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Politico
11-03-2025
- Health
- Politico
Trump admin takes aim at Obamacare
Presented by the Coalition for Medicare Choices With Ben Leonard OBAMACARE IN THE CROSSHAIRS — The Trump administration released its first major health regulation Monday, proposing policies that would limit Obamacare enrollment, Chelsea and POLITICO's Robert King report. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' proposed rule, which sets 2026 coverage year policies for the Affordable Care Act, would shorten the annual enrollment period for Obamacare from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15. The previous period stretched to Jan. 15. The rule would also scrap a Biden-era regulation cleared last year that allowed recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — which lets young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally when they were children remain in the country — to enroll in Obamacare. The agency proposes stripping this eligibility as part of President Donald Trump's executive order to end the 'taxpayer subsidization of open borders.' Why it matters: The proposed rule illustrates how the Trump administration wants to tighten access to Obamacare's insurance exchanges after enrollment surged and reached record levels during former President Joe Biden's administration. It also builds on the Trump administration's decision to cut funding from nearly $100 million to $10 million for nonprofit 'navigators' that help people find insurance plans. Also in the rule: The administration proposes other changes to Obamacare it says will crack down on improper enrollments, including ending a special monthly enrollment period for people in households earning less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level. The administration's goal is to end a policy that 'allows people to wait to enroll until they become sick instead of promoting continuous enrollment.' It would also remove 'sex trait modifications,' or gender-affirming care, from a list of essential health benefits that Obamacare plans must cover. Key context: Directors of state-run Obamacare exchanges have anticipated a rollback of coverage for DACA recipients for months, preparing to have to quickly reverse coverage that was just granted to the group and encouraging them to access health care while coverage is still available. About 500,000 DACA recipients became eligible for coverage under the Biden administration's expansion last year, though CMS estimated at the time that about 100,000 Dreamers would sign up for coverage. What's next: The Trump administration must still take public comment before it can finalize the rule, a process that can take months. WELCOME TO TUESDAY PULSE. It feels like spring in D.C., and we're not complaining. Send your tips, scoops and feedback to khooper@ and ccirruzzo@ and follow along @Kelhoops and @ChelseaCirruzzo. In Congress GOP AGREES TO DOC PAY — House GOP leadership will resolve pay cuts for doctors treating Medicare patients in Republicans' party-line package supporting President Donald Trump's agenda, Ben reports. In a social media post Monday, Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.), who co-chairs the GOP Doctors Caucus, said that House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise would include a fix to the payment cuts — mandated by a formula that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say doesn't reflect rising costs. Spokespeople for Johnson and Scalise didn't respond to requests for comment. Background: Leadership had previously been open to including the provisions in a stopgap spending bill to keep the government funded after this week, but the pay fix was ultimately not included amid broader concerns among GOP leaders that adding more than standard program extensions would open the door to demands for other policies to be attached. Key context: Supporters of the fix warn the stakes are high for not addressing this issue quickly: Decades of payment reductions in Medicare have put medical practices in difficult financial straits, potentially forcing them to close practices and reduce access to care, doctor groups say. But the price tag of a long-term fix has historically been a barrier to addressing the cuts. FIRST IN PULSE: MEDICAID CAMPAIGN — Left-leaning advocacy group Protect Our Care is launching a $2 million ad buy targeting key House Republicans on preserving Medicaid, Ben reports. The purchase, the largest in a $10 million campaign, consists of television, digital and radio ads featuring a 'lifelong' GOP voter and President Donald Trump supporter urging Republicans not to make cuts to Medicaid. The push comes as Republicans are expected to target the program to help fund Trump's domestic agenda, including tax cuts, border enforcement and energy policy. Moderates have raised concerns about changes leading to cuts in benefits. Among others, the ads will target several California, New York and Pennsylvania Republicans in swing districts, including Reps. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) and Young Kim (R-Calif.). FREEDOM CAUCUS' PLEA — A group of ultraconservative lawmakers is pleading with moderate Republicans to not get in the way of making massive cuts to Medicaid, Ben reports. Three prominent members of the House Freedom Caucus said in an op-ed for Fox News on Monday that they're not calling for massive cuts to the safety-net health insurance program but instead calling for reforms that would 'reverse its explosive expansion' that's left Medicaid 'unsustainable.' Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) and members Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) argued in the op-ed that while some colleagues may be 'hesitant' about making changes to Medicaid, many of those changes could be phased in to avoid cuts to benefits and help Republicans achieve necessary savings targets. Background: Massive cuts to Medicaid would likely be needed to finance Republicans' party-line bill to enact broad swaths of President Donald Trump's domestic agenda. The budget resolution the House adopted last month would instruct the House Energy and Commerce Committee — which has jurisdiction over Medicaid — to find $880 billion in cuts over a decade. The savings would help to finance the tax, border security and energy bill Republicans want to pass through the filibuster-skirting budget reconciliation process. 'For lawmakers who claim to be on board with cutting the waste, fraud and abuse — and delivering on Trump's historic mandate — this is it,' the Freedom Caucus members wrote. 'Nothing you do in the next two years will come close to the importance of implementing the $880 billion required in savings to programs under the House Energy and Commerce Committee's jurisdiction.' IN THE STATES TARGETING mRNA SHOTS — States are introducing more roadblocks to the use of messenger RNA vaccines, POLITICO's Lauren Gardner reports. Republican policymakers across the country are proposing bills to limit or ban the use of the vaccines based on a mix of medical freedom rhetoric and incorrect assertions of how they work in the body. The proposals represent the latest manifestation of Covid-19 pandemic backlash. Several bills introduced in the Texas Legislature would ban the administration, manufacture or sale of mRNA vaccines there. Legislation in Kentucky would prohibit the use of mRNA vaccines in children under 18. In Idaho, a GOP state senator has proposed a 10-year moratorium on mRNA vaccine administration. Why it matters: Some efforts have failed, but public health experts worry that their existence now could be a bellwether for the future. The efforts come as noted vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has taken the reins at HHS and the Trump administration is reportedly weighing whether to pull hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding to Moderna, the maker of one of the most-used Covid shots, to develop a human bird flu vaccine as that disease spreads among animals and occasionally infects people. 'People laugh at this,' said Dr. Amesh Adalja of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, 'but then five years from now more legislatures are doing it, and it becomes real.' WHAT WE'RE READING ProPublica's Annie Waldman and Lisa Song report on certain topics that will get extra scrutiny at the National Cancer Institute under the new HHS secretary. POLITICO's Meredith Lee Hill reports on House GOP leaders' alarm over the Senate's delay in advancing their budget plan.
Politico
02-03-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Playbook: Democrats in despair
Presented by the Coalition for Medicare Choices With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine Happy Sunday. You have roughly eight hours to catch up on Oscars movies before the big awards show begins tonight at 7 p.m. Drop me a line: awren@ DRIVING THE DAY As President Donald Trump, VP JD Vance and their Republican allies were remaking the world order, Democrats were busy face-planting on social media. On Friday, the DNC's X account posted a 32-point list of 'WHAT DEMOCRATS DID IN FEBRUARY,' seemingly mimicking Elon Musk's five-things email tactic. It included such relatively small-bore items as 'Democrat Ken Jenkins won a special election for Westchester County Executive, soundly defeating his Trump-backed opponent.' By yesterday afternoon, the post had been so roundly mocked and ratioed that DNC chief marketing officer Shelby Cole felt compelled to respond that the 'template always used to bang for us,' before conceding 'the internet thinks we are morons this time.' As focus turns this week to Trump's first joint address to Congress on Tuesday, and Democrats' response, the episode was an apt encapsulation of the larger moment unfolding in Washington. If Trump's first term energized the party's progressives, there are early signs his second term is doing the same for Democratic moderates. For starters, the party chose the battleground-state moderate Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan to deliver its response to Trump. Slotkin outperformed former VP Kamala Harris by more than a full percentage point in all but 28 of the state's 83 counties, according to a Detroit News analysis. There are other indications the party's most immediate answers might come from its moderate wing. In early February, a group of moderate Democratic consultants, campaign staffers, elected officials and party leaders gathered in Loudoun County, Virginia, for a day-and-a-half retreat where they plotted their party's comeback. The gathering — organized by Third Way, the centrist Democratic think tank, and operated by Chatham House Rules — resulted in five pages of takeaways, a document Playbook obtained from one of the participants. (Not all attendees endorsed each point.) 'In the wake of this election, where it became so evident that the things that the left was doing and saying deeply hurt Harris and down-ballot Democrats, a lot of people are looking to us, not just Third Way, but the moderates in the party, and saying, 'We got to do it your way, because the other way ain't working,'' said Third Way's Matt Bennett, who helped organize the February retreat. The document itself is perhaps the most comprehensive of its kind following the election — both in its analysis of what went wrong and how to fix it. The retreat's conversation centered on a disconnect with the working class. Among the causes of that disconnect: weak messaging and communication, failure to prioritize economic concerns, overemphasis on identity politics, allowing the far left to define the party, and attachment to unpopular institutions such as academia, media and government bureaucracy. Those gathered then laid out 20 solutions for how Democrats can regain working-class trust and reconnect with them culturally. More than a few stuck out to Playbook: Which brings us back to the DNC's weekend social media misadventure. The party, many of those gathered argued, needs to 'develop a stronger, more relatable Democratic media presence (podcasts, social media, sports broadcasting).' What struck Playbook about the DNC's graphic was just how far afield it was from the comeback retreat's conclusions, particularly when it comes to the economy; very few items mentioned voters' bottom lines. Meanwhile, at least five items mentioned DOGE. 'The notion that that's what voters need to hear and see from Democrats? It was profoundly off,' said Bennett. While the 'DNC is not supposed to solve all our problems in a month,' he added, 'it would help not to perpetuate the idea that Democrats are out to lunch by putting out stuff that would strike most voters as fairly disconnected from our lives.' Related read: 'Furious Democrats filled Republican town halls across America last week to protest President Donald Trump's power grab in Washington,' write AP's Steve Peoples, Lisa Mascaro and Stephen Groves. 'But in recent days, the activists behind those protests have turned their anger toward elected officials in their own party, who they believe are not fighting the Republican president and billionaire adviser Elon Musk with the urgency, aggression or creativity that the moment deserves.' SUNDAY BEST … — National security adviser Mike Waltz on the ultimate cease-fire deal, on 'State of the Union': 'This will clearly be some type of territorial concession for security guarantees going forward. … This needs to be a permanent end, not a temporary end. This needs to be European-led security guarantees going forward. Part of that is Europe's contribution to its own defense. … And then, you know, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves — what type of support we provide or not is to be negotiated. But one thing is clear: We do not see Ukraine being a member of NATO.' — Speaker Mike Johnson on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on NBC's 'Meet the Press': 'Either he needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude, or someone else needs to lead the country to do that. I mean, it's up to the Ukrainians to figure that out, but I can tell you that we are re-exerting peace through strength. … We need these parties to go along with this, and we need President Zelenskyy to do what is necessary.' — Johnson on whether he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin should step down too: 'I'd like to see Putin defeated, frankly. He is an adversary of the United States.' — Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on the Oval Office shouting match, on CNN's 'State of the Union': 'The White House has become an arm of the Kremlin. Every single day, you hear from the national security adviser, from the president of the United States, from his entire national security team Kremlin talking points. The last week, the White House has been pretending as if Ukraine started this war. That's essentially saying that Poland invaded Germany at the beginning of World War II. There are still facts in this world. And the fact is this: Vladimir Putin is a brutal dictator. Russia started this war. And the entire pretext for that meeting … was an attempt to rewrite history in order to sign a deal with Putin that hands Putin Ukraine.' — Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) on voting for Marco Rubio as secretary of State, on 'Fox News Sunday': 'I regret that vote, because as a member of the Senate, Secretary Rubio was somebody who stood up for American values and American principles. He acknowledged that Russia was the aggressor against Ukraine. He realized that it wasn't Zelenskyy who was the dictator. And now he's simply taking his direction at the State Department from Elon Musk and essentially parroting the president's position.' TOP-EDS: A roundup of the week's must-read opinion pieces. 9 THINGS FOR YOUR RADAR 1. UKRAINE FALLOUT: In the wake of Trump and VP JD Vance's Oval Office blowup at him, Zelenskyy found a warmer reception in London ahead of a European summit there, per Reuters. Plenty of European leaders have rallied around Zelenskyy this weekend, as has much of the Ukrainian populace, AP's Justin Spike reports from Kyiv. British PM Keir Starmer said he'd talked with French President Emmanuel Macron, Zelenskyy and Trump to try to get talks back on track. But Russian officials were excited to see a further U.S.-Ukraine breakdown: NYT's Anton Troianovski, Nataliya Vasilyeva and Paul Sonne write that what happened Friday could provide Putin 'the kind of ammunition he needs to prolong the fight.' Domestically, some notable Republicans continued to break with Trump over his approach to Ukraine. 'I am sick to my stomach as the administration appears to be walking away from our allies and embracing Putin, a threat to democracy and U.S. values,' Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) posted on X. How it went down: More reporting from NYT's Tyler Pager and Maggie Haberman suggests that what happened Friday was not a planned ambush, as some Trump critics have baselessly theorized, but a spontaneous expression of anger by Trump and Vance. Even earlier that day, White House officials thought they were on the path to a minerals deal with Zelenskyy and would have a largely positive meeting, WaPo's Michael Birnbaum, Natalie Allison, Matt Viser and Jacqueline Alemany report. For his part, Zelenskyy's past experiences with Trump 'have stiffened Zelensky's resolve against allowing himself to be treated like a pawn again,' sources close to him tell WSJ's Yaroslav Trofimov and Jane Lytvynenko. 2. HEADED FOR SCOTUS: Special counsel Hampton Dellinger should remain in his post despite Trump's attempt to fire the watchdog, federal judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled yesterday, per CNN. Otherwise, Trump would have 'a constitutional license to bully officials in the executive branch into doing his will,' she wrote. But this is likely on its way to a Supreme Court, which could have the opportunity to further remove checks on Trump's power within the executive branch. More from the courts: A federal judge ruled that Trump's ban on federal funding for minors' gender transition-related medical care is unconstitutional, per The Seattle Times. … A new lawsuit challenges Trump's move to end humanitarian parole programs, per AP's Gisela Salomon. … Lawyers filed suit against Panama — with a corresponding case coming against the U.S. this week — over its treatment of migrants deported from the U.S. and detained there, NYT's Farnaz Fassihi and Julie Turkewitz scooped. … The ACLU backed a new lawsuit seeking to prevent 10 migrants from being sent to Guantánamo Bay, per Reuters. The big picture: The number of federal lawsuits against Trump policies hit 100 yesterday, NYT's Mattathias Schwartz and Zach Montague report, with 21 rulings already blocking his moves at least temporarily. Now the big question is what happens if Trump doesn't comply. 3. THE LATEST EXECUTIVE ORDERS: Trump yesterday signed a new EO declaring English the official national language of the U.S., per CNN. He also ordered a national security probe of lumber imports from countries like Brazil, Canada, China and Germany — likely the first step toward imposing tariffs, per Bloomberg. The step back: Trump's deluge of executive orders, intentionally designed by Stephen Miller to flood the zone at a pace far beyond any other recent president, are working. Despite all the lawsuits, a majority of his early moves have survived so far, WSJ's Josh Dawsey and Brent Kendall report. In fact, 'Miller and other Trump advisers were prepared for more lawsuits than have been filed, and have been surprised at the lack of litigation on some of the orders.' 4. THE PURGE: Mass firings continued across the federal government as the General Services Administration axed roughly 70 people in the 18F office, a tech unit that keeps online government services operational across agencies, POLITICO's Danny Nguyen reports. One-third of a NOAA office that acts like 'air traffic control' for satellites in space was canned, Reuters' Joey Roulette and Valerie Volcovici report. The latest from DOGE: WaPo's Jacob Bogage and Jeff Stein report that the Department of Government Efficiency is again trying to access sensitive personal taxpayer data — to cross-check student loan and food stamps payments for fraud. IRS lawyers determined that doing so would break the law, but acting Commissioner Melanie Krause, who began this weekend, 'has indicated she is interested in complying.' And NPR's Stephen Fowler has a breakdown of more mistakes in DOGE's claimed savings. Must read: 'The Trump Administration Said These Aid Programs Saved Lives. It Canceled Them Anyway,' by ProPublica's Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Brett Murphy: 'The move consigns untold numbers of the world's poorest children, refugees and other vulnerable people to death, according to several senior federal officials. Local authorities have already begun estimating a death toll in the hundreds of thousands. … Rubio and [Pete] Marocco appear to have taken their dramatic steps without the careful review they've described to the courts, according to internal documents and interviews with more than a dozen officials … which raises fresh questions about [their] legality.' 5. LOOK WHO'S BACK: Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo jumped into the NYC mayoral race, saying he'd lift the city out of 'crisis' and tackle crime, POLITICO's Nick Reisman reports. The moderate, who'll hit the campaign trail today, could be a formidable opponent to incumbent Eric Adams given his name recognition and polling strength. But he's trailed by plenty of scandal too, including a state report that concluded he'd sexually harassed 11 women. He denied the claims. 6. TRUMP GETS RESULTS: 'Trump Threats and Mexico's Crackdown Hit Mexican Cartel,' by NYT's Natalie Kitroeff and Paulina Villegas in Culiacán: 'A barrage of arrests, drug seizures and lab busts by the Mexican authorities in recent months has struck the behemoth Sinaloa Cartel, according to Mexican officials and interviews with six cartel operatives, forcing at least some of its leaders to scale back on fentanyl production in Sinaloa state … The government crackdown on organized crime intensified after the Trump administration threatened retribution unless Mexico halted the supply of fentanyl … [S]everal operatives said that for the first time in years, they genuinely feared arrest or death at the hands of the authorities.' 7. SURVEY SAYS: The latest CNN/SSRS poll finds Trump slightly underwater, with 48 percent of the country approving of his job performance and 52 percent disapproving. By a 6-point margin, Americans (especially young people) say his policies are moving the country in the wrong direction, and by a 12-point margin, they say he hasn't had the right priorities. The latest CBS poll has some better numbers for Trump, 51 percent approval vs. 49 percent disapproval. It finds that while Americans like his approach on immigration, they're roughly split on DOGE/Musk and they think Trump needs to focus more on inflation and the economy. 8. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: 'Israel Halts Gaza Aid After Hamas Balks at New US Truce Idea,' by Bloomberg's Dan Williams, Alisa Odenheimer and Fares Alghoul: 'Israel halted all humanitarian aid and other imports to the war-shattered Gaza Strip as a six-week truce with Hamas expired on Sunday and the Iranian-backed Palestinian faction balked at a US bridging proposal to extend the suspension of hostilities. … Under the 11th-hour proposal brought by White House envoy Steve Witkoff, Israel said it was willing to enter a new truce that would span the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish festival of Passover.' 9. CLIMATE FILES: ''Full on Fight Club': How Trump Is Crushing U.S. Climate Policy,' by NYT's David Gelles, Lisa Friedman and Brad Plumer: 'In a few short weeks, President Trump has severely damaged the government's ability to fight climate change, upending American environmental policy with moves that could have lasting implications for the country, and the planet. … [T]he Trump administration has reneged on federal grants, fired workers en masse and attacked longstanding environmental regulations. All new presidents have their own agendas, but the speed and scale of Mr. Trump's efforts to uproot climate policy is unprecedented.' TALK OF THE TOWN JD Vance was protested by hundreds of demonstrators on a ski weekend in Vermont. Donald Trump, Vance and Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Oval Office showdown received the 'Saturday Night Live' treatment. Ron and Casey DeSantis had breakfast with Trump in West Palm Beach, per WSJ's Meridith McGraw. Mia Love is moving away from treatment for her glioblastoma as the cancer has stopped responding to treatment, her daughter announced. Francis Collins, former director of the NIH, announced that he has retired from the agency. Maye Musk, Elon's mother, is in demand these days. SPOTTED: Jake Sullivan having charcuterie and a beer at McClellan's Retreat on Friday afternoon. ERASURE: Miles Taylor was famously 'Anonymous' in the NYT. Now he's anonymous at his former position at the Department of Homeland Security, our Ben Jacobs writes in. A plate commemorating Taylor's service as chief of staff at DHS has been removed from a plaque that shows each successive chief of staff for DHS and their term of service since its 2002 founding, according to a person who viewed it. Taylor became an overnight celebrity when he revealed himself in 2020 as the author of an anonymous 2018 NYT op-ed entitled 'I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration.' The editorial was hugely controversial at the time as a rare open attack on the Trump administration from an official within it. Taylor left the administration in 2019 and vocally backed Joe Biden in 2020 before revealing his identity as the anonymous author. The removal of Taylor's plate isn't the first time the second Trump administration has discarded items commemorating the service of a critic. Two portraits of Mark Milley, the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have been removed from the Pentagon in recent weeks. A spokesperson for DHS did not provide a comment. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Ami Bera (D-Calif.) (6-0) … Ken Salazar (7-0) … Kevin Madden … Brookings' Robin Lewis … Liz Oberg … Laurie Van Hall of Bee Compliance … Erik Hotmire … POLITICO's Brakkton Booker, Caitlin Floyd, Collins Onodugo and Eli Zimmerman … Emily Miller … Javelin's Dylan Colligan … Yuri Beckelman … Ven Neralla … DaVita's Javier Martínez … BGR Group's Syd Terry (4-0) … Caitlin McFall … Ellie Warner … former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) … Joe Garofoli … Ashley Chang of the Rockefeller Foundation Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn't happen without our deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
Politico
01-03-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Playbook: Zelenskyy's bleak morning after
Presented by the Coalition for Medicare Choices With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine Happy Saturday. It's 59 degrees in the District, but the high will drop to 39 tomorrow. We warned you last weekend about Fool's Spring. Drop me a line: awren@ DRIVING THE DAY One day after the disastrous Oval Office meeting heard around the world, Washington and Europe are still reeling. This morning, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered a testy defense of his war-torn country when responding to Vice President JD Vance — who asked him 'have you said thank you once?' — Zelenskyy took to X to do some thanking. 'We are very grateful to the United States for all the support,' Zelensky said in a blitz of posts that appeared to be aimed at cleaning up the mess. 'I'm thankful to President Trump, Congress for their bipartisan support, and American people. Ukrainians have always appreciated this support, especially during these three years of full-scale invasion.' Early this morning, Zelenskyy also outlined the rough terms of the deal he's still seeking to secure, saying he was ready to sign the minerals agreement as 'the first step toward security guarantees. 'But it's not enough, and we need more than just that. A ceasefire without security guarantees is dangerous for Ukraine,' he wrote. In Washington, the shocking showdown has left Trump's most ardent backers relishing the confrontation — perhaps the signal moment of MAGA's America First foreign policy doctrine — and has internationalists apoplectic. 'This guy isn't just trying to save his country — he's the finger in the dike for the rest of Europe,' one State Department official said of Zelenskyy to our Nahal Toosi and Amy Mackinnon. 'First, we extort him, then we intentionally try to embarrass him.' There appears to be no immediate redo in the offing: Zelenskyy departed the U.S. and headed back overseas late Friday. A few takeaways are emerging from the fog of diplomatic war: STATE OF PLAY: To put it mildly, the immediate outlook for salvaging a deal is … bleak. But this isn't over, Capitol Bureau Chief and senior Washington correspondent Rachael Bade learned overnight for her latest revelatory and newsy Corridors column. No meetings are currently on offer. But, but, but: Trump is still the deal-hungry player he always has been. Two senior White House officials told Rachael that Trump meant it when he said the door is not closed and that when Zelenskyy is ready to talk peace, he should come back. 'He still wants a deal,' one senior administration official said. WAS IT ALL A TRAP? The White House is furious about Trump critics suggesting without evidence that the entire episode was a 'premeditated trap laid by Trump and Vance intended to sink the U.S.-Ukraine alliance once and for all,' Rachael writes. Ukraine-friendly members of Congress prepped Zelenskyy ahead of time, Rachael notes. That counsel went out unheeded once Vance started talking about how diplomacy was the way to deal with Vladimir Putin. 'Everyone was giving him the same advice, which was get the deal done, don't play games and be very appreciative of everything that Trump and the administration have done,' said a person familiar with Zelenskyy's conversations with GOP senators. 'Lead with, 'Thank you for everything that you've done,' and get the deal done.' VIEW FROM 30,000 FEET: There is a larger project unfolding amid the chaos. 'What Mr. Trump really wants, one senior European official said this week before the blowup, is a normalization of the relationship with Russia,' writes The New York Times' David Sanger in a news analysis. 'If that means rewriting the history of Moscow's illegal invasion three years ago, dropping investigations of Russian war crimes or refusing to offer Ukraine long-lasting security guarantees, then Mr. Trump, in this assessment of his intentions, is willing to make that deal.' Have no doubt: Russia, our Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing writes in a larger stepback, celebrated the meeting. AFTERNOON READ — 'This Texas County Voted Republican for the First Time in a Century. They Like What They See,' by David Siders for POLITICO Mag: '[A]s I walked around town and the fairgrounds — all riding boots and camo jackets, parents ducking out of the rain and ribbon-carrying children eating gushers and potato swirls — people suggested to me that [Elon] Musk's crusade was not only a pragmatic pursuit, but a righteous one. … The Trump supporters here had not necessarily expected such an aggressive effort to dismantle government. But they were embracing the idea now.' 9 THINGS THAT STUCK WITH US 1. DOGE DAYS AREN'T OVER: Thought the drama around Elon Musk's 'five things' email was over? Think again. The tech billionaire and DOGE overseer reiterated his demand that federal employees justify their existence in a late-night email yesterday with the subject line, 'What did you do last week? Part II,' POLITICO's Danny Nguyen and Holly Otterbein report. Public-sector employees across multiple departments, including State, Energy, IRS and Veterans Affairs, reported receiving the email from OPM, which 'came four hours after the end of the business day and asked employees to reply with 'approx. 5 bullets describing what you accomplished last week and cc your manager.'' The note comes after federal workers received a similar missive last week, and confusion abounded whether they were required to submit their work or face termination. While 'OPM also revised its privacy rules to clarify that response to the email was voluntary,' both Trump and Musk 'have previously threatened federal workers with the possibility of termination if they do not respond,' Danny and Holly write. More Musk reads: 'What 130-day cap? Musk is 'here to stay' in the Trump admin, adviser says,' by POLITICO's Jake Traylor and Dasha Burns … 'Government AI, defending DOGE and more: Takeaways from Elon Musk's three-hour interview with Joe Rogan,' by Danny and POLITICO's Ali Bianco … 2. THE TARIFF SHERIFF: Donald Trump is set to impose punishing 25 percent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico as soon as Tuesday. And with Canadian PM Justin Trudeau set to step down in a few days, his successor will inherit increasingly worse relationships marked by tariff tensions and annexation threats, NYT's Ian Austen's reports: Relations between Washington and Ottawa are the worst 'since the trade war of the Great Depression … Arguably they are nearing a nadir not seen since the 19th century.' On the ground in the Great White North, Trump's calls for annexation are being met with a wave of patriotism: '[Canadian] flag makers who, during what is normally a dead sales period, are now scrambling to meet a surge in demand for maple leaf flags.' Mirror, mirror: Back in Washington, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged Canada to follow suit with Mexico in adopting tariffs against Chinese goods in an interview with Bloomberg Television yesterday: 'I think it would be a nice gesture if the Canadians did it also — so in a way, we could have fortress North America from the flood of Chinese imports that's coming out of the most unbalanced economy in the history of modern times.'. How to (not) succeed in business?: NYT's Daisuke Wakabayashi, Alexandra Stevenson, Danielle Kaye and Eli Tan are out with a look at how U.S. small business are coping with the uncertainty around the looming Chinese tariffs and a potential rise in production costs: 'Many companies said they would have to raise prices to offset the expense if they had not already. Some spoke of a feeling of business paralysis.' 3. IMMIGRATION FILES: A recent ICE memo details how the White House is pushing immigration officials to identify immigrants who would qualify for accelerated removal from the U.S., WaPo's Nick Miroff and Maria Sacchetti scoop. The new directive could mean that 'more than 1 million migrants who were admitted' under Biden's tenure could face expedited removal without a court hearing. More details … 4. DEEP IN THE HEART: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke out about the growing measles outbreak in Texas as the Lone Star State continues to battle an outbreak of the deadly virus: 'I recognize the serious impact of this outbreak on families, children, and healthcare workers,' Kennedy wrote in a post on X. The secretary also laid out several steps the agency has taken to address the outbreak, noting 'HHS had provided lab support to track the virus, offered technical assistance to local public health officials and updated federal advice on doctors offering vitamin A to manage measles cases,' WSJ's Liz Essley Whyte, Brianna Abbott and Joseph Pisani report. RFK Jr.'s comments came after he seemingly dismissed the measles threat earlier this week, telling reporters at Wednesday's cabinet meeting that an outbreak was 'not unusual' and that 'we have measles outbreaks every year.' Texas officials confirmed the first measles death in the U.S. in a decade — a school-aged child in Lubbock who was unvaccinated. What we know so far: 146 cases have been reported in West Texas since early this year, The Texas Tribune's Stephen Simpson,Terri Langford and Eleanor Klibanoff report: 'Five of the 146 infected in Texas so far were vaccinated and the remainder were unvaccinated or their vaccination status was unknown.' Yesterday, Austin health officials also announced the city's first measles case in 24 years, though it's considered unrelated to the West Texas outbreak. 5. ON DEFENSE: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed yesterday that the White House has authorized U.S. commanders 'to approve some strikes against enemy combatants without high-level approval,' WaPo's Dan Lamothe reports: 'The decision marks a throwback to President Donald Trump's first administration, when he loosened battlefield restrictions and said he would not tie the hands of U.S. troops operating in hostile areas.' More military moves: A week after Trump's unprecedented ousting of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair C.Q. Brown, the president is once again shaking up the Pentagon by forcing out Army Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland, the head of the military's health agency, Reuters' Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart scoop: '[A] current and former official … said Crosland had been told that she must retire. She was not given a reason why.' The local angle … 'As Trump Overhauls the Military, Fort Bragg and Its Neighbors Brace for Change,' by NYT's Eduardo Medina: 'The prospect of big change at Fort Bragg is bound to be felt in the larger [Fayetteville, North Carolina] metro area, which is filled with veterans and active-duty military families.' 6. DEM DATA DRAMA: A near-disaster could have crippled Democrats' massive database of voter information last summer, spurring an 'extraordinary intervention' from party officials as they scrambled to make it to Election Day, NYT's Shane Goldmacher scoops. After a private company who handles the voter database warned they could not handle the intense amount information being input and downloaded in their system, several DNC engineers and campaign operatives stepped in to keep it afloat last summer: 'Had it collapsed, the party's entire get-out-the-vote operation could have been temporarily crippled, forcing canvassers to work with pen and paper instead of smartphones, and leaving campaigns effectively blind.' 'The episode, which has not been previously reported, has deepened concerns at the party's highest levels about its singular dependency on a for-profit company whose majority owner, a private equity firm, has imposed layoffs in recent years to slash costs,' Goldmacher writes. 7. THE $80 MILLION DOLLAR CAPER CONT'D.: In a new court filing Trump's legal team is arguing 'FEMA did not violate protocol by clawing back $80 million from a municipal Citibank' in New York City earlier this month, POLITICO's Joe Anuta reports. The clapback comes after NYC Mayor Eric Adams filed a lawsuit arguing the federal government illegally repossessed funds that were earmarked for immigration service without notice. Instead, federal officials claim they 'merely paused the aid' in order to investigate if it was being used to 'indirectly prop up a violent Venezuelan gang known as Tren De Aragua.' 8. PERSONNEL PROBLEMS: 'Trump's top prosecutor in DC demotes several supervisors who handled politically sensitive cases,' by AP's Alanna Durkin Richer, Eric Tucker and Byron Tau: 'Among those being reassigned include several prosecutors who handled or oversaw politically sensitive cases involving the Jan. 6 riot and Trump allies Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon. … The prosecutors were informed in an email that they were being reassigned to work on misdemeanor cases or moved to the Early Case Assessment Section, which evaluates new cases and handles early court proceedings.' 9. TAKE ME OR LEAVE ME: 'Education Department to staffers: Quit by Monday and get $25K in cash,' by POLITICO's Rebecca Carballo: 'Employees have until Monday at 11:59 p.m. to make a decision. … Most department employees are eligible. A few exceptions include those that are using disability retirement, received a student loan repayment benefit in the last 36 months or [were] awarded a retention bonus in the last 12 months.' CLICKER — 'The nation's cartoonists on the week in politics,' edited by Matt Wuerker — 17 funnies GREAT WEEKEND READS: — 'Progressives Say They Want Clean Energy. They Held Up This Hydro Project for Years,' by Marc Dunkelman for POLITICO Mag: 'An effort to bring clean energy to Massachusetts has languished in red tape.' — 'The Teacher in Room 1214,' by NYT's Emily Baumgaertner Nunn: 'When a gunman killed two of her students, Ivy Schamis was the only adult in the room. Her journey through guilt and healing sheds light on the impossible role of American teachers.' — 'In an Age of Right-Wing Populism, Why Are Denmark's Liberals Winning?' by NYT Mag's David Leonhardt: 'Around the world, progressive parties have come to see tight immigration restrictions as unnecessary, even cruel. What if they're actually the only way for progressivism to flourish?' — 'The End of Children,' by Gideon Lewis-Kraus for The New Yorker: 'Birth rates are crashing around the world. Should we be worried?' — 'Rifling Through the Archives With Legendary Historian Robert Caro,' by Chris Heath for Smithsonian Magazine: 'Reams of papers, revealing how the scholar came to write his iconic biographies of Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson, are preserved forever in New York. But his work is far from over.' — 'This Russian Tech Bro Helped Steal $93 Million and Landed in US Prison. Then Putin Called,' by Wired's Noah Shachtman: 'Reams of papers, revealing how the scholar came to write his iconic biographies of Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson, are preserved forever in New York. But his work is far from over.' TALK OF THE TOWN Babydog Justice has her official headshot. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Over 100 current Presidential Management Fellows from the last three classes have released an open letter demanding Congress protect the PMF program after a Donald Trump executive order eliminated it last week. The letter, which is co-signed by 114 current fellows, noted the order weakens the administration's 'aim to build a government that is efficient, merit-based, and staffed by highly qualified individuals.' 'Despite its small size, the PMF program delivers an outsized return on investment, and eliminating it won't save taxpayer dollars — it will waste them,' the group writes. 'This is not about politics. It is about performance. It's about ensuring the best and brightest continue working in public service to solve our country's toughest challenges. We cannot afford to dismantle a program that delivers so much, so efficiently.' Read the letter — The Alpine Group on Friday fired lobbyist Courtney Johnson, a principal at the firm and head of its health care practice, after she was seen in a viral video making racist comments, Daniel Lippman reports. Johnson had been at the top D.C. firm for more than two decades and was registered on behalf of numerous companies including AWS, Amgen, Leidos and Lyft, according to recent lobbying disclosures. 'Following a thorough internal inquiry, Courtney Johnson's employment has been terminated, effective immediately, due to conduct inconsistent with company policies and standards,' the firm said in a statement to Playbook. 'The views expressed are deeply offensive and inconsistent with our firm's values and culture.' Johnson didn't respond to requests for comment. IN MEMORIAM — Shannon Oscar, a fundraiser, lobbyist and former Hill staffer, died this week at 50. She was principal at the Oscar Group and managing director of the American Subcontractor Association Subcontractor Legal Defense Fund, and was an Anne Northup, Fred Thompson and Wayne Allard alum. Her funeral is today. Full obituary TRANSITION — Prentice Eager will be VP of data at Frontline Strategies. He most recently was the data director at the NRCC and is an RGA and RNC alum. LEAP DAY BIRTHDAYS: Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.) … former Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) … Caitlin Kovalkoski … POLITICO's Kate Irby and Pamela King … Enid Doggett of INSPR Media … Craig Kennedy … Messina Group's Gabrielle Quintana Greenfield … Allie White … Eugene Volokh … Greenbrier Partners' Adrian Durbin HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) … Reps. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) and Trent Kelly (R-Miss.) … Giulia Giannangeli of House Energy and Commerce … Maddison Stone … Stephen Ezell … Adam Brand … Vanessa Cadavillo … POLITICO's Dasha Burns, Ali Taki, Tierra Perdue, Jasper Goodman and Liset Cruz … Lorraine Woellert … Vayl Oxford … NBC's Bridget Bowman … HUD's Kasey Lovett … Meghan Milloy … Eisai's Elizabeth Brooks … Elizabeth Rhee … former Sens. John Breaux (D-La.) and Luther Strange (R-Ala.) … former Reps. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) and Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.) … Howard Altman … Jess McCarron … Natalie Szemetylo … Ryan Little … Aaron Sherinian … Lauren Vicary … Exxon Mobil's Mike Bloomquist … Tom Jones… Brian Arata of Rep. Glenn 'G.T.' Thompson's (R-Pa.) office … Ian Sbalcio … Herald Group's Wyatt Hamilton … Rubí Martínez of Climate Power THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here): NBC 'Meet the Press': Speaker Mike Johnson … Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) … Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Panel: Brendan Buck, Carol Lee, Stephanie Murphy and Julio Vaqueiro. Fox News 'Sunday Morning Futures': Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick … Speaker Mike Johnson … Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) … Vivek Ramaswamy … Devin Nunes … Mike Pompeo. CNN 'State of the Union': Speaker Mike Johnson … Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). Panel: Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.), Scott Jennings, Xochitl Hinojosa and Erin McGuire. ABC 'This Week': Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova … British Ambassador Peter Mandelson … Chris Christie … David Miliband. Panel: Donna Brazile, Rachel Scotta and Julie Pace. CBS 'Face the Nation': Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent … Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) … Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) … Rep. John James (R-Mich.) … Kaja Kallas … Anthony Salvanto. NewsNation 'The Hill Sunday': Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) … Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.). Panel: Josh Barro, Paul Kane and Julia Manchester. FOX 'Fox News Sunday': Tulsi Gabbard … Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). Legal panel: Ilya Shapiro and Tom Dupree. Sunday panel: Susan Page, Richard Fowler, Doug Heye and Hans Nichols. MSNBC 'The Weekend': Newark Mayor Ras Baraka … New Mexico AG Raul Torrez … Shernice Mundell. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn't happen without our deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
Politico
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Playbook PM: Disaster for Ukraine in the Oval Office
Presented by the Coalition for Medicare Choices THE CATCH-UP FROM THE OVAL: The meeting between President Donald Trump, VP JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy quickly devolved into acrimony and chaos today, as the American leaders accused Kyiv of being insufficiently thankful for U.S. help. In an extraordinary exchange the likes of which are not often seen publicly in the Oval Office, Vance called Zelenskyy 'disrespectful' and Trump upbraided him for doing a poor job on the battlefield and at the negotiating table. 'You've done enough talking. You're not winning this,' Trump told him at one point. 'You gotta be thankful. You don't have the cards.' The latest details from POLITICO's Eli Stokols Trump castigated Zelenskyy for not reaching a cease-fire even as Ukraine suffers setbacks in the war. 'You're gambling with World War III,' he warned. Trump emphasized that he wasn't aligned with either Russia or Ukraine, just the U.S. As Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova put her head in her hands, the shouting match exposed the extreme political and existential peril for Ukraine as it faces an aggressive Russia and a recalcitrant U.S. Trump dismissed calls for the U.S. to act as a security backstop for Ukraine, indicating that he wanted any such guarantee to follow a natural resources agreement. Earlier in the meeting, Zelenskyy had tried to appeal to Trump. He showed him pictures, saying Russia was not abiding by the rules of war, and even said Trump's path would be better than Joe Biden's. But by the end, it was disaster for Ukraine. The press conference was canceled, Zelenskyy left the White House, and the deal was reportedly not signed. 'It's amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations,' Trump said in a statement afterward. 'I don't want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.' More Ukraine reading: Even if the U.S. and Ukraine sign the resources deal, it may not be so easy for the countries to get access to rare earth minerals and the resulting funds, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, Victoria Butenko and Daria Markina-Tarasova report from Irshansk. 'Much of what does exist will be difficult to exploit, particularly at a time of war,' as mines struggle to extract much amid the conflict. More Russia reading: Moscow hopes that it will be able to build back espionage presence in the West as a result of enhanced diplomatic ties and reopened embassies/consulates in the U.S., American officials tell CNN's Natasha Bertrand and Zachary Cohen. … Meanwhile, Israel has urged the U.S. to support keeping Russian bases in Syria, Reuters' Maya Gebeily and Humeyra Pamuk scooped. Jerusalem wants Syria to remain 'weak and decentralised,' with an ongoing Russian presence counterbalancing Turkish influence. INFLATION NATION: The latest economic data presented something of a mixed bag for the country. The personal consumption expenditures price index, which the Fed prefers to measure inflation, rose 2.5 percent annually in January — moving in the right direction from December's 2.6 percent, and better than some other recent measures that had shown inflation ticking up. It's still half a point higher than the central bank wants. 'Still, Friday's report offers respite on the inflation front,' Bloomberg's Augusta Saraiva writes. What economists didn't expect is that consumer spending actually fell in January, by 0.2 percent or an inflation-adjusted 0.5 percent. That could be just an anomaly, reflective of cold snaps that kept people indoors last month. But it may also give the Fed pause about the economy's health as it navigates the path forward on interest rates. A worsened consumer outlook, along with potential disruptions from tariffs, even led one Fed branch today to predict that the economy will shrink this quarter, though it's an outlier, AP's Christopher Rugaber and Anne D'Innocenzio report. Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@ 8 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 1. WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE: For the first time ever, English will be declared the country's national language in a forthcoming executive order from Trump, WSJ's Meridith McGraw scooped. Concretely, he will also do away with a mandate that has existed for the past couple of decades ordering federal agencies and other groups to provide materials in other languages to people who don't speak English, though they'll still be allowed to do so. 2. IN THE DOGE HOUSE: The first Elon Musk-inspired email from OPM demanding five bullet points of accountability from federal workers ran into resistance from agency heads, but the Trump administration is now planning another approach to make it more concrete, WaPo's Emily Davies, Carol Leonnig and Hannah Natanson scooped. Coming tomorrow, government employees will get another such email asking what they did this week. And it's expected to become a weekly requirement, ultimately through Microsoft forms. Crucially, the answers will go to HR departments at each agency — with more direct authority to demand them — rather than right to OPM. The cuts: More mass firings are expected to keep rolling out across the Pentagon and other agencies. Roughly 200 Social Security Administration contractors, along with 200 employees, are being fired, Bloomberg's Gregory Korte reports. Booz Allen Hamilton and similar firms stand at significant risk of losing tons of government contract business, WSJ's Chip Cutter reports. And in Oklahoma City, WaPo's Danielle Paquette reports on both the local toll of federal firings and the frightful Timothy McVeigh memories evoked by the rhetorical 'dehumanization' of the federal workforce. How we got here: NYT's Jonathan Swan, Teddy Schleifer, Maggie Haberman, Ryan Mac, Kate Conger, Nicholas Nehamas and Madeleine Ngo go deep on how the world's wealthiest person came to take over the federal government. Two years ago, Musk began floating the idea of radically cutting the bureaucracy by getting access to its computer systems. Doing that and seizing the U.S. Digital Service and OPM gave Musk an official foothold to remake the government — which Democrats never expected — in plans forged more specifically after the election with advice from Russell Vought, Stephen Miller and Amy Gleason. 'The team is now moving faster than many of the legal efforts to stop it, making drastic changes that could be hard to unwind even if they are ultimately constrained by the courts,' they write. 'Mr. Musk's associates have pushed out workers, ignored civil service protections, torn up contracts and effectively shuttered an entire agency established by Congress.' 3. TRADE WARS: China pushed back today on Trump's announcement of additional tariffs on its goods, with a spokesperson warning that it would take 'all necessary measures to defend its legitimate rights and interests,' per Bloomberg. Another spokesperson accused the U.S. of using fentanyl concerns as 'blackmail,' imperiling ongoing drug coordination efforts between the countries, per Reuters. The step back: Trump loves tariffs and sees them as a tool to achieve several aims at once, from getting leverage in immigration negotiations to bolstering domestic manufacturing to creating revenue. But experts tell NYT's Ana Swanson, Andrew Duehren and Colby Smith that his various levies on different countries could conflict with each other in getting to those goals. 4. HOW IT HAPPENED: 'Secret U.S. Drone Program Helped Capture Mexican Cartel Bosses,' by WSJ's Steve Fisher and Vera Bergengruen: 'The U.S. has secretly flown unarmed drones from Mexican airfields to spy on drug cartels, leading to the arrests of kingpin Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, one of his sons and other drug lords … The flights, operated by the Department of Homeland Security and the Central Intelligence Agency at the Mexican military's request, have also provided vital information for large drug seizures.' 5. ROOMIES: 'Speaker Mike Johnson Is Living in a D.C. House That Is the Center of a Pastor's Secretive Influence Campaign,' by ProPublica's Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski: 'In 2021, Steve Berger, an evangelical pastor who has attacked the separation of church and state as 'a delusional lie' and called multinational institutions 'demonic,' set off on an ambitious project. His stated goal: minister to members of Congress so that what 'they learn is then translated into policy.' … Speaker Mike Johnson has been staying at the home since around the beginning of this year.' But Johnson's office said the speaker is paying fair market value for the rent and has never talked about policy with Berger. 6. PRIMARY COLORS: Black Detroit Democrats have been defeated by Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) for two cycles in a row, but they're working to coordinate better and try to oust him next year, POLITICO's Ally Mutnick and Nick Wu report. State Rep. Donavan McKinney is weighing a campaign, encouraged by labor leaders and talking to the Congressional Black Caucus. Former state House Speaker Joe Tate and former state Sen. Adam Hollier didn't rule out bids either. But Thanedar, a wealthy self-funder, has triumphed over divided opposition before. 7. RAZIN D'ETRE: 'MAGA hat drama could taint Trump's top military adviser pick,' by POLITICO's Paul McLeary and Joe Gould: '[T]he story Trump tells about retired Lt. Gen. Dan 'Razin' Caine donning a politically affiliated ball cap when they met in Iraq in 2018 could violate military rules, muddy his confirmation process and taint his credibility. … [A] military official who has served with him and has knowledge of the encounter denied it.' 8. TIKTOK ON THE CLOCK: As TikTok seeks to stay alive in the U.S. when a 75-day extension expires in April, it's going on offense to try to reassure D.C. Republicans of its security. The latest independent security review from HaystackID, which is contracted/paid by TikTok, determined that there's been no 'indication of internal or external malicious activity' and 'no sharing of protected U.S. user data with China.' TikTok has been hoping it'll be able to reach an agreement to avoid a forced sale from ByteDance, as required by law, by convincing the Trump administration and lawmakers that American users' data is protected. (China hawks on the Hill haven't been convinced so far.) The announcement TALK OF THE TOWN Donald Trump said he doesn't think the NFL should ban the 'tush-push.' And he had dinner with Jeff Bezos the same day that Bezos shifted the WaPo opinion section to be libertarian. That change has cost the paper another 75,000 digital subscribers this week, per NPR. PLAYBOOK REAL ESTATE SECTION — 'JD Vance's House in Del Ray Is for Sale,' by Washingtonian's Andrew Beaujon: 'The five-bedroom farmhouse … includes four bedrooms in the main unit, off-street parking, and a snazzy ADU out back. … [H]is house can be yours for $1.7 million.' OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at Rep. Darren Soto's (D-Fla.) birthday last night at Royal Sands Social Club: Sheyla Asencios, José Javier Rodríguez, Sonia Ferré, Susie Feliz, William Ramos, Miguel Estien, Ines Hernandez, Andres Chong-Qui Torres, Leopoldo Martinez Nucete, Alex Howard and Joel Flores. — The Roosevelt Institute's 'Reimagine America' Conference kicked off yesterday at Le Méridien, gathering the progressive economic policy community. SPOTTED: Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, Lina Khan, Elizabeth Wilkins, Felicia Wong, Jennifer Abruzzo, Katherine Tai, Ben Beachy, Rohit Chopra, Joelle Gamble, Angela Hanks, Alex Jacquez, Lindsay Owens, Elizabeth Pancotti, Anna Canfield Roth, Mike Konczal, Julie Margetta Morgan, Alvaro Bedoya, Sharon Block, Chiraag Bains and Kathryn Anne Edwards. — Widehall's Steve Clemons hosted a 'pop-up event' at Compass Coffee Chinatown as part of the White House-designated Career & Technical Education Month, featuring Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-Md.), Micron Technology's Bo Machayo and others. Guests enjoyed espresso martinis, lattes and snacks. SPOTTED: Mignon Clyburn, Diego Sanchez, Alejandro Roark, Melodie Brown Thomas, Elizabeth Baker Keffer, Daniel Swartz, Natalie Fertig, Nick Niedzwiadek, Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Beth Antunez, Rowan Bishop, Peter Cherukuri, Matt Corridoni, Papia Debroy, Yasmeen Long and Anastasia Dellaccio. — SPOTTED at Semafor's 'Innovating to Restore Trust in News: A National Summit' at Gallup's Great Hall yesterday: FCC Chair Brendan Carr, Mark Thompson, Emma Tucker, Megyn Kelly, Bret Baier, Justin Smith, Ben Smith, Max Tani, Cesar Conde, Mehdi Hasan, Joe Kahn, Katherine Maher, Michael Calderone, Will Sommer, Lachlan Cartwright, Peter Kafka, Ted Johnson, Jeremy Barr, David Folkenflik, Michael Grynbaum, Katie Robertson, Ben Mullin, Jodie Ginsberg, Molly Jong-Fast, Nate Friedman, Alyson Shontell, Kris Jones, David Corn, Sara Just, McKay Coppins, Sam Jacobs, Sam Feist, Mark Halperin, Jim Clifton, Jim Brady, Erik Wemple and Paul Needham. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Ben Williamson has been named assistant director for public affairs at the FBI. He most recently was chief of staff for Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), and is a Trump White House alum. TRANSITIONS — Richard Walters is joining FGS Global as a partner. He previously was an adviser to the RNC chair and the Trump 2024 campaign. … Matthew Axelrod is now a partner at Gibson Dunn and co-chair of its new sanctions and export enforcement practice group. He most recently was assistant secretary for export enforcement at the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security. … … Nellie Liang will return to Brookings as a senior fellow in the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy. She previously was Treasury undersecretary for domestic finance. … Gordon Speed has been elevated to managing director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action's federal affairs office, leading its federal lobbying efforts. He previously was deputy managing director. … Adriana Rivera will be director of government affairs and defense at the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International. She currently is military legislative assistant for Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.). WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Ethan Porter, an associate professor of media and public affairs and political science at GW, and Ronit Zemel, director of culture and comms at HIAS, on Tuesday welcomed Saul Zemel Porter, who came in at 8 lbs, 7 oz. Pic … Another pic Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn't happen without our deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
Politico
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Playbook: Zelenskyy's last, best hope
Presented by the Coalition for Medicare Choices With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine Happy Friday. This is Zack Stanton, coming to you on the last day of February. The National Park Service predicts that peak bloom for Washington's cherry blossoms starts one month from today. Spring is almost here. Get in touch. DRIVING THE DAY A TIME FOR CHOOSING: In a very real sense, it's now or never for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he meets President Trump today at the White House. Over the course of about two hours — from his 11 a.m. arrival to his 1 p.m. joint press conference with Trump — Zelenskyy will do everything in his power to convince the president to provide military aid to defend Ukraine from the ongoing Russian invasion. The reality he faces is stark: Unless a deal gets signed in the next 24 hours, it's exceedingly unlikely that further U.S. assistance to Ukraine will be on the table again for the remainder of Trump's presidency. His country's freedom hangs in the balance. Complicating Zelenskyy's job: Trump just flat-out does not seem to like the Ukrainian president. But that's not for a lack of effort on Zelenskyy's part. The first conversation between the two men came back on July 25, 2019. Then, the newly elected Zelenskyy — who, like Trump, was a pop culture figure before entering politics — told the American president that he was, in a sense, a model to which the Ukrainian aspired. 'We wanted to drain the swamp here in our country,' Zelenskyy said. 'We brought in many, many new people. … You are a great teacher for us and in that.' If that conversation sounds familiar, there's a reason. A few minutes later, while talking about support for Ukraine to combat a Russian-backed separatist military movement in the eastern part of the country, Trump dangled aid, offering it as a transaction: 'I would like you to do us a favor,' he said. His request was that Ukraine dig up dirt on Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. It became the basis of the first Trump impeachment. Fast-forward 5 years, 7 months and 4 days: Ukraine again needs aid to fight Russian military aggression in the eastern part of its country. And Trump is again looking for a transaction. What's on the table today: Zelenskyy appears willing to move mountains to get U.S. support — and I mean that literally, in the form of signing away rights for his country's valuable rare earth minerals. While the specifics of any deal have not yet been put forward publicly, what we do know is that the general contours of an agreement have changed since first floated. The specifics: On today's 'Playbook Daily Briefing' podcast, POLITICO national security reporter Eric Bazail-Eimil walked us through the latest understanding of the deal. American companies would play a major role in developing Ukraine's mining of critical minerals like lithium, titanium and others used in high-tech manufacturing. Ukraine would have to contribute half of its revenues from 'from the future monetization of natural resources, including critical minerals, oil and gas,' NYT's Peter Baker writes this morning. The proceeds would be put into a fund managed by the U.S., and Ukraine could use its earnings from the mining to rebuild and beef up its defenses. One big x-factor in the mining deal: 'At least one key factor remains unresolved: While Zelensky said he would push for a U.S. security guarantee in any deal, Trump said this should fall to European allies,' WaPo's Adam Taylor writes this morning. ''The big problem is that to develop a new mine might take 10 years' or more, said Willy Shih, a Harvard economist who studies supply chains. 'Is anyone going to do that in a Ukraine that doesn't have security guarantees?'' What could happen if a deal doesn't pan out? — A Kremlin-friendly template for a peace deal. At peace talks in Istanbul in 2022, Russia demanded a 'sharp cut in Ukraine's military, a ban on foreign weapons and troops, and a Russian veto on Western security assistance in case of renewed conflict,' per WSJ's Yaroslav Trofimov and Michael Gordon. This week, in remarks that chilled Kyiv, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff said 'I think we will be using that framework as a guidepost to get a peace deal done between Ukraine and Russia.' — No U.S. 'backstop' to Europe's security guarantees. Yesterday, Trump relished the praise and gifts that U.K. PM Keir Starmer heaped upon him during his own White House visit, POLITICO's Eli Stokols and Dan Bloom write. But he 'appeared unmoved by Starmer's desperate appeal for a stronger U.S. commitment to protecting Ukraine,' refusing to commit to being a 'backstop' to 'European efforts to help defend Ukraine from any future invasion by Russia.' — So much for NATO Article 5: 'Perhaps most worrying for Starmer and other NATO allies was the president's nonchalance about whether the U.S. would respond militarily in a situation where British troops were attacked in Ukraine,' Eli and Dan continue. ''They don't need much help. They can take care of themselves very well,' Trump said, before hedging slightly. 'The British have been incredible soldiers, incredible military, and they can take care of themselves. But if they need help, I'll always be with the British, okay? I will always be with them. But they don't need help.'' And in a moment sure to unsettle America's NATO's partners, Trump needled Starmer with a question: 'Could you take on Russia by yourselves?' Video of that exchange — Tighter U.S.-Russia relations. 'Earlier on Thursday, unnamed U.S. and Russian officials convened in Istanbul to discuss ways to strengthen diplomatic ties,' reports NYT's Nataliya Vasilyeva. 'The meeting was held at the official residence of the U.S. consul general in Istanbul — a rare choice of location as Russian diplomats have not agreed to meet on American territory since before the invasion of Ukraine.' For Ukraine, the stakes of today's meeting verge on existential. For Europe and NATO, it has the makings of a potential watershed moment. For Trump, it's just another transaction in which he's trying to exert maximum pressure to win everything he wants. And he just might get it: riches in the forms of rare earth minerals, peace in the form of an end to Russian aggression against a Ukraine that's home to vast U.S. economic interests and credit for it all if it pans out. But for that to happen, he'll first need Zelenskyy to do him a favor, and sign on the dotted line. Smart big-picture read: 'Trump's World Vision Would Reshape the Global Economy. Ukraine Is His First Step,' by Barron's Matt Peterson The wave of the future?: 'Mineral-rich Congo pitches Trump on security deal akin to Ukraine,' by POLITICO E&E News' Hannah Northey ON THE HILL SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN: In a Truth Social post last night, President Trump endorsed 'a clean, temporary government funding Bill … to the end of September.' As a reminder, without a continuing resolution acting as a stopgap, the government faces a shutdown deadline on March 14, just two weeks from today. More from Inside Congress FWIW: Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) said yesterday she was instructed to start prepping a stopgap spending bill to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year, POLITICO's Lisa Kashinsky, Meredith Lee Hill and Mia McCarthy note. One thing that could complicate that: Senior Republicans are seriously exploring how to include DOGE cuts in an upcoming government funding bill — a move that would escalate tensions with Democrats and drastically increase the likelihood of a shutdown, POLITICO's Meredith Lee Hill and Rachael Bade report. The idea: One source said the idea would be to codify some of the 'most egregious' examples of alleged waste that DOGE has identified, and incorporate them into a government funding patch through the end of the fiscal year. The gambit: Republicans would then dare Democrats to vote against the package, lest they be blamed for causing a shutdown. The strategy, if adopted, could help satisfy conservative hard-liners already upset that Congress is hurtling toward another short-term spending patch. But it could scramble the politics considerably, alienating Democrats whose votes are needed to ensure passage given the narrow Republican majorities in both chambers. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) has earned a reputation as one of the most unpredictable members of the House — someone who has at times delighted in being a thorn in Speaker Mike Johnson's side, as we saw this week. This morning, POLITICO's Adam Wren is out with a revelatory deep dive into Spartz's tumultuous rise, filled with memorable details. Here's one that is going to stick with us: 'In an interview, one former [congressional] aide said Spartz requested that she and another staffer pull weeds and pass out champagne at Spartz's Noblesville cabin ahead of a September 2024 fundraiser. … That same former aide provided screenshots of contemporaneous text messages in which she explained to another staffer where the wheelbarrow used for pulling weeds could be found. 'I have been told there was no champagne at the event. There was sparkling wine,' Dan Hazelwood, a campaign adviser, told me. 'So don't call it champagne.'' Spartz denies these allegations: 'I do not require my official staff to do any political activities at all and I am tired of you writing lies,' Spartz told Adam when presented with the reporting in the article. COMMUNICATION IS KEY: Members of the Senate DOGE Caucus want Elon Musk to coordinate more with Congress on his crusade to cut through the federal government. That was the message as lawmakers left a White House meeting with Musk yesterday, where Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) told the billionaire that it was important for senators to have points of contact within DOGE to address concerns from constituents, POLITICO's Hailey Fuchs and Mia McCarthy report. 'We're breaking a few things, but at the end of the day, we'll keep the right people in place,' Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) said. RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: The White House and congressional GOP leaders are strategizing over how to incorporate revenue from new tariffs in their massive party-line domestic policy bill, as they seek a deficit-neutral package, POLITICO's Meredith Lee Hill reports. Though the plan is still to keep the tariffs outside the final reconciliation package, the group discussed how to score and eventually count the revenue as part of their plans for a deficit-neutral bill. What else came up?: At the White House meeting, Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) raised a 'huge concern' that an independent review of the measure could hamper things, he told POLITICO's Benjamin Guggenheim. The fear is that an accounting tactic the Senate plans to use to dramatically lower the cost of the plan — and that Smith favors — might be rejected by the parliamentarian. MOVING ON McMAHON: Linda McMahon is one step closer to getting confirmed as Education secretary, with the Senate advancing her nomination in a 51-47 party-line vote, teeing up the final confirmation vote for Monday. More from POLITICO's Mackenzie Wilkes WEEKEND LISTENING: On this week's episode of 'Playbook Deep Dive,' chief Playbook correspondent Eugene Daniels joins senior Congress editor Mike DeBonis and West Wing Playbook co-author Sophia Cai to help digest everything that has happened this week — and everything that is coming next week, like Trump's joint address to Congress. Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify MAGA REVOLUTION HOT ON THE RIGHT: On Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News that a trove of shocking documents related to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was 'on my desk' and would be released the next day. Then Thursday came, and the files were a total dud: 'less than 200 pages of previously released flight logs, an evidence log and a heavily redacted list of contacts,' the Miami Herald's Julie K. Brown reports. But it isn't just the documents that have people riled up; it's how the whole episode unfurled. Anatomy of a stunt: A group of MAGA-aligned far-right influencers including Mike Cernovich, Rogan O'Handley (aka @DC_Draino) and Chaya Raichik (aka @libsoftiktok), among others, were summoned to the White House ahead of the release, and received binders filled with the documents. (In a video he later streamed on X, O'Handley said that the group met with Bondi, VP JD Vance, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Trump, who invited them into the Oval Office.) Afterward, they emerged from the White House, holding up their binders for press cameras outside; some also held red MAGA caps. The move was widely decried. 'Nothing new was released! It was all show! A circus!' Epstein abuse survivor Marijke Chartouni told Puck's Tara Palmeri … 'This isn't a news story, it's a publicity stunt,' Palm Beach attorney Spencer Kuvin, who has worked the Epstein case since 2005 and represented the first victim to go to law enforcement, told the Miami Herald, sharing his fear that the administration was 'using the victims for political purposes.' What now: In a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel last night, Bondi demanded that the Bureau deliver to her 'the full and complete Epstein files' by 8 a.m. today. Stay tuned. DOGE ON THE WORLD STAGE: Trump and Musk want to drastically slash the State Department — 'leaving it with fewer diplomats, a smaller number of embassies and a narrower remit that critics argue could hand China wins across the world,' POLITICO's Nahal Toosi reports. The administration appears 'determined to focus State on areas such as transactional government agreements, safeguarding U.S. security and promoting foreign investment in America.' That would mean slashing bureaus promoting traditional soft power initiatives — such as those advancing democracy, protecting human rights and supporting scientific research. More on the chopping block: The administration has also 'decided that hundreds of programs aimed at helping people in the world's poorest countries stay alive are no longer in the national interest,' POLITICO's Carmen Paun and Daniel Lippman report. 'The sweeping cuts in foreign aid announced Wednesday will slash HIV treatment, prevention and research, health services to treat malaria, and care for new mothers and their babies, among other lifesaving programs, say global health and humanitarian groups whose contracts were cut. It will also halt basic health services for people displaced by conflict, such as those in Sudan or Gaza.' WEAPONIZATION WATCH: FBI agents this week questioned EPA employees 'regarding a Biden administration grant program for climate and clean-energy projects, escalating a criminal probe that already caused one veteran prosecutor to resign,' WaPo's Spencer Hsu, Maxine Joselow and Nicolás Rivero report. 'The move came after the Justice Department in recent weeks took unusual steps to advance the investigation, having a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney submit a warrant request when career prosecutors were unwilling and seeking prosecutors in other offices who would agree to participate in the case.' IN THE COURTS: A federal judge yesterday dealt the administration's downsizing efforts a significant blow, though the impact may already be baked in. The ruling said that OPM broke the law when it ordered other federal agencies to terminate thousands of 'probationary' employees. However, the ruling does not appear to immediately help any of the federal workers who have already lost their jobs, POLITICO's Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report. The judge stopped short of ordering agencies to reinstate fired workers, saying he didn't have that authority. PENTAGON PURGE: The Pentagon sent out a memo yesterday telling military services they have '30 days to figure out how they will seek out and identify transgender service members to remove them from the force — a daunting task that may end up relying on troops self-reporting or tattling on their colleagues,' AP's Tara Copp and Lolita Baldor report. Big names: Five former Defense secretaries — Lloyd Austin, Jim Mattis, Chuck Hagel, Leon Panetta and William Perry — sent a letter to Congress decrying Trump's firing last week of the Joint Chiefs Chair C.Q. Brown and other top-level military officials, 'urging Congress to hold hearings and declaring they have concluded the officers were 'fired for purely partisan reasons,'' WaPo's Dan Lamothe reports. Read the letter The widening battlefield: Trump has 'rolled back constraints on American commanders to authorize airstrikes and special operation raids outside conventional battlefields, broadening the range of people who can be targeted,' CBS' James LaPorta reports. BEST OF THE REST INFLATION NATION: The Commerce Department is set to release its latest reading on the state of the economy at 8:30 a.m. this morning, dropping inflation data from January. Ahead of the release, there are signs that Trump's tariffs are sparking concerns that he may further stoke inflation in the coming months, POLITICO's Victoria Guida writes this morning. Trumping up the tariffs: Trump yesterday doubled down on his tariff agenda, saying that he plans to impose an additional 10 percent levy on Chinese imports (on top of the 10 percent he already implemented), and move forward with 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican products, WSJ's Gavin Bade and Lingling Wei write. South of the border: Mexico yesterday extradited 29 alleged drug traffickers to the U.S., 'including Rafael Caro Quintero, a prized target long sought in the killing of a U.S. narcotics agent, and two leaders of the hyper-violent Zetas cartel, in a dramatic gesture apparently aimed at heading off crushing economic sanctions,' WaPo's Mary Beth Sheridan reports from Mexico City. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) launched his reelection campaign yesterday and he is entering the race with $8 million in cash on hand. Among the major donors to Cotton's campaign are Max Alvarez, Thomas Tull, Mike Kavoukjian, Marc Lipschultz, Warren Stephens and Art Fisher, according to details shared with Playbook. Cotton's email donor list also reaches over 100,000, which the campaign expects will drive most of his fundraising. THE WEEKEND AHEAD TV TONIGHT — PBS' 'Washington Week': Peter Baker, Jonathan Karl, Ashley Parker and Nancy Youssef. SUNDAY SO FAR … NBC 'Meet the Press': Speaker Mike Johnson … Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) … Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Panel: Brendan Buck, Carol Lee, Stephanie Murphy and Julio Vaqueiro. Fox News 'Sunday Morning Futures': Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick … Speaker Mike Johnson … Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) … Vivek Ramaswamy … Devin Nunes … Mike Pompeo. CNN 'State of the Union': Speaker Mike Johnson … Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). Panel: Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.), Scott Jennings, Xochitl Hinojosa and Erin McGuire. ABC 'This Week': British Ambassador Peter Mandelson … Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova … Chris Christie … Kara Swisher. Panel: Donna Brazile, Rachel Scott, Julie Pace and Reihan Salam. CBS 'Face the Nation': Kaja Kallas … Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) … Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey … Rep. John James (R-Mich.). NewsNation 'The Hill Sunday': Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) … Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.). Panel: Josh Barro, Paul Kane and Julia Manchester. FOX 'Fox News Sunday': Legal panel: Ilya Shapiro and Tom Dupree. Sunday panel: Susan Page, Richard Fowler, Doug Heye and Hans Nichols. MSNBC 'The Weekend': New Mexico AG Raul Torrez … Shernice Mundell. TALK OF THE TOWN FOR THE TRUE POLITICAL JUNKIES: A new six-episode podcast, 'The Bentsen Blueprint,' draws on a bundle of previously unreleased tapes of the famously measured late Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) offering his 'candid reflections' on politics and life. Listen to it on YouTube OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at a reception held by the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Coalition on Wednesday, after members met with congressional offices for its inaugural Hill day, to celebrate the launch of the Senate Sustainable Aviation Caucus: Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Tom Michels, Amy Lawrence, Kevin Welsh, Alison Graab, Scott Lewis and John Fuher. Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) is also a leader of the caucus. — The CAR Coalition, which is advocating for the REPAIR Act to create a vehicle 'right-to-repair' law, hosted a welcome back event for the House Energy & Commerce Committee on Wednesday night in the Rayburn House Office Building. SPOTTED: Reps. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.), Bob Latta (R-Ohio), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), Rick Allen (R-Ga.), Troy Balderson (R-Ohio), Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-Calif.), Michael Rulli (R-Ohio), Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Cliff Bentz (R-Ore.) and Greg Landsman (D-Ohio). — Axios hosted a Netflix-sponsored event for the new show 'Zero Day,' including conversations with its creative team, Chris Krebs and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.). SPOTTED: Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Angela Greiling Keane, John Hewitt Jones, Jude Soundar, Stuart Harris, Katherine Grayson, Clare Gallagher, Emma Rindels-Hill, Matthew Norambuena, Mary Clark, Sang Kim, Camille deWalder and Marybeth Kelliher. — SPOTTED at the University of Southern California's reception in Rayburn on Wednesday celebrating the launch of the House Trojan Caucus for USC alumni: Carol Folt, caucus co-chairs Reps. Young Kim (R-Calif.) and Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.), and Reps. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-Calif.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.) and Ted Lieu (D-Calif.). MEDIA MOVES — Carrie Dann has been named managing editor for The Cook Political Report. She most recently was senior Washington editor at NBC. … Julian Sorapuru is joining the Boston Globe's Washington bureau as a political reporter. He previously was an arts reporter at the Globe. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Michael Sargent has joined Meridiam Infrastructure as a senior adviser. He previously was deputy secretary of transportation for Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. TRANSITIONS — Tyler Clevenger is now a director at 38 North Solutions. He previously was an environmental protection specialist at the Transportation Department. … Josh Jamison is now wildfire policy adviser for Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.). He previously was manager of federal government affairs for the National Marine Manufacturers Association and is a John Duarte alum. … Kathryn Maxwell is now director of government relations at Peraton. She previously was a professional staffer on the House Appropriations' Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee and is a George W. Bush White House and Trump DHS alum. … … Wiley Rein has added Stacy Tatman as public policy adviser in their environment and product regulation practice and Alexandrine De Bianchi as a public policy advisor in their telecom, media and technology practice. Tatman previously has been an independent consultant. Alexandrine most recently was the director of legislative affairs at the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy. … Jeremy Edwards is joining The Century Foundation as a senior comms adviser. He most recently was a spokesman and assistant press secretary in the Biden White House and is a FEMA and Commerce alum. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: NYT's Lisa Lerer and Meredith Kopit Levien … Ira Forman … Paul Krugman ... WaPo's Sarah Ellison ... Steven Chu … Porter DeLaney ... John Nagl ... POLITICO's Caitlin O'Hare, Charlie Mahtesian and Tamira Creek … Andrea Riccio … Manhattan Institute's Kelsey Bloom ... Ken Blackwell ... Pete Williams … Jack Abramoff … Heather Fluit of ICF Next … Food for the Hungry's Kristen Callaway … Mark Lippert … Will May … Amazon's Cara Hewitt ... Tom Hussain … Tiffany Haas of the Senate HELP Committee … Ned Ryun … Drew Ryun … Trinity Hall of Sen. Chris Coons' (D-Del.) office … Alivia Roberts … Jessica Chau … March On Washington Film Festival's Joanne Irby… Marcus Childress … MSNBC's Chris Hayes … Matthew Wald … Chris Keppler … Brendan Kelly … Jessie Lazarus … Brendan Kelly Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn't happen without our deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
