POLITICO Playbook: Trump’s next secretary of State search is on

SIREN -- WAPO’S JOSH ROGIN: “Trump is already looking for his subsequent secretary of state”: “The individual most often mentioned to succeed [Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo is national safety adviser Robert O’Brien. Trump actually likes O’Brien, several officers informed me, and has given him elevated diplomatic obligations since he turned the president’s fourth national safety adviser in September. O’Brien stood in for Trump on the Affiliation of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Thailand in October. He accompanied Vice President Pence and Pompeo to Turkey to barter a Syria cease-fire. …

“The other foremost contender at this level is Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Some officers consider Mnuchin is angling for the job, and some say he's merely in rivalry however not actively lobbying. Either method, he’s on the listing. Mnuchin could be very close to Trump personally and has been treasury secretary for virtually three years.” WaPo

AND MITCH MCCONNELL SMILES … CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER FRONT PAGE: “Trump remakes federal judiciary: Along with McConnell, the president has ensured a conservative tilt for decades”

BERNIE: HE CAN WIN! … HOLLY OTTERBEIN and DAVID SIDERS: “In personal conversations and on social media, Democratic officials, political operatives and pundits are reconsidering Sanders’ possibilities.

“‘It might have been inevitable that ultimately you'd have two candidates representing all sides of the ideological divide in the social gathering. Numerous sensible individuals I’ve talked to recently assume there’s a very good probability those two end up being Biden and Sanders,’ stated David Brock, a longtime Hillary Clinton ally who founded a pro-Clinton super PAC within the 2016 marketing campaign. ‘They’ve both confirmed to be very resilient.’

“Democratic insiders stated they are rethinking Sanders’ bid for a number of reasons: First, Warren has lately fallen in nationwide and early state surveys. Second, Sanders has withstood the ups and downs of the first, including a heart attack. On the similar time, different candidates with once-high expectations, comparable to Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Beto O’Rourke, have dropped out or languished in single digits in the polls.” POLITICO

-- NYT: “Why Bernie Sanders Is Tough to Beat,” by Sydney Ember in Garner, Iowa: “With less than six weeks till voting begins, the loyalty Mr. Sanders instructions has turned him right into a formidable contender in the 2020 race. Despite having a heart attack in October that threatened to derail his second quest for the Democratic nomination, he remains at or near the top of polls in Iowa and other early states, lifted by his near ubiquitous identify recognition and an enviable bank account.”

L.A. TIMES FRONT: “Booker is clinging to promise in Iowa” ... Story, with online headline: “With so much promise, why is Cory Booker’s campaign falling flat?”

Good Friday morning.

BIG NYT STORY -- “Behind a U.A.W. Crisis: Lavish Meals and Luxury Villas,” by Noam Scheiber and Neal Boudette: “On a single day in December 2015, Gary Jones, who resigned final month as president of the United Vehicle Staff, spent greater than $13,000 of the union’s money at a cigar store in Arizona. His purchases included a dozen $268 bins of Ashton Double Magnums and a dozen bins of Ashton Monarchs at $274.50 every. ‘Hello Gary, Thanks & Joyful New Yr,’ read a handwritten word from the store.

“The purchases, documented by a federal grievance filed towards a union leader in September, have been a part of more than $60,000 in cigars and cigar paraphernalia that Mr. Jones and different U.A.W. officials expensed to the union between 2014 and 2018. And the cigar purchases have been in turn just a small portion of the roughly $1 million in union cash that courtroom filings say U.A.W. officials spent on golf outings, four-figure dinners and monthslong villa rentals throughout common retreats in Palm Springs, Calif., and elsewhere.

“The scandal comes on prime of an investigation into firm and union officials’ improper use of tens of millions of dollars from a joint Fiat Chrysler-U.A.W. training middle. Mr. Jones’s predecessor as president, Dennis Williams, is accused of encouraging using Fiat Chrysler funds meant for employee schooling as a approach to pay for the extravagant spending in Palm Springs and other locations.” NYT

-- MEANWHILE … DETROIT NEWS: “Auto factory towns prepare for what’s next after closures”

MARKET WATCH -- “International Stocks Comply with U.S. Markets Larger,” by WSJ’s Anna Hirtenstein: “International markets edged up in low-volume trading on Friday, after U.S. stocks touched new data on signs of a robust Christmas retail season and easing commerce tensions.” WSJ

WHAT THEY’RE READING IN MECKLENBURG COUNTY … CHARLOTTE OBSERVER FRONT PAGE: “Trump prepares steep tariff on French wines in 2020”

THE FUTURE OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY? -- HOLLY OTTERBEIN in Los Angeles: “AOC for president? The excitement has begun”: “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was campaigning for Bernie Sanders at a jampacked beach-side rally final week when she took a second to look past 2020. ‘I know, and everyone knows, that this isn’t just about Bernie Sanders,’ she stated. ‘This is a few motion that has been many years in the making.’

“Since endorsing him in October, Ocasio-Cortez has turn out to be a supercharged surrogate for Sanders in early-voting and delegate-rich states. As she’s drawn large crowds alongside the Vermont senator in Iowa, Nevada, California and New York, progressive insiders and activists are more and more whispering about Ocasio-Cortez inheriting the motion at some point — and operating for the White House with it behind her.

“‘The way forward for the Democratic Get together shouldn't be Pete Buttigieg. It’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,’ stated Will Rodriguez-Kennedy, president of the California Young Democrats, which has endorsed Sanders. ‘She has gripped the attention of fellow millennials across the country. The Green New Deal has changed the conversation on environmental motion in the Democratic Social gathering.’” POLITICO

FOR YOUR RADAR -- “Russia commissions intercontinental hypersonic weapon,” by AP’s Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow: “Russia’s defense minister reported to President Vladimir Putin that a new hypersonic weapon of intercontinental range turned operational Friday following years of exams. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu knowledgeable Putin that the first missile unit outfitted with the Avangard hypersonic glide car entered combat obligation, the Protection Ministry stated.”

PHILLY INQUIRER FRONT PAGE: “In Van Drew, GOP embraces a former foe”: “David Richter has been removed from the National Republican Campaign Committee’s ‘Young Guns’ program, which spotlights and aids promising GOP House candidates. Two campaign consultants have left Richter’s staff. Republican strategists who once railed towards Van Drew for his ‘socialist views’ at the moment are making an attempt to clear the sector for him. ‘Every week and a half ago I was a front-runner,’ Richter stated. ‘Now I’m being handled like a pariah by my very own social gathering.’” Philly Inquirer

HOUSTON CHRONICLE: “Trump gave states energy to admit refugees. As other GOP governors signal on, Abbott is silent,” by Lomi Kriel: “For years, more refugees have resettled in Houston and Texas than another city or state within the country.

“Now which will end. Underneath a brand new requirement imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration, state and native governments should consent in writing before refugees can arrive next yr. A minimum of 34 governors, including 13 Republicans, and 86 county and metropolis executives have given their approval.

“Mayors and county leaders of all Texas’ largest cities —including Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Austin — despatched letters opting in. But Gov. Greg Abbott, who has [led] efforts to dam Syrian refugees and withdrew from the federal resettlement program in a largely symbolic move in 2016, has not. If he doesn't agree, no refugees could possibly be placed within the state, despite what local authorities might want.” Houston Chronicle

2020 WATCH …

-- CNN’S DAN MERICA: “Democratic candidates get personal on the campaign trail”

-- “Mike Bloomberg is making an attempt to persuade big-money Democratic donors that he can win in 2020, regardless that he isn’t taking their cash,” by CNBC’s Brian Schwartz: “Bloomberg and his group made their pitch Dec. 19 to at the very least 90 attendees, together with many New York business executives, at a breakfast at his campaign headquarters in New York, in line with people who attended. These individuals spoke on the condition of anonymity due [to] the conversations being deemed personal.

“In line with the individuals, Bloomberg himself prodded the financiers to open up their donor networks to the Democratic National Committee and state Democratic parties. Bloomberg donated greater than $106,000 to the DNC in November, based on the group’s most up-to-date submitting. Bloomberg aides, nevertheless, targeted on which states his campaign aimed to win in his quest for the Democratic nomination and the prospect to take on President Donald Trump in 2020, in accordance with the individuals.

“The aides showed a map highlighting Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as states Bloomberg might decide up throughout the primary. These states’ main contests are scheduled for March and April of next yr.” CNBC

-- AP: “Iowa swung fiercely to Trump. Will it swing back in 2020?” by Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines: “[A]s Democrats turn their focus to Iowa’s kickoff caucuses that begin the process of choosing Trump’s challenger, might the state be displaying furtive signs of swinging again? Caucus turnout will provide some early measures of Democratic enthusiasm, and of what kind of candidate Iowa’s Democratic voters — who've a great document of choosing the Democratic nominee — consider has the perfect probability towards Trump.

“If Iowa’s rightward swing has stalled, it might be a foreboding sign for Trump in different higher Midwestern states he carried by a lot smaller margins and would wish to win again. ‘They’ve gone too far to the best and there's the sluggish motion again,’ Tom Vilsack, the one two-term Democratic governor prior to now 50 years, stated of Republicans. ‘This is an precise correction.’” AP

-- WAPO: “Hispanic voters are growing in power. Why are Democratic presidential candidates ignoring them?” by Sean Sullivan: “Hispanics are more and more influential within the Democratic Get together and generally election contests, however leaders and activists say they feel ignored and misunderstood by candidates who have spent a lot of their time focusing on Iowa and New Hampshire, predominantly white states on the prime of the nominating calendar. They're bluntly calling on get together leaders to reconsider the voting order of the states in four years.” WaPo

TRUMP’S FRIDAY -- The president has nothing on his public schedule.

SUNDAY SO FAR …

WHAT THE’RE READING IN LANGLEY … NATASHA BERTRAND: “Intel probe puts CIA’s Haspel in a bind”: “The prosecutor appointed by Lawyer Basic Invoice Barr to look at the origins of the Russia investigation is focusing a lot of his attention on the CIA, putting the company’s director, Gina Haspel, on the middle of a politically poisonous tug-of-war between the Justice Department and the intelligence group.

“The prosecutor, John Durham, has reportedly requested the CIA for former director John Brennan’s communications as he examines the January 2017 Intelligence Group Evaluation that concluded Russian President Vladimir Putin intervened within the election particularly to assist Donald Trump. Barr has been skeptical of the agency’s conclusions about Putin’s motivations, despite corroboration by the GOP-led Senate Intelligence Committee and an adversarial assessment by former CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

“However intelligence group veterans say the Durham probe might drive Haspel to decide on between defending her company from Trump’s wrath and bowing to Barr’s needs; they point to FBI chief Chris Wray, who has discovered himself at odds with the president in current weeks over a watchdog report concerning the bureau’s conduct in the Russia probe.

“They usually say the Barr-Durham probe represents overreach by an lawyer basic who seems to have already made up his thoughts and is bent on imposing his personal skeptical view of the Russia investigation on the intelligence group.” POLITICO

SCOOP … REUTERS’ MARK HOSENBALL: “FBI investigates Briton, others for Epstein links”: “The FBI is investigating British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and a number of other other individuals linked to U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself while awaiting trial on intercourse trafficking fees, based on two regulation enforcement sources acquainted with the investigation.

“They stated a principal focus of the FBI’s investigation is Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein, and other ‘people who facilitated’ Epstein’s allegedly unlawful conduct.

“Maxwell has not been accused of legal wrongdoing. Her legal professionals did not reply to a request for comment.” Reuters

A HEADLINE POTUS WILL LIKE -- “Rank-and-File Staff Get Greater Raises,” by WSJ’s Eric Morath and Jeffrey Sparshott: “Rank-and-file staff are getting greater raises this yr—at least in proportion terms—than bosses.

“Wages for the standard employee—nonsupervisory staff who account for 82% of the workforce—are rising on the fastest price in additional than a decade, an indication that the labor market has tightened sufficiently to convey greater pay increases to lower-paid staff. Features for these staff have accelerated a lot of this yr, a time when the unemployment fee fell to a half-century low. A short provide of staff, elevated poaching and minimum-wage increases have helped these nearer to the bottom of the pay scale.

“Pay for the bottom 25% of wage earners rose 4.5% in November from a yr earlier, in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Wages for the top 25% of earners rose 2.9%. Equally, the Atlanta Fed found wages for low-skilled staff have accelerated since early 2018, and final month matched the pace of high-skill staff for the first time since 2010.” WSJ

REUTERS/MANILA: “Philippines bans two U.S. senators, mulls new visa rules for Americans”: “President Rodrigo Duterte will impose a requirement on U.S. nationals to get visas should any Philippine officials concerned in the incarceration of Senator Leila de Lima be denied entry to the USA, as sought by U.S. senators Richard Durbin and Patrick Leahy.

“Duterte’s transfer comes after the U.S. Congress authorised a 2020 finances that incorporates a provision introduced by the senators towards anyone involved in holding de Lima, who was charged with drug offences in early 2017 after she led an investigation into mass killings throughout Duterte’s notorious anti-drugs crackdown.”

SAD NEWS -- “American College of Afghanistan might close subsequent yr if federal funding is minimize,” by CNN’s Kylie Atwood: “The American College of Afghanistan is drawing up plans to shut down subsequent yr, a casualty of anticipated US government finances slashing of the varsity's steady stream of funding, three sources acquainted with the planning tell CNN.

“The college is extensively considered a prime university in Afghanistan and the one one that gives a Western-style schooling. Established in 2006, the varsity now has a scholar body that's about half feminine and presents an necessary opportunity for ladies, who the Taliban as soon as forbid from going to high school. Lots of its graduates have gone on to serve in the Afghan government.

“The university relies on the US Agency for Worldwide Improvement for more than 60% of its finances and couldn't function with out the agency's financial backing. The varsity has been unable to safe assurance from the company that it'll continue funding the varsity. The current funding will final by way of Might.” CNN

TV TONIGHT -- Bob Costa sits down with WBUR’s Kimberly Atkins, PBS NewsHour’s Amna Nawaz and WaPo’s Bob Woodward at 8 p.m. on PBS’ “Washington Week.”

MEDIAWATCH … NYT’S DAVID BROOKS: “The Media Is Broken”

-- CLOSING TUESDAY: “Newseum hailed free press, but got beaten by free museums,” by AP’s Ashraf Khalil

Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at politicoplaybook@politico.com.

IN MEMORIAM -- “William Greider, Journalist Who Targeted on Financial system, Dies at 83,” by NYT’s Katharine Seelye: “William Greider, a reporter, editor and widespread writer who examined the United States, its politics and its place on the planet by means of an financial lens for 4 many years for The Washington Publish, Rolling Stone, The Nation and other media retailers, died on Wednesday at his residence in Washington. He was 83. His son, Cameron, stated the trigger was problems of congestive heart failure.” NYT

SPOTTED: Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer on the Loews Miami Seashore Lodge on Thursday morning. … David Young on the P Road Entire Meals on Thursday.

TRANSITIONS -- Matt Shiraki is now senior policy manager at Genentech. He beforehand was director of public coverage at McKesson and is a Bush HHS and WH alum. … Alexandra Brodsky is now a employees lawyer at Public Justice. She most just lately was a regulation clerk on the Ninth Circuit and is the co-founder of Know Your IX. … Cody Sibulo is now communications director for Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.). He beforehand was press secretary and digital director for Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio).

ENGAGED -- Ron Holden, director of advance for the Agriculture Department and an associate advance for the White Home, and Claire Van Susteren, a Florida-based Democratic communications marketing consultant, received engaged Wednesday on a trip to Sugarloaf Mountain in Eire. Instapic

-- Michael Stratford, an schooling reporter at POLITICO, and Samantha Rubin, a employees lawyer for the D.C. Circuit, obtained engaged with a shock proposal in their condo. The couple met at Cornell however started courting in 2015 after reconnecting on a journey to Charleston, S.C., with mutual associates. Pic

-- Josh Nanberg, president of Ampersand Strategies and an AIPAC and John Kerry alum, and Aubrey Montgomery, president of Rittenhouse Political Partners, obtained engaged after seeing “Hamilton” in London. Pic… Another pic

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: GSA Administrator Emily Murphy. A enjoyable reality about her: “I’m an enormous ’80s music fan -- if I’m not listening to the news in the automotive, ’80s music is enjoying and I’m singing alongside, typically off-key. One of many highlights of 2019 was attending the Violent Femmes in concert -- I’d final seen them in 1991, they usually have been just as a lot enjoyable at the moment.” Playbook Q&A

BIRTHDAYS: Presidential candidate and former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Sick.) is 58 … Savannah Guthrie, NBC Information chief authorized correspondent and “Right now” show co-anchor … Kurt Volker is 55 (h/t Steve Clemons) … Rep. Abby Finkenauer (D-Iowa) is 31 … Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) is 59 … Mercedes Schlapp of the Trump reelect … Karen Hughes, worldwide vice chair of BCW International … Brennan Bilberry … Trygve Olson, president of Viking Methods … Bloomberg Information’ Glen Carey … POLITICO Europe’s Shéhérazade Semsar, Tim Ball and Nick Vinocur … Ben Lazarus … Bill Connor … Andi Lipstein Fristedt of the Senate HELP Committee … Osaremen Okolo … Jessica McCreight … Marc Smrikarov of Chatham Methods and Swing Left is 38 … Arthur Kent is 66 … James Burnham ... Andi Pringle … Dale Vieregge … Jacob Levy …

… Laura Lott, president and CEO of the American Alliance of Museums (h/t husband Steve) … Kamau Marshall, director of strategic communications for Joe Biden’s campaign … Benji Backer, president of the American Conservation Coalition … Jessica Bachman … Jeb Fain, Trump struggle room communications director at American Bridge, is 34 ... Joseph Grieboski … Hemanshu Nigam ... Mike Thomas is 51 ... Jacqueline Policastro, Grey Television’s D.C. bureau chief … Emily Hytha, communications director for Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) ... Alex Milwee ... Sheri Treadwell ... TPM’s Tierney Sneed ... Barclay Palmer ... Joseph Collins ... Sarah Guinan Nixon ... Joe Harris … Andrew Chesley ... Edelman’s Holli Holsan ... Josh Litten ... Catherine Marx ... Moyer McCoy … Geri..

Src: POLITICO Playbook: Trump’s next secretary of State search is on
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