| | | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza, Rachael Bade, Tara Palmeri and Eugene Daniels | Presented by |  | | | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | HISTORIC BIDEN DECISION COMING: "Biden Preparing to Declare That Atrocities Against Armenia Were Genocide," NYT HAPPENING TODAY: WORLD'S MOST INTERESTING ZOOM MEETING — "The U.S. is back!" That's the message President JOE BIDEN will send today and Friday, per an administration official, as he hosts a virtual climate summit for 40 world leaders. (Note to PUTIN, XI, TRUDEAU and others: Don't forget to press unmute before you speak!) The event kicks off at 8 a.m. when Biden will make some news: The U.S. will commit to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030. That target is in line with expectations and also much more ambitious than what BARACK OBAMA proposed just five years ago. Getting there will require an enormous retooling of the American economy. And here's where the administration gets vague. Some Biden officials insist that the U.S. can reach that target even without Congress passing any legislation, including his massive climate-oriented infrastructure bill. As ZACK COLMAN and ERIC WOLFF note in their must-read curtain-raiser of the event, that seems unlikely: "Many experts doubt whether hitting the climate marks is feasible without enacting significant portions of that infrastructure and jobs plan. "'That is, I guess we could say, the $2 trillion question,' said DAN LASHOF, director of think tank the World Resources Institute. "Administration officials told reporters in a Wednesday briefing that they saw multiple pathways to achieving the climate goal outside of the infrastructure package as currently crafted. … "Environmental groups have produced reams of reports and analyses arguing that emissions cuts of 50 percent by 2030 are both necessary and achievable, but practically all of them call for congressional action to speed the adoption of clean energy. That could be in the form of legally mandated emissions targets, a clean energy standard that requires adoption of green energy, or direct spending to eliminate carbon pollution. "'I think it would be basically impossible to achieve the proposed [target] with executive authority alone, both in terms of investment and regulation,' said ALEX TREMBATH, deputy director at the Breakthrough Institute, a progressive think tank focused on environment and humanitarian problems." Good Thursday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done on a Zoom call? Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels , Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri. JOIN US — Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure and climate plan includes boosting investment in clean energy and significantly cutting fossil fuel emissions. Energy Secretary JENNIFER GRANHOLM will join TARA on Monday at 11 a.m. to discuss Granholm's plans to embrace renewable energy, electric vehicles and new wind and solar technologies as part of Biden's call for an energy transition. Register to watch live here | | A message from Climate Power: Let's build back with clean energy. Clean energy and jobs in your state, and in your community. This is our moment to build back better: to recover from COVID-19 and get millions of people back to work in new, clean energy union jobs. Our country needs builders, roofers, engineers, electricians, accountants, researchers and teachers to create a cleaner, safer, healthier, more just and prosperous America. | | | RAIMONDO TO GOP: EH — During an interview with RYAN and EUGENE on Wednesday, Commerce Secretary GINA RAIMONDO seemed unimpressed with the current outlines of the bipartisan plan for a skinny infrastructure bill. Asked about the legislative strategy floated by Sen. CHRIS COONS (D-Del.) to pass a 60-vote bipartisan bill of core infrastructure spending followed by a 50-vote reconciliation bill with everything else that Biden and Democrats want, the former Rhode Island governor said, "It's viable, but not ideal. As we sit here April 21st, it's not where we're thinking at the moment." She was similarly bearish on the counterproposal that is scheduled to be released by Republicans today: "If they come forward with whatever the number is, six, seven, 800 billion, well, then that's a starting point for further negotiation. So at that point, you take that and look to see where we might expand it and continue to find common ground. I think that's where we want to drive this over the next few weeks. As you say, in the end, the president feels very strongly the whole package needs to get through Congress. And if it has to be on partisan lines, then I suppose that that's the way it'll have to be." (We appreciated the forthright answer, but our favorite thing about Raimondo is the way she uses a great expression popular in New England: Lookit …) TO PUT IT MORE BLUNTLY: "Senate Democrats reject Republican infrastructure bid," by Burgess Everett and Marianne LeVine: "Sen. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-Conn.) called the proposal 'totally anemic' and an 'insult' to Biden's offer." INCOMING FROM THE LEFT: Biden has been adept at keeping his party together, but as he puts the finishing touches on the American Families Plan, which he will likely unveil next week in his joint address to Congress, there's a scramble among liberals to make sure he includes their priorities. A big disappointment to the left is that Biden will reportedly not make the recently passed expansion of the child tax credit permanent. Rep. NORMA TORRES (D-Calif.) took to the House floor Wednesday night to blast Biden over the issue: "Allowing the Child Tax Credit to expire in 2025 is a colossal misjudgment whose consequences we could live to regret. … Instead of making the most of our FDR and LBJ moment, we are in danger of inexplicably putting an expiration date on our own legacy. Did FDR put an expiration date on Social Security? Did Lyndon Johnson put an expiration date on Medicare? Why should we put an expiration date on the Social Security and Medicare of our own time?" | | | | A message from Climate Power:   We must meet this urgent moment and do what America does best — BUILD. | | | BIDEN'S THURSDAY — The president and VP KAMALA HARRIS will deliver remarks at 8 a.m., and Biden will participate in the first session of the Leaders Climate on Summit. He'll receive the President's Daily Brief at 10 a.m. and participate in the second session at 10:30 a.m. Biden and Harris will have lunch together at noon and receive a Covid-19 briefing at 3:45 p.m. Harris will also lead a Northern Triangle roundtable of foundation leaders at 10 a.m. — Press secretary JEN PSAKI will brief at 1:30 p.m. with JOHN KERRY, special presidential envoy for climate, and GINA MCCARTHY, national climate adviser. THE HOUSE will meet at 9 a.m. to take up the D.C. statehood, with votes expected between 10:45 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. GRETA THUNBERG will testify before an Oversight subcommittee at 10 a.m. Speaker NANCY PELOSI will hold her weekly presser at 10:45 a.m. House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY will hold his at 11:30 a.m. THE SENATE is in session. | | | | LAUNCHING THIS WEEK - A NEW PLAYBOOK PODCAST : Washington is full of whispers, colorful characters and hard to believe stories that are all too real. Playbook Deep Dive is a new, weekly podcast that pulls back the curtain on the political theater and dives deep into the most compelling, confounding and often shocking stories from the nation's capital. Featuring the Playbook authors, reporters from across POLITICO's newsroom, and larger than life personalities with stories that you need to hear for yourself to believe. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | 
PHOTO OF THE DAY: Capitol Police officers participate in a ceremony honoring late Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), who died on April 6, in Statuary Hall at the Capitol on Wednesday, April 21. | Stefani Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images | THE WHITE HOUSE EVEN REPUBLICANS GIVE BIDEN GRIEF OVER REFUGEE CAP, via White House reporter and immigration expert Anita Kumar: The president faced an onslaught of criticism from his own allies last week after announcing plans to keep DONALD TRUMP'S historically low cap on refugees. But Democrats aren't the only ones complaining. Even some conservatives want Biden to make good on his pledge to admit a larger number of refugees. In a letter, the Council on National Security and Immigration — mostly composed of former officials from the Trump and GEORGE W. BUSH administrations — is urging Biden to raise the refugee cap to 62,500 for the remainder of the fiscal year and to be "more transparent and forthcoming" with information about the program. "While we appreciate that your administration is struggling with addressing the current situation at the southern border, we urge you to move swiftly to admit pre-approved refugees because they are not a security threat," they write in the letter obtained by POLITICO. The administration had pledged to raise the cap to 62,500 refugees this year (and to 125,000 the next fiscal year). But on Friday, the White House announced it would leave the ceiling at 15,000. After a swift backlash, it promised to announce a final, higher number by May 15. CONGRESS THE EARMARK BAN THAT ISN'T — Senate Republicans decided Wednesday evening to continue their ban on earmarks after a swath of their conference — including 2024 hopefuls TED CRUZ (Texas), TOM COTTON (Ark.) and JOSH HAWLEY (Mo.) — called the practice wasteful and corrupt. But here's the thing: The whole debate was pretty much for show because GOP senators can take earmarks with or without the ban, we're told. And that's precisely what some of them intend to do. Top Senate GOP appropriator RICHARD SHELBY (Ala.) pointed out at a private GOP lunch Wednesday that while conference rules may prohibit earmarks, Senate rules do not. "You can't stop me," he told fellow GOP senators, according to a person familiar with his argument. Sen. SUSAN COLLINS emerged from the meeting and told reporters she intends to try to secure earmarks to deliver projects for Maine. A fun little side drama to all of this : Sen. LINDSEY GRAHAM (S.C.), a fan of earmarks, had been telling appropriators that his pal Trump was about to weigh in with a letter endorsing the controversial practice — giving cover to Republicans worried about blowback. But some Republicans snickered at Graham's assurance, wondering whether Trump even knew what an earmark was. More likely, they speculated Graham was trying to make it seem like Trump supported earmarks. Whatever the case, the promised letter from Trump never materialized. Trump's No. 2, however, did pipe up. Just before the Republican Conference meeting, MIKE PENCE'S new organization, dubbed "Advancing American Freedom," tweeted that allowing earmarks would "just make it easier to enact the Biden-Harris-Pelosi-Schumer agenda." More from Caitlin Emma and Burgess Everett: "Senate GOP preserves earmark ban, adds strict debt ceiling posture" As for the GOP debt ceiling move, WaPo notes it's "raising the specter of a political showdown between GOP leaders and the White House this summer. … Congress previously agreed to suspend the limit through July 2021, at which point the Treasury Department has only a few months of 'extraordinary measures' it can take before lawmakers must either raise the amount — or face the unprecedented consequences of default." THE STATE OF D.C. STATEHOOD IS BLEAK — "Democrats' ambitions narrow as political reality sets in," by Burgess Everett and Sarah Ferris: "Sen. ANGUS KING is still undecided on whether to support D.C. statehood … King is one of five Democratic caucus members who have yet to support the statehood bill, souring what should be a milestone week for the movement to empower the capital city. … "But the statehood proposal, like other central elements of the Democratic agenda, may not make it to the Senate floor this year given its lack of unified support from Biden's party. With infrastructure and voting rights bills proving difficult enough to get to the president's desk, Democrats are putting long-held progressive priorities like a 51st state, Supreme Court expansion and a $15 minimum wage on the proverbial back burner while they focus on what's actually achievable." BUT, BUT, BUT … HERE COMES JOE! — "Senate Democrats Bring In Joe Lieberman As Ringer On D.C. Statehood," Forbes: "Sen. TOM CARPER (D-Del.), a close ally of President Joe Biden who is spearheading the statehood bill in the Senate, told Forbes [JOE] LIEBERMAN will reach out to undecided Democrats and Republicans to persuade them to vote for the bill. Carper also said he has asked Sen. GARY PETERS (D-Mich.) to hold a hearing on statehood … "Lieberman, in a statement to Forbes, confirmed that Carper asked him earlier on Wednesday to persuade senators and testify on behalf of statehood, and that he said he 'would be glad to.'" WHATEVER FLOATS YOUR BOAT: D.C. statehood advocates plan on protesting today at Sen. JOE MANCHIN'S (D-W.Va.) houseboat. (Yes, he lives on a boat docked in the harbor when he's in Washington.) | | | | A message from Climate Power:   Climate action means jobs. Period. | | | PANDEMIC A WORRISOME TREND LINE — "U.S. sees unprecedented drop in vaccinations over past week," WaPo: "About 3 million Americans are getting vaccinated daily, an 11 percent decrease in the seven-day average of daily shots administered over the past week. The unprecedented drop is rivaled only by a brief falloff that occurred in February, when winter storms forced the closure of vaccination sites and delayed shipments nationwide." — AND THE RESPONSE: "Biden world fears many vaccine skeptics may be unreachable. They're trying anyway," by Eugene Daniels: "In recent days, officials have leveraged community groups, attempted to lower financial hurdles and utilized top health care officials all in the service of one objective: convincing reluctant folks to get the jab. … [T]hough the administration is deploying an incredible amount of federal resources to solve the hesitancy problem, top health officials concede it may not work." AMERICA AND THE WORLD PULLOUT FALLOUT — "'I stay up nights': Afghans working for U.S. worry about their future after Biden withdrawal announcement," CNN: "There are about 18,000 people who have applied for special immigrant visas to the US who are still awaiting approval, according to a State Department official. But how quickly they can move through the red tape built into the program is unclear … For many, that time could be a matter of life and death. … "On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of 16 House lawmakers, including several who have served in the US military and at the State Department, sent a letter to the President urging the administration to commit to the Afghan people who assisted the United States on the ground." WOW — "Pentagon investigated suspected Russian directed-energy attacks on U.S. troops," by Betsy Woodruff Swan, Andrew Desiderio, Lara Seligman and Erin Banco: "The Pentagon has briefed top lawmakers on intelligence surrounding suspected directed-energy attacks against U.S. troops, and officials identified Russia as a likely culprit, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The Defense Department had been investigating the incidents, including those targeting its personnel around the world, since last year, according to four former national security officials directly involved in the probe. "Pentagon officials informed at least two key groups of lawmakers earlier this year, in written form and in-person, about the investigation. … The briefings included information about injuries sustained by U.S. troops in Syria, the people said. The investigation includes one incident in Syria in the fall of 2020 in which several troops developed flu-like symptoms, two people familiar with the Pentagon probe said. A Pentagon spokesperson, however, said the department is not aware of directed-energy attacks against U.S. troops in Syria." MEDIAWATCH NEW JACK SHAFER COLUMN: "Will a Boycott Knock Tucker Off the Air? Don't Count on It." The Scripps Howard Awards announced their 2020 winners, including the NYT on Trump's taxes, NPR on Voice of America under Trump, CBS' Norah O'Donnell on military sexual assault, the Star Tribune on George Floyd, the NYT's police misconduct visual investigations, WaPo's Stephanie McCrummen for Georgia features, WaPo's Covid-19 visual explainer, PBS' "Frontline" on Covid among farmworkers and more. The full list TRUMP CARDS SEEKING ADVICE — "Andrew Giuliani to meet with Trump as he preps NY gubernatorial bid," CNN: " ANDREW GIULIANI, the son of former New York City Mayor RUDY GIULIANI and a former public liaison official inside the Trump White House, will meet with the former President at Mar-a-Lago next week as he finalizes his plans to launch a campaign for New York governor. … Trump's endorsement in the GOP primary, which already includes his longtime friend Rep. LEE ZELDIN, could be key in what is expected to be a crowded field of candidates vying to become the first Republican to occupy the governor's mansion since 2006." | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" TO JOIN AN IMPORTANT CONVERSATION : Power dynamics are changing in Washington and across the country. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that all politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. Our twice-weekly newsletter "The Recast" breaks down how race and identity shape politics and policy in America, and we are recasting how we report on it. Get fresh insights, scoops and dispatches on this crucial intersection from across the country and hear critical new voices that challenge business as usual. Don't miss out, SUBSCRIBE . Thank you to our sponsor, Intel. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | MAY DAY FOR GAETZ — It's been (relatively) quiet on the MATT GAETZ front lately … but one date that's certain to generate big news is May 15. That's when the judge in the case of Gaetz associate JOEL GREENBERG said he will set a trial if Greenberg's defense team and prosecutors can't work out a plea deal. Palm Beach County State Attorney DAVE ARONBERG, who is not working on the case but offers his analysis from Florida, told Playbook that we'll know then whether prosecutors think they have enough evidence to also charge Gaetz. "The only way federal prosecutors will reach that agreement is if Greenberg produces more than his testimony," Aronberg said. "Federal prosecutors are not going to rely on a walking criminal enterprise as their star witness unless there is backup, and if Greenberg doesn't have the goods on Gaetz, then he's not getting a cooperation agreement and it would make it less likely that Gaetz will be charged at all." TWITTER EXCHANGE OF THE DAY — @burgessev: "Rep. Steve Cohen just pulled over in a busted old Cadillac to holler at Sen. Joe Manchin." … Sen. @ChrisMurphyCT: "One of the few near-death experiences in my life was sitting in the back seat of that Cadillac as Cohen weaved through traffic to try to get us back to the House from a White House meeting in time to make a vote." CLYBURN FACES POSSIBLE $5K FINE FOR EVADING METAL DETECTORS — Rep. JIM CLYBURN (D-S.C.) is in hot water for circumventing the new metal detectors used to guard the House chamber. The whip entered the chamber the way he was supposed to, but then stepped out to use the bathroom, bypassing the tall rectangular frames on his way back in. Clyburn's office is denying that he did anything wrong, suggesting that because he was in the chamber 10 minutes earlier, he didn't break the rules. But at least one other Republican has paid a $5,000 fine for stepping out to use the bathroom and then re-entering without proper screening. If Clyburn is let off the hook it will cause major consternation with House Republicans. More from Rachael and Huddle author Olivia Beavers SPOTTED: Former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson having dinner with friends Wednesday night at Blue Duck Tavern during his first trip back to Washington since the pandemic started. STAFFING UP — The White House announced three new forthcoming national security nominations: Stacey Dixon for principal deputy DNI, Ely Ratner for assistant secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs and Rena Bitter for assistant secretary of State for consular affairs. — "Biden Looks to Progressive for Key Human Rights Post," Foreign Policy: "[It] would elevate a prominent critic of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and other autocratic governments that have close military relationships with the United States. Sarah Margon is a leading contender to be Biden's assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor." FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Carol Browner is joining waste metering company Compology as its top sustainability adviser. She remains senior counselor in the sustainability practice at Albright Stonebridge Group. Browner worked in the Obama White House and was EPA administrator in the Clinton administration. MEDIAWATCH — Andrew Boryga will be a justice reporter at The Daily Beast, based in Miami. He most recently was a staff writer at the South Florida Sun Sentinel. TRANSITIONS — Evan Giesemann is now tax and labor policy adviser for Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.). He previously was tax and economic policy adviser for Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.). … Donte Tanner and Barry Klein are launching Kinetic Campaigns, a new progressive direct mail firm. Tanner ran for Virginia state delegate in 2017 and has been advising veteran and first-time candidates since. Klein was previously an SVP at BerlinRosen and a senior adviser to Beto O'Rourke. Carolina Cabanillas is creative director. ENGAGED — Dylan Enright, VP of growth at The Org and chair of Income Movement and a Yang 2020 campaign alum, on Saturday proposed to Newsha Ghaeli, president and cofounder at wastewater epidemiology pioneer Biobot Analytics. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Don Graham … Reps. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) and Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) … the White House's Allie Peck … Joe Pounder of America Rising and Bullpen Strategy Group … POLITICO's Elana Schor, Tina Nguyen and Gaurav Agrawal … WaPo's Sari Horwitz and Eugene Scott … NYT's Helene Cooper and Elisabeth Goodridge … CNN's Arlette Saenz … James Kvaal … E&E News' Rob Hotakainen and Jamie Adams … Dahlia Lithwick … NBC's Matt Korade … Andrew Taverrite … FAA's Christopher Jennison ... Sarah Hunt of the Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy … Jared Wood of Rep. Bill Huizenga's (R-Mich.) office … Patrick Rucker … Wade Henderson … Ted Ellis of Americans for Prosperity … Arielle Brown of the American Cleaning Institute … Stars and Stripes' Bob Reid … Glenn Simpson … Krista Jenusaitis Zuzenak … McKinsey's Elizabeth Anderson Ledet and Allie Medack … Allegra Kirkland ... Allison Ehrich Bernstein ... Seth Samuels ... Brian Forde … Anastasia Dellaccio ... SKDKnickerbocker's Josh Dorner ... Nicole Bamber ... Evan Quinnell ... Mark Braden ... Adele M. Stan ... Walter Fields ... Andrea LaRue ... Chung Seto … Julie Whiston Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Mike Zapler and producers Allie Bice, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross. | | A message from Climate Power: This is what clean energy jobs in our communities looks like:
70 MILLION electric vehicles to get on the road by 2030.
500,000 EV charging stations along existing and new highways.
4 MILLION buildings to be upgraded.
2 MILLION homes to be weatherized.
MILLIONS of solar panels and tens of thousands of wind turbines to build and install.
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