| | | |  | | By Adam Wren | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine, Ali Bianco and Rachel Umansky-Castro On today’s Playbook Podcast: Adam Wren and national politics reporter Samuel Benson discuss lessons both parties can learn from disillusioned voters and the shifting political terrain in Nevada.
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| Happy Friday. It’s Adam Wren. Get in touch. In today’s Playbook … — Disillusioned voters offer lessons for one Democrat seeking a map out of the wilderness. — Republicans and Democrats are duking it out over a hugely popular policy in Nevada. — Seth Moulton tells Dasha why Senate Democrats should dump Chuck Schumer as leader.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
“No one likes politics,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) told Playbook after observing a group of low-propensity voters. | AP | KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Elissa Slotkin is in reconnaissance mode. The former CIA analyst and Michigan senator is still sorting through the rubble of her party’s losses last year, looking for clues about which path it should chart out of the electoral wilderness. Inside the aptly named Crossroads Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, Slotkin and Democratic Mayor Quinton Lucas sat around a long breakfast table Thursday morning and listened for more than 60 minutes to a small focus group of seven voters who stayed home last November. Slotkin, who stepped squarely into national spotlight after delivering the Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s joint session earlier this year and never really left it, wanted to know why — and how to bring them back into the Democratic fold. Playbook exclusively observed her conversation with low-propensity voters — all Kansas City residents who had voted in past elections but not last year, a mix of Republicans and Democrats recruited by a professional focus group recruiting firm — as they expressed their reasons for not casting a vote for either Trump or Kamala Harris in 2024. The voters said they didn’t like the presidential candidates. They rejected them on the grounds of both style and substance. They didn’t like their “bickering.” They said the candidates were too old. They said Washington didn’t care about their lives. Didn’t talk enough about issues that mattered like healthcare. They pined for more aspirational candidates, like Bill Clinton or Barack Obama. Their responses revealed that, far from the sugar high of last Tuesday’s romp, Slotkin’s party has much work to do to win these voters back — if they can be won back at all. They expressed profoundly nuanced positions that occasionally appeared not to be what Slotkin wanted to hear. Slotkin, who has introduced the No Troops in Our Streets Act to put limits on the Trump administration’s ability to deploy the National Guard into American communities, asked about how they would feel if that were to happen in Kansas City. Lisa, a 55-year-old Black woman who spoke longingly about having backed Obama, said “that could be good.” A man named Caesar argued that he had been put out of work as a forklift driver by unauthorized immigrants. Participants cited crime, drugs and health care as issues they wanted to hear more about from leaders. Asked whether they had even ever been to Washington D.C. before, all said no. The listening session — organized by Majority Democrats PAC, the new group on a mission to build the broadest governing coalition possible — offered a window on not only a post-trust, post-institutional American political landscape, but also the vast middle of the country’s ideological space. They viewed politics as a net negative in their lives, something that harmed more than helped them. Even among a group that featured some Republican leaners, just one, a homemaker, said Trump was “doing OK.” Democrats fared little better. “They are not doing well,” said a woman named Carie H., a homemaker in her 40s, of the party. “They are losing the young people,” said Bryan Z. It was bleak listening. “No one likes politics,” Slotkin told Playbook afterward of her takeaways. “I mean, they actively avoid it. They can't stand it. It's affecting their relationships with people very close to them.” Slotkin said she was struck by the number of people in the group who said the last time they voted for a president was for Obama or Bill Clinton. “I guess my interpretation was people vote their hopes, and when they don't feel hope, they're a lot less likely to make the effort to go out to vote.” she said. Amid it all, Slotkin seemed to be thinking a lot about 2028. The night before, at a town hall organized by the progressive veterans group Vote Vets, where nearly 500 people packed in a convention center room and Playbook saw a dozen or so folks turned away, she discussed points of what she called Project 2029 — not to be confused with her Slotkin War Plan™ — which included proposals such as declaring a housing national emergency and offering a competitive public insurance option. In recent weeks, she has rallied with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro in Pittsburgh for the state’s Supreme Court candidates. She’s expected to campaign in Ohio for Rep. Marcy Kaptur. For Slotkin, all of this raises a larger question: Is she herself positioning for a 2028 presidential campaign? “It’s funny: you come to the Midwest, and people think that that's an automatic signal,” Slotkin told Playbook when asked about whether her advisers were preparing her to run for president. She said her travels are meant to “elevate the profile of a Midwestern Democrat, and it has no other big goal other than to increase the voice of Midwesterners in the party.” Not a no! “Honestly, I just got to the Senate, like, eight seconds ago,” said Slotkin, sitting in a hotel lobby nearly 800 miles away from Michigan, and 1,000 miles away from Washington. “I am interested in leadership that adapts to the 21st century and adapts to the president's style of doing things. It need not be me who leads that charge, but I'm looking for people who are ready to be partners in that attempt.”
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Learn more at siemens-energy.com | | | | THE ECONOMY, STUPID FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Tip sheet: Democrats are searching for ways to cut into Republicans’ advantage on the popular no-tax-on-tips policy that Trump has touted from the campaign trail to the Oval Office as both parties look to strengthen their appeal to the working class, POLITICO’s Danny Nguyen reports this morning. The faceoff is at its highest pitch in Nevada, where five percent of workers earn tips, about double the national rate. Republicans are hoping to flip three of the state’s four congressional districts — which include regions where the policy is particularly pertinent. Republicans have already spent millions on ads targeting Nevada Democrats for voting against the GOP megabill that included the tax deduction for tipped workers. The Silver State shift: When Nevada’s two Democratic senators — Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen — broke ranks to end the shutdown earlier this week, they caught plenty of flack for the decision. But their choice illustrated the shifting reality for this once solidly blue state: “In the national battle for party expansion, Republicans have the edge in the Silver State,” POLITICO’s Liz Crampton, Samuel Benson and Natalie Fertig report. “Their home state politics made their gambit an electoral calculation and an economic necessity, even as it angered some Nevada Democrats, according to interviews with more than a dozen political strategists, staffers and elected officials in the state.” TARIFF TAMP DOWN: The Trump administration yesterday announced new trade agreements with four South and Central American countries, “which could lead to lower duties on some coffee and banana imports, as well as beef from Argentina,” POLITICO’s Ari Hawkins and colleagues report. A senior administration official said the deal with Argentina is expected to exempt beef from the 10 percent tariff on its imports, but the trade agreement does not appear to change the U.S. quota expanding the amount of beef Argentina can export to the U.S. Speaking of tariffs: Trump’s idea to send tariff rebate checks to Americans would require action from Congress. “Support among Republicans on Capitol Hill is lukewarm, at best,” POLITICO’s Daniel Desrochers reports. MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Trump is expected to attend next year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, “signaling warming US-Swiss relations as the nations close in on a trade deal,” Bloomberg’s Fabienne Kinzelmann and colleagues write. “Trump didn’t attend January’s edition of the meeting, held shortly after his inauguration, and instead spoke to attendees by video link. His presence would be a boon for the Forum after a rocky year for the organization.”
| | | ON THE HILL MUST LISTEN: Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) this week excoriated the deal that eight senators in the Democratic caucus struck to end the shutdown, arguing that Democrats were just gaining the upper hand. With the dust still settling, Moulton told Dasha in an interview for “The Conversation” that it’s time for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to step aside. “Schumer has just snatched defeat from the jaws of victory,” Moulton told Dasha of the deal. And though he declined to divulge any specific names for who he thinks should lead Senate Democrats instead of Schumer, Moulton hinted that he has “ideas” based on conversations with people who do have a stake in the debate. “Someone younger, someone who has a reputation of being a tougher fighter” against Trump, Moulton said when asked who fits the profile. He outlined two problems with Schumer’s leadership: “One, Schumer has proven to all of us that he can't keep the team together. But two, Schumer has also proven to Trump that his strong-arm tactics work.” Moulton, who has launched a primary campaign against Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), vowed that he would not vote for Schumer as leader if he joined the chamber. Watch the full episode … Listen and subscribe On Democratic messaging over the Epstein files “I don't think that the Epstein files are a core focus for Democrats,” Moulton said. “We just fought this shutdown until Schumer gave in to protect Americans' ability to pay for health care because it should be a human right. Everyone should have health care. But Trump's clear problem here with the Epstein files has made it a core focus. Remember, it was the hard right that really made this an issue. And I think Democrats are simply doing the right thing to do what we can to expose the crimes here.” On Democrats’ messaging struggles “Democrats need to do more listening,” Moulton told Dasha. “We need to listen to Americans, rather than stand on a pedestal and just preach down to them and say, ‘You know what, if you don’t meet all these litmus tests, if you don’t agree on every single issue, then not only were you wrong, you’re a bad person.’ And that's what a lot of Americans heard when they heard Democrats saying, ‘Oh, there’s no problem at the border. You know, that’s just Trump weaponizing immigration. It's not an issue.’ When people could see with their own eyes that immigration was an issue.” THANKS, BUT NO THANKS: Senate Republicans are shying away from a controversial payout in the funding bill designed to compensate lawmakers whose phone records were subpoenaed as part of former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump. “It turns out, several of them don’t want it,” POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs reports. Of the eight known Senate Republicans who fit the bill, only Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has definitively indicated he plans to take advantage of the new provision. House Republicans are now moving to repeal the provision amid bipartisan criticism.
| | | | POLITICO Policy Outlook: Combating Financial Cybercrime: From identity theft to phishing scams, financial cybercrimes have skyrocketed in recent years. But catching perpetrators and preventing future scams remains a challenge. Join Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) and Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) for discussions on the latest strategies for confronting these crimes and empowering consumers. Register to attend or watch online. | | | | | AT THE WHITE HOUSE ROCKING THE BOAT: Trump was briefed on potential options for military operations inside Venezuela this week, CNN’s Kevin Liptak and colleagues report. He’s continuing to weigh the risks and rewards, and has voiced reservations about whether ousting Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro would be effective. A “secret Justice Department memo blessing” the strikes hinges on the idea that the U.S. and allies are “legally in a state of armed conflict with drug cartels,” NYT’s Charlie Savage and Julian Barnes report. Doubling down: Hegseth announced “Operation Southern Spear” yesterday, targeting “narco-terrorists” in the Western Hemisphere in what could be the next escalation of the U.S. strikes on the area, Bloomberg’s Derek Wallbank and Courtney McBride report. Hegseth’s post “offered no further information about what the operation would entail or whether it presaged a fresh round of attacks.” It comes as the U.S. launched its 20th strike this week, per CBS. PULTE STRIKES AGAIN: Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) has been referred to the DOJ for a potential federal criminal probe on allegations of mortgage and tax fraud, NBC’s Katherine Doyle scooped. He’s the fourth Democrat to face such allegations from the administration. But Swalwell seems primed for a fight: “As the most vocal critic of Donald Trump over the last decade and as the only person who still has a surviving lawsuit against him, the only thing I am surprised about is that it took him this long to come after me,” he said in a statement to NBC. And MSNBC’s Mychael Schnell and Carol Leonnig report that Swalwell has “all but decided he is running for governor” in California and could announce as soon as next week. FOR YOUR RADAR: “Trump taps Ingrassia for new role after texting scandal,” by POLITICO's Daniel Lippman: “Paul Ingrassia, a conservative activist who withdrew his nomination to oversee a government watchdog agency last month after POLITICO reported he made racist comments in a group chat, said Thursday he is moving to a new job in the administration. The 30-year-old lawyer had been serving since February as White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security. But in an email obtained by POLITICO, he told colleagues that he is leaving to become deputy general counsel at the General Services Administration.” SEE YOU IN COURT: The Justice Department joined the GOP-led lawsuit challenging the new congressional maps approved by voters in California, with DOJ filing to intervene in the suit yesterday, NYT’s Laurel Rosenhall reports. SORRY, BUT: The BBC apologized to Trump yesterday for a selective edit of his Jan. 6 speech, but argued the president’s legal threats toward the network don’t rise to the level of a defamation lawsuit, per POLITICO’s Faith Wardwell. Read the statement
| | | BEST OF THE REST FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Endorsement watch: Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) is throwing his support behind John Sununu’s New Hampshire Senate bid. “John Sununu will fight for conservative values and knows what it takes to win,” Moreno says in the endorsement, shared exclusively with Playbook. “I’ve seen first hand how important it is to have more Republicans fighting for working Americans. John has what it takes to put New Hampshire in play for Senate Republicans as a top-tier race.” Sununu and Scott Brown are vying for the GOP nomination to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. Trump has yet to endorse in the primary. FIRST IN POLITICO — Ad targets Booker: As Sen. Cory Booker visits New Hampshire today, pro-Palestinian group IMEU Policy Project is running an ad criticizing the New Jersey Democrat for appearing alongside Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this year, and for voting against measures that would have blocked arms sales to Israel, POLITICO’s Lisa Kashinsky writes in. David Bergstein, a spokesperson for Booker, said the senator’s “north star is ensuring there is a two state solution … and he’s called out the Netanyahu government, and anyone else when their actions have undermined that goal. His focus is now on maintaining the ceasefire, getting people the humanitarian aid they need, and building the foundation for a just and lasting peace.” IMEU Policy Project is putting $25,000 behind the one-day buy: $15,000 on cable in New Hampshire and $10,000 in social media ads split between New Hampshire and New Jersey. It’s the latest in a series of ads the group is running targeting potential 2028 presidential hopefuls — including Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear — over their stances on Israel, and the first to run since the ceasefire deal. IMMIGRATION FILES: Federal agents will arrive in Charlotte, North Carolina, this weekend, as Trump’s mass immigration crackdown expands, POLITICO’s Cheyanne Daniels reports. The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office was notified to expect agents from Customs and Border Patrol as soon as Saturday. CBP patrol officer Gregory Bovino left Chicago — where the immigration operations he’s overseen have come under fire in court — en route to Charlotte yesterday, per CNN. Point of order: Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) told McKay Coppins ICE agents should start refusing to follow unlawful orders from the Trump administration. “I’d like to see them wearing an ID, not wearing masks and telling Stephen Miller, or Kristi Noem that we will follow the law and there are limits to what we will do. And we’re not violating people’s constitutional rights,” Kelly said on Coppins’ new podcast for Deseret News. “I mean, there’s evidence that there were deported American citizens, and they’re breaking up communities. It benefits our country in no way.” LIVE FROM NEW YORK: NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has held calls with Democratic governors — including Maryland’s Wes Moore, Illinois’ JB Pritzker and Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro — seeking advice for dealing with Trump, ABC’s Brittany Shepherd reports. THE WEEKEND AHEAD FRIDAY PROGRAMS … POLITICO “The Conversation”: Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) … Mike DeBonis. C-SPAN “Ceasefire”: Doug Jones and Steve Stivers … Hogan Gidley and Ashley Etienne. PBS “Washington Week”: Natalie Andrews, Nancy Cordes and Andrew Desiderio. SUNDAY SO FAR … ABC “This Week”: Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) … Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) … Ken Burns. Panel: Donna Brazile, Reince Priebus, Sarah Isgur and Faiz Shakir. NBC “Meet the Press”: Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) … Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso … Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). Panel: Peter Alexander, Jamelle Bouie, Leigh Ann Caldwell and Lanhee Chen. FOX “Fox News Sunday:” Speaker Mike Johnson …. Rep. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.) … Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) … Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.). Panel: Mollie Hemingway, Josh Kraushaar, Comfortably Smug and Jessica Tarlov. Sunday Special: Dr. Marc Siegel. CBS “Face The Nation”: Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) … Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) … Dan Driscoll. Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures”: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent … Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) … Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) … Mike Davis. CNN “State of the Union”: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). NewsNation “The Hill Sunday”: Rep. Rick Crawford (R- Ark.) … Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) … Allen Guelzo. Panel: Sabrina Siddiqui, Julie Mason and Audrey Fahlberg.
| | | | POLITICO’s Global Security briefing connects the policies, deals, and industrial shifts shaping the global defense landscape. From Washington to Brussels, we follow who’s funding what, what’s being built, and how power moves across continents. Subscribe now for the free preview. | | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | NEWS YOU CAN USE — With the government open again and the holiday season creeping around the corner, we’ve rounded up everything (free!) you can now do as we reenter a (semi) functioning D.C.
- Opening today: The National Museum of American History, the National Air and Space Museum and the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. The National Gallery of Art will reopen its West Building and Sculpture Garden today, and the East Building tomorrow.
- Opening tomorrow: The National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of African Art and the National Museum of Asian Art. And so does the National Zoo! For those wondering, Zoolights is still a go — but that’s not until next weekend, per WaPo.
- Already open: The Library of Congress and The Botanic Garden opened yesterday. The garden’s dinosaur-themed holiday display is still on track to open by Thanksgiving.
IN MEMORIAM — “Jim Avila, former longtime ABC News senior correspondent, dies at 70,” by ABC: “Jim Avila, a former longtime ABC News senior correspondent, whose investigative journalism earned him several of the most prestigious awards in broadcast news, has died. He was 70. … He earned numerous awards, including two National Emmy Awards and five Edward R. Murrow Awards.” OUT AND ABOUT — Australian Ambassador Kevin Rudd and POLITICO co-hosted a reception on the evolving political landscape last night at the Australian Embassy. The event brought together a panel of POLITICOs — Kyle Cheney, Mike DeBonis, Felicia Schwartz and Playbook’s own Jack Blanchard — in a conversation moderated by Playbook’s Dasha Burns. SPOTTED: Rosie Wilson, Mike Parrish, Aaron Guiterman, Ivan Kovacevic, Rich Luchette, Chris Golden, Margaret Mulkerrin, EU Ambassador Jovita Neliupšienė, Laos Ambassador Phoukhong Sisoulath and Cody Sargent. — The Institute for Education welcomed guests to their “Celebrating Fusion: Energy’s Breakthroughs” event, an intimate dinner hosted by Coach Kathy Kemper and R. David Edelman at Kemper’s home on Wednesday night. Guests enjoyed a mix of hor d’ouvres and back-to-back lobster bisque and black truffle chicken courses while toasting to the advances in fusion. SPOTTED: Ruth Bajada, Michl Binderbauer, Tom Friedman, Dario Gil, Matthew Lipka, Pranava Raparla, Jennifer Rudy, Austrian Ambassador Petra Schneebauer, Michael Schwab and Mungo Woodifield. MEDIA MOVES — John Hewitt Jones is joining POLITICO as deputy editor on the Tech team. He previously worked at Bloomberg Government. And Erin Schumaker will move into a new role as deputy Health Care editor after serving as a standout Health Care reporter. TRANSITIONS — Mike Fragoso has joined Torridon Law as a partner. Fragoso previously worked for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). … David Pressman, Michael Schiffer and Melissa Zelikoff are joining the Center for American Progress as senior fellows in the National Security and International Policy department. Pressman was previously the U.S. ambassador to Hungary. Schiffer previously worked at USAID’s Asia bureau. Zelikoff previously worked at the National Security Council. BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Marion Steinfels HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Ben Rhodes … New Hampshire Dem Chair Ray Buckley … Bella Grabowski … Liz Morrison of No Labels … Valerie Jarrett … former Reps. Greg Pence (R-Ind.) and Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) … Condoleezza Rice … Tony Powell … Jacob Freedman … Peter Lattman … POLITICO’s Ben Reininga and Joel Rubin … Sarah Binder … John Jameson … WaPo’s Paige Cunningham … Rachel Noerdlinger … Jeff Danziger … Randolph Court of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation … Ed Reno … Ashley Yehl Flanagan … Ryan Duffin of CRC Advisors … Dusty Vaughan … Courtney Alexander of the Republican Governors Association … Brianna Manzelli … David Ramsey of the Herald Group … Jonathan Landman 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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