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DRIVING THE DAY
THE RETURN OF RENEE — Former Rep. RENEE ELLMERS announced on Twitter Wednesday that she’s running for Congress again in North Carolina’s 4th district — and sent the House GOP gossip mill into overdrive.
Ellmers, you’ll recall, lost her primary in 2016 following allegations that she was having an extramarital affair with KEVIN McCARTHY, who also lost his bid for speaker around that time in part due to the controversy. (Both denied the allegations.) Oddly enough, her foray back into politics comes as McCarthy is in his best position yet to attain the job he’s wanted for years.
Yet the plot thickens: McCarthy met Wednesday with BO HINES, a former football player and Trump loyalist who is currently running in another North Carolina district — but who is considering switching to run against Ellmers instead. It’s unclear whether McCarthy would endorse in the race, but it’s a safe bet House Republicans will be watching this primary closely.
DEMOCRACY SUMMIT: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW — President JOE BIDEN will open his two-day Summit for Democracy with opening remarks at 8 a.m. Watch live here
He’ll then host an hourlong “Leader’s Plenary Session.”
Over 100 countries are participating. Building the list of invitees has been a fraught process run by Biden, ANTONY BLINKEN and JAKE SULLIVAN, who added a new NSC position, coordinator for democracy and human rights (filled by former journalist SHANTHI KALATHIL), to oversee the event.
The list includes some of the most committed democracies (Finland and New Zealand), some questionable cases (Serbia), and some places where democracy is slipping (Poland, Philippines, and, er, the United States). On some difficult calls, such as Brazil and India, large democracies that have seen several years of anti-democratic drift, Biden’s team decided to be inclusive. But other edge cases, such as Hungary, they didn’t invite at all.
Holding a summit to defend, strengthen and promote democracy wouldn’t be necessary if all were well with the institution. Since 2015, the total number of democracies has shrunk from 104 to 98, according to the authoritative International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). Freedom House’s latest assessment of democracy worldwide documented 15 years of decline. The White House calls the trend a “global democratic recession.”
The Summit’s host is in the midst of democratic crisis. IDEA ranked the U.S. as a “backsliding” democracy for the first time in its annual report. Freedom House recently said of the United States, “[I]n recent years its democratic institutions have suffered erosion.”
A few sessions from today’s schedule that caught our eye:
— 10:30 a.m.: Bolstering Democratic Resilience.
The panel of leaders from Peru, Ghana, Costa Rica, and Sierra Leone is moderated by CBS’ Enrique Acevedo. How much does backsliding in the U.S. get raised?
— 1:15 p.m.: Remarks by Republican Gov. PHIL SCOTT of Vermont and Democratic Gov. JANET MILLS of Maine.
Scott is a vociferous Trump critic. Do he or Mills address Trump’s anti-democratic rhetoric and actions since the 2020 election?
— 1:25 p.m.: Closing Remarks by Vice President KAMALA HARRIS.
Part of Harris’ vice presidential portfolio is voting rights, though there is little progress to show as the issue is completely stalled in Congress. So just as Biden showed up in Scotland without his ambitious climate legislation signed into law, he and Harris will host a democracy summit without having passed any of the democracy reforms they have championed for a year.
As James Traub notes in his excellent behind the scenes report for POLITICO Magazine on the planning for the event, the Biden summit was supposed to be in person. When it was switched to a virtual confab, Biden officials added the idea of reassembling the group a year from now — after “a year of action” — when countries would be required to show progress on their democracy-boosting promises.
Democracy scholars and human rights activists have been sounding skeptical about whether there will be any serious requirements from this week’s attendees. DOUGLAS RUTZEN, who is president of the International Center for Non-Profit Law, which helped organize civil society groups for the event, told Traub he was not hopeful and that the 2-day Zoom was shaping up to be "political theater that will lead to nothing of significance.”
Meanwhile, Biden’s policies toward Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan have opened him up to charges of hypocrisy as the summit host.
“We had a real crisis moment where we said, 'How can we have this summit when this is what happened to the Afghan people?’” SARAH HOLEWINSKI, Washington director of Human Rights Watch and head of the summit's human rights working group, told Traub.
In Foreign Policy, Stephen M. Walt notes that the summit could even “backfire”: “If the summit and its successors do not create real results, it will reinforce the perception that democracy itself is no longer fit for its purpose.”
We’ll be watching for what concrete commitments are promised by invitees before they sign off from their video calls on Friday afternoon.
More from POLITICO Magazine: “Biden Wants to Save Global Democracy. Here’s What He Can Actually Do.”
Good Thursday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri.
BIDEN’S THURSDAY:
— 8 a.m.: The president will deliver opening remarks at the virtual Summit for Democracy.
— 8:15 a.m.: Biden will host the Leaders’ Plenary Session at the virtual Summit for Democracy.
— 10 a.m.: The president, first lady JILL BIDEN, the vice president and second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF will attend the congressional tribute ceremony for BOB DOLE, where Biden will deliver remarks.
— 12:30 p.m.: Biden will hold a call with Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY to discuss the Russian military presence on the Ukrainian border.
— 1:45 p.m.: Biden will hold a call with the leaders of the Bucharest Nine group of eastern flank NATO Allies to brief them on his call with Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN.
— 3:30 p.m.: Biden and Harris will meet with the White House Covid-19 Response Team.
Press secretary JEN PSAKI will brief at 1:30 p.m.
The SENATE is in.
The HOUSE will meet at 10 a.m.
PLAYBOOK READS
ALL POLITICS
A RARE WIN FOR DEMS ON REDISTRICTING — The North Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the primary election be delayed for two months “as gerrymandering lawsuits play out that could lead to redrawn districts,” the Raleigh News & Observer’s Will Doran reports. “It’s a win for the liberal voters and groups that have challenged the new political maps for those races as being unconstitutionally gerrymandered, and a loss for the Republican lawmakers who drew the maps. All primaries, not just the ones using disputed maps for U.S. House and the state House and Senate, are being delayed to May 17 from March 8.
MEANWHILE, IN VA. — The new congressional map is good news for Democrats, as it should give them a chance to hold onto their current share of seven of the 11 seats in the state. But Rep. ABIGAIL SPANBERGER — a rising star in the Democratic Party — is hurt by it, Ally Mutnick reports. “[S]ome Democrats are frustrated with how the mapmakers handled the three women in the delegation: Spanberger, [ELAINE] LURIA and Democratic Rep. JENNIFER WEXTON. Spanberger is the only incumbent left without a home. She currently represents the 7th District but was grouped with GOP Rep. ROB WITTMAN in the new, red-leaning 1st District. The new 7th District, meanwhile, heavily favors Democrats but is nestled in the suburbs of northern Virginia, roughly an hour or so north of Spanberger’s home in Glen Allen.”
ABOUT PERDUE’S ABOUT-FACE — Former Georgia Sen. DAVID PERDUE once told Republicans in Washington that he didn’t want to run for Senate again because he couldn’t deal with Trump’s election falsehoods, multiple sources have told Playbook in the past. But he opened up about his decision to run statewide to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His motivation? STACEY ABRAMS announcing her campaign for the post.
“When Stacey Abrams announced, it forced my hand, honestly. I was conflicted … The last thing I want to do is run a campaign. But on the other hand, I can’t see the state go down this road that Stacey Abrams wants to go down. Kemp has failed to unite the party, and he can’t defeat her,” he said. Greg Bluestein has more
CONGRESS
NDAA WATCH — Progressives had big plans this year when Democrats took full control of Washington — before political reality got in the way. For proof, look no further than the National Defense Authorization Act. “Democrats hold power in the House, Senate and White House for the first time in more than a decade, yet the high-profile defense bill got more GOP votes than from Biden’s own party,” Andrew Desiderio and Connor O’Brien write. “That dynamic underscores the disconnect between the sky-high expectations for Democrats and the reality of their ultra-slim majorities in Congress, which have often required them to get buy-in from Republicans in order to approve high-profile legislation.”
DEBT CEILING TICK-TOCK — Burgess Everett and Marianne LeVine have the backstory of how McConnell and Schumer struck the legislative pretzel of a deal to avert a default. It all started before Thanksgiving: “After receiving a rare request from MITCH MCCONNELL to discuss the debt limit in November, CHUCK SCHUMER dialed NANCY PELOSI but received no answer. Given the urgency, he rushed to their joint press conference and waited for her to finish speaking.”
“After she concluded, the two Democratic leaders walked to Schumer's car and he laid out a possible solution to a monthslong partisan standoff on the debt limit. McConnell wanted to give Democrats a quick vote to raise the debt ceiling on their own and finally take the debt limit imbroglio off the table, according to a person familiar with the discussions.”
WHOOPS? — Rep. MADISON CAWTHORN (R-N.C.) “brought a GOP congressional candidate onto the House floor Tuesday night, likely in violation of House rules,” sources tell The Hill’s Scott Wong. “Cawthorn was able to do so by telling House security that his guest, Tennessee Republican ROBBY STARBUCK, was one of his House staffers. Cawthorn declined to comment Wednesday night, saying he did not do hallway interviews; Starbuck did not return a request for comment.”
ANTI-MANDATE PUSH GETS A BIPARTISAN BOOST — Months after the GOP started railing against Biden’s vaccine mandates, the political landscape on the issue took a turn in Washington yesterday. Two Senate Democrats — JON TESTER and JOE MANCHIN — joined all Republicans to approve a resolution nullifying the administration’s rule that businesses with more than 100 workers require employees to get vaccinated or do weekly testing.
The rule will never be overturned: Even if the resolution musters the three Democratic votes it would need to pass the House, Biden would veto it. But Wednesday’s Senate vote is a reminder that the politics of vaccine mandates are shifting. AP has more
THE PANDEMIC
GOOD OMICRON NEWS? — CDC Director ROCHELLE WALENSKY told the AP in an interview that the data on the Omicron variant “is very limited and the agency is working on a more detailed analysis of what the new mutant form of the coronavirus might hold for the U.S.,” but that of the confirmed cases in the U.S., “nearly all of them were only mildly ill.” This is obviously good news for the Biden White House, which a few weeks ago faced the possibility of a daunting new front in the war against the pandemic, and for the nation. More from AP.
— More than 200 million people in the United States have been fully vaxxed against Covid-19. More from NYT’s Ron DePasquale
THE WHITE HOUSE
OUT WITH THE OLD … EVENTUALLY — Biden would like to focus on national security threats of the future, but for a while now it seems like Biden is having trouble shaking loose from the past. “The new president’s team has doggedly tried to push forth with its agenda,” Jonathan Lemire writes, citing European trips, putting pressure on China and today’s Summit for Democracy. “But privately, White House aides have portrayed 2021 as a ‘rebuilding year,’ a moment to repair the damage caused by former President Donald Trump’s agenda which prioritized competition with allies and often turned a blind eye to power grabs by autocrats.”
THE NEW AMBASSADOR TO KENYA — Biden tapped former CEO of Hewlett Packard MEG WHITMAN to be the U.S. ambassador to Kenya, the White House announced Wednesday. CNBC’s Brian Schwartz writes that “Whitman spent decades in high-level corporate roles, but she has also been politically active for years. … Last year, she gave $500,000 to the Biden Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee that benefited the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee.”
JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH
PLEADING THE FIFTH — Kyle Cheney and Nicholas Wu report that “witnesses seeking to evade testimony to the Jan. 6 committee may have landed on their most potent strategy: Pleading the Fifth. Three witnesses with ties to Trump have signaled they intend to invoke their constitutional right against self-incrimination — JOHN EASTMAN, the attorney who helped lead a campaign pressuring MIKE PENCE to block Congress from certifying Biden’s victory; JEFFREY CLARK, the Justice Department lawyer whom Trump considered installing as acting attorney general to support his effort to subvert the election; and ROGER STONE, a longtime Trump confidant.
“Their assertions are the latest, and perhaps stiffest, test for the Jan. 6 committee … Legal experts say the committee has few options once a witness pleads the Fifth — and the choices they do have are risky or impractical.”
MEADOWS SUES — Former Trump chief of staff MARK MEADOWS Wednesday sued “to block a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee, arguing that it unconstitutionally intrudes on Trump's powers to invoke executive privilege,” our Betsy Woodruff Swan, Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein report.
Meadows filed the suit “in the U.S. District Court in Washington against Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the members of the Capitol riot panel and the committee itself. His attorney says he’s been put in an ‘untenable position’ of choosing to defy the committee — and risk criminal prosecution — or defy his former boss Trump’s attempt to assert executive privilege to block his testimony.” We have to wonder: How much of this is a bid by Meadows to sell copies of his book?
PLAYBOOKERS
Hillary Clinton publicly revealed an excerpt of the victory speech she’d prepared to deliver on election night 2016.
Gene Weingarten announced he’s leaving the Washington Post after 30 years after contract talks fell through.
Meg Whitman’s time leading the ill-fated Quibi featured prominently in the White House’s announcement of her nomination as ambassador to Kenya.
Ainsley Earhardt memorialized Fox News’ America-themed Christmas tree, which was targeted by an arsonist this week. “It is about the holiday season. It's about Jesus. It's about Hanukkah,” she said. “It is about everything that we stand for as a country.”
Drew Hammill told Sean Spicer that Nancy Pelosi hasn’t had any conversations with the White House about becoming ambassador to the Holy See.
Sanna Marin, Finland’s 36-year-old prime minister, went clubbing this weekend in Helsinki, stayed out past 4 a.m. and left her phone at home — which is how she missed a text message informing her that she needed to stay home and isolate due to a possible Covid exposure.
Penn Station, long the bane of … well, pretty much anyone who’s had to travel through it, should be added to the National Register of Historic Places — at least according to a New York state agency — a move that could kill off hopes of redeveloping the fleapit.
IN MEMORIAM — via WaPo’s Adam Bernstein: “Claudia Levy, a Washington Post journalist and union activist who battled successfully in the 1970s for the increased hiring of women in the newsroom as well as more equitable pay and opportunities for their advancement, died Dec. 3 at her home in the Bannockburn community of Bethesda, Md. She was 77. The cause was complications of cervical-spine surgery, said her sister, Andrea Polk. In a reporting and Newspaper Guild career spanning nearly 40 years, Ms. Levy was wholly unimpressed by power and wholly unintimidated by those who wielded it.”
SPOTTED: Mark Meadows on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue SE and Independence Avenue SE on Wednesday afternoon. Per a tipster: A man Meadows was walking with was heard saying, “Who's your lawyer again?” to which Meadows responded, “George Terwilliger.”
SPOTTED: Rapper French Montana was on the Hill on Wednesday promoting immigration reform and drug sentencing reform with the Buried Alive Project. He met with Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Reps. Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Susie Lee (D-Nev.), Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), Ben Cline (R-Va.), Marc Veasey (D-Texas), Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Shontel Brown (D-Ohio), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.). On Tuesday night, he had dinner at Café Milano with Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), Trey Baker, Cameron Trimble, Erica Loewe, Nicole Varner, Yebbie Watkins, David Urban, Eric Bovim and Noe Garcia.
OUT AND ABOUT — On Wednesday night, the Norwegian Embassy celebrated its official reopening after a two year renovation. Norway Crown Prince Haakon did the honors of officially re-opening the renovated embassy by ceremoniously breaking a block of ice. The evening featured a performance by an ice band — literally playing instruments sculpted from ice from Norway. SPOTTED: Norwegian Ambassador Anniken Krutnes, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Opal Vadhan, Paul Jones, Spencer Boyer, Rachel Levitan, Matthew Hickey, Jim Sciutto, Garrett Haake, Jackie Alemany, John Hudson, Josh Dawsey, Kate Sullivan, Kaitlan Collins and Carl Hulse.
— The Annual Women in Foreign Policy Benefit was held at the Ritz Carlton on Wednesday. The event, co-chaired by Kristi Rogers and Lois Romano, featured honored speakers Sens. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) moderated on a panel by Gloria Dittus. SPOTTED: French Ambassador Philippe Étienne, EU Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis, Cathy Russell, Rachel Pearson, Kathleen Doherty, Mary Brady and Capricia Marshall.
MEDIA MOVE — Daniel Stublen is now an editor at Agence France-Presse. He previously was a special project producer for France Télévisions and is a National Journal alum.
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Pinkston, a strategy and comms consultancy, has acquired Pliris Strategies. Donelle Harder will join Pinkston as an SVP. She is the founder and CEO of Pliris and is a Kevin Stitt, Kenny Marchant and Jim Inhofe alum.
TRANSITIONS — KP Trueblood will be president and COO of the Brooklyn Museum. She currently is COS at the ACLU and is a Hillary for America and Obama White House alum. … Christopher McCaffery is now assistant to the president at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He previously was a program associate at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. ...
… John Taylor is now senior associate for client services at Morning Consult. He previously was a marketing manager at IMGE. … Kyle Gerron is now senior manager of government affairs at the Society of Interventional Radiology. He previously was a VP at DDC Public Affairs. … Gordon Gray is now a professor of practice at Penn State's School of International Affairs. He most recently was COO at the Center for American Progress and was a career diplomat.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) … Wendell Primus of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office (75) … The Boston Globe’s James Pindell … Brian McGuire of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck … Tamara Cofman Wittes … Alexandra DeSanctis Marr … Shoshana Weissmann … Brunswick Group’s Neal Wolin (6-0) … ABC’s Terry Moran … Veronique Rodman … MSNBC’s Jonathan Wald … Google’s Cris Turner … Aniela Butler … Samantha Tubman of the Obama Foundation … Megan Devlin of the Meridian International Center … Karen Harbert of the American Gas Association … Finsbury Glover Hering’s Eric Wachter (43) … K&L Gates’ Darrell Conner … Andrew Ricci of Riccon Strategic Communications … Emily Kopp … Tricia Enright of the Senate Commerce Committee … Dave Boundy … Kelsey Gorman of Miller Strategies … John E. Smith … Scott Schloegel of the Motorcycle Industry Council … former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle … former Reps. Ciro Rodriguez (D-Texas) and Pete Olson (R-Texas) … Laena Fallon … Kathryn Cameron Porter … Richard Allen Smith … Eric Garcia … Jessica Furst Johnson … Anne Bradbury
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