| | | |  | | By Eli Okun | Presented by the National Retail Federation | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | JUST POSTED: “Cuomo held up Citi Field mass vaccine site amid beef with de Blasio,” by POLITICO’s Sally Goldenberg, Nick Reisman and Michael Gartland: “In early 2021, pandemic-battered New Yorkers were finally feeling a glimmer of hope: A mass vaccine site at Citi Field that promised around-the-clock shots. Then Gov. Andrew Cuomo stepped in. The state’s chief executive was irate over the site, which happened to be championed by his political nemesis at the time — Mayor Bill de Blasio. Cuomo made his displeasure clear in a phone call to the Mets owner — and one of the country’s richest men — Steve Cohen. The governor later withheld vaccines from the facility for several weeks.”
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Paul Clement is representing WilmerHale in its suit over President Donald Trump's executive order. | Susan Walsh, File/AP Photo | STANDING FIRM: Two more major law firms targeted by President Donald Trump for political retribution today fought back, taking his administration to court for trying to excise them from government work and yank their security clearances, POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney and Daniel Barnes report. The details: Individually, Jenner & Block and WilmerHale became the second and third firms to argue that Trump’s executive orders were an unconstitutional effort to destroy politically disfavored firms, violating their First Amendment rights and posing an existential threat to their businesses. Cooley LLP brought Jenner & Block’s suit, while former Solicitor General Paul Clement is the bold-face name representing WilmerHale. Trump issued the orders this week because of the firms’ ties to Andrew Weissmann and Robert Mueller, respectively. How will Howell rule? Jenner & Block and WilmerHale join Perkins Coie, which previously was alone in suing over Trump’s order. All three are now likely to end up before federal judge Beryl Howell, who has already blocked crucial parts of the Perkins Coie order. Her finding that it likely amounted to unconstitutional “viewpoint discrimination” earned Howell a rebuke from the Justice Department, which has tried to have her taken off the case. But but but: These three firms now stand apart from Paul Weiss, which struck a deal with Trump to get its executive order rescinded, and Skadden Arps, which Trump just announced has reached “essentially a settlement” too, per NYT’s Tyler Pager. Trump said it’s agreed to do $100 million of pro bono work for causes he supports. (The White House could yet target several more firms.) Those capitulations, which Trump has celebrated, have prompted extensive worries in elite legal circles about the rule of law, with a chilling effect rippling out across the legal world. But some of Perkins Coie’s top litigators and most prominent clients have held steady, though it has lost some work, WSJ’s Dana Mattioli and Erin Mulvaney report. INFLATION NATION: Some warning signs are starting to pick up for the U.S. economy, amid stubborn prices and concerns about the impact of Trump’s tariffs. The core Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, which is the Fed’s preferred inflation metric, increased to 2.8 percent annually and 0.4 percent monthly in February, per Bloomberg. Consumer spending rose, but the inflation-adjusted 0.1 percent increase came in under economists’ expectations. At the same time, consumer sentiment dropped lower than predicted in the latest University of Michigan survey, as Americans across the income spectrum worried about inflation and their personal finances, per CNBC. Stocks fell on all the indicators. The dreaded word: “Wall Street analysts are increasingly warning that the U.S. could fall into a period of at least some stagflation,” POLITICO’s Sam Sutton reports. Today’s inflation data, which mostly doesn’t yet include the impact of Trump’s tariff tsunami, “doesn’t augur well for price-sensitive businesses and consumers — or for Trump’s big plans for the U.S. economy.” Trade wars: As Trump’s biggest round of tariffs looms next week, Americans aren’t the only ones bracing for impact. The EU is already discussing what they can concede to strike a deal after the auto and reciprocal tariffs take effect, Bloomberg’s Alberto Nardelli and Shawn Donnan scooped. The European Commission is eyeing potential changes to its own levies, regulations or mutual investments. Trump spoke today with Canadian PM Mark Carney, yielding a chipper Truth Social post about “an extremely productive” talk. (N.B.: Trump called Carney “Prime Minister,” not “Governor.”) Carney’s readout said they agreed to “comprehensive” talks after the Canadian election, but Ottawa will impose retaliatory tariffs after Trump’s next week. More scrambling: Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who’s finishing an Asia tour, plans to talk with administration officials about a possible $44 billion natural gas export project on which Trump is pressuring Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, Reuters’ Tim Kelly and Katya Golubkova scooped. … Automakers are bracing for higher costs for themselves and higher prices/fewer choices for consumers, with Lexus, Toyota, Honda and Subaru first in the crosshairs, WaPo’s Abha Bhattarai reports. … China and Mexico are pulling back from each other thanks to Trump’s tariffs, Bloomberg’s Amy Stillman and Maya Averbuch report. ICYMI: “McConnell slams Trump administration’s peace talks with Russia,” by POLITICO’s Jordain Carney: “Sen. Mitch McConnell warned Thursday that advisers to President Donald Trump are pursuing an ‘illusory peace’ with Russia that ‘shreds America’s credibility, leaves Ukraine under threat, weakens our alliances and emboldens our enemies.’ They are among the most pointed words from any elected Republican.” Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Peak bloom was officially declared for D.C.’s cherry blossoms, and Capital Weather Gang rounded up some of the morning’s most beautiful photos. Drop me a line with yours at eokun@politico.com.
| | | | A message from the National Retail Federation: NRF supports plans by the administration and Congress to expand the American economy through tax reform, deregulation and new sources of affordable energy. But trade policy issues are creating uncertainty and causing consumers to hold back on spending. High tariffs on imported goods will raise the price of products and slow economic growth. We need trade policies that protect American families, workers and small businesses. Tariffs should always be strategic and a tool of last resort. Learn more. | | | | | | 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | 1. INALIENABLE: The court fight over Trump’s extraordinary use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 is heading to the top. The Justice Department today asked the Supreme Court to lift Judge James Boasberg’s block on Trump invoking the 18th-century wartime law to expel alleged Tren de Aragua members without due process, per POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein. The Trump administration’s emergency appeal argued that Boasberg had stepped beyond constitutional bounds in interfering with the president’s control over national security matters, and asked the justices to allow Trump to resume the deportations. When you’ve lost Mark Krikorian: One of Washington’s most prominent anti-immigration thinkers of the past few decades tells The Dispatch’s John McCormack that while he’s “open” to the administration’s legal argument for using the Alien Enemies Act, migrants “have a right to a hearing as to whether the president’s [proclamation] applies to them.” More immigration news: Overcrowding at a Miami immigrant detention center has contributed to “conditions that lawyers, families and former detainees call inhumane,” the Miami Herald’s Verónica Egui Brito, Syra Ortiz Blanes and Claire Healy report. 2. PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION: Trump this morning on Truth Social called on the House to pass a bill to restore $1 billion in funding for the local D.C. government. It’s the latest surprising twist of possible salvation for the city coffers, after stand-alone legislation from Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) passed the Senate to undo the cuts House Republicans included in a stopgap funding bill. And just like that, House leaders intend to bring it to the floor before the next recess, POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill reports. Speaker Mike Johnson hopes Trump’s post will help it gain enough support to get through the Rules Committee. 3. SIGNALGATE FALLOUT: The ongoing campaign of U.S. attacks on Houthi rebels seems to have ramped up today with more intense strikes across Yemen, including in cities, AP’s Jon Gambrell reports. But the release of messages sent by national security adviser Mike Waltz and CIA Director John Ratcliffe may have provided the Houthis with valuable intel, U.S. officials warn CNN’s Katie Bo Lillis and Zachary Cohen. The Houthis now know that the U.S. is surveilling them, and they have some indicators about the methods. But but but: Steve Bannon says Trump has a “no scalps policy” and doesn’t want to fire anyone, having learned from sacking Michael Flynn in 2017, Semafor’s Shelby Talcott and Burgess Everett. The second Trump White House has a “fight club mentality” against any critics, Bannon says. That’s on top of the president’s long-held personal ethos of never backing down or admitting mistakes. 4. MUSK READ: Elon Musk said he’d head to Wisconsin on Sunday to campaign for conservative Brad Schimel in Tuesday’s Wisconsin Supreme Court race, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Alison Dirr, Daniel Bice and Molly Beck. He also announced that he’d hand out two $1 million giveaways to voters. But after that raised concerns from election law experts that he could be breaking a bribery state law, which bars giving people money to vote, Musk deleted the post, per POLITICO’s Jessica Piper and Andrew Howard.
| | | | Policy moves fast—stay ahead with POLITICO’s Policy Intelligence Assistant. Effortlessly search POLITICO's archive of 1M+ news articles, analysis documents, and legislative text. Track legislation, showcase your impact, and generate custom reports in seconds. Designed for POLITICO Pro subscribers, this tool helps you make faster, smarter decisions. Start exploring now. | | | | | 5. IRAN LATEST: “Iran Signals Openness to Indirect Talks After Trump Letter,” by NYT’s Farnaz Fassihi: “Iran appeared to be taking the middle ground, neither rejecting negotiations with the United States nor accepting face-to-face talks with Mr. Trump. But Kamal Kharazi, the top foreign policy adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said, according to local news reports, ‘The Islamic Republic has not closed all the doors and is willing to begin indirect negotiations with the United States.’” 6. THE LATEST FEMA FAULT LINE: “FEMA blocks $10B in disaster aid over immigration concerns,” POLITICO’s E&E News’ Thomas Frank scooped: “The programs under review provide funding to nongovernmental organizations for disaster recovery and short-term housing … [M]ost disaster aid programs, including money given to states for recovery and mitigation, have been cleared by FEMA for complying with President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.” 7. RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: Congressional Republican leaders are eyeing a compromise budget resolution that would set very different floors for spending cuts from each chamber, Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman, Laura Weiss, Andrew Desiderio and John Bresnahan report. The House baseline would be $1.5 trillion in cuts, versus $3 billion for the Senate. It’s a bid to give senators way more breathing room while mollifying spending hawks in the House who want massive changes. 8. AD IT UP: “Trump’s shadowy, big-money fan clubs,” by Axios’ Alex Isenstadt: “About a dozen political groups, using unlimited and undisclosed donations, are running ads with twin goals: Boosting — and flattering — President Trump. … [They’ve] combined to spend more than $20 million since his election. Their spending is expected to escalate dramatically in the coming months. The TV and digital ads are being run in Washington, D.C., … [and] the Palm Beach, Fla., area … These ‘dark money’ advocacy groups … are nominally independent of Trump’s mammoth $500 million political operation. But many provide air cover for Trump and everything MAGA … Chris LaCivita and Tony Fabrizio … are behind some of the advocacy outfits.” 9. KNOWING MARK DeSAULNIER: “His father was a disgraced Massachusetts judge. Now he’s the top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee,” by the Boston Globe’s Tal Kopan: “‘LBJ used to always say, “I don’t want to be like my papa,” because his dad … was very strict about following the rules,” DeSaulnier said in a recent interview with the Globe in his office. ‘I sort of always was like Johnson, but for the opposite reason. … I don’t want to be the person who gets seduced by this and ends up breaking the rules.’”
| | | | A message from the National Retail Federation:  
Trade policy impacts businesses and consumers. Register to learn more. | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | Seth Magaziner said he’ll continue to live outside his district, despite pledging to move in during his campaign. IN MEMORIAM: “Dick Carlson, who led Voice of America at Cold War’s end, dies at 84,” by WaPo’s Brian Murphy: “Mr. Carlson led VOA from 1986 to 1991 as its journalists and commentators chronicled epochal events … He later served as ambassador to the Indian Ocean nation the Seychelles and headed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting … During his tenure, Mr. Carlson stood against his own [Republican] party in opposing any cutbacks in funding. … He also was reticent to offer extensive personal views on the career of his son, [Tucker Carlson].” TRANSITIONS: Alliance Defending Freedom has added attorneys Alexandra Gaiser, Brian Knight and Noah Nash. Gaiser previously was general counsel at Strive Asset Management. Knight previously was a senior research fellow at George Mason’s Mercatus Center. Nash previously was a corporate attorney at Richards, Layton & Finger. 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. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | |
