| | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | | |  President Joe Biden is sending 1,500 active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | THE WIND HAS CHANGED DIRECTION, AND YOU’LL HAVE TO LEAVE — President JOE BIDEN will be soon be singing a different border song as Title 42 ends, and it’s the same one that inspired Democratic outcry when DONALD TRUMP did it. Biden is sending 1,500 active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, with Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN expected to formally sign off on the 90-day deployment today, as Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin and Chris Pandolfo scooped. When the pandemic-era usage of the Title 42 public health measure to expel asylum-seekers expires next week, U.S. officials are anticipating a surge of migrants. The armed active-duty Army soldiers will not be involved in law enforcement at the border — instead they’ll be mostly focused on administrative and monitoring functions to give border officials more backup to do their jobs, at the request of DHS. (There are already 2,500 National Guard troops at the border.) That’s similar to their deployment under Trump and other administrations. The blowback on the left could be significant. Democrats blasted the Trump administration’s troop deployments in 2018, calling them political and damaging (especially the one right before the midterms). But Sen. JON TESTER (D-Mont.) didn’t express reservations to our colleagues Alex Ward, Lara Seligman and Joe Gould about Biden’s move, saying it reflected DHS’ underfunding. WHO’S AT DEFAULT — Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY has accepted Biden’s invitation for a meeting next week on the debt limit, NBC’s Ryan Nobles, Peter Alexander, Sahil Kapur and Summer Concepcion report. McCarthy talked with Biden from Israel as the president invited the “big four” congressional leaders. Democratic leaders have accepted, too; no word from Senate Minority Leader MITCH McCONNELL yet, besides “we’ll have more to say later.” With both sides fully dug in, there are few signs of movement toward a bipartisan compromise from basically anyone in Washington. Biden’s still needling Republicans on cuts to veterans’ benefits. But there are intriguing flickers of different kinds of potential resolution. NYT’s Jim Tankersley reports that Biden administration officials are mulling a once-fringe legal theory that the debt limit itself might be unconstitutional. Intense debate across the White House, Treasury and DOJ has yet to result in a definitive answer. But it’s notable that they’re even entertaining a possibility quickly dismissed by past administrations: Absent a congressional solution, the administration could decide to break the glass and simply continue issuing new debt, citing 14th Amendment concerns. That would set up an unprecedented, high-stakes battle in the courts. And it wouldn’t solve everything: “Continuing to issue debt in that situation would avoid an immediate disruption in consumer demand by maintaining government payments, but borrowing costs are [likely] to soar, at least temporarily,” Tankersley writes. Financial markets would almost certainly be thrown into chaos. And though liberal activists and some scholars have long pushed the theory, legal experts are divided over its legitimacy. But even its possibility could help give Biden leverage in hashing out the debt ceiling with Republicans. Other backup plans emerging as time runs short:
- NYT’s Carl Hulse reports that House Democrats have actually had a secret plan for a bipartisan discharge petition using a bill that Rep. MARK DeSAULNIER (D-Calif.) introduced quietly in January. House Minority Leader HAKEEM JEFFRIES said in a new Dear Colleague letter today that Dems were filing a “special rule” that could give them the opportunity to start collecting signatures by May 16. (Of course, they may have the vehicle, but they’d still need to peel off five House Republicans.)
- Sens. RICK SCOTT (R-Fla.) and KEVIN CRAMER (R-N.D.) told reporters that they’re open to a 30-day debt ceiling increase to allow deeper negotiations if the White House “actively engages” in talks. (Sen. THOM TILLIS (R-N.C.) was less enthused about such a delay.)
Good Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
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Hear from employees growing their careers. | | | 2024 WATCH CLEANUP ON AISLE YOUNGKIN — In a notable reversal, an aide to Virginia Gov. GLENN YOUNGKIN tells David Cohen today that the governor’s comments yesterday simply ruled out jumping into the presidential race now — not in the future. When Youngkin said at a WSJ event that “no,” he wouldn’t join the field this year, that “was not an announcement or a definite decline” of a 2024 run, the aide says. AD WARS — A central thrust of the Trump messaging against Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS continues to sound like a Democrat during GEORGE W. BUSH’s second term: His latest ad in Iowa hammers DeSantis exclusively on Social Security and Medicare, per Axios’ Alex Thompson. “Ron DeSantis would make us work longer to get less,” the narrator intones. MORE POLITICS THAT WAS FAST — Just a day after Sen. BEN CARDIN (D-Md.) said he won’t seek reelection, we already have a contender to replace him: Montgomery County Councilmember WILL JAWANDO, as WUSA-TV’s Troy Pope and Adam Longo scooped. Jawando is framing his run as a progressive fight against zero-sum thinking and for “shared prosperity,” touting his work on housing and racial injustice. Brakkton Booker reports that MICHAELA KURINSKY-MALOS will be Jawando’s campaign manager. Meanwhile, DAN MORROCCO is set to run Rep. DAVID TRONE’s potential campaign. CONGRESS THE MOST IMPORTANT MEETING OF THE WEEK — Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) will talk with Labor secretary nominee JULIE SU tomorrow, per Burgess Everett. STOCK AND TRADE — A new bill to ban members of Congress and their families from trading stocks has an unusual coalition of sponsors spanning the ideological spectrum: Reps. BRIAN FITZPATRICK (R-Pa.), ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-N.Y.), MATT GAETZ (R-Fla.) and RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-Ill.). Their Bipartisan Restoring Faith in Government Act is just the latest congressional attempt to ban members’ stock trading, Nancy Vu scoops in Congress Minutes. AI ON THE BRAIN — “Bill would require disclosure of AI-generated content in political ads,” by WaPo’s Isaac Stanley-Becker: “The immediate impetus for [Rep. YVETTE CLARKE’s (D-N.Y.)] bill, she said, was an ad released last week by the RNC that used AI-generated images to paint a dystopian picture of a potential second term for Biden. … Clarke’s bill would amend federal campaign finance law to require that political ads include a statement disclosing any use of AI-generated imagery.”
| | | | HAPPENING NOW! GO INSIDE THE 2023 MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE: POLITICO is proud to partner with the Milken Institute to produce a special edition "Global Insider" newsletter featuring exclusive coverage and insider nuggets from the 2023 Global Conference, which will convene leaders in health, finance, politics, philanthropy and entertainment from May 1-4. Don’t miss a thing — subscribe today for a front row seat. | | | | | BEYOND THE BELTWAY HAPPENING TODAY — “Michigan clerk who denies election results faces recall in divided county,” by the Guardian’s Alice Herman in Hillsdale County PLAYING WITH MOUSE MONEY — As DeSantis’ war with Disney heads to court, the company has a not-so-secret weapon: DeSantis’ own recent memoir, WaPo’s Greg Sargent writes. The book features plenty of passages explicitly stating what we all saw happen in real time: that DeSantis’ attacks on Disney followed directly on its opposition to his law banning discussion of sexuality and gender in some schools. One legal expert tells Sargent that it’s rare to have such clear proof of government officials’ motivations, as Disney argues that DeSantis violated the First Amendment in going after the company. (DeSantis maintains that his actions were legit because he was simply revoking government-provided special treatment.) SUNSHINE STATE IN THE DARK — As Florida Republicans move to hide DeSantis’ travel records from the public, it still remains a mystery who paid for his trip abroad, Gary Fineout reports from Tallahassee. “It has been previously stated that this trip is being paid for by private donations to Enterprise Florida … But a spokesperson for Enterprise Florida has not responded to questions as to why a chartered jet — which is likely to be tremendously expensive — was used for DeSantis’ trip.” POLICY CORNER FROM 30,000 FEET — “Biden Secured Trillions in Domestic Spending. Now Comes the Hard Part,” by WSJ’s Andrew Restuccia: Biden is “directing his senior advisers to guard against the waste and fraud that have bedeviled previous government programs. Mr. Biden is staking his reputation — and legacy — on spending nearly $2 trillion in taxpayer money efficiently and effectively. Done well, the effort could reshape the economy and help him win a second term. Any mistakes could threaten Mr. Biden’s 2024 re-election odds.” BRINGING HOME THE BACON — A new Air Force special operations wing in Tucson, Ariz., would allow the base to more or less maintain its current employment levels as its A-10 Warthogs are phased out, WSJ’s Daniel Nasaw reports. It’s “a shift that illustrates the pressure Congress exerts on the Pentagon to maintain local jobs and federal funding as the U.S. modernizes its military.” VIVEK MURTHY’S CRUSADE — “Loneliness poses profound public health threat, surgeon general says,” by WaPo’s Fenit Nirappil: “Loneliness presents a profound public health threat akin to smoking and obesity, U.S. Surgeon General VIVEK H. MURTHY warned in an advisory issued Tuesday that aims to rally Americans to spend more time with each other in an increasingly divided and digital society. … Time spent with friends declined 20 hours a month between 2003 and 2020.” The 82-page advisory
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Jessica has been promoted three times since starting at Amazon in 2021: “It’s been a huge boost in pay but also in my confidence,” she said. Amazon offers free technical training programs to help employees like Jessica move into higher paying roles. See the impact. Sponsored by Amazon   | | | THE ECONOMY WHAT DEMOCRATS ARE READING — As inflation refuses to ease fully, some economists are increasingly fingering corporate profits as one key culprit, WSJ’s Paul Hannon reports: “Businesses are using a rare opportunity to boost their profit margins,” raising prices beyond what higher costs demand. Consumers have also shown greater acceptance of higher prices than expected. VALLEY TALK DISINFORMATION DIGEST — A new Climate Action Against Disinformation and Center for Countering Digital Hate report finds that YouTube is still placing ads alongside false videos denying the reality of climate change, despite parent company Google’s 2021 pledge to stop doing so. That means hoax hawkers can still profit off their videos on the platform, NYT’s Nico Grant and Steven Lee Myers report. Researchers “found 100 videos, viewed at least 18 million times in total, that violated Google’s own policy.” JUDICIARY SQUARE DEAR DIARY — “Supreme Court Justice Stevens’ private papers open to public,” by AP’s Jesica Gresko: “A wide-ranging selection of papers that belonged to Supreme Court Justice JOHN PAUL STEVENS is opening to researchers Tuesday at the Library of Congress, providing a behind-the-scenes look at the justices’ deliberations in important cases including Bush v. Gore.” AMERICA AND THE WORLD AFTERNOON LONG READ — “A Brutal Sex Trade Built for American Soldiers,” by NYT’s Choe Sang-Hun in Dongducheon, South Korea: “[S]ix former South Korean camp town women described how their government used them for political and economic gain before abandoning them. Encouraged by [new] court rulings — which relied on recently unsealed official documents — the victims now aim to take their case to the United States.”
| | | | DON’T MISS THE POLITICO ENERGY SUMMIT: A new world energy order is emerging and America’s place in it is at a critical juncture. Join POLITICO on Thursday, May 18 for our first-ever energy summit to explore how the U.S. is positioning itself in a complicated energy future. We’ll explore progress on infrastructure and climate funding dedicated to building a renewable energy economy, Biden’s environmental justice proposals, and so much more. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS OUT AND ABOUT — The Office of Personnel Management and the Department of Commerce hosted a private-sector roundtable yesterday to discuss the impact of AI, workplace flexibilities, recruitment and diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility best practices. SPOTTED: OPM Director Kiran Ahuja, Don Graves, Tonya Hallett, Elaine Engle, Michael Fraccaro, Kim Seymour, Mark Hamberlin, Bridget Gainer, Alejandra Ceja and Laura Hopkins. TRANSITIONS — Olivia Tripodi is now comms director for Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.). She most recently was press secretary for Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.). … Paul Babbitt is now senior legislative assistant/counsel for Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.). He was previously counsel on House Ag and is a Tom O’Halleran alum. … Jorge Guajardo is now a partner at Dentons Global Advisors. He most recently was a senior director at McLarty Associates. … … Heather Trew will be SVP for Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering at the American Bankers Association. She previously was counselor to the general counsel on virtual assets at Treasury. … Kevin Ring will be VP of criminal justice advocacy at Arnold Ventures. He previously was president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums. … Tyler Jessee is now scheduler for Rep. David Trone (D-Md.). He most recently was a new member orientation assistant for the House Administration Committee. WEEKEND WEDDING — Adam Hammer, co-founder and president of Roadrunner Venture Studios and counselor at Schmidt Futures, and Hannah Dobie, events and operations consultant and manager at National Security Action, got married Saturday in Nashville. They met at the student information desk at Wake Forest University. Pic by Jasmin Shah 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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