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DOCUMENTS EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE — “Classified documents found at Pence’s Indiana home,”by CNN’s Jamie Gangel, Jeremy Herb and Evan Perez: “A lawyer for former Vice President MIKE PENCE discovered about a dozen documents marked as classified at Pence’s Indiana home last week, and he has turned those classified records over to the FBI … The FBI and the Justice Department’s National Security Division have launched a review of the documents and how they ended up in Pence’s house in Indiana. … It is not yet clear what the documents are related to or their level of sensitivity or classification. Pence’s team plans to notify Congress on Tuesday.”

MATT MORGAN was the person who found the docs after searching at Pence’s direction, CBS’ Robert Costa scooped.

BIG MOVE FOR UKRAINE — The big question looming over the war in Ukraine for the past few weeks has been when, whether and how Kyiv’s Western allies would finally send tanks to the conflict.

Now, the U.S. is likely to announce as soon as this week that it’s sending a “significant number” of Abrams M1 tanks to Ukraine, WSJ’s Michael Gordon and Gordon Lubold scooped this morning. Though President JOE BIDEN hasn’t yet made a final decision, the administration is leaning toward striking a deal with Germany, Poland and other countries to send the Abrams tanks along with the German-made Leopard 2 tanks.

“Previously, the Pentagon had ruled out providing the tanks to Ukraine, saying they were too complicated for the Ukrainians to maintain and operate,” the Journal notes. “But White House and State Department officials were described as being more open to providing Abrams to break the diplomatic logjam holding up Leopard deliveries.”

Right on cue, German Chancellor OLAF SCHOLZ is planning to announce that the country is sending Leopards to Ukraine, per our colleague Hans von der Burchard. The German government is now taking stock of its inventory ahead of the potential deliveries, the defense minister said today.

At the same time, Poland said today that it was officially asking Germany’s permission to send its Leopard tanks to Ukraine. And Scholzis likely to grant the request as soon as tomorrow, Bloomberg’s Arne Delfs and Michael Nienaber report.

Observers expect the largely stalemated conflict to intensify with new offensives on both sides this spring as the war hits the one-year mark. Tanks could be pivotal for Ukraine to defend recent gains and retake more territory invaded by Russia.

MORE BIG NEWS OUT OF UKRAINE — Several top Ukrainian officials were fired today in a growing corruption scandal, including the deputy defense minister and multiple governors. “While there was no sign that the procurement scandal involved the misappropriation of Western military assistance, the dismissals appeared to reflect [President VOLODYMYR] ZELENSKY’s goal of reassuring Ukraine’s allies … that his government would show zero tolerance for graft as it prepares for a possible new offensive by Moscow,” NYT’s Michael Schwirtz, Maria Varenikova and Cassandra Vinograd write from Kyiv.

More Ukraine reads:

— “Deadly and disposable: Wagner’s brutal tactics in Ukraine revealed by intelligence report,”by CNN’s Tim Lister, Frederik Pleitgen and Victoria Butenko

— “Russia’s War Breathes New Life Into a Cold War Symbol,”by NYT’s Matina Stevis-Gridneff in Prague: “Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a news network originally set up as a C.I.A. operation early in the Cold War, is experiencing a renaissance and making a case for its independence.”

Good Tuesday afternoon, and thanks for reading Playbook PM. The other big news of the morning was the Oscar nominations announcement: I’m stoked for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” PAUL MESCAL and, frankly, “The Whale” getting snubbed for Best Picture. Drop me a line with your Oscars hot takes at [email protected].

CONGRESS

WOMEN TALKING — Rep. VICTORIA SPARTZ (R-Ind.) said in a statement today that she wouldn’t support booting Democrats from committees, as McCarthy wants to do with Rep. ILHAN OMAR (D-Minn.) on House Foreign Affairs. McCarthy needs to “start governing for a change,” Spartz said. Though McCarthy can block Reps. ADAM SCHIFF (D-Calif.) and ERIC SWALWELL (D-Calif.) from House Intelligence unilaterally, he’s staring down an increasingly tight vote margin in the chamber for Omar. Rep. NANCY MACE (R-S.C.) has already said she’s leaning toward defecting on the vote.

MAVERICK — Rep. BOB GOOD (R-Va.) seized significant power within the House GOP as one of the holdouts to McCarthy’s speakership. Now he’s getting ready to deploy his leverage and newfound standing on the debt ceiling fight, WaPo’s Meagan Flynn reports from Zion Crossroads, Va. And his constituents at a town hall in his district largely support his stand: They like that he’s staked out principled ground. “All we got to do is cut the discretionary spending to stay within our provisions,” Good told them.

TOUCHING THE THIRD RAIL — Will House Republicans make a play to cut or reform Medicare, Social Security and other entitlements? Many lawmakers are looking closely at the issue, warning that the U.S. needs to get spending under control, WaPo’s Tony Romm reports. “GOP lawmakers have been counseled by a wide array of right-leaning groups, including the Heritage Foundation, that the new majority should consider significant changes to entitlements as part of their commitment to cutting spending and balancing the budget — but not tax increases.”

— “Senate Republicans may be open to Social Security tax hikes,”by Semafor’s Joseph Zeballos-Roig: “Sen. MIKE ROUNDS, R-S.D., shared some of the plans being batted around by a bipartisan gang of lawmakers working on a bill to shore up the retirement and disability program's trust funds, which are set to be depleted by 2035. One of the options in play: raising the payroll tax cap on wages for higher-earning Americans to extend its lifespan.”

WHO’S AT DEFAULT — The debt ceiling showdown seems likely to widen the growing chasm between congressional Republicans and corporate America, which is warning lawmakers not to force the U.S. into default, NBC’s Shannon Pettypiece reports. Big business groups are trying to swap the GOP — but they have much less pull than they used to.

DOCU-DRAMA — Don’t countSen. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-S.C.) among the Republicans piling on Biden for the classified documents: He told Sinclair’s Ahtra Elnashar that while he wants to know more, “I’ve known President Biden for a long time … I would be shocked if there’s anything sinister here.”

PULL UP A CHAIR — “Ohio’s Brad Wenstrup to chair select coronavirus subcommittee in U.S. House of Representatives,”by The Plain Dealer’s Sabrina Eaton

ALL POLITICS

HAPPENING TOMORROW — The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee will vote on whether to punt its 2024 presidential primary decision to June, giving Georgia and New Hampshire more time to come into compliance with its planned order, WaPo’s Michael Scherer previews. Related read: “New Hampshire has led the presidential primaries for 100 years. Democrats say that’s enough,”by the L.A. Times’ Arit John

2024 WATCH — A new Emerson poll has some good news for Biden — and even better news for Trump. Nationally, Biden’s approval rating this month has jumped up to 44%. But in a hypothetical matchup, Trump leads Biden 44% to 41% — a net 7-point swing in the former president’s direction since November. And Trump is also looking strong in the GOP primary: He leads Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS, 55% to 29%. He’s especially crushing DeSantis among young and non-college-educated Republicans.

RATINGS ROUNDUP — Sabato’s Crystal Ball is out with its initial ratings for the 2024 Senate races, and Kyle Kondik already slots West Virginia as leaning Republican (a flip from JOE MANCHIN). “In a presidential year where the GOP nominee appears likely to win West Virginia by another landslide, we are skeptical of Manchin’s ability to generate the immense amount of crossover he will need.” Toss-ups: Arizona, Montana and Ohio. Lean Democratic: Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin. Only Florida and Texas are anywhere near possibilities for Dems to flip.

RUNNING OFF THE RUNOFFS — After two-plus years of never-ending elections, most Georgians want to do away with the runoff system in their state, per a new Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll. Voters favor ditching the runoffs 58% to 39%, Mark Niesse and Maya Prabhu report. Liberals especially want to get rid of them.

UNPREDICTABLE — WaPo’s Ben Terris dives into PredictIt, the site where political junkies wager money on outcomes like the 2024 presidential nominations — and the CFTC’s efforts to shut it down. “There are concerns that gambling on politics only exacerbates the gamification of an American political system that already feels too much like a reality show.” But the founder is fighting back, suing to stop the CFTC’s move and alleging that the chair told him he was making the move because “I’m tired of getting pressure from others who want to do what you do.”

FOR YOUR RADAR — The marriage of the man who accused MATT SCHLAPP of sexual assault has fallen apart in the wake of the alleged incident, his wife tells The Daily Beast’s Roger Sollenberger. It’s “an indication of the toll that the alleged assault has taken on the accuser and his wife,” Sollenberger writes. “I think what this man did to him fucked us over,” his wife says. But their pending divorce has also become fodder for Schlapp’s defenders: CAROLINE WREN texted Sollenberger of the accuser, “How’s his marriage going?” The accuser says Wren is lying about the situation. Schlapp has denied the allegation.

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

ISRAELI IMPORT — “Extreme Israeli group takes root in U.S. with fundraising bid,”by Shomrim’s Uri Blau and AP’s Tia Goldenberg: “An Israeli group raising funds for Jewish extremists convicted in some of the country’s most notorious hate crimes is collecting tax-exempt donations from Americans … The amount of money raised through a U.S. nonprofit is not known. But the AP and Shomrim have documented the money trail from New Jersey to imprisoned Israeli radicals who include Prime Minister YITZHAK RABIN’s assassin and people convicted in deadly attacks on Palestinians. … [H]aving the strategy adopted by a group assisting Jewish radicals raises legal and moral questions.”

INTO AFRICA — Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD are making multi-country trips through Africa this month, highlighting the Biden administration’s efforts to deepen its ties on the continent, CBS’ Pamela Falk and Tucker Reals report. Their stops are also implicitly a gambit to compete with growing Chinese and Russian influence in many countries, as experts say the U.S. needs to step it up — though the Biden administration doesn’t frame them as such.

MEDIAWATCH

KHASHOGGI PUSHBACK — WaPo publisher and CEO FRED RYAN shot back at MIKE POMPEO over reported excerpts from his new book in which the former secretary of State criticizes the murdered JAMAL KHASHOGGI. “It is shameful that Pompeo would spread vile falsehoods to dishonor a courageous man’s life and service,” Ryan said.

NEW LAYOFFS — WaPo began to lay off some employees today, per Sarah Ellison and Elahe Izadi. “The company is eliminating 20 positions and not filling another 30 vacancies, a figure less extensive than many had expected. In mid-December, publisher Fred Ryan told staff that the company would eliminate a ‘single-digit percentage’ of its 2,500-person staff because it ‘cannot keep investing resources in initiatives that do not meet our customers’ needs.’”

KNOWING PAMELA PAUL — The NYT opinion columnist and former Book Review editor, who’s provoked plenty of online chatter, gets a new profile from The New Yorker’s Molly Fischer. “With her columns as with her books, Paul seeks to balance the personal and the panoramic,” Fischer writes. But her “humor often consists of hyperbole regarding the power of social censure — the joke (as it were) rests on the assumption that her audience shares an intense self-consciousness. … The anxieties that thrum in Paul’s work reflect her own preoccupations, but also the state of her chosen medium.”

PLAYBOOKERS

OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at a dinner in honor of Evan Rogister, principal conductor of the Washington National Opera and the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, and Synne Espensen at the home of Kathy “Coach” Kemper last night: Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Julie Sullivan, Belgian Ambassador Jean-Arthur Régibeau, Singaporean Ambassador Ashok Mirpuri and Gouri Mirpuri, Thai Ambassador Tanee Sangrat and Cholatip Sangrat, Elizabeth Hart, Kathi Vidal, Dana Bash and Yannis Yortsos.

TRANSITIONS — Sophie Shulman is now deputy administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. She most recently was deputy chief of staff for policy at DOT. … Hana Grennberg is now director of federal government affairs at Target. She previously was VP for tax at the Retail Industry Leaders Association, and is a Ron Kind alum. …UL Standards & Engagement is adding Katie Denis as head of comms, David McKnight as head of partnerships, Lesley Rohrbaugh as head of insights and policy analysis and John Wolfe as director of strategic initiatives. …

… Jake Rascoff is now director of climate financial regulation at Ceres. He previously was assistant legislative director and legislative assistant for energy and climate for Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii). … Kelsey Byerly is now a military legislative assistant for Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). She previously was a military legislative assistant for Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.). … Mark Strand will retire from the Congressional Institute at the end of the year. He has been president for 16 years.

ENGAGED — Matthew Tragesser, comms director for Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), and Madison Engelking, director of operations for Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), got engaged Saturday at the Vue Rooftop. The couple met for their first date at Scarlet Oak in Navy Yard. Pic

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Brittany Singer Shirley, senior marketing project manager at Honeywell, and Matt Shirley, Washington booking producer for Bloomberg, welcomed Edward Hayden Shirley on Saturday at 11 p.m. on the dot in Charlotte, N.C. Pic … Another pic

Correction: Monday’s Playbook PM misspelled Harmeet Dhillon’s name.