Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) is considered more of a pragmatist than his predecessor on House Intel. | Rod Lamkey-Pool/Getty Images
TIME TO GIVE UP? — Every year, one of us makes a resolution to stop biting her nails. It never happens. According to CBS, the percentage of Americans making resolutions this year dropped 14 points. Perhaps it’s time we go with the trend and give up.
SPEAKING OF NEW YEAR’S EVE … The WSJ has a fun story up about how presidents over the years celebrated it. Author Tevi Troy, senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center, tells Playbook that “their activities have been remarkably revealing of who they were … Bush 43 went to bed early … Bush 41 visited wounded warriors at a hospital … Reagan went to a glamorous party … Ford laughed at himself after a practical joke … Nixon sat alone in the White House … Clinton and JFK had illicit relations … Carter toasted the Shah in Tehran (!) … LBJ lied about Vietnam … Trump tweeted about his enemies … Biden went on old people show Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.”
MEET YOUR FUTURE HOUSE INTEL CHAIR — Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY named Rep. MIKE TURNER (R-Ohio) as new ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, a prominent national security post that ensures he’ll be the leading contender to replace Rep. ADAM SCHIFF as panel chair if the GOP flips the House. Turner replaces Rep. DEVIN NUNES, who’s leaving to become CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group.
Turner, elected in 2002 after serving as mayor of one of our hometowns (Dayton!), is considered more of a pragmatist than his predecessor. He’s tacked to the center for much of his career, even opposing the GOP’s 2017 Obamacare repeal effort and calling DONALD TRUMP’s attempt to build his border wall via emergency declaration a “dangerous precedent.”
Turner has close military ties: His district includes Wright Patterson Air Force Base, and as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, he’s been a fierce defender of the Pentagon’s budget. He’s a Russia hawk who regularly blasted Trump for being too cozy with Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN.
For a good sense of who Turner is, watch this recent clip of him going toe-to-toe with TUCKER CARLSON over whether the U.S. should supply Ukraine with intelligence and weapons to repel Russian aggression. When Carlson asked, “Why would we take Ukraine’s side and not Russia’s side? … Who’s got the energy reserves? … I’m totally confused,” Turner responded:
“Ukraine is a democracy. … Russia is an authoritarian regime seeking to impose its will on validly elected democracy. … We’re for democracy. We’re for liberty. We’re not for authoritarian regimes coming in and changing borders by tanks. … We need to make sure we’re on the side of democracy.”
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WHAT INSIDERS WANT TO KNOW: CAN TURNER RESTORE INTEL’S REPUTATION? Once upon a time, the House Intel Committee was considered among the most bipartisan panels on the Hill. That has changed drastically in recent years, with Nunes and Schiff at the helm. Democrats routinely dismissed Nunes as blinded by MAGA groupthink and in Trump’s pocket, and Republicans roundly dismissed Schiff for claiming to have seen classified evidence that Trump colluded with Russia when the special counsel never produced those goods.
Turner has never been a Trump fan, but he also has a frosty relationship with Schiff. During the first impeachment, he showed up to one of the first hearings ready to chastise Trump for his call asking Ukraine to “do us a favor” — then turned his fire at Schiff after the California Democrat performed a hyperbolic, mob-like rendition of the Trump July 25 call transcript.
Indeed, it will be interesting to watch their relationship, particularly because Republicans are already making lists of which Democrats they want to kick off their committees — and topping that list is Schiff himself. That doesn’t bode well for a new partnership.
Happy New Year’s Eve. Here’s to, once again, ringing in the new year from home thanks to the pandemic. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri.
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PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN’S FRIDAY — The president is in Wilmington, Del., and has nothing on his public schedule.
THE HOUSE and THE SENATE are out.
PHOTOS OF THE YEAR
A doctor in Augusta, Maine, prepares a novel coronavirus vaccine jab at a newly opened clinic in December. | Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo
President Joe Biden gets his booster shot at the White House in September. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo
A 9-year-old in San Jose, Calif., shows off near a picture of Anthony Fauci in November after most kids became available for the vaccine. | Noah Berger/AP Photo
AMERICA AND THE WORLD
PUTIN WARNS OF ‘COMPLETE RUPTURE’ — So about that Putin-Biden call Thursday … it didn’t go too well. The NYT reports that the Russian president warned Biden of a “complete rupture” of U.S.-Russian relations if he imposes economic sanctions on his country for taking action against Ukraine.
More from the story: “The exchange came during a 50-minute phone call that Mr. Putin requested, and which both sides described as businesslike. Yet it ended without clarity about Mr. Putin’s intentions. He has massed 100,000 or so troops on the border with Ukraine, and issued demands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the United States to pull back their forces in the region, but apparently has not decided whether to order an invasion.
“Mr. Biden, for his part, pushed back, according to two American officials. A terse White House statement said he ‘made clear that the United States and its allies and partners will respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine.’”
AD ASTRA — The new space race between the U.S. and China will ramp up in 2022, with big questions looming on developing the moon, policing satellites, building space weapons infrastructure and more, Bryan Bender writes in a year-ahead preview. The competition “could threaten the growth of satellite constellations and space stations. And so far, international efforts to reduce tensions and encourage sustainable growth in low-Earth orbit and beyond have made little progress.”
HEADS UP — “China warns U.S. will ‘face unbearable price’ on Taiwan,” AFP
CONGRESS
IN MEMORIAM — A memorial service for former Senate Majority Leader HARRY REID will take place Jan. 8 in Las Vegas. It will be limited to loved ones and colleagues but livestreamed for the public. More from the Reno Gazette Journal
ON THE AGENDA — Senators from both parties are planning to introduce a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in the new year, CBS’ Nikole Killion reports, after they landed on a framework agreement this month. The law expired in 2019.
ALL POLITICS
THE NEW GOP — HARRIET HAGEMAN has a couple of high-profile fundraisers lined up for next month: PETER THIEL and DONALD TRUMP JR. are hosting events supporting her effort to dethrone Rep. LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.), Alex Isenstadt reports. The Jan. 26 fundraisers for Hageman’s primary challenge also feature KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE as a special guest. Thiel “views unseating Cheney as a priority,” Alex writes.
VALLEY TALK — Antitrust fervor may be swirling in Washington, but Big Tech’s staggering market values “reflect a growing belief among investors that the controversies that have swirled around Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple in particular over the past few years won’t result in drastic regulatory actions,” writes WSJ’s Dan Gallagher. Those companies plus Microsoft are worth more than $10 trillion at the end of 2021, up from $7.5 trillion at the start of the year.
TRUMP CARDS
BACK AT IT — Trump will hold his first rally of the new year in Florence, Ariz., on Jan. 15, the Save America PAC announced Thursday. More from the Arizona Republic
THE PANDEMIC
HOUSE GOP GOES OPENLY ANTI-VAX DISINFO — @JudiciaryGOP: “If the booster shots work, why don’t they work?”
ANOTHER RECORD DAY — The U.S. hit a new high of recorded coronavirus cases Thursday with about 588,000. More from the NYT
SCOTUS WATCH — In a filing with the Supreme Court on Thursday, the Biden administration argued that it is within its authority to impose vaccine/testing mandates on private employers, ahead of next week’s special hearing. Meanwhile, GOP-led states challenging the rules urged the high court not to let them take effect. More from Bloomberg … The administration filing
NEWS YOU CAN USE — The FDA is expected to make 12- to 15-year-olds eligible for a booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine Monday, and shorten the booster shot time frame for everyone from six months to five, report NYT’s Sharon LaFraniere and Noah Weiland. The agency is also planning to open booster shots to 5- to 11-year-olds with immune deficiencies.
FINGERS CROSSED — Some experts are hopeful that the Omicron wave will peak fast in the U.S. — as early as the week after next — though everyone acknowledges that the virus remains an unpredictable foe, reports WaPo’s Joel Achenbach.
BUT BEFORE WE GET THERE … The country is in for an Omicron “blizzard,” writes Reuters’ Susan Heavey.
FALLING DOWN — Behind the U.S.’ test shortage woes is a testing infrastructure that’s been inadequate the whole pandemic, including a stringent government review process, report WSJ’s Austen Hufford and Brianna Abbott. “A focus on vaccination and early concern over accuracy contributed to the lack of cheap and widely available rapid tests, public-health experts, manufacturers and health officials said.”
PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — How did D.C. become one of the country’s Omicron epicenters? WaPo’s Julie Zauzmer Weil, Rebecca Tan and Jenna Portnoy look into that question, and whether the DMV is just the leading edge of a wave heading everywhere else soon.
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This year, U.S.-based searches for “asian owned” were 2X higher than in 2020.
JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH
MARK YOUR CALENDARS — Speaker NANCY PELOSI on Thursday announced the House’s plans to mark the anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, including a conversation with JON MEACHAM and DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN. There will also be a moment of silence, a prayer vigil and an opportunity for members of Congress to speak. More from The Hill
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT — BuzzFeed’s Zoe Tillman takes a thorough look at how nearly two dozen judges overseeing cases stemming from the Jan. 6 insurrection are meting out punishment in a variety of ways. Almost all the defendants who have been sentenced so far pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, with probation the most common sentence, but about half of the people charged are facing a felony count. Most plea deals have been worked out behind closed doors. “The court’s members — a mix of Democrat and Republican appointees — have made clear they believe the assault on the Capitol was serious and violent, and that people convicted of crimes deserve punishment. They just don’t agree on what it should be.”
POLICY CORNER
GETTING AWAY WITH IT — A year into a cost transparency effort that forced hospitals to publicize health care prices, some big chains are simply not complying with the rule — and facing no repercussions from the Biden administration, report WSJ’s Melanie Evans, Anna Wilde Mathews and Tom McGinty. Data the WSJ reviewed showed that more than 1,000 hospitals followed the rule, but “[l]ack of fuller compliance has hindered the ability of consumers, employers and insurers to use price data to push for the best deals.”
JUDICIARY SQUARE — WSJ’s By Joe Palazzolo, Coulter Jones and James Grimaldi continue the newspaper’s series on judges’ conflicts of interest with this look at District Judge LIAM O’GRADY, who’s overseen a kickback lawsuit against Amazon even though his wife held Amazon stock. “After The Wall Street Journal contacted Judge O’Grady about the conflict, his wife’s investment adviser earlier this month sold the Amazon shares, valued at more than $20,000. Now the question is whether he will continue overseeing the high-profile litigation.”
BEYOND THE BELTWAY
TRAGEDY IN COLORADO — Fierce wildfires near Boulder demolished hundreds of homes Thursday, with tens of thousands of people forced to evacuate and several hospitalized. Latest from the Denver Post, including video
THE STEP BACK — In New York, Sally Goldenberg has a surprising assessment of outgoing Mayor (and likely gubernatorial candidate) BILL DE BLASIO: The former operative turned out to have both poorer political instincts and better governing abilities than many expected. He saw rifts with allies and broad unpopularity even as he implemented major policy reforms. “That paradox, which became clear after he was in office just a year, intensified as he settled into a role he sometimes suggested he was only witness to.”
MEDIAWATCH
HEADS UP — A former senior producer for CNN’s “The Lead,” RICK SALEEBY, is under criminal investigation in Virginia for “serious allegations involving potential juvenile victims,” per Fox News. The news comes on the heels of another now-former CNN producer being charged with federal sex crimes involving children earlier this month.
SUNDAY SO FAR …
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NBC
“Meet the Press,” with a special “January 6: One Year Later” edition: Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) … Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.) … Fiona Hill … Barton Gellman. Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, Jonah Goldberg, Garrett Haake and Brandy Zadrozny.
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ABC
“This Week”: Anthony Fauci … New York Mayor-elect Eric Adams … Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) … Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.). Panel: Chris Christie, Donna Brazile, Yvette Simpson and Sarah Isgur.
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FOX
“Fox News Sunday,” guest-anchored by Trace Gallagher: Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson … U.S. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger … Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. Panel: Howard Kurtz, Jason Riley and Susan Page.
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MSNBC
“The Sunday Show”: Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) … D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser … Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn … Barbara McQuade … Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).
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CBS
“Face the Nation”: Education Secretary Miguel Cardona … Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) … Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) … Scott Gottlieb … Robert Pape.
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CNN
“State of the Union”: Anthony Fauci … Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) … Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.
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Gray TV
“Full Court Press”: Jeanne Marrazzo … Sean Tucker.
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CNN
“Inside Politics”: Panel: Hans Nichols, Tarini Parti, Alex Thompson and Jackie Kucinich. … Leana Wen.
British Ambassador Karen Pierce canceled the embassy’s splashy dinner-and-dancing New Year’s Eve party over Covid concerns.
David Brooks is out with his annual “Sidney Awards” for his best long reads of the year.
Brandon Brown has a sponsorship deal with the Let’s Go Brandon cryptocurrency meme coin.
Arnold Schwarzenegger donated 25 tiny houses to homeless veterans.
SPOTTED: John Oliver getting the “King’s Point” at Call Your Mother in Georgetown on Thursday. (He’s performing at the Kennedy Center for a few nights this week.) … AOC dining at a sushi restaurant in Miami Beach on Thursday, per National Review.
OUT AND ABOUT — Mehmet Oz, the GOP Pennsylvania Senate candidate, is spending NYE in Palm Beach with his family, and hosted an outdoor holiday party at his Florida home with over 175 supporters and friends Wednesday evening. SPOTTED: Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin, Chris Ruddy, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Caryn Zucker, Woody and Suzanne Johnson, Gay and Stanley Gaines, John and Teri Rakolta, Lee Lyons Brown, David and Jennifer Fischer, Jim Dunning and Susan Magrino, Earle and Carol Mack, Nelson and Claudia Peltz, and Vernon and Shirley Hill.
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Becca Glover will be deputy chief of staff and comms director for Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin. She most recently was at the Brunswick Group, and is a Commerce Department, Richard Burr, House Oversight, Daily Caller and Booz Allen alum.
MEDIA MOVE — Susan Cornwell is retiring from Reuters after a long career, most recently as a congressional correspondent.
TRANSITION — Mike DuHaime is launching MAD Global Strategy Group, a new venture, next week. He most recently has been a partner at Mercury, and is Chris Christie, RNC and George W. Bush alum.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Caitlin Emma, budget and appropriations reporter at POLITICO, and Bill Kuchman, assistant managing editor for design at POLITICO, welcomed Hazel Grace Kuchman on Tuesday. Pic … Another pic
— Alexandra Hudson, an author, speaker and Trump Education Department alum, and Kian Hudson, of counsel at Barnes & Thornburg, on Wednesday welcomed Sophia Margaux Hélène Hudson, who came in at 7 lbs, 13 oz and 21.5 inches. Pic … Another pic
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) … Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) … Donald Trump Jr. … Pete Souza … David Wilezol … U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Jeff Flake … Foxbat Media’s Brian Danza … WaPo’s Josh Rogin, Joel Achenbach and Naftali Bendavid … Robyn Bryan of Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s (D-Mich.) office … Ronnie Cho … Angie Yack … APCO Worldwide’s Wayne Pines … Max Pedrotti … Shannon Vavra … MSNBC’s Rick Bosh … John Davis … Jillian Deutsch … Bloomberg’s Simon Kennedy … Peter G. Miller … Travis Wolfe … Martin J. Kady … Meg Boland … Chris Donesa … Meeghan Prunty … Andy Sere … Bob Dietz … Chris Estep of House Armed Services … Wade Atkinson … former Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) (5-0) … Shelby Hartley … Mark Ein
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A message from Google:
In 2021, mental health was top of mind. As the pandemic entered its second year, people around the world looked for ways to prioritize their mental health. This year, the world searched for “how to maintain mental health” more than ever before. Explore Google Year in Search 2021.