| | | | |  | | By Rachael Bade | Presented by Emergent | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | HEADS UP — "White House bracing for Thursday inflation report," per CNN's Betsy Klein: "The consumer price index, a key report indicating inflation in the U.S., will be released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics at 8:30 a.m." And even before that tough news … SO MUCH FOR THAT OMNIBUS VICTORY LAP — Just after 10 p.m. Wednesday night, the House passed the $1.5 trillion omnibus bill, the first step toward averting a government shutdown and enacting Democratic spending priorities after more than 400 days operating under Trump-era budgets extended via continuing resolutions. But the party's joy of the occasion was short-lived, as Democratic infighting quickly gobbled up the headlines and forced a daylong delay of the bill's consideration. Here's a recap: — More than a dozen House Democrats from across the ideological spectrum balked at proposed offsets for nearly $16 billion in Covid-19 relief funds included in the bill. Why? Because the funds would have come out of their states' pandemic money. They insisted they had been "blindsided," and threatened to essentially sink the legislation. — That forced Speaker NANCY PELOSI to yank the bill's pandemic money out entirely — despite the fact it was a top priority from the White House. But that wasn't all: House Dems briefly panicked that they would have to cancel their three-day retreat, which was supposed to start Wednesday. They ended up busing to Philly after the vote, but now, members are angry and upset, divisions that will cast a shadow over a conference that was supposed to unite the Democratic Caucus. — Democrats in the Senate and the White House, meanwhile, privately grumbled at the apparent lack of control in the House. And in the upper chamber, there was some confusion about why the offset wasn't massaged with the membership in advance. Even Rep. MARK POCAN (D-Wis.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, which spearheaded the bill, protested at being left in the dark. (CNN's Manu Raju, Melanie Zanona and Annie Grayer have a colorful tick-tock of the circus.) SO WHAT NOW? The episode is an embarrassment for Hill Democrats, who insisted on the pandemic money during spending negotiations with GOP lawmakers, but then couldn't deliver their own members to vote for it. Pelosi's frustration with the situation was palpable. "Let's grow up about this, OK?" she steamed in her press conference Wednesday. "We're in a legislative process. We have a deadline for keeping the government open. We have a lively negotiation. It has to be bipartisan. … You need 60 votes in the Senate." And as our Sarah Ferris, Nicholas Wu and Katherine Tully-McManus write this morning , the issue has set the Democrats' retreat off to a rocky start at a time when they should be unifying before a difficult midterm. "This retreat is cursed," Pocan said. On the pandemic funding front, Democratic leaders have decided to cut bait and move on, channeling their energy into passing the larger funding deal this week — and trying to come up with a plan for pandemic relief on the back end. We don't expect a last-ditch effort to find another pay-for to cover the pandemic relief, at least not right now. In the Senate, the lack of pandemic money might actually garner a few more votes for the omnibus, making it easier to pass. (Republicans, after all, were never big fans of this add-on, so in theory, it could pick up more GOP support.) In the White House, however, there is still concern about how they'll prepare for the next surge of the pandemic without this cash. Per our colleagues Adam Cancryn and Sarah Owermohle, the administration "initially planned to purchase another round of Covid vaccines to cover the possibility that Americans will need another booster shot, as well as buying more monoclonal antibody treatments and investing in new and existing antiviral pills that could help blunt another surge." On Wednesday, press secretary JEN PSAKI made clear that the White House is worried. "Funds are needed in March to secure additional supply in July," she said in a statement. "You have to order them ahead so that you have them when they're needed." We'll see if they ever get that money. Good Thursday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | A message from Emergent: Emerging threats never stop and neither do we. Our protections help defend against things we hope will never happen – so we are prepared, in case they ever do. Learn how we've become a leader in protecting people against public health threats at www.emergentbiosolutions.com. | | | UKRAINE, DAY 15 … IS A CEASE-FIRE ON THE HORIZON? — Recent days have seen a subtle shift in the language Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN uses when describing the goal of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, note NYT's Anton Troianovski, Patrick Kingsley and Michael Crowley.
- Then: Two weeks ago, he talked about the "denazification" of Ukraine and "referred to the Ukrainian government as a 'gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis,' making it clear that his aim was to topple it."
- Now: "[T]he language has shifted, with the Kremlin signaling that Mr. Putin is no longer bent on regime change in Kyiv. It is a subtle shift, and it may be a head-fake; but it is prompting officials who have scrambled to mediate to believe that Mr. Putin may be seeking a negotiated way out of a war that has become a much bloodier slog than he expected."
- Worth noting: On Wednesday, Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY told Vice News' Ben Solomon that he thinks Putin will soon negotiate an end to the war.
BUT, BUT, BUT: Today, the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine failed to reach a deal to end the war, NYT reports. "Speaking to reporters after the meeting in the Turkish resort of Antalya, DMYTRO KULEBA, Ukraine's foreign minister, said that 'we did not make progress' in reaching a cease-fire, but 'agreed to continue efforts to seek a solution to the humanitarian issues on the ground.' 'I will be ready to meet again in this format if there are prospects for a substantial discussion and for seeking solutions,' Mr. Kuleba said." And there's this: "With Russia escalating its bombardment of Ukrainian cities in recent days, there are few signs on the ground that the Kremlin is ready to back down." On that topic …
- Russian forces attacked a maternity and children's hospital in Mariupol, injuring at least 17 people. Zelenskyy called it an "atrocity" and a "war crime," per the BBC.
- The White House warned that Russia could be planning a false-flag attack with chemical weapons, report NBC's Carol Lee and Teaganne Finn. That comes as the Russian Defense Ministry accuses Ukraine of doing the same — possibly as a justification for its own use of chemical or biological weapons. Said Psaki: "It's a clear pattern, and no one should fall for it."
- "Between 5,000 and 6,000 Russian troops may have been killed in just the first two weeks of the invasion of Ukraine, a U.S. official estimated Wednesday," per CBS. "The official stressed, however, that this is a difficult number to assess in real time, and the number could be closer to 3,500."
HEARTBREAKING READ — NYT's Andrew Kramer profilesSERHIY PEREBYINIS, the Ukrainian man whose wife and two children were killed by Russian mortar shelling as they tried to flee Irpin. A Times photograph of their bodies circulated widely online — which is how he found out his family had died: He saw the photo on Twitter. "[H]e said he felt it was important that their deaths had been recorded in photographs and video. 'The whole world should know what is happening here,' he said." INSPIRING READ — John Harris on Zelenskyy, who has emerged as "a Churchill for the social-media age" : "The fact that Zelenskyy — joined by vast numbers of his fellow Ukrainians — is willing to sacrifice everything makes him a clarifying agent in the great contest of the age, between free societies and despotic ones. … Zelenskyy has joined such iconic figures as the Chinese student who stood in front of a tank in Tiananmen Square in 1989, or the Flight 93 passengers on 9/11, or the firefighters that same day who raced up the stairs of the burning World Trade Center. All of them cause many people to interrogate themselves: What would I have done in those circumstances?" WORTH THE READ— As VP KAMALA HARRIS begins her most high-stakes diplomatic mission yet, Eugene and Alex Ward preview the stakes for her and the country after a public disagreement between Washington and Warsaw over a plan to send Polish fighter jets to Ukraine. The two report that Harris' trip doesn't seem aimed at dealing with the impasse, adding that "administration officials and allies say Harris' sojourn to Europe is an illustration of President JOE BIDEN's trust in her in these moments, even in fields like national security, where she has not been given much of a portfolio during her vice presidency. They note the good reviews she received just a few weeks ago for her appearance at the Munich Security Conference as evidence that she's more deft in international diplomacy than her critics concede."
| | | | A message from Emergent:   | | | BIDEN'S THURSDAY: — 9:30 a.m.: The president will receive the President's Daily Brief. — 10 a.m.: Biden will hold a phone call with Turkish President RECEP TAYYIP ERDOĞAN to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war. — 1:40 p.m.: Biden will participate in a bilateral meeting with Colombian President IVÁN DUQUE MÁRQUEZ. — 7:15 p.m.: Biden will deliver remarks to DNC members at their winter meeting at the Washington Hilton. HARRIS' THURSDAY (all times Eastern): — Earlier today, the VP participated in a bilateral meeting with Polish PM MATEUSZ MORAWIECKI, a bilateral meeting with Polish President ANDRZEJ DUDA and a news conference with Duda. Here are some pics of Harris' morning, via C-SPAN's Howard Mortman — 7:45 a.m.: Harris will participate in a roundtable with people displaced from Ukraine. — 10 a.m.: Harris will meet with staff from the U.S embassies in Kyiv and Warsaw at the American School of Warsaw. — 11:50 a.m.: Harris will participate in a bilateral meeting with Canadian PM JUSTIN TRUDEAU. Psaki will brief at 12:45 p.m. THE SENATE will meet at 10 a.m. CIA Director WILLIAM BURNS, DNI AVRIL HAINES, NSA Director Gen. PAUL NAKASONE, FBI Director CHRISTOPHER WRAY and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. SCOTT BERRIER will testify before the Intelligence Committee at 10 a.m. THE HOUSE is out.
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO NATIONAL SECURITY DAILY : Keep up with the latest critical developments from Ukraine and across Europe in our daily newsletter, National Security Daily. The Russian invasion of Ukraine could disrupt the established world order and result in a refugee crisis, increased cyberattacks, rising energy costs and additional disruption to global supply chains. Go inside the top national security and foreign-policymaking shops for insight on the global threats faced by the U.S. and its allies and what actions world leaders are taking to address them. Subscribe today. | | | | | PHOTO OF THE DAY
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A Ukrainian refugee child looks out a bus window in in Przemysl, Poland, on Wednesday. | Daniel Cole/AP Photo | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | CONGRESS HOUSE OVERWHELMINGLY PASSES RUSSIA OIL BAN — The House on Wednesday night passed a ban on Russian oil imports by a vote of 414-17, Andrew Desiderio reports. "House Democratic leaders decided to move forward with the vote even though President Joe Biden announced a Russian oil embargo on Tuesday. The Senate is not expected to consider the House-passed bill, with upper-chamber Democrats wary of tying Biden's hands." CAWTHORN CHARGED WITH MISDEMEANOR — Rep. MADISON CAWTHORN (R-N.C.) "has been charged with driving with a revoked license, a misdemeanor that carries up to 20 days in jail," Asheville Citizen Times' Joel Burgess reports. Cawthorn was previously charged with driving with a revoked license in 2017, before he was elected to the House. Mark your calendars: "The court date for the misdemeanor is May 6." TRUMP CARDS TRUMP ORG. GETS NEW $100 MILLION LOAN — The Trump Organization found a new creditor: San Diego-based Axos Bank issued a $100 million loan to the company Feb. 17, AP's Bernard Condon reports . "That's just three days after public revelations that the Republican's longtime accountants had disavowed a decade's worth of his financial statements amid allegations by New York's attorney general that they had exaggerated his wealth." WOWZA — "As the government's prosecutions of members of the Oath Keepers — by most measures, the most significant of any to come out of the Jan. 6 insurrection — move toward trial, defense lawyers face a daunting task: overcoming more than 2 terabytes of evidence arrayed against their clients, including countless hours of video footage from within the Capitol itself," BuzzFeed's Ken Bensinger reports. "A nonprofit founded by SIDNEY POWELL — the former attorney for president DONALD TRUMP who has repeatedly attempted to reverse the results of the 2020 election — has been covering the full legal expenses of at least one and potentially multiple defendants in the high-profile case." ALL POLITICS GOP EYES STATEHOUSES — Republicans are targeting state legislatures in an effort to flip statehouses across the country, Zach Montellaro reports . "The Republican State Leadership Committee's target list of legislative chambers, shared first with POLITICO, focuses first on defending majorities in familiar battleground states. Republicans have unified control of legislatures in nearly all of the presidential battlegrounds, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. But the margins are often small: Across the six chambers in Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania, Republicans have a combined margin of just 24 seats." REDISTRICTING READ — Democratic Louisiana Gov. JOHN BEL EDWARDS vetoed the redistricting map passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature, "saying it should have included a district that would allow a second Black candidate a chance to serve in the state's congressional delegation," reports the Baton Rouge Advocate's Mark Ballard.
| | | | A message from Emergent:   | | | JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH GARLAND SPEAKS — NPR's Carrie Johnson sat down with A.G. MERRICK GARLAND one year into his tenure as the pressure continues to build for criminal investigations into the big names connected to the Jan. 6 insurrection. She writes, "Members of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot have asserted former President Trump could be charged with conspiracy and obstruction for his actions. But Democrats in Congress and even some of Garland's friends have worried he'll shy away from the political firestorm that would result from charging a former commander-in-chief with a crime. "'We are not avoiding cases that are political or cases that are controversial or sensitive,' the attorney general said in an exclusive interview with NPR. 'What we are avoiding is making decisions on a political basis, on a partisan basis.'" LAWSUITS PILE UP — The RNC is planning to sue the House Jan. 6 panel over its subpoena of Salesforce, which the RNC uses for relationship management in fundraising, Axios' Jonathan Swan, Lachlan Markay and Sara Fischer report. — Separately, RNC Chair RONNA MCDANIEL met with staff of the committee Wednesday, Myah Ward and Kyle Cheney report — "though it's not clear whether McDaniel testified or if this was just an initial contact with investigators." IN THE LINE OF DUTY — The widow of D.C. police officer JEFFREY SMITH, who died by suicide in the days after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, won a monthslong fight Wednesday to have Smith's death declared in the line of duty, CNN's Jessica Schneider reports . "According to a letter obtained exclusively by CNN, the District of Columbia's Police and Firefighters' Retirement and Relief Board has found that Smith 'sustained a personal injury on January 6, 2021, while performing his duties and that his injury was the sole and direct cause of his death.' The ruling makes his family eligible to receive benefits." MEDIAWATCH ZUCKER'S HEFTY BONUS — Former CNN president JEFF ZUCKER, who resigned in February following the revelation that he hadn't disclosed a romantic relationship with a fellow CNN employee, "reached an exit deal with the network's parent entitling him to a payment of over $5 million, compensation he was owed from his 2021 bonus," sources tell WSJ's Benjamin Mullin and Joe Flint . "The agreement was completed before Mr. Zucker announced his resignation, with the executive citing a failure to disclose a consensual relationship with a colleague. He didn't receive any severance package as part of his exit."
| | | | DON'T MISS POLITICO'S INAUGURAL HEALTH CARE SUMMIT ON 3/31: Join POLITICO for a discussion with health care providers, policymakers, federal regulators, patient representatives, and industry leaders to better understand the latest policy and industry solutions in place as we enter year three of the pandemic. Panelists will discuss the latest proposals to overcome long-standing health care challenges in the U.S., such as expanding access to care, affordability, and prescription drug prices. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Donald Trump was asked how he saw the invasion of Ukraine unfolding, and he answered by knocking the use of windmills and green energy during an interview for the NELK Boys' podcast. He also referred to the Village People's "YMCA" as "the gay national anthem." (There isn't one.) Stephen Miller, the 36-year-old former Trump White House aide, revealed that he is still on his parents' "family plan" with T-Mobile. Jim McGovern, it turns out, takes disaster in stride. John Katko complained that Wednesday's House drama made him miss the Library of Congress' concert celebrating Lionel Richie. "If Katy Perry shows up to the concert tonight, I'm gonna be pissed," Katko said, per CNN. "This just sucks!" Andrew Kaczynski shared an odd memory of Lawrence O'Donnell, who apparently keeps a cup on set that he spits into. Dick Durbin fumed about Major League Baseball's lockout, and suggested it was time to "reconsider" MLB's antitrust exemption. South Korea's election-return coverage showcased the country's formidable edge in ridiculous TV graphics. IN MEMORIAM — "Tom Torok, 73, a lifelong journalist from Merchantville, NJ, died March 6 … He was a retired projects editor from The New York Times, where he created and managed the paper's data journalism team, which helped the paper win eight Pulitzer Prizes during his 13-year tenure. Earlier, he was a columnist and reporter for 18 years at The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he was part of four teams that were Pulitzer-Prize finalists, three for the Public Service award." Full obituary FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Charlotte Clymer is hosting a Twitter Spaces at 8 p.m. on the Texas executive order that allows the investigation of the parents of transgender kids who help them get gender-affirming care. Chelsea Clinton, White House officials and health care experts will be on hand to discuss the issue. SPOTTED at a party Wednesday for Pfizer Chair and CEO Albert Bourla's new book, "Moonshot: Inside Pfizer's Nine-Month Race to Make the Impossible Possible" ($29.99), at the Top of the Hay, where Pfizer's Sally Susman introduced Bourla: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Reps. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), Irish Ambassador Daniel Mulhall, Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog, Greek Ambassador Alexandra Papadopoulou, Chinese Ambassador Qin Gang, John McCarthy, Heather Podesta, Susan Fleischmann, Adrienne Elrod, Kim Sajet, Amy Dacey, Tammy Haddad, Steve Elmendorf, Alan Fleischmann and Dafna Tapiero, Melissa Moss, Holly Page, Juleanna Glover and Bob Blancato. MEDIA MOVES — Rachel Cohen is joining Vox as a senior reporter covering domestic policy. She most recently was a contributing writer for The Intercept and a freelance writer. Announcement … Tom LoBianco is now a reporter for Yahoo News. He previously was writing for Yahoo and is an Insider, AP and CNN alum. … Robin Bravender is returning to E&E News as a general assignment reporter for Greenwire. She most recently was at Insider, and is a States Newsroom and POLITICO alum. Talking Biz News … Tressie McMillan Cottom is joining the NYT as an opinion columnist. She's an author, sociologist and professor. Announcement TRANSITION — Katelynn Vogt is joining the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as comms director. She previously was deputy chief of staff for Rep. David Price (D-N.C.). WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Liz Jaff, president of Leopard Strategies, and Joey Rodriguez, legislative director for Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), welcomed Leona Rose Rodriguez on Monday. She came in at 7 lbs, 7 oz. Pic … Another pic — Ryan Leavitt, a partner at the law/lobbying firm Barker Leavitt, and Allison Leavitt, a Chris Stewart alum, on Wednesday welcomed Henry William Leavitt, who came in at 8 lbs, 12 oz. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: CNN's Jim Sciutto and Mike Callahan … Randy White … Jon Haber of Cascade Strategy … Bill Nichols … POLITICO's Brad Dayspring, Arek Sarkissian, Nicole Adams, Sarah Boldt, Chithra Subramanian and Dylon Jones … Carrie Filipetti … States Newsroom's Jane Norman … Jean Cornell … NPR's Ron Elving … Colin Coletti … Vernon Loeb of InsideClimate News … Kevin McKeon … Alyse Nelson of Vital Voices Global Partnership … Nicole Guillemard … NYT's Danny Hakim … Ed Hooper … Josh Johnson … Matt Morrison of Working America … Christie Roberts … Chris Corcoran … Matt Jessee of Bryan Cave Strategies … Alex Treadway … Cary Hatch … Urban Institute's Olivia Dunn … CNBC's David Faber … Adam Weinstein … Twitter's Biz Stone … John Murray of Monument Advocacy (5-0) 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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