| | | | Democrats plot to thwart GOP's Obamacare repeal | | Democrats will not work with Republicans at all to negotiate and pass a replacement for President Barack Obama's health care law once the GOP-led Congress repeals it early next year, incoming Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told The Washington Post's Greg Sargent.
What Schumer said: "If they repeal without a replacement, they will own it. Democrats will not then step up to the plate and come up with a half-baked solution that we will partially own. It's all theirs. ... The odds, after they repeal without any replacement, of us sitting at the table to do something that will chop one arm off instead of two is very small."
In other words: Democrats are determined to make sure that if Republicans take health coverage away from 20 million Americans, the GOP receives total blame for the fallout. The lack of Democratic cooperation is significant because while Republicans can repeal much of Obamacare with just 51 votes -- meaning without Democratic support -- to replace it, they will need 60 votes and therefore a handful of Democratic backers.
Where the GOP is: After meeting with Vice President-elect Mike Pence, Capitol Hill Republicans are still split on how long to give themselves to come up with an Obamacare replacement, Politico's Burgess Everett and Jennifer Haberkorn report. | | Transition watch: Trump picks Kelly for Homeland Security | | From CNN's David Wright: President-elect Donald Trump has chosen retired Gen. John Kelly to head the Department of Homeland Security, a senior transition official tells CNN. The former head of US Southern Command, Kelly was previously responsible for managing security threats posed by criminal drug networks based in South and Central America -- an issue that Trump highlighted in his campaign, and to which Kelly would bring unique experience.
Branstad to China: Trump has also chosen Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad to become the next US ambassador to China.
More transition notes: Ex-WWE (that's professional wrestling) CEO Linda McMahon will head the Small Business Administration. ... The New York Times' Eric Lipton chronicled the incredibly close ties between the energy lobby and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt -- who the paper says is Trump's pick to lead the EPA. ... Trump sent pharmaceutical stocks dropping by saying he's going to "bring down drug prices." | | "Every day I'd watch it and was like, 'Thank God I'm not in the middle of this.' It was the most bizarre political year that we've seen in 100 years." -- Former House Speaker John Boehner, enjoying retirement. | | | Time Magazine named Donald Trump its 2016 Person of the Year -- labeling him the "President of the Divided States of America." The cover story is by Michael Scherer.
Trump is sensitive about how Time views him. Here's what he tweeted in 2012, when he didn't make the cut for its list of the 100 most influential people: | | | Trump was also bitter he didn't win last year, complaining of Time's selection of German Chancellor Angela Merkel that "they picked the person who is ruining Germany." | | | Trump cares how he's viewed in popular media. In comments highlighted by Sopan Deb -- the CBS Trump chronicler who's moving to The New York Times -- Trump told NBC's Matt Lauer this morning that "Saturday Night Live" was a good show when he hosted a year ago, but "it's not a good show anymore," and Alec Baldwin's portrayal of him is "really mean-spirited and not very good." And yet ... Trump repeatedly ducked Lauer's questions about why he still watches the show. | | Keith Ellison: I'll quit the House if I'm elected DNC chair | | Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison -- the favorite of Democrats' progressive wing, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, to become the next Democratic National Committee chairman -- told the Minneapolis Star Tribune's Allison Sherry he'll quit Congress if he's chosen to lead the DNC.
Why Ellison's move matters: It eliminates his critics' go-to argument against him: that the task of rebuilding the party requires the chairman's full-time attention. It's an advantage the RNC under Reince Priebus has had in recent years, while the DNC under Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz did not.
Also hampering Ellison: There's a debate over his alleged anti-Semitism, which Vox's Jeff Stein explains here. Some journalists -- including New York's Eric Levitz and The Intercept's Zaid Jilani -- are defending Ellison.
In other progressive news...
Protesting the Electoral College: The Progressive Change Campaign Committee emailed its supporters about plans for major December 19 protests in state capitals. The email from PCCC co-founder Adam Green says "we're going to make these protests a powerful show of force. News coverage of these protests will increase public awareness of the fact that Trump lost the popular vote by 2.5 million votes -- helping to blunt his claim of a 'mandate' and harden the spine of Democrats to fight." | | Midterm scramble: Mandel says he'll challenge Brown | | Ohio state Treasurer Josh Mandel is running -- again -- against Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, per The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Andrew J. Tobias. Six years after their first contest, the 39-year-old Mandel has $1.3 million in the bank. He'll likely have to win a Republican primary first, with other contenders such as Rep. Pat Tiberi considering runs.
A lot has changed in six years. In 2012, President Barack Obama carried Ohio, and Brown actually outran Obama. In 2018, though, it'll be a midterm year, and Donald Trump just carried Ohio by nearly 9 points. Still, Brown's economic populism is likely a better fit for the state than Hillary Clinton was.
Why this race matters: Republicans are definitely targeting Senate seats in deep-red Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia. But they also hope the playing field includes swing states like Ohio and Florida.
Camelot in Springfield? Politico Illinois' Natasha Korecki writes: "Businessman Chris Kennedy is interviewing potential pollsters and consultants as he moves toward a possible 2018 gubernatorial run, sources close to Kennedy told POLITICO Illinois. Kennedy, son of the late Robert F. Kennedy, has increased his public profile since the spring and has publicly discussed the possibility of running for governor — without making commitments." | | | Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas really, really loves queso. Don't miss his 40-second ode to -- let's be honest, he's right -- the greatest dip there is. | | Ryan not sweating Trump's business conflicts | | | House Speaker Paul Ryan says he's not worried about President-elect Donald Trump's potential business conflicts of interest as he heads into the White House -- saying on CNBC today that Trump should handle them "however he wants to." More from Politico's Nolan McCaskill. | | Senate approves bill to fund medical research | | | Senators voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to approve a $6.3 billion bill to boost spending for medical research on cancer and other diseases as well as address the mental health crisis and opioid epidemic in the country. The 94-5 vote on the 21st Century Cures Act, which was named in honor of Vice President Joe Biden's son Beau Biden, who died last year of brain cancer, came in the waning days of the Congress, which is expected to wrap up its work for the year this week. The bill had already cleared the House and now heads to President Barack Obama, who is expected to sign it. More from CNN's Ted Barrett. | | | Defense Secretary Ash Carter is in India, working to strengthen ties there as China rises. ... President Barack Obama offered his candid thoughts on race in an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria that airs tonight at 9 ET. | | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Check out CNNMoney's Reliable Sources, an insider's look into the media brought to you by Brian Stelter. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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