December 14, 2018 | by Lauren Dezenski

Washington's mad holiday dash begins

This week was a blur as political Washington works frantically to clear its plate before hopping on planes, trains and automobiles to head home for the holidays. (Oh, and there's also a partial government shutdown that may or may not happen next Friday.)

The week started out with a White House chief-of-staff search that went off the rails -- it was unclear who would replace John Kelly after the presumptive successor, Nick Ayers, announced he wouldn't take the job.

But Trump ended speculation late Friday afternoon, tweeting that OMB head Mick Mulvaney would become "acting" chief of staff.

Meanwhile, former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen was sentenced to 36 months in prison (a swanky one, at that) on Wednesday, and he's not keeping quiet about his ex-boss anymore. Trump, true to form, hit back at Cohen, saying he never directed Cohen to break the law.

Cohen responded in a TV interview this morning, saying the President wanted him to conceal his actions because Trump "was very concerned about how this would affect the election."

But you know who probably had the best week in Washington? Nancy Pelosi.

Not only did she flip a key constituency of opponents to her future House speakership, but she won plaudits for her composure in a televised, fiery meeting with Trump in the Oval Office. AND the fanfare around the rust-colored Max Mara coat she wore while walking out of the West Wing inspired the fashion house to re-issue the coat five years after taking it off the racks. I'd consider that an early Christmas present for the likely soon-to-be speaker.

There's still a rough road ahead before lawmakers leave town. One major speed bump is a possible government shutdown over funding for Trump's border wall, which will come to a head at the end of next week.

The Point: Unlike Michael Cohen and Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi had a VERY good week. But 2018 isn't over, and some of the biggest squabbles are still to come.

Now, a recap of the week, in 21 headlines:

Monday:

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday:

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"It is true. I will be running for Congress in 2020, and I will win. Stay tuned."

-- George Papadopoulos, a former adviser to President Trump's presidential campaign, tweeted confirmation of reports that he plans to run for Congress. He was released from federal prison last week.

🚨2020 POLL ALERT 🚨

It's good to be Beto O'Rourke, at least according to the latest CNN/SSRS poll on the still nascent 2020 field.

The Texas Democrat made the biggest gain in the field of candidates since the last poll, out in October. Meanwhile, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders reign supreme in the first and second spots, respectively.

LAUREN'S GOOD READS

Read this: Politico's definitive Pelosi leadership fight ticktock

Dave Levinthal asks "Why won't Jill Stein pay her fines?"

How the police and FBI found one of the country's worst serial killers

Sad news for the The Weekly Standard

The Mueller investigation stakeouts are WILD

Backpack bees to the rescue!

Royals in jeans!!!

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

"Christmas in Harlem" is a delight.

🌽THE RETURN OF THE IOWA POLL 🌽

At 8 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, the Iowa poll is BACK.

CNN and The Des Moines Register will release their first polling Saturday on Iowa's 2020 presidential caucuses. The Register's polling partnership is an Iowa caucus tradition since 1943.

The Iowa caucuses will be held February 3, 2020.

WARREN ON RACE

Sen. Elizabeth Warren raised some eyebrows while addressing race issues during a college address today at Morgan State University -- Maryland's largest historically black college and university.

Here's the quote that raised some eyebrows among political observers: "I'm not a person of color. And I haven't lived your life or experienced anything like the subtle prejudice, or more overt harm, that you may have experienced just because of the color of your skin."

It's unclear whether Warren was specifically rebutting the backlash to her DNA test to address questions around her Native American heritage. She also used Friday's address to address economic issues very much within her wheelhouse.

SCOTT WALKER VS. A VENN DIAGRAM

Scott Walker tried to use a clever visual to clear up questions about the laws just signed to diminish the powers of the incoming Democratic governor ... but that completely backfired.

That Venn diagram in-name-only (VINO?) made its debut during a Friday news conference as Walker sought to explain the new laws.

It also got some, um, feedback on social media:

💬"Scott Walker has put together a lame-duck Venn diagram," tweeted Milwaukee Journal Sentinel politics and statehouse reporter Patrick Marley

💬"Hmmm, is that how a Venn diagram works? 🤔" tweeted The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Emily Ristow

💬"This is not even close to how a venn diagram works," tweeted NBC News' Ben Collins

Read more: The Washington Post's Philip Bump does a great explainer on the *actual* difference in executive powers between Walker's administration and the incoming Democratic one.

YOUR DAILY GIF

From Brenna: "TBT to my uncles fighting at Thanksgiving dinner and also to that epic Oval Office meeting between President Trump, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. Want to give your family something to talk about? Share The Point with them!"

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