| | | | | |  | | By Tara Palmeri, Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels and Ryan Lizza | | | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | ABOUT LAST NIGHT (BIF STYLE): It's mornings like these we thank our lucky stars we're not Senate reporters! After hanging around for hours and hours Thursday — then late into the night — trying for a deal to pass the infrastructure bill, the chamber went home around midnight. Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER did file cloture on the bill, however, setting up next votes on the package as early as Saturday. A bunch of senators, meanwhile, are flying to Wyoming this morning to pay their respects to the late Sen. MIKE ENZI. THE LATEST — "Senate punts infrastructure vote after amendment meltdown," by Burgess Everett: "Senators in both parties spent the entire day assembling a package of amendments for consideration that could grease the wheels to final passage, but Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) refused to sign off under intense lobbying from Republican colleagues." The reason? This: "CBO says bipartisan infrastructure bill would add $256B to deficit over 10 years," The Hill More: "Senators struggle to amend, finish $1T infrastructure bill," AP THE POLITICS OF HERSCHEL WALKER — Days after MITCH MCCONNELL's political flacks complained about our reporting detailing the GOP leader's concerns about HERSCHEL WALKER running for Senate in Georgia, CNN has a story confirming the scoop and adding to it. McConnell, it turns out, is so worried about the former NFL star and DONALD TRUMP favorite becoming the GOP nominee that he's seeking other candidates. CNN's Manu Raju, Alex Rogers and Michael Warren report that McConnell "has suggested to allies that former Georgia senators DAVID PERDUE and KELLY LOEFFLER should take another look at running again, according to three sources familiar with the matter … McConnell, who has privately expressed his deep concerns with Walker's potential candidacy … is also meeting this week with another potential candidate -- former Trump national security official LATHAM SADDLER -- according to a source familiar with the situation." Two tidbits of our own to add to this: — Not all Republicans want Loeffler; some see her as damaged goods. Skeptics worry she'll be a MARTHA MCSALLY 2.0: a former member appointed by a GOP governor who couldn't get it done in an election. Why pour tons of money into her as a candidate, they say, after her failure the first time? — Perdue has also been grappling with whether to run, according to two GOP sources. While speaking with Trump earlier this year about the possibility, the former president went off on a tangent about the "stolen election" and how much he despised McConnell. Maggie Haberman tweeted about it at the time. Perdue confided to Republicans back then that he wasn't going to run again because he didn't want to get caught up in the drama. A few days ago, though, Perdue, who lost his seat in January to Democrat JON OSSOFF, showed up in the Senate. So perhaps he's reconsidering. WHITE HOUSE SWEATS CONFIRMATION PACE — It's been nearly eight months, and the Biden administration does not have a single ambassador to a country confirmed. For comparison, GEORGE W. BUSH had 64 ambassadors confirmed at this point in his term. Now White House officials say there's genuine concern that as of this week, President JOE BIDEN is trailing behind Trump in terms of Senate-confirmed appointees, and is nearly 200 appointees behind BARACK OBAMA and GEORGE W. BUSH — giving Biden the worst record of confirmed appointees in recent history. The Biden administration is using the August recess as a marker to pressure the Senate to confirm a package of noncontroversial nominees before they take off, and has been trying to negotiate with McConnell, according to a White House official. The finger-pointing from the White House isn't just at Republicans but at Schumer, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. But with BIF and the budget dominating the agenda, all the Senate floor time has been focused on passing major legislation, leaving little time for confirmations. Schumer has touted the fact that in the first six months the Senate confirmed more judges than any other administration in the past 50 years. This all comes as Biden has promised to reset U.S. relationships around the world — a tall task without a single ambassador in place. A nominee has yet to be named to lead the Office of Management and Budget, a key Cabinet post. The FDA commissioner is also acting, without a nominee submitted. And the powerful position of U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York is still awaiting a confirmation. "We're missing critical leadership in our government," said MAX STIER, president of the Partnership for Public Service, which tracks nominations. "Yes there are people in acting roles and they can be amazing, but they don't have the same political horizon. It's the substitute teacher phenomenon. You're there to keep the class going, but you're not there for the long haul." Happy Friday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri. | | A message from Facebook: The internet has changed a lot since 1996 - internet regulations should too
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– Reforming Section 230 | | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — For months, the Biden administration has hammered home the idea that the line between domestic and foreign policy is almost non-existent. (Or as our Nahal Toosi has called it: "omnipolicy." ) On Monday, Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN will speak at the University of Maryland on the topic. A State Department official tells us: "What we do now in terms of our long-term domestic investments will cement for decades to come our global competitiveness, including vis-à-vis China and the rest of the world." THE DEMOCRATIC 'CIVIL WAR' IN OHIO — The Democratic establishment dealt a crushing blow to the progressive movement this week in Ohio, where tensions, bad blood and intraparty allegiances were on full display. What can we learn from a special congressional primary that quickly became a national spectacle? And what does it say about the direction of one of the most powerful political forces in Washington, the Congressional Black Caucus? POLITICO's Ally Mutnick performs an autopsy with Ryan. Listen and subscribe to Playbook Deep Dive | 
| | | | |   | | | BIDEN'S FRIDAY: — 9:30 a.m.: The president will receive the President's Daily Brief. — 10:30 a.m.: Biden will speak about the July jobs report from the East Room. — 12:30 p.m.: Biden will leave the White House for Wilmington, Del., arriving at 1:25 p.m. — 2:15 p.m.: Biden and VP KAMALA HARRIS will receive their weekly economic briefing virtually. Press secretary JEN PSAKI will brief at 1 p.m. THE SENATE is in. THE HOUSE will meet at noon in a pro forma session. Speaker NANCY PELOSI will hold her weekly presser at 10 a.m. | | | | 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: President Joe Biden climbs out of a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Xe after driving it around the White House driveway following remarks during an event on the South Lawn on Thursday, Aug. 5. | Win McNamee/Getty Images | THE WHITE HOUSE BREAKING OVERNIGHT — "White House backs senators pushing for stricter crypto reporting rules," by CNBC's MacKenzie Sigalos and Christina Wilkie DRASTIC TIMES, DRASTIC MEASURES — "Biden administration considers withholding funds and other measures to spur vaccinations," by WaPo's Annie Linskey and Tyler Pager: "The Biden administration is considering using federal regulatory powers and the threat of withholding federal funds from institutions to push more Americans to get vaccinated — a huge potential shift in the fight against the virus and a far more muscular approach to getting shots into arms, according to four people familiar with the deliberations. "The effort could apply to institutions as varied as long-term care facilities, cruise ships and universities, potentially impacting millions of Americans, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations. The conversations are in the early phases and no firm decisions have been made, the people said. One outside lawyer in touch with the Biden administration on the issue is recommending that the president use federal powers sparingly." MORE NOMINATION WOES — "Gun safety groups to Biden: Do more to get your point man confirmed," by Anita Kumar: "The confirmation of DAVID CHIPMAN to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is increasingly in peril. And now gun violence survivors and activists are going public with their long-simmering private frustrations, saying President Joe Biden could have done more. … "In half a dozen interviews, those advocating for Chipman's confirmation complained that Biden and his top aides have not leaned enough on Democratic senators to get them to support the confirmation. … Frustrations became evident during a Zoom call on Thursday afternoon with CEDRIC RICHMOND." CONGRESS INFLATION WATCH — "Manchin takes on the Fed, rejecting Biden's inflation defense," by Victoria Guida: "Sen. JOE MANCHIN on Thursday urged Federal Reserve Chair JEROME POWELL to pare back economic stimulus to avoid stoking inflation, in a rare rebuke of the central bank by a Democratic lawmaker." Manchin's letter NOT GOOD — "GOP congressman suing Pelosi over mask mandate contracts covid," WaPo: "Rep. RALPH NORMAN (R-S.C.), one of three Republican members of Congress who last week filed a lawsuit against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the House mask mandate, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, he said in a statement Thursday. Norman [said] he would be in quarantine for the next 10 days and work virtually 'to every extent possible.' "A week ago, Norman — with Reps. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.) and THOMAS MASSIE (R-Ky.) — filed a lawsuit against Pelosi (D-Calif.) arguing that fines they had incurred for not wearing masks on the House floor were unconstitutional. The three were each fined $500 in May for mask violations." HOT ON THE LEFT — "Nancy Pelosi's Surprise Flip on Student Debt Cancellation Came After Urging from Billionaire Power Couple," by The Intercept's Ken Klippenstein and Ryan Grim: "The House Speaker's change of heart came after STEVEN and MARY SWIG circulated a memo against cancellation via executive order." JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH TURF WAR — "Jan. 6 select panel takes over House probe of Trump DOJ," by Betsy Woodruff Swan and Nicholas Wu: "[The Oversight Committee] has postponed multiple scheduled witness interviews about Donald Trump's final days in office, handing them off to the select panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. … An aide to the Jan. 6 panel, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not dispute the handoff and added that the select committee would announce 'additional actions' later." POLITICS ROUNDUP FINALLY — "Data used for drawing districts to be released next week," by AP's Mike Schneider: "After a delay of more than four months caused by the pandemic, data from the 2020 census used for drawing congressional and legislative districts will be released next week, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday. "The bureau will publicize the data next Thursday, Aug. 12, four days before it had promised in a court agreement with the state of Ohio. The information was supposed to be released at the end of March but was pushed back to August to give bureau statisticians more time to crunch the numbers, which came in late because of delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The postponement sent states scrambling to change their redistricting deadlines." RON WATCH — "Is Ron DeSantis governing, campaigning or both? That depends on whom you ask," by Miami Herald's Ana Ceballos: "Gov. RON DESANTIS has a stable of taxpayer-paid staff that works to arrange logistics, security and messaging for his events, and just in the last month that has included: A mission to the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, a prime-time Fox News Town Hall on Cuban relations, and a closed-door discussion on mask wearing that his 'official' political team used in a fundraising email. "For DeSantis, who has not officially announced his reelection bid, the official events highlight the fine line he walks between governing and campaigning. His official state business is increasingly being promoted and used for fundraisers by his independent political action committee, taking advantage of narrow state laws that separate coordination between campaigns and outside groups." — "DeSantis feuds with Biden White House as COVID cases rise," by AP's Will Weissert and Brendan Farrington THE GOP'S FAVORITE EX-NSC EMPLOYEE — "Retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman not ruling out running for elected office," WaPo TOP-ED — MERRICK GARLAND KICKS TO CONGRESS: "It is time for Congress to act again to protect the right to vote," WaPo | | 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. | | | MOST HATED MAN CUOMO LATEST — "Andrew Cuomo 'cooperating' with Assembly impeach probe, rebuts retaliation 'impermissible,'" N.Y. Post: "Embattled Gov. ANDREW CUOMO will cooperate with a state Assembly probe as it moves toward likely impeachment proceedings in his sexual harassment scandal, a spokesman said Thursday." DEEP DIVE — "How Cuomo and His Team Retaliated Against His Accusers," by NYT's Luis Ferré-Sadurní and Jonah Bromwich: "The report laid bare how Mr. Cuomo had come to rely on a small band of advisers — not just his closest government aides, but also a handful of outside loyalists, even consulting leaders of groups dedicated to supporting gay rights and victims of sexual harassment. Many of those allies helped fine-tune his public response to the allegations and, in the most troubling instance, helped to spearhead a campaign to stymie them. "Mr. Cuomo sought counsel from former administration officials like ALPHONSO DAVID, now the president of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest L.G.B.T.Q. political lobbying organization in the country; TINA TCHEN, who heads Time's Up, a group that supports victims of sexual harassment; ROBERTA A. KAPLAN, who runs its Legal Defense Fund; and the governor's brother, CHRIS CUOMO." AMERICA AND THE WORLD TRADE WARS — "Business Groups Call on Biden to Restart Trade Talks With China," by WSJ's Bob Davis: "Nearly three dozen of the nation's most influential business groups—representing retailers, chip makers, farmers and others—are calling on the Biden administration to restart negotiations with China and cut tariffs on imports … The trade groups include some of Washington's most influential big business associations." TRUMP CARDS DAVID ROGERS ALERT/MUST-READ — "How Trump stiff-armed Congress — and gaslit the courts — to build his wall," by David Rogers: "Pentagon records obtained by POLITICO paint the clearest picture yet of how far the Trump administration went to get around Congress and speed the diversion of military construction funds to build its border wall in 2019. The diversion, totaling $3.6 billion, disrupted scores of improvements for military operations and the quality of life for troops and their families. "The newly released documents provide the first-ever look at the inner workings of how that money was moved around — and it's not a pretty sight for congressional committees, which were left in the dark and denied basic answers about the accounting maneuvers. The Defense Department ignored statutory language in the appropriations laws specifying how the dollars were to be used. Millions of dollars were moved to never-before-seen 'project lines' created by the Comptroller and then written into the military services' construction budgets without the knowledge of Congress." DAILY RUDY — "DOJ probe fails to find source of FBI leaks or evidence Giuliani had inside information about Hillary Clinton investigation," by WaPo's Devlin Barrett: "The report issued Thursday by Inspector General MICHAEL HOROWITZ said there were 'substantial media contacts' with numerous FBI employees, but the evidence could not determine 'whether these media contacts resulted in the disclosure of nonpublic information.' Horowitz faulted what he called 'a cultural attitude at the FBI that was far too permissive of unauthorized media contacts in 2016."' MEDIAWATCH A VACCINATION MANDATE WITH TEETH — "CNN Fires Three Staffers Who Came to Work Unvaccinated Against Covid-19,""by WSJ's Benjamin Mullin: "CNN President JEFF ZUCKER told staff Thursday that the network fired three employees who came to work without getting a Covid-19 vaccine, as the company steps up efforts to keep the virus from spreading in its offices. "In an email to employees Thursday, Mr. Zucker said that the terminated employees violated the company's honor system, which asked workers to attest that they were vaccinated but didn't require them to produce documentary evidence of their vaccination. He said showing proof of vaccination may become part of the process of entering CNN buildings." TV TONIGHT — PBS' "Washington Week": Leigh Ann Caldwell, Josh Dawsey, Lisa Lerer and Katherine Wu. SUNDAY SO FAR … | MSNBC | "The Sunday Show": Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) … Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) … Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) … U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield … Tina Tchen … Christine Quinn. | FOX | "Fox News Sunday": Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.). Panel: Steve Hayes, Marie Harf and Jonathan Swan. Power Player: Gitanjali Rao. | CBS | "Face the Nation": Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson … Scott Gottlieb … Alberto Carvalho. | Gray TV | "Full Court Press": Jerome Adams … Michael Osterholm … Lee Zurik. | NBC | "Meet the Press": Panel: Donna Edwards, Sara Fagen, Jake Sherman and Amy Walter. | ABC | "This Week": Panel: Chris Christie, Rahm Emanuel, Yvette Simpson and Sarah Isgur. | CNN | "Inside Politics": Panel: Paul Kane, Tamara Keith, Astead Herndon, Molly Ball and Jonathan Reiner. | | | | | | 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 | | SPOTTED: Former President Bill Clinton at the Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga concert at Radio City Music Hall on Thursday. (Flashback: Lady Gaga performs for Clinton's 65th birthday in 2011.) ... Speaker Nancy Pelosi at Peacock Cafe. SPOTTED at the Beer Institute's August recess kickoff reporter happy hour Thursday night at their office rooftop: Michael Fanone, Eugene Daniels, Molly Ball, Megan Boyanton, Laura Davison, Niels Lesniewski, Lori Sharn, Jennie Taer, Jerry Hagstrom, Jim McGreevy, Mary Jane Saunders, Dan Roth and Alex Davidson. MEDIA MOVES — Fox News announced some new moves/hires: Jacqui Heinrich will be a White House correspondent, Aishah Hasnie will be a congressional correspondent, and Alexandria Hoff will be a D.C.-based general assignment reporter. TRANSITIONS — Palmer Brigham will be comms director for Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.). She currently is press secretary for Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), and is a Doug Collins and Lamar Alexander alum. … Jessica Jacoby Lemos will be head of government affairs at Ocean Spray. She previously was director of federal government affairs at Walmart. … Siham Zniber is joining the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence as national press secretary. She most recently has worked in the press shop at Earthjustice, and is an SKDKnickerbocker alum. ENGAGED — Amelia Koehn, public affairs coordinator at Judicial Watch and an Independent Women's Forum alum, and Sterling Prout, chief engineer of the F/V Silver Spray based out of Kodiak, Alaska, got engaged July 17. He proposed in front of Columbia Glacier down the flanks of the Chugach Mountains on Jet Skis. They originally met through mutual friends at a rooftop get-together in D.C. Pic … Another pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Brent Blevins, a senior policy adviser for House Science ranking member Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), and Emily Gibson Blevins, a science policy analyst at the National Science Foundation, welcomed Virginia Katherine Blevins on Wednesday. Pic BIRTHWEEK (was Thursday): Melissa Canu of ICF International HAPPY BIRTHDAY: EPA Administrator Michael Regan … Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter … former VA Secretary Robert Wilkie … David Maraniss … Google's Malika Saada Saar … NYT's Neil Irwin … Erin Karriker … WSJ's Julie Bykowicz … Jonathan Riskind … Corey Jacobson of Rep. Ted Lieu's (D-Calif.) office … Jill Farrell of Judicial Watch … PBS NewsHour's Mike Melia … WaPo's Dan Diamond and Pat Reap … Steptoe's Elizabeth Burks … Doug Stafford … Marta Hernandez of the Senate Armed Services Committee … Tom Brandt, deputy chief of staff to Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) … Andrew Eisenberger ... Sarah Coyle … Supermajority's Amanda Brown Lierman … Adjoa Adofo Kyerematen … Anna Sekulow … Russ Anello of the House Oversight Dems … Sergio Bustos … Melanie Pfeiffenberger ... Jeffrey Lerner … McClatchy DC's Ben Wieder … Lindsay Bednar … Viktoria Seale ... Melissa Beaumont ... Klon Kitchen ... Allyson Browning … Cameron Lynch ... Michael Gill ... David Nolte ... Nicole Cohen ... J. Oliver Schak ... Rem Rieder ... former Rep. Parker Griffith (D-Ala.) … Cal Cunningham ... Nathan Baca of WUSA9 (4-0) … Ashley MacLeay … POLITICO's James Bikales … E&E News' Maria Jimenez Moya … Cherie Paquette Gillan … Democratic strategist Jeff Person (31) 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 SHARE YOUR OPINION: Please take a short, 3-question 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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