| | | | |  | | By Bethany Irvine | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has joined the bid to oust Mike Johnson (R-La.) as speaker. | Jonah Elkowitz for POLITICO | And then there were two. Speaker MIKE JOHNSON’s effort to shepherd Ukraine aid through the House has driven Rep. THOMAS MASSIE (R-Ky.) to join Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE’s (R-Ga.) bid to oust Johnson as speaker, Olivia Beavers and Jordain Carney report. Yes, it’s just two members. But that’s significant because of the potential timing of a motion to vacate and the thin margins in the House: If Greene forces a vote on the motion “after Friday, when Rep. MIKE GALLAGHER (R-Wis.) is retiring, Johnson would need to lean on Democrats to save his speakership.” At least two House Democrats, Reps. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-Fla.) and TOM SUOZZI (D-N.Y.) said that they would vote to save Johnson, per CNN’s Manu Raju. Massie announced his position during a closed-door GOP meeting today, reportedly telling the Louisianan, “You’re not going to be the speaker much longer.” Shortly afterward, the Kentucky Republican made it public, posting on X that Johnson “should pre-announce his resignation (as [former House Speaker JOHN] BOEHNER did), so we can pick a new Speaker without ever being without a GOP Speaker.” But Massie’s move didn’t exactly win him friends in the GOP conference. “Rep. AUSTIN SCOTT (R-Ga.) said Massie's announcement was ‘not received very well,’” Olivia and Jordain write. “Majority Leader STEVE SCALISE said afterward that he still thinks they can avoid a vote to terminate Johnson's speakership. … ‘Folks are very discouraged. … We are screwed,’ said one Republican lawmaker.” “I am not resigning,” Johnson told reporters afterward. “And it is in my view an absurd notion that someone would bring a vacate motion when we are simply here trying to do our jobs.” And the West Wing proceeds with caution … With House Republicans still debating the nature of the foreign aid bill and what’s included, the White House is adopting a “wait-and-see” approach while Johnson moves ahead with his plan to hold four separate votes on provisions in the package, Jennifer Haberkorn and Adam Cancryn report. Biden “is reserving judgment” until there are more details available on what’s included in each provision. In the White House’s view, “there’s little clarity about how the next several days — or even hours — may play out on the Hill.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Sen. J.D. VANCE (R-Ohio) is out with a new memo arguing that the foreign aid package would not solve Ukraine’s weapons shortages, maintaining that the supplemental aid “fails by orders of magnitude to facilitate meeting Ukraine’s assessed munitions requirements now or in future.” Read the full memo TRUMP TRIAL DAY TWO — Voir dire is still underway on the second day of DONALD TRUMP’s Manhattan hush money trial, as lawyers work to find a panel of jurors who will decide whether Trump is guilty of falsifying business records during the 2016 campaign to cover up an extramarital affair. Lawyers have begun questioning prospective jurors on their ability to remain impartial as they move on to the second stage of jury selection. Follow live updates from Ben Feuerherd While walking into the Manhattan courtroom today, Trump briefly addressed the key allegation against him, James Romoser reports: “I was paying a lawyer and marked it down ‘legal expense,’” Trump said. “An accountant I didn't know marked it down as a legal expense. That's exactly what it was. And you get indicted over that?” During the proceedings, prosecutors also filed a motion to hold Trump in contempt for a number of his social media posts about witness and former Trump attorney MICHAEL COHEN, which they allege violate his gag order in the case. The prosecutors’ motion comes after Trump repeatedly blasted Justice JUAN MERCHAN this morning over the order, posting online: “This conflicted, Trump Hating Judge won’t let me respond to people that are on TV lying and spewing hate all day long. He is running rough shod over my lawyers and legal team. The New York System of 'Justice' is being decimated by critics from all over the World. I want to speak, or at least be able to respond. Election Interference! RIGGED, UNCONSTITUTIONAL TRIAL! Take off the Gag Order!!!” Good Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at birvine@politico.com.
| | | | A message from Business Roundtable: Essential pro-growth tax policies have expired or are being phased out, making it more difficult for U.S. businesses to invest at home, create American jobs and compete globally. The House has passed legislation to stop these tax increases on U.S. job creators. Now, it’s up to the Senate to act. It’s time to strengthen America’s global competitiveness. Pass the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act. Learn more. | | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Rep. RO KHANNA (D-Calif.) is endorsing fellow Democratic Rep. DAVID TRONE’s Maryland Senate bid. “I’ve seen David roll up his sleeves to take on big challenges,” Khanna said in an announcement first shared with Playbook, citing Trone’s support for a ban on congressional stock trading and establishing a judicial code of ethics. “I’m endorsing him because we need a reformer in the United States Senate who will push for these important priorities and get the job done.” Trone is up against Prince George’s County Executive ANGELA ALSOBROOKS in an increasingly competitive Democratic primary.
| | | | A message from Business Roundtable:   | | | | | 6 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | |  DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified before the House Homeland Security Committee in an appearance that was slated to focus on the president’s budget. | Win McNamee/Getty Images | 1. MAYORKAS SPLIT SCREEN: It’s a big day on Capitol Hill for DHS Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS. In the House: This morning, Mayorkas testified before the House Homeland Security Committee in an appearance that was slated to focus on the president’s budget. House Republicans instead repeatedly used the hearing to press Mayorkas on border security issues — which is the basis both of GOP hopes in battleground districts (more on that from Bloomberg’s Billy House) and of the impeachment articles the House is expected to deliver to the Senate today. In the Senate: Democrats are widely expected to unanimously dismiss the articles of impeachment against Mayorkas as soon as they arrive, though Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER “has not been concrete about his plans, other than a desire to keep the process short,” Katherine Tully-McManus previews. 2. SCOTUS LATEST: The Supreme Court heard arguments this morning in a case related to whether Jan. 6 rioters can be charged with obstruction — a question that could “ jeopardize hundreds of Jan. 6 prosecutions” and “eliminate some of the federal charges that former President Donald J. Trump is facing for his role in the plot to subvert the 2020 election,” writes NYT’s Abbie VanSickle. In oral arguments, the justices “seemed wary” of allowing prosecutors to use the obstruction charge, reports NYT’s Adam Liptak. “Justice CLARENCE THOMAS, who returned to the bench after an unexplained absence on Monday, asked whether the government was engaging in a kind of selective prosecution. ‘There have been many violent protests that have interfered with proceedings,’ he said. ‘Has the government applied this provision to other protests?’ Justices SAMUEL A. ALITO JR. and NEIL M. GORSUCH asked questions along similar lines.” 3. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: “US to hit Iran with new sanctions in ‘coming days’, Yellen says,” by Reuters’ Andrea Shalal and David Lawder: Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN “said that the Treasury and State Department have taken previous action to contain Iran's ‘destabilizing’ behavior by diminishing its ability to export oil. ‘Clearly, Iran is continuing to export some oil. There may be more that we could do. I don't want to preview our actual sanctions activities, but certainly that remains in focus as a possible area that we could address.’" Meanwhile, U.S. intel officials are preparing for a “limited scope” response from Israel, CNN’s Alex Marquardt and Natasha Bertrand report. An unnamed administration official noted that “there is no guarantee” if Israel will give a heads up on their plans for retaliation against Iran, adding “if Israel did not respond, the US is ‘confident that there will be de-escalation’ and the situation would go back to the status quo.”
| | | | THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists.
Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY. | | | | | 4. PREPPING FOR THE FISA FIGHT: “Messy intel fight comes to Senate with Friday deadline,” by Burgess Everett: “Schumer said Tuesday he will move to set up a vote on the expiring Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for later this week, hoping to avoid a brief shutdown for the intelligence community program to collect information from foreign targets without a warrant. … The two-year FISA bill will need 60 votes to vault the first filibuster.” 5. BACK TO SCHOOL: The Education Department unveiled a draft proposal this morning of Biden’s latest plan to cancel some student loan debt — this time by forgiving unpaid interest for around 25 million borrowers, Bianca Quilantan reports. But while some Democrats and advocacy groups have praised the plan, House Education Committee Chair VIRGINIA FOXX (R-N.C.) has blasted the rule as “reckless,” arguing that Biden has “no legal ground to stand upon” to implement his draft plan. 6. DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS: As the U.S. works to thaw its frosty relationship with Beijing, Secretary of Defense LLOYD AUSTIN reportedly spoke to China’s national defense minister Adm. DONG JUN for the first time in two years today, AP’s Lolita Baldor reports. “Maj. Gen. PAT RYDER, Pentagon press secretary, said that Austin ‘emphasized the importance of continuing to open lines of military-to-military communication’” between the U.S and China and “underscored the importance of respect for freedom of navigation on the seas, especially in the South China Sea.” Related read: “China is funding the U.S. fentanyl crisis, House panel says in new report,” by NBC News’ Zoë Richards and Ken Dilanian
| | PLAYBOOKERS | | TRANSITIONS — New America’s Center on Education and Labor has added Kay Firth-Butterfield, Antonio Delgado Fornaguera, and Joanna Mikulski as inaugural Future of Work and The Innovation Economy fellows. Firth-Butterfield is currently CEO of Good Tech Advisory. Delgado Fornaguera is currently VP of innovation and technology partnerships at Miami Dade College. Mikulski previously was senior policy adviser for labor and higher education at the White House’s Domestic Policy Council. WEEKEND WEDDING — Shana Mansbach, speechwriter and senior adviser to the secretary of State and a Nancy Pelosi and Obama State Department alum, and Ben Krauss, CEO of speechwriting firm Fenway and a Biden and Obama White House alum, got married Saturday at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, New York. They met online. Pic … Another pic … SPOTTED: Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Rob Flaherty and Carla Frank, Jeff Solnet and Betsy Klein, Julia Ioffe, Jon and Emily Favreau, Nik Steinberg, Jonny Powell, Vivek Viswanathan, and Zayn Siddique and Zev Karlin-Neumann. 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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