| | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | | | 
CEO Shou Zi Chew defends TikTok in his first appearance before Congress. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | TIKTOK ON THE CLOCK — The party did stop on the Hill today for TikTok, which went under the microscope at a high-profile House Energy & Commerce hearing and got a bruising bipartisan reception. While much of the debate over banning TikTok has centered on national security concerns, lawmakers also spent a lot of time focusing on the app’s social effects on American life, from youth mental health to disinformation. CEO SHOU ZI CHEW defended TikTok in his first appearance before Congress, saying that parent company ByteDance was not beholden to the Chinese government, that U.S. user data is stored domestically and that TikTok is committed to being a forum for free expression. More coverage from Rebecca Kern He was greeted with a firehose of antagonism. Among the most notable moments:
- Chair CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS (R-Wash.): “To the American people watching today, hear this: TikTok is a weapon by the Chinese Communist Party to spy on you, manipulate what you see and [to] exploit for future generations.”
- Ranking member FRANK PALLONE (D-N.J.) said the company’s “Project Texas” plan to move its data to U.S.-based Oracle’s control wouldn’t suffice to address his national security concerns.
- Rep. GUS BILIRAKIS (R-Fla.) on suicide statistics: “Your technology is literally leading to death.”
- Rep. KAT CAMMACK (R-Fla.) played a TikTok video showing a gun that threatened the E&C Committee. (It’s now been taken down.)
- Rep. DIANA DeGETTE (D-Colo.) warned about people getting Covid misinformation on the app, like using grapefruits to get hydroxychloroquine.
- Rep. TIM WALBERG (R-Mich.) forced Chew to acknowledge that he couldn’t guarantee that Chinese engineers can’t access U.S. data.
- Rep. NEAL DUNN (R-Fla.) asked Chew whether ByteDance has spied on U.S. users. “I don’t think that spying is the right way to describe it,” he responded.
Lacking real defenders on the panel, TikTok instead saw multiple members of Congress pledge their support for a ban on the platform. The instant analysis: “This hearing is an abject disaster for TikTok,” said Punchbowl’s Andrew Desiderio. “One of the biggest miscalculations TikTok made here was coming into this hearing bragging about how deeply enmeshed TikTok is in American society. Misreading the room by a mile,” said Snap’s Peter Hamby. On the flip side: “One thing that is making this hearing really muddy is that the lawmakers are talking almost as much about child safety as national security, if not more. Works in TikTok’s favor IMO,” said Semafor’s Louise Matsakis. Rep. MICHAEL McCAUL (R-Texas) put out a statement during the hearing declaring that ByteDance completely divesting from TikTok would be the only acceptable outcome from a national security standpoint. Otherwise, he said, the administration should sanction or ban it. Of course, TikTok is deeply enmeshed in American society, especially for young people, and actually banning it outright still looks like a legal, political and logistical long shot. But China won’t make things any easier: Its Commerce Ministry said today that it would “firmly oppose” any U.S. effort to force ByteDance to sell TikTok, WSJ’s Raffaele Huang reports. And any divestiture would require Chinese approval, they said. Good Thursday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
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Explore more possibilities with the metaverse. | | | TRUMP CARDS HURRY UP AND WAIT — Any DONALD TRUMP indictment in the Manhattan hush-money case will be bumped to next week, Insider’s Laura Italiano scooped. While the grand jury is meeting today, it’s considering an unrelated case. Manhattan DA ALVIN BRAGG today hit back at House Republicans who made the extraordinary move to try to intervene in his investigation, demanding documents and testimony earlier this week. Bragg’s general counsel, LESLIE DUBECK, sent a letter decrying the demands as “an unlawful incursion into New York’s sovereignty” and casting the office’s probe as compelled by the rule of law to investigate potential crimes. She did offer to meet with committee staff to determine what legitimate questions they might be able to answer. But she dismissed the GOP chairs’ letter for being sent only “after Donald Trump created a false expectation that he would be arrested the next day and his lawyers reportedly urged you to intervene. Neither fact is a legitimate basis for congressional inquiry.” More from Jordain Carney and Kyle Cheney On Truth Social today, Trump wrote, “OUR COUNTRY IS BEING DESTROYED, AS THEY TELL US TO BE PEACEFUL!” HISTORY LESSON — “Trump can run for president from prison. Just ask Eugene Debs,” by Vox’s Ben Jacobs THE OTHER INVESTIGATIONS — Special counsel JACK SMITH’s Jan. 6 probe is probably facing a “crossroads” today over whether to compel testimony from MIKE PENCE, CBS’ Robert Costa reports. EVAN CORCORAN’s appearance is tied to the decision over a Pence subpoena. THE OTHER TRIALS — A federal judge said today that the jury in the E. JEAN CARROLL/Trump defamation/rape case will remain anonymous, given safety concerns in light of Trump’s frequent attacks on the judiciary. The AP and N.Y. Daily News had objected to the anonymity plan, but the judge overruled them. More from Law & Crime BEYOND THE BELTWAY BIG TAR HEEL NEWS — The North Carolina state House today passed Medicaid expansion in a lopsided bipartisan vote, sending the bill to Democratic Gov. ROY COOPER. But it’s not quite a done deal yet: Republicans forced the expansion to be contingent on the state passing a budget. More from WRAL-TV SURVEY SAYS — In the largest non-governmental, randomized survey of U.S. transgender adults ever, WaPo and KFF reveal valuable new findings about trans people’s lives and choices, Casey Parks, Emily Guskin and Scott Clement report. Notably, 78% of those who have transitioned say it’s made them more satisfied with their lives. Just one-sixth have had surgery to change their gender or appearance, and under one-third have medically transitioned at all. HATE WATCH — A new Anti-Defamation League report finds that antisemitic hit a domestic record last year since they started collecting data in 1979, CNN’s Krystina Shveda reports. From harassment to assault, they tallied nearly 3,700 incidents — a massive increase over just the previous year’s total of roughly 2,700. The report
| | | | We’re spilling the tea (and drinking tons of it in our newsroom) in U.K. politics with our latest newsletter, London Playbook PM. Get to know all the movers and shakers in Westminster and never miss a beat of British politics with a free subscription. Don’t miss out, we’ve got some exciting moves coming. Sign up today. | | | | | CONGRESS AUMF OOMPH — Sen. MIKE LEE’s (R-Utah) attempt to add an amendment that would require two-year sunsets on every future authorization for use of military force failed this afternoon, but attracted 19 votes in favor. Notably, the majority were Republicans — a far cry from the party’s uniform-hawk days. ALL POLITICS HE’S RUNNING — North Carolina Lt. Gov. MARK ROBINSON, a polarizing hard-right Republican, is planning to jump into the gubernatorial race next month, Axios’ Lucille Sherman reports. He’s seen as a GOP frontrunner and would be the state’s first Black governor if elected. TAKING IT UP A NOTCH — “Democrats have a diverse bench waiting in the wings. They just need to pitch it to donors,” by Zach Montellaro: “The Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association plans to raise $15 million by 2026 and spend $2 million each in a pair of high profile lieutenant governor races in 2024 and 2025. The organization also wants an internal operation to support communication and fundraising efforts for lieutenant governors … The plans — shared first with POLITICO — would represent a significant step forward for the committee, which says it has raised about $2 million a year since it was first organized in 2018. But it is one that senior aides and the lieutenant governors themselves say is a long time coming.” CASH DASH — For an NRCC breakfast fundraiser next week, Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY is providing $5 million and matching up to $4 million, per Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman. House Majority Leader STEVE SCALISE is giving $2 million more to the NRCC. INDEPENDENT SINEMA — Sen. KYRSTEN SINEMA’s (I-Ariz.) campaign website has switched from directing donors to ActBlue to routing them to Anedot, which is generally more favored by the GOP, Inside Elections’ Jacob Rubashkin flags. “Sinema’s [ActBlue] page is still live -- for now, it’s just harder to locate. But her shift to Anedot is a sign she could be building up the financial infrastructure for a post-ActBlue run for office next year.” In case you’re wondering about Jonathan Martin’s reporting: Jell-O was in fact served at today’s Senate Democratic lunch, per Marianne LeVine. THE WHITE HOUSE TEMPERATURE CHECK — Despite recent moves by the White House on crime, immigration and energy angering the left, leading progressive Democrats including Reps. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-Wash.) and RO KHANNA (D-Calif.) and Sen. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-Mass.) remain supportive of President JOE BIDEN ahead of 2024, WSJ’s Catherine Lucey and Natalie Andrews report: “[T]he blowback has been limited. … Many see Mr. Biden as critical to winning the coming presidential race and helping take back full control of Congress.” STATE OF THE UNIONS — “Pro-labor? Biden aims to prove it with unionized 2024 staff,” by AP’s Will Weissert and Zeke Miller: “The move allows Biden to further demonstrate to his base just how deep his pro-labor convictions are, providing a strong contrast with his Republican opponents, whose staffers aren’t likely to embrace unionizing.”
| | | | A message from Meta:   | | | JUDICIARY SQUARE SCOTUS WATCH — In a dishy excerpt from her new book, “Nine Black Robes” ($26.39), CNN’s Joan Biskupic examines the “new level of distrust and discord among the justices that lingers today” in the wake of Justice RUTH BADER GINSBURG’s death, the conservative expansion and the court’s shift to the right. She writes that Justice BRETT KAVANAUGH “remains torn between his allegiance to conservative backers from his 2018 nomination fight and his desire for acceptance among the legal elites who shunned him.” In 2019, Kavanaugh signed onto a dissent in the Trump census citizenship question case that criticized a lower-court judge — and then sent him “a personal note saying he actually respected him.” POLICY CORNER ECO UPDATE — “What Does ‘Made in America’ Mean? In Green Energy, Billions Hinge on the Answer,” by WSJ’s Phred Dvorak: “Just what qualifies as made in America is one of the biggest questions still hanging over the Inflation Reduction Act, legislation passed in August that offers hundreds of billions of dollars in tax credits and other incentives for clean-energy projects. The issue is more complicated than it might seem, given that almost all clean-energy projects require at least some parts that are manufactured overseas.” AMERICA AND THE WORLD THE NEW WORLD ORDER — The U.S. is shifting modern attack planes out of the Middle East to Europe and Asia and replacing them with older A-10s next month, WSJ’s Michael Gordon scooped. It’s part of the big-picture repositioning of U.S. military strategy to focus on great power competition with Russia and China. TRAINING DAY — In Sogakope, Ghana, NYT’s John Ismay goes behind the scenes of the annual Flintlock special operations exercise with U.S. and African commandos, as terrorist threats from the Sahel spread toward the rest of West Africa. For the first time, Flintlock this year includes sea-based operations, with concerns about piracy and the drug trade rising in the Gulf of Guinea. IMMIGRATION FILES — “Migration Tops Agenda as Biden Visits Canada,” by NYT’s Ian Austen and Vjosa Isai: “A Canadian government official, who spoke about the talks on the condition that he not be identified, said that the United States was interested in reworking the [Safe Third Country Agreement] because it is facing a growing number of people headed the other way, from Canada into the United States. … But several Canadian immigration and legal experts say that even if changes are made to the agreement, the problem will persist and possibly get worse by pushing the border crossings underground, making them more dangerous.” MEDIAWATCH PROGRAM UPDATE — ANDERSON COOPER will head a new Sunday show on CNN to compete with “60 Minutes,” Variety’s Brian Steinberg reports: “The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper” will debut April 16 and feature “deep dives into specific topics, interviews, profiles and investigations.” NEWSLETTER NEWS — Axios has announced a new daily newsletter focused on congressional leaders starting April 17. “Axios Hill Leaders” will be led by EUGENE SCOTT and JULIEGRACE BRUFKE. Brufke previously was a congressional reporter for the Washington Examiner. Announcement JUMPING SHIP — A number of current and former N.Y. Post employees are joining The Messenger, JIMMY FINKELSTEIN’s digital news site launching in May, Semafor’s Max Tani scoops: “Two people with knowledge of the conversations told Semafor that the Messenger hired former digital editor-in-chief of the New York Post MICHELLE GOTTHELF … as a top editor. She helped hire the Post’s rewrite guru BRUCE GOLDING and its managing editor for politics NEIL SLOANE … and there are likely to be more.”
| | | | DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO MOBILE APP: Stay up to speed with the newly updated POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need, reimagined. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS– DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID. | | | | | 2024 WATCH QUOTE OF THE DAY — Former Rep. CAROLYN MALONEY (D-N.Y.) voiced some skepticism about a Biden reelect on the campaign trail last year, but now she tells NBC’s Peter Nicholas that she’s all in. “He’s cooking with gas, man! I’ve never seen a record like this,” she says. “If you look at Biden, he’s too busy to die.” PLAYBOOKERS OUT AND ABOUT — The House and Senate Hunger Caucus hosted an event at the Capitol last night for the outgoing World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley and new Executive Director Cindy McCain. SPOTTED: Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.), Reps. Tracey Mann (R-Kan.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) and Michael McCaul (R-Texas), and USAID Administrator Samantha Power. — SPOTTED at Bobby Van’s Grill for a birthday celebration for Forbes Tates’ Andres Ramirez and Akin Gump’s Jose Borjon last night: Adrian Saenz, Albert Morales, Angela Arboleda, Arthur Sydney, Clare Flannery, Cristina Antelo, David Ferreira, David Garcia, Doug Usher, Eloy Martinez, Erin Fernandez, Hector Sanchez Barba, Jeff Mendelsohn, Jose Luis Davila, Kristian Ramos, Lauren Crawford Shaver, Leo Munoz, Luis Miranda, Noel Perez, Ryan McConaghy and Tessa Gould. MEDIA MOVES — Leroy Chapman Jr. has been named editor-in-chief of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, as Kevin Riley retires. Chapman was most recently a managing editor. Announcement … Eric He is now a California legislative analysis reporter at POLITICO and Rachel Bluth is now a California health care reporter. He previously was Los Angeles City Hall bureau chief at City News Service, and Bluth previously was a correspondent for California Healthline at Kaiser Health News. TRANSITIONS — Rachel Perez-Allen is now director of ag and nutrition government affairs at Feeding America. She was previously senior state strategies manager at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. … Scott Mackenzie is now a principal at Winning Strategies Washington. He most recently was legislative director for Rep. Dan Webster (R-Fla.). BONUS BIRTHDAY: DOJ’s Abby Kohlman 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.
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