| | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross | | | PACKER ON AFGHANISTAN — If you read only one thing today, make it this magisterial but brutal report from The Atlantic's George Packer on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. You'll need to set aside some time, though — it's 20,000 words, the magazine's longest article in years. The title says it all: "The Betrayal." Among the phrases used just at the top of the story: "JOE BIDEN's Saigon," "zero responsibility," "moral injury," "military failure." The sprawling piece, reported over several months, goes deep inside the Trump and Biden administrations' failures to prepare properly for the pullout — in part because officials were worried about the optics — as well as the nongovernmental efforts to save Afghans after America's retreat, and the hundreds of thousands of Afghans tied to the war who still remain in danger. Packer is uniquely suited to tell this story. He has interviewed Biden multiple times over the years about his foreign policy views, and he has a clear-eyed and unvarnished view of the president's faults. In his award-winning book, "The Unwinding," Packer told the story of a former Biden aide, JEFF CONNAUGHTON, who became deeply disillusioned by his boss. In Packer's Atlantic piece, there is a similar theme of disappointment with Biden's failure to live up to his initial ideals as he traces Biden's shifting views on the long war. Packer is left with this unsentimental assessment of the president that sheds a different light on two well-known Biden qualities, his empathy and his tribalism: "During the 2020 campaign he was seen as deeply empathetic, but the fierce attachments of 'Middle-Class Joe' are parochial. They come from personal ties, not universal concerns: his family, his hometown, his longtime advisers, his country, its troops. The Green Beret interpreter and the girl in the unfinished schoolroom now stood outside the circle of empathy." Good Monday afternoon. AMERICA AND THE WORLD THE DRUMBEAT OF WAR — Russia and the U.S. are facing off at a U.N. Security Council meeting today on Ukraine. Russia lost an initial battle as the council voted 10-2 to hold a public meeting on the matter, with only China joining them in opposition. "Any formal action by the Security Council is extremely unlikely," however, reports AP's Edith Lederer , "given Russia's veto power and its ties with others on the council, including China." — Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN will talk to Russian Foreign Minister SERGEY LAVROV by phone Tuesday, per CNN's Jennifer Hansler. — Biden has chosen BRIDGET BRINK as the next ambassador to Ukraine but is holding off on officially nominating her until the Ukrainian government signs off, CNN's Kaitlan Collins and Natasha Bertrand report. Brink is currently ambassador to Slovakia. HAPPENING TODAY — Among the agenda items for Biden's bilateral with Qatari Emir Sheikh TAMIM BIN HAMAD AL-THANI this afternoon are energy supplies for Europe if Russia invades Ukraine, Afghanistan and the Iran nuclear talks, per Reuters . But Qatar has cautioned that its assistance with natural gas supply will be hampered by long-term contracts in Asia, WaPo's Karen DeYoung reports. DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS — Longtime WSJ reporter Bob Davis has a big feature in POLITICO Magazine today on the Biden administration's economic/trade plans to counter China — or lack thereof. More than a year in, the administration is at a standstill, riven by competing impulses to bolster trade with Asian allies and to protect American jobs. And he's got names of who's in which faction at the White House and beyond. "The post-Trump politics of trade make it politically treacherous to push to open up the American market abroad," he writes. "But that political red line is also a big handicap in the race with Beijing." The upshot "is that efforts to create a pan-Asian plan to elbow China aside have barely moved at all."
| | A message from Amazon: Amazon to pay full college tuition for front-line employees—a total investment of $1.2 billion.
Amazon's more than 750,000 operations employees in the U.S. are eligible for fully funded college tuition, including cost of classes, books, and fees.
As a part of this investment, Amazon will fund full college tuition as well as high school diplomas, GEDs, and English as a Second Language (ESL) proficiency certifications for all front-line workers. Learn more. | | | JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH HOW CLOSE WE CAME — VP-elect KAMALA HARRIS came within yards of the pipe bomb outside the DNC on Jan. 6, 2021, and she was inside the building for almost two hours, CNN's Whitney Wild, Zachary Cohen and Evan Perez scooped . The new details of how near the country was to an even worse disaster that day "further expose a security lapse on January 6 as law enforcement tried to respond to multiple major events, protect highly visible politicians, and fend off tens of thousands of riotous protesters." TRUMP CARDS THE INVESTIGATIONS — Fulton County, Ga., DA FANI WILLIS is asking for backup from the FBI to keep investigators safe amid her ongoing probe into DONALD TRUMP and attempts to overturn the 2020 election, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Tamar Hallerman. "The letter came a day after Trump, during a rally in Conroe, Texas, referenced the probe Willis' office is carrying out, as well as those overseen by investigators in New York and on Capitol Hill, which he called 'prosecutorial misconduct at the highest level.'" THE PANDEMIC KNIVES OUT FOR BECERRA — White House officials "have openly mused about who might be better" than XAVIER BECERRA as HHS secretary amid deep frustration with his handling of the pandemic, report WaPo's Dan Diamond, Yasmeen Abutaleb and Tyler Pager . They aren't planning to sack him for now due to politics, but Becerra's critics are taking aim at his low public profile, confusing messaging and a failure to "act as a de facto field marshal coordinating the nation's vast health bureaucracy to achieve the White House's strategy." The Becerra camp says he "never given a clear role in a response that is run out of the White House." (On the record, everyone says there's no tension.) VAX MILESTONE — The FDA officially granted full approval of Moderna's novel coronavirus vaccine, which until now had been authorized just on an emergency basis, the company said today. More from Stat THE WHITE HOUSE TRYING TO TURN THE TIDE — With its political prospects looking bleak, the Biden White House is stepping up its efforts to sell Americans harder on what it's already accomplished, report NBC's Peter Nicholas, Carol Lee and Mike Memoli. The messaging pivot includes a Zoom last week between STEVE RICCHETTI and campaign donors in which the White House counselor said Dems shouldn't let the magnitude of the American Rescue Plan get lost in "the kind of daily Twitter traffic of 'What have you done for me, not lately, but in the last 30 minutes?'"
| | | | 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. | | | | | POLITICS ROUNDUP CASH DASH — The RNC raised $158.6 million last year, Fox News' Paul Steinhauser scooped . That edged out the DNC's 2021 haul of $157 million, which ABC's Brittany Shepherd reported first. Both parties' hauls were records for a non-presidential election year. The Republicans' fundraising included $11.3 million in December, when the Democrats pulled in $10.7 million. But the RNC had less cash in hand going into 2022 than the DNC, $56.3 million to $65 million. — The Congressional Leadership Fund and American Action Network, the outside groups supporting the House GOP, trounced their Democratic counterparts in 2021 fundraising, pulling in $110 million, per Fox News' Paul Steinhauser . By comparison, the House Majority PAC and House Majority Forward pulled in $55 million, half the Republicans' total. — Rep. LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.) raised $2.05 million in the fourth quarter, a record sum for her, per the Casper Star-Tribune's Victoria Eavis. That compares to about $443,000 raised in the same period by her primary challenger HARRIET HAGEMAN, as Fox News' Paul Steinhauser and Kelly Phares reported. — Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) raked in $1.6 million in the fourth quarter and $4.8 million overall in 2021, his best-ever fundraising in a non-election year. More from Bloomberg AD WARS — Priorities USA, one of the leading Democratic super PACs, is planning a $30 million ad push in several key states: Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and New Hampshire. "Priorities' spending plans for the 2022 cycle come on top of the $20 million that group organizers have announced to fight voter suppression efforts, half of which went to legal challenges and half to voter education," Chris Cadelago and Sam Stein report.
| | | | A message from Amazon:   | | | CONGRESS NOMINATION TRAVAILS — ROBERT CALIFF, Biden's pick for FDA commissioner who's facing a tough vote in the Senate, has landed the support of Sen. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-Mass.) after making significant ethics pledges to her, Laura Barrón-López and Adam Cancryn report. The concessions include "agreeing to not seek employment or compensation from any pharmaceutical or medical device company that he interacts with 'for four years' following his time in government." But with five Democrats already opposing him and only four Republicans supporting him so far, Califf still faces a difficult path — and he's "failed to impress some key senators in one-on-one meetings," Laura and Adam report. POLICY CORNER FED UP — With few great options to tamp down inflation, the White House is hoping the Fed can come to the rescue by raising interest rates this year without damaging the post-pandemic economic recovery, Victoria Guida reports . She writes that inflation challenges are likely to continue at least into the second half of the year, and Fed action is not without risk: "The Fed has a history of causing recessions when it raises borrowing costs to bring down inflation, and the stock market has already been experiencing dizzying swings as investors parse what higher interest payments might mean across the corporate landscape."
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | JUDICIARY SQUARE SCOTUS WATCH — NYT's Adam Liptak has a fun look back at some of retiring Justice STEPHEN BREYER's quirkiest (and often very long) hypothetical questions from the bench, including "musings about marshmallow guns, aspirin fingers, tomato children and the Pussycat Burglar." Breyer used to come in second to the late Justice ANTONIN SCALIA in the number of "court reporters' notations of '[laughter]' in transcripts of Supreme Court arguments," and he's led the court on that metric since Scalia's death. — More positive signs from Manchin on backing Biden's eventual nominee to replace Breyer: He told CNN's Morgan Rimmer that he'd support a quick confirmation process for someone who's already been vetted for another position, and he said it was "far beyond time, far beyond time" for a Black woman on the Supreme Court. Manchin also said he was "anxious" to avoid a vacancy on the court. — Press secretary JEN PSAKI said Biden will host Sens. DICK DURBIN (D-Ill.) and CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-Iowa), the Judiciary Committee's chair and ranking member, at the White House on Tuesday for a meeting about the vacancy. MEDIAWATCH STATE OF THE UNION — U.S. journalists at the Financial Times are the latest group to mount a unionization drive, Bloomberg's Josh Eidelson scooped. About two-thirds of the proposed bargaining unit has gotten on board after about a year of organizing, with plans to join the NewsGuild. NEW ON THE SCENE — The nonprofit news site Capital B is launching today, focused on "hard news and investigative reporting aimed at a Black audience," reports WaPo's Elahe Izadi . It has a staff of 16, with plans to expand to 27; one team is focused on national reporting and one on Atlanta, "with plans for more local newsrooms soon." Some articles could also appear in partner news outlets. The site PLAYBOOKERS SPOTTED: Michael Cohen at American Bar in New York City on Sunday afternoon. MEDIA MOVE — Joseph Menn is joining WaPo as digital threats reporter. He most recently spent a decade covering cybersecurity at Reuters. Announcement TRANSITIONS — Former Manhattan DA Cy Vance is joining Baker McKenzie as a partner, per Reuters. … RNC chief of staff Richard Walters is stepping down from his role but will remain with the party as a senior adviser to the chair, Alex Isenstadt reports . Longtime RNC staffer Mike Reed will replace him. … Nathan Ohle will be president and CEO of the International Economic Development Council. He currently is CEO of the Rural Community Assistance Partnership. … … Owen Kilmer is now comms director for Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.). He most recently was comms director for Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), and is a Doug Jones alum. … Jill O'Brien is joining the Alliance for Health Policy as assistant director of policy. She previously was health policy adviser for Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.). … Rob Keith is joining Ameripen as membership and policy director. He most recently was at the American Sportfishing Association. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Annie Snider, an energy reporter at POLITICO, and Joel Kirkland, enterprise editor at E&E News, welcomed Elise Victoria Kirkland on Jan. 19. She joins big brother Henry. —Bradley Trammell, comms and government affairs associate with the American Waterways Operators, and Lindsay Turner Trammell, deputy director of policy and evidence with the U.K. Social Mobility Commission, welcomed Sebastian Baird Trammell on Sunday. Pic BONUS BIRTHDAY: David Karol of the National Association of Manufacturers
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