| | | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | | |  Speaker Kevin McCarthy was even able to secure the support of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) for the NDAA as Democrats fled. | Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Photo | THE ART OF AUTHORIZING DEFENSE — After a flurry of controversial amendments and several days of uncertain vote-counting, the House this morning passed the National Defense Authorization Act — with an unorthodox vote count to match its unorthodox set of policies. In the end, the NDAA passed on a 219-210 vote almost entirely along party lines. Typically, the annual defense authorization garners strong bipartisan support but loses a substantial number of conservatives. But this year, with the House’s hard-right faction empowered in the GOP, dozens of culture-war amendments (from abortion policy to transgender medical care) secured most of their support — and scattered Democrats. It wasn’t a strictly partisan vote, though. Four members of each party broke ranks: Far-right GOP Reps. ANDY BIGGS (Ariz.), KEN BUCK (Colo.), ELI CRANE (Ariz.) and THOMAS MASSIE (Ky.) bailed, while moderate/front-line Democratic Reps. DON DAVIS (N.C.), MARIE GLUESENKAMP PEREZ (Wash.), JARED GOLDEN (Maine) and GABE VASQUEZ (N.M.) voted for the bill. Yes, that means Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY was even able to secure the support of Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.), who signaled her opposition just last night. She told reporters that she voted yes because he gave her a spot on the House-Senate conference committee, where she’ll fight against any amount of Ukraine aid. And ultimately, that conference committee is where House Republicans’ NDAA dreams might be dashed. As Connor O’Brien writes, this version of the bill is headed directly for the “Senate buzz saw”: Democrats control the Senate, and they’re not likely to OK provisions that block Pentagon diversity programs and bar military installations from flying the LGBTQ pride flag. The Senate’s less hot-button version of the bill has so far landed bipartisan support in committee, and it’s “widely expected that most of the controversial provisions will be watered down” in the conference committee, per Connor. But getting to that compromise could be difficult. Beneath all the controversial riders, the thrust of the bill sets defense policies, keeps DOD operations afloat and gives salary boosts to U.S. troops. All of that could be threatened if Congress can’t muscle a bill through both chambers by later this year. The stakes go beyond just the NDAA, as the vote “suggested even more intense battles ahead on Capitol Hill to avert a government shutdown,” notes NYT’s Karoun Demirjian. “Mr. McCarthy’s capitulation to the right, despite knowing it could cost him critical Democratic support for the must-pass bill, was a gamble that could become a playbook for the coming fight.” FFUNDRAISING FRENZY — President JOE BIDEN’s reelect finally unveiled its second-quarter fundraising numbers today: Together with the DNC and joint fundraising committees, they pulled in $72 million from nearly 400,000 donors and ended June with $77 million in the bank, Holly Otterbein reports. Is that an impressive haul? Depends on how you slice it. It’s a sum way higher than any of the Republican campaigns — but they don’t have the benefit of including the RNC’s numbers. Biden’s sum is actually lower than DONALD TRUMP’s or BARACK OBAMA’s in the corresponding quarters of their reelection campaigns ($105 million and $86 million, respectively). It’s hard to make direct comparisons for multiple reasons: Obama’s campaign went official earlier in the cycle than Biden’s, for instance, while individual donation caps are higher now than they were then. Still, Biden’s campaign has intentionally positioned itself as starting out lean and low-key, not spending a lot this early. That means his cash on hand is high. And the campaign is also touting the fact that nearly one-third of the donors are new to Biden since 2020. WaPo’s Paul Kane notes another important piece of analysis: “R’s continue to have a major problem raising money from regular Americans. … GOP is overly reliant on 10-15 mega-millionaire/billionaires who write 7- & 8-figure checks late in campaigns.” Another notable number: North Dakota Gov. DOUG BURGUM announced pulling in $11.7 million during the last few weeks of June since he launched his Republican presidential campaign, Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser scooped. But the billionaire is largely self-funding: $10.2 million of the money came from himself. The super PAC backing Burgum separately raised more than $11 million in that frame. Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
| | | | A message from The Coalition to Protect America's Regional Airports: DCA’s slot and perimeter rules were created out of concern for passenger safety, DCA’s proximity to noise-sensitive communities, and the airport’s limited physical infrastructure and capacity. Experts agree: any changes to the slot and perimeter rules risk overburdening the airport and will worsen safety concerns and passenger experience by increasing delays, cancellations, and congestion. Congress should swiftly pass an FAA Reauthorization bill that doesn’t make travel worse for passengers. Tell Congress not to make travel worse. | | | THE WHITE HOUSE BIG DEPARTURE — White House director of legislative affairs LOUISA TERRELL is planning to step down, Biden announced today, as Lauren Egan and Eli Stokols earlier reported. A longtime Biden hand and key shepherd of his legislative agenda, Terrell had been expected to leave after the debt ceiling/spending negotiations were completed. THE ECONOMY VOTE OF CONFIDENCE — In the latest surprisingly positive sign for the economy, consumer confidence has soared to its highest level since September 2021 — the biggest one-month increase since 2006, per Bloomberg’s Reade Pickert. The University of Michigan data beat economists’ expectations, largely on the strength of consumers’ sense that inflation is finally easing. TRUMP CARDS CHARGES FOR ANOTHER STAFFER? — The federal probe into Trump’s handling of classified materials isn’t over: Special counsel JACK SMITH’s team recently sent a target letter to another (unnamed) Trump Organization staffer warning that he could be criminally charged with perjury, ABC’s Alexander Mallin, Katherine Faulders, John Santucci, Mike Levine and Lucien Bruggeman scooped. The investigation centers on the man’s handling of footage from surveillance cameras. THE OTHER INVESTIGATION KEEPS GROWING — “Pennsylvania, New Mexico secretaries of state interviewed as part of special counsel’s 2020 election interference probe,” by CNN’s Zachary Cohen ALL POLITICS MIDTERM AUTOPSY — NYT’s Nate Cohn has a wonky deep dive into the comprehensive data from the 2022 election to understand how Republicans narrowly flipped the House but lost so many key races. The Upshot’s upshot: The GOP benefited from a turnout advantage that was fairly standard for a midterm, but Democrats won over a key slice of swing voters who rebelled against MAGA and Dobbs — the most historically anomalous element of the election. “Democratic strength among swing voters in key states allowed the party to overcome an important turnout disadvantage in states like Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.” CASH DASH — Rep. GEORGE SANTOS (R-N.Y.) raised $133,000 in the second quarter, but the majority of that money went to loan repayments for money he’d given his own campaign. More from Insider DEMOCRACY WATCH — A new AP poll finds Americans very worried about the state of the country’s democracy, Nicholas Riccardi and Linley Sanders report. A majority say Congress is doing a bad job of upholding democracy, and just one-tenth of the country thinks democracy is working very well. “In interviews, respondents worried less about the machinery of democracy — voting laws and the tabulation of ballots — and more about the outputs.”
| | | | ATTENTION PLAYBOOKERS! You need to keep up with the latest political news and nuggets, so here’s a juicy tip: You need to add California Playbook to your daily reading. We have a new team at the helm who are eager to take you inside the political arena in California, from Sacramento and Los Angeles to Silicon Valley and throughout the Golden State! Get the latest exclusive news and buzzy scoops from the fourth largest economy in the world sent straight to your inbox. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | 2024 WATCH WHAT ABOUT BOB? — In Iowa, the question on many lips is when and whether influential evangelical leader BOB VANDER PLAATS will endorse Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS, WaPo’s Marianne LeVine, Hannah Knowles and Josh Dawsey report from Des Moines. Vander Plaats’ Family Leadership Summit this weekend is the main attraction in the GOP primary, and he’s repeatedly praised DeSantis while clashing with Trump — even though he says any endorsement is months away. Vander Plaats says he’s open to many candidates, but he acknowledges there’s “a strong likelihood or a strong leaning that I probably would not endorse the former president.” And Vander Plaats tells WSJ’s John McCormick explicitly that he’s worried about a crowded field splintering the Trump opposition. “That is why he wants lower performing Republican presidential candidates to exit the race later this summer or fall.” The skepticism of Trump among evangelical voters is a crucial opening for other Republicans in Iowa, Semafor’s Shelby Talcott reports. At a FRANK LUNTZ focus group with 18 voters last night, almost all the participants “weren’t thrilled” about a Trump redux — even though 15 of them believed the false conspiracy theory that the 2020 election had been stolen. AD WARS — A new TV and digital spot from the anti-Trump Republican Accountability PAC will blast Trump for his attacks on Iowa Gov. KIM REYNOLDS, the Des Moines Register’s Galen Bacharier reports. It’s a $115,000 ad buy that will last a week and the group’s first foray into Iowa this year. MAKING IT OFFICIAL — DeSantis will file his candidacy for the South Carolina primary in Columbia on Tuesday, the first GOP contender to do so, AP’s Meg Kinnard reports. He’ll pair the filing with a new policy proposal, details TBA. CONGRESS UP IN SMOKE — Negotiations over a marijuana banking bill in the Senate have snagged in a stalemate, Natalie Fertig and Eleanor Mueller report. After a decade of haggling, both sides are frustrated by the lack of progress — but nobody’s budging yet. Democrats say the GOP needs to add more co-sponsors to prove they can surmount a filibuster. But Republicans say that last-minute changes from Sen. JACK REED (D-R.I.) need to be dropped for the SAFE Act to get safe passage. POLICY CORNER A DIFFERENT APPROACH — “Biden administration forgives $39 billion in student debt for more than 800,000 borrowers,” by CNBC’s Annie Nova: “The relief is a result of fixes to the student loan system’s income-driven repayment plans. Under those repayment plans, borrowers get any remaining debt canceled by the government after they have made payments for 20 years or 25 years … In the past, payments that should have moved a borrower closer to being debt-free were not accounted for.” THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT IN ACTION, PART I — Today VP KAMALA HARRIS and EPA Administrator MICHAEL REGAN will unveil new grant competitions for $20 billion from a “green bank,” AP’s Matthew Daly reports. The money will fund clean energy investments in projects like cooling centers and electric vehicle chargers, with a particular emphasis on marginalized communities. THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT IN ACTION, PART II — “IRS says it collected $38 million from more than 175 high-income tax delinquents,” by AP’s Fatima Hussein THE WELL RUNS DRY — Washington’s decision in the debt ceiling bill to claw back Covid funds is sapping about $1.3 billion from the CDC — with knock-on effects for public health departments around the country, CNN’s Deidre McPhillips and Brenda Goodman report. “[T]he cuts to STI and vaccination programs are already devastating, officials say.” KNOWING MANDY COHEN — “In N.C., Mandy Cohen built bridges to GOP. Can she find consensus as new CDC director?” by Joanne Kenen in Stat: “[H]er bio didn’t make her a shoo-in for success in North Carolina, a politically divided state where the legislature has shifted right. But even her ideological opponents acknowledge she’s a good listener and a bridge builder who can shore up trust — an important challenge at the pandemic-battered CDC.” ANTITRUST THE PROCESS — The FTC is expected to tap HENRY LIU as the agency’s new competition bureau chief, Bloomberg’s Leah Nylen scooped. Liu is a longtime Covington & Burling attorney who worked with two current FTC commissioners at the Yale Law Journal.
| | | | 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. | | | | | BEYOND THE BELTWAY AMERICAN VIOLENCE — The first six months of this year set a new record for mass killings in the U.S. dating back to at least 2006, when the data was first collected, AP’s Stefanie Dazio and Larry Fenn report. There were 28 such incidents in which at least four people were murdered across the country this year, with 140 victims total. Experts pinpoint guns as a principal reason. AMERICA AND THE WORLD SPORTSWASHING IN WASHINGTON SPORTS — “Washington’s Favorite Teams — Now Partly Owned by a Foreign Autocracy,” by Michael Schaffer: “While Congress grills the PGA about its ties to Saudi Arabia, two Beltway-focused efforts by other Gulf powers are getting scant attention.” PLAYBOOKERS OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at Washingtonian’s annual Best of Washington party at the Anthem: Suzanne Clark, Susan Neely, Kellyanne Conway, Franklin Raines, John McCarthy, Kate Bonner, Jackie Bradford, Hamad Al-Muftah, Evelyn Farkas, Gloria Dittus, Paula Dobriansky, Liz Johnson, Mark Ein, Erin Egan, Kevin Smithson, Kent Knutson, Karen Harbert, Shane Harris, Nick Hawatmeh, Tasia Jackson, Phil Rucker, Michael Scherer and Will Swenson. TRANSITION — Veda Beltran is now a professional staff member with the oversight team for Senate Judiciary Dems. She previously was a legislative aide for Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.). 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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