| | | |  | | By Bethany Irvine | | Presented by |  | | |
|  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
Voting rights activists gather outside the Supreme Court today. | AP | SCOTUS WATCH: The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appears open to weakening Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act — a change that could deliver Republicans a path to cement control of Congress in the redistricting race for years to come. Justices wrapped today’s oral arguments in Louisiana v. Callais, a blockbuster case centered on a challenge to the state’s congressional map. Though the case focuses on a push by Louisiana and the Trump administration to overturn the state’s second majority Black congressional district, it will have lasting impacts on redistricting efforts across the country. The stakes are high. The court’s decision on the application of Section 2 could make it much harder, “if not impossible, to take account of race in redistricting” in the future, per the AP. If the court sides with the state, House Democrats could be in danger of losing minority-heavy districts in the South, as NYT’s Nate Cohn lays out with a helpful map. Vibe check: The justices heard arguments for over two hours. During questioning, some of the conservative Supreme Court justices “signaled outright hostility toward the longstanding interpretation of Section 2,” POLITICO’s Zach Montellaro, Josh Gerstein and Andrew Howard write. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch appeared inclined to bar virtually any use of race in redistricting, though Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett were harder to read. Justice Brett Kavanaugh — who will likely be a swing vote in the case — grilled the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s Janai Nelson on whether race-based redistricting should be allowed long-term. “[T]his court’s cases, in a variety of contexts, has said that race-based remedies are permissible for a period of time,” Kavanaugh said, “but that they should not be indefinite and should have an end point.” “Kavanaugh’s desire for a time limit resembled the Supreme Court’s treatment of affirmative action in higher education,” our colleagues note. “Two years ago, the six-justice conservative majority overturned decades of prior precedents and struck down race-conscious admissions policies, in part because the court found that racial dynamics in society have evolved.” Gorsuch also pressed Nelson on if the court should be allowed to “intentionally discriminate” in order to not dilute a minority voting bloc. Nelson reiterated that it wasn’t discriminatory for states to keep race in mind as they draw voting districts. She later told the justices in the second round of questions that it would be “reckless” to decide that “somehow if Section 2 is no longer needed simply because it has been so successful in rooting out racial discrimination in voting.” Meanwhile, the court’s three liberal justices argued that race has been used in the redistricting process for years and is a way to protect the right of representation. “Race is always a part of these decisions, and my colleagues are trying to tease it out in this intellectual way that doesn’t deal with the fact that race is used to help people,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor said. “What you’re saying to us: ‘If you use it to remedy past, lingering discrimination, intentional discrimination, then you can’t use it. You can use it to help yourself achieve goals that reduce a particular group’s electoral participation, but you can’t use it to remedy that situation,’” she added. Worth keeping in mind: It’s unclear whether the court’s ruling will come down in time to impact next year’s midterms. And the Supreme Court has delivered a surprise on the Voting Rights Act as recently as 2023, when Roberts and Kavanaugh joined liberal justices to decline narrowing the VRA’s scope. Good Wednesday afternoon.Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at birvine@politico.com.
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Speaker Mike Johnson noted that Trump’s push to pay active-duty military this week is a “temporary fix.” | Francis Chung/POLITICO | 1. SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN: Day 15 of the shutdown brought another round of dueling news conferences. Speaker Mike Johnson lamented Democrats’ refusal to negotiate a funding fix and noted that Trump’s push to pay active-duty military this week is a “temporary fix.” Johnson also accused Democrats of using U.S. troops as “hostages” in the shutdown fight, per POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill and Jennifer Scholtes. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said it’s time to “decisively address the Republican health care crisis,” pledging that his party is “in this fight until we win this fight for the American people.” Coming attractions: Jeffries told reporters today that he’s open to publicly debating Johnson on C-SPAN’s “Ceasefire” program, hosted by Playbook’s own Dasha Burns. But it’s unclear exactly when the debate will happen. C-SPAN said the date is TBA. More from Meredith Meanwhile, rank-and-file members are growing increasingly frustrated. “I haven’t seen anything that breaks the stalemate,” Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) told Semafor’s Burgess Everett, adding: “This whole thing is stupid.” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) also told Semafor that the shutdown fight hasn’t resonated in his home state, adding: “It’s obviously a battle of wills.” And Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) was the lone Republican to sign on to a letter with 150 Democratic lawmakers demanding OMB Director Russ Vought commit to providing back pay to furloughed federal employees, POLITICO’s Jordain Carney reports. Murkowski’s signature “speaks to the growing anxiety inside the GOP over the possibility federal employees won’t be compensated for the weeks they went without paychecks.” 2. RUSSIA-UKRAINE LATEST: In his strongest critique of the Kremlin yet, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned at a meeting of NATO officials in Brussels that the U.S. could significantly ratchet up pressure on Russia if it does not end the war in Ukraine, POLITICO’s Paul McLeary and Victor Jack report. “If there is no path to peace in the short term then the United States, along with our allies, will take steps necessary to impose costs on Russia for its continued aggression,” Hegseth said. “His comments are an about-face from his first appearance at NATO headquarters in February, when he told allies the U.S. had other more pressing interests in the world and would likely turn away from Europe,” Paul and Victor note. As the White House continues to weigh whether to supply Ukraine with American-made missiles, Ukrainian officials met with prominent U.S. weapons manufacturers ahead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with Trump this week, AP’s Illia Novikov reports from Kyiv. A senior Ukrainian official posted on Telegram that a delegation “led by the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Andrii Yermak, and Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko met with representatives of Lockheed Martin and Raytheon,” though the discussions were not disclosed. 3. THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN: Hegseth’s personal lawyer, Tim Parlatore played a key role in creating the Pentagon’s new intense reporting restrictions. But Parlatore’s dual role as a private legal fixer and commissioned Naval officer “has attracted scrutiny internally among other officials, some of whom are leery of the influence he wields,” WaPo’s Dan Lamothe reports. Parlatore joined Hegseth’s staff in March, upon commissioning into the Navy Reserve — allowing him to maintain his private practice while also “working behind the scenes in uniform, in an ostensibly nonpartisan military role, to shape policy and carry out the defense secretary’s directives. People familiar with Parlatore’s actions describe him as calculating and brash, at times angering others on Hegseth’s team.” And his “sway with leadership far exceeds his rank, Navy commander, a dynamic that has made some officials uncomfortable,” and triggered concerns over conflicts of interest. 4. FOR YOUR RADAR: “Bessent says US considers doubling aid to Argentina by tapping outside funding,” by POLITICO’s Victoria Guida: “Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday said his department is working on a partnership with the private sector and other entities that would provide an additional $20 billion in financing for Argentina. Bessent, speaking with reporters at the Treasury building, said the effort, which they have been exploring for weeks, would be ‘adjacent’ to the $20 billion in financing that the Trump administration has announced it is providing through a currency swap line. ‘So that would be a total of $40 billion for Argentina,’ he said, adding that banks and sovereign wealth funds have expressed interest.”
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➡️ Sign up for West Wing Playbook | | | | | 5. TRAIL MIX: New FEC filings show that Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) had the best fundraising quarter of his career, bringing in $768,000, with more than $2 million cash on hand as he faces an intense primary threat from a Trump-allied super PAC, POLITICO’s Jessica Piper reports. “While Massie has beaten back primary challengers before, his substantial war chest at this time could help him next year if Trump and his inner circle take their attacks on the incumbent to the next level.” Deep in the heart: Texas state Rep. Gina Hinojosa has entered a crowded Democratic primary to succeed three-term Gov. Greg Abbott in 2026. It’s an uphill battle in the deeply red state, where no Democrat has won statewide office in over three decades. In her campaign launch video, Hinojosa accuses Abbott of backing “billionaires and the corporations” that are raising costs in the Lone Star State. “That’s who Greg Abbott works for. I’m running for governor to work for you,” she said. 6. AD IT UP: The Department of Homeland Security has spent at least $51 million this year on ads promoting Trump’s mass deportation agenda — making it the most-expensive ad campaign of the year, Axios’ Brittany Gibson scoops. Across a series of video spots, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is seen direct-to-camera thanking the president for securing the border and urging migrants to leave the country. “The next closest ad campaign is the $41 million effort to support California's redistricting measure, according to AdImpact.” DHS denies the ads are political. “‘President Trump’ is the most mentioned phrase across all the ads.” 7. IMMIGRATION FILES: Chicago residents are ramping up their pushback against the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration crackdown, forming volunteer groups to monitor the location of federal agents roaming the city and “posting alerts on Facebook and in Signal group chats,” per NYT’s Julie Bosman and Jamie Kelter Davis. “If agents are spotted on the street, motorists lean on their horns as a warning and sometimes give chase. Around the city last weekend, pairs of volunteers were seen with orange whistles around their necks.” Meanwhile, Meta took down a Facebook page dedicated to tracking ICE at the request of the Justice Department, per AP. The company said in a statement that the group “was removed for violating our policies against coordinated harm.”
| | | | Introducing Global Security: POLITICO’s weekly briefing on the policies, regulatory battles and industrial shifts shaping defense and security across continents. We connect what happens in Washington, Brussels and beyond to what gets funded, what gets built and who benefits. Subscribe now to access the free preview edition. | | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Stephen Sandora is now a principal at Cornerstone Government Affairs. He previously worked for Treasury and is a House Financial Services and Shelley Moore Capito alum. TRANSITIONS — Jeffrey Gleason is now a partner at Crowell & Moring. He previously worked in the DOJ's Civil Fraud Section. … Riley Pingree is now comms director for Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.). She previously worked for Rep. Tom Kean (R-N.J.) and is a David Rouzer and Thom Tillis alum. … … Eric Lee is now an attorney for National Taxpayers Union Foundation’s Taxpayer Defense Center. He previously worked for the Illinois AG’s office. … Michael Calvo is now VP of federal government affairs at Bristol Myers Squibb. He previously worked at BridgeBio WEDDING — Tia Bogelijc, legislative director and deputy chief of staff for Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), and Justin Folsom, director of government affairs at Southern Company, got married on Sept. 22 in Toledo, Spain. They met in 2019 in D.C. when the Nats won the World Series. Pic via Manu Lopez … Another pic 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 deputy editor Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
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