Biden aides catch the holiday blues

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Dec 22, 2021 View in browser   By Alex Thompson , Tina Sfondeles and Max Tani Presented by Walmart Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With Allie Bice. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Tina | Email Max About two months ago during a fire drill, the White House emptied and aides congregated outside. It was their first ever all-staff meeting, an official quipped at the time. In the first year of the Biden White House, comradery has been fleeting and many teams are suffering from low morale, according to several White House officials. The result: many White House aides are feeling gloomy this holiday season, so much so that they anonymously fumed to West Wing Playbook in the hope it may alert senior leaders to the problem. Many are also currently eyeing the exits, creating the potential for higher-than-usual turnover at the beginning of the year, when aides feel they've been in the job long enough that it won't look odd to depart. "A lot of the natural coordination that happens in a typically functioning White House has been lost, and there has been no proactive effort to make up for it through intentional team building," said one White House official. Working at the White House may be a unique gig. But like many other employers, staffers there are experiencing their fair share of burnout. As with many workplaces, more people are working remotely and communication is often done virtually rather than in person, making it more difficult to create an office culture. There have been attempts to try and build camaraderie such as informal happy hours and group dinners. But they've largely not done the trick. Some staffers say it's the result of an insular, top-heavy White House of longtime Biden aides who are distant from much of the staff — "no new friends in Biden world," goes the refrain. And others say it's just poor management. The small perks of working in the White House, like the chance to take part in holiday parties and ceremonies, have also been in short supply. For the White House's Independence Day party, most White House staff could only attend if they worked as unpaid volunteers staffing the event, per an email from White House operations sent at the time and shared with us. For the Thanksgiving turkey pardoning and the Christmas tree lighting, attendance was doled out via a lottery system, leaving out many White House aides. The White House also used a lottery to dole out time slots for holidays tours this week, setting aside three days when staffers could bring their family members to see the building's elaborate Christmas decor. Most were understanding of the restrictions, until White House Operations asked for volunteers to staff five extra day of tours for non-White House staff. Some staffers fumed as "D.C. Randos" posted White House pictures across social media this week, believing that White House staff should have been taken care of first. "No one expects business as usual during the pandemic, but it's beyond demoralizing, it's insulting — especially when you see DNC and Hill staff and other D.C. types get invited," explained a White House official who was granted anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk to us. "Many colleagues have brought this up to me unprompted. And I've had D.C. friends ask me if I wanted to grab coffee after they attended. Meanwhile, we work here, and most of us haven't worked here before or stepped foot into the White House." The official added: "It's also hypocritical and ironic that a President whose brand is built on empathy and family has staff policies that fly in the face of that brand. It's not a good look and it's emblematic of how this place runs." We sent much of this info to the White House press shop. Knowing this is not fully representative of the West Wing, we asked if they had any color on positive morale or team-building exercises. They did not respond. OUT OF OFFICE: West Wing Playbook won't publish from Friday, Dec. 24 through Friday, Dec. 31. We'll be back Monday, Jan. 3. We hope absence makes the heart grow fonder. Do you work in the Biden administration? Are you in touch with the White House? Are you ABBE R. GLUCK, special counsel? We want to hear from you — and we'll keep you anonymous: westwingtips@politico.com. Or if you want to stay really anonymous send us a tip through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram, or Whatsapp here. Or you can text/Signal Alex at 8183240098.   A message from Walmart: 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of a Walmart – over 4,700 stores stocked with more than 100,000 of the most-purchased items this holiday season. With innovative solutions - including self-driving electric vehicles and drones - Walmart has been bringing speed and convenience in delivery to their customers – even through the current U.S. supply chain challenges. Learn more about how Walmart is improving deliveries amid record-breaking shopping activity this year.   POTUS PUZZLER From the White House Historical Association Which first lady was the first to open the White House for the first-ever public Candlelight Christmas Tour? (Answer at the bottom.) The Oval FLOTUS MEDIA BLIZZARD — First lady JILL BIDEN partnered with Snapchat on Wednesday to create an augmented reality view of the White House's Christmas decor. The collaboration with the popular social media platform was just the latest in a notable uptick in public appearances and digital media initiatives spearheaded by the first lady's office. December is almost always a busy month for the first lady, who is typically the face of the White House's major holiday festivities. She recently dished out holiday cooking tips on the Food Network and invited cartoon characters to the White House for a PBS Christmas special for kids. Over the past two weeks Biden has also participated in a number of other non-holiday-related sit-downs, including an interview with Morning Joe co-host MIKA BRZEZINSKI at a Forbes event for powerful women over 50 and a profile on CBS Sunday Morning. "It was important to the First Lady to bring the 'People's House' to as many people, on as many platforms, as possible during the holiday season, especially as we are still living in a pandemic," ELIZABETH ALEXANDER, the first lady's communications director, told West Wing Playbook. "She is being intentional about meeting people where they are, sharing her holiday message of gratitude, healing and unity, through a variety of historic and innovative ways." TA TA FOR NOW — SYMONE SANDERS posts her goodbyes to colleagues on Instagram. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: At least 13 White House officials promoted this New York Times story with the headline: "Why Christmas Gifts Are Arriving on Time This Year." National Economic Council spokesperson JESSE LEE tweeted: "Ho ho ho, whaddaya know." Press secretary JEN PSAKI added, "Take that Scrooge, the Grinch and all of the doubters that this could happen." Chief of staff RON KLAIN also weighed in with an Xmas-themed quip: "Merry Christmas to all, and to this over-hyped narrative, a Good Night." The NYT reports: "The UPS and the Postal Service delivered about 99 percent of their packages on time by that measure between Nov. 14 and Dec. 11, and FedEx was close behind at 97 percent, according to ShipMatrix." The story focuses mostly on what the private sector did, but with GOP operatives ready to blame Biden for gift delays, the White House took the victory lap. Here's our trade team's reporting on the challenges ahead. Throwback to our Oct. 6 newsletter: "Can Sameera save Christmas?" WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN'T WANT YOU TO READ: A New York Times story by ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS with the grim headline, "Another surge in the virus has colleges fearing a mental health crisis." "After almost two years of remote schooling, restricted gatherings and constant testing, many students are anxious, socially isolated, depressed — and overwhelming mental health centers. At a few institutions, there has been a troubling spate of suicides," Hartocollis writes. "Now another swell of Covid cases, driven by the Omicron variant, threatens to make life on campus worse." ABOUT FACE? On a Zoom call with reporters today, Michigan Gov. GRETCHEN WHITMER said she supports Biden's federal vaccine mandate — despite comments she made two weeks ago in which she said she was worried about the impact the mandate would have on the state's workforce. According to Crain's Detroit senior editor CHAD LIVENGOOD , Whitmer also denied that an about-face was politically motivated. "If I was driven by politics, I would never be able to make a single decision," Whitmer said on the call. "It's not about politics." Whitmer's office told us that her comments two weeks ago were taken out of context — and that she does indeed support the federal vaccine mandate but was citing the difficulty of the logistics of the mandate in a state with 50,000 state employees.   BECOME A GLOBAL INSIDER: The world is more connected than ever. It has never been more essential to identify, unpack and analyze important news, trends and decisions shaping our future — and we've got you covered! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Global Insider author Ryan Heath navigates the global news maze and connects you to power players and events changing our world. Don't miss out on this influential global community. Subscribe now.     Agenda Setting OKAY, ONE MORE TIME — The Biden administration today announced it would extend the pause on federal student loan payments through May 1 amid a surge in Covid cases, MICHAEL STRATFORD and EUGENE DANIELS report. A statement pointed directly to the pandemic and the economy as reasons for the pause. Some progressives had warned that restarting student loan payments early next year would spell disaster for Democrats in the midterms. Filling the Ranks LEADING FMCS — The administration announced it will make GREGORY GOLDSTEIN the acting director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Wednesday, as its nominee to be the permanent director, JAVIER RAMIREZ , awaits confirmation in the Senate. Goldstein has served as the chief operating Officer for the federal agency, which helps to resolve labor disputes, since 2018. Ramirez was nominated for the post in June, but his nomination has been stuck in committee. PROMOTIONS: LIZ BENNETT , who helped run the direct response advertising team for the progressive digital firm Middle Seat and the DNC during the 2020 election, has been promoted to partner at Middle Seat and ads director. What We're Reading Confronting inflation, Biden administration turns to oil industry it once shunned (Wall Street Journal's Christopher M. Matthews, Timothy Puko and Collin Eaton) Why Biden refused to pay restitution to families separated at the border (New Yorker's Jonathan Blitzer) Trump loyalists are running out the clock on the Jan. 6 probe (Bloomberg's Joshua Green and Erik Larson)   A message from Walmart:   What We're Watching Biden is set to appear on ABC's World News Tonight with DAVID MUIR at 6:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Among other topics, according to a network spokesperson, Muir asked Biden questions about the shortage of Covid tests in some places, potential vaccine requirements for domestic flights, and the prospect of running against DONALD TRUMP again in 2024. Where's Joe Biden received the President's Daily Brief this morning. He also met with the Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force and private-sector CEOs, including FedEx CEO FRED SMITH, GAP CEO SONIA SYNGAL and American Association of Port Authorities CEO CHRISTOPHER CONNOR. Where's Kamala She and second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF flew to Los Angeles for the holiday weekend.   DON'T MISS CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO's new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE.     The Oppo Book GENE SPERLING, who oversees Covid-19 relief funds for the administration, went on a few dates with journalist KATIE COURIC back in March 2000, according to a 2001 Washington Post article. The two went out to dinner a handful of times, and "there was supposed to have been a third date, but after an ineffectual game of phone tag, Sperling began reading in the gossip columns about Couric and [TV producer] TOM WERNER," whom Couric later began dating in a more official capacity, the column notes. In response to the news, Sperling said at the time that the two were "just friends, and that's a standard denial denial. But it was nice to be out with someone shorter than me." We pinged the White House and Couric's representatives for more goss but they did not comment. :-( POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER First lady PATRICIA NIXON hosted the tour in December of 1969 to allow the general public to see all of the White House's holiday finery. Got a better question? Send us your hardest trivia question on the presidents and we may feature it on Wednesdays. We also want your feedback. What should we be covering in this newsletter that we're not? What are we getting wrong? Please let us know. Edited by Emily Cadei   A message from Walmart: With a large retail footprint and proven history of logistics innovation, Walmart stepped up as a leader in driving solutions for supply chain challenges and product shortages. As Americans resumed holiday shopping activity in earnest this year, Walmart was prepared with high-tech solutions that span the streets, sidewalks and skies. And – with 150,000 new jobs added this year – Walmart is hiring across the business to complement these technologies. Technologies that include: • Self-driving electric vehicles that that improve store delivery times and customer accessibility. • High-tech distribution centers that use robots to make it easier for associates to sort orders for customer pick-up and delivery. • Electric drone technology that can deliver packages within minutes instead of hours. See how this technology is improving the U.S. supply chain and creating thousands of new jobs.     Follow us on Twitter Alex Thompson @AlexThomp Tina Sfondeles @TinaSfon Allie Bice @alliebice   Follow us

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