| | |  | BY RENUKA RAYASAM AND MYAH WARD | Presented by Harry's | NOW WHAT? The last-minute Covid relief chaos isn’t all President Donald Trump’s fault, senior editor David Kihara told the Nightly. “Sure, no one expected Trump to do what he did” — proposing bigger stimulus checks for a spending bill that his own administration negotiated, jeopardizing the fate of the package just days before the government runs out of money and expanded unemployment benefits expire — “but Congress sat on this for a very long time,” David said. “This is everyone’s fault.” So what happens now? Here’s how this standoff might play out in the final days of 2020, from least- to most-likely outcome: Scenario 1: The House and Senate pass a measure to boost stimulus checks to Trump’s proposed $2,000, and Trump signs the bill. Reality check: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to put the $2,000 stimulus check measure to a unanimous consent vote on Friday. But already a handful of House Republicans are threatening to reject it — and it would take just one no vote to derail the whole measure. Senate Republicans would have to approve the measure, too, and they won’t. “It would be an absolute miracle if Republicans alter this bill to include higher stimulus checks,” David said. “It’s highly, highly, highly unlikely.” Scenario 2: Trump pocket-vetoes the bill while Congress is adjourned by letting 10 days pass without signing it. Trump did say in March 2018 he would never sign a big spending bill again. A pocket veto can’t be overridden and would lead to a government shutdown: Funding runs out on Monday, Dec. 28. David said POLITICO’s Congress team is hearing Trump may receive the bill on Thursday, which would start the 10-day countdown. In that case, the 10 days would expire before the next Congress is scheduled to start on Jan. 3 (Sundays are excluded in the count). This Congress could pass the bill again, but it would be more likely that a new Congress would renegotiate the bill with President Joe Biden. Reality check: Trump has never issued a pocket veto. But a 2019 standoff over border wall funding led to the longest shutdown in history. Scenario 3: Trump vetoes the bill. Congress overrides the veto and passes the bill when they gather next week to take up the defense authorization bill, which the president vetoed today. Reality check: Trump has vetoed bills nine times in the past and Congress has yet to override a Trump veto. Still, both Republican and Democratic leadership in Congress are committed to getting this bill done before they leave town for the holidays, David said. They are unlikely to negate all of their work. Scenario 4: Congress sends Trump a stopgap spending bill to avoid a shutdown. The new Congress, along with the Biden administration, passes a new bill. This would keep the government funded, but expanded unemployment and other benefits would lapse until a new bill was signed. Reality check: Both Democratic and Republican leadership in Congress do not want the government to shut down and they know how to slap together a bill that keeps the government temporarily funded. Plus a shutdown about a week and half before the Georgia Senate runoffs would not be a good look for Republicans, David said. Scenario 5: Trump signs the bill. Whatever his motives, Trump has made idle veto threats in the past. Reality check: Trump’s 11th-hour threat the day before Christmas Eve fits with a year that has been nonstop exhausting, David said. “It’s a perfect end to 2020.” Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. We made it through 2020 and our first year of Nightly! Thanks to all of our readers this year. We’re off for the holidays, but we’ll be back and better than ever on Monday, Jan. 4. Reach out at rrayasam@politico.com and mward@politico.com, or on Twitter at @renurayasam and @myahward.
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Medical personnel from Riley County Health Department conduct a drive-thru vaccination using the new Moderna vaccine in Manhattan, Kan., at the football stadium of Kansas State University. The vaccine was offered first to local first responders and other medical personnel. | Doug Barrett for POLITICO | | | CALIFORNIA’S COVID RUSH — California has had some of the toughest restrictions in the country to combat the coronavirus, from a complete ban on restaurant dining to travel quarantines and indoor gym closures. In the end, it hasn’t been enough, Victoria Colliver and Jeremy White write. America’s most populous state has become one of the nation’s worst epicenters for the disease, setting new records for cases, hospitalizations and deaths almost every day. Things are so bad in Southern California that some patients are being housed in hospital tents, while doctors have begun discussing whether they need to ration care. The turnabout has confounded leaders and health experts. They can point to any number of reasons contributing to California’s surge over the past several weeks. But it is hard to pinpoint one single factor — and equally hard to find a silver bullet. It couldn’t come at a worse time, given that the Christmas and New Year’s holidays are upon us, and officials fear that residents are even more likely to travel and congregate than they did during the Thanksgiving period that propelled the current trends.
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| | EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT TRANSITION PLAYBOOK, SUBSCRIBE TODAY: A new year is quickly approaching. Inauguration Day is right around the corner. President-elect Joe Biden's staffing decisions are sending clear-cut signals about his priorities. What do these signals foretell? Transition Playbook is the definitive guide to the new administration and one of the most consequential transfers of power in American history. Written for political insiders, this scoop-filled newsletter breaks big news daily and analyzes the appointments, people and emerging power centers of the new administration. Track the transition and the first 100 days of the incoming Biden administration. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | ENDING ON A HIGH NOTE — Last week, Myah and Renu asked a braintrust of sources about the one thing that got them through the year. Next up? Their 2020 anthems. Listen to the selections on our POLITICO Nightly Spotify playlist. These answers have been edited.
| “‘Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)’ by Kelly Clarkson.” — Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) “Earth, Wind and Fire — ‘That’s the Way of the World.’” — Condoleezza Rice, former secretary of State and national security adviser “My happy place is New Orleans, in particular the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. This year the festival was canceled, and it probably will be canceled next year. To give me hope I listen every morning to WWOZ, the jazz heart of NOLA. My No.1 go-to-song of 2020 has been ‘At the Foot of Canal Street’ by John Boutee and Paul Sanchez.” — Richard Besser, CEO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation “My Spotify playlist of roller disco soul tracks from the 80s.” — Padma Lakshmi, host of Taste the Nation “‘Return of the Mack.’ Brings me back to the campaign and I learned how to play it on piano during quarantine.” — Andrew Yang, former Democratic presidential candidate, who filed paperwork today to open a New York City mayoral campaign account “‘Count It Victory’ by the Williams Brothers, is my go-to song.” — Ken Blackwell, former Ohio secretary of State “My nomination for the playlist is Dave Matthews Band’s ‘Everyday.’ DMB got me through 2020, and this particular song is all about starting every day with an attitude of love no matter what is going on.” — Mary Kate Cary, former White House speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush “‘Holy Water’ by We the Kingdom.” — Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), chair-elect of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus “I’m pretty sure that my go-to anthem song this year was Woody Guthrie’s ‘This Land Is Your Land.’ There is so much division, anger and voices but we should all take a look at the words and the hopeful protest he expresses for the best of America.” — DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association “My 2020 anthem was ‘Lovely Day’ by Bill Withers and ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’ by The Beatles.” — Aasif Mandvi, actor “‘Under Pressure’ — Queen, David Bowie. Every one of us has endured tremendous pressure during 2020. With our nation at its rhetorical tipping point, we have to ask ourselves the same questions that Freddie Mercury asks in the song, ‘Why can’t we give love that one more chance?’” — Gretchen Whitmer, governor of Michigan “‘Wonder’ by Natalie Merchant (listen to the words and you’ll know why …).” — John Crowley, CEO of Amicus Therapeutics, a rare disease biotech company “We have a nightly bedtime ritual with my two-year old, a ritual that ALWAYS plays the same song that we sing together. It’s ‘Kind and Generous’ by Natalie Merchant. If I need a good shout, I like ‘What’s Up’ by 4 Non Blondes from 1992 that has the hook that screams ‘Hey-ey-ey-ey, Hey-ey-ey-ey, Hey-ey-ey-ey…What’s Going On?!’” — Jason Salemi, epidemiologist at the University of South Florida “‘I Want to Break Free’ by Queen — for all of the obvious reasons.” — Punit Renjen, CEO of Deloitte “‘Disco Nights’ by GQ.” — Leslie Jones, comedian “‘Ambition’ by Wale. We’re at a unique moment as an organization and a society where we can reimagine what good looks like. To achieve that vision it is going to be a grind, with hard moments where we need resilience, because it’s ‘easy to dream a dream though it’s harder to live it.’” — Jason Wright , president of the Washington Football Team “‘Jesus of Suburbia,’ Green Day.” — Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) “A classic favorite is always ‘Everyday People’ by Sly and The Family Stone. In a time defined by large egos and divided opinions, it’s always a good reminder.” — Carlos Watson, co-founder and CEO of Ozy Media “My 2020 anthem is the Texas anthem that inspires me on my daily mission — ‘God Blessed Texas’ by Little Texas.” — Greg Abbott, governor of Texas “When life turns hard, return to Broadway. I see, viewing my playlists, that ‘Life Is’ from Zorba was on repeat a lot. So was Sondheim, and Gershwin, especially the film version of ‘Porgy and Bess.’ A lot of Patti Lupone. I went back to Tracy Chapman, Norah Jones, Peter Gabriel. At one point I kept listening to Justin Timberlake’s ‘Say Something.’ Remember in the beginning of the pandemic, orchestras and choirs did wonderful remote choral arrangements and songs? I listened to all of them. But the two songs I will always, on hearing them, immediately think of this year: ‘Life Is,’ and Nancy Lamott singing ‘Waters of March.’” — Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal columnist and former White House speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan “‘What a Wonderful World’ by Louis Armstrong.” — Tom Frieden, former CDC director
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| | | | | MORE PENCILS, BOOKS AND DIRTY LOOKS — Biden is weighing a multibillion-dollar plan for fully reopening schools that would hinge on testing all students, teachers and staff for Covid-19 at least once a week, according to four people with knowledge of the discussions. The proposal under consideration calls for the federal government to cover the cost of providing tests to K-12 schools throughout the country, Adam Cancryn and David Lim write. Such a strategy would require a sharp increase in the manufacturing of rapid tests and new lab capacity being brought online over the next several months. One person close to the deliberations pegged the cost at between $8 billion and $10 billion over an initial three-month period. Biden also formally announced Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona as his nominee for Education secretary.
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| LABORED DELIBERATIONS — Biden is considering nominating Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to lead the Labor Department, but concerns over diversity have delayed a final decision and could ultimately lead him to choose another candidate, five people familiar with the deliberations told POLITICO. Walsh has won support from a number of prominent union leaders — most notably AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who leads the nation’s largest labor organization — and his nomination could appeal to construction workers who supported Trump. But Walsh is a white man, Megan Cassella and Tyler Pager write. And although Biden has already nominated the most diverse Cabinet in history, some groups are pushing for more representation among the five Cabinet posts that remain unfilled.
| | GOING DOWNHILL — Ski resorts are approaching the busiest days of the season, when visitors hit the slopes to celebrate the holidays, Myah writes. It’s off to a rocky start for some: Idaho’s Schweitzer Mountain Resort threatened to shut down if visitors didn’t start voluntarily masking up, and California’s Lake Tahoe Ski resorts are open — for locals only. Tourists are banned. Resorts have had months to plan what a second Covid ski season would look like — and that’s meant keeping people outdoors as much as possible. That’s the opposite approach of a typical year, said Mike Solimano, president of the Vermont-based Killington Resort and Pico Mountain. “We try to make most of our areas really inviting and comfortable and to encourage people to hang out and eat and drink and have a good time,” Solimano said. Now there’s no more live entertainment and the bars are closed. “I think once people start having food and drink, they kind of forget about what’s going on.” Last season’s horrors, when a Covid outbreak in the Austrian ski resort of Ischgl in February and March was linked to more than 6,000 cases in almost 50 nations, still loom over Europe. France, Italy and Germany are keeping resorts closed until January. Austria also bowed to pressure from its neighbors, keeping resorts closed until Dec. 24. Switzerland, despite having one of Europe’s highest Covid rates, opened resorts with social distancing measures. While France’s town of Chatel was forced to close its lifts, skiers are riding the same slopes just three miles away on the other side of the border.
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| | TUNE IN TO NEW EPISODE OF GLOBAL TRANSLATIONS: Our Global Translations podcast, presented by Citi, examines the long-term costs of the short-term thinking that drives many political and business decisions. The world has long been beset by big problems that defy political boundaries, and these issues have exploded over the past year amid a global pandemic. This podcast helps to identify and understand the impediments to smart policymaking. Subscribe for Season Two, available now. | | | | | | | NESTLED ALL SNUG IN THEIR BEDS — Ireland expects recently arrived visitors from Britain to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve in confinement in their bedroom. The Health Service Executive of Ireland says the tougher rules updated today are designed to prevent the spread of a highly infectious coronavirus variant already prevalent in parts of England, Shawn Pogatchnik writes. Anyone arriving from Britain since Dec. 8 must self-isolate for 14 days. “Stay in your room as much as possible and do not go outside for anything,” the advice reads. Colm Henry, the HSE’s chief clinical officer, said this means any arrival from Dec. 11 onward would be expected to have Christmas dinner in their own room, not at the dining table with relatives. The same prohibition on attending New Year’s Eve celebrations would apply to anyone arriving from Britain since Dec. 17. The rules apply to all visitors from Britain, including Irish citizens who normally live and work in England, Scotland or Wales but return to family in Ireland each Christmas.
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Matt Wuerker | SEE YOU IN JANUARY — We’ve checked the cliché cupboard for ways to describe this year, and it is emptier than a toilet paper aisle in March. Nightly was born in this wildest of years, and our team of four wanted to close out our last edition of 2020 with our thoughts and impressions of whatever the last 12 months were: “I walked into POLITICO’s newsroom on Jan. 13 as a breaking news intern, jumping in during a presidential election and a historic impeachment trial. Then 2020 decided that wasn’t enough. Covid hit the U.S., and I left the office for the last time on March 12. I moved home to Charlotte, N.C., where I’ve been living with my dad, a health care worker. Most days I’m fighting off anxiety, wondering if the virus will attack him next. It’s not exactly the post-grad life I imagined, but I’ve forced my Type A, planner self to be OK with the uncertainty and to try to see the good that’s come along with it. “My parents divorced when I was young, and I never thought I’d have this much time with my dad, one of my favorite people, again. I rescued a puppy — a husky mix named Loki — the best 2020 decision, one I wouldn’t have made had this year looked as I pictured it. And I get chills when I think about how fortunate I am to work in journalism, especially in a year like this one. “So no, my first year in the real world wasn’t what I imagined, but I’ve learned (after many failed attempts) to take a deep breath, stop trying to plan past tomorrow and to hold on to the good moments in this dark year.” — Myah Ward “This year my two-year old started talking. He points out the bus, calls me mama, even says gracias — more or less. My even littler baby turned one, started walking, and soon after started gleefully hurling himself down slides. But I worry that when I look back on 2020, memories of those milestones will have faded from my memory, with only memories of the pandemic — both its overwhelming tragedy and its constant frustrations — remaining. “As the Nightly’s lead writer, I’ve watched the list of dead grow longer and longer, though I’ve been lucky that it hasn’t included close friends or family. Daily life now involves endless calculations and second-guessing. Should my kids be in daycare? Can I go pick my own avocados at the grocery store? Can we see my husband’s mom, who lives 10 minutes away? “And then there are the dozens of small losses I notice only after several months have gone by. Our kids know to wash their hands the second we come home from the park, but they don’t know what playdates are. We don’t quite know how to make friends in our new home in El Paso. This past weekend, after the kids were tucked into their cribs, I went to the car, part of my ongoing search for my older son’s masks. I saw that our neighbors had invited a string quintet to play, masked, on their porch. I ran inside, and my husband and I dragged chairs to the balcony and watched the Christmas concert, realizing only at that moment that we hadn’t seen a performance since March. We were so desperate for any live music that we sat there huddled, shivering under blankets, straining to watch between the tree branches until the end.” — Renuka Rayasam “I spent time in both D.C. and my hometown in Maryland during the pandemic, and my family took up many new Covid hobbies, including metal detecting. My childhood home sits on old farmland, and we would find old tobacco tins, iron tilling blades, etc. An exceptional and unique way to connect with history. One day, my sister grabbed me and told me she had buried something out back but couldn’t find it and needed my help. I huffed and griped, but went outside and assisted, combing over a large portion of land without luck. Eventually, I got a hit, grabbed a shovel, and unearthed a mud-caked Smirnoff Ice. She videotaped me as I shouted expletives, drank the beverage and wiped dirt from my face. That is what 2020 was like.” — Tyler Weyant “Before — will we always talk about Before, like survivors in a postapocalyptic novel who speak vaguely of The Cataclysm? — I got on planes a lot. I slept in hotels a lot. I missed my kids a lot. Now, I miss all of those exhausting things, even the kid-missing, if we can keep that between the two of us. But this newsletter has been a great blessing. It’s been a nightly message in a bottle that we pour our dreams and fears into from our islands of isolation. In that one narrow sense, it’s been a good year. I hope we helped you get through it, too. Here’s to After.” — Chris Suellentrop
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