EPIC FURY: Congress is increasingly defying Donald Trump’s agenda as Republicans race against a ticking clock to keep their trifecta heading into November. Trump’s made a spate of calls for sweeping changes that have fallen flat on the Hill in recent months. His push to eliminate the filibuster doesn’t have the votes, a fact Senate Majority Leader John Thune has repeated. Calls to replace the Senate parliamentarian landed on deaf ears. And it’s a big zilch on his push to eliminate the blue slip privilege on judicial nominations. Those are just the high level changes. As the war with Iran continues to exacerbate affordability concerns, Trump’s call for a gas tax reprieve has gone nowhere. His original support for the Senate version of an affordable housing bill was beaten out by Speaker Mike Johnson’s tenacity to muscle through the House version. Trump’s much-desired SAVE America Act still doesn’t have 60 votes to pass the Senate. Not to mention Iran war powers rebukes that cleared both chambers. Which brings us to this morning: key government spy powers are set to expire tomorrow night after the House failed to pass the short-term extension Trump requested. The uproar from Democrats, and some Republicans, on Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte to lead ODNI has stalled negotiations on FISA, which the president called “very important to our Military” (despite previously railing against it). The Senate will try a long-shot extension by unanimous consent this afternoon. But with no House votes scheduled until June 23, Section 702 will expire for the first time since its creation. GOP leaders slammed Democrats for voting against reauthorization, with Thune spokesperson Ryan Wrasse describing the strategy as “legislative hostage-taking.” But the 19 House Republican hard-liners who also voted against it are just a glimpse at a conference increasingly misaligned with the White House; among them are Reps. Lauren Boebert, Thomas Massie and Chip Roy, all Trump targets. The next big flashpoint is Reconciliation 3.0 — and the potential defense boost the Pentagon is pushing alongside it. And here too, GOP leaders are tempering expectations about what can be done. Thune hasn’t committed to another go at reconciliation, the filibuster-proof process for enacting party-line legislation. He said the GOP is “open” to it if they can get an agreement that could land 50 votes in the Senate or 218 in the House — a veiled nod to the dicey margins in both chambers. “I’ve said before, at the moment I’m not sure what that is.” What is clear is that SAVE America likely can’t be included in that equation due to scrutiny from the parliamentarian. It would join codifying Trump’s White House ballroom, or the DOJ’s “Anti Weaponization Fund,” as red meat proposals that are DOA on the chambers’ floors. And the timeline is only tightening. There’s rampant skepticism about a sweeping new legislative package moving ahead of August with the House only in for another 16 session days (give or take) before then. If it bleeds past August, they’ll also butt up against an appropriations season that’s already blistering. On the defense portion, conversations are heating up as a group of House Republicans huddle with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth today on the billions in military spending Trump requested for the war in Iran, POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill and colleagues scoop. The spending could possibly be offset with funds spared via a push to weed out fraud. If Trump’s Truths are any indication, the war is entering a dangerous phase of the ceasefire. He threatened to “hit very hard” tonight and asserted a plan to take over Kharg Island. But he also said on Fox News “I don't know that America has the appetite” for a longer fight, brushing off reports of his frustration. A major escalation in the war would almost certainly meet resistance on the Hill and add to the rift. Republicans in competitive seats have broken with Trump in the past when he floated troops on the ground, and as Meredith notes, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) is among the moderates prepared to keep voting “no” on Trump’s war powers. The list of legislative to-do’s remains long. The GOP’s time to find the numbers to satiate Trump is not. Good Thursday afternoon. This is Ali Bianco — still buzzing from last night’s jaw dropping Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Knicks in 5? Send me your predictions.
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3. 2026 WATCH: Emerson College’s latest June polling has Democratic candidates holding a 10-point lead on the generic ballot looking toward the midterms, a lead that widens among independent voters and other swing blocs like Latino voters. A 46 percent majority also said mid-decade redistricting is a bad idea. And while the economy remains king as a top issue for voters, it was followed by concerns over threats to democracy. New York or nowhere: Democratic socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier, who was backed by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, is leading incumbent Dem Rep. Adriano Espaillat 39 percent to 35 percent in new polling from Justice Democrats on the NY-13 race, Semafor’s Dave Weigel scoops. … And Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s (D-N.Y.) team is preparing to beta-test her popularity beyond her ultra-blue base with her fall schedule, as she weighs her 2028 options and wields her endorsements more carefully this cycle, CNN’s Edward-Isaac Dovere writes. 4. KEVIN’S DILEMMA: “Trump’s new Fed chief may soon have to raise interest rates,” by WaPo’s Andrew Ackerman: “Only weeks into his role as chair, [Kevin Warsh] is confronting rekindled inflation that may eventually force him to do the opposite on rates, defying President Donald Trump … The Fed is almost certain to hold rates steady at its meeting next week. But investors increasingly predict the central bank will move toward higher rates before the end of the year.” 5. SPORTS BLINK: “Kash Patel on the FBI’s defining test: securing the World Cup,” by Reuters’ Jana Winter: “[The] World Cup, which kicks off on Thursday, is one of the biggest security challenges the FBI has ever faced. That's before you account for 3 million visitors, including heads of state, not to mention threats from drones, spies, terrorists, drunken fans, cartels or pyrotechnics. … ‘It's a huge lift, probably the biggest lift in FBI history, in American history,’ said FBI Director Kash Patel … [Patel] talked about the agency's extensive preparation for the world's biggest sporting event amid controversies and regular reports that he may soon be fired.”
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IN MEMORIAM — “Alan Riding, Times Correspondent in Latin America and Paris, Dies at 82,” by NYT’s Alan Cowell: “Alan Riding, who trained as a barrister in London before becoming a cosmopolitan correspondent for The New York Times, one whose reporting spanned the boulevards of Paris and the salons of Lisbon as much as the politics and insurgencies he encountered in Latin America, died on Saturday in Paris. He was 82.” JUST VANCE — VP JD Vance will appear on “The View” — which Trump is famously not a fan of — on June 16 to discuss his forthcoming book, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith,” per Variety. WHITE HOUSE DEPARTURE LOUNGE — Jacob Reses, Vance’s chief of staff, is leaving the administration at the end of the summer, per NBC. But he’ll remain close to the VP, with Vance saying in a statement that, “From day one of my time as a Senator-elect, I could not have asked for a more loyal and discerning advisor and friend as my chief of staff. I’ll miss him dearly, but he won’t be far, and I plan to keep his counsel close until our paths cross again.” POLITICO MOVES — POLITICO Magazine is relaunching as a weekly publication focused on original reporting about the people and ideas that shape power around the world. The changes will bring a curated weekend newsletter on Sundays with all the must-reads. To bolster the effort, POLITICO is bringing on Kathy Gilsinan as a senior staff writer for the mag, previously at Puck. Dylon Jones has been elevated to a senior editor and Catherine Kim is stepping into the role of magazine reporter. Read the full announcement SPOTTED: Doug Bunch along with Mark Nichols, Danny Banks and Reggie Greer hosted a Pride kickoff and fundraiser for Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) last night. Among the attendees were Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Chris Lu, Alex Wagner, Shawn Skelly and Josh Mogil. OUT AND ABOUT — Orchestra hosted clients, members of the press and friends of the firm at El Rey in Navy Yard last night before the Congressional Baseball Game. SPOTTED: Anthony Lamorena, Allison Waddington, Al Weaver, Irene Bueno, Tim Donovan, Peter Sullivan, Miranda Nazzaro, Shaeda Ahmadi, Nabil Mai, Tim Lordan, David Hogg, Sudeep Reddy, Stu Malec, Justin Chermol, Milla Anderson, Rachel Green Horn, Valerie Berlin, Jonathan Rosen, Katie Barr, Andy McDonald, Andrew Bates, Kristen Orthman and Matt Tepper. — SPOTTED at the National Beer Wholesalers Association and Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America suite at the Congressional Baseball Game yesterday: Reps. Susie Lee (D-Nev.), David Valadao (R-Calif.), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.), Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.), Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), Kevin Yoder, Craig Purser, Laurie Knight, Linda Auglis, Dan Jarrell, Dawson Hobbs, Scott Luginbill and Sean Farren. — SPOTTED at the Insured Retirement Institute’s annual pregame reception at Gatsby’s before the Congressional Baseball game yesterday: Reps. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), Don Norcross (D-N.J.), Vince Fong (R-Calif.) and Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), Connecticut state Sen. James Maroney, Paul Richman, John Jennings, Jason Berkowitz, Aliya Robinson, Andrew Vermilye, Jeff Strunk, Ed Hill, Carol Danko, Caroline Farr, Jen Foxx, Bob Schellhas, Kathleen Coulombe, Jeannine Markoe Raymond, Victoria Espinel, Phil Goldfeder, Matt Haller, Scott Whitaker, Craig Albright, Conner Prochaska, Aaron Cooper, Bill Guidera, Adrian Hauri, Ajay Kumar, Alyssa Chudnofsky, Gideon Lett, Emily Murphy, Jessica Salmoiraghi, Amy Jones, Mike Lynch, Jim Shaughnessy, Nick Andersen and Scott Kupor. — Daniel Squadron celebrated the rollout of his new book, “The Fourth Branch,” ($28.95) at Politics & Prose at The Wharf last night with a dive into the Democrats’ “states-first” 2026 midterm strategy. SPOTTED: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Giuseppe Macri and deputy editor Garrett Ross. |
