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Democratic leaders hoped to spend the week before Martin Luther King Jr. Day presenting a united front for voting rights legislation and blasting Republicans as undemocratic. So much for that.Multiple high-profile voting rights leaders are planning to skip President Joe Biden's speech on the matter in Atlanta today, dismissing the address as too little too late. “We’re beyond speeches. We’re beyond events,” said LaTosha Brown, the leader of Black Voters Matter. (h/t Sam Gringlas from NPR’s Atlanta Bureau)Subscribe to POLITICO Playbook.Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.

President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats are entering the second week of their push to pass a pair of voting rights bills.Ryan Lizza is a co-author of POLITICO PlaybookJenny Ament is senior producer of POLITICO Audio.

The White House is looking to Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) to help thaw out its frosty relationship with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) in hopes of resurrecting President Joe Biden's Build Back Better plan.Subscribe to POLITICO Playbook.Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

For those who always despised him, feel betrayed by him, or fear his return to power, today is about remembering — never forgetting — Donald Trump's lowest point as president: the day he incited a mob to attack Congress while it affirmed Joe Biden's clear victory, the final desperate move in a plot to overthrow an American presidential election.For those who love him, merely tolerate him, or crave his return to the White House, today is a media stunt: a contrived anniversary of an insignificant event boosted by Democrats and the press to punish Republicans and cynically advance Biden’s legislative priorities. Americans often have a shared understanding about big traumatic national events. That is not the case with Jan. 6, which is why the cliché about our politics feeling like a civil war has more and more resonance. Subscribe to POLITICO Playbook.Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Today's Big Event: Senate Democrats will hold a virtual meeting at 12:45 p.m. It will be the first opportunity of the new year for all 50 caucus members to talk about where Build Back Better 2.0 stands and what they think of Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER’s new voting rights push. On both issues — as usual — every utterance of JOE MANCHIN (W.Va.) and KYRSTEN SINEMA (Ariz.) will be examined like a haruspex inspecting a sheep liverThe Latest Deadline: As we previewed Monday, voting rights and election reform will dominate the debate in Washington over the next weeks.Meeting self-imposed deadlines has not exactly been the Democrats’ forte over the last year, but Schumer said Monday he wants the Senate to consider rules changes by Jan. 17 if voting rights legislation is filibustered.Subscribe to POLITICO Playbook.Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.

It’s a fitting end to a year dominated by two Senate Democrats at the center of pretty much everything in 2021: Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have all but put the kibosh on two major proposals their own party was hoping to pass before the holiday break.First: Manchin’s talks with President Joe Biden over Build Back Better hit a brick wall. Earlier this week, Senate Democrats were looking to the president to bring the stubborn West Virginia Democrat around. Instead, Burgess Everett, Alex Thompson and Jonathan Lemire report that their discussions have gone so poorly that they’re “straining their friendly relationship.”Second: Realizing the BBB challenges with Manchin, Senate Democrats this week did an about-face on their topic du jour. Instead of narrowing in on their $1.7 trillion social spending bill, they started eyeing a Senate rule change to enable passage of a long-stalled voting rights bill.Subscribe to POLITICO Playbook.Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.

The Senate passed a debt limit increase of $2.5 trillion Tuesday afternoon, and the House followed suit just after midnight. Congress should be freed from addressing the issue again until 2023.A final vote on the long-stalled NDAA is likely in the Senate today. Congress has funded the government through mid-February. It shouldn’t exactly get a big pat on the back for doing the basics, but the three issues were all cleared with some degree of bipartisanship and less brinkmanship and drama than expected.The next big hurdle for Democrats? Senator Joe Manchin.And, Doug Sosnik was an adviser to Bill Clinton for six years, and for some dozen years he has written regular memos about national trends that have attained something of a cult following among political junkies. We know many of our readers are fans of his wonky missives, so we’re pleased to present Sosnik’s latest memo, “A Look Ahead to the 2022 Midterm Elections and Beyond,” exclusively to the Playbook audience.Subscribe to POLITICO Playbook.Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.

President Joe Biden is set to speak with Sen. Joe Manchin as early as today in what Hill sources tell us will be a make-or-break moment for passing the Build Back Better Act (BBB) before Christmas. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has been adamant that his chamber will clear the party’s $1.7 trillion social spending package before senators leave for the holidays. Yet everyone knows that won’t happen without the stubborn West Virginia Democrat — and Democrats are looking for some presidential arm-twisting to get him there. Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Thursday was a double-whammy for former President Donald Trump. First, New York state A.G. Tish James announced that she was suspending her campaign for governor and would instead run for reelection. That all but assures the law enforcement officer who has been perhaps the most aggressive in investigating Trump will continue to focus her attention on the ex-president. Then, a federal appeals court flatly rejected that Trump’s claims of executive privilege, which he used to block the National Archives from turning over documents to the Jan. 6 committee. It’s not the final word on the matter — the Supreme Court could still intervene this month — but it’s a big win for the select committee. If Trump had a bad day Thursday, it might be Joe Biden's turn on Friday. A pair of critical reports out today could cause a spate of negative headlines just as the White House is looking to push Build Back Better (BBB) past the finish line. Listen and subscribe to Playbook Deep DiveRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.

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.  And, President Joe Biden will open his two-day Summit for Democracy with opening remarks at 8 a.m. Watch live here.Subscribe to POLITICO Playbook.Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.