| | | | | |  | | By Anna Palmer, Jake Sherman, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross | Presented by |  | | | IT LOOKS LIKE WE'LL END THIS YEAR with a Christmas season in Washington, because Congress needs to resolve its intractable differences to notch a Covid relief deal for a country that's desperate for it. WHY? Because we're here, 8 DAYS before the government funding runs out, and there is no relief deal, and no agreement in sight. Senate Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL is putting out word that an emerging bipartisan Senate deal -- which we've been pretty skeptical about -- will not work for Senate Republicans. Burgess Everett had that scoop … So that means the only live option is no longer alive. SO, here's the reality: Congress may be here for the entirety of this month. Speaker NANCY PELOSI this morning conveniently reminded us she isn't leaving without a deal, and that we have all been here working after Christmas before. (Her No. 2, STENY HOYER of Maryland, told BILLY HOUSE of Bloomberg he's sending lawmakers home until Tuesday. We bet many of them stay home and vote by proxy!) TO BE CLEAR, NEGOTIATORS and Hill leaders are trying to have the Covid stimulus bill ride on the government funding package, which comes due Dec. 18. BUT PELOSI suggested the real deadline was Dec. 26 -- the day after Christmas -- when unemployment benefits cut off. "So sometime before then -- hopefully that Dec. 18 date," PELOSI said this morning, speaking of the deadline. "I WOULD HOPE that it would honor the Dec. 18 deadline, but we can't go before the package is ready and and the votes are there as well as the fact that people do want to get home for the holidays, such as that is," PELOSI added. "But what's more important is that we get the job done for the American people before the holidays. But we've been here after Christmas, you know." YEP, we know. We've been here with you. ALSO: HOUSE MINORITY LEADER KEVIN MCCARTHY said "there's good movement." MCCONNELL said it's "my hope" that they are moving toward a deal. BTW: PELOSI said Section 230 -- the division of the telecommunications act that governs online publishers -- needs to be revised, but not in the NDAA, as President DONALD TRUMP is demanding. MEANWHILE … ANDREW DESIDERIO: "Schumer urges Senate GOP to cancel 'ridiculous' election hearing" BULLETIN … NYT'S LARA JAKES: "Morocco Joins List of Arab Nations to Begin Normalizing Relations With Israel": "Morocco has agreed to begin normalizing relations with Israel, becoming the fourth Arab state this fall to do so, the White House announced on Thursday. "Morocco now follows Bahrain, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates in agreeing to set aside generations of hostilities toward the Jewish state as part of a campaign to stabilize the Middle East and North Africa — and, in doing so, cement a major foreign goal for President Trump as he nears the end of his administration. "'We finally had a breakthrough four months ago, and we're continuing to push the region forward,' Jared Kushner, a senior adviser to President Trump, told reporters. 'Now we have peace sprouting in the Middle East,' Mr. Kushner said. 'The fruits of these efforts have become very apparent, but we also believe there is a lot more fruit to come.' … The White House also announced that the United States would recognize the disputed Western Sahara territory as a sovereign part of Morocco." FILLING OUT THE ADMINISTRATION… -- TYLER PAGER: "Biden taps Susan Rice for top White House domestic policy job": "President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Barack Obama's former national security adviser Susan Rice to run the White House Domestic Policy Council, according to people familiar with the decision. Rice, who also served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was vetted to serve as Biden's vice president and was a contender to be secretary of State, a position that went to Antony Blinken. "Democrats had concerns about Rice's ability to get confirmed in a Republican-controlled Senate, and the director of the Domestic Policy Council is not a Senate-confirmed position. The Biden team had been looking to find a high-profile role for Rice, but the top domestic policy job comes as a surprise given her expertise and experience in foreign policy." -- MEGAN CASSELLA and ALEX THOMPSON: "Biden to tap Denis McDonough for Veterans Affairs": "President-elect Joe Biden will nominate longtime Obama aide Denis McDonough for secretary of Veterans Affairs, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. McDonough served as former President Barack Obama's chief of staff from 2013 until 2017. "McDonough had not been widely talked about as a leading contender for the VA job, which has traditionally gone to a veteran. The public discussion had largely focused on former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth and more recently, former Pennsylvania Rep. Patrick Murphy. Biden chose McDonough because he felt he was crisis-tested and knows how to pull the levers of government, according to a source close to the transition." POLITICO Good Thursday afternoon. | | A message from Blue Cross Blue Shield Association: Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies have committed more than $5.5 billion to help the nation address the COVID-19 outbreak, by providing premium relief, eliminating patient treatment costs, and enhancing access to telehealth. Learn more. | | | DOUG EMHOFF will teach at Georgetown Law this spring. The release, from Georgetown THE UNEMPLOYMENT PICTURE -- "U.S. jobless claims jump to 853,000 amid resurgence of virus," by AP's Christopher Rugaber: "The number of people applying for unemployment aid jumped last week to 853,000, the most since September, evidence that companies are cutting more jobs as new virus cases spiral higher. "The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of applications increased from 716,000 the previous week. Before the coronavirus paralyzed the economy in March, weekly jobless claims typically numbered only about 225,000. … The total number of people who are receiving state-provided unemployment aid rose for the first time in three months to 5.8 million, the government said, from 5.5 million." AP THE U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE disagreed with our verbiage from Playbook this morning that Sen. CHRIS COONS (D-Del.) was "working over" TOM DONOHUE on Covid relief. -- A STAFFER AT THE GIANT trade association said: "It was a cordial call. The senator talked about the need to get the next phase of Covid relief done (we strongly agree). He underscored the importance of reaching a solution on the liability issue, and informed Tom of a draft bipartisan proposal from the working group and asked for our support." FOR YOUR RADAR -- "U.S. military on alert for potential Iranian attack in Middle East," by Lara Seligman: "The U.S. military is on heightened alert and shoring up its forces in the Middle East to respond to a potential Iranian attack, a military official told POLITICO. "Specifically, the Pentagon is closely watching 'troubling indicators of potential attack preparations' from Iranian militias in Iraq, the official said. Pro-Iranian groups have recently resumed rocket attacks there, nearly a year after Iran launched ballistic missiles at the Ayn al Asad air base in western Iraq." -- "U.S. flew two bombers from Louisiana over the Persian Gulf to deter Iran, says military," by NBC's Courtney Kube: "The U.S. military flew two B-52H bombers from Louisiana to the Middle East Thursday, part of an ongoing effort to deter Iran from any aggressive actions, according to a statement from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). "The bomber mission, which flew through the region but did not drop any bombs, comes as the U.S. military assesses there is a heightened chance for Iranian actions or miscalculations, according to a senior U.S. military official with knowledge of the region. The two B-52H 'Stratofortresses' flew from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana on a roughly 36-hour mission that took them across Europe, through the northern Red Sea, across Saudi Arabia and into the Persian Gulf for a north to south transit." NBC | | | | TRACK THE TRANSITION & NEW ADMINISTRATION HEADING INTO 2021: President-elect Biden is pushing full steam ahead on putting together his Cabinet and White House staff. These appointments and staffing decisions send clear-cut signals about Biden's priorities. What do these signals foretell? Transition Playbook is the definitive guide to one of the most consequential transfers of power in American history. Written for political insiders, it tracks the appointments, people, and the emerging power centers of the new administration. Track the transition and the first 100 days of the incoming Biden administration. Subscribe today. | | | | | BEYOND THE BELTWAY -- "States Try to Rescue Small Businesses as U.S. Aid Is Snarled," by NYT's Ben Casselman: "The Colorado legislature held a special session last week to pass an economic aid package. Ohio is offering a new round of grants to restaurants, bars and other businesses affected by the pandemic. And in California, a new fund will use state money to backstop what could ultimately be hundreds of millions of dollars in private loans. Other states, led by both Republicans and Democrats, have announced or are considering similar measures. … "A survey from the National Federation of Independent Business on Tuesday showed optimism falling and uncertainty rising as the nationwide surge in coronavirus cases leads governments to reimpose restrictions and consumers to pare their spending. Separate data from the Census Bureau shows an increasing share of small businesses cutting jobs, and other surveys have shown large numbers of businesses in danger of failing." NYT AILING AMERICA -- "Stealing to survive: More Americans are shoplifting food as aid runs out during the pandemic," by WaPo's Abha Bhattarai and Hannah Denham: "Shoplifting is up markedly since the pandemic began in the spring and at higher levels than in past economic downturns, according to interviews with more than a dozen retailers, security experts and police departments across the country. But what's distinctive about this trend, experts say, is what's being taken — more staples like bread, pasta and baby formula. … "Meanwhile, an estimated 54 million Americans will struggle with hunger this year, a 45 percent increase from 2019, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. With food aid programs like SNAP and WIC being reduced, and other federal assistance on the brink of expiration, food banks and pantries are being inundated, reporting hours-long waits and lines that stretch into the thousands." WaPo HMM … DAN DIAMOND: "CDC's Redfield told staff to delete email, official tells House watchdog": "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield instructed staff to delete an email from a Trump political appointee seeking control over the agency's scientific reports on the pandemic, a senior CDC official told congressional investigators this week. "Redfield's apparent instruction was revealed in a Monday closed-door interview with the House subcommittee probing the White House's coronavirus response, which includes the Trump administration's interference at the federal public health agency. It came following an Aug. 8 email sent by Paul Alexander, who was then the scientific adviser to Health and Human Services spokesperson Michael Caputo, aiming to water down the CDC's famed Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports to match President Donald Trump's efforts to downplay the virus. … "Rep. Jim Clyburn, who chairs the House Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, on Thursday warned Redfield and HHS Secretary Alex Azar that instructing staff to delete documents is unethical and possibly a violation of federal record-keeping requirements, according to a letter shared with POLITICO." POLITICO … Clyburn's letter | | | | JOIN FRIDAY - A PATH TO CLEANER SKIES: Before the pandemic, increased demand for air travel resulted in rising global emissions. Then, Covid-19 changed everything. As airlines start to recover from the resulting financial fallout, what is happening with the use of cleaner jet fuel, investments in technology, and international pacts to cut the airline industry's carbon footprint? Join POLITICO for a conversation on the future of air travel, climate change, and sustainability, as well as an executive conversation between POLITICO CEO Patrick Steel and United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | DEEP DIVE -- "Lawmakers with stock holdings vote in ways that juice their portfolios, data show," by WaPo's Christopher Ingraham: "New research from political scientists Jordan Carr Peterson and Christian Grose underscores why tighter regulations might be necessary. They found that members of Congress who own stock tend to vote in ways that benefit their portfolios and that these decisions can't be explained away by other factors, such as ideology or constituent interests. "Lawmakers' decision-making on such issues as financial regulation or economic intervention is 'significantly associated with the legislators' ownership interests in the very companies subject to regulation, intervention, and potential rescue,' according to a paper written by Peterson and Grose and published in the journal Legislative Studies Quarterly in August. … Peterson and Grose reached their conclusions after combing through U.S. House members' stock holdings, as described in mandatory financial disclosures, and comparing their votes on four bills with 'immediate and direct impacts' on the stock market." WaPo … The study FED FILES -- "Republicans warn Powell about Fed plans for climate regulation," by Zach Warmbrodt: "Dozens of House Republicans are warning Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell against proceeding with climate risk regulations for the financial system, in the first major political rebuke of the Fed's new efforts. "In a letter Wednesday to Powell and Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles, the 47 GOP lawmakers discouraged the central bank from imposing stress tests on lenders to measure their vulnerability to climate change — a move that they said could spur banks to cut ties with the oil and gas and coal industries. The Republicans also urged the Fed to limit its involvement in the international Network for Greening the Financial System, a group of central banks and regulatory agencies focused on mitigating financial shocks arising from climate risks." POLITICO … The letter AP INVESTIGATION: "'Under the rug:' Sexual misconduct shakes FBI's senior ranks," by Jim Mustian: "An assistant FBI director retired after he was accused of drunkenly groping a female subordinate in a stairwell. Another senior FBI official left after he was found to have sexually harassed eight employees. Yet another high-ranking FBI agent retired after he was accused of blackmailing a young employee into sexual encounters. "An Associated Press investigation has identified at least six sexual misconduct allegations involving senior FBI officials over the past five years, including two new claims brought this week by women who say they were sexually assaulted by ranking agents. "Each of the accused FBI officials appears to have avoided discipline, the AP found, and several were quietly transferred or retired, keeping their full pensions and benefits even when probes substantiated the sexual misconduct claims against them. Beyond that, federal law enforcement officials are afforded anonymity even after the disciplinary process runs its course, allowing them to land on their feet in the private sector or even remain in law enforcement." AFTERNOON READ … CLIMATE FILES: "They're Among The World's Oldest Living Things. The Climate Crisis Is Killing Them: California's redwoods, sequoias and Joshua trees define the American West and nature's resilience through the ages. Wildfires this year were their deadliest test," by NYT's John Branch MEDIAWATCH -- Kate Nocera will be an editor on Axios' newsdesk. She previously was D.C. bureau chief for BuzzFeed. | | | | A message from Blue Cross Blue Shield Association:   Taking action to fight the pandemic. See how we're meeting the challenge. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
