WASHINGTON — If it’s Wednesday ... President Biden says he was “surprised” classified documents had been found at his former office. … The GOP-controlled Congress passes bill by party-line vote to establish select subcommittee on the “weaponization of the federal government.” ... House GOP congressman files articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas. ... Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg gets sentenced to five months in prison. ... And Democrat declares victory in Virginia race that would flip state Senate seat from red to blue.
But first: Democrat Katie Porter was the first to announce a 2024 California Senate bid, with 89-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., up for re-election next year.
Yet she won’t be the last in what will likely be a wide-open, expensive and free-for-all primary contest.
Think about it: Both Feinstein and former Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., first won election in 1992, and so 24 years passed until the state saw its next U.S. senator, Kamala Harris in 2016.
And with the 49-year-old Alex Padilla just winning a full six-year term for that former Boxer/Harris Senate seat, it’s possible it won’t be open for real competition until 2040.
So if you’re an ambitious Californian politician who wants to serve in the Senate, this is your chance, especially with Feinstein having raised just $8,000 over the past two years, according to her latest FEC filing.
(Feinstein yesterday said she would make an announcement about her 2024 plans “at the appropriate time.”)
Other Democrats who could run include Reps. Adam Schiff (from the LA area), Barbara Lee (Oakland) and Ro Khanna (Bay Area), the LA Times writes.
The other wrinkle here is California’s Top 2 primary system, where the Top 2 vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to the general election.
That potentially opens the door for an ideological moderate or a celebrity (remember Arnold Schwarzenegger?).
Bottom line: Bet on a wide and crowded Senate field.
Because if you want to serve in the U.S. Senate, this might be your only shot in California for more than a decade.
Headline of the day
Data Download: The number of the day is … Fewer than 12
That’s how many documents with classified markings were found at President Joe Biden’s former office, NBC News’ Carol E. Lee, Ken Dilanian, Kristen Welker and Zoë Richards report. The documents were discovered in a locked closet by Biden’s attorneys in early November. Biden said Tuesday that he was “surprised” to learn about the documents in his old office.
“People know I take classified documents and classified information seriously,” Biden said while in Mexico City. “I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there were any government records that were taken there to that office. But I don’t know what’s in the documents. My lawyers have not suggested I ask what they were.”
The discovery has drawn sharp criticism from Republicans and former President Donald Trump, whose Florida residence the FBI raided in search of classified documents that were being stored there after Trump left office. But the Biden documents discovery has some key differences with Trump’s situation, per NBC News’ Dareh Gregorian.
Other numbers to know:
1: That’s how many House members can now force a vote to oust the speaker, which was one of Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s concessions to his defectors. NBC News’ Kyle Stewart has a helpful explainer on the so-called motion to vacate.
$31.4 trillion: The federal debt limit, which the Associated Press reports the country could hit as soon as this month.
60: How many days a far-right internet personality known as “Baked Alaska” was sentenced to jail for his participation in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
$165 billion: How much in damage weather disasters cost the U.S. last year, per calculations from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
More than 8,400: The number of service members who left the military after it instituted a mandate for Covid vaccination, a mandate that was lifted Tuesday.
8: The number of recent years that have also been the warmest on record, per the New York Times.
47: How many people have died amid protests and violence in Peru, where protesters have demonstrated after former President Pedro Castillo’s arrest last month. The death toll rose Monday, when 17 civilians and a police officer were killed.
Eyes on 2024: McDaniel’s RNC bid hits more speed bumps
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel kicked off her re-election bid last year with a show of force — a list of endorsements from more than 100 of the 168 members, well above the number she needs to secure another term leading the party.
But it hasn’t been smooth sailing, as a string of state parties, particularly in the Sunbelt, have either passed or are considering holding no-confidence votes in her after the party’s struggles in 2018, 2020 and 2022.
The latest news is coming out of Alabama, where the state party’s steering committee said McDaniel lost its no-confidence vote, and Louisiana, where the state party backed an anti-McDaniel resolution over the weekend.
There’s no sign McDaniel has lost her command of the clear majority of the membership, which means she’s still the clear favorite to win another term at this month’s secret-ballot vote of the RNC members. But these wrinkles are something to watch, especially if they keep growing.
Read more about the dynamics in play on NBCNews.com.
In other campaign news:
Michigan jockeying: Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin said during an appearance on MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson Reports that she is “seriously considering” running for Senate but doesn’t have a timeline for a decision.
And over the weekend, Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel signaled that she is not interested in running, telling MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin that she can “do the most good” as AG, adding “That’s where I intend to stay.”
California Democrats hit Porter for jumping in: Porter’s own communications director tweeted that the lawmaker raised $250,000 in the 90 minutes after releasing her campaign launch video. Democratic Reps. Ro Khanna and Adam Schiff, both Californians who’ve also been rumored to be exploring a Senate run, accused Porter of putting political ambitions over constituent concerns as she announced her campaign during major storms and flooding in the state.
How do you solve a problem like George Santos?: While it’s unclear whether embattled GOP Rep. George Santos will run for re-election, Politico reports Republicans in Congress are divided about whether to sit him on sensitive committees, or even any committees. And two Democrats have filed an ethics complaint against him, two developments that could loom large if Santos decides to seek re-election.
ICYMI: What else is happening in the world
Ukrainian troops will be trained in Oklahoma on Patriot missile defense systems starting later this month.
Aging water infrastructure in Baltimore and other parts of the country weigh on families, and there’s little relief ahead, NBC News’ Hannah Rappleye, Michelle Cho and Yamiche Alcindor report.
