NEW … RON CHERNOW WILL SPEAK AT W.H. CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER … “The White House Correspondents’ Association is pleased to announce that Ron Chernow, one of the most eminent biographers of American presidents and statesmen, will be the featured speaker at its annual dinner on Saturday, April 27, 2019.”

— CHERNOW, in a news release: “The White House Correspondents’ Association has asked me to make the case for the First Amendment and I am happy to oblige. Freedom of the press is always a timely subject and this seems like the perfect moment to go back to basics. My major worry these days is that we Americans will forget who we are as a people and historians should serve as our chief custodians in preserving that rich storehouse of memory. While I have never been mistaken for a stand-up comedian, I promise that my history lesson won’t be dry.”

ALERT … THE GROUP of 17 or so “rebels” planning to vote against NANCY PELOSI intends to release their letter this afternoon, according to sources familiar with the decision-making process. We’ve heard this before: they have mulled releasing the letter, only to pull back.

WE GOT OUR HANDS ON a copy of the letter. This, of course like everything else, is subject to change. It’s not clear whether they’ve updated the language in the last few days.: “We are thankful to Leader Pelosi for her years of service to our Country and to our Caucus. She is an historic figure whose leadership has been instrumental to some of our party’s most important legislative achievements.

“However, we also recognize that in this recent election, Democrats ran and won on a message of change. Our majority came on the backs of candidates who said that they would support new leadership because voters in hard-won districts, and across the country, want to see real change in Washington. We promised to change the status quo, and we intend to deliver on that promise. Therefore, we are committed to voting for new leadership in both our Caucus meeting and on the House Floor.”

— THIS LETTER LEAVES a tiny bit of wiggle room. “Committed” is not as firm as “we will.” Nitpicky, but important.

COLORADO REP. DIANA DEGETTE withdrew her bid for Democratic whip, leaving SOUTH CAROLINA REP. JIM CLYBURN as the only candidate seeking the No. 3 job.

ROBERT DRAPER on PELOSI on the cover of the forthcoming NYT MAGAZINE: “Nancy Pelosi’s Last Battle” (print cover headline: “‘No One Gives You Power. You Have to Take it From Them’”): “This second speakership would make her the principal counterweight to a president she unabashedly described to me as ‘a very dangerous man.’ It would also most likely be the final act of the 78-year-old legislator’s long career as the most powerful woman in the history of American politics.

“In interviews, she has audaciously declared herself to be a ‘master legislator’; issued policy statements on behalf of the Democratic caucus; and implicitly dared any challenger to make themselves known while also quelling opposition to her speakership by hinting in an interview with The Los Angeles Times in October that she was open to being a ‘transitional figure.’ When I asked Pelosi about this olive branch two weeks later, however, she abruptly walked it back: ‘I think every leader is a transitional figure.’” NYT Magazine

W.H. SAYS SEE YA TO ACOSTA … AGAIN — CNN’S BRIAN STELTER: “CNN asks for emergency hearing after Trump threatens to revoke Acosta’s press pass again”: “In a court filing on Monday, CNN’s lawyers said the network and Acosta ‘remain hopeful’ that the parties ‘can resolve this dispute without further court intervention.’

“But the new letter from [Bill] Shine and [press secretary Sarah Huckabee] Sanders is an ‘attempt to provide retroactive due process,’ the lawyers said. So CNN and Acosta are seeking a hearing on a preliminary injunction ‘for the week of November 26, 2018, or as soon thereafter as possible,’ according to Monday’s filing. Such an injunction could be in effect for much longer, thereby protecting Acosta’s access to the White House. Lawyers were already expected to be back in court this week to discuss the timeline for further proceedings.” CNN

WHITAKER WATCH — CAITLIN OPRYSKO: “Senate Democrats sue to block Whitaker from serving as acting AG”: “Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday, claiming that Trump violated the Appointments Clause of the Constitution by choosing Whitaker for a cabinet-level position even though Whitaker has never been Senate confirmed for a position.” POLITICO

Good Monday afternoon. CASH DASH — AMERICA FIRST ACTION, a pro-Trump super PAC, is investing just over $280,000 into an ad buy for Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in her Nov. 27 runoff election against Democrat Mike Espy. The ads will run on TV, radio, digital and mailers.

WHAT’S ON THE PRESIDENT’S MIND — @realDonaldTrump at 10:26 a.m.: “Of course we should have captured Osama Bin Laden long before we did. I pointed him out in my book just BEFORE the attack on the World Trade Center. President Clinton famously missed his shot. We paid Pakistan Billions of Dollars & they never told us he was living there. Fools!..”

… at 10:41 a.m.: “….We no longer pay Pakistan the $Billions because they would take our money and do nothing for us, Bin Laden being a prime example, Afghanistan being another. They were just one of many countries that take from the United States without giving anything in return. That’s ENDING!”

AP FACT CHECK — CALVIN WOODWARD and HOPE YEN: “Trump’s misdirection on Calif. fires, climate”

AOC WATCH — “‘If We Pass Medicare for All, I’m Going to Be Silent as a Lamb’: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez arrives in Congress with a bigger megaphone than any other House freshman. How’s she going to use it?” by The Atlantic’s Russell Berman in Queens, N.Y.: “For her part, Ocasio-Cortez put it a bit differently during our discussion about how she would reconcile her desire to build relationships in Congress with her instinct to speak out and use her powerful new voice. ‘I do want my priority, especially as a freshman, to be listening and learning, paying a lot of attention to dynamics, navigating, building relationships,’ she told me.

“‘But,’ she continued, ‘I don’t have the luxury, nor does any member of Congress have the luxury, of waiting to govern. So even now, before the election, I’m asked to make decisions every single day. And choosing not to speak is taken and read just as deliberately as choosing to speak. It doesn’t mean that there’s some probationary period. I have to be making decisions from day one.

“‘But, I don’t want to be obnoxious either,’ Ocasio-Cortez insisted. ‘Let’s just get things done. I’ll be really quiet if we get things done. If we pass ‘Medicare for all,’ I’m going to be silent as a lamb.’” The Atlantic

— SPOILER ALERT: House Democrats probably won’t pass Medicare for all. And if they did, it wouldn’t even register a blip on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s radar.

ELIJAH CUMMINGS PROFILE — WAPO’S BEN TERRIS: “Elijah Cummings endured two painful years. Soon he’ll be more powerful than ever”: “For Cummings, this is the culmination of two years riddled with painful moments, some beyond his control and others that he walked into himself. He’d tried to work with President Trump only to have it blow up in his face. He’d been ignored by his Republican colleagues on the committee time and again. And he just couldn’t seem to stay out of the hospital. …

“The difficulty won’t be finding things to look into. It will be figuring out what’s worth looking into. Cummings knows by now the risks that come with opening wounds voluntarily. After he recovered from heart surgery, he checked back into the hospital for another procedure — this time on his knee. But something went wrong. The knee got infected, and Cummings spent another three months at Hopkins. He emerged more aware than ever that there’s only a finite amount of time in this world.” WaPo

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION … “‘The man behind the curtain’: Interior’s No. 2 helps drive Trump’s agenda”: “In recent weeks his boss, Ryan Zinke, has come under increased scrutiny for a Montana land deal. If Trump reshuffles his Cabinet and Zinke steps down, it will likely be [Deputy Secretary David] Bernhardt who steps up. … But even without the top job, Bernhardt is already helping steer the 70,000-person department.

“In a year and a half, he has made it easier for federal authorities to approve drilling projects on land and offshore, has proposed narrowing habitat protections for endangered species, and is pushing California to divert more of its water from conservation to agricultural interests. While Zinke drew headlines over multiple ethics investigations, Bernhardt focused on executing President Trump’s vision to fuel the nation’s energy production.” WaPo

ROLL CALL’S GRIFFIN CONNOLLY: “5 House Races Still Uncalled Nearly 2 Weeks After Midterms”

2020 WATCH — “Florida recount did not alter outcome of Senate race, but it set the rules of engagement for 2020,” by WaPo’s Beth Reinhard and Amy Gardner: “Amid the raucous street protests and updates from sleep-deprived election workers, influential figures in both parties ­inserted themselves into the drama — testing legal strategies to influence the makeup of the electorate and political arguments to win public opinion. …

“‘The recount was a stress test of the Florida electoral system,’ said [GOP Rep. Matt] Gaetz, who had just left Broward County when the call came from Brad Parscale to drive the 300 miles back. ‘If you were the Trump 2020 campaign, wouldn’t you have concerns right now about what the terrain here will look like?’” WaPo

VALLEY TALK — NBC’S DYLAN BYERS: “Inside Facebook, denial, tension and finger-pointing as sense of crisis builds”: “Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive officer, and Sheryl Sandberg, the company’s chief operating officer, believe Facebook’s negative image is a public relations problem that stems from a bungled press strategy and sensational media coverage, not a structural or philosophical shortcoming that requires a wholesale course correction, six Facebook sources familiar with their thinking told NBC News. …

“In a company-wide meeting on Friday, Zuckerberg blamed the media for fueling ‘bad morale’ and called ‘bulls—’ on The New York Times report, which insinuated that the company had tried to cover up its problems with Russia-based disinformation efforts. He also said he would not hesitate to fire employees who leaked information to the media.” NBC

TRADE WARS … “A $12 Billion Program to Help Farmers Stung by Trump’s Trade War Has Aided Few,” by NYT’s Alan Rappeport: “Like any program offering free money, there are also opportunities to game the system. On Monday, the watchdog organization Environmental Working Group is expected to release a report that shows city residents who own shares in farms and relatives of farmers have been capitalizing on the bailout.

“The program has also been bogged down by bureaucracy as well as practical challenges, which made it slow to roll out. Farmers who want payments must fully complete their harvests before they can apply for aid — presenting a challenge for some crops that have been delayed by bad weather.” NYT

ON THE WORLD STAGE — “After Apec tensions, expect ‘extra pressure’ when Xi Jinping and Donald Trump meet at G20,” by South China Morning Post’s Laura Zhou and Lee Jeong-ho: “The rift was on full display when Xi and U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence traded barbs at the summit on Saturday, neither of them listening to each other’s speeches and both lashing out about the trade war, Xi attacking America’s protectionism and Pence taking aim at Beijing’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative.’

“On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said many developing nations opposed trade protectionism, and he denied China’s stance was the reason there was no agreement. ‘Power politics and economic bullying is opposed by most Apec members,’ Geng said.” SCMP

THE BIG PICTURE … “The American Dream Is Alive. In China,” by NYT’s Javier Hernández and Quoctrung Bui: “In a country still haunted by the Cultural Revolution, where politics are tightly circumscribed by an authoritarian state, the Chinese are now among the most optimistic people in the world — much more so than Americans and Europeans, according to public opinion surveys.

“What has changed? Most of all, an economic expansion without precedent in modern history.” NYT

SPOTTED: Don McGahn onstage playing guitar with the band Winger, covering Van Halen, on Sunday night in Baltimore. Pic (h/t Phil Hardy)

ENGAGED – Chris Conway, a product manager at Pew Research Center and a POLITICO alum, proposed to Kara Pennino, an environmental protection specialist at the D.C. Dept. of Energy and Environment. The couple met in Philly when they were introduced by his best friend from college and her best friend from college. Pic

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Jacky Usyk, deputy chief of staff and LD for Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.), and Andrew Usyk, LA for Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and a Kirsten Gillibrand alum, welcomed Lillian Robin Usyk. Pic

— Pamela Gomez, communications manager for CNN, and Jason D. Hill, SVP at TriState Capital Bank and a Santander alum, welcomed Isabella Jeanine Hill. Pic … Another pic

• Anna Palmer @apalmerdc
• Jake Sherman @JakeSherman
• Daniel Lippman @dlippman
• Eli Okun @eliokun
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The White House Correspondents’ Association on Monday said presidential biographer Ron Chernow will be the featured speaker at the group’s annual dinner in April, opting against the usual choice of a comedian as tensions between the Trump administration and press remain high.

Chernow is expected to speak about freedom of the press at the dinner on April 27, the association said.

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“Freedom of the press is always a timely subject and this seems like the perfect moment to go back to basics,” Chernow said in a statement.

The association usually asks a comedian to headline the dinner. In 2018, however, comedian Michelle Wolf received intense backlash from the White House and some in the media, particularly for a series of jokes about press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

President Donald Trump criticized Wolf’s performance following the dinner, saying the group should change the format or end the dinner entirely. The president has skipped the dinner for two straight years. The change also comes as the dinner has become less of a draw for Hollywood stars than it was during the administration of President Barack Obama.

Tensions between the White House and the press corps have remained strained, particularly since the White House revoked access from CNN correspondent Jim Acosta. The administration now says it’s writing rules for reporters’ behavior at White House events.

Chernow, who wrote a biography of Alexander Hamilton and consulted for the Broadway play “Hamilton,” acknowledged in the statement Monday that he was a different kind of speaker, saying, “While I have never been mistaken for a stand-up comedian, I promise that my history lesson won’t be dry.”

“My major worry these days is that we Americans will forget who we are as a people and historians should serve as our chief custodians in preserving that rich storehouse of memory,” said Chernow, who also won a Pulitzer Prize for biography for his book about the first U.S. president.

Chernow during the 2016 election said he was disturbed by Trump’s campaign and feared that Americans “can forget who we are as a people and succumb to historical amnesia.”

“Make no mistake about it, when the past is scrubbed clean and American history becomes a blank slate, Donald Trump or any other demagogue can come along and write upon it whatever the hell he wants. And that disturbs me most of all,” he said in a video posted on Facebook. “Please, please, please folks, don’t let it happen here.”

Olivier Knox, chief Washington correspondent for SiriusXM and president of the WHCA, said in a statement that he’s excited for Chernow to share “his lively, deeply researched perspectives on American politics and history.”

“As we celebrate the importance of a free and independent news media to the health of the republic, I look forward to hearing Ron place this unusual moment in the context of American history,” Knox said.

Following the announcement, some comedians criticized the decision.

“The @whca are cowards. The media is complicit. And I couldn’t be prouder,” Wolf wrote in a tweet.

Comedian W. Kamau Bell, who hosts a CNN series entitled “United Shades of America,” said no comedian would have taken the job this year, given the association’s treatment of Wolf after the last dinner. The group’s president at the time, Bloomberg’s Margaret Talev, said Wolf’s monologue “was not in the spirit” of the association’s mission.

“After the way the WHCA & many journalists talked about Michelle Wolf, it was official that no comedian worth a damn would take this gig,” he tweeted.