Scoop: Why GOP moderates are blocking for McCarthy

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POLITICO Playbook

By Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels and Ryan Lizza

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With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pauses as he talks to reporters.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pauses as he talks to reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday, Dec. 14. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

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DRIVING THE DAY

On Friday, after a group of seven House conservatives issued a public letter outlining the demands that GOP Leader KEVIN McCARTHY would need to meet to win their support in his bid for speaker, a key McCarthy backer quietly reached out to several moderate Republicans with a request, according to people familiar with the conversations.

The Freedom Caucus rabble-rousers had reiterated their demand that McCarthy restore a 200-year-old, now-infamous House rule known as the "motion to vacate," which allows any one member to force a floor vote to oust the speaker at any moment.

McCarthy's camp wanted the centrists to push back hard on the proposal, which the would-be speaker fiercely opposes. If they did, McCarthy would be able to point to their opposition, say his hands are tied and refuse to give in to conservatives' demands. McCarthy's office declined to comment to Playbook.

Fast-forward to this week …

 — On Tuesday, the centrist Republican Governance Group — which boasts 50 members, far more than the Freedom Caucus' three dozen or so — agreed in its weekly lunch that it would oppose conservatives' proposed rules changes, news that leaked to WaPo's Leigh Ann Caldwell and Theodoric Meyer on Wednesday morning.

— A few hours later, some members of the Governance Group met with McCarthy to double down on that position, as CNN's Mel Zanona reported.

But the backstory of the moderates' flex, and especially the McCarthy camp's quiet encouragement of their opposition — reported here for the first time — provides a rare window into the strategy McCarthy will employ to try to get the gavel, and also how he will likely govern if he does.

THE PLAYBOOK: By using moderates as a critical tool for countering conservatives, McCarthy appears to be carefully positioning himself to say to his right flank: Sorry, your own colleagues won't support such a demand. Having them play "bad cop" on anything from the motion to vacate to, possibly, a future debt ceiling showdown, for example, could set McCarthy up to be seen as the "good cop" — a reasonable dealmaker trying to find a path forward between warring factions.

But just because there's a political calculus at play doesn't mean the moderates aren't genuine in their opposition to restoring the motion to vacate. Far from it: We spoke to three such GOP lawmakers recently who blasted the idea.

— "People are very much concerned about descending into chaos," Rep. KELLY ARMSTRONG (R-N.D.) told Playbook.

— "We don't want the future speaker to have a gun to their head on every tough vote," Rep. DON BACON (R-Neb.) agreed.

— Rep. LISA McCLAIN (R-Mich.) told us there are "better ways" to ensure accountability, including allowing a vote of "no confidence" against their leader if needed.

"At the end of the day, we need to focus on real issues that the American people are facing," McClain said. "It just doesn't seem very productive."

 

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McCarthy himself is also publicly making the case against the rules change, which conservatives used as leverage against speakers JOHN BOEHNER and PAUL RYAN in years past. During a Newsmax segment with SEAN SPICER early this week, he argued that if the rule were restored, Democrats might try to use it as retribution after he kicks Reps. ADAM SCHIFF (D-Calif.), ERIC SWALWELL (D-Calif.) and ILHAN OMAR (D-Minn.) off their committees, as he's promised to do.

"Why would we turn the floor over to the Democrats?" he asked.

Technically speaking, House Republicans addressed this issue a few weeks ago, adopting parameters that would require 50% or more of the GOP conference to agree to hold a vote ousting a speaker before bringing it to the floor.

But clearly the question is far from settled. And in recent days, it's become the center of gossip in Republican circles.

Many believe that there will be some sort of negotiation whereby McCarthy will have to lower the threshold triggering a vote to perhaps 40% or 30%. In fact, Jordain Carney and Olivia Beavers scooped Wednesday night that Rep. ANDREW CLYDE (R-Ga.) — one of the seven conservatives who signed Friday's letter — is one such member seeking a compromise, which is good news for McCarthy, who is said to be open to such a deal.

THE TIMING QUESTION: When does McCarthy offer a deal? There is a give-a-mouse-a-cookie fear that if he negotiates right now, conservatives will just move on to new demands in the weeks before the Jan. 3 speakership vote. (Members of the centrist Main Street Partnership privately debated whether McCarthy should strike a deal at all in a meeting over the weekend, we're told.)

The entire dynamic illustrates that even if McCarthy wins the gavel , he is going to be pulled between two factions of his conference that disagree more ferociously on strategy than on policy itself. While conservatives are expected to embrace shutdown fights and debt ceiling brinkmanship, the larger group of pragmatists will want to govern.

A "good cop, bad cop" approach might be enough to get him the gavel. But whether it will be enough to balance the competing interests of the two factions going forward with such a slim majority is another story.

Good Thursday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. What do you make of McCarthy's strategy? Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.

NEW THIS MORNING — "DeSantis builds his conservative resume as Trump flounders," by Gary Fineout

 

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Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is joined by her family and husband Paul Pelosi, far right, as they attend her portrait unveiling ceremony at the Capitol.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is joined by her family and husband Paul Pelosi, far right, as they attend her portrait unveiling ceremony at the Capitol on Wednesday, Dec. 14. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

THE SCENE AT PELOSI'S PORTRAIT UNVEILING — CNN's Manu Raju (@mkraju): "Former Speaker JOHN BOEHNER, giving remarks in Capitol at [Speaker NANCY] PELOSI portrait unveiling, weeps as he says: 'You have been unfailingly gracious to me' and as he said: 'My girls told me how much we admire her.'" Watch: "Nancy Pelosi unveils her portrait"

WHAT'S UP AT WAPO? — There's obviously no great way to announce a round of layoffs. But it's hard to think of a worse approach than WaPo publisher and CEO FRED RYAN's. His surprise announcement at the tail end of a Wednesday morning newsroom town hall managed not only to spark holiday-season anxiety among Post employees but also send already simmering labor-management tensions into a rage while stoking reports of a serious rift between Ryan and top editor SALLY BUZBEE.

Multiple Post employees publicly aired their dismay at Ryan's refusal to answer further questions about the layoffs, and, as first reported by West Wing Playbook, the announcement drove many in the newsroom — including star reporters ASHLEY PARKER and JOSH DAWSEY — to start paying NewsGuild dues. Semafor reported Wednesday evening that Buzbee mused about a potential resignation during a meeting with top editors, while the NYT reported (and Playbook has confirmed) that Buzbee told a group she was notified about Ryan's plans only the night before.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Ryan sent a lengthy letter to Post employees that answered some — but hardly all — of the questions swirling around the newsroom. Playbook spoke with numerous Posties, and here's what they're asking …

— What's driving the layoffs? Ryan explained the move Wednesday as being part of a strategic "shift away from areas that are no longer in service to our growing readership." But the paper's deteriorating finances in the post-Trump era are an open secret, and the topic went unaddressed at the town hall. Some employees suspect the layoffs are more about Ryan's personal quest to eliminate "dead wood" in the newsroom than anything else.

— Where are the layoffs going to hit? While Buzbee got a day's notice, editors lower on the masthead got none. Several section chiefs were left to tell frustrated reporters that they knew nothing more than was said at the town hall. Employees were left to closely parse Ryan's words, with some taking particular note of his suggestion that the paper's local staff needed to urgently improve its digital performance. The lack of detail has stoked fears of a desk vs. desk "Hunger Games" scenario.

— What about Bezos? When billionaire Amazon founder JEFF BEZOS addressed Post journalists after purchasing the paper in 2013, he promised to provide a financial "runway" to allow the Post to experiment and grow. After a Trump-inspired subscription jolt, the plane appeared to be solidly airborne, but recent struggles have cast new doubt on that. Bezos, meanwhile, hasn't addressed the Post newsroom since February 2016, and he has since said little publicly about his vision for the paper. The layoffs have Posties wondering: Have they finally reached the end of the runway?

LATEST FROM POLITICO HQ — via CNN's "Reliable Sources" newsletter by Oliver Darcy: "The powers that be in Rosslyn are plotting a major expansion for POLITICO. In a town hall held on Wednesday, where staffers were given gifts branded with the phrase 'a new chapter,' I'm told that [CEO GOLI SHEIKHOLESLAMI] announced to employees the Axel Springer-owned news outlet will grow its presence in California and London. Shikholeslami, who also promised to increase tech coverage (which comes after the shut down of Protocol), indicated that more than 150 new jobs will be created in 2023 alone."

BIDEN'S THURSDAY:

9 a.m.: The president will receive the President's Daily Brief.

11:05 a.m.: Biden will depart the White House en route to the U.S.-Africa Summit Leaders Session, where he will participate in a session on partnering on the African Union's Agenda 2063 at 11:15 a.m.

1:05 p.m.: Biden will return to the White House.

3:35 p.m.: Biden will depart the White House en route to the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit closing session on promoting food security and food systems resilience.

3:40 p.m.: Biden will participate in a family photo with leaders.

5:50 p.m.: The president will return to the White House.

8 p.m.: Biden will depart the White House en route to New Castle, Del., where he is scheduled to arrive at 9:05 p.m.

VP KAMALA HARRIS' THURSDAY — The VP will participate in the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit working lunch on multilateral cooperation at 2 p.m.

THE HOUSE will meet at 9 a.m., with last votes expected at 3 p.m. Pelosi will hold her weekly press conference at 10:45 a.m.

THE SENATE is in. CFPB Director ROHIT CHOPRA will testify before the Banking Committee at 10 a.m.

 

JOIN TODAY FOR A CONVERSATION ON FAMILY CARE IN AMERICA : Family caregivers are among our most overlooked and under-supported groups in the United States. The Biden Administration's new national strategy for supporting family caregivers outlines nearly 350 actions the federal government is committed to taking. Who will deliver this strategy? How should different stakeholders divide the work? Join POLITICO on Dec. 15 to explore how federal action can improve the lives of those giving and receiving family care across America. REGISTER HERE.

 
 

PHOTO OF THE DAY

President Joe Biden toasts with Senegalese President Macky Sall in the East Room of the White House.

President Joe Biden toasts with Senegalese President Macky Sall at the White House on Wednesday, Dec. 14, during the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit dinner. | Susan Walsh/AP Photo

PLAYBOOK READS

THE WHITE HOUSE

BIDEN'S SALES PITCH — "U.S. is 'all in' on Africa's future, Biden assures leaders of the continent," by Jonathan Lemire: "Addressing the heads of state from nearly 50 African nations gathered for the three-day summit, Biden took steps to begin repairing the trust with a continent that has felt abandoned by the United States — with Russia and, in particular, China stepping in to fill the void. Biden did not call out China by name, but much of his speech was squarely aimed at starting a continental competition with that other global superpower, which has invested billions upon billions in Africa."

— "Biden Aims to Inject New Energy Into U.S. Relations With African Nations," by NYT's Peter Baker and Declan Walsh: "At the same time, it did not include a sweeping, inspirational initiative like President GEORGE W. BUSH's PEPFAR program to combat AIDS or President BARACK OBAMA's Power Africa drive to electrify tens of millions of homes. Unclear was whether Mr. Biden's less splashy commitments would have a tangible impact on people's lives."

IT'S SWAB SEASON — "White House to restart free Covid home test program," by Adam Cancryn and David Lim: "The revival of one of the government's most popular and widely used pandemic programs comes as the administration prepares for another potential winter surge."

ALL POLITICS

2024 WATCH — "Rep. Gallego says some Democratic senators 'have encouraged me to run' against Sen. Sinema," by CBS' Robert Costa: "[Rep. RUBEN] GALLEGO [(D-Ariz.)] did not identify the senators who have prodded him to jump into the Senate race, but he believes those senators would 'absolutely' support him if he decides to launch a Senate bid next year. …

"'Probably not,' Gallego said Wednesday when asked if he would speak with [Senate Majority Leader] CHUCK SCHUMER before he decides about whether he will run for Senate."

AS WE NEAR TWO YEARS SINCE JAN. 6 — "Tech Firms Are Giving Money to Election Deniers Again," by Bloomberg's Emily Birnbaum and Dina Bass

VANTABLACK MONEY — "'Dark money in politics an even darker place' now, judges warn," by WaPo's Rachel Weiner

MORE MIDTERMS FALLOUT — "Recount requests delay Pennsylvania election certification," by AP's Mark Scolforo and Brooke Schultz in Harrisburg

CONGRESS

CRYPTO CONUNDRUM — "Lawmakers grapple with sheer size of FTX's missing billions," by WaPo's Jacob Bogage and Tory Newmyer: "Members of the Senate Banking Committee in a hearing Wednesday considered proposals to regulate crypto markets, including applying strict conditions like those over gambling, classifying crypto assets as securities, and pushing federal agencies to extend existing regulations for banks and brokerage houses into crypto markets."

— "FTX Fiasco Fails to Mute Congress's Biggest Crypto Enthusiasts," by Bloomberg's Steven Dennis and Laura Davison: "With skepticism about cryptocurrency growing among members of Congress, a handful of lawmakers, including Republican Senators CYNTHIA LUMMIS of Wyoming and PAT TOOMEY of Pennsylvania, are trying to convince colleagues that the FTX fiasco doesn't diminish the underlying value of digital currency."

PAUL PELOSI LATEST — "Video Footage of Attack on Paul Pelosi Shown at San Francisco Hearing," by NYT's Tim Arango in San Francisco

— "David DePape ordered to stand trial in violent assault of Paul Pelosi," CBS

FLURRY OF ACTIVITY …

HOT ON THE HILL — "Thanks to some procedural cunning, House staffers get overtime, paid parental leave benefits," by Roll Call's Jim Saksa

THE ECONOMY

FED UP — "Fed raises interest rates half a point to highest level in 15 years," by CNBC's Jeff Cox: "Keeping with expectations, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee voted to boost the overnight borrowing rate half a percentage point, taking it to a targeted range between 4.25% and 4.5%." Officials do not expect reductions "until 2024." Watch: "Fed hikes rates and signals more to come"

— How it affects you: "What Fed Rate Increases Mean for Mortgages, Credit Cards and More," by NYT's Tara Siegel Bernard

 

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POLICY CORNER

IMMIGRATION FILES — "Legal immigration to the U.S. rebounds from pandemic drop in visa approvals," by CBS' Camilo Montoya-Galvez

SO HOT RIGHT NOW — "Fusion Industry Suddenly White-Hot After U.S. Lab Breakthrough," by WSJ's Jennifer Hiller and William Boston: "Before this month's breakthrough, the energy industry had been riding a wave of clean-tech and climate-focused investing, and fusion-based companies now stand to compete for a bigger slice of that funding. The Fusion Industry Association, an industry group based in Washington, D.C., said fusion-energy companies have raised more than $5 billion in private funding, roughly doubling the amount from a year ago."

BEING SBF — "Sam Bankman-Fried's Harsh Bahamas Jail Could Shift His Stance on Extradition," by Bloomberg's Ava Benny-Morrison and Katanga Johnson: "People familiar with the matter said [SAM] BANKMAN-FRIED, 30, currently has his own room in the medical block of Fox Hill's maximum security unit, where he will remain until his Feb. 8 extradition hearing. One person said Bankman-Fried's relatives called the prison Tuesday night to ask whether vegan meals could be delivered to him. He can't receive visitors due to COVID restrictions at the prison."

WAR IN UKRAINE

HEADS UP — "U.S. Air Force veteran freed in Russia prisoner swap, Ukraine says," by WaPo's Victoria Bisset, David Stern and Dan Lamothe

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

FOR YOUR RADAR — "Amid Deadly Protests, Peru Declares a National State of Emergency," by NYT's Mitra Taj and Julie Turkewitz in Lima, Peru

— AP: "A timeline of events in Peru since the president's ouster"

BIRDS OF A FEATHER — "Xi Jinping Doubles Down on His Putin Bet. 'I Have a Similar Personality to Yours,'" by WSJ's Lingling Wei and Marcus Walker

BEYOND THE BELTWAY

MEGATREND — "U.S. deaths fell this year, but not to pre-COVID levels," by AP's Mike Stobbe

BORDER WAR — "Federal government sues over Gov. Doug Ducey's shipping container wall at border," by the Arizona Republic's Ronald Hansen

MUSK READS

ET Q, BRUTE? — "QAnon, adrift after Trump's defeat, finds new life in Elon Musk's Twitter," by WaPo's Drew Harwell

THERE AND BACK AGAIN — "Twitter banned the @ElonJet account tracking Musk's flights, reinstated it, then banned it again," by The Verge's Jay Peters

THIS BIRD DON'T FLY — "Why the 'Twitter Files' Are Falling Flat," by Joan Donovan for POLITICO Magazine

 

POLITICO AT CES 2023 : We are bringing a special edition of our Digital Future Daily newsletter to Las Vegas to cover CES 2023. The newsletter will take you inside the largest and most influential technology event on the planet, featuring every major and emerging industry in the technology ecosystem gathered in one place. The newsletter runs from Jan. 5-7 and will focus on the public policy related aspects of the event. Sign up today to receive exclusive coverage of CES 2023.

 
 
PLAYBOOKERS

Kevin Brady is leaving Congress with his hair.

Michelle Obama's book tour fashion choices got a write-up in the NYT.

Roger Taney's bust is being removed from the Capitol and replaced by one of Thurgood Marshall.

MEDIA MOVES — Rosa Prince, Dan Bloom and Emilio Casalicchio are joining POLITICO's London Playbook team. Prince will be an editor, Bloom will be deputy editor, and Casalicchio will be PM editor. The announcement

SPOTTED: Jen Psaki at Off The Record on Wednesday afternoon. Pic

OUT AND ABOUT — French Ambassador Philippe Etienne, Steve Clemons, Heather Podesta and Isiah Thomas hosted Améthyste at the ambassador's residence on Thursday night. SPOTTED: Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Reps. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Jim Himes, Shalanda Young, Mitch Landrieu, Amanda Finney, Celia Rouse, Katherine Tai, Ambassador Karen Pierce, Kirsten Allen, Remi Yamamoto, Opal Vadhan, Mike Donilon, John McCarthy, Mike LaRosa, Rajiv Shah, Abby Phillip, Olivia Nuzzi, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Betsy Klein, Tammy Haddad, Susanna Quinn, Ali Vitali, Weija Jiang and Luther Lowe, Jim Acosta, Robert and Elena Albritton, Goli Sheikholeslami, Brad Dayspring, Dafna Linzer, Matt Kaminski, Alex Thompson, Elena Schneider, Eli Stokols, Lee Satterfield and Patrick Steele, Robert Costa, Kurt Bardella, Heather Boushey, Carrie Budoff Brown, Stephanie Cutter, Joshua Dawsey, Symone Sanders, Vince Evans, Maude Okrah, Erica Loewe, Adrienne Elrod, Sam Feist, Juleanna Glover, Garrett Haake and Allison Harris, Jacqui Heinrich, Kasie Hunt, Maria Teresa Kumar, Alexander Marquadt, Phil Mattingly, Phil Rucker, Jasmine Wright, Ashley Parker, Steven Portnoy, Jim Scuitto, Jeremy Diamond, Karen Travers, Alayna Treene, Sara Cook, Ed O'Keefe, Daniel Lippman and Sabrina Singh. 

SPOTTED at the second annual bipartisan dinner hosted by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) at Ristorante San Lorenzo on Wednesday night: Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Christina Lombardi and Massimo Fabbri. Pic

— SPOTTED at a holiday party for the Office of Solicitor General at the Justice Department on Wednesday evening: AG Merrick Garland, Justices John Roberts, Elena Kagan and Brett Kavanaugh, Elizabeth Prelogar, Sri Srinivasan, Greg Katsas, Michelle Childs, Trevor McFadden, Vanita Gupta, Kenneth Polite, Jonathan Kanter, Anthony Coley, Don Verrilli, Jeff Wall, Hashim Mooppan and Joe Palmore.

— SPOTTED at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum dinner on Wednesday night: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson , Susan Rice, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Julie Sullivan, Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Gayle Wicker, and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Charles Capito, Reps. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) and Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), Maria Marable-Bunch, Lonnie Bunch III, Marcia and Alonso Jackson, Esther Coopersmith, Evan Rogister, Synne Espensen, John Bessler, Roger Sant, Ian Cameron, "Coach" Kathy Kemper and Patrick Jackson.

— United Chinese Americans, APA Justice Task Force and the Ohio Chinese American Association hosted a reception on Capitol Hill on Tuesday evening for Sherry Chen, a National Weather Service hydrologist who recently settled with the government after being accused of being a spy for China. SPOTTED: Reps. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) and Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Michael German, Ashley Gorski, Allegra Harpootlian, Nisha Ramachandran, Amy Qin, Robert Delaney, Gisela Perez Kusakawa, Haipei Shue, Vincent Wang, Krystal Ka'ai, John Hemann, Steve Simon and Peter Toren.

TRANSITION — Regan Delaney is now member services director for the Republican Governance Group. She previously was director of operations at the NRCC.

ENGAGED — Mike Sarchet, director of the Low Earth Orbit Systems Program Office at the National Reconnaissance Office, and Kathy O'Hearn, executive producer of Washington Post Live, got engaged Friday night at the top of the stars of the Andrew Mellon Auditorium. The couple met when she happened to sit next to him at a gala three years ago at the Mellon. She was there as a seat filler at the request of her friend Philip DuFour, who was running the event. Pic

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) … Ruy Teixeira … retired Gen. John Allen … Donna Brazile … POLITICO's Isabel Dobrin and Mollie Parlini … CQ's Valerie Yurk … Andrew Cote of Brinc Drones … Jim Dornan … Lauren French of Rep. Adam Schiff's (D-Calif.) office and House Intel … Heather Booth … Tara Corrigan of the Messina Group … Jeff Le of Conduent … Lenny Young of Rep. Julia Brownley's (D-Calif.) office … Patrick Oakford … Fox News' Griff Jenkins … Cheddar's Kristen Scholer … Danyell Tremmel … Andy Polesovsky … Caroline Ponseti of the Herald Group … McCauley Mateja … Sarah Sullivan … Jan Eberly … Maggie Gau … NRCC's Robert Boland … Brett Quick of the Crypto Council for Innovation … Erin Dwyer … Tim Dickson … Bill Knapp … Neri Zilber

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Correction: Tuesday's Playbook misidentified Shannon McGahn.

 

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N.Y. Today: How to fix the B.Q.E.?

What you need to know for Thursday.

Good morning. Today we'll see what the future might hold for the traffic nightmare that is the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. We'll also find out why the district attorney plans to spend $9 million to offer mental health care to people arrested in Manhattan.

Yuvraj Khanna for The New York Times

The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway is crumbling from carrying too much traffic — 129,000 vehicles a day. There's no consensus on what to do to fix it, even though at least a half-dozen plans have been floated in recent years. Now there are more. City officials said on Tuesday that they are considering several design ideas for rebuilding the B.Q.E., which dates to the 1940s. I asked Winnie Hu, who covers transportation and infrastructure, to explain.

One idea that's under consideration is to put back two lanes on the B.Q.E. that were eliminated just last year, making it a six-lane road again. That sounds like going back to the future at a time when transit advocates have been working to discourage rather than encourage automobiles in the city. What gives?

Yes, one idea is to restore the two lanes that were removed a year ago. The city would rebuild a six-lane highway with three lanes in each direction, which was the original configuration of the B.Q.E.

That is by far the most controversial of the ideas under consideration because you're correct, a lot of Brooklyn residents and transit advocates have been pushing for fewer cars for reasons that include cleaner air, less noise, improved safety and faster commutes.

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It's important to remember that what the city is presenting right now is a "menu of design ideas," not an actual plan. City officials have said repeatedly they want community input on these ideas before they move on to engineering drawings, blueprints and construction.

How much worse has traffic been on the B.Q.E. with only four lanes?

Worse, but then again, traffic has been worse on most highways in the New York area since the city opened up after the pandemic. It's probably not surprising: E-commerce surged, which put more delivery trucks on the streets. Car ownership in the city has also increased, and fewer people are taking subways or car-pooling now.

There have been complaints about more truck traffic in neighborhoods around the B.Q.E. as trucks and cars have gotten off the highway, looking for alternative routes on local roads when the B.Q.E. was backed up.

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Those complaints are not the only sign that traffic is up on local roads. The city says that bus speeds on several routes in Brooklyn — the B57, the B61 and the B63 — have declined compared with 2019.

But while traffic on the B.Q.E. is worse since the removal of the two lanes, Hank Gutman, who as transportation commissioner ordered them taken away in 2021, has cited improved safety as a result, because the remaining two lanes were widened, and shoulders were added for cars entrance and exit ramps or to pull over if they break down.

What is the city really looking to accomplish here?

The mayor wants to jump-start this project and begin construction within the next five years.

The B.Q.E. has been crumbling for a long time. The city first sounded the alarm eight years ago. Since then, there have been potential plans and counterplans that have been proposed and studied, with no decisions on how to proceed.

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What Mayor Adams has said he wants is to move forward and get something done, in part because he wants to tap into billions of dollars in federal infrastructure money. That money won't be available forever, so speed is suddenly crucial. But a lot of critics are asking if you can come up with something transformative in this expedited time frame.

At first glance, how transformative are these ideas?

The ideas were essentially three variations on how to rebuild the triple cantilever. The cantilever, if you look at it from Manhattan, is stacked like a wedding cake — three levels of traffic. All three of the variations would cover over the top layer of traffic with landscaping and park space. So even though you will have three lanes going in each direction, you won't see them when you're in Brooklyn Heights because there will be green space on top of them.

The city has even come up with a new name for the B.Q.E. Explain.

The city controls 1.5 miles of the B.Q.E., which is roughly 18 miles long. The state is responsible for the rest. City officials have been focusing on that 1.5-mile section, which includes the cantilever. They have rebranded it B.Q.E. Central.

But they have also talked about improvements on the sections of the highway north and south of there that they would have to work out with the state.

The city Transportation Department will be investing roughly $500,000 to work with community organizations along the corridor from Bay Ridge to Red Hook to Greenpoint to look at ways to connect communities that were divided by the highway.

WEATHER

Expect a cloudy day in the low 40s, with possible rain in the early afternoon. In the evening, expect wind gusts and a chance of rain, with temperatures near 40.

ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING

In effect until Dec. 26.

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Mental health care for people arrested in Manhattan

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

The "criminal justice system must not be the main vehicle for addressing mental and behavioral health," Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, said in announcing a plan to spend $9 million to offer mental health and housing services to people who have been arrested.

Bragg said people charged with crimes in Manhattan would be connected with mental health and housing services soon after their first court appearances in an effort to speed treatment. He said that "by addressing these human needs, we address the broader needs of public safety."

He announced his plan as the city continues to struggle with how to handle mentally ill people living on the streets and in the subway system. Bragg's initiative comes two weeks after Mayor Eric Adams issued a directive giving the police more latitude to remove mentally ill people from streets and subways and hospitalize them involuntarily.

The mayor's plan is facing a court challenge. Advocates for mentally ill people, arguing that involuntary removals would violate constitutional rights, sought a temporary restraining order last week. On Wednesday, a judge, Paul Crotty, declined to grant it but said he would hold hearings in the case in coming weeks.

Unlike Adams's plan, Bragg's initiative will involve voluntary participation by people charged with crimes. Bragg said that some defendants now wait weeks or months before getting access to care.

In the first phase of the plan, 36 social service workers are reaching out to homeless people in five areas of Manhattan to help provide basic items like food and clothing and connect them with behavioral health services and permanent housing.

In the second phase of the plan, social workers will meet defendants in Manhattan criminal court following their arraignments. The social workers can then help defendants get clothing, MetroCards and meals, along with connections to long-term treatment programs and supportive housing. They can also assist defendants to see that they do not miss court appearances as their cases move forward.

METROPOLITAN DIARY

Astoria sidewalk

Every week since 1976, Metropolitan Diary has published stories by, and for, New Yorkers. Now we're asking for your help picking the best Diary entry of the year. The voting closes on Monday at midnight.

Dear Diary:

Holding his newborn daughter in one arm and a Christmas tree in the other, my friend navigated his way down a narrow Astoria sidewalk through a crowd of frustrated pedestrians slowed by a Christmas market.

"Hey," he shouted to a tree vendor. "Which tree is more expensive — this one or that one?"

"That depends," the vendor said. "Which one do you like better?"

— Casey Barrett

Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B.

Hannah Fidelman and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team nytoday@nytimes.com.

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