| | | | |  | | By Rachael Bade and Ryan Lizza | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | | | PENCE TO HOLD RALLY FOR TRUMP FOE — Georgia Gov. BRIAN KEMP may be one of former President DONALD TRUMP's biggest GOP targets in this year's primaries. But that's not stopping former VP MIKE PENCE from openly embracing him.Alex Isenstadt reportsthat Pence will hold a May 23rd get-out-the-vote rally for Kemp on the eve of his primary against Trump-endorsed challenger DAVID PERDUE.
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Well-placed sources tell us that Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) was among those pressing hardest for the wave of subpoenas from the Jan. 6 investigative panel. | Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP | SCOOP: CHENEY'S QUIET PRODDING — When GOP Rep. LIZ CHENEY decided to risk everything politically and serve on NANCY PELOSI's newly created Jan. 6 investigative panel in the spring of last year, she made something of a vow to herself, according to people close with the Wyoming Republican: She would follow the facts wherever they went, and privately press for the panel to leave no stone unturned to get to the truth of the siege of the Capitol. No half-baked probes. No shrinking away from key witnesses, as Democrats had done in their past impeachments of Donald Trump. If she was going to do this, she was going to go all the way — even as some members of the panel, we heard back then, didn't even want to investigate Trump's actions that day. On Thursday, Washington saw the latest fruits of Cheney's labor, when the Jan. 6 committee shocked This Town and subpoenaed five House GOP lawmakers to testify — including the likely next speaker of the House, KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-Calif.). Well-placed sources tell us that Cheney — who was booted from her post as No. 3 Republican in the House one year to the day before the subpoenas were issued — was among those pressing hardest for this move, arguing that these GOP members had relevant information and they couldn't just let them skirt without questioning. The decision came after months of internal debate on the committee about the wisdom of such an unprecedented step, with even Chairman BENNIE THOMPSON (D-Miss.) expressing skepticism about trying to force fellow lawmakers to testify. Other Democrats on the panel were concerned that the summons could set a bad precedent: With Republicans primed to flip the House in a matter of months, there is almost no question that the GOP will retaliate by subpoenaing top Democrats — like Pelosi and ADAM SCHIFF (D-Calif.) — in their own investigations. Sources tell us Cheney and fellow panel member JAMIE RASKIN (D-Md.) privately countered that the GOP will subpoena Democrats anyway — and that the panel might as well try to get the facts while they can. In recent days, Cheney also recently had a conversation with ZOE LOFGREN (D-Calif.), a Pelosi ally and panel member who we hear was also resistant to the idea for a time. (The two have been working together on a bill overhauling the Electoral Count Act.) They all eventually came to an agreement that the committee had no choice but to subpoena. (Note: Another source following the panel's work disputed that Lofgren had any problem with subpoenaing members at any point.) A few key points about all of this and what comes next: — The 1/6 panel has a serious enforcement issue here. Republicans are expected to ignore these summons. And when they do, the Jan. 6 committee doesn't have a lot of obvious options for how to respond. We're told they've already privately discussed a few options, including (1) taking the matter to court, (2) holding lawmakers in contempt and (3) trying to get the Justice Department to enforce summons. Here, too, there's a risk of opening Democrats up to reprisals from a GOP-controlled House. Further, a judge could rule that the lawmakers cannot be forced to testify due to the Constitution's "Speech and Debate" clause, which protects members of Congress from legal repercussions for official actions. There's also (4) the possibility that Congress could invoke its "inherent contempt" power, which allows lawmakers to fine obstinate witnesses, or — at least in theory — kick them off committees. But while Democrats have discussed "inherent contempt" options for years, they've never bit the bullet — mostly because they've assumed it would also lead to a lengthy court battle. Nicholas Wu and Kyle Cheney have more on this conundrum in a story that just posted. — The clock is working against them — and the move could be entirely for nothing. If Democrats have learned anything from years of investigating Trump, it's that the courts are slow and time is never on their side. That raises a question of why the panel waited so long to take this step — especially since they've actually been discussing subpoenaing McCarthy since the second impeachment in February 2021. Now it's almost certainly too late. Short of Republicans suddenly choosing to cooperate (unlikely ), the litigation surrounding this issue is likely to drag out well past Election Day, when Republicans will likely flip the House. At that time, McCarthy will likely be able to throw out the probe (and its related lawsuits) completely. Had they moved sooner, the court may have been further along on these questions. Happy Friday the 13th, and thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | A message from PhRMA: ICYMI: A majority of Americans reject so-called government "negotiation" once they learn it could restrict access and choice and chill the innovation of new treatments and cures. The survey also shows a majority find health care coverage costs unreasonable and a top priority health care issue for policymakers to address today. | | | THE PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW: STEVE SCHMIDT — This week on "Playbook Deep Dive," we sat down over Zoom with STEVE SCHMIDT, the architect of the late Sen. JOHN MCCAIN's 2008 presidential run, to hear what amounts to an untold chapter of that exhaustively chronicled campaign. It's a story about regret and disillusionment that we are confident you will want to hear. Previously, Schmidt has had a lot to say about his regrets playing a role in elevating SARAH PALIN , McCain's running mate. Schmidt has long maintained that the roots of Trumpism, which he has spent the last seven years fighting, can be found in the movement that first gathered around Palin in 2008. But Schmidt has always been more circumspect about McCain, his onetime hero and the man who actually picked Palin. Recently, though, he took to Substack to unfurl a surprising new chapter about the legendary senator and his failed 2008 campaign, which we discuss in depth on the show. He also told us something he's never revealed before: his disillusionment with McCain was so deep by the end of the 2008 campaign that he didn't think McCain should be in the White House. "The only conceivable conclusion that you could get to after watching his conduct in this campaign was that he's completely unfit to be president," Schmidt told us. "Truth is, I didn't vote for him, either." He left the presidential line on his 2008 ballot blank. Listen to the entire show here
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| | | | | A message from PhRMA: ICYMI: Majority of Americans reject so-called government "negotiation" once they learn it could restrict access and choice and chill the innovation of new treatments and cures. | | | BIDEN'S FRIDAY: — 9:30 a.m.: The president will receive the President's Daily Brief. — 10:45 a.m.: Biden will welcome Jordan KING ABDULLAH II and CROWN PRINCE HUSSEIN to the White House. — 2:30 p.m.: Biden will meet with local elected officials, chiefs of police and a community violence intervention expert from cities across America to discuss infrastructure and policing, and will deliver remarks at 3 p.m. — 3:30 p.m.: Biden will participate in the U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit. — 6 p.m.: The president will depart the White House en route to New Castle, Del., where he is scheduled to arrive at 6:55 p.m. VP KAMALA HARRIS' FRIDAY: — 11:30 a.m.: The vice president will host a working lunch with ASEAN leaders. — 1:30 p.m.: Harris will host a meeting with ASEAN leaders, Cabinet members and other administration officials. Press secretary JEN PSAKI will deliver her final briefing at 1 p.m. The SENATE is out. The HOUSE will meet at 9 a.m. to consider the Community Services Block Grant Modernization Act of 2022. Last votes are expected at 3 p.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. | | | | | PHOTO OF THE DAY
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President Joe Biden and leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) arrive for a group photo on the South Lawn of the White House on Thursday, May 12. | Susan Walsh/AP Photo | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | ALL POLITICS ALL ABOUT PENNSYLVANIA — The Keystone State is the next big primary target for Dems and Republicans to test their party's mettle on Tuesday ahead of the midterms. As such, there's a bevy of stories from the battleground: — KATHY BARNETTE's momentum in the GOP Senate primary has become the story less than a week away from voters heading to the polls. Her "late surge has turned the nationally-watched race into a mad scramble, with former President Donald Trump warning Republicans against nominating her and opponents only now doing basic background research in an attempt to stop her," the Philly Inquirer's Jonathan Tamari, Julia Terruso and Ryan Briggs report. "Such vetting, usually strategically unspooled over the course of a lengthy campaign, rolled out in frenetic bursts at a range of disparate targets Thursday. The rush to find anything to puncture Barnette's story came as she threatened to overtake long-time GOP front-runners MEHMET OZ and DAVID MCCORMICK, who have spent tens of millions of dollars on the campaign but failed to pull away." — Holly Otterbein and Natalie Allison have a look at the all-out effort to halt Barnette's rise, and the view from campaign watchers. "'I think what's happened is neither Oz nor McCormick have excited anybody,' said JOHN BRABENDER , a Republican strategist who is a veteran of Pennsylvania campaigns and is not working for a candidate in the Senate primary. 'They've spent a lot of money and people viewed it as millionaires behaving badly." — In a taste of the type of oppo that awaits Barnette in a general election, CNN's Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck report that "in one speech uploaded to YouTube in 2015, Barnette forcefully argued it was OK to discriminate against Muslims and compared rejecting Islam to '... rejecting Hitler's or Stalin's worldviews.' In comments on her radio show, she said accepting homosexuality would lead to the accepting of incest and pedophilia. One post she wrote called a transgender person 'deformed' and 'demonic.'" — Related reads: "Trump scrambles to fend off Oz challenger in Pa. Senate race," by AP's Marc Levy … "In Pennsylvania, a Hard-Right Candidate's Star Rises," by NYT's Tracey Tully Meanwhile, in the Democratic primary… — On paper, Rep. CONOR LAMB (D-Pa.) checks all the boxes for a popular Dem in a key battleground state: He's "a Marine veteran, former prosecutor and Pennsylvania moderate who had won in Trump territory and swing suburbs alike," NYT's Trip Gabriel writes. But Lamb approaches Tuesday's Senate primary as a serious underdog behind Lt. Gov. JOHN FETTERMAN. What the situation tells us about the national landscape: "The seeming meltdown for Mr. Lamb — whose initial victories in Western Pennsylvania had been a model for President Biden's 2020 race — reflects a frustration among Democrats nationally with politicians who promise bipartisan accord, including Mr. Biden, and who have yielded meager results in Washington." ABORTION FALLOUT ALITO WON'T GO THERE — In his first public appearance since the publishing of his draft opinion overturning Roe, Justice SAMUEL ALITO declined to wade into the topic. Alito "breezed through a detailed examination of statutory textualism, and renewed a disagreement over the court's decision saying federal discrimination law protects gay and transgender workers. But he was a little stumped by the final audience question from a crowd at Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University," WaPo's Robert Barnes and Lauren Lumpkin write. — The question: "I think it would just be really helpful for all of us to hear, personally, are you all doing ok in these very challenging times?" — Alito's answer: "This is a subject I told myself I wasn't going to talk about today regarding, you know — given all the circumstances. [Pause] The court right now, we had our conference this morning, we're doing our work. We're taking new cases, we're headed toward the end of the term, which is always a frenetic time as we get our opinions out." IN THE STATES — Louisiana lawmakers on Thursday "gutted a controversial abortion bill that could have charged women who abort their pregnancies with murder," the Lafayette Daily Advertiser's Greg Hilburn reports. HOW DEMS ARE REACTING — The "looming loss of abortion rights has re-energized the Democratic Party's left flank, which had absorbed a series of legislative and political blows and appeared to be divided and flagging," writes NYT's Jonathan Weisman. But there are a couple catches: (1) "President Biden and Democrats in Congress have told voters that the demise of Roe means that they must elect more 'pro-choice' candidates, even as the party quietly backs some Democrats who are not." (2) That aside, "the youthful candidates of the left will have a challenge exciting voters who feel as demoralized by the Democrats' failure to protect abortion rights as they are angry at Republicans who engineered the gutting of Roe v. Wade." — Related read: "Dems face facts: They need a November turnaround to save Roe," by Sarah Ferris and Marianne LeVine: "Democrats are imploring their reeling base to redirect their fury over the shrinking of abortion access toward a midterm election that was tilting away from them, hoping the mostly anti-abortion GOP can see its momentum halted before the fall. Until then, the party is acknowledging its hands are tied, despite its control of Congress and the White House."
| | | | A message from PhRMA:   ICYMI: Majority of Americans reject so-called government "negotiation". | | | CONGRESS DEEP DIVE ON CAWTHORN — Michael Kruse writes for POLITICO Magazine from Hendersonville, N.C.: "The Entirely Predictable Tragedy of Madison Cawthorn" : "The scope of Cawthorn's troubles is broad, the implications transcending mere politics. More than 70 interviews with people who know Cawthorn … paint a picture of a man in crisis. Cawthorn, they say, is an immature college dropout with a thin work resume, a scofflaw and serial embellisher who was neither qualified nor prepared for the responsibility and the scrutiny that comes with the office he holds. They describe him as a person whose ongoing physical pain and insecurities have made him unusually susceptible to the twisted incentives of a political environment and a Trump-led GOP that prizes perhaps above all else outrage and partisan attack." THE WHITE HOUSE WHAT BIDEN'S DOING ON BABY FORMULA — The Biden administration on Thursday announced a series of steps that it will take to address the nationwide shortage of baby formula, Myah Ward and Helena Bottemiller Evich report. After meeting with retailers and manufacturers, Biden said the White House "plans to speed up the manufacturing process, crack down on price gouging and increase supply through additional imports." Related read by Helena: "Duckworth asks FTC to examine formula market" THE PANDEMIC A WHITE HOUSE WARNING — White House Covid coordinator ASHISH JHA tells the AP that, in the AP's words, "Americans' immune protection from the virus is waning, the virus is adapting to be more contagious and booster doses for most people will be necessary — with the potential for enhanced protection from a new generation of shots. … But he warned that the U.S. is at risk of losing its place in line to other countries if Congress doesn't act in the next several weeks." — Officials in the White House are trying to figure out how to fight the pandemic with a shoestring budget. "Among the sacrifices being weighed are limiting access to its next generation of vaccines to only the highest-risk Americans — a rationing that would have been unthinkable just a year ago," Adam Cancryn reports. TV TONIGHT — PBS' "Washington Week": Seung Min Kim, Susan Page and Manu Raju. SUNDAY SO FAR … FOX "Fox News Sunday": Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt … Colorado Gov. Jared Polis … Kathy Barnette. Panel: Charles Hurt, Guy Benson, Catherine Lucey and Mo Elleithee. ABC "This Week": Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Panel: Chris Christie, Donna Brazile, Molly Ball and Jon Karl. CBS "Face the Nation": Mark Esper … Scott Gottlieb … Lloyd Blankfein. NBC "Meet the Press":Panel: Matt Bai, Al Cardenas, Susan Page and Ashley Parker. CNN "Inside Politics":Panel: Astead Herndon, Margaret Talev, Asma Khalid, Alex Burns and David Sanger. MSNBC "The Sunday Show": Rachel Bitecofer … Eric Holder.
| | | | DON'T MISS DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED: Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today. | | | | | | | Playbookers | | Responding to a POLITICO report that her office has the highest turnover rate on Capitol Hill and that she garnered the title of "Worst Boss," Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) told Indy Politics' Abdul Hakim-Shabazz that "a lot of these young people need to toughen up." Jen Psaki named one of the items on her to-do list for post-White House life: learning to play Wordle. Ralph Nader is upset about the lack of attention the NYT's sports section gives to baseball, accusing the paper of thinking "its readers are more interested, by far, in Real Madrid than in the Real Yankees in New York City." The House Pro Choice Caucus distributed messaging materials advising Dems on how to talk about abortion, per Sarah Ferris. "One of the recommendations: Don't use 'choice.'" Rory Hu, a sixth-grader who reports for Nick News, got a question at Thursday's White House press briefing. Eric Adams told CBS' Marcia Kramer that if his dyslexia had been diagnosed earlier in life, we'd be calling him "Mr. President" instead of "Mr. Mayor." Kyrsten Sinema ran the ACLI's Capital Challenge 3-Mile Race on Thursday, and apparently won the award for "fastest female member of Congress." Screenshot from Insta SPOTTED: Hillary Clinton dining at Bistrot Lepic on Thursday evening. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at the DCCC's first-ever AAPI Heritage Month event at the DCCC HQ on Thursday night: DCCC Chair Sean Patrick Maloney, Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) and Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Tim Persico, Dennis Raj, Vriti Jain, Raghu Devaguptapu, Kevin Liao, Nisha Jain and Saumya Narecha. — SPOTTED at the CBA Trailblazer Awards, where Apple, AT&T, CVS, General Motors, Meta and the National Association of Realtors honored the Congressional Black Associates and their trailblazers: U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, Rep. Shontel Brown (D-Ohio), Yebbie Watkins, Kayla Primes, Maya Valentine, Alyssa Mensie, Michael Pauls, Nicole Varner, Hope Goins, April Jones, Eileen Bliss, Katreice Banks, Didier Barjon, Vince Evans, Rico Doss, Yujin Lee, Joe Harris, Francesca McCray-Jordy, William Fairfax, Tate Mitchell, Aleeke Spence, Halle Ewing, Alivia Roberts, Tenesha Hare and Imani Edwards. — SPOTTED at a celebration of Israel's 74th independence day on Thursday night at the National Building Museum hosted by Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog and Shirin Herzog, which drew numerous Congress members and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (who spoke) and featured videos from Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Biden: Gen. Mark Milley, British Ambassador Karen Pierce, German Ambassador Emily Haber, UAE Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba, Bahrain Ambassador Khalid bin Abdullah bin Ali Al Khalifa,Robert Kraft, Robert O'Brien, Jon Finer, Aaron Keyak, Steve Rabinowitz, Elliott Abrams, Tyler Pager, John Hudson, Meridith McGraw, Dan Bonner, Joel Rubin, Elan Carr and Joel Gehrke. TRANSITION — Frank Larkin is joining Troops First Foundation as chief operating officer and chair of its Warrior Call initiative. He most recently was VP of corporate development at SAP National Security Services and previously served as a Navy SEAL, in the Secret Service and as Senate Sergeant at Arms. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) … Reps. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) and Michael Cloud (R-Texas) … Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-U.S. Virgin Islands) … Amy Grappone of the McCain Institute for International Leadership … POLITICO's Amber Burton … Amy Bos … Sarah Gunion … CNN's Brian Fung … Stephen Colbert … Dan Cox of AEI and the Survey Center on American Life … Shaila Manyam of BCW Global … Charlyn Stanberry … Phil Musser of NextEra Energy Resources … Mike Lux … NBC's Ken Dilanian and Nataly Lado … NYT's Mark Mazzetti … Marcia Lee Kelly, senior adviser to Melania Trump … VoteVets' Jon Soltz … former FDA commissioner David Kessler ... National Journal's Jeff DuFour ... Tara Bradshaw … Erica Farage … Austin Gage … former Reps. Chris Gibson (R-N.Y.) and John Kasich (R-Ohio) (7-0) … David Ray … Matthew Gorton ... AlexandraZeitz Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Mike Zapler, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Bethany Irvine, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross.
| | | | A message from PhRMA: According to a new poll , voters overwhelmingly support policies that would lower out-of-pocket costs and bring greater transparency and accountability to the health insurance system.
We need to make the cost of medicine more predictable and affordable. Government price setting is the wrong way. The right way means covering more medicines from day one, making out-of-pocket costs more predictable and sharing negotiated savings with patients at the pharmacy counter.
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