| | | | |  | | By Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels and Ryan Lizza | | | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
| | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | HAPPENING TODAY — President JOE BIDEN visits the U.S.-Mexico border in Brownsville, Texas … DONALD TRUMP visits the U.S.-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas. More on that below …
| 
Mitch McConnell's planned exit from Senate leadership is giving the MAGA crowd an opening to claim a new throne. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | MOVE, MITCH, GET OUT THE WAY — With longtime Senate Republican leader MITCH McCONNELL’s announcement yesterday that he’ll step down from leadership at the year’s end, Trump’s allies are eyeing a MAGA-style takeover of the upper chamber. For months, Senate Republicans have operated on the assumption that McConnell’s successor would be one of the “three Johns” close with the current leader: Minority Whip JOHN THUNE (R-S.D.), former Whip JOHN CORNYN (R-Texas) or Conference Chair JOHN BARRASSO (R-Wyo.). But Trump allies are itching for a dark-horse candidate to shake things up, quietly complaining that any of those three would lead to more of the same. Multiple GOP senators and aides tell Playbook that a group of about a dozen McConnell antagonists in the Senate might band together and use their numbers — along with public pressure — to install a leader more to their liking. “The idea that it’s just between the ‘Three Johns’ is an outdated narrative from a year ago,” said one Republican ally of the rebels. “There will be somebody else — and possibly a scenario where none of the ‘Johns’ can get consensus, so it takes another candidate to step in.” The Senate hard-liners, the person added, “recognize the influence the [House] Freedom Caucus has because of their willingness to band together to actually sway policy — and in this case, potentially sway leadership races.” SO WHAT DO THEY WANT? For starters, they’re eyeing a 180-degree pivot from McConnell’s RONALD REAGAN-esque outlook to a leader whose views reflect the more populist-nationalist wing of the Trump-era GOP. They’re also looking for someone who has a working relationship with Trump — a change from the famously frosty relationship between McConnell and the former president, which has been nonexistent since the Jan. 6 insurrection. As Sen. J.D. VANCE (R-Ohio) told Burgess Everett and Ursula Perano for their look at the Senate GOP’s coming transition, “Do I think this represents a bit of a change in the guard? Sure it does.” This doesn’t mean Senate hard-liners aren’t open to any of the “Three Johns.” In fact, several of them said they are — if the price is right. “Listen, I don’t have a favorite candidate — I’m persuadable,” Sen. JOSH HAWLEY (R-Mo.) said. It’s all adding up to a turbulent next nine months — the leadership race typically takes place in late November or early December — with McConnell’s announcement serving as a starting gun for contentious jockeying. Every move by his would-be successors this election cycle will be scrutinized by not only their own colleagues, but also the party’s conservative base. For us at Playbook, the dynamic is reminiscent of former Speaker PAUL RYAN’s decision to announce his retirement in April 2018 — a full eight months before leaving Congress. The move put heir apparent KEVIN McCARTHY in a bind, with conservatives holding demands over his head and dissecting his every move for more than half a year. McCarthy even privately complained that Ryan had screwed him over. Let’s also not forget the former president himself, who once prodded Sen. RICK SCOTT (R-Fla.) to run against McConnell. Many Republicans think Trump will eventually weigh in — or at least be in touch with his Hill allies to try to manipulate his desired outcome. To be sure, senators pride themselves on selecting their own leader regardless of public pressures. It’s often been said that leadership races are more like a high school popularity contest than an actual election. And some senators may not take kindly to Trump or other MAGA influencers trying to force their hand — just as House Republicans balked last fall at the pressure campaign to install Rep. JIM JORDAN (R-Ohio) as speaker. Some caveats: Unlike the election for speaker, the vote for Senate GOP leader (1) requires a majority among Republicans only, not the whole body, and (2) is conducted via secret ballot — meaning that a Trump pressure campaign might not be nearly as effective as in the House. Still, pressure from the MAGA wing of the party will almost certainly set the tone for the leadership race. In some ways, it already is. Yesterday, firebrand Texas AG KEN PAXTON insisted that Cornyn — his home state’s senator — couldn’t be leader because he is “anti-Trump” and “anti-gun,” a reference to the bipartisan gun legislation the senator championed in 2022. Consider this just a taste of what’s to come … WHO ELSE? Beyond the “three Johns,” some Republicans expect Scott to once again throw his hat into the ring. Others are eyeing Sen. TOM COTTON (R-Ark.), who is toying with a leadership bid of some kind, Burgess scooped yesterday. There’s also been plenty of chatter about Sen. STEVE DAINES (R-Mont.), who declined to answer questions yesterday about whether he wants the job. Should Republicans flip the Senate, the NRSC leader would be in a prime position to make a play as well — particularly since he’s found a way to bridge both the McConnell and Trump wings of the party, boasting relationships with both. One thing to watch: Will McConnell — who has made himself something of a lame duck — face pressure to step down sooner? In the House, conservatives certainly hope so. The Freedom Caucus tweeted yesterday that there’s “no need to wait till November … Senate Republicans should IMMEDIATELY elect a *Republican* Minority Leader.” However, the push for an immediate changing of the guard is already facing some resistance from McConnell’s own critics. Sen. RON JOHNSON (R-Wis.) told Playbook that he thinks Republicans should “take some time” to figure out their next leader. “[McConnell’s] given us the time to go through a process of developing consensus within our conference in terms of what we’re about,” Johnson said. “I’ve been suggesting we need to develop a mission statement [to] establish goals that the next leader will need to embrace.” Good Thursday morning, and happy Leap Day! Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza. More McConnell reads …
- “Inside Mitch McConnell’s Season of Losses,” by Jonathan Martin: “These have not been happy days for McConnell. There was the tragic loss of his sister-in-law, which he alluded to in his speech, and his own infirmities. Yet just as torturous for McConnell has been this season of his political misfortunes. … In private this year, McConnell has said this is the worst Congress he’s ever served in, according to Republicans who’ve heard the lament.”
| | | | A message from the Vapor Technology Association: President Biden: Your administration is working against you.
The FDA is going rogue, trying to force your hand on menthol cigarettes—and that's just the start.
Unelected bureaucrats have been politicizing public health for years, and are ignoring science by banning flavored vapes which are the most effective tool to stop smoking.
President Biden—it's time to take back control of your Cancer Moonshot and public health equity agenda.
Learn More | | | TRUMP’S BIG SCOTUS REPRIEVE — Even by 2024 standards, yesterday was a whirlwind in Trump’s various legal entanglements. The biggest news by far was the Supreme Court’s decision to take up Trump’s claim that he should be immune from felony criminal prosecution for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election, which the high court will hear on expedited basis in late April. The Supreme Court will now weigh in on the legally unprecedented question of whether a president is entitled to absolute immunity for his actions — a theory that multiple lower courts and most experts have rejected. More from the WSJ The upshot is that his trial in the case will now be at least delayed several months — and the odds have increased that Trump could simply wait it out and return to the White House, rendering the prosecution moot for years. The court’s procedural decision to slow the case down amounts to a “legal lifeline” that validates Trump’s legal team’s “last-ditch move,” NYT’s Alan Feuer writes, sketching out a potential trial start date now in September. Trump could be in the thick of the trial as voting takes place, Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein note. And now there’s a chance that only one of Trump’s four criminal trials could be over by Election Day. ILLINOIS MAKES SOME NOISE — Halfway across the country, Illinois became the third state yesterday to kick Trump off the ballot due to a 14th Amendment insurrectionist challenge, the Chicago Tribune’s Rick Pearson reports. The decision from a Cook County judge would feel more seismic had the Supreme Court not already strongly signaled that it would reject such moves. FASTER THAN A NEW YORK MINUTE — In New York, Trump failed to convince an appeals court to pause the groaning $454 million civil fraud judgment against him, so he’ll have to post bond soon, per ABC. But the judge did allow Trump, DONALD TRUMP JR. and ERIC TRUMP to remain in charge of the Trump Organization for now. (Meanwhile, New York AG TISH JAMES claimed that Trump is trying to move his assets out of state, The Daily Beast’s Jose Pagliery notes.) AND IN FLORIDA — Judge AILEEN CANNON turned down Trump’s request to access prosecutors’ classified submissions, per WaPo’s Devlin Barrett and Perry Stein.
| | | | A message from the Vapor Technology Association:   | | | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | On the Hill The House will meet at 10 a.m. Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN will testify before the Armed Services Committee at 10 a.m. about the secrecy around his hospitalization. The Senate is in. 3 things to watch …
- The imminent risk of a Friday night shutdown appears to have evaporated: Top congressional leaders struck a deal yesterday to pass fiscal 2024 spending in two six-bill tranches — one by March 8, the rest by March 22. Doing so, however, will require passing yet another continuing resolution, and the tentative plan is for the House to vote on one this afternoon then leave town after a roughly 24-hour workweek, leaving the Senate to pass the punt before the midnight deadline Friday.
- New York’s redistricting wars appear to be settled: Empire State lawmakers finalized a new congressional map yesterday, making only modest changes to a bipartisan commission’s plan that is likely to net Democrats only one or two seats in November. Key New York Republicans indicated they were happy enough with the outcome to accept the map and skip another court battle.
- Republicans have made the District of Columbia into a punching bag lately, with Trump even threatening to revoke its limited home rule over crime and other problems. But the House GOP did Mayor MURIEL BOWSER and other city leaders a solid last night, putting up and passing a bill that would transfer the 174-acre federally owned RFK Stadium site to city control. That could presage a deal to bring the NFL’s Washington Commanders back to D.C., but first the effort will have to find a champion in the Senate. Watch closely to see if it can hitch a ride on must-pass legislation later this year.
At the White House Biden will travel to Brownsville, Texas, where he’ll get briefings at the border and deliver remarks at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time, before returning to the White House at night. VP KAMALA HARRIS will convene faith leaders at 2 p.m. and host a Black History Month reception for HBCU leaders and others at 6 p.m.
| | | | CALIFORNIA CLIMATE: Climate change isn’t just about the weather. It's also about how we do business and create new policies, especially in California. So, we have something cool for you: our California Climate newsletter. It's not just climate or science chat, it's your daily cheat sheet to understanding how the legislative landscape around climate change is shaking up industries across the Golden State. Cut through the jargon and get the latest developments in California as lawmakers and industry leaders adapt to the changing climate. Subscribe now. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | BEYOND THE BELTWAY
|  Biden will be at the border today for a high-stakes showdown with Trump on an issue that is sure to feature prominently in the general election. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | IMMIGRATION FILES — Biden heads to the border in Texas today, capping a stretch in which Biden is tackling some of his greatest vulnerabilities head on (including a crime-focused roundtable yesterday), as Roll Call’s Niels Lesniewski notes. In Brownsville, he’s expected to get briefings on the border. But in the Rio Grande Valley, NBC’s Suzanne Gamboa finds that Brownsville residents have mixed feelings about immigration — and they wish politicians would pay attention to their other concerns, too, from the environment to the economy. Meanwhile, Trump will hold a dueling event further up the border in Texas. That’s where Gov. GREG ABBOTT has launched a massive National Guard operation and clashed with the federal government over who really controls the border, as helpfully visualized by WaPo’s Laris Karklis, Arelis Hernández and Nick Miroff. Far south of the border, there may be substantive signs of progress for the Biden administration’s efforts to stem the flow of migrants through Latin America. In one major move, Colombia is finally heeding U.S. entreaties to crack down on the companies that help migrants get to the Darién Gap, NYT’s Julie Turkewitz reports — though it’s unclear how long that’ll last. And talks between the U.S., Mexico and Guatemala yielded vows to cooperate more on immigration through the region, per CNN’s Jennifer Hansler. More top reads:
CONGRESS
| 
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) yesterday again blocked Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s (D-Ill.) bill to institute federal protections for IVF. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | LATEST IVF FALLOUT — Republicans may be in hot water over in vitro fertilization, but that doesn’t mean they’re willing to get on board with Democratic efforts to safeguard it nationally: Sen. CINDY HYDE-SMITH (R-Miss.) yesterday again blocked Sen. TAMMY DUCKWORTH’s (D-Ill.) bill to institute federal protections for IVF, per CBS, calling it “a vast overreach.” And Rep. ANNA PAULINA LUNA (R-Fla.), the only Republican in either chamber to have signed onto Dems’ IVF legislation, withdrew her co-sponsorship, saying she’d been added without her consent. At the same time, Alabama Republicans scrambled to protect IVF clinics in the state that have stopped offering their services since the nationally watched state Supreme Court decision: A state legislative committee approved two such bills yesterday, per AL.com’s Mike Cason. But IVF’s legal jeopardy could extend far beyond Alabama. Fetal personhood laws and other legal declarations that fetuses are people are in place in more than one-third of states, Megan Messerly reports this morning, and Republicans in red states are split over whether to push ahead. More top reads:
| | | | A message from the Vapor Technology Association:   | | | POLICY CORNER SECTION 702 LATEST — “U.S. to Ask Court to Reauthorize Disputed Surveillance Program for a Year,” by NYT’s Charlie Savage AMERICA AND THE WORLD FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — The latest Time cover story, from Massimo Calabresi, examines the Biden administration’s new approach to declassifying — and publicizing — intelligence secrets as a means of influencing world events. First inspired by the leadup to the war in Ukraine as a way to undermine Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN, the strategy now crops up with roughly weekly requests from the White House to national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN, Calabresi finds.
| 
| Not everybody thinks greater declassification of intelligence is a good idea, and the results have been mixed. But Biden officials point to successful deployment from Serbia to Hamas: “[T]he world of secrets is changing, and America is scrambling to adapt.” THE AID QUESTION — Fearful that Gaza could plunge into even worse humanitarian disaster as aid deliveries struggle, U.S. officials are now considering dropping assistance into the Palestinian territory from American military planes, Axios’ Barak Ravid reports. Yesterday, northern Gaza just got its first significant shipment of food in a full month, per AP’s Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Magdy. Four Senate Dems yesterday told Israel to step it up on helping aid get to Gaza, Anthony Adragna scooped. Despite more dire warnings of famine and 30,000 Palestinians now reported killed, both sides are sounding notes that could make reaching a cease-fire more difficult, NYT’s Vivian Yee, Hwaida Saad and Michael Levenson report. And as Biden admin frustration with ally Israel grows, Reuters’ Humeyra Pamuk and Steve Holland have the inside story on how Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN made a sudden policy shift on West Bank settlements, spurred last week by a new Israeli plan to expand them. 2024 WATCH TRUMP STILL SAILING — The latest swing-state polling out this morning from Bloomberg and Morning Consult finds Trump beating Biden in all of them: Overall, he’s up by 5 across the swing states, and Trump’s leads range from 2 to 9 points in the head-to-head matchup across Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. (He also wins if third-party candidates are included.) MARCH 8 APPROACHES — “No Labels Will Decide Whether to Jump Into the 2024 Election Next Week,” by N.Y. Mag’s Ed Kilgore MICHIGAN FALLOUT — What to make of the “uncommitted” protest vote over Gaza in the Michigan primary? Democrats spent yesterday arguing over the campaign’s performance, WaPo’s Yasmeen Abutaleb, Tyler Pager and Michael Scherer recap. Organizers are eyeing the Minnesota and Washington state primaries as the next opportunities to make their anger and anguish over Biden’s Middle East policy known, per ABC’s Fritz Farrow, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim and Libby Cathey. Ultimately, no other state’s primary is likely to be as tough for Biden on this score after Michigan, NYT’s Reid Epstein, Jonathan Weisman and Nicholas Nehamas write. But come November, Arab and Muslim Americans could pose a real — though likely not determinative — problem for Biden, FiveThirtyEight’s Nathaniel Rakich concludes from crunching the numbers. Jessica Piper and Steve Shepard’s data dive finds “a clear warning” for the president.
| | | | 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 | | Joe Biden “continues to be fit for duty,” according to his doctor. Donald Trump slammed Biden for being wrong about whether he knew Melania’s name. Viktor Orban will meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago next week. Carole King is performing at a Kamala Harris/Doug Emhoff fundraiser. Gretchen Whitmer stood by some decades-old comments about hot dogs. John Fetterman blasted people’s “recreational cruelty” toward Lauren Boebert’s family. OUT AND ABOUT — Anthony Coley and Robert Raben hosted an event yesterday morning celebrating Barbara McQuade’s new book, “Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America” ($35). SPOTTED: Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), Vanita Gupta, Geoff Bennett, Stuart Delery, Tim Heaphy, Kimberly Atkins Stohr, Rebecca Kutler, Sarah Baker, Josh Gerstein, Beth Kanter, Michael Isikoff, Roy Austin, Ken Delanian, Ryan Reilly, Perry Stein, Devlin Barrett, Carrie Johnson and Evan Perez. MEDIA MOVE — Kate O’Brian is moving up to be president of news across all of Scripps’ local and national TV operations. She’s been with Scripps since 2021 and is an ABC alum. TRANSITIONS — Justine Turner is now political director at End Citizens United/Let America Vote. She previously was VP of political for iHeartMedia, leading Democratic outreach efforts\, and is a DLCC and Elizabeth Warren campaign alum. … Patrick Corvington will be the first-ever chief of staff at the Center for Law and Social Policy. He previously was CEO of Minds Matter National and is a Corporation for National and Community Service alum. … … Travis Considine is now VP for government relations at Pape-Dawson Engineers. He most recently was director of comms at the Texas Department of Public Safety, and is a Rick Perry and John Cornyn alum. … Bethany Torstenson is now director of comms and media management at America First Works. She previously was digital manager at the John Locke Foundation. LEAP DAY BIRTHDAYS: Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.) … former Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) … Caitlin Kovalkoski … POLITICO’s Kate Irby and Pamela King … Enid Doggett of INSPR Media … Craig Kennedy … Eugene Volokh … Greenbrier Partners’ Adrian Durbin … Messina Group’s Gabrielle Quintana Greenfield … Alexandra White … Kent Lucken, the pride of Cyclone Nation (6-0) 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.
| | | | A message from the Vapor Technology Association: President Biden: Your administration is working against you.
The FDA is going rogue, trying to force your hand on menthol cigarettes—and that's just the start.
Unelected bureaucrats have been politicizing public health for years, and are ignoring science by banning flavored vapes—the most effective tool to stop smoking.
Studies show that e-cigarettes are the most effective tool to help people quit smoking, even when they have no intention to quit.
Dr. Nancy Rigotti (Harvard Medicine) just wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine: “U.S. public health agencies and professional medical societies should reconsider their cautious positions on e-cigarettes for smoking cessation. The evidence has brought e-cigarettes to a tipping point. The burden of tobacco-related disease is too big for potential solutions such as e-cigarettes to be ignored.”
President Biden—it's time to stop the FDA from undermining your Cancer Moonshot and health equity agenda.
Learn More | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment