| | | | | |  | | By Tara Palmeri | | | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | PARLIAMENTARY GAMES — A pair of stories up from CNN and POLITICO spotlight Democrats' upcoming gambit to back-door immigration reform through the reconciliation process — Senate parliamentarian be damned. "Top Democrats, with the support of the White House, are planning to tuck a handful of immigration measures into their forthcoming $3.5 trillion spending bill. The tactic — which just months ago seemed like a long shot even to liberals — is now widely seen as President JOE BIDEN'S best shot at confronting one of Washington's policy leviathans and delivering on a decades-long party promise," our Sarah Ferris, Burgess Everett and Laura Barrón-López report. The most glaring obstacle here is the Senate rulebook. To pass muster, the immigration reforms would have to significantly impact the federal budget — by generating revenue or deepening the deficit — rather than merely being a side effect. Even raising the minimum wage failed to make the cut under that criterion earlier this year. CNN quotes former Senate parliamentarian ALAN FRUMIN, who isn't buying it: "I understand arguments are made that there are budgetary effects when you change immigration law. But I think there's probably a strong argument that those effects are secondary … (Democrats') purpose is immigration policy." Democrats seem to think they win either way. Worst (most likely) case, the parliamentarian rebuffs them — but at least they can tell the base they tried. (The stuff they're planning to include polls well.) But Republicans are prepared to pounce if they do. Sen. JOHN CORNYN (R-Texas), who's been involved in bipartisan immigration talks in the past, warned that Democrats will have to "own it" if they go down this road on a hot-button issue — presumably meaning in the 2022 midterms. JENNER'S REALITY CAMPAIGN — It's fair to wonder whether CAITLYN JENNER is running for governor of California or filming another reality show. Well, it turns out she's doing a little bit of both. Jenner is showing up at campaign events and rallies with a film crew like famous candidates often do — but she's also brought the crew to an interview with SEAN HANNITY and to an appearance at CPAC. Looking ahead to life after the trail, Jenner has been paying them to collect footage of her time running for office. And after the campaign she can do whatever she wants with it — sell it to Netflix for a documentary, perhaps, or to E! for another Kardashian reality series. (Nothing like that is in the works yet; we're just throwing out a few scenarios.) "We're documenting history," a senior campaign adviser explained. MITT ROMNEY and HILLARY ClNTON released documentaries after their campaigns, but both had a stronger shot at winning and, unlike Jenner, didn't have prior careers in reality TV. To avoid tangling campaign finances and the project, Jenner, not the campaign, is paying for the crew — and it can get expensive. Which leads us to the question — is the content for the campaign, or is the campaign just for the content? "If she goes through the motions and it's a legit campaign, we can't legally differentiate between people where it's a long shot and she's just doing it to make a movie," said campaign ethics lawyer RICHARD PAINTER. Jenner's advisers said they haven't figured out what they're going to do with the footage: "Right now, we're focused on winning and I haven't thought about what to do with it, but [the campaign is] something that needs to be documented." A spokesperson added that, like with other prominent candidates in the past, "there are cameras filming Caitlyn at certain big political events like CPAC. There is no deal for any television show or documentary." — Related: "Trump associate Richard Grenell will not run in California recall," by Jeremy White | | A message from Amazon: The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) ranked Amazon as the No. 1 U.S. company investing in America. For the second year in a row, Amazon placed first on PPI's Investment Heroes list. PPI estimates that Amazon invested $34 billion in American infrastructure in 2020 . Every Amazon job comes with a starting wage of $15/hr and comprehensive benefits for regular, full-time employees. Learn more. | | | QATAR FLEXES WITH LANDMARK EMBASSY: In an off-market deal, the Qatari government has purchased a national historic landmark for its next embassy: the Carnegie Institution for Science building at 16th and P in Dupont Circle. It's one of just 74 national historic landmarks in D.C. — and the type of flex that will surely ignite the envy of Qatar's rival United Arab Emirates, as each tries to out-influence the other in D.C. through soft-power diplomacy. The Beaux-Arts-style building, erected in 1902, is a massive upgrade for the tiny Middle Eastern country, which until 2005 had just a small handful of staffers in an office building at 4200 Wisconsin Ave. Most recently the Qatari diplomatic mission took over five stories of a postmodern office building on M Street for its embassy, which they plan to continue to use for back-office work. The Carnegie building boasts 10 full ionic columns on the exterior and marble interior columns as well as an auditorium that can seat up to 450, where they are expected to entertain. The acquisition was not without controversy at the 120-year-old institution. Carnegie Institution for Science emeritus director DONALD D. BROWN wrote a letter to Science Magazine calling the sale of the building a "bad" decision and referred to Qatar as "a country whose social policies are repugnant to us." Happy Friday, and thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri. BIDEN'S STUDENT DEBT PROMISE COMES DUE: $1.6 trillion — that's how much student loan debt there is in the United States. Progressives want to cancel student loan debt. Republicans say that's wildly unfair. And Biden is … waiting. In today's Playbook Deep Dive, Tara and education reporter Michael Stratford discuss the fight on Capitol Hill over student loans and whether Biden could tackle the problem through executive action. Listen and subscribe here | 
| | | A message from Amazon: All Amazon employees earn at least a $15/hr starting wage. Fulltime employees get health insurance from the first day on the job. | | | BIDEN'S FRIDAY: — 7:30 a.m.: The president will take part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' virtual retreat. — 10 a.m.: Biden and VP KAMALA HARRIS will receive the President's Daily Brief. — 12:20 p.m.: Biden and Harris will have lunch together. — 1 p.m.: Biden will get a pandemic/vaccination briefing. — 2:30 p.m.: Biden will leave the White House for Camp David, where he'll receive the weekly economic briefing at 3:45 p.m. 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. THE HOUSE will meet at 9 a.m. in a pro forma session. THE SENATE is out. | | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | 
PHOTO OF THE DAY: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joe Biden speak before a meeting in the Oval Office on Thursday, July 15. | Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images | THE WHITE HOUSE LAGGING ON A PROMISE — "Normal is not good enough': After Trump, pressure's on Biden to create new ethics rules," by Anita Kumar: "When it comes to ethics in the White House, Biden is no [DONALD] TRUMP. But for a growing number of Democratic lawmakers and government watchdog groups, that's too meager. Six months into office, they're pushing the president to follow through on his campaign promise to press for an aggressive 25-point plan for ethics reform, fearful that the window to do so may be closing and, with it, an opportunity to prevent the lapses of the Trump years from happening again." ABOUT LAST NIGHT --- "Biden and Merkel present united front — but still don't see eye to eye on Nord Stream 2," by Maeve Sheehy: "Biden and Merkel weren't expecting to come out of Thursday's meeting with a deal on Nord Stream 2, though the White House has been clear on wanting concrete steps laid out to ensure that Russia can't leverage the pipeline against other countries' interests." ALL POLITICS 2022 WATCH — "Why Democrats plan to wait on endorsements in 2022 Senate primaries," by McClatchy's Francesca Chambers: "After facing criticism for hand-picking candidates at the outset of intraparty battles in recent years, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has yet to endorse a non-incumbent running for Senate in 2022, though it hasn't ruled out that possibility. Officials with the committee hope holding back at the start of the campaigns will ultimately produce the strongest possible general election candidates as Democrats seek to expand their narrow Senate majority. "'[W]e will be evaluating things on a case by case basis and allowing things to develop a little more, because that also gives us more of an opportunity to see what people are like as candidates,' said CHRISTIE ROBERTS, the DSCC's executive director." LOOK WHO'S BACKING MANCHIN — "Rupert Murdoch-funded Fox Corp. PAC contributes to Democrat Joe Manchin's campaign," by CNBC's Brian Schwartz: "A political action committee for Fox News' parent company donated money to moderate Democratic Sen. JOE MANCHIN'S reelection campaign, a new filing shows. "The Fox Corp. PAC, which is funded in part by conservative media mogul RUPERT MURDOCH, gave $1,500 to Manchin's 2024 reelection campaign in June, according to a disclosure to the Federal Election Commission. The campaign raised just over $1.4 million in the second quarter. It would mark the first time Manchin has received a donation from the Fox Corp. PAC, according to a CNBC review of FEC records and data from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics." THE SCANDAL THAT'S NOT GOING AWAY — "Cuomo to Be Questioned in Sexual Harassment Inquiry," by NYT's Luis Ferré-Sadurní and William Rashbaum PRE-ANNOUNCEMENT OPPO — "Likely Michigan GOP Gubernatorial Candidate James Craig Filed For Bankruptcy Twice," by Deadline Detroit's Tom Perkins and Violet Ikonomova | | | | A message from Amazon:   Watch what happened when Amazon raised their starting wage to $15/hr. | | | CONGRESS WHAT FLA. REPUBLICANS ARE LOVE-READING — "AOC's Cuba tweet draws fiery response from Florida Dem," by Jonathan Custodio: "Rep. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ on Thursday ran into opposition from a prominent Florida Democrat after she called for the U.S. to end its embargo on Cuba, underlining divisions within the party on how to respond to the communist country's recent upheaval. 'We also must name the U.S contribution to Cuban suffering: our sixty-year-old embargo,' Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) tweeted. 'I outright reject the Biden administration's defense of the embargo. It is never acceptable for us to use cruelty as a point of leverage against every day people.' "Former Florida congresswoman DEBBIE MUCARSEL-POWELL publicly chastised the New York congresswoman's position on Twitter, pointing to 'failed policies of a communist regime that has violated human rights, imprisoned & killed dissidents.'" HOW MANY TIMES MUST I REPEAT MYSELF? — "Manchin Says No Filibuster Exception for Voting Rights Bill," Bloomberg: "Manchin said he wouldn't carve out an exemption to the chamber's filibuster rule for voting rights legislation, effectively dashing chances that Democrats could maneuver around Republican opposition to overhauling the nation's elections laws. "The West Virginia Democrat made the remarks after meeting with a group of Texas House Democrats who left the state to stall a vote on Republican-backed legislation that they say would restrict voting. 'Forget the filibuster,' Manchin told reporters after the meeting." MAN IN THE NEWS — "Mark Warner, a 'Business Guy' Democrat, Lands Back in the Fray," by NYT's Jonathan Weisman DEM. CONGRESSMAN ON DEFENSE— "Rep. Brad Schneider's office sued for hostile work environment, retaliation against Black employee," Roll Call: "PATRICE CAMPBELL, a Black staffer for Democratic Rep. BRAD SCHNEIDER of Illinois, is suing Schneider's office, alleging that her supervisor, KARYN DAVIDMAN, made lynching references directed at her … An emailed statement attributed only to Schneider's office said the complaint is not a complete or accurate accounting of the facts." BEATTY ARRESTED — "CBC Chair Rep. Joyce Beatty, Black women protesters arrested by Capitol Police," by TheGrio's April Ryan: "Activist TAMIKA MALLORY is calling Thursday's arrest of Congressional Black Caucus Chair JOYCE BEATTY and others 'a true act of solidarity' as Black women convened on Capitol Hill to press U.S. senators to pass voting rights legislation. "Police officers on the Hill arrested 10 Black women in the Senate Hart Building including Democratic Rep. Beatty of Ohio and MELANIE CAMPBELL of the Black Women's Roundtable. The women were transported to Capitol police holding in vans. Their jail conditions included a community toilet in the cell resembling those of county lockups across the country." PANDEMIC ONE STEP BACK — "L.A. County will require masks indoors amid alarming rise in coronavirus cases," L.A. Times DEADLY DISINFORMATION — "Surgeon general issues warning over vaccine misinformation as White House turns up the heat on Facebook," by CNN's Kaitlan Collins and Donie O'Sullivan: "Meetings between the Biden administration and Facebook in recent weeks have been 'tense,' a source familiar with the conversations told CNN. … The source said Biden officials who had taken concerns about vaccine misinformation to Facebook had concluded that the company were either not 'taking this very seriously, or they are hiding something,' due to what they view as Facebook's unwillingness to tackle vaccine misinformation. "A Facebook spokesperson did not directly respond to the source's characterization of the company's efforts but told CNN that Facebook is working to tackle Covid-19 misinformation and has launched initiatives like a vaccine appointment tool." IT'S PERSONAL FOR MURTHY — "Surgeon General Reveals He's Lost 10 Relatives To Covid As He Campaigns Against Vaccine Misinformation," by Forbes' Jessica McEvoy TRUMP CARDS WAG THE DOG — The New Yorker's Susan Glasser is out with yet another revelation about Gen. MARK MILLEY'S efforts to rein Trump in after the election, taken from the research she's done for her and Peter Baker's book next year: "It was not public at the time, but Milley believed that the nation had come close — 'very close' — to conflict with the Islamic Republic. … To prevent such an outcome, Milley had, since late in 2020, been having morning phone meetings, at 8 a.m. on most days, with the White House chief of staff, MARK MEADOWS, and Secretary of State MIKE POMPEO, in the hopes of getting the country safely through to Joe Biden's Inauguration. … "Milley repeatedly met in private with the Joint Chiefs. He told them to make sure there were no unlawful orders from Trump and not to carry out any such orders without calling him first … To concerned members of Congress — including Speaker NANCY PELOSI and Senate Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL — and also emissaries from the incoming Biden Administration, Milley also put out the word: Trump might attempt a coup, but he would fail because he would never succeed in co-opting the American military." SCAMMER SAGA — "Porsches, Gucci rings and billions of robocalls: Inside the PAC operation that raised millions by impersonating Donald Trump," by CNN's Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck SIGN O' THE TIMES? — "Ticket sales are moving slowly for the coming Trump-O'Reilly stadium tour," by Daniel Lippman EX-FILES — "Explosive Interview Directly Implicates Trump in Tax Scheme," by Daily Beast's Jose Pagliery TV TONIGHT — PBS' "Washington Week": Jasmine Wright, Sahil Kapur, Peter Baker and Abby Livingston. Washington Week Extra only: Ed Augustin. SUNDAY SO FAR … | FOX | "Fox News Sunday": Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.). Panel: Karl Rove, Susan Page and Harold Ford Jr. Power Player: Masih Alinejad. | Gray TV | "Full Court Press": NASA Administrator Bill Nelson … Mae Jemison. | MSNBC | "The Sunday Show": Texas state Rep. James Talarico … House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) … Michael Wolff … Robin DiAngelo … Joe Walsh. | CBS | "Face the Nation": Chris Krebs … Scott Gottlieb … new polling with Anthony Salvanto. | CNN | "Inside Politics": Panel: Rachael Bade, Toluse Olorunnipa, Jackie Kucinich and Tamara Keith. | ABC | "This Week": Panel: Rick Klein, Julie Pace and Michel Martin. | | | | | | 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 | | KATHY'S BACK: Kathy Griffin wants to know … where is Yashar Ali? The HuffPost blogger and New York Mag contributor is suffering from a mild, self-imposed cancellation. He's been silent on Twitter since a bombshell Los Angeles Magazine profile last month detailed a life of grift that included living with Griffin. "I'm so obsessed with this story because I lived it. Where is he living? Does he have any money?" Griffin asked rhetorically when we caught up with her at a party at Molly Jong-Fast's house Thursday night. "What happened with Chrissy Teigen? They were super tight." Griffin has suffered through her own cancellation. But after a hellacious four years that included a two-month federal investigation for a bad Trump joke, she is returning to the screen — this time, scripted. Griffin has always just been herself, a comedian, but she's found herself now cast in acting roles, which she called "a new surprise." She told Playbook the directors in the projects sought her out. "They said, 'If I can have a hand in the Kathy Griffin renaissance, that's what I want to be a part of.'" ALSO SPOTTED: Noah Shachtman celebrating his new editor-in-chief role at Rolling Stone, Joan Walsh, George Conway, Stephanie and Jon Allen, Kristen Hawn, Tom Nichols, Gardiner Hasty, Matt Greenfield and Jesse Cannon. RUM DIARIES: Dominican Ambassador Sonia Guzman opened up the terrace at her residence to guests Thursday night, serving Barcelo Rum and La Aurora and Capa Natural cigars. SPOTTED: Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Guatemalan Ambassador Alfonso Quiñónez, Maryland Secretary of State John C. Wobensmith, Jon Kott, Jon Stahler, Jeff Sanchez and Rohan Patel. AOC VS. HER DOG … @AnnieGrayerCNN: "@AOC tells me she views the $3.5 trillion budget resolution as 'absolutely a progressive victory.'" @AnnieGrayerCNN, a few hours earlier: "AOC is holding a virtual town hall and her dog, Deco, started barking in the background as she was talking about the bipartisan infrastructure bill. 'Deco's upset about the bipartisan bill' AOC said." MEDIAWATCH — NBC's Kasie Hunt announced that today was her last show as host of "Way Too Early" in MSNBC's 5 a.m. hour. TRUMP ALUMNI — Former acting A.G. Jeffrey Rosen is now a nonresident fellow in social, cultural and constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute, as part of a new Center for American Constitutional Governance. … James Schindler is now legislative counsel for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). He most recently was senior adviser at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in the Trump Interior Department. … Wayne Palmer is now senior adviser for federal affairs at the Industrial Minerals Association - North America. He most recently was deputy assistant secretary of the Mine Safety & Health Administration at the Department of Labor. TRANSITIONS — Rep. Victoria Spartz's (R-Ind.) office has added Phillip Pinegar as legislative director (previously in then-VP Mike Pence's office), replacing Erica Barker, who has moved up to be deputy chief of staff and counsel. … Sydney Thomas is now on Sen. Mike Lee's (R-Utah) team as comms director for the Joint Economic Committee. She previously was comms director for Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.). … … Aaron Kleiner is now director for government affairs and public policy at Unity Technologies. He previously was senior director and chief of staff in Microsoft's privacy and regulatory affairs group. … Campbell O'Connor will be an account director for media relations and health care at Weber Shandwick. He currently is an account supervisor for media at GCI Health. … Marion Smith has been appointed president and CEO of the Common Sense Society. He previously was executive director of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Aurora Matthews, VP of New Heights Communications, and Justin Stolz, an estimator at rand* construction, welcomed Sawyer Edward Stolz on July 7. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) … FERC Commissioner Neil Chatterjee … NYT's Shane Goldmacher … CBS' Ben Tracy … Maddie Conway … Randy DeCleene of kglobal … Stami Williams … Julie Tagen of Rep. Jamie Raskin's (D-Md.) office … Chad Carlough … Anita McBride … Scott Melville of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association … Sarah Hasse of the House Small Business GOP (24) … Marisol Samayoa of Sen. Mark Kelly's (D-Ariz.) office … Karin Johanson … Amanda Henneberg of Cavalry … Riley Roberts … Kathy Calvin … Betty Hudson … AMA's Justin DeJong … Jennifer Cummings … Advanced Advocacy's Zach Sentementes … Molly Ritner ... Amanda Hallberg Greenwell ... Manuel Bonilla … Doug Feith … Don Willett, judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit … former Reps. Ross Spano (R-Fla.) and Michael Bilirakis (R-Fla.) (91) … Chad Griffin … POLITICO's Kalon Makle and Luc Traugott … former Labor Secretary Alexis Herman … Marcus Towns II … ABC's Teri Whitcraft 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 Amazon: It's not just Amazon employees who noticed the immediate benefit of increasing their starting wage to at least $15 an hour — a new study from the University of California-Berkeley and Brandeis University found that when Amazon raised its wages, the average hourly wage in the surrounding area rose by 4.7% as other employers followed their lead. Learn more about what else the research found. | | | | | | | 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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