🤫 Scoop: Biden's police plan

Plus: KJP at the podium | Monday, May 16, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By American Bankers Association   Axios Sneak Peek By the Axios Politics team · May 16, 2022 Welcome back to Sneak. Smart Brevity™ count: 984 words ... 3.5 minutes. Edited by Glen Johnson.     1 big thing: Scoop — Biden's police plan President Biden awards Officer Kyle Baker of the Concord (N.C.) Police Department the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor, along with fellow Concord officers Paul Stackenwalt (left) and Kaleb Robinson (center), during a ceremony in the East Room today. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images   President Biden plans to issue his highly anticipated executive order on police reform in the coming weeks, people familiar with the matter tell Axios' Hans Nichols and Alexi McCammond. Why it matters: With crime surging across the country, the political stakes for any executive action dealing with law enforcement are high. Republicans are convinced focusing on crime will help them in November and have pilloried Democrats for their progressive flank's "defund-the-police" rhetoric. White House officials have logged over 90 hours of engagement with congressional leaders, the civil rights community, police unions and families of those killed by police, a person familiar with the matter told Axios. The goal has been to strike the right balance, since top Biden aides know there are political risks for what the president ultimately includes — and omits. Civil rights activists and progressives — key constituencies for Democrats to energize ahead of the midterm elections — are demanding more accountability from law enforcement and action from Biden. Many are also deeply disappointed by Congress' failure to act. Driving the news: The second anniversary of George Floyd's murder on May 25 will renew attention on police reform. At the same time, Biden has been trying to appeal to centrist voters by highlighting his anti-crime efforts. Keep reading.     2. High court boosts candidate payback Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios   The Supreme Court has boosted high-dollar donors' abilities to personally enrich candidates — including ones like the wealthy individuals pouring millions into their own campaigns this year — if they prevail on Election Day. Why it matters: The court's ruling today is one more decision bypassing post-Watergate and other campaign finance restrictions, Axios' Lachlan Markay writes. A 6-3 majority struck down rules limiting candidates from raising funds after their elections to repay the money they loaned to their campaign. Wealthy candidates who lend millions to their campaigns can secure public office, then go to their top donors for sums that could reach the millions. They can seek contributions to repay themselves and then deposit the money directly into their personal bank accounts. While the donations are capped at the amount of the candidate's campaign loan, the risk of corruption is "self-evident and acute," according to the Campaign Legal Center. The good-government group filed an amicus brief in the case. Between the lines: The current midterm cycle has seen a huge number of wealthy self-funders. Ninety-five House and Senate candidates have already loaned their campaigns more than $250,000, according to Federal Election Commission records. In tomorrow's U.S. Senate primary in Pennsylvania, for example, celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz faces off against hedge funder David McCormick and former Trump administration official Carla Sands. Oz has loaned $12 million to his own campaign. McCormick has loaned $11 million and Sands has chipped in $3.9 million for her race. The big picture: Under prior campaign finance rules, candidates could only raise up to $250,000 after an election to reimburse themselves. Today, the high court struck down that cap. The new decision also is retroactive, meaning candidates can pay themselves back for any loans this cycle — or prior ones. Keep reading.     3. Charted: Pennsylvania's Facebook primary Data: CrowdTangle; Chart: Kavya Beheraj/Axios Kathy Barnette has quietly built a robust organic social media operation as her more prominent rivals for Pennsylvania's Republican Senate nomination tomorrow have plowed huge sums into digital ads, data also reviewed by Lachlan show. Why it matters: In what's expected to be one of the most expensive Senate primaries in U.S. history, Barnette has pulled within striking distance of rivals — namely, celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz and financier David McCormick — who have far more resources at their disposal. Barnette has, nonetheless, capitalized on grassroots conservative enthusiasm in the final weeks of the race. It's reflected in Facebook engagement numbers showing her steadily gaining traction against her competition. By the numbers: Axios analyzed social media data from CrowdTangle.It shows average weekly engagement on Facebook posts for Barnette, Oz and McCormick, the three front-runners. Despite a Facebook following far smaller than Oz's — who boasts millions of fans on the site stemming from his long career in the limelight — Barnette overtook Oz last week in per-post engagement figures. Her recognition in the race received a huge boost this month thanks to a viral video about her life story. Between the lines: Political advertising data show Barnette has spent far less than her rivals on paid content on the platform. Her campaign has reported spending less than $36,000 on Facebook and Instagram ads during the past 90 days. That's compared to $216,000 for Oz and $99,000 for McCormick.     A message from American Bankers Association Promoting financial inclusion through Bank On     More and more, banks across the U.S. are offering simple, low-cost Bank On-certified accounts. With the strong support of the American Bankers Association, Bank On is helping reduce the number of unbanked Americans while attracting new, valued bank customers. See the progress.     4. Worthy of your time Vice President Kamala Harris shakes hands with President Mohammed bin Zayed during a brief visit to the United Arab Emirates to pay condolences on the death of Khalifa bin Zayed. Photo: Via Twitter   ⚔️ Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), who both chair key congressional committees, are tentatively planning to run against each other after being drawn into a single district by a court-appointed mapmaker, Axios' Andrew Solender reports in tonight's Sneak roundup. 📄 Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) called for the House to take up a bill creating domestic terrorism offices in several federal agencies following the mass shooting in Buffalo, New York. The bill was shelved last month amid opposition from progressives and the Justice Department. 🏛️ The Senate is set to take the first procedural votes on a $40 billion package to support Ukraine as it fends off an invasion of Russia. The bill passed the House last week by a wide margin. 💵 House Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry (R-Pa.) donated $1,000 to Barnette, the surging "ultra-MAGA" candidate in Pennsylvania's GOP Senate primary, despite former President Trump endorsing TV personality Mehmet Oz, according to Insider. 💥 Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called out Fox News and "MAGA Republicans" on the Senate floor, accusing them of voicing the "replacement theory and other racially motivated views" that inspired the Buffalo shooter.     5. Pic du jour Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images   Karine Jean-Pierre said during her first briefing as White House press secretary that she's "obviously acutely aware that my presence at this podium represents a few firsts." She added: "I am a black, gay, immigrant woman — the first of all three of those to hold this position."     A message from American Bankers Association Promoting financial inclusion through Bank On     More and more, banks across the U.S. are offering simple, low-cost Bank On-certified accounts. With the strong support of the American Bankers Association, Bank On is helping reduce the number of unbanked Americans while attracting new, valued bank customers. See the progress.   📬 Thanks for reading tonight! Please tell your family, friends and colleagues they can subscribe to Sneak or any of Axios' other free local and national newsletters through this link. Like this email style and format? It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 200 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. 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