| | | | |  | | By Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels and Ryan Lizza | | | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
| | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | RUN IT BACK — “The prospect of a second Trump presidency has the intelligence community on edge,” by Erin Banco and John Sakellariadis: “Former top officials from DONALD TRUMP’s administration are warning he is likely to use a second term to overhaul the nation’s spy agencies in a way that could lead to an unprecedented level of politicization of intelligence.” RUN IT BACK, PT. 2 — “Russia’s 2024 election interference has already begun,” by NBC’s Dan De Luce and Kevin Collier: “The dissemination of attacks on [President JOE] BIDEN is part of a continuing effort by Moscow to undercut American military aid to Ukraine and U.S. support for and solidarity with NATO, experts said.” JUST IN — “Ronna McDaniel, the R.N.C.’s Top Official, Plans to Step Down on March 8,” by NYT’s Maggie Haberman: “[S]he now sets in motion a new election within the party’s official body, where Mr. Trump's preference for chair and co-chair will try to secure enough votes to take over.”
|  House Speaker Mike Johnson is facing pressure to land some serious policy wins in this week's funding negotiations. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN IS BACK ON — Government funding starts drying up Friday night, and all of a sudden a partial government shutdown is a real possibility — a likelihood, even. You can be forgiven if you thought we were past all this. Both parties did, after all, strike a spending deal in January. But that agreement was on topline numbers only — those and $10 will buy you a disappointing salad at the Senate carryout. Funding the government means taking those numbers and turning them into text, hashing out scores of spending and policy disputes. Thus leadership and appropriations staff worked through the weekend trying to finalize the four bills whose deadlines come due Friday: Agriculture-FDA, Energy-Water, Military Construction-VA and Transportation-HUD. The hope was to release bipartisan text of those bills last night. Instead, talks broke down and the blame game is in full force. Top congressional leaders are lambasting each other for the breakdown, and Biden has invited them to an Oval Office sitdown tomorrow to hash out a way forward. ON THE DEM SIDE: Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER skewered Republicans in a “Dear Colleague” letter last night for playing politics with people’s livelihoods. A lapse of funding for the first tranche of bills would threaten food assistance and housing support for needy families, hurt farmers and veterans, and potentially cause travel delays at airports, Schumer wrote. “Unfortunately, extreme House Republicans have shown they’re more capable of causing chaos than passing legislation,” Schumer wrote. “It is my sincere hope that … Speaker [MIKE] JOHNSON will step up to once again buck the extremists in his caucus and do the right thing.” ON THE GOP SIDE: With his right flank still agitating over his January funding deal with Schumer, Johnson is facing pressure to land some serious policy wins. Behind the scenes, GOP negotiators have been pushing for several contentious policy riders, per our colleague Caitlin Emma: (1) cuts to agriculture programs and limits on how USDA spends money, (2) a ban on mail delivery of abortion medication and (3) a pilot program proposed by Rep. ANDY HARRIS (R-Md.) that would restrict SNAP food aid purchases. Those are obvious red lines for Democrats. Firing back at Schumer last night, Johnson accused Democrats of making new, 11th-hour demands that were not included in the Senate’s bipartisan bills. Per our colleague Meredith Lee Hill, House Dems want $1 billion in additional nutrition assistance for low-income women and babies, shoring up the WIC program that’s running out of funds. “Our position is that of the American people and our mission is to take steps to rein in Democrats’ overspending and policies that are harming the economy, raising prices, and making everyday life harder for our constituents,” Johnson said in a statement, arguing that the GOP has worked “in good faith.” Of course, Johnson doesn’t have much leverage here due to the complicated dynamics in his own conference — a hindrance the speaker alluded to on a private call with his conference Friday night. Johnson lectured his members, arguing that their willingness to tank rules and block legislation undermines his negotiating hand. Johnson will almost certainly have to rely on a hefty portion of Democrats to pass any spending bills. And with the GOP’s hard-right faction wielding a de facto veto on the House Rules Committee, he’ll likely be forced to put those bills up under suspension of the rules, requiring a two-thirds majority — and still more Democratic votes — for passage. SOME IMPORTANT CONTEXT … — Time is of the essence: The House is expected to move first on these spending bills but won’t be back in session until Wednesday, leaving little time for a solution. The Senate, meanwhile, has to deal with the impeachment trial of Homeland Security Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, on top of all the usual Senate procedural headaches. Underscoring the need to get these bills over the finish line, Biden invited Johnson and Schumer, as well as Senate Minority Leader MITCH McCONNELL and House Minority Leader HAKEEM JEFFRIES, to the White House, as the AP’s Seung Min Kim scooped. But the key relationship — between Biden and Johnson — simply doesn’t exist, as our colleagues Jennifer Haberkorn and Jonathan Lemire write in a new piece this morning. That’s already complicated the negotiations, and now with the clock ticking louder, it’s going to make cutting a deal that much harder. — We’ve only just begun: These first four bills are supposed to be the easy part, which is why they were bundled together as the first step in a “laddered” deadline. That, of course, raises the question: If they can’t make a deal on the easy bills, what hope is there for funding much more politically sensitive parts of the government such as the Justice Department, the Pentagon and DHS — all of which come due on March 8? Which means … — A punt could be coming: Johnson won’t be happy, but the stalemate has already triggered talk of yet another short-term stopgap — the fourth of fiscal 2024. Lawmakers are discussing a continuing resolution to give themselves until March 22 to finish negotiating, though that date is still fluid. Watch how Johnson responds to this chatter. The speaker vowed months ago there would be no more CRs, only to cave soon after. But on the Friday conference call, the speaker acknowledged that a partial government shutdown was possible — suggesting might be readying to take a stand. — The real deadline is still two months off: Nobody likes endless CRs, and last year, Biden and then-Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY thought they’d figured out how to avoid them: Mandate tens of billions of dollars of automatic cuts to defense and nondefense programs if lawmakers fail to pass full-year bills by April 30. But nothing about this process has been so straightforward. Neither Democrats nor GOP defense hawks like the mandatory cuts, but the core group of hard-right rebels who drummed McCarthy out of the House are fine with them. And right now, they seem to be calling Johnson’s tune. Good Monday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | A message from the Vapor Technology Association: President Biden: Your administration is working against you.
Top officials and the FDA are urging to push for the ban on menthol cigarettes that could help 1.5 million smokers to quit cigarettes.
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 | | | THE WEEK — Tomorrow: Michigan holds presidential primaries. Top congressional leaders meet with Biden at the White House. Senate HELP Committee votes on JULIE SU’s nomination as Labor secretary. … Wednesday: Q4 economic growth figures released. Agriculture Secretary TOM VILSACK testifies before Senate Ag Committee. … Thursday: Leap Day. January core inflation data released. Senate Judiciary Committee votes on the nominations of five district judges. … Friday: Some federal appropriations expire at midnight. HUNTER BIDEN testifies before a closed session of the House Oversight Committee. Biden hosts Italian PM GIORGIA MELONI at the White House for a bilateral meeting. Federal court hearing on potential delay to Trump’s classified documents trial in Fort Pierce, Florida. … Saturday: Idaho, Michigan and Missouri hold Republican presidential caucuses. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: WHAT THEY’RE REALLY SAYING — As Democratic candidates tiptoe around Biden’s age on the campaign trail, Rep. DAVID TRONE (D-Md.) told a group of Maryland Democrats on Wednesday that he wished Biden was “10 years younger,” according to a video obtained by our Daniel Lippman. “I wish he was 10 years younger — OK, I got it,” the Senate hopeful said, garnering a few laughs and murmurs from the audience. “Who here doesn’t? I know I do. I really do. But you know — what it is, it is. We do the best we can.” While Trone garnered applause when he said he was a big supporter of Biden and noted that he’s hosted him twice at his house for fundraisers, he also talked about other aspects of Biden’s age. “Joe Biden, he’s working and firing on all cylinders. Does he talk slower? Yes. Does he move like he’s older? Yes,” he told a meet-and-greet hosted by the Queen Anne’s County Democratic Club in Stevensville. “But I’m a CEO all my life. People who run the thing are the smart people you hire, the people around you. And getting great people in all those jobs, as many as you can — that’s how the government works, is through others.” Asked for comment, Trone told Playbook in a statement: “I often say I wish I was 10 years younger. I also often say Joe Biden is doing an incredible job, which is exactly what I said in the unedited version of this video.”
| | | | A message from the Vapor Technology Association:   | | | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | On the Hill The Senate will meet at 3 p.m. for Sen. BEN CARDIN (D-Md.) to read GEORGE WASHINGTON’s Farewell Address. It will take a cloture vote on JACQUELINE BECERRA’s judicial nomination at 5:30 p.m. The House is out. 3 things to watch …
- The congressional fallout from the Alabama IVF decision has fallen hardest on the 125 House Republicans who signed on to the Life at Conception Act. As Johnson and other conservatives signaled support for IVF, Democrats pointed out that those statements don’t square with their support for a bill that does not provide any exceptions for fertility treatments. This morning White House press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE doubles down in a new memo accusing Republicans of “shamelessly attempting to erase their own records on IVF.” Read the memo
- The exact choreography of the Mayorkas impeachment trial remains a bit of a mystery. Sometime this week, it’s expected that House impeachment managers will walk the articles across the Capitol, and the Senate will begin the trial the next day. But we’ll see what happens after that. We’ll be surprised if the process drags past Thursday, with Senate Democrats (and many Republicans) eager to dismiss the case — especially with the spending deadlines looming. More from AP
- Trump’s 20-point South Carolina victory moved one prominent neutral Republican off the fence — Sen. JOHN THUNE (R-S.D.) announced his Trump endorsement yesterday becoming the last of the “three Johns” to take the leap. Meanwhile, Rep. RALPH NORMAN (R-S.C.) — NIKKI HALEY’s sole congressional endorser — told The Daily Beast’s Reese Gorman he’s standing by his woman.
At the White House Biden will travel to NYC, where he’ll take part in a campaign meeting before returning to the White House in the evening. VP KAMALA HARRIS will record a live radio interview with BROTHER SHOMARI for WURD-FM at 3:35 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 | | 2024 WATCH
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Americans for Prosperity Action said it would redirect its resources from Nikki Haley to Senate and House races. | Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO | CASH DASH — Fresh off losing her home state, Haley suffered another blow yesterday when the Koch network said it would stop supporting her financially, Natalie Allison scooped. Americans for Prosperity Action said it would redirect its resources to Senate and House races: “[W]e don’t believe any outside group can make a material difference to widen her path to victory,” AFP CEO EMILY SEIDEL wrote bluntly in a staff note, though she warned that a Trump nomination would still be bad for the GOP. Nonetheless, Haley’s campaign is continuing to haul in a lot of money, having raised another $1 million since the South Carolina primary, per Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser. Last night Haley was on to Troy, Michigan, ahead of tomorrow’s primary in the state. A defiant Haley maintained that Trump was unpresidential: “The tone at the top matters.” Though she may be managing as much as 40% of the primary electorate, the delegate math — and the way Republicans have structured the rules — will swing the door shut for her pretty closely, Steve Shepard writes. One door that’s still open (though Haley says he doesn’t want it): No Labels’ JOE CUNNINGHAM said yesterday that Haley is “somebody we’d definitely be interested in.” More top reads:
MORE POLITICS RED-LIGHT REDISTRICT — New York Democrats are expected to reject a bipartisan panel’s congressional map today and put forth their own alternative for a vote as soon as Thursday, Newsday’s Yancey Roy reports. The Empire State is one of the biggest outstanding question marks on the House campaign map, with potentially major implications for control of the chamber. Per Newsday, Dems are likely to try to adjust the districts of Democratic Rep.-elect TOM SUOZZI and GOP Reps. BRANDON WILLIAMS and MARC MOLINARO a bit more to the left, while giving GOP Rep. ANDREW GARBARINO more breathing room on Long Island. SUNSHINE STATE SQUABBLING — Why does Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS keep going after Trump, the erstwhile presidential rival whom he’s endorsed, and making splashy national political moves? In Tallahassee, Gary Fineout and Kimberly Leonard dig into the question swirling around a man who “sure seems to be acting like a candidate again.” The possible answers range from repositioning himself as a 2028 contender to leaning into his familiar tactic of decrying his enemies to seeking some catharsis that’s “cheaper than therapy.”
| | | | A message from the Vapor Technology Association:   | | | JUDICIARY SQUARE
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Today's SCOTUS fight centers around laws in Florida and Texas that barred tech companies from significant content moderation on social media platforms. | Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo | TODAY’S BIG HEARING — Oral arguments in two cases at the Supreme Court today could set the course for major rulings on free speech, misinformation and technology, WSJ’s Jess Bravin previews. The fight centers on Republican laws in Florida and Texas that barred Big Tech behemoths from significant content moderation on social media platforms, amid GOP allegations that conservative viewpoints were being censored online. The Florida law came soon after major platforms booted Trump over Jan. 6. Tech trade groups have argued, on the other hand, that restrictions on companies’ content moderation violated their speech rights and forced harmful posts to go unchallenged. “The laws’ fate might turn on how the justices conceive of social media,” the Journal writes. They haven’t gone into effect yet, having been paused by courts while litigation proceeds. But our colleague Rebecca Kern highlights an important piece of context: Over the past few years, conservatives have already steered the online tide in their direction, as ELON MUSK took over — and uncorked — X and other right-leaning platforms have grown. “The restoration of many far-right figures has taken some of the oxygen out of that debate.” AMERICA AND THE WORLD FOR YOUR RADAR — An active-duty U.S. Air Force officer self-immolated outside the Israeli Embassy yesterday in protest of the bombardment of Gaza, ending up in the hospital with life-threatening injuries. He reportedly live-streamed it on Twitch and yelled, “Free Palestine!” More from Task and Purpose THIS, TOO — “Senate Aide Investigated Over Unofficial Actions in Ukraine,” by NYT’s Lara Jakes, Justin Scheck and Thomas Gibbons-Neff: “The staff member, KYLE PARKER, is the senior Senate adviser for the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, known as the Helsinki Commission.” TRUMP CARDS TRUMP INC. — “Clock is ticking for Trump to post bonds worth half a billion dollars,” by WaPo’s Jonathan O’Connell, Shayna Jacobs and Josh Dawsey: “Experts say a cash crunch in coming weeks could thrust the former president’s business into greater uncertainty than it has seen in decades.” MEDIAWATCH THE BOYS ON THE BUS, 2024 EDITION — “Why Trump and Kennedy are chasing Jessica Reed Kraus,” by Semafor’s Max Tani: They’re “hoping to reach [JESSICA REED KRAUS’] over 1 million Instagram followers and her 300,000 subscribers on Substack … [She] embodies a new archetype but also a familiar one: a Southern California mom as interested in organic produce, transcendental meditation, and BODE’s refashioning of antique fabrics as she is in reactionary politics.” HOT ON THE LEFT — “New York Times ‘Reviewing’ Reporter Who Liked Gaza ‘Slaughterhouse’ Tweet,” by The Daily Beast’s Corbin Bolies: “The New York Times is investigating Israeli freelancer ANAT SCHWARTZ after she repeatedly liked multiple X posts that indicated a pro-Israel bias, including one that called for the Gaza Strip to be turned into a ‘slaughterhouse.’ … Her most prominent piece was a co-bylined article detailing sexual violence allegedly committed by Hamas during the raids. The story had drawn internal criticism from staffers.” WSJ STRUGGLES — After brutal layoffs in the WSJ’s D.C. bureau, the newspaper offered big names BRODY MULLINS, TED MANN and JULIE BYKOWICZ the chance to apply for new jobs in what “appeared to be an attempt to get around union rules,” Semafor’s Ben Smith reports. But they all took severance instead, and “[m]orale at the Journal appears to be back in the toilet.” BEYOND THE BELTWAY AILING AMERICA — “With Pandemic Money Gone, Child Care Is an Industry on the Brink,” by NYT’s Claire Cain Miller: “Five months after the expiration of federal funds, running a child care business is more precarious than ever and many parents are struggling to pay tuition.” IMMIGRATION FILES — “‘Biden needs to do his job’: Republican governors reject president’s border deal push,” by Lisa Kashinsky
| | | | 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 | | Andy Kim won a third county convention over Tammy Murphy. Gavin Newsom is running an abortion-focused TV ad campaign in Tennessee. Matt Gaetz and Max Miller got very personal. Donald Trump Jr. has doubts about Joe Biden’s sex life. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Nick Hutchins is joining Swing Left and its 501(c)(4) affiliate Vote Forward as head of comms and digital. He previously was comms director at Vote.org, and is a Human Rights Campaign alum. MEDIA MOVES — Ankush Khardori is joining POLITICO Magazine as a senior writer, helming a reported legal column and reported stories. He previously has contributed to POLITICO Magazine, New York magazine, The New York Times, Slate and more, and is a former federal prosecutor. … Hank Butler is now senior booking producer for “Morning in America” weekends on NewsNation. He most recently was comms director for Peter Welch’s Vermont Senate campaign, and is an MSNBC alum. WEEKEND WEDDING — Alex Stroman, senior director of state government relations at Albemarle, and Kevin Walling, partner at HGCreative, got married yesterday at Walling at Grace Cathedral Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Guests were welcomed Friday night with a campaign-themed reception featuring buttons, stickers, and rally signs. Saturday’s wedding reception at the Hibernian Hall concluded with Irish bagpipers playing The Parting Glass as the guests departed. SPOTTED: John Baird, Helen and Joe Milby, Senay Bulbul, Orla Keane, John McCarthy, Rhett Wilson, Jeff Zeleny, Ali and Josh Rogin, Eli Yokley and Evan Hollander, Lauren Gillis and Alex Tureman, Ninio Fetalvo, Judd Deere, Hope Walker, T.W. Arrighi, Andy Flick, Rob Placek, and Taylor and Tyler Mason. Pic … Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) … Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) … Corry Bliss … David Beasley (67) … Arden Farhi ... POLITICO’s Katie Ellsworth and Annabel Smith … Carrie Meadows ... Amanda Alpert Loveday ... A’shanti Gholar ... Ashli Scott Palmer ... Li Zhou ... Alan Rosenblatt … Bassima Alghussein … Reuters’ Nicholas Brown ... Maia Estes … Rokk Solutions’ John Brandt … Zara Haq ... Clay Doherty ... Fae Jencks … Kathy Park … George Agurkis … Mike McKenna … Ronald Lauder 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.
Top officials and the FDA are urging to push for the ban on menthol cigarettes that could help 1.5 million smokers to quit cigarettes.
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, says 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.
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