| | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza, Rachael Bade and Eugene Daniels | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
| | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | CONGRESS VS. THE UNTHINKABLE — “‘One pistol clip can change the balance of power’: Congress is wholly unprepared for a mass casualty event,” by Katherine Tully-McManus: “Republican and Democratic leaders, including chairs of key committees, have failed to significantly advance any of the ideas proposed since a mass shooting at a GOP baseball practice in 2017. That’s largely based on a reluctance to acknowledge the issue and a general resistance in Congress to changing rules.”
|  Secretary of State Antony Blinken could now become the third Biden Cabinet official to be sanctioned by House Republicans. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images | BLINKEN STARES DOWN CONTEMPT — Later this morning, Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN is scheduled to testify, pursuant to a Republican subpoena, before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The hearing is meant to be a coda for the panel’s yearslong investigation of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 — and, yes, a televised reminder of one of President JOE BIDEN’s darkest chapters just six weeks before Election Day. Blinken will not, in fact, be appearing on Capitol Hill today. He will instead be attending meetings associated with the annual U.N. General Assembly confab in NYC — and because of the no-show, House Foreign Affairs Chairman MICHAEL McCAUL (R-Texas) is expected to commence contempt proceedings against the secretary for refusing to appear despite “repeated warnings and accommodations,” according to a draft report prepared by the committee. More from the NY Post But in a five-page letter to McCaul obtained by Playbook dated Sunday, Blinken condemned the move and said he was “profoundly disappointed” that the chairman did not accept any of the “several reasonable alternatives to the dates unilaterally demanded by the Committee during which I am carrying out the President’s important foreign policy objectives.” “The events of this week were scheduled many months ago, and the dates of the General Assembly's high-level week have long been publicly noticed,” he wrote, before ticking through his itinerary — which includes debating the Ukraine war in the Security Council, appearing with Biden for his General Assembly address and meeting with UN Secretary General ANTONIO GUTERRES, meeting with other foreign ministers on Africa policy, and more. “I believe you would agree U.S. representation at the highest levels in these engagements is essential,” Blinken continued, reiterating an offer first made in a Sept. 7 phone call to send one of the deputy secretaries instead. “Additionally, I remain willing to make myself available to testify after I return from my travel.” Read the letter Blinken could now become the third Biden Cabinet official to be sanctioned by House Republicans. Homeland Security Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS was impeached in February (the Senate dismissed the charges in April), and AG MERRICK GARLAND was held in contempt in June (the Justice Department declined to prosecute).
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We’ll see this afternoon how much Donald Trump sticks to the script for his speech in Savannah, Georgia. | Jose Luis Magana/AP | WILL TRUMP SAY ANY OF THIS? — DONALD TRUMP is scheduled to speak at 1 p.m. today in Savannah, Georgia. His campaign says the address will be laser-focused on manufacturing policy, and they sent around excerpts last night. But what usually happens is that the Trump campaign previews one speech and Trump himself gives an entirely different one. We’ll see this afternoon how much the former president sticks to the script. The campaign says Trump will hit on these previously released economic policies: lowering the corporate tax for companies who make their product in the U.S., reducing regulations, cutting energy costs by 50%, selling off federal lands, enhancing port infrastructure in places like Savannah. He’s calling it “New American Industrialism.” Meanwhile, Trump will criticize Harris for her plan to repeal the Trump tax cuts, accuse her of raising energy prices, increasing regulations, and spiking federal spending and inflation. Nothing about HANNIBAL LECTER was included in the excerpts we got.
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Rep. Anthony D'Esposito (R-N.Y.) stands accused of putting his longtime fiancée’s daughter and his former mistress on his district office payroll. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | THE GOP’S NEW LONG ISLAND HEADACHE — Karma might be about to bite Rep. ANTHONY D’ESPOSITO (R-N.Y.) hard. Last year, as the bizarre saga surrounding Rep. GEORGE SANTOS (R-N.Y.) mushroomed — along with fear of political blowback on the rest of the New York GOP delegation — it was his fellow Long Islander who played a driving role in pushing for a House Ethics investigation and, ultimately, Santos’ expulsion. Now it’s D’Esposito who could be sparking some blowback. Expect New York Republicans to hear plenty of pointed questions this week about the former NYPD cop, who stands accused of putting his longtime fiancée’s daughter and his former mistress on his district office payroll, according to yesterday’s monster scoop from NYT’s Nicholas Fandos. D’Esposito, for his part, was not in the mood to answer questions on Capitol Hill yesterday, but he issued a statement last night suggesting he won’t be making this easy on his colleagues: “The latest political tabloid garbage being peddled by The New York Times is nothing more than a slimy, partisan 'hit piece' designed to distract Long Islanders from Democrats’ failing record on border security, the economy, and foreign policy,” he wrote. “My personal life has never interfered with my ability to deliver results for New York’s 4th district, and I have upheld the highest ethical standards of personal conduct. Voters deserve better than the Times' gutter politics." We did not read a denial in there. Good Tuesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Have you ordered your JAYDEN DANIELS jersey yet? Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | A message from Instagram: Introducing Instagram Teen Accounts with automatic protections for teens.
Starting in September, Instagram is launching Teen Accounts with built-in protections limiting who can contact teens and the content they can see. Plus, only parents can approve safety setting changes for teens under 16.
This means parents can have more peace of mind when it comes to protecting their teens.
Learn more. | | | BACK IN BLACK — “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash’s statue: A monument to the singer is unveiled at the US Capitol,” AP: “Congressional leaders, Arkansas lawmakers and members of the Cash family will be on hand Tuesday for the unveiling of a bronze statue depicting the ‘Man in Black.’” MOVE OVER, KRISTI NOEM — “Project 2025 mastermind allegedly told colleagues he killed a dog with a shovel,” by the Guardian’s Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Reyes Mata III: “KEVIN ROBERTS, now the president of the Heritage Foundation, is alleged to have told colleagues and dinner guests that he killed a neighbor’s pit bull around 2004 while he was working as a still relatively unknown history professor at New Mexico State University. “‘My recollection of his account was that he was discussing in the hallway with various members of the faculty, including me, that a neighbor’s dog had been barking pretty relentlessly and was, you know, keeping the baby and probably the parents awake and that he kind of lost it and took a shovel and killed the dog. End of problem,’ said KENNETH HAMMOND, who was chair of the university’s history department at the time. … “In a statement to the Guardian, Roberts denied ever killing a dog with a shovel. He did not answer questions about why several people say he told them that he had.”
| | | | A message from Instagram:   | | | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | On the Hill The Senate is in. The House will meet at 10 a.m. to consider various legislation. BRETT FAVRE is testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee on reforming Temporary Assistance for Needy Families at 10:15 a.m. More on his appearance from The Hill 3 things to watch …
- No, it won’t matter much in terms of how this week’s spending saga turns out, but it was one more humiliation for Speaker MIKE JOHNSON: His hopes of putting a three-month continuing resolution on the House floor under the usual procedures — by passing a rule — fell apart yesterday after it became clear the easier path would be what’s become the usual path for House GOP leaders in the 118th Congress: a two-thirds-margin vote under suspension of the rules, with Democrats likely casting more votes than Republicans. Expect a vote Wednesday, with Senate action to follow.
- Just how competitive is the Maryland Senate race? Democrats are going to have to make some serious calculations quick after Maryland’s Future, a super PAC backing Republican LARRY HOGAN’s Maryland Senate bid against ANGELA ALSOBROOKS, placed $18.2 million worth of ad reservations this week, per Ally Mutnick. Alsobrooks has looked relatively strong in recent public polling, but the pro-Hogan spending might force Democrats to keep up — and spend dollars they’d prefer to keep in other battlegrounds.
- Speaking of ad reservations: Ally also scoops the latest $18.5 million tranche from Congressional Leadership Fund, the main House GOP super PAC, which is adding multi-million-dollar buys in New York and California — states where Democrats are hoping to win the majority back — and upping its spending in Michigan by more than $1.2 million. Notably, the group is also spending for the first time to defend Rep. MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS (R-Iowa), who trailed in a recent Des Moines Register poll
At the White House Biden will receive the President’s Daily Brief in the morning. At 10 a.m., Biden will deliver remarks before the 79th Session of the U.N. General Assembly. Later, Biden will hold a bilateral meeting with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. In the afternoon, the president will deliver remarks at the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats and later deliver remarks on climate at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum. Harris will receive briefings and conduct internal meetings with staff. On the trail Walz is set to speak at a fundraiser in St. Paul, Minnesota in the afternoon. Trump is set to speak about the tax code and manufacturing in Savannah, Georgia, in the afternoon.
| | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | ALL POLITICS
|  Nebraska GOP state Sen. Mike McDonnell squashed any hope among Republicans who hoped to see the Cornhusker State move to a winner-take-all electoral vote system. | Nati Harnik/AP Photo | THE OMAHA AUDIBLE — Nebraska GOP state Sen. MIKE McDONNELL squashed any hope among Republicans who hoped to see the Cornhusker State move to a winner-take-all electoral vote system, announcing yesterday that less than 50 days before Election Day is “not the moment to make this change,” the Nebraska Examiner’s Aaron Sanderford reports. McDonnell “said he had heard from people passionate about the issue who live in the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District. But he said he did not hear enough to move him off his original position against the switch.” He also said he suggested to GOP Gov. JIM PILLEN, who supported the change, “that the Legislature put winner-take-all to a vote of the people, as a proposed constitutional amendment, so people can decide the issue ‘once and for all.’” Trump weighed in on the news of McDonnell’s opposition, excoriating him as a “Grandstander” and thanking Pillen for “trying to help the Republican Party simplify the complexity of the State’s Electoral Map,” he wrote on Truth Social. “I LOVE OMAHA, and won it in 2016. Looks like I’ll have to do it again!!!” More top reads:
- GOP leaders in North Carolina want MARK ROBINSON to provide proof that he isn’t connected to a porn website, but new user data reviewed by POLITICO “shows that the person using the ‘Nude Africa’ account that reportedly belonged to Robinson had accessed the porn website from a location not far from Robinson’s home,” Natalie Allison reports. Meanwhile, the Republican Governors Association said it has no plans to spend any more cash in support of Robinson, the National Review’s Audrey Fahlberg reports.
- Ohio Senate candidate BERNIE MORENO made comments at a town hall Friday disparaging “single issue votes” focused on abortion, according to a clip unearthed by WCHM-TV that’s going viral among Democrats: “It’s a little crazy by the way, but — especially for women that are like past 50 — I’m thinking to myself, ‘I don’t think that’s an issue for you,'” he said.
- FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Everytown is rolling out a $7.5 million spending effort to elect nearly 600 of the organization’s volunteers, running in 46 states. The spending spree is the most the group has ever invested in electing its volunteers and mirrors a similar effort that the group ran in the 2022 cycle to elect volunteers in hopes of flipping chambers to pass gun safety legislation or stop legislation that the group opposes.
2024 WATCH
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Donald Trump’s inability to stay on message was on full display last night in Pennsylvania. | Rebecca Droke/AP | DEPT. OF MIXED MESSAGES — Trump’s inability to stay on message was on full display last night when he urged voters in Pennsylvania to vote early in the crucial swing state, only to deem early voting “stupid” minutes later, Lisa Kashinsky writes. “We’re here today because early voting begins in Pennsylvania over the next two weeks, and we need each and every one of you to go out,” he told the crowd in Indiana, Pennsylvania. “Just don’t take anything for granted.” “Trump’s contradictory statements about what has become a common method of voting throughout the U.S. — and now embraced by many Republicans — reflects his hatred of a practice he says is vulnerable to fraud and helped cost him the 2020 election. Minutes after urging people to vote early, he repeated his baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election to several thousand supporters.” BORDER SONG — Harris’ campaign is considering making a trip “to the US-Mexico border while in Arizona on Friday” in an effort to close the gap on immigration, which Trump has made a central piece of his campaign thus far, CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez reports. “Some Harris campaign officials remain concerned about the gap in polling, which shows Trump holding a lead on the issue, but also see an opportunity to narrow a gap they believe is closing and try to shut down GOP attacks over her not visiting the border enough.” NEAT VISUAL — “Mapping 8 paths to victory for Harris and Trump in the 2024 election,” by WaPo’s Lenny Bronner and Nick Mourtoupalas
| | | | A message from Instagram:   | | | AMERICA AND THE WORLD
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President Joe Biden set to speak at the U.N. General Assembly this morning. | Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP | BIDEN’S BIG MOMENT — As Biden, who has prided himself on his foreign policy portfolio in the waning days of his presidency, is set to speak at the U.N. General Assembly this morning. Biden aides “promise a speech filled with declarations about America’s role in shaping the future,” NYT’s Michael Shear and Sheryl Gay Stolberg report.
“But the truth is that Mr. Biden will speak at a time of deep uncertainty about the future of America’s role in the world, including the war in Ukraine, escalating conflicts in the Middle East and growing economic competition with China.”
Indeed, one of the backdrops for Biden’s speech is the escalating violence between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, which saw the deadliest attack since 2006 yesterday with the deaths of nearly 500 people. The ever-growing conflict represents a “significant widening of the breach” between Biden and Israeli PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, NYT’s David Sanger writes. “Now, Mr. Biden’s aides say, the president is beginning to acknowledge that he is simply running out of time. With only four months left in office, the chances of a cease-fire and hostage deal with Hamas look dimmer than at any time since Mr. Biden laid out a plan at the beginning of the summer. And the risk of a wider war has never looked greater.” Related reads: “US sending ‘small number’ of troops to Middle East as attacks ramp up,” by Paul McLeary … “Biden and Harris Meet With Emirati President in Washington,” by NYT’s Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Ismaeel Naar More top reads: - The U.S. government has been monitoring Americans who traveled to Ukraine to fight, fearing some could become violent when they return home, Betsy Woodruff Swan and Erin Banco report, though they note that the would-be assassin who was thwarted from shooting Trump recently was not flagged by the interagency effort set up by DHS in 2022.
- Dance of the superpowers: The U.S. is turning to South Korea and Japan to help close the gap on China’s shipbuilding dominance, WSJ’s Timothy Martin reports. “Key to that effort is attracting companies such as Hyundai that go head-to-head with the Chinese and can do everything America lacks: making ships quickly at low costs with modern techniques.”
- From Russia with flub: Satellite imagery indicates that a Russian intercontinental ballistic missile “probably detonated during a test earlier this month, raising questions about Russia’s military capabilities and putting a dent in the Kremlin’s nuclear saber-rattling,” WaPo’s Francesca Ebel reports.
POLICY CORNER ENSHRINING THE IRA — As Trump vows to dismantle the Biden administration’s landmark climate law, White House adviser ALI ZAIDI said admin is racing to lock in the hundreds of billions of clean energy investments, Josh Siegel reports. “In an interview with the POLITICO Energy podcast ahead of Climate Week in New York City, Zaidi said the incentives in Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act and actions by U.S. allies abroad have sparked a shift in clean energy manufacturing and deployment.” Zaidi also said that any attempt to shut off the flow of funds would face not only political resistance but would also be difficult to carry out. Listen and subscribe to the podcast NEWS YOU CAN USE — AP: “Americans can order free COVID-19 tests beginning this month” JUDICIARY SQUARE MOODY MUSIC — Florida Republican AG ASHLEY MOODY is passing on fighting a challenge to the state’s ban on openly carrying firearms, Gary Fineout reports from Tallahassee. “This means that Moody, a rumored candidate for governor in 2026, is skipping a potentially game-changing lawsuit that could result in guns being carried publicly in the tourist-dependent state.” FOR THOSE KEEPING TRACK — “Texas jury clears most ‘Trump Train’ drivers in civil trial over 2020 Biden-Harris bus encounter,” by AP’s Nadia Lathan ANTITRUST THE PROCESS — “DOJ poised to sue Visa for antitrust violations,” by Josh Sisco and Josh Gerstein
| | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Mitch McConnell is feeling bullish about Montana and Ohio. Tim Kaine got the WaPo editorial board endorsement. John McEntee and Walter Masterson are duking out the 2024 election on TikTok. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at the Atlantic Council’s Global Citizen Award dinner at Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York, honoring Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Miky Lee: Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto, Elon Musk, Albert Bourla, Shari Redstone, Kurt Campbell, Amos Hochstein, Arianna Huffington, Almar Latour, Geoffrey Pyatt, Italian Ambassador Mariangela Zappia, Peruvian Ambassador Alfredo Ferrero Diez Canseco, Romanian Ambassador Dan Andrei Muraru, Slovak Ambassador Radovan Javorcik, Franco Nuchese, Suzanne Lynch, Andrea Mitchell, Anastasia Nyrkovskaya, Josh Rogin, Andrew Sollinger and Lally Weymouth. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — BOOK CLUB: Mike Steinberger, a contributing writer for NYT Magazine, is writing a book on Palantir CEO Alexander Karp and the company. The book, titled “The Philosopher in the Valley: Alex Karp, Palantir, and the Rise of the Surveillance State,” will be published next year by Avid Reader Press, an imprint of Simon and Schuster. Steinberger did a story on Karp for NYT Magazine in 2020 and decided that there was a book in the subject, especially with the AI revolution, Palantir’s role in the Ukraine war and Karp’s outspoken comments on anti-Semitism. — Brian Reisinger is taking over as CEO and senior writer at Platform Communications. Alex Walker (son of former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker) is also joining Platform Communications as director of public affairs. And Heidi Skewes is joining the public affairs division as an account coordinator. TRANSITION — David Goldstein is now associate administrator for the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences at the NTIA. He most recently was at the Defense Department. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Frances Lanzone, senior manager for global executive relations at Amazon Web Services and a POLITICO and Obama White House alum, and Giuseppe Lanzone, CEO of Peruvian Brothers and a two-time Olympic rower for Team USA, on Friday welcomed Massimo Giuseppe Lanzone, who came in at 9 lbs 11 oz and 22.5 inches. Pic … Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Erin Houchin (R-Ind.) … WSJ’s Katy Stech Ferek … Michael Kennedy … Craig Shirley … CNN’s Nicky Robertson … Will Nuckols … Amazon’s Nate Blake and Phil Wolgin … Connolly Keigher … Kelsey Coates … Derek Pangallo … Sharon Yang of Meta … Shea McCarthy of Thorn Run Partners … EC Wheatley of the Herald Group … Gaden James, who celebrated at The Salamander with girlfriend Blake Kernen … FTI Consulting’s Will Allison and Adam Rice … Jon Davidson … POLITICO’s Lisa Leonard, Krystin Garcia, Sofia Bertini El Dada and Brian Kidd … Lara Barger … Joe Householder … Stand Together’s Vik Ath … Taryn Rosenkranz of New Blue Interactive ... CJ Mahler … Generra Peck … Moe Tkacik … Patrick Davis … former Rep. Joseph Kennedy II (D-Mass.) … BIO’s Marcel Kaminstein … Mark Gracyk 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 Instagram: Introducing Instagram Teen Accounts: a new experience for teens, guided by parents.
Starting in September, Instagram is launching Teen Accounts with built-in protections limiting who can contact teens and the content they can see. Plus, only parents can approve safety setting changes for teens under 16.
So parents can have more peace of mind when it comes to protecting their teens.
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