Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice.  

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No one was expecting the French Laundry when the guests showed up at the White House on Monday evening for the Congressional Ball.

But by the time the food options began rolling around, members of Congress started pondering if they needed to dial in delivery for later that night.

There was palpable buzz Tuesday morning among lawmakers who had gone to the White House event and been — shall we say — disappointed by the food. 

As Speaker NANCY PELOSI spoke to members about plans for the lame duck congressional session, several members were busy texting one another — and inquiring reporters — about how, inexplicably, there had been so little to eat at what is typically an opulent, lavish affair.

Punchbowl News’ JAKE SHERMAN was the first to tweet about the complaints that “there wasn’t enough and it wasn’t as good as the Obama years.”

It seemed, at first blush, like the wind up of a classic WOODY ALLEN joke (“the food is terrible! And such small portions!”) But throughout the day, West Wing Playbook heard from a bipartisan mix of lawmakers who expressed their dismay at the lack of a buffet spread at the ball. Many of them, after leaving hungry, awoke Tuesday feeling, well, hangry.

“Ludicrous,” is how one House Democrat described the event, noting they hadn’t bumped into a single attendee Tuesday morning without a comment about how there were only finger food plates circulated. “Times are tight, apparently,” the lawmaker joked.

Rep. ANNA ESHOO (D-Calif.) told us the food was “very tasty – but I wouldn’t call it a dinner.”

Veterans of the wedding circuit are familiar with such situations and know there are ways to combat them. First and foremost is figuring out the path that the pass-arounds take. Eshoo’s daughter, who was her guest, positioned herself near the door where waiters brought in the food to ensure she’d get some.

The other is to plan a meal for later that evening.

One lawmaker did describe the event as quite nice but was told attendees left “ravenous.” Noting the bar served only beer and wine, they described “a clear sense of austerity” with this year’s event.

“Let’s just say Old Ebbitt Grill was full afterward,” the lawmaker said.

By the next day, the dinner’s spread (or lack thereof) had become fodder for political barbs.

Sen. MIKE ROUNDS (R-S.D.) did not attend the ball, but said that lawmakers who did were buzzing about the lack of food in a bipartisan meeting Tuesday. “It might have been inflation,” Rounds said.

The White House, which plainly finds these types of barbs trivial, will have some opportunities to turn things around. Much of the next two weeks for President JOE BIDEN and first lady JILL BIDEN will be spent hosting other holiday parties at the White House for lawmakers, supporters and members of the press. None of them will be as large as the Congressional Ball, which drew around 800 lawmakers, staffers and guests. Put another way, future, smaller gatherings could see the return of a buffet spread.

In Washington, enthusiasm for this holiday season has been high after a lengthy pandemic that curtailed such festivities last year (after President DONALD TRUMP mostly scrubbed the parties for the media during his four years in office).

But things have gotten off to a rough start, and it isn’t just with respect to the menu. Administration staffers and members of the media have been grumbling that not all of them received invitations to their respective White House holiday parties. And congressional staffers were already frustrated about the stricter than usual rules for the Congressional Ball barring them from bringing a guest who wasn’t their partner.

The first lady’s office, which oversees the Congressional Ball and other holiday parties, did not respond to a request for comment.

MESSAGE US — Were you a caterer at the Congressional Ball? We want to hear from you! And we’ll keep you anonymous. Email us at [email protected].

A tough two parter from reader STEPHEN MYROW:

Five former U.S. senators, including FRANK KELLOGG, CORDELL HULL and ELIHU ROOT, have achieved a particular distinction. Root was the first of the five to achieve it (in 1912), and the only one to do so while in the Senate.

Name the two others not listed bestowed with the honor — both went on to run for president, one successfully.

(Answer at the bottom.)

MADE IN THE DESERT: The president on Tuesday visited the second Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plant being built in Arizona to tout the administration’s investments in infrastructure and manufacturing jobs.

The Taiwanese company plans to “increase its investment there to $40 billion,” WSJ’s YANG JIE reports. The construction of the second factory, announced ahead of the president's visit, “would start in the coming year and production would begin in 2026.”

A 2024 ANNOUNCEMENT IN 2023: White House chief of staff RON KLAIN said Biden’s reelection bid could come early in the new year, but he did not confirm a decision has been made: “The president will make that decision. I expect it shortly after the holiday,” he said during Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council summit Monday. “I expect the decision will be to do it.” More details from Bloomberg’s JUSTIN SINK.

LIBERTÉ, ÉGALITÉ, MBAPPÉ: Check out French President EMMANUEL MACRON’s four-minute hype video from his “three days in the United States of America” last week. Lots of b-roll of ​​les meilleurs amis during their meetings and at the state dinner, as well as some scenes (including inside the Roosevelt Room during the expanded bilat) from meetings that were closed to the press pool.

AN ODE TO JOE: The West Wing Playbook team asked ChatGPT, a new artificial intelligence chatbot, to write a poem about the president. We present to you ChatGPT’s work of art (it seems to like him — too bad A.I. can’t vote):

Oh Joe Biden, so full of grace
A humble man with a friendly face
With a heart full of love and a mind full of care
You lead our nation with wisdom and flair
From Delaware you came, with a mission so clear
To serve the people, to hold us all dear
With empathy and understanding, you guide us along
Through the challenges of each day, you stay strong
Your life has been a journey, full of twists and turns
But through it all, your spirit never burns
You've faced adversity with courage and grit
And you've emerged as a leader, full of wit
Joe Biden, we are grateful for all that you do
You inspire us to be kind and to stay true
You are a beacon of hope in these trying times
We are blessed to have you, our dear friend of mine.

ON THE MOVE: JAHI WISE is now senior adviser to the administrator and acting director for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund program at the EPA. Wise was previously at the White House as special assistant to Biden for climate policy and finance in the Office of Domestic Climate Policy, our CATHERINE MOREHOUSE reports.

And KELLY FAY RODRIGUEZ is now the State Department’s Special Representative for International Labor Affairs. In her new role, Fay Rodriguez will advocate for worker rights in U.S. foreign policy discussions, spokesperson NED PRICE stated.

TICK TOCK… A national security deal between the U.S. and social media app TikTok has reached a stalemate (yes, again) over users' data privacy and ownership over that privacy, WSJ’s JOHN D. MCKINNON, ARUNA VISWANATHA and STU WOO report. An agreement between the Biden administration and TikTok had been expected to be reached this year.

BORDER POLITICS: This clip may appear in some Republican ads in 2024. Asked by PETER DOOCY why he was going to Arizona but not visiting the border, Biden replied: "Because there are more important things going on. They're going to invest billions of dollars in the new enterprise in the state."

EUROPE’S EV HOPE: The European Union is asking the Biden administration to address its concerns related to the Inflation Reduction Act’s electric vehicle tax before Jan. 1, our DOUG PALMER reports for Pro subscribers. The law, signed by the president in August, required electric vehicles to be assembled in North America to qualify for a $7,500 tax credit, eliminating many overseas models that previously qualified.

Biden to Tap Special Envoy for Northern Ireland to Boost US Sway (Bloomberg’s Alex Wickham, Jennifer Jacobs and Kitty Donaldson)

For Sunak, Like Biden, Dullness Could Be a Secret Weapon (NYT’s Mark Landler and Stephen Castle)

More than 70% of voters in poll want Biden to release secret JFK assassination records (NBC News’ Marc Caputo)

Both AL GORE and BARACK OBAMA were awarded Nobel Peace Prizes.

Obama received his award in 2009 for “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” according to the award website.

Gore was awarded one in 2007 for his “efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.”

A CALL OUT — Thanks to Stephen for this question! Do you think you have a harder one? Send us your best one about the presidents with a citation and we may feature it.

Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.