POLITICO Playbook Daily Briefing - POLITICO

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August 04, 2021: Reports of Trump’s demise are exaggerated Aug 04, 2021

Show notes

Mike Carey might have been on the ballot, but in the Buckeye State on Tuesday night Donald Trump was just as much the winner. The former president’s candidate prevailed in a 10-way primary to replace former Rep. Steve Stivers, showing that the “Trump influence waning” narrative last week was premature.

For the second time in recent weeks, progressives came up short. Our Ally Mutnick, reporting on the ground in Bedford Heights, Ohio: “The Democratic establishment dealt a crushing blow to the progressive movement Tuesday, with Shontel Brown, the preferred candidate of party stalwarts, triumphing over Nina Turner, a face of the insurgent left, in a special congressional primary election.”

And, New York Democrats are gearing up to impeach Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo — and soon — after he refused to step down in the wake of state A.G. Tish James’ Tuesday report that he sexually harassed 11 women. We break down what it will look like.

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

August 03, 2021: What to watch for in tonight’s special elections Aug 03, 2021

Show notes

The two special election primaries for Congress in Ohio today offer windows into each party a little more than six months into President Joe Biden's tenure — and Donald Trump's post-presidency.

And, for a while now the hottest ticket in town has been an invitation to Sen. Joe Manchin's houseboat. He’s entertained top White House officials like Ron Klain, but mostly he’s used the boat to bring together bipartisan groups of senators.

But this week Manchin’s ongoing attempts to lubricate the gears of Congress with bonhomie aboard Almost Heaven, as the vessel is called, took a frightening turn when a vaccinated Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of his Saturday guests, tested positive for Covid-19.

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

August 02, 2021: All eyes on Senate as AOC calls Dems ‘cowards’ Aug 02, 2021

Show notes

All eyes are on the Senate again this week.

On Sunday night, a little past 9 p.m., the bipartisan infrastructure bill finally hit the Senate floor. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced the legislation with these momentous words: “I call up the Sinema-Portman substitute amendment!”

OK, maybe it doesn’t read as momentous on the page, but we watched it live, and after weeks of delay — and a comical weekend of Schumer repeatedly coming to the Senate floor and granting the bipartisan group more time — it seemed like a big deal.

And, with the lapsed moratorium on evictions now Washington’s latest political hot potato, House Democratic leadership sent out a joint statement Sunday night calling on the White House and CDC to extend the protections, and declaring that “action is needed and it must come from the Administration.”

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

July 30, 2021: Sinema’s vacation plans and Manchin gets booed Jul 30, 2021

Show notes

Sen. Krysten Sinema is not letting BIF or the reconciliation bill get in the way of her summer plans.

When Chuck Schumer announced earlier this month that he might keep the Senate in session into August — delaying a previously scheduled recess in order to shepherd the two gigantic bills through the chamber — Sinema told the majority leader that she was not sticking around to vote, multiple Senate sources tell Playbook.

She had prior vacation plans, she said, and wasn’t about to let the infrastructure or reconciliation bills get in the way.

She may be in luck, though: Rank-and-file hopes run high on the Hill that if the BIF-related votes pass without a hitch, Schumer could hold a vote-a-rama on the budget Thursday night, allowing senators to leave Washington by Aug. 6 with their summer plans intact. But maybe that’s too rosy (or rosé, if you’ll pardon the pun).

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

July 29, 2021: McConnell’s Herschel Walker problem Jul 29, 2021

Show notes

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wants to flip the chamber in 2022. But one potential obstacle keeps coming up time and again: multiple Donald Trump-inspired candidates who might sweep their GOP primaries but go on to lose in the general election.

Take Georgia: While Trump is all but begging NFL legend Herschel Walker to run against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, McConnell views Walker’s personal history as a vulnerability.

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio

July 28, 2021: The return of masks, and the beginning of mandates Jul 28, 2021

Show notes

In the special election runoff in Texas’s 6th District, Jake Ellzey defeated the Trump-endorsed candidate, Susan Wright. It's a pretty rough outcome for Trump in a district where his super PAC spent over $100,000 last weekend, according to the Dallas Morning News.

And, this was the week we stepped back in time when it comes to masks, and ditched carrots for sticks when it comes to vaccinations.

Expect this to get politicized quickly with announcements in the coming days from states, cities, companies and political entities either embracing or condemning vaccine requirements.

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio

July 27, 2021: Kevin McCarthy's all-around tough day Jul 27, 2021

Show notes

This is going to be an all-around tough day for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy — and to a large degree, it’s a self-inflicted predicament.

The House’s Jan. 6 committee makes its debut this morning.

And, for the first time across dozens of high-profile Trump-related oversight hearings, Republican leadership and allies will have no voice on the panel.

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

July 26, 2021: What the BIF and Bennifer have in common Jul 26, 2021

Show notes

Earlier this year, two of the most unlikely pairings in America started on a journey that we here at Playbook have been watching closely: Bennifer and BIF.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's first clandestine meetings were reported in the spring. Around that same time, some Republican senators began quietly meeting with their Democratic colleagues to discuss infrastructure. Both reunions were so improbable that they needed to be shrouded in secrecy lest they fall apart under the glare of public scrutiny.

In the end, Bennifer went public before BIF. The couple made it “Instagram official” Saturday, but we’re still waiting to see the full details of the bipartisan infrastructure framework.

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

July 23, 2021: The biggest winner of the infrastructure fight Jul 23, 2021

Show notes

No matter what happens to BIF, Pete Buttigieg has already won.

The Iowa caucus winner-turned-Transportation secretary has redefined the backwater Cabinet position where Democrats typically plant their obligatory Republican senior official and vice versa (e.g. Obama/LaHood, Bush/Mineta). Buttigieg has assumed celebrity status in D.C., a mainstay of Playbook “spotteds”: In the past six months we’ve seen him riding his bike to work, hanging with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at the dog park, waiting in line for ice cream, sitting next to President Joe Biden in the Oval Office and beamed into our living rooms giving off warm fuzzies about a pretty non-ideological issue: infrastructure.

It’s a posting that has never led to the presidency, yet some say Buttigieg has positioned himself well by taking the gig, right when fixing roads and bridges is the issue.

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

July 22, 2021: What's next for the Jan. 6 committee Jul 22, 2021

Show notes

It should be among the most important oversight investigations Congress has ever conducted. But the select committee on Jan. 6 hasn’t even had its first hearing and it’s already consumed by drama after Speaker Nancy Pelosi decision to reject two GOP appointees, Reps. Jim Jordan and Jim Banks.

And, we told you Wednesday about how GOP leaders are going on offense against Biden’s $3.5 trillion reconciliation package by framing it as a “reckless tax and spending spree.” Well today, White House senior adviser Anita Dunn is going to the Hill to arm Democrats for the messaging war ahead.

Dunn will appear at Senate Democrats’ caucus lunch and the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, we’re told. According to a copy of the presentation obtained by Playbook, her talk will encourage Democrats to argue that Build Back Better will usher in “more jobs,” “tax cuts” and “lower costs for working families.”

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

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