| | | |  | | By Eli Okun | Presented by the Coalition for Medicare Choices | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | HAPPENING SHORTLY: President Donald Trump is due to announce his reciprocal tariffs on countries around the world, a significant new phase of his trade wars with most details TBA. CNBC’s Eamon Javers reports that the actual start date will be delayed “some months.” BIG RETIREMENT: Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) announced she won’t seek reelection next year, citing a desire to spend more time with her family. That could open up a new opportunity for Republicans, who’d already been planning to target the seat in a state Kamala Harris won by 4 points. On the heels of Sen. Gary Peters’ (D-Mich.) similar announcement — and with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) not yet having said whether she’ll run again — open Dem seats could boost the GOP in what is historically a tough midterm cycle for the party in power. In Minnesota, Democratic Gov. Tim Walz is weighing a Senate bid, POLITICO’s Elena Schneider scooped. Lt. Gov. Penny Flanagan already announced she plans to run. Rep. Angie Craig and AG Keith Ellison are other Democratic possibilities — and perhaps even former Sen. Al Franken, whom Smith originally replaced. For the GOP, failed 2024 nominee Royce White already wants to make another go at it.
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As HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could bring radical change to the nation's health agencies. | Rod Lamkey Jr./AP Photo | CRUISE CONTROL: Trump’s Cabinet nominees, even the most controversial, are continuing to sail through the confirmation process with the Senate GOP. As expected, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed 52-48 this morning; he’ll be sworn in later today. It’s a moment of potentially profound change for the nation’s health agencies, from Kennedy’s desire to reform food systems to reduce chronic disease to his anti-vaccine history that he’s recently, partially disavowed. “His plans to upend them could make Elon Musk’s budget-cutting spree look modest by comparison,” write POLITICO’s Chelsea Cirruzzo, Daniel Payne and Adam Cancryn. Once again, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was the only Republican to vote no. He’s a polio survivor for whom anti-vaccine lies are personal. “I will not condone the re-litigation of proven cures,” McConnell said in a statement. Despite the radical upheaval Kennedy promises, the powerful health-care industry groups declined to oppose his nomination — because they saw such an effort as futile or not worth the cost, Daniel reports. Kennedy’s congressional allies are already working on a package of MAHA legislation in the Senate, per Daniel. Also on the way in: The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Kash Patel’s nomination as FBI director on a 12-10 party-line vote, per POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs, as Republicans dismissed Democratic concerns that Patel would weaponize the justice system to go after Trump’s enemies. The full Senate also confirmed Brooke Rollins as Agriculture secretary in a 72-28 vote, which would have been even more lopsided had some Democrats not voted no in protest of the Trump administration’s attacks on the federal workforce, POLITICO’s Grace Yarrow reports. And coming down the line: Linda McMahon’s Senate HELP Committee vote as Education secretary has been slotted in for Feb. 20. At her confirmation hearing today, McMahon emphasized her plans to dismantle the department — but she notably said that fully shuttering it, as Trump wants to do, would require Congress. McMahon said parts of the department could be moved to other agencies, though she pledged to protect key programs like Title I funding, Pell grants and Public Service Loan Forgiveness in the meantime, per POLITICO’s Mackenzie Wilkes and Rebecca Carballo. She said Trump wants more efficiency, not defunding. MIKE JOHNSON GETS ON TRACK: House Republicans are on the verge of getting their reconciliation blueprint through the Budget Committee today, after hard-right fiscal hawks got on board if a new amendment is added, POLITICO’s Jennifer Scholtes and Meredith Lee Hill report. That language would limit money available for tax cuts if Republicans don’t find $2 trillion in spending cuts. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said the amendment would win him over. (Moderates may balk at the deep slashing of services that would require.) If that goes through, Republicans intend to put the resolution on the floor in late February, per Meredith. On the flip side: Senate Republicans are laying down a marker on tax cuts, with Majority Leader John Thune leading a letter that says expiring tax cuts must be renewed permanently, POLITICO’s Brian Faler reports. That would increase the deficit pressure on House Republicans, some of whom have eyed short-term extensions to limit the budget hit. Good Thursday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
| | | | A message from the Coalition for Medicare Choices: Protect Medicare Advantage: 34 million seniors are counting on it.
Over half of America's seniors choose Medicare Advantage because it provides them better care at lower costs than fee-for-service Medicare. With their coverage and care on the line, seniors are watching closely to see whether policymakers keep the bipartisan promise to protect Medicare Advantage by ensuring this vital part of Medicare is adequately funded.
Learn more at https://medicarechoices.org/ | | | | | 7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | 1. UKRAINE FALLOUT: Ukraine and Europe responded today with shock, anger and fear to Trump’s news that he’ll negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine — and to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s aggressive comments on a new day for Europe. The West’s yearslong effort to isolate Russia and follow Kyiv’s lead has been upended, so there was jubilation in Moscow, per the AP. Ukraine is deeply worried that its own fate is now out of its hands, WaPo’s Siobhán O’Grady and Ellen Francis report, but officials emphasized that it is a sovereign country who must be included in talks — and won’t accept an outcome otherwise. European leaders said today that they need a seat at the table too. But the U.S. retreat from Europe means NATO has been thrown “into disarray,” AP’s Lorne Cook reports. Big cleanup: Hegseth today walked back his comments that Ukraine wouldn’t end negotiations with NATO membership, which had come under heavy criticism for giving away leverage up front. “Everything is on the table,” Hegseth said, deferring to Trump’s judgment, per PBS’ Nick Schifrin. Notable details: The U.S. has privately been pushing Ukraine to hold new elections, a source close to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tells Bloomberg’s Daryna Krasnolutska and Volodymyr Verbianyi, though Zelenskyy said today Trump didn’t bring it up in their recent phone call. That would align with Russia’s desires. Meanwhile, China seems eager to step in, having offered to the U.S. that it could host a summit and work on post-deal peacekeeping, WSJ’s Lingling Wei, Alex Ward and Laurence Norman scooped. Why Putin is celebrating: The prospect of the U.S. and Russia together ironing out Ukraine’s future fits in with Putin’s worldview of the two countries as great powers. So the call with Trump — along with Hegseth’s speech and Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation as director of national intelligence — “marked a turning point as great as any battle in his three-year war,” NYT’s Anton Troianovski writes. 2. NOTABLE LAWSUIT: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro took Trump to court today over the federal funding freeze, arguing that the federal government is breaking its contract with the state and that Pennsylvania still can’t get to $1.2 billion despite the freeze being court-ordered to halt. More from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette That situation is playing out across the country as billions of dollars in federal funding remains inaccessible, CNN’s Jeremy Herb, Ella Nilsen, Rene Marsh and Priscilla Alvarez report. The administration argues that it is finding legal ways to halt spending separate from the judges who have blocked the broader pause; critics and multiple lawsuits allege that they’re flouting the courts and the Constitution. 3. RUSS VOUGHT’S LATEST MOVE: “Russ Vought Sets Up ‘Tipline’ To Report ‘Weaponization’ of CFPB,” by RealClearPolitics’ Philip Wegmann: “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has established a tipline for the public to report, not on corporate malfeasance, but on any ongoing regulatory actions of the bureau itself … Vought is now on the hunt to find victims of regulators run amok and examples of politicization.” 4. IN THE DOGE HOUSE: USAID employees who were targeted by Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” are urging a federal judge to extend his pause on the plan to dismantle the agency and put thousands on leave, AP’s Lindsay Whitehurst and Ellen Knickmeyer report. The initial order ran only until today. Meanwhile, the foreign aid freeze means tens of thousands of tons of food — worth half a billion dollars — is sitting still and at risk of spoiling as its would-be recipients go hungry, Bloomberg’s Iain Marlow reports. And the waivers aren’t working: Lifesaving food and medicine remains choked off, POLITICO’s Carmen Paun reports. Beyond USAID: DOGE’s campaign of cost-cutting and federal agency destruction is also moving through the Education Department, where leaders are seeking to change some workers’ job designations to make them more vulnerable, WaPo’s Laura Meckler and Hannah Natanson report. Significant layoffs have come down for the civil rights office and across the department, CBS’ Aaron Navarro and Kathryn Watson report. And cuts are hitting the National Endowment for Democracy, which has been unable to access funding, POLITICO’s Phelim Kine reports. The Reagan-era nonprofit has long enjoyed strong Republican support for its promotion of democracy abroad, but now the groups it backs have started layoffs after Musk attacked NED as “evil.” But but but: After a conflict-of-interest outcry emerged yesterday over the State Department buying armored Teslas, Musk’s company has been dropped from the procurement list, NYT’s Jack Ewing reports. 5. 2025 WATCH: “Liberal Vets Group Gives Spanberger Boost in Virginia Governor’s Race,” by NYT’s Shane Goldmacher: “The $500,000 donation to the campaign of Abigail Spanberger, a former representative and C.I.A. officer, is the largest direct contribution in VoteVets’ 20-year history.” 6. IMMIGRATION FILES: “‘Nobody really knows what’s going on’: US officials scramble to expand Guantanamo Bay for migrants,” by CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez and Haley Britzky: “[T]he scattered efforts have prompted questions internally about who’s in charge and what will happen once people arrive on site. … While DHS and DOD have worked together on border security missions before, doing so at Guantanamo has been a steep challenge roiled by confusion … [T]here hasn’t been a clear plan provided for what happens to people once they arrive at the base, including when they’ll be transferred to their home countries.” Related read: The U.S.-Mexico border, which was already seeing significant declines in migrants during Joe Biden’s final months, has grown even quieter under Trump, NYT’s Jack Healy, J. David Goodman and Edgar Sandoval report. “Bored troops are standing watch, shelters have emptied from McAllen, Texas, to Tucson, Ariz., and border patrols speed through miles of frontier, finding no one in sight.” 7. RACE RATINGS: The initial judgments of the Senate map from Sabato’s Crystal Ball’s Kyle Kondik and J. Miles Coleman peg Georgia, Michigan and North Carolina as toss-ups. Maine is leaning Republican, and the GOP is overall favored to hold the chamber. Kondik told us that in the wake of Smith’s announcement, they’ll shift Minnesota to leaning Democratic. The ratings are similar to the recent initial swing from The Cook Political Report’s Jessica Taylor, who put North Carolina at leaning Republican and New Hampshire at leaning Democratic.
| | | | A message from the Coalition for Medicare Choices:  
| | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | Boyz II Men are on the Hill today to advocate for the American Music Fairness Act. PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — “Pilots got 100 collision warnings for helicopters near National in past decade,” by WaPo’s Ian Duncan, Daniel Gilbert, Michael Laris, Lori Aratani and Andrew Ba Tran … “‘Risk of a Collision and Loss of Life’: D.C. Crash Warnings Were Years in the Making,” by NYT’s Emily Steel and Sydney Ember OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at a Latino Victory Foundation event last night for “Guac” at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre, which is about Manuel Oliver, the activist father of Parkland school shooting victim Joaquin “Guac” Oliver: Reps. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), Darren Soto (D-Fla.), Luz Rivas (D-Calif.), Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) and Hillary Scholten (D-Mich.), Katharine Pichardo, Patricia and Manuel Oliver, Estuardo Rodriguez, Mayra Macias, Joaquin Proaño, Johanny Adames, Brent Wilkes, Maria Goyanes, Brian Lemek and Brianna Keilar. — SPOTTED last night at a “MAGA youth”-themed dinner hosted by Max Castroparedes and Jairo Gonzalez Ward at the Centurion Lounge in NYC: Jesse McKinley, Rachel Paik, Dylan Zanker, Leah Tarrago, Bryson Wiese, Nicholas Paolizzi, Jimmy Quinn and Thomas Grazer. MEDIA MOVE — Tessa Berenson Rogers will be senior news editor at POLITICO. She previously was an editor, political reporter and White House correspondent at Time. TRANSITIONS — The Council on Foreign Relations is adding David Lipton and Rebecca Patterson as senior fellows in the David Rockefeller Studies Program. Lipton most recently was counselor to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Patterson is an investor and macroeconomic researcher. … Beacon Global Strategies is adding Craig Singleton as a senior adviser and Dwayne Clark and Alex Rubin as associate VPs. Singleton previously spent more than a decade in national security roles for the federal government. Clark previously was a professional staff member for the House Foreign Affairs GOP. Rubin previously was an analyst at the CIA’s China Mission Center. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Tim Morrison, VP of space, intelligence and missile defense for government operations at Boeing, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a Trump NSC alum, and Bethany Morrison, a senior adviser in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs at the State Department, on Jan. 26 welcomed Liliana Hurley Morrison, who joins big siblings Cal, Sophia and Ben. 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. | | | | 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 | | | |
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