| | | | |  | | By Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels and Ryan Lizza | Presented by ACLI, Finseca, IRI, NAFA and NAIFA | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
| | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Tell It Like It Is, the pro-CHRIS CHRISTIE super PAC, is launching new TV and radio spots in New Hampshire today. The TV ad, titled "Follow Me," features Christie slamming his opponents at a town hall for not criticizing DONALD TRUMP: “I got into this race for president because everybody in my party who was offering themselves to be president of the United States were acting like it was going to fix itself,” Christie says. The spots are part of a $3.5 million buy. Watch the TV ad ... Listen to the radio ad
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Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) arrives for a House Republican Conference meeting on Capitol Hill Oct. 11, 2023. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | RUN FOR THE BORDER — As MIKE JOHNSON campaigned for the speaker's gavel this fall, Rep. TONY GONZALES (R-Texas) made one request before delivering his support: Make the border your top priority. It didn’t take any convincing. Soon after Johnson won the gavel, he detailed his staff to begin planning a GOP codel to Gonzales’ border district. The timeline accelerated two weeks ago, after Gonzales personally watched several thousand migrants flood across the Rio Grande and into a facility near Eagle Pass, overwhelming border officials there. “I had never seen it in that poor of a condition,” Gonzales told Playbook. “What ends up happening when it gets to a boiling point like that, you just release people into the streets — and then it's really chaos.” Today, about 60 House Republicans will cut their holiday break a few days short to join Johnson and Gonzales at that same facility in Eagle Pass. It’s no accident why the House GOP’s first big political event of the election year is centered on the southern border:
- Migrant flows keep rising. Homeland Security officials already estimate southern border apprehensions reached a new record in December, with some days topping 10,000. A caravan of some 6,000 migrants was seen last week trekking north through Mexico.
- The issue has gone national. Texas Gov. GREG ABBOTT’s busing campaign, dropping thousands of migrants into Democratic-led cities has arguably gotten results, leading mayors in New York, Denver, Chicago and elsewhere to pressure the Biden administration to do more — and quick.
- The border brings the GOP together. “Last year was pretty rough and rowdy,” Gonzales said. “But one of the things that I think unites House Republicans more than anything else is the border.” It’s also the issue where the GOP has its most persistent advantage with voters.
- And it divides Democrats. The dynamic has been made clear with the pending Senate negotiation on border security (more on that in a moment) which has raised serious alarms on the left, while more moderate Democrats signal a willingness to entertain a deal that could curtail asylum claims and allow for a surge of deportations.
It adds up to a political pressure cooker for President JOE BIDEN, and House Republicans are more than happy to turn up the heat. They’re hoping, in fact, for a particularly stark split screen today: Calling for a crackdown at the border just as the Justice Department is expected to file a lawsuit blocking Abbott from enforcing a new Texas state law allowing local law enforcement to arrest anyone suspected of entering the U.S. illegally. Republicans are also already planning for the eventual impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS — proceedings that Johnson has personally blessed, we’re told by senior GOP officials, and could begin in a matter of days. The White House is preemptively responding to the codel this morning in an exclusive statement to our colleague Jennifer Haberkorn that accuses Republicans of exacerbating the border crisis by (1) voting to cut Customs and Border Protection funding in spending bills and (2) blocking passage of Biden’s $106 billion national security supplemental that includes border funding. “Actions speak louder than words,” White House spokesperson ANDREW BATES said. “They are now aiming to make the border a key 2024 election issue.” Well, no secret there. That brings us back to those Senate negotiations — and the big question of whether a border deal is even possible in an election year when the politics of the issue are so lopsided in the GOP’s favor. The key senators met in person yesterday for the first time since before the holidays, and according to our friends at Huddle, the vibes were not exactly positive. Sen. CHRIS MURPHY (D-Conn.) told reporters the hope was to have a proposal to circulate next week and “that at some point, Republicans can take the offer that we've all been working on together in the room for a long time.” As for Gonzales, he insists he wants more than talking points and a photo op. He has constituents who are directly affected by the migrant surge, and he’s been following the Senate talks keenly. The negotiators, he told Playbook, are “a lot closer than people realize,” but he also called any potential Senate deal only a first step. He added that he is trying to persuade his GOP colleagues that they should view — and accept — a Senate-passed border bill as a “down payment” until the GOP wins back the White House. “The hardest part is getting out of your own way,” he said. “There will always be people on any piece of legislation that go, ‘Oh, that goes too far.’ … Or, ‘No, no, no, that doesn't go far enough.’” he said. “I'm already counting those people out. Okay? Take your vote and step aside.” We’ll be listening closely today to Johnson — who will ultimately decide if any Senate deal reaches the House floor — and whether he draws any new red lines or allows room for the “down payment” approach. Said Gonzales about Johnson’s dilemma, “The fact that his very first trip is to the border and the fact that he rallied the troops to get 60-plus members here, the fact that it's my district, I think all these things are positive.” Good Wednesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | A message from ACLI, Finseca, IRI, NAFA and NAIFA: Annuities deliver financial certainty like traditional pensions of old.
They are a legally enforceable promise made by an insurance company to provide guaranteed monthly income throughout retirement.
A Department of Labor proposal would shut down access to options for middle-income savers. It’s out of step with bipartisan support in Congress to expand access to guaranteed lifetime income. Stand with us. Protect retirement for all. | | | BIDEN 2024 GETS IN GEAR — The Biden campaign promised to ramp things up quickly in the new year, and, sure enough, top campaign officials yesterday previewed several key moves coming this month. (That noise you hear is Democrats ever-so-slightly un-wringing their hands.) Eugene has a full rundown of the briefing by Campaign Manager JULIE CHAVEZ RODRIGUEZ, Principal Deputy Campaign Manager QUENTIN FULKS and Communications Director MICHAEL TYLER, but here are the two biggies: — On Saturday, Biden will mark the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack with a speech in Valley Forge, Pa., that will touch on his core campaign theme of democracy. “[Valley Forge] was the moment where [GEORGE WASHINGTON] was able to bring the colonial forces together and mark the beginning of his ascent to power before he ultimately gave up power in the ultimate precedent as our nation's first president,” a senior campaign official said. — On Monday, Biden will speak at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, one of the oldest Black churches in the South and where nine parishioners were shot and killed by a white supremacist in 2015. Biden’s trip will come two days after Vice President KAMALA HARRIS visits South Carolina to give her own set of remarks about freedom to the Seventh Episcopal District AME Church Women’s Missionary Society. Campaign aides say the visits are meant to send a clear signal that they aren’t taking Black voters for granted. “We're not going to wait and parachute into these communities at the last minute and ask them for their vote. We're going to earn their vote,” Fulks said.
| | | | A message from ACLI, Finseca, IRI, NAFA and NAIFA:   Everyone should be able to achieve retirement security. A Department of Labor proposal would limit access to guaranteed lifetime income. Protect retirement for all. | | | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | On the Hill The House will meet at noon. The Senate is out. What we’re watching … Any hope of avoiding a two-step government shutdown depends on the preliminary step of reaching a bipartisan agreement on fiscal 2024 spending levels. Talks are continuing between Johnson and Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER, with Democrats apparently willing to entertain additional cuts to nondefense spending. But even if there is an agreement, expect some speed bumps: Rep. CHIP ROY (R-Texas) yesterday demanded Johnson withhold funding unless the House GOP’s big border bill is passed alongside. More in Huddle At the White House Biden will receive the President’s Daily Briefing in the afternoon. Harris and Second Gentleman DOUG EMHOFF depart for Los Vegas in the morning, where the VP will later deliver remarks and meet with hospitality workers of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226.
| | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | 2024 WATCH
|  Former President Donald Trump greets supporters as he arrives at a commit to caucus rally, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023, in Waterloo, Iowa. | Charlie Neibergall/AP | THE LIMITS OF ABORTION POLITICS — Alice Miranda Ollstein, Madison Fernandez and Jessica Piper look this morning at the growing number of state-level abortion-rights proposals Democrats are eyeing to boost support for their candidates — and why they might not be a magic bullet. While elections in 2022 and 2023 did show a turnout impact, “those margins were largely driven by Republican voters who also voted for GOP candidates. And Democratic turnout didn’t consistently increase in states with abortion referendums compared to those without.” The upshot: “[B]oth Republican and Democratic strategists say the issue remains toxic for the GOP and that ballot initiatives could force candidates on both sides to talk about it and provide voters with a clear contrast.” THE BORING TRUTH — “Trump, king of drama, sucks all of it out of the GOP nomination fight,” by Adam Wren: “Two weeks before the Iowa caucuses, the defining feature of the race is just how uncompetitive it’s become.” More top reads:
- NBC News and the Des Moines Register are hosting a series of half-hour sit-down “Closing Arguments” interviews with the GOP candidates, starting with VIVEK RAMASWAMY today, followed by RON DeSANTIS tomorrow and NIKKI HALEY on Friday. More details
- Haley has surpassed DeSantis to take second place in FiveThirtyEight's national GOP national polling average, FiveThirtyEight’s Nathaniel Rakich reports. Trump continues to lead the pack at 61.3%.
- ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.’s presidential campaign has now brought on prominent anti-vaccine activist DEL BIGTREE as comms director, NBC News' Brandy Zadrozny reports. “Announcing his new role, Bigtree released a letter rife with misinformation alleging that the Covid vaccines were responsible for widespread injury and death.”
CONGRESS
|  Sen. Bob Menendez speaks during a press conference on Sept. 25, 2023, in Union City, N.J. Menendez and his wife have been indicted on charges of bribery. | Andres Kudacki/AP Photo | CHARGED UP — Federal prosecutors added new charges to their case against Sen. BOB MENENDEZ, alleging that the New Jersey Democrat acted to benefit Qatar after being paid bribes by the businessman already implicated in the sprawling corruption case, Matt Freidman reports: “The new indictment adds another layer to the deep, detailed allegations that have all but cost Menendez, the former chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, his political career.” More details: “According to the indictment Tuesday, Menendez introduced co-defendant FRED DAIBES, a developer, to a member of the Qatari royal family and principal of a state-linked investment company as Daibes sought financing for a major real estate project. … Several days after attending a private event in Manhattan hosted by the Qatari government, Daibes allegedly messaged Menendez photos of wrist watches with prices ranging from $9,900 to $23,900, asking ‘How about one of these.’” More top reads:
- “George Santos’ Neighboring Lawmaker Is Looking Forward to a Year Without Him,” by Ben Jacobs: “[Rep. ANTHONY] D’ESPOSITO [R-N.Y.] spoke to POLITICO Magazine about how strange it was to spend his first year in Congress adjacent to the Santos sideshow, the frustrations it caused for him and how badly he wants to never have to talk about his former colleague — ever again.
- Rep. BILL JOHNSON (R-Ohio) submitted his letter of resignation yesterday, effective Jan. 21. He will start the next day as Youngstown State University president, The Vindicator’s David Skolnick reports: “The decision was met with vocal criticism from faculty, students, alumni and donors who objected to the confidential search as well as the decision to hire Johnson because of his politics and lack of experience in higher education.”
MORE POLITICS SHE’S RUNNING — In a new announcement video, longtime labor leader PATRICIA CAMPOS-MEDINA launches a new challenge to Menendez. In her announcement, she describes herself as “a mother, a labor leader, and an educator” who will “fight for opportunity for all New Jersey working families.” HE’S RUNNING — Former Loudoun County School Board member JOHN BEATTY announced yesterday he is seeking the GOP nomination to succeed Rep. JENNIFER WEXTON (D-Va.) following her retirement announcement. THEY’RE RUNNING — “Rep. John Curtis is running to replace Mitt Romney in the Senate,” by Deseret News’ Brigham Tomco … “Brent Orrin Hatch, son of late Sen. Orrin Hatch, files to run for Senate seat once held by his father,” by KSL’s Bridger Beal-Cvetko
| | | | A message from ACLI, Finseca, IRI, NAFA and NAIFA:   Americans deserve financial guidance. Learn how a DOL proposal would shut down access. | | | TRUMP CARDS
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Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows is having to publicly grapple with challenges to former President Donald Trump's eligibility to run in 2024. | Patrick Whittle/AP | BALLOT BATTLES — Five days after being booted off Maine’s ballot, Trump yesterday took the first step toward undoing the decision, appealing Secretary of State SHENNA BELLOWS’ ruling that he cannot run for president due to his involvement in an uprising, Zach Montellaro reports. Trump moved quickly there, because “he must first proceed through the state court system” while his appeal of the Colorado ruling appears headed directly to the Supreme Court. SPEAKING OF QATAR — “2 Trump-aligned GOP operatives face foreign agent charges for helping Qatar,” by Josh Gerstein, Kyle Cheney and Caitlin Oprysko: “BARRY BENNETT and DOUG WATTS acknowledged they accepted funds from the Qatari government in exchange for promoting efforts to influence U.S. policy in the Middle East and engaged in a scheme to mislead investigators about those dealings.” AMERICA AND THE WORLD LATEST IN THE MIDDLE EAST — An American official said that the killing of Hamas's chief deputy in Lebanon would likely put a hold on discussions around a temporary truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict to facilitate additional hostage swaps, NYT’s Eric Schmitt reports: “International mediators have floated proposals for a new cease-fire amid growing pressure as the death toll in Gaza climbed to more than 20,000, … But both sides, at least in public, have staked out seemingly intractable conditions, leading diplomats to say they believe a deal for a durable truce remains far off.” Related read: “Gaza war spreads to Beirut with killing of Hamas deputy leader,” by Reuters’ Laila Bassam, Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Arafat Barbakh INSIDE THE SUPPLY CHAIN — “The West Badly Needs More Missiles—but the Wait to Buy Them Is Years Long,” by WSJ’s Alistair MacDonald, Doug Cameron and Dasl Yoon: “The Ukraine war has highlighted the West’s deficiencies in quickly producing more weapons at a time of need. The Gaza conflict may tighten supplies for certain armaments.” BEYOND THE BELTWAY DEEP IN THE HEART — The Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of Texas over the question of whether or not emergency rooms are compelled to carry out abortions in the event of an emergency, The Texas Tribune’s Eleanor Klibanoff reports. “Tuesday’s ruling, authored by Judge KURT D. ENGELHARDT, said… [the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act] ‘does not mandate medical treatments, let alone abortion care, nor does it preempt Texas law.’” MEDIAWATCH UH OH — “The Messenger Plans Layoffs Amid Hunt for Cash,” by NYT’s Benjamin Mullin: “The company is facing financial headwinds in a tough digital ad market that have put a squeeze on its operations.” THE ECONOMY ON THE MONEY — “US national debt hits record $34 trillion as Congress gears up for funding fight,” by AP’s Fatima Hussein and Josh Boak: “The national debt does not appear to be a weight on the U.S. economy right now, as investors are willing to lend the federal government money. … But the debt’s path in the decades to come might put at risk national security and major programs, including Social Security and Medicare.”
| | PLAYBOOKERS | | Kevin Kiley got married over the weekend. Kevin McCarthy has jury duty. TRANSITIONS — Brunswick Group is adding Samantha Vinograd as a partner and geopolitical lead, U.S., and Alexander Kazan as a partner and geopolitical global co-lead. Vinograd most recently was assistant DHS secretary for counterterrorism, threat prevention and law enforcement policy. Kazan most recently was chief commercial officer at Eurasia Group. …. Jim Dornan is now director of congressional affairs at American Promise. He previously has been a campaign manager and consultant and is a Richard Burr and George Nethercutt alum. … … May Mailman is now director of Independent Women’s Law Center. She previously was VP at Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections. … Blake Major is now associate VP for federal government relations at The Hartford. He most recently was senior partner at American Equity and is a MassMutual and AIG alum. ENGAGED — Alec Dent, politics reporter at The Messenger and Worn & Wound contributor, and Hannah Yoest, art director at The Bulwark and a Weekly Standard alum, recently got engaged at the Morgan Library in NYC. The couple met on Twitter when she slid into his DMs in 2021. Instapic … More pics — Robbie Myers, founder of Libertas Prima and associate executive producer of Benny Media and a Trump DOE and HUD alum, and Cailey Myers, comms director for the Florida Department of Education and a Bill Johnson alum, got engaged Sunday on a dinner cruise in Clearwater Beach, Florida. The couple met working together in Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ comms office. Pic … Another pic WEDDINGS — Madeline Gale, legislative assistant for Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.), and Matthew Jackson, legislative assistant for Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), got married last month at St. Peter Catholic Church in Lexington, Kentucky. They met while working for Barr. Pic … Another pic … SPOTTED: Rep. Andy Barr, Mary Rosado, Hunt VanderToll, Tatum Dale, McKinzii Todd, Tyler Staker, Alex Bellizzi, Michael and Claire Case, Megan Guiltinan and Dan Taylor. — Tyrik McKeiver, director of public affairs at the International Trade Administration and a U.N. and State alum, and Duncan Amos, VP of product at Octane and a JPMorgan Chase and Bloomberg alum, got married recently at a villa in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) (5-0), Marc Veasey (D-Texas) and Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) … Brad Parscale … NYT’s David Fahrenthold and Marc Tracy … Greta Thunberg … Verizon’s Chris DeBosier … Tim Rieser … Igor Volsky of Groundwork Action … Marcie Ridgway Kinzel ... David Margolick … Kaiser Health News’ Noam Levey ... Jenna Golden … Sarah Lenti … McKinsey’s Jonathan Spaner … L.D. Platt … Zach Gates of Rep. Ann Wagner’s (R-Mo.) office … National Education Association’s Conor Hurley … Carolyn Fiddler … “Chef” Geoff Tracy … James Hunter … POLITICO’s Matt Woelfel, Laura Kayali and Marc Heller … Al Cardenas … former Treasury Secretary W. Michael Blumenthal … Richard Ben-Veniste … Nolan Brown of Rep. Greg Landsman’s (D-Ohio) office (3-0) 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 editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton, producer Andrew Howard and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
| | | | A message from ACLI, Finseca, IRI, NAFA and NAIFA: Annuities close retirement security gaps for workers.
They help people navigate anxieties about savings lasting throughout retirement amid economic uncertainty and market volatility.
Congress recognized the real challenges people are facing and the importance of annuities in addressing them. Bipartisan legislation in 2019 and 2022 made guaranteed lifetime income more accessible to savers.
A Department of Labor proposal undermines this good work by limiting access to options for a protected retirement. Stand with us to protect options for retirement savers. Protect retirement for all. | | | | | | | 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 | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
