| | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | | |  President Joe Biden proposed a new standard by which colleges would take into account the obstacles a student has overcome. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo | OUT OF ACTION — The Supreme Court today gutted the use of race in college admissions, likely transforming the landscape of higher education and achieving the long-held conservative goal of ending race-based affirmative action. Not unlike the overturning of Roe v. Wade a year ago, the conservative supermajority’s 6-3/6-2 rulings in a combined pair of cases was broadly expected but could nonetheless alter what’s been a significant piece of the country’s fabric for the past several decades. And it may open the door to challenges to race-conscious policies in other aspects of American life. The full report from Josh Gerstein and Bianca Quilantan Writing for the majority, Chief Justice JOHN ROBERTS found that affirmative action policies at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, which principally boosted Black and Hispanic applicants, were unconstitutional for discriminating against white and Asian students and violating the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Read the decision here Despite the ruling’s broad reach, Roberts didn’t explicitly overturn previous Supreme Court rulings that upheld affirmative action. (In a concurrence read from the bench, longtime vociferous affirmative action opponent Justice CLARENCE THOMAS went further and said they had effectively been overturned.) Roberts made space for applicants to discuss how race has affected their experiences in essays, which universities can consider within limits. And he exempted military academies from the ruling. It remains unclear how and to what extent the ruling will change admissions practices. But the upshot is that explicitly race-based affirmative action looks all but over for most colleges. Race-based affirmative action has long been a cultural and political lightning rod. Opponents looked forward to the high court’s sweeping decision as a means of righting inappropriate discrimination; critics warned that it would worsen inequality in the U.S. and close off critical pathways to success for underprivileged children. The ruling today provoked intense positive and negative reactions across the political spectrum. President JOE BIDEN took to the podium to articulate the case for affirmative action. “We cannot let this decision be the last word,” he emphasized twice. “While the court can render a decision, it cannot change what America stands for. America’s an idea. An idea unique in the world. An idea of hope and opportunity. Of possibilities. Of giving everyone a fair shot. Of leaving no one behind. We’ve never fully lived up to it, but we’ve never walked away from it either. We will not walk away from it now.” Biden also proposed a new standard by which colleges would take into account the obstacles a student has overcome. And he directed the Education Department to examine admissions practices, with legacy admissions potentially in the crosshairs. As Biden left the room, a reporter called out to ask if Biden thought the Supreme Court is “rogue.” He paused and responded, “This is not a normal court.” The justices’ opinions on both sides of the ruling laid out in stark and emotional terms the stakes of the debate. “Many universities have for too long wrongly concluded that the touchstone of an individual’s identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned, but the color of their skin. This Nation’s constitutional history does not tolerate that choice,” Roberts wrote. “Separate but equal is ‘inherently unequal,’ said Brown [v. Board of Education]. … It depends, says the dissent.” “Two discriminatory wrongs cannot make a right,” Thomas added. The court’s liberal justices decried the majority’s ruling as damaging and wrongly decided. “Despite the Court’s unjustified exercise of power,” Justice SONIA SOTOMAYOR wrote, “the opinion today will serve only to highlight the Court’s own impotence in the face of an America whose cries for equality resound.” Justice KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, who recused herself from the Harvard case, called the majority’s interpretation of the Equal Protection Clause “perverse, ahistorical, and counterproductive,” and said the result was “truly a tragedy for us all.” And in a striking footnote, she took aim at Thomas’ concurrence for “an obsession with race consciousness that far outstrips my or UNC’s holistic understanding that race can be a factor that affects applicants’ unique life experiences. … Justice Thomas ignites too many more straw men to list, or fully extinguish, here.” 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. | | | JUDICIARY SQUARE MORE FROM SCOTUS — The court ruled unanimously in favor of an evangelical postal worker who sought greater religious accommodations not to work on Sundays. More from NBC Coming tomorrow: The also much-anticipated decisions on student loan debt relief and LGBTQ/First Amendment rights are expected to arrive on the court’s last day before its summer recess. WAR IN UKRAINE SURPRISE VISIT — MIKE PENCE went to Ukraine today and met with President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, the first Republican presidential contender to do so during the campaign, NBC’s Dasha Burns and Abigail Brooks report from Kyiv. The unannounced stop helps Pence carve out his lane as one of the clearest defenders of U.S. support for Ukraine in the primary, and he told NBC that seeing the war up close “just steels my resolve to do my part.” In addition to the Zelenskyy conversation, Pence was briefed on human rights violations and is visiting the sites of some of the worst Russian atrocities of the war: Bucha, Irpin and Moshchun.
| | | | 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. | | | | | 2024 WATCH QUITE A SUM — “Koch Network Raises Over $70 Million for Push to Sink Trump,” by NYT’s Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan and Shane Goldmacher: “According to a preliminary draft of the filings for the group, Americans for Prosperity Action, its major donors include ART POPE, … CRAIG DUCHOSSOIS, … JIM and ROB WALTON, … and RON CAMERON … Koch Industries … contributed $25 million to Americans for Prosperity Action … Another $25 million was donated by Stand Together … With this large sum to start, the network plans to throw its weight into the G.O.P. presidential nominating contest for the first time in its history.” EYES EMOJI — New Hampshire Gov. CHRIS SUNUNU offered some notable praise of NIKKI HALEY at the New Hampshire GOP’s summer cookout yesterday. “Governors are more important than anything else in the world,” he said lightheartedly, declaring that Haley “completely gets” the importance of decentralized government in a laudatory introduction to her remarks. “I think what’s best is go ahead and endorse me now,” Haley said to laughs as she took the mic. Watch Sununu’s comments here WHAT ABOUT ME? — Prominent Republicans who backed Biden in 2020 have been rubbed the wrong way by a lack of outreach from his political team since he took office, NBC’s Peter Nicholas and Katherine Doyle report. Some of them are considering ditching Biden in 2024 and supporting a third-party candidate or non-Trump Republican. (CHRISTOPHER SHAYS likes CHRIS CHRISTIE. CHARLIE DENT is thinking about No Labels.) It’s a personal quibble for some of these former elected officials who feel Biden missed the opportunity to engage moderate Republicans better. But it’s also a broader political warning sign for Biden that he may not be able to count on disaffected conservatives to support him again in 2024. THIS KEEPS HAPPENING — Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS’ campaign scheduling has ticked off another local Republican group — this time in Rockland County, N.Y., Julia Marsh and Hajah Bah report in New York Playbook. Notice of a DeSantis fundraiser in Suffern today went out before the county’s Republican Party was made aware, irritating Chair LAWRENCE GARVEY for the lack of communication and the lack of apology. AD WARS — North Dakota Gov. DOUG BURGUM is going up with a new spot that emphasizes energy policy, criticizing Biden for trying to transition away from fossil fuels, Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser scooped. The $1.2 million ad buy will go on TV and digital in Iowa and New Hampshire.
| | | | A message from Meta:   | | | ALL POLITICS BATTLE FOR THE SENATE — Former Google executive LEXI REESE today jumped into the California Senate race, the L.A. Times’ Seema Mehta reports. The Democrat and political novice presents herself as bringing a new approach, compared to the three prominent Democratic House members who are in the race. Reese told the Times that she’ll invest in her own campaign but won’t entirely self-fund. California has a history of wealthy tech folks trying and failing to win elected office, but Reese does have some prominent political names on her campaign, including CELINDA LAKE and REBECCA PEARCEY. CLOSING RANKS — As the Republican establishment seeks to anoint TIM SHEEHY as their Montana Senate nominee and fend off a primary with Rep. MATT ROSENDALE, Sheehy got a significant shot in the arm today with the endorsement of Gov. GREG GIANFORTE, as ABC/Fox Montana’s Bradley Warren scooped. IMMIGRATION FILES — “2024 could be an immigration election in New York,” by Semafor’s Kadia Goba: “In the past year, more than 60,000 migrant people have been bused in or flown to New York … Top New York Democrats are pressing the Biden administration to extend work permits to some migrants faster.” COMING TOGETHER — The Center for New Liberalism is merging with New Democracy to band forces on behalf of center-left candidates in 2024, The Messenger’s Matt Holt scooped. Under the umbrella of New Democracy, the combined group will advocate for more centrist candidates who embrace incremental and pragmatic changes, tapping into a grassroots network of activists across the country. With field operations online and in person, the organization aims to spend in the ballpark of $10 million this cycle, as it did in 2022. MUCK READ — “U.S. Attorney Gave to Kentucky Republicans While Investigating State,” by The Daily Beast’s Roger Sollenberger: “A U.S. attorney overseeing a federal probe into the commonwealth of Kentucky has made thousands of dollars in political contributions to two Republican candidates who, if elected, would be directly involved with that investigation—the GOP nominee for attorney general, and sitting AG and gubernatorial candidate DANIEL CAMERON. The donations raise questions of potential impropriety, government ethics experts said.” THE GOP’S BALANCING ACT — Republicans looking to attack Biden’s economic agenda have to navigate a tricky dynamic: Multiple of his centerpiece legislative achievements passed with GOP support, NYT’s Jonathan Weisman and Reid Epstein write. Some Republicans themselves want to tout the federal investments in infrastructure and semiconductor chips. But highlighting bipartisan laws could make it easier for Biden to tout a record of moderate accomplishment — and harder for criticisms of him to land.
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don’t miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | THE ECONOMY SIGNS OF STRENGTH — The U.S. estimate for first-quarter GDP growth was revised upward significantly today, from 1.3% to 2%, per CNBC’s Jeff Cox. The Commerce Department data shows the U.S. economy holding stronger — and remaining further away from a recession — than was previously understood, thanks to changes in exports and consumer spending. In another positive sign, core inflation was revised downward by 0.1 percentage point. CONGRESS HUNTER GATHERING — “Republicans request FBI, DOJ officials in Hunter Biden tax case appear before panel,” by WaPo’s Jackie Alemany: “The letter … includes requests for 9 DOJ and 2 FBI officials to face questions over the investigation into the president’s son.” TRUMP CARDS FOR YOUR RADAR — “3 charged in insider trading case related to taking ex-President Donald Trump’s media company public,” by AP’s Larry Neumeister: “Three Florida men were arrested Thursday and charged with illegally making more than $22 million by insider trading ahead of the public announcement that an acquisition firm was going to take a media company owned by former President Donald Trump public. The charges were outlined in an indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court that did not implicate Trump in any way.” PLAYBOOKERS SPOTTED: Chris Christie checking into the Bowery hotel in New York last night. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s “Celebration of Afro-Latino Presence and Leadership” event at Perch last night: Marco Davis, Marvin Figueroa, Lori Montenegro, Johanny Adames, Luisana Perez Fernandez, Kamara Jones, Mayra Macias, Angela Manso, Kiara Pesante Haughton, Carissa Faña, Betzaida Sanchez, Julio Guity-Guevara, Leopoldo Martinez Nucete, Sol Ortega, Estuardo Rodriguez, Serame Castillo and Audrey Lopez. — SPOTTED at former Navy Secretary Richard Spencer’s portrait unveiling at the Pentagon this morning: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Mark Milley, Adm. Mike Gilday, Rear Adm. Ryan Perry, Gen. David Berger, John Kelly, Ruth Audet, Sally Donnelly, Col. Dave Butler, Peter Spiegel, Gordon Lubold and Helene Cooper. Pic TRANSITION — Thomas Grow is returning to Littler as a shareholder in the labor management relations practice group. He most recently was VP of labor relations at Charter Communications. 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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