With assist from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross
It’s a blissfully sluggish news day, which suggests it’s excellent for an additional news quiz. Whether you’re snowed in, having fun with the post-Christmas gross sales or beating your shocked teenage sons at Mortal Kombat on their new sport console (nonetheless acquired it!), please take pleasure in this romp by means of the headlines.
1. Which lawmakers referred to as thorns within the sides of their social gathering’s management “bought matching diamond-adorned thorn-shaped necklaces”?
— A. Reps. LAUREN BOEBERT (R-Colo.) and MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.)
— B. Reps. STEPHANIE MURPHY (D-Fla.) and KATHLEEN RICE (D-N.Y.) and Sen. KYRSTEN SINEMA (I-Ariz.)
— C. Reps. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-N.Y.), ILHAN OMAR (D-Minn.) and RASHIDA TLAIB (D-Mich.)
— D. Reps. ANDY BIGGS (R-Ariz.), MATT GAETZ (R-Fla.) and BOB GOOD (R-Va.)
Answer, through Sarah Ferris
2. Who would be the No. 4 Democrat within the House subsequent yr?
— A. Rep. JIM CLYBURN (D-S.C.)
— B. Rep. TED LIEU (D-Calif.)
Answer, through The Hill’s Mike Lillis
3. What film that DONALD TRUMP has known as “one of the greatest of all time” does the previous president watch “again and again and again”?
— A. “Citizen Kane”
— B. “Sunset Boulevard”
— C. “Back to the Future Part II”
— D. “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York”
Answer, through N.Y. Mag’s Olivia Nuzzi
4. What potential 2024 candidate was this nameless Republican strategist discussing right this moment within the following quote? “I think the overall narrative and differentiation will be that [potential candidate] gets things done, and he’s not a cult of personality. While President Trump is running for himself, [potential candidate] is running for the people and showing he can do effective government.”
— A. Arkansas Gov. ASA HUTCHINSON
— B. Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS
— C. Virginia Gov. GLENN YOUNGKIN
— D. Georgia Gov. BRIAN KEMP
Answer, through The Hill’s Brett Samuels
5. Which chief on Sunday mentioned the next, which has been prominently featured on Drudge all day? “We are ready to negotiate with everyone involved about acceptable solutions, but that is up to them — we are not the ones refusing to negotiate, they are.”
— A. Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY
— B. Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN
— C. President JOE BIDEN
Answer, through Reuters
6. In phrases of market capitalization misplaced, which of those shares has had a worse yr than ELON MUSK’s Tesla?
— A. Amazon
— B. Apple
— C. Microsoft
— D. Meta
Answer, through MarketWatch
7. According to knowledge from “AP VoteCast, a sweeping national survey of the electorate,” 51% of independents voted for Democrats within the 2018 midterms, however solely this proportion of independents backed Republican House candidates in 2022:
— A. 30%
— B. 38%
— C. 42%
— D. 47%
Answer, through AP’s Thomas Beaumont and Hannah Fingerhut
8. Which certainly one of these did South Dakota Gov. KRISTI NOEM get for Christmas?
— A. A shotgun
— B. A cattle prod
— C. A flamethrower
— D. A Ford F-150 Lightning
Answer, through RealClear’s Philip Wegmann
9. When Jan. 6 committee witness SAMUEL ARMES instructed investigators in an interview, “Man, this is embarrassing,” what was he referring to?
— A. Texts between RUDY GIULIANI and MIKE LINDELL alleging a world conspiracy to tamper with voting machines within the 2020 presidential election
— B. Picking up a FaceTime name from a member of the family who “just wanted to meet LIZ CHENEY”
— C. Spilling a glass of water on Rep. ADAM KINZINGER (R-Ill.)
— D. Falling to the ground with painful cramps as a result of it was leg day and he had lately squatted 425 kilos, a private file
Answer, through Kyle Cheney
Good Monday morning, and thanks for studying Playbook. How many solutions did you get proper? Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
WINTER STORM LATEST — Forty-six individuals have died nationwide within the excessive winter climate, together with 16 within the Buffalo, N.Y., space, in keeping with the most recent tally from NBC’s Mithil Aggarwal and Daniel Arkin. Thousands of flights had been canceled over the weekend — including almost one-third of Southwest’s flights — and tons of of hundreds of individuals misplaced energy. Another almost 1,500 flights had been canceled by this morning, per FlightAware data.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
9 STORIES TO START YOUR WEEK
1. THE VIEW FROM 1600 PENN: The Biden White House has began hitting again tougher and sharper at feedback from Trump and his wing of the GOP, viewing the distinction as politically useful forward of 2024, WaPo’s Toluse Olorunnipa reports this morning. The shift has additionally prompted criticism from Republicans who say the White House is stooping too low. But Biden’s change has “been fueled in part by the tone and agenda of the newly empowered House Republicans … White House officials deny this is an electoral strategy, saying Biden is doing more naming and shaming in part because there has been a troubling increase in harmful and shameful rhetoric.”
2. BATTLE FOR THE BALLOT: “Democrats, Feeling New Strength, Plan to Go on Offense on Voting Rights,” by NYT’s Reid Epstein: “Democrats, who retained all but one of the governor’s offices they hold and won control of state legislatures in Michigan and Minnesota … are putting forward a long list of proposals that include creating automatic voter registration systems, preregistering teenagers to vote before they turn 18, returning the franchise to felons released from prison and criminalizing election misinformation. … Democrats who won re-election or will soon take office have interpreted their victories as a mandate to make voting easier and more accessible.”
3. WHAT’S IN THE OMNIBUS: Changes to Medicaid enrollment guidelines included within the large authorities spending invoice will push as many as 18 million individuals out of this system, prompting the Biden administration and different Democrats to attempt to redirect them to the Affordable Care Act, WSJ’s Stephanie Armour reports. Many of these Americans doubtless make an excessive amount of cash to be enrolled in Medicaid, which Republicans wished to rectify. But consultants are apprehensive the result shall be fewer individuals lined by medical health insurance. “States are gearing up for the effort and the Department of Health and Human Services is providing outreach and guidance to assist.”
Another under-discussed provision will shift hundreds of thousands of Americans’ retirement plans from opt-in to opt-out. That and different modifications, referred to as Secure 2.0, might assist many individuals save extra and strengthen their retirement accounts. But additionally they quantity to an enormous boon for the monetary companies business, which lobbied for his or her inclusion, AP’s Fatima Hussein reports.
4. NOMINEE TRAVAILS: “Biden’s Pick to Lead F.A.A. Faces Murky Road to Confirmation,” by NYT’s Mark Walker: “[T]he president will need to renominate [PHIL] WASHINGTON next year, and a White House spokeswoman would not say whether he planned to do so. … A handful of factors have clouded the status of Mr. Washington’s nomination, including questions about the brevity of his career in aviation. … Mr. Washington has also faced scrutiny over his time running the transit system in Los Angeles, with his name surfacing in a messy political spat that has played out in recent months in the nation’s most populous county.”
5. DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS: Chinese Foreign Minister WANG YI mentioned in a speech Sunday that Beijing needs to fix ties with the U.S. subsequent yr and “recalibrate” the nations’ relationship, per Bloomberg.
But, however, however: Over the previous 24 hours, a phalanx of at the very least 71 Chinese plane buzzed Taiwanese airspace, a single-day file. NYT’s Amy Chang Chien and Chang Che call it “a large show of force to the Biden administration, signaling that Beijing wants to maintain pressure on Taiwan even as some tensions between the superpowers are easing.”
Deep dive: “‘A sea change’: Biden reverses decades of Chinese trade policy,” a particular report by Gavin Bade: “The new federal rules, executive orders and pending legislation aimed at China’s high-tech sectors, which began this fall and will continue in 2023, are the culmination of years of debate spanning three administrations. Taken together, they represent an escalation of former President Donald Trump’s tariffs and trade disputes against Beijing that could ultimately do more to slow Chinese technological and economic development — and divide the two economies — than anything the 45th president did while in office.”
6. LITTLE ROCKET MAN: South Korea mentioned North Korean drones crossed the border for the primary time since 2017, together with one which made it to the sting of Seoul. South Korea fired warning pictures and launched jets in response however couldn’t down the unmanned drones. More from the BBC
7. KEYS TO THE KEYSTONE: “Pennsylvania politics are heated. It soon could be utter chaos,” by Holly Otterbein in Philadelphia: “A razor-thin victory by Democrats, combined with a handful of vacancies and the hardball political culture in the state capitol, has kicked off a high-stakes battle for control of the House. … Both parties see the ensuing fight as not just as a matter of political power, but democratic governance and the rule of law itself. Privately, they fear the next few weeks could plunge the state into an unprecedented level of chaos.”
8. UNSOLVED MYSTERY: Reporting from throughout Europe, NYT’s Rebecca Ruiz and Justin Scheck unspool the fascinating story of the Nord Stream pipeline bombing in September. “The Swedish authorities leading a criminal investigation have concluded that a state actor was most likely responsible,” and loads of fingers have pointed at Russia. But a Moscow-controlled firm has began planning for fixes, which begs “the question of why, if Russia bombed its own pipelines, it would begin the expensive work of repairing them.” And the “Baltic Sea, it turns out, was a nearly ideal crime scene,” with loads of alternatives for even a solo saboteur to plant a bomb.
9. HINDSIGHT IS 2022: “Wall Street and Fed Flopped in Trying to Predict 2022,” by WSJ’s Akane Otani: “Almost everyone on Wall Street and in Washington got 2022 wrong. The Federal Reserve expected 2021’s inflation surge to be transitory. It wasn’t. … Top Wall Street analysts predicted markets would have a so-so year. They didn’t. … The extent to which many investors, analysts and economists were wrong-footed has left many looking at the coming year with a sense of unease. … If there is a lesson to be taken away from the past 12 months, some investors and analysts say it is this: Be prepared for more surprises.”
Mike Bloomberg’s spokesperson pushed back on the idea that he’d purchase Dow Jones or WaPo.
Allan Sloansigned off from his WaPo column after 30 years.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Will Cadigan, senior producer for particular occasions programming at CNN, and Paige Cadigan, director on the Centre for Public Impact, lately welcomed Dorothea Quinn Cadigan. Pic
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Council of Economic Advisers’ Jared Bernstein … Mary Blanche Hankey of Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) workplace … Amelia Colton … Mike Hammer … Bishop Garrison … Katie Fallon … Noelle Troost … Eloy Martinez of Aristocrat … Matthew Verghese of Rep. Anthony Brown’s (D-Md.) workplace … Kristin Davison … Alex Zuckerman of Newsy … Jonathan Hoffman … Rohit Mahajan of Radio Free Asia … Sarada Peri … Sally Fox of Sen. Bill Cassidy’s (R-La.) workplace … Jeremy Broggi … Jon Henke … Jennifer Duck … Joe Deoudes … Candy Crowley … former Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) … Scott Shepard … former California Gov. Gray Davis … Synim Rivers … Chris Weihs of Sen. Josh Hawley’s (R-Mo.) workplace … Rob Pyron … Annie Orloff of Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s workplace
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