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Politico
3 days ago
- Business
- Politico
GOP leaders rush into Musk damage control
IN TODAY'S EDITION:— Johnson defends against Musk's attacks— Emmer's megabill confidence— Congress gets its rescissions deadline Hill GOP leaders are in full-on damage control as they scramble to save their megabill — and themselves — from the blast radius of Donald Trump and Elon Musk's breakup. But Musk doesn't seem interested in sparing any part of the GOP trifecta from his wrath on his way out of Washington. The president's new enemy attacked both Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune Thursday over the cost of the party's sweeping domestic policy package. Thune brushed it aside. Johnson, however, is mounting a multi-front rebuttal as he aims to keep Musk from hurting the megabill's prospects, our Meredith Lee Hill reports. He's questioning the tech mogul's motives for opposing the bill and challenging his claims about its impact on the deficit. Johnson already had to reassure hard-liners concerned about the bill's spending in order to squeeze the bill through the House last month. 'I'm the same guy that's always been a deficit hawk, and now I'm the speaker of the House, and I'm working on a multi-step plan to reverse the fiscal insanity that has haunted our country,' Johnson told reporters Thursday. 'We have to get the big, beautiful bill done.' Johnson's leadership team quickly claimed Musk wouldn't rattle their members. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise insisted it hadn't moved any votes. And Whip Tom Emmer, in an exclusive interview with Mia (more on that below), said he's not tracking Musk's onslaught on X. 'Sorry,' Emmer said, 'he's not on my phone.' Some fiscal hard-liners — who share in Musk's concerns about the bill but allowed it to pass the House — avoided immediately picking sides in the feud. Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris, bombarded with questions about Musk on Thursday, said only that he's 'right on the deficit.' Sen. Mike Lee posted on X: 'But … I really like both of them.' They may not have to choose. Signs of a détente emerged late Thursday, with Trump brushing off the clash in a phone call with our Dasha Burns and Musk seeming somewhat open to a reconciliation (just not the reconciliation bill). White House aides are working to broker peace. Still, if the Trump-Musk divorce goes through, MAGA will side with the president, our Rachael Bade predicts in her latest Corridors column. There were signs Thursday that Musk was alienating some of Trump's biggest Hill boosters. 'Elon is getting too personal. It's getting out of control,' Rep. Troy Nehls told Mia. 'Some of the most recent comments, I think: Elon, you've lost your mind.' Coming up in today's Playbook: Musk bankrolled the GOP back to power in Washington. Now his financial firepower could break Republicans' trifecta — and imperil their legislative agenda after 2026. TGIF. Follow our live coverage at the Inside Congress blog at and email your Inside Congress scribes at mmccarthy@ lkashinsky@ and bleonard@ THE SKED The House is in session and voting on a bill that requires proof of citizenship to apply for SBA loans at 10:10 a.m. — Financial Services will continue a hearing on digital assets at 9 a.m. — Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries will have his weekly press conference at 10:45 a.m. The Senate is out. Next week: The Senate will continue to take up Trump's nominations. The House is scheduled to take up Trump's rescissions package. THE LEADERSHIP SUITE FIRST IN INSIDE CONGRESS: Emmer projects confidence on Senate's megabill Emmer isn't concerned about the GOP megabill's fate in the Senate, despite the current policy disputes. During an exclusive sitdown with Mia on Thursday, the House majority whip was bullish about getting the bill to Trump's desk by July 4. 'The Senate will do their work. They're going to send the bill back to us,' Emmer told Mia. 'We are going to pass it and send it to the president's desk. The time for talking is over.' ON SALT — One thing Emmer said he hopes the Senate won't touch: the quadrupled state-and-local tax deduction cap carefully negotiated with blue-state Republicans in the House. Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo recently said there's little appetite among his members for keeping the increase fully intact. But Emmer said he believes the Senate understands the House's more difficult math. 'John Thune was quoted somewhere as saying, you know, 'We understand it's 51 over here and it's 218 over there.'' Emmer said. 'That should tell you everything you need to know.' ON MEDICAID — Emmer said he believes senators who have raised concerns on the issue — specifically Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Josh Hawley — are 'going to be pleasantly surprised when they go through' the bill. 'A lot of their concerns that they thought they were going to have are just not there,' Emmer said, adding that 'there might be' tweaks, but no one has flagged any 'major problems' in the bill. Emmer said the only area he thinks there might be unease is about the provider tax. ON CLEAN ENERGY — A key group of senators could hold up the bill over the repeal or scaling back of the Inflation Reduction Act's clean-energy tax provisions, which could disrupt projects in their states. But Emmer said that's something the House was concerned about as well. 'That's one of the reasons why the sunsetting is out at least three years, so that people can continue projects and repurpose them,' Emmer said. 'That was the whole concept. Whatever the Senate does with it, that's their business.' Pros can read the rest of the Q&A with Emmer here. Reconciliation 2.0 ... or 3.0? Johnson has already floated the idea of a second reconciliation package. Now, he's hinting at a third. 'There may be a third one,' the speaker said Thursday, adding that 'we have to do it in the proper sequence.' Emmer didn't wave off the idea of a second or third megabill to Mia on Thursday, but noted they should 'get the first one done.' 'All of it's possible,' Emmer said. 'Is it probable? We'll see.' POLICY RUNDOWN SCOOP: WICKER QUESTIONS ARMY PARADE — Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker told Lisa he 'would have recommended against' the Army's plan to hold a multimillion-dollar parade in D.C. on June 14, which is also Trump's birthday. 'On the other hand, the secretary feels that it will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for thousands of young Americans to see what a great opportunity it is to participate in a great military force, that it will be a recruiting tool,' Wicker said. 'So, we'll see.' Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told lawmakers in a budget hearing Thursday that the parade could cost $25 million to $40 million. He was not able to provide an exact cost, he said, because the Army will also need to cover whatever damage its tanks do to Washington's streets. Other GOP senators aren't happy with the price tag. Collins told Lisa she's 'glad that we're honoring the Army' but 'the cost does seem a bit steep.' Sen. Ron Johnson was blunt: 'If it costs money, I won't go.' SCOOP: RESCISSIONS DEADLINE SET — Congress must act by July 18 on Trump's request to claw back $9.4 billion in funding or the White House will be required to spend the money, the Senate parliamentarian said. If the House and Senate follow their current schedules, the 45-day clock on Trump's request will expire at midnight that day, people granted anonymity to discuss private guidance from the Senate's rule-keeper told our Jennifer Scholtes. Before that deadline, the House and Senate can vote to approve or reject Trump's request to nix $8.3 billion for foreign aid and $1.1 billion for public broadcasting. TRUMP'S 'EITHER WAY' ON TAX PERMANENCE — Sen. Steve Daines, one of the chamber's tax writers, told our Benjamin Guggenheim Thursday that Trump was noncommittal during their White House meeting on whether his business tax incentives should be extended or made permanent. 'He said: 'I'm open to permanence. I'm open to kind of go either way, even on a five-year provision'' like what the House included in its version of the megabill, Daines said. Daines told Benjamin he believes there's a consensus among Senate Finance Republicans for permanence, calling it a 'once-in-a-generation opportunity' for lasting tax reform. ABOUT THOSE CLEAN ENERGY CREDITS — GOP senators who want to keep clean-energy credits under Democrats' 2022 climate law are expressing confidence that their chamber will ease off the harsh phaseouts in the House-passed megabill. Sen. Thom Tillis told our Josh Siegel that 'every one of them is going to have some sort of an extension' from the sunset dates in the House bill. Murkowski told reporters Thursday she's also looking to ensure 'more reasonable' phaseout timelines. 'You can't have real dominance unless you have all aspects of energy,' Murkowski said. 'And it's not too much to say that 'all of the above' includes things still like wind and solar, and geothermal, and nuclear, and biofuels, and ocean energy.' GOP SENATORS TO REWRITE AI FREEZE — Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz said Thursday his committee would attempt to rewrite the 10-year moratorium on enforcement of state and local artificial intelligence laws that the House tucked into their version of the megabill. Several GOP senators expressed skepticism this week that the current language could clear the Senate's strict rules for what can be included in the filibuster-skirting reconciliation package. Thune sounded supportive of the House measure Thursday, but conceded it was unclear if it could pass the Byrd test. 'The goal is to make sure that we aren't losing the race in AI and making sure that we have a policy that's consistent,' Thune said. Best of POLITICO Pro and E&E: POLITICO PRO SPACE: Need an insider's guide to the politics behind the new space race? From battles over sending astronauts to Mars to the ways space companies are vying to influence regulators, this weekly newsletter decodes the personalities, policy and power shaping the final frontier. Find out more. TUNNEL TALK SPOTTED — Laura Loomer was on the Hill on Thursday, waiting outside the House Judiciary room. She was trying to meet with Reps. Eric Swalwell and Jared Moskowitz, among other Democrats, to talk about designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, according to our John Sakellariadis. THE BEST OF THE REST Exclusive: New video shows tussle between Rep. Nadler staffer and federal officers, by Arya Sundaram at the Gothamist Democrats Say Trump's New Travel Ban Won't Be as Central to Messaging as Last Time, by Torrence Banks at NOTUS JOB BOARD Melissa Burnison is now clerk for the Senate Appropriations Energy-Water Subcommittee. She previously was VP for federal legislative affairs at Berkshire Hathaway Energy, and is an Energy Department alum. Christiana Nulty (née Reasor) has joined Thune's office as health policy adviser. She previously was director of federal affairs at Genentech and is a Jerry Moran and Lynn Jenkins alum. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sen. Marsha Blackburn ... Reps. Madeleine Dean and Eugene Vindman (5-0) … Alexander Vindman (5-0) … former Reps. Eric Cantor, David Bonior (8-0) and Allen Boyd (8-0) … Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth … ABC's Katherine Faulders … Fabiana Corsi Mendez of Rep. Eugene Vindman's office … Ward Baker … Margaret White of No Labels ... Max Docksey ... POLITICO's Gabby Miller ... CQ's Caroline Simon Coudriet … Allie Freedman … Sarah Gadsden … Julia Masterman of Angerholzer Broz Consulting TRIVIA THURSDAY'S ANSWER: SP correctly answered that China was the first country to sign a Fulbright agreement. TODAY'S QUESTION, from Mia: What current member of Congress was formerly a scuba instructor in Thailand? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@
Politico
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Politico
The Friday news dump from hell
Presented by With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine Happy Saturday. It's Adam Wren here back in your inbox. Send me tips and scoops. President Donald Trump was wheels down at 9:08 p.m. last night, back from his Middle East trip. The flight was bumpy at times but uneventful. He returned to a news cycle far more turbulent. On his way back from Abu Dhabi, he sent a crystal-clear message to Capitol Hill, as our Rachael Bade writes in her latest Corridors column: 'Tidy up the house, kids, because dad's coming home from his big work trip.' 'Republicans MUST UNITE behind, 'THE ONE, BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL!' … STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE!' Trump said on Truth Social. OMINOUS MOOD MUSIC: 'Don't be surprised in the coming days when the White House activates allies on the outside while Trump employs the inside game to move people to 'yes,'' Rachael writes. 'Indeed, the Trump administration official whom I texted with Friday warned obstructionists they'll pay a price. 'Voters gave them a once-in-a-generation opportunity to pass a good bill,' the person told Rachael. 'And for those who vote against, they should know their careers are in jeopardy.'' One to watch: After failing to advance the megabill in a dramatic vote yesterday, the House Budget Committee has noticed a 10 p.m. vote on Sunday for the legislation as negotiations between the holdouts and leadership continue. More from POLITICO's Jennifer Scholtes BULLETIN: Trump will hold a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine on Monday at 10 a.m., the president said in a post on Truth Social this morning. DRIVING THE DAY A news dump from hell came for Republicans and Democrats alike Friday, and Trump's Washington is still sorting through the collateral damage this morning. Like the Red Wedding episode of 'Game of Thrones,' few characters escaped its wrath. Its blowback threatens to extend deep into the coming days. LET'S GO TO THE TAPE: 3:46 p.m. — Trump's efforts to expel alleged Venezuelan gang members suffered another legal setback from his own Supreme Court, with seven justices extending the block on deporting dozens of men held in a deportation center in Texas. Only Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented. THE DAMAGE: It's a temporary blow to Trump's strategy of using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to aid his immigration agenda. BUT: 'Friday's ruling noted that it was not resolving the legality of Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act,' as POLITICO's Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney write. 'That question is being litigated in lower courts.' Trump railed against the decision on Truth Social, posting that 'The Supreme Court of the United States is not allowing me to do what I was elected to do.' 4:45 p.m. — Moody's Ratings downgraded the U.S. government's Triple A credit rating for the first time in a century, citing 'the increase over more than a decade in government debt and interest payment ratios to levels that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns.' The White House immediately went into attack mode. 'If Moody's had any credibility, they would not have stayed silent as the fiscal disaster of the past four years unfolded,' White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the news 'should be a wake-up call to Trump and Congressional Republicans to end their reckless pursuit of their deficit-busting tax giveaway.' THE DAMAGE: 'The announcement comes as Republicans are debating President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' that would extend 2017 tax cuts, with some hard-line conservatives fighting to limit the increase to federal spending deficits,' POLITICO's Victoria Guida writes. 'But those deficits would increase even under conditions outlined by that group.' BUT: OMB Director Russ Vought is clapping back at those critiquing the bills cost. 'The bill satisfies the very red-line test that House fiscal hawks laid out a few weeks ago that stated that the cost of any tax cut could be paid for with $2.5 trillion in assumed economic growth, but the rest had to be covered with savings from reform,' Vought said in a lengthy post on X. 6:08 p.m. — POLITICO reports that audio of former President Joe Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur would soon leak. Now, Republicans are using it to again eviscerate Biden. 'Whoever had control of the 'AUTOPEN' is looking to be a bigger and bigger scandal by the moment,' Trump posted earlier this morning on Truth Social. 'It is a major part of the real crime, THAT THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2020 WAS RIGGED AND STOLEN!' WHAT REPUBLICANS ARE SAYING: 'We all knew that President Biden suffered from severe mental decline during his presidency,' Mike Davis, the GOP lawyer and close Trump ally, told Playbook this morning. 'But the Hur tapes make clear it was much, much worse than the American people knew. The Biden White House and its Cabinet engaged in the biggest cover up and scandal in American political history by hiding this.' WHAT DEMOCRATS ARE SAYING: 'Trump was extra chaotic yesterday because he doesn't want to talk about the economy — Walmart raising prices, our credit rating getting downgraded, record-low consumer sentiment, or the GOP budget chaos,' said Mike Nellis, a Democratic strategist and senior adviser to Kamala Harris' 2020 presidential primary campaign. 'Instead, he throws out bullshit distractions: attacking Taylor Swift and leaking the Hur tapes to embarrass Biden — the latter being a completely classless move.' Biden aides were not expecting the audio to drop as early as this weekend and had been told as much by the Justice Department, according to two people familiar with the back and forth. But they did ultimately expect it to drop soon: By May 20, DOJ had been ordered by a judge to say whether it will stand by Biden's assertion of executive privilege to block the release of the tapes. Biden advisers had expected the audio to come out by that date — and it was one of the reasons they brought on extra communications help. It all amounts to perhaps one of the best-timed book releases in recent history. 'Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,' ($27) the book by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios' Alex Thompson, will be officially released on May 20. Thompson was one of two authors on the Axios report Friday on the audio. 6:36 p.m.: Axios publishes its first crack at the audio. THE DAMAGE: Biden's legacy and reputation took another significant hit. Harris also took a hit, as Axios notes: 'Biden's defenders included then-Vice President Harris, who blasted Hur's report and called his comments about Biden's age 'gratuitous, inaccurate and inappropriate,'' they write. ''The way that the president's demeanor in that report was characterized could not be more wrong on the facts and clearly politically motivated —gratuitous,' Harris said then. '.... We should expect that there would be a higher level of integrity than what we saw.'' 'The transcripts were released by the Biden administration more than a year ago,' Biden spokesperson Kelly Scully said. 'The audio does nothing but confirm what is already public.' LISTEN: Axios posted the full audio. THE BIG PICTURE: Surveying all of this from a careful remove is former Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), one of the few elected Democrats who spoke up at the time Biden decided to run for reelection and mounted his own ill-fated primary bid. My colleague Holly Otterbein checked in with Phillips, who texted some spicy takes after the story went up. Phillips told Holly he isn't convinced that Democratic primary voters will care about the topic in 2028. 'Based on their overwhelming selection of Joe Biden in 2024 despite abundant evidence that doing so would result in disaster, I suspect the gaslighting by 2028 aspirants won't matter a bit,' he said. RELATED READS: Another unforced error: 'When a Guatemalan man sued the Trump administration in March for deporting him to Mexico despite a fear of persecution, immigration officials had a response: The man told them himself he was not afraid to be sent there. But in a late Friday court filing, the administration acknowledged that this claim — a key plank of the government's response to a high-stakes class action lawsuit — was based on erroneous information,' POLITICO's Kyle Cheney reports. ICE officials 'now say they have no record of anyone being told by the man, identified only by the initials O.C.G. in court papers, that he was unafraid of going to Mexico.' Laying down the law: A federal judge in Maryland 'upbraided the Trump administration Friday for what she described as 'bad faith' delay tactics in the face of court orders requiring the government to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador by U.S. immigration authorities,' Kyle and Josh report. Notable quotable: 'I'm like the cat with the ball of string and I'm trying to keep up with the ball of string,' U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said. More Biden scrutiny: The House Oversight Committee is launching an investigation into Biden's use of an autopen to issue pardons in the final days of his presidency. Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) told the Republican National Lawyers Association's policy conference yesterday that he believes they've 'identified the staffer' who operated the autopen, The Washington Examiner's Kaelan Deese writes. 'If what we think is going to play out on the autopen [investigation], it's going to create a strong case on the pardons,' Comer said. 9 THINGS THAT STUCK WITH US 1. A NEW GAZA PLAN: The Trump administration is 'working on a plan to permanently relocate up to 1 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Libya,' NBC's Courtney Kube, Carol Lee and Gordon Lubold report, noting that the plan is 'under serious enough consideration that the administration has discussed it with Libya's leadership.' In exchange, the U.S. would 'potentially release to Libya billions of dollars of funds that the U.S. froze more than a decade ago.' However, the report was met with pushback after publication. An admin spokesperson told NBC that the reported plan was 'untrue,' adding that the 'situation on the ground is untenable for such a plan. Such a plan was not discussed and makes no sense.' On the ground: Just a day after Trump left the region, Israel 'launched a major operation in the Gaza Strip to pressure Hamas to release remaining hostages, following days of strikes across the Palestinian territory that killed hundreds of people,' AP's Ibrahim Hazboun and Samy Magdy report. 2. MORE ON THE TRUMP TRIP: Trump's sudden announcement this week that he was lifting sanctions on Syria 'triggered a scramble across the US government to implement the decision,' CNN's Kylie Atwood, Jennifer Hansler and Alex Marquardt report. 'Trump administration officials had for months been carrying out quiet engagements to pave the way for sanctions relief and a potential high-level engagement with the former jihadist turned interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, but the announcement sanctions would swiftly be removed altogether took some officials by surprise.' On Iran: Trump's stated intention to strike a nuclear deal with Iran — which was the subject of much chatter during his Middle East trip — is likely to 'test the harder-line wing of Mr. Trump's supporters in the Republican Party and whether they will fall in line with what would be a departure from their longstanding demands that Iran dismantle its nuclear program,' NYT's Steven Erlanger writes. 'More than 200 congressional Republicans urged him in a letter this week to stand firm with Iran.' 3. MAGA REVOLUTION: Trump's desire to dramatically overhaul the federal government appears to be well on its way to becoming reality. The administration's 'push for early retirement and voluntary separation is fueling a voluntary exodus of experienced, knowledgeable staffers unlike anything in living memory,' WaPo's Hannah Natanson, Dan Diamond, Rachel Siegel, Jacob Bogage and Ian Duncan report. The scale: 'The first resignation offer, sent in January, saw 75,000 workers across government agree to quit and keep drawing pay through September, the administration has said. But a second round, rolling out agency by agency through the spring, is seeing a sustained, swelling uptick that will dwarf the first, potentially climbing into the hundreds of thousands, the employees and the records show.' 4. THE TAIL WAGS THE DOGE: 'How DOGE has tried to embed beyond the executive branch,' by NPR's Shannon Bond and Stephen Fowler: 'NPR has identified close to 40 entities — inside, adjacent to and outside of the government — where DOGE and the Trump administration have turned their attention in recent weeks. Some of them have already been effectively dismantled by DOGE … Some have been targeted for elimination by the president in his budget proposal for next year … Some of them aren't government agencies at all … Nearly all of the meetings have been conducted by a small group of young staffers, including at least one college student, with no federal government experience and little apparent knowledge about what these entities do.' 5. COMEY COMES IN: James Comey was questioned by the Secret Service over a social media post in which the former FBI director posted a photo showing the numbers '86 47' arranged in seashells on the beach, which quickly set off the right, who claimed that Comey was calling for a threat against Trump's life, NYT's Eileen Sullivan and Michael Schmidt report. 'The interview is said to have taken place at a Secret Service office in Washington. Mr. Comey is said to have voluntarily consented to the interview, the official said, and was driven to the interview by Secret Service agents.' 6. THE NEW IVF DEBATES: 'Inside the I.V.F. Deliberations at the White House as Key Report Nears,' by NYT's Caroline Kitchener: 'Provide insurance coverage for in vitro fertilization to all members of the U.S. military. Declare I.V.F. to be an 'Essential Health Benefit' — and extend coverage to the nearly 50 million Americans insured through the Affordable Care Act. Push Congress to pass a law requiring private insurance companies to cover I.V.F. procedures for any person struggling with infertility. Those are among the sweeping potential policy changes under discussion at the White House as aides prepare to release a highly anticipated report on combating infertility.' 7. TALES FROM THE CRYPTO: 'Meet 'Ice,' 'Ogle' and other crypto millionaires who bought a night with Trump,' by WaPo's Drew Harwell, Jeremy Merrill, Chris Dehghanpoor and Carol Leonnig: 'The gala dinner at the Trump National Golf Club on Thursday will link the president to an unusual collection of deep-pocketed crypto players from around the world, some of whom have told The Washington Post they hope to influence his views on how their industry is regulated or otherwise capitalize on the presidential access.' The identities of these invitees have mostly remained hidden and 'they may be able to stay that way, with one crypto investor saying he was told by the event's organizers that no cameras or journalists would be allowed in the room.' 8. RAISING ARIZONA: The conventional wisdom for Democrats trying to win in battleground Arizona is that they need to 'do nearly everything right — and still hope for a little luck. By that standard, next year's elections are looking worrisome for Democrats in the Grand Canyon State,' NYT's Kellen Browning writes. 'Their standard-bearer, Gov. Katie Hobbs, is among the nation's most vulnerable Democrats seeking re-election in 2026. And, rather than bolstering her with vital political muscle and support, the party has been consumed by an acrimonious and seemingly petty feud between the new state Democratic chairman and Arizona's two Democratic senators.' 9. YOU DON'T KNOW JACK: 'Meet New Jersey's JD Vance,' by POLITICO's Daniel Han: Jack Ciattarelli, 'a former state lawmaker who is making his third run for governor, has embraced Trump's agenda. It may be enough to propel Ciattarelli to the party nomination next month given Trump's popularity among the party base and Ciattarelli's own narrow loss to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy in 2021. But if it does, Ciattarelli would likely find himself navigating thorny terrain much like Vance has: Appealing to a broad spectrum of voters as a commonsense conservative while remaining sufficiently loyal to Trump.' CLICKER — 'The nation's cartoonists on the week in politics,' edited by Matt Wuerker — 17 funnies GREAT WEEKEND READS: — 'Stephen A. Smith Is Running. To Be Joe Rogan,' by NYT's Matt Flegenheimer: 'America's best-known sports-talker is hosting boldface Democrats and MAGA luminaries and teasing a 2028 run. But what he really wants is ubiquitous political influence, and things of that nature.' — 'The Big Takeover: The secret plans to give Trump command of America's police,' by the Phoenix New Times' Beau Hodai: 'For months, a Project 2025 subgroup drafted plans to place domestic law enforcement under Trump's thumb. We have their files.' — 'Addicted to ICE,' by Bloomberg's Rachel Adams-Heard, Polly Mosendz and Fola Akinnibi: 'Like a growing number of US communities, Torrance County, New Mexico, is convinced its financial survival depends on locking up immigrants.' — 'How the Trump Administration Is Weakening the Enforcement of Fair Housing Laws,' by ProPublica's Jesse Coburn: 'At least 115 fair housing cases have been halted or closed, according to HUD officials, some of whom fear race-based cases could be the next category abandoned.' — 'Is Jeff Bezos Selling Out the Washington Post?' by The New Yorker's Clare Malone: 'How the paper that brought down Richard Nixon is struggling to survive the second term of Donald Trump.' — 'Coming Out of the Closet Was a Liberation. Why Are Some Peeking Back In?' by NYT's Mark Harris: 'Long a place of hiding and shame, it's now being reconsidered in queer culture — and beyond.' — 'Anna Wintour becomes an unlikely activist as Washington quashes DEI,' by WaPo's Robin Givhan: ''It's a challenging time,' the longtime Vogue editor in chief said. 'I feel we need to be courageous.'' — ''We're Definitely Going to Build a Bunker Before We Release AGI,'' by The Atlantic's Karen Hao: 'The true story behind the chaos at OpenAI.' TALK OF THE TOWN Donald Trump will not attend the Indy 500 on Memorial Day weekend, a spokesperson confirmed. Sean Combs is actively lobbying some Trump associates for a pardon if he faces jail time — which, as Rolling Stone notes, is straight from The Onion to reality. PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — 'FBI leaving Hoover Building, moving 1,500 employees out of D.C. area, director says,' by Washington Business Journal's Michael Neibauer OUT AND ABOUT — Tammy Haddad, Teresa Carlson, Helen Milby and Juleanna Glover hosted a party for Edward Luce's new book, 'Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America's Great Power Prophet,' ($29.12) last night. SPOTTED: British Ambassador Peter Mandelson, Polish Ambassador Bogdan Klich and Anna Klich, New Zealand Ambassador Rosemary Banks, Stuart Jones, Peter Baker, Don Graham, Karalee Geis, Bob Costa, Phil Rucker, Josh Dawsey, Alex Marquardt, Evan Hollander, Matt Gorman, Kevin Walling, Alex Slater, Senay Bulbul, Liz Johnson, Charlotte Smith, Maryam Mujica, Adam Branch, Govind Shivkumar, Sydney Paul, Peter Pham, Chloe Autio, Tina Anthony, Jeremy and Robyn Bash, Ed Roman and Angeli Chawla. — SPOTTED at the Wicked Game acoustic guitar concert at Marx Cafe last night with Sidewalk Soul: Christina Sevilla, Jack Doll, Neil Grace, Raquel Krähenbühl, Josh Meyer, Tim Noviello, Steve Rochlin, Jack Detsch, Alina Bondarenko, Nihal Krishan, Shaila Manyam, David Lunderquist, Riikka Hietajarvi, Gilles Bauer, Ruth Schipper, Barbara Wegerson, Victoria Leacock Hoffman, Adam Forbes and Fabian Giorgi. TRANSITIONS — The Congressional Management Foundation has added Karsen Bailey as director of congressional outreach and Colin Driscoll as senior manager of congressional events. Bailey previously director of operations for Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) and is a Bob Casey alum. Driscoll previously was scheduler and operations manager for Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) and is a Joe Courtney David Cicilline alum. … Colleen Roh Sinzdak is now a partner at Milbank's Supreme Court and appellate practice. She previously was assistant to the Solicitor General at DOJ. … Patrick Clifton is joining Fierce Government Relations. He most recently was VP of corporate affairs at LG and is a Trump White House and Rob Portman alum. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo … NYT's Mike Shear and Reid Epstein and Peter Wallsten …… Mike Smith … NBC's Kelly O'Donnell and Courtney Clawson … Rachel Palermo … Rick Wiley … Margarita Diaz … WaPo's Olivia Petersen … POLITICO's Sean Scott, Maura Reynolds and Thao Sperling … WSJ's Robin Turner … Cheryl Bruner … The Intercept's Akela Lacy … Randy Schriver … Shannon Buckingham … Phillip Stutts … Derrick Robinson … Deirdre Murphy Ramsey of Precision Strategies … David Brancaccio … Margaret McInnis of Rep. Marcy Kaptur's (D-Ohio) office … Brielle Hopkins … Nik Youngsmith of the House Administration Committee … Tim Del Monico … Emily Druckman of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association … Ralph Neas … former Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) … Adi Sathi … former Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) … Jenna Lowenstein … Jeremy Lin … EPA's Wynn Radford … NRCC's Pieter Block THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here): CNN 'State of the Union': Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent … Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) … Van Jones and David Axelrod. ABC 'This Week': Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) … Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). Panel: Donna Brazile, Reince Priebus, Sarah Isgur and Faiz Shakir. FOX 'Fox News Sunday': Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) … Speaker Mike Johnson … Adam Boehler. Legal panel: Ilya Shapiro and Tom Dupree. Sunday panel: Kevin Roberts, Susan Page, Tiffany Smiley and Juan Williams. Sunday special: Modern Warrior Live. NBC 'Meet the Press': Mike Pence … Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent … Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). Panel: Ashley Etienne, Stephen Hayes, Andrea Mitchell and Amna Nawaz. NewsNation 'The Hill Sunday': Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) … Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.). Panel: George Will, Sarah McCammon, Julie Mason and Julia Manchester. MSNBC 'The Weekend: Primetime': Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) … DNC Vice Chair David Hogg. CBS 'Face the Nation': Robert Gates … retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
These 3 western Mass. communities awarded funds for planting trees
BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP)– Several communities and organizations in across the state are receiving grants totaling $1.3-million for planting trees, including Greenfield, Pittsfield and South Hadley. The Cooling Corridors program focuses on planting trees along popular walking routes and in communities that face environmental challenges to help reduce rising heat due to climate change. This garden staple is ready to be started indoors this March Shade trees are planted in small groupings so that they grow to create cooler and more enjoyable spaces for walking and gathering, especially in higher population neighborhoods that are more vulnerable to extreme heat. The awardees will also take care of the newly planted trees for two years to ensure they thrive. To enhance the cooling effects even further, some projects will include strategies like removing heat-absorbing surfaces and painting dark surfaces with lighter colors. 'Investing in green spaces is vital for the health and well-being of our residents,' said Governor Maura Healey. 'By planting trees and creating more parks, we ensure that everyone – especially those in environmental justice communities – has access to cleaner air and a better quality of life.' 'Adding more trees to our neighborhoods goes beyond just making our streets look nicer – it's about ensuring our communities are cooler and more comfortable for everyone,' said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. 'By focusing on tree planting along our walking routes, we're taking meaningful steps to reduce heat and create welcoming spaces for families to come together.' 'Trees are among our best allies in combating extreme heat,' said EEA Secretary Rebecca Tepper. 'A healthy tree canopy beautifies our neighborhoods and enhances energy efficiency during the hottest months of the year. Each tree planted is an investment in the health of our communities and our future.' The Cooling Corridors grant program is made possible through the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs' (EEA) Division of Conservation Services. Below is a list of the grantees and the projects: Grantee Project Award Town of Arlington This project will plant 200 trees in the EJ neighborhoods of East Arlington and Arlington Center, including along the Broadway corridor. Arlington will also pilot a cooling initiative at one current 'hot spot', painting the roadway of an intersection with reflective paint. $125,000 Tree Eastie Inc. This project will plant 30 new trees in East Boston's Memorial Park, provide tree care for 250 recently planted trees in the neighborhood, and conduct neighborhood outreach about tree planting and tree care. East Boston is an entirely EJ neighborhood with the lowest tree canopy cover in the Metro-Boston area. $47,300 Town of Chelmsford This project will plant 25 new trees in Chelmsford's dog park, which is one of the community's busiest parks. $31,750 City of Everett This project will install 75 new tree pits, which includes the removal of impervious surfaces, and the planting of trees in the new pits. Trees will be located in known urban heat 'hot spots', prioritizing residential areas. $150,000 City of Greenfield This grant will be used to plant 71 trees in an Environmental Justice neighborhood with very low canopy cover and numerous community institutions (school, medical center, church), implemented in partnership with the Greenfield Tree Committee. The City will also purchase 60 tree whips to be planted in the Greenfield Tree Committee's nursery, to be planted later in EJ neighborhoods. $117,903 City of Malden Malden will create 130 new tree pits, in addition to removing impervious surfaces in many locations. Trees will later be planted in the new pits by DCR's Greening the Gateway Cities program. $150,000 City of Pittsfield Pittsfield will plant 40 native shade trees in a middle-income neighborhood outside of their Greening the Gateway Cities area, which has few street trees. $68,500 City of Salem Salem will replace dead and dying trees with new trees as well as plant some trees in new locations, with a total of 99 trees planted. Salem will also be installing a porous surface around the trees. $150,000 Town of Sandwich Sandwich will plant 60 new trees along Town Neck Road, a dense neighborhood with minimal tree canopy. $50,000 Town of South Hadley South Hadley will distribute 300 bare root trees to residents in environmental justice and other prioritized neighborhoods. The town will sign MOUs with the homeowners to ensure watering and maintenance and will require that trees be planted in front or side yards to maximize community benefit. $55,120 Town of Swampscott Swampscott will plant 52 new trees along walking routes and in known hotspots. Swampscott will also remove some impervious surface for planting near the middle school and the commuter rail station. $95,201.40 Town of Swansea Swansea will plant 47 new trees in community gathering places, including the senior center, a park, and the town beach. $100,073 City of Watertown Watertown will plant 110 trees in Environmental Justice neighborhoods throughout the city. $100,000 Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Politico
04-03-2025
- Business
- Politico
What to know about Trump's big speech
Presented by WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU: Before we get to the news, please fill out this survey and let us know what you think of the new Inside Congress. We'll take your feedback and work to make this an even better read. Thank you. IN TODAY'S EDITION: FIRST IN INSIDE CONGRESS: Why some Dems are ready for a shutdown — Rachael Bade reports in her latest Corridors column that Democrats are itching for a government funding fight ahead of the March 14 deadline. The reason? Growing unease with giving President Donald Trump and Elon Musk a blank check as they make sweeping federal workforce cuts. 'At some point you've got to have a goddamn backbone,' one senior Democratic lawmaker told Rachael. JOINT ADDRESS — Congressional Republicans are giving Trump a long leash at his joint address tonight despite mounting backlash in their districts to his Washington disruptions. GOP lawmakers widely agreed they'd like the president to focus on the economy, immigration and continuing peace talks with Ukraine. But they don't expect him to shy away from talking about Musk's federal government cuts, either. Sen. Rick Scott told Lisa that Trump should talk about his plans to 'get inflation under control' and balance the budget. Sen. John Kennedy said he expects Trump will talk about DOGE's spending cuts. But Republicans broadly declined to give the president suggestions for his big speech. Trump is expected to talk about immigration and the economy, our colleague Megan Messerly reports — with some surveys now showing that majorities of Americans think the president is steering the economy in the wrong direction. But that's if he stays on script. Trump's already said he plans to 'TELL IT LIKE IT IS' tonight. Here's what Rep. Chris Smith told Mia about Trump's penchant for meandering: 'I love ad libs. That doesn't mean everybody else likes it.' Trump has also indicated he plans to address whether a peace deal with Ukraine can be revived during the speech — a day after he halted military aid to the war-torn country following a contentious meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday. Don't expect a large Democratic boycott this time. Some are skipping the speech (against the wishes of House Democratic leaders). But the party out of power is planning to pack the chamber with fired federal workers and people who could be affected by potential cuts to public benefits. Among the notable Democratic guests: Sen. Richard Blumenthal is bringing former Veterans Affairs watchdog Michael Missal, one of the inspectors general that Trump fired. Republicans plan to use Trump's address to make some political statements of their own. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks is bringing Riley Gaines, the former college swimmer who is now a leading advocate for keeping transgender athletes off women's sports teams. Speaker Mike Johnson is hosting the widow of a man killed by an undocumented immigrant in a drunken-driving incident, according to Fox News, as well as Trump border czar Tom Homan. GOOD TUESDAY MORNING. We'll have eyes and ears on Trump's big speech and the multiple Democratic rebuttals that will follow. Follow our live coverage at the Inside Congress blog at and email your Inside Congress scribes at lkashinsky@ and mmccarthy@ THE SKED The House is in session and voting at 1:30 p.m. on reversing three Biden-era energy regulations under the Congressional Review Act, among other measures. — Republicans and Democrats will hold their separate weekly conference meetings at 9 a.m. — GOP leaders hold their post-meeting news conference at 10 a.m. — Judiciary will have a hearing on defending the Second Amendment at 10 a.m. — Oversight will have a hearing on using technology to improve immigration enforcement at 10 a.m. — T&I will have a hearing on air traffic control infrastructure and staffing at 10 a.m. — Financial Services' monetary policy task force will have a hearing on economic opportunity at 10 a.m. — Homeland Security will have a hearing on the future of FEMA at 10 a.m. — E&C will have a hearing on name, image and likeness rights in collegiate athletics at 10:15 a.m. — Democratic leaders will hold their post-meeting press conference at 11 a.m. — Majority Whip Tom Emmer will host the Stanley Cup in his Capitol office tomorrow from noon to 3 p.m. — Veterans Affairs will mark up a bill that would limit what information the VA can send for firearm background checks and another bill that expands the VA's ability to suspend or demote employees at 2 p.m. The Senate is in session and voting at 11 a.m. to reverse a Biden-era regulation that imposed stricter reporting requirements on decentralized financial participants. — Armed Services will have a hearing on Elbridge Colby's nomination to be undersecretary of Defense for policy at 9:30 a.m. — Foreign Relations will have a hearing at 10 a.m. to consider several State Department nominations, including Christopher Landau to be deputy secretary, Michael Rigas to be deputy secretary for Management and Resources and Matthew Whitaker to be the U.S. permanent representative to NATO. — Republican and Democratic senators will have separate weekly conference lunches at 12:45 p.m. The rest of the week: The Senate will continue to move through confirming Trump's nominations and moving towards overturning Biden-era regulations. THE LEADERSHIP SUITE GOP appropriators skirt leaders on spending Top Republican appropriators Tom Cole and Susan Collins are still negotiating on new spending bills, despite Johnson and Trump endorsing a stopgap bill through September. They're preparing the long funding patch, but also a short-term one in case they can reach a more comprehensive spending deal with Democrats. The text of the spending patch through September is expected this weekend, Meredith Lee Hill reports. Top Senate Democratic appropriator Patty Murray is pushing a short-term stopgap. And she was noncommittal Monday when asked if the party would insist on language preventing DOGE's cuts in exchange for supporting the bill: 'The only one who wants a shutdown right now is Elon Musk. … We are all working to get this done,' Murray told reporters. Former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell registered his disapproval for the long-term stopgap in a Washington Post op-ed, saying: 'Never in recent history has Washington forced the U.S. military to spend a full year applying yesterday's budget to tomorrow's challenges.' John Thune faces filibuster on trans bill The Senate majority leader failed Monday to advance a bill from Sen. Tommy Tuberville to bar transgender athletes from participating in women's sports. No Democrats supported the bill that needed 60 votes to move forward and had earned the backing of the Trump administration, our colleague Bianca Quilantan reports. POLICY RUNDOWN FILLING IN THE BUDGET BLUEPRINT — House Ways and Means Republicans are tentatively scheduled to start drafting the GOP's party-line bill enacting Trump's tax agenda next week, our Benjamin Guggenheim reports with Meredith. They'll have to juggle extending Trump's expiring 2017 tax cuts with adding on campaign promises that include no taxes on tips. On the other side of the Capitol, Senate GOP leadership staffers told other Republican offices on Monday that they're not even close to resolving Senate demands on the House budget plan, Meredith and Ben report. Thune later told our Jordain Carney that he doesn't expect to put the House budget resolution on the floor until at least late March. The two chambers need to adopt the same budget resolution if they eventually want to enact Trump's massive agenda. GOP OPTIMISM OVER UKRAINE DEAL — Top Republicans, including Johnson and Thune, believe the mineral rights deal that unraveled after Trump and Zelenskyy's Oval Office showdown can be salvaged, Jordain and Lisa report with Connor O'Brien. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who suggested after Friday's dustup that Zelenskyy should apologize or resign, struck a notably softer tone on Monday: 'I've told President Zelenskyy: Do the minerals deal, see if we can get an arms package, and we'll talk about a good ending to the war. And that's the sequence.' REQUESTED ADD TO CR — GOP Rep. Greg Murphy is already calling for a potentially expensive addition to Johnson's 'clean' CR: ending cuts for doctor pay in Medicare, which has reduced doctor payments for years to stay budget neutral as required by law. Murphy, who co-chairs the GOP Doctors Caucus, got a partial version of that fix attached to a spending measure at the end of last Congress before Musk and Trump tanked it, our Ben Leonard reports. FIRST IN INSIDE CONGRESS — Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto is leading nine other Democratic senators in a letter to the Trump administration that reminds the president that Congress has the authority over trade restrictions on Russia. Trump said Monday night that 'we're going to do deals with everybody' in response to a question about whether he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Best of POLITICO Pro and E&E: THE BEST OF THE REST Inside the Democratic Battle to Go Viral, from Riley Rogerson and Oriana González at NOTUS 'We have become the party of the status quo': Chris Murphy makes his case to lead Democrats forward, from Ben Kamisar, Julie Tsirkin and Andrew Arenge at NBC Trump Prepares the Tim Scott Whack-a-Mole, from Leigh Ann Caldwell at Puck Lincoln Díaz-Balart, defender of immigrants and democracy for Cuba in Congress, is dead, from Nora Gámez Torres at the Miami Herald CAPITOL HILL INFLUENCE FLYING IN: Fly-in season is in full swing as talks for a potential stopgap spending bill and Republicans' reconciliation legislation heat up: — Breakthrough T1D is on the Hill today and tomorrow to push for funding for type 1 diabetes research with Rep. Kim Schrier, the only member of Congress who has type 1 diabetes. — The National Association of Broadcasters has more than 565 broadcasters from all 50 states coming to town this week to campaign for updating broadcast ownership rules and for legislation to maintain AM radio in new cars. — VoteVets shared first with us that they're bringing a half-dozen veterans to the Hill today who either lost their jobs as a result of the Trump administration's mass firings or could be affected by funding cuts. They'll attend a morning reception, followed by meetings with lawmakers. Former Rep. Mary Peltola has joined the law and lobbying firm Holland & Hart as senior director of Alaska affairs. Anton McParland, who was Peltola's chief of staff, is also joining the firm as senior director of federal affairs. The firm has also hired Lauren Reamy, who was former Sen. Marco Rubio's deputy chief of staff and legislative director, as a senior vice president. Liz Johnson is joining Emerson Collective as senior director of policy and government affairs. She previously was chief of staff to Sen. Mitt Romney and is a Kelly Ayotte and Collins alum. JOB BOARD DJ Griffin is now press secretary for Sen. Eric Schmitt. He most recently was comms director for Rep. Brett Guthrie. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) … Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Troy Downing (R-Mont.) … NBC's Vaughn Hillyard… Doug Hoelscher … Ellen Gilmer of Bloomberg Government … Jesse Solis … POLITICO's Mark McQuillan and Nick Reisman… Seth Washington … Stephanie Gidigbi Jenkins … Abby Jagoda … Fenton's Valerie Jean-Charles … Larkin Parker of Sen. Michael Bennet's (D-Colo.) office … Simone Ward … Callista Gingrich … Brooke Nethercott of the House Financial Services GOP TRIVIA MONDAY'S ANSWER: Amy Camilleri correctly answered that Daniel Webster, Henry Clay and Jefferson Davis all have desks named after them in the Senate. TODAY'S QUESTION, from Amy: What is the site of the first assassination attempt of a U.S. president? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Paging all 'shred warriors,' Wylde Audio's Berzerker takes the shape of metal guitar to new extremes
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Wylde Audio has unveiled its latest made-for-metal electric guitar for current Pantera reunion shredder, Black Label Society founder and Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, and it looks like something straight out of the encyclopedia of medieval weaponry. Immediately assuming the opposite end of the aesthetic spectrum as the Hello Kitty Stratocaster, the evocatively titled Berzerker is a metal guitar through and through. No jazz, please. Ration those blues licks, and if you must play them, play them through a high-gain metal amp. Come on, just look at this thing. 'Crafted for the true metal enthusiast, this axe embodies the soul of legendary guitarist Zakk Wylde,' says Wylde Audio. 'Equipped with high-output EMG active pickups, the Blood Skull Berzerker delivers an iconic tone with unparalleled clarity and sustain.' Where do you start with a body shape like this? Well, maybe with the finishes. Wylde Audio is offering this in Blood Skull graphic finish, a Slayer fan's fever dream if ever we've seen it, and in this raw-topped Corridors finish, which has an Escher-esque vibe. Nose to tail the design of this is brutal. It is with some satisfaction to see that this has a reverse six-in-line headstock. And being a Zakk Wylde production, you've got a pair of active EMG humbuckers to help put some weight – not to mention clarity – behind those riffs. There is an EMG 81 at the bridge and an EMG 85 at the neck. These are controlled by dual volume controls plus a master tone knob, with a three-way pickup selector mounted… Well, it's kind of hard to see on this model but you'll find it on the lower horn. For all intents and purposes, this is a double-cutaway. But really it's a quadruple cutaway. It will be interesting to see how this feels on a guitar strap, or played seated. As for the fundamentals, the Berzerker has a mahogany body – the Corridors has some maple on the top to give it that surrealist look. Image 1 of 4 Image 2 of 4 Image 3 of 4 Image 4 of 4 The neck is three-piece maple, fashioned into Wylde's signature C shape, and joinis the body with a deep-set, glued-in neck joint. The fingerboard is ebony, inlaid with runes, and has a 14' radius. There's some Gibson-esque DNA here, what with Wylde a former user and abuser of the Gibson Les Paul Custom. We have a Tonespro Locking Tune-O-Matic bridge and tailpiece, and the guitar has a 24.625' scale length. The black Speed Knobs are perhaps a nod to his old Custom, too. Other details include Grover tuners, the frets are extra-jumbo, the nut is a Graph Tech Tusq XL and the nut width is 43mm. Schecter is listing this at $1,699, and the price does not include a guitar case. For more details head over to the Wylde Audio page at Schecter Guitars.
