| | | | |  | | By Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels and Ryan Lizza | Presented by the Coalition to Preserve American Jobs | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
| | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
Former President Barack Obama was one of the first big voices defending Biden following his abysmal debate performance. | AP | This morning, we have a look at how, at a moment of unprecedented crisis for the Democratic Party, two of its most powerful and popular personalities are privately responding to people trying to push President JOE BIDEN aside. THE EX-PRESIDENT: Before Hollywood icon and Democratic donor GEORGE CLOONEY published his buzzy and brutal NYT op-ed yesterday calling on Biden to step aide as the nominee, we’re told he reached out to former President BARACK OBAMA to give him a heads-up. The two men, who are friendly, both attended the L.A. fundraiser Clooney referenced in his piece, where the actor said he’d beheld a diminished Biden and that the leader he interacted with was “the same man we all witnessed at the debate.” While Obama did not encourage or advise Clooney to say what he said, he also didn’t object to it, we’re told from people familiar with their exchange. The lack of pushback is an eye-popping revelation given that the former president was one of the first big voices defending Biden following his abysmal debate performance (while many of his former aides have been some of the incumbent’s biggest critics). In that context, here’s a reminder of some of the blunter lines in Clooney’s piece …
- "We are not going to win in November with this president. On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate.”
- "The dam has broken. We can put our heads in the sand and pray for a miracle in November, or we can speak the truth.”
- "Top Democrats — CHUCK SCHUMER, HAKEEM JEFFRIES, NANCY PELOSI — and senators, representatives and other candidates who face losing in November need to ask this president to voluntarily step aside.”
Obama’s team declined to comment. THE EX-SPEAKER: Speaking of Democratic leaders, Pelosi has been doing some behind-the-scenes maneuvering as well. She carefully ironed out what she wanted to say yesterday on “Morning Joe,” Biden’s appointment viewing — keeping Democratic leaders abreast of her intentions. (As a reminder, Pelosi argued on the program that the president needs to make a decision about whether he will step down, reigniting the debate on the Hill after a day where Biden appeared to have temporarily quelled the mutiny.) Those comments were meant to serve as a subtle green light, one person close with Pelosi said, meant to encourage members to speak up about their desire to see change atop the ticket — and to warn Biden to reconsider staying in the race. But that’s not all Pelosi has been up to: In private conversations with lawmakers, we’re told, the former speaker hasn’t tried to hide her disdain for the situation that party now finds itself in. She’s suggested to people that Biden won’t win this November and should step aside, according to about a half-dozen lawmakers and others who have spoken with her or are familiar with these conversations. In fact, she’s advised some Democrats in swing districts to do whatever they have to do to secure their own reelections — even if it means asking Biden to relinquish his place atop the ticket. Pelosi has advised those members, however, to wait until this week’s NATO Summit is finished out of respect for Biden and national security writ large. Some members, we’re told, have already started drafting statements of what they want to say, ready to drop once foreign leaders leave town. For members who aren’t in swing districts, Pelosi has encouraged them to take their pleas for Biden to step aside directly to the White House or the campaign so as to minimize public fighting. We’re told that some have tried but have not been able to get through to the president. The speaker emerita, who has publicly said she supports whatever Biden chooses, denied pretty much all of this reporting through a spokesman last night, including that she told anyone Biden should step aside. “Publicly and privately, Speaker Pelosi has acknowledged the concerns that many have expressed in recent days but has repeatedly said that she fully supports whatever President Biden decides to do,” a spox said in a statement to Playbook. Meanwhile, Pelosi’s words on “Morning Joe” clearly hit their mark. Yesterday alone, two Democrats solidly in Biden’s camp earlier this week appeared to raise alarms about Biden’s ability to win. Two additional House Democrats — Rep. EARL BLUMENAUER (Ore.) and PAT RYAN (N.Y.) — called for him to step aside, as did Sen. PETER WELCH (D-Vt.). THE BIG PICTURE: The news about Pelosi and Obama comes as Schumer has reportedly told donors that he’s open to a new presidential ticket that doesn’t include Biden, Axios’ Hans Nichols and Stephen Neukam scooped last night. And Jeffries has told lawmakers that he’s planning to convey his members’ concerns to the big guy in the Oval Office himself — though it’s unclear when Jeffries and Biden will next speak. (For more on Jeffries' bind, read our Hill team’s latest dispatch.) All told, the closely-held discussions all suggest Democratic leaders appear to be seriously contemplating what many in their party called a “fantasy” just two weeks ago — that Biden might indeed have to go. Later today, Biden faces his most consequential test since the debate threw the White House into chaos. At 5:30 p.m., the president faces a high-stakes press conference that will be closely watched — his every word parsed by journalists, Democratic officials and party strategists. Ahead of the presser, Biden’s team heads to Capitol Hill for some damage control with lawmakers who don’t think the president has proven he can mount the type of aggressive campaign needed to defeat DONALD TRUMP. Campaign Chair JEN O’MALLEY DILLON and senior advisers MIKE DONILON and STEVE RICCHETTI will attend a special lunch with Senate Democrats to discuss the situation. What will they say? Expect a version of what WaPo’s Karen Tumulty published in her new column, which lays out the Team Biden mindmeld following a trip to their Wilmington headquarters. The short version: Biden’s advisers think they can make all of this go away if the party pivots to focusing on defeating Trump. Well, duh! But there’s a pretty good reason why the party — and more importantly, voters — aren’t focused on Trump right now, and there’s no guarantee that their concerns about Biden are going to simply disappear. And you can imagine how Senate Democrats — some of whom have their own political hides on the line in November — will greet that line of thinking. Good Thursday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | A message from the Coalition to Preserve American Jobs: The National Taxpayer Advocate recently called out IRS for slow rolling Employee Retention Credit processing, “The IRS’ delay in processing these legitimate claims is hurting the very businesses for whom Congress created the ERC.” Small businesses relied on the government’s word when they kept employees on payroll during the pandemic. The IRS is failing to do its part, resulting in a backlog of 1.4 million claims. Urge IRS to lift the moratorium and process the backlog of ERC claims. | | | DEPT. OF BAD SPIN — One thing that really jumped out at us from Tumulty’s piece was the suggestion from the Biden campaign that the post-debate drama has had a silver lining for Biden, drawing voters’ attention and assisting in fundraising. Here’s a heaping dose of reality from Elena Schneider: Democrats are worried that donations are cratering — and it’s not just big-money contributions. “The campaign is now projecting that grassroots fundraising will drop at least 20 to 25 percent over the rest of the month,” she reports. WHY THEY WANT BIDEN — “‘Joe Biden Is a Gift,’” by the Atlantic’s TIm Alberta: “Biden quitting the race would necessitate a dramatic reset — not just for the Democratic Party, but for Trump’s campaign. … They know their campaign has been engineered in every way — from the voters they target to the viral memes they create — to defeat Biden. And privately, they are all but praying that he remains their opponent.” GONNA FIND OUT WHO’S NAUGHTY OR NICE — “Act of Desperation? Biden’s Team Checks Delegates for Loyalty,” by Jonathan Martin: “The president has repeatedly said since the June 27 forum that he will not drop out. Yet the calls illustrate how his aides are working to head off a “Dump Biden” stampede from materializing in Chicago.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — The Biden-Harris campaign is going up with a new Spanish-language ad, “Adelante,” part of the campaign’s $50 million ad blitz across battleground states for July during major events like the Republican National Convention and the Olympics. The ad features a testimonial from FABIAN, an Arizona voter and union member, thanking Biden for “understanding people like him: Latinos who prioritize family and work hard every day to achieve the American dream.” Watch the 30-second spot
| | | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | On the Hill The Senate will meet at 10 a.m. to vote in relation to the motion to discharge from the Foreign Relations Committee a resolution to direct the termination of the use of U.S. Armed Forces for the pier on the coast of the Gaza Strip that has not been authorized by Congress. The House will meet at 9 a.m. to take up various legislation. 3 things to watch …
- FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Speaker MIKE JOHNSON is steadily quieting the early concerns that his fundraising prowess isn’t up to snuff. His Q2 fundraising totaled $23.5 million, Playbook has learned, with $17 million of that going directly into his own committees and rest supporting other GOP members and candidates. That outstrips the $19.2 million that predecessor KEVIN McCARTHY raised for the same period two years ago. Johnson’s total fundraising haul now exceeds $50 million; he said in a statement that the “extraordinary quarter shows Republicans are expanding our base and energized to win up and down the ballot in November.”
- Later this morning, the House will take a final vote on holding AG MERRICK GARLAND in “inherent contempt” over his decision not to turn over Biden interview tapes. It’s likely to be a nail-biter: Two procedural motions yesterday that could have derailed Rep. ANNA PAULINA LUNA’s resolution were defeated by two and four votes. (Notably, 10 Democrats did not vote.) In a statement, DOJ this morning is calling the effort “unconstitutional” and that it is “confident our arguments would prevail in court” — where this clash is inevitably headed should today’s vote succeed.
- House Oversight Chair JAMES COMER (R-Ky.) has identified his first subpoena targets as he probes an alleged cover-up of Biden’s mental fitness. White House aides ANTHONY BERNAL, ANNIE TOMASINI and ASHLEY WILLIAMS were summoned for closed-door interviews later this month, Axios’ Alex Thompson first reported, with Comer suggesting in letters that they have each “taken it upon themselves to run the country while the President cannot.” White House spokesperson IAM SAMS accused Comer of “weaponizing subpoenas to get headlines instead of seeking information through the proper constitutional process”
At the White House Biden will receive the President’s Daily Brief in the morning. Later in the morning, Biden will participate in a NATO working session. At 1:30 p.m., Biden will hold a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY. In the afternoon, the president will participate in another working session and host an event on the Ukraine Compact. At 5:30 p.m., Biden will hold a news conference. On the trail VP KAMALA HARRIS will travel to Greensboro, North Carolina, for a campaign event in the afternoon.
| | | | Understand 2024’s big impacts with Pro’s extensive Campaign Races Dashboard, exclusive insights, and key coverage of federal- and state-level debates. Focus on policy. Learn more. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | AMERICA AND THE WORLD
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If Donald Trump wins in November, he plans to scale back information cooperation with NATO allies. | Sean Gallup/Getty Images | WHAT NATO LEADERS ARE READING — Should Trump return to the White House next year, he is “considering a reduction in intelligence sharing with members of NATO, which depends on the U.S. for the type of information that has helped Ukraine fend off Russia,” Erin Banco scoops. “Trump advisers have told allied countries the reduced intel sharing would be part of a broader plan to scale back U.S. support and cooperation with the 32-nation alliance, according to three European officials and a senior NATO official, who were granted anonymity to discuss internal discussions." Like everyone else, much of the NATO chatter this week has still centered on Biden’s performance at the meeting. That is not welcome news for the officials and diplomats in attendance, Eli Stokols, Alexander Ward and Jonathan Lemire write. “The overwhelming focus on Biden, some officials said, was diverting attention away from Trump and what it would mean if the Republican, who as president berated NATO allies for not spending enough on defense and threatened to withdraw from the alliance, returned to the White House. ‘Everyone’s focusing on Biden’s appearance and less on Trump’s statements about NATO,’ the senior European diplomat added. ‘He’s not that much younger.’” What happened yesterday: The leaders “agreed that Ukraine should have an ‘irreversible’ path to membership in the alliance, enshrining the phrase in a document that was released on Wednesday during the alliance’s summit in Washington,” NYT’s Edward Wong, Julian Barnes and Helene Cooper write. “While there is no consensus yet about Ukraine joining NATO, the strengthened language shows that there is movement in that direction.” Related read: “NATO’s newest weapon is online content creators,” by WaPo’s Taylor Lorenz More top reads:
- U.S. officials are “resuming a shipment of 500-pound bombs to Israel that had been held up since May, when the Biden administration suspended delivery of two types of large, airdropped weapons amid concerns about the ballooning scale of civilian casualties in Gaza,” WaPo’s John Hudson reports.
- Biden met with new British PM KEIR STARMER in the Oval Office, where the two projected a sense of optimism despite their separate political challenges, Myah Ward, Stefan Boscia and Nahal Toosi write. “The goal … appeared to be showing the steadiness of U.S.-British relations as Biden fights for his political future and Starmer faces a demanding electorate.”
- The White House yesterday announced that it is “imposing tariffs on Mexican imports that use steel or aluminum from China in hopes of stopping the metals from entering the U.S. duty free,” WSJ’s Bob Tita reports. “The U.S. will levy a 25% tariff on Mexican imports containing steel from China and a 10% duty on products made with aluminum from the country, the White House said.”
ALL POLITICS
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks with journalists in the spin room in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | COMING OFF THE BENCH — Since Biden’s election in 2020, there has been a growing line of would-be Democratic successors who think they can take up the party’s mantle once Biden retires from politics. Now that the horizon of Biden’s career is inching ever closer (and could come sooner than later), there is an “awkward but obvious dance unfolding at a transitional moment for ambitious Democrats ahead of what could be either a mini-primary before the convention or a longer run-up to 2028,”Liz Crampton, Adam Wren, Shia Kapos, Myah Ward and Christopher Cadelago write. “Whatever happens at the top of this year’s ticket, Biden’s political crisis has put an early spotlight on the party’s next presidential contest.” And this collection of hopefuls — including California Gov. GAVIN NEWSOM, Illinois Gov. JB PRITZKER, Michigan Gov. GRETCHEN WHITMER and others — are the very surrogates fanning out to battleground states trying to douse the fire for the Biden campaign without extinguishing their own political momentum. Maryland Gov. WES MOORE is another one of the rising Democratic stars who was “among the earliest and most forceful in setting himself on the front line of defense,” WaPo’s Erin Cox writes. “Moore has promised to go ‘anywhere and everywhere’ to make the case for a Biden administration and given more than two dozen interviews supporting the president since the debate.” More top reads:
- Biden’s sagging standing among Democrats and in the polls also threatens to put some down-ballot races in danger. Sabato’s Crystal Ball examines the scenarios in a new feed up this morning: “If the national popular vote were tied, we would expect Donald Trump to carry 10 additional House seats, compared to his 2020 result,” J. Miles Coleman writes. “If Trump won the popular vote by closer to three points, about where national polling suggests he is now, he could be positioned to flip about two-dozen previously Biden-won districts.”
| | | | A message from the Coalition to Preserve American Jobs:   | | | 2024 WATCH
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The Trump campaign is asking donors to agree to automatically give again on specific dates weeks in ahead of time. | Rebecca Blackwell/AP | GIVE AND TAKE AWAY — Our colleague Jessica Piper writes in uncovering an interesting trend on the Trump campaign: While campaigns love to tout their fundraising numbers around particular events, there is one way to help ensure you drive online giving on a specific day: Spend weeks in advance asking donors to agree to automatically give again on that date. Recently, solicitations from Trump National Committee asked donors to check a box to donate again on July 11, which would have helped deliver a show of support when he was sentenced in New York. As soon as the sentencing was delayed, the former president’s campaign switched the magic date to July 15, which is this coming Monday. The committee’s fundraising pages were less clear on the significance of July 15, asking only that supporters to “PLEASE DONATE BEFORE MY CRITICAL DEADLINE.” But then, yesterday, the Trump campaign switched up the appeal again, with donors now being asked to automatically send more money to the campaign on July 18, the last day of the convention, when Trump will speak. More top reads:
CONGRESS WHAT ABOUT BOB — “When you acquit Senator Menendez, the United States wins.” That was the wrap-up line from an attorney for Sen. BOB MENENDEZ as they ended closing arguments to the jury considering the federal charges against the New Jersey Democrat, Ry Rivard and Daniel Han report. Jurors are expected to begin deliberations later this week. THE PRICE OF FREEDOM — Rep. BOB GOOD (R-Va.) has informed the House Freedom Caucus that he will step aside as the group’s chair if he ultimately loses the state recount for his GOP primary race against JOHN McGUIRE, Olivia Beavers reports. AOC’S ARTICLES — Rep. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-N.Y.) yesterday introduced articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justices CLARENCE THOMAS and SAMUEL ALITO in a largely ceremonial move, Katherine Tully-McManus writes. BEYOND THE BELTWAY ABORTION FALLOUT — Arkansas yesterday “rejected an effort to place a constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights on the November ballot, saying organizers failed to submit some required paperwork with its signatures,” NBC’s Adam Edelman and Lindsey Pipia report.
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Don’t miss out on POLITICO’s Global Playbook, our newsletter taking you inside pivotal discussions at the most influential gatherings in the world. Suzanne Lynch delivers the world's elite and influential moments directly to you. Stay in the global loop. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Tony P’s NATO video has caused quite a stir. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was unendorsed by Democratic Socialists of America. Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy case is likely out of luck. Alex Soros and Huma Abedin are engaged. Gretchen Whitmer thinks “it wouldn’t hurt” for Joe Biden to take a cognitive test. Bobby Jindal wants to see the runners up to be Donald Trump’s running mate fired onstage at the GOP convention. Viktor Orban is reportedly meeting with Trump today in Florida. Dana White will deliver a speech before Trump at next week’s Republican National Convention. Keir Starmer might have a new headache back home thanks to the White House press corps. OUT AND ABOUT — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear headlined a young professionals happy hour fundraiser for the Democratic Governors Association at Franklin Hall yesterday evening, bringing in $150,000. SPOTTED: Meghan Meehan-Draper, Eric Hyers, Jonathan Smith, Chris Sloan, Marcus Rochelle, Laura Carlson, Sasha Gluck, Kerry Cahoon, Stephen Hill, Kiki McLean, Elisabeth Pearson and Sam Newton. — Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) hosted a Women’s Economic Empowerment Dinner at Austrian Ambassador Petra Schneebauer’s residence yesterday evening, featuring USTR Katherine Tai, Enoh T. Ebong, Alice Albright, Ex-Im Chair Reta Jo Lewis, Kat Fotovat, Dorothy McAuliffe and Sarah Fandell. SPOTTED: Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.) and Kathy Manning (D-N.C.) and Janet Pitt. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Dan Crawford is now SVP at Moyer Strategies. He previously was a VP at SKDK and is a Hub Project, Economic Policy Institute and Obama administration alum. TRANSITIONS — Erin Pelton and Nicole Flotteron have launched Foretell, a new comms and public affairs firm. Pelton most recently was VP of comms and public affairs at Shopify and is a Biden and Obama White House alum. Flotteron most recently was director of external comms at Shopify and is an Actum and Mercury alum. … Anjulee Alvares-Cinque is now chief marketing officer at the American Immigration Council. She most recently was head of media and comms at Save the Children and is a UNICEF alum. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) … Education Secretary Miguel Cardona … Garrett Graff … Chris Maloney of Black Rock Group … Page Gardner … Josh Wachs of Wachs Strategies … Emily Benavides … Urmila Venugopalan of the MPA … Nora Connors … KayAnn Schoeneman … Paige Rusher of Seven Letter … Anne Sokolov … Joe Wall… Ali Schmitz of PBS NewsHour … Michael Wong of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (D-Ariz.) office … Stephen Hostelley … Scott Graves … Sandy Marks … POLITICO’s Sophie Read, Faith Mitchell and Shawn Ness … Jamie Stiehm … Chris Vaeth … Matt Lahr of Sen. Todd Young’s (R-Ind.) office … Ishmael Abuabara of Rep. Joaquin Castro’s (D-Texas) office 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 Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
| | | | A message from the Coalition to Preserve American Jobs: The National Taxpayer Advocate recently called out IRS for slow rolling Employee Retention Credit processing, “The IRS’ delay in processing these legitimate claims is hurting the very businesses for whom Congress created the ERC.” Small businesses relied on the government’s word when they sacrificed to keep employees on payroll during the pandemic. They counted on the government to help make them whole – as they were promised.
Now, years later, the IRS is unilaterally holding up ERC processing and payment of hundreds of thousands of valid claims. Small businesses are suffering and there’s no end in sight to a nearly one year long moratorium. The state of our economy is challenging enough without government agencies reneging on their obligations to America’s job creators. Urge the IRS to lift the moratorium and process the backlog of ERC claims immediately. | | | | | | | 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 | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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