| | | | |  | | By Bethany Irvine | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | HAPPENING SOON — House members are scheduled to vote this afternoon on a short-term spending bill that would avert a partial government shutdown and give lawmakers more time to work through remaining spending bills, Anthony Adragna reports: “The legislation — just six pages long — will move through an expedited process requiring two-thirds support in the chamber for passage. Look to see how many Republicans Speaker MIKE JOHNSON loses.” HE’S BACK — Former Rep. JUSTIN AMASH entered the Michigan Senate race this morning as a Republican: “We need a principled, consistent constitutional conservative in the Senate,” he wrote, “someone with a record of taking on the bipartisan oligarchy, defending sound money and free speech, fighting the surveillance state and military-industrial complex, and protecting all our rights.” More from the Detroit News
|  Joe Biden and Donald Trump are making competing trips to South Texas today to discuss immigration. | AFP via Getty Images | | DEEP IN THE HEART — It’s a Texas-centric news day, with the likely major-party presidential nominees visiting the Lone Star State to address the southern border crisis and its senior senator jumping into the race for Senate Republican leader. On the border … President JOE BIDEN is slated to meet with Border Patrol officials and law enforcement in Brownsville, Texas later today, while former President DONALD TRUMP will make an appearance in Eagle Pass, more than 300 miles away. Biden is expected to harangue Republicans for killing a deal that included billions in border security, while Trump is likely to continue to place the blame for the influx of illegal immigrants squarely on his opponent’s shoulders. “[T]he venue of the showdown is no accident, as Biden and Trump seize on what’s likely to be a top issue in the 2024 race — the president emphasizing his recent efforts to solve the problem and blaming Trump for getting in the way, and his predecessor and likely challenger stoking fears and blaming Democrats,” Myah Ward and Eli Stokols write. By the numbers, Trump has the political edge on the issue: “In the fall of 2020, Mr. Trump was more trusted on immigration by a sizable 16 percentage points, according to NBC News polling at the time. That margin has more than doubled to 35 percentage points as of this January — the largest advantage either Mr. Biden or Mr. Trump had on any of the nine issues tested,” NYT’s Shane Goldmacher reports. The dueling visits also come just as a key legal battle in the state’s immigration debate heats up. This morning, U.S. federal court in Austin issued an injunction that would preliminarily prevent the state from enforcing a law that would make it a state crime to cross the Texas-Mexico border illegally, The Texas Tribune’s Uriel Garcia reports. The ruling gives the courts additional time to review the law, S.B. 4,, which faces legal challenges from the federal government and several advocacy groups. Big John jumps in … After yesterday’s surprise announcement from Minority Leader MITCH McCONNELL that he’s stepping down from his role in November, Sen. JOHN CORNYN became the first of (presumably several) members to throw his hat in the ring for the job today: “I am asking my Republican colleagues to give me the opportunity to succeed Leader McConnell,” Cornyn said in a statement. The four-term senator went on to detail his leadership accomplishments as NRSC chair and Republican whip, adding, “I believe the Senate is broken … The good news is that it can be fixed, and I intend to play a major role in fixing it. From experience, I have learned what works in the Senate and what does not, and I am confident Republicans can restore our institution.” Cornyn’s bid for the top job also comes after he told reporters yesterday that he informed Donald Trump his “intention” on Tuesday and “told him that I had worked with him when I was the Majority Whip for four years. And worked very successfully with him and his team, and I look forward to doing that again.” As for those other Johns … Though he is not expected to make a formal announcement, Sen. JOHN THUNE (R-S.D.) has already soft-launched his own bid, with a spokesperson telling Burgess Everett that he’s “reaching out to each of his colleagues directly to discuss the future of the Senate Republican Conference and what they would like to see in their next leader.” Meanwhile, GOP Conference Chair JOHN BARRASSO (R-Wyo.) is not expected to announce today if he’s running. Good Thursday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at birvine@politico.com.
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Learn more. | | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: MORE WSJ LAYOFFS — After laying off several dozen D.C. bureau staffers earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal has now laid off five foreign reporters as well, six current and former Journal staffers told our Daniel Lippman. ALASTAIR GALE in Japan, LUCIANA MAGALHAES in Brazil, JUAN MONTES in Mexico and ERIC SYLVERS and FRANCIS X. ROCCA in Italy all were let go earlier this week, according to the sources. Emails sent to several of the reporters' old WSJ addresses bounced back this morning; Rocca tweeted yesterday his Vatican and global religion beat “has been discontinued.” With POPE FRANCIS facing some recent health issues, “they could have an election for the pope later this year, and we won’t have a Vatican correspondent,” griped one current staffer. WSJ editor EMMA TUCKER did not send out a memo announcing the cuts, according to two current staffers. "We are devastated that more of our colleagues at WSJ have been laid off this week across our World team & 13 union members were cut from non-News departments last week — all despite Dow Jones posting record profits in FY2023," Dow Jones' union tweeted out this morning. A Journal rep said in a short interview that "we are always looking for how to better prioritize our resources and strengthen our foreign correspondent network" and said the layoffs will not affect their international coverage, with 160 staffers remaining around the world. The paper continues to have a Rome bureau, the rep added.
| | 7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | |  Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin faced tense questioning today during a House Armed Services Committee hearing. | AP | 1. AUSTIN’S MEA CULPA: House Republicans grilled Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN during a two-hour House Armed Services hearing this morning on his failure to promptly notify top officials about his December hospitalization for prostate cancer treatment. Throughout the hearing, GOP lawmakers blasted Austin for his team’s lack of transparency with the White House and Congress last year, repeatedly labeling the event as “embarrassing.” While Austin gave few details during the hearing on the timeline, he admitted in his opening statement that the incident reflected a “lack of transparency” and seemed to repeatedly shift the blame to communication issues among his staff. Armed Services Chair MIKE ROGERS (R-Ala.) used the event to target the “dysfunction” in the Biden administration, noting in opening remarks that the White House failure to notice Austin’s absence shows how his “advice is not sought or heeded in the White House” and “implies White House politics are in the driver's seat” on national security matters. “Who will be held accountable for this, this embarrassment?” Rep. JIM BANKS (R-Ind.) echoed. “Either the president is that aloof, or you are irrelevant.” More from Connor O’Brien and Laura Seligman 2. LESSONS FROM MICHIGAN? Though Biden safely won this week’s Michigan primary, some Democrats continue to worry about the more than 100,000 “uncommitted” votes, which revealed the president’s vulnerability on his handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Now, some are demanding more face time from Biden in the state, fearing that even a small number of defectors might sink him in November, Elena Schneider and Adam Cancryn report: “One lawmaker said Biden ‘needs to spend time with’ those angry over his approach to the war. ‘He needs to listen. He’s got to show them he’s really real about getting a ceasefire,’ the lawmaker continued. ‘I think we need some more empathy and compassion, not blow this off.’” More details: “There are no current plans to return to the state, but Biden campaign advisers said he will be in Michigan frequently over the next eight months. … Arab American and Muslim leaders cautioned against Biden returning to Michigan without first taking definitive action to halt the war, warning it could only end up alienating voters who already suspect the administration’s outreach is being driven purely by politics.” 3. RUSSIA-UKRAINE LATEST: As Russia continues to make battlefield advances in Ukraine, Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN used his annual State of the Nation address today to take aim at the West and threaten nuclear war should NATO countries attack Russian territory, WaPo’s Francesca Ebel and Robyn Dixon report from Moscow: “‘They must understand that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory,’ [Putin] said, warning of ‘tragic consequences’ if NATO forces were ever deployed to Ukraine. ‘All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilization. Don’t they get that?’” Meanwhile, in Washington … Senior officials say the Biden administration is weighing a new plan to quickly ship badly-needed arms and ammunitions from Pentagon stockpiles to Ukraine, NYT’s Eric Schmitt scoops. Still, “[s]ome officials fear that drawing down Defense Department inventories now would take the pressure off Congress to act on the longer-term aid package. It would also expose the administration to criticism from Republican opponents of aid to Ukraine that such a move without replenishing Pentagon stocks would hurt the United States.” And across the country … A new NORC/AP poll finds that U.S. adults are fractured along party lines in their support for sending aid to Ukraine, AP’s Stephen Groves and Linley Sanders report.
| | | | On the ground in Albany. Get critical policy news and analysis inside New York State. Track how power brokers are driving change across legislation and budget and impacting lobbying efforts. Learn more. | | | | | 4. WHAT THE KARDASHIANS ARE READING: “A foreign war is shaping the race to replace Adam Schiff. It’s not the one you think,” by Melanie Mason in LA: “It’s the fever-pitch tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The decades-long dispute hit a bloody crescendo last September … To Armenian Americans, it was an ethnic cleansing that got little response from the United States, leaving the community feeling deeply betrayed and abandoned by the Biden White House.” 5. DEAL OR NO DEAL: “Trump Media co-founders sue company, alleging a scheme to dilute shares,” by NYT’s Drew Harwell: “The case could complicate a long-delayed bid by Trump Media & Technology Group, owner of the social network Truth Social, to merge with a special purpose acquisition company called Digital World Acquisition … That merger deal, which could value Trump’s stake in the company at more than $3 billion, would offer the former president a financial lifeline at a time when he is facing more than $454 million in penalties from a civil fraud judgment this month in New York.” 6. DEMOCRACY DIGEST: With the presidential election just eight months away, Pennsylvania Gov. JOSH SHAPIRO announced today the formation of a group of state and federal officials focused on countering misinformation in the state’s elections and threats to democracy, NBC News’ Adam Edelman scoops: “[The Election Threats Task Force] will involve officials from at least 10 government agencies, from election administration and law enforcement to homeland security to emergency management.” 7. LIFE IS A HIGHWAY: “Biden Orders Probe Into Foreign Car Parts, Citing China Risks,” by WSJ’s Gareth Vipers: “The investigation could lead to restrictions on the use of certain parts in cars in the U.S. … In [a] statement, Biden said Chinese automakers were seeking to flood the U.S. market. The Commerce Department probe will explore the vulnerabilities and threats that could arise if a foreign government gained access to vehicles’ systems or data.”
| | | | CONGRESS OVERDRIVE: Since day one, POLITICO has been laser-focused on Capitol Hill, serving up the juiciest Congress coverage. Now, we’re upping our game to ensure you’re up to speed and in the know on every tasty morsel and newsy nugget from inside the Capitol Dome, around the clock. Wake up, read Playbook AM, get up to speed at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report, and fuel your nightly conversations with Inside Congress in the evening. Plus, never miss a beat with buzzy, real-time updates throughout the day via our Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | OUT AND ABOUT — Meridian International Center hosted its “Welcome to Washington” program last night for newly arrived ambassadors to Washington, D.C. SPOTTED: Stuart and Gwen Holliday, Algerian Ambassador Sabri Boukadoum, EU Ambassador Jovita Neliupšienė, Kuwaiti Ambassador Al-Zain Al-Sabah, Micronesian Ambassador Jackson Soram, Moroccan Ambassador Youssef Amrani, Dutch Ambassador Birgitta Tazelaar, Singaporean Ambassador Lui Tuck Yew, Slovenian Ambassador Iztok Mirošič, St. Kitts and Nevis Ambassador Jacinth Henry-Martin and Gordon Sondland. MEDIA MOVE — Lucy Nicholson will be the director of photography for the AP. She previously was Europe photo editor for Reuters. Full announcement TRANSITIONS — Chris Lomauro and Mary Grace Downey are joining Politicoin as senior associates. Lomauro previously was a copywriter at Campaign Inbox. Downey previously was a political project manager at POOLHOUSE. 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 Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
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