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Presented by Facebook: The unofficial guide to official Washington. | | | | | |  | | By Tara Palmeri | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | Editor’s Note: We published an item atop yesterday’s Playbook that erroneously placed Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor dining with Democratic leaders at a Washington restaurant Friday night. The person who sent us the tip and the picture mistook Iris Weinshall, wife of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, for the justice. POLITICO standards require we verify this information. The editor who received the tip failed to do so in this case. We deeply regret the error. TOP POLITICAL STORY OF THE DAY — President JOE BIDEN is heading to Georgia, “the belly of the beast” of voter suppression, to tackle the issue head on. His speech on Tuesday is “expected to not only echo the themes of his address on the anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection but to expand on his endorsement of a filibuster carveout to pass voting rights legislation in the Senate,” Laura Barrón-López and Christopher Cadelago preview. QUOTE OF THE DAY — From that same article, here’s House Majority Whip JIM CLYBURN (D-S.C.) aiming his fire at Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) for arguing that any vote on the matter must be bipartisan: “I am, as you know, a Black person , descended of people who were given the vote by the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution. The 15th amendment was not a bipartisan vote, it was a single party vote that gave Black people the right to vote. Manchin and others need to stop saying that because that gives me great pain for somebody to imply that the 15th Amendment of the United States Constitution is not legitimate because it did not have bipartisan buy-in.” QUESTION OF THE DAY — Did the social media ban actually help DONALD TRUMP? WSJ’s Michael Bender and Georgia Wells report that over the last year — during which, he’s been absent from Facebook and Twitter — his net favorability ratings have improved from -20 to -9. Even if -9 isn’t a great number, the improvement is significant, and Trump’s advisers have a theory why things have changed. “Current and former aides to Mr. Trump said the shift in popularity was largely attributable to the former president’s diminished social-media presence. His constant, often provocative tweets helped galvanize supporters but provided steady ammunition for his detractors. During his time in office, even his most ardent supporters told pollsters they wished Mr. Trump wouldn’t broadcast each grievance and respond to every criticism.” “I don’t know a single person in Trump world who regrets that this has happened — not a single one,” one Trump adviser told them. As for Twitter, the WSJ says it’s not suffering without him — their user numbers continue to climb. STAT OF THE DAY — 41%: The percentage of Biden’s Senate-confirmed nominees that have actually been confirmed over the past year — apparently “the worst it has ever been,” reports NYT’s Elizabeth Williamson, citing a new analysis from the Partnership for Public Service. FEATURE OF THE DAY — “A rural Washington school board race shows how far-right extremists are shifting to local power,” by WaPo’s Hannah Allam in Eatonville: “The establishment candidate thought she was a shoo-in, but she hadn’t contended with the home-schooling, anti-masking member of the far-right Three Percent movement.” GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY — A two-month-old baby who went missing amid the turmoil of the U.S.’ final days in Afghanistan last summer has been reunited with his family, report Reuters’ Mica Rosenberg, Jonathan Landay and James Mackenzie. BAD NEWS OF THE DAY — Rocketing coronavirus numbers are so widespread that basic parts of society may have trouble functioning across the country this week, AP’s Jennifer Sinco Kelleher and Terry Tang write : “Ambulances in Kansas speed toward hospitals then suddenly change direction because hospitals are full. Employee shortages in New York City cause delays in trash and subway services and diminish the ranks of firefighters and emergency workers. Airport officials shut down security checkpoints at the biggest terminal in Phoenix and schools across the nation struggle to find teachers for their classrooms.” Good Sunday morning, and thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri . | | A message from Facebook: Why Facebook supports updated internet regulations, including Section 230
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Hear from Aaron on why Facebook supports updating regulations on the internet’s most pressing challenges, including reforming Section 230 to set clear guidelines for all large tech companies. | | | THE MAN FROM SEARCHLIGHT — Former Senate Majority Leader HARRY REID “famously hated goodbyes,” write the Nevada Independent’s Howard Stutz and Jackie Valley . But on Saturday, in downtown Las Vegas, thousands of mourners gathered to do exactly that. Among the speakers: all five of Reid’s children, Presidents JOE BIDEN and BARACK OBAMA, House Speaker NANCY PELOSI and Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER. Biden praised Reid in the most Biden-esque terms: “Harry is like the guys I grew up with in Scranton. Harry would always have your back. He knew I had his.” Pelosi heralded Reid’s legislative achievements, which include passing the Affordable Care Act, and claimed that she’d “never heard Harry say an unkind word about any of his Senate colleagues, Democratic or Republican.” “I don’t know about that, Nancy,” Obama responded in his own eulogy, drawing laughs from the crowd. “But he would work with them.” Video of the exchange, via C-SPAN … More coverage from the Nevada Independent SUNDAY BEST … Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN on this week’s talks with Russia, on ABC’s “This Week”: “To make actual progress, it’s very hard to see that happening when there’s an ongoing escalation, when Russia has a gun to the head of Ukraine, with 100,000 troops near its borders, the possibility of doubling that in very short order. So, if we’re seeing de-escalation, if we’re seeing a reduction in tensions, that is the kind of environment in which we could make real progress, and again, address … reasonable concerns on both sides.” CDC Director ROCHELLE WALENSKY on criticism of the agency, on “Fox News Sunday”: “This is hard. We have ever-evolving science with an ever-evolving variant. And my job is to provide updated guidance in the context of rapidly-rising cases. And that is what we've done and I’m here to explain it to the American people, and I am committed to continuing to do so and to continuing to improve.” Sen. MIKE ROUNDS (R-S.D.) on whether Congress should pass a law prohibiting Trump from running for president again, on “This Week”: “The courts are the appropriate place where those questions should be answered. This is not going to be up to members of the United States Senate or the House, in my opinion.” — On whether he would support another Trump run: “I will take a hard look at it. Personally, what I have told people is, I'm going to support the Republican nominee to be president. I'm not sure that the eventual nominee has even shown up yet. … It's critical that we take back the House. It's critical that we take back the United States Senate. And … based upon that, then we will decide who our nominee for president is going to be.” | | | |   | | | BIDEN’S SUNDAY — The president has nothing on his public schedule. VP KAMALA HARRIS’ SUNDAY — The VP has nothing on her public schedule. | | | | BECOME A GLOBAL INSIDER: The world is more connected than ever. It has never been more essential to identify, unpack and analyze important news, trends and decisions shaping our future — and we’ve got you covered! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Global Insider author Ryan Heath navigates the global news maze and connects you to power players and events changing our world. Don’t miss out on this influential global community. Subscribe now. | | | | | PHOTO OF THE DAY | 
President Joe Biden speaks during a memorial service for former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid at the Smith Center in Las Vegas, on Saturday, Jan. 8. | John Locher/AP Photo | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | THE WHITE HOUSE HIDIN’ BIDEN — If you feel like you haven’t seen many sit-down interviews with Biden in his first year as president, it’s probably because you haven’t. “As Biden wraps up his first year in the White House, he has held fewer news conferences than any of his five immediate predecessors at the same point in their presidencies, and he has taken part in fewer media interviews than any of his recent predecessors,” AP’s Aamer Madhani writes . “The dynamic has left the White House facing questions about whether the president, who vowed to have the most transparent administration in the nation’s history, is falling short in pulling back the curtain on how his administration operates and missing opportunities to explain his agenda to Americans.” POLITICS ROUNDUP STICKING IT OUT — Sen. JOHN THUNE (R-S.D.), seen by some as MITCH MCCONNELL’S heir apparent as Senate GOP leader, announced Saturday that he’s staying put and will run for a fourth term this year. For months, he’s cited family concerns as a major reason why he might not seek reelection. But party leadership had encouraged him to stay. More from the Sioux Falls Argus Leader … His announcement — Also running: Sen. RON JOHNSON (R-Wis.) has decided to run for a third term, and made the announcement this morning in a WSJ op-ed. It’s a boon for Senate Republicans, eager to have the advantages of incumbency in a major swing state. ICYMI: On Friday, Andrew Desiderio, Burgess Everett and Marianne LeVine broke down Johnson’s thinking for Congress Minutes 2022 WATCH — Trumpy Pennsylvania state Sen. DOUG MASTRIANO officially jumped into the governor’s race Saturday. The conservative firebrand aligned himself closely with the effort to overturn the 2020 election, and he “parlayed anger over coronavirus pandemic rules and no-holds-barred support for former President DONALD TRUMP into an extended political moment,” writes the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Charles Thompson. He included former Trump national security adviser MICHAEL FLYNN and former Trump legal adviser JENNA ELLIS as speakers at his launch. AMERICA AND THE WORLD TO RUSSIA, WITH A CARROT … In talks with Russia starting Monday, the U.S. plans to be willing “to discuss the placement of missiles in Ukraine and the scope of regional military exercises,” WaPo’s Paul Sonne, John Hudson and Ellen Nakashima report. Potential reciprocal offers to avoid putting missiles in Ukraine and to set some restrictions on the exercises are aimed at making headway with the Russians, amid growing fears about a VLADIMIR PUTIN-ordered invasion. … AND A STICK: U.S. officials, in a rare public and preemptive manner, told NYT’s David Sanger and Eric Schmitt what sanctions Russia can expect to face if it invades Ukraine. On the table: “cutting off Russia’s largest financial institutions from global transactions, imposing an embargo on American-made or American-designed technology needed for defense-related and consumer industries, and arming insurgents in Ukraine.” — An interesting nugget: A recent White House review of the U.S. handling of Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 concluded that the Obama administration “failed at their central strategic objective: to cause so much pain that Mr. Putin would be forced to withdraw.” This move is, in part, a response to that. Meanwhile, Russia erupted over Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN’s warning about its behavior in Kazakhstan, which the country is sending troops to after several days of violence and unrest, Reuters reports. What Blinken said: "One lesson of recent history is that once Russians are in your house, it's sometimes very difficult to get them to leave." The Russian foreign ministry’s response: “If Antony Blinken loves history lessons so much, then he should take the following into account: when Americans are in your house, it can be difficult to stay alive and not be robbed or raped.” | | | |   | | | BEYOND THE BELTWAY THE NORTHAM ERA ENDS — With less than a week remaining in his tenure, Virginia Gov. RALPH NORTHAM is the subject of an in-depth look back at the last four years by WaPo’s Gregory Schneider. In 2019, he was nearly driven from office after the revelation that, decades back, he’d included a racist blackface photo on his page of the medical school yearbook. “Over three tumultuous years, Northam recovered from the scandal to become what Sen. TIM KAINE (D-Va.) calls the most consequential Virginia governor of the modern era. Northam led a Democratic majority in the General Assembly to abolish the death penalty, expand access to the vote, legalize marijuana and pass a long list of other changes, large and small. … “Northam’s rebirth is as unlikely a story as any you might find in today’s polarized world of instant cancellation. It was driven partly by an extraordinary effort to connect with Black constituents across Virginia, a process that Northam says broke him down and built him back a better person — more aware of the ugly reality of race in America. ‘I’m not sure I would have signed up for this experience, but it’s really just opened my eyes,’ Northam said in an interview.” PIN THIS FOR 2024 — Wisconsin state Assembly Speaker ROBIN VOS said “there is ‘zero chance’ the GOP-controlled Legislature will take over the awarding of the state’s 10 presidential elector votes in 2024, even as Democrats worry that is their goal,” AP’s Scott Bauer reports. The comments come after Sen. RON JOHNSON (R-Wis.) had encouraged GOP lawmakers in the state to take over elections. CHICAGO’S SHADOW — The fight over whether and how long to keep schools remote is pitting teachers unions against parents — and worrying Democrats, report NYT’s Dana Goldstein and Noam Scheiber . In several places, “the tenuous labor peace that has allowed most schools to operate normally this year is in danger of collapsing,” they warn. There are complicated health and educational imperatives at play on either side of the debate. And politically, the fallout from Chicago’s school closure last week and the Virginia elections in November loom over Dems. DEMOCRACY/DYING/DARKNESS — Iowa Republicans are banning reporters from working in the state Senate chamber starting Monday. They defended the move, which will push journalists to the public gallery above the floor, as a recalibration while “non-traditional media outlets proliferate.” But press advocates and Democrats blasted the change as a threat to transparency and democracy, and called it retaliation for coverage Republicans didn’t like. More from the Des Moines Register VALLEY TALK FACEBOOK UNDER FIRE — KATIE HARBATH, Facebook’s former public policy director for global elections and its first Republican employee in D.C., has left the social media behemoth and is speaking out about its role in politics. WSJ’s Jeff Horwitz reports that Harbath has “come to believe that unless there is urgent intervention from governments and tech platforms, social media will likely incubate future political violence like that of the Capitol riot.” She also thinks the company’s leaders lack the will to make the essential changes. | | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Ruben Gallego was watching the “Paw Patrol” movie, and had questions. “What gives the Paw Patrol authority to operate outside of Adventure Bay?” he tweeted. “It’s not like Mayor Humdinger would allow it to happen.” Eric Swalwell, a fellow father of young children, responded: “In most states, peace officer powers extend to every jurisdiction.” Sean Casten announced that he tested positive for Covid-19. Per Fox News’ Chad Pergram, he is the fourth House member to test positive in 2022, and the 19th since Dec. 18. TRANSITIONS — Aditi Juneja will be chief of staff at progressive grassroots fundraiser Movement Voter Project. She previously was political culture director at Protect Democracy. … Graham Conlan is now an LA for Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.), handling the financial services portfolio. He previously was policy counsel at Daly Consulting Group. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — David Chalian, political director at CNN, and Justin Bernstine, associate dean of students at American University, welcomed Isaac Bernstine Chalian on Saturday. He came in at 7 lbs, 9 oz. and 18.5 inches and joins big sister Olivia. Pic … Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Playbook’s own Raghu Manavalan … Linda Greenhouse … CNN’s Brooke Brower … Pamela Walsh … U.N. Development Programme’s Sarah Jackson-Han … Richard Fontaine … NPR’s Kenya Young … Fred Wertheimer … Don Kent of the Nickles Group … Tasha Hendershot … Luke Holland of Sen. Jim Inhofe’s (R-Okla.) office … Richard Fowler … AARP’s Jodi Sakol … Deana Bass Williams … Dan Black … Facebook’s Diana Doukas … Jessica Medeiros Garrison … Colin Campbell of Yahoo News … Sam Arora … Joe Onek of the Raben Group (8-0) … Isabelle Solomon … former Rep. Mike Capuano (D-Mass.) (7-0) … Al Felzenberg … Peter Edelman of Georgetown Law … Ron Castleman … former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin … Richard Neffson … Tim Punke of Monument Advocacy … PBS’ Kristin Lehner Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike Zapler, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Allie Bice, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross. | | A message from Facebook: Facebook puts your safety and security front-and-center
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