“A fallout between President Trump and Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, led to the breakthrough that resulted in the Morocco-Israel normalization deal,” Axios reports.
“Inhofe is one of Trump’s closest allies in the Senate and has asked the president over the last two years not to recognize Moroccan sovereignty in the Western Sahara… Relations between Trump and Inhofe soured about a week ago over the National Defense Authorization Act.”
“Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are currently in the final stages of purchasing a plot of land in an exclusive enclave nicknamed ‘billionaire bunker,’ near Miami Beach, Florida,” CNN reports.
“The lot, which is just shy of two acres and sits on Biscayne Bay, was listed at $31.8 million and the couple offered somewhere in the range of $28-30 million.”
“It’s not just the safety that drew Trump to Florida, it is the potential political opportunities of the state itself… Trump has not ruled out a near-future run for office, nor has she publicly denied she has political ambitions of her own.”
“President Trump lashed out anew at the Food and Drug Administration in a Friday morning tweet, attacking the agency’s commissioner, Dr. Stephen Hahn, by name for not approving a Covid-19 vaccine faster,” the New York Times reports.
Vox: 9 things that could go wrong with the new vaccines.
“Indoor dining will once again be barred in New York City restaurants starting on Monday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Friday, a significant reversal of the city’s reopening that comes as officials try to halt the escalation of a second wave of the coronavirus,” the New York Times reports.
Andrew Cuomo: “Hospitalizations have not stabilized, and with a rising infection rate and NYC’s density, this means that indoor dining is too high of a risk.”
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will share the “Person of the Year” designation by Time magazine for 2020.
The Wall Street Journal picks Fight House: Rivalries in the White House from Truman to Trump by Tevi Troy as one of the best political books of the year.
“Leaking reached new levels during the Trump administration, but strategic and malicious leaking is an old White House tradition. Leaking, as Mr. Troy explains it, can be a kind of art form. The trick is to avoid blame for the leak and, if possible, to make it look as though somebody else did it.”
“I was delighted to learn, for example, that when leakers in the first Bush administration wanted to speak to the press without authorization, they would drop in unusual words—’inchoate,’ say—in order to sound like the aforementioned Darman, then Treasury secretary. In the Reagan White House, leakers tried to implicate Chief of Staff Donald Regan by using the phrase ‘and the like,’ a favorite of Regan. Mr. Troy’s book, at once a serious history of executive-branch policymaking and a droll chronicle of White House bickering and backstabbing, may be just the thing to read at a time when so little in our politics is either serious or funny.”
“Congressional leaders are making a last-ditch attempt to cobble together a stimulus deal before Congress adjourns for the year, hoping to quickly reach agreement on a relief package that’s eluded them for months,” Politico reports.
“Committee leaders in both chambers have begun negotiating noncontroversial aspects of the relief package, including small business funding, according to three senior aides familiar with the talks. Democrats insist this effort is in concert with the bipartisan Senate push to reach a deal and not in lieu of their proposal. Top Republicans, though, are much more pessimistic on the bipartisan group reaching consensus on the major remaining sticking points.”
From an Orlando Sentinel editorial:
“We apologize to our readers for endorsing Michael Waltz in the 2020 general election for Congress. We had no idea, had no way of knowing at the time, that Waltz was not committed to democracy.”
“During our endorsement interview with the incumbent congressman, we didn’t think to ask, ‘Would you support an effort to throw out the votes of tens of millions of Americans in four states in order to overturn a presidential election and hand it to the person who lost, Donald Trump?'”
“Our bad.”
“Dee Dee Myers, the first female White House press secretary in history and recently a top executive for Warner Bros., will become the chief economic and business adviser for California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) as he grapples with a pandemic-stricken economy,” Politico reports.
The hashtag #trumpconceded is now trending on Twitter, after President Trump tweeted about “the Biden Administration” earlier this morning.
It’s not a proper concession, but it’s getting closer.
“There’s not a Democrat in Washington who doubts Nancy Pelosi will be elected as speaker on Jan. 3. That is, as long as everybody shows up,” Politico reports.
“Pelosi and her supporters have begun a weeks-long lobbying blitz to ensure that virtually every House Democrat will be present to vote on that first Sunday next month. It’s not just the slimmer majority on Pelosi’s mind. Democrats say the biggest threat is achieving near-perfect attendance amid a raging virus that’s infected dozens of members this year.”
“A single Democrat forced to stay home because of illness or quarantine could upset Pelosi’s careful balancing act.”
“Andrew Yang, the former tech executive who gained a national following as a Democratic presidential candidate, has been privately telling New York City leaders that he intends to run for mayor next year,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Yang is not expected to announce his bid until next month, but with the Democratic primary less than seven months away, he has begun to make overtures to several of the city’s political power brokers.”
“Joe Biden hasn’t picked any of the nearly two dozen Democrats who ran against him to serve in his administration — and that bodes quite well for the former rival he did elevate as his No. 2, Kamala Harris,” Politico reports.
“Biden’s decision to forgo a Cabinet of ambitious pols in favor of a group heavy on seasoned loyalists and technocrats contrasts with Donald Trump and Barack Obama’s appointment of next-generation officials to top posts. And it could deny a springboard to potential Harris competitors in 2024 if Biden decides to retire after one term rather than running for reelection in his 80s.”
New York Times: “State prosecutors in Manhattan have interviewed several employees of President Trump’s bank and insurance broker in recent weeks, according to people with knowledge of the matter, significantly escalating an investigation into the president that he is powerless to stop.”
“The interviews with people who work for the lender, Deutsche Bank, and the insurance brokerage, Aon, are the latest indication that once Mr. Trump leaves office, he still faces the potential threat of criminal charges that would be beyond the reach of federal pardons.”
“Congressional bickering over a new economic relief package escalated Thursday as lawmakers traded blame and put negotiations over critical legislation on the brink of collapse,” the Washington Post reports.
“And the finger-pointing even threatened to imperil a must-pass spending bill in the Senate, as lawmakers were still unsure whether they would be able to pass a measure by a deadline Friday night to avert a government shutdown.”
Playbook: “The 116th Congress started with a government shutdown, and it’s ending with the institution completely paralyzed by its efforts to put in place policies to help Americans rebound from the coronavirus. The same set of policies have been bedeviling the leadership — self-described dealmakers all — for more than six months.”
“Speaker Nancy Pelosi had a blunt message for her junior members: I need your vote on Jan. 3,” Politico reports.
“That’s the opening day of the 117th Congress, and Pelosi was making her pitch ahead of the crucial floor vote for speaker. No one on Capitol Hill believes Pelosi is really at risk of losing the gavel. But the vote has become much more complicated with a shrunken Democratic majority and the coronavirus pandemic shadowing the proceedings.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
