| | | | | |  | | By Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer | Presented by |  | | | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | "SEINFELD" IS FAMOUSLY A show about nothing. It seems as if Congress is following in Jerry's footsteps. CONGRESS THIS WEEK will likely vote on and pass a package to refresh the PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM, a small-business lending fund, while sending $75 billion to hospitals and setting aside $25 billion for testing. Republicans have resisted Democrats' efforts to send money to states and localities. THIS WAS A DEBATE THAT WAS LARGELY ABOUT NOTHING. Why? Because Democrats and Republicans mostly agreed about all the items that they were fighting for. At some point, Congress is going to have to send hundreds of billions of dollars to states and local governments. So, the REPUBLICANS' protest here will be short-lived. President DONALD TRUMP on Sunday night even conceded he is in favor of sending the state and local cash. DEMOCRATS held out, and got modest wins -- items REPUBLICANS mostly agreed with. This was a debate about the immediate order of operations, not long-term priorities. State and local out, hospitals in -- who cares? It is all going to happen at some point anyway. LOOK AT THE DEBATE RIGHT NOW -- in mid-April -- and ask yourself if Congress is discussing the long-term policies that will help America get back on its feet when this is over. HERE'S THE SPIN YOU'LL HEAR ABOUT WHY EACH SIDE WON ... -- DEMS will say Senate Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL lost again. He wanted a clean $251 billion refresh to the PPP, and he didn't get it. Democrats are bragging that Speaker NANCY PELOSI and Senate Minority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER stuck together and stymied MCCONNELL. -- REPUBLICANS say that Dems held out for all that time, and couldn't even get state and local money. BTW: BY SOME ACCOUNTS, the two sides are actually a bit farther from a deal than is being let on publicly, so don't be surprised if this drags on a bit. WHY STATES AND LOCALS NEED CASH ... LAT: "L.A. is 'under attack' and will need to furlough thousands of city workers," by David Zahniser, Dakota Smith and Emily Alpert Reyes: "Mayor Eric Garcetti warned Sunday [in his State of the City address] that the economic downturn facing Los Angeles will be more painful than the 2008 recession, requiring cuts to government programs and the furlough of thousands of city employees. ... "In this year's address, Garcetti offered a series of grim signposts about the city's immediate future: joblessness, a collapse in hotel reservations and a 95% drop in passenger air travel — all products of the coronavirus outbreak. "The city has already borrowed $70 million from special funds while responding to the health crisis. To balance the city budget, civilian city workers will need to take off 26 unpaid days — the equivalent of a 10% reduction in pay, the mayor said. 'From a fiscal perspective, this is the worst it's ever been,' he declared." NEW: THE NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION is sending a letter to top Republican and Democratic lawmakers this morning calling for Congress to create a dedicated recovery fund for the restaurant industry, according to a draft obtained by Playbook. THE GROUP laid out its case with some stark numbers that it obtained in a survey of more than 6,500 restaurants: 8 MILLION restaurant employees have been laid off or furloughed. The industry lost $30 BILLION in revenue in March and is on track to lose an additional $50 BILLION by the end of April. More than 60% say that current federal relief programs, including the CARES Act, won't help them keep employees on the payroll. "THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY has been the hardest hit by the coronavirus mandates - suffering more sales and job losses than any other industry in the country. As past recoveries have proven, we will be one of the slowest to bounce back," NRA's Sean Kennedy wrote in the letter. "For an industry with sales that exceed the agriculture, airline, railroad, ground transportation, and spectator sports industries combined, a restaurant relief and recovery program is desperately needed." -- BLOOMBERG: "Shake Shack Will Return Its Entire $10 Million U.S. Government Loan," by Derek Wallbank: "'Shake Shack was fortunate last Friday to be able to access the additional capital we needed to ensure our long term stability through an equity transaction in the public markets,' said Chief Executive Officer Randy Garutti and Danny Meyer, the founder and chairman of Shake Shack and CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group. "'We're thankful for that and we've decided to immediately return the entire $10 million PPP loan we received last week,' the pair said, 'so that those restaurants who need it most can get it now.'" Good Monday morning. | | | | A message from PhRMA: In these unprecedented times, America's biopharmaceutical companies are coming together to achieve one shared goal: beating COVID-19. We are rapidly screening our vast global libraries to identify potential treatments and have 284 clinical trials underway. Explore our efforts. | | | HAPPENING TODAY -- ANNA and JAKE will host a virtual Playbook Interview with celebrity chef DAVID CHANG, founder of Momofuku, and MARGUERITE MARISCAL, CEO of Momofuku, to talk about the coronavirus pandemic and what Congress needs to do to help the ailing restaurant industry. Register SO, THEY KNEW ... WAPO'S KAREN DEYOUNG, LENA SUN and EMILY RAUHALA: "Americans at World Health Organization transmitted real-time information about coronavirus to Trump administration": "More than a dozen U.S. researchers, physicians and public health experts, many of them from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were working full time at the Geneva headquarters of the World Health Organization as the novel coronavirus emerged late last year and transmitted real-time information about its discovery and spread in China to the Trump administration, according to U.S. and international officials. "A number of CDC staff members are regularly detailed to work at the WHO in Geneva as part of a rotation that has operated for years. Senior Trump-appointed health officials also consulted regularly at the highest levels with the WHO as the crisis unfolded, the officials said. ... "In a statement provided to The Washington Post after online publication of this article, Caitlin B. Oakley, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, confirmed that in January, HHS had 17 staff members, including 16 from the CDC, at the WHO, 'working on a variety of programs, including covid-19 and Ebola.' She emphasized that the staff members were not 'decision-makers.' "'Furthermore, I'd add that just because you have Americans embedded in WHO providing technical assistance does not change the information you are getting from WHO leadership,' Oakley said in an email. 'We have learned now that WHO information was incorrect and relied too heavily on China.' Questioning why the WHO 'did not press China harder,' she said that 'the lack of transparency aided and abided by WHO leadership hampered understanding of the virus and delayed the global response.'" SCARY -- "In rare but growing number of cases, children hospitalized with coronavirus in Massachusetts," by The Boston Globe's Rebecca Ostriker THIS WILL BE AN INTERESTING WEEK, via WSJ: "Almost a fifth of S&P 500 companies are scheduled to report earnings this week, giving investors a look into how the Covid-19 pandemic has ravaged different sectors of the economy, from airlines to tech companies. "Many of the companies reporting -- including Delta Air Lines Inc., Coca-Cola Co. and International Business Machines Corp. -- are logging results for the first three months of 2020. The results will show only some of the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic as the U.S. economy didn't shut down widely until the quarter's final few weeks." -- FT: "U.S. oil price plunges to 20-year low as coronavirus hits demand," by Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong and David Sheppard and Myles McCormick in London: "As markets opened in Europe on Monday, West Texas Intermediate -- the U.S. oil benchmark -- was down 17.9 per cent at $14.99 a barrel, its lowest level since 1999. It had fallen as low as $14.47 in Asian trade. "Shares in oil majors were under pressure in an otherwise positive start to the day for European stocks, with London-listed Royal Dutch Shell and BP down 1 percent, while France's Total slid 2.2 percent." WAPO'S ASHLEY PARKER: "'How do we overcome fear?' Americans need confidence before life can return to normal": "Last week, President Trump released a set of guidelines for beginning to reopen the country amid the coronavirus pandemic. But what Trump says won't much matter if skittish elected leaders, business owners and customers don't trust that they will be safe returning to their daily lives — and at the moment, most Americans don't have that confidence." ALEX ISENSTADT: "Trump money machine overcomes coronavirus in March": "The Republican National Committee raised a record $24 million last month, an early indication that President Donald Trump's fundraising machine could be able to withstand the economic collapse brought on by the coronavirus. "Despite a global pandemic that has shuttered much of the U.S. economy, the RNC's total represented its best March fundraising performance in history. The figures will be part of a federal campaign finance filing due Monday." | | | | A message from PhRMA:   In these unprecedented times, America's biopharmaceutical companies are coming together to achieve one shared goal: beating COVID-19. Explore our efforts. | | | NEW: POLITICO'S RACE RATINGS UPDATE, via STEVEN SHEPARD: The most notable change: Maine's Senate race moved from a "Lean R" to "Toss Up," opening up a Democratic path to the majority, though Republicans are still favored. The ratings -- IN THE SENATE: "Democrats' momentum puts Senate majority in play," by James Arkin: "Republicans started this election cycle as heavy favorites to keep their Senate majority, with a lineup of elections mostly in red-tinted states and GOP incumbents favored over a slate of relatively unknown and untested challengers. Now, nearly six months out from the election, Democrats are making them sweat. "Republicans are still more likely than not to maintain control, but Democrats strengthened their hand with a slate of challengers raising massive sums of money in races that represent the heart of the battle for the majority, putting control of the Senate within reach. Republicans remain modest favorites to keep the Senate, with incumbents holding cash advantages in most competitive races and several offensive targets potentially cushioning their majority." POLITICO -- IN THE HOUSE: "Cash-rich Democrats tighten grip on House majority," by Ally Mutnick: "Recruitment flops and lackluster fundraising have weakened Republicans' chances in over a dozen competitive House districts, leaving them with an increasingly narrow path back to power. "Though GOP strategists feel confident they will see some gains this cycle, the latest fundraising reports out last week painted a bleak picture of their odds of netting the 18 seats needed to recapture the House, particularly with campaigning frozen by a global pandemic." POLITICO GAO GETS TO WORK -- "A watchdog out of Trump's grasp unleashes wave of coronavirus audits," by Kyle Cheney THE PRESIDENT'S MONDAY: TRUMP will have lunch with VP Mike Pence at 1 p.m. The coronavirus taskforce will brief at 5 p.m. | | | | JOIN TODAY - CAN THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY RECOVER FROM COVID-19? Restaurant doors are shut and millions of their employees have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic. Join Playbook co-authors Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman today at 9 a.m. EDT for a virtual discussion with David Chang, founder of Momofuku Restaurant Group, on what Washington can do to help the industry. What do restaurant owners and workers need to recover from this swift and devastating blow? Join the discussion. Have a question? Tweet it to @POLITICOLive using #AskPOLITICO. REGISTER HERE TO PARTICIPATE. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | 
PHOTO DU JOUR: Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers surround a shooting suspect at a gas station in Enfield, Nova Scotia, on Sunday April 19. Sixteen people were killed, marking the deadliest shooting in Canada in 30 years. | Tim Krochak/The Canadian Press via AP | THE WFH READ: JANINE DI GIOVANNI'S 1999 Balkans chronicle "Madness Visible" in Vanity Fair, which won a National Magazine Award. An epic story in which form follows function: The cyclical structure reflects the way new wars rehashed old recriminations. (Note how the ending mirrors the lede.) JOSH GERSTEIN: "Rick Gates asks to serve sentence at home" THE DRUG RACE -- "Novartis, U.S. drug regulator agree to malaria drug trial against COVID-19," by Reuters' John Miller in Zurich: "Novartis has won the go-ahead from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to conduct a randomized trial of malaria drug hydroxychloroquine against COVID-19 disease, the Swiss drugmaker said on Monday, to see if it helps patients. "The decades-old generic medicine got FDA emergency use authorization this month for its unapproved use for coronavirus disease, but so far there is no scientific proof it works. There are currently no approved COVID-19 medicines. Novartis plans to start recruiting 440 patients for its Phase III, or late-stage, trial within weeks at more than a dozen U.S. sites. Results will be reported as soon as possible, the company added." Reuters WATCH THIS SPACE -- "Antibody Test, Seen as Key to Reopening Country, Does Not Yet Deliver," by NYT's Steve Eder, Megan Twohey and Apoorva Mandavilli: "In recent weeks, the United States has seen the first rollout of blood tests for coronavirus antibodies, widely heralded as crucial tools to assess the reach of the pandemic in the United States, restart the economy and reintegrate society. "But for all their promise, the tests — intended to signal whether people may have built immunity to the virus — are already raising alarms. "Officials fear the effort may prove as problematic as the earlier launch of diagnostic tests that failed to monitor which Americans, and how many, had been infected or developed the disease the virus causes. Criticized for a tragically slow and rigid oversight of those tests months ago, the federal government is now faulted by public health officials and scientists for greenlighting the antibody tests too quickly and without adequate scrutiny." AARON LORENZO: "Tax-refund delays mount as IRS struggles with snail mail amid shutdown": "The IRS is piling unopened business tax refund requests into storage trailers and advising companies to file by fax instead. It's stopped answering phone calls on taxpayer assistance lines. And it's not processing millions of paper tax returns filed by individual Americans. "The coronavirus pandemic has nearly crippled the tax collection agency, which relies on antiquated technology and still does a lot of business on paper, just as it is most needed to help pump money into the ailing economy. "All of the agency's processing and taxpayer assistance centers have been shuttered to shield its workforce from exposure to the virus. With the normal tax filing deadline delayed until July 15, the IRS has turned most of its attention to implementing a key part of the federal government's most recent economic rescue plan — sending out stimulus payments of up to $1,200 for individuals and $2,400 for couples, plus $500 for children under 17. "As a result, millions of individual taxpayers and businesses could face lengthy delays before they receive refunds they desperately need as the coronavirus halts their incomes. Taxpayers disputing how much they owe or waiting to see if they qualify for tax credits also could have to wait indefinitely." POLITICO | | | | A message from PhRMA:   America's biopharmaceutical companies are coming together to achieve one shared goal: beating COVID-19. | | | MASSACRE IN CANADA -- "Gunman kills at least 16, including officer, in Nova Scotia," by Andy Blatchford in Ottawa: "A lone gunman disguised as law enforcement stormed across Nova Scotia over a two-day period, killing 16 people, including an officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. "It is the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history. The suspect left victims scattered across multiple crime scenes in different communities during a rampage that stretched from late Saturday into Sunday, said Chris Leather, chief superintendent of the Nova Scotia RCMP." POLITICO TOP-ED ... SEN. BERNIE SANDERS in the NYT: "The Foundations of American Society Are Failing Us" KNOWING JEROME POWELL -- "Fed's Powell goes from Trump's fall guy to go-to guy in pandemic," by Victoria Guida: "Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell spent more than a year as a punching bag for President Donald Trump, who once said the central bank chief had 'no "guts," no sense, no vision!' for failing to turbocharge the economy. "Now, Powell has been given extraordinary discretion to lead the government's massive effort to stave off a deep recession sparked by the coronavirus pandemic. And Trump — for now — has changed his tone, telling reporters last month that he had called Powell to tell him he's doing a good job. 'He's really stepped up,' the president said. "The Fed chief's dogged refusal to stay out of the political fray by ignoring Trump's taunts, as well as his good relationships with lawmakers from both parties, has put him in a unique position to shepherd the economic rescue in a nonpartisan way. "But the vast power that Washington has handed to Powell will also likely make him a scapegoat once again if his mission falls short. Already, the Fed has started to draw fire from policymakers and watchdogs on the left — many of whom defended him against Trump's relentless broadsides — like House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and a member of a congressional oversight commission tracking the funds. That criticism is sure to grow." POLITICO | | | | YOUR WEEKLY LOOK AROUND THE WORLD: The Global Translations newsletter, presented by Bank of America, serves as your go-to guide for unpacking essential global news, trends, and decisions. From the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic, to other issues taking shape around the world affecting inequality, technology, trade and climate change, Global Translations offers a unique perspective on the biggest issues of our time. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at politicoplaybook@politico.com. TRANSITION -- Chris Towner is now senior director of budget and data analytics at First Focus on Children. He previously was a policy associate at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. BIRTHWEEK (was Sunday): John P. Schmitz, president of Prime Transatlantic, turned 65 (h/t daughter Anna) BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Jacob Pramuk, CNBC digital politics reporter. A trend he thinks doesn't get enough attention: "Lack of access to healthy food, and how it exacerbates inequality, flies under the radar. A common concern from voters and candidates across the country, in cities and rural areas, is the closure of grocery stores (even before the coronavirus made it harder to find food). The outbreak has hit people with underlying medical conditions such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes harder than people without those issues." Playbook Q&A BIRTHDAYS: Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) is 84 ... Rep. Cindy Axne (D-Iowa) is 55 ... NBC News' Carol Lee ... Cassidy Dumbauld of the White House ... Molly Ball, national political correspondent at Time and CNN political analyst ... Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith is 54 ... Joanna Coles ... Jennifer Griffin, national security correspondent for Fox News ... Brett McGurk, Payne distinguished lecturer at Stanford and foreign affairs analyst at NBC News and MSNBC, is 47 ... Mike Rubino ... Colin Reed, managing director at the Levinson Group ... former Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.) is 89 ... Lee Moak ... The Guardian's Emily Holden ... POLITICO's Sarah Ferris, David Siders, Alix Fues and Liz Parsons ... Kyle Feldscher ... Emily Rodriguez ... Lee Ferran ... Josh Delaney ... Seth Unger, VP of government and public affairs at GBX Group and a Treasury alum, is 41 ... Karen White (h/t Teresa Vilmain) ... David Beauregard ... ... Stu Trevelyan, CEO of EveryAction/NGP VAN ... Heather Foster, head of policy engagement and strategic partnerships at Lyft ... Marc Rotenberg, president and executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, is 6-0 ... Ashley Woolheater ... Garnett Decosimo ... Ethan Susseles ... former Rep. Dan Benishek (R-Mich.) is 68 ... Eric Bovim, CEO of Avisa Partners U.S., is 44 ... Suzanne Struglinski ... Melissa Manson, senior director at Hamilton Place Strategies ... Patrick Collins, SVP for finance and administration at the League of Conservation Voters ... Mel Leonor ... Edelman's Chris Chopek ... Mary Springer Sforza ... Karen McAfee ... Lindsey Mask ... Molly Born ... Denise Gitsham ... Shane Wolfe ... Zachary Baum ... Melanie Roe ... Michael Layman ... Rebecca Kasper ... Leon Harris is 59 ... Jessica Kamen ... Dennis Smith ... Ben Proler ... Nicholl (Caruso) Taylor | | | | A message from PhRMA: In these unprecedented times, America's biopharmaceutical companies are coming together to achieve one shared goal: beating COVID-19. The investments we've made have prepared us to act swiftly:
· Rapidly screening our vast global libraries to identify potential treatments and have 284 clinical trials underway
· Dedicating our top scientists and using our investments in new technologies to speed the development of safe and effective vaccines
· Sharing learnings from clinical trials in real time with governments and other companies to advance the development of additional therapies
· Expanding our unique manufacturing capabilities and sharing available capacity to ramp up production once a successful medicine or vaccine is developed
Explore our efforts. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
