| | | |  | | By Jack Blanchard with Dasha Burns | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco On the Playbook Podcast this morning, Jack and Dasha discuss the latest MAGA world meltdown — and why a certain senator from South Carolina is hoping for a special birthday present.
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| Good Wednesday morning. This is Jack Blanchard, very much here for the wall-to-wall July sunshine; if a little unnerved by the gangs of vicious mosquitoes suddenly invading my porch. FEAR AND LOATHING IN D.C.: Thousands of federal workers in D.C. will be fearing for their jobs this morning after the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the Trump administration to proceed with massive headcount reductions across government. POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein and Hassan Ali Kanu report that tens of thousands of jobs are now on the line across 21 agencies “including the departments of State, Treasury, Transportation, Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration, among others.” It’s unclear how quickly that could happen, but it’s worth noting that State, for one, was ready to announce mass layoffs last week. And federal workers sound unsettled, to say the least. “Agency employees reacted to the Supreme Court’s order with grief, despair and anger,” according to interviews with a half-dozen staffers and chat records obtained by WaPo. “In private group messages, they wrote of their fears for U.S. national security and about how they would provide for their families. Some recalled their decades of service, often in dangerous postings. Others simply wrote that they felt sick.” On the flip side: Trump world is thrilled to be proceeding with the program of mass cutbacks which it says people voted for last November. “Today, the Supreme Court stopped lawless lower courts from restricting President Trump’s authority over federal personnel — another Supreme Court victory thanks to @thejusticedept attorneys,” a delighted AG Pam Bondi wrote on X. Let’s just hope she didn’t read all the replies. In today’s Playbook … — Two of Trump’s Cabinet are in hot water after a bruising start to the week. — More Trump tariffs to be unveiled this morning — but will they ever kick in? — And Biden’s White House doctor is due on the Hill. Will he show?
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
AG Pam Bondi and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have come under fire this week. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo | THE BUZZ: It’s been a rough old week for two of the most prominent members of Donald Trump’s Cabinet — and we’re not even halfway through Wednesday. The undercutting of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth just keeps on coming after Trump dramatically reversed Hegseth’s decision to halt weapons shipments to Ukraine — while sitting next to him, live on TV — on Monday night. It was just the latest in a series of Pentagon missteps stretching back to Signalgate, which are said to have unsettled the White House. (Naturally, Hegseth’s team says this is all fake news.) Bondi, beached: Still, you’d rather be in Hegseth’s shoes than those of Bondi, who as Playbook noted yesterday is being targeted by an extremely vocal section of the MAGA base over the decision not to further investigate the Jeffrey Epstein case. For Bondi, the attacks are getting louder with every passing day, and questions are now starting to crop up about her long-term future. Let’s dig a little deeper into both. First, on Hegseth: His team is pushing back hard on suggestions of a schism between Pentagon leaders and the rest of the Trump administration — but these unhelpful, multi-sourced reports do keep on coming. Last night, CNN’s Natasha Bertrand and Zachary Cohen cited five sources in a buzzy story confirming that Hegseth failed to inform Trump — or indeed Secretary of State/national security adviser Marco Rubio — that he was pausing weapons shipments to war-torn Ukraine. They also reported it was the second time this year Hegseth has moved to pause weapons shipments, only to see his decision reversed. Interestingly, the reporting largely puts Hegseth's blunder down to naivety rather than malintent. As POLITICO previously reported, this pause in shipments was first recommended by Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, a controversial figure in his own right who has said repeatedly the U.S. should focus on China rather than Europe. But “Hegseth provided the final signoff,” CNN reports, “thinking it would align with Trump’s ‘America first’ priorities.” So much for that. Can’t get the staff: Hegseth’s failure to get early buy-in for such a big decision from, say, the president of the United States or his national security adviser, is put by two CNN sources down to the fact Hegseth “has no chief of staff or trusted advisers around him that might urge him to coordinate major policy decisions better.” (As you may recall, several of Hegseth’s closest aides either quit or were fired in a messy row over Pentagon leaks.) Hegseth himself, as a former TV personality with no experience of running a major organization, is particularly vulnerable to these kinds of attacks. A Bridge too far: Colby, too, is proving an unpopular figure within parts of the administration, as POLITICO's Jack Detsch and colleagues reported in a terrific deep-dive last night. Plenty of grumpy government sources are knifing him, citing not just his now-canceled recommendation of a Ukraine weapons pause, but also his unexpected review of America’s new AUKUS military pact, and — more broadly — a surprisingly aggressive approach toward key allies. “He is pissing off just about everyone I know inside the administration,” says one person familiar with the situation. “They all view him as the guy who’s going to make the U.S. do less in the world.” And it’s not just inside government: GOP figures on the Hill are also unimpressed, my Playbook colleague Dasha Burns texts in to say. “The weapons pause … raised a lot of eyebrows on the Hill,” a senior Senate staffer tells her. “Especially after Trump threw it under the bus. Senators were shocked by the decision. But in finding out it wasn’t Trump’s policy, shock turned to anger — at the Pentagon, and especially at Colby.” Right of reply: Naturally, the Pentagon says all of the above is fake news. The CNN scoop is “a complete & total fabrication,” and POLITICO’s reporting is also a “fabrication.” Plenty more pushback here from Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell. But what’s striking is how ready Trump is to simply overrule these guys, as he did so publicly on Monday night. And while some Pentagon officials still insist the original pause in shipments was justified because the U.S. is running low on Patriot missiles — as reported here in the Guardian — it would seem the president is unconvinced. As if to emphasize the point, last night WSJ revealed Trump is not just restarting the existing shipments to Ukraine, but mulling sending an entire new Patriot defense system as well — another big win for Kyiv. Indeed, some GOP senators believe Trump may yet go further still and finally approve their bill on new Russian sanctions. “We’re moving,” said an optimistic-sounding Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) yesterday, adding that Trump “told me it’s time to move, so we’re going to move.” But the Senate staffer quoted above poured cold water on that prospect, telling Dasha that White House officials “have mostly been gently pushing back to say, ‘don’t do this now.’” They added: “Even if they wanted more sanctions, it's unlikely they’d want Congress to do it.”
| | | | A message from American Beverage: No spin. No judgments. Just the facts from the experts.
When it comes to what your family eats and drinks, you decide. That's why America's beverage companies have launched GoodToKnowFacts.org – a new website that puts easy-to-understand details about the ingredients in our beverages right in your hands, all in one place. For over 140 ingredients, you can find common uses, alternative names and safety assessments from food safety authorities at GoodToKnowFacts.org. | | | | PAM’S PEOPLE: But while Hegseth and his Pentagon pals might be in the dog house, it’s Bondi whose long-term career prospects are starting to look in actual jeopardy. The anger from the MAGA base over the Epstein decision is impossible to overstate, as even a casual glance at conservative social media will show. And it’s striking that while Trump was quick to rally to the defense of FBI chiefs Kash Patel and Dan Bongino — who are also getting it in the neck from the MAGA faithful — there’s been no such show of love for Bondi as yet. Exhibit A: This latest deep-dive from the WSJ’s Sadie Gurman has plenty more brutal lines, citing furious MAGA world royalty like Glenn Beck, Benny Johnson and Jack Posobiec. And the murmurs coming from inside the Trump administration is hardly full of praise for the embattled AG. Playbook told you yesterday about the disbelief inside the White House at her decision to hand out “Epstein binders” supposedly chock-full of new information to key MAGA influencers — only for them to later discover there were no significant new facts inside. Indeed, such are the depths of anger among Trump supporters that questions are starting to be asked about Bondi’s future. “Her days are numbered as a member of the Trump administration,” MAGA influencer Megyn Kelly declared on her popular YouTube show yesterday. There’s no reporting that Trump himself has expressed such doubts — but the NYT reports Bondi and her allies fear the writing may be on the wall. The AG “has privately expressed concerns that her early public missteps on the Epstein files will hurt her standing with the White House,” Glenn Thrush and Stuart Thompson report in this must-read piece on the MAGA meltdown. “And there are concerns among some of Ms. Bondi’s allies inside and outside the Justice Department that the withering and relentless criticism she is facing will ultimately take its toll — even if she has proved willing to serve as a political shield for the president on the case.” Counterpoint: On the flip side, we’ve seen plenty of negative reports on key Cabinet members and top advisers over the past six months, but precious few departures from government. At one stage Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick seemed under fire on a daily basis; more recently DNI Tulsi Gabbard was revealed to be badly out of favor. Yet so far, only former NSA Mike Waltz has actually got the boot. The president’s tolerance levels appear to be running high. But this won’t help: Some disgruntled members of the MAGA movement are actually doing the unthinkable — and directing their ire at Trump himself. And the president only poured fuel on the fire at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting when he dismissively asked a reporter if people really are “still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?” Here’s MAGA-friendly former TV star Roseanne Barr with a not-untypical response: “Mr. President — Yes, we still care about Epstein. Is there a time to not care about child sex trafficking? Read the damn room.” There’s plenty more mileage in this one yet.
| | | | A message from American Beverage:  
America's beverage companies are making it easier than ever to find transparent information about the ingredients in your favorite beverages. Learn more at GoodToKnowFacts.org. | | | | LET’S MAKE A DEAL HAPPY JULY 9 … which, for those of you who’ve been counting, marks 90 days from Trump’s original “Liberation Day” tariff bonanza. Today’s milestone was supposed to mark the deadline by which time 90-or-so new trade deals were to be agreed; or else punishing new tariffs would kick in. But as we already know, that deadline has (again) been punted — this time to Aug. 1 — to give the administration more time to broker deals. How it went down: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other advisers told Trump that the administration could seal plentiful and favorable trade deals if the deadline was delayed once more, WSJ’s Brian Schwartz and Gavin Bade scooped last night. What to expect today: This morning, the White House promises to unveil trade terms for “a minimum of 7 Countries,” Trump announced last night on Truth Social, “with an additional number of Countries being released in the afternoon.” Trump also said yesterday that the European Union would receive a letter from the administration “in two days” — although plenty of people think a deal is about to be unveiled. So what exactly is a ‘deal’? Really, it can be many things, NYT’s Ana Swanson writes. The trade framework with the U.K. was a “deal.” The vague handshake with Vietnam last week was a “deal.” The detente with China was a “deal.” “A letter means a deal,” Trump said, helpfully, during his Cabinet meeting yesterday. “The deals are mostly my deal to them.” The newest tariffs: Trump also announced yesterday there will be a 50-percent tariff on copper, after which U.S. copper futures jumped to a new record high, as Reuters’ Andrea Shalal and colleagues report. Lutnick said on CNBC that this will probably go into effect by Aug. 1. … Pharmaceutical imports could face tariffs of up to 200 percent, Trump floated yesterday, and the so-called BRICS member states — Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and more — will also get a top-up 10 percent tariff, per WSJ’s Alexander Osipovich. How it’s playing: Asian markets took a small dip early this morning — but nothing compared to the global roller-coaster reaction we saw back in March and April, per Bloomberg. … On the domestic front, polling still puts Trump’s trade war underwater: Groundwork Collaborative and Data for Progress’ latest survey shows 57 percent of voters believe the expiration of the tariff pause will have a negative impact on their finances. Coming attractions: The legal challenge to Trump’s sweeping tariffs goes to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for arguments on July 31 (great timing), with the companies fighting the tariffs filing their brief to the court yesterday, Bloomberg’s Erik Larson reports.
| | | | Playbook, the unofficial guide to official Washington, isn’t just a newsletter — it’s a podcast, too. With new co-hosts who bring unmatched Trump world reporting and analysis, The Playbook Podcast dives deeper into the power plays shaping Washington. Get the insider edge—start listening now. | | | | | NEWS FROM THE WILDERNESS BIDEN, AGAIN: Questions around former President Joe Biden’s mental and physical fitness will take center stage again today as former White House physician Kevin O’Connor is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee in a closed-door deposition. Off again, on again: O’Connor’s lawyer sent a letter to the committee over the weekend asking to delay his testimony to allow for accommodations for doctor-patient privilege, NBC’s Kyle Stewart reported on Monday. “Dr. O’Connor has legal and ethical obligations that he must satisfy,” the letter read, per Fox News. But Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) rejected the request, calling it “another delay tactic,” the Washington Examiner’s Emily Hallas and Lauren Green report. Warning bell: If O’Connor fails to show, he could face contempt of Congress proceedings, Comer said. “Joe Biden's doctor must appear,” Comer wrote on X. Next in line: More of Biden’s former inner circle will be deposed by the committee over the next month, including chief of staff Ron Klain, counselor Steve Ricchetti, senior advisers Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn, among others. ELSEWHERE ON PLANET DEM: As Gavin Newsom embarks on the second day of his swing through South Carolina, Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) erased any doubts about the reason for the California governor’s visit. Newsom is one of “these candidates that are running for president,” Clyburn said as a means of introduction to a crowd of roughly 200 at a community center, per POLITICO’s Tyler Katzenberger in Camden, South Carolina. BATTLE FOR THE SENATE: Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is inching closer to launching a campaign to succeed retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), the North State Journal’s A.P. Dillion reports. The popular purple-state Democrat is planning a July 18 “Coffee with Cooper” event in Winston-Salem at which he’ll address “the future of North Carolina,” per an invitation.
| | | BEST OF THE REST DEEP IN THE HEART: More than 160 people are still missing in Kerr County after the devastating flash floods, WaPo’s Anumita Kaur and colleagues report. “There are far more fatalities than there were in Hurricane Harvey. That’s how catastrophic this is,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said. WSJ’s Harriet Torry and colleagues note the sobering reality in Kerrville: a frantic search-and-rescue operation has now become a solemn recovery mission, given the “last person to be rescued alive was found Friday.” The federal response: Trump stayed mum about any potential cuts to FEMA during his Cabinet meeting yesterday, and instead highlighted DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s trip to Texas, AP’s Darlene Superville writes. It’s worth noting that the “vast majority of [Trump’s] rollbacks to the agencies’ funding, staffing and science have yet to land,” POLITICO’s E&E News’ Scott Waldman and Chelsea Harvey note. And the National Weather Service has yet to post job ads for more than 100 meteorologists and other specialists, which were reapproved after the organization’s downsizing, per POLITICO’s E&E News’ Daniel Cusick. Damage control: Noem and Hegseth will attend a virtual FEMA Review Council meeting at 2 p.m. today. … Over on the Hill: Neil Jacobs — once of “Sharpie-gate” fame, now the nominee to lead NOAA — will face the Senate at 10 a.m., and will share his plans to “return the United States to the world’s leader in global weather forecast modeling capability,” per Axios’ Ben Geman. CONFIRMATION STATION: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee meets at 10 a.m. to consider the appointments of multiple ambassadors, including Kimberly Guilfoyle — Donald Trump Jr.’s former fiancée — who’s been nominated as ambassador to Greece. … And the Senate HELP Committee meets at 9:30 a.m. to consider Susan Monarez’s nomination as CDC director. Our colleagues at Inside Congress have more on today’s schedule WARNINGS BY THE WAYSIDE: “Wall Street’s debt warnings went unheeded as GOP pushed megabill forward,” by POLITICO’s Benjamin Guggenheim: “In passing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last week, GOP leaders blew past a host of warnings to potentially add several trillion dollars of additional borrowing — brushing off concerns that they were missing a late opportunity to put the nation on a more sustainable fiscal trajectory in favor of piling on expensive new tax cuts.” IMMIGRATION FILES: The U.S. District Court in D.C. will hear two separate challenges today on the Trump administration’s use of expedited removal for rapid deportations: a case from the ACLU at 10 a.m. and a case from Justice Action Center at 2 p.m. Deal not sealed: A deal facilitated by Rubio to free American hostages in Venezuela in exchange for repatriating the 250 deported Venezuelan immigrants in El Salvador never happened, after clashing with a dueling proposal from Richard Grenell to reauthorize Chevron’s oil license in Venezuela, NYT’s Francis Robles and colleagues write. It’s quite a tale. CLICKER: “Advice for Elon Musk from the Most Successful Third-Party Campaign in Modern History,” by POLITICO Mag’s Catherine Kim: “Russell Verney helped run Ross Perot’s campaigns. He has a reality check.” TRUMPISMS: “Trump on past presidents: Ike was ‘underrated,’ FDR ‘amazing,’ Polk ‘sort of a real-estate guy,’” by AP’s Will Weissert
| | | | Curious how policy pros are staying ahead? Meet our Policy Intelligence Assistant—only available with a POLITICO Pro subscription. It combines POLITICO’s trusted reporting with advanced AI to deliver sharper insights, faster answers, and two powerful new report builders that help you turn intelligence into action. Ready to experience it for yourself? Sign up for a demo and get 30 days free—no strings attached. | | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | Jimmy Heagerty, a federal contractor/consultant from D.C., will be on the next season of “Big Brother.” John Hoffman, the Minnesota state senator who was shot in his home last month, is out of the hospital and is now recovering in a rehab facility. The U.S. Army is retiring most of its ceremonial cavalry units and will be putting the horses up for adoption. SPOTTED: Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) at MAGA haunt Butterworth’s (again) last night. ENGAGED — Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) proposed to Jacqui Heinrich, a senior White House correspondent for Fox News, in the south of France on June 29. PULL UP A SEAT: If indispensable newsletters and top-notch political coverage wasn’t enough — now POLITICO will pour you pints. Yep, at both the U.K. Labour and U.K. Conservative party conferences this year the POLITICO Pub will host interviews, roundtables and chit-chat over your tipple of choice. More information here … Sign up for updates MEDIA MOVES — Vivian Salama is joining the Atlantic as a staff writer. She is currently a White House reporter at the Wall Street Journal. … Catherine Morehouse launched a strategic comms firm focused on power grid policies and the energy transition. She most recently was an energy reporter at POLITICO. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Noah Kowalski is launching Ad Astra Advisors, an advocacy and advisory firm for companies to navigate Washington. He previously was a VP at Invariant, leading its national security practice. — Christopher Salas will be White House correspondent for Hearst Television. He previously has been a correspondent in the D.C. news bureau. TRANSITIONS — Kendall Witmer, Guillermo Pérez and Jobie Crawford have joined the DNC communications team. Witmer, previously a VP at Arc Initiatives, is now rapid response director. Pérez, previously comms director for Rep. Gabe Amo (D-R.I.), is now speechwriter. Crawford, previously national deputy director of press for the Harris campaign, is now traveling press secretary. … Chris D’Aloia is joining American Airlines as comms manager of public affairs. He previously was comms director for Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.) and is a Josh Gottheimer alum. … … Angela Hervig is joining Rep. Luz Rivas’ (D-Calif.) office as a legislative assistant. She previously was a senior legislative adviser at the EPA and is a Biden White House alum. … Caya Lewis Atkins is now VP of government performance at The Pew Charitable Trusts. She previously was founding principal at GlobalDC Strategies, and is an HHS alum. … John Etue is now chief of staff for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). He previously was chief of staff for Rep. Roger Williams (R-Tenn.). WEDDINGS — Katie Paulson, senior policy adviser for Rep. Deborah Ross (D-N.C.) and a Georgetown Law student, and Liam Tuveson, legislative assistant for Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), got married June 21 in Indiana. They met at a Walk the Moon concert in 2021. Pic, via Leah Barry Photography … Another pic — Paige Blanchard, a strategic comms manager at Narrative Strategies, and Brandon Chaderton, operations and client services director for Spruce Street, got married June 28 at the Independence Visitor Center in Philadelphia. Eric Gutshall officiated. The couple first met on Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign and started dating in 2023 as appointees at USDA. Pic, via Abhi Sarkar Photography … Another pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Herbie Ziskend, a media consultant and former White House principal deputy comms director for President Joe Biden, and Arlie Ziskend, VP for external relations at ACYPL, recently welcomed Micah Greer Ziskend. He is home and doing well after arriving early and spending time in the NICU at Georgetown University Hospital. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) (7-0) … ACLU’s Anthony Romero (6-0) … Jeff Wexler … Patrick Stevenson … Mohsin Syed … AP’s Tom Beaumont … Drew Hammill … Lauren Flynn of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck … Alexa Vance of America First Legal … Jaclyn Gelfond … API’s Mollie Timmons … POLITICO’s Manuel Quinones, Tracey Loos and Patrick Keenaghan … ABC’s Luke Barr … Patrick Steel … NBC’s Amanda Terkel … Sara Durr of the U.S. Conference of Mayors … Randi Reid of Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid … Brian Blase of Paragon Health Institute … Danny Diaz of FP1 Strategies (5-0) … Megan Ortiz of the Cohen Group … former Reps. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) and Dave Camp (R-Mich.) … NYT’s Amy Fiscus … Caroline Scullin … Jeff Simon … Emma Doyle … Applied Intuition’s Jaspreet Gill … Mineko Tokito Abe … Floyd Abrams … David Wertime Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Zack Stanton, deputy editor Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
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