| | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | THE FUTURE OF WARFARE? — Lebanon said today that a wave of exploding pagers had killed eight people, including a child, and injured more than 2,700, as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah heat up. Updates from the NYT
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Speaker Mike Johnson plans to meet tonight with the GOP cardinals in charge of spending. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED — Speaker MIKE JOHNSON last week yanked his plan for a six-month continuing resolution to keep the government open, combined with the SAVE Act. He doesn’t seem to have built much more Republican support since then. But Johnson announced today that he’s pressing ahead nonetheless, teeing up a floor vote on the package tomorrow. Johnson plans to meet tonight with the GOP cardinals in charge of spending, per Sarah Ferris, and he told reporters that he’s “not having alternative conversations” about what happens if this plan falls through, per Punchbowl’s Melanie Zanona. “That’s the play.” But at least some of the holdouts in Johnson’s conference are already signaling this won’t work: “Please quit insulting our constituents,” Rep. THOMAS MASSIE (R-Ky.) shot back on X. On the other side of the Hill, senators are already talking about a Plan B. “If they don’t get something by the end of the week, the game changes,” Senate Minority Whip JOHN THUNE (R-S.D.) said, indicating that a shorter CR could be the next step, per Semafor’s Burgess Everett. Of course, even if Johnson rallies the necessary GOP support tomorrow, it would be only a leverage boost at best. Democrats won’t pass the SAVE Act, which targets an issue that doesn’t significantly exist (non-citizens voting in federal elections). “Instead, a growing swath of the GOP conference is acknowledging they will likely end up with a relatively clean funding bill into December,” Olivia Beavers reports. Senate Democrats are moving ahead with a symbolic vote of their own this afternoon: Legislation to create a right to in vitro fertilization access is coming up at 3:30 p.m., as CBS’ Kaia Hubbard previews. This is an effort to squeeze the GOP after DONALD TRUMP announced his support for IVF coverage, but don’t expect many Republican senators to spring for it. There will be some substantive legislating this week that actually stands a chance of passage, though. The House is likely to pass a major $3 billion bill to backstop a shortfall for veterans’ benefits, per Caitlin Emma. Sen. CHRIS MURPHY (D-Conn.), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee, said legislators are talking with the Secret Service about a supplemental funding boost in the “hundreds of millions” of dollars, per Punchbowl’s Andrew Desiderio. Johnson said he’s “looking at” more funding for the agency, but doesn’t “want to just throw more money at a broken system,” per Jordain Carney. Johnson is also due to speak today about Republicans’ first-100-days agenda if they control D.C. next year — which comes as growing GOP numbers back off repealing all the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits, POLITICO’s E&E News’ Emma Dumain reports. ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT FALLOUT — The first assassination attempt against Trump spurred a wave of shock and outrage, a brief rhetorical pivot from Trump toward “unity” messaging and then, pretty quickly, a return to the political status quo. In the wake of the second attempt on his life, Trump and the country are fast-forwarding to the last step, Lisa Kashinsky, Meridith McGraw and Alex Isenstadt report: Trump rapidly pinned the blame on Democratic rhetoric, and on a campaign “stakeholders call” yesterday, the topic was only briefly mentioned before his campaign’s leaders moved on to polls and schedules. His aides don’t want this to become “a longer-term distraction for a candidate struggling to stay on message.” But the recriminations continue for the Secret Service, which is facing questions about whether it has the necessary resources. The agency remains 400 employees short of its congressionally authorized workforce, and that’s not likely to change by the election, Reuters’ Andy Sullivan, Helen Coster, Tim Reid and Richard Cowan report. Good Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com. HAPPENING NOW — POLITICO’s AI & Tech Summit on American leadership, security and democracy kicked off at noon, and DHS Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS has already weighed in on the Secret Service’s handling of this weekend’s assassination attempt (“phenomenal work”). Tune in for more exclusive conversations on everything from election security to AI regulations with guests including Sen. MIKE ROUNDS (R-S.D.) and Deputy AG LISA MONACO. Watch the livestream and read more with our live blog
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Learn more. | | | | | 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | |  VP Kamala Harris is improving in the polls after last week's debate. | Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo | 1. POLL POSITION: VP KAMALA HARRIS is getting some more evidence of a post-debate bump: Morning Consult today has her up by 6 nationally, her largest lead yet in a poll that’s generally been good for her. A USA Today/Suffolk University poll published yesterday found Harris leading by 3 in all-important Pennsylvania. (Democratic Sen. BOB CASEY is ahead by 4.) And in the latest FT-Michigan Ross poll, Harris narrowly bested Trump on whom voters trust more to handle the economy. Remarkably, Harris’ overall favorability has now turned more positive than negative for the first time in more than three years, per FiveThirtyEight’s tracker. Other notable surveys: Emerson College has Democrat ANGELA ALSOBROOKS leading by 7 in the Maryland Senate race, though far behind Harris, and the Missouri abortion rights referendum soaring by nearly 30 points, even as Republicans dominate partisan races. 2. STRIKING OUT: “Labor unrest threatens to upend Harris’ economic pitch,” by Ry Rivard, Lawrence Ukenye, Oriana Pawlyk and Sam Ogozalek: “On Friday, 33,000 Boeing workers began a strike … Workers at ports who unload container ships along the Gulf Coast and East Coast are also barreling toward a strike that could cripple commerce and supply chains across the country. So far the White House — and Harris’ campaign — have stayed hands off. … [L]ocal officials are beginning to grapple with a [waterfront] strike that could begin in two weeks — which is both very soon and also an eternity in both politics and labor negotiations.” 3. DEMOCRACY WATCH: A new report from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance finds democracy declining across the globe for the eighth straight year. The U.S. has risen three spots to be ranked 46th in the world, just behind Vanuatu. But its rating has been docked in recent months, especially in the rule of law category, due to the first Trump assassination attempt, President JOE BIDEN’s asylum restrictions, and the Supreme Court rulings on presidential immunity and the Chevron doctrine. Related reads: “Election officials prepare for threats with panic buttons, bulletproof glass,” by AP’s Christina Cassidy in Marietta, Georgia … “Former governors urge successors to certify election results,” by Jonathan Lemire 4. UKRAINE LATEST: “US military aid packages to Ukraine shrink amid concerns over Pentagon stockpiles,” by CNN’s Natasha Bertrand and Oren Liebermann: “The shortage means the Biden administration still has $6 billion in funds available to arm and equip Ukraine, but the Pentagon lacks the inventory it is willing to deliver more than two years into the war, two US officials told CNN. … The Pentagon has asked Congress for more time to spend that money before it expires at the end of September … It’s a stark reversal from last winter.”
| | | | A message from Instagram:   | | | 5. COMING TO A RADIO SERVICE NEAR YOU: NIKKI HALEY is signing an exclusive deal with SiriusXM to host a weekly limited-run series, titled “Nikki Haley Live,” that will air on Wednesdays from 8-9 a.m. through the presidential inauguration in January, SiriusXM is announcing today. On the show, Haley will speak with guests, take calls from listeners and share her opinions on a range of topics, including the presidential election and global events. The show will air live on SiriusXM’s “Triumph” channel (111) starting Sept. 25. 6. NOT OVER YET: “Trump Arlington cemetery incident still under investigation: Sources,” by ABC’s Katherine Faulders, Luis Martinez and Anne Flaherty: “Law enforcement officials at a Virginia military base are still actively investigating … even as the Army says it considers the matter closed … As part of the probe led by the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Police Department, an investigator with the base’s police department has sought in recent days to contact Trump campaign officials.” 7. DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS: High-ranking U.S. economic officials are heading to China to raise concerns about the number of cheap Chinese products flooding American and other markets, WSJ’s Lingling Wei scooped. Treasury’s JAY SHAMBAUGH is leading the delegation for “the fifth gathering of an economic working group formed by both governments last year to enhance communication.” China says worries about overproduction are ridiculous. 8. FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE? “US probes uranium imports from China to prevent circumventing Russian ban,” by Reuters’ Timothy Gardner: “U.S. House lawmakers passed the ban on Russian enriched uranium in December 2023 … That month, shipments of enriched uranium from China to the U.S. shot to 242,990 kilograms … [F]rom 2020 to 2022 China did not send any enriched uranium to the U.S.” 9. TAKING NOTICE: Yesterday, ProPublica published a story on the death of AMBER THURMAN, a 28-year-old woman who died after doctors allegedly delayed a procedure due to Georgia’s strict abortion law. Today, Harris and other Democrats are reacting to the story, suggesting her campaign is prepared to highlight the tragic case on the campaign trail. “This is exactly what we feared when Roe was struck down,” Harris said in part. “[W]omen are dying. These are the consequences of Donald Trump’s actions.”
| | | | Sponsored Survey WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU: Please take a 1-minute survey about one of our advertising partners. | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Elon Musk’s super PAC has teed up the first 14 House races it’s playing in. Mike Rogers landed the support of Michigan Farm Bureau’s AgriPac. Billie Eilish and Finneas endorsed Kamala Harris. Hillary and Bill Clinton compete over the NYT Spelling Bee puzzle. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at a launch breakfast for Gabe Fleisher’s newsletter Wake Up To Politics on Friday at The Jefferson, hosted by Substack Politics and Catherine Valentine and including a podcast recording with Josh Dawsey: Dan Balz, Michelle Jaconi, Shane Harris, Grace Panetta, Ryan Hernandez, Rina Shah, Ken Thomas, Tal Kopan, Rebecca Sinderbrand, Tom LoBianco, Zachary Cohen, Howard Mortman, Dave Levinthal, Kevin Cirilli, Chris Megerian and Meridith McGraw. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Kip Wainscott is now executive director for AI policy at JPMorgan Chase. He most recently was head of platform policy at Snapchat, and is an Obama White House and DOJ alum. TRANSITIONS — Maureen “Mo” Elinzano is now a supporter comms strategist for the Harris campaign. She’s on leave from her role as deputy press secretary and digital director for Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.). … Jennifer Abrahamson is now VP of comms at J Street. She is a Landesa and Ploughshares Fund alum. … Timothy Snyder is joining the Council on Foreign Relations as a senior fellow for democracy. He is a professor of history at Yale and a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. ENGAGED — Micah Robertson, a partnership adviser at Leadership Institute and Steve Daines alum, proposed to Sydney Huss, an executive assistant at SBA Pro-Life America, on Sunday at Dumbarton Oaks. He used their Byzantine collection as an excuse to get there without her knowing he was about to propose. They met via Falls Church Fellows. Pic … Another pic WEDDINGS — Mark Vlasic, a Georgetown professor, attorney, “Blood & Treasure” executive producer and Techstars senior advisor, and Lauren Millar, manager for civil society and head of underage prevention at Philip Morris International and senior adviser for the Global Governance Program at the Munk School of Global Affairs, got married recently at His Majesty’s Chapel Royal at St. James’s Palace in London. They met at the NATO Summit in Chicago leaving Barack Obama’s press conference. Pic, via royal photographer David Hartley … Another pic … SPOTTED: Roger Carstens, Lord Dan Brennan, Grahame Davies, Vicki Downey, Thomas and Brett Brenninkmeijer, Piotr Wilczek, Matthew Palmer, Varuzhan Nersesyan, Mike Signer, Marie van Zeyl and Patrick McKenna. — Lucy Vernasco, a PR consultant and a Ron Wyden and Pivotal Ventures alum, and Jock Gilchrist, a VP for sustainability at JPMorganChase, got married Saturday in Boulder, Colorado. They incorporated sustainability into every element of their wedding and featured a regeneratively farmed meal. The couple met in April 2021 in Boulder. Pic, by Casi Yost … Another 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 Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. | | | | 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 politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
