| | | | |  | | By Bethany Irvine | Presented by the Financial Services Forum | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | THE CFPB’S UNLIKELY SAVIOR — If you had on your Thursday bingo card the Supreme Court’s most conservative justice saving ELIZABETH WARREN’s brainchild agency from dissolution at the hands of the nation’s most conservative appeals court, well, congratulations: A 7-2 majority led by Justice CLARENCE THOMAS reversed a Fifth Circuit ruling that would have undone the fiscal underpinnings of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “Although there may be other constitutional checks on Congress’ authority to create and fund an administrative agency, specifying the source and purpose is all the control the Appropriations Clause requires,” Thomas wrote. More from Katy O’Donnell
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President Joe Biden invoked executive privilege this morning in a letter to House Republican leaders. | Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO | LORDY, THE TAPES — President JOE BIDEN invoked executive privilege this morning to block House Republicans from obtaining audio recordings of his interview with Special Counsel ROBERT HUR related to his handling of classified documents, arguing the committees are only seeking to “manipulate them for political gain.” In the letter to Republican House leaders, White House Counsel ED SISKEL wrote that the “The absence of a legitimate need for the audio recordings lays bare your likely goal — to chop them up, distort them, and use them for partisan political purposes.” The move came just hours before the House Judiciary Committee moved forward with its effort to hold AG MERRICK GARLAND in contempt of Congress for defying their requests for the tapes. The privilege claim all but extinguishes the already remote chance that any contempt referral would be enforced. Compounding the GOP’s fury, Garland acknowledged requesting the privilege claim from Biden and faced reporters at Main Justice today to explain himself: “We have gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure that the committee's get responses to their legitimate requests. But this is not one,” he said. “To the contrary, this is one that would harm our ability in the future to successfully pursue sensitive investigations.” The upshot … “Biden’s effort to block the recordings puts him in a politically awkward position: He has insisted that Hur has mischaracterized the interviews but is nonetheless trying to maintain secrecy over the raw audio,” Josh Gerstein and Jordain Carney report. From the speaker’s desk … “President Biden is apparently afraid for the citizens of this country and everyone to hear those tapes. They obviously confirm what special counsel is about and would likely cause, I suppose, in his estimation such alarm with the American people that the President is using all of his power to suppress their release,” Speaker MIKE JOHNSON said in a statement. TRUMP TRIAL LATEST — Former Trump attorney MICHAEL COHEN was back on the stand for third and likely final day of testimony in DONALD TRUMP’s hush money trial today, as prosecutors work to wrap up their criminal case against the former president. Defense lawyer TODD BLANCHE used the day to continue grilling the former fixer on his motives and portray him as “so maniacally focused on sending Donald Trump to prison that his testimony can’t be trusted,” Kyle Cheney writes. Follow live updates from Kyle, Erica Orden and Ben Feurherd. Before court began today, Trump potentially violated his gag order again by taking a “a clear swipe at prosecutor MATTHEW COLANGELO,” Kyle writes: ‘In fact, a lead person from the DOJ is running this trial,’ Trump said to reporters in brief remarks before entering the courtroom. ‘So Biden's office is running this trial. This trial is a scam and it's a sham and it shouldn't happen.’” The latest comments come as Trump took his fight against judge JUAN MERCHAN’s gag order to the New York’s highest court yesterday. The entourage … In another major show of GOP support, the passel of MAGA allies joining him in the Manhattan courtoom grew to around 20 today. Among the House Republicans attending were Reps. MIKE WALTZ (R-Fla.), MATT GAETZ (R-Fla.), ANNA PAULINA LUNA (R-Fla.) MICHAEL CLOUD (R-Texas), LAUREN BOEBERT (R-Colo), ANDY BIGGS (R-Ariz.), ANDY OGLES (R-Tenn.), ELI CRANE (R-Ariz.), DIANA HARSHBARGER (R-Tenn.) and RALPH NORMAN (R-S.C.). Playing favorites? … While Rep. BOB GOOD (R-Va.) appeared alongside his House compadres, primary challenger JOHN McGUIRE rode with Trump in the motorcade to the courthouse, Olivia Beavers reports, seeming “to have received an extra nod as the only non-incumbent House candidate to be included.” LEGIT SURPRISE — They talked about doing it to raise the debt limit. They talked about doing it to send aid to Ukraine. Now a House discharge petition on tax policy has suddenly succeeded. A coalition of roughly two dozen Republicans led by Rep. GREG STEUBE (about half of them, like Steube, from Florida) joined nearly 200 Democrats to poke a finger in GOP leadership’s eye and send a bill offering tax relief to disaster victims straight to the House floor, Anthony Adragna reports. Just how rarely do these things succeed? “The last one to hit the necessary number of signatures to force floor consideration concerned the Export-Import Bank, back in 2015,” Anthony notes. Good Thursday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at birvine@politco.com.
| | A message from the Financial Services Forum: Local communities can't afford Basel III Endgame. Basel III Endgame's restrictive capital requirements would limit the availability of funds for local governments issuing municipal bonds, making it more challenging and costly for them to finance vital public projects and infrastructure improvements. | | | DEBATE UPDATE — VP KAMALA HARRIS has accepted a CBS News offer to debate Trump's TBD running mate, Eugene reports: “When that debate will take place is to be determined, though there are two dates on the table: July 23 and August 13. [A] campaign official said all of the guidelines sent for the presidential debates would apply to the vice presidential contest and that they ‘look forward to the Trump campaign accepting one of these dates so that the full debate calendar for this campaign can be set.’” Peacock blocked? … Should Trump accept the CBS offer, NBCUniversal would be the only family of networks eligible under the Biden campaign’s criteria not to secure one of the three offered debates.
| | | 7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | | |  A ship is seen off the coast of Gaza near a U.S.-built floating pier that will be used to facilitate aid deliveries, Thursday, May 16. | Abdel Kareem Hana/AP | 1. GETTING AID TO GAZA: Two months after it was first announced from the White House, the U.S. military’s floating pier meant to ferry crucial humanitarian aid into Gaza is finally complete. Now begins a complicated process of aid delivery that is “fraught with logistical, weather and security challenges,” AP’s Lolita Baldor reports: “Military leaders have said the deliveries of aid will begin slowly to ensure the system works. They will start with about 90 truckloads of aid a day through the sea route, and that number will quickly grow to about 150 a day. But aid agencies say that isn’t enough to avert impending famine in Gaza.” 2. HISTORY IN THE MAKING: Though the Democratic party has faced criticism in recent years for not supporting Black female candidates in competitive races, ANGELA ALSOBROOKS’ recent victory in the Maryland Senate democratic primary could mean voters in November will have the chance to double the number of Black women ever elected to the Senate, NYT’s Jonathan Weisman reports: “Another Democrat, Representative LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER, is the odds-on favorite to win her party’s nomination in September for an open Senate seat in heavily Democratic Delaware. If both win in November, for the first time, two Black women will serve in Congress’s upper chamber at the same time.” 3. MOVE TO THE MIDDLE: “The moderate reinvention of Ruben Gallego, Senate hopeful in Arizona,” by WaPo’s Sabrina Rodriguez: “Unlike [KYRSTEN] SINEMA and Sen. MARK KELLY, who won recent elections by running as centrist alternatives to Republicans aligned with Donald Trump, [RUBEN] GALLEGO has a more recent left-leaning past that has complicated his pitch. … But not everyone is sold. Among them: Sinema, who suggested she does not see Gallego or Lake as sufficiently moderate. ‘Candidates who campaign as righteous warriors for the edges of the political spectrum will not be productive in getting outcomes for the state of Arizona, period,’ she said.” 4. THE NEXT BIG SPENDING FIGHT: With military aid to Ukraine finally over the finish line, Senate Minority Leader MITCH McCONNELL and other GOP leaders are already gearing up for a fight to ramp up next year’s Pentagon budget, NYT’s Carl Hulse reports. McConnell “is pressing along with other Republicans for a significant increase in money for the military and to break the longstanding Democratic rule that domestic funding must rise equally with Pentagon spending … Most lawmakers now expect major decisions on spending to be punted until after voting, with current funding levels extended beyond the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.” Speaking of … “House Republicans pick funding totals, undercutting debt limit deal,” by Jennifer Scholtes and Caitlin Emma More on Russia/Ukraine … In a show of unity against the West, Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN and Chinese President XI JINPING met in Beijing today, where the two world leaders signed a joint statement “deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership between their two countries,” NBC News’ Jennifer Jett, Larissa Gao and Mithil Aggarwal report.
| | | | A message from the Financial Services Forum:   Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have voiced concerns about the proposal. | | | 5. ON THE MONEY: ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.’s running mate, Silicon Valley lawyer NICOLE SHANAHAN, announced last night she’s donating another $8 million to the pair’s independent campaign, with her influx of cash providing a “financial lifeline” as it fights to get on at the ballot in all 50 states, NYT’s Rebecca Davis O’Brien and Chris Cameron report: “Ms. Shanahan’s new donation, which she announced at a comedy fund-raiser in Nashville, brings her total contribution to the campaign to $10 million, not including the $4 million she gave to a super PAC backing Mr. Kennedy. … After a nod to the media, Ms. Shanahan said, ‘I think I know what they’re going to say — they’re going to say Bobby only picked me for my money,’ a remark that drew laughter from the crowd.” 6. DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS: The Biden administration will announce later today another round of bans on imports from dozens of Chinese textiles companies over concerns about alleged ties to forced labor, WSJ’s Richard Vanderford scoops. The announcement “brings the total number of banned companies to 65,” and “could pressure corporate supply chains. China is the U.S.’s single largest foreign source of textiles and apparel, a category of goods that includes clothing as well as components for personal protective equipment and other applications.” 7. AFTERNOON READ: “Mystery in the Alps: A Chinese Family, a Swiss Inn and the World’s Most Expensive Weapon,” by WSJ’s By Drew Hinshaw, Joe Parkinson and Liza Lin: “The truth of whether the Wangs were small-time innkeepers or a secret weapon in Beijing’s decadelong effort to capture one of America’s most closely protected military secrets may never be known. The case boils down to whether the family was interested in the view from the hotel’s front, or its back.”
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Nadine Mendendez has been diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. Some Georgia Republicans want Hank Aaron to replace Alexander Stephens in Statuary Hall. James Comer is subpoenaing more Bidens. IN MEMORIAM — “Gregory ‘Greg’ Schneiders, a public opinion research consultant, former presidential advisor and speechwriter, and political communications director, died May 8 at his home in Key Largo, FL. He was 77.” Schneiders was a founder of Prime Group LLC, a Democratic campaign and Hill veteran and head of Jimmy Carter’s White House speechwriting office. Read the full obituary OUT AND ABOUT — The March of Dimes held their 42nd annual Gourmet Gala at the National Building Museum last night, featuring 55 members of Congress showcasing their culinary skills culminating in a cook-off competition before 700 guests. Notable winners: Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) and Corinne Goldman won Judges’ Choice for their challah recipe, Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) and Sarah Landsman won Best Presentation for their shrimp Louie recipe, and Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) and Vivian Bishop won People’s Choice for their yellow corn grits and Southern-style spicy shrimp. SPOTTED: Sens. Angus King (I-Maine), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Reps. Robyn Kelly (D-Ill.), Bob Latta (R-Ohio), Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) and Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), Pepe Moncayo, Robbie Meltzer, Matt Baker, Gabe Thompson, Chrissy Hagerty, Andrea McDaniel Smith, Mary Hodge, Lisa Collis, Nicole Collier, Whitney VanMeter, Stephanie Penn, Jamie Glick, Tiffany Ge, Kelli Briggs, Lindsay Austin, Kathryn Kennedy, Sam Helton, Danielle Burr, Missy Edwards, Erskine Wells, Debbie Marshall, Peter Filon and Nicole Barranco. — SPOTTED yesterday at a a Silurians Press Club lunch celebrating Nicholas Kristof’s new memoir, “Chasing Hope: A Reporter’s Life” ($32) at the National Arts Club: David Andelman, Joseph Berger, Linda Amster, Pamela Title, Karen Bedrosian-Richardson, Ralph Blumenthal, Nadine Brozan, Claudia Dreyfus, Gerad Eskenazi, Tony Guida, Clyde Haberman, Jere Hester, Myron Kandel, Erik Kihss, Susan Lapinski, Mort Sheinman, George Arzt, Betsy Ashton, Bill Diehl, Ellen Fleysher, Aileen Jacobson, Carol Lawson, Donald McNeil Jr., Leslie Wayne and Scotti Williston.
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