| | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza and Eugene Daniels | | | With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross
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President Biden's top national security officials are gathering with a small cohort of journalists over the next four days for rare on-the-record sessions at the Aspen Security Forum. Things kicked off last night with DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. | Evan Vucci, File/AP Photo | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | ABOUT LAST NIGHT — "Trump wins proxy war with Hogan in Maryland primary — boosted by Democrats," by Zach Montellaro In the Republican primary: DAN COX, a state delegate "who has full-throatedly embraced [DONALD] TRUMP's repeated falsehoods about fraud in the 2020 election, scored the former president a win in his fight with [Gov. LARRY] HOGAN," defeating the Hogan-endorsed KELLY SCHULZ in the gubernatorial primary. "The closing weeks of the race were dominated by the Democratic Governors Association, which dropped a multi-million ad campaign 'attacking' Cox as too loyal to Trump," Zach writes. "The DGA has insisted it was merely getting a head start on the general election, casting Cox as the frontrunner — despite public polling in the run-up to Tuesday showing Cox and Schulz deadlocked. But the campaign was widely seen as an attempt to boost the more extreme candidate in the Republican primary, in hopes that Cox would be easier to beat in the general election." For more about this Dem primary-meddling strategy, check out Tuesday's Playbook
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| In the Democratic primary: With mail ballots yet to be counted (Maryland state law prevents election officials from counting them until Thursday), it's too early to call. As of this morning, author WES MOORE led the field, with former DNC Chair and Labor Secretary TOM PEREZ and state Comptroller PETER FRANCHOT in striking distance. Also notable: In the Democratic primary for Maryland's open 4th congressional district, GLENN IVEY defeated former Rep. DONNA EDWARDS, who was attempting a comeback bid after leaving Congress in 2016 and faced an onslaught of negative ads from AIPAC-aligned groups. More from NYT Full results: Maryland statewide and Maryland congressional districts THE VIEW FROM ASPEN — The House is teeing up a messaging bill on contraception, while the Senate continues its struggle to pass legislation on industrial policy and health care. Meanwhile, JOE BIDEN will tour an old coal plant today and announce some modest new climate change policies. But the place to be this week to really understand where the country is headed is 1,800 miles away from Washington: Aspen, Colorado, where Biden's top national security officials — including his CIA director, national security adviser, and top officials from DOJ and Treasury — are gathering with a small cohort of journalists over the next four days for rare on-the-record sessions at the Aspen Security Forum. Things kicked off last night with DHS Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS. The full agenda can be found here . There hasn't been anything close to this many senior Biden people gathered together in one place and speaking publicly during the Biden presidency thus far. Playbook is in Aspen, along with our colleagues Dafna Linzer, Alex Ward, Nahal Toosi and Daniel Lippman , and we'll be bringing readers highlights through Saturday. We asked Alex, author of POLITICO's "National Security Daily" newsletter , to weigh in with the three big things he'll be watching for this week. Here's what he told us: 1. The administration has struggled to convey its foreign and national security policies since taking the reins in Jan. 2021. Covid was largely to blame –– there's only so much nuance you can convey over Zoom. Now, officials from national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN to CIA Director WILLIAM BURNS to Undersecretary of State VICTORIA NULAND have a chance to road test their views and assumptions in front of an elite audience. ASF is chock full of reporters, government officials, business leaders, activists, lobbyists and concerned citizens who will have no qualms about poking at the Biden administration's foreign policy with a critical stick. 2. Biden just finished two major trips, one to Europe to rally NATO and the broader West against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the other to the Middle East to reestablish American influence in a region where it has largely waned. After all that jet-setting, what does the administration have to show for it? And what comes next?It'll be important for Biden's team to not just defend its policies to date, but outline what they plan to do in the future. Will they supply Ukraine with even more advanced weapons, or lift restrictions on what Kyiv's forces can do with what the West provides them? Will Biden invest in a better relationship with Saudi Crown Prince MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN or the intractable peace process between Israelis and Palestinians? Oh, and what does any of that mean for the largest challenge of confronting China? 3. Members of the Biden administration, from the top on down, get prickly when people question their policies. They claim outside critics don't have the right information or overemphasize something trivial (cough the fist bump cough). But in Aspen, officials won't be able to wave away broadsides against their views. They'll have to face them head on, potentially leading to some … let's say "candid" … moments. Again, because of the pandemic, the administration hasn't faced sustained in-person challenges from outsiders for the last 18 months. I'm glad I and my colleagues have a front-row seat to it all.
| | | | A message from Amazon: Out of work and worried he would lose everything, Frank applied for a job at Amazon and got a career.
Frank started as a shift assistant in 2017 and steadily worked his way to becoming a senior operations manager at an Amazon Air Hub. Frank is now mentoring others to help advance their career goals and grow at Amazon just like he did. | | | Good Wednesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line and tell us what you want to know from Biden's foreign policy high command in Aspen: Rachael Bade , Eugene Daniels , Ryan Lizza . INSIDE 1600 PENN — Senior White House officials are "considering a major overhaul of its press and communications shop in the coming weeks," NBC's Mike Memoli and Carol Lee report . The first step is finding a new comms director, a process which senior adviser ANITA DUNN has already begun, they write. "Among those under consideration to be communications director are LIZ ALLEN, currently Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs; KATE BERNER, currently Deputy Communications Director, and ELIZABETH ALEXANDER, Communications Director for First Lady JILL BIDEN." SURVEY SAYS — The latest POLITICO/Morning Consult poll has some generally good news for DONALD TRUMP as he decides whether and when to announce a possible 2024 campaign: — If the 2024 GOP primary was held today, 53% of Republican voters and Republican-leaning independents say they would vote for Trump. — Worth noting: That number has held steady — and even slightly increased — since last fall. In Oct. 2021, 47% of that same group said they'd support Trump. By late June, it was 51%. — Of the 16 other potential 2024 GOP candidates tested, only five polled above 1%: Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS at 23%, MIKE PENCE at 7%, TED CRUZ at 3%, and MITT ROMNEY, NIKKI HALEY and LIZ CHENEY all tied at 2%. ("Would not vote" came in at 4%.) — Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, 72% said they'd back Biden if the 2024 primary was held today, while 20% said they'd support someone else and 8% said they would not vote. Three more numbers to watch: — Biden's approval rating: 38% approve, 58% disapprove. (Net: -20) — The generic congressional ballot: Dems have a four-point advantage over Republicans, 45%-41%. — Right track/wrong track: 22% of voters say that things in the country are generally going in the right direction, while 78% say they're on the wrong track. Toplines … Crosstabs
| | | | A message from Amazon:   Amazon gives employees the chance to grow their careers, "you don't need to seek out the spotlight because the spotlight will find you," Frank said. | | | | | BIDEN'S WEDNESDAY:
9:30 a.m.: The president will receive the President's Daily Brief.
11:45 a.m.: Biden will depart the White House en route to Warwick, R.I., where he is scheduled to arrive at 1:15 p.m., before traveling to Brayton Point in Somerset, Mass.
2:45 p.m.: Biden will deliver remarks on the climate crisis.
3:30 p.m.: Biden will depart Brayton Point to return to the White House, where he is scheduled to arrive at 5:40 p.m.
VP KAMALA HARRIS' WEDNESDAY: The VP has nothing on her public schedule.
Press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE and national climate adviser GINA MCCARTHY will gaggle aboard Air Force One on the way to Somerset.
THE SENATE is in. FDA Commissioner ROBERT CALIFF will be among those testifying before an Appropriations subcommittee at 10 a.m. The Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on ARATI PRABHAKAR's nomination to lead the Office of Science and Technology Policy at 10 a.m. The Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the Highland Park, Ill., massacre at 10 a.m.
THE HOUSE will meet at 10 a.m. The Judiciary Committee will mark up gun bills, including an assault weapons ban, at 10 a.m. NEWT GINGRICH will be among those testifying before the Budget Committee at 10:30 a.m. Speaker NANCY PELOSI will host Ukrainian first lady OLENA ZELENSKA to deliver remarks to Congress at 11 a.m. | | | | | | HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT ROE BEING OVERTURNED? JOIN WOMEN RULE ON 7/21: Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade , abortion policy is in the hands of the states and, ultimately, voters. Join POLITICO national political correspondent Elena Schneider for a Women Rule "ask me anything" conversation featuring a panel of reporters from our politics and health care teams who will answer your questions about how the court's decision could play out in different states, its impact on the midterms and what it means for reproductive rights in the U.S. going forward. SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS AND REGISTER HERE . | | | | | PHOTO OF THE DAY
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First lady Jill Biden and President Joe Biden greet Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska on Tuesday, July 19, at the White House, where Zelenska met privately with Jill Biden and participated in a bilateral meeting with other U.S. officials. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | THE WHITE HOUSE HAPPENING TODAY — "President Joe Biden will announce new steps to combat climate change, but will stop short of declaring a national emergency that would unlock new tools for driving down greenhouse gases, the White House said Tuesday," per Kelsey Tamborrino, Zack Colman, Josh Siegel and Alex Guillén . "Biden will travel on Wednesday to a shuttered power plant in Massachusetts to talk about climate change, a trip that comes six days after the collapse of negotiations aimed at getting a climate bill through Congress." — Related read: "Biden to announce small steps as climate agenda stalls," by Zack Colman ABORTION FALLOUT — The White House is considering implementing "a narrow public health directive aimed at safeguarding nationwide access to abortion pills," Adam Cancryn reports . "The Biden team has zeroed in on that authority in recent days. They consider it the most feasible of the White House's limited options for protecting abortion rights, and have concluded that it could have the most immediate on-the-ground impact while also quelling Democrats' demands for stronger action." CONGRESS RESPONDING TO SCOTUS — The House on Tuesday passed the Respect for Marriage Act to codify same-sex and interracial marriages by a vote of 267-157. Every Democrat voted for the bill, as did 47 Republicans, per CBS' Melissa Quinn . — Up next: A vote to "create a statutory right for people to access birth control and protect a range of contraceptive methods." — Over in the Senate: "One Republican, Sen. SUSAN COLLINS of Maine, is a backer of the marriage equality measure, and GOP Sen. LISA MURKOWSKI of Alaska said she would like to see contraception and same-sex marriage rights protected under federal law." — FWIW: Our colleagues Olivia Beavers and Anthony Adragna report that GOP leadership is not expected to whip against the contraception bill. THE MANCHIN EFFECT — Burgess Everett and Marianne LeVine take the temperature of the Democratic caucus after the latest drama involving Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) appears to be subsiding. "Nearly 18 months since Manchin became Democrats' elusive 50th Senate vote, it's become clear that most in his party — himself included — are ready to put endless party-line negotiations behind them ," they write. "But Democrats are hardly in the mood to declare victory. Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER proclaimed his caucus is 'excited' about the deal with Manchin, even though the topic was not the focus of the party's weekly lunch [on Tuesday]. And some colleagues are criticizing Manchin openly, a move that may only further alienate the centrist." — One thing that's not likely to make it into the spending package: Covid aid. Jordain Carney and Sarah Ferris report that House Majority Leader STENY HOYER and Appropriations Chair ROSA DELAURO (D-Conn.) are cool on the idea. "Asked about the chances that the two issues are merged, Hoyer told reporters that, 'that's one alternative. I don't think it would be my alternative.'" DEPT. OF VOTE COUNTING — House Democrats are trying to pass an assault weapons ban, but they're still shy of enough votes to get it through. Jordain Carney and Sarah Ferris have the latest on the effort . "'This is a bill that destroyed the Democrats in '94. I guess, do we really have a death wish list as Democrats?' said Rep. KURT SCHRADER (D-Ore.), who will not be on the ballot in November as he has already lost his primary. The Oregonian centrist is one of more than a half-dozen Democrats either opposed to or undecided on the legislation, many from rural districts where gun safety laws are more contentious. Part of Schrader's argument: Democrats would risk stomping on their latest bipartisan gun bill by passing something that goes further but will not become law." ALL POLITICS THE TRUMP EFFECT — It's the question that's been looming over the Jan. 6 hearings for weeks now: Just how damaging are they turning out for Trump? Conventional wisdom said there wouldn't be any silver bullet. "What happened instead, a slow drip of negative coverage, may be just as damaging to the former president," David Siders writes this morning . "The fatigue is evident in public polling and in focus groups that suggest growing Republican openness to an alternative presidential nominee in 2024. The cumulative effect of the hearings, according to interviews with more than 20 Republican strategists, party officials and pollsters in recent days, has been to at least marginally weaken his support." JUST POSTED — "Pence Campaigns for House Republicans, Papering Over Party Rift," by NYT's Annie Karni: "On Wednesday, his alliance with congressional Republicans will be on display when he speaks on Capitol Hill as a guest of the Republican Study Committee, a conservative caucus." VANCE'S REQUEST — "Ohio Senate candidate Vance asking donors to help pay debts," by Roll Call's Kate Ackley DESANTIS' DONORS — "DeSantis Plays the Silicon Valley Money Machine," by Puck's Theodore Schleifer: "Ron (and Casey) DeSantis have been spending some time with the Thiels and Musks of the world as the tech industry rallies around a potential new 2024 favorite."
| | | | A message from Amazon:   Career development matters. That's why Amazon has committed more than $1.2 billion to provide enhanced training to 300,000 employees through 2025. | | | WAR IN UKRAINE — The U.S. on Tuesday "doubled down on its assertion that Russia will try to annex additional Ukrainian territory, warning that Moscow intends to claim as its own large swaths of the country's east and south sometime later this year," WaPo's Karoun Demirjian and Mariana Alfaro report . — The ripple effect: "Europe Fears a Long, Cold Winter if Russia Ends Supply of Natural Gas," by WSJ's Jenny Strasburg, Josh Ulick and Juanje Gómez JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH THE GEORGIA INVESTIGATION — "False Georgia electors are deemed targets of DA criminal probe," by Kyle Cheney AT THE BANNON TRIAL — STEVE BANNON "was 'thumbing his nose' at Congress and the law when he refused to comply last year with a subpoena about the Jan. 6 attack, a prosecutor told a jury Tuesday," during opening statements, WaPo's Devlin Barrett, Spencer Hsu and Tom Jackman write . "'The defendant decided he was above the law, and he didn't have to follow the government's orders like his fellow citizens,' Assistant U.S. Attorney AMANDA VAUGHN said in federal court. 'So this whole case is about a guy who just refused to show up? Yes, it is that simple.'" THE PANDEMIC THE STATE OF THE VIRUS — Covid cases are spiking anew as another highly transmissible variant spreads in cities across the country. But local leaders are out of ideas to address the surge. "There are no new plans or bold initiatives on the horizon, officials in 10 states told POLITICO, even as much of the South remains unvaccinated and vaccination uptake among children nationwide is well below what state and federal officials would like. Instead, state and federal strategies for managing 130,000 new daily Covid cases in the U.S. are largely the same as they were for managing 30,000 new daily cases four months ago," Megan Messerly, Krista Mahr and Adam Cancryn report . MEDIAWATCH MISTAKES WERE MADE — "New Yorker Staffer Goes Nuclear on David Remnick," by The Daily Beast's Corbin Bolies: New Yorker magazine's ERIN OVERBEY "on Tuesday claimed she was put under an internal review only after raising concern over gender parity. Perhaps more troublingly, she claimed , was that two issues raised about her work were actually factual errors inserted into her writing by top boss DAVID REMNICK … 'a male colleague who knew that I was under a performance review & could be penalized or reprimanded severely for them.' The archive editor said she has emails from Remnick to support her assertion. … "Reached by phone Tuesday afternoon, Remnick said he would call back only to later refer The Daily Beast to a New Yorker spokesperson [NATALIE RAABE ], who wrote: 'The New Yorker is deeply committed to accuracy, and to suggest that anyone here would ever knowingly introduce errors into a story, for any reason, is absurd and just plain wrong.'" Read Overbey's full 40-tweet thread.
| | | | INTRODUCING POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY . | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Rachael's book, "Unchecked: The Untold Story Behind Congress's Botched Impeachments of Donald Trump," is available for pre-order ! Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Veronica Escobar, Andy Levin, Rashida Tlaib, Jackie Speier, Carolyn Maloney, Ayanna Pressley and nine other members of Congress were among those arrested at a protest in support of abortion rights , marching from the Capitol to the Supreme Court. Sheldon Whitehouse called on Biden to enter "executive Beast Mode" to address the climate crisis. Eric Garcetti was on the Hill on Tuesday, per NBC's Sahil Kapur . OUT AND ABOUT — A kickoff dinner celebrating Aspen Security Forum speakers and moderators took place on Tuesday night at the stunning Aspen home of former Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), featuring a brief talk about Ukrainian art and a Ukrainian violinist playing several songs. SPOTTED: DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Anne Neuberger, Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) , Andrea Mitchell, David Rubin, Sean Cooper, Glenn Gerstell, Vivian Schiller, Lisa Monaco, Matt Olsen, Dan Porterfield, Anja Manuel, Dafna Linzer, Singapore Ambassador Ashok Mirpuri, Gary and Laura Lauder, Susan Miller, Joe Nye, former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) , Paweł Jabłoński, Elliot Gerson, Mikk Marran, Doug Lute, C.J. Mahoney, Niamh King, Bruce Andrews, Michael Ortiz, Jay Collins, Amy Walter, Steve Clemons, David Sanger and all the Aspen Strategy Group Rising Leaders. Pic of the scene SPOTTED: Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and his chief of staff Amelia Chasse Alcivar walking around Aspen on Tuesday afternoon, in town for a Republican Governors Association meeting. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Cat Rakowski will be joining FGS Global as a managing director in August. She was previously a booking producer for MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and "Way Too Early"; before that she was at ABC News. She will be based in New York. TRANSITIONS — Stewart Barber and Molly O'Leary are joining the Semiconductor Industry Association as directors of government affairs. Barber previously was senior VP of government affairs at Corley Consulting. O'Leary previously was director of government affairs at NTCA. … Mike Liptak is joining the Consumer Brands Association as VP of federal affairs. He previously was VP of government relations at the Travel Technology Association and is a Mitch McConnell alum. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Franklin Foer … The White House's Justin Dews and Jamal Simmons … CNN's David Chalian … Anita Decker Breckenridge … POLITICO's Aloise Phelps, Sydney Poindexter, Maya Melkote and Kevon Eaglin … NASA's Patrick Kelly … Hunter McKay of KRC Research … WaPo's David Lynch … former Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) … NBC News PR's Joya Manasseh … Meta's Don Seymour … Leah Grace Blackwell … Paula Cino … Ashley Morgan … Tristan Breaux of Tyson Foods … Katrina Pierson … Liam Fagan of Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) office … former FCC Chair Dick Wiley (88) … Sharon Copeland of the Herald Group … Tom Friedman 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 Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine.
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