| | | | |  | | By Rachael Bade | | | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | It's been one of the greatest sources of tension between House Republicans and Democrats for a year now: a chamber-wide mandate requiring lawmakers to mask up before they vote — and steep fines if they refuse. But now some House Democrats are following the lead of Democratic governors, calling for an end to mask mandates — even as their party imposes one in the House chamber. Charges of hypocrisy are in the air. Last year, House Democrats enacted new rules that fine offenders (namely protesting Republicans) $500 the first time they fail to mask up, and $2,500 per infraction after that. The biggest scofflaws by far are Reps. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.) and ANDREW CLYDE (R-Ga.), who've each have had more than $100,000 withdrawn from their paychecks. Several swing-district House Democrats, however, say it's time to move on. On Wednesday, DCCC Chair SEAN PATRICK MALONEY (D-N.Y.) led the charge by tweeting that he agreed with his home-state Democratic Gov. KATHY HOCHUL's decision to ditch mask mandates. "Give people their lives back," he wrote. Within a few minutes, we got a text from a Republican aide asking if Maloney's appeal would extend to lifting the mask mandate for the House floor. Turns out, some House Democrats are ready to say yes. "We follow the science and are our medical advisers, but I think the time will come sooner rather than later" to end the House mask requirement, Rep. DAN KILDEE (D-Mich.) told Playbook. "I wish more of my colleagues were vaccinated, but … I think we will have to modify our approach to the pandemic as it changes. … Hopefully sometime this spring." Democratic Rep. SUSAN WILD, a frontliner from Pennsylvania, agreed. As a member of the House Ethics Committee that's been tasked with enforcing Democrats' mask fining policy, she's been frustrated that so much of the panel's work has been focused on this issue. "The Ethics Committee has sadly been turned into the mask police, and we're spending way too much time on mask violation issues," she said. "When we come back [from recess] … in early March, unless there's been some new strain or variant, I think it's time to get rid of the masked mandate." Tensions between the two parties over the mask policy have reached a boiling point. Earlier this week, Rep. HAL ROGERS (R-Ky.) poked Rep. JOYCE BEATTY (D-Ohio) and told her to "kiss my ass" when she insisted he wear a mask on the basement subway. (He later apologized.)
| | | | A message from PhRMA: Washington is talking about price setting of medicines, but it won't stop insurers from shifting costs to you. And it will risk access to medicines and future cures. Instead, let's cap your out-of-pocket costs, stop middlemen from pocketing your discounts and make insurance work for you. Let's protect patients. It's the right choice. Learn more. | | | But there's no apparent change coming — at least not right away. A spokesman for the House Administration Committee, which wrote the fining regulations, told Playbook that as of now, the House's mask mandate and fines will remain in effect. "It's an attending physician question," the spokesman said, referring to the doctor who's on site to care for House members and who doesn't interact much with reporters or the public. "We let the medical professionals make the medical decisions." It's unclear whether the attending physician will be reassessing the chamber's mandate anytime soon. If he doesn't, the dissonance with a growing number of lawmakers is bound to only become more glaring. Indeed, Republicans at the NRCC are already accusing Democrats of changing their tune on mandates because the politics have changed so drastically. RELATED: "Under pressure to ease up, Biden weighs new virus response," by AP's Zeke Miller: "[President JOE] BIDEN, who has long promised to follow to 'follow the science' in confronting the pandemic, is hemmed in, waiting for fresh guidance from federal health officials, who so far still recommend that nearly all Americans wear masks in most indoor settings." Good Thursday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels , Ryan Lizza.
| | | | A message from PhRMA:   Government price setting threatens patient access to medicines and innovation. Instead, let's cap out-of-pocket costs and stop middlemen from pocketing discounts. Learn more. | | | BIDEN'S THURSDAY: — 9:30 a.m.: The president will receive the President's Daily Brief. — 10:45 a.m.: Biden will depart the White House en route to Brandy Station, Va., where he is scheduled to arrive at 11:15 a.m. — 12:30 p.m.: Biden will deliver remarks on health care costs with HHS Secretary XAVIER BECERRA. — 2:55 p.m.: Biden will depart Brandy Station to return to the White House, where he is scheduled to arrive at 3:25 p.m. — 4:45 p.m.: Biden and VP KAMALA HARRIS will meet with Senate Judiciary Democrats on the Supreme Court nomination process. THE SENATE will meet at 10 a.m. to take up the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021. At 11:45 a.m., the Senate will vote on cloture for MAX VEKICH's nomination to the Federal Maritime Commission, with a confirmation vote at 1:45 p.m. THE HOUSE is out.
| | | | HAPPENING TODAY – A LONG GAME CONVERSATION ON THE CLIMATE CRISIS : Join POLITICO for back-to-back conversations on climate and sustainability action, starting with a panel led by Global Insider author Ryan Heath focused on insights gleaned from our POLITICO/Morning Consult Global Sustainability Poll of citizens from 13 countries on five continents about how their governments should respond to climate change. Following the panel, join a discussion with POLITICO White House Correspondent Laura Barrón-López and Gina McCarthy, White House national climate advisor, about the Biden administration's climate and sustainability agenda. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | PHOTO OF THE DAY
|  Angelina Jolie gaggles with a bipartisan group of senators who announced a deal on the Violence Against Women Act on Wednesday. She also huddled with Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), a longtime advocate of women's and children's issues. | Alex Wong/Getty Images | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | CONGRESS 'BUILD BACK NEVER' — Burgess Everett calls it that in the lede of the day. And for good reason: "Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER vowed in December that the chamber will 'vote on a revised version of the House-passed Build Back Better Act — and we will keep voting on it until we get something done.' That's not the strategy at the moment. "Instead, the Senate is now in a long cooling-off period. Democrats are turning to fixing the Postal Service, sexual misconduct reform, spending bills, a Supreme Court vacancy, the Violence Against Women Act and possibly changing the Electoral Count Act and sanctioning Russia. Dealing with those items could take a couple of months or longer, pushing the Senate closer and closer to the midterms. Most Democrats concede they could not revive a tax and spending bill before April, and the final deadline is Sept. 30, when Democrats' existing powers to push the defunct bill past a filibuster expire." PELOSI CHANGES HER TUNE — "House Speaker NANCY PELOSI shifted her public position Wednesday on banning lawmakers and their spouses from owning and trading individual stocks, saying more readily that she would support a ban if members of her caucus wanted to do so," WaPo's Amy Wang and Meagan Flynn report. "In December, Pelosi had swiftly shot down the idea that lawmakers and their spouses should not trade individual stocks while in Congress. 'We're a free-market economy,' Pelosi told reporters then. 'They should be able to participate in that.'" A BUDGET 'BIPARTISAN BREAKTHROUGH' — Lawmakers on Wednesday reached overarching budget agreements "to boost military and non-defense funding, paving the way for a comprehensive deal to fund the government into the fall," our Jennifer Scholtes reports. "The accord is a crucial breakthrough that's expected to lead to enactment of a sweeping 12-bill spending bundle in the next few weeks." THE WHITE HOUSE BACKUP FOR BECERRA — The White House has moved quickly "to respond to Latino allies rankled by public criticism of HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra's job performance," NBC's Jonathan Allen and Natasha Korecki report. "Biden's response has been to elevate Becerra's profile, a move that was on display Wednesday when [Becerra] traveled to Minneapolis with first lady JILL BIDEN for a child care event. "Biden called Becerra himself Friday to offer a vote of confidence in a conversation that was quickly relayed to the activists by White House officials. Becerra, who also received a call of support from White House Chief of Staff RON KLAIN, was invited to join the first lady. The White House says Klain also spoke to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to convey the president's support for Becerra, and that it is in touch with multiple groups to underscore Biden's backing." ALL POLITICS THE NEW VOTING RESTRICTIONS — In one of the first tests of the wave of GOP voting restrictions around the country, Texas election officials are struggling with many issues ahead of the March 1 primary, Marissa Martinez reports. "Managing changes to election procedures often falls to county officials on tight budgets with little time," she writes. The rush to add new restrictions has led to high numbers of mail-in vote application rejections, a lack of guidance on new policies, hundreds of new forms, red tape and bureaucracy, officials in several counties tell Marissa.
| | | | A message from PhRMA:   Let's protect patients. It's the right choice. Learn more. | | | TRUMP CARDS WHAT HILLARY CLINTON IS READING — "Archives Found Possible Classified Material in Boxes Returned by Trump," by NYT's Reid Epstein and Michael Schmidt: "The National Archives and Records Administration discovered what it believed was classified information in documents DONALD J. TRUMP had taken with him from the White House as he left office, according to a person briefed on the matter. "The discovery, which occurred after Mr. Trump returned 15 boxes of documents to the government last month, prompted the National Archives to reach out to the Justice Department for guidance, the person said. The department told the National Archives to have its inspector general examine the matter, the person said. It is unclear what the inspector general has done since then, in particular, whether the inspector general has referred the matter to the Justice Department. An inspector general is required to alert the Justice Department to the discovery of any classified materials that were found outside authorized government channels." AMERICA AND THE WORLD FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — The White House is considering DILAWAR SYED to be special representative for commercial and business affairs at the State Department, two people familiar with the matter told Daniel Lippman. Syed was nominated in March to the No. 2 post at the Small Business Administration, but Republicans, led by Sen. RAND PAUL (R-Ky.) and JOSH HAWLEY (R-Mo.), have stalled his nomination , including boycotting multiple hearings to consider it. Republicans criticized what they say is Syed's association with an "anti-Israel" Muslim American group, charges that Democrats and some Jewish groups have denounced as anti-Muslim bigotry. If confirmed to the SBA post, Syed, a Pakistani American entrepreneur, would have been the highest-ranking Muslim in the Biden administration. "He's a really good man and an accomplished small business owner and an asset to the administration," one senior administration official said. "It's a shame that Rand Paul and Republicans have held up his nomination for no good reason." While the official said there was no path forward for the nomination, the White House is not expected to withdraw it. Syed did not respond to a request for comment, and a White House official, while declining to comment on Syed's potential State Department gig, said: "The Senate Small Business Committee Republicans should show up and do their jobs and hold an up-or-down vote on his nomination." JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH SUBPOENAS ON SUBPOENAS — The House select committee on Jan. 6 issued a subpoena Wednesday to former Trump White House official PETER NAVARRO for records and testimony, ABC's Benjamin Siegel reports. MEDIAWATCH BEING JAMES BENNET — In his latest Altitude column, John Harris writes about the figure at the center of the SARAH PALIN defamation lawsuit against the NYT: its former editorial page editor JAMES BENNET, "the only actor" in the drama "whose presence is on the level." Harris has a biting assessment of Bennet's former employer. He is "being defended by a news organization that made a panicky decision to force his resignation rather than defend him in an attack from the left, led by many of its own staff members. The trial's discovery process made clear that Times publisher A.G. SULZBERGER had pressed Bennet to make his page a bolder, faster, more surprising place. Take more risks, he urged Bennet in a job review. Then he tremblingly raced for the exits when some of those risks had uncomfortable results. "Thus, another distinction Bennet wasn't seeking: He's the only one whose words at the trial can be taken at face value, his pain obviously sincere."
| | | | DON'T MISS 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. CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Marjorie Taylor Greene railed against Nancy Pelosi's "gazpacho police," apparently confusing the cold tomato soup for Nazi Germany's secret police force. Maggie Haberman announced the cover and title of her new book, "Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America," coming out Oct. 4. Cory Booker was willing to answer questions about marijuana from our cannabis reporter Natalie Fertig — just not while the Senate's 16-year-old pages were within earshot. Geoff Bennett pumped hand sanitizer into his iced coffee thinking it was simple syrup, prompting Jen Psaki to offer to make him a cup of coffee. Jamie Raskin shared that he had his "first date on the Metro," which we're sure was just as entertaining as dinner and a movie. Joe Biden quipped a reference to a popular baseless conspiracy theory about wind turbines during a meeting with utility company CEOs. Rob Portman and Alex Padilla made a friendly Super Bowl wager : If the L.A. Rams win, Portman owes Padilla a couple of Cincy-area delicacies: Hudepohl's "Hu-Dey" beer and a reuben from Izzy's. If the Bengals win, Padilla's on the hook for a pastrami sandwich from Langer's Deli, and a pack of "Whose House" blonde ale from Golden Road Brewing. IN MEMORIAM — "Trude Feldman, White House Reporter Who Got Access, Dies at 97," by NYT's Sam Roberts: "She was known to lob softballs in interviews, but she was tireless in getting face time with officials, including every president from Lyndon Johnson to George W. Bush." OUT AND ABOUT — Sydney Barron Gallego, director of government affairs for the National Association of Realtors, celebrated her 30th birthday at Officina on Tuesday night, where she was joined by her husband, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), and Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.), Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Norma Torres (D-Calif.), Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) and Jim Himes (D-Conn.), Leigh Parker Pross, Anne MacMillan and Shannon McGahn. AWARD WINNERS — The Columbia Journalism School announced the 16 winners of the 2022 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, recognizing outstanding reporting in the public interest on Tuesday, with winners featuring reporting on the pandemic, the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, policing in America, racial inequities and more. The full list of winners FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Teddy Tanzer is joining Airbnb as a public policy manager. He previously was an attorney adviser to U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Commissioner Peter Feldman. CAR TALK — General Motors has "hired Missy Owens, a former official in the Obama administration and niece of Biden, to head environment, sustainability and governance policy on its 'growing team' in Washington," Detroit News' Kalea Hall reports. STAFFING UP — Reta Jo Lewis is now president and chair of the Ex-Im Bank. She previously was senior fellow and director of congressional affairs at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. … John Coffey is now general counsel for the Navy. He previously was chair of Kramer Levin's complex litigation group. TRANSITIONS — Jennifer Steinhauer is now director of the University of Chicago Institute of Politics' Speaker Series. She previously was a longtime reporter for the NYT. … Alexa Vance is now comms director for Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.). She previously was comms director for Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), and is a DOJ alum. … … HIT Strategies has added several new hires: Jake Rubinstein as senior data manager, John Rodriguez and Evan Welty as research managers, Courtney Jemison and Ross Miletich as senior analysts on the research team, Erica Tebbs and Audrey Egler on the research team, and Daniel Gulotta in comms. … TrailRunner International is adding Jennifer Kuperman and Jen Crichton as managing directors. Kuperman previously was head of international corporate affairs at Alibaba Group, and Crichton previously was comms director for Frito-Lay. ENGAGED — Darby Wade Grant, an elections attorney at Holtzman Vogel, and Samuel Thorne, an executive assistant at Kellogg Hansen, got engaged Saturday on Capitol Hill followed by a celebration with friends at Trattoria Alberto. The couple met at the Nationals-Astros World Series in 2019. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) (6-0) and Dan Meuser (R-Pa.) … George Stephanopoulos … Glenn Beck … POLITICO's Margy Slattery, Greg Mott, Kaitlyn Tibbetts and Selby Schnobrich … Reuters' Aram Roston … NSC's Emily Horne … Izzy Klein … Mindy Finn … Curt Levey of the Committee for Justice … Susan Crabtree … John Yang … Kyle Trygstad … Cathy Gillespie … CNN's Mallory Thompson … Stacy Kerans … WSJ's Michael Gordon … Marisa Kashino … Liz Hill Braun … Merck's John Cummins … L.A. Times' Erin Logan … Cavan Jones of the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons … Alex Davidson of the Beer Institute … Jo-Marie St. Martin … Barbee Ponder … Jake Silverman of Rep. Nikema Williams' (D-Ga.) office … Joanna Belanger … Natalie Knight of the House Judiciary Committee … Eric Storey … Tim Graham … Matt Holt … Steve Beynon … Kylie Toscano … Jessica Meyers … Jim Cramer … Bob Iger … Crooked Media's Tanya Somanader … Jeff Jacoby … Scott Sendek … Bruce Gates … John Sturm (75) … Stamford, Conn., Mayor Caroline Simmons 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 PhRMA: Washington is talking about price setting of medicines, but it won't stop insurers from shifting costs to you. And it will risk access to medicines and future cures. Instead, let's cap your out-of-pocket costs, stop middlemen from pocketing your discounts and make insurance work for you. Let's protect patients. It's the right choice. Learn more. | | | | | | | 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 | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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