| | | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza, Eugene Daniels, Rachael Bade and Tara Palmeri | Presented by Facebook | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | POLITICO New York's Joe Anuta and David Giambusso, in a story that posted at 11:31 p.m.: "Tallies released Tuesday afternoon indicated that KATHRYN GARCIA had come within 2.2 points of leading Democratic candidate ERIC ADAMS after ranked-choice tabulations were processed. But, shortly after the results were released, reporters and campaign staffers noticed there were roughly 135,000 more votes counted than those reported on election night. "Three hours after releasing the numbers, the Board of Elections issued a statement acknowledging a 'discrepancy' and subsequently took down the totals from their website, but offered no clear explanation for what had happened. After 10 p.m. Tuesday, the board finally came clean with a statement: The 'test' ballots were never cleared out of the tabulation system and thus added the additional votes into the total, skewing the numbers. The board said that it has removed all of the erroneous ballots from the count and will re-run the results — though when the new rankings will be ready was still unclear. "'The Board apologizes for the error and has taken immediate [action] to ensure the most accurate up to date results are reported,' the statement said." (Flashback: "Inside Decades of Nepotism and Bungling at the N.Y.C. Elections Board," NYT, October 2020) — Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict): "Imagine the 2020 Iowa Caucus, except instead of a ritual w/ limited predictive value, what's at stake is the mayoralty of the nation's largest city. That's not far off from where we are." JOE SAYS NO TO DOUBLE-DIPPING — The president said something really important the other day and nobody noticed. At his press conference celebrating the bipartisan infrastructure deal, JOE BIDEN suggested there would be no coming back for seconds: When it comes to spending on basic physical infrastructure (for roads, bridges, public transportation, etc.), the bipartisan deal is it. There will be no using the parallel, Democrats-only reconciliation package to spend more on those things than Republicans agreed to. Instead, Biden indicated, the reconciliation bill is exclusively for stuff that Democrats want but Republicans oppose — like spending for family care, climate change and health care. This may seem like a minor point, but it has big implications. On the left, some progressives have argued that they would simply add to the reconciliation bill anything that wasn't fully funded in the bipartisan bill. That's not happening. Biden wanted $157 billion for electric vehicles. The bipartisan bill spends $15 billion. He wanted $100 billion for broadband, and he secured $65 billion. From the White House's perspective, these issues are now resolved and the reconciliation bill can't be used to take another crack at them. We checked with the White House, and officials confirmed that this interpretation is correct. On the right, some conservatives have argued that voting for the bipartisan deal is pointless because Democrats will simply take what they can get from Republicans on highway spending or airports and then get the rest in the reconciliation bill. But what's actually happening is that the bipartisan bill is serving as a brake on what Biden can spend on core infrastructure. | | A message from Facebook: The internet has changed a lot since 1996 - internet regulations should too
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– Reforming Section 230 | | | There's more: A few weeks ago the Senate passed a big bipartisan bill dealing with American competitiveness and China. It didn't receive much attention, but that bill included a big chunk of change for Biden's manufacturing and research & development proposals. So we asked the White House if the same rule applies to those items when it comes to the reconciliation bill. The answer: Yes. Two big takeaways from all this: 1) Theoretically this should make the job of selling the infrastructure bill to Senate Republicans a lot easier. 2) There's now a lot more clarity about what the White House will and won't prioritize in the reconciliation bill. If you subtract the funding that Biden secured in the bipartisan infrastructure deal and the bipartisan China bill from what he originally proposed in those areas from his American Jobs Plan, it comes out to about $600 billion. You can look at that number in a few different ways. If you're a Republican who votes for both of those bills, you can argue you helped reduce the Biden spending spree by that much. If you're a progressive, you might see that $600 billion as the cost of bipartisanship and perhaps too high a price to pay. If you're Biden, well, here's what he said about it: "Neither side got everything they wanted in this deal, and that's what it means to compromise. And it reflects something important: It reflects consensus. The heart of democracy requires consensus." For those keeping score, this all means that what's left over from Biden's American Jobs Plan and his American Families Plan to stuff into the reconciliation bill is about $3 trillion of spending. It would include money for clean energy tax credits, housing, home care, child care, education, paid leave and an expansion of the child tax credit. That's more than Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) wants to spend and less than what Sen. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.) wants, but it puts Biden exactly where he likes to be: in the middle. SURVEY SAYS: On a related note, a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows voters evenly split on whether the infrastructure plan should pay for just the basics, like roads and bridges, or go beyond that: Forty-two percent choose the former, and 41% support money for other services like family care. On another major Democratic/White House initiative, voting rights, 81% of registered voters support showing proof of identification in order to vote in an election, including 72% of Democrats, 77% of independents and 92% of Republicans. Important to note: Not every state that currently requires voter identification mandates a photo ID. For some, such as West Virginia, a utility bill suffices. Poll toplines … Crosstabs Good Wednesday morning. Your video of the day was an easy call: 87-year-old CHUCK GRASSLEY vs. 44-year-old TOM COTTON … in a pushup contest. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri. D.C. REAL ESTATE PORN: The single most expensive Washington, D.C. home listed for sale right now is the palatial Beaux Arts mansion owned by philanthropist — and friend of the Bidens — ADRIENNE ARSHT. The nine-bedroom Normanstone home purchased for $12.25 million in 2015 is going for $18.5 million now. We were curious why Arsht, who regularly entertains D.C. elites at the 15,000-square-foot landmark, was selling the place. So we rang her up. Arsht is a well-known music lover, and she told us the problem was that her current crib couldn't accommodate the kind of live music she enjoys. "I need a very large room where you can seat a hundred guests for a performance by an orchestra," she told us. Fortunately she's found just the right place, even if she will no longer officially be a Washingtonian. She recently purchased the Corby Mansion on Chevy Chase Circle. The Tudor Revival home built in 1893 for FRANCIS NEWLANDS, a senator from Nevada, was an absolute steal at $10 million. (Her negotiating secret? When the owner wouldn't budge on the price, Arsht bought another place to prove she was willing to walk away from the deal. That home, a rare Georgetown estate, is now listed for $10.8 million.) But the most important part of Arsht's new house is its enormous music room with a built-in Aeolian-Skinner organ. We don't really know what that is, but Arsht assured us, "If you're organ shopping, that's the one that you want." D.C. real estate experts may recall that these aren't Arsht's only recent transactions. In 2016 she sold her previous Beaux Arts mansion to WILBUR ROSS, DONALD TRUMP'S Commerce secretary, for $12 million. (She bought it in 2010 for $8.2 million, so it worked out well.) Arsht, who is 79, is a longtime friend of Biden, so the new place may become a hub of administration socializing. "My parents were the first to endorse him when he ran for the Senate at age 29," she said. "And he often refers to that." But why, we wondered, does she move so much? "I finished what I set out to do in those other homes, and I like change," she said. "Because if you don't like change, wait until you try irrelevance." | | | |   | | | BIDEN'S WEDNESDAY: — 9:50 a.m.: The president will receive the President's Daily Brief. — 11 a.m.: Biden and VP KAMALA HARRIS will convene their event focused on drought, heat and wildfires in the West, delivering remarks and bringing together Cabinet officials, governors and people from the private sector. HARRIS' WEDNESDAY: In addition to the climate event, Harris will speak and lead the U.S. delegation to the Generation Equality Forum at 9:35 a.m. Press secretary JEN PSAKI will brief at 1 p.m. along with EPA Administrator MICHAEL REGAN. THE HOUSE will meet at noon. THE SENATE is out. | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO WEST WING PLAYBOOK: Add West Wing Playbook to keep up with the power players, latest policy developments and intriguing whispers percolating inside the West Wing and across the highest levels of the Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | 
PHOTO OF THE DAY: First lady Jill Biden attends a Houston Astros game against the Baltimore Orioles with members of the military and first responders at Minute Maid Park in Houston on Tuesday, June 29. The Orioles won, 13-3. | Carolyn Kaster, Pool/AP Photo | KAMALA WATCH PALACE INTRIGUE — "Several longtime Kamala Harris associates shut out as VP's chief of staff keeps tight control over access," by CNBC's Brian Schwartz: "[A]s [TINA] FLOURNOY, who built a tough reputation while working for former President BILL CLINTON, exerts her power as a gatekeeper to the vice president, several of Harris' allies outside the federal government are struggling to get their calls returned after years of regularly being in touch with her … "A person familiar with Flournoy's handling of incoming communication with these associates says she sometimes starts a conversation asking, 'What is it that you want from the vice president?' If the person wants to just say hello and have a brief conversation, Flournoy says that time will come at future private events. If a person wants to speak to Harris about where she stands on policy, Flournoy will, at times, say they can't speak to the vice president about policy and will make an introduction to one of her policy advisors." KAMALA'S CONUNDRUM — Christina Greer, an editor at TheGrio and political scientist at Fordham University, penned a compelling op-ed taking stock of the VP's political predicament: tasked by Biden with fixing some of the nation's most intractable problems, facing constant barbs from the right and with no natural constituency on the left. "Ms. Harris, at this point, can't seem to win for trying," Greer writes in the NYT . "She is a historic yet inexperienced vice president who is taking on work that can easily backfire as so many people sit in judgment, with critics sniping (especially right-wing commentators) and allies spinning (like with official statements about 'success'). "And all the while, the clock is ticking. Most political observers think that if Mr. Biden decides not to run for re-election in 2024 (when he will be 81), Ms. Harris most definitely will. He had to know that in choosing her as his vice president, he was making her his heir apparent. But based on how things look now, her work as his No. 2 could end up being baggage more than a boon. Mr. Biden and his team aren't giving her chances to get some wins and more experience on her ledger. Rather, it's the hardest of the hard stuff." CONGRESS FIGHTING WORDS FROM MURKOWSKI — "Murkowski has the moxie to take on Trump. Will she?" by Burgess Everett: "LISA MURKOWSKI has an ice-cold review of the Donald Trump-backed conservative who's vowing to topple her in Alaska's Senate race next year. 'It doesn't surprise me. The president has said, you know, that he's gonna endorse anybody that has a pulse,' the Alaska Republican said of GOP challenger, KELLY TSHIBAKA. 'This, apparently, is somebody with a pulse.' "That blunt assessment of Tshibaka reflects Murkowski's combination of confidence and wariness ahead of what's shaping up as an unpleasant midterm campaign for her. She's the only GOP incumbent senator to earn Trump's ire this year after voting to convict him in his second impeachment trial, a move that got her censured by her state party. He has vowed to campaign against her in person. Most of her colleagues believe she's leaning toward seeking a fourth term, given her fundraising and private remarks to them as well as donors. Murkowski, however, is quiet about her plans." FORGET WHAT THE INVITATION SAYS — "Rep. Gosar denies knowledge of fundraiser with group that promotes white-nationalist ideas despite invitation for the event," by WaPo's Marianna Sotomayor: "[Rep. PAUL] GOSAR (R-Ariz.) has previously attended events with [NICK] FUENTES and appeared to defend the fundraiser in a tweet Monday night when he wrote: 'Not sure why anyone is freaking out. I'll say this: there are millions of Gen Z, Y and X conservatives. They believe in America First. They will not agree 100% on every issue. No group does. We will not let the left dictate our strategy, alliances and efforts. Ignore the left.' But on Tuesday Gosar denied any knowledge of the fundraiser when asked about the invitation featuring a photo of him with Fuentes." MEANWHILE, POLICE REFORM IS STUCK … "Tensions rise in policing talks as negotiations hit a delicate phase," by CNN's Jessica Dean and Manu Raju: "High-stakes talks over a major revamp of policing laws are at a precarious state, with influential law enforcement groups divided, lawmakers struggling to bridge a gap on long-standing sticking points and skepticism among many congressional Republicans about the need for legislation at a time of rising crime in the United States. "The complicated dynamic comes at a crucial time: After blowing past two deadlines, lawmakers say they need to make a decision by August on whether they can reach a deal or pull the plug. And now it's anyone's guess whether a deal can be reached, a sharp shift from just weeks ago … [Rep. KAREN] BASS confirmed on Tuesday that the hot-button issue of qualified immunity -- protections given to police officers in civil court -- remains unresolved." — "Rep. Hakeem Jeffries says police organizations are trying to 'torpedo' George Floyd reform bill," by The Grio's April Ryan | | A message from Facebook: Why Facebook supports updated internet regulations
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See how we're taking action on key issues and why we support updated internet regulations. | | | VIOLENCE WATCH HEADS UP — "DHS Intel bulletin warns of risks as attack anniversaries near," by Betsy Woodruff Swan: "It's the second time in two weeks that DHS has raised concerns about violence connected to conspiracy theories and domestic extremism." — RELATED & SCARY: "'Right-Wing Death Squad': Active-Duty Marine Plotted to Bomb DNC, Murder Black People, Feds Say," by The Daily Beast's Justin Rohrlich: "An active-duty U.S. Marine came under federal investigation for allegedly plotting with at least two others to assassinate minorities, drug users, and employees of the Democratic National Committee with explosives, rocket launchers, and automatic rifles. "That's according to a newly unsealed FBI search warrant affidavit obtained by The Daily Beast, which indicates USMC Private First Class TRAVIS OWENS and his partners in the unrealized murder plot were influenced by TIMOTHY MCVEIGH … The document also states that one of the suspects had links to the Atomwaffen Division … The investigation began in late August 2019." The affidavit POLITICS CORNER YIKES — "Josh Mandel's staff quit campaign because of toxic work environment created by staffer in relationship with Mandel, sources say," by The Columbus Dispatch's Laura Bischoff and Haley BeMiller: "At least two of the three fundraisers who quit JOSH MANDEL'S U.S. Senate campaign in recent months did so because of a toxic work environment created by RACHEL WILSON, the campaign finance director, said two sources close to the situation. "Wilson cussed out her subordinates, often demanded 12-hour workdays, berated them in front of others and called them names, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution and career damage. … Texts exchanged among Mandel campaign staff and reviewed by USA TODAY Network Ohio reporters confirm that [campaign manager SCOTT] GUTHRIE and Mandel knew of Wilson's behavior but did not intervene." 2022 WATCH — On "The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show" on Tuesday, Trump said former football player HERSCHEL WALKER will run against Sen. RAPHAEL WARNOCK for Georgia's Senate seat in 2022. "He told me he's going to, and I think he will," Trump said. The full interview CLYBURN INTERVENTION — "No. 3 House Democrat Steps Into Ohio Race to Head Off a Sanders Acolyte," by NYT's Jonathan Weisman: "In a rare intervention into a party primary, [House Majority Whip JIM] CLYBURN, a veteran lawmaker and the highest-ranking Black member of Congress, endorsed SHONTEL BROWN, [NINA] TURNER'S leading opponent. "He said his decision to back Ms. Brown, the chairwoman of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party, was not about Mr. Sanders, or even Ms. Turner, who remains the favorite before the contest on Aug. 3 in the heavily Democratic district. But he took a swipe at what he called the 'sloganeering' of the party's left flank, which has risen to power with calls for 'Medicare for all,' and to 'abolish ICE' and 'defund the police.'" AMERICA AND THE WORLD PROBLEMS AHEAD — "Security in Afghanistan Is Decaying, U.S. General Says as Forces Leave," by NYT's Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Eric Schmitt: "The commander of the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan warned on Tuesday that the country could be on a path to chaotic civil war as American and other international troops prepare to leave in the coming weeks. "His assessment, in a rare news conference at the headquarters of U.S. and NATO command in Kabul, will likely be one of the last publicly delivered by an American four-star general in Afghanistan, where recent events have included a Taliban offensive that has seized around 100 district centers, left dozens of civilians wounded and killed, and displaced thousands more. 'Civil war is certainly a path that can be visualized if it continues on the trajectory it's on,' the commander, Gen. AUSTIN S. MILLER, told reporters during the news conference." FROM THE BIDEN CENTER TO THE BIDEN ADMIN — Der Spiegel's René Pfister reported Tuesday that AMY GUTMANN, the president of the University of Pennsylvania, will be tapped as U.S. ambassador to Germany. | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" TODAY: Power is shifting in Washington and in communities across the country. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that 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 in 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. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | POTUS' BENEFACTORS ARE NOT HAPPY — "The Biden Donors Fight Back," via Teddy Schleifer's new newsletter, The Stratosphere: "[W]hile bundlers do like to complain, bundling is not easy work, and the unspoken promise of low-stakes political appointments is the grease that makes the big-money machine run. An ambassadorship is like the goodie bag that newlyweds give their guests in exchange for schlepping to the ceremony. Tokens of appreciation matter. Or as one Biden bundler summarized the relationship to me: 'People need to be thanked more.' … "Cutting out the perks of fundraising, whether it's a V.I.P. badge at a nominating convention or an appointment to an exotic country, could make some donors less likely to participate in the process, despite bipartisan, highfalutin' rhetoric about fundraising being a labor of love. That's a concern that some Biden bundlers tell me they hold. Over time, according to a Biden official, the White House expects about 30 percent of its ambassadors to be political appointees — that would be more or less in line with the average before Trump, who gave away 44 percent to his friends." SPOTTED: Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Joe Kennedy dining (separately, as you'd expect) at Porto in Boston on Tuesday evening. Markey was there celebrating his wife's birthday. SPOTTED at a get-together in City Center on Tuesday night to celebrate Chip Kahn's 20th anniversary at the Federation of American Hospitals (as well as longtime executive assistant Johanna Pasquier), which included M&Ms with their faces on them: Jeff Cohen, Katie Wise, Jayne Chambers, Patrick Velliky, Claudia Salzberg and Alyssa Keefe. SPOTTED at an event Tuesday night hosted by Data for Progress at Roofers Union: Jim Kessler, Eli Zupnick, Adam Jentleson, Kristen Orthman, Evan Brown, Sahil Kapur, Sam Brody and Joel Payne. STAFFING UP — DHS has added Meira Bernstein as deputy assistant secretary for media operations and Jamie Lawrence as deputy assistant secretary for the Private Sector Office (Office of Public Engagement). Bernstein previously was director of state comms on the Biden campaign, and is a Maggie Hassan and Claire McCaskill alum. Lawrence most recently led IBM's corporate social responsibility work on the West Coast, and is a Biden alum. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Joy Drucker is joining the Stimson Center as VP of external affairs and advancement. She previously was at Drucker & Associates and is a former deputy assistant secretary of State. Rachel Stohl will become VP of research programs, and Victoria Holt will leave her VP role at Stimson (though remain a distinguished fellow) to head the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth. TRANSITIONS — Mark Patterson, general counsel for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, is leaving his post. He's a longtime D.C. hand who's worked for Perkins Coie, the Obama Treasury, Tom Daschle and more. No word yet on next steps, but our tipster says likely "some summer downtime in Rehoboth Beach." … Former Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy is joining Pallas Ventures as a managing director. … Chasseny Lewis is now chief of staff for Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.). She most recently was director of U.S. public policy at Credit Suisse. … … Natalie Edelstein will be deputy comms director for Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.). She most recently has been comms director for Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.). … Cris Turner will join Google's public policy team as VP of GAPP consumer products. He most recently was VP and head of global government and public affairs at Micron. … Morgan Gress Johnson is joining Invariant's comms practice. She most recently was an associate and chief of staff for the Washington office of Brunswick Group. ENGAGED — Samuel Lau, director of federal advocacy comms at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and Oren Bumgarner, a senior research scientist at Metron Inc., got engaged last week on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. They currently live in Arlington, Va. Pic — Alex Howard, comms director at the McKeon Group, and Talia Orencel, program associate at Panagora Group, got engaged on the Appalachian Trail on Memorial Day weekend, with a surprise engagement party he planned at the Woodrow Wilson House in Kalorama. Pic … Another pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Ashley Gold, a technology reporter at Axios and a POLITICO alum, and Eli Glazier, a bicycle and pedestrian planner at the Montgomery-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission, welcomed Clara Gold Glazier on Friday. Pic … Another pic — Nick Bush, chief of staff for the 15th Congressional District of Ohio office, and Julie Goldfarb Bush, director of U.S. government civilian business at Palantir Technologies, welcomed Cassidy Clarke "C.C." Bush on June 17. She came in at 7 lbs, 7 oz and 20 inches. Pic, via @annmariegphoto … Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: The Atlantic's David Frum … Robyn Shapiro … Kyle Plotkin of Sen. Josh Hawley's (R-Mo.) office … Ward Carroll … Adam Kennedy of CRC Advisors … Dan Leistikow … Kara Adame of MetLife … Zack Christenson … Dan Judy of North Star Opinion Research … Norm Sterzenbach … Paul Cheung of the Knight Foundation … Rachel Gorlin … Advoc8's John Legittino … Andy Reynolds … Ken Callahan … former Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) … former IRS Commissioner John Koskinen Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Mike Zapler, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Allie Bice, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross. | | | | Sponsored Survey WE VALUE YOUR OPINION: Please take a 1-minute survey about one of our advertising partners. | | | | | | | 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 | | | | |
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