| | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza, Rachael Bade and Eugene Daniels | | | With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross
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We spent most of our time with Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) discussing issues you don’t often hear a congressman open up about: his journey suffering through — and eventually overcoming — debilitating mental and physical illness. | Francis Chung/E&E News | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | NDAA LATEST — NYT: “House Votes to Limit Abortion Access in the Military, Bowing to the Right” … WaPo: “House GOP moves to end Pentagon’s abortion, diversity policies” … WSJ: “House GOP Threatens to Derail Defense Bill Over Abortion, Transgender Care” MOVE OVER, MUSK VS. ZUCKERBERG — CHRIS CHRISTIE, asked by PIERS MORGAN if he could win a fight in the octagon with DONALD TRUMP: “The guy is 78 years old. I’d kick his ass.” THE PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW: ADAM SMITH — As the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, Smith, a 14-term congressman from Seattle, is in the middle of this week’s unusually messy process to clear the NDAA. We talked to him recently for over an hour, and got into the weeds on the usual Capitol Hill intrigue: whether this will be the year Congress fails to pass a defense bill, the continuing fallout in the House from the debt limit deal, and whether Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY can rustle up enough Republican votes to avoid a government shutdown this fall. But we spent most of our time with Smith discussing issues you don’t often hear a congressman open up about: his journey suffering through — and eventually overcoming — debilitating mental and physical illness. That’s the subject of Smith’s new book, “Lost and Broken.” Here are the first lines to give you a taste of how raw and deeply personal the prose is: “Early one morning in April of 2016, I woke up and seriously contemplated the possibility that I would never be able to generate the strength, focus, and courage to get out of bed. The combination of crippling anxiety, chronic pain, muscle atrophy, and the fascinating mix of pharmaceuticals coursing through my body had, I feared, finally broken me. My life terrified me. I had been fighting some combination of these battles for just over three years at this point, and I didn’t think I could do it for one more day.” Smith’s story will likely resonate with a lot of high-achieving people in D.C., where discussing mental health and physical ailments can still be seen as taboo. Smith came away from the experience having learned a number of lessons, and we dug deep on not only his long and winding road of treatment but also what he’s learned about health care, prescription drugs, Buddhism, meditation, psychotherapy and the mental state of extreme partisans in American politics. You can listen to the full interview on this week’s Playbook Deep Dive podcast. What follows are key excerpts.
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| On the constantly angry tenor of modern politics: “Is that anger really about the fact that they really didn’t like, [for instance,] the health care bill, or might that anger be coming out of other frustrations in their lives? I think we’ve all been there — it’s, like, depending on a whole lot of really bad things that happen in a given day: Something’s going on with you, and then your spouse or your kid does something and you overreact to it. You’re not really just angry about that situation; you’ve got these deep-seated things inside of you that you haven’t dealt with. That ramps up the anger and ramps up the discord. “And then you’ve got all the people out there who are going to make money off of that, so they take advantage of it. How many emails do you get — in fact, it’s always: ‘Are you as angry as I am?’ That’s like the lede on a fundraising [email]. And I’m always like, ‘Well, no, actually, I’m not.’ These emails aren’t just, you know, ‘please stand up for abortion rights’ or whatever. It’s, you know, ‘you should be angry.’ They feed into that because they know people will respond to it. … That’s not to say that the issues in public policy that we deal with aren’t important; they are. But why does it get so angry, and … in some cases, violent? … I think it has to do with people not having a firm grasp on their own mental health in many instances.” On what’s driving the decay of American democracy: “What is the process of how we make decisions in this country? My focus is always on ‘how do we resolve our differences in a peaceful way?’ … You have to understand you don’t always get your way; you have to respect the process. … People have stopped thinking of democracy as a process whereby you participate in the system. … Today, if you don’t get the result that you wanted, you’re going to burn the whole house down. … You have to have a respect for the process in order to be able to peacefully resolve your differences. And we’re not interested at this point in peacefully resolving our differences. We want what we want. And if we didn’t get it … we’re going to let the world know why that is not just unfortunate, not just wrong, but completely unacceptable. … That’s a matter of developing emotional intelligence.” On what Congress has in common with “The Office”: “Congress is reflective of the American people — the good, the bad and the ugly. … I will go to an ‘Office’ analogy here: the episode where Jim and Pam are on their honeymoon, and all kinds of weird stuff happens. At one point, Oscar looks into the camera and says, ‘The delicate balance in our office between the sane and the insane is out of whack with Jim and Pam not in the office. And I’m just worried we’re not going to be able to come back.’ And that’s kind of the way I look at it.” On the likelihood of a shutdown: “If we get to Oct. 1, there’s no real prospect for getting an appropriations deal. So we’re looking at a long-term [continuing resolution]. Do we have the votes for a long-term C.R.? I mean, the only way you avoid a shutdown is if you get enough people to vote for a C.R. And I think there’s going to be a lot of Democrats who are going to be like, ‘We don’t support a C.R.’ … I think we’re headed towards a crack-up on Oct. 1.” On a key component of mental health: “When it comes to mental health, the one piece that nobody told me … is: Mental health starts with a baseline sense of self-worth. There’s a lot of different ways to describe this. The one that stuck with me was ‘a healthy narcissism.’ And please understand: there is an unhealthy narcissism as well. But what a ‘healthy narcissism’ means is that you believe at your core in your own self-worth. You believe that you are — sorry to be a little Buddhist here — worthy of love. “And the way my psychologist put it to me on my first visit to him in late 2015, after he had assessed this questionnaire that I filled out, he said: ‘You don’t think you have a right to exist.’ … And at the time, I thought this was idiotic. ‘This guy didn't know what the hell he’s talking about. What do you mean: “I don’t have a right to exist?” I’m a successful person. I’m confident.’ … But what he meant was: I never got that base-level understanding that I have self-worth regardless of whether or not I’m good at anything. Because in my mind, it was like, ‘Well, I have self-worth because I work hard, I’m a good father, I’m a good husband, I'm good at my job.’ That’s not it. And if that’s what you think gives you your self-worth, you are on a treadmill that’s going to speed up until you run into the wall. Because every day, I’ve got to prove myself. … No. You’ve got to be convinced of that baseline sense of self-worth.” On what he got wrong about meditation: “I had a mistaken idea of what meditation was. … I imagined meditation was this Buddhist thing where you were able to just basically leave your body and all of your earthly troubles behind. But what meditation really does help with is: You don’t have to eliminate all thoughts. What they tell you is … ‘notice it, and let it go.’ You don’t have to chase every thought that comes into your head. And once you realize that, it can calm you down incredibly over time.” On going public about his own mental health: “It’s not brave of me, I don’t think, to have a discussion about what health care policy should be, or … what our policy towards China should be. This is a conversation — to my mind — about how we figure out how to get better. And to the extent that mental health just becomes one more voyeuristic thing that we’re deciding to do as a society — you know, like the Kardashians … that worries me.” Happy Friday. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | A message from The Coalition to Protect America's Regional Airports: DCA is at capacity. The airport is already prone to delays and cancellations and is home to the busiest runway in America. Even so, a Delta-backed effort is pushing to add more flights to DCA, with no concern for passenger convenience or safety. Tell Congress not to make travel worse. | | | WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY? — “Secret Service closes White House cocaine probe without suspect,” by WaPo’s Carol Leonnig and Peter Hermann A DIFFERENT KIND OF MEDIA STRATEGY — “Trump’s 2024 media play: Less cable, more Barstool,” by Alex Isenstadt: “Trump’s campaign over the past several months has been quietly engaged in behind-the-scenes talks for a sit-down interview with … boxing legend ‘Iron’ MIKE TYSON. … [It’s] part of a broader strategic outreach to non-traditional media outlets, specifically those affiliated with male audiences with an interest in contact and combat sports.”
| | | | A message from The Coalition to Protect America's Regional Airports:   The FAA Reauthorization bill is critical to supporting our aviation industry and the traveling public. Congress should pass the bill without delay. Tell Congress not to make travel worse. | | | | | PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN’S FRIDAY:
10 a.m.: The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief.
1:30 p.m.: The Bidens will leave the White House for Camp David.
VP KAMALA HARRIS’ FRIDAY:
2:10 p.m.: The VP will head to Baltimore for a briefing about the impact of the administration’s climate investments at Coppin State University, wrapping up the Investing in America tour, with EPA Administrator MICHAEL REGAN in attendance.
3:15 p.m.: Harris and Regan will deliver remarks about the Inflation Reduction Act’s moves to tackle climate change and create a cleaner economy.
THE HOUSE will meet at 9 a.m., with last votes expected no later than 3 p.m. Minority Leader HAKEEM JEFFRIES will hold his weekly press conference at 10 a.m.
THE SENATE is out. | | | | | | STOP SCROLLING (for just a minute!). Introducing a revamped California Playbook newsletter with an all-new team and a sharpened mission! Join Lara Korte and Dustin Gardiner as they take you on an extraordinary journey through California's political landscape. From inside the Capitol in Sacramento to the mayor’s office in Los Angeles, and from the tech hub of Silicon Valley to even further beyond, we're your front-row ticket to the action. Subscribe for access to exclusive news, buzzworthy scoops and never-before-revealed behind-the-scenes details straight from the heart of California's political arena. Don't miss out — SUBSCRIBE TODAY and stay in the know! | | | | | PHOTO OF THE DAY
|  People walk along the Las Vegas Strip in the heat Thursday in Las Vegas. Even desert residents accustomed to scorching summers are feeling the grip of an extreme heat wave smacking the Southwest this week. | AP | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | 2024 WATCH DeSANTIS AT A TIPPING POINT — As questions mount about the state of Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS’ campaign, staffers are trying to calm donors and supporters — even as they weigh some shakeups. NBC’s Dasha Burns, Matt Dixon, Jonathan Allen and Allan Smith obtained a confidential campaign memo that lays bare some of the DeSantis camp’s plans. The campaign is focused on investing heavily in early-voting states (even New Hampshire) while holding off on many Super Tuesday states. It’s also going to put 80 field operatives on the ground in California. And DeSantis world is clearly eyeing Sen. TIM SCOTT (R-S.C.) as a threat to target: “We expect Tim Scott to receive appropriate scrutiny in the weeks ahead,” the memo dangles. Meanwhile, the famously anti-media governor, who’s done more than anyone else in the race to demonize the mainstream press and work in alternative lanes, is now considering a “media strategy reset,” ABC’s Will Steakin reports. DeSantis’ team is now “leaning toward” getting him on mainstream TV networks, maybe even doing town halls, to try to catch Trump. ABC writes that megadonor KEN GRIFFIN in particular wants to see progress from DeSantis. And up next, the DeSantis campaign is kicking into high gear, The Messenger’s Marc Caputo reports this morning. Relying on an “in-house marketing team that has created and algorithmically message-tested 14,000 ads and related variations” on social media, the campaign’s sophisticated digital operation is leveling up. So is DeSantis’ ground game, featuring an Iowa blitz with a focus on influential pastors. And more policy proposals are in the offing, with a particular emphasis on the economy this summer. Where DeSantis’ message is landing: “Trump loses Iowa endorser days after attacking the state’s governor,” by Alex Isenstadt Where it’s not landing: “Focus groups: Minnesota swing voters reject DeSantis culture wars,” by Axios’ Alexi McCammond BIG MONEY — “Former Disney, Marvel exec Ike Perlmutter plans major donation to back Trump for president,” by CNBC’s Brian Schwartz: IKE “PERLMUTTER has yet to decide how much he plans to donate toward Trump’s run, but the businessman’s spokesman said Thursday the financial support would be ‘meaningful.’” DARK PSYCHIC FORCE — “Leaked audio of Marianne Williamson volunteer staff call reveals a bleak state of her campaign,” by Brittany Gibson CONGRESS LABOR PAINS — JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) announced yesterday that he will not support JULIE SU’s nomination for Labor secretary, a conclusion that imperils her ability to get confirmed. Though he praised Su as qualified, Manchin said that her “more progressive background prevents her from” being able to “collaboratively lead both labor and industry to forge compromises acceptable to both parties.” “The president’s support for Acting Secretary Su is unwavering, and we hope Senator Manchin and Senator Sinema reconsider their position,” a White House official told reporters in response. That comment was particularly striking because Sen. KYRSTEN SINEMA (I-Ariz.) hasn’t yet taken a public stance on Su’s nomination. If she abandons Su and Republicans unite in lockstop opposition, Su’s shot at leading the Labor Department would be over. Or would it? As NBC’s Liz Brown-Kaiser and Sahil Kapur note, Su currently holds the reins as acting Labor secretary, and the Labor Department uniquely allows her to continue in that role indefinitely until a replacement emerges. Sen. JON TESTER (D-Mont.), who’s still undecided on the Su vote, says he wouldn’t like a permanent-acting workaround. VEERING OFF THE RAILS? — “GOP discord threatens Senate response to railway disaster,” by Burgess Everett: “Top Republicans aren’t currently lifting a finger to help the rail bill, which is two GOP senators short of 60 votes and even more votes short of having a chance in the GOP-controlled House. The bill’s lead Republican sponsor, Ohio Sen. J.D. VANCE, is optimistic about its prospects — but as of now there’s a decent chance it could get filibustered on the floor without significant changes.” THE LATEST TURN OF THE SCREW — “Tuberville speaks with Biden defense chief amid hold on military confirmations,” by The Hill’s Ellen Mitchell MORE POLITICS CASH DASH — Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) raised $1.3 million in the second quarter, even though he hasn’t said yet whether he’ll run for reelection. That’s a notably bigger haul than Gov. JIM JUSTICE or Rep. ALEX MOONEY, the Republicans vying to run against him. More from Forbes — Rep. MONICA DE LA CRUZ (R-Texas) pulled in $833,000.
| | | | A message from The Coalition to Protect America's Regional Airports:   Tell Congress to pass the FAA Reauthorization bill to keep airport travel safe and efficient. Tell Congress not to make travel worse. | | | TRUMP CARDS THE INVESTIGATIONS — The federal probe into the effort to overturn the 2020 election keeps picking up steam. Special counsel JACK SMITH’s team has recently questioned JARED KUSHNER, who testified before a Washington grand jury, NYT’s Michael Schmidt and Maggie Haberman report. So did HOPE HICKS, add CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and Katelyn Polantz. And investigators also questioned four election officials and legislators in Michigan in recent months, The Detroit News’ Craig Mauger reports. Crucially, prosecutors appear to be homing in on the question of whether Trump knew, and acknowledged privately, that he had lost the election. Kushner told the jury that he thought Trump really believed the false conspiracy theory that he’d won the election. Other interviewees have offered testimony indicating that Trump was aware he’d lost. In the other federal criminal case … A Justice Department filing yesterday pushed back strongly against Trump’s request to delay his classified documents trial until possibly after the 2024 election, AP’s Eric Tucker recaps. TRUMP INC. — “Trump reveals new details about $1 billion in earnings in revised filing,” by WaPo’s Michael Kranish, Aaron Schaffer and Clara Ence Morse — Notable nuggets: Trump disclosed receiving $2 million in speaking fees from the late Rev. SUN MYUNG MOON’s Unification Church since leaving office. … The Make America Great Again, Again super PAC paid $155,000 to MELANIA TRUMP in late 2021, per NYT’s Shane Goldmacher and Maggie Haberman. JUDICIARY SQUARE NOTHING TO SEE HERE — “Kavanaugh: No warring camps at Supreme Court,” by Josh Gerstein in Bloomington, Minn. HUNTER GATHERING — “Hunter Biden’s lawyer sends cease-and-desist letter to Trump over social media posts,” by ABC’s Lucien Bruggeman MEDIA WATCH JUST POSTED — “Tucker Carlson Is Creating a New Media Company,” by WSJ’s Keach Hagey and Alexa Corse: “Former Fox News host TUCKER CARLSON and former White House adviser NEIL PATEL are seeking to raise funds to start a new media company that would potentially use Twitter as its backbone … The new company would be anchored by longer versions of the free videos that Carlson has been posting regularly on Twitter since shortly after his departure from Fox News, but would ultimately be driven by subscriptions.” SUNDAY SO FAR … CNN “State of the Union”: Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) … Chris Christie. MSNBC “Inside with Jen Psaki”: Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) … Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.). CBS “Face the Nation”: Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) … New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy … Mesa, Ariz., Mayor John Giles … Kara Swisher. ABC “This Week”: Chris Christie. 2024 third-party bid debate: Joe Lieberman and Doug Jones. Panel: Donna Brazile, Roy Blunt, Astead Herndon and Susan Page. NBC “Meet the Press”: Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) … Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska). Panel: Cornell Belcher, Sara Fagen and Carol Lee. FOX “Fox News Sunday”: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). Panel: Olivia Beavers, Mary Katharine Ham, Marc Thiessen and Kevin Walling.
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don’t miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Dick and Liz Uihlein lost their fight to use an industrial leaf blower at their Illinois estate. Kevin McCarthy can make a joke at his own expense. Mark Cuban said he won’t run for president on a third party ticket in 2024. “My family would disown me,” he told NBC News. Tim Scott repeatedly quoted Mr. T during a Fox News hit. Geraldo Rivera said he’ll “never forgive” Tucker Carlson for Jan. 6. John Hyten’s sexual assault accuser settled with DOJ for $975,000. OUT AND ABOUT — CNN celebrated Dana Bash’s 30th anniversary with the network and the launch of “Inside Politics with Dana Bash” last night at the Riggs, where guests had specially named drinks like the “Bash Bubbly.” She was presented with a congratulatory letter from VP Kamala Harris and a letter of congressional recognition by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas). Also SPOTTED: Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Jim Himes (D-Conn.), Ken Buck (R-Colo.), David Joyce (R-Ohio), Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Elaine Chao, Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova, Irish Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason, Chuck Todd, Andrea Mitchell, Kelly O’Donnell, Ali Zelenko, Norah O’Donnell, Jennifer Griffin, Jonathan Karl, Phil Rucker, Olivier Knox, Josh Dawsey, Carl Hulse, Kara Swisher, Josh Holmes, Adrienne Elrod and Kate Bedingfield. — SPOTTED on Wednesday night at the grand opening of Walmart’s new D.C. office in Navy Yard: Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), Reps. Rick Allen (R-Ga.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), John Joyce (R-Pa.), Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas), Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), Ron Estes (R-Kan.), Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) and Don Davis (D-N.C.)., Bruce Harris, Dan Bryant, Phillip Wallace, Sean Bresett, Laura Siegrist, Mack McLarty, Josh Bolten, Susan McCue, Ivan Zapien, Bob Russell, Jeanne Wolak, Jana Barresi, Kyle Simmons and Drew Goesl. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Reema Shah is now deputy general counsel for strategic initiatives at the Department of Commerce. She previously was senior adviser to the White House chief of staff and special assistant to the president, as well as a deputy associate White House counsel. TRANSITIONS — Christine Harada is now senior adviser for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy at OMB. She most recently was executive director of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council. … Matthew Cornelius is now managing director for federal industries at Workday. He previously was a senior professional staff member on the Senate Homeland Security Committee and is an OMB and GSA alum. … Mirella Manilla is now digital director for the Joint Economic Committee. She previously was at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, Georgia Democratic Party and South Carolina Democratic Party. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: The Washington Free Beacon’s Eliana Johnson … National Retail Federation’s Matthew Shay … Media Research Center’s Brent Bozell … ABC’s Devin Dwyer … The New Republic’s Daniel Strauss … Raytheon’s Mary Lee … Rhonda Foxx … Ammon Simon … Mike Panetta of the Beekeeper Group … Meta’s Nkechi Nneji … Axios’ Caitlin Owens … Tigercomm’s Mike Casey … POLITICO’s Kenneth Steele and Mark Cavanagh … Tony Hanagan of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office … Jordan Sekulow ... Corey Solow … former Reps. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) and Tom Latham (R-Iowa) … FBI’s Sarah Ruane … Gail Ross … David Shortell … WSJ’s Nicole Friedman … former New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez … Martha Coakley (7-0) … U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s David Weissman … Elizabeth Bennett … Ted Goodman … Dana Youngentob of Sen. Angus King’s (I-Maine) office … James Davis … Edda Collins Coleman of Cogent Strategies … Chicago Sun-Times’ Tina Sfondeles … Caroline Kelly 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.
| | | | A message from The Coalition to Protect America's Regional Airports: The slot and perimeter rules were designed to preserve DCA’s intended role as a short-haul regional airport, and to promote safety and ease congestion given the airport’s capacity constraints. The FAA and local airport authority that oversees DCA strongly oppose changes to the slot and perimeter rules, which would reduce service to in-perimeter regional airports, worsen congestion, increase flight delays and cancellations, and overburden the airport’s facilities by forcing it to handle 12.6 million passengers annually beyond what it was designed to accommodate. Join CPARA and its 130+ members in protecting the DCA slot and perimeter rules. Tell Congress not to make travel worse. | | | | | | | 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 | | | | |
