Latest news with #Ernst
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Business
- Yahoo
US budget chief calls fears that cuts to benefits will lead to deaths ‘totally ridiculous'
The White House budget director Russ Vought on Sunday dismissed as 'totally ridiculous' fears expressed by voters that cuts to benefits in the huge spending bill passed by the House will lead to premature deaths in America. Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill act, now awaiting debate in the US Senate, will slash two major federal safety net programs, Medicaid, which provides healthcare to poor and disabled Americans, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), which helps people afford groceries, which will affect millions of people if it becomes law. Vought, director of the office of management and budget (OMB) and a key figure in Project 2025, the rightwing manifesto created to guide a second Trump term, defended the bill in an appearance on CNN on Sunday morning, also defending the lacerations to the federal workforce under Elon Musk's so-called 'department of government efficiency' (Doge). Vought was asked about a town hall meeting in Iowa last week hosted by the senator Joni Ernst where, when fielding questions about proposed cuts to Medicaid, a constituent yelled out that as a result people were going to die. Ernst responded, to jeers: 'People are not – well, we all are going to die. For heaven's sakes, folks.' Then, after the exchange went viral online, she posted a sarcastic non-apology video on Saturday, saying: 'I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that yes, we are all going to perish from this Earth. So I apologize. And I'm really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the tooth fairy as well.' When Vought responded on CNN's State of the Union politics show about such concerns over cuts to health insurance and grocery subsidies leading to premature deaths, he said: 'It's totally ridiculous. This is 'astroturf'. This bill will preserve and protect the programs, the social safety net, but it will make it much more commonsense.' Astroturfing is slang for pretending criticism is coming from the grassroots when, in fact, it is being orchestrated by interested parties. Some advocacy groups have said loss of Medicaid insurance and food stamps will cause great hardship. 'These cuts won't just hurt – they will kill,' the head of the Ohio Nurses Association said, while the American Academy of Pediatrics said the bill would result in 'hungry kids' and impossible choices for many families. The American Hospital Association has warned that rural hospitals could close. On the same CNN show on Sunday, the senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, condemned Vought's and Ernst's remarks, saying: 'Everyone would rather die in old age than at 40.' Murphy said people losing health insurance in order to continue tax cuts for the richest would lead to more deaths and that the bill is 'an absolute disaster' and will add to the US deficit. 'It's just unreal the amount of gaslighting this administration is doing,' he said. Fellow Democrat and Georgia senator Raphael Warnock told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday that he is in favor of work but that a work-reporting requirement in the bill, as a condition of Medicaid, 'is very good at kicking people off their healthcare coverage, it's not good at incentivizing people to work'. He added that if passed, the legislation would result in 'a workforce that's sicker and poorer' and damage to the US economy. The House speaker, Mike Johnson, who got the bill through the chamber last month but faces a greater challenge from some fellow Republicans in the Senate, told NBC that the bill does not include cuts to Medicaid but instead would strengthen the system and result in reductions in 'fraud, waste and abuse'. The House minority leader and New York Democratic representative Hakeem Jeffries predicted that the bill would not pass the Republican-controlled Senate. 'Hospitals will close, nursing homes will shut down and people will literally die,' he warned.


The Herald Scotland
3 hours ago
- Health
- The Herald Scotland
Dem Chris Muphy hits Republican Joni Ernst town hall Medicaid comment
The comment come after Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, addressed federal cuts to Medicaid - which Republicans have proposed as part of President Donald Trump's sweeping tax bill - during a town hall in Parkersburg, Iowa, on May 30. As she was speaking, someone shouted from the audience, "people will die!" Ernst then told the auditorium, "People are not - well, we all are going to die. For heaven's sakes, folks." Medicaid, the program that provides health insurance to more than 71 million low-income Americans, would undergo big changes under the bill that passed in the House last month. That includes new work requirements for some adults beginning in December 2026, more frequent eligibility checks and disincentives for states to cover unauthorized migrant children, among other provisions. Collectively, the Medicaid proposal would save at least $625 billion and cause 7.6 million Americans to lose their health insurance over the next 10 years, according to initial estimates by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Still, Ernst shared a sarcastic apology video after facing criticism from Democrats over her response to the town hall attendees' concerns. "Hello everyone," she said in a video posted to social media. "I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize for a statement that I made yesterday at my town hall." "I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that yes, we are all going to perish from this Earth," she added. "So, I apologize. And I'm really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the tooth fairy as well." Republicans have said the proposed changes to Medicaid protect the program for those who need it, and their legislation is curbing waste and fraud. Democrats, like Murphy, argue the fallout will be felt by Americans across the country. "When rural hospitals close because of this bill, when drug treatment clinics close in Iowa and rural America because of this bill, more people will die at a younger age," Murphy alleged in the interview on June 1. Though Republicans control the Senate, the legislation isn't expected to sail through the upper chamber. Several Senate Republicans, including Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Rand Paul of Kentucky, argue the bill comes with too high a price tag. "This is our moment," Johnson told CNN's Jake Tapper in May. "We have witnessed an unprecedented level of increased spending ... This is our only chance to reset that to a reasonable pre-pandemic level." House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, and other champions of the legislation argue the legislation is an investment in America's economy. But it's expected to add around $3.3 trillion to the nation's deficit over the next 10 years and swell the federal government's debt. Contributing: Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register; Riley Beggin


The Hill
15 hours ago
- Health
- The Hill
Murphy says Ernst's constituents 'would just rather die in old age'
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said Sunday that Sen. Joni Ernst's (R-Iowa) constituents know they will die, but 'would just rather die in old age,' a reference to a town hall remark from Iowa Republican. 'I think everybody in that audience knows that they're going to die,' Murphy told CNN's Dana Bash on 'State of the Union,' discussing comments made by Ernst on Friday in response to a remark that cuts to Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would result in deaths. 'They would just rather die in old age at 85 or 90, instead of dying at 40. And the reality is that, when you lose your health care, you are much more at risk of early death,' Murphy added. During a town hall in Butler, Iowa, Ernst defended spending reforms included in a budget reconciliation package passed by the House, including those to stop people from getting federal benefits if they've entered the country illegally. A person in the crowd attempted to talk over the senator, interrupting her while she was answering about changes to Medicaid and SNAP, shouting that people are 'going to die' as a result. 'Well, we're all going to die,' Ernst responded, drawing jeers. Ernst later doubled down on her comments on social media, saying in a Saturday Instagram post that she 'made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that, yes, we are all going to perish from this earth.' 'So I apologize, and I'm really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the tooth fairy as well,' she added. The Hill has reached out to Ernst's office for comment.


USA Today
18 hours ago
- Health
- USA Today
People know 'they're going to die': Democrat hits GOP senator over viral town hall exchange
People know 'they're going to die': Democrat hits GOP senator over viral town hall exchange Show Caption Hide Caption Disabled protesters removed from House committee hearing Disabled demonstrators protesting a Republican proposal to cut benefits were forced to leave a House committee hearing and arrested. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, hit back at a Republican colleague who went viral after telling a town hall audience member that "we all are going to die" in response to concerns over Medicaid cuts. "I think everybody in that audience knows that they're going to die," Murphy told CNN's Dana Bash. "They would just rather die in old age at 85 or 90, instead of dying at 40." The comment come after Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, addressed federal cuts to Medicaid – which Republicans have proposed as part of President Donald Trump's sweeping tax bill – during a town hall in Parkersburg, Iowa, on May 30. As she was speaking, someone shouted from the audience, "people will die!" Ernst then told the auditorium, "People are not – well, we all are going to die. For heaven's sakes, folks." Medicaid, the program that provides health insurance to more than 71 million low-income Americans, would undergo big changes under the bill that passed in the House last month. That includes new work requirements for some adults beginning in December 2026, more frequent eligibility checks and disincentives for states to cover unauthorized migrant children, among other provisions. Collectively, the Medicaid proposal would save at least $625 billion and cause 7.6 million Americans to lose their health insurance over the next 10 years, according to initial estimates by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Still, Ernst shared a sarcastic apology video after facing criticism from Democrats over her response to the town hall attendees' concerns. "Hello everyone," she said in a video posted to social media. "I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize for a statement that I made yesterday at my town hall." "I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that yes, we are all going to perish from this Earth," she added. "So, I apologize. And I'm really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the tooth fairy as well." Republicans have said the proposed changes to Medicaid protect the program for those who need it, and their legislation is curbing waste and fraud. Democrats, like Murphy, argue the fallout will be felt by Americans across the country. "When rural hospitals close because of this bill, when drug treatment clinics close in Iowa and rural America because of this bill, more people will die at a younger age," Murphy alleged in the interview on June 1. Though Republicans control the Senate, the legislation isn't expected to sail through the upper chamber. Several Senate Republicans, including Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Rand Paul of Kentucky, argue the bill comes with too high a price tag. "This is our moment," Johnson told CNN's Jake Tapper in May. "We have witnessed an unprecedented level of increased spending ... This is our only chance to reset that to a reasonable pre-pandemic level." House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, and other champions of the legislation argue the legislation is an investment in America's economy. But it's expected to add around $3.3 trillion to the nation's deficit over the next 10 years and swell the federal government's debt. Contributing: Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register; Riley Beggin


Politico
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Politico
The conversation begins
Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Bethany Irvine Good Sunday morning. This is Zack Stanton, struggling to believe it's already June. Get in touch. WHAT TRUMP IS POSTING: Last night, President Donald Trump shared a post on Truth Social from an account with 986 followers alleging that Joe Biden was 'executed in 2020,' and replaced with 'clones' and 'robotic engineered soulless mindless entities.' WHAT ERNST IS POSTING: At a town hall Friday, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) was answering a question about cuts to Medicaid in the House GOP-passed reconciliation bill when an audience member interrupted her to shout that 'people will die' if because of the changes. Ernst replied that 'we all are going to die' — creating the sort of viral clip that travelled beyond the reaches of the internet to land on the front page of the Des Moines Register. (Watch the exchange, in case you missed it.) Now comes a sarcastic 'apology' video from Ernst. 'I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that yes, we are all going to perish from this earth,' Ernst said in a video she shared yesterday on Instagram — and which appears to have been filmed in a cemetery. 'So I apologize. And I'm really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the Tooth Fairy as well. But for those that would like to see eternal and everlasting life, I encourage you to embrace my lord and savior, Jesus Christ.' More from the Des Moines Register's Stephen Gruber-Miller Speaking of Medicaid … DRIVING THE DAY THE CONVERSATION: When it comes to the ways of Washington, Mehmet Oz is still a novice. That's a position at once new and familiar: Prior to entering politics, he was a famous doctor on TV and, before that, a celebrated heart surgeon in Manhattan. To put a fine point on it: It's been a long time since he's been a rookie in his chosen career. The thrill of the new: 'It is exhilarating to learn new things, especially if you think you can help,' Oz tells Playbook's Dasha Burns in the debut episode of 'The Conversation,' POLITICO's new Sunday show you can watch now on YouTube. Oz thinks he can help: That's partly why he took the job as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 'No one wants to come work in government and do nothing,' he tells Dasha. 'Why would you take that job?' As in medicine, so too in government: Good intentions don't always lead to good outcomes. 'Sometimes, stuff breaks when you try to make a difference,' says Oz. 'I've told the team this multiple times: If we get everything right, we didn't take enough chances.' The stakes are incredibly high. Oz's remit puts him in charge of programs that provide health care for about half of all Americans. Were Medicare or Medicaid to 'break,' it could affect millions of lives. That's the fear voiced by critics of the reconciliation bill, which makes major changes to Medicaid. Opponents of the legislation cite the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimate that 7.6 million people will go uninsured if the policy is enacted. It's not just Democrats: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) torched the Medicaid provisions of the bill in a high-profile NYT op-ed a few weeks back. 'If Congress cuts funding for Medicaid benefits, Missouri workers and their children will lose their health care,' he wrote. 'And hospitals will close. It's that simple.' Oz has heard Hawley's critique. 'We're not cutting Medicaid,' Oz insists. 'There is no proposal I've seen … that doesn't increase spending on Medicaid. … We want to take care of folks who are not owning a big part of the economic pie of America. That stated, you have to make the system viable. I'm trying to protect — I'm trying to save Medicaid.' Singing from the same hymnal: 'There are no Medicaid cuts in the 'big beautiful bill,' we're not cutting Medicaid. What we're doing is strengthening the program,' Speaker Mike Johnson said this morning on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' 'We're reducing fraud, waste and abuse … What we're doing here is an important and frankly heroic thing, to preserve the program so that it doesn't become insolvent.' One such change: Oz sees new work requirements as a crucial step in that quest. 'I don't have to get a job. I just have to try to get a job,' Oz says. 'I can volunteer, or some other charitable endeavor. I go get an education or I can take care of someone in the household that needs me — a child. If you're willing to do any of those things, you can keep your health insurance.' Watch the full episode on YouTube: The criticism: On 'Meet the Press,' Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) pushed back on that framing. 'I recently released a study in Georgia that shows that this work-reporting requirement — because that's what we're talking about: not work requirement, [a] work-reporting requirement — is very good at kicking people off of their health care,' Warnock said. 'It's not good at incentivizing work at all. There's something wrong here about this kind of view of poor people, of working-class people that somehow they don't want to go to work. We have seen this failed experiment in Georgia.' As some advocates raise concerns about the administrative effort that will result from the requirement — the paperwork, the processing, the verification — and the likelihood that will mean some Medicaid recipients will lose coverage at least for a time, Oz says CMS has the resources right now to handle that new workload. How Oz sees it: 'This is where I do think we have an obligation, all of us in government, to do a better job,' Oz says. 'If the reason not to do something that we all think we should do is we don't think we're capable or competent to do it, that's a problem.' As for the criticism directed his way … Oz says he can take it. 'At this point in my life, I'm mostly a thick skin with some hair on top.' Like and subscribe to 'The Conversation' on YouTube … or listen to the podcast SUNDAY BEST … — OMB Director Russ Vought on impoundment, on CNN's 'State of the Union': 'We're certainly not taking impoundment off the table. We're not in love with the law. It's a law that came after 200 years of precedent and history at the lowest moment of the executive branch. But even the very Impoundment Control Act — notice it's not called the Impoundment Elimination Act.' — World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain on the Trump administration's false claims that no one has died from their foreign aid cuts, on ABC's 'This Week': 'I'm not going to even pretend to understand what's going on inside the U.S. government at this particular point. I know what I see on the ground, not just in Gaza but around the world. There's places like Sudan, the DRC Congo, other places — South Sudan, etc. — they're in just as much trouble as [Gaza]. We need to get aid in, in Gaza, and we need to get it in now to avoid this catastrophe.' — National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on trade deal negotiations, on 'This Week': 'I expected that we were going to probably see one perhaps as early as last week. And I think that one of the things that's happened is that the trade team has been focused 100 percent like a laser beam on the China matter to make sure that there are no supply disruptions, because these licenses are coming a little slower than we would like. And so we've been focused like a laser beam on that last week, and the presidents, we expect, will discuss the matter this week. Once that thing's resolved, then we're going to take deals into the Oval that [USTR] Jamieson Greer and [Commerce Secretary] Howard Lutnick had negotiated.' — Lutnick on the court ruling against Trump's tariffs, on 'Fox News Sunday': 'The president is going to win like he always does, but rest assured, tariffs are not going away. He has so many other authorities that even in the weird and unusual circumstance where this was taken away, we just bring on another or another or another. Congress has given this authority to the president, and he's going to use it.' — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on scheduling a conversation between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, on CBS' 'Face the Nation': 'I believe we'll see something very soon.' TOP-EDS: A roundup of the week's must-read opinion pieces. 9 THINGS FOR YOUR RADAR 1. HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM: Trump announced that he'll yank Jared Isaacman's nomination as NASA administrator, right before he was set to be confirmed by the Senate, as Semafor's Burgess Everett and Shelby Talcott scooped. The entrepreneur and Elon Musk ally was doomed by a loyalty test, as Trump decided to ax the nomination after finding out Isaacman had previously donated to Democrats, NYT's Jonathan Swan and colleagues report. 2. THE REMAKING OF GOVERNMENT: It's not just the big consultants. The Trump administration is now looking at lower-profile technology services contracts with the federal government for potential cuts, WSJ's Chip Cutter scooped. The GSA has asked Dell, CDW and other firms to make a case for why their contracts should be retained, as the administration eyes IT and other tech products for potential savings. The bureau: Director Kash Patel has begun to put his stamp on the FBI, from forced ousters and demotions to an intensive focus on immigration to polygraph tests to find leakers, NYT's Adam Goldman reports. The changes have unleashed 'fear and uncertainty' among employees that Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino are politicizing and weaponizing the FBI. And they 'have obliterated decades of experience in national security and criminal matters.' The FBI didn't comment, but Bongino was defiant and unapologetic on X. The cuts: Across the country, huge federal cuts have eroded state and local public health departments, so 'Americans are losing a vast array of people and programs dedicated to keeping them healthy,' AP's Laura Ungar and Michelle Smith report. 'Together, public health leaders said, the cuts are reducing the entire system to a shadow of what it once was, threatening to undermine even routine work.' HHS' heavy cuts to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health may force the end of safety trainings for fishermen, loggers and other risky jobs as early as next month, Reuters' Leah Douglas reports. And Trump's budget request would decimate a landmark ecological program, NYT's Rebecca Dzombak reports. 3. WALL STREET GETS A WIN: 'Trump administration prepares to ease big bank rules,' by POLITICO's Michael Stratford: 'Trump-appointed regulators are nearing completion of a proposal that would relax rules on how much of a capital cushion the nation's largest banks must have to absorb potential losses and remain solvent during periods of economic stress. … [It] could be released in the coming months.' 4. IMMIGRATION FILES: The Trump administration's new effort to force undocumented immigrants to register with the government has started to yield criminal charges for people who fail to do so, WaPo's Jeremy Roebuck and Marianne LeVine scooped. But the novel use of a little-known 1940 statute to throw immigrants in jail has faced outright skepticism from some federal judges, who chided prosecutors for going after people who had little chance to even know they had to register. The threat to legal immigrants: As Trump's crackdown has extended beyond undocumented people, more than half a million Haitians, Cubans, Venezuelans and others who entered legally are suddenly vulnerable to deportation after last week's Supreme Court green light, NYT's Hamed Aleaziz writes. The government already has their personal info, and some could quickly be subject to expedited removal outside of immigration courts. Terrified Haitians are trying to figure out what's next, with some hiding at home and others considering Canada, NYT's Sarah Mervosh and Mark Bonamo report. 5. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: Hamas responded to the latest U.S. proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release with Israel, but a deal still looks distant as special envoy Steve Witkoff decried the militant group's answer as 'totally unacceptable,' per Bloomberg. The situation on the ground continued to worsen as an Israeli tank started shooting at Palestinian crowds at a food aid distribution site, with Gaza officials saying dozens were killed, per NBC. … Witkoff also gave Iran an initial framework proposal for a nuclear deal, via Oman, even as a new report revealed that Tehran has massively stepped up its uranium supply, per the NYT. 6. CHILLING EFFECT: 'Trump's law firm sanctions, harshly rejected in court, still have impact,' by WaPo's Mark Berman: 'Lawyers say both the sanctions and the negotiated deals have had a chilling effect, with some firms declining to work on issues counter to the administration's goals, including on immigration.' 7. FOR YOUR RADAR: 'Discrimination cases unravel as Trump scraps core civil rights tenet,' by WaPo's Julian Mark and Laura Meckler: 'The review includes cases and reform agreements forged after years-long investigations that the administration says lacked justification. Civil rights experts estimate that dozens of discrimination cases involving banks, landlords, private employers and school districts could face similar action. … At the center of this effort is 'disparate impact analysis,' which holds that neutral policies can have discriminatory outcomes even if there was no intent to discriminate.' 8. OAN'S RED LINE: 'MAGA outlet's Pentagon correspondent criticized Hegseth. And then she was fired, she says,' by CNN's Brian Stelter: 'A self-proclaimed 'MAGA girl,' [Gabrielle] Cuccia positioned herself as a proudly conservative voice among the normally nonpartisan Pentagon press corps. But she grew perturbed by [Defense Secretary Pete] Hegseth's actions against the press.' Two days after criticizing him on Substack, 'I was asked to turn in my Pentagon badge to my bureau chief,' she said. OAN didn't respond for comment. 9. IN THE WILDERNESS: Could South Carolina lose its brief hold on the early slot in Democrats' presidential primary calendar? From Columbia, POLITICO's Brakkton Booker reports that its association with Biden — who gave South Carolina top billing after it saved his 2020 campaign — could open the door for New Hampshire, Nevada or other Southern states. One potential contender, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, told California Dems yesterday that the party must 'find some goddamn guts to fight for working people,' saying Democrats share some blame for Republican control of D.C., POLITICO's Blake Jones reports from Anaheim. TALK OF THE TOWN AB Hernandez, a transgender high school athlete whose presence at a state competition led to Donald Trump threatening California's federal funding, won and shared multiple gold medals. IN MEMORIAM — 'Stanley Fischer, Who Spread the Macroeconomic Gospel, Dies at 81,' by Bloomberg's Laurence Arnold and Alisa Odenheimer: He 'served as vice chairman of the US Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2017 following eight years as governor of the Bank of Israel.' PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — 'Army says Trump's military parade could cause $16 million in damage to Washington streets,' by NBC's Courtney Kube and colleagues: 'The Army is preparing for the potential harm to Washington streets with several measures it hopes will avert damage. These include using 1-inch-thick steel plates, some as long as 20 feet, at places along the parade route where the tanks must turn and where those turns could cause the most damage to the streets.' WEEKEND WEDDING — Christopher LaCivita Jr., public affairs director and lobbyist at Checkmate Government Relations, and Sheridan Conner, an occupational therapist, got married Saturday in Powhatan County, Virginia. They met at Virginia Tech in 2019. Pic … SPOTTED: Chris and Catherine LaCivita, Terry and Marci Nelson, Skyler and Claire Zunk, Ben and Clare Cassidy, Victoria LaCivita, Chris Gustafson, Ches McDowell, A.J. Fabrizio and Travis Smith. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Sean McMinn, data/graphics editor at POLITICO, and Nicole McMinn, a biomedical engineer at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, welcomed Rosemary on Thursday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) … Addisu Demissie … FT's Ed Luce … CBS' Olivia Gazis … AP's Bill Barrow … Richard Sant of Lockheed Martin … Karen Tramontano … Leslie Harris … Google's Sasha Moss … U.S. Commission on Civil Rights' Irena Vidulović … The Spectator's Amber Athey … former Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.) … Sean Kennedy of the National Restaurant Association … Advoc8's Jeremy Rose … Matt Winkler … Melissa Hockstad … Jim Innocenzi … Danielle O'Byrne … Diane Zeleny … Christopher Minakowski … Percipient Strategies' Tyler Ross … Terrance Green … Jose Nunez … Heath Knakmuhs of the U.S. Chamber … Kay Coles James … Teamsters' Kate Yeager … Mark Green … Elizabeth Rojas Levi of ERL Group … Constance Boozer ... Elizabeth Glidden … Alex Seitz-Wald … POLITICO's Rahul Sharma Rampa … Alex Stoddard … Dan Bartlett of Walmart 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, deputy Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.