| | | | | |  | | By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun | Presented by |  | | IF YOU THOUGHT, "HEY, I REALLY WANT TO BE IN THE CAPITOL THIS WEEKEND" or "Man, this would be a great weekend to get emails from my boss," we have good news for you: You may be in luck. CONGRESS IS LIKELY TO DIVE INTO a weekend session to finish a massive Covid relief and government funding package, one of the largest rescue bills in American history. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL said it was "highly likely" Congress would be hanging around the Capitol for the weekend. He also said that Congress would pass a short-term government funding bill to avoid a Friday night shutdown to get it done -- but suggested it would be short to keep pressure on negotiators to keep talking, and making progress. BUT THERE ARE BUMPS IN THE ROAD. Congress is still struggling to resolve differences over a pot of FEMA money meant to handle disasters, SNAP, another chunk of money to help wrap its arms around some pots of FEMA money and Sen. PAT TOOMEY'S (R-Pa.) language that would place limitations on emergency aid by the Fed and Treasury. ALSO UNRESOLVED: the Save Our Stages Act, which would give money to shuttered performing arts venues. Sen. JOHN CORNYN (R-Texas) said Thursday that they were trying to figure out "a fair formula" to disburse money, given that zoos and museums also need aid, but he does not want that to come at the expense of performing arts venues. Furthermore, they are trying to figure out how to treat community theaters, which have donors. MCCONNELL spoke around 11 a.m. on the Senate floor, and Senate Minority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER spoke around 11:30 a.m. MCCONNELL said this: "It's the point where each side faces a fork in the road. Do we want to lapse into politics as usual and let negotiations lose steam? Do we want to haggle and spar like this was an ordinary political exercise, get wrapped around the actual language or policy riders that we know are controversial? Or, on the other hand, after months of inaction, do we want to move swiftly and with unusual bipartisanship to close out our issues, seal the deal and write text that can quickly pass into law?" SCHUMER sounded a smidge more optimistic. He said "a few final issues must be hammered out. We're very close to an agreement but the details really matter." "WE ARE PUTTING THE FINAL TOUCHES on what would be the largest stimulus in the history of the country with the exception of the Cares Act." THE LEDEALLS … POLITICO … WAPO … NYT JUST STAGGERING … The U.S. had 3,656 Covid-19 deaths Wednesday, the highest single-day total of the entire pandemic. BIG DAY FOR GEORGIA REPUBLICANS -- DONALD TRUMP JR., Sen. TED CRUZ (R-Texas) and Rep. DOUG COLLINS (R-Ga.) are all going to be in Georgia fundraising for Sens. KELLY LOEFFLER and DAVID PERDUE. Invite for the Don. Jr event in Columbus … Invite for the Cruz-Collins event in Gainesville THE UNEMPLOYMENT PICTURE -- "U.S. jobless claims rise to 885,000 amid resurgence of virus," by AP's Paul Wiseman: "The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose again last week to 885,000, the highest weekly total since September, as a resurgence of coronavirus cases threatens the economy's recovery from its springtime collapse. "The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of applications increased from 862,000 the previous week. … The total number of people who are receiving traditional state unemployment benefits fell to 5.5 million from 5.8 million. … With layoffs still elevated and new confirmed viral cases in the United States now exceeding 200,000 a day on average, the economy's modest recovery is increasingly in danger." AP Good Thursday afternoon. CLICKER -- WAPO has launched a Political Appointee Tracker for the Biden administration. | | A message from UnitedHealth Group: UnitedHealth Group is committed to leading in the development of a next-generation health system in a socially conscious way. Learn more here. | | | THE VACCINE DISTRIBUTION -- "Some Health Care Workers Are Getting the Vaccine. Others Aren't. Who Decides?" by NYT's Sabrina Tavernise and Will Wright: "In the scramble to vaccinate millions of health workers, difficult choices about who comes first — and who must wait — have started to surface. So far, the effort is concentrated in hospitals. … But there are roughly 21 million health care workers in the United States, making up one of the country's largest industries, and vaccinating everybody in the first wave would be impossible. "That has left entire categories of workers — people who are also at risk for infection — wondering about their place in line. … There are broad gray areas … primary care doctors in areas with high infection rates, workers who handle bodies, firefighters who respond to 911 calls, dentists, pathologists who handle coronavirus samples in labs, hospice workers, chaplains." NYT BEYOND THE BELTWAY -- "States grapple with next steps on evictions as crisis grows," by AP's Sara Cline in Corvallis, Ore.: "The plight of … renters on the edge foreshadows a national crisis that's expected to grow next year, with states and cities that granted renters a reprieve amid the coronavirus-battered economy now wrestling with what comes next. While states like Oregon and California are trying to pass much longer moratoriums, some don't have more protections in the works. … "About one-third of U.S. households say they're behind on rent or mortgage payments and likely to face eviction or foreclosure in the next two months, according to data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. … Now, some states want to extend eviction bans further than the federal government." HOPE YOU HAVE THE RECEIPT! -- "New York Spent $1 Billion on Virus Supplies. Now It Wants Money Back," by NYT's Michael Rothfeld and J. David Goodman: "As the coronavirus ravaged New York this spring, state officials faced a terrifying prospect: Casualties were mounting, and the reserve of ventilators and masks was dwindling. As doctors considered rationing lifesaving treatment, the state rushed into $1.1 billion in deals for supplies and equipment. "Now, New York wants much of that money back. State officials are trying to get at least partial refunds on a third of that spending, by clawing back millions paid to vendors that they said failed to deliver on time, and working to extricate the state from deals now that stockpiles are sufficient, an analysis by The New York Times shows." NYT FOR YOUR RADAR -- "Top Pentagon General Meets With Taliban to Prod Afghan Peace Talks," by WSJ's Gordon Lubold in Kabul: "The Pentagon's top officer met with Taliban officials in Qatar this week as part of an unprecedented effort to spur stalled peace talks that could help end the nearly 20-year-old conflict in Afghanistan. "Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with members of the Taliban in Doha on Tuesday in hopes of persuading the group to stop fighting and move quickly toward a peace accord with the government of Afghanistan. Talks between the two sides were suspended earlier this month after disagreements over negotiating details. The meeting came as Taliban-instigated violence is on the rise, military officials said, and just weeks before President-elect Joe Biden takes office." WSJ | | | | BIG SCOOPS IN TRANSITION PLAYBOOK: In the runup to Inauguration Day, president-elect Joe Biden's staffing decisions are sending clear-cut signals about his 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, this scoop-filled newsletter is breaking big news and analyzing the appointments, people and emerging power centers of the new administration. Track the transition and the first 100 days of the incoming administration. Subscribe today. | | | | | ALL EYES ON GEORGIA -- "As Georgia Runoff Looms, a Controversial Video Seeds Threats," by WSJ's Kevin Poulsen: "In the middle of Georgia's third recount of the presidential election ballots last month, Republican official B.J. Van Gundy noticed something he thought was strange: a technician inserting a thumb drive into one of the election workstations before plugging it into a laptop computer. "What he didn't expect was that a video of the man's actions would go viral online hours later, with the technician falsely accused of manipulating votes, threatened with hanging, and his home address splashed across far-right message boards and social media. … While top Georgia officials have been placed under police protection after receiving election-related threats spurred by online claims, the fallout is now touching people outside of the public arena." WSJ WHAT THEY'RE SAYING -- "Iran's Rouhani says 'no doubt' Biden will rejoin nuclear deal, lift sanctions," by WaPo's Erin Cunningham in Istanbul THE TRUMP LEGACY … NYT: "As Trump Leaves the White House, His Imprint on the Judiciary Deepens," by Rebecca Ruiz and Robert Gebeloff: "Early this year, The New York Times reviewed more than 10,000 published decisions and dissents during the first three years of the Trump administration. It found that the president's picks for the appeals courts were more likely than past Republican appointees to disagree with peers selected by Democrats, and more likely to agree with their Republican colleagues, suggesting they were more consistently conservative. "An updated analysis of more than 1,700 opinions published over the first six months of the year shows that the trend has intensified as the judges have established a larger body of work. … Most cases on the courts are decided unanimously by three-person panels, and dissent is relatively rare. But as a group, his selections were nearly four times as likely to clash with colleagues appointed by Democratic presidents as those appointed by Republicans. Judges nominated by Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush showed the same tendency, but to half the extent." NYT -- AT THE BORDER … AP: "Damage from border wall: blown-up mountains, toppled cactus," by Anita Snow in Guadalupe Canyon, Ariz.: "The work has caused environmental damage, preventing animals from moving freely and scarring unique mountain and desert landscapes that conservationists fear could be irreversible. … The worst damage is along Arizona's border, from century-old saguaro cactuses toppled in the western desert to shrinking ponds of endangered fish in eastern canyons. "Recent construction has sealed off what was the Southwest's last major undammed river. It's more difficult for desert tortoises, the occasional ocelot and the world's tiniest owls to cross the boundary. … In the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge near Guadalupe Canyon, biologist Myles Traphagen said field cameras have captured 90% less movement by animals like mountain lions, bobcats and pig-like javelinas over the past three months." | | | | NEW EPISODES OF THE GLOBAL TRANSLATIONS PODCAST: Our Global Translations podcast, presented by Citi, examines the long-term costs of the short-term thinking that drives many political and business decisions. The world has long been beset by big problems that defy political boundaries, and these issues have exploded over the past year amid a global pandemic. This podcast helps us identify and understand the impediments to smart policymaking. Subscribe for Season Two, available now. | | | | | HEADS UP -- "U.S. plans new charges in 1988 Lockerbie airline bombing," by AP's Eric Tucker: "The Justice Department plans to unseal new charges in the coming days in connection with the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet that exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people, according to a person familiar with the case. … "The announcement of a prosecution against an additional individual would carry personal significance for Attorney General William Barr, who is leaving the position next week but held the same job when the Justice Department nearly 30 years ago revealed criminal charges in the U.S. against the two Libyans. Monday is the 32nd anniversary of the bombing." AP MEDIAWATCH -- "April Ryan To Join Byron Allen's TheGrio.TV As White House Correspondent And D.C. Bureau Chief," by Deadline's Ted Johnson: "Ryan will start her position at Allen's Allen Media Group on January 4. TheGrio.TV is a newly branded network that airs on broadcast stations, including a recent deal with Fox to be carried on the company's owned-and-operated digital sub channels in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Houston, Atlanta, Phoenix, Minneapolis and Orlando. TheGrio.TV will officially launch on January 15." ENGAGED -- Zack Carroll, most recently campaign manager for Jaime Harrison's Senate campaign, proposed to Johnny Xie, a surgery resident at the University of Michigan, at a cabin in the North Woods of Northport, Mich., on Tuesday. The two met in D.C. in 2015. Pic TRANSITION -- Jack Groarke has been hired as deputy chief of staff for federal affairs for Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf. He most recently was director of economic development for Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.). | | | | A message from UnitedHealth Group:   Learn about three solutions that could save the federal government $1.5 trillion in health care costs. | | | | | | | 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 | | | | |
