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Presented by Amazon: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. | | | | |  | | By Rachael Bade, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun | | | The scene on Capitol Hill today perfectly encapsulated the Democrats’ internal dynamics right now: Sen. RON WYDEN (D-Ore.) was talking to reporters just before lunch about how he was certain that Dems could all find common ground on Build Back Better, specifically name-checking Sen. JOE MANCHIN of West Virginia. Moments later, Insider reporter Joseph Zeballos caught sight of Manchin himself and decided to break away from the Wyden gaggle to ask whether raising the cap on SALT deductions should go in BBB. Manchin’s response: “What Build Back Better bill? There is no … I mean, I don’t know what y’all are talking about.” Asked if he is engaged in talks on the bill, Manchin seemed to get a bit peeved: “No, no, no, no. It’s dead.” Just after 1 p.m., the senator was asked to clarify if he truly meant that BBB is “dead.” He said: “If we're talking about the whole big package, that’s gone.” Would he mind a smaller version? “We’ll see what people come up with. I don't know.” Whomp, whomp. DEMS BIGFOOT THE BIPARTISAN ECA TALKS — Just a couple days ago, few realized that top Democrats were working on their own version of an Electoral Count Act reform. Now, as bipartisan talks on the issue heat up, those Dems — led by Sens. ANGUS KING (I-Maine), DICK DURBIN (D-Ill.) and AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-Minn.) — have released their own outline. The deets, via Burgess Everett for Congress Minutes: — Current law: It only takes one representative and one senator to object to a state’s electoral votes and force both chambers to debate the issue. From there, it takes a simple majority of each chamber to sustain the objection and reject that state’s electors. — Dems’ draft proposal: It would take the support of one-third of the House and Senate to force a vote on an objection. And if a chamber wanted to sustain that objection, it would require three-fifths of lawmakers, not a simple majority. — “Some other notable updates include making the vice president’s role ceremonial, which would permanently squash former President DONALD TRUMP’s theory that the veep can overturn an election. Moreover, their draft would clarify the role of governors in finalizing states’ election results.” Reading between the lines: These thresholds would almost certainly ensure that any objection would have to be a bipartisan effort, and they would have stopped Republicans from even forcing a vote on the 2020 results. ( One-pager on the draft proposal) A turf battle? The entire situation screams out classic congressional turf war, as Dems look to advance their own version of this overhaul, even as the bipartisan Senate group said they’d work with the Senate Rules Committee (chaired by Klobuchar). Those interested in seeing the bipartisan group succeed may ask about the need for two competing versions of the bill. But some Dems would argue that having their own bill could actually keep the pressure up on the bipartisan group. We shall see. Meanwhile, Trump released a statement this morning underscoring the need for such reforms. In the release, he blasted the effort to change the ECA, decried the Jan. 6 select committee’s work and — in a new hit on his ex-No. 2 — called for former VP MIKE PENCE to be investigated for not sending back the votes for recertification or approval. Good Tuesday afternoon.
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PPI estimates that Amazon invested $34 billion in American infrastructure in 2020 . Every Amazon job comes with a starting wage of $15 an hour and comprehensive benefits for regular, full-time employees. Learn more. | | | JUDICIARY SQUARE THE RIVER OF POWER — Eight of the nine current Supreme Court justices attended law school at Harvard or Yale (the outlier, AMY CONEY BARRETT, went to Notre Dame). House Majority Whip JIM CLYBURN (D-S.C.) and Sen. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-S.C.) have both suggested that’s one reason that STEPHEN BREYER’s successor should be someone who lacks an Ivy League pedigree — and they have just the jurist in mind: J. MICHELLE CHILDS, who happens to be from their home state. “‘We run the risk of creating an elite society,’ said Clyburn, a graduate of South Carolina State University,” via AP’s Jessica Gresko . “‘We’ve got to recognize that people come from all walks of life, and we ought not dismiss anyone because of that.’” Childs, a 55-year-old federal judge, “got her law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law. She also has a master’s degree from the university and another degree in law from Duke. … Childs’ non-Ivy League education and her upbringing in a single-parent household would make her a justice more representative of Americans, Clyburn said.” — Flashback, from 1992’s “What It Takes” by Richard Ben Cramer: “[ROBERT] BORK was big-time. He taught Constitutional law, for Chrissake, at Yale ! You had to understand how that was, to Joe. One time — this was years before, his sons were young, in grade school — Joe was sitting around with his pals in Wilmington, a weekend, somebody’s backyard. Joe said: ‘Where’s your kid going to college?’ One friend said: ‘Christ, Joe! He’s eight years old!’ Another said: ‘Ahh, there’s a lotta good schools now.’ ‘Lemme tell you guys something,’ Joe said. … ‘There’s a river of power that flows through this country … And that river,’ Joe said, ‘flows from the Ivy League.’ Robert Bork came from the River of Power. And now he was going to the Supreme Court. Unless he was stopped by Joey Biden — Syracuse Law, ‘68.” BUT, BUT, BUT … The Hill’s Harper Neidig reports that Childs’ legal “record could hold a number of red flags for progressives who have thus far cheered Biden’s first-year record of elevating former public defenders, civil rights lawyers and labor champions to the federal bench. JEFF HAUSER, the executive director of the progressive Revolving Door Project, said that Childs’s background as a management-side labor attorney is ‘conspicuous’ among Biden’s judicial appointments so far and that it raises questions that need to be answered in order to ensure that broad support from the Democratic coalition should she be nominated to the Supreme Court.” AMERICA AND THE WORLD RUSSIA-UKRAINE LATEST — Russia said today that it had not, in fact, submitted any formal written response to the U.S.’ latest proposal on the Ukraine situation, despite reports that it had. “Kremlin spokesman DMITRY PESKOV told reporters Tuesday that there has been ‘confusion’ and that Russia’s response to the U.S. proposals is still in the works and will be formulated by Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN,” AP’s Dasha Litvinova reports in Moscow. — Putin is planning to hold a news conference today, where he could speak on the Ukraine situation publicly for the first time since December. Looking ahead, via NYT: “Mr. Putin may also speak in the coming days to Prime Minister BORIS JOHNSON of Britain, Mr. Peskov said. And after two phone calls between Mr. Putin and President EMMANUEL MACRON of France in recent days, Russian and French officials were preparing an in-person summit to be held ‘in the near future,’ Mr. Peskov said.” — Putin is also expected to travel to Beijing this week for the Olympics opening ceremony, where he will also “have his first offline meeting with President XI JINPING in nearly two years, a long-anticipated opportunity for them to discuss Ukraine and other issues,” WaPo’s Eva Dou and Mary Ilyushina write. — Ukraine, the U.K. and Poland are teaming up to create a three-country partnership — though, WSJ’s Matthew Luxmoore notes that Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY’s announcement was “short on specifics and didn’t amount to a formal alliance.” CHINA STEPS INTO A VACUUM — As the U.S. pulls back from the Mideast, China is swooping into the region. “China is nowhere near rivaling the United States’ vast involvement in the Middle East. But states there are increasingly looking to China not just to buy their oil, but to invest in their infrastructure and cooperate on technology and security, a trend that could accelerate as the United States pulls back,” NYT’s Ben Hubbard and Amy Qin report in Beirut, Lebanon . “For Beijing, the recent turmoil in neighboring countries like Afghanistan and Kazakhstan has reinforced its desire to cultivate stable ties in the region.”
| | | | DON’T MISS CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO’s new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE. | | | | | THE PANDEMIC THE VACCINE EQUATION — U.S. regulators are urging “Pfizer to apply for emergency authorization for a two-dose regimen of its COVID-19 vaccine for children 6 months to 5 years old while awaiting data on a three-dose course, aiming to clear the way for the shots as soon as late February,” AP’s Zeke Miller reports. PUNISHING PUSHBACK — State medical boards throughout the U.S. want to lay down the law and impose penalties on doctors who have spread dangerous misinformation about Covid, Darius Tahir reports . “But in some cases the responses from some medical boards and state officials have been stymied by political backlash. States like Tennessee and North Dakota, for example, have restricted state medical boards’ powers. And now legislators in 10 other states — including Florida and South Carolina — have introduced similar measures.” JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH WHO’S TALKING — Former Trump White House press secretary KAYLEIGH MCENANY has turned over text messages to the Jan. 6 select committee, ABC’s Jonathan Karl, Benjamin Siegel and Will Steakin report. “A source familiar with her interactions with the committee has told ABC News that text messages from McEnany's phone were quoted in a recent letter the committee sent to IVANKA TRUMP . The texts came directly from documents turned over by McEnany, said the source. … McEnany appeared virtually before investigators for several hours on Jan. 13, according to a source familiar with her testimony.” POLICY CORNER IMMIGRATION FILES — DHS Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS was met with sharp criticism and questioning in a string of meetings with Border Patrol agents last week, CNN’s Geneva Sands reports . “Frustrations ranged from the Covid-19 pandemic to immigration policy and at points devolved into open hostility, with one agent turning his back on the secretary and another questioning Mayorkas for wearing a jacket with the Border Patrol badge. During a meeting in Laredo, Texas, an agent asked the secretary when he had graduated from the Border Patrol Academy, according to three sources that heard the remarks. The secretary replied that he had not. Then ‘why’ are you wearing the badge, the agent questioned, according to a source's recollection of the exchange.”
| | | | 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. | | | | | THE ECONOMY INFLATION WATCH — As inflation rises, so too does a correlating pessimistic feeling among consumers: “Consumer perception of current economic conditions in December was almost even with April 2020 levels, when sentiment bottomed out following the first major restrictions to control the coronavirus pandemic,” WSJ’s Danny Dougherty and Andrew Barnett report. THE STATE OF THE JOB MARKET — New Labor Department data released today show that “the number of posted jobs rose 1.4% to 10.9 million on the last day of December, compared with the previous month,” AP’s Christopher Rugaber writes. — Meanwhile, the Great Resignation continues. “Some 4.3 million people quit or changed jobs in December — down from last month’s all-time high but still near record levels,” WaPo’s Eli Rosenberg writes. ALL POLITICS CASH DASH — NYT’s Shane Goldmacher and Rachel Shorey dig in on the deep spending that is shaping the midterms, illuminated in the new FEC filings. “The Democratic and Republican national committees, as well as the main House and Senate committees, pulled in nearly identical sums — about $400 million each.”
| | | | A message from Amazon:   Amazon employees have seen the difference $15 an hour can make. | | | BEYOND THE BELTWAY CRYPTO COMES CALLING — A handful of Western states are toying with allowing digital currencies to cover tax payments, a controversial idea that threatens “to erode a key distinction upholding the supremacy of the U.S. dollar over its would-be digital competitors: Americans can use U.S. dollars, but not cryptocurrencies, to pay their taxes,” Ben Schreckinger writes. PLAYBOOKERS IN MEMORIAM — “Maj. Gen. John K. Singlaub, who waged clandestine warfare for the U.S. Army and the C.I.A. from the World War II years to Vietnam, then retired from the military under pressure after repeatedly criticizing President Jimmy Carter’s national security policies, died on Saturday. He was 100.” Full obit from NYT’s Richard Goldstein MEDIA MOVES — Taylor Lorenz is joining WaPo as a tech columnist. She previously was a tech reporter at the NYT. WaPo announcement — Emily Kopp is joining U.S. Right to Know as a reporter. She previously led Covid-19 coverage at CQ Roll Call, and is a Kaiser Health News and POLITICO alum. TRANSITIONS — Eric Asche is now president of climate nonprofit Potential Energy. He previously was chief marketing officer of Truth Initiative. … Billy Fuerst is now comms director for Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa). He most recently was comms director for Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.). … Maddy McDaniel is now comms director for Mandela Barnes’ Wisconsin Senate campaign. She previously was comms director at Invest in America, and is an Everytown for Gun Safety alum. … … Aaron Groce is now legislative director for Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.). He most recently was senior legislative assistant for Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.). … Lacy Nelson is now digital director for Katie Hobbs’ Arizona gubernatorial campaign. She previously was digital director for Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and is a Doug Jones alum. … Karina Gallardo is joining Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-Calif.) office as scheduler. She previously was scheduler for Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.). She replaces Mariana Perera, who’s leaving D.C. to complete a Fulbright research grant in Brazil. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Emily Hytha, deputy COS for Rep. Michelle Fischbach (R-Minn.), and Ian Foley, legislative director for California’s 22nd Congressional District (formerly Devin Nunes’ seat), welcomed Addison Foley on Thursday. Pic BONUS BIRTHDAYS: POLITICO’s Gabrielle Zeigler and Sean Jennings
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