| | | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza, Rachael Bade, Tara Palmeri and Eugene Daniels | | | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | BREAKING THIS MORNING: President JOE BIDEN is expected to announce a new framework for his reconciliation package "that he expects will gain the support of all Democrats" ahead of his visit to Capitol Hill this morning, scoop WaPo's Tyler Pager and Sean Sullivan . "The White House plans to detail specific policies it expects to pass Congress after weeks of whittling down Biden's agenda, according to one of the people. Democrats on Capitol Hill were preparing written details of the revamped proposal for release on Thursday, according to the second person," they write. SIREN — House Majority Whip JAMES CLYBURN (D-S.C.), speaking to the Jewish Federation of Charleston on Wednesday night: "I'm not too sure that Democrats have yet developed the will to win in 2022." "The South Carolina Democrat characterized the current ideological divides in his party as the major threat to its tissue-thin majorities in the House and Senate," wrote Jewish Insider's Marc Rod , who covered the event. "These divides have been on stark display during the ongoing negotiations over the bipartisan infrastructure bill and 'Build Back Better' social spending bill, with intra-party trust between the center and the left severely tested. "'Progressives have got to feel like they can take a chance on moderates. Get outside of their comfort zone. Moderates have got to feel the same way about progressives,' Clyburn explained. 'And between those two, you've got the New [Democrats], you've got the Congressional Black Caucus, you've got the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, you've got the Asian and Pacific Islanders, all of us operating within our comfort zone.'" A BRUISING DAY ON THE RECONCILIATION PLAYGROUND — A senior White House official recently described the reconciliation negotiations as a "nine-way teeter-totter." Wednesday was a good example. Ever since Sen. KYRSTEN SINEMA (D-Ariz.) nixed the party's plan to raise corporate, individual and capital gains tax rates to pay for the bulk of the reconciliation bill, Democrats have been struggling to re-balance the revenue plank of the bill. Sen. RON WYDEN (D-Ore.) jumped on the seesaw Wednesday morning with his billionaires tax. Within hours it was knocked to the ground by Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.), who said it was "convoluted." Democrats spent the rest of the day scrambling for replacements. Late Wednesday night they zeroed in on a millionaire surtax, a version of which had been included in the original House plan. It has the benefit of being popular (the public overwhelmingly supports hiking taxes on the rich), simple (there are just two variables: the income level at which it kicks in and the rate of the surtax), and capable of raising lots of revenue (a version introduced by Sen. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN and Rep. DON BEYER would bring in $600 billion). The details were in flux Wednesday night, but one version being discussed included a 5% surtax on income over $10 million and then an additional 3% — for a total of 8% — on income over $25 million. Usual caveat: Democrats got excited about a carbon tax and the aforementioned billionaires tax before Manchin killed both ideas in their cribs. MAJORITY LEADER MANCHIN: Manchin and Sen. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND were engaged in an intense conversation on the Senate floor Wednesday night. The New York Democrat told reporters afterward that she was pressing him to reconsider his opposition to a family and medical leave law in the bill. "He's looking into the details and he said he would remain open-minded," she said. "It's not out. It's not over till it's over." Two points here: 1) Manchin has eclipsed the president and the Senate majority leader. When a legislator wants something in the reconciliation bill badly enough, they know they need to appeal to him directly. 2) This is one more example of how far Democrats are from having a fully baked piece of legislation. BERNIE'S RESCUE MISSION — By the end of the day Wednesday, Sen. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.) was so frustrated with the negotiations that he headed to the White House to appeal to President JOE BIDEN personally. Sanders pilloried Manchin and Sinema, who he said had "sabotaged" and "destroyed" the most progressive revenue policies in the bill. Sanders also vowed that his more robust prescription drug pricing plan and his expansion of Medicare benefits to include vision, hearing and dental coverage would be in the bill. The takeaway: While others (including Manchin, Speaker NANCY PELOSI and the White House) are trying to wrap up the deal, Sanders is trying to slow things down. Nobody has had a bumpier ride on the teeter-totter than Sanders. He was the proud architect of the original $3.5 trillion budget, a monument to the progressive causes he has championed in Congress for over 30 years, that has now been chiseled down to meet the specifications of Manchin and Sinema. BIDEN'S RESCUE MISSION — This morning the president is scheduled to head to Congress to try to rally his party around the same deal that eluded him a month ago: a House vote on his infrastructure bill that passed the Senate in August in exchange for a detailed framework on the larger reconciliation bill. A lot more is at stake this time. A party-wide commitment on the framework would allow Biden to arrive at the climate summit this weekend in Scotland with a credible promise that the U.S. is devoting over $500 billion to meet its emissions targets. A BIF win could help TERRY MCAULIFFE, who's running neck-and-neck with GLENN YOUNGKIN ahead of Tuesday's gubernatorial election in Virginia. The Democrats are a lot closer to a deal this time than they were during Biden's last Hill visit a month ago. But the assurances that House progressives have sought in order to vote for BIF had not materialized as of this morning. (Look no further than this Twitter thread from Rep. ILHAN OMAR.) A worst-case scenario for Biden remains possible: a second trip up Pennsylvania Avenue that ends in embarrassment, arrival at the climate conference with big promises not backed up by congressional action, and a defeat in Virginia ON Tuesday that, in the words of one House Democrat, would "send front-liners heading for the hills" and possibly imperil both bills. | | A message from Facebook: Why Facebook supports updated internet regulations
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Hear more from Jack on why Facebook supports updating regulations on the internet's most pressing challenges, including reforming Section 230 to set clear guidelines for all large tech companies. | | | Good Thursday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Paid Leave for the U.S. is launching a new ad that calls on Biden directly to make sure paid leave stays in the bill, invoking his own personal history and his legacy. "No one should have to choose between their paycheck and their loved ones. Yet every day, millions of Americans are forced to do exactly that," a narrator intones. "You understand how heartbreaking that can be." The initial $100,000 ad buy is hitting D.C. cable TV this morning. Watch here MOST INTERESTING RON KLAIN RT OF THE WEEK: "A bill that did nothing but establish universal pre-k, $500 billion in climate funding, and a permanent child allowance kinda seems preferable to the emerging grab-bag of ill-designed, underfunded programs that are all set to self-destruct during the second Trump administration." - @ericlevitz We've heard warnings from some Senate Dems recently about the danger — in a rush to satisfy competing interests — of passing "ill-designed" programs that the Biden administration is then saddled with implementing. But this is the first time we've seen the tippy top of the White House endorse that sentiment. | | | |   | | | BIDEN'S THURSDAY: — 9 a.m.: Biden is expected to visit Capitol Hill to attend House Democrats' caucus meeting. — 11:30 a.m.: The president will deliver remarks in the East Room. — 12:15 p.m.: The Bidens will leave the White House on their way to Rome, arriving at 8:10 p.m. Eastern time. VP KAMALA HARRIS' THURSDAY: — 2:15 p.m.: The vice president will host a meeting with mayors to discuss the administration's agenda in the South Court Auditorium. THE SENATE will meet at 10 a.m. and take up several judicial/DOJ nominations throughout the day. CFPB Director ROHIT CHOPRA will testify before the Banking Committee at 10 a.m. THE HOUSE will meet at 10 a.m. to take up the Protect Older Job Applicants Act of 2021. The Rules Committee will hold a hearing on the reconciliation bill (time TBD). Pelosi will hold her weekly press conference at 10:45 a.m. House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY will hold his at 11:30 a.m. | | | | INTRODUCING CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO's new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. GET A FIRST LOOK AT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | 
PHOTO OF THE DAY: Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) talk as they walk through the Senate Subway in the basement of the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday, Oct. 27. | Samuel Corum/Getty Images | (IR)RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES More reconciliation details from top reporters: — AP's Lisa Mascaro, Aamer Madhani and Alan Fram note the tension between Pelosi and Biden's optimism and Wednesday's setbacks. They also see paid leave as unlikely to be revived: "Top Democrats signaled a deal is within reach on President Joe Biden's big domestic bill but momentum fizzled and tempers flared late Wednesday as a paid family leave proposal fell out and a billionaires' tax appeared scrapped, mostly to satisfy a pivotal member of the 50-50 Senate. … Applying pressure, Pelosi announced a Thursday committee hearing to spur the Biden package along toward a full House vote, though timing remained uncertain." — Burgess Everett, Heather Caygle and Sarah Ferris have Manchin previewing Biden's strategy this morning: "Manchin explained that when a deal is cut, Biden will 'go over to the House, and he'll basically explain to the House: 'I have a framework, but there's still an awful lot of work to be done.'" — NYT's Alan Rappeport and Jim Tankersley take note of the rather unusual attempt by the Democrats "to rewrite the United States tax code in a matter of days, proposing the kind of sweeping changes to how America taxes businesses and individuals that would normally take months or years to enact." — NYT's Carl Hulse has a cheeky look at how the majoritarian reconciliation process has made Republicans bystanders: "Top Republican lawmakers who are usually mobbed by reporters walk unimpeded through the Capitol corridors while Democrats are chased down for any snippet of the current state of play. The lack of attention has not gone unnoticed. "'We're a little bit surprised you're even here today, because we know all the news is being made on the other side,' Senator MITCH MCCONNELL, Republican of Kentucky and the minority leader, told reporters who showed up for his weekly news conference on Tuesday." — WaPo's Tony Romm, Mike DeBonis and Marianna Sotomayor note there is hope for Bernie's top priority: "Schumer, meanwhile, said he is still working with Sanders to ensure the package expands Medicare benefits so they cover dental, vision and hearing." — WaPo's Marianna Sotomayor reports that the most vulnerable Democrats worry that the reconciliation bill's most politically popular items are the ones being jettisoned: "These vulnerable Democrats argue that expanding Medicaid into certain states, allowing the government to negotiate prescription drug prices, expanding Medicare coverage and providing for paid family leave are key to both motivating Democrats to vote in the midterm elections and to winning over the small but key group of independent voters who could otherwise back their Republican challengers. "'No normal person can understand why we can't negotiate for drug prices,' Rep. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-Mich.) said. 'So what they see when we can't pass that year after year is greed, and I have no problem saying I'm frustrated with the other side of the aisle, but in this case, my own party because that one is just a simple thing we could do.'" — The WSJ's wrapup, by Andrew Duehren, Richard Rubin and Natalie Andrews , is unequivocal about the death of the paid leave proposal: "Democrats abandoned plans to include a paid-leave program in their social spending and climate bill, according to people familiar with the talks." | | | |   | | | THE WHITE HOUSE DANCING WITH THE ONE WHO BROUGHT THEM — The last time Virginia and New Jersey elected governors in 2017, then-President DONALD TRUMP was nowhere to be found. With his approval rating below 40%, neither GOP nominee wanted him anywhere near their campaigns. Fast-forward four years and Biden's poll numbers aren't too much better. Yet Democrats have welcomed Biden on the campaign trail, David Siders writes. VA. GOV RACE THE ONE THING DEMS WANT VIRGINIANS TO KNOW ABOUT YOUNGKIN: A Virginia tipster sent us this mailer they received that includes an endorsement of Youngkin from DONALD TRUMP and has a MAGA-inspired design. But on closer inspection, the piece was actually paid for and sent by the state Democratic Party. Clever! | 
| BUCKLE UP — Recent polls have the high-stakes race between McAuliffe and Youngkin as a neck-and-neck contest — and that means it could take days to determine the winner, Zach Montellaro writes. IN THE NAME OF "ELECTION INTEGRITY" — With early voting underway for the Virginia election, WaPo's Meagan Flynn and Shawn Boburg write that poll watchers have been at locations "every day, all day long, watching the process of what's going on," according to Loudoun County General Registrar JUDY BROWN. "And in a county that has been trending blue for years, more poll watchers are wearing Republican badges, Brown said, often outnumbering Democrats 2 to 1 at each location." THE FIGHT OVER 'BELOVED' — A recently aired ad in favor of Youngkin, which featured a testimonial from a woman who sought to ban TONI MORRISON's Pulitzer-winning novel "Beloved" in schools, has "inflamed" the race, NYT's Lisa Lerer and Reid Epstein report. "To Democrats, the Youngkin ad was both a throwback to the days of book banning and a coded insult to one of America's most celebrated Black authors, after months of frantic Republican alarms, in Virginia and nationwide, about how schoolchildren are being educated about racism." TOP-ED THIS WILL CAUSE A STIR — ADL's Jonathan Greenblatt warns in WaPo of "a slow but steady, unmistakable rise of antisemitism among progressive groups." He takes aim at the D.C. chapter of the Sunrise Movement, which recently tried to ban three progressive Jewish groups from a D.C. rally in support of statehood because, Sunrise said, they "are all in alignment with and in support of Zionism and the State of Israel." These lines caught our attention: "To be fair, some progressives condemned the Sunrise DC chapter for its antisemitism. But scores of other would-be allies — progressive organizations that have partnered with ADL and other Jewish groups for decades — said nothing, not even a tweet." | | | | BECOME A GLOBAL INSIDER: The world is more connected than ever. It has never been more essential to identify, unpack and analyze important news, trends and decisions shaping our future — and we've got you covered! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Global Insider author Ryan Heath navigates the global news maze and connects you to power players and events changing our world. Don't miss out on this influential global community. Subscribe now. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | OVERHEARD OF THE WEEK — This one happened a few days ago, but we couldn't resist including. Republican Reps. Ann Wagner (Mo.) and Michael McCaul (Texas) were at an event at Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar on Capitol Hill last Thursday. Standing by the bar, a person in their group asked about redistricting in Missouri and said he hoped Wagner gets a more conservative district to help her win reelection. Wagner, a center-right Republican, responded skeptically: "Then you get those wacko birds," she said. To which McCaul, the ranking Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said: "That's why we had to vote the way we did today!" That day, House Democrats and nine Republicans voted to hold Steve Bannon in criminal contempt of Congress for ignoring a Jan. 6 committee subpoena. Wagner and McCaul voted against the contempt effort. Wagner's office didn't respond to a request for comment. Foreign Affairs' spokeswoman, Leslie Shedd, denied the account and vowed that McCaul would "never speak to another POLITICO reporter" if Playbook published this item. Donald Trump is not going to Virginia before the election to campaign for Glenn Youngkin, after strongly implying he would be. Nicholas Kristof is running for governor of Oregon. Announcement video David Perdue is "seriously considering" primarying Brian Kemp in 2022. Tish James "is preparing to announce as soon as Thursday" she'll challenge incumbent Kathy Hochul in the Democratic primary for New York governor next year. BATTER UP — The Bad News Babes beat the members of Congress in a thrilling finish (with our own Laura Barrón-López scoring the go-ahead run late in the game), 5-1. The game also raised more than $508,000 for the Young Survival Coalition, a record. At the award ceremony, the MVPs were PBS NewsHour's Gretchen Frazee and CNN's Leigh Munsil for the BNBs and Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) for the member team. The Spirit Awards went to Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.) and CNN's Kasie Hunt, who recently had surgery to get a benign brain tumor removed. SPOTTED: Thom Tillis' dog dressed up as Kyrsten Sinema in a "Dangerous Creature" t-shirt and other garb. (h/t Igor Bobic) IN MEMORIAM — Rafael Morfin, a beloved newsroom finance manager/expense report approver at WaPo for many years, died at 61 of cancer. OUT AND ABOUT — WaPo's Kris Coratti Kelly hosted a breakfast for new executive editor Sally Buzbee at the Riggs DC rooftop Wednesday morning. Buzbee discussed her plans for the paper, the 41 news editors she'll be hiring and how she plans to reach new audiences. SPOTTED: Kristalina Georgieva, Anita Dunn, Joanna Coles, Margaret Brennan, Heather Podesta, Andrea Mitchell, Greta Van Susteren, Kara Swisher, Danielle Burr, Teresa Carlson, Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, Stephanie Cutter, Victoria Espinel, Shani George, Patricia Harrison, Jen Howard, Liz Johnson, Kelley McCormick, DeDe Lea, Carol Melton, Susan Neely, Anna Palmer, Deborah Rutter, Cathy Williams, Tammy Haddad, Heather Wingate and Candi Wolff. — German Ambassador Emily Haber and Hansjörg Haber hosted a reception at their residence Wednesday evening in honor of the U.S.-German partnership for global security and humanitarian efforts, with USAID Administrator Samantha Power and the CARE Global Leaders Network. SPOTTED: Michelle Nunn, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), Charlie Dent, Rick Stengel, Jon Banner, Michèle Flournoy and several other ambassadors. — SPOTTED at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce reception on the rooftop on Wednesday evening: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Scott Brown and Gail Huff Brown, and Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.). MEDIA MOVE — Zachary Petrizzo is joining The Daily Beast as a reporter. He most recently has been an investigative reporter at Salon. More from Talking Biz News STAFFING UP — The White House announced four new U.S. attorney nominations: Cindy Chung for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Gregory Harris for the Central District of Illinois, Gary Restaino for Arizona and Philip Sellinger for New Jersey. TRANSITIONS — Reid Porter is now senior director of state relations at PhRMA. He most recently was manager of media relations at the American Petroleum Institute, where he worked for 11 years. … Pamela Mejia is now legislative manager for the Community Justice Action Fund. She most recently was a staff assistant for Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark (D-Mass.). WEEKEND WEDDING — Robert Baldwin, head of policy at the Association for Digital Asset Markets, and Kate Baldwin (formerly Colas), who works in tech programs at In-Q-Tel, got married Friday on Kiawah Island, S.C. They originally met at a Fourth of July barbecue in Georgetown, where they realized they'd be staffing the same international presidential trip in the coming days. During the trip, Robert took Kate for a coffee date. Pic … Another pic BIRTHWEEK (was Wednesday): Bryan Wells of the Stanton Park Group HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) … Bill Gates … WaPo's David Finkel … HHS' Rachel Levine … Zach Hunter of Narrative Strategies … Justin Discigil of Rep. Dan Crenshaw's (R-Texas) office … Max Cummings … Bridget Walsh of Boehringer Ingelheim … CNN's Peter Morris and Margaret Given … Jonny Slemrod of Harbinger Strategies … Kara Tabor … Rob Shrum of MultiState … Steve Hartell of Amazon … Commerce's Jason Rodriguez … Chris Caldwell of Sarah Huckabee Sanders' Arkansas gubernatorial campaign … ABC's Quinn Scanlan … Kyle Parker of Rep. G.K. Butterfield's (D-N.C.) office (38) … Doug Band … Brandon Cox of Rep. Susie Lee's (D-Nev.) office … Zach Williams … Cyré Velez of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's office … Rokk Solutions' Briana Pittelli … Ogilvy's David Ford … Adam Bozzi … Uber's Alix Anfang … Peter Savodnik ... CBS' Meghan Zusi … Alec Zimmerman of Rebecca Kleefisch's Wisconsin gubernatorial campaign … Lawrence Jackson ... Griffin Anderson of BCW Global … Darlene Setter … former Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) … Teresa Vilmain … Andrew Cooper of Van Ness Feldman … Susan E. Roberts … POLITICO's Caroline Sullivan Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. 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 Facebook: Why Facebook supports updated internet regulations
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