| | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | | | 
Everything from food to energy to cars to rent saw continued price increases last month. | Rick Bowmer/AP Photo | THE PLOT TO SUBVERT THE ELECTION — VIRGINIA THOMAS, the wife of Justice CLARENCE THOMAS, tried to get 29 Arizona state legislators to overturn the results of the election and keep DONALD TRUMP in power in late 2020, WaPo's Emma Brown reveals. The paper previously reported Ginni Thomas had sent emails to two of them, but the newly obtained emails via Arizona's public records law shows 27 more of them now. INFLATION NATION — With less than five months to go before the midterms, Americans still haven't gotten relief from high prices at the pump and the supermarket — just the opposite. The new inflation report out this morning shot past expectations: Consumer prices in May leaped 8.6% year over year, the highest jump since December 1981. They increased a full 1% from April. More details from the NYT Under the hood: Everything from food to energy to cars to rent saw continued price increases last month. The "core" measure of inflation, which sets aside food and energy, leapt 6% year over year and 0.6% month to month. U.S. stocks plummeted on the news. It's particularly dispiriting news for struggling Americans and policymakers because some indicators in the past few weeks had suggested that the U.S. might have passed the inflation peak. Economists and Biden administration officials had been hoping for a decrease. "We are looking to inflation moderating in the months ahead," a White House official told reporters Thursday, per Eleanor Mueller. Meanwhile, average gas prices sit at $4.99 as of today — just a tick away from a $5 threshold that will surely unleash a wave of bad headlines. To state the obvious, President JOE BIDEN's foremost economic challenge doesn't look like it's fading anytime soon. Biden acknowledged in a statement today, "we must do more—and quickly—to get prices down here in the United States." Fed up: The bad inflation news will likely embolden the Fed to continue on its pathway of raising interest rates, even as the central bank tries to walk a tightrope of not cooling down the economy too much. The report raises the odds that the Fed will push through yet another half-percentage-point increase in September, following expected raises this month and in July, WSJ's Nick Timiraos reports. What it means on the ground, via NBC's Charlie Herman: An American household now has to pay an additional $460 every month to buy the same things they did a year ago. PUT TO THE TEST — The U.S. announced today that it will end the pre-departure coronavirus testing requirement for international travelers flying into the country, as of Sunday. Officials told the press that the decision came from the CDC and was driven by the science, though it will be revisited in a few months and could be reinstated if the situation changes. The travel and hospitality industries have heavily lobbied the Biden administration recently to drop the requirement, one of the last big pandemic restrictions on air travel. More from USA Today Happy Friday afternoon.
| | A message from Blackstone: Blackstone believes that investing in renewable energy can drive value. They're bringing together Altus Power and Link Logistics to provide solar power to over 6,000 residential customers in New Jersey. See how. | | | JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH COMMITTEE LATEST — NewsNation's CHRIS STIREWALT, who left Fox News as digital politics editor after the network correctly called Arizona for Biden early in November 2020, will testify before the Jan. 6 committee Monday, he said this morning, per Kellie Meyer. Stirewalt might be able to provide information about communications between Fox heavyweights and Trump world. — Former acting A.G. JEFFREY ROSEN, former acting deputy A.G. RICH DONOHUE and former assistant A.G. for the Office of Legal Counsel STEVE ENGEL will testify before the committee publicly Wednesday, per NYT's Katie Benner. NBC has a good breakdown of what to expect at the upcoming hearings ALL EYES ON CHENEY — WaPo's Paul Kane, Josh Dawsey and Jacqueline Alemany profile what these blockbuster hearings mean for committee Vice Chair LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.), at a pivotal moment for her career and the country. Cheney, they write, is "obstinately and surgically focused on extinguishing Trump from the modern conservative movement that he has largely redefined in recent years, with little introspection regarding the forces bigger than Trump that facilitated her ousting from the Wyoming Republican Party earlier this year." THE JARED ANGLE — Though JARED KUSHNER didn't stick with Trump's election lies, he was actually involved in helping launch the White House's efforts to keep Trump in power improperly following the 2020 election, four sources tell Rolling Stone's Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley. "During that first week, Kushner repeatedly met with Trump and other high-ranking aides to the then-president to discuss and map out possible strategies for multi-pronged legal battles and a scorched-earth messaging war against the victorious Biden campaign." AMERICA AND THE WORLD IMMIGRATION FILES — The U.S. is kicking off a major whole-of-government effort to fight human smuggling throughout Latin America, CNN's Priscilla Alvarez scooped . The multimillion-dollar operation across several agencies will place hundreds of officials in the region, and the announcement comes amid Biden's Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles this week. Striking stat: "In the last eight weeks, nearly 2,000 smugglers have been arrested, marking a 600% increase in law enforcement actions taken against such actors compared to efforts in previous years, DHS said." — The summit is set to unveil a migration pact today, likely the confab's most significant outcome, per AP's Elliot Spagat and Chris Megerian. The Los Angeles Declaration "includes legal pathways to enter countries, aid to communities most affected by migration, humane border management and coordinated emergency responses." — As part of the declaration, the U.S. will grant 11,500 H-2B non-agricultural seasonal worker visas to people from northern Central America and Haiti, per NPR's Ximena Bustillo. THE PRICE OF FRIENDSHIP — The U.S. has told Saudi Arabia it will in essence move on from the murder of JAMAL KHASHOGGI as part of a "reset" of the countries' relationship, CNN's Natasha Bertrand and Alex Marquardt report . Biden "has set aside his moral outrage to pursue warmer relations with the Kingdom amid the dramatic global upheaval spurred by the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine," though he'll still raise Khashoggi's killing with Crown Prince MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN. WAR REPORT — Iranian proxy attacks from militias in Iraq and Syria have hit bases with American troops 29 times since October, ramping up to seven in May, without any U.S. response with force, NBC's Courtney Kube, Carol Lee and Dan De Luce report. The increasing strikes haven't taken any American lives, the U.S. says, and the administration argues that it's responding to them effectively without escalating via retaliatory airstrikes. "The Biden administration has not seen any indication that Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps has made a decision to escalate attacks against the U.S. in Iraq or Syria, but officials warn that could change and a significant escalation against the U.S. could close the door to a new nuclear agreement." DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS — Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN met with his Chinese counterpart WEI FENGHE in person for the first time today. Both sides emerged from their talks holding firm on Taiwan and other issues, with "no evidence of any breakthrough on settling long-running security disputes," per Reuters . But they did emphasize a mutual commitment to better communication and risk reduction, "the latest indication that the temperature of the U.S.-China conflict has been dialed down a few notches," per WaPo.
| | | | DON'T MISS DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED: Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today. | | | | | ALL POLITICS DOWN BALLOT — Local elections for district attorney are drawing big money from liberal groups seeking criminal justice reform and conservative groups opposing major changes, AP's David Sharp, Andrew Demillo and Geoff Mulvihill report. A GEORGE SOROS-backed super PAC pumped an eye-popping $300,000 into the race in Cumberland County, Maine, which is headed for a high-profile Democratic primary next week. Soros has also stepped into campaigns in Arkansas, Iowa and Northern California, while national groups flooded the zone for and against the recall of CHESA BOUDIN in San Francisco. PRIMARY COLORS — Trump-supporting southern Illinois farmer DARREN BAILEY is surging ahead of Aurora Mayor RICHARD IRVIN, the establishment favorite, in the state's GOP gubernatorial primary in a stunning new poll, the Chicago Sun-Times' Tina Sfondeles and WBEZ Chicago's Dave McKinney report . "If the numbers hold, it would represent a brutal repudiation by Illinois' Republican voters of Irvin, his array of mainstream party endorsements and, most pointedly, his $50 million benefactor, Chicago hedge fund tycoon KEN GRIFFIN." — A new poll shows KATIE BRITT outpacing Rep. MO BROOKS 55% to 36% in the Alabama GOP Senate primary runoff, per the Alabama Daily News' Todd Stacy. 2024 WATCH — A troubling sign for Maryland Gov. LARRY HOGAN's 2024 flirtations: In his own state, Republican primary voters would back DONALD TRUMP over Hogan 48% to 25%, the Baltimore Sun's Sam Janesch reports. The poll, which asked voters about six potential candidates, found Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS in third with 12% and former VP MIKE PENCE in fourth with 6%. CONGRESS THE CHINA COMPETITIVENESS BILL — As the chambers try to work out their differences on major semiconductor/China competitiveness legislation, Speaker NANCY PELOSI is among the House Dems worried about trade language that tech companies could use to take aim at regulations abroad, WaPo's Cristiano Lima reports. FOR YOUR RADAR — A bill that passed the House this week would grant the FDA more power to ax new drugs that aren't working in its accelerated-approval program, amounting to "among the most significant [changes] to the accelerated-approval program since its creation in 1992," WSJ's Liz Essley Whyte reports. THE WHITE HOUSE FORMULA FUROR — 3.2 million more bottles' worth of baby formula will arrive in the U.S. over the next several weeks, ABC's Sasha Pezenik scooped. It's the sixth announcement of flights into the country in the administration's "Operation Fly Formula Mission," seeking to ameliorate the formula shortage. IN THE PAINT — Biden has opted against Trump's proposed red, white and blue paint job for Air Force One, because the dark blue would necessitate modifications that cost too much, scoop Lara Seligman and Lee Hudson. That means the new planes will probably be the traditional light blue and white.
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS OUT AND ABOUT — A menagerie of government officials and consultants gathered at "THE Party" at Audi Field on Thursday night. The hybrid concert and demonstration, managed by Impactual LLC, was marketed as "an event to celebrate the strength of our democracy," and featured performances by Questlove, Lil Jon and DJ SOSUPERSAM . An assortment of celebrities and officials thanked attendees via video message for "protecting" and "preserving" democracy, with emphasis placed on the 2020 election and, notably, few mentions of the Jan. 6 insurrection. Groups of VIPs, however, were huddled in private rooms watching the Jan. 6 hearing take place on TV during the performances. SPOTTED: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. — Fresh off the Jan. 6 hearing Thursday night, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) was at DAR Constitution Hall today for one of the more prosaic aspects of his job — the Einstein High School class of 2022 graduation. Per our source, he got there early, sitting on stage before delivering the keynote speech: no foot-tapping, no looking at his watch, no checking his phone. He then spoke for 11 minutes, getting several warm ovations and talking about how kids today have to deal with Covid, climate change and violent insurrections. — The Picnic Theatre Company put on a sold-out rendition of "The Manchurian Candidate" at Dumbarton House garden on Thursday night, with director Steve Rochlin and cast members Sara Cook, Nova Daly, Ali Dukakis, Robert Gerber, Chaitan Jain, Suvi Jarvela-Hagstrom, Charles Kovatch, Nihal Krishan, Alexa Newlin, Antonio Olivo, Kevin Rooney, Adam Ruben, Jayne Sandman, Christina Sevilla, Hugo Verges and David White. Also SPOTTED: Kimball Stroud, Meridith McGraw, Michael Falcone, Abby Livingston, Erin McPike, Lauren Culbertson, Shaila Manyam, Bay Fang, Philippa Hughes and Rodell and Sheena Mollineau. — SPOTTED at former Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue's portrait unveiling Wednesday night at the USDA Whitten Building: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Tim Murtaugh, Michawn Rich, Meghan Rodgers, Alec Varsamis, Audra Weeks, Dudley Hoskins, Steve Censky, Blake Rollins and Hailey Ghee. Pic MEDIA MOVE — Adam Verdugo is being promoted to executive producer of "CBS Evening News" with Norah O'Donnell, returning the role to D.C., Variety's Brian Steinberg scooped. TRANSITIONS — Nick Raineri will be chief of staff for Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.). He most recently has been executive director of the Republican Main Street Caucus. … Christopher Harvey is now a senior adviser to Little Rock, Ark., Mayor Frank Scott. He previously was deputy policy director for Chris Jones' Arkansas gubernatorial campaign, and is a Lizzie Fletcher, Jim Himes and Rick Larsen alum. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Ashley Pratte Oates, VP at the Herald Group, and Jonathan Oates, partner at Krum, Gergely & Oates, welcomed Ellie Marta Oates on Thursday. She came in at 6 lbs. Pic BONUS BIRTHDAY: Nicole Hager
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