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Presented by United Indian Nations of Oklahoma and 141 Tribes Standing for Tribal Sovereignty: | | | | |  | | By Alex Thompson , Elena Schneider and Eli Stokols | Presented by United Indian Nations of Oklahoma and 141 Tribes Standing for Tribal Sovereignty | Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Eli Sen. BERNIE SANDERS’ 2020 campaign manager and current adviser FAIZ SHAKIR sparked both outrage and glee Monday morning by publicly slamming President JOE BIDEN’s recent proposal for Democrats in South Carolina to lead off the 2024 presidential primary. In a New York Times op-ed , Shakir called Biden’s proposal “comical, if it weren’t tragic.” In an interview a few hours after the piece was published, he added that putting South Carolina first was a “fatal flaw” in Biden’s plan and an “obvious slap in the face to our good sense.” South Carolina was the state that propelled Biden to victory in the 2020 primary. And the president’s allies in the party were unamused by Shakir’s piece. “Zero tolerance — ZERO for any disrespect or dismissal of Black voters,” Democratic National Committee Chairman JAIME HARRISON wrote on Twitter while retweeting a similar critique. PATRICK DILLON, a Democratic strategist whose wife, JEN O’MALLEY DILLON, is Biden’s deputy chief of staff, tweeted Shakir’s piece with this comment : “Had to read this twice just to confirm that it does not mention Black voters even once.” Shakir, in our interview, was unmoved by his critics. “It's a very insulting approach to suggest that somehow we don't care about Black voters because we think South Carolina shouldn’t go first. Come on. Get real.” He added that he’d support Georgia going first, pointing out that it is more diverse and has a higher percentage of Black voters than South Carolina. He said he would rather see Nevada at the head of the pack but would prefer any of the other first five in Biden’s plan — which also includes New Hampshire, Michigan, and Georgia — to go first over South Carolina. While Shakir insisted his pushback against South Carolina was not “for a strategic intent of Bernie or anyone else,” he is not exactly a disinterested party. South Carolina turned the tide against Sanders in 2020 and Shakir in April penned a memo stating that Sanders had not ruled out another presidential run if Biden bows out. A South Carolina-first primary would not be ideal for a Sanders 2024 candidacy. Shakir said that he still believes Biden will run, but that Sanders’ position hadn’t changed. “If [Biden] were not to run, then all options are on the table,” he said. He said that he gave Sanders a heads up about the op-ed beforehand. “I think he had concerns about the calendar as well,” Shakir said, but added he didn’t want to speak for the senator. Sanders’ office declined to comment on the op-ed. Biden’s political brain trust believes they have the moral and political high ground when it comes to the calendar and don’t care to pick a fight over it with Bernie world. “We can all agree that an early primary calendar that looks like America and reflects the values of our party serves the process well,” said one Biden adviser, who asked to remain anonymous. “And making sure that the Democratic party’s most loyal voters — Black voters — are at the front of the line and not at the back of the bus feels like something no one should be arguing about.” Regardless of intention, Biden’s proposal has prompted the first political fight of the 2024 primary. Many Democrats, including progressives like Rep. RO KHANNA (D-Calif.), have already come out in favor of the proposal, which the full DNC will vote on in Philadelphia in early February. But Shakir is among a number of Democrats who are beginning to push back before the official vote. Democrats from New Hampshire, which would see its treasured first-in-the-nation status disappear, have been especially critical. Sen. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-N.H.) even snubbed the president’s invitation to the White House Congressional Ball Monday night, as Punchbowl reported . The president’s team has tried to quell potential objections by saying the plan only applies to 2024 and can be revisited again before 2028. And on Friday, the DNC panel charged with reordering the presidential calendar codified a process to review the early states ahead of 2028. “This calendar is good for a president who won’t be challenged, but it might not make sense when there’s an open primary again,” said one Rules and Bylaws Committee member. “This is a calendar for 2024, but not necessarily for 2028. I don’t think the calendar question is over.” Other operatives, including self-identified moderates, also fumed at the proposal but notably declined to go on the record blasting it. “The process to get here was messy and not well thought out,” said one moderate Democratic operative working in an early state. “This was about the president and his team shutting down even the possibility of a 2024 primary challenge, looking out for his own personal politics, and using his control of the DNC to reward the state that delivered him the nomination last time.” MESSAGE US — Are you BILLY SHAHEEN or another pissed off Democrat from New Hampshire? We want to hear from you! And we’ll keep you anonymous. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com .
| | | | A message from United Indian Nations of Oklahoma and 141 Tribes Standing for Tribal Sovereignty: 141 federally recognized tribes from across America are warning Congress that H.R. 2758 and S. 3443 endanger the culture and identity of every tribe in the nation. Federal acknowledgment of tribes should be based on verified and authentic historical records, not on politics and backroom horse-trading. Click to watch the video and learn more: https://www.uinoklahoma.com/advocacy | | | | | | This one is from Allie. Under which presidency were sheep sent to the White House to help with lawn upkeep? (Answer at the bottom.)
| | | SHOW ME THE LIE: Biden had a sit-down interview with local Atlanta radio Monday in the run up to the Georgia Senate runoff tomorrow. In it, he opened it up by riffing on Philadelphia Eagles fans, calling them “very well informed, obnoxious.” Rarely has the presidency been so bluntly honest. RETIREMENT LUNCH: Biden also had lunch today with retiring Sens. PATRICK LEAHY (D-Vt.) and RICHARD SHELBY (R-Ala.), reflecting on their years of public service and incoming legislative priorities, like the budget, according to the White House. CALLING IN DOUG: Second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF, the first Jew to hold the position, is set to host a roundtable on antisemitism at the White House Wednesday , CNN’s EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE reports. The meeting comes after the president denounced anti-Semitism Friday, following a meet-up between DONALD TRUMP, white nationalist NICK FUENTES and the increasingly anti-Semitic YE, formerly known as KANYE WEST. The roundtable will include a handful of other administration officials, including domestic policy adviser SUSAN RICE, White House director of public engagement KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS and administration special envoy to combat antisemitism, DEBORAH LIPSTADT. Leaders from Jewish organizations will also be in attendance. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This opinion piece by WaPo’s JENNIFER RUBIN praising the administration’s “cautious optimism” when it comes to its handling the economy: “Though economic fortunes can still take a turn for the worst, Biden’s economic performance certainly looks likely to produce solid results in vivid contrast to the rest of the world.” White House deputy communications director HERBIE ZISKEND tweeted out the piece bright and early Monday morning. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: Another opinion piece, this one by WaPo’s HEATHER LONG , with a bit of a reality check about the state of the economy. “The reality is that a substantial number of Americans will experience pain even if the country doesn’t technically fall into a recession,” she writes. “Even if growth overall doesn’t turn negative, some industries will experience downturns and, probably, a bump in layoffs. It’s already starting to happen.” A FORMER CLASSMATE WRITES-IN: PAT HYNES, a former classmate of Biden’s, wrote quite critically about his foreign policy moves in a column for the Daily Hampshire Gazette . While we encourage you to read the whole thing, we wanted to highlight its… colorful… lede: “Remember the mid-March snowball fight with some boys in our 8th grade class at St Helena’s School in Wilmington, Delaware? The wet snow made for hard, icy snowballs, so I hid my young sister Monica behind a parked car. You joined me against the other boys who had started pitching snowballs at me; but none of us, all classmates, really wanted lasting enmity. When over, no resentments, no grudges. “It’s the contrast of this youthful experience with your foreign policy today — specifically your dangerously hostile attitude toward China and Russia, both nuclear powers, and China, an economic giant in need of constraint as U.S. national security overlords warn, that I want to address.” Must have been quite the snowball fight. [TUPAC VOICE] CALIFORNIA LUUUVVVVVV…. : Vice President KAMALA HARRIS will swear in KAREN BASS as mayor of Los Angeles on Sunday , LA Times’ COURTNEY SUBRAMANIAN reports. It was a request from Bass, as a nod to their status as two of California’s most powerful Black women in politics. TWEET OF THE DAY: Satirical Twitter account New York Times Pitchbot, which pokes fun of the Times, posted something a bit on the nose Monday :
|  Tweet by New York Times Pitchbot | Twitter | | | | | JOIN WEDNESDAY FOR A POLITICO DISCUSSION ON THE NEW TRAVEL EXPERIENCE : Americans are now traveling in record numbers — but the travel experience has changed drastically in recent years, not always for the better. What lessons can we learn from the pandemic and different responses around the globe? And in the face of a possible recession, what will help the travel industry remain vibrant and deliver jobs? Join POLITICO on Dec. 7 for “The Travel Experience Redefined” to discuss these questions and more. Breakfast and coffee will be provided. REGISTER HERE . | | | | | | | | FIRST IN WEST WING PLAYBOOK: ADRIENNE LEE BENSON has started as a senior counsel to the deputy attorney general, DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. She most recently was a senior adviser to the general counsel at Treasury. A STATE DEPT SIDE HUSTLE: TAMARA COFMAN WITTES, Biden’s nominee to be the assistant administrator for the Middle East at the U.S. Agency for International Development, is working at the State Department as an adviser, Jewish Insider’s GABBY DEUTCH reports. Wittes’ USAID nomination has been stalled in the Senate since 2021, though the White House has not formally withdrawn it.
| | | MAINTAINING THE MANDATE: Biden and Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN are standing by the administration’s vaccine and booster mandate for members of the military, opposing an effort by lawmakers to repeal the policy in the latest defense funding bill. “Vaccines are saving lives, including our men and women in uniform. So this remains very much a health and readiness issue for the force,” National Security Council spokesperson JOHN KIRBY said Monday. This comes after House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY told Fox News on Saturday that he had reached an agreement to repeal the mandate at a White House meeting with the president and Democratic leadership. But the White House later said the president was only “considering” McCarthy’s proposal. Our LARA SELIGMAN has more details . COMING NEVER? The Department of Homeland Security has pushed back its Real ID deadline . Air travelers 18 and older now have until May 7, 2025, to get a Real ID-compliant driver’s license. DHS cited Covid-related backlogs for the postponement, and it has already extended the deadline several times because of the pandemic. Americans don’t seem to be in a rush to get upgrades, however. According to the U.S. Travel Association, an estimated 83 million Americans don’t have the enhanced form of ID that would be accepted for travel, our ORIANA PAWLYK reports.
| | | | A message from United Indian Nations of Oklahoma and 141 Tribes Standing for Tribal Sovereignty:   | | | | | | Social Security offices critical to disability benefits hit breaking point (WaPo’s Lisa Rein) U.S. Altered Himars Rocket Launchers to Keep Ukraine From Firing Missiles Into Russia (WSJ’s Michael R. Gordon and Gordon Lubold)
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | | LUCAS ACOSTA, the White House’s broadcast media director, knows how to work a crowd. The West Wing Playbook team found another one of Acosta’s acapella solos in college. (We previously made note of his solo in ADELE’s “Set Fire to the Rain.” ) But Acosta’s rendition of ELVIS PRESLEY’s “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You,” really gets the crowd going. Around the one minute and thirty second mark , while singing the lyrics, “take my hand, take my whole life, too,” he takes the hand of an audience member he serenades. Bravo!
| | | During WOODROW WILSON’s presidency, as the U.S. entered World War I, a flock of sheep were sent to the White House in the spring of 1918 “to save manpower by keeping the grass trimmed,” according to the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library website . Though it’s unknown who came up with the idea, CARY GRAYSON, an aide to Wilson, asked a friend, WILIAM WOODWARD, for some sheep from his farm, and Woodward heeded the call. In a letter to Woodward, dated June 5, 1918, Grayson wrote: “I feel quite guilty for not writing to you long before this to tell you how much pleasure the sheep from Belair Farm have given the President and Mrs. Wilson.” A CALL OUT — Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents with a citation and we may feature it. Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.
| | | | A message from United Indian Nations of Oklahoma and 141 Tribes Standing for Tribal Sovereignty: One hundred forty-one federally recognized tribes across America are standing up and warning Congress that H.R. 2758 and S. 3443 will undercut their sovereignty and lead to mass cultural appropriation.
As Congress considers including these bills in year-end legislative packages, tribes are escalating their opposition. The United Indian Nations of Oklahoma has released a mini-documentary featuring a geographically and culturally diverse group of leaders explaining their opposition to recognizing groups like the Lumbee and MOWA without examination of their cultural claims.
Titled Why We Stand, the video highlights how politicizing federal recognition and creating a path for false groups threatens the sovereignty, culture, and identity of every tribal nation in the country. Tribal leaders say culture and proven history should define tribes, not backroom deals and political horse-trading.
Click to watch the video and learn more: https://www.uinoklahoma.com/advocacy | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
