| | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza, Rachael Bade and Eugene Daniels | | | With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross
|  A quiet unease among Republicans about the election results in the Midwest on Tuesday is now a full-blown freakout. | Mike De Sisti /Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | WHERE WE’RE HEADED — “What happens next in People v. Donald Trump,” by Erica Orden NEW FROM JMART — “Jerry Brown is angry: Why is America barreling into a Cold War with China?” McCARTHY’S MESSAGE FOR CHINA — Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY met with Taiwanese President TSAI ING-WEN in California yesterday, where the Republican leader projected a united democratic front that brushed aside stern warnings from China that the meeting not go forward, our colleague Anthony Adragna writes. “There is no place that China is going to tell me where I can go or who I can speak to — whether you be foe or whether you be friend,” McCarthy said. Watch McCarthy’s remarks WSJ BADGERS GOP ON ABORTION — As is often the case, a big DONALD TRUMP spectacle blotted out some other major political news this week. A quiet unease among Republicans about the election results in the Midwest on Tuesday is now a full-blown freakout. In Wisconsin, JANET PROTASIEWICZ, campaigning unapologetically on abortion rights, won an open Supreme Court seat, giving Democrats a 4-3 majority on the court, which is now likely to strike down an 1849 law banning abortion. In Chicago, progressive BRANDON JOHNSON defeated moderate PAUL VALLAS in the mayoral contest. The Chicago results have fewer national implications. It was a race between the left and center of the Democratic Party in a big city, and the progressive — who disavowed the “Defund the Police” movement — narrowly won, 51%-49%. In last year’s midterms, in places where Democrats could not make abortion and the threat from the MAGA movement the key issues, crime became a major liability. In New York state, where abortion rights are well-protected and many Republicans distanced themselves from Trumpism, soft-on-crime attacks helped produce the mini red wave in the state. With no progressive primary challenger in 2024, the Chicago results are unlikely to alter President JOE BIDEN’s approach to crime, which has centered on reform coupled with surging federal money to cops. But Wisconsin is a different story. Protasiewicz won the statewide race by 10 points. (Recall that Trump carried Wisconsin in 2016.) Republicans lost in precisely the areas you would suspect: the suburbs around Milwaukee. The White House didn’t have much to say about Chicago, but it trumpeted the Wisconsin results. “Americans want the freedom to make reproductive health care decisions without government interference,” press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE said yesterday. “Yet, though, you see that Republican elected officials are more committed than ever to attack those fundamental freedoms that Americans should have.” The short history of post-Dobbs electoral politics is pretty clear. Since the Supreme Court handed down its opinion last June, Democrats have gained control of four state legislative chambers while losing none of the ones they’d already controlled, added a seat to its majority in the U.S. Senate and kept losses in the House well below the historic norm. “I don’t think Democrats have fully processed that this country is now 10 to 15 percent more pro-choice than it was before Dobbs in state after state and national data,” CELINDA LAKE recently told New York mag’s Rebecca Traister. OK, sure, she’s a pro-choice Democratic pollster. But here’s what The Wall Street Journal editorial page says today: “the Badger State results are a five-alarm warning to Republicans about 2024.”
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Explore 30+ tools. | | | Paul Gigot and company continue: “[Protasiewicz’s] major issue was abortion, especially the fate of an 1849 state statute that became law after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The law bans abortion in nearly all cases. Republicans who control the state Legislature helped her cause by failing to amend the law. They had ample warning from results last year in Michigan and Kentucky, where abortion drove Democratic turnout. “The Wisconsin results show abortion is still politically potent. In a special election for the state Senate on Tuesday, the Republican candidate barely won in a longtime GOP stronghold in the northern Milwaukee suburbs. If Republicans can’t win in Mequon, their legislative majorities will soon be imperiled, and you can move Wisconsin out of the swing-state column for the Presidency in 2024. “Republicans had better get their abortion position straight, and more in line with where voters are or they will face another disappointment in 2024. A total ban is a loser in swing states. Republicans who insist on that position could soon find that electoral defeats will lead to even more liberal state abortion laws than under Roe. That’s where Michigan is now after last year’s rout.” We suspect the Journal’s warning will be closely read this morning in Tallahassee, where Republicans, who have a supermajority in the state legislature, are poised next week to send Gov. RON DeSANTIS a bill to ban abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. (The previous threshold was 24 weeks, and after Dobbs, a new law reduced it to 15 weeks.) Abortion rights advocates argue that a six-week ban is tantamount to a total ban because many women still don’t know they’re pregnant at the six-week mark. Add to that Florida’s requirement of having two doctor visits and a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion, and the window is even narrower. DeSantis is sensitive about the fact that Florida’s current 15-week law has made it a kind of abortion sanctuary state in the restrictive Southeast. (Last year saw a 38% increase in non-Florida residents coming to the state for abortions.) The governor is eager to defang that line of attack from his potential 2024 Republican presidential primary rivals. He says he will enthusiastically sign the bill. There is always a gap between what motivates a party’s base during primary season and what wins elections in the general election. But on abortion, the gap is widening for the GOP. Related reads: “Wisconsin and Chicago elections expose liabilities in GOP case for ’24,” by Shia Kapos and Christopher Cadelago … “Wisconsin’s stunning outcome puts MAGA Republicans in a serious bind,” op-ed by WaPo’s Greg Sargent … “The pulsating state politics that could shape America more than Trump’s legal woes,” by CNN’s Stephen Collinson Good Thursday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line with your take on the Wisconsin and Chicago results: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | A message from Instagram:   | | | HEADS UP, LITERALLY — “Military air exercises planned for National Mall Thursday,” by WaPo’s Clarence Williams MOOD MUSIC FOR THE IMF AND WORLD BANK — “Fear of economic ‘lost decade’ hangs over world leaders in Washington,” by Zachary Warmbrodt Happening today: Are we headed for recession or more bank failures? What should you know about the new economic leadership team in Beijing? Ahead of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Spring Meetings next week — the world’s biggest annual gathering of finance ministers and central bankers — our colleague Ryan Heath is interviewing IMF chief KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA at 9 a.m. This official curtain-raiser interview will be Georgieva's first grilling after returning from Beijing. Watch here
| | BIDEN’S THURSDAY:
11 a.m.: The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief.
4 p.m.: Biden and first lady JILL BIDEN will depart for Camp David.
Press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE will brief at 1 p.m.
VP KAMALA HARRIS’ THURSDAY:
10:05 a.m.: The VP will depart for Chattanooga, Tenn.
11:45 a.m.: Harris will arrive at Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport.
1:15 p.m.: The VP will tour Qcells, a solar panel manufacturing plant in Dalton, Ga.
1:50 p.m.: Harris will deliver remarks on the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda.
4:30 p.m.: Harris will depart Chattanooga en route to D.C.
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First lady Jill Biden participates in a ceremony formally naming the newest tulip in honor of her during Dutch Tulip Days at the Dutch Embassy in D.C., on Wednesday, April 5. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | 2024 WATCH DINGING DeSANTIS, PART I — “Trump makes play for DeSantis donors,” by Alex Isenstadt: “In a memo to DeSantis’ donors obtained by POLITICO, Trump’s campaign on Tuesday evening sought to paint the former president as the inevitable nominee and urged DeSantis’ donors to jump ship. ‘The two things the memo illustrates are the President’s huge numbers and Governor Ron DeSantis’ collapsing numbers,’ the Trump campaign wrote in the memo. ‘Now is the time to demonstrate your support and join’ the Trump effort. The memo — which was equal parts a jab at DeSantis and an actual appeal for support — displays how the Trump campaign is seeking to capitalize on his current strength in polling ahead of the 2024 presidential primary.” Related read: “Florida lawmakers swing into action after Trump smacks DeSantis on insurance,” by Gary Fineout in Tallahassee DINGING DeSANTIS, PART II — “California Gov. Gavin Newsom visits New College, countering DeSantis,” by the Tampa Bay Times’ Divya Kumar: California Gov. GAVIN NEWSOM “did not hold back regarding DeSantis, who in January appointed six high-profile conservatives to the New College board of trustees with a mandate to remake the state’s public liberal arts honors college. … ‘Weakness, Ron DeSantis — weakness masquerading as strength,’ Newsom said. ‘So I want you to know you’re on the right side of history. You have something he’ll never have: moral authority.’” VAX NOT — The Democratic field challenging Biden for the presidential nomination is growing: ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., the anti-vaxxer son of RFK and nephew of JFK, officially declared his candidacy yesterday. “His anti-vaccine charity, Children’s Health Defense, prospered during the pandemic, with revenues more than doubling in 2020 to $6.8 million, according to filings made with charity regulators,” AP’s Michelle Price writes. “His organization has targeted false claims at groups that may be more prone to distrust the vaccine, including mothers and Black Americans, experts have said, which could have resulted in deaths during the pandemic.” Adds CBS News’ Robert Costa: “Per several people familiar, STEVE BANNON had been encouraging this for months and believes RFK Jr. could be both a useful chaos agent in [the] 2024 race and a big name who could help stoke anti-vax sentiment around the country.” GRANITE STATE OF MIND — VIVEK RAMASWAMY is poaching two of Trump’s former campaign associates to run his presidential campaign in New Hampshire, our colleague Lisa Kashinsky writes in. FRED DOUCETTE, a two-time state campaign co-chair for Trump and deputy majority leader in the New Hampshire House, is now a senior strategist and state chair for Ramaswamy. JOSHUA WHITEHOUSE, a Trump 2016 alum who later served as White House liaison to the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, is Ramaswamy’s state director. The intrigue: The hires show cracks in Trump’s New Hampshire coalition, Lisa writes, even as he continues to command the party’s base in polls. While the former president has locked in some old hands in the state that delivered his first primary win in 2016, he veered off the beaten path in tapping TREVOR NAGLIERI, a JEB BUSH and TED CRUZ alum, as his 2024 state director. MORE POLITICS FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Rep. DAN GOLDMAN (D-N.Y.) is endorsing fellow Dem Rep. RUBEN GALLEGO’s Arizona Senate campaign. “As a Marine veteran who fought for our democracy overseas, Ruben understands the importance of the rule of law and, more importantly, that no one is above it — not even a former president,” Goldman said in a statement obtained by Playbook ahead of its wider release later today. “Ruben is exactly the kind of elected official and candidate this moment demands, and I am proud to endorse his campaign for United States Senate.” WHITMER IS COMING — A rising Democratic dynasty may be about to expand, as Michigan Gov. GRETCHEN WHITMER’s sister, LIZ WHITMER GEREGHTY, eyes a congressional run in suburban New York, our colleagues Sarah Ferris, Ally Mutnick and Nicholas Wu report. “If she runs, Gereghty would be targeting GOP Rep. MIKE LAWLER, who shockingly upset House Democrats’ campaign chief [SEAN PATRICK MALONEY] last cycle. “A launch is tentatively planned for mid-April, according to a person familiar with her plans — which would likely make her the first Democrat to declare a bid.” Gereghty has lived in the area for two decades. CASEY AT THE BAT — Sen. BOB CASEY “has not yet announced whether he will seek a fourth term, but he has done everything short of that,” our colleague Holly Otterbein writes from Philadelphia. “Pennsylvania Democrats are treating him announcing another run as a mere formality.” The moves come with Republicans circling Casey’s seat as a top target for the next Senate cycle, as Holly previously reported. THE WHITE HOUSE FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — White House chief of staff JEFF ZIENTS is convening a group of Cabinet officials for a confab to discuss the “urgency” in implementing Biden’s economic agenda in the coming weeks, White House officials tell Playbook. We hear the participating Cabinet members include Commerce Secretary GINA RAIMONDO, acting Labor Secretary JULIE SU, Energy Secretary JENNIFER GRANHOLM, Transportation Secretary PETE BUTTIGIEG, HHS Secretary XAVIER BECERRA, OMB Director SHALANDA YOUNG, Interior Secretary DEB HAALAND, Education Secretary MIGUEL CARDONA, SBA Administrator ISABEL GUZMAN and EPA Administrator MICHAEL REGAN. CONGRESS STRANGE BEDFELLOWS — “Freedom Caucus and progressives lock arms — and that could be bad news for McCarthy,” by Nicholas Wu: “The Donald Trump-aligned Freedom Caucus and the Progressive Caucus are openly uniting in favor of repealing two decades-old war authorizations in Iraq. That’s on top of growing agreement between the two groups’ members in favor of revamping government surveillance powers and curbing defense spending.” Rep. CHIP ROY (R-Texas): “Sometimes the political spectrum is more of a circle than a line. At some point, you might have sometimes-differing motives or different ranges, but you end up [at] the same conclusion, and that’s okay.”
| | | | A message from Instagram:   | | | TRUMP CARDS PENCE FOR YOUR THOUGHTS? — “Pence will not appeal ruling requiring him to testify to Jan. 6 grand jury,” by Kyle Cheney: “The decision follows an unprecedented — but secret — ruling by Chief U.S. District Court Judge JAMES BOASBERG to require [former VP MIKE] PENCE’s testimony but to acknowledge some limits to the topics prosecutors may grill him about.” WEIGHING IN — “Mexico’s president calls charges against Trump political,” AP: “I don’t agree with what they are doing to former President Trump,” Mexican President ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR said yesterday. “I do not know if crimes were committed, it’s not my place.” THE DARK SIDE OF THINGS — “Trump judge and his family receive threats after New York arrest,” by NBC’s Jonathan Dienst, Rebecca Shabad, Ben Kamisar and Laura Jarrett AMERICA AND THE WORLD HARROWING READ — “‘You Are Completely Alone’: Inside the Infamous Russian Prison Holding Evan Gershkovich,” by WSJ’s Drew Hinshaw, Joe Parkinson and Brett Forrest: “To understand what life is like for [EVAN] GERSHKOVICH, the Journal spoke to former Russian and American prisoners at Lefortovo, lawyers who have regularly visited and historians who have chronicled the facility’s grim place in Russian and Soviet lore. They described a sterile facility engineered to keep inmates from ever seeing one another, an isolation that makes Lefortovo hard to endure.” Related read: “Over 200 Russian journalists, activists demand release of WSJ reporter,” by WaPo’s Andrew Jeong DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS — “China accuses U.S. of using Taiwan as ‘ATM for American arms sellers’,” by WaPo’s Christian Shepherd and Vic Chiang … “Politics Complicates Chinese Reaction to U.S. Visit by Taiwan’s President,” by NYT’s Chris Buckley and Amy Chang Chien BEYOND THE BELTWAY TENNESSEE STEPBACK — “Expulsion vote thrusts Tennessee politics onto the national stage, could set precedent,” by the Tennessean’s Vivian Jones: “House members are expected to vote Thursday to remove Reps. GLORIA JOHNSON, D-Knoxville, JUSTIN JONES, D-Nashville, and JUSTIN PEARSON, D-Memphis, from elected office after the trio brought the chamber to a halt for nearly an hour last week by speaking out of order following the deadly shooting at The Covenant School.” CASUALTIES OF THE CULTURE WARS — “Indiana, Idaho governors sign bans on gender-affirming care,” by AP’s Arleigh Rodgers in Indianapolis MEDIAWATCH FOX IN THE DOG HOUSE — “Jury in defamation suit against Fox won’t hear about Jan. 6,” by AP’s Randall Chase MUSK READ — “NPR protests as Twitter calls it ‘state-affiliated media,’” by AP’s David Bauder: “It was unclear why Twitter made the move. … Asked for comment, Twitter’s press office responded with an automated poop emoji.”
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Kevin McCarthy’s choice of footwear for his meeting with Tsai Ing-wen came under some scrutiny. Anthony Scaramucci called Donald Trump the “Logan Roy of American politics,” reasoning that the two are both family men who love their children. Marjorie Taylor Greene said NYC was “filthy,” “repulsive,” “smells bad” and is a “terrible place.” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said MTG was like “if a petty HOA complaint were a person.” Angel Reese isn’t letting Jill Biden off the hook after her comments on the NCAA champion LSU Tigers: “You can’t go back on certain things that you say. … We’ll go to the Obamas. We’ll go see Michelle. We’ll see Barack.” Ned Lamont called Houston “butt ugly.” MEDIA MOVE — Dawn Kopecki is now deputy business editor at The Messenger. She most recently was senior editor for politics, health and science and investigations at CNBC. FIRST IN POLITICO — The Democratic Governors Association has added Jordanna Zeigler and Chris Sloan as political directors, Ofirah Yheskel as external affairs director, Marcus Rochelle as national finance director, Andrew Whalen as independent expenditure director, Helen Smith as research director, Stephen Hill as CFO, Jillian Edelman as COO, Audrey Schlette as chief of staff, Laura Carlson as chief digital officer and Sam Newton as comms director. WHITE HOUSE DEPARTURE LOUNGE — Ben Krauss has returned to speechwriting and strategic comms firm Fenway as CEO. He most recently was senior adviser in the Office of Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation at the White House on a temporary stint as a special government employee. TRANSITIONS — Jessica Shortall has joined the R Street Institute to lead its Safer from Harm coalition, a new effort to advance harm reduction public policy. She previously was VP of corporate engagement at America Competes and managing director of Texas Competes. … Rebecca Osmolski is now digital media manager for Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek. She previously was digital director for Gov. Kotek’s gubernatorial campaign. … … Amanda Rogers Thorpe is now a national security adviser for Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.). She previously was House Select Committee on Intelligence defense subcommittee staff director and is a Dutch Ruppersberger alum. … Angela Bell is now manager of state programming at GOPAC. She previously was grassroots manager at FreedomWorks. … Tori Bateman is now outreach/grasstops coordinator at the Quincy Institute. She was previously policy advocacy coordinator at the American Friends Service Committee. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) (7-0) and Mike Ezell (R-Miss.) … Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz … White House’s Anthony Bernal … MPA’s Charles Rivkin … NYT’s Glenn Thrush … Cindy Terrell … WSJ’s Keach Hagey … Ron Brownstein … Joyce Meyer … POLITICO’s Tucker Doherty and Ale Waase … former Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) … Richard Coolidge … Olivia Perez-Cubas … CNN’s Sunlen Serfaty … Matt Flynn … The New Republic’s Ryan Kearney … Andy Oare … Bechtel Corporation’s Rayna Farrell … Megan Bartley … Melissa Kelly … Kevin O’Hanlon … Lucy Westcott … Melissa Schwartz … Yuval Levin … Ann Castagnetti … Lisa Ellman … Tom Korologos (9-0) … Invariant’s Channing Lee Foster … Scott Reed 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.
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