Jimmy Carter, and lived until he was 100. He would have died in 1982, in RONALD REAGAN’S second year in office,” John Harris writes this morning. “It is eye-opening to play this same game with others. JOHN F. KENNEDY, who was killed just a couple of weeks after I was born, would have been eulogized by President Donald Trump in 2017. ABRAHAM LINCOLN would have lived until 1909, after the dawn of aviation. THEODORE ROOSEVELT, who as a small boy watched Lincoln’s funeral procession from his family’s New York apartment, would have lived to see nuclear weapons and the early days of the space race before expiring in 1958. If BILL CLINTON reaches the century mark, in 2046, he will have an ex-presidency even longer than Carter’s, which lasted 43 years and 344 days and is the current record. … “Old presidents indirectly underline an important point about this country: The United States remains a young nation, in which even events that seem long ago are really just one or two degrees of separation from contemporary lives.” Playbook asked one of the youngest presidential candidates ever, Transportation Secretary PETE BUTTIGIEG, who launched his bid at 37 — and who, as Biden’s youngest Cabinet member, paid his respects to Carter in the Capitol Rotunda earlier this week — for his reflection on the late president. (Carter, remember, acted as a sounding board for Buttigeig at a meeting in Plains as the former South Bend mayor weighed whether to exit the 2020 Democratic primary following South Carolina.) “He’s this figure who is so respected for a sense of decency — humility, really — from all sides of the political spectrum,” Buttigieg tells Playbook. “I think there’s an appreciation for that. So the contrast was, of course, not lost on me, as we were thinking about what’s coming next in Washington.” Speaking of … TRUMP ON THE HILL — Senate Republicans huddled with Trump last night to talk strategy for the sweeping policy agenda he seeks to enact early in his presidency. They aimed to resolve the question dividing the House GOP leadership from Senate GOP leadership: one bill or two? Two hours later, senators emerged “with a total lack of clarity,” write Ursula Perano, Jordain Carney, Katherine Tully-McManus and Jennifer Scholtes. It turns out Trump doesn’t have much of a preference and is approaching the matter fairly pragmatically. Trump in private: “Behind closed doors, Trump told Republicans that he wanted ‘one big, beautiful bill,’ but made it clear he was open to whatever strategy can pass, according to one GOP senator in the meeting,” our team reports. Trump in public: “Whether it’s one bill or two bills, it’s going to get done one way or the other,” Trump said. “The end result is the same.” Frankly, he has a point. They may well try to do one bill first, and then split it into two if needed. The question then is this: If they pursue the single-bill approach, forestalling a major legislative win in his first 100 days, how long a runway do House Republicans get before their Senate counterparts — or Trump, for that matter — get antsy? The view from the Senate: “Obviously we want to give the House as much space as possible,” Senate Majority Leader JOHN THUNE, who favors a two-bill approach, told reporters after the meeting. “They believe they can move and execute on getting a bill across the finish line fairly quickly. But we are prepared to move here, as well.” Thune refused to commit to the House’s preferred approach, and called it an “ongoing conversation.” But that “ongoing conversation” may be about to end. Yesterday, House Speaker MIKE JOHNSON told reporters that “we’ll make those final decisions” on the legislative approach “probably by tomorrow.” Tomorrow is now here. Good Thursday morning. Thank you for reading Playbook. What are your lasting memories of President Carter? Drop me a line at awren@politico.com.
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Learn more about how others are building with open source AI. | | | THE POLITICS OF FIRE, PART 1 — “Biden nixes trip to meet the pope because of LA fires,” by Eli Stokols THE POLITICS OF FIRE, PART 2 — “Wildfire response threatens to end Karen Bass’ extended honeymoon,” by Melanie Mason and Alex Nieves THE POLITICS OF FIRE, PART 3 — Trump and California Gov. GAVIN NEWSOM clashed yesterday over the disaster, with the president-elect “blaming Newsom’s water management decisions for the fires — an idea that water experts strongly disputed — and noting that some fire hydrants had run dry amid huge demand,” WaPo’s Hannah Knowles, Brianna Tucker and Marianne LeVine report. What Trump said: “Gavin Newscum should resign,” the president-elect posted on Truth Social shortly before midnight. “This is all his fault!!!” What Newsom said: “People are literally fleeing,” the governor told CNN’s Anderson Cooper when asked about some of Trump’s comments. “People have lost their lives. Kids lost their schools. Families completely torn asunder. Churches burned down. This guy wanted to politicize it.” DESIGNED FOR THE COVERAGE — The incoming Trump administration is considering conducting a “high-profile raid” in the D.C. area targeting undocumented immigrants in its first few days of office, potentially with a major workplace raid, NBC News’ Julia Ainsley and Carol Lee scoop. WHAT ERIC ADAMS IS READING — “Cuomo to tap longtime ally for likely New York City mayoral bid,” by Nick Reisman, Jeff Coltin and Sally Goldenberg
| | | | A message from Meta:   | | | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | On the Hill The House will meet at 9:30 a.m., with last votes expected at 11:45 a.m. The Senate will meet at 1 p.m. to resume consideration of the Laken Riley Act, with a cloture vote expected at 3 p.m. 3 things to watch …
- Dems shift right on immigration: When the Laken Riley Act gets a cloture vote this afternoon, don’t count on Democrats to filibuster it: At least nine Dem-aligned senators now say they plan to vote in favor of advancing the bill. But what’s really noteworthy is that they represent many different corners of the party: Democrats in safe seats, like TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-Ill.) and JOHN HICKENLOOPER (D-Colo.); border state Dems, like Arizona’s MARK KELLY and RUBEN GALLEGO; in-cycle incumbents in swing states Trump carried, like JOHN FETTERMAN (D-Pa.), GARY PETERS (D-Mich.) and JON OSSOFF (D-Ga.); and even newly reelected members, like JACKY ROSEN (D-Nev.) and ANGUS KING (I-Maine). Tomorrow, we’ll see how many end up ultimately supporting the bill as opposed to simply supporting opening up debate on it — a distinction a number of the above-mentioned senators made.
- Confirmation calendar: PAM BONDI officially has her hearing dates. Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee slated her confirmation hearings for this coming Wednesday and Thursday, Hailey Fuchs reports. While Bondi may be “more palatable” for the gig than Trump’s initial pick to helm the DOJ (that, of course, being former Florida Rep. MATT GAETZ), she is “unlikely to win much support among Democrats,” Hailey writes. (Though, frankly, she won’t need to, barring some truly surprising GOP defections.)
- Does RFK Jr. have the votes?: As Trump HHS pick ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. continues to meet with Senate Democrats, he may have a bigger problem: tepid Republicans. Yesterday, Sen. BILL CASSIDY (R-La.) — who in addition to chairing the HELP Committee is a medical doctor — met with Kennedy and offered an unenthusiastic-but-diplomatic statement, saying he “had a frank conversation” and spoke with Kennedy “about vaccines at length.” That matters because, as Chelsea Cirruzzo and Daniel Payne note, Kennedy can afford to lose only three Republican votes and still get confirmed, provided all the Democrats vote against him. Cassidy is the key Republican in this confirmation fight — much like JONI ERNST (R-Iowa) is in PETE HEGSETH’s confirmation process; if Kennedy loses Cassidy, he’s likely to have problems with other Republicans. Is it possible for him to peel off enough support from his ancestral party to make up for any losses among the GOP?
At the White House Biden will deliver the eulogy at Carter’s funeral at 10 a.m. First Lady JILL BIDEN, VP KAMALA HARRIS and Second Gentleman DOUG EMHOFF will also attend.
| | PLAYBOOK READS | | BEYOND THE BELTWAY
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A container ship sits anchored in New York Harbor on Oct. 2, 2024 in Staten Island, New York. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images | STATE OF THE UNIONS — Last night, the union representing thousands of dockworkers on the East and Gulf Coasts reached an agreement with the shipping industry, brokering a new six-year contract and avoiding a looming strike that could have paralyzed ports across the U.S. just days before Trump’s inauguration, Ry Rivard, Sam Ogozalek and Nick Niedzwiadek report. Union members have yet to vote on the tentative deal. But union leadership is already showering Trump with praise. “You have proven yourself to be one of the best friends of working men and women in the United States,” International Longshoremen’s Association President HAROLD DAGGETT posted on Facebook, citing a meeting he had with the president-elect last month as the “chief reason” the ILA won the protections it sought against automation. “He’s a hero,” Daggett continued. “President Trump gets full credit for our successful tentative Master Contract agreement.” Related read: “SEIU Joins Forces With AFL-CIO Ahead of New Trump Era,” by NYT’s Noam Scheiber and Lisa Lerer POLICY CORNER FED MIGHT PUMP THE BRAKES — The minutes from last month’s Federal Reserve meeting are finally out, and they signal that the Fed may take a more cautious approach to rate cuts in the coming months, WaPo’s Andrew Ackerman reports. The reason why? A fear that Trump’s new trade and immigration policies could cause inflation to take much longer to cool down. JUDICIARY SQUARE
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President Donald Trump shakes hands with Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito during a ceremony in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on July 23, 2019. | Carolyn Kaster/AP | A PERFECT PHONE CALL — “Supreme Court Justice SAMUEL ALITO spoke to President-elect Donald Trump by phone Tuesday to recommend one of his former law clerks for a job in the new administration,” ABC News’ Katherine Faulders, Jonathan Karl, and Devin Dwyer scooped. “The call occurred just hours before Trump's lawyers on Wednesday morning filed an emergency request with the justices asking them to block a New York judge from moving forward with sentencing Trump on Friday in his criminal hush money case. Alito said that he and Trump did not discuss that matter.” Said Alito: “WILLIAM LEVI, one of my former law clerks, asked me to take a call from President-elect Trump regarding his qualifications to serve in a government position. … We did not discuss the emergency application he filed today, and indeed, I was not even aware at the time of our conversation that such an application would be filed. We also did not discuss any other matter that is pending or might in the future come before the Supreme Court or any past Supreme Court decisions involving the President-elect."
| | | | A message from Meta:   | | | TRANSITION LENSES MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND — Trump’s inaugural committee has raised an eye-popping $170 million — a haul so big that it had to stop selling tickets for major donors to attend the swearing-in and various swanky inaugural events, NYT’s Theodore Schleifer, Maggie Haberman and Kenneth Vogel report. “Prospective donors began to be told early this week that no more seats were available for certain events around Washington,” the trio write. The “packages offered to corporate and individual donors had originally been marketed as available through Friday, but they ended early given the extraordinary demand.” But that does not seem to be slowing the fundraising: “[S]ome donors have taken the unusual step of offering donations as high as $1 million without receiving anything in return.” THE WHITE HOUSE WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN — “Biden to Further Limit Nvidia, AMD AI Chip Exports in Final Push,” by Bloomberg’s Mackenzie Hawkins and Jenny Leonard AMERICA AND THE WORLD
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A boat navigates large icebergs near the town of Kulusuk in eastern Greenland on Aug. 15, 2019. | Felipe Dana/AP | IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREEN[LAND] — Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN is dismissing Trump’s threats to take over Greenland, as NYT’s Edward Wong and Richard Fausset report. (“The idea expressed about Greenland is obviously not a good one, but maybe more important, it’s obviously one that’s not going to happen,” Blinken told reporters yesterday.) But in Denmark, government leaders aren’t so convinced. “Danish officials are being warned by Trump allies and advisers that he is serious,” CNN’s Natasha Bertrand and Katie Bo Lillis report, citing multiple Danish officials. “And they’re carefully weighing how to respond without sparking a major rupture with a close ally and fellow NATO member.” “We are open to a dialogue with the Americans on how we can possibly cooperate even more closely than we do to ensure that the American ambitions are fulfilled,” Danish Foreign Minister LARS LOKKE RASMUSSEN told reporters yesterday, part of an effort to stave off a crisis by having a “frank conversation about Trump’s remarks,” per CNN. But it would be wrong to dismiss Trump’s Greenland posture as a “19th-century imperial throwback,” our colleagues Karl Mathiesen and Giovanna Coi write. “Rather, it signals a hypermodern reality: a world transforming thanks to climate change, with China, Russia and the United States jostling to take advantage.” The rationale goes like this: “Greenland's ice sheets are losing 270 billion tons of water per year, while Arctic sea ice is vanishing so rapidly that the polar sea may be ice-free by some summer in the 2030s. This unfreezing opens new possibilities for resource extraction, faster trade routes, space and military bases, new fishing zones and great power confrontation. Moscow and Beijing are moving to exert control over the Arctic region, which is warming faster than anywhere else on the planet. Against this backdrop, Trump’s demands for Greenland begin to look, if not reasonable, then reasoned.” What do Greenlanders think about all this? On the ground in Nuuk, Trump’s talk has provoked mixed feelings, Reuters’ Anders Berthelsen and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen report. While some have bristled, insisting that “Greenland can’t be bought,” other residents “said aligning with a superpower might be helpful for Greenland, which has a population of just 57,000 people.” LIKE SLEEPING WITH AN ELEPHANT — “Canada Suddenly Has No Leader, and No Plan, for a Trump Trade Fight,” by WSJ’s Vipal Monga: “[E]ven a weakened and unpopular [PM JUSTIN] TRUDEAU at least presented a battle-tested foil for Trump. Now, political analysts said Trump has an opening to go even harder on Canada on trade and other matters, such as military spending.” More top reads:
- Ukraine faces the future: When Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN departs the Pentagon this month, the Ukraine Defense Contact Group that was established following Russia’s invasion “will lose its biggest cheerleader and founder, and no other countries have offered to take the lead,” Paul McLeary writes. “The dissolution of the group could be a blow to Ukraine, which is losing ground to Russia and is struggling to recruit and train new troops.”
- Continuing pullout fallout: “Hundreds of veterans, others urge Trump to continue resettling at-risk Afghans,” by Reuters’ Jonathan Landay: The letter asks the Trump admin to “continue funding the resettlement of at-risk Afghans and their families and for Congress to approve an additional 50,000 Special Immigration Visas.”
| | | PLAYBOOKERS | | | Naomi Biden and Peter Neal welcomed a son, making Joe Biden the first sitting president to become a great-grandfather. George Santos was granted a three-month delay in sentencing. Xavier Becerra doesn’t think Biden should preemptively pardon Anthony Fauci. Alexander Smirnov, the former FBI informant who fabricated a bribery story about Joe and Hunter Biden, got six years in prison. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED yesterday at a private National Digital Roundtable Event at the British Embassy: Anthony Shop, Patrick Kane, Lovisa Williams, Kenneth Sandoval-Bushur, Carly Elkins, Claire Bates, Sam Clark, Kevin Coroneos, Summer Johnson, Ted Miller, Logan White, Sophia Nilanont, Damelia Shaw, Jon Wentzel, Finja Draxler, Saleem Anwar Jahangir, Andreas Sandre, Chase Kusel, Caroline Kitchens, Michael Tribble, Blair Mann, Jocelyn Buckley, Sara Brown and Christina Maruna. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Dave O’Brien is now director of executive comms at the Bipartisan Policy Center. He previously was VP for strategic comms at the National Association of Manufacturers. — Justin Wein is joining Altana Technologies as director of government affairs. He most recently was senior adviser for legislative affairs at the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and is a David Price alum. — Bullpen Strategy is promoting Michael Zona to partner and adding Michael Akinyemi as a senior financial analyst, Caitlyn Harris as a graphic designer and Sam Tanenblatt as a technical project manager. — Sarah Curmi is now executive director at Sister District. She most recently was VP of state and local campaigns at EMILY's List. Additionally, Sister District co-founder Gaby Goldstein will be spinning off a new organization called State Futures focused on reaching statewide officers and legislators. TRANSITIONS — Cornerstone Government Affairs is adding Dianne Nellor and Ashley Palmer to its federal government relations team. Nellor most recently was clerk/staff director on the Senate Appropriations Agriculture-FDA Subcommittee. Palmer was a professional staff member on the Senate Appropriations Labor-HHS Subcommittee. … Jeremy Martinez has launched M Street Strategies, a political campaign fundraising consulting firm, where he’s founding partner. He previously was Latino finance director at the DNC and the Harris Victory Fund. … Sutton Houser is now comms director for Rep. Craig Goldman (R-Texas). He previously was manager of external relations at the American Enterprise Institute. … … New River Strategies has added pollsters Lindsay Vermeyen and Patrick Toomey. They previously were partners at Benenson Strategy Group/Breakthrough Campaigns. … Jonathan Tsentas is now legislative director for Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.). He previously was a professional staff member for the Senate Banking Committee. … Ethan Cesar will be press assistant for Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.). He previously worked for Rep. Val Hoyle (D-Ore.). HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Linda Greenhouse … Brooke Brower … Pamela Walsh … U.N. Development Programme’s Sarah Jackson-Han … Richard Fontaine … Fred Wertheimer … Don Kent and Luke Holland of the Nickles Group … Tasha Hendershot … Jodi Sakol … Deana Bass Williams … Dan Black … Meta’s Diana Doukas … Jessica Medeiros Garrison … Colin Campbell of Yahoo News … Sam Arora … Joe Onek of Raben … former Rep. Mike Capuano (D-Mass.) … Al Felzenberg … former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin … Tim Punke of Monument Advocacy … Raman Kaur of the Brookings Institution … American Institute for Economic Research’s William Ruger … Scott Dacey of Pace Government Relations … Richard Fowler … Larry Sandigo … Raghu Manavalan … Ron Castleman … PBS’ Kristin Lehner … Peter Edelman of Georgetown Law … Richard Neffson … New York Public Radio’s Kenya Young … Isabelle Solomon … Jesse Poon 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 deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
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