White House- President Biden will visit the food bank Philabundance in Philadelphia to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as he has done on the holiday most years during his presidency. Vice President Harris will deliver the keynote speech at the South Carolina NAACP’s annual “King Day at the Dome” event at the South Carolina State House.
- Biden is running out of patience with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu because he keeps rebuffing the administration’s requests on the Gaza war. — Axios
- Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry informed the president at a meeting last week that he soon plans to leave the administration. Kerry is expected to assist Biden’s reelection campaign in promoting the administration’s climate record.
Congress- Speaker Mike Johnson said that he and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. would make sure that federal agencies punish workers who take part in a planned walkout tomorrow to protest the Biden administration’s handling of the Gaza war. “Any government worker who walks off the job to protest U.S. support for our ally Israel is ignoring their responsibility and abusing the trust of taxpayers,” Johnson said in a statement. “They deserve to be fired.”
- Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. urged President Biden to take executive action to address the crisis at the U.S. southern border if lawmakers cannot reach a bipartisan agreement on border policy changes.
- The Republican leading the House GOP investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack said the probe is moving forward with more resources and triple the staff since Johnson was tapped as speaker. — Fox News
- The House looks to be moving forward with a vote on holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress, even after he reversed course and said through his attorneys he would follow a subpoena for a deposition if a new one is issued.
- The House select committee on China has asked executives at semiconductor companies Intel, Nvidia, and Micron to testify before Congress. — FT
- Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky. is in the hospital recovering from a car crash that occurred last week, Johnson told Republican members on a call Sunday night, which will temporarily shrink the GOP majority even further.
WordplayChuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) / XEconomyArtificial intelligence will affect 40% of jobs worldwide, the International Monetary Fund said ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos. IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said in a blog post that the technology could “jumpstart productivity, boost global growth and raise incomes,” but equally could “replace jobs and deepen inequality.” Courts- Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis defended her office and the qualifications of a special prosecutor working on the election subversion case, following allegations she and the special prosecutor had an improper romantic relationship. Politico reported that the special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, was held in contempt last year for defying a court order.
- Donald Trump looks like he’ll be back in court this week at a New York defamation trial over comments he made about E. Jean Carroll. Jury selection begins on Tuesday. Attorneys for Carroll and Trump have been arguing over potential restrictions on Trump’s testimony.
Polls- The final Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom poll found Donald Trump picking up support from 48% of likely Iowa caucusgoers. Nikki Haley moved into second place, but with a distant 20% support. Almost half of Haley’s supporters in the survey said they’d vote for President Biden over Trump.
- Haley holds a bigger lead nationally over Biden than Trump or Ron DeSantis in hypothetical general election matchups, according to a new CBS News/YouGov poll.
2024- Nikki Haley got an endorsement from former Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, and Donald Trump got a nod from North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who himself mounted a short-lived GOP presidential campaign.
- A majority of Republicans in the House and Senate have now backed Trump. — Politico
- The Biden reelection campaign said it raised $97 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, giving it $117 million cash on hand (a historic high for a Democratic campaign at this point in the race).
- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. predicted progressives would still rally behind President Biden in the general election despite their opposition to his handling of the Israel-Hamas war, but he urged Biden to withhold aid to Israel unless Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “radically” changes course in the offensive. “There’s no question it is very hard for young people — I think for most Americans — to be excited about what is going on right now. The president has got to change course,” Sanders said on CNN.
- Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman plans to donate $1 million to Rep. Dean Phillips’, D-Minn. longshot primary bid against Biden.
National Security- The U.S. military said it shot down an anti-ship cruise missile fired by the Houthis in Yemen toward a U.S. destroyer operating in the Red Sea, days after U.S.-led strikes against the Iran-backed group.
- Two Navy SEALs went missing off the coast of Somalia last week after falling into the water when attempting to board a ship there. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on CBS Sunday that the search for the two SEALs was still ongoing and that the mission was not related to the recent operations against the Houthis in Yemen.
- Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is still hospitalized at Walter Reed (about two weeks after he was admitted) and is “in good condition,” according to the latest update from Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder. It’s still unclear when he will be released from the hospital.
- North Korea said it tested its first solid-fuel hypersonic missile, designed to travel five times the speed of sound and evade missile defense systems.
Foreign Policy- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon at the World Economic Forum in Davos. — Bloomberg
- Ukraine presented a 10-point peace plan to 83 countries at Davos, including officials representing countries from the global south, but China skipped the meeting (Russia wasn’t invited). The plan calls for a full withdrawal of Russian troops.
- China’s foreign minister called for an Israel-Palestine peace conference during a visit to Egypt. The president of the European Council on Foreign Relations argues that Beijing is trying to show developing countries the U.S.-backed “rules-based order” is eroding.
Big Read2024 is the “year of voting dangerously,” Bruno Maçães writes in British magazine the New Statesman, because several contests will put democracy as we know it to the test. The U.S. election in November is the centerpiece with the potential return of Donald Trump, he writes, but other contests like the presidential vote in Indonesia will carry powerful lessons for the health of democratic process around the world. BlindspotStories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, according to data from our partners at Ground News. What the Left isn’t reading: A law banning people from carrying firearms in post offices is unconstitutional, a federal judge in Florida ruled. What the Right isn’t reading: The Biden administration proposed oil and natural gas companies pay a fee for methane emissions that go above certain levels. Principals TeamEditors: Benjy Sarlin, Jordan Weissmann, Morgan Chalfant Editor-at-Large: Steve Clemons Reporters: Kadia Goba, Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel |