| | | |  | | By Andrew Howard | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun and Ali Bianco Good Sunday morning. This is Andrew Howard, reporting from Phoenix. Get in touch. SHOT NOT: Last week, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was hours away from publicly promoting a significant change for the childhood vaccine schedule to mirror Denmark’s — that is, before legal and political concerns reared their head, POLITICO’s Tim Röhn exclusively reports in a must-read backstory. One senior HHS official told POLITICO that a publicly announced presser to unveil the decision that was set for Friday was canceled at the last minute “after the HHS Office of the General Counsel said it would invite a lawsuit the administration could lose,” Tim writes. A second official said it was pulled because the move was deemed politically risky. Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesperson, called accounts of the cancellation that didn’t come directly from the department “pure speculation” in a statement. “HHS officials skeptical of moving to the Danish schedule, which recommends immunization for only 10 of the 17 diseases on the U.S. list, were relieved it was never publicly recommended, the first official said. The internal confusion and disagreement follow similar management bungling within HHS’ Food and Drug Administration that has frustrated the White House,” Tim writes.
| | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
At Turning Point USA's AmericaFest, prominent conservative figures have taken the stage to air their grievances. | Jon Cherry/AP | DISPATCH FROM PHOENIX: VP JD Vance is here in Arizona today to close out Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, its annual gathering for the MAGA faithful which over the last three days has been enveloped by intraparty schisms despite the solemn backdrop of founder Charlie Kirk’s killing in September. The public skirmish marks a moment of intense reckoning for President Donald Trump’s movement, which has been enthralled in a monthslong feud over Tucker Carlson’s October interview with white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who has repeatedly made antisemetic remarks. That simmering feud has burst out into the open here in Phoenix, where prominent conservative figures have taken the stage at AmericaFest to air their grievances — and in some cases offer dire warnings about the current direction of the right. The sold-out crowd of more than 30,000 — donning their MAGA hats and Trump merch — seems as split as the speakers. Numerous watercooler conversations here have revolved around the spectacle that unfolded Thursday on the opening night. It all kicked off with Ben Shapiro, who called out a number of top conservative influencers — particularly Tucker Carlson — as “frauds and grifters” for elevating conspiracy theories. “The conservative movement is in serious danger,” Shapiro said Thursday, in part because of “charlatans who claim to speak in the name of principle but actually traffic in conspiracism and dishonesty.” That divide has only widened in the days that followed. Vivek Ramaswamy, the 2024 presidential hopeful-turned-Ohio gubernatorial candidate, said it’s “a time for choosing in the conservative movement,” calling out the move toward normalizing hate within the party. “And if you don’t have the guts to say these things without stuttering, then you have no place as a leader in this movement,” Ramaswamy said in his speech Friday. Then Steve Bannon stepped into the fray, immediately taking to the stage following Ramaswamy and undercutting that message, blasting Shapiro as someone who is “the farthest thing from MAGA.” “Ben Shapiro is like a cancer, and that cancer spreads,” Bannon said. Some in the movement are getting frustrated by the constant back-and-forth jabs. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) admitted parts of the event have become a “conservative celebrity boxing match” while calling for more unity among the crowd. “It’s important to remember who the real red meat is: the radical left,” she told the crowd yesterday afternoon. Top Turning Point officials sought to downplay the intraparty spats. “If we force conformity without uncomfortable debates, there can be no winning consensus,” Turning Point spokesperson Andrew Kolvet said on X. “There’s no civil war. This is the necessary work of a conservative coalition defining it’s [sic] dominant center ahead of the comming [sic] battles.”
| | | | A message from Instagram: Instagram Teen Accounts: Automatic protections for teens.
Instagram Teen Accounts default teens into automatic protections for who can contact them and the content they can see.
These settings help give parents peace of mind: Nearly 95% of parents say Instagram Teen Accounts help them safeguard their teens online.
Explore our ongoing work. | | | | That’s the situation Vance is stepping into today in Phoenix, where he is scheduled to take the stage around 1:15 p.m. Eastern. It’s unclear whether the VP, whom many see as the heir apparent to take up the MAGA mantle in 2028, will dive head first into the divides that have consumed the weekend up until this point, or if he will instead try to thread the needle and unite the warring factions. Or perhaps he’ll echo the message of Erika Kirk, who issued an early 2028 endorsement for Vance on Thursday. “You won’t agree with everyone on this stage this weekend,” Kirk said. “And that’s OK. Welcome to America.” Related read: Though Vance hasn’t yet declared his intention to run for president, WSJ’s Natalie Andrews and Eliza Collins have the details on how Turning Point is maneuvering to set the VP up for success should he enter the race. “The conservative group is planning to put representatives in all of Iowa’s 99 counties ahead of the presidential primary. Iowa is an important early state in the presidential nominating process, and Turning Point is already trying to build grassroots support for Vance there, according to Tyler Bowyer, a top executive with the organization and a close friend of the late Kirk,” the pair write. “Why mess around? Let the Democrats destroy each other in the primary process, while we benefit from the rare luxury of having a candidate that’s so clearly the front-runner,” Bowyer told WSJ. SUNDAY BEST … — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on whether Vance is the heir apparent to run for president in 2028, on ABC’s “This Week”: “I think there needs to be representatives in the Republican Party who still believe international trade is good, who still believe in free market capitalism, who still believe in low taxes. … Now all these pro-tariff protectionists, they love taxes, and so they tax, tax, tax, and then they brag about all the revenue coming in. That has never been a conservative position. So I’m going to continue to try to lead a conservative free market wing of the party, and we’ll see where things lead over time.” Jonathan Karl: “And that’s not JD Vance.” Paul: “No.” — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on whether the Justice Department is in compliance with the law in its release of Jeffrey Epstein files, on “This Week”: “It does appear, of course, that this initial document release is inadequate. It falls short of what the law requires. … We expected that written justification [of why some documents were withheld] should be transmitted within the next week or so, and then Congress can take it from there as it relates to determining why this non-compliance has occurred. … There needs to be a full and complete explanation and then a full and complete investigation as to why the document production has fallen short of what the law clearly required.” — Deputy AG Todd Blanche on why certain Epstein files were taken down after being made public, including a photo of Trump, on NBC’s “Meet the Press”: “You can see in that photo, there’s photographs of women. And so we learned after releasing that photograph that there were concerns about those women and the fact that we had put that photo up. So we pulled that photo down. It has nothing to do with President Trump. There are dozens of photos of President Trump already released to the public seeing him with Mr. Epstein. … So the absurdity of us pulling down a photo, a single photo because President Trump was in it is laughable.” — National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on the administration’s economic policy plans for the new year, on “Fox News Sunday”: “We’ve got a list of things that we’re going to present to the president. … Most of us are going to be down for a big chunk of the week after Christmas at Mar-a-Lago going through all the plans for next year, and definitely we have a big list of housing ideas that have been vetted very carefully by the Cabinet secretaries to present to president in a week or two, and we’ll see which ones he picks.”
| | | | A message from Instagram:  
| | | | TOP-EDS: A roundup of the week’s must-read opinion pieces.
- “Inside Stephen Miller’s Dark Plot to Build a MAGA Terror State,” by The New Republic’s Greg Sargent
- “The Federal Judge at the Trump Rally,” by The New Yorker’s Ruth Marcus
- “Groyperism Isn’t Conservatism. It’s Anti-Americanism,” by Vivek Ramaswamy in the NYT
- “Alarm Bells Ring, Are You Listening?” by Karl Rove in the WSJ
- “Tax the Rich, Like Me,” by Mitt Romney in the NYT
- “What My Party Needs to Do,” by Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) in Democracy
- “Lessons From Modern Parenthood,” by Rahm Emanuel in the WSJ
- “The neocons were wrong about war but right about Muslims,” by WaPo’s Shadi Hamid
- “The Internet Wants You to Be Cruel to Erika Kirk,” by T. Becket Adams in the WSJ
- “Trump seeks to lead on AI. Three truths are self-evident,” by Jai Ramaswamy in WaPo
- “‘Miraculous,’ ‘Amazing,’ ‘Disappointing’: 14 Voters on Their Experiences With GLP-1 Drugs and Health in America,” via NYT’s Katherine Miller and colleagues
- “At 44, I Received A Cancer Diagnosis I Never Saw Coming. Too Many Young People Will Get The Same One,” by HuffPost’s Graeme Demianyk
9 THINGS FOR YOUR RADAR 1. THE PRESSURE CAMPAIGN: The U.S. military has boarded and seized a second Venezuelan oil tanker, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced. The Coast Guard’s move yesterday interdicted a ship whose oil was ultimately headed for Asia, though this vessel wasn’t under U.S. sanctions, CNN’s Kevin Liptak reports, citing an official. And now the U.S. is going after a third vessel near Venezuela, officials just told Reuters’ Idrees Ali, though details are scarce here so far. It’s all part of a broader effort to undercut Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s regime. The step back: Even as Trump puts the screws to Maduro with seizures and boat strikes, and more openly acknowledges that he intends to oust him, Trump’s “options seem to be narrowing rapidly,” WaPo’s Karen DeYoung reports. If Trump is unwilling to stage a more intense military invasion, it’s not clear how he can dislodge Maduro, who is still holding on so far. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva warned the U.S. against going further yesterday, saying that a more direct attack would set a “dangerous precedent” and create a “humanitarian catastrophe,” per Reuters’ Manuela Andreoni. Knock-on effect: If the U.S. succeeds at stopping more Venezuelan oil from getting to Cuba, the island could see its economy fall apart, WSJ’s Juan Forero and Ryan Dubé report. The country is already in the midst of a massive crisis: One expert estimates that a quarter of Cuba’s population has left since 2020. 2. WEAPONIZATION WATCH: “Trump appointee inspired by conservative media outlet to push for probe of Democratic congressman,” by Reuters’ Chris Prentice and Marisa Taylor: “A mortgage fraud probe of [Rep. Eric Swalwell] began last month after William Pulte, the Republican head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, referred allegations from [The Gateway Pundit] to his agency’s inspector general for possible criminal investigation … That same day, Pulte also referred the issue to the Justice Department.” 3. WAR AND PEACE: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said U.S. negotiators had suggested possible trilateral talks with Ukraine and Russia to be held in Florida, per Bloomberg’s Daryna Krasnolutska. Those would hinge on the outcome of negotiations taking place this weekend in Miami, as the Trump administration pushes hard to try to end Russia’s war on Ukraine. Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev said late yesterday that U.S.-Russia talks in Florida, which continue today, “are proceeding constructively,” POLITICO’s Eliza Gkritsi reports. Meanwhile in the Middle East: Israel is considering attacking Iran again to go after its ballistic missile work, and PM Benjamin Netanyahu may pitch Trump during their Mar-a-Lago meeting this month on Israel’s plans to strike, NBC’s Gordon Lubold and colleagues scooped. He’d also likely give Trump the chance for the U.S. to join in on new strikes, as Israel warns that Tehran is rebuilding its capacity to produce missiles.
| | | | A message from Instagram:  
| | | | 4. FROM 30,000 FEET: “The year Trump broke the federal government,” by WaPo’s Hannah Natanson and Meryl Kornfield: “Missions have shifted or shattered. Entire agencies were deleted. Nearly 300,000 employees were forced out of the federal workforce. The Trump administration froze or shut off billions of dollars in scientific research, gutted or eliminated offices and programs devoted to civil rights and diversity, rewrote the federal hiring system to reward loyalty to the president, and shrank Social Security while installing Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents in hundreds of new offices across the country.” 5. THE EPSTEIN FILES: Another batch of the Justice Department’s Epstein files was made public yesterday, including grand jury information from different probes into the late convicted sex offender, POLITICO’s Gregory Svirnovskiy and Ben Johansen report. But there didn’t initially appear to be much blockbuster new material in this release. Many lawmakers instead continued to train their ire on DOJ for putting out little shocking new info and making major redactions to many documents. In particular, Democrats and some Republicans excoriated the Trump administration for removing at least 16 files online a day after they were released — a photo of Trump among them, AP’s Michael Sisak and David Caruso report. The fallout: Without any specific explanation from DOJ, accusations of a cover-up swirled. But DOJ emphasized that “photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution.” Trump has denied any wrongdoing, and there’s no evidence he took part in the trafficking. The new files also included many photos of Bill Clinton, the target of the White House’s campaign to redirect the scandal, NYT’s Lisa Lerer writes. (Clinton, too, has said he didn’t know about Epstein’s transgressions and cut ties once his crimes emerged.) Politically, some Republicans worried that the limited disclosures would continue to stoke backlash and conspiracy theories, Reuters’ Nathan Layne reports. 6. BIG MONEY: In the 2024 election cycle, the Koch brothers’ network spent roughly $548 million, NYT’s Teddy Schleifer reports from new tax filings. That staggering sum shows that the Kochs remained a massive force bolstering Republicans and other causes they support, despite their break with Trump. 7. AMERICAN EXPORTS: “As U.S. Guns Pour Into Canada, the Bodies Pile Up,” by NYT’s Norimitsu Onishi in Toronto: “American firearms are spilling increasingly into a country where gun control is far stricter than in the United States … Smugglers are hiding them inside commercial and personal vehicles, but are also loading them on drones, concealing them in boats or stashing them in a dead drop in a library straddling the border. Many guns then fetch up to eight times their original price on Canada’s black market. The proliferation of illegal guns from the United States has fueled bloodshed in Canadian cities and even in remote northern communities. … Homicides have spiked in Canada in the past decade.” 8. FED UP: There is plenty of last-minute jockeying across Washington and Wall Street over who Trump should pick as the next Fed chair, WSJ’s Brian Schwartz and Nick Timiraos report. After Hassett looked to be the clear frontrunner earlier this month, now Kevin Warsh is in the running again. Fed governor Christopher Waller interviewed with Trump last week, and Trump will interview BlackRock’s Rick Rieder at Mar-a-Lago later this month. Warsh’s Wall Street allies have pushed for him as a more credible pick than Hassett, though Waller “is viewed as more independent than either.” 9. BET ON IT: “The 20-something billionaires ushering in a betting bonanza in Trump’s Washington,” by POLITICO’s Declan Harty: “Wall Street’s newest whiz kids were up against the full force of the federal government a year ago. Now, with President Donald Trump in charge, Shayne Coplan and Tarek Mansour — the messy-haired, 20-something billionaires behind the betting platforms Polymarket and Kalshi — are riding high. … Over the past year and a half, [they] have hired high-profile Trump allies and elbowed their way into face time with the president and his circle. They’ve also benefited from the Trump family’s interest in less traditional finance … And they’ve been quick to seize on the friendlier regulatory landscape.”
| | | | A message from Instagram: Automatic protections for teens. Peace of mind for parents.
Last year, Instagram launched Teen Accounts, which default teens into automatic protections. Now, a stricter "Limited Content" setting is available for parents who prefer extra controls.
And we'll continue adding new safeguards, giving parents more peace of mind.
Learn more. | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | SCENE SETTER — “A funeral for the penny draws Lincoln impersonators and Victorian garb,” by WaPo’s Juan Benn Jr.: “One by one, [actors and comedians] gave remarks at the event, including interpretations of a jealous Mary Todd Lincoln, a pompous George Washington and a frightened Thomas Jefferson, who was scared that the nickel with his face on it might be the next to get axed.” OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at the sold-out Andrew Deerin Christmas Spectacular last night at the Kennedy Center (which Trump on Thursday renamed the Trump Kennedy Center, though Democrats say the change is against the law), featuring the Mike Rubino Pops: Andrew Deerin, Mike Rubino, Kamran and Christy Daravi, Vince Haley, Andrew Hughes, Kaelan and Carly Dorr, Hunter Morgan, Roma Daravi, Bobby Kennedy III and Amaryllis Kennedy, Darcie Johnston, Sara Matar, Russ Schriefer, Tony Abboud, John Procter, Noe Garcia and Will Russell. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) … WSJ’s Annie Linskey … Karen Heller … Lisa Kountoupes of KDCR Partners … John Coale … Kelly Sadler of The Washington Times … Jane Fonda … CBS’ Vlad Duthiers … Elena Waskey of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth … Sam LaHood of Bondi Partners … Roz Brooks … Jessica Brady Reader … Colleen Litkenhaus Tague … Lyndsey McKenna … CAP’s Michael Negron … David Goldfein … former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin … Cameron Trimble … Dave Stroup … Herald Group’s Mike Bushnell … Alejandra Lopez-Fernandini Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn’t happen without our deputy editor Garrett Ross.
| | | | Sponsored Survey WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU: Please take a 1-minute survey about one of our advertising partners. | | | | | | | | Follow us on X | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Canada Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment