| | | | | |  | | By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun | Presented by |  | | | NEW ... SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI delayed a plan to overhaul the House rules to allow for proxy voting, following a conversation with House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY. WE NOTED IN PLAYBOOK on Tuesday morning that MCCARTHY was opposed to the rules change, which would've allowed lawmakers to designate a proxy to cast a vote during a pandemic. It would've been the biggest change in the House's procedures in decades. Now PELOSI and MCCARTHY will be working together to try to figure out how the House should adapt to the most significant public health crisis in a generation. PELOSI and MCCARTHY will allow a group of Republicans and Democrats to "review remote voting by proxy and reopening the House," a senior Dem leadership aide said. THE GROUP will be: MCCARTHY, House Majority Leader STENY HOYER, and Reps. JIM MCGOVERN (D-Mass.), TOM COLE (R-Okla.), ZOE LOFGREN (D-Caif.) and RODNEY DAVIS (R-Ill.). The idea is to get bipartisan buy-in for a plan. THIS IS A GOOD ILLUSTRATION of just how big a deal it is to change the House rules. AS ENVISIONED, the proxy vote system would go like this: THE SERGEANT-AT-ARMS would consult with the attending physician and certify there's a pandemic. ... A LAWMAKER would send a signed letter designating their proxy. The clerk will maintain a list of everyone who has designated a proxy. ... LAWMAKERS who vote on behalf of someone else must do so by a written ballot. If a lawmaker is voting for someone by proxy, they both count toward the quorum. ... IF THE LAWMAKER who has designated a proxy shows up and votes, their proxy is withdrawn. More from Heather Caygle, John Bresnahan and Sarah Ferris FYI: THE HOUSE WILL VOTE THURSDAY on the PPP package and a resolution to create a special committee to oversee stimulus spending. THIS VOTE SERIES is going to take forever, because only 60 lawmakers will be allowed to vote at once. There will be a minimum of four waves. MEANWHILE, SIGNS OF LIFE ON CAP HILL ... HOUSE GOP LEADERSHIP is holding a news conference at 3 p.m. today at the House Triangle. ... THURSDAY: House Small Business has a hearing at 11 a.m. on the Hill. (Rep. Nydia Velazquez of New York announced a few weeks ago she suspected she had Covid-19.) NEW YORK GOV. ANDREW CUOMO has enlisted MIKE BLOOMBERG to help with testing and tracing for the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut area. | | | | A message from PhRMA: In these unprecedented times, America's biopharmaceutical companies are coming together to achieve one shared goal: beating COVID-19. We are sharing learnings from clinical trials in real time with governments and other companies to advance the development of additional therapies. Explore our efforts. | | | THE DAILY BEAST: "CNN Boss Tells Staff They Will Not Return to Offices Until at Least September," by Maxwell Tani: "'Our expectation is that the rest of you will not return before early September, with a few exceptions in July for newsgathering and some in August, depending on the political conventions,' Zucker said, noting that some dates could be subject to change. 'But, to be clear, production of our programs will continue from home, as is it is now, until the end of summer.'" Good Wednesday afternoon. JOIN US: JAKE and ANNA will talk with former Secretary of State JOHN KERRY at 4 p.m. this afternoon. Tune in WHAT'S ON THE PRESIDENT'S MIND -- @realDonaldTrump at 8:08 a.m.: "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea." -- LUCAS TOMLINSON (@LucasFoxNews): "U.S. intelligence has not detected any new satellites orbiting Earth, indicating Iran's satellite launch likely a failure, officials say." HOW WE GOT HERE ... CHECK AZAR'S BACK FOR TIRE TRACKS ... WSJ: "Health Chief's Early Missteps Set Back Coronavirus Response," by Rebecca Ballhaus and Stephanie Armour: "On Jan. 29, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told President Trump the coronavirus epidemic was under control. The U.S. government had never mounted a better interagency response to a crisis, Mr. Azar told the president in a meeting held eight days after the U.S. announced its first case, according to administration officials. At the time, the administration's focus was on containing the virus. "When other officials asked about diagnostic testing, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, began to answer. Mr. Azar cut him off, telling the president it was 'the fastest we've ever created a test,' the officials recalled, and that more than one million tests would be available within weeks. ... "Many factors muddled the administration's early response to the coronavirus as officials debated the severity of the threat, including comments from Mr. Trump that minimized the risk. But interviews with more than two dozen administration officials and others involved in the government's coronavirus effort show that Mr. Azar waited for weeks to brief the president on the threat, oversold his agency's progress in the early days and didn't coordinate effectively across the health-care divisions under his purview." WSJ DISINFORMATION DIGEST -- "Chinese Agents Spread Messages That Sowed Virus Panic in U.S., Officials Say," by NYT's Edward Wong, Matthew Rosenberg and Julian Barnes: "The alarming messages came fast and furious in mid-March, popping up on the cellphone screens and social media feeds of millions of Americans grappling with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Spread the word, the messages said: The Trump administration was about to lock down the entire country. ... "Since that wave of panic, United States intelligence agencies have assessed that Chinese operatives helped push the messages across platforms, according to six American officials. ... . The amplification techniques are alarming to officials because the disinformation showed up as texts on many Americans' cellphones, a tactic that several of the officials said they had not seen before. That has spurred agencies to look at new ways in which China, Russia and other nations are using a range of platforms to spread disinformation during the pandemic, they said." NYT | | | | JOIN TOMORROW - COVID-19 AND THE ECONOMIC IMPACT ON WOMEN: It's no secret that the coronavirus has an economic impact - but did you know it's taking an especially heavy toll on the economic well-being of women? Join Women Rule Editorial Director Anna Palmer tomorrow at 4 p.m. EDT for a virtual conversation with Sallie Krawcheck, CEO and co-founder of Ellevest. Hear from Sallie on what steps women can take to regain control of their finances and weather the economic storm. Have a question for Sallie? Tweet it to @POLITICOLive using #AskPOLITICO. REGISTER HERE TO PARTICIPATE. | | | | | TROUBLE IN CAMBRIDGE -- "Trump Administration Boosts Pressure on Harvard Over Stimulus Funds," by WSJ's Rebecca Ballhaus: "The Trump administration is continuing to pressure Harvard University to return nearly $9 million it would receive under the coronavirus stimulus package, a day after President Trump suggested those funds were intended to go to small businesses. "On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin ... said he spoke to the president of Harvard that morning and that the university was considering whether it should keep the money that has become the subject of controversy." WSJ THE VIEW FROM MAIN STREET -- "All reopening is local, forcing companies to navigate patchwork of laws," by Katy Murphy in Sacramento: "Retailers are considering 'sneeze guards' and ways to quarantine fitting room items. Restaurant owners are imagining a future with masked servers and temperature checks. Industries built on the personal touch are looking to eliminate physical contact. ... "Industry groups are pleading for coordination as they brace for a jumble of evolving state and local orders that could be nearly impossible to track. And various sectors are jockeying to ensure they can operate as governments ease restrictions in waves." POLITICO WISCONSIN UPDATE ... AP: "Officials: 7 virus cases may be related to in-person voting," by Todd Richmond in Madison: "Health officials in Wisconsin said they have identified at least seven people who may have contracted the coronavirus from participating in the April 7 election, the first such cases following in-person voting that was held despite widespread concern about the public health risks. "The infections involve six voters and one poll worker in Milwaukee, where difficulty finding poll workers forced the city to pare nearly 200 voting locations back to just five, and where voters — some in masks, some with no protection — were forced to wait in long lines for hours. It's not certain that the seven people contracted the virus at the polls. The possible connection was made because local health officials are now asking newly infected people whether they participated in the election." AP HMM -- "Nearly 25,000 email addresses and passwords allegedly from NIH, WHO, Gates Foundation and others are dumped online," by WaPo's Souad Mekhennet and Craig Timberg: "While SITE was unable to verify whether the email addresses and passwords were authentic, the group said the information was released Sunday and Monday and almost immediately used to foment attempts at hacking and harassment by far-right extremists. An Australian cybersecurity expert, Robert Potter, said he was able to verify that the WHO email addresses and passwords were real. "The lists, whose origins are unclear, appear to have first been posted to 4chan, a message board notorious for its hateful and extreme political commentary, and later to Pastebin, a text storage site, to Twitter and to far-right extremist channels on Telegram, a messaging app." WaPo | | | | LIVE TOMORROW - HOW GOV. LARRY HOGAN SECURED 500,000 TESTING KITS FOR MARYLAND: Join Playbook co-authors Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman tomorrow at 9 a.m. EDT for a virtual discussion with Gov. Larry Hogan (R-Md.), who has been on the front lines of this crisis since it began. Hogan will detail the behind-the-scenes efforts that secured 500,000 coronavirus testing kits, what it will take to reopen the state's economy and how governors are trying to collaborate with the White House on the pandemic response. Have questions? They'll answer as many as they can. REGISTER HERE TO PARTICIPATE. | | | | | ABOUT THAT VOA BATTLE ... BEN SCHRECKINGER: "What's behind Trump's fresh push to wrest control of Voice of America": "Voice of America director Amanda Bennett seems, at first glance, to be the perfect target for a Donald Trump attack on the mainstream media: A former Philadelphia Inquirer editor, wife of ex-Washington Post owner Donald Graham and Barack Obama appointee, Bennett has strived to maintain VOA's independence from the White House during the Trump era. "So when Trump and his aides began attacking VOA earlier this month, stirring up anger on the right, the broadcaster and its leader seemed like another shrewdly chosen foil for rallying his populist base against Washington elites. But since then, a deeper motive has emerged: Trump is using the dispute to demand the confirmation of conservative activist and filmmaker Michael Pack, a close associate of Steve Bannon, to head the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA. "Amid rising tensions with China, VOA's coverage of coronavirus has reignited conservative discontent with the outlet's editorial line under Bennett. ... The vitriol from the right doesn't sit well with mainstream journalists, who fear that Trump, through Pack, could transform VOA into a vehicle for his own brand of politics." POLITICO SCOTUS WATCH -- "You've reached the Supreme Court. Press 1 for live arguments," by AP's Mark Sherman and Jessica Gresko: "It took a worldwide pandemic for the court to agree to hear arguments over the telephone, with audio available live for the first time. C-SPAN plans to carry the arguments. ... Before the coronavirus outbreak, the justices circulated messages and opinion drafts on paper rather than by email. Still, most of the nine justices — six of them over the age of 65 — seem perfectly comfortable with modern technology in their own lives. ... "The new arrangement might be good for one month only, assuming the justices can return to courtroom arguments when their new term begins in October. But several advocates of greater transparency hope the justices will allow simultaneous broadcasting of arguments even after the pandemic is over." AP VEEPSTAKES -- "Joe Biden to name selection panel for running mate by May 1," by WaPo's Annie Linskey TRANSITION -- Gina Drioane is now associate director for federal advocacy and policy media at Planned Parenthood. She previously was manager for public policy comms at the Children's Hospital Association. BIRTHWEEK (was Tuesday): Terrence Clark | | | | A message from PhRMA:   In these unprecedented times, America's biopharmaceutical companies are coming together to achieve one shared goal: beating COVID-19. 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