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Politico
3 days ago
- Health
- Politico
Playbook: A name to remember
Presented by With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco Good morning. It's Sunday. This is Zack Stanton. Get in touch. THE CONVERSATION: From restricting food dyes and ultra-processed foods to tackling what he calls the 'child vaping epidemic,' FDA Commissioner Marty Makary wants to 'go bold,' he tells Playbook's Dasha Burns on today's episode of 'The Conversation.' But it's another part of their discussion that may yet prove to be the most consequential if it comes to fruition as government policy: backing research and funding into women's health. 'It does feel like the system just doesn't think specifically about the very particular needs of women's bodies and doesn't do enough research into this,' Makary told Dasha. 'We got hormone replacement therapy [for menopausal and perimenopausal women] wrong for 22 years, scaring women, saying that, you know, 'it increases your risk of dying of breast cancer' when no clinical trial has ever supported that finding,' he said. More from POLITICO's Katherine Long … Subscribe to 'The Conversation' on YouTube, Apple Podcasts or Spotify DRIVING THE DAY A NAME YOU WILL REMEMBER: There can be a temptation in Washington-centric journalism to focus on those people with power. This morning, the most important thing you can read is about someone who had none: Zainab Abu Halib. At the time of her death on Friday in Gaza, the 5-month-old weighed less than 4.4 pounds — two pounds under her birth weight, her eyes sunken, her ankle smaller than an adult's thumb. She was the latest of 85 children in Gaza to die of malnutrition-related causes amid mass starvation, report AP's Samy Magdy and Mariam Dagga. She will not be the last. 'With my daughter's death, many will follow,' her mother, Esraa Abu Halib, told the AP. 'Their names are on a list that no one looks at. They are just names and numbers. We are just numbers. Our children, whom we carried for nine months and then gave birth to, have become just numbers.' 'The expression 'skin and bones' doesn't do it justice,' Nick Maynard, a British surgeon volunteering at the same hospital at which Zainab died, told NYT's Patrick Kingsley and colleagues. He was describing his shock at treating another infant, a skeletal 7-month-old. 'I saw the severity of malnutrition that I would not have thought possible in a civilized world. This is man-made starvation being used as a weapon of war and it will lead to many more deaths unless food and aid is let in immediately.' 'I don't know what you would call it other than mass starvation, and it's man-made, and that's very clear,' World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this week at a press conference, per WaPo. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's government repudiates that narrative. 'Israel rejects the false accusations of 'starvation' propaganda initiated by Hamas which manipulates pictures of children suffering from terminal diseases,' the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement last night. 'It is shameful.' But it's an undeniable reality that, for Gazans, hunger has been drastically more widespread since the expiration of a six-week ceasefire in March, after which Israel reimposed a blockade on the territory. 'Beginning in late May, U.N. humanitarian efforts were replaced by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli- and U.S.-backed aid distribution system,' report WaPo's Ruby Mellen and colleagues. 'Critics have warned that the foundation — which is registered as a nonprofit but is backed by entities hoping to profit from the relief effort — transports inadequate aid to Palestinians under a flawed setup that forces them to risk their lives for provisions.' Since May, Israel has allowed in an average of 69 aid trucks a day, per AP's Wafaa Shurafa and colleagues — 'far below the 500 to 600 trucks a day the U.N. says are needed for Gaza.' Today, at this very moment, we're in a brief 10-hour window during which Israel has paused military operations in parts of Gaza to allow aid into the territory, Reuters' Nidal Al-Mughrabi and colleagues report. After global outcry over the spiraling humanitarian catastrophe, Israel announced this morning that humanitarian pauses will continue on a daily basis until further notice. Key members of Netanyahu's government disagree with that decision. 'This is a capitulation to Hamas' deceitful campaign,' far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in a statement. He went on to repeat — in Reuters' words — 'his call to choke off all aid to Gaza, conquer the entire territory and encourage its Palestinian population to leave.' But the international pressure on Netanyahu is mounting. And there are key questions that could change the situation substantially: What, if anything, does President Donald Trump want to do? Will he pressure Israel to come to the table and broker a ceasefire? Trump, who is in Scotland, is due to meet tomorrow with British PM Keir Starmer. Their discussion, per the Telegraph's Dominic Penna, will focus on the U.K.-U.S. trade deal, further support for Ukraine and the urgent need for a ceasefire in Gaza. Pressure is mounting within the U.S., too, as the humanitarian disaster has stirred people across the political spectrum. Growing numbers of Democrats — including staunch defenders of Israel — are speaking out, as POLITICO's Gigi Ewing and Ben Johansen report. And conservative Ross Douthat used his influential Sunday NYT column today to write that 'Israel's warmaking at this moment is unjust.' Aid groups have welcomed the news of Israel's daily 10-hour pause during which they can bring food into the territory — the World Food Program says it has enough food en route to Gaza to feed the entire population for three months, per Haaretz — but broadly believe that a ceasefire is 'likely the only way to end the crisis,' NYT's Aaron Boxerman writes. Today, that 10-hour pause will end at 8 p.m. local time, or 1 p.m. Eastern. By then, perhaps, food will have been distributed and medicine delivered to hospitals. It will have come too late for Zainab Abu Halib. But there still may be time for others. 'I don't know what to say anymore,' her mother told CNN yesterday. 'How many innocent babies like Zainab should be starved to death so the world wakes up?' SUNDAY BEST … — Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on the tariff deadline coming up Friday, on 'Fox News Sunday': 'No extensions, no more grace periods. Aug. 1, the tariffs are set. They'll go into place. Customs will start collecting the money, and off we go. Obviously after Aug. 1, people can still talk to President Trump. I mean, he's always willing to listen. And between now and then, I think the president's going to talk to a lot of people. Whether they can make him happy is another question. But the president's definitely willing to negotiate and talk to the big economies, for sure.' — Speaker Mike Johnson on a possible pardon or commutation of Ghislaine Maxwell, on NBC's 'Meet the Press': 'I think 20 years was a pittance. I think she should have a life sentence at least. … Not my decision, but I have great pause about that, as any reasonable person would.' — Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on Maxwell, on ABC's 'This Week': 'I have skepticism given she was indicted for perjury. Given she has a motive for getting a pardon. I didn't love that Todd Blanche was meeting with her, allegedly, one on one. But I'm for all the evidence coming out.' More from POLITICO's Gregory Svirnovskiy — OMB Director Russ Vought on whether the administration will release NIH funds for cancer and cardiovascular disease research that it has withheld after Congress appropriated them, on CBS' 'Face the Nation': 'The NIH was weaponized against the American people over the last several years … We have an agency that needs dramatic overhaul. Thankfully, we have a great new head of it, but we're going to have to go line by line to make sure the NIH is funded properly. … We're going to continue to go to the same process that we have gone through with regard to the Department of Education … and we will release that funding when we are done with that review.' TOP-EDS: A roundup of the week's must-read opinion pieces. 9 THINGS FOR YOUR RADAR 1. RED-LIGHT REDISTRICT: Democratic plans for emergency gerrymandering — an effort to counter Trump's drive to seize several seats in Texas and Missouri — are gathering speed, with California seen as the leading option, POLITICO's Liz Crampton and colleagues report. In the Golden State, '[l]awmakers and operatives who were initially caught off guard or skeptical of [Gov. Gavin] Newsom's proposal are increasingly becoming convinced California has the authority and the political will.' Dems' next-best option would be New York, with possibly Maryland and New Jersey down the list, while state lawmakers in Colorado, Minnesota and Washington say no. But but but: There remain legal and political hurdles for Democrats to mount a gerrymander anywhere, including in California — and that's putting it mildly. The party's debate over the issue may slam into those realities. But the desperation is real, NBC's Adam Edelman reports from the National Governors Association summer meeting in Colorado Springs. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green says outright that Republicans are trying to steal the election and Dems must 'fight fire with fire.' 2. RACE FOR THE STATES: Republican operatives in Pennsylvania are in panic mode about another potential Doug Mastriano gubernatorial bid — and whether his down-ballot effect could cost the GOP the House, POLITICO's Holly Otterbein reports. Their fear is that the far-right state senator could again win a primary and again get clobbered by Josh Shapiro, who's now the popular incumbent. State Treasurer Stacy Garrity could be the establishment Republican pick. Some Trump advisers are concerned, and local Republicans hope Trump will endorse Garrity. But Mastriano says that's not true: 'I have President Trump's direct line,' he writes. 'And he ain't saying this.' On the left coast: In California, some Democrats are batting about similar — if much less dire — concerns about a potential Kamala Harris gubernatorial bid, CNN's Isaac Dovere reports. Harris has plenty of enthusiastic allies, but her critics worry that she'll be saddled with Joe Biden-era baggage and motivate Republicans to turn out, damaging Democrats in swing House races. 3. THE LEGACY OF DOGE: At the NGA meeting, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. offered a rare candid glimpse into the budgetary tensions that may exist within the Trump administration, POLITICO's Shia Kapos writes in. Kennedy acknowledged he's hardly enthusiastic about the cuts being taken to his agency. 'If it were up to me, I wouldn't cut anything in my department,' he told the governors and attendees during the meeting yesterday. 'With the exception of maybe [Education Secretary] Linda McMahon, there's nobody else in the Cabinet who wants to see any of their budgets cut.' McMahon spoke at the conference Friday. The comment earned the biggest laugh of the day — a light moment in a conference that was otherwise focused on serious stuff. Kennedy also talked about chronic disease, healthful school lunches and the mystery of peanut allergies. What he didn't talk about: his take on vaccines. The summer gathering also featured tech billionaire Mark Cuban, who spoke about artificial intelligence, and Mehmet Oz, now the top official at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, who huddled with governors behind closed doors. Also in the DOGE house: The Department of Government Efficiency is now using an AI tool to rifle through hundreds of thousands of federal regulations — with the goal of cutting half of them outright by determining which rules aren't required by law, WaPo's Hannah Natanson and colleagues scooped. Administration spokespeople say no final decisions have yet been made. Meanwhile, a much-diminished CFPB isn't just trying to cut rules but also retreating from enforcement of existing ones — deregulation by another (easier) name, WSJ's Scott Patterson reports. 4. FOR YOUR RADAR: 'Trump says Thailand, Cambodia agree to hold immediate ceasefire talks,' by Reuters' Shoon Naing and colleagues: 'Thailand's acting prime minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, thanked Trump and said Thailand 'agrees in principle to have a ceasefire in place' but 'would like to see sincere intention from the Cambodian side.' … Trump said he had spoken to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Phumtham and warned them that he would not make trade deals with either if the border conflict continued.' 5. FOR PETE'S SAKE: The turmoil inside the upper echelons of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's paranoid Pentagon is far from over. As Hegseth focused on polygraph tests to root out leakers to the press this spring, the White House ordered his team to stop when Hegseth senior adviser Patrick Weaver (a Stephen Miller ally) told them he was worried about being targeted, WaPo's Dan Lamothe and Ellen Nakashima scooped. And Hegseth has refused to promote Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims — first over suspicion of leaking, of which Sims was cleared, and then over Sims' ties to Mark Milley, NYT's Greg Jaffe and colleagues report. Even an intervention by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan 'Razin' Caine couldn't move Hegseth on Sims, who's now likely to retire. 'Mr. Hegseth's actions could shape the military's top ranks for years to come. His insistence on absolute loyalty, backed with repeated threats of polygraphs, also creates uncertainty and mistrust that threaten to undermine the readiness and effectiveness of the force, officials said.' 6. ABOUT THAT QATAR JET: 'What Will It Cost to Renovate the 'Free' Air Force One? Don't Ask,' by NYT's David Sanger and Eric Schmitt: 'Officially, and conveniently, the price tag has been classified. But even by Washington standards, where 'black budgets' are often used as an excuse to avoid revealing the cost of outdated spy satellites and lavish end-of-year parties, the techniques being used to hide the cost of Mr. Trump's pet project are inventive. Which may explain why no one wants to discuss a mysterious, $934 million transfer of funds from one of the Pentagon's most over-budget, out-of-control projects — the modernization of America's aging, ground-based nuclear missiles.' 7. KNIVES OUT FOR PENNY PRITZKER: The leader of Harvard's Corporation and Democratic former Commerce secretary could be targeted for removal by the Trump administration in an eventual deal between Washington and Harvard, NYT's Anemona Hartocollis reports. And on campus, some professors think having Pritzker step down would be a relatively small and painless concession for Harvard to make, since it wouldn't encroach on academic autonomy. But Pritzker would have to choose to step down, and she has plenty of allies in Cambridge. 'Friends said she was unlikely to give in.' 8. BANNED AID: 'Trump administration to destroy birth control intended as aid,' by WaPo's Maham Javaid and colleagues: 'The family-planning supplies, which include more than 50,000 intrauterine devices, nearly 2 million doses of injectable contraceptives, nearly 900,000 implantable contraceptive devices and more than 2 million packets of oral birth control, are worth about $9.7 million … The government of Belgium, the United Nations and humanitarian groups say they tried to stop the destruction of the contraceptives, which they say are needed in much of the developing world.' 9. SUNDAY READ: 'ICE Took Half Their Work Force. What Do They Do Now?' by NYT's Eli Saslow: 'For more than a decade, Glenn Valley [Foods]'s production reports had told a story of steady ascendance — new hires, new manufacturing lines, new sales records for one of the fastest-growing meatpacking companies in the Midwest. But, in a matter of weeks, production had plummeted by almost 70 percent. Most of the work force was gone. Half of the maintenance crew was in the process of being deported, the director of human resources had stopped coming to work, and more than 50 employees were being held at a detention facility in rural Nebraska.' TALK OF THE TOWN LIFESTYLES OF THE RICH AND POWERFUL — 'Diary of a Foreigner in Rome,' by Air Mail's Mattia Ferraresi: 'Tilman Fertitta, the U.S. ambassador to Italy, is yet to move into Villa Taverna, according to Italian-media reports. The sumptuous Roman villa … is rumored to have been deemed a dump uninhabitable by the Texas multi-billionaire, who insists it needs major renovation. He has allegedly taken up residence on Boardwalk, his 250-foot-long yacht sailing under the flag of the Cayman Islands and moored in the port of Civitavecchia, some 60 miles north of Rome. Fertitta's helicopter commute has quickly become the latest buzz in Rome's power circles.' OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED in owner Mark Ein's box at the Mubadala Citi DC Open quarterfinals Friday at Carter Barron to watch Frances Tiafoe play Ben Shelton: Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), Antony Blinken, Steve Ricchetti, Venus Williams, Gerry Baker, Margaret Carlson, Gene Sperling, Sally Ein, Charlie Ein, Chloe Ein, Alli Andresen and Mary Currie. WHITE HOUSE ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Harry Jung is now senior policy adviser at the President's Council of Advisors on Digital Assets. He most recently was acting chief of staff at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Glenn 'G.T.' Thompson (R-Pa.) … Sean Savett … Priscilla Painton of Simon & Schuster … Katie Wheelbarger … Alex Wirth of Quorum … Andy Spahn … Paul McLeod … Cecilia Muñoz … retired Adm. Craig Faller … Johanna Persing … Jeremy Adler … Prime Policy Group's Stefan Bailey … John Connell of Sen. Todd Young's (R-Ind.) office … Linda Feldmann … Gaurav Parikh … Bobby Cunningham of the Vogel Group … Live Action's Lila Rose … Bobby Saparow … Jeremy Deutsch of Capitol Venture … Anna McCormack of Rep. David Rouzer's (R-N.C.) office … MSNBC's Denis Horgan … Juan Mejia … former Reps. Dave Brat (R-Va.) and Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) … Ashley Gonzalez … former Commerce Secretary Don Evans … CNN's Susan Durrwachter … former CIA Director John Deutch … Seth Waugh … Kate Thompson of the Russell Group … Air Force's Charlie McKell … Susan Phalen … Nicholas Anastácio of National Journal … Brayden Karpinski … POLITICO's Brian Tran-Dac … Andrew Grossman Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Zack Stanton, deputy Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
Politico
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Politico
The fireworks begin
Presented by With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco Good Friday morning, and happy Independence Day. This is Zack Stanton, looking forward to the fireworks on the National Mall tonight (they start at 9:09 p.m.), which I hope to enjoy somewhere away from the crowds. A July Fourth question: A few years back, I worked on a roundup for POLITICO Magazine asking a number of historian types who they would put on an imagined 'new' Mt. Rushmore. Answers ranged from Ida B. Wells to FDR to Dorothy Day to Dwight Eisenhower. It's a fun thought experiment. Who would you put on it? Let me know. DRIVING THE DAY THE SIGNATURE ACCOMPLISHMENT: In the end, President Donald Trump got what he wanted. A signature legislative victory? Check. A pliant Republican Congress? Check. A chance to mark it all with a celebration at the White House on July 4? Check. A reaffirmation that many people are unable to see any issue except as an up-or-down vote on Trump? Check. Later today, the president is expected to sign the Republican megabill into law in a 5 p.m. ceremony at the White House. With a few pen strokes, he will enact into law the most sweeping cuts to America's social safety net in a generation, extend his 2017 tax cuts and pair them with new tax breaks for income from tips, and usher in a wave of new spending on immigration enforcement. But for Republicans on the Hill, the megabill was, on some deep level, 'never about those tax rates or Medicaid or the deficit,' as POLITICO's Jonathan Martin writes this morning in a column we're bringing you first in Playbook. 'The underlying legislation was no bill at all, but a referendum on Trump. And that left congressional Republicans a binary choice that also had nothing to do with the policy therein: They could salute the president and vote yes or vote no and risk their careers in a primary.' That political reality informed the process and policy. 'The hard truth for small-government conservatives in Congress to swallow is that their primary voters care more about fidelity to Trump than reducing the size of the federal government,' JMart observes. THE PROCESS … For all the discussion this week about potential Republican 'no' votes, there was scant opposition when it came time to stand and be counted. Only two House Republicans voted against the bill: libertarian-minded Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and moderate front-liner Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.). Everyone else — running the ideological spectrum from Don Bacon (R-Neb.) to Chip Roy (R-Texas) — got on board. The House Freedom Caucus surrendered. 'They called their own bluff,' Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), a frequent critic of the group, told POLITICO's Meredith Lee Hill. 'How many times have they done this? I mean, I've been in Congress for two years and five seconds, and they pulled the same stunt 19 times. … The influence of the Freedom Caucus is over.' What did they get? 'In the end, [Trump] seems to have promised them executive orders — though details are scarce,' report WaPo's Liz Goodwin and colleagues. ''We came to significant agreements with the administration overnight on executive actions, both inside and outside, of the bill that will make America great again,' Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) said, without elaborating.' The conservative hard-liners folded. At 3:15 a.m. yesterday, a dozen hard-right members gathered for a photo in the House chamber, smiling for a group photo. 'The Republican holdouts had ended their fight by getting together to strike a pose,' POLITICO's Ben Jacobs writes in the best kicker we've read today. 'It wasn't difficult. After all, they had been posing all week.' What did they get? OMB Director Russ Vought 'reassured lawmakers that the administration would use its authority to limit spending,' WSJ's Natalie Andrews and colleagues report — even spending already approved by Congress. The moderates got in line. 'A bloc of more moderate House Republicans from politically competitive districts, many of whom had warned that the bill's Medicaid cuts could hurt their constituents and suggested they could not stomach the legislation, ultimately voted 'yes,'' writes NYT's Catie Edmondson. 'They included Representative David Valadao of California, who just last weekend warned that he could not embrace the 'harmful cuts to Medicaid' the Senate had included in its version of the bill.' What did they get? Honestly, it doesn't seem like they got anything. With the notable exception of Fitzpatrick (good backgrounder on his unique situation from POLITICO's Holly Otterbein) moderate Republicans ultimately accepted the Senate bill, which 'is harsher on Medicaid provider taxes, financing mechanisms that states use to boost their federal funding,' WSJ's Richard Rubin and colleagues write. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) 'said that delays to some Medicaid-funding changes helped him get comfortable with supporting the bill,' per the Journal. 'A lot's going to happen between now and 2028, and they start slowly,' Van Drew said. 'It's not going to be an immediate change next week, which is what people think it's going to be.' The prevailing message: If the vote in the House boiled down to a referendum of support for Trump and his agenda, that was a message also carried in the Senate by Eric Schmitt. The Missouri Republican, who has 'become a trusted point man' for Trump and VP JD Vance, conveyed to the complex web of coalitions in the chamber that there simply was no alternative to passing the bill, a person familiar with the dynamics tells Playbook's Dasha Burns. THE POLICY … The one-paragraph summary: 'The legislation contains about $4.5 trillion in tax cuts,' AP's Kevin Freking and Lisa Mascaro write. 'It temporarily would add new tax deductions on tip[s], overtime and auto loans. There's also a $6,000 deduction for older adults who earn no more than $75,000 a year, a nod to [Trump's] pledge to end taxes on Social Security benefits. It would boost the $2,000 child tax credit to $2,200. Millions of families at lower income levels would not get the full credit. A cap on state and local deductions … would quadruple to $40,000 for five years. … There are scores of business-related tax cuts, including allowing businesses to immediately write off 100% of the cost of equipment and research.' How to pay for that? Frankly, the bill frankly doesn't pay for it. The Congressional Budget Office projects it'll increase federal deficits by nearly $3.3 trillion over the next decade, though many Republicans quibble with that math. To the extent there is a financial tradeoff at the heart of Trump's bill, it comes in slashing funding for Medicaid in order to partially pay for the tax cuts. Grand Old Party vs. Grand New Party: In that way, it pits traditional Republican policy dogma against the political interests of the Trump-era Republican voter coalition, as POLITICO's Robert King and Kelly Hooper shrewdly observe. 'The Republican base now includes more working-class and low-income people, many of whom receive their health insurance through Medicaid,' they write. 'But the traditional sentiment of many Republican lawmakers toward the social safety-net program — that it provides handouts on taxpayers' dime — has largely remained the same.' Indeed, beyond some 'populist flourishes' included in the bill, 'the measure is regressive,' WaPo's Marianna Sotomayor and colleagues write. 'The 10 percent of households with the lowest incomes would stand to be worse off by an average of $1,600 per year on average because of benefits cuts, according to the Congressional Budget Office's analysis of the House version of the bill. The 10 percent of households with the highest incomes would be better off by $12,000 on average. … Adding in the impact of Trump's tariffs — which the White House has argued will help pay for the bill's tax cuts and new spending — the bottom 80 percent of households would see their take-home incomes fall, according to the Yale Budget Lab.' THE POLITICS … The next phase: Democrats are eager to wield the megabill vote as a heavy cudgel ahead of the 2026 midterms, POLITICO's Elena Schneider reports. Whether they can do so effectively is almost certain to determine the balance of power in the House. Starting now: 'Ad-makers have quickly prepped attack ads to air as soon as the holiday weekend is over, including in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. House Democrats are plotting to turn the August recess into the opening salvo of the midterms, including through town halls and organizing programs. And Democrats see an opportunity to expand the battleground, going on offense into red areas across the country.' What Dems are seeing: My Playbook colleague Dasha Burns obtained a study that Blue Rose Research conducted for the Democratic-aligned Senate Majority PAC. In it, they found that without any priming, net support for the bill was 8 points underwater. When provided with a fairly anodyne description of the bill, it's 19 points underwater. (And notably, this study was done before some of the largest cuts to Medicaid were introduced to the package.) What Republicans are seeing: As Dasha reported earlier this week, GOP pollster par excellence Tony Fabrizio sees a politically salient way Republicans can brand the legislation (out: 'One Big Beautiful Bill'; in: 'Working Families Tax Cuts') and its component parts (framing the Medicaid cuts around work requirements and slashing waste, fraud and abuse). There's a reality to acknowledge: Midterms rarely break in favor of the president. Yes, you can argue that there's a massive spin battle at hand about how to sell the bill to a weary public, with a chance that Republicans come out on top. But consider recent history. Midterm waves build regardless of what the incumbent party wants to focus on or how they try to frame it. In 2010, Democrats tried to center their message on Barack Obama's Recovery Act, which did little to satisfy voters riled up about the Affordable Care Act and the Wall Street bailouts signed by George W. Bush; Republicans won control of the House and picked up six seats in the Senate. In 2018, Republicans tried to tout the Trump tax cuts while anger about Trump writ large combined with a Dem focus on the GOP's push to repeal the ACA; Dems retook the House and picked up seven governor's mansions. All of which is to say this: Republicans will celebrate today at the White House, but that'll be before the fireworks start. In the meantime, the hope of future electoral wins will be cold comfort for many Democrats. Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.) was seen sobbing as she left the vote yesterday. 'The amount of kids who are going to go without health care and food — people like my mom [who struggle with substance use disorder] are going to be left to die because they don't have access to health care,' she said, per NYT's Annie Karni. 'It's just pretty unfathomable.' 9 THINGS THAT STUCK WITH US 1. TRADING SPACES: Trump said as he returned from his trip to Iowa that he is 'set to resume a set of tariffs that he initially imposed in April on dozens of countries, before pausing them for 90 days to negotiate individual deals' and some of the levies 'could be even steeper than originally announced,' NYT's Lydia DePillis writes. What Trump said: ''So we're going to start sending letters out to various countries starting tomorrow,' said Mr. Trump, hours after his major domestic policy bill passed the House of Representatives. 'They'll range in value from maybe 60 or 70 percent tariffs to 10 and 20 percent tariffs.' He said his administration would then send more letters each day until the end of the 90-day pause, on Wednesday, when he expected they would all be covered. Smaller countries would come toward the end, and duties would begin to be collected on Aug. 1.' 2. SCOTUS WATCH: The Supreme Court yesterday 'cleared the way for the Trump administration to deport eight men to South Sudan who have been detained in a shipping container on a U.S. military base in Djibouti for six weeks after becoming caught up in a legal tug-of-war between the White House and a federal judge in Boston,' POLITICO's Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report. The details: 'By an apparent 7-2 vote, the justices lifted an order from U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy that had blocked the men's deportation. Murphy took that step despite a Supreme Court ruling last week that put a hold on an earlier, nationwide injunction he issued requiring the administration to give deportees advance notice of their destination and a 'meaningful' chance to object if they believed they'd be in danger there.' 3. ON THE BORDER: 'US expands militarized zones to 1/3 of southern border, stirring controversy,' by AP's Morgan Lee: 'It's part of a major shift that has thrust the military into border enforcement with Mexico like never before. The move places long stretches of the border under the supervision of nearby military bases, empowering U.S. troops to detain people who enter the country illegally and sidestep a law prohibiting military involvement in civilian law enforcement. … The militarization is being challenged in court, and has been criticized by civil rights advocates, humanitarian aid groups and outdoor enthusiasts who object to being blocked from public lands while troops have free rein.' 4. RUSSIA-UKRAINE LATEST: As he boarded Air Force One for his trip to Iowa yesterday, Trump gave a few details about his call earlier in the day with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'It was a pretty long call. We talked about a lot of things, including Iran. We also talked about the war with Ukraine and I'm not happy about that,' the president said. But when asked whether there was a serious discussion about a deal to end the war, Trump said: 'No, I didn't make any progress.' A top Kremlin aide also said the two leaders did not discuss a recent pause in weapons shipments to Ukraine, which was first reported by POLITICO, in the nearly two-hour long conversation. More from POLITICO's Ben Johansen So much for 'Vladimir, STOP': Hours after the phone call, Russia 'attacked Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities on Friday with the largest number of drones and missiles launched in a single barrage so far in the war, according to the Ukrainian Air Force,' NYT's Andrew Kramer reports from Kyiv. It's the latest salvo in a string of 'relentless attacks' that Putin has planned as his country's war on Ukraine enters a fourth summer, WSJ's James Marson and Jane Lytvynenko write: 'Putin's strategy is aimed at breaking Ukraine's ability and will to fight the war, by ratcheting up pressure on its military and civilian population as the country's most powerful backer shuffles toward the sidelines.' 5. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: Trump 'hopes to strike a ceasefire deal in Gaza next week as he hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House while his negotiating team narrows the gaps between Hamas and Israel on an agreement to release hostages and end hostilities,' WaPo's John Hudson and colleagues report. Where things stand: 'Hamas is weighing whether to accept an amended proposal for a 60-day ceasefire put forward by Qatar and Egypt interlocutors … Israelis are expecting Netanyahu and Trump to announce a ceasefire deal as well as agreements with other neighboring Arab nations during the trip.' On the other side: 'As the United States presses for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, the militant group's decision will largely hinge on its new de facto leader in Gaza,' NYT's Adam Rasgon and Ronen Bergman report. 'The commander, Izz al-Din al-Haddad … is in his mid-50s [and] helped plan the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023 … He is believed to be in firm opposition to Israeli efforts to dislodge Hamas from power, suggesting that he could block any push to release all remaining hostages before a total end to the war in Gaza and a withdrawal of Israeli troops.' 6. DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS: The Trump administration is 'reaching out to business executives to weigh interest' in whether they would accompany Trump on a potential visit to China later this year, much like the trip that the president took across the Middle East earlier this year, Bloomberg's Jenny Leonard and Catherine Lucey report. 'The Commerce Department is making calls to gauge interest from chief executives at some US companies,' though it's 'unclear how many company leaders have been asked to participate or whether any have confirmed.' The trip could come about in late October, when Trump is expected to travel to South Korea and Malaysia for back-to-back summits. 7. CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS WATCH: 'Trump Claims Sweeping Power to Nullify Laws, Letters on TikTok Ban Show,' by NYT's Charlie Savage: 'Attorney General Pam Bondi told tech companies that they could lawfully violate a statute barring American companies from supporting TikTok based on a sweeping claim that President Trump has the constitutional power to set aside laws, newly disclosed documents show. In letters to companies like Apple and Google, Ms. Bondi wrote that Mr. Trump had decided that shutting down TikTok would interfere with his 'constitutional duties,' so the law banning the social media app must give way to his 'core presidential national security and foreign affairs powers.'' 8. CAPITULATION CORNER: In the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and Trump's subsequent booting from social media platforms, he sued the heads of the tech giants that took action. Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk settled the suits against their companies. Now, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees YouTube, appears to have his chance. Lawyers for the two sides 'have begun 'productive discussions' about the next steps of the case against YouTube, 'with additional discussions anticipated in the near future,'' The Atlantic's Michael Scherer reports, citing little-noticed briefs filed in San Francisco. 'The parties have asked the judge to give them until September 2 to come to an agreement on a path forward.' 9. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Email error: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Thursday accidentally scooped who the White House may be planning to nominate for the National Labor Relations Board by telling members of its labor relations committee before the formal rollout of the picks, according to emails obtained by POLITICO's Daniel Lippman. 'In the lead-up to the long Independence Day weekend, the White House today announced several much-anticipated appointments of two members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB): Scott Mayer, Chief Labor Counsel at The Boeing Corporation, and James Murphy, a former career official with the NLRB,' the Chamber wrote in an email. But the White House hasn't yet announced those picks. Fifteen minutes after its first email went out, the Chamber wrote to the same list: 'Please ignore our recent email on NLRB nominees. This was sent in error.' A Chamber spokesperson declined to comment on the mistake, except to confirm it was an error. A White House spokesperson had no comment. Mayer and Murphy didn't respond to requests for comment. THE WEEKEND AHEAD FOX 'Fox News Sunday': Speaker Mike Johnson … Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) … Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) … Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Panel: Horace Cooper, Meghan Hays, Mollie Hemingway and Hans Nichols. CBS 'Face the Nation': NEC Director Kevin Hassett … Ken Burns. ABC 'This Week': CEA Chair Stephen Miran … Larry Summers … Richard Besser. Panel: Donna Brazile and Chris Christie. CNN 'State of the Union': Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Panel: Scott Jennings, Shermichael Singleton, Jamal Simmons and Kate Bedingfield. MSNBC 'PoliticsNation': Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear … Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) … Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). NewsNation 'The Hill Sunday': Retired Adm. William McRaven … Robert George … Andrew Sullivan … Julie Silverbrook. NBC 'Meet the Press': Olivia Munn … Bob Costas … Sal Khan … Amanda Gorman. TALK OF THE TOWN FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was supposed to join EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič on Thursday for a meeting as Europe negotiates a trade deal with the Trump administration, but Lutnick had already left town to go on vacation with his family in Italy, a person familiar with the matter told POLITICO's Daniel Lippman and Daniel Desrochers. Instead, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he was meeting with the EU as the deadline for Trump's pause on his so-called reciprocal tariffs is due to expire next Wednesday. 'Secretary Lutnick met his wife and family for a July 4th trip,' a Commerce spokesperson said in a statement to Playbook. 'He has been on nonstop calls working for the American people and plans to be back in DC this weekend. President Trump's deal announcement with Vietnam earlier this week proves that Sec. Lutnick continues to level the playing field for the American worker.' GARDEN VARIETY — 'White House says Garden of American Heroes may not be complete until 2029,' by WaPo's Janay Kingsberry: 'The White House said it is working to finish President Donald Trump's patriotic statue garden by the end of his second term — an acknowledgment that comes as a key deadline for the project passed this week, and one that diverges sharply from a federal agency's stated plans to complete the ambitious installation before the United States' 250th birthday next year.' THE FRENCH CONNECTION — 'Why a birthday party in D.C. for a late French general was packed with guests,' by WaPo's Petula Dvorak: 'The honoree was Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, the comte de Rochambeau, who would be turning 300 on that day. And despite his advanced age, he can still draw a crowd of more than 100. For many in attendance, that was largely because his actions 244 years ago remain an important lesson for America today.' TRANSITION — Josh Craddock is joining the Justice Department as deputy assistant AG in the Office of Legal Counsel. He previously was an associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. … Lilia Dashevsky is now founder and CEO of Emet Strategies. She previously was SVP and democracy practice lead at CLYDE. BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY: The United States of America is 249 … Geraldo Rivera … WSJ's Natalie Andrews … Luke Tomanelli … former Reps. Dan Maffei (D-N.Y.) and Sam Farr (D-Calif.) … Ed Matricardi … Frank Donatelli … Lanhee Chen … Ripple's Susan Hendrick … Matthew Gravatt … Stat's Chelsea Cirruzzo … Ann Rulon … Dustin Todd … Kathleen Kennedy Townsend … Kevin McLaughlin … Ryan Williams … Will Ritter of Poolhouse … Catlin O'Neill … Sunshine Sachs' Taylor Friedman … Lauren Ashburn … Cassie Ballard of Chime … Malia Obama … Viveca Novak … Terry Wade … Brandon English … Matthew Lee Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Zack Stanton, deputy editor Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. Correction: Yesterday's Playbook misspelled Mychael Schnell's name.
Politico
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Playbook: Congress caves again
Presented by With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco On the Playbook Podcast this morning, Jack and Dasha Burns look ahead to Trump's big rally in Iowa this evening — and pick over what makes his speeches so unique. Good Thursday morning. This is Jack Blanchard. It's been a very long night in Congress — and we still ain't there yet … In today's Playbook … — Trump heads to Iowa for a July 3 rally with his megabill on the verge of passing into law. — Jobs stats are coming this morning as U.S. government races for more trade deals. — And will SCOTUS spring a last-day-of-term surprise? DRIVING THE DAY FIREWORKS: Donald Trump will head to Iowa this afternoon for his eve-of-Independence Day rally in a celebratory mood. The flagship legislation that the president wanted on his desk by July 4 is poised to complete its passage through Congress in the next few hours after another long night of will-they-won't-they shenanigans in the House. Republican hard-liners had spent much of the evening refusing to back Senate-approved spending plans in Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' … but after the president started working the phones in the early hours of this morning, the GOP dutifully caved. Where we're at: Shortly before 6 a.m. this morning, the House was still crawling toward a final vote, which is now expected in the next couple hours. Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters he has the numbers he needs after successfully flipping up to a dozen holdouts — with Trump's assistance, natch — over the course of a long and painful night. Voting was delayed further at 3 a.m. when it transpired Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) had driven back to Pennsylvania after casting his vote yesterday morning. The whole of Congress had to sit and wait while he drove back to D.C. No rush, pal. CACO: In the end, it was all very predictable — Congress always chickens out, as someone put it to your Playbook author. But this was a genuinely close-run thing, and Trump spent much of the evening making his displeasure clear: 'What are the Republicans waiting for???' the president boomed on Truth Social, shortly after midnight, with more than a dozen Republicans still refusing to back the bill. 'What are you trying to prove??? MAGA IS NOT HAPPY, AND IT'S COSTING YOU VOTES!!!' And soon after: 'FOR REPUBLICANS, THIS SHOULD BE AN EASY YES VOTE. RIDICULOUS!!!' In truth, it was anything but easy for Hill Republicans, given this bill both massively increases America's already-ballooning deficit while also delivering the biggest cut to Medicaid budgets in ages. That means neither moderates nor hawks are remotely happy, and made the job of GOP negotiators so much harder — with every concession in one direction triggering an explosion of anger in the other. Deja vu: The impasse meant House leadership required hours simply to push through the procedural rule that would allow them to bring the bill to the floor. Four Republicans initially voted against the rule — Reps. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), Keith Self (R-Texas), Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) — and were swiftly joined by a fifth, serial rebel Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). Famous for 15 minutes: Clyde and Self are both members of the deficit-hating House Freedom Caucus, while Spartz is a famously eccentric member who planned to vote against the rule but then back the bill itself. Fitzpatrick's 'no' vote, however, was a genuine surprise — he's a moderate and had given little indication he was prepared to block the bill. Observers noted he had been outraged earlier by the Trump administration's decision this week to halt some weapons exports to Ukraine, although it's unclear if that was a factor in his decision. The five refuseniks were in turn joined by another group of eight HFC hardliners who simply refused to vote at all, insisting more time was needed for Congress to find a better (and cheaper) solution. 'The bottom line is we can't do it the next few days,' said HFC Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.), partway through the evening. 'But I do believe by next week we can come to an agreement.' But Johnson & co. wanted results faster than that, and the GOP leadership swiftly turned the screws. Trump worked the phones — holding 1 a.m. calls with some of the holdouts, per The Hill's Mychael Schnel and Mike Lillis — while the White House pumped out aggressive social media content from multiple feeds, including VP JD Vance and comms chief Steven Cheung. Ever-excitable aide Stephen Miller even wrote on X: 'This is the kind of opportunity, once lost, where people look back centuries later and ask how the moment to save civilization was allowed to pass by.' Uh huh. How it happened: The band of holdouts 'say they've secured commitments from the White House on a variety of topics, especially on how the megabill is implemented,' POLITICO's Meredith Lee Hill reports for Inside Congress. 'But House Republicans described the hours of talks as more of a venting session for the hard-liners.' In the end, of course, the HFC caved. Magic Mike: The bill's final passage will mark another big win for Johnson, who first backed the impossible-looking strategy of squeezing all Trump's legislative priorities into a single bill. For the nation, the bill's consequences will be truly far-reaching — turbo-charging Trump's mass deportation strategy, slashing taxes, pushing millions of people off Medicaid and sending the budget deficit ballooning even higher. With the bill all but passed, the messaging war over those consequences now begins. Playbook noted yesterday that plenty of aspects of the legislation — including the changes to Medicaid — poll well enough individually when framed in the best-possible way. But Democrats still believe the bill presents a unique opportunity for their party to finally claw back public support. Dem-backing campaign groups have their own polling, which shows that taken together, the bill's measures are largely unpopular — if the opposition party can sell the message that cuts to Medicaid are bad news. That messaging battle starts this evening, where Trump will kick off America's July Fourth celebrations with a rally in Des Moines, Iowa. Expect plenty of discourse about the size and beauty of this particular piece of legislation from the president. And while we're doing July Fourth … Let's end this section on a fun eve-of-Independence Day fact: One in five Americans are now ready to bring back the King. You heard me right: Polling and strategy firm JL Partners asked 1,000 U.S. voters if they support or oppose replacing the current president of the United States with the British monarch. The survey found 19 percent of Americans supported the idea, with 48 percent opposed and the rest on the fence. Whether the unexpectedly high 'yes' vote is a reflection of this current U.S. administration, or a growing fondness for the lost monarchical system, you'll have to decide for yourselves. But check out the demographic trend: 'Support [for the monarchy] is even higher among certain groups,' JL Partners' James Johnson tells Playbook. 'Strikingly, more than one in three 18-29-year-olds back the idea.' So altogether now: 'You'll be back, soon you'll see, you'll remember you belong to me … ' IT'S THE ECONOMY, STUPID JOBS DAY: The monthly jobs report for June will come out at 8:30 a.m., the latest hard-data test of how Trump's economic policies are affecting the labor market. In spite of economists' predictions — the latest average is 110,000 new jobs for today's report, per Bloomberg — many of these numbers have held up better than anticipated month after month. But one alarm bell came yesterday from private-sector payrolls, which fell in June after two years of growth. We'll also get new numbers on imports and international trade today. Fed up: If the jobs numbers do soften, you can bet it'll be another reason for Trump to berate Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who has so far refused to budge on interest rates over inflationary fears from tariffs. Meanwhile, Bloomberg's Saleha Mohsin and colleagues report that Trump advisers have floated the prospect of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent serving simultaneously as Fed chair, which the White House strongly denies. Not that Trump needs another reason: His near-daily pressure campaign of insulting the central bank continued yesterday evening, when Trump said Powell 'should resign immediately!!!' This time, the proximate cause was an intense attack on Powell by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, who accused Powell (a Republican) of 'political bias' and of lying to Congress about Fed HQ renovations, POLITICO's Declan Harty and Victoria Guida report. Pulte declared that Powell's actions were 'worthy of 'for cause' removal' and should be probed by Congress. Trading places: The U.S. is now one week out from Trump's self-declared deadline for striking a whole mess of trade deals. Yesterday's announcement of a preliminary agreement with Vietnam, only the second in two months, was the latest sign of progress — though it lacked plenty of details, and many Vietnamese reacted negatively to the continuation of heavy tariffs. The U.S. and India are also pushing hard to strike a deal, Reuters' David Lawder and Manoj Kumar report. What's the hang-up? Amid fresh Trump tensions over rice, Japan talks still look snagged, as PM Shigeru Ishiba said he had to prioritize his national interests, per Reuters. The country's lead negotiator said Tokyo wouldn't rush into a deal, July 9 or not. Indeed, Japan holding firm 'shows how hard [Trump's goal] is turning out to be,' WSJ's Gavin Bade and Brian Schwartz report: Many countries have been baffled by the chaotic back-and-forth in the U.S. on tariffs, 'unsure of what the White House wants or when they have to deliver a deal.' The EU is now aiming no higher than a very bare-bones agreement by next week, CNBC's Silvia Amaro reports. Brace for impact: If 'Liberation Day' levels of levies do snap back into place next week sans agreements, Trump's global trade war will roar back to a greater intensity than it's had in months, NBC's Shannon Pettypiece and Steve Kopack write. JUDICIARY SQUARE SCOTUS WATCH: The Supreme Court will be back today for one last time before the justices head off on summer break. SCOTUSblog's John Elwood has a useful rundown of some of the cases that could be on the list of orders the court releases, including major questions about transgender women participating in women's sports. But of course: The high court's groaning shadow docket of forthcoming emergency rulings, which could come at any time, means summer ain't what it used to be for the justices. There are still pending appeals for: two cases about the Trump administration's authority to fire federal workers, one of them involving tens of thousands of civil servants … a request to clarify the court's recent green light for third-country deportations … and even some non-Trump questions, like Florida's enforcement of an immigration law. Any or all of those could land this morning. BIG RULING: A federal judge struck down a centerpiece of Trump's crackdown on legal immigration, which had effectively shuttered the nation's asylum system, per CNN. Judge Randolph Moss ruled that Trump had massively overstepped his authority in barring most border-crossers from seeking asylum, given that Congress had set up the protections in law. But Moss stayed his ruling for two weeks, and this is quickly headed for a higher court on appeal. The decision came just as new data shows how effective Trump's hard-line closure of the border has been, building on progress made by former President Joe Biden and Mexico: Arrests dipped to roughly 6,000 in June, lower than they've been in decades, per the NYT. In the darkness: More than 100 days after the Trump administration disappeared hundreds of men into a Salvadoran megaprison notorious for alleged human rights abuses, the world has gotten hardly any information about their status or even proof of life. But a new court filing from Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who's been returned after the U.S. illegally deported him, alleges torture and intense mistreatment there, POLITICO's Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report. Abrego said he experienced 'severe beatings,' sleep deprivation and malnutrition that led him to lose 31 pounds in two weeks. In response, DHS' Tricia McLaughlin downplayed his 'sob story.' More in the courts: LA immigrant advocates filed a federal lawsuit over detention tactics and arrests, per the AP. … A federal judge heard arguments in a suit against the White House for not providing live American Sign Language interpreters at press briefings, per CNN. DOJ SIREN: 'Justice Dept. Explores Using Criminal Charges Against Election Officials,' by NYT's Devlin Barrett and Nick Corasaniti: 'Senior Justice Department officials are exploring whether they can bring criminal charges against state or local election officials if the Trump administration determines they have not sufficiently safeguarded their computer systems … The department's effort, which is still in its early stages, is not based on new evidence, data or legal authority … Instead, it is driven by the unsubstantiated argument made by many in the Trump administration that American elections are easy prey to voter fraud and foreign manipulation.' BEST OF THE REST TODAY IN THE OVAL: The Trumps will host Edan Alexander, an American and Israeli soldier who was recently freed after being held hostage by Hamas, at the White House at 12:45 p.m. More from CBS ON THE GROUND IN GAZA: 'US contractors say their colleagues are firing live ammo as Palestinians seek food in Gaza,' by AP's Julia Frankel and Sam Mednick: 'American contractors guarding aid distribution sites in Gaza are using live ammunition and stun grenades as hungry Palestinians scramble for food, according to accounts and videos obtained by The Associated Press.' IRAN LATEST: Iran said it would stop working with the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, which would suspend inspectors from being able to assess the damage from recent U.S. strikes and understand Iranian progress toward a nuclear bomb, per the WSJ. Meanwhile, a Pentagon spokesperson issued the agency's first remarks on its intelligence assessments, saying the attacks had likely set back Iran's nuclear program by one to two years, per the Washington Examiner. UKRAINE FALLOUT: The Pentagon's move to stop supplying Kyiv with some weapons shocked much of Washington, because it was pushed principally by Elbridge Colby without the awareness of many other officials, POLITICO's Jack Detsch and colleagues report. Republican hawks and Ukraine supporters were angry about the sudden reversal. But the Defense Department said it's part of a broader review of weapons sent to countries around the world, per NYT's Eric Schmitt. Now Ukraine intends to try a different tactic, trying to get sign-off for Europe buying U.S. weapons and giving them to Ukraine, Jack and colleagues report. 'GOLD-STANDARD SCIENCE' IN ACTION: 'Top F.D.A. Official Overrode Scientists on Covid Shots,' by NYT's Christina Jewett: 'The decisions by the official, Dr. Vinay Prasad, the agency's new chief medical and scientific officer, stunned agency veterans. … F.D.A. staff members concluded that the vaccines were safe and effective based on clinical trials of the shots tested in thousands of people. But Dr. Prasad wrote that there could still be vaccine-related injuries that have yet to be discovered. … Vaccine and infectious disease experts who reviewed the memos said that Dr. Prasad had failed to weigh the well-documented harmful effects from the coronavirus itself.' ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ OPENS: 'Alligator Alcatraz receives first immigrant detainees Wednesday night,' by the Miami Herald's Ana Ceballos and colleagues: 'On Wednesday evening, the gates of the facility were bustling with traffic. Three white vans escorted by sedans drove into the compound. The vans looked like those previously used by immigration authorities to transport migrants, although it's unclear who was in them. … The site's name also became official on Wednesday, when two workers slapped a large blue guidepost that said 'Alligator Alcatraz' over the old 'Dade-Collier Transitional Airport' road sign that led people to the airstrip for years.' KNOWING PAUL INGRASSIA: 'Trump pick to run federal watchdog: A 30-year-old who once shared a 9/11 conspiracy video and has ties to a Holocaust denier,' by CNN's Andrew Kaczynski and colleagues TALK OF THE TOWN IN MEMORIAM — 'Intern for Rep. Ron Estes killed in Northwest D.C. shooting,' by Roll Call's Justin Papp: Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, '21, was a Granby, Mass., resident who joined Estes' office earlier in June. Metropolitan Police said in a statement Wednesday that detectives believe he was not the intended target of the shooting. 'I will remember his kind heart and how he always greeted anyone who entered our office with a cheerful smile,' Estes said in a statement on Wednesday. … Tarpinian-Jachym would have been a senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst this fall.' PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — The National Gallery of Art added Sarah Fullinwider Perot to its board of trustees. She's a civic leader and philanthropist with prominent GOP ties: Her husband, Ross Perot Jr., is a big Republican donor. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — OpenAI is building out its D.C. team with Joe Larson as VP for government, Chad Tucker on the government affairs team and John McCarrick as head of global energy policy. Tucker previously was at AT&T. McCarrick is a Trump energy policy and GOP campaign alum. TRANSITIONS — Parker Butler and Lauren Kapp have launched Luminary Strategies, a digital and creative agency that includes running social media accounts for prominent political names. They previously were behind the Kamala HQ accounts as director of digital rapid response and head of TikTok, respectively, on the Harris campaign. … Bryn McDonough is joining TechNet as counsel and director of federal policy and government relations. She previously was chief of staff in the office of the deputy DHS secretary in the Biden administration. … … Adam Szubin has joined Covington's national security practice as of counsel. He previously was of counsel at Sullivan & Cromwell, and is a Treasury Department alum. … Rolando Cantu will be an associate on the paid team at Precision Strategies. He previously was a digital advertising strategist at the DNC. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) (7-0) … Julian Assange … Kristen Morgante of Purple Strategies … Andrew Peek … Peter Sherman of DDC Public Affairs … Nick Baldick of Hilltop Public Solutions … Lally Weymouth … AFP's Shaun Tandon … POLITICO's Heidi Vogt and Will McCarthy … Rina Shah … Washington Examiner's Naomi Lim … former Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) … Adam Goldberg … Giffords' Mary Yatrousis … Gloria Allred … Elise Joshi … Barbara Lee (8-0) … Don 'Stew' Stewart … Lindy Royce-Bartlett … Julia Griffin … Rick Powell … Daniel Carlino Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Zack Stanton, deputy editor Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
Politico
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Politico
Playbook: Riders on the storm
Presented by With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco On the Playbook Podcast this morning, Jack and POLITICO's senior Congress editor Mike DeBonis pick through the bones of the 'big, beautiful bill' and where it's headed now Good Wednesday morning. This is Jack Blanchard, a little stunned to learn that as of this week, we're closer to 2050 than to the year 2000. Good grief. BREAKING OVERNIGHT: On a bleak morning for fans of fearless journalism, CBS' owner Paramount has formally settled its lawsuit with Donald Trump after he sued over some (pretty standard) edits to a 2024 interview with opponent Kamala Harris. Under the terms of the deal, Paramount has agreed to hand over a whopping $16 million to Trump's presidential library and committed to releasing transcripts of future interviews with presidential candidates. The company has not apologized for its conduct. As the NYT reports this morning … 'Many lawyers dismissed Mr. Trump's lawsuit as baseless and believed that CBS would ultimately prevail in court, in part because the network did not report anything factually inaccurate, and the First Amendment gives publishers wide leeway to determine how to present information. But Shari Redstone, the chair and controlling shareholder of Paramount, told her board that she favored exploring a settlement with Mr. Trump. Some executives at the company viewed the president's lawsuit as a potential hurdle to completing a multibillion-dollar sale of the company.' Trump must be loving every minute. In today's Playbook … — House members scramble back to D.C. for the final megabill showdown. — Musk keeps his head down after almost going to war with Trump a second time. — U.S. blocks key weapons exports to Ukraine … as Russia's bombardment continues. DRIVING THE DAY SHUT UP AND DRIVE: Members of the House are motoring back to D.C. this morning to vote on the 'big, beautiful bill' after thunderstorms canceled scores of flights into Reagan National. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) was planning a 14-hour overnight drive from Chicago in order to make today's crucial vote, telling constituents: 'We got some gas money, we got some snacks, and away we go.' A pajama-clad Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Buc-ee's busting Rep. Russell Fry (R-S.C.) were both planning eight-hour overnight drives from South Carolina to get here in time. (And people complain our politicians don't work hard.) Life is beautiful: The matter in hand is the imminent House vote on Trump's flagship legislation — the tax-cutting, Medicaid-slashing, border-boosting megabill that squeaked through the Senate yesterday lunchtime. The bill is expected to hit the floor of the House for a final vote later tonight. (Don't be surprised if we're all up late once again.) If the House agrees to the bill with no further changes, it's headed straight to Trump's desk in time to hit the July 4 deadline. Mike drop: 'We're having weather delays getting everybody back right now,' Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News last night. 'But assuming we have a full House, we'll get it through the Rules Committee in the morning, we'll move that forward to the floor and hopefully we're voting on this by [Wednesday] or Thursday at latest, depending on the weather and delays and all the rest — that's the wildfire that we can't control.' Numbers game: Johnson can only afford a small handful of rebel votes — and there are certainly enough ominous noises coming out of GOP circles to suggest he may have a problem. In particular, deficit hawks are unhappy at the way the price tag for this already-expensive bill ballooned even higher in the Senate. But will there be enough actual GOP holdouts to stop it sailing through? Yeah nah: Given the way this Congress has behaved since Jan. 20, it seems far-fetched to imagine the Republican Party actually going ahead and blocking Trump's flagship piece of legislation — especially when the president seems relatively uninterested in the actual detailed content of the bill. But if you do fancy whiling away the day playing will-they-won't-they games, then it's the GOP deficit hawks you'll want to be monitoring — people like Reps. Ralph Norman (S.C.), Chip Roy (Texas), Andy Harris (Md.), Marlin Stutzman (Ind.) and Andy Ogles (Tenn.), who have all been mouthing off about the Senate's tweaks. In theory, there are also plenty of 'Medicaid moderates' — like California Rep. David Valadao — who could take a stand against the deeper cuts pushed through by the Senate, although frankly, I wouldn't hold my breath. SALT caucus holdout Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) already sounds like he's coming around. How the bill changed: 'Senate Republicans took the sprawling Republican megabill the House sent them and sharpened it further, making the heart of Trump's legislative agenda more politically explosive,' my POLITICO colleagues Benjamin Guggenheim and Jordain Carney write in their must-read analysis. 'GOP senators made steeper cuts to Medicaid, hastened cuts to wind and solar energy tax credits and also managed to add hundreds of billions of dollars more to the deficit compared to the House plan.' It's a far cry from the Senate's usual role, they note, which is to temper the excesses of the House. Daddy time: This is normally the point in the process when the president himself wades in, and it's striking that there's nothing on Trump's official schedule today. That presumably means he'll be spending the day either visiting the Hill, entertaining Republicans from the Hill … or ringing them one-by-one to bully, praise and cajole this legislation over the line. As ever, Truth Social will be your stream-of-conscious guide to what's on the president's mind. Looking further ahead: As Playbook has been telling you for weeks, the battle that really is going to matter over the BBB is one of messaging — as both parties believe they have a strong story to tell headed into 2026. The Dems think a message of 'they cut your Medicaid to fund tax cuts for the wealthy' is a genuine vote-winner — but Republicans have rival framing which, if people buy it, also proves popular with the general public. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: To that end, my Playbook colleague Dasha Burns writes in with a peek at new polling from Tony Fabrizio (Trump's go-to pollster) and co. The survey delves into the messages related to the bill's key provisions that get the most positive response from likely 2026 voters in four critical Senate battlegrounds: Georgia, Maine, Michigan and North Carolina. The poll was commissioned by One Nation, a 501(c)(4) organization aligned with Majority Leader John Thune. Notably, the poll refers to the legislation as the 'Working Families Tax Cuts (WFTC)' — which is new (if optimistic) branding coming straight from the White House and its outside allies. The poll found respondents came back 62 percent favorable vs. 12 percent unfavorable when the legislation was framed in this way. Measures such as the Child Tax Credit increase, plus no taxes on tips and overtime, were also overwhelmingly popular. On the most controversial aspect of the bill, Medicaid cuts, the survey found two-thirds of voters (66 percent) do agree there is waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid that must be addressed. And an even larger majority (72 percent) agree that able-bodied adults should demonstrate they are looking for a job or are employed to receive Medicaid benefits. All of which gives a pretty good indication of how Republicans are likely to message the bill as we head into 2026. Whether swing voters in battleground districts are prepared to buy it remains to be seen. And as for 2028 … It was striking to see several of the Dems' potential presidential hopefuls— California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Pete Buttigieg — all looking to pin the bill's passage on VP JD Vance, who cast the tie-breaking vote and who many expect to be the GOP presidential contender next time round. POLITICO's Cheyanne Daniels has more on that. In the meantime: Johnson told Fox there will be more reconciliation bills ahead of the midterms. 'You can do a reconciliation budget for each fiscal year,' he said. 'So, the plan is to do one in the fall for the FY '26 budget year, and then we can also squeeze in a third one for FY '27 before this Congress is up.' Best start stocking up on cans of Celsius now. ELON'S BACK MUSK WATCH: After a whirlwind 24 hours railing against the Republican megabill, Elon Musk said he would 'refrain for now' from escalating his rebooted row with Trump. And sure enough, beyond a retweet or two of Chip Roy, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), some Starlink posts and even some praise for Trump, the world's richest man has been pretty quiet. It's not hard to see why: The more Musk delves into Washington, the more Tesla suffers for it. The car company's stocks dropped more than 5 percent after Musk and Trump started beefing again this week, WSJ's Jack Pitcher reports. And for all you visual learners, Reuters' Nandita Bose and colleagues have a handy chart showing just how much Tesla's market value has bobbed up and down during Musk's evolution. The policy behind the posts: The Senate's megabill that passed yesterday whacks a $7,500 tax credit for households buying electric vehicles, and a $4,000 credit for those who buy a used EV, CNBC's Greg Iacurci writes. Trump argued yesterday that's a big problem for Musk — though Musk has repeatedly said his objections to the megabill are not related to the EV credits. The view from 1600 Penn: 'No one really cares what [Musk] says anymore,' a senior White House official anonymously told CNN's Kristen Holmes. Let's just see if that line holds — and if Musk keeps his powder dry as the megabill moves through the House again. WAR AND PEACE PROMISES BROKEN: The Pentagon stopped shipments of air defense missiles and other precision munitions to bolster the war effort in Ukraine, POLITICO's Paul McLeary, Jack Detsch and Joe Gould scooped last night. The decision came down from Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon's policy chief, after a review sparked concerns that the military's weapons stockpiles are running low. The decision to withhold military aid allocated during the Biden era was finalized in early June, our colleagues write, but it's going into place now as Ukraine fights back against some of Russia's biggest bombings on the country since the war started. It's been just two days since Russia's latest devastating overnight aerial attack. How it's playing: Ukraine's biggest allies in Congress denounced the decision, calling out the 180-degree change from Trump's comments last week. 'If this reporting is true, then Mr. Colby … is taking action that will surely result in the imminent death of many Ukrainian military and civilians,' said Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio). Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) called Colby and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth 'rogue actors,' Joe reports. The White House says: 'This decision was made to put America's interests first following a DOD review of our nation's military support and assistance to other countries across the globe,' White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said. 'The strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned — just ask Iran.' BACK TO THE FORGOTTEN WARS: Israel has agreed to conditions for a potential 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, Trump announced on Truth Social last night, 'during which time we will work with all parties to end the War.' Big grain of salt: Hamas has not accepted these conditions or the proposal yet. But Trump is once again putting the screws on them to come to the negotiating table. 'I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,' Trump wrote. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff met with Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer yesterday to discuss the proposal, while Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu will visit the White House on Monday. MEANWHILE IN THE WEST WING: Our colleague and foreign affairs correspondent Nahal Toosi's new column this morning chronicles the chaos at the National Security Council since Secretary of State Marco Rubio took over — with a shrinking staff, less meetings and worries that small conflicts will balloon into bigger problems as top-level officials are iced out. 'It's 'Game of Thrones' politics over there,' one person told Nahal. BEST OF THE REST SCHOOL TIES: The University of Pennsylvania is revoking the winning records of its transgender athletes, in an agreement announced yesterday with the Department of Education, WSJ's Sara Randazzo reports. The university — whose federal funding the Trump administration froze earlier this year over alleged Title IX violations — will strip former student athlete Lia Thomas' three school records. WHAT STENY HOYER IS READING: The FBI is relocating its headquarters to the Ronald Reagan Building complex, specifically into the former offices of USAID, rather than a planned move to Maryland, the agency announced yesterday. The choice is sure to make Trump happy as he's been wanting to keep the FBI in the district, POLITICO's Aaron Pellish writes, even as it angers lawmakers from Maryland, where a now-scrapped plan had the agency set to move. In related news, get a load of this: 'FBI supervisor hired prostitutes while on assignment, watchdog says,' by WaPo's Derek Hawkins THE NEW DOJ: Former FBI agent Jared Wise, who was charged 'with encouraging the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to kill police officers,' is now an adviser for Ed Martin on Trump's 'Weaponization Working Group' at the Justice Department, NYT's Alan Feuer and Adam Goldman report. 'His selection meant that a man who had urged violence against police officers was now responsible for the department's official effort to exact revenge against those who had tried to hold the rioters accountable.' POLITICO's Ankush Khardori pens his latest Rule of Law column: ''I Believe His Account 100 Percent': Former Colleagues Vouch for DOJ Whistleblower' JUDICIARY SQUARE: A federal judge last night blocked the Trump administration's bid to strip the temporary protected status of 500,000 Haitian immigrants, POLITICO's Hassan Ali Kanu reports. … Pro-Palestinian Georgetown researcher Badar Khan Suri can remain free while he challenges his deportation order, an appeals court ruled yesterday per Reuters' Kanishka Singh. … A federal judge ruled mass layoffs at HHS were likely illegal and granted a preliminary injunction halting the firings, AP reports. T-MINUS ONE WEEK: Trump said he's sticking by his self-imposed July 9 deadline for trade deals with some of the biggest trading partners, even as he's calling out Japan for not taking in more rice exports, Bloomberg's Jennifer Dlouhy and Akayla Gardner write. 'I'm not sure we're going to make a deal. I doubt it with Japan, they're very tough,' Trump said while traveling on Air Force One yesterday. 'You have to understand, they're very spoiled.' ALL EYES ON THE TAR HEELS: Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), who chairs the NRCC, is opting out of a bid for the North Carolina Senate seat set to be vacated by Thom Tillis. RNC Chair Michael Whatley also has no (current) plans to run, and Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-N.C.) is throwing his support behind none other than Lara Trump, ABC's Brittany Shepherd and colleagues report. Also encouraging her to run is the president himself, telling reporters on Air Force One that his daughter-in-law 'would really be great.' IMMIGRATION FILES: Trump reassigned 150 National Guard troops to go back to fighting California's wildfires in the first rolling back of enforcement since the LA riots last month, NYT's Shawn Hubler and Laurel Rosenhall report. It comes a day after the DOJ announced a lawsuit against the city over its sanctuary policies, which Mayor Karen Bass blasted as an 'all-out assault on Los Angeles,' per the LA Times' David Zahniser and colleagues. Meanwhile, at 'Alligator Alcatraz': The rollout of the facility, preempted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, ruffled some feathers at DHS. 'DeSantis did a live tour of the facility Friday on 'Fox and Friends,' which caught the Trump administration off-guard,' NBC's Matt Dixon reports. 'Noem and top adviser Corey Lewandowski supported the facility but wanted the opening Tuesday to be the formal public rollout.' A GOP operative 'said Noem's staff asked DeSantis not to do the Fox News tour.' And Lewandowski reportedly 'lost his s---' when it went ahead. INSIDE THE OVAL: 'Fox News, MAGA hats and cookies: Inside Trump's West Wing,' by NBC's Peter Nicholas and colleagues: 'Trump affectionately refers to the Oval Office as 'Grand Central Terminal' because of all the comings and goings … Trump likes to see whom he wants and call whom he chooses, and in the new term, he presides over a freewheeling West Wing that mirrors the man, current and former aides say.' TALK OF THE TOWN Glenn Youngkin will be the guest speaker at the South Carolina Republican Party's Silver Elephant Gala this August, which is sure to increase 2028 chatter. Brent Efron, an EPA employee, went on what he thought was a bad date — until a video of him talking about throwing proverbial 'gold bars' ended up recorded on the conservative Project Veritas website. Since then, he has been 'publicly shamed by Elon Musk, obscenely berated by anonymous callers and hauled into an interview with the F.B.I.' SPOTTED: Kash Patel dining at Oyamel yesterday evening. IN MEMORIAM — 'Richard A. Boucher, Veteran State Department Spokesman, Dies at 73,' by NYT's Trip Gabriel: 'Mr. Boucher served longer than anyone else as a State Department spokesman, working for six secretaries of state, from George H.W. Bush's administration to George W. Bush's, explaining, distilling and defending the views of Republican and Democratic presidents in a noncombative tone … For nearly two decades after Mr. Boucher stepped away from the State Department podium, his guidelines for public affairs officers, 'Richard Boucher's Words of Wisdom,' remained posted in the office.' PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — 'D.C. is hiking Capital Bikeshare prices. Some will pay triple,' by WaPo's Rachel Weiner: 'Starting in August, it will cost for some people three times as much per minute to ride a regular Capital Bikeshare bike and more than twice as much for an electric bike. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Scott Jennings is launching a new daily radio show, 'The Scott Jennings Show,' with Salem Media Group. The show kicks off on July 14 and will air weekdays from 2-3 p.m. — Theo Wold is joining The Heritage Foundation as a visiting fellow for law and technology in the Center for Technology and the Human Person. He is a senior counselor at Palantir and previously was Idaho's solicitor general and U.S. assistant attorney general. TRANSITIONS — Sean Savett is now associate director of comms at the Open Society Foundations, leading comms for the U.S. and the Americas. He previously was spokesperson for the NSC in the Biden White House. … Molly Tuttle is now director of workforce development at the American Council of Engineering Companies. She previously was associate VP for strategic comms at AECOM. … Lisa Bercu is joining the National Consumers League as senior director of health policy. She previously was senior adviser to the deputy FDA commissioner for policy, legislation and international affairs. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Anna Epstein, a director at FGS Global, and Aaron Steeg, an associate at Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver, on June 17 welcomed Alice Madeline Steeg, who is named for two of her late grandmothers. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Mike Collins (R-Ga.), Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) and Randy Weber (R-Texas) … Billy Constangy … NBC's Tom Llamas … Jonathan Capehart … Eric Fanning of the Aerospace Industries Association … Collin Davenport … Brad Todd of On Message … Reed Howard … Scott McGee of Kelley Drye … Sam Nitz … Derek Gianino of Wells Fargo … Matthew Dybwad … Jenny Beth Martin of Tea Party Patriots … Courtney Geduldig … Snap's Gina Woodworth … Arkadi Gerney … former New Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu … Jessica DeLoach … former Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) … Luci Baines Johnson … POLITICO's Jessie Niewold, Natasha Bernard and Zainab Khan … Jeremy Garlington (57) … Abbey Rogers of DDC Public Affairs … Setota Hailemariam … Santiago Rivera of New Heights Communications … Brooke Oberwetter Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Zack Stanton, deputy editor Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
Politico
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Politico
Trump's new war
Presented by With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco On the Playbook Podcast this morning, Jack and POLITICO's Megan Messerly discuss why the Trump administration is so upset at suggestions its bombing of Iran might have failed. Plus: all the fallout from Zohran Mamdani's stunning Democratic primary win in New York. Good Thursday morning. This is Jack Blanchard, thrilled to see the D.C. heatwave is finally over. Today will be topping out at no more than … 95 degrees, per the Capital Weather Gang, so be sure to pack your sweater as you head out to work. THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR AS WE HEAD TOWARD THE WEEKEND: FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — What D.C. will be watching: Donald Trump will sit down with Fox News' Maria Bartiromo at the White House tomorrow to pre-record an interview for her 'Sunday Morning Futures' show. This is Trump's first TV interview since ordering airstrikes on — and then brokering a ceasefire deal with — Iran, a subject that will surely dominate the conversation along with the progress of the 'big, beautiful bill' through the Senate. The interview airs at 10 a.m. Sunday — though don't be surprised if Fox trails a few of the best lines in advance. What Stephen Miller will be watching: There's now just a week to go until the Supreme Court justices pack away their robes and head off to the Adirondacks or Alaska for a summer break — and we're still awaiting several huge decisions with far-reaching consequences for the nation. Top of the list is a ruling on Trump's effort to end birthright citizenship, which has morphed into a push by Miller & co. to prevent federal judges from issuing nationwide injunctions against the government. Might today be the day? The court opens today's session at 10 a.m. What Elon Musk won't be watching: The 'wedding of the century' in Venice, Italy, where occasional D.C.-dweller Jeff Bezos — apparently he still pops in to Kalorama once in a while — is marrying Lauren Sánchez. Only politicos with the wealthiest connections can expect an invite. So naturally, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have been there since Tuesday, and politics-adjacent billionaires like Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates just might sneak in, too. And yes, it turns out Trump himself bagged an invitation, per WSJ's Josh Dawsey and colleagues — but sadly 'scheduling conflicts' mean he's unlikely to attend. Che peccato, signor presidente. In today's Playbook … — Why Trump just can't stop talking about Iran. — Dems in turmoil over Mamdani victory. — Trump to host 'big, beautiful' White House event as he turns the screws on GOP. DRIVING THE DAY TRUMP GOES TO WAR: Trump will continue his aggressive PR blitz on Iran this morning as the president seeks to hammer home the message that his bombing raids were a success. Trump will send out Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and assorted 'military representatives' for an 8 a.m. news conference — neatly timed to catch the Fox News breakfast crowd — to again make the case that Iran's nuclear facilities have been utterly destroyed. And that's just the start: At 1 p.m. Trump's combative press secretary Karoline Leavitt will enter the fray with a televised White House press briefing, which you already know will be focused on Saturday's air strikes. (Also — don't be surprised if she gives representatives from CNN and The New York Times a hard time.) And then at 4 p.m. Trump himself will appear for a White House event specifically focused on the passage of his 'big, beautiful bill.' It surely won't take long for Iran to come up. Here's the thing: It's rare to see the president this rattled by a negative story about his administration. Obviously Trump goes after the media all the time, but it mostly feels performative these days — and maybe it always did. This is different. The president posted 21 times on Truth Social yesterday about the supposed success of his military strikes. And at yesterday's NATO summit — a moment specifically designed by the Western world for Trump to bask in the glory of a huge defense spending boost — he spent most of his public appearances repeating his assertions on Iran. What's going on? Critics see a president spooked by a bombshell leak that has undermined his authority. Supporters say Trump is genuinely outraged by what he claims is false reporting and wants the record corrected. Either way — he's using every tool in his arsenal to push back hard: Witness the hammer-like repetition that sites were 'obliterated'; the plentiful use of surrogates like Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio; the vindictive targeting of the journalists and media organizations involved; the barrage of statements from both U.S. and Israeli intelligence chiefs yesterday that the initial report was wrong. Playing the patriotism card: Today things will get even more heated when we're told that to even question whether Iran's mountainous defenses might have held up a little better than expected is an outrageous slur on America's armed forces. Hegseth's job this morning is to 'fight for the Dignity of our Great American Pilots,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'These Patriots were very upset! After 36 hours of dangerously flying through Enemy Territory, they landed, they knew the Success was LEGENDARY, and then, two days later, they started reading Fake News by CNN and The Failing New York Times.' And that's before we get to the leakers themselves … who are now facing an FBI investigation. The White House is already pointing the finger of blame at Congress, per Axios' Marc Caputo, and there will be retribution in that direction too. 'Administration sources say they're planning to limit posting on CAPNET, a system the administration uses to share classified information with Congress,' Caputo reports. 'Almost as soon as we put the information on CAPNET, it leaks,' an administration source tells him. 'There's no reason to do this again.' The truth is, as Playbook has been saying all week, that nobody knows for sure the full extent of the damage done at Fordo — and won't for some time yet. Indeed, Rubio admitted as much yesterday in his interview with my Playbook colleague Dasha Burns. 'That's difficult,' he said, when asked when he expects to get a reliable assessment. 'This is a unique target set … 300 feet into a mountain. I don't think we'll be sending anyone down the hole anytime soon into those mountains.' He then added: 'Suffice to say we are very confident.' What everyone ought to be talking about: Rather than spending the entire day debating what may or may not have happened beneath 300 feet of Iranian rock, it's worth paying a little more attention to the vibes coming out of NATO yesterday — where Trump was more fulsome in his support for the world's strongest military alliance than he has ever been. 'These people really love their countries,' Trump said of the other NATO leaders. 'It's not a rip-off, and we're here to help them.' This is a big deal: Trump's anti-NATO rhetoric has always been the main reason he so unnerves America's European allies, who have placed their entire national security in the hands of the U.S. military for the past 80 years. His stance dates back well before he ever became president, and he even considered pulling America out of the treaty during his first term. Now, in 2025, he's learned to love the alliance and all it took was an extra $1 trillion or so in defense spending, plus one obsequious text message from Secretary-General Mark Rutte. Maybe this diplomacy lark is easier than it looks. NEW YORK, NEW YORK THE HOT TAKES KEEP COMING: As your social media feed since Tuesday night undoubtedly proves, everyone in politics has a hot take on Zohran Mamdani. And as the dust settles after his stunning triumph over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in NYC's Democratic mayoral primary, it's already clear what Mamdani means for Republicans: They see his pending nomination as a political gift and are moving to make the 33-year-old Democratic Socialist an albatross they can tie to every possible Dem. But for Democrats, the Mamdani story is way more complicated. 'Progressives see a roadmap for Democrats to take back power, while moderates worry that New York City voters have just handed President Donald Trump a cudgel to beat them with during the 2026 midterm elections,' POLITICO's Elena Schneider and colleagues write this morning. 'And it has reenergized divides — progressive versus moderate, establishment versus outsider, young versus old — that continue to plague the party after last year's presidential election.' Simply put: 'For moderates and wealthy Democratic donors, the reaction is, this is horrible and it's going to ruin us. For center-left Democrats who don't necessarily support Mamdani's policies, the reaction is, this is a rejection of the Democratic establishment and Mamdani ran a great campaign against a sex offender,' said Tim Lim, a Democratic strategist and fundraiser. 'And for progressives, they believe this is what happens when you listen to voters.' The one thing everyone agrees on: Mamdani ran a great campaign. Advisers to potential 2028 Democratic candidates say Mamdani's campaign 'is a promising blueprint for several of the contenders who want to style themselves as the party's next generation,' Elena and colleagues write. 'Several operatives named Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) as one to watch.' But before everyone gets too carried away … The Democratic and New York establishments are stirring. Is there life in the old dog yet? Plenty of observers believe Mamdani's rise has given incumbent Mayor Eric Adams' struggling reelection bid a new lease on life 'as real estate and business honchos ponder ways' to block Mamdani in November, POLITICO's Joe Anuta reports this morning. Adams is expected to roll out his longshot independent campaign in a rally on the steps of City Hall later today. Follow the money: Top Democratic donors are also reluctant to support Mamdani and some are backing Adams instead, NYT's Dana Rubinstein and colleagues report. Their story reveals business groups and other big-money interests are quietly discussing ways to get a new independent candidate onto the ballot. Watch this space. That's enough Mamdani hot takes: Take a minute now to bow your head and mark the passing of another American political dynasty: the Cuomos of New York. As Alex Burns writes for POLITICO Magazine, the fall of another establishment behemoth is just part of a much broader trend. 'This is an age of angry populism and political disruption; breakneck social and technological change; and broad, deep frustration with the economic status quo,' he writes. 'Family names that voters once found comforting now seem to have other connotations — complacency, insularity, privilege, obsolescence.' More analysis: 'Zohran Mamdani Won Big. 8 Insiders Lay Out What That Means for the Democratic Party,' POLITICO Mag … '5 takeaways behind Mamdani's historic NYC win,' by POLITICO's Joe Anuta and Emily Ngo MEANWHILE ON THE HILL RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: Trump will turn the screws on warring GOP factions today ahead of this weekend's crucial vote on the megabill. Trump will host a 'big, beautiful event' in the White House at 4 p.m. where he will make the case for getting the bill signed into law ASAP, Axios' Alex Isenstadt reports. Trump will be joined in the East Room by 'everyday Americans' whom the administration says would benefit from the bill — including tipped workers, food delivery drivers and border patrol agents. The message to Congress is clear: the bill will be a GOP vote winner in 2026. But but but: Even with a looming deadline and hundreds of billions of dollars at play, key GOP senators still aren't on board to move forward with a vote. During a closed-door meeting with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, GOP lawmakers warned leadership they did not have the 50 votes needed to advance the bill to a floor debate. Our Inside Congress colleagues have much more on the troubles Thune is facing in getting his conference in line. Despite weeks of negotiations, Medicaid cuts and changes to the provider tax provisions remain key sticking points. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) warned his colleagues he would not move ahead on the bill 'without further clarity on Medicaid changes,' Jordain reports. And Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) tells Semafor's Burgess Everett that 'unless we get further clarity on the rural hospital issue and what we're doing there,' there will be no progress. Just do it: 'Some colleagues of the resistant Republicans think it's time to force' the vote despite the opposition, Everett reports. 'On legislation like this, the only way to know whether you got the votes to get on the bill is to take the vote. You're having a lot of people say, 'they can't vote for the bill, they can't vote for the bill,' that in my judgment, will vote for the bill,' says Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.). When and how they get there is a whole other story. Should the Senate even get that far, GOP leaders are working to hammer out a version of the bill that can pass the House without returning to the negotiating table, per NBC's Sahil Kapur: 'That means hashing out SALT, Medicaid and clean energy. Easier said than done.' BEST OF THE REST FED UP: Trump is weighing whether to expedite his announcement to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, whose term is up in 11 months, WSJ's Brian Schwartz and Nick Timiraos scoop. 'In recent weeks, the president has toyed with the idea of selecting and announcing Powell's replacement by September or October,' though the already rocky relationship could 'prompt an even-earlier announcement sometime this summer.' Several names have been floated as candidates, including Fed governor Kevin Warsh, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. HE'S RUNNING: After days of build-up, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker will formally announce he's seeking a third term in 2026 today at a rally on Chicago's South Side, POLITICO's Shia Kapos reports. But everyone agrees the Democratic governor is leaving the door open for a run for president in 2028. AND SHE … MIGHT BE: D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton told reporters that she is running for reelection yesterday — only for her office to again walk back her comment. 'No decision has been made. She wants to run but is still discussing it with people close to her,' a spokesperson told POLITICO's Nicholas Wu. This is the second time this month Norton's office has walked back her vow to run. FOR YOUR RADAR: The Wisconsin Supreme Court has rejected a challenge from Democrats hoping to overturn the battleground state's current congressional district boundaries before the 2026 midterms, AP's Scott Bauer reports from Madison. 'The decisions, made without explanation from the court, is a setback for Democrats who had hoped for new, friendlier district boundary lines in Wisconsin as they attempt to win back control of the House next year.' IMMIGRATION FILES: Kilmar Abrego Garcia will stay behind bars as lawyers spar over whether to deport him on new federal charges, per the AP. The Salvadoran national has remained incarcerated since his return to the U.S. on June 7. A federal judge ruled yesterday Abrego 'has a right to be released,' setting 'specific conditions … for him to live with his brother.' But Abrego's attorneys expressed concern that it would lead to 'immediate detention' and 'possible deportation' by ICE. A DECADE SINCE OBERGEFELL: POLITICO Mag's Dylon Jones is out with a moving profile of activist Jim Obergefell, 10 years after the Supreme Court case bearing his last name made gay marriage legal in all 50 states. Now, Obergefell has returned to Washington 'not to celebrate an historic anniversary of an historic decision, but to protest the institution that wrote his name into American law.' TALK OF THE TOWN Chuck Schumer went to the hospital for dehydration yesterday 'out of an abundance of caution' after getting lightheaded in the Senate gym. 'He wants to remind everyone to drink some water and stay out of the heat,' a Schumer spox said. OUT AND ABOUT — The National Energy Resources Organization celebrated its 50th anniversary with a reception last night, where Sen. Shelley Moore Capito ( was honored with NERO's Distinguished Service 2025 award and guests enjoyed a live band, pepperoni rolls, half smokes and moonshine cocktails. SPOTTED: Chris Tomassi, Donise Dukes, Kwame Canty, Bree Raum, Allison Hull, Carrie Domnitch, Brian Caudill, Kiran Malone, Nick Pearson, Lauren Allen, Montee Wynn, Marcie Haber, Jeff Leahey, Lindsay Westfield, Willie Lyles, Ryan Walker, Mike Sewell, Emily Duncan, Brittany Kelm, Laura Schepis, Billie Kaumaya and John Lee. — SPOTTED last night at La Vie for ROKK Solutions' 10-year anniversary celebration: Ron and Sara Bonjean, Rodell and Sheena Mollineau, Kristen Hawn and Ted Derheimer, Elizabeth Northrup, Ashley Carpenter, Jeff Grappone, Anna Palmer and Patrick Mellody, Collin Allen, Neil Grace, Lisa Hanna, Mark Leibovich, Carl Hulse, Jacquelyn Cameron, Debbie Marshall, Steve Clemons, Amber Lyons, David Montes, Missy Kirk, Sara Conrad, Shannon and Sheldon Bream, Kristy Croushore, Cole Rojewski, Doug Heye, Nick Massella, Jeff Berkowitz, Steve Rochlin and Alex Schriver. MEDIA MOVE — Caitlin Reilly will be a U.S. tax and fiscal policy reporter at Bloomberg. She previously has been a tax and economics reporter at CQ Roll Call. TRANSITIONS — Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall will be a nonresident senior fellow with the Center for American Progress' national security and international policy team. … Kate Kamber Brennan is joining Rational 360 as SVP of digital. She previously led stakeholder targeting programs for Edelman's global business marketing team. … Andrew Forman is now a partner at Latham & Watkins. He previously was deputy assistant AG in the Justice Department's antitrust division. … … Raymond Tolentino is now a partner with Cooley's commercial litigation practice. He previously was special assistant to the president and senior associate White House counsel under Biden. … Nicole Mason is now a senior counsel at Tully Rinckey. She previously was senior EEO adviser for Commerce's National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration research office. … Jeremy Eaton is now director of strategy for Techne. He previously was digital marketing strategist at Majority Strategies. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Liana Guerra, chief of staff to Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.), and Daniel Tillman, associate attorney at Vaughan, Fincher and Sotelo, recently welcomed Cali Alicia Guerra-Tillman. — Megan Zavertnik, managing member of MZ Advising, and Brian Zavertnik, director of contracts at Divergent, yesterday welcomed Stevie Zavertnik, who joins big siblings Isabel and Benjamin. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Florida first lady Casey DeSantis … WaPo's Juliet Eilperin … NYT's Mike Bender and Daniel Victor … Emma Kinery … OpenAI's Elizabeth Wilner … POLITICO's Jonathan Finkelstein, Paroma Soni and Jacob Wendler … NBC's Scott Bland … Brunswick Group's Dave Brown … Rachel Gantz … DLA Piper's Preeya Noronha Pinto … Mark Kadesh … Emily McBride of Sen. Tommy Tuberville's (R-Ala.) office … Mark Ritacco … Mayer Brown's Mickey Leibner … Matthew Fery … Newsmax's Emma Rechenberg … Julie Norton … former Sen. Chuck Robb (D-Va.) … Merit's Trevor Cornwell … former Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie … CAA's Mark McGrath … Ross Baker … Oubai Shahbandar Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Zack Stanton, deputy editor Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. Corrections: Yesterday's Playbook misspelled the names of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Andrew Desiderio.
