| | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza, Eugene Daniels and Rachael Bade | | | With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross
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President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Feb. 7. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | BREAKING THIS MORNING — “LONDON (AP) — Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY will visit Britain on Wednesday, his first trip to the U.K. since Russia’s invasion began nearly a year ago and only his second confirmed journey outside Ukraine during the war. The British government says Zelenskyy will hold talks with Prime Minister RISHI SUNAK, address Parliament and meet with U.K. military chiefs.“ WHY THE WHITE HOUSE IS CELEBRATING — President JOE BIDEN had a few goals last night: 1. Remind his audience of his accomplishments over the last two years; 2. Reiterate his positions in the spending debate (no negotiations over the debt ceiling and no touching Social Security and Medicare); 3. Detail the most popular highlights of his 2023 agenda; and 4. Expose his congressional GOP opposition as unreasonable and chaotic. The speech accomplished the first three goals if you listened or read it carefully. But it will be best remembered for the dramatic clashes with jeering members of the GOP which may have done more than Biden ever could have hoped to accomplish goal No. 4. Republicans put the spotlight on themselves “through extraordinary rudeness,” John Harris writes this morning. “With boos, taunts, groans, and sarcastic chortles, the opposition party effectively turned themselves into prime-time props for President Joseph Biden.” House Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY had warned his colleagues ahead of the speech to behave, but they ignored him and the new speaker had to resort to shushing them repeatedly from the rostrum. West Wing aides cheered and high-fived each other as Biden engaged Republicans who were triggered by his accusation that some in the GOP want to cut Medicare and Social Security. When Biden returned to the White House and met with his staff, RON KLAIN hailed the clash over entitlements as one of the all-time great State of the Union moments that people would look back on for years. ‘A DIFFERENT TIME’ — The last two Democratic presidents to speak before Congress at the halfway point of their first terms had been thoroughly rejected by voters. BILL CLINTON lost both houses of Congress in 1994 and interpreted the defeat as a rejection of the welfare state. He called for the government to be “smaller, less costly, and smarter.” He co-opted the language of the Gingrich Revolution and rebranded Clintonism as responsive to the anti-government whirlwind that had been unleashed in November. He proposed lobbying reform, more deficit reduction, tax cuts, welfare reform and deporting “illegal aliens.” BARACK OBAMA came before Congress in January 2011 in a very similar frame of mind. Democrats still controlled the Senate, but House control was shattered after the loss of 63 seats, and he readily conceded that the midterms were a backlash against the size of government. “We have to confront the fact that our government spends more than it takes in,” he said. “That is not sustainable.” Obama went on to propose radical reductions in spending, especially by today’s standards, floating a five-year freeze in discretionary spending and boasting that nothing was off the table, including the Pentagon, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Once again the midterms have shaped the State of the Union that followed. But despite losing the House, this Democratic White House has interpreted the midterms — where Democrats gained a Senate seat and kept House Republicans to a nine-seat pickup — as an unambiguous victory. Biden sounded nothing like his Democratic predecessors, who were at times apologetic about the ambitious agenda of their first two years. Sure, Biden promised to present a budget that will cut the deficit by $2 trillion, but he certainly did not signal a pivot to austerity. He betrayed no regrets and presented the next two years as a proud continuation of the last two: “Let’s finish the job!” This is somewhat counterintuitive, because by some measures Biden is weaker politically than Clinton and Obama were. Clinton had a 50% approval rating during that pivotal 1995 SOTU. Obama’s was 47%. Biden is at 42%. The pre-speech coverage on the cable nets was heavy on the dismal polling, including evidence that most Democrats are unexcited for him to run for reelection. But Biden’s grand insight is that you are only as unpopular as your enemies — and their ideas — are popular. While McCarthy runs a replay of 1995 and 2011 and assumes government spending was the core issue for 2022 voters, the White House this time is not conceding the point. In fact, Biden and his closest advisers believe he won the midterms on the strength of his (big-spending) 2021-2022 agenda. “It's a different time,” a top White House official told Playbook last night after Biden’s speech. “And we feel very strongly about what we got done as a basis for what comes next. In '94 and '10 we got slaughtered — slaughtered — in the midterms. In '22 — yes, we lost the House — but we gained a Senate seat, gained governorships, gained state legislative chambers. He is not the leader of a party that lost. He led his party to a lot of wins.” A senior Senate Republican staffer who recently left the chamber echoed the point in a late-night note: In 2011, Republicans “had just come off an election where we won 60+ seats and took back the House, in an election where debt and deficits were top of mind to voters,” the GOP vet said. “That gave Boehner and Republicans some real leverage … “Today … it’s not a top of mind issue for the American people right now and you have former President Trump who essentially keeps telling everyone that deficits don’t matter. So that gives Rs almost no leverage today. And not only do they have little leverage but … there is no consensus on what they want.”
| | | | A message from Airlines for America: Did you know? 90 percent of Americans have flown at least once. More than half of Americans have flown before their 16th birthday. Two million people choose to fly each day in the U.S. This is possible because robust competition among U.S. airlines generates enormous options for consumers, which is why Americans from a range of economic, cultural and racial backgrounds have flown. In 2021, one-third of Americans who flew had family incomes under $75,000. Learn more: www.airlines.org. | | | WHAT ABOUT SANDERS? — There was little in the Republican response by Arkansas Gov. SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS that challenged the White House’s sense of optimism about the night. Sanders spoke movingly about overcoming thyroid cancer and the 40-year-old is justifiably proud of serving as America’s youngest governor. But on policy, she stuck to a narrow set of cultural issues that fire up the MAGA base, such as Covid mandates, Critical Race Theory, and describing Biden as “the first man to surrender his presidency to a woke mob that can’t even tell you what a woman is.” She concluded with a long story extolling DONALD TRUMP for visiting Iraq. While the White House is sensitive to voter concerns about immigration and crime, it has learned to yawn at much of what was on Sanders’ list. From Biden world’s perspective, the more Republicans behave badly in front of the biggest political audience of the year and the more they spend their time bragging about cracking down on the use of “Latinx,” as Sanders did, the more room Biden has to talk about the Brent Spence Bridge in Kentucky, the cancer moonshot, insulin prices, airline and bank fees, or a new semiconductor factory in Ohio. It might not be enough to boost his approval rating out of the 40s, but it could be enough to win another election against the current version of the GOP. Good Wednesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line with your favorite SOTU moments: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza. MITT VS. GEORGE — This was the wildest night in the House chamber since — well, a few weeks ago, when the place was bananas during the McCarthy speaker vote marathon. But aside from Biden’s confrontation with the entire House GOP conference, the second most-talked-about encounter involved Rep. GEORGE SANTOS (R-N.Y.) and Sen. MITT ROMNEY (R-Utah), who last night told the congressman how he really felt about him. “I don’t think he ought to be in Congress, and he certainly shouldn’t be in the aisle trying to shake the hand of the president of the states and dignitaries coming in,” Romney said afterward, per a rundown from Burgess Everett and Kelly Garrity. Here’s video of Romney describing their conversation to reporters in the aftermath. Note at the end when CNN’s Manu Raju asks Romney if he’s disappointed that McCarthy hasn’t called for Santos to resign and the senator says, “Yes.” Elsewhere, he’d describe Santos as a “sick puppy.” BLANKET POLITICO COVERAGE: “The state of Biden’s union with a GOP Congress: It’s tense,” by Sarah Ferris, Burgess Everett and Meredith Lee Hill … “What Biden said — and what he meant,” by Eli Stokols … “The 9 big policy ideas that Biden hit during his speech,” by Adam Cancryn … “We annotated all 73 minutes of Biden's speech. Here's what stood out,” by POLITICO staff THE LEDEALLS:
- POLITICO, by Jonathan Lemire: “Biden painted himself as the adult in the room, a no-drama president who tried to reach across the aisle and restored a sense of normalcy to a Washington left reeling from four tumultuous years of Donald Trump. He made a renewed push on pieces of legislation — including an assault weapons ban, police reform and protections for abortion rights — that polling suggestions are broadly popular with the American people, including the independent and swing voters who usually decide elections.”
- NYT, by Peter Baker: “In the first State of the Union address of a new era of divided government that at times turned strikingly rowdy, Mr. Biden vowed to cooperate with the other party but offered no concessions to it. Instead, he called on Republicans to embrace his program of raising taxes on the wealthy and extending social aid to the needy, citing bipartisan legislation passed when Democrats were in charge.”
- WaPo, by Toluse Olorunnipa and Yasmeen Abutaleb: “Biden presented himself as an elder statesman capable of working across the aisle while also cutting the figure of a shrewd politician with strongly held beliefs. He outlined areas for potential bipartisanship including technology, health care and foreign policy, but sharply rejected Republican proposals on issues ranging from immigration to taxes to Social Security and Medicare.”
- AP, by Zeke Miller, Seung Min Kim and Lisa Mascaro: “In his 73-minute speech, Biden sought to portray a nation dramatically improved from the one he took charge of two years ago: from a reeling economy to one prosperous with new jobs; from a crippled, pandemic-weary nation to one that has now reopened, and a democracy that has survived its biggest test since the Civil War.”
- WSJ, by Andrew Restuccia and Tarini Parti: “Biden used his State of the Union address to try to sell Americans on his economic agenda and called for renewed bipartisanship, but his appeals for unity were punctuated by Republican lawmakers’ loud objections to his remarks. … One GOP representative was caught on camera calling the president a liar, and another yelled, “your fault,” when Mr. Biden spoke of the rise in fentanyl-related deaths.”.
TOP-EDS: A roundup of SOTU-related op-eds and editorials.
WATCH WHAT HAPPENED: A roundup of the most notable moments, from POLITICO’s video team.
| | | | A message from Airlines for America:   Competition in the airline industry has generated enormous consumer choice and vast options for travelers – meaning there is something for everyone. Learn more: www.airlines.org. | | | SCENES FROM SOTU
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Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) | Francis Chung/POLITICO | | 
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) | Francis Chung/POLITICO | | 
Biden arrives for his State of the Union address. | Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo | | 
Biden and McCarthy shake hands. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | | 
Biden delivers his State of the Union address. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | |  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) gives a thumbs down during the State of the Union address. | Win McNamee/Getty Images | | 
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) watches the State of the Union address. | Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via AP Photo | | | BIDEN’S WEDNESDAY (all times Eastern):
9 a.m.: The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief.
9:55 a.m.: Biden will depart the White House en route to Madison, Wis.
2 p.m.: Biden will deliver remarks on the economy.
6:05 p.m.: Biden will depart Madison to return to the White House.
Press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE will gaggle aboard Air Force One en route to Madison.
HARRIS’ WEDNESDAY:
9:15 a.m.: The VP will depart D.C. en route to Atlanta.
2:10 p.m.: Harris will participate in a conversation on climate change.
4:25 p.m.: Harris will depart Atlanta to return to D.C.
THE HOUSE will meet at 10 a.m. The Oversight Committee will hold a hearing on Twitter’s handling of the Hunter Biden laptop story at 10 a.m.
THE SENATE is out. | | | | | | JOIN POLITICO ON 2/9 TO HEAR FROM AMERICA’S GOVERNORS: In a divided Congress, more legislative and policy enforcement will shift to the states, meaning governors will take a leading role in setting the agenda for the nation. Join POLITICO on Thursday, Feb. 9 at World Wide Technology's D.C. Innovation Center for The Fifty: America's Governors, presented by Cisco, where we will examine where innovations are taking shape and new regulatory red lines, the future of reproductive health, and how climate change is being addressed across a series of one-on-one interviews. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | PHOTO OF THE DAY
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U.S. Navy sailors recover the Chinese balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, S.C. | U.S. Navy via AP | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | ALL POLITICS WHAT’S UP IN THE WINDY CITY — “Inside the messy one-issue contest for Chicago’s top job,” by Shia Kapos and Marissa Martinez: “The homicide rate in this deep-blue city doesn’t crack the top 10 in the U.S. — though you wouldn’t know it from the mayor’s race. The eight challengers hoping to topple Democratic Mayor LORI LIGHTFOOT later this month are almost solely focused on the city’s violence — hammering on issues such as homicides, carjackings and robberies at every open microphone.” DEMS FLIP PA HOUSE — “Democrats sweep special elections, affirming first Pa. House majority in 12 years,” by Spotlight PA’s Stephen Caruso in Harrisburg: “With the wins, Democrats can now set the state House agenda for the first time since 2010 and will enjoy extra leverage in coming budget talks over how to spend more than $40 billion in projected state revenue. The party also will be able to push policy priorities like a minimum wage hike or LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections.” CONGRESS INVESTIGATION INVENTORY — “House GOP’s under-the-radar Hunter Biden problem: DOJ got there first,” by Jordain Carney and Kyle Cheney: “The turf battle has flown largely under the radar, but it threatens to undermine one of House Republicans’ most highly visible priorities for their new majority. Investigating HUNTER BIDEN is one of the few things they could do unilaterally, at least in theory. But the DOJ looms as a potential roadblock. In fact, Oversight Committee Chair JAMES COMER (R-Ky.) suggested in a brief interview with POLITICO that the Justice Department should hold off on issuing any indictment against Hunter Biden so Republicans can complete their probe.” Later today: “Ex-Twitter execs to face GOP questioning on Hunter Biden,” by AP’s Farnoush Amiri TOP-ED — Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) writes in WaPo: “Stop the political blame game and start cutting the debt”: “Capping the annual growth of discretionary spending at 1 percent for the next 10 years would save more than $1 trillion. We can do this without threatening essential programs such as Medicare and Social Security or cutting defense spending at a time when we are grappling with the largest-scale land war in Europe since World War II and an emboldened China that blatantly violates our airspace and dominates global supply chains.” THE NEW GOP — “House G.O.P. Leads Constitution Read-Aloud, Seeking an Edge on Patriotism,” by NYT’s Luke Broadwater POLICY CORNER IMMIGRATION FILES — “DOJ says end of health emergency will terminate Title 42 policy and moot Supreme Court case,” by Myah Ward TIGHTENING UP — “U.S. Agencies Seek Tougher Rules, Internal Probes on Stock Trading by Federal Officials,” by WSJ’s Rebecca Ballhaus and Brody Mullins HISTORY LESSON — “Bush demanded billions for AIDS in Africa at his 2003 State of the Union. It paid off,” by NBC’s Benjamin Ryan: “This is also the story, unknown to many Americans, of how Bush — a devoutly religious man who campaigned for president on a platform of ‘compassionate conservatism,’ but whose legacy was stained by the carnage of the Iraq War and the Afghanistan quagmire — conceived of and launched a juggernaut aid program that is widely credited with saving sub-Saharan Africa from cataclysm.”
| | | | A message from Airlines for America:   Competition in the airline industry has generated enormous consumer choice – meaning there is something for everyone. Learn more: www.airlines.org. | | | AMERICA AND THE WORLD HOW THE BALLOON BLEW UP — “Chinese balloon part of vast aerial surveillance program, U.S. says,” by WaPo’s Ellen Nakashima, Shane Harris, John Hudson and Dan Lamothe: “The surveillance balloon effort, which has operated for several years partly out of Hainan province off China’s south coast, has collected information on military assets in countries and areas of emerging strategic interest to China including Japan, India, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines, according to several U.S. officials, who, like others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.” THE BALLOON’S LONG TAIL — “China Isn’t Ready to Pick Up Phone After Balloon Incident,” by NYT’s Helene Cooper: “The Pentagon said on Tuesday that China had rejected a request from Defense Secretary LLOYD J. AUSTIN III to speak with his Chinese counterpart on Saturday soon after an American fighter jet shot down a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina.” — “U.S. Navy releases photos of Chinese spy balloon recovery effort,” by CNN’s Haley Britzky — “As jets closed in on China balloon, hobbyists were listening,” by AP’s Tara Copp DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS — “‘Wake-up call’: Top Republicans sound alarm over China’s nuclear expansion,” by Connor O’Brien: “Four GOP leaders on the House and Senate Armed Services committees said the revelation about China’s nuclear capability, made in a Jan. 26 letter from the top commander of U.S. nuclear forces, is a warning that Beijing’s arsenal is expanding faster than anticipated, though the U.S. still has more warheads and intercontinental ballistic missiles.” THE LATEST IN TURKEY — “Hope fading as deaths in Turkey, Syria quake pass 11,000,” by AP’s Mehmet Guzel, Ghaith Alsayed and Suzan Fraser: “The death toll rose Wednesday to more than 11,000 in the deadliest quake worldwide in more than a decade.” … “In a Turkish town shattered by the earthquake, death is everywhere,” by WaPo’s Kareem Fahim and Zeynep Karatas ALMOST GONE, MAYBE FORGOTTEN — “The U.S. mpox emergency is over, but the disease simmers south of the border,” by Carmen Paun THE ECONOMY FED FILES — Ahead of Biden’s SOTU address, Fed Chair JEROME POWELL spoke at a Q&A session with the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., where he “underscored that the central bank has more work to do when it comes to slowing the economy and that officials remain determined to wrestle rapid inflation under control, even if that means pushing rates higher than expected,” NYT’s Jeanna Smialek writes. Powell called the “recent slowdown in price increases ‘the very early stages of disinflation’” and added that the “process of getting inflation back to normal was likely to be bumpy.” Related read: “Fed’s Jerome Powell Braces for Longer Inflation Fight Amid Hiring Surge,” by WSJ’s Nick Timiraos BEYOND THE BELTWAY THE LATEST IN MEMPHIS — “Memphis officer took, shared photos of bloodied Tyre Nichols,” by AP’s Adrian Sainz, Travis Loller and Jonathan Mattise — “Officers Manhandled and Beat Tyre Nichols. We Tracked Each One’s Role,” by NYT’s Alexander Cardia, Ishaan Jhaveri, Eleanor Lutz, Natalie Reneau, Anjali Singhvi and Robin Stein DeSANTIS DOWNLOAD — “DeSantis continues broadsides against the media ahead of likely 2024 run,” by Arek Sarkissian
| | | | DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO MOBILE APP: Stay up to speed with the newly updated POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need, reimagined. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS– DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Marjorie Taylor Greene wore a fur coat … and tried to bring a balloon as her SOTU guest … and heckled Biden repeatedly. The Squad liked Biden’s remarks on taxes. Deb Haaland posted a selfie with the Cabinet ahead of the speech. Nancy Pelosi wore a Ukraine-themed brooch. Kyrsten Sinema was the fashion unicorn of the night. Paul Pelosi and Bono shared a moment. Biden apologized to Elena Kagan that she had to sit through his speech. Jen Psaki empathized with staffers as Biden chatted on the House floor. Capitol Hill Books delivered a “State of the Bookstore” address. Canadian MPs Anthony Housefather and Peter Julian stopped by George Santos’ office for a selfie. SPOTTED at a McGuireWoods welcome reception for former Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) yesterday evening: Reps. Don Davis (D-N.C.), Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.), Deborah Ross (D-N.C.) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) and Bonnie Watson Coleman, Paul Reagan, Jim Hodges, Clayton Cox, Mona Mohib, Scott Binkley, Rob Wasinger, Stephanie Kennan, Mike Andrews, Edward Hill and Tyler Anderson. TRANSITIONS — Gail Boudreaux will be chair of The Business Council, becoming the first woman to hold the position. She is the president and CEO of Elevance Health. … Marc Robertson is now special counsel for the House Judiciary Committee. He previously was counsel for the Senate Rules Committee. … Allie Lock is now a policy analyst for the Senate Ag Dems. She previously was a senior associate at Cornerstone Government Affairs. … Ari Spinoza is now special assistant for Rep. Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.). He most recently worked on his transition team and is an RNC alum. … Lisa Vedernikova Khanna is now chief of staff to the chief corporate affairs officer at Instacart. She most recently was director of strategic planning at the DNC and is an NYT and HFA alum. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Charlotte Pence Bond, the oldest daughter of Mike Pence, and Henry Bond, welcomed Etta Rose Bond yesterday. Tweet from Karen Pence HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) and John Joyce (R-Pa.) … Amos Snead … POLITICO’s Lindsey Forte and Arnau Busquets Guàrdia … Vox’s Zack Beauchamp … Will Levi … Caitlin Webber Mazzucca … Hudson Institute’s John Walters, Michael Pillsbury and Sarah May Stern … Boehringer Ingelheim’s Scott Bennett … Anduril Industries’ Matthew Haskins … Brian Katulis … USAID’s Adam Kaplan … John Kartch … Hilary Badger … Marlene Cooper Vasilic … Murphy McCullough of Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-Texas) office … American Economic Liberties Project’s Matt Stoller … Mark Corallo … Dy Brown ... Julie Gunlock … Mansie Hough ... Jenny Thalheimer Rosenberg … Heather Zichal ... Joe Briggs ... Bill Ruch … former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson … Ted Koppel … Barry Newman 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 DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine.
| | | | A message from Airlines for America: Did you know? 90 percent of Americans have flown at least once. More than half of Americans have flown before their 16th birthday. Two million people choose to fly each day in the U.S. All of this is possible because robust competition among U.S. airlines generates vast options for consumers.
Few industries match U.S. airlines when it comes to consumer choice, which is why air travel is now enjoyed by Americans from a range of economic, cultural and racial backgrounds. In 2021, one-third of Americans who flew had family incomes under $75,000. In 2022, fares (adjusted for inflation) were 6.8% below 2019 prices.
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