| | | | | |  | | By Rachael Bade, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri and Eugene Daniels | Presented by |  | | | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | IS TUCKER CARLSON LOSING HIS MIND?: OK, some of you will argue that he lost it long ago. But as careful students of his evening show, we've noticed that Carlson has gradually become more unhinged in recent weeks. He's devoted enormous attention to apologias for the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. He seemed noticeably perturbed the night that DEREK CHAUVIN was found guilty. And under the banner of just asking questions! he has given quarter to anti-vaxxers and Covid-19 conspiracists. But on Monday night, during a rant where it was hard to tell whether Carlson was serious or not — his Trump-like way of distancing himself from the content of his monologues is to always keep you guessing as to whether he's just putting you on — Carlson made a comment that was beyond the pale even for him, and especially strange for a self-styled anti-nanny state libertarian. "Your response when you see children wearing masks as they play should be no different from your response to seeing someone beat a kid at Walmart," he said. "Call the police immediately, contact child protective services. Keep calling until someone arrives." We hate wearing masks in uncrowded outdoor spaces as much as anyone, and hopefully the CDC will update its guidance on that today. But seeing parents abide by the current CDC advice that kids over the age of 2 "wear a mask correctly when in public and when around people they don't live with" is not a good reason to sic child protective services on strangers at your local big box store. And we're pretty sure Carlson knows that, even if some of his viewers might not, which makes his appeal to snitch on mask wearers even worse. Watch the full clip here WHO'S GOING TO THE BIDEN SPEECH — We're starting to get a glimpse of the lucky 200 people who scored a ticket to President JOE BIDEN'S big speech Wednesday — and the remainder who got jilted. Typically, these types of affairs draw as many as 1,600 people into the House chamber: the 535 members of Congress plus guests and other members of the executive and judicial branches. But due to Covid restrictions, Speaker NANCY PELOSI only invited a fraction of that number. Pelosi's office has given Democrats and Republicans in each body an equal number of tickets. Sen. JOHN THUNE (R-S.D.) told the Hill pool Monday night that the split is 40-40 in the House and 30-30 in the Senate, though Pelosi's office wouldn't confirm those numbers. Pelosi is leaving it to each leader to decide how to dole out the tickets. That means KEVIN MCCARTHY, CHUCK SCHUMER and MITCH MCCONNELL will all have to play favorites among their members (though it's not exactly a hot ticket for GOP lawmakers). As for Pelosi, two sources familiar with her plans said the speaker is giving preference to the near 20 members of her leadership team. The 22 standing chairs and the leaders of the multiple caucuses will also get first dibs if they want to go. SCOTUS and Cabinet attendance will also be restricted. For the nine high court justices, Chief Justice JOHN ROBERTS will likely attend, we're told. Army Gen. MARK MILLEY will be there on behalf of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And Secretary of Defense LLOYD AUSTIN and Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN will represent Biden's Cabinet. AND WHO IS NOT: A lot of Republicans, we hear, aren't really interested in going — though several dozen will attend. So even though they have fewer seats than normal, some are willingly giving them up. Minority Whip STEVE SCALISE (R-La.) said he was giving his tickets to a freshman lawmaker eager to go in his stead. Sen. JOHN CORNYN (R-Texas), who said he plans to watch from his own couch at home, questioned why Pelosi is restricting vaccinated members of Congress, anyway. "I just think this has gotten to be arbitrary and a little bit silly," he said. (In fairness, the recommendation came from the House physician.) | | A message from American Edge Project: Technology is vital to America's small businesses.
Policymakers must work to promote policies that protect America's technological edge to ensure our entrepreneurs can lead U.S. economic recovery and growth, and lead the world in innovation.
Read more from Karen Kerrigan, president and CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. | | | Good Tuesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. We won't call the cops on you if you want to wear a mask. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri. GOP HUNTING FOR 'WELL-CONNECTED' HUNTER — A group of 22 GOP House members demanded that Biden's nominee for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigate whether HUNTER BIDEN lied on a background check about his drug use to buy a gun, citing our report from last month. In a letter, the lawmakers, led by Rep. BOB GOOD (R-Va.), pressed Biden's nominee, DAVID CHIPMAN, not to treat Hunter differently just because he's the president's son. "Allegations of this crime are no less serious when leveled at Hunter Biden," he wrote. "The American public deserves to know that this same commitment will not be curbed depending on whether the offender is well-connected." RED, FRESH & BLUE — In the second installment of our series, EUGENE sat down with Democratic Rep. NIKEMA WILLIAMS, the first woman to represent Georgia's 5th and the successor to civil rights icon and her mentor, JOHN LEWIS. Sitting on Black Lives Matter Plaza, where Lewis made his final public appearance, she talked about the surprising election results in the Peach State, voting rights legislation and what was going through her head during the Jan. 6 riot. | 
| "Seeing the Confederate flag paraded through the Capitol on the day that election results were coming in for the first Black man representing Georgia in the United States Senate," Williams said. "That flag [was] just this stark reminder as a Black woman growing up in the South of like what I've always known this country to be and the work that I still have to do." | | | | A message from American Edge Project:   Read more from Karen Kerrigan , president and CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. | | | BIDEN'S TUESDAY — The president will receive the President's Daily Brief at 9:30 a.m. Biden will deliver remarks on the Covid-19 response at 1:15 p.m. on the North Lawn. — VP KAMALA HARRIS will participate in a virtual roundtable with representatives from Guatemalan community-based organizations at 4 p.m. The White House also announced that Harris will travel to Cincinnati this Friday. — The White House Covid-19 response team and public health officials will brief at 12:30 p.m. Press secretary JEN PSAKI will brief at 1:45 p.m. THE SENATE will meet at 10 a.m. It will take up the nominations of JASON SCOTT MILLER for deputy OMB director for management and JANET MCCABE for deputy EPA administrator, which could come to votes at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., respectively. Wyoming Gov. MARK GORDON will testify before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee at 10 a.m. ZALMAY KHALILZAD, special U.S. representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, will testify before the Foreign Relations Committee at 2:30 p.m. THE HOUSE is out. | | | | JOIN AN IMPORTANT CONVERSATION, SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST": Power is shifting 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. "The Recast" is a twice-weekly newsletter that explores the changing power dynamics in Washington and breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics and policy across America. 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. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | 
PHOTO OF THE DAY: VP Kamala Harris has a virtual bilateral Monday with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei to discuss migration and other issues. | Alex Wong/Getty Images | CONGRESS MUST-READ MCCARTHY, CHENEY INTERVIEWS — "McCarthy-Cheney divide deepens at GOP retreat," by Melanie Zanona in Orlando: "At a retreat meant to craft a cohesive message for the party, McCarthy (R-Calif.) and GOP Conference Chair LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.) illustrated the exact rift the GOP has fought to avoid. While the ex-president wasn't even invited to the House GOP's annual policy retreat here in the Sunshine State, his presence has loomed large over the three-day gathering. "McCarthy, when asked whether it's difficult to have harmony in his ranks when Cheney has been so vocal with her viewpoints on [DONALD] TRUMP, offered up some thinly veiled criticism. 'There's a responsibility, if you're gonna be in leadership, leaders eat last,' McCarthy told POLITICO in a wide-ranging interview on Monday. 'And when leaders try to go out, and not work as one team, it creates difficulties.' The California Republican also said he's privately approached Cheney about toning down some of her remarks. When asked whether Cheney has heeded the advice, McCarthy responded: 'You be the judge.' … "'If we minimize what happened on Jan. 6th and if we appease it, then we will be in a situation where every election cycle, you could potentially have another constitutional crisis,' Cheney said later in an interview with POLITICO. 'If you get into a situation where we don't guarantee a peaceful transfer of power, we won't have learned the lessons of Jan. 6.' 'And you can't bury our head in the sand,' she added. 'It matters hugely to the survival of the country.'" REAPPORTIONMENT WINNERS AND LOSERS — Big political news Monday when we learned how the 435 House seats will be divvied up among the states for the next decade — aka post-census reapportionment. A few big takeaways … 1) It's a boon for the GOP. As WaPo's Michael Scherer writes in a clarifying piece from 30,000 feet: "Texas, Florida and North Carolina, three states that voted twice for President Donald Trump, are set to gain a combined four additional seats in Congress in 2023 because of population growth, granting them collectively as many new votes in the electoral college for the next presidential election as Democratic-leaning Hawaii has in total." "At the same time, four northern states with Democratic governors that President Biden won in 2020 — Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York — will each lose a single congressional seat. Ohio, a nearby Republican-leaning state, will also lose a seat in Congress." Translation: More power for the Sun Belt, less for the Rust Belt. 2) Gerrymandering could extend that advantage. As our Ally Mutnick writes , House Democrats have a five-seat advantage in the House right now, but the GOP could easily flip at least that many — and potentially several more — by drawing new, more favorable maps. Kelly Ward Burton, the president of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, told Ally that "we think to the tune of as many as 12 seats that they can try to get out of those states unfairly." DAVE WASSERMAN, the House elections wiz at Cook Political Report, pegged the advantage for House Republicans at three-and-a-half seats after redistricting alone. He also tweeted out the breakdown of seats controlled by which party (or bipartisan commission). Our POLITICO teams across the country have good roundups from the state level: " Florida braces for legal fights after picking up just 1 congressional seat" … "For the lack of 89 people, New York will lose 1 House seat" … "California will lose a House seat for the first time, and the scramble is on" Ally also looks at the member vs. member dogfights in store: "Redistricting kicks off ruthless year of House infighting" K STREET FILES — "The new hot job on K Street: Reconciliation specialist," by Theo Meyer: "The increasing likelihood that Democrats will move an infrastructure bill using reconciliation — which lets the Senate pass legislation with only 50 votes as long it complies with a byzantine set of rules — has made [ELIZABETH] MACDONOUGH, the Senate parliamentarian, one of the most powerful people in Washington. It's also changed the influence industry, fueling a sudden demand for lobbyists who specialize in reconciliation. ... "As it's become clearer that reconciliation bills are the chief vehicle for moving anything through Congress, lobbyists have studied up on the finer points of procedure. They've sent memos to clients advising them on how to use reconciliation to their advantage. … Lobbyists expect Biden's forthcoming infrastructure package — which will likely be passed via reconciliation — to be much more heavily lobbied than his Covid-19 relief package." THE WHITE HOUSE BREAKING — $15 FOR FED CONTRACTORS, via Laura Barrón-López: Biden is following through with an executive order directing all government agencies to mandate federal contractors pay their employees $15 an hour. The $15 minimum wage will be implemented in new contracts by March 2022 and into existing contracts when those are extended with the government. The order also requires agencies to index the minimum wage to inflation after 2022 and eliminates the tipped minimum wage for federal contractors by 2024. Biden had directed a review for such an order in January, and senior administration officials told reporters Monday that they would have more to say on paid leave for contractors soon. The White House didn't have an exact number for the amount of workers affected but said it expected hundreds of thousands to benefit. Officials argued that the EO would reduce turnover and not limit employment. The EO comes as lawmakers on the Hill are struggling to find a path forward to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 or higher than the current $7.25 an hour, which hasn't changed in more than 10 years. A BRIEF RECAP — "Fresh off election falsehoods, Republicans serve up a whopper about Biden," WaPo: "By the time Biden's aides gathered for their morning meeting on Monday, the juicy whopper of a mistruth making its way around the conservative ecosphere — that Biden's climate plan would significantly limit America's hamburger consumption — had officially entered mainstream public discourse. "To White House aides, the wholly fictional Biden-will-ban-hamburgers storyline was in part an amusing flare-up perpetuated by Republicans who have struggled to find ways to successfully attack the president. They joked privately that White House press secretary Jen Psaki should start her daily press briefing by eating a burger. "But the not-quite-red-meat attack also offers a case study in how a falsehood can rapidly metastasize among Republicans … [T]he episode underscores how the shadow of Donald Trump's presidency — rife with misinformation and mistruths and lies — still lingers, providing Republicans with a mendacious road map for demonizing a political rival." | | | | A message from American Edge Project:   Read more from Karen Kerrigan , president and CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. | | | AMERICA AND THE WORLD A SEMI-UNITED FRONT — "GOP tears into Kerry amid Iran controversy," by Andrew Desiderio and Kyle Cheney: "Republicans on Monday called on JOHN KERRY to resign from Biden's National Security Council over claims that he revealed sensitive information about Israeli military operations to Iran. According to leaked audio revealed Sunday by The New York Times, Iranian Foreign Minister JAVAD ZARIF said Kerry told him that Israel attacked Iranian assets in Syria 'at least 200 times.' Zarif added that he was surprised that Kerry would reveal that sensitive information to him. … "Sen. DAN SULLIVAN (R-Alaska) … tore into Kerry in an earlier speech on the Senate floor, knocking him for 'arrogantly killing American jobs … in the name of climate goals,' and saying it was his first time calling for a resignation. Other GOP lawmakers quickly followed suit." The original NYT report HOW THE WORLD NOW VIEWS AMERICA — As the Biden administration approaches the end of its first 100 days, Morning Consult is up with a look at how citizens in 14 countries view the United States since the new president took office. Overall, favorable views of the U.S. have increased by an average of 9 percentage points since Biden was inaugurated. The country with the biggest uptick in its perception of America was Germany, with a 22-point increase. The lone country to see a significant drop was China, where 3 in 4 adults hold unfavorable views of the U.S. The countries included in the survey were Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Spain and the U.K. The full results A MEETING IN SIGHT — "White House hammering out details of increasingly likely Biden and Putin summit," CNN: "The planning comes as the Biden administration is preparing to send Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Ukraine next month, according to a Ukrainian government source close to the ongoing negotiations. "The visit could ease the European country's anxiety over a potential meeting between Biden and [Russian President VLADIMIR] PUTIN this summer on the heels of the US President's meetings with Group of 7 and NATO allies." SPY TRANSPARENCY? — "Spy chiefs look to declassify intel after rare plea from 4-star commanders," by Betsy Woodruff Swan and Bryan Bender: "America's top spies say they are looking for ways to declassify and release more intelligence about adversaries' bad behavior, after a group of four-star military commanders sent a rare and urgent plea asking for help in the information war against Russia and China. "Only by 'waging the truth in the public domain against America's 21st century challengers' can Washington shore up support from American allies, they said. But efforts to compete in the battle of ideas, they added, are hamstrung by overly stringent secrecy practices." TRUMP CARDS BOOK ENDS — "Simon & Schuster Employees Submit Petition Demanding No Deals With Trump Administration Authors," WSJ: "An employee petition at Simon & Schuster demanding that the company stop publishing authors associated with the Trump administration collected 216 internal signatures and several thousand outside supporters, including well-known Black writers. "The employees submitted the petition Monday to senior executives at the publishing house, according to the company and a person involved in the employee effort. The petition demands that the company refrain from publishing a memoir by former Vice President MIKE PENCE. The letter asks Simon & Schuster not to treat 'the Trump administration as a "normal" chapter in American history.'" THE RELUCTANT SALESMAN — "Trump's close advisers urge him to make PSA to persuade his followers to get the Covid-19 vaccine," CNN: "With polls showing that about half of Republicans are unenthusiastic about getting a Covid-19 vaccine, some of former President Donald Trump's advisers are encouraging him to make a public service announcement encouraging his followers to roll up their sleeves, according to two former senior Trump administration officials. The officials emphasized that vaccine hesitancy among Republicans could threaten herd immunity and Trump's followers will listen to him -- and pretty much only him." | | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: The Biden administration is approaching 100 days in office. What tactics and strategies are being debated in West Wing offices? What's really being talked about behind the scenes in negotiations with Congress on the infrastructure plan? Add Transition Playbook to your daily reads for details you won't find anywhere else that reveal what's really happening inside the West Wing and across the executive branch. Track the people, policies and power centers of the Biden administration. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | NORTH CAROLINA PILE-UP — Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) was at Mar-a-Lago last weekend for a fundraiser, and we're told he chatted up Trump about his interest in running for Senate in his home state of North Carolina. One potential hitch: Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, is also weighing a bid in what's shaping up to be a crowded GOP primary. Former Gov. Pat McCrory and former Rep. Mark Walker have already announced their candidacies. Budd adviser Jonathan Felts told James Arkin that Trump and the congressman "had a positive conversation" and that "Ted will factor their discussion into his thinking as he makes a final decision about a Senate bid in the coming days." FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Random House is about to announce that House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) will be publishing a book about his work leading the first impeachment of Trump. The deal, struck by Keith Urbahn and Matt Latimer of Javelin, includes an Oct. 26 publishing date and a tentative title: "Midnight in Washington: How we almost lost our democracy and still could." In the book, Schiff, who already tops the GOP's list of favorite punching bags, intends to blame the Republican Party for Trump's transgressions, according to a release shared with Playbook. "For all his cynicism and shrewdness, Trump could not have come so close to succeeding if his party had stood up to him, if good people hadn't been silent, or worse, allowed themselves to become complicit," Schiff says in the release. "I wanted to relate the private struggles, the triumphs of courage, but more often, the slow surrender of people I worked with and admired to the shameful immorality of a president who could not be trusted." FIRST IN PLAYBOOK … — TRUMP ALUMNI: Rachael Slobodien and Kaelan Dorr have joined the America First Policy Institute as chief comms officer and VP for comms and director of the Center for Media Accountability. Slobodien most recently was chief of staff at the Council of Economic Advisers. Dorr most recently was chief marketing officer for the Trump campaign and is a Treasury and Trump White House alum. — TRUMP ALUMNI: Ryan Tully is now a professional staff member at the House Armed Services Committee, where he heads up the strategic forces portfolio for the GOP minority. He most recently was deputy assistant to the president and senior director for European and Russian affairs at the NSC. — Luke Ball is now comms director for Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas). He recently resigned as comms director for Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). TRANSITIONS — Mayra Macías will be chief strategy officer at Building Back Together, the pro-Biden outside nonprofit group. She most recently has been executive director of Latino Victory Fund. … Tamara Fucile will be executive director for the Joint Economic Committee. She previously was senior counselor at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and is an Obama White House alum. … Brian Phillips Jr. is now press secretary for the House Homeland Security Committee. He previously was press secretary for Joe Kennedy's Senate campaign in Massachusetts, and is an Antonio Delgado alum. … … Brinton Lucas is rejoining Jones Day as of counsel in the firm's issues and appeals practice. He most recently was assistant to the solicitor general at DOJ. … Alec Varsamis is now a senior account executive for food agriculture and ingredient at Ketchum. He previously was press secretary at USDA. … Laura Hartigan is now a senior adviser for the Los Angeles Chargers. She previously was a senior adviser to Haim Saban and is a DNC alum. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Mark Malone, deputy chief of staff to Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), and Ivy Malone, VP of Washington operations for Partners in Air and Space, welcomed Vivienne on April 20. She came in at 8 lbs, 14 oz, and joins big brother Major. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: WaPo's Dana Milbank … Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) … Reps. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) and Daniel Webster (R-Fla.) … the White House's Christopher Garcia … West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (7-0) … The Intercept's James Risen … Bruce Mehlman … James Prussing … POLITICO's Carla Marinucci and Aubree Weaver … Erica (Elliott) Richardson … Michael Crittenden of Mercury Public Affairs … Will Marshall of the Progressive Policy Institute … Bloomberg's Mike Shepard … BP's Downey Magallanes … Sean Dugan of America's Health Insurance Plans … The Economist's Jon Fasman … Hannah Kim … DNC's Mansoor Abdul Khadir … Alexandra De Luca … GZERO Media's Alexsandra Sanford … Facebook's Shannon Mattingly Nathanson and Lee Brenner … Intel's Norberto Salinas … David Hudson of the Motion Picture Association … EMILY's List's Christina Reynolds and Callie Fines … Jessica Ruby of Trilogy Interactive … Dan Lindner … Connor Walsh of Build Digital … Bryan Denton … U.S. News & World Report's Lauren Camera … Alicia "Lisa" Shepard … Will Brown of the U.S. Travel Association … Emily Hogin … Doug Rediker of International Capital Strategies … Mary-Kate Fisher … Seth Mnookin … Dan Gerstein 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 American Edge Project: Technology has helped American small businesses survive the COVID-19 pandemic.
It has helped small businesses navigate challenges, innovate and remain competitive. Amid COVID-19, there's no doubt that technology has played a central role in the survival of many of our nation's small businesses.
Technology has moved beyond the occasional tool small businesses use to market or advertise; it has become the foundation that powers growth, productivity and innovation.
Read more from the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment