Playbook PM: Pelosi and Manchin start to play chicken

Jun 24, 2021

By Rachael Bade, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun

Presented by

Speaker NANCY PELOSI made two bits of news this morning at her weekly news conference:

— First, she officially endorsed the idea of a select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. The move allows the speaker to pack the investigation with her allies and keep control over the process, though she didn't say exactly who would lead the charge. Those details will come later, but House Homeland Security Chairman BENNIE THOMPSON has been making a strong push for this position.

As for a timeline on the committee's work? There isn't one, which means this might drag into 2022 — a concern for Republicans who want this story to go away. Pelosi said the investigation will run as long as it takes for it to complete.

The scope: Pelosi said the committee will explore the root causes of the riot and the overall security of the Capitol, she said. One question: Does this mean subpoenas for former White House chief of staff MARK MEADOWS, defense leaders, and aides to the ex-Vice President MIKE PENCE?

— Pelosi also drew a line on infrastructure, saying publicly what she privately told Democrats on a whip call this morning. "There ain't gonna be no bipartisan bill unless we are going to have reconciliation," Pelosi said. "Plain and simple. In fact, I used the word 'ain't.'"

First, it's very weird to hear Pelosi use slang.

Second, the speaker is sending a signal to the JOE MANCHINs and KYRSTEN SINEMAs of the Senate: If they want a bipartisan deal, they need to endorse the party's Democrats-only infrastructure bill that could top $5 trillion, in addition to the $1 trillion spent on on roads and bridges. In fact, Pelosi said the House will refuse to take up their bipartisan deal until it also receives budget reconciliation legislation.

WHAT DOES MANCHIN HAVE TO SAY ABOUT ALL THIS? CNN's Manu Raju asked him about it this morning: "We have to see what's in the other plan before I can say, 'Oh yes, you vote for this and I'll vote for that.' That's not what I have signed up for."

And on that massive $6 trillion number? "That sounds extremely, extremely high for us to take on that much debt. … I have a hard time swallowing that."

President JOE BIDEN emerged from the White House following a roughly 30-minute meeting with the bipartisan group of 10 senators and told reporters, "To answer the direct question, we have a deal. … They have my word, I'll stick with what we've proposed and they've given me their word as well." More from Marianne LeVine, Burgess Everett and Natasha Korecki

SO MUCH FOR 'JUNE OR BUST' — "Lawmakers punt deadline for policing talks," by Nicholas Wu and Marianne LeVine: "Lawmakers negotiating a deal on police reform have punted an end-of-June deadline and plan to keep talking over the Senate's recess, according to a source familiar with the situation.

"Previously, some lawmakers floated Thursday as the deadline for a compromise. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the lead Senate Republican negotiator, said recently that he wants 'something that tells me I'm not wasting my time' by the end of the week. But lawmakers have still struggled to close the gap on major issues like restrictions on the use of force."

Good Thursday afternoon. Congressional recess is right around the corner. *Double backflips*

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This summer looks a lot better because of private equity's investments over the past year. Millions of Americans got vaccinated, many of the small businesses we know and love survived the pandemic and are thriving, and the travel sector is rebounding. Learn more at https://www.investmentcouncil.org/summer.

DEPT. OF REAP WHAT YOU SOW — "Court Suspends Giuliani's Law License, Citing Trump Election Lies," NYT: "A New York appellate court suspended Rudolph W. Giuliani's law license on Thursday after a disciplinary panel found that he made 'demonstrably false and misleading' statements about the 2020 election as Donald J. Trump's personal attorney. The court wrote in a 33-page decision that Mr. Giuliani's conduct threatened 'the public interest and warrants interim suspension from the practice of law.'"

MORE STUNNING BOOK DEETS — "Inside the extraordinary effort to save Trump from covid-19," by WaPo's Damian Paletta and Yasmeen Abutaleb, adapted from "Nightmare Scenario" ($24): "Health and Human Services Secretary ALEX AZAR'S phone rang with an urgent request: Could he help someone at the White House obtain an experimental coronavirus treatment, known as a monoclonal antibody? … Azar wasn't told who the drug was for but would later connect the dots. The patient was one of President DONALD TRUMP'S closest advisers: HOPE HICKS.

"A short time later, FDA Commissioner STEPHEN HAHN received a request from a top White House official for a separate case, this time with even greater urgency: Could he get the FDA to sign off on a compassionate-use authorization for a monoclonal antibody right away? … When Hahn later learned the effort was on behalf of the president, he was stunned. …

"A five-day stretch in October 2020 — from the moment White House officials began an extraordinary effort to get Trump lifesaving drugs to the day the president returned to the White House from the hospital — marked a dramatic turning point in the nation's flailing coronavirus response. Trump's brush with severe illness and the prospect of death caught the White House so unprepared that they had not even briefed Vice President Mike Pence's team on a plan to swear him in if Trump became incapacitated."

EXTENSION GRANTED — "Biden administration extends eviction moratorium for a month," AP: "The Biden administration has extended the nationwide ban on evictions for a month to help tenants who are unable to make rent payments during the coronavirus pandemic. Dr. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, extended the evictions moratorium until July 31. It had been scheduled to end June 30. The CDC said Thursday that 'this is intended to be the final extension of the moratorium.'"

THE UNEMPLOYMENT PICTURE — "U.S. jobless claims tick down to 411,000 as economy heals," AP: "The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits dropped last week, a sign that layoffs declined and the job market is improving. The Labor Department said Thursday that jobless claims fell just 7,000 from the previous week to 411,000. Weekly claims have fallen steadily this year from about 900,000 in January."

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THE VACCINATION EFFORT — "Falling short: Why the White House will miss its vax target," by AP's Zeke Miller: "With the July Fourth holiday approaching, the White House acknowledged this week that Biden will fall shy of his 70% goal and an associated aim of fully vaccinating 165 million adults in the same time frame. The missed milestones are notable in a White House that from the outset has been organized around a strategy of underpromising and overdelivering for the American public. …

"A half-dozen officials involved in the vaccination campaign, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the missed target candidly, pointed to a combination of factors, including: the lessened sense of urgency that followed early success in the vaccination campaign; a decision to reach higher than a play-it-safe lower goal; and unexpectedly strong recalcitrance among some Americans toward getting a shot."

WHO YA GONNA CALL — "Top U.S. Officials Consulted With BlackRock as Markets Melted Down," by NYT's Jeanna Smialek: "As Federal Reserve Chair JEROME H. POWELL and Treasury Secretary STEVEN MNUCHIN scrambled to save faltering markets at the start of the pandemic last year, America's top economic officials were in near-constant contact with a Wall Street executive whose firm stood to benefit financially from the rescue.

"LAURENCE D. FINK, the chief executive of BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, was in frequent touch with Mr. Mnuchin and Mr. Powell in the days before and after many of the Fed's emergency rescue programs were announced in late March. Emails obtained by The New York Times through a records request, along with public releases, underscore the extent to which Mr. Fink planned alongside the government for parts of a financial rescue that his firm referred to in one message as 'the project' that he and the Fed were 'working on together.'"

WHO SAYS BIPARTISANSHIP IS DEAD? — "In rare bipartisan move, Senate approves bill to help farmers profit on climate action," by Helena Bottemiller Evich

FOR YOUR RADAR — "Military sexual assault debate broadens to tackle racial inequities," Roll Call: "The debate over the military's handling of sexual assault cases has broadened and now takes on questions about racial justice, according to lawmakers who are pushing to change the armed forces legal system. Majorities in both chambers now favor passing a law to establish professional legal teams in the armed services that would decide which felony allegations should go to courts-martial — decisions that are now made by generals and admirals who mostly lack legal training."

2024 WATCH — "Nikki Haley on multiple missions to help GOP win big in 2022," by Fox News' Paul Steinhauser: "NIKKI HALEY is pounding the pavement on the campaign trail as she crisscrosses the country to help fellow Republicans running in elections this year and in 2022. 'Our thought is we've got races that are around the country that matter in all the states and we're going to hit as many of them and do as much good as we can,' the former South Carolina governor … said in an interview with Fox News on the eve of her Thursday trip to Iowa.

"Haley's three day swing through the state that leads off the presidential nominating calendar is naturally sparking more speculation about her possible national ambitions in 2024, but Haley says her focus is squarely on the 2022 midterms, when the GOP will try to win back majorities in the House and Senate and increase their margins in governorships and state legislatures."

— "Mike Pompeo, other 2024 GOP hopefuls head to New York to meet with donors as possible White House bids loom," by CNBC's Brian Schwartz: "Potential contenders who either have or are set to gather with donors in the Big Apple include former Secretary of State MIKE POMPEO, Sens. TIM SCOTT and MARCO RUBIO and Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS, according to people briefed on the matter and invitations to fundraising events."

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THE AFGHAN PULLOUT — "U.S. planning to evacuate thousands of interpreters from Afghanistan," by Paul McLeary, Betsy Woodruff Swan and Nahal Toosi: "The White House and Pentagon intend to evacuate thousands of Afghan interpreters and their families to a third country as they await U.S. visa processing, two officials have confirmed.

"The issue of Afghan interpreters and translators has become a major sticking point in the rush to move thousands of American troops and tons of equipment out of the country by September. … The thousands of interpreters who worked side by side with U.S. troops for two decades have remained in limbo, however, leading to scrambling in Washington to find a way to protect them from the Taliban and others once U.S. forces are gone."

POLICING IN AMERICA — "Why Police Have Been Quitting in Droves in the Last Year," by NYT's Neil MacFarquhar in Asheville, N.C.: "A survey of almost 200 police departments indicated that retirements were up 45 percent and resignations rose by 18 percent in the year from April 2020 to April 2021 when compared with the previous 12 months, according to the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington policy institute. …

"Asheville was among the hardest hit proportionally, losing upward of 80 officers, more than one third of its 238-strong force. The reason has partly to do with Asheville itself — a big blue dot amid a sea of red voters in western North Carolina. Residents often refer to the city, a tourist mecca of 90,000 people tucked into the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains, as the South's version of Austin, Texas, or Portland, Ore."

THIS IS STILL HAPPENING — "Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Aide Questioned in Sexual Harassment Investigation," by WSJ's Jimmy Vielkind: "Investigators spoke recently with RICH AZZOPARDI, a senior adviser who is one of the governor's principal spokespeople, the people said. He is the highest-ranking current aide to [Gov. ANDREW] CUOMO known to have been interviewed as part of the investigation into sexual-harassment allegations against the governor overseen by Attorney General LETITIA JAMES.

"The attorney general and her spokespeople have declined to say when they plan to conclude the investigation. People familiar with the probe said they expected the governor's senior aides, including Mr. Azzopardi, to be among the last questioned in the probe, which launched in March."

MEDIAWATCH — Jessica Calefati is joining POLITICO as an education reporter. She's been an investigative reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and is an alum of the San Jose Mercury News. Susannah Luthi will be a technology influence reporter for POLITICO in California. She previously was a health care reporter for POLITICO.

TRANSITIONS — Katharine Nasielski is now deputy director for government relations at CARE. She previously was foreign policy adviser for Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.). … Michelle Holder will be president and CEO of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. She currently is an assistant professor of economics at John Jay College, City University of New York.

A message from the American Investment Council:

This summer looks a lot better because of private equity's investments over the past year. Learn more about private equity's investments at https://www.investmentcouncil.org/summer.