| | | | | |  | | By Anna Palmer, Jake Sherman, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross | Presented by Facebook | IF YOU WEREN'T ENJOYING THIS EPISODE OF CRISIS LAWMAKING ENOUGH, there's another one coming up in 57 days when government funding expires. Sure, you can tell us it'll be easy -- and it might be! -- but it also might not be. Unemployment is sky high, a thousand Americans or so are dying each day, and Congress has been treading water for two weeks on a relatively straightforward coronavirus package. So, as the kids say, don't @ me. SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R-Ala.) suggested there might be an escape hatch -- something Playbook readers will be familiar with, since we have floated it a few times: He hinted that just maybe, Washington -- the White House and Capitol Hill -- will decide to wrap government funding into this Covid package, if it ever comes together. That would let Congress off the hook for next month's looming funding crisis. "It could," he told the Hill pool, via Bloomberg's ERIK WASSON, "but it's still a little early for a CR." QUOTE OF THE DAY … SHELBY was asked if MARK MEADOWS could close a deal: "I don't know. This is his first big deal. We'll see." (h/t Hill pool) SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI, NOT MOVING … CNN'S MANU RAJU (@mkraju): "New - Pelosi told me she still wants a stimulus deal this week. Asked if she has an idea on the price tag she's willing to settle for, Pelosi said: 'Yeah, $3.4 trillion.' Asked if it's feasible to get a deal this week, she said: 'At some point you just have to freeze the design.'" -- REMINDER: Stay tuned -- we'll have more news on Covid negotiations in the next few hours, as MEADOWS and Treasury Secretary STEVEN MNUCHIN come to Capitol Hill for meetings with Republicans and Democrats. YOWZA … @maggieNYT: "Potus pronounces Yosemite as 'yo-Semites' at White House event." Video of the flub … WSJ on the National Parks overhaul QUARANTINE, OVER! -- "Trump national security adviser returns to the White House," by Daniel Lippman: "Robert O'Brien, President Donald Trump's national security adviser, is returning to work at the White House following a mild case of the coronavirus, according to an administration official. "O'Brien is resuming in-person duties on Tuesday, having been cleared by doctors after two negative tests in a row and a week of being asymptomatic. During his self-isolation period, O'Brien worked remotely from his house, which has a secure facility that lets him view classified information." Good Tuesday afternoon. Welcome! TERESA WILTZ is joining POLITICO as a politics editor with a focus on race and identity. She currently covers welfare, housing and social services for Pew's Stateline. | | | | A message from Facebook: It's time for updated internet regulations to prevent election interference. We've more than tripled our security and safety teams to 35,000 people, added 5-step political ad verification and partnered with security researchers, other tech companies and law enforcement to combat foreign election interference. What's next? We support updated internet regulations. | | | TESTING LATEST -- "Trump nursing home plan limits supply of free COVID-19 tests," by AP's Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar: "The Trump administration's plan to provide every nursing home with a fast COVID-19 testing machine comes with an asterisk: The government won't supply enough test kits to check staff and residents beyond an initial couple of rounds. "A program that sounded like a game changer when it was announced last month at the White House is now prompting concerns that it could turn into another unfulfilled promise for nursing homes, whose residents and staff represent a tiny share of the U.S. population but account for as many as 4 in 10 coronavirus deaths, according to some estimates." AP HUNT FOR A VACCINE -- "Covid-19 Vaccine Front-Runners Impress Investors, but Concerns Exist," by WSJ's Gregory Zuckerman and Joseph Walker: "Investors are growing more convinced Covid-19 vaccines will work. They aren't as sure shares of vaccine companies can keep soaring. The investors, along with analysts and others scrutinizing the results from early trials, say the most advanced vaccine candidates didn't cause serious side effects and helped produce antibodies that may be sufficient to defend against the virus. "So far, vaccines based on the newest technology — known as messenger RNA—appear to be performing best at eliciting antibodies that can potentially neutralize the coronavirus and prevent it from hijacking human cells, investors and analysts say. … The early-stage studies that have produced results so far weren't designed to show whether the vaccines truly protect people from Covid-19 — only to test safety and immune responses." WSJ MEANWHILE, IN NEW YORK -- "N.Y.C. Health Commissioner Resigns After Clashes With Mayor Over Virus," by NYT's J. David Goodman: "New York City's top public health official, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, resigned on Tuesday in protest over her 'deep disappointment' with Mayor Bill de Blasio's handling of the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent efforts to keep the outbreak in check. Her departure came after escalating tensions between City Hall and top Health Department officials, which began at the start of the city's outbreak in March, burst into public view." NYT MORE MAIL-IN MESS -- "Michigan ballots tangled in mail delays in advance of Tuesday primary," by WaPo's Elise Viebeck and Kayla Ruble: "Mail problems marred the delivery of absentee ballots in Michigan in the run-up to Tuesday's primary in the state, testing election administrators and ramping up fears of political pressure on the U.S. Postal Service just three months before Nov. 3. "Across the state, where polls opened Tuesday at 7 a.m., some voters reported not receiving their absentee ballots with just days left before the vote for several congressional primaries, as well as state and local offices. Election officials advised those who had to submit their absentee ballots in person at election offices or dropboxes by 8 p.m. Tuesday, rather than risk delayed delivery by the Postal Service." WaPo | | | | POLITICO'S "FUTURE PULSE" - THE COLLISION OF HEALTH CARE AND TECHNOLOGY : As the United States remains stuck in a screening crisis, a worldwide competition has been launched to find the top Covid-19 rapid testing solutions. The contest aims to find a system with a painless sample and quick turnaround for results. When will a breakthrough come? From Congress and the White House, to state legislatures and Silicon Valley, Future Pulse spotlights the politics, policies and technologies driving long-term change on the most personal issue for voters: Their health. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | HMM … THE DAILY BEAST'S LACHLAN MARKAY: "Trump Adm Bails Out Charter Jet Firm That Helps Deport Migrants": "In April, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, increased its payments under a contract awarded in 2017 to Classic Air Charter, a company that subcontracts chartered deportation flights out of the country, primarily to Mexico and Central and South America, but also, more recently to other regions. "ICE attributed the price hike to the novel coronavirus. The increase swells the already high cost that the federal government pays to fly undocumented immigrants out of the country. The two awards to Classic Air under its ICE contract since the pandemic began, each for $50.7 million, were the largest it's received under the contract since it was inked three years ago. The next largest, for $46.6 million, came in May 2019, but prior to the coronavirus pandemic, ICE awards under the contract averaged just $12.7 million." Daily Beast IMAGINE THIS HEADLINE FOUR YEARS AGO … REUTERS: "Pompeo, Taliban negotiator discuss Afghan peace process," by Jonathan Landay: "U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a video meeting on Monday with the Taliban's chief negotiator, Mullah Baradar Akhund, to discuss the state of the Afghanistan peace process, an insurgent spokesman said. "The discussions included the issue of Taliban prisoners whose release by the Afghan government the insurgents are demanding, Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban spokesman in Doha said on Twitter. The Taliban want the prisoners freed before they join talks with government officials and other Afghans on a political settlement to decades of war." Reuters REMEMBER THIS GUY? -- "FBI raids offices at downtown One Cleveland Center building tied to Ukrainian oligarch," by The Plain Dealer's John Caniglia and Eric Heisig: "FBI agent Vicki Anderson said agents searched the offices of the Optima Management Group at One Cleveland Center. Optima is a conglomerate of companies across the United States that has interests in real estate in Cleveland, including One Cleveland Center and the 55 Building on Public Square. "Anderson said agents also have served search warrants in Miami. Authorities in Cleveland have been conducting a wide-ranging probe involving Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky that has been ongoing for quite some time. Kolomoisky is a principal of the Privat Group, a large Ukrainian business company, and principals of the company are also part of Optima." KNOWING CHAD WOLF -- "The Arc of Homeland Security Bends Toward Trump. Chad Wolf Bends With It," by NYT's Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Jesse McKinley: "[Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf's] initial post at the federal government's newly created Transportation Security Administration, within the Department of Homeland Security, was aimed at stopping terrorists from again exploiting the nation's commercial aviation industry to kill Americans. "But as Mr. Trump has bent the department's focus to match his own, Mr. Wolf has bent with it, including on travel bans, illegal immigration, domestic protests and the protection of federal property. That shift has caused even some former Department of Homeland Security officials as well as members of Congress to question whether in their haste to create the agency, they neglected to include safeguards to prevent a campaigning president and a compliant homeland security chief from using the department's arsenal to fulfill their political ambitions." NYT | | | | BECOME A CHINA WATCHER : Tensions between the U.S. and China continue to rise following the shuttering of China's consulate in Houston. Is it possible for the two countries to hit the "reset" button or is that just a pipe dream? Join the conversation and gain expert insight from informed and influential voices in government, business, law, tech and academia. China Watcher is as much of a platform as it is a newsletter. Subscribe today. | | | | | SEAT TO FILL -- "McCarthy leaves Intel spot open months after Ratcliffe confirmation," by Martin Matishak and Melanie Zanona: "House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is taking his time deciding who should replace former Rep. John Ratcliffe — now the Director of National Intelligence — on the prestigious panel, according to sources familiar with the California Republican's thinking, and a pick isn't expected anytime soon. President Donald Trump tapped Ratcliffe to be the nation's spy chief five months ago, and the Senate confirmed him in May. "McCarthy's selection will surely create some sore feelings in the conference as dozens of House Republicans are vying for a spot on the panel, despite it becoming a hotbed for some of Capitol Hill's most public partisan brawls the last few years, culminating with the president's impeachment. … With two more Republicans on the panel set to retire, the committee — the smallest one in the House with 21 total current members — could undergo a revamp." POLITICO FOR YOUR RADAR -- "Iran abducted California man while in Dubai," by AP's Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates: "A California-based member of an Iranian militant opposition group in exile was abducted by Iran while staying in Dubai, his family said Tuesday. The suspected cross-border abduction of Jamshid Sharmahd appears corroborated by mobile phone location data, shared by his family with The Associated Press, that suggests he was taken to neighboring Oman before heading to Iran. "Iran hasn't said how it detained Sharmahd, though the announcement came against the backdrop of covert actions conducted by Iran amid heightened tensions with the U.S. over Tehran's collapsing nuclear deal with world powers. Iran accuses Sharmahd, 65, of Glendora, California of planning a 2008 attack on a mosque that killed 14 people and wounded over 200 others, as well as plotting other assaults through the little-known Kingdom Assembly of Iran and its Tondar militant wing." AP YEEZUS WALKS … OR RUNS? -- "Kanye West withdraws petition to get on NJ's 2020 ballot," by AP's Mike Catalini in Trenton, N.J.: "Kanye West withdrew his petition to appear as a presidential candidate on New Jersey's ballot, according to an email chain between a judge and what appears to be the rapper's campaign email address. "In email correspondence obtained by The Associated Press, an unidentified person writing from a Kanye 2020 address tells Administrative Law Judge Gail Cookson that West is dropping his effort to appear on New Jersey's ballot." AP VALLEY TALK -- "Silicon Valley is losing the battle against election misinformation," by Mark Scott and Steven Overly: "Social media companies are struggling with an onslaught of deceptive and divisive messaging from political parties, foreign governments and hate groups as the months tick down to this year's presidential election, according to more than two dozen national security policymakers, misinformation experts, hate speech researchers, fact-checking groups and tech executives, as well as a review of thousands of social media posts by POLITICO. "The tactics, many aimed at deepening divisions among Americans already traumatized by a deadly pandemic and record job losses, echo the Russian government's years-long efforts to stoke confusion before the U.S. 2016 presidential election, according to experts who study the spread of harmful content. But the attacks this time around are far more insidious and sophisticated — with harder-to-detect fakes, more countries pushing covert agendas and a flood [of] American groups copying their methods." POLITICO MEDIAWATCH -- "Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal Unit Begins Layoffs Across Its Entertainment Portfolio," by WSJ's Joe Flint: "NBCUniversal has begun making staff cuts across its entertainment portfolio including its sports and cable channels, broadcast networks, movie studio and theme parks, according to people familiar with the matter." | | | |   | | | | | | | 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 | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
