POLITICO Playbook Daily Briefing - POLITICO

Latest Episodes:

July 7, 2021: Putin ignores Biden’s tough talk Jul 07, 2021

Show notes

Back when Biden’s aides were debating whether to have a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the pro-meeting side argued that if he ignored Putin, the Russian leader was more likely to act out and create headaches for the new administration. A little engagement and attention, the argument went, might forestall the worst behavior. So far, it’s hard to see how Putin has reined in anything since the Geneva one-on-one with Biden.

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 06, 2021: The issue Joe Biden doesn’t want to talk about Jul 06, 2021

Show notes

With the House and Senate on break, President Joe Biden will be at the center of political coverage this week — and the three big Biden stories are Afghanistan, Covid-19 and infrastructure.

All three issues share something in common: They are monumental policy and political challenges with enormous long-term consequences for America (and the world). Six months into his presidency, there has been major progress on all three issues, but no final resolution. In each case, a reversal of fortunes or outright failure is still possible.

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 02, 2021: What's next for voting rights after the SCOTUS ruling Jul 02, 2021

Show notes

The Supreme Court’s ruling in a Voting Rights Act case Thursday may appear modest in scope and subdued in rhetoric, but it will have a sweeping impact — undercutting efforts to challenge a slew of new laws Republican-led states have passed imposing new restrictions on the ballot, lawyers and civil rights activists said.

"It will have a devastating impact on our ability, and other civil rights groups' ability, to protect the rights of voters through the courts,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson.

The 6-3 loss for voting rights advocates also resurfaced second-guessing of the Democratic National Committee’s decision to file the suit on which the justices ruled, targeting Arizona’s longstanding refusal to allow out-of-precinct voting and a 2016 law banning collection of mail-in ballots through a practice critics call “ballot harvesting.”

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 01, 2021: Trump aide says ex-prez emboldened by indictment news Jul 01, 2021

Show notes

The former president was on a conference call with his advisers Monday discussing his favorite topic — revenge — when he was interrupted with an update on the Manhattan D.A.’s investigation. He would not be personally indicted, Trump was told — only Weisselberg and the Trump Organization would be. Trump was thrilled by what he saw as light charges, and according to one of the advisers on the call, his mind raced to 2024.

“Just wait until 2024, you’ll see,” Trump said. The former president implied that the legal case would be seen as a political witch hunt that would backfire on Democrats.

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.

June 30, 2021: Nutso in New York Jun 30, 2021

Show notes

Tallies released Tuesday afternoon indicated that New York City mayoral Democratic candidate Kathryn Garcia had come within 2.2 points of leading candidate Eric Adams after ranked-choice tabulations were processed. But, shortly after the results were released, reporters and campaign staffers noticed there were roughly 135,000 more votes counted than those reported on election night.

And, the president said something really important the other day and nobody noticed.

At his press conference celebrating the bipartisan infrastructure deal, Joe Biden suggested there would be no coming back for seconds: When it comes to spending on basic physical infrastructure (for roads, bridges, public transportation, etc.), the bipartisan deal is it. There will be no using the parallel, Democrats-only reconciliation package to spend more on those things than Republicans agreed to.

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.

June 29, 2021: Who will be Pelosi’s Republican? Jun 29, 2021

Show notes

Speaker Nancy Pelosi surprised Washington when her office announced Monday that she was open to appointing a Republican to fill one of her party’s spots on the select committee to investigate Jan. 6. So instead of eight Democrats and five Republicans on the 13-member panel, it would be a 7-6 breakdown.

So who will get the job?

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.

June 28, 2021: Manchin vs. Sanders — Let the staring contest begin Jun 28, 2021

Show notes

The GOP rebellion over President Joe Biden's Thursday veto threat of the bipartisan infrastructure bill seems to have been quelled. ICYMI, on Saturday the White House released a long and windy statement to mollify Republicans who supported the deal. Biden said he supported the deal “without reservation.” On Sunday, three of the five Republicans who negotiated it made it clear that the president’s walkback was good enough for them.

So does that mean it will pass? Well, no, not quite yet. Here are the landmines we'll be watching out for that could still derail the bill.

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.

June 25, 2021: Can Dems land the infrastructure plane? Jun 25, 2021

Show notes

President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a rather daring new strategy Thursday for getting the president’s agenda passed.

The gist is this: If Biden’s proposal for “family infrastructure” and climate change doesn’t pass, then neither will the bipartisan infrastructure deal that senators just struck.

But the Biden-Schumer-Pelosi playbook also has the makings of a serious legislative cluster — and high drama over whether Democrats can actually pull this off — this summer and possibly into the fall.

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.

June 24, 2021: Biden catches his white whale Jun 24, 2021

Show notes

Joe Biden appears to have all but secured that elusive bipartisan infrastructure deal that both parties have been prattling on about for years. The core group of ten Senate centrists working on the proposal emerged from a meeting with White House officials Wednesday night and declared that they had a working framework.

So now what?

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.

June 23, 2021: Can you solve infrastructure's pay-for puzzle? Jun 23, 2021

Show notes

Infrastructure talks are getting real — but time may be running out.

President Joe Biden's infrastructure negotiating team spent the day on the Hill on Tuesday in three separate meetings with a bipartisan group of 10 senators led by Kyrsten Sinema and Rob Portman.

Forgive us if it seems like Groundhog Day around here, but how to pay for $579 billion in new spending is still the big problem.

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.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

POLITICO Playbook Daily Briefing – POLITICO

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected