STEFANIK ON THE SLIDE: House Republicans’ thin majority is putting one of President Donald Trump’s nominations at risk of going down before they reach the floor. New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, whom Trump nominated to serve as ambassador to the U.N., “is in jeopardy as GOP pressure mounts for her to back away from the position” in order to protect Republicans’ tight majority in the House, CBS’ Jennifer Jacobs and Gabrielle Ake report. There are “ongoing discussions about whether she should withdraw from consideration” and Speaker Mike Johnson “was aware of some of the conversations about Stefanik that took place Thursday.” With Republicans holding only a five-seat margin, and four vacant seats, GOP officials “had discussed waiting to take further action on Stefanik's nomination to see how the Florida special elections go on April 1 for two vacant GOP seats.” Speaking of the Sunshine State: Trump himself is leading the GOP cavalry trying to secure those special election races for Republicans, as the party frets its position in the district once held by national security adviser Mike Waltz. “Trump will join tele-town halls Thursday evening for state Sen. Randy Fine (R-Melbourne Beach) and Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis,” POLITICO’s Kimberly Leonard reports. SIGNALGATE SOARS ON: AG Pam Bondi this morning indicated that the Signal saga is unlikely to see a criminal investigation as the fallout continues despite the Trump administration’s efforts to push past the episode. “It was sensitive information, not classified, and inadvertently released,” Bondi said of the content in the Signal group chat, per NYT’s Devlin Barrett. “What we should be talking about is, it was a very successful mission.” She then attempted to turn the story onto Democrats, echoing a favorite target of Trump’s ire: “If you want to talk about classified information, talk about what was in Hillary Clinton’s home,” she said. “Talk about the classified documents in Joe Biden’s garage, that Hunter Biden had access to.” There’s gonna be Hill to pay: The leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee — Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and ranking member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) — sent a letter to the Pentagon’s acting inspector general requesting a formal investigation over “the use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information, as well as the sharing of such information with those who do not have proper clearance and need to know.” On Defense: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt delivered more cover for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — though she didn’t back Waltz with quite the same verve. “Well, we have never denied that this was a mistake,” Leavitt told reporters gathered outside the White House this morning, per POLITICO’s Ben Johansen. “The national security adviser took responsibility for that.” Leavitt also noted that “changes” are in the works, though it's not clear what they are. She subsequently praised Hegseth, pointing back to his confirmation by the Senate (albeit a tight one that required VP JD Vance’s tie-breaking vote). Meanwhile, on the ground: An AP review of the recent American airstrike campaign finds that Trump’s approach “appears more intense and more extensive, as the U.S. moves from solely targeting launch sites to firing at ranking personnel as well as dropping bombs in city neighborhoods,” Jon Gambrell writes. The pattern under this White House “reflects a departure from the Biden administration, which limited its strikes as Arab allies tried to reach a separate peace with the group.” Reality check: The “high-level hopes expressed in the Signal chat” to deter Houthi rebels “could collide with reality,” NYT’s Peter Eavis and Ismaeel Naar write. “The Houthis may even use the U.S. military strikes, analysts say, to bolster their position in Yemen and farther afield as other Iranian proxies, like the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, have suffered heavy losses at the hands of Israel.” PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION: D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is one of the Democratic officials who has spent the early part of 2025 genuflecting to Trump. “This week may have brought the most Trump-pleasing move yet: The vandals accused of writing anti-Elon Musk graffiti on Tesla windshields, D.C. police said, will potentially be on the hook for hate crimes,” Michael Schaffer writes in his latest must-read Capital City column. “The announcement read more like pro-Tesla White House messaging than a public-safety notice from a blue city’s police force,” he writes. “Even in a month when Bowser placated Republican critics by tearing up the iconic Black Lives Matter Plaza on 16th Street, the tone seemed over the top. The incidents, after all, involved writing on car windows, not blowing up automobiles.” Good Thursday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. If you’re going to Opening Day at Nats Park today, get ready to feel it in your wallet: a new report from D.C. think tank Groundwork Collaborative shows that the price for a hot dog and a beer — the most classic combo you can get — at a Nationals game (about $22) is the most expensive of all 30 MLB teams. At any rate, send me a pic from your seats if you’re out there this afternoon: gross@politico.com.
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1. RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise did not commit to wrapping up Republicans’ budget blueprint for the sprawling domestic policy bill before a two-week recess in April — even if the Senate finishes its side of things next week, POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill reports. Though he stated a desire to “keep this process moving quickly,” Scalise said in a brief interview that the Senate’s potential changes could delay final approval of a unified fiscal framework. Scalise’s comments come after House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington also warned yesterday that if the Senate were to “fundamentally change our construct” by not matching the minimum $1.5 trillion in spending cuts embedded in the House budget, “it will not be well received.” 2. THE LATEST CUTS: The massive reshaping of the federal government has hit HHS, with Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announcing this morning that the department will reduce its workforce by more than 20%, or 10,000 workers, and realign its priorities toward tackling chronic diseases, POLITICO’s Chelsea Cirruzzo and Adam Cancryn report. By the numbers: HHS will reduce its divisions from 28 to 15 and create an office called the Administration for a Healthy America. The FDA will cut 3,500 employees, CDC and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response will be merged and slash about 2,400 employees, NIH will cut 1,200 and CMS will let go of 300 workers. 3. NEW FACES AT OPM: After Musk’s infamous “what did you do last week” demand blindsided top officials last month, the White House has now installed two Trump loyalists — Billy Long, Trump’s pick to lead the IRS, and Douglas Hoelscher, a Trump 1.0 alum — to serve as senior advisers at OPM, Reuters’ Alexandra Alper and Nandita Bose report. “Two sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the men had started earlier this month. They were brought in to ensure better policy coordination between the White House and the agency, which is playing a central role in Trump's overhaul of the federal bureaucracy, a third source said.”
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Michelle Ross-Stanton, the widow of Fox News journalist Pierre Zakrzewski who was killed in 2022 while reporting in Ukraine, is suing Fox News “arguing that the network did not adequately protect her husband and did not hold the necessary insurance to be able to fully compensate his family after his death,” WaPo’s Jeremy Barr reports. Fox News defended its loyalty to Zakrzewski in a statement: “We did everything humanly possible in the aftermath of this unprecedented tragedy amid the chaos of a war zone.” IN MEMORIAM — “BGR Group today announced that Lanny Griffith, a Founding Partner of the firm, has passed away. Lanny helped guide BGR Group from its earliest days by maintaining a consistent focus on the firm’s clients and their needs. … Lanny joined BGR Group in 1993 after serving in several roles in the administration of President George H.W. Bush. On Jan. 20, 1989, Lanny was sworn in as Special Assistant to the President in the East Room of the White House, serving as President Bush’s liaison to governors and other statewide elected officials.” Read the full obituary — “With deep sorrow, the family of Okeysha ‘Keysha’ Yashica Brooks-Coley announces her passing on March 15, 2025, at the age of 49. A beloved wife, mother, daughter, Keysha leaves behind a powerful legacy of leadership, public service, and unwavering advocacy. … Through 13 years of service at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), she became a national leader in nonprofit health advocacy. … Most recently, Keysha served as Vice President of Advocacy at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA).” Read the full obituary — “Francis Layrle, French Embassy’s revered chef de cuisine, dies at 73,” by WaPo’s Emily Langer: “Francis Layrle, who served for three decades as chef de cuisine to the French ambassador in Washington, becoming a dignitary of Embassy Row in his own right, and later presided over the lively local bistro La Piquette, died March 20 at his home in Bethesda, Maryland. He was 73. The cause was cholangiocarcinoma, or cancer of the bile duct, said his wife, Catherine Layrle.” OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED last night celebrating the Jewish women of the 119th Congress with Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Jewish Women International and National Council of Jewish Women: Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), Laura Friedman (D-Calif.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Kim Schrier (D-Wash.). — SPOTTED yesterday at The Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy’s “Don’t Tax the Light” reception: Rep. Mike Kennedy (R-Utah), Sarah Hunt, Michelle Moore, Jamie Heard, Lawrence Haywood, Bob Percival, Joe Bishop-Henchman, Clarence Edwards and Roxy Ndebumadu. — Broadcast Music Inc. and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History hosted a discussion last night on the art of songwriting with musician Eric Church and curator Krystal Klingenberg. SPOTTED: Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Reps. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.), Jake Ellzey (R-Texas), John Joyce (R-Pa.), Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), Deborah Ross (R-N.C.), Derek Schmidt (R-Kan.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Pete Sessions (R-Texas), Tre Hargett, Mike O’ Neill, Michael Collins, Dan Spears, Elizabeth Fischer, Lyndsey McFail, Clay Bradley, Mason Hunter, Mitch Glazier, Graham Davies, John Troutman, Kari Fantasia, Frank Steinberg, Marissa Padilla, John Buscher, Joan Gregory Saenz, Adrian Saenz, Harriet Melvin, Amy Isbell, Charles Wadelington, Doug Keagle, Tom Seidenstein, Danielle Aguirre, Charlotte Sellmyer, Shannon Sorensen, Kelley Williams, Keith Kupferschmid and Michael Lewan. — Filemon Vela, Rose Vela and Paulina Mejia Shibler celebrated the official launch of their lobbying firm, Valiant Strategies, and law practice, Vela Justice, at El Cielo on Tuesday night: SPOTTED: Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), Gabe Amo (D-R.I.), Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) and Rob Menendez (D-N.J.), Joe Crowley, Carlos le Vecchio, Manuel Espina, Batu Kutelia, David Montes, Carlos Sanchez, Louise Bentsen, Patrick O’Connor, Dylan Sodaro, Carlos Paz, Mariana Adame de Vreeze and Karen De Los Santos. — SPOTTED at the launch party for Intersect Public Affairs at Ciel Social Club on Tuesday night: FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, Reps. Rob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Maria Cardona, Estuardo Rodriguez, Johanny Adames, Clarissa Rojas, Laura McPherson, Joanna Diaz Soffer, Michelle Persaud, Enumale Agada, Puneet Verma, Taylor Berlin, Anais Carmona, Marisa Calderon, Laura Berrocal, Grace Ramirez, Cid Wilson, Marco Davis, Nicole Cooper, Cleve Mesidor, Rafael Bernal, Monica Garay and Steve Haro. TRANSITIONS — L. Felice Gorordo is now CEO of Embark. He previously was executive director at the World Bank. … John Ladd is now senior adviser at Jobs for the Future. He previously was administrator of the office of apprenticeship at the Department of Labor’s employment and training administration. 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 deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. |
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