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With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross

Over the next two days, four generations will gather at the Southern Maryland home of House Majority Leader STENY HOYER.

They’ll dine on all the Thanksgiving classics (ham on Thursday, turkey on Friday due to family travel schedules). They’ll watch a little football. And they’ll say a prayer for those no longer at the holiday table, including Hoyer’s beloved wife, JUDY, who died of cancer 25 years ago.

And this year, for the first time in decades, Hoyer will ponder a life outside the top echelon of Democratic politics — where he mentored scores of young lawmakers, raised tens of millions of dollars for his party and helped muscle through bill after landmark bill, from the Americans with Disabilities Act to the Affordable Care Act to this year’s Inflation Reduction Act, all while maintaining a bipartisan reputation for generosity and grace.

Hoyer’s announcement last week that he would step back from the House Democratic leadership was overshadowed, justifiably, by Speaker NANCY PELOSI’s decision to do the same. But this Thanksgiving Day, we wanted to circle back with Hoyer, 83, to reflect on his decision, on what’s ahead for him and the House and on a life in public service well lived.

“I’ve had ups and downs like everybody else,” Hoyer told Playbook. “It’s not over. … I hope to still do some positive things and hopefully give some good advice and counsel when asked. But, you know, it’s been a good run, and so I’m very thankful for that.”

— He’s also thankful he’s going out at the top of his game: Like many lawmakers, he watched colleagues stay in office well past their physical and mental prime. “I don’t think anybody thinks that about me,” Hoyer said.

Going into last week, Hoyer, Pelosi and Majority Whip JIM CLYBURN (S.C.), all over 80, had been increasingly criticized as a “gerontocracy” holding back a new generation of Democratic leaders. Hoyer said he has no regrets about holding on as long as he did: “We had a hell of a record this last Congress,” he said. “In terms of performance and keeping people together and being focused, the product speaks for itself.”

But he decided a month ago, after a talk with Clyburn, that the time for transition had come. A trio of younger Democrats — Reps. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (N.Y.), KATHERINE CLARK (Mass.) and PETE AGUILAR (Calif.) — waited in the wings, and a retreat back to minority whip did not hold much appeal. (Had Dems kept the majority, he added, he might have reconsidered.)

Pelosi did not tell Hoyer her decision before her floor announcement last week, but Hoyer said he knew pretty well from their recent conversations what her choice would be. And despite decades of angling to climb the ladder, Hoyer said he did not consider mounting a bid to succeed her.

“If I were 70,” he said, “I would have thought seriously, if Nancy was leaving, to run for the top spot. But I’m not. And it’s time.”

— He’s thankful, too, he doesn’t have to deal with the incoming Republican majority: In Hoyer’s view, GOP Leader KEVIN McCARTHY has a “daunting challenge” in securing the speakership. “My presumption is he’ll get 218 [votes], but that only leaves only four people voting no. And that’s a very no-voting crowd that they have in the Freedom Caucus.”

Democrats, on the other hand, largely stuck together under Hoyer’s watch. "Although they may not like a particular play, if the play was called, that’s essentially what they would do,” he said. “They believed that a product was better than a failure.”

Hoyer had by far the most substantial relationship with McCarthy among the outgoing Dem troika. The incoming leaders will have to build that connection largely from scratch, and Hoyer said Democrats have no choice but to do that given what’s at stake in the next two years — including a possible federal default.

“To say, ‘Well, I don’t like the other guy’ or ‘I don’t agree with the other guy and therefore I won’t cooperate’ would be, I think, irresponsible and essentially unpatriotic,” he said. “But it takes two to tango, and we have seen that [Republicans] have been unwilling to do that very often.”

— And he’s thankful he gets to take care of some unfinished business: When Hoyer first became majority leader in 2007, he left behind 24 years of seniority on the House Appropriations Committee. Now he wants it back.

Hoyer confirmed to Playbook he will seek to be named the top Democrat on the subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government — a post he previously held 20 years ago.

Why leapfrog other Democrats who have been waiting for a chance to control billions of dollars in federal spending? And why pass over other subcommittees with bigger budgets? It’s no coincidence that the panel Hoyer is eyeing has jurisdiction over federal property matters — including the pending search for the site of a new FBI headquarters.

That’s a project Hoyer sees as a legacy-maker, and he has been a leading voice for bringing the FBI to Maryland — and, more specifically, to his district, near the Greenbelt Metro. “I think we have the best site, and I think we have the best argument,” he said. Left unsaid was that it also helps to have a hand on the purse strings.

Closing the deal may well be more than a two-year affair, and Hoyer said he’s keeping his campaign account open in anticipation of seeking reelection in 2024. Asked if that were definitive, he said, “I certainly intend to proceed, yes. But … let me be candid with you, though: You know, I’m 83 — we’ll see.”

Happy Thanksgiving! Mike DeBonis here, Playbook’s editor, giving our authors a holiday spell. I’m thankful you’re reading Playbook today, and for the whole Playbook team — Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Setota Hailemariam, Bethany Irvine, Ryan Lizza, Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Zack Stanton — who have made the past few months a real joy. Drop me a line and let me know what about Playbook you’re most grateful for and how we can make it even better going into next year.

THE FINAL FRONTIER — Alaska completed its ranked-choice tabulation Wednesday, confirming wins for two congressional incumbents: GOP Sen. LISA MURKOWSKI will serve a fourth full term after beating fellow Republican KELLY TSHIBAKA 53.7% to 46.3% in the final round, while Democratic Rep. MARY PELTOLA earned a full term in a reprise of August’s special election — again beating Republican SARAH PALIN, this time by an even greater margin (54.9% to 45.1%). And GOP Gov. MIKE DUNLEAVY won a second term with 50.3% of the vote, an outright majority over Democrat LES GARA’s 24.2% and BILL WALKER’s 20.7%.

— Murkowski, NYT’s Emily Cochrane notes, won in spite of “a conservative backlash against her independent streak and her vote to convict former President DONALD J. TRUMP for incitement of insurrection after the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. … Ms. Murkowski is now positioned to remain a pivotal swing vote in the chamber and to wield significant seniority on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and the Appropriations Committee, which controls government funding.”

— As for Palin, quite an observation here from NBC’s Jonathan Allen: “It’s worth pausing to note that the 2008 vice presidential nominee of a major party — Sarah Palin — just lost a House election. And that she did so in a state, Alaska, that her ticket won with 60 percent of the vote 14 years ago and where she was once elected governor.” More on Palin’s journey from NYT’s Jeremy Peters

— Only two House races remain uncalled by POLITICO: (1) CO-03, where Democrat ADAM FRISCH has conceded to Republican incumbent LAUREN BOEBERT but an automatic recount of the 554-vote race is underway; and (2) CA-13, where Republican JOHN DUARTE leads Democrat ADAM GRAY by 593 votes. Should both margins hold, as appears likely, the House would split 222R-213D.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

9 THINGS THAT STUCK WITH US

1. TWO BIG JAN. 6 STORIES: The DOJ investigators probing the efforts to subvert the 2020 election want to interview former VP MIKE PENCE as a witness — and he may be open to it, NYT’s Maggie Haberman and Michael Schmidt scooped. THOMAS WINDOM contacted Pence’s team about the matter in recent weeks, but the talks are in the early stages. EMMET FLOOD is representing Pence. It’s unclear whether Trump would try to block Pence’s testimony via executive privilege.

Meanwhile, the House Jan. 6 committee is in some rare turmoil as staffers bristle at vice chair LIZ CHENEY’s (R-Wyo.) push to focus the final report mainly on Trump, WaPo’s Jackie Alemany, Josh Dawsey and Carol Leonnig report. No fewer than 15 (!) current and former staffers express concerns to the Post that the report may omit crucial non-Trump conclusions and that the committee is becoming too much “the vehicle for the outgoing Wyoming lawmaker’s political future.” The newly public feud pivots on a decision to prioritize the work of one of several teams that have investigated various aspects of Jan. 6.

It’s worth reading the red-hot statements from Cheney’s office and the committee in response, which blast some staffers for “subpar material,” “long-held liberal biases,” having “forgotten their duties as public servants” and “cowardice.”

2. FED UP: The era of super-aggressive Fed interest rate hikes could be nearing an end, as newly released central bank minutes show many officials leaning toward a future 0.5 percentage point increase instead of the recent 0.75-point hikes. Fed officials largely wanted to avoid pressing too hard on the economic brakes, though a minority expressed concerns that economic news hasn’t yet warranted a change. More from the WSJ

Concerning and related: Fed staff economists estimated a nearly 1-in-2 chance of a U.S. recession next year, per the minutes. More from Bloomberg … Meanwhile, several other economic indicators indicated a slowdown, from falling business activity to relatively low consumer sentiment and home sales, per Bloomberg’s Molly Smith.

3. AMERICAN SICKNESS: Election deniers are deluging Pennsylvania’s judicial system with more than 100 requests for hand recounts in Republican DOUG MASTRIANO’s gubernatorial loss, the Philly Inquirer’s Jonathan Lai, Jeremy Roebuck and Ryan Briggs report. Though some of the petitions have already been tossed, “the baseless efforts threaten to sow confusion about the validity of this month’s election, tie up state courts, and disrupt officials’ ongoing work to audit and certify results by Monday’s deadline.” The fringe backers of Mastriano — who lost by 15 and has conceded — seem to have organized on a mass scale to exploit a provision in state law about which “some elections officials have worried for years.”

4. HANG ANOTHER ONE ON THE CHRISTMAS TREE: “The lame duck could be the last chance for election funding before 2024,” by Zach Montellaro: “Election advocates are pushing Congress to include hundreds of millions of dollars in the government spending package under consideration before this Congress concludes … That’s not just because of the unpredictability of a split Congress next year, but also because funding that arrives in late 2023 or early 2024 could come too late for officials to be able to reliably plan on. … Most are cautiously optimistic.”

5. THE SCHUMER SHUFFLE: Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER is making some tweaks to his leadership team, Marianne LeVine and Burgess Everett report. He won’t replace Sen. PATTY MURRAY (D-Wash.) as assistant leader, instead bumping up Democratic Policy and Communications Committee leader — currently Sen. DEBBIE STABENOW (D-Mich.) — to No. 3 and Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee head — currently Sen. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-Minn.) — to No. 4. Still, Sen. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-R.I.) keeps on pushing for bigger changes to the Senate Dem leadership structure.

6. THE COMING OVERSIGHT FIGHTS: “White House likely to honor some GOP probes but not those on Hunter,” by WaPo’s Tyler Pager: “[T]he White House is planning to distinguish between inquiries they deem legitimate and others they view as politically, not legislatively, motivated … The White House is likely to respond to requests for documents and testimony relating to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, for example, but far less likely to engage with Republicans’ investigations into HUNTER BIDEN … The prospect of a White House choosing which elements of congressional oversight it will respect strikes some experts as questionable.” Related read: “There is a growing shadow campaign to defend Joe Biden from House Republicans,” by NBC’s Alex Seitz-Wald

7. THE GLOBAL FAR RIGHT: STEVE BANNON and JASON MILLER are talking with Brazilian President JAIR BOLSONARO’s team as the outgoing leader seeks to subvert his reelection loss, WaPo’s Elizabeth Dwoskin and Gabriela Sá Pessoa report from Rio. Bolsonaro’s son EDUARDO also met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Tens of thousands of Bolsonaro backers are continuing to protest in person for military intervention. “Some of Bolsonaro’s advisers, including Bannon, want him to contest the results … Others want to move on to bigger fights that they believe could have greater international appeal. Central to this approach would be an attack on the legitimacy of the country’s top courts.”

Brazil’s election authority on Wednesday threw out a Bolsonaro effort to annul many votes and imposed a $4.3 million fine for a bad-faith lawsuit, per the AP.

8. CHEMICAL WORRIES: Biden administration officials have grown concerned that Moscow could deploy chemical weapons first, before any nukes, if Russia continues to struggle in Ukraine, Erin Banco and Lara Seligman report. Though it’s not an immediate fear, the U.S. is working “to ensure allies are prepared for such an event, as well as to mobilize new resources and investments in manufacturing of detection systems for when the chemicals are used.” Any chemical attack could look like the one on dissident ALEXEI NAVALNY and use weapons that are difficult to trace.

9. NUCLEAR WORRIES: “United States Enters a New Era of Direct Confrontation With Iran,” by NYT’s David Sanger: “Over the past few days, Iran has told international inspectors that it plans to begin making near bomb-grade nuclear fuel deep inside a mountain that is hard to bomb, and dramatically expand its nuclear fuel production at a plant that Israel and the United States have repeatedly sabotaged. … At the White House, national security meetings on Iran are devoted less to negotiation strategy and more to how to undermine Iran’s nuclear plans, provide communications gear to protesters and interrupt the country’s supply chain of weapons to Russia.”

Nick Fuentes and Ye were at Mar-a-Lago.

Michelle Obama and Mike Pence lead the NYT bestseller list.

Ron DeSantis is backed by a UFO true believer.

WEDDING — Deborah Rowe, senior floor adviser for House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and Michael Quibuyen, comms and government operations for Boeing and a Hill alum, got married in Big Sur, Calif., on Nov. 11, their 11th anniversary. They met while doing student government together in 2010 at Cal State University, Long Beach, where they ran campaigns against each other before falling in love after a trip to D.C. Pic … Another pic

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas … former Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman of the Bipartisan Policy Center … POLITICO’s Shia Kapos, Katie Davis and Shubham Kadam … Tom LoBianco … Rachel Kriegsman … Ben Burger … Chris Putala of Putala Strategies … former Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas) … Frank Ahrens … Nikki Clifton of UPS … Mark Steitz … Brooke Jamison … Gary Beck of America’s Health Insurance Plans … MSNBC’s Rachel Witkin … AP’s Nasser Karimi … Jeff Ballabon … Alpex International’s Lee Godown … Patrick Burchette … Lindsey Schulte … Jim Landry … Dave Rapallo … Meghan Graf … Jeremy Pevner … Sally Susman of Pfizer … Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at Penn … Marlin Fitzwater (8-0) … Paul Tagliabue … Zach Gillis … Krystal Ball … Kaiser Health News’ Darius Tahir … Meaghan Smith of Gilead Sciences … Sherry Ettleson … Hugh Grindstaff … Maria Ory … Jonathan Black … Tyler Goodspeed of the Hoover Institution … Jared Cohen … Capitol One’s Kelsey Miller … Morning Consult’s Sarah Dickson

Send Playbookers tips to [email protected] or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine.