Mike Allen closed out 2017 with back-to-back News Shapers events in DC. Today's featured Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Mark Warner. They discussed Russian election interference, tax reform, what's next, and what's not.
Why it mattered: Now that the Republicans' sweeping tax bill has passed both chambers of Congress, President Trump is expected to sign it into law on Jan. 3. Meanwhile, Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation continues at full force.
Mike thanks guests for coming to Axios' 31st and final event of the year.Chuck KennedySen. Warner tells Mike that the tax bill "is probably the single most disappointing piece of legislation" he's seen during his time in the Senate.Chuck Kennedy"The tone and tenor of the comments coming out of the president's allies both elected and otherwise should send a chill through all of us," Sen. Warner says, referring to efforts to undermine Mr. Mueller's investigation. Chuck Kennedy140 guests getting in one last Axios event before the holidays.Chuck KennedyLeader McConnell doesn't dispute that there may need to be a fix to the tax bill. Chuck KennedyLeader McConnell tells Mike that welfare and entitlement reform are not expected to be on the 2018 agenda.Chuck KennedyOn the president's negative tweets about him over the summer: ""They weren't my favorite, no. But he's gotten better. [...] We're doing just fine."Chuck KennedyMike in the holiday spirit. Chuck Kennedy
See you in 2018!
Thank you Bank of America for sponsoring this event.
In her first week on the job,Amy Coney Barrett may be deciding which votes to count in the presidential election. By her third week, she’ll be deciding the fate of the Affordable Care Act.
Where it stands: The Senate votes on Barrett’s nomination tomorrow. If she’s confirmed, Chief Justice John Roberts is expected to swear her in at the Supreme Court within hours, an administration official tells Axios.
The Biden campaign is rebuffing persistent pleas from Texas Democrats to spend at least $10 million in the Lone Star state, several people familiar with the talks tellAxios.
Why it matters: If Texas — which has 38 electoral votes and is steadily getting more blue, but hasn't backed a Democrat for president since 1976 — flipped to the Biden column, it would be game over. But the RealClearPolitics polling average stubbornly hovers at +2.6 for Trump — and Team Biden appears more focused on closer targets.
Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Chris Carlson-Pool/Getty Images
A luxe election-night watch party at the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue is being planned for President Trump's donors, friends and advisers — but Trump's hand in it is minimal because he's "very superstitious" — people familiar with the plans tell Axios.
The big picture: This "mecca for all things MAGA," as one adviser described it, is one of three hubs where they say Trumpworld will watch returns. The others are the war room at campaign HQ in Rosslyn, Virginia, and the White House residence, where Trump and the first lady will gather close family and advisers before heading to the hotel later that night, the sources said.