| | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | |  The Rahimi ruling is especially notable as the first gun-rights test for the Supreme Court’s conservative majority since the Bruen decision. | Andrew Harnik/Getty Images | SCOTUS WATCH — The Supreme Court today upheld a federal law that bars alleged domestic abusers from having guns, with only Justice CLARENCE THOMAS dissenting from an opinion that narrowed the scope of his landmark 2022 gun rights ruling. The 8-1 decision in U.S. v. Rahimi, authored by Chief Justice JOHN ROBERTS, found that the 1994 law does not violate the Second Amendment because it “fits comfortably within” the history and traditions of the country’s gun restrictions dating back to its founding. The Rahimi ruling is especially notable as the first gun-rights test for the Supreme Court’s conservative majority since the Bruen decision, which laid out a novel historical-tradition test that gun control laws must pass. Roberts’ opinion makes clear that Bruen’s originalism is not so strict as to force an exact analogue from early America to present-day laws, Josh Gerstein reports. The law cannot be “trapped in amber,” he wrote. (Thomas slammed the majority for being too loose with their reading of the historical record, as well as for denying a constitutional right to people who have not actually been convicted of crimes.) The White House welcomed the news, which will continue to keep firearms out of the hands of anyone with a restraining order for domestic violence. It’s also yet another high-profile reversal of the 5th Circuit. But Roberts’ decision didn’t accept all of Solicitor General ELIZABETH PRELOGAR’s arguments: He specifically flagged that the government can’t simply strip weapons from Americans just because they’re deemed not “responsible,” as Prelogar had argued before the court. We’re still waiting on several more major rulings from the Supreme Court, including on DONALD TRUMP’s immunity from prosecution. The next opinions will be handed down Wednesday. POST PRODUCTION — In the biggest shakeup yet to hit The Washington Post amid an ethical controversy, incoming top editor ROBERT WINNETT will forgo that role and instead remain at The Daily Telegraph, both newspapers told their staffs today. Winnett’s scuttled leadership gig is a major piece of fallout from the swirling questions about his and publisher WILL LEWIS’ actions in the British media, which have rocked WaPo over the past few weeks. Winnett specifically had faced scrutiny after reports linked him to Sunday Times articles based on stolen information and a private investigator who ferreted out info illegally. A longtime mentee of Lewis, Winnett was due to become the permanent replacement for the abruptly departed SALLY BUZBEE — part of a British shakeup of the American journalistic institution. Lewis told Post staffers of the news “with regret” and said a “thorough search” would begin for someone else to steer the traditional news division after the election, WaPo’s Elahe Izadi and Isaac Stanley-Becker report. That’s part of Lewis’ ambitious plan to separate WaPo into multiple newsrooms and revive its sagging finances, which he said today will now be delayed until early 2025, and which has lately been overshadowed by the questions about his behavior. (His note today, pointedly, did not offer any further explanations, apologies or answers.) The biggest question remains outstanding: Will Winnett’s announcement increase or ease the pressure on Lewis to leave (or on JEFF BEZOS to make him)? STAT OF THE DAY — New York police have tallied 56 “actionable threats” against Manhattan DA ALVIN BRAGG, his staffers and family members in the past few months, prosecutors said today in a filing that argued against lifting the gag order on Trump in the hush money case, per NYT’s Jesse McKinley and Kate Christobek. Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com. 23 YEARS LATER — After a new report from CBS’ “60 Minutes” last night raised questions about Saudi ties to the planners of the 9/11 attacks, victims’ families are speaking out to call for more transparency. The story from Cecilia Vega revealed a 1999 video that records “OMAR AL-BAYOUMI, whom the FBI says was an operative of the Saudi intelligence service with close ties to two of the 9/11 hijackers,” talking about a “plan” while he’s filming at and around the Capitol, and two retired FBI agents who led 9/11 investigations say it could be more evidence linking Riyadh to the attacks. Saudi Arabia and al-Bayoumi have denied any involvement. “With the public release of this new evidence, which was not made available to the 9/11 Commission, it is critical that the American people be allowed to finally see all the evidence and for our ongoing legal battle against the Kingdom to no longer be sealed behind closed doors in federal court,” said TERRY STRADA, 9/11 Families United national chair, in a statement. BRETT EAGLESON, president of 9/11 Justice, said in a statement that the footage was “damning evidence … It is finally time for Saudi Arabia to be held accountable.”
| | | | A message from U.S. Travel Association: Each year, 10 million passenger flights carry travelers safely from point A to point B — wherever that may be. Secure biometric technology makes air travel even safer and more seamless. The majority of recent air travelers are comfortable using biometrics to board a plane, get through security or check-in for a flight, making the air travel experience efficient and hassle-free. Learn more. | | | | | 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | |  President Joe Biden’s campaign is taking North Carolina seriously. | Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo | 1. TAR HEEL TURN: JOE BIDEN narrowly lost North Carolina in 2020, and the state has since added hundreds of thousands of new arrivals from other states who likely lean left. Should Democrats make a real play to flip it, or is that a fool’s errand in a state where Republicans consistently win statewide? WSJ’s Tarini Parti reports that Biden’s campaign is taking it seriously, pumping lots of money into ads and building out a bigger, earlier infrastructure than Dems did in the past two presidential races. But North Carolina’s relatively rural composition compared to other swing states — and Biden’s struggles to hold onto young and Black voters — make it an uphill battle. 2. UNDER THE RADAR: “Congress passed a clean energy bill and no one noticed,” by Wake Up to Politics’ Gabe Fleisher: “The measure was buried inside the Fire Grants and Safety Act … The ADVANCE Act is designed to do exactly what its full title suggests: expand America’s nuclear energy capacity, in order to revive a domestic industry and to reduce planet-warming carbon emissions. … The bill’s authors hope that these steps will combine to allow America to quickly build a host of new advanced nuclear reactors, creating new jobs while also closing a crucial gap with Russia and China and weaning the U.S. off fossil fuels.” 3. WHAT BIDEN IS TOUTING: The U.S. has now crossed the threshold of 1 million pensions that have been saved thanks to the Butch Lewis Act, part of the 2021 American Rescue Plan, the White House said today. AP’s Fatima Hussein reports that the Covid-era assistance prevented major cuts to retirees’ benefits in multi-employer pension plans. Biden administration officials and other politicians are celebrating the milestone with an event today in Pennsylvania. 4. IMMIGRATION FILES: “New $72,000 Migrant Smuggling Routes to the US Start with Charter Flights,” by Mica Rosenberg, Rupam Jain, Jackie Botts, Churchill Ndonwie and José María Del Pino for Reuters: “Reuters and Columbia Journalism Investigations, the university’s postgraduate reporting program, traced two new intercontinental migrant smuggling routes. … One route starts in West Africa, with migrants paying up to $10,000 for multi-stop commercial flights to Nicaragua, before continuing by land to the U.S. The second, serving migrants from India, offers charter flights to Central America and overland transfers to the U.S. border for between 6 million ($72,000) and 8 million rupees ($96,000) per person.”
| | | | 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. | | | | | 5. THE STAKES FOR NOVEMBER: With a major tax fight looming in 2025, Democrats are starting to game out what they would do if they had full control of Washington, WaPo’s Jacob Bogage reports. The big plan is to raise taxes on corporations and wealthy people, with some Democrats focusing on implementing longer-term changes. (Still, Biden’s proposed 28 percent corporate tax rate is well below the pre-Trump standard.) The party also hopes this will be a winning message on the campaign trail, striking a populist note to appeal to voters who want the rich to pay more. How Democrats would spend the additional revenue remains to be seen. 6. TALES FROM THE CRYPTO: Reps. ABIGAIL SPANBERGER (D-Va.) and CHIP ROY (R-Texas) are leading an effort to block members of Congress from trading stocks, but the question of whether to include cryptocurrencies is driving a wedge between them, Eleanor Mueller and Declan Harty report. Democrats want the limits to include digital assets, and they’re backed by ethics watchdogs. But Roy says they should be treated differently, a sign of the crypto industry’s growing power on the Hill, especially with Republicans. 7. UNDER THE INFLUENCE: “Democratic National Convention will open media credentials to influencers,” by WaPo’s Dylan Wells: “The committee plans to provide influencers the same level of access and information that traditional media outlets receive, and will open a credential request process for creators to cover the event [for the first time].” 8. CONVENTIONAL WISDOM: Jan. 6 defendants would like some representation at the Republican National Convention, but convention officials aren’t saying whether they’ll get it — and one key figure “says he’s seen no indication planners are interested,” Semafor’s Shelby Talcott reports. The choice will ultimately be up to Trump; though he’s often championed the people convicted of crimes during the Capitol insurrection, there are competing political pressures for how closely the GOP should be seen as hugging them. 9. LAISSEZ LES GOP ROULER: “Long a Republican state, Louisiana is redder than ever under new governor,” by AP’s Sara Cline in Baton Rouge: “Republican Gov. JEFF LANDRY … has carried out a sweeping conservative agenda in just six months on the job. … The moves have made global headlines and firmly embedded Louisiana in the conservative movement on practically every issue animating the Republican base in 2024. Democrats are appalled at the message Landry is sending but some conservatives in Louisiana see the moves as a bold and powerful step as he raises his national profile.”
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Don’t miss out on POLITICO’s Global Playbook, our newsletter taking you inside pivotal discussions at the most influential gatherings in the world. Suzanne Lynch delivers the world's elite and influential moments directly to you. Stay in the global loop. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Donald Trump will hold a rally in Virginia after the debate. Benjamin Netanyahu isn’t sorry for blasting the Biden administration. John Fetterman is going to Israel. Steve Bannon took his appeal to the Supreme Court. IN MEMORIAM — “Michael James Madigan, Former Watergate Counsel, Dies at 81: Madigan had a long and storied career as a trial attorney in Washington, D.C., where he was considered one of the premier white-collar criminal defense lawyers. … At age 30, he was tapped as counsel to Senator Howard Baker for the historic Senate Watergate Committee hearings. … Madigan left private practice in 1996 to serve as majority counsel to the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, leading the Republican investigation of campaign finance abuses in the 1996 elections.” OUT AND ABOUT — Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis hosted a “cocktails, conversation and a call to action” event featuring Bill Nye and Crooked Media’s Vote Save America last night in “the room where it happened” at the Fountain Inn. SPOTTED: Shaniqua McClendon, Cara Koontz, Svante Myrick, Daniel Strauss and Claire Tonneson, Rachel Thomas, Amelia Makin, Christine Delargy, Alex Tillmann, Elizabeth Thorp, Katie Gommel, Rebecca Sharer and Sarah Shaw. TRANSITIONS — Troy Blackwell has been appointed deputy chief comms officer at the Commerce Department’s U.S. Patent and Trade Office. He most recently was chief spokesperson and director of the office of press relations at the Peace Corps, and is a Biden 2020 campaign and Obama White House alum. … Ankita Verma is now adviser for strategic comms for special envoy Abby Finkenauer at the State Department. She previously was deputy comms director for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). … Vivek Kavadi will be CEO of the American Society for Radiation Oncology. He currently is chief radiation oncology officer for the US Oncology Network. BONUS BIRTHDAY: Brendan Summers 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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