| | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | | |  Eric Garcetti, nominated as U.S. ambassador to India, lost the support of Senate Foreign Relations ranking member Jim Risch (R-Idaho). | Amanda Edwards/Getty Images | NOMINEE TRAVAILS — A pair of high-profile nominees hit some speed bumps in the Senate today: — Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) announced that he’d vote against DANIEL WERFEL’s nomination as IRS commissioner. Though Manchin said Werfel is “supremely qualified,” he’s withholding his support over a separate dispute with the Treasury Department regarding electric vehicle tax credits: “I have zero faith he will be given the autonomy to perform the job in accordance with the law,” Manchin said in a statement. But Sen. RON WYDEN (D-Ore.) said he still expects Werfel to have enough bipartisan backing to be confirmed on the floor. The chamber just invoked cloture on the nomination, 51-44. — ERIC GARCETTI, nominated as U.S. ambassador to India, lost the support of Senate Foreign Relations ranking member JIM RISCH (R-Idaho), who said “new evidence” gave him pause about Garcetti’s judgment. Almost 600 days into Garcetti’s nomination, questions about his handling of sexual misconduct allegations against a top adviser continue to dog him. “We must ensure that any chief of mission will, without question, protect our foreign service officers and embassy staff from all types of harassment,” Risch said. The committee vote on Garcetti’s nomination was postponed to 2 p.m. today. More big news from Senate Foreign Relations: The committee voted 13-8 to repeal the authorizations for use of military force in Iraq from 1991 and 2002. BUDGET BURST — President JOE BIDEN’s budget proposal coming tomorrow will include a 5.2% raise for federal employees, which would be the biggest since 1980 but way below the 8.7% increase that many Democrats and labor unions want, WaPo’s Lisa Rein reports. On the flip side, 5.2% will be too steep a raise for House Republicans to support. And his plan would cut deficits by almost $3 trillion over the next 10 years, AP’s Josh Boak scooped. That’s almost $1 trillion more than he promised in his State of the Union, as he tries to put Republicans on the back foot. Meanwhile, as House Republicans gear up to present their balanced budget proposal, they’re anticipating a politically difficult reveal of a plan that would make massive cuts to popular initiatives, NYT’s Carl Hulse and Catie Edmondson report. Led by RUSS VOUGHT, the strategy might slash foreign aid by 45%, do away with Obamacare Medicaid expansions and add work requirements to food stamps and Medicaid. But don’t expect it to drop very soon: House Budget Chair JODEY ARRINGTON (R-Texas) told CNN’s Melanie Zanona that Republicans are in “no rush” and expect to put it out in early to mid-May. BIG NEWS IN KENTUCKY — “U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland issues scathing report into LMPD practices,” by the Louisville Courier Journal’s Billy Kobin and Andrew Wolfson: “The department, for years, ‘has practiced an aggressive style of policing that it deploys selectively, especially against Black people, but also against vulnerable people throughout the city,’ U.S. Attorney General MERRICK GARLAND said.” Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
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See how employees benefit. | | | JUDICIARY SQUARE SCHLAPP CASE LATEST — The man suing prominent Republican campaign operative MATT SCHLAPP over an alleged sexual assault cannot proceed anonymously in the case, a Virginia judge ruled today, our Josh Gerstein reports. “The court finds that the plaintiff has not established, I think, a heavy burden of establishing both a concrete need for secrecy and identifying the consequences that would likely befall him if forced to proceed in his own name,” Alexandria Circuit Court Judge LISA KEMLER declared after hearing arguments from both sides. The accuser, who worked on HERSCHEL WALKER’s unsuccessful Senate campaign in Georgia last year, claims in his $9.4 million suit that Schlapp groped and fondled him during an October visit to back Walker. Schlapp has denied the claim. Schlapp’s lawyer, BENJAMIN CHEW, said in court today that the accuser has past ties to white supremacists and a “highly checkered employment record.” The accuser’s attorney, TIMOTHY HYLAND, argued identifying his client could lead to threats and invasion of privacy. He noted that a federal judge in Washington granted the accuser’s bid to remain anonymous in a related lawsuit filed there. As she denied the accuser’s right to proceed as a “John Doe” in the Virginia case, Kemler also floated the idea of a gag order on the parties, but didn’t impose one “at this time.” POLITICO policy is not to name individuals alleging sexual assault. WAR IN UKRAINE WHERE McCARTHY WON’T GO — Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that he’s inviting Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY to visit and see the war up close. “He has to come here to see how we work, what’s happening here, what war caused us, which people are fighting now, who are fighting now. And then after that, make your assumptions,” Zelensky said. “He never visited Kyiv or Ukraine, and I think it would help him with his position.” But McCarthy shrugged out of it in comments to Manu Raju: “I don’t have to go to Ukraine to understand where there’s a blank check or not,” he said. “I will continue to get my briefings and others, but I don’t have to go to Ukraine or Kyiv to see it.” JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH HOUSE GOP UNBOWED — Criticisms of his TUCKER CARLSON Jan. 6 footage release be damned, McCarthy and his fellow House Republicans are plowing ahead with plans for multiple Jan. 6 investigations of their own, CNN’s Annie Grayer, Melanie Zanona and Manu Raju detail. Rep. BARRY LOUDERMILK (R-Ga.) will lead a probe investigating the last Jan. 6 congressional investigation, along with security problems from the day. And there may even be a probe into how Jan. 6 defendants have been treated. Zinger from Sen. JOHN CORNYN (R-Texas): “I think they need to watch a little less cable TV.” And the White House is stepping up its criticism of Carlson, with a rare statement to Chris Cadelago calling him out by name as “not credible.”
| | | | We’re spilling the tea (and drinking tons of it in our newsroom) in U.K. politics with our latest newsletter, London Playbook PM. Get to know all the movers and shakers in Westminster and never miss a beat of British politics with a free subscription. Don’t miss out, we’ve got some exciting moves coming. Sign up today. | | | | | 2024 WATCH GALLEGO OPENS UP — As he runs for Senate, Rep. RUBEN GALLEGO (D-Ariz.) is being open about his experiences with PTSD from his time in Iraq, WaPo’s Ben Terris writes in a new Style section profile. Gallego’s mental health struggles have at times propelled him toward political ambition, but he’s also put in years of work to recover — and to share his journey publicly. The story traces his path from an abusive childhood to Harvard to war to Congress. “Gallego has made the bet that voters have a better and more nuanced understanding about mental health struggles than they may have had in the past.” Notable line, from Gallego on Harvard: “‘I used to serve drinks at PETE BUTTIGIEG’s little political club at the Institute of Politics,’ he said. ‘I hated them all.’” … LIS SMITH rolled her eyes in response: “.@RubenGallego wants you to know that he is *so* cool.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — VIVEK RAMASWAMY today will demand that the RNC lay out now how it will decide who makes it to the presidential debates, not wait until later in the race. “Vivek has a renewed focus on exposing corruption in the political system,” his campaign spokesperson TRICIA McLAUGHLIN said in a statement. He’ll “call on the RNC to immediately release its criteria for debate stage placement to avoid any game playing later, much like the DNC did to BERNIE SANDERS in 2015-2016.” DIVIDED LOYALTIES — South Carolina Republicans are struggling to choose between NIKKI HALEY and potential presidential contender Sen. TIM SCOTT, The State’s Alex Roarty reports. Plenty of GOP politicos in the state have close ties to both, and Scott has already begun staffing up for a run, with local chatter growing that he’ll join Haley in the field. And “the public ambivalence about which candidate to support could carry on longer than most people expect.” MORE POLITICS CRIME PAYS — House Democrats’ votes to preserve D.C.’s local criminal code changes — which are set to be steamrolled in the Senate today — are already the subject of new GOP attack ads, Axios’ Andrew Solender reports. The NRCC is putting five figures behind digital ads targeting 15 House Dems. FASCINATING FINDINGS — Republicans’ attacks on “wokeness” might have limited political utility, a new poll from USA Today/Ipsos indicates: By a 56% to 39% margin, Americans say the term means awareness of social injustices, not excessive political correctness, Susan Page reports. The more positive connotation is held by a narrow majority of independents and even more than a third of Republicans. Still, a 42% plurality of independents say that being called “woke” is an insult. Plus more interesting (and varied) results on teaching about race, book censorship and gender-neutral pronouns NEW ON THE SCENE — ZACK CARROLL, JANE HUGHES and JOSHUA KARP are launching Liftoff Campaigns, a new Democratic digital/comms firm that Jessica Piper reports “aims to align candidates’ fundraising pleas with their carefully crafted campaign messaging” — i.e., make them less annoying and more effective. AMERICA AND THE WORLD SPY GAMES — It’s becoming increasingly difficult for the U.S. to gather intelligence about Chinese state decision-making, NBC’s Dan De Luce reports, thanks to President XI JINPING’s “tightening grip on power, his government’s vast electronic surveillance apparatus, a crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong, and a strict three-year Covid lockdown.”
| | | | DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO MOBILE APP: Stay up to speed with the newly updated POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need, reimagined. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS– DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID. | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS IN MEMORIAM — “Barbara Everitt Bryant, first woman to oversee census, dies at 96,” by WaPo’s Harrison Smith OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at Pearl Street Warehouse last night celebrating Rep. Greg Murphy’s (R-N.C.) 60th birthday with karaoke: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Reps. David Rouzer (R-N.C.), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), Rob Wittman (R-Va.), Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wis.), Ron Estes (R-Kan.), Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) and Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.). — EMILY’s List held its sixth annual pre-Oscars breakfast yesterday in LA, with a focus on “How Women Change The World” in entertainment and storytelling in politics. SPOTTED: Garcelle Beauvais, Sophia Bush, Amber Riley, Lisa Ann Walter, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jennifer Lin, Wendy Greuel, Gloria Calderón Kellett, Cookie Johnson, Justin Mikita, Ron Livingston, Leigh McGowan, Kate Siegel, Anjali Bhimani, Samantha Sloyan, Baron Davis, California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, LA Mayor Karen Bass, Massachusetts AG Andrea Campbell, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, Michael Tubbs and Laphonza Butler. MEDIA MOVE — Jackson Richman is now a Washington correspondent at The Epoch Times. He most recently was a writer at Mediaite. WHITE HOUSE ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Maya James is now special assistant in the office of Cabinet affairs at the White House. She most recently was a book reviewer at Locus Magazine. TRANSITIONS — Evan Turnage is now chief counsel for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Josh Sisco reports. He previously was senior counsel with focus on competition policy for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). … Ariel Judah is now director of U.S. government affairs at Red Bull North America. He most recently was director of federal relations for former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, and is a Jon Kyl alum. … Quentin Dupouy is now legislative assistant for Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.). He previously was digital director and legislative aide for Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.). … … Naseam Alavi is now special adviser to the chief of staff at the Department of Education. She most recently was director of the Office of Partnership Engagement for the private sector at DHS. … The Center for Justice Innovation is adding Theron Pride as managing director of national initiatives and research, Dan Lavoie as chief external affairs officer and Sherene Crawford as chief of staff to the executive director. … Kyle Scott is now grants manager at Connector Labs. He most recently ran for treasurer of Harris County, Texas. ENGAGED — Joelle Gamble, chief economist at the Department of Labor and incoming deputy director of the National Economic Council, and Zac Copeland, an associate at Gibson Dunn, got engaged Sunday on the Georgetown waterfront. Pic WEEKEND WEDDING — Joanna Miller, a senior adviser at Save America PAC and a Trump White House alum, and Greg Wischer, VP of operations at Westwin Elements, got married at St. Stephen Martyr Catholic Church on Saturday, with the reception at the Willard. The couple met through mutual friends in fall 2020 at a party at her old apartment in the West End. Pic … Another pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Chelsea Jarrett, deputy chief of staff to Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), and Ben Jarrett, associate at Innovative Federal Strategies and an Appalachian Regional Commission and John Carter alum, welcomed Nora Elizabeth Jarrett on Feb. 25.Pic Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine.
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