| | | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza, Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels and Tara Palmeri | | | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | We have liftoff. Early this morning, in a 50-49 vote along party lines, the Senate passed a $3.5 trillion budget resolution that outlines the Dems' policy agenda. We stayed up late watching the Senate vote-a-rama, the long and free-wheeling debate over amendments to the budget resolution. The vote-a-rama is meaningless in some ways. The amendments — as well as the underlying resolution — are all non-binding. The exercise has become mostly about crafting language to put the other party in a bind. But the process can be revealing. There's a tit-for-tat quality to the proceeding that tests each side's political debating skills. Sen. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-Iowa) put forward an amendment to prevent any changes to the SALT deduction "that mainly benefit the wealthy." Not bad! He hit a soft spot for Dems, some of whom represent high-income states and demanded that SALT relief be included in the budget (against the wishes of the White House). It allowed Grassley to call Democrats hypocrites for proposing "tax cuts for the wealthy" and wanting to make the tax code less progressive. Wait a second, the Democrats responded, the GOP is talking about a progressive tax code? Sen. RON WYDEN (D-Ore.) immediately put forward an amendment "relating to increasing the progressivity of the tax code." Every Republican voted against it. But so did two Democrats: MAGGIE HASSAN (N.H.), who is up for reelection next year, and JEANNE SHAHEEN (N.H.). Another vulnerability exposed. So what did we learn from the vote-a-rama? The big culture war issues that might be very effective in next year's election are easy to maneuver around in the Senate. Democrats and Republicans voted unanimously in favor of an anti-defund the police amendment from Sen. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-Ala.). Ditto for an amendment from Sen. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-Minn.) to honor the police and first responders who protected the Capitol on Jan. 6. Similarly, Democrats did not take the bait on an amendment concerning U.S. funding for "terrorist organizations such as Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad," or even one to prohibit enactment of the Green New Deal ; both passed unanimously. | | A message from Amazon: "Going from nine dollars an hour to now earning 15 an hour at Amazon, I can help my family... and save money for college… if I hadn't taken this job, I don't know where I would be right now. It was life-changing for me."
Amazon has seen the impact that $15 and benefits can make . Learn more about how it helps employees and their communities at aboutamazon.com/15. | | | But if there was one area where the Republican Party repeatedly revealed a Democratic divide, it was on climate policy. Some examples: — Republicans peeled off eight senators — MICHAEL BENNET (D-Colo.), BOB CASEY (D-Pa.), MARTIN HEINRICH (D-N.M.), JOHN HICKENLOOPER (D-Colo.), ANGUS KING (I-Maine), BEN RAY LUJÁN (D-N.M.), JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) and JON TESTER (D-Mont.) — in a vote over banning fracking, a big priority for progressives. — Republicans won over four Democrats — MARK KELLY (Ariz.), KYRSTEN SINEMA (Ariz.), Manchin and Tester — in a vote on preventing federal funding for fossil fuel-burning power plants. — Republicans wooed three Democrats — Kelly, Manchin and Sinema — in a politically adroit vote to means-test President JOE BIDEN's electric vehicle tax credits. Electric cars are more expensive on average than ones with gasoline engines, and the Biden plan would allow Americans of any income buying any kind of electric vehicle to take advantage of the credits. But why, Sen. DEB FISCHER (R-Neb.) asked, should the government "subsidize luxury vehicles" for the wealthy? The three Democrats thought that was a good question. — Then there was the livestock flatulence vote. Sen. JONI ERNST (R-Iowa), standing next to a sign that said "No Cow Tax," proposed an amendment to stop "permit requirements on farmers and ranchers" or "the imposition of new Federal methane requirements on livestock." Her amendment attracted 17 Democratic votes. Some of those were clearly from progressives who viewed the language as harmless — there are no pending animal flatulence regulations in the pipeline — but moderates like Kelly, Sinema and Tester also backed it. — Finally, a major dividing line in progressive circles is between climate activists who want to ramp up renewables as fast as possible (which often means relying on low-cost products from China) and the "Buy America" wing aligned with labor and human rights advocates who want to build up these industries in America and ban federal purchases from China. Sen. DAN SULLIVAN (R-Alaska) drove a truck through that divide with an amendment to prohibit "renewable energy projects receiving federal funds and subsidies from purchasing materials, technology, and critical minerals produced in China." Eight Senate progressives, including the chamber's top climate hawks — RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-Conn.), CORY BOOKER (D-N.J.), TOM CARPER (D-Del.), KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-N.Y.), ED MARKEY (D-Mass.), CHRIS MURPHY (D-Conn.), BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.) and SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-R.I.) — refused to join 90 of their Senate colleagues in supporting the amendment. Climate activists, buoyed by a frightening U.N. report released Monday, are already feeling marginalized after the Biden infrastructure bill ditched their priorities. If they were watching the vote-a-rama Tuesday night, they have cause for concern about being given short shrift in the reconciliation bill as well. BONUS MANCHIN-BUCKING-HIS-PARTY VOTE: The West Virginian was the only Dem to join every Republican in supporting an amendment from Sen. TOM COTTON (R-Ark.) prohibiting the teaching of critical race theory in K-12 schools. Read our intrepid budget reporters Caitlin Emma and Jennifer Scholtes for the main recap of the whole process. THE NEXT BIG QUESTION MARK — "GOP prays Sinema and Manchin pare back Dems' big spending bill," by Burgess Everett: "The two moderates may try to slash down their party's ambitions. But as one Republican put it: 'What's down? $100 million? $1 trillion?'" Good Wednesday morning, and thanks for reading Playbook. Between infrastructure and the ANDREW CUOMO resignation, Tuesday was a crazy news day. Yet the top-read story on WaPo's website Tuesday night? "The enduring power of Rickrolling: Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up' surpasses a billion views on YouTube." We pass no judgment on Post readers here … we couldn't resist clicking, either. It was actually quite worth it, especially for the two Playbook team members who were children of the '80s. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri. | | A message from Amazon: $15 an hour and benefits give Leonardo and Amazon employees like him the freedom to do more — save up for a family vacation, go back to school, or upgrade their homes. | | | BIDEN'S WEDNESDAY: — 10 a.m.: The president will receive the President's Daily Brief. — 11:15 a.m.: Biden will meet virtually with business, university and health care leaders to discuss vaccinations. — 1:15 p.m.: Biden will deliver remarks on his Build Back Better agenda in the East Room. — 3 p.m.: Biden will meet with governors, mayors and other state, local and tribal officials to discuss the infrastructure bill. Press secretary JEN PSAKI will brief at 12:15 p.m. THE HOUSE and THE SENATE are 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: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo heads to a helicopter in Manhattan on Tuesday as he plans to step down in a couple of weeks. | Mark Lennihan/AP Photo | CUOMO GOES DOWN Former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York PREET BHARARA: "I was a little taken aback that he said his resignation is effective in 14 days — and it may be overly cynical on my part — but I believe that ANDREW CUOMO was a person of mischief." Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT): "It isn't just a Cuomo detractor speculating about this. Some folks close to Cuomo have too." "'The king is dead': Albany toasts Cuomo's collapse — and worries about his ghosts," by Bill Mahoney in Albany: "Denizens of the New York State Capitol celebrated on Tuesday afternoon, with longtime foes of the soon to be former governor drinking champagne and pondering a future without Cuomo at the top. There was widespread praise for incoming Gov. KATHY HOCHUL … "Still, transitioning out of the Cuomo era will not be an easy task. Cuomo, after nearly three fiery terms at the helm, has tentacles that stretch into every corner of state government. Cleaning house would be a difficult task for any incoming governor — let alone one who can only promise potential replacements some 15 months of employment. And it's all but guaranteed that the various investigations into Cuomo will drag on for months or even years." THE TICK-TOCK — "Railing at Enemies and Pleading for Time: Inside Cuomo's Final Days," by NYT's Matt Flegenheimer, Maggie Haberman, William Rashbaum and Danny Hakim: "Behind the scenes, the governor vacillated between defiant and defeated, eventually accepting that his formidable political army had fallen away." — "How Cuomo's flexing of political power became his undoing," by WaPo's Josh Dawsey and Michael Scherer — "Cuomo accusers react to governor's resignation," ABC — The N.Y. tabs have a field day: "AT THE END OF HIS GROPE," N.Y. Post … "KISS HIM G'BYE," N.Y. Daily News INFRASTRUCTURE YEAR INTERESTING PRAISE — "McConnell Credits Biden for Infrastructure Breakthrough, Dismisses Trump Criticism," by WSJ's Lindsay Wise: "Senate Minority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL credited President Biden with helping to get the roughly $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed in the Senate, but said he doesn't anticipate many more opportunities for Republicans to work with Democrats. … "'There's nothing to back you up like the promise of a presidential signatory , if you're in the same party as the president,' [McConnell] said. 'And so I think the president deserves a lot of credit for getting the Democrats open to reaching a bipartisan agreement on this bill.'" … 'When the president ran for office, he said he was a moderate, so I was looking for some evidence of it,' Mr. McConnell said. 'And we finally, finally found it.'" THE LIMITS OF GOODWILL — "Biden scores a bipartisan win. Even his team isn't 'Pollyannaish' about more," by Chris Cadelago and Laura Barrón-López: "The passage of the [infrastructure] bill caps a remarkable stretch of negotiations between the administration and the Senate, one that moderates from both parties believe could serve as a blueprint for future agreements. … "But 'momentum,' as described by [LOUISA] TERRELL, is often short-lived in Congress. And even as the White House celebrated passage of the infrastructure bill, it remains unclear what other agenda items Republicans will be willing to collaborate on. Even advocates for bipartisanship are skeptical about future deals. … Beyond infrastructure, it remains unclear what types of bipartisan cooperation can be achieved on other legislative items. Even those who spend their days promoting political moderation aren't bullish about the prospects." POLITICS ROUNDUP WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS — "Texas House speaker signs warrants to arrest 52 wayward Democrats," Dallas Morning News: "The House voted 80-12 to issue the warrants, hours after the Texas Supreme Court blocked a lower court order preventing arrest warrants for fugitive legislators." WHAT HAS REPUBLICANS SALIVATING — "U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, Wisconsin's longest-serving member of Congress, won't seek reelection," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "'The truth is I've run out of gas,' [RON KIND] told reporters. The move comes a year away from the 2022 primaries and as Republican DERRICK VAN ORDEN prepares a bid for the district that runs through Western and central Wisconsin. Van Orden narrowly lost to Kind in 2020. … "Said Kind: 'I'm part of a dying breed in public service today in Washington and certainly in Madison — someone who tried to be reasonable, pragmatic, thoughtful, worked hard to try to find common ground with my colleagues, work in a bipartisan way to find bipartisan solutions for the challenges that we face.' … Kind's departure will make it tougher for Democrats to maintain their 220-212 control of the House." BREAKING DOWN 2010 — "Census data spurred GOP's largest partisan edge in decades," by AP's David Lieb: "Fresh off sweeping electoral victories a decade ago, Republican politicians used census data to draw voting districts that gave them a greater political advantage in more states than either party had in the past 50 years, according to a new Associated Press analysis." Dave Wasserman (@redistrict): "The first thing I'll be watching when detailed Census data arrives on Thursday: whether minority counts are far lower than estimates suggested. 2020 *estimates* of the U.S. resident population: White: 59.8% Hispanic: 18.6% Black: 12.5% Asian/Other: 9.1%. Actual 2020 Census: ??" THERE GOES DEMS' FAVORITE TARGET — "Betsy DeVos says she's not running for governor of Michigan," by The Detroit News' Ingrid Jacques CASH DASH — "DeSantis rakes in cash as Florida's Covid wars rage," by Matt Dixon in Tallahassee: "Gov. RON DESANTIS has built a national political brand. Need proof? Just look at his political committee's more than $4 million July haul. DeSantis … last month brought in political contributions from every state in the country and several United States territories as well as from members of the military serving overseas, according to campaign finance records." | | | | A message from Amazon:   $15 an hour helps Leonardo save for college classes. | | | PANDEMIC SURVEY SAYS — "Poll: Majorities support vaccine, mask mandates — but not Republicans," by Marc Caputo: "The [POLITICO/Morning Consult] survey also found that about half of all voters blame the new wave of infections that have sent numbers spiking equally on the unvaccinated and on political leaders opposed to mask-wearing and social-distancing mandates. … "[M]ore than 8 in 10 Democrats and at least half of independent voters want to require vaccinations for all Americans (except those with medical conditions), for employees who work in their area and for those who go to gyms or entertainment venues. But those requirements are supported by roughly 35 percent of Republicans … When it comes to mask mandates, Republican support inches up a few percentage points, but a majority is still opposed while nearly all Democrats and a majority [of] independents are in favor." WALENSKY SPEAKS — "America is missing vaccination goals, and Delta is raging, but it's not because 'anything particularly went wrong,' CDC Director Rochelle Walensky says," by Insider's Nicholas Carlson: "'[W]e have to understand sort of the big root of the issue and that the investment in public health, the investment in the infrastructure, was never capable of what was required of them in this moment.'" AMERICA AND THE WORLD POSTED OVERNIGHT — "U.S. officials warn collapse of Afghan capital could come sooner than expected," by WaPo's Dan Lamothe, John Hudson, Shane Harris and Anne Gearan: "The Biden administration is preparing for Afghanistan's capital to fall far sooner than feared only weeks ago, as a rapid disintegration of security has prompted the revision of an already stark intelligence assessment predicting Kabul could be overrun within six to 12 months of the U.S. military departing, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with the matter." GOOD LUCK — "Biden says Afghans must 'fight for themselves' as Taliban advances, does not regret U.S. withdrawal," CNBC LITTLE ROCKET WOMAN — "'Treacherous': Kim Jong-un's sister condemns South Korea-U.S. war games," Agence France-Presse: "KIM YO-JONG's latest remarks come despite a surprise thaw on the Korean peninsula … By carrying out the drills, Seoul and Washington would 'surely face greater security threats', she said, and the North would strengthen its defence and pre-emptive strike capabilities." KNOWING QIN GANG — "Is China's New U.S. Ambassador a 'Wolf Warrior'—or a Fox?" by Melinda Liu in Beijing for Foreign Policy: "QIN [GANG] cannot risk deviating markedly from his senior colleagues' tone. The 55-year-old diplomat, a fluent English speaker, is expected to be more pugnacious than his predecessor, CUI TIANKAI, a veteran specialist in U.S. affairs. At the same time, those of us in the press corps who have known Qin for years have seen a deft, wily player who is not necessarily anti-American (before joining the diplomatic corps in 1992, he was a news assistant at United Press International, a major U.S. wire service) but who knows how to bend with the prevailing wind from Beijing. "Most importantly, Qin is seen to be a confidante of XI [JINPING] 's. Thus, Qin may well play a critical role in finding a way forward for a U.S.-China relationship that often seems irremediably broken but is necessary to solving some of the biggest problems of the day, including Covid-19 and climate change." MEDIAWATCH TUCKER, UH, GETS RESULTS? — "Tucker Carlson's Spying Allegations Being Investigated by National Security Agency Watchdog," WSJ: "The review will examine NSA's compliance with laws and policies governing intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination, including procedures surrounding the unmasking of the redacted identities of U.S. citizens or residents caught up in surveillance of foreign nationals, NSA Inspector General ROBERT STORCH said. … "The allegation of improper NSA surveillance prompted a rare statement from the NSA rejecting the claims. 'This allegation is untrue,' an NSA spokesman said at the time." BOOK CLUB — "'A Publisher's Worst Nightmare': How Cuomo's Book Became a Cautionary Tale," by NYT's Alexandra Alter and Elizabeth Harris: "At the time, it seemed like a guaranteed best seller. … Crown, an imprint of Penguin Random House, beat out competitors with an offer of more than $5 million. It was a gamble on an author whose previous memoir sold fewer than 4,000 hardcover copies. And it backfired spectacularly. … "'American Crisis: Leadership Lessons From the Covid-19 Pandemic' became a source of financial and ethical headaches for Crown. Sales were surprisingly weak for a title that Crown had invested in heavily, with fewer than 50,000 hardcover copies sold … Following Mr. Cuomo's resignation announcement on Tuesday, questions remained about whether Crown will pay the remainder of his advance." | | | | 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 | | IN MEMORIAM — "Neal Conan, Longtime Host Of NPR's 'Talk Of The Nation,' Dies At 71," by NPR's Robert Siegel FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Fiasco — a documentary series "about politics, power and uncertainty" based on the podcast of the same name — will debut on EPIX on Sept. 19 at 10 p.m. The first season of Leon Neyfakh's six-episode series will cover the Iran-Contra affair. Watch the trailer NEW NOMINATIONS — The White House announced a new slate of U.S. attorney nominations: Jessica Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia, Carla Freedman for the Northern District of New York, William Ihlenfeld for the Northern District of West Virginia, Christopher Kavanaugh for the Western District of Virginia, Darcie McElwee for the District of Maine, Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York, William Thompson for the Southern District of West Virginia and Damian Williams for the prominent Southern District of New York. STAFFING UP — "Biden to tap Prelogar for solicitor general," by AP's Aamer Madhani: "Biden has decided to nominate acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar to serve in the job in a permanent basis." — The White House also put out a batch of other administration nominations, including María Luisa Pagán as deputy USTR in Geneva, Christopher Wilson as chief innovation and intellectual property negotiator at the Office of the USTR, Leopoldo Martinez as executive director and M. Fabiana Jorge as alternate executive director of the Inter-American Development Bank, Sasha Baker as deputy undersecretary of Defense for policy, Sean Coffey as general counsel of the Department of the Navy, Sarah Cleveland as legal adviser of the State Department, Joshua Frost as assistant Treasury secretary for financial markets, and Amy Loyd as assistant Education secretary for career, technical and adult education. TRANSITIONS — C.J. Warnke is joining the Hub Project as senior manager for state comms. He previously was press secretary for Sen. Gary Peters' (D-Mich.) reelection and is an Amy Klobuchar presidential campaign alum. … Marysol Ibarra is now comms director for Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.). She previously was a press fellow for Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.). … Mackenzie Martinez is now press secretary for Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio). She most recently was press assistant for Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.). WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Abdullah Alaoudh, Gulf director at Democracy for the Arab World Now, and Taghreed Alsabeh, a Ph.D. candidate in political science at Loyola University Chicago and former lecturer at King Saud University, welcomed son Aban on Sunday. — Frederick Deknatel, executive editor for DAWN's Democracy in Exile publication, and Emily McGoldrick, director of creative services at Dizon Inc., welcomed daughter Shea last week. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) and Billy Long (R-Mo.) … David Brooks (6-0) … Matt Morgan of Barnes & Thornburg … Charles Blow … POLITICO's Toby Eckert, Michael Roberts and Joel Lau … Rob O'Donnell … Chris Berry of iHeartMedia … Vice's Liz Landers … Joanna Piacenza of Morning Consult … Rising Tide Interactive's Brian Krebs … Alex Siciliano of the Petrizzo Group … NYT's Lyndsey Layton … CNN's Rachel Smolkin … Lauren Maddox of Holland & Knight … Jesse Barba of Young Invincibles … Chris Lisi … Dan Wolf … Kedrin Simms Brachman ... Charlene Barshefsky … DemList's Kimberly Scott … Albert Morales … Marissa Hopkins … DOE's Colin Cunliff … former Sen. Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark.) ... Pamitha Weerasinghe ... John Kohler ... Thad Huguley … John Files … David Rubenstein … Pamela Lynne Sorensen … Mollyann Brodie … Greg Michaelidis … Mitra Kalita of URL Media … Sam Myers Jr. … Maggie Tennis … Eric Reicin … Ilana Drimmer 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: "This is the first time in my life that I have dental insurance, visual insurance, [and] life insurance."
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