| | | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri, Eugene Daniels and Rachael Bade | | | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | With Congress gone, JOE BIDEN, our low-key president, has been the main story in Washington. He's already addressed two major issues this week: how to respond to the Delta Covid-19 variant, and attempting to sell the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework and his American Families Plan to Trump-voting skeptics in Illinois. Today, he grapples with two big foreign policy dilemmas: He'll receive an update in the Situation Room about Afghanistan and then address the public about the American withdrawal. He also told reporters Wednesday he would decide today what to do about the recent Russian cyberattacks. Across all four issues, one question hangs over Biden: Is he doing enough? BIF There's not a ton of infrastructure news today, but our Laura Barrón-López and Burgess Everett scoop that the White House and Hill Democrats are eyeing the week of July 19 to have the bipartisan bill on the Senate floor. Drafting the $65 billion broadband component of the framework is causing some headaches. And as we previously predicted, conservative critics are zeroing in on the plan's IRS enforcement provisions. Is Biden doing enough? The NYT's Jim Tankersley and Michael Shear skeptically explore how the administration insists it will meet some of Biden's original goals outlined in the American Jobs Plan despite the drastically reduced funding levels he agreed to in the bipartisan plan: "The president's aides say they have found ways to replace lead pipes, wire homes for broadband and build charging hubs for electric cars, for less money than initially proposed." Not everyone agrees. Sunrise Movement's VARSHINI PRAKASH and Justice Democrats' ALEXANDRA ROJAS: "We can't afford to water the policies down any further." Delta Biden's speech Tuesday was met with alarm from some pockets of the right because he talked about going "door to door" to help find unvaccinated Americans. Those criticisms were unfounded. Biden has been crystal clear that vaccination is optional. The real question is … Is Biden doing enough? The Daily Beast's Scott Bixby talks to "public health experts and former government officials" who tell him "that they're increasingly concerned that there may not be enough tools at the president's disposal to address the root causes of vaccine hesitancy." UCLA's TIMOTHY BREWER, a professor of epidemiology: Biden's plans are "unlikely to make much of a difference for those choosing not to be vaccinated." More from WaPo's Aaron Blake, who is highly skeptical of the Biden plan's efficacy, but also notes it's "an extraordinarily complex problem with no simple solutions." | | | | A message from PhRMA: Out-of-pocket costs shouldn't be out-of-this-world confusing. If we fix insurance, we can fix out-of-pocket medicine costs. See how. | | | Russia As he returned to the White House from his trip to Illinois on Wednesday, Biden was asked about his response to the Russian hacks. "The FBI is working with the RNC to determine the facts," he said. "I will know what I am going to do tomorrow." Is Biden doing enough? The NYT's David Sanger and Nicole Perlroth write that "Biden is under growing pressure to take some kind of visible action — perhaps a strike on the Russian servers or banks that keep them running — after delivering several stark warnings to Moscow that he would respond to cyberattacks on the United States with what he has called 'in-kind' action against Russia." Former State Department cyber diplomat CHRIS PAINTER: "We can't set a red line and just not do anything about it when we're breached continuously. I don't think we can afford to just sit there and wait for the next attack to happen and the next attack after that, because clearly they are not stopping." WSJ editorial page: "When a U.S. President draws a clear red line, he has to enforce it." More on Biden's options from Vox's Jen Kirby. Afghanistan The White House said that Biden will make remarks "on our continued drawdown efforts," but our Lara Seligman reports that America's "withdrawal from Afghanistan is essentially complete." A source with direct knowledge of the situation tells her, "It's done." What Biden really needs to address today is the fallout. "Are you worried about Kabul falling?" a reporter shouted at Biden on Wednesday. "I'll speak to that tomorrow," Biden responded. His State Department spokesman, NED PRICE, previewed what he might say, telling reporters Tuesday that a "political solution" is the only path forward for the country because "any government that comes to power at the barrel of a gun through force is not one that will have popular support, it is not one that will accrue assistance from the international community, it is not one that will have international legitimacy." He added, "For all those reasons, it is almost certainly not one that will have durability." As the Taliban retakes territory, Biden has pledged financial security assistance to the Afghan government and "over the horizon" military assistance. Is Biden doing enough? Rich Lowry joins a chorus of those on the right who are most concerned with the lack of ability to strike inside the country if groups like al-Qaida return: "Ideally, the U.S. would locate some other base next door to Afghanistan, but there are no good options in the neighborhood. Pakistan, which can't be trusted and supports the Taliban, is inherently problematic. VLADIMIR PUTIN won't look kindly on our using the former Soviet republics. "Conducting operations from bases in the Persian Gulf eight hours away clearly isn't the same as doing it from Bagram. In congressional testimony, Gen. KENNETH MCKENZIE, the head of Central Command, said the long-distance missions would be 'extremely difficult to do,' but 'not impossible.' This isn't a ringing endorsement." Foundation for Defense of Democracies' BILL ROGGIO on the Biden strategy to the Washington TImes: "Alternate reality is the best way to put it. They don't want to admit that the decision President Biden made has put the Afghan government on the path to collapse, and it's happening in a time frame they didn't expect." Good Thursday morning, and thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri. | | | | A message from PhRMA:   The way insurance covers your medicine is too complicated. See how we can make the system work for patients. Not the other way around. | | | BIDEN'S THURSDAY: — 10:15 a.m.: The president and VP KAMALA HARRIS will receive an update on the Afghanistan pullout. — 1:45 p.m.: Biden will deliver remarks on the Afghanistan pullout in the East Room. — 3:30 p.m.: Biden and Harris will meet with leaders from the top civil rights organizations in the Roosevelt Room. The White House Covid-19 Response Team and public health officials will brief at 11 a.m. Press secretary JEN PSAKI will brief at 12:30 p.m. HARRIS' THURSDAY: In addition to the events with Biden, the VP will deliver remarks on voting rights at Howard University at 1:10 p.m. THE SENATE will meet at noon in a pro forma session. THE HOUSE 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: An ambulance carrying assassinated Haitian President Jovenel Moise's body drives past a mural of him Wednesday. | Joseph Odelyn/AP Photo | MEDIAWATCH WHAT TUCKER WAS TALKING ABOUT — "Tucker Carlson sought Putin interview at time of spying claim," by Axios' Jonathan Swan: "TUCKER CARLSON was talking to U.S.-based Kremlin intermediaries about setting up an interview with Vladimir Putin shortly before the Fox News host accused the National Security Agency of spying on him, sources familiar with the conversations tell Axios. … "The first — and least likely — scenario is that the U.S. government submitted a request to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to monitor Carlson to protect national security. A more plausible scenario is that one of the people Carlson was talking to as an intermediary to help him get the Putin interview was under surveillance as a foreign agent. In that scenario, Carlson's emails or text messages could have been incidentally collected as part of monitoring this person, but Carlson's identity would have been masked in any intelligence reports." POLITICS ROUNDUP J.D. VANCE GETS THE MOLLY BALL TREATMENT — "Breakfast with J.D. Vance, Anti-Trump Author Turned Pro-Trump Candidate," Time: "'I'm not just a flip-flopper, I'm a flip-flop-flipper on Trump,' J.D. VANCE says with a laugh, slicing into a half-stack of breakfast pancakes. … These days, Vance's persona is more right-wing provocateur than establishment darling. But it's his stance toward [DONALD] TRUMP that seems destined to dominate his campaign in a primary that could be a bellwether for the post-Trump GOP. … "Vance admits it took him time to come around, but points to his book and commentary as evidence he understood Trump's appeal before most. 'I sort of got Trump's issues from the beginning,' Vance says. 'I just thought that this guy was not serious and was not going to be able to really make progress on the issues I cared about.' "But … [o]nce he looked beyond the hysterical media depictions of Trump, he claims, he saw someone changing the debate around issues like China and immigration. In March, the two men held an hourlong meeting brokered by Vance's friend and former boss PETER THIEL, the Silicon Valley titan who has seeded a $10 million super PAC on Vance's behalf." FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. JOHN FETTERMAN'S Senate campaign raised $2.5 million in the second quarter. It's the biggest haul we've seen this quarter from a non-incumbent without self-funding — but still a far cry from the $6 million Sen. MARK KELLY (D-Ariz.) raised. CONGRESS EASY TARGET — "Conservative groups mount opposition to increase in IRS budget, threatening White House infrastructure plan," by WaPo's Jeff Stein, Tony Romm and Yeganeh Torbati: "Among the conservative groups spearheading the opposition are the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, FreedomWorks, the Conservative Action Project, and the Leadership Institute." But the story goes on to note that it's unlikely to kill the plan: "'If this was the dealbreaker, fundamentally the negotiations wouldn't have gotten to this stage,' said one GOP lobbyist briefed on internal dynamics, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss interactions with Capitol Hill. 'If this is the glue that holds the whole thing together, it's preferable than most of the other pay-fors.'" AS SOON AS THIS FRIDAY — "Fencing will come down, but Capitol still closed to visitors," by AP's Lisa Mascaro PAUL PELOSI HITS BIG ON TECH TRADES — "Pelosi's Husband Locked In $5.3 Million From Alphabet Options," by Bloomberg's Billy House and Anna Edgerton: "Speaker NANCY PELOSI'S husband, PAUL PELOSI, won big on Alphabet Inc. stock and added bets on Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. in the weeks leading up to the House Judiciary Committee's vote on antitrust legislation that seeks to severely limit how these companies organize and offer their products. In a financial disclosure signed by Nancy Pelosi July 2, her husband reported exercising call options to acquire 4,000 shares of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, at a strike price of $1,200. The trade netted him a $4.8 million gain, and it's risen to $5.3 million since then as the shares have jumped. "The transaction was completed just a week before the House Judiciary Committee advanced six bipartisan antitrust bills, four of which take aim at Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook Inc. Market reaction was muted, suggesting that investors don't see the House proposals as a real threat to the companies. Alphabet's share price has increased 3.2% since the judiciary panel approved the legislation. 'The speaker has no involvement or prior knowledge of these transactions,' her spokesman DREW HAMMILL said in an emailed statement on Wednesday, adding that Speaker Pelosi doesn't own any stock." | | | | A message from PhRMA:   See how we can make the system work for patients. Not the other way around. | | | AMERICA AND THE WORLD ASSURANCES FOR ASSANGE — "U.S. promises not to imprison Julian Assange under harsh conditions if Britain extradites him," by NYT's Charlie Savage: "If a British court permits the extradition of the WikiLeaks founder JULIAN ASSANGE to face criminal charges in the United States, the Biden administration has pledged that it will not hold him under the most austere conditions reserved for high-security prisoners and that, if he is convicted, it will let him serve his sentence in his native Australia. "Those assurances were disclosed on Wednesday as part of a British High Court ruling in London. The court accepted the United States government's appeal of a ruling that had denied its extradition request for Mr. Assange — who was indicted during the Trump administration — on the grounds that American prison conditions for the highest-security inmates were inhumane. The new ruling was not made public in its entirety. But in an email, the Crown Prosecution Service press office provided a summary showing that the High Court had accepted three of five grounds for appeal submitted by the United States and disclosing the promises the Biden administration had made." THE CRISIS IN HAITI — "Police battle gunmen who killed president, amid fears of chaos," Reuters: "Haiti's security forces were locked in a fierce gun battle on Wednesday with assailants who assassinated President JOVENEL MOISE at his home overnight, plunging the already impoverished, violence-wracked nation deeper into chaos. "The police had killed four of the 'mercenaries' and captured two more, Police General Director LEON CHARLES said in televised comments late on Wednesday, adding that security forces would not rest until they had all been dealt with." BEYOND THE BELTWAY GOING AFTER GOOGLE — "36 states, D.C. sue Google for alleged antitrust violations in its Android app store," by Leah Nylen: "A group of 36 states and Washington, D.C., sued Google on Wednesday in an antitrust case challenging the company's control over its Android app store — opening a new front in regulators' attempts to rein in the search giant. The suit, filed in California federal court and led by Utah, North Carolina, Tennessee, New York, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa and Nebraska, is the latest in a series of major antitrust cases filed against the tech industry's biggest forces, after years of brewing unhappiness with the growing wealth and power of Silicon Valley. "It comes just nine days after the antitrust crusade suffered its first major setback, when a federal judge in Washington dismissed the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust suit against Facebook on the grounds that the agency hadn't offered enough evidence that the world's largest social network is a monopoly." | | | | 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 | | LALLY TIGHTENS GUEST LIST: After her famed July Fourth dinner party was canceled last year due to Covid, WaPo heiress Lally Weymouth picked up the tradition at her home in Southampton, N.Y., with a smaller, more intimate affair Saturday. Her daughter Katharine Weymouth told attendees they had to cut 100 guests from their invite list. Don Graham pointed out that Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) was the only elected Democrat at the party, which is usually swarming with politicos from both sides. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), who represents the Hamptons area, was also there. Among the other guests who made the cut: British Ambassador Karen Pierce , French Ambassador Philippe Etienne, Julia Koch, Wilbur Ross, Elaine Chao, Richard and Claudia Edelman, Robert Hormats, Kyle Dropp, Mandy Grunwald, Maria Bartiromo, Ray Kelly and Bill Bratton. COALE TRAIN: He's worked for Martin O'Malley and Herman Cain, and supported Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary before helping Sarah Palin set up a super PAC to pay her legal expenses. Now super-lawyer John P. Coale, who made his name in the late '90s netting a $368 billion settlement against the tobacco industry , is taking on a client who's claimed to loathe the rarified D.C. circles Coale inhabits: Trump. Trump announced Wednesday that he's suing the chiefs of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. But the idea to go after them on First Amendment grounds originated with Coale, according to a source familiar. Coale, the husband of Greta Van Susteren, was bothered last year when tech companies began restricting what they considered false or misleading content about the coronavirus. Coale contacted Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C) and told him, "Look, there's a case here." The senator later connected Coale with Trump, who was and remains upset about being kicked off of Twitter and Facebook after Jan. 6. From there, Coale got the green light from Trump to assemble a team of lawyers to take on the titans of Silicon Valley. "I'm appalled he is in bed with him," a longtime acquaintance said of Coale's alliance with Trump. "But John is a political contrarian." For Coale, though, it's less about the main plaintiff in the case than what he sees as excessive power the big tech platforms have to regulate free speech. As for his chances of success, CNN quotes First Amendment experts saying that the lawsuit is a long shot. THE HOUSE IS PRETTY NICE, TOO — "You can be Joe Biden's neighbor for $2.4 million," N.Y. Post: "A property next to Biden's custom-built three-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bathroom Wilmington, Delaware, home was listed Monday for $2.39 million, according to Realtor.com. "Biden, who also owns a Delaware beach house … purchased his Wilmington plot for $350,000 in 1998. The property, including the 6,850-square-foot mansion, is now estimated to be worth at least $2 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. "But whoever buys this French house won't spend their days keeping up with the Joneses — er, the Bidens," the Post writes. "The neighboring mansion is more than 25% bigger than the president's home, with two more bedrooms and another bathroom, according to Realtor.com." STAFFING UP — Kate Gordon is now senior adviser to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. She most recently was director of California Gov. Gavin Newsom's Office of Planning and Research. TRANSITIONS — Gregory Pejic is now strategic account director for national security space in Leidos' intelligence group. He most recently was deputy assistant secretary of Defense for space policy. … Candice Andalia is joining Kirkland & Ellis as a litigation partner in the D.C. office. She previously was a complex litigation and dispute resolution senior associate at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. … Brian Nick is now EVP and chief comms officer at Fox. He most recently was VP of comms at Coca-Cola Consolidated, and is a Walmart, NRSC and Elizabeth Dole alum. … … Matt Cameron is now head of financial services policy at Notarize. He most recently was assistant director of stakeholder management for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. … Sean McCort is now an associate director of strategic comms and marketing at the Law And Economics Center at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School. He most recently was senior strategist at the Lukens Company. ENGAGED — Kate Irby, deputy editor at POLITICO, and Steven Seifert, a trade analyst at the Department of Commerce, got engaged on June 30 during a family trip to the Outer Banks at the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. Pic BIRTHWEEK (was Wednesday): Alex Hubbard of Law360 HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Steve Holland of Reuters … White House's Stef Feldman … Marianne Williamson … Neil Newhouse of Public Opinion Strategies … Nick Simpson of Klarna … Eve Samborn McCool of Assemble … Dan Rosenthal of Albright Stonebridge Group … Robert Henline … Howard Gutman of the Gutman Group … Kelley Hudak of Cassidy & Associates … Geoff Garin of Hart Research … Andrew Kauders of Cogent Strategies … Amanda Coyne of Sen. Dan Sullivan's (R-Alaska) office … Andy Flick … CNN's Bill Hinkle … Amazon's Molly Spaeth … Kirk McPike ... Ron Kampeas ... Adrienne Donato ... Erik Huey of Platinum Advisors ... NYT's Lara Jakes ... DOJ's Anna Uhls … Noah Yantis of Rep. Jim Hagedorn's (R-Minn.) office (25) … former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) ... Tina Urbanski … Stephanie Berhane ... Jeff Dunetz … Arlie Ziskend … Sandy Kaiser … Jim Miklaszewski ... WSJ's Doug Belkin ... Anna Quindlen 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. | | | | A message from PhRMA: Getting to what you pay for medicines shouldn't be a maze. Let's make out-of-pocket costs transparent, predictable and affordable. And let's do it without sacrificing access to medicines and innovation. See how we can make the system work for patients. Not the other way around. | | | | | | | 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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