| | | | |  | | By Rachael Bade and Eugene Daniels | | | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | In a pair of meetings with two separate wings of the House Democratic Caucus on Wednesday evening, President JOE BIDEN received mixed messages over how to jump-start his stalled agenda, according to multiple sources familiar with the talks. — The context: In recent weeks, as action on key Democratic priorities has languished in Congress, progressives as well as some senior party leaders have pushed the presidentto more liberally use his pen to sidestep Congress and take executive actions to enact key campaign promises on everything from immigration to climate to student loans. — But that proposed strategy has caused heartburn among other Democrats, who worry about the potential for political blowback — not to mention concerns about those policies being rolled back the minute a Republican president is sworn in. Which brings us back to Wednesday, when Biden met with members of the House Progessive Caucus and, separately, the more centrist New Democrat Coalition. — The progressives asked Biden to take action unilaterally on ahost of their top priorities, including "canceling student debt, raising the overtime threshold, lowering prescription drug costs, expanding renewable energy to decrease reliance on fossil fuels, and fixing the Affordable Care Act 'family glitch' to expand access to health care," per a statement from the CPC. — The New Dems expressed caution on the EOs, and sought to appeal to Biden's history as a legislator, urging him to continue banging heads together in Congress until a reconciliation bill passes. "Clearly, the president may be able to take actions, but we feel that for long-term durable policy, Congress needs to act," New Dem leader SUZAN DELBENE (D-Wash.) told Playbook on Wednesday night. "We have the House, the Senate and the White House. There may be slim majorities, but we still have an important opportunity to make long-term change. This whiplash of things going back and forth [via executive action] doesn't really help over the long term." (More on this meeting below.) Progressives, meanwhile, argue that Democrats will pay an electoral price if they fail to move their agenda forward despite controlling Congress and the White House — and that unless the party has more to show to their base, their voters might not show up, making the party's midterm losses even greater than expected. Good Thursday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | A message from The American Beverage Association: At America's beverage companies our plastic bottles are made to be remade. We're carefully designing them to be 100% recyclable — so every bottle can become a new one. That means less plastic waste in our environment. Please help us get Every Bottle Back. EveryBottleBack.org | | | NEW THIS MORNING: PENCE RELEASES AGENDA, JABS AT TRUMP (AGAIN) — Former VP MIKE PENCE is taking another step toward a potential 2024 bid for the White House this morning by releasing a 19-page policy agenda designed to cast himself as the GOP leader looking forward — not backward — "to ensure that the best days for the greatest nation on earth are yet to come." In that way, it serves as a subtle but unmistakable attempt to distance Pence from former President DONALD TRUMP, who remains focused on relitigating the 2020 election. "Elections are about the future, and frankly the opposition would love nothing more [than] for conservatives to talk about the past," Pence told our Alex Isenstadt and a few other reporters in a sneak peek Wednesday night. "And I think by relentlessly focusing on the future, we can stop the radical left, we can turn this country around, we can win the Congress and statehouses back in 2022, and we can win back America in 2024 and beyond." As Alex notes in his story (which just posted), this is "the kind of statement most prospective presidents would make, but in this case it's also an implicit swipe at Trump, who is focused on relitigating the 2020 election as he weighs a comeback bid." Read Pence's press release here … And his agenda here Which leads us to … FIRST IN PLAYBOOK I: PENCE RELEASES NEW 'FREEDOM AGENDA' VIDEO — Narrated by the man himself and invoking the preamble to the Constitution, the former VP talks about an "American revival" and the need to "restore our liberties" and "American leadership," protect "the sanctity of human life," ensure "patriotic education must replace political indoctrination in our schools" and "hold China accountable for their role in the Covid-19 pandemic."Full video here
| | | | A message from The American Beverage Association:   America's beverage companies are working together to reduce our industry's plastic footprint by investing in efforts to get our plastic bottles back. Our goal is for every bottle to become a new one, so they don't end up in our oceans, rivers and landfills. EveryBottleback.org | | | Speaking of Republicans rolling out their own agendas … FIRST IN PLAYBOOK II: DSCC TO TROLL SCOTT WITH TARGETED ADS — NRSC Chair RICK SCOTT (R-Fla.) isset to speak at a Heritage Foundation event today at 1 p.m. And just in time, we're told the DSCC is preparing to expand a series of digital ads knocking Scott for his proposed GOP agenda. The DCCC's latest Scott ad — which features a clip of Fox News anchorJOHN ROBERTS pressing the Florida Republican on his proposal to raise taxes on half of Americans and sunset programs like Medicare and Social Security —actually went live in key swing states Wednesday. But today, DSCC is going up here in Washington right as Scott takes the stage, "geo-targeting" the conservative think tank and areas around it. "We welcome Rick Scott to continue talking about Republicans' plan to raise taxes, end Social Security and Medicare, and spike the cost of healthcare for hard working Americans," DSCC spokesperson NORA KEEFE says in a statement that will be released today. "Voters will hold every GOP Senate candidate accountable for their party's unpopular, toxic agenda." — The step back: While the headlines surrounding Scott's controversial agenda have faded, Democrats have zero intention of letting up on him. They've already highlighted Scott's agenda in radio ads hammering Republican candidates around the nation, launched a website highlighting his proposals and paid for a mobile billboard to jeer him at the GOP retreat a few weeks ago. BIDEN'S THURSDAY: — 10:15 a.m.: The president and VP KAMALA HARRIS will receive the President's Daily Brief. — 1:30 p.m.: Biden will speak about his administration's efforts to ease gas prices. (Bloomberg's Alberto Nardelli, Jennifer Jacobs and Saleha Mohsin scooped that the administration is considering releasing oil reserves to the tune of 1 million barrels a day, which could be announced in these remarks.) Comms director KATE BEDINGFIELD will brief at 3 p.m. THE HOUSE will meet at 10 a.m. and at noon will take up the Affordable Insulin Now Act. First votes are predicted between 1:15 p.m. and 2:15 p.m., and last votes between 4 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. HHS Secretary XAVIER BECERRA will testify before an Appropriations subcommittee at 10 a.m. Speaker NANCY PELOSI will hold her weekly press conference at 10:45 a.m. Botswanan President MOKGWEETSI MASISI will testify before a Foreign Affairs subcommittee at 2 p.m. THE SENATE is in. USTR KATHERINE TAI will testify before the Finance Committee at 10 a.m.
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|  President Joe Biden receives his second Covid-19 vaccine booster shot after delivering remarks on the pandemic in the South Court Auditorium on Wednesday, March 30. | Getty Images | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | CONGRESS A CAWTHORN IN MCCARTHY'S SIDE — The furor surrounding Rep. MADISON CAWTHORN (R-N.C.) hit a new peak Wednesday, as House Minority Leader KEVIN McCARTHY — who rarely scolds members and then publicly reads out his private meetings — told reporters that Cawthorn had lost his trust. And our Olivia Beavers reports that the GOP leader warned the freshman that he could lose his committee assignments if he doesn't shape up. — More from Olivia: "In addition to the orgy-cocaine claims, McCarthy also cited Cawthorn's calling Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY a 'thug' as problematic. … The GOP leader said Cawthorn described the cocaine incident differently than he did in the podcast. Instead of a lawmaker, Cawthorn told McCarthy he believes 'he thinks he saw maybe a staffer in a parking garage maybe 100 yards away,' and that Cawthorn told him 'he doesn't know what cocaine is.' 'It is just frustrating. There is no evidence behind his statements,' McCarthy said." — Meanwhile, Sen. THOM TILLIS (R-N.C.) "is throwing his weight behind a primary opponent to Cawthorn, state Sen. CHUCK EDWARDS — an extraordinary broadside against a fellow Republican from his home state," report CNN's Melanie Zanona, Manu Raju and Alex Rogers. (Also backing Edwards: the top two Republicans in North Carolina's state legislature.) NEW DEMS WAVE THE WHITE FLAG ON THE CTC (FOR NOW) — The New Democrat Coalition has been among the most gung-ho backers and vocal defenders of the party's expanded/expired child tax credit. But they indicated to the White House on Wednesday night that if Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) isn't willing to go there — and he's not — they can swallow a reconciliation bill without it. "We know [the reconciliation bill] only helps people if we get it across the finish line — and that means we have to get it through the Senate," DelBene told us. "Making sure we get those 50 votes, that's key. … [W]e're all very pragmatic about figuring out a solution." A MILESTONE BIDEN DOESN'T WANT — For the first time, a Biden nominee failed to win confirmation on the Senate floor, as Sens. KYRSTEN SINEMA (D-Ariz.), MARK KELLY (D-Ariz.) and Manchin joined with Republicans to tank DAVID WEIL, the president's choice to lead the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division. It's "a major defeat for the Biden administration, which has prided itself on its labor agenda," writes Nick Niedzwiadek — "and for Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER, as leaders typically do not move items if they do not have the votes to pass." ALL POLITICS SCOOP: SEE THOSE UNPAID DCCC DUES FOR YOURSELF — In recent days, Democratic leaders have given members hell for refusing to pony up their required DCCC dues. There's already been some reporting about this out there, so we won't take too much of your time on it. But no one has released the full unpaid dues sheet yet, so we figured we'd throw it out there. Who is delinquent? Who has gone over their dues requirements, a sign of a potential leadership bid? Read for yourself here STATISTIC OF THE DAY — "The last time the enthusiasm gap was this wide, in 2010, Democrats lost more than 60 seats in the House." That data point comes from David Siders' look at a trend line that's getting worse for Democrats: The GOP's edge in voter enthusiasm has grown from 11 points in October to 14 points in January to 17 points in the most recent NBC poll. "There's little reason to think much will change," David writes. CLINTON, DNC FINED BY FEC OVER STEELE DOSSIER DISCLOSURE — The FEC has issued a $105,000 fine to the DNC and an $8,000 fine to HILLARY CLINTON's 2016 campaign after finding "probable cause to believe" that both "misreport[ed] the purpose of certain disbursements" related to the widely discredited Steele dossier, Zach Montellaro writes. (The Washington Examiner's Paul Bedard had the scoop.) The FEC fined both organizations after a pair of complaints alleged that the party and campaign reported payments to Democratic law firm Perkins Coie as legal expenses, when in reality, some of that money was earmarked for Fusion GPS to compile oppo research on Trump. The FEC conciliation agreement, first made public after the Coolidge Reagan Foundation shared a response letter from the agency with the Examiner, read that the party and campaign "does not concede, but will not further contest the Commission's finding of probable cause to believe" that they misreported disbursements. DEMS EYE CHICAGO FOR 2024 CONVENTION — The Windy City has emerged as a "city of interest" as the DNC considers potential hosts for its 2024 national convention — and Mayor LORI LIGHTFOOT, Illinois Gov. J.B. PRITZKER and Sen. TAMMY DUCKWORTH are "coordinating on a plan to make it happen," reports NBC News's Natasha Korecki. Working in its favor: It's a blue city in a blue state in the Midwest. Working against it: crime rates. DAILY DOSE OF DEM INFIGHTING — "Dem-on-Dem primary in Michigan spikes party's blood pressure," our Sarah Ferris with the dish on Rep. ANDY LEVIN's decision to pass up a newly created battleground seat in Michigan to take on his colleague, Rep. HALEY STEVENS, in a much safer seat for Dems — a choice that has made some in the party "privately livid." "[S]ome House Democrats fret that Levin abandoned a potentially winnable seat, likely handing it to Republicans. There's also some closed-door fury with Levin for refusing to challenge one of the GOP's prized recruits, JOHN JAMES, in a district where the Republican advantage is only slight. With Democrats' majority hanging on just a handful of districts, several of them even argued Levin's choice could help seal their party's fate come November." OZ PLEADS WITH MODERATOR TO HALT ATTACKS DURING FORUM — At a candidate forum in Erie, Pa., on Wednesday, GOP Senate candidates DAVE MCCORMICK, MEHMET OZ, KATHY BARNETTE and JEFF BARTOS shared a public stage for the first time, writes the Philly Inquirer's Jonathan Tamari. "And while the organizers had set up rules against personal attacks, the candidates quickly took opportunities to dig at Oz." "At times the attacks seemed to take Oz aback, as he urged the moderator from the Manufacturer & Business Association to step in, noting that the candidates had agreed not to criticize one another." HEFTY HAUL FOR HAGEMAN — Isenstadt with a news nugget: "NEWS: Over $215K was raised at [Wednesday night's] fundraiser for LIZ CHENEY primary challenger HARRIET HAGEMAN, per person familiar. Kevin McCarthy and More than 100 House Republicans hosted the event, held at the home of McCarthy lieutenant @JeffMillerCA2TX." REDISTRICTING ROUNDUP — Louisiana Republicans overrode Democratic Gov. JOHN BEL EDWARDS' veto, passing a new congressional map Wednesday that looks set to preserve their gerrymander. Details from The Advocate
| | | | A message from The American Beverage Association:   Our plastic bottles are made to be remade. Help us get Every Bottle Back. EveryBottleBack.org | | | MEDIAWATCH CBS JOURNOS IRATE OVER MULVANEY HIRING — "CBS News's decision to hire former Trump administration official MICK MULVANEY as a paid on-air contributor is drawing backlash within the company because of his history of bashing the press and promoting the former president's fact-free claims," WaPo's Jeremy Barr writes. — How a top network exec defended it to staff: "[B]eing able to make sure that we are getting access to both sides of the aisle is a priority because we know the Republicans are going to take over, most likely, in the midterms," CBS News co-president NEERAJ KHEMLANI told "CBS Morning" staffers, per a recording obtained by WaPo. "A lot of the people that we're bringing in are helping us in terms of access to that side of the equation." — How it's landing within the network: "The reaction from CBS News employees to Mulvaney's hiring was as chilly as the reaction on social media, where many journalists and political commentators suggested that the network was jeopardizing its long history of journalistic excellence. … The frustration, [per one CBS News employee], was less about Mulvaney's high-ranking role in the Trump administration and more about the inaccuracy of some of his past comments." — Another interesting nugget: "In the CBS staff meeting earlier this month, morning show host GAYLE KING replied to Khemlani's comments about the network hiring more Republicans by noting that her show had hosted Sen. JOHN THUNE (R-S.D.) that very morning. … 'I told Senator Thune: "We like Republicans. We like rational Republicans here, Senator Thune,"' King said." THE WHITE HOUSE BYE TO TITLE 42 — The White House is set "to revoke a Trump-era deportation policy for migrants arriving at the Southern border," sources tell our Laura Barrón-López, Sarah Ferris and Adam Cancryn . "And as part of its approach, it is considering phasing out the public health order, Title 42, starting with families and followed by all adults at a later date." An announcement could come "as early as Thursday evening." WAR IN UKRAINE THE LATEST … "Belying its claims of de-escalation, Russia increased bomb and artillery attacks in Ukraine on Wednesday and sent conflicting signals about the prospects for peace, suggesting new tensions in the Kremlin hierarchy about the course of the war," NYT's Anton Troianovski, Megan Specia and Julian Barnes recap. "The contradictory messaging came as a newly declassified U.S. intelligence assessment suggested that Putin had been misinformed about the war's trajectory by subordinates, who were fearful of his reaction to the Russian military's struggles and setbacks." — AP's Nebi Qena and Yuras Karmanau report that "talks between Ukraine and Russia were set to resume Friday by video" but that "there seemed little faith that Russia and Ukraine will resolve the conflict soon, particularly after the Russian military's about-face and its most recent attacks." JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH INSIDE PENCE'S JAN. 6 LEGAL SHOWDOWN — "As forces loyal to Trump began calling on Pence to single-handedly stop Biden from becoming president, the then-vice president dashed off a request in late 2020 to his top lawyer: Just how much power did he actually have over certifying electoral votes? His counsel, GREG JACOB, replied the next day with a four-page legal memo that marked Pence's first crash course in an arcane legal issue with historic consequences," our Betsy Woodruff Swan and Kyle Cheney write. The memo DOJ EXPANDS SCOPE OF JAN. 6 INVESTIGATION — The Department of Justice's investigation of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol "has expanded to examine the preparations for the rally that preceded the riot," including those who "assisted in planning, funding and executing" the event, WaPo's Devlin Barrett, Josh Dawsey, Jacqueline Alemany and Spencer Hsu report.
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Ruth Bader Ginsburg's famed "dissent collar" is being donated to the Smithsonian. Gavin Newsom tweeted a completely natural, not-at-all-posed photo reading some books that have made their way on banned lists in other states. Bono met with U.S. Capitol Police officers and thanked them for their heroism during the Jan. 6 insurrection. Kamala Harris will sit down for an interview with MSNBC's Joy Reid airing Friday evening from Mississippi. … She's also doing a fundraiser for the DNC on April 13 in Washington, according to an invite a source texted us Wednesday night. Volodymyr Zelenskyy will give an interview to Fox News' Bret Baier airing Friday evening. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at Platinum Advisors' welcome party for Billy Tranghese at Sonoma on Wednesday night: Reps. Richie Neal (D-Mass.) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Erik Huey,Joe Crowley, Irish Ambassador Daniel Mulhall, Yebbie Watkins, Dave Grimaldi, Danny Sepulveda, Lyndon Boozer, Kevin McDonald, George Shevlin, Finbar Brown, Paul Kane, Rashan Colbert, Martha Miller and Tim Hysom. — SPOTTED on Wednesday night at cocktails and conversation with Shakespeare Theatre Company artistic director Simon Goodwin hosted by Jeremy and Robyn Bash at their Chevy Chase, Md., home: Philippe Reines, Jonathan Capehart and Nick Schmit, Dana Bash, John McCarthy, Reema Dodin, Ali Rubin, Tracy Bernstein, Eric Fanning and Ben Masri-Cohen, Michael Allen, Adrienne Elrod, Christina Sevilla and Steve Rochlin. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Husch Blackwell Strategies is adding Cooper Ehrendreich and Javon Knight as policy associates. Ehrendreich most recently was director of government affairs for the Railway Engineering Maintenance-Suppliers Association. Knight most recently was a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation fellow and legislative assistant for Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.). — NSC DEPARTURE LOUNGE: Nicole Tisdale will leave the NSC at the end of this week, where she's been a director for legislative affairs. She'll return to her small business, Advocacy Blueprints, and launch a new initiative focused on countering disinformation and foreign malign influence in minority communities. (h/t Daniel Lippman) MEDIA MOVES — Isaac Arnsdorf is joining WaPo as a national political reporter, covering Trump, MAGA and the right. He most recently covered 2020 and Jan. 6 fallout for ProPublica, and is a POLITICO alum. Announcement … María Elena Salinas is now a contributor for ABC News. She most recently was a contributor for CBS News, and is a Univision veteran. Announcement WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Drew Griffin, chief of staff for Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio), and Ann Griffin, an HR manager at the American Academy of PAs, welcomed Jack Richard Griffin on Sunday. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Al Gore … Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Angus King (I-Maine) … Reps. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.) (7-0), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) and Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) … White House's Meghan Hays and Jennifer Molina … MSNBC's Ari Melber … NYT's Astead Herndon … Anthony Giannetti … POLITICO's Ben White and Brittany Gibson … Michael Yancey … CNN's Sara Murray … John Kilvington … Monica Dixon of Monumental Sports & Entertainment … Michael McAdams … Newsweek's Emily Knapp … Lauren Hutchinson … Eric Hoffman of Hoffman Public Affairs … Jean Guerrero … Toyota's Ed Lewis … Alan Zibel … Jessica Dine of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation … Neil Moseman … former Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Jim Marshall (D-Ga.) … Kara Alaimo … Rusty Bermel of Bermel & Co. 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.
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