| | | |  | | By Jack Blanchard | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
| | | Good Wednesday morning. This is Jack Blanchard, full of regret for daring to crack jokes about FDR in yesterday’s newsletter. I’ll answer all your emails eventually, I promise. START YOUR DAY WITH THIS … Tune in at 8:30 a.m. for a “Playbook: First 100 Days” breakfast focused on health care policy, live from Union Station. The lineup includes Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), former CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, former CDC Director Robert Redfield and MAHA Action CEO Del Bigtree. Register here … Watch live on YouTube. … AND THEN KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKIES: This week’s expected snowstorm looks likely to “veer mostly south of the region Wednesday into Thursday,” the Capital Weather Gang reports, “but we can’t rule out a dusting to 2 inches, especially south of D.C. Arctic air stays through Friday before a less chilly weekend.”
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
Elon Musk shakes hands with Donald Trump back stage during a campaign rally, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images | LAST NIGHT’S TV: Millions of Americans tuned in to Fox News last night for the latest episode of 2025’s most improbable romcom — the Don & Elon Show. America’s two most powerful men, Donald Trump and Elon Musk, displayed seemingly genuine affection for one another as they kidded about with Trump’s old pal Sean Hannity for an hour-long interview on primetime TV. The reviews afterward were predictably mixed — Trump’s supporters lapped up the warmth and the human interaction; his critics found it fawning, farcical and utterly news-free. But wherever you sit on the ideological spectrum, this stuff matters — there is no more important political relationship in the U.S. today. Cringe-a-thon: For lovers of hard-hitting political interviews, it was toe-curling in parts. (HANNITY: “He’s become one of your best friends?” MUSK: “I love the president.” HANNITY: "You love the president?” MUSK: “I think President Trump is a good man.” TRUMP: “That's nice the way he said that…”) They joked about being hated in liberal circles and lavished praise on one another’s achievements. (“This is going to be hard,” Hannity told viewers at one point. “I feel like I'm interviewing two brothers.”) But such displays were telling in themselves — the whole interview was designed to send a message to the Trump administration’s opponents: Try as you might, you will not drive a wedge between us. Cheering them on: MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk hammered home the message to his 4.7 million followers on X. “What the world saw tonight … is that the world’s most powerful man and the world’s richest man are actual friends. This is what the left and the haters will never properly account for,” he wrote. “All patriotic Americans should wish them both God speed and much success.” Musk clearly matters to the project — which other Trump aide has been granted this kind of treatment from the MAGA elite? Diary of a CEO: Musk matters because no one in the Trump admin is having an impact remotely comparable thus far. Having been (wrongly) dismissed by critics first as a powerless adviser, then as an out-of-touch billionaire ripping thoughtlessly through spending programs, Musk framed his role very differently last night — as Trump’s de facto CEO, tasked with bringing an unelected, liberal Washington machine back under political control. The enforcer: “The president will make these executive orders, which are very sensible and good for the country. But then they don't get implemented,” Musk told Hannity, citing a row over the ongoing funding of hotels for undocumented migrants in New York. “We went in there and we’re like — this is a violation of the presidential executive order. It needs to stop,” Musk said. “So what we're doing here, one of the biggest functions of the DOGE team, is just making sure that the presidential executive orders are actually carried out.” Rage against the machine: The big takeaway is that the DOGE project is about far more than cutting costs. Musk believes he’s in a pitched battle with an obstructive Washington bureaucracy which, he claimed, voted 92 percent Democratic at the last election — likely conflating the results from Washington, D.C., with those of federal workers across the DMV. “I think about that number a lot,” he said. “That's basically almost everyone.” He said internal resistance to Trump’s agenda amounts to a defiance of democracy. “The will of the people is not being implemented,” Musk said. “And that means we don’t live in a democracy … What we’re seeing here is the, sort of, the thrashing of the bureaucracy as we try to restore democracy and the will of the people.” It’s a striking phrase indeed.
| | | | A message from Better Medicare Alliance: More than 34 million Americans choose Medicare Advantage for better care at a lower cost than Fee-For-Service Medicare. But two straight years of Medicare Advantage cuts have left seniors feeling squeezed, with millions experiencing plan closures, higher costs, and reduced benefits. Seniors are already struggling with high prices for everyday necessities; they can't afford to pay more for health coverage and get less.
Protect seniors' affordable health care. Protect Medicare Advantage. Learn more at SupportMedicareAdvantage.com. | | | The trillion-dollar question: Can this powerful relationship really survive the white heat and intense scrutiny of government? We’re still only one month in, and Trump’s past record with senior aides hardly inspires confidence. (Musk, too, has a record of dramatic fallings-out with former friends.) But who knows? Maybe things will be different this time around — so much about Trump 1.0 feels like a long time ago. Next in line to be thrashed: The Defense Department, per WaPo’s Dan Lamothe, Alex Horton and Hannah Natanson. They say Defense agencies were ordered to hand over lists of probationary workers by midnight last night, and that mass firings could begin later this week. “If implemented widely, cuts to probationary employees across the Defense Department could result in thousands of dismissals,” WaPo reports. The Pentagon is the federal government’s largest agency, with close to 1 million civilian employees — as well as endless huge procurement contracts, including with Musk’s own firms. Expect more stories about conflicts of interest in the days ahead. Eyes on the skies: The DOGE cuts have come for the FAA now, too, which is sparking concern among anxious fliers, given the recent string of air crashes. “Around 400 FAA probationary workers … received termination letters in recent days,” WSJ’s Andrew Tangel reports. “The dismissals included employees who work in safety-related and technical roles, as well as defense programs,” though air-traffic controllers and aviation-safety inspectors appear not to have been impacted. Bird brains: The Agriculture Department said yesterday that over the weekend, it “accidentally fired ‘several’ agency employees who are working on the federal government's response to the H5N1 avian flu outbreak” and is now trying to rehire the ousted individuals, NBC’s Allan Smith, Melanie Zanona and Laura Strickler report. Real-world impact: A federal firefighting captain told NBC’s Jacob Soboroff that Trump’s hiring freeze “will hinder the U.S. Forest Service's ability to ‘deliver the lifesaving service that Americans deserve.’” … And Boston’s John F. Kennedy Presidential Library was temporarily closed yesterday after probationary staff were fired, per NYT’s Kate Selig. ICYMI: Musk’s DOGE team on Monday published a list of government contracts that it has cut — but the list was instantly picked apart by social media users for containing significant errors. The advertised cuts amounted to “about $16 billion in savings itemized on a new ‘wall of receipts’ on its website,” NYT’s Aatish Bhatia, and colleagues write. However — “almost half of those line-item savings could be attributed to a single $8 billion contract for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. But … a closer scrutiny of a federal database shows that a recent version of the contract was for $8 million, not $8 billion.” Oops. Bang goes my DOGE rebate: Musk said on X last night he’s interested in sending taxpayers “rebate checks” for all the money his cuts have saved, POLITICO’s Sophia Cai reports. COMING ATTRACTIONS: If you want yet more Trump/tech bro love-ins, the president is due to speak at the Saudi-backed FII Priority summit in Florida this afternoon. The attendees were due to include TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. Reuters reported Trump’s attendance last week, noting that it’s the latest sign of Trump’s increasingly close links with Saudi Arabia, which hosted his negotiating team for peace talks with Russia earlier this week. Trump is due to speak at 5 p.m., and will likely huddle with press while signing executive orders on his plane back to D.C. later this evening.
| | | | A message from Better Medicare Alliance:  
Millions of seniors are experiencing higher costs and fewer benefits due to Medicare Advantage cuts. Seniors can't afford to be squeezed more. Protect Medicare Advantage. | | | MEANWHILE ON THE HILL BUCKLE IN FOR VOTE-A-RAMA: Senate Majority Leader John Thune is pressing ahead with a vote on his blueprint to advance a huge part of President Trump’s legislative agenda — a reconciliation bill targeting the border, energy and defense policy. Get ready for 50 long hours of Senate debate on the budget resolution followed by the epic process known as “vote-a-rama,” when senators can force extra votes on any amendment of their choosing ahead of the final vote on the budget. POLITICO’s Jordain Carney has more. Advantage Thune: The announcement puts the Senate ahead of House Republicans as the two chambers race to advance their competing budget plans. The House is planning to vote on its own single-bill blueprint next week, and House GOP leaders were quick to snap back last night with sharp critiques of their colleagues’ approach. Thune is, in turn, demanding House Republicans allow for higher spending in their own plans to accommodate the sweeping tax cuts that Trump has promised, POLITICO’s Benjamin Guggenheim reports. “The House Budget resolution doesn’t allow for that, but that’ll have to be changed,” Thune said last night. More Johnson woes: Speaker Mike Johnson is meanwhile facing down at least a dozen Republican holdouts on his budget blueprint, a number well above what he can afford to lose if he hopes to get the plan through, Meredith Lee Hill reports. “Johnson and his whip team are using the current weeklong recess to ramp up engagement with undecided Republicans, including seven members — if not more — who have raised serious concerns about deep cuts to Medicaid in the House GOP budget resolution. Several other members are wary of a move to raise the debt limit.” Also raising concerns about Medicaid: One Donald J. Trump. He told Hannity last night: “Social Security won't be touched … Medicare, Medicaid — none of that stuff is going to be touched.” SCHUMER’S GAMBIT: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has homed in on a case against the GOP’s reconciliation bill — one that he believes could provide the general thrust of Democrats’ 2026 campaign message, Chief Playbook Correspondent Eugene Daniels writes in. The message: “The Republican goal is to give their billionaire buddies a tax break and have you, the average American, pay the cost. “It is our goal to expose it and chip away at it and do everything we can to stop it.” Schumer told Eugene last night before sprinting to a leadership meeting. “[They are] hurting you, so they can help their billionaire buddies.” The thinking: Keep it simple. Democrats have long been roasted for having messages that are too convoluted or obviously focus-grouped. An easily-digestible retort centering on economics and an appeal to middle- and working-class Americans could break through. To Schumer, the focus on tax cuts for the wealthy allows the party a convenient frame to talk about DOGE and Musk while shifting the conversation back to average Americans. From Schumer: “Whether it’s the budget bill, which is going to lay it bare, whether it’s breaking the law and firing people illegally so they can give billionaires like Musk more of a chance to cut taxes, whether it’s obfuscating when Donald Trump talks about the ‘Gulf of America’ or building hotels in Gaza, it’s to divert attention away from their main goal, which is giving their billionaire buddies a tax break and make the average American pay for it,” Schumer told Eugene. Coming attractions: Schumer also previewed the Democratic strategy on vote-a-rama, during which the party’s amendments will fall into three buckets: (1) Highlighting Republican support for tax breaks for the wealthy; (2) The opportunity cost of those tax breaks: “In other words, they're doing it at the expense of American families, cutting health care and devastating cuts to Medicaid,” Schumer said; (3) Framing what Schumer said is the “the lawlessness and corruption” of Republican Washington: “That’s why they want to get into the IRS records,” Schumer told Eugene, referencing reports that DOGE is seeking out taxpayer data. “So they can help decrease the taxes on their billionaire buddies.” The fight is the point: Schumer realizes that some — if not all — of these proposed vote-a-rama amendments will fail, but he wants to force Republicans to take hard votes the party will have to defend during the midterms.
| | | | Join POLITICO on February 19, for the Playbook First 100 Days: Health Care Breakfast Briefing where we will gather key leaders in health care and Washington to discuss the looming issues that will shape health care policy in 2025. RVSP to attend. | | | | | BEYOND THE BELTWAY PUNCH-DRUNK EUROPE: European leaders are reeling again this morning after watching President Trump blame Ukraine for Russia’s illegal 2022 invasion. In his first remarks after the U.S. and Russia opened peace negotiations, Trump told journalists in Florida last night he was “very disappointed” that Volodymyr Zelenskyy had complained about his lack of invite to the talks, telling the Ukrainian president: “You’ve been there for three years … You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.” Woah: As Europe knows well, those words echo one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s key talking points — that Ukraine was somehow responsible for Russia’s invasion. Trump also backed Putin’s demands for new elections in Ukraine, claiming that Zelenskyy is now so unpopular at home he’s polling at just 4 percent. (Zelenskyy declared martial law in the days after Russia’s invasion, and canceled a presidential election due to be held last year.) The FT writes it all up. Hitting back: Responding to Trump’s words in the last few minutes, Zelenskyy said the latest polls in fact show 58 percent of Ukrainians trust his leadership, and warned of “a lot of disinformation coming from Russia.” He added: “Unfortunately, President Trump, with all due respect for him as the leader of a nation that we respect greatly … is living in this disinformation space.” Macron to the fore: French President Emmanuel Macron is attempting to take a leadership role as Europe tries to respond — though trying to organize the continent’s array of nations is like herding cats. Following Monday’s underwhelming summit with key leaders in Paris, Macron will have another go today with some of Europe’s smaller nations. Plans are also afoot for an emergency EU summit, my Brussels Playbook colleagues report. Watching brief: “The Kremlin said this morning that any Putin-Trump meeting would take time to prepare, but could come before the end of the month,” the Guardian reports, citing the Tass and Interfax news agencies. “This will alarm European allies, after Trump was asked overnight if he could meet with Putin in February, and said: ‘Probably’.” IT’S UP TO YOU, NEW YORK: The fate of NYC Mayor Eric Adams is perhaps the political story of the moment, with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul mulling a decision to remove him as the leader of the nation’s largest city. Yesterday, Hochul huddled in a Manhattan skyscraper as she solicited views from a range of Black city leaders, POLITICO’s Jason Beeferman reports. “Their answers revealed collective concern about his legal and political predicaments as he faces reelection. But they also cautioned the Democratic governor to hold off on deciding whether to oust him until a judge allows the federal corruption charges against Adams to be dropped on Wednesday.” More from New York Playbook MEANWHILE ON THE BORDER: Migrant border crossings “plummeted” in the first weeks of the Trump administration, WSJ’s Michelle Hackman and Elizabeth Findell report, noting that “the Border Patrol made roughly 29,000 arrests in January, according to newly released government data, down from about 47,000 in December.” The White House will be thrilled by that — although the WSJ reckons the stats accelerate “a trend that started under former President Joe Biden.” AD IT UP: DHS has “budgeted as much as $200 million for its new ad campaign warning migrants in the country illegally that ‘we will find you and deport you,’” Semafor’s Shelby Talcott reports. The ad campaign, which includes TV, radio and digital spots, was produced in part by a Louisiana-based company with ties to Trump’s 2016 campaign. NEWS FROM BRAZIL: Former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro — once nicknamed “the Trump of the tropics” was charged on Tuesday with leading a failed plot to overthrow the government after his 2022 election loss, Reuters reports.
| | | | A message from Better Medicare Alliance:  
More than 34 million Americans rely on Medicare Advantage for affordable health care. Learn more. | | | TALKING TARIFFS TARIFF TIMELINE: President Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago last night he is considering fresh tariffs “in the neighborhood of 25 percent” on automobiles, semiconductors and pharmaceutical products, adding they could “go very substantially higher over the course of the year.” While the targeting of these specific industries wasn’t a surprise, the size of the looming tariffs was news. “Trump on Friday had said new duties on automobiles were coming as soon as April 2, one day after administration officials are due to deliver reports to the president that could form the legal basis for new tariffs on a range of imports,” POLITICO’s Ari Hawkins notes. In the background: Bernard Arnault, the French billionaire, is aiming to parlay his connection with Trump to “keep his luxury conglomerate out of any trade wars,” WSJ’s Nick Kostov and Stacy Meichtry write. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, one of the most prominent Democratic voices criticizing Trump, is expected to take a swipe at White House trade policy today when he gives his state of the budget address at Illinois’ state capitol in Springfield. Pritzker will call out what he’s dubbed “the Trump Tax on working families” — essentially, trade tariffs — a person close to the Democratic governor’s team told POLITICO’s Shia Kapos, who got a sneak peak of a portion of Pritzker’s speech. It’s not just eggs: “We ought to be focused on making life more affordable for everyday Illinoisans. With the new tariffs already put in place by President Trump and the ones that he has proposed, the cost of everyday goods like tomatoes and beef and beer is likely to rise again," Pritzker will say, according to the snippet shared with Shia. "It’s confounding that when that happens, it seems like large corporations just hike up prices to drive up profits, while everyday people get stuck with the bill. It’s not right, and we ought to call out the federal government and the companies on it.” BEST OF THE REST NOMINATIONS WATCH: Labor secretary nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer is up before the HELP committee at 10 a.m. amid some uncertainty about her future. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is threatening to break ranks and vote against her confirmation, Semafor’s Burgess Everett reports, meaning she may need Democrat support to secure the panel’s approval … Also in some trouble is Elbridge Colby, Trump’s pick for No. 3 at the Pentagon, who needed vocal backing from MAGA big-hitters this week following scrutiny from some GOP senators. More on the split from POLITICO’s Gregory Svirnovskiy … But it’s all looking rosy for FBI pick Kash Patel, who cleared another key procedural hurdle yesterday — setting up his confirmation vote in the coming days. HARD-PRESSED: Trump will continue blocking the AP from accessing the White House and Air Force One unless the international news organization falls in line with his order to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. “The Associated Press just refuses to go with what the law is,” Trump told Axios’ Marc Caputo yesterday. “We’re going to keep them out until such time they agree.” Lauren Easton, a spox for AP, responded: “This is about the government telling the public and press what words to use.” DELIVERY ROOM: The latest high-profile executive order from Trump’s desk orders his administration to look into ways to make IVF more accessible, per NOTUS’ Jasmine Wright and Oriana González, who scooped the news. But it made no immediate policy changes, as POLITICO’s Alice Miranda Ollstein and Megan Messerly report. COMING TO A COURT NEAR YOU: Trump signed a second executive order yesterday which looks all but certain to wind up before a federal judge. The directive would pull a number of independent agencies — such as the FCC, FTC and SEC — under the control of the White House, setting up a test of the so-called unitary executive theory, which claims the president has the sole authority over the executive branch. “The theory was long considered fringe, and many mainstream legal scholars still believe it is illegal, given that Congress set the agencies up specifically to act independently, or semi-independently, from the president,” POLITICO’s Megan Messerly and Bob King write.
| | | | With a new administration in place, how will governors work with the federal government and continue to lead the way on issues like AI, health care, economic development, education, energy and climate? Hear from Gov. Jared Polis, Gov. Brian Kemp and more at POLITICO's Governors Summit on February 20. RSVP today. | | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | Kamala Harris and Joe Biden are teammates once again after the former VP signed a representation deal with CAA, which Biden did weeks ago, per Variety. It’s a return to the agency for Harris, who was represented by CAA while she was a senator. A REAL LOSS FOR D.C. CINEPHILES — “E Street Cinema, independent movie theater in downtown D.C., to close,” by WaPo’s Herb Scribner: “A representative of E Street Cinema confirmed the closure, citing ‘circumstances.’ … ‘We will not be showing any movies beyond March 6,’ a spokesperson at the theater said. The theater’s website does not list any movie showtimes beyond Thursday, March 6.” OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at Howard and Alison Lutnick’s new Washington home for a party celebrating his confirmation as Commerce secretary last night: Mark Zuckerberg, Stephen and Katie Miller, James Blair, AG Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, Linda McMahon, Jamieson Greer, Doug Collins, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Kevin Warsh, Kelly Loeffler, Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) and Dina Powell McCormick, Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Wesley Britt, Kevin McCarthy, Chris LaCivita, Bret and Amy Baier (who used to own the Lutnicks' house), Kevin Hassett, Peter Navarro, Kellyanne Conway, Adam Kennedy, Joel Kaplan, Kevin Martin, Tony Fabrizio and Meredith O’Rourke. IN MEMORIAM — “Brady Williamson, Madison legal giant defending free speech, dies,” by the Cap Times’ Kayla Huynh: “Brady Williamson, a towering figure in Wisconsin’s legal community, has died from complications of cancer. He was 79. A Democratic political strategist involved in national affairs and a stalwart defender of free speech, Williamson found success in the courtroom. He defended corporate and constitutional cases in the U.S. Supreme Court and the federal and state appellate courts.” — Per an obit from Seth Mydans: “Stan Sesser, an eclectic journalist for The New Yorker and the Wall Steet Journal whose subjects ranged from the emergence of fresh-food California cuisine to land mines in Laos and genocide in Cambodia to explorations that included sampling the world's most fiery chili peppers in Northeast India, died on January 27 at his home in New York. He was 81.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Dan Caldwell is now a senior adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, with a special focus on Ukraine policy, two people familiar with the matter told our Daniel Lippman. Caldwell, an advocate of a realist and restrained foreign policy, was reportedly involved in the DOD transition. He most recently was a public policy adviser at Koch-funded Defense Priorities and is an Iraq war veteran. TRANSITIONS — Noah Sadlier is now comms director for Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.). He previously was comms director for Rep. John James (R-Mich.), and is a Mike Garcia alum. … Sarah Mucha is joining Seven Letter as a senior director. She previously was director of public affairs at SKDK and is an Axios and CNN alum. … Ruby Robles is now press secretary for Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). She previously was a spokesperson at the Treasury Department and is an Elizabeth Warren alum. … … Jon Levin will be comms director for Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.). He previously was comms director for the Kentucky Democratic Party. … Josie Ansbacher is now digital manager for Rep. Janelle Bynum (D-Ore.). She previously was scheduler/digital manager for former Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.). … Jeff Willett is now VP of strategic engagement for Global Action to End Smoking. He previously was national VP of integrated strategies at the American Heart Association. ENGAGED — Maggie Miller, a cybersecurity reporter at POLITICO, and Alex Pustelnyk, director of organizational performance and change at NeighborWorks, got engaged Sunday in the Bishop’s Garden at the National Cathedral, at the end of a seven-hour scavenger hunt across D.C. that included stops at all their early date spots. They were introduced by mutual friends in 2022, despite having grown up in the same city and never met. Pic … Another pic — Ben Koltun, VP of federal government affairs at Citi, and Priya Gupta, a software engineer at Meta, got engaged on Valentine’s Day in Audubon Park in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ben proposed near a park bench dedicated to his grandparents. Pic WEEKEND WEDDING — Erin Perrine, a strategist at Axiom Strategies, and Conor Maguire, principal managing director at WPA Intelligence, got married on Saturday in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, with a reception at Essex County Club. The newlyweds were surrounded by family, friends, and three rounds of the Buffalo Bills’ “Shout” song, courtesy of a nine-piece band. Pic, by Doug Coulter … Another pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Hayden Haynes, chief of staff for Speaker Mike Johnson, and Jennifer Haynes, director at Invariant and a longtime Hill alum, welcomed Brody James Haynes on Feb. 12. Pic … Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) … Gary Andres … Andrew Ross Sorkin … John Gentzel … Justin Rouse … Stewart McLaurin of the White House Historical Association … Tamara Hinton … Olga Ramirez Kornacki … Judy Kurtz … Sean Conner of Lowe’s … Tucker Warren … POLITICO’s Eric Walters and Jen Plesniak … Stripe’s Noah Deich … Nick Solheim … Sarah Stillman … Capital One’s Joe Vidulich … Chase Kroll … AEI’s Jason Bertsch ... Kaitlyn Martin … Hunter Lovell of Rep. Mike Turner’s (R-Ohio) office … Jill Lawrence … former Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) … Alexis Covey-Brandt … Bryce Taylor Rudow … Daria Dieguts Maitland … Alicia Rose … Guneev Sharma of the CFP Board … Kevin Bishop … John J. Miller … Andy Abboud of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. 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 deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. Correction: Yesterday’s Playbook misstated the firm Chris McNulty is joining. He will be national sales director at In Field Strategies.
| | | | A message from Better Medicare Alliance: Medicare Advantage is now the primary form of Medicare coverage in the United States. Over 55% of Medicare beneficiaries — more than 34 million seniors and people with disabilities — choose Medicare Advantage for comprehensive care that delivers better health outcomes at a lower cost than Fee-For-Service Medicare.
But for two years in a row, Medicare Advantage has been cut even as medical costs and utilization have been going up. Now millions of seniors who rely on Medicare Advantage are feeling squeezed, with widespread plan closures, higher costs, and reduced benefits.
President Trump and his Administration can keep their promise to protect Medicare for seniors by ensuring adequate funding for Medicare Advantage moving forward.
Seniors need affordable health care. That means protecting Medicare Advantage.
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