| | | | | |  | | By Eli Okun and Garrett Ross | Presented by Facebook | HERE WE GO. If you thought this week was crazy already, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Voters in Georgia are heading to the polls today to decide who controls the Senate (no pressure!). Meanwhile, Congress is preparing to certify the presidential election results on Wednesday as a growing band of Republicans plans to challenge the typically ceremonial procedure. GEORGIA, you're up. After tonight, we'll have a better idea of just how narrow of a path President-elect JOE BIDEN faces in Congress as he prepares to take office in a few weeks with an ambitious agenda and pressure from all sides. If Democratic challengers JON OSSOFF and RAPHAEL WARNOCK can pull off the sweep, Dems will even things up in the Senate. If incumbent Sens. DAVID PERDUE and KELLY LOEFFLER hold on, Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL will enter the 117th Congress with the same margin as the 116th — and we all know what that means. Polls close statewide at 7 p.m. THE LATEST INTEL ON THE GROUND … Live updates from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution WHAT TO KNOW FOR TONIGHT — "Senate in the balance: How Georgia's runoffs break down," by Steven Shepard: "The most tightly divided state in the nation will decide on Tuesday which party controls the Senate — and in true 2020 fashion, we might not know who won on election night. All signs point to a photo finish … "If you think of the election as a race for Republicans to catch up to Democrats' early-voting advantage on Election Day, think of the vote count as the opposite. The GOP incumbents will likely build a lead early in the counting process — can Democrats catch up?" UNDER THE HOOD — "In Georgia, Facebook's Changes Brought Back a Partisan News Feed," The Markup: "In the fall, Facebook—by far the most popular social network—clamped down on sponsored posts about politics in order to ensure that misinformation would not spread the way that it had during the 2016 presidential election. But a few weeks before the Georgia race, Facebook turned off this safeguard in Georgia. The Markup decided to take a look behind the curtain to see if we could determine the impact on Georgia voters' news feeds. "We recruited a panel of 58 Facebook users in the state and paid them to allow us to monitor their feeds, starting in late November, using custom software we built for our Citizen Browser project. … While Facebook's controls were in place, we found that links to traditional news sites were present in almost all election-related posts that appeared on our Georgia panelists' feeds. After Dec. 16, however, when Facebook flipped the switch to turn on political advertising for the Georgia election, we noticed that partisan content quickly elbowed out news sites." MORE TURMOIL IN GEORGIA — "Trump Bypasses Top Career Prosecutor To Name New Acting US Attorney In Atlanta," Talking Points Memo: "Following the abrupt Monday resignation of Byung Jin 'BJay' Pak, the U.S. attorney in Atlanta, President Trump is bypassing his first assistant, a career prosecutor, to name a new acting leader from outside the office. … "The new acting U.S. attorney in Atlanta will be Bobby Christine, the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia … The email announcing the changes came from Kurt Erskine, the first assistant U.S. attorney. By putting Christine in the role, the Trump administration passed over Erskine, a longtime DOJ prosecutor." WAPO: "USPS delays could hit Georgia military, overseas ballots" | | | | A message from Facebook: It's time to update internet regulations
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Learn More | | | BACK IN THE CAPITOL, the biggest fireworks of the week are likely to come Wednesday as the House and Senate link up for a rare joint session to certify the election results. They will gavel in at 1 p.m. The cohort of GOP objectors will formally lodge their objections and the chambers will split off for two hours of debate. It's sure to be dramatic but, ultimately, anticlimactic. At the end of the day, Congress will certify Biden as the 46th president of the United States. THE OBJECTION LIST GROWS … "Sen. Cruz to object to Arizona electors who certified Biden's win when Congress counts the votes," WaPo: "For Cruz, the objection to Arizona — which will come first alphabetically among the list of battleground states on Wednesday — is largely about pushing for an electoral commission early on in the process, not necessarily about the specifics related to the state." IT'S A BOLD STRATEGY, COTTON … Sen. TOM COTTON (R-Ark.) repeats his opposition in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: "[O]bjecting to certified electoral votes won't give the president a second term. With Democrats in control of the House, Republicans have no chance of invalidating even a single electoral vote, much less enough votes to deny Joe Biden a majority in the electoral college. Instead, these objections would exceed Congress' constitutional power, while creating unwise precedents that Democrats could abuse the next time they are in power." THERE WAS A BRIEF TWITTER TIZZY this morning sparked by Sen. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-Iowa), who appeared to indicate to Roll Call that VP MIKE PENCE would not preside over the election certification Wednesday. But Pence's office said the VP would be there, and Grassley later clarified that as president pro tempore he "would fill the chair if Pence does not show or steps out at points for a break." PRESSURE ON THE VEEP: Trump, who singled out Pence last night at his rally in Georgia, kept up the campaign today, falsely tweeting, "The Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors." — "Pence's Choice: Side With the Constitution or His Boss," NYT: "There is no chance of Mr. Pence not being there, people close to him said. … [H]e has carefully tried to look like he is loyally following the president's lead even as he goes through a process that is expected to end with him reading out a declaration that Mr. Biden is the winner. … "One person close to Mr. Pence described Wednesday's duties as gut-wrenching, saying that he would need to balance the president's misguided beliefs about government with his own years of preaching deference to the Constitution." THE NEXT QUESTION is: What happens when the dust settles? Biden and VP-elect KAMALA HARRIS will take office exactly 14 days later. Where will Trump turn his attention? How will his congressional allies react? Who will bear the brunt of the backlash? The MAGA wing certainly isn't going anywhere: "MAGA activists plot revenge on Republican 'traitors,'" by Tina Nguyen STAFFING UP — "Biden to tap more Obama vets to fill key national security roles," by Natasha Bertrand, Tyler Pager and Lara Seligman: "[L]ongtime diplomat Wendy Sherman will be nominated to serve as Secretary of State-designee Tony Blinken's deputy … Another veteran diplomat, Victoria Nuland, will be nominated for the role of under secretary of State for political affairs … "On the National Security Council, former State Department official Jon Finer will be named deputy national security adviser … The key NSC role of senior director for European Affairs will go to Amanda Sloat." — The Biden transition announced several new White House staff members: Evan Ryan as Cabinet secretary, Cristóbal Alex as deputy Cabinet secretary, Emmy Ruiz as director of political strategy and outreach, Erin Wilson as deputy director of political strategy and outreach, Adrian Saenz as deputy director of the Office of Public Engagement, David Recordon as director of technology and Austin Lin as deputy director of technology. | | | | GET THE BIG PRE-INAUGURATION SCOOPS IN TRANSITION PLAYBOOK: Inauguration Day is quickly approaching. Is the Biden administration ready? Transition Playbook brings you inside the transition and newly forming administration, tracking the latest from Biden world and the transition of power. Written for political insiders, this scoop-filled newsletter breaks big news and analyzes the appointments, people and emerging power centers of the new administration. Track the transition and the first 100 days of the incoming Biden administration. Subscribe today. | | | | | SCOOP — "Congress using Covid test that FDA warns may be faulty," by David Lim and Sarah Ferris: "Now the accuracy of recent Curative results are in doubt, after the FDA took the unusual step Monday of alerting health care providers and patients that the test poses a 'risk of false results, particularly false negative results.'" THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION — "A Plan Made to Shield Big Tobacco From Facts Is Now E.P.A. Policy," NYT: "Nearly a quarter century ago, a team of tobacco industry consultants outlined a plan to create 'explicit procedural hurdles' for the Environmental Protection Agency to clear before it could use science to address the health impacts of smoking. "President Trump's E.P.A. embedded parts of that strategy into federal environmental policy on Monday when it completed a new regulation that favors certain kinds of scientific research over others in the drafting of public health rules." EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler's WSJ op-ed KNOWING THE NEW CLASS — "Rep. Nikema Williams replaced an icon and helped flip Ga. But she's not done yet," WaPo ADDING INSULT TO CRISIS — "One Hospital System Sued 2,500 Patients After Pandemic Hit," NYT: "When the coronavirus began spreading through New York, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo ordered state-run hospitals to stop suing patients over unpaid medical bills, and almost all of the major private hospitals in the state voluntarily followed suit by suspending their claims. "But one chain of hospitals has plowed ahead with thousands of lawsuits: Northwell Health, which is the state's largest health system and is run by one of Mr. Cuomo's closest allies. The nonprofit Northwell sued more than 2,500 patients last year, records show, a flood of litigation even as the pandemic has led to widespread job losses and economic uncertainty. The Northwell lawsuits each sought an average of $1,700 in unpaid bills, plus large interest payments." | | | | A NEW YEAR MEANS A NEW HUDDLE IS HERE: Huddle, our daily congressional must-read, has a new author! Olivia Beavers took the reins this week, and she has the latest news and whispers from the Speakers' Lobby. Don't miss out, subscribe to our Huddle newsletter, the essential guide to all things Capitol Hill. Subscribe today. | | | | | YOU SAY VIGIL, I SAY VIOLENCE … "Sen. Josh Hawley says 'Antifa scumbags' terrorized his family's Virginia home. Protesters say they held a peaceful vigil," WaPo: "The activists said they had staged a peaceful vigil on Monday night to protest a GOP plan to object to Congress's certification of the presidential electoral vote this week. On the sidewalk in a Northern Virginia suburb, a group of 15 people chanted while holding candles and signs saying, 'Protect democracy.' "But Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) had a different description for the scene outside his family's home in Fairfax County: "leftwing violence.' … Demonstrators with ShutDownDC, which organized the protest, told The Washington Post that they did not engage in vandalism or even knock on Hawley's door." COMMENCE THE TRUMP RETROSPECTIVES — "Delay, dismantle, resist: DeVos leaves a legacy like no other Education secretary," by Nicole Gaudiano and Caitlin Emma OY VEY — "Trump shared the wrong number for a Michigan lawmaker. A 28-year-old has gotten thousands of angry calls," WaPo: "On Sunday, the campaign asked supporters to call two Michigan state lawmakers and demand a vote to decertify President-elect Joe Biden's victory in a state he won by more than 150,000 votes. The campaign posted numbers and emails for Michigan state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R) and former Michigan House speaker Lee Chatfield (R). "Not only did the post, which President Trump also re-shared to more than 35 million followers on his own Facebook page, falsely identify Chatfield as the current speaker, it also gave the wrong number for the former lawmaker." CLICKER — "Photo: The Beleaguered Chroniclers of the Trump White House," by N.Y. Mag's Olivia Nuzzi: "Under ordinary circumstances, a press corps is a team of rivals; however, the chaos of the Trump era, and the president's predictably unpredictable nature, leveled the playing field for the wider cohort in many ways. The process was essentially more democratic than ever before, since leaks came from everywhere and came to anyone skilled or lucky enough to find them, their status in the news hierarchy often secondary to their ability to actually understand how the place operated." Featured: POLITICO's own Anita Kumar, CNN's Kaitlan Collins, CBS' Weijia Jiang, PBS' Yamiche Alcindor, theGrio's April Ryan and WaPo's Philip Rucker MEDIAWATCH — Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews is now EVP and CBS News Washington bureau chief. She has been acting bureau chief since July. TRANSITIONS — Gary Cohn is joining IBM as vice chair. He was director of the National Economic Council and chief economic adviser to Trump from 2017 to 2018. … Tod Cohen is now a partner at O'Melveny. He most recently was deputy general counsel and VP at Twitter. … … Crystal Brown is now chief comms officer at the National Geographic Society. She most recently was EVP of Hager Sharp's education, labor, and economy practice. … Dao Nguyen is joining Cornerstone Government Affairs' federal government affairs team. She previously was executive director of Future Forum. | | | |   | | | | | | | 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 | | | | |
