| | | |  | | By Bethany Irvine and Rachel Umansky-Castro | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | BREAKING: “Acting FEMA chief out after short, troubled tenure,” by POLITICO’s Daniel Lippman and E&E News’ Thomas Frank: “The acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency resigned, sources confirmed Monday afternoon — just a few hours after the FEMA leader denied reports in an interview with POLITICO’s E&E News. A DHS spokesperson issued a statement thanking David Richardson ‘for his dedicated service’ and wishing him ‘continued success in his return to the private sector.’”
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National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett this morning rejected the idea that the White House is inaccurately arguing that prices are going down. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images | ON THE MONEY: Though President Donald Trump continues to insist that the country’s economic woes don’t fall at his administration’s feet, the cost-of-living issue keeps showing up in polling among American voters’ top concerns. Survey says: Growing worries about daily household costs and inflation are unifying issues across various types of communities in the U.S., according to a new survey from the American Communities Project and Ipsos, per the AP. The polling “offers a nuanced look at local concerns by breaking the nation’s counties into community types, using data points like race, income, age and religious affiliation. The survey evaluated moods and priorities across the 15 different community types, such as heavily Hispanic areas, big cities and different kinds of rural communities.” A majority of each group surveyed cited inflation and rising costs as a major issue facing their communities. About 6 in 10 rural voters said they are “optimistic” about the country’s future despite sharing economic woes — up from 43 percent last year. “By contrast, the share of big-city residents who say they are hopeful about the nation’s future has shrunk, from 55% last year to 45%.” The pileup: Past due utility balances jumped 9.7 percent annually, according to a separate analysis from the liberal think tank The Century Foundation, a reality that “overlaps with a 12% jump in monthly energy bills during the same period,” AP’s Josh Boak reports. “Troubles paying electricity and natural gas bills reflect an economic quandary as Trump promotes the artificial intelligence industry as a key part of the economic boom he’s promised.” And the administration is pushing back on the narrative. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett this morning rejected the idea that the White House is inaccurately arguing that prices are going down after CNBC’s “Squawk Box” host Joe Kernen pressed him to “admit” that the White House’s claims were misleading. “Purchasing power has gone up … by about $1,200 this year,” Hassett said. “It's just kind of astonishing to me that the cost problem is somehow being blamed on us.” Meanwhile, Trump is expected to deliver a speech tonight at the Impact Summit hosted by McDonald's to ramp up the White House’s messaging on affordability as the administration looks to find ways to address voters’ economic concerns. Trump is expected to highlight the administration’s work to boost small businesses and create jobs. “The Biden administration started the affordability crisis, but President Trump will end it so all Americans can achieve economic prosperity,” a White House official told Axios. Democratic speakers at the summit tonight include New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) and Rahm Emanuel. Good Monday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at birvine@politico.com and rumansky-castro@politico.com.
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Trump’s sudden reversal on the House vote to release the Epstein files was a particularly poignant victory for Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) following months of sparring between the Kentucky lawmaker and the White House,. | Win McNamee/Getty Images | 1. THE EPSTEIN SAGA: Trump’s sudden reversal on the House vote to release the Epstein files was a particularly poignant victory for Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) following months of sparring between the Kentucky lawmaker and the White House, POLITICO's Meredith Lee Hill reports. “He got tired of me winning,” Massie said of Trump’s U-turn in an interview with Meredith. How it happened: The White House’s scramble to save face ahead of tomorrow’s vote reportedly comes after “senior White House officials labored to convince rank-and-file Republicans to keep their names off Massie’s discharge effort” for months, Meredith reports. That push “included warnings that any effort to support an Epstein vote would be viewed as a direct and personal move against the president.” Interesting nugget: Speaker Mike Johnson “tried calling one of the three GOP women who had signed on to Massie’s discharge petition. The member looked down at her phone and let the call go to voicemail,” sources tell Meredith. Over the last week, it became “increasingly clear” to GOP leaders that they had lost the battle on the vote. In the Senate: Majority Leader John Thune said he’s “considering options” on how to handle a vote on the House’s effort to release the Epstein files in light of Trump’s position — though he is waiting for final passage tomorrow to announce his next move, per CNN. 2. ANYBODY HAVE A MAP? Trump is set to follow through on his recent threats to move against Indiana Republicans who opposed his redistricting effort in the state, with the president planning to issue a “retributive endorsement” as soon as today targeting GOP state Sen. Jim Buck, Playbook’s Adam Wren reports. A person familiar with Trump’s thinking says the president is planning to endorse Tipton County Commissioner Tracey Powell in the GOP primary. The expected endorsement comes after the president doubled down on his threats on Truth Social this morning, stating that he “will be strongly endorsing against any State Senator or House member from the Great State of Indiana that votes against the Republican Party, and our Nation, by not allowing for Redistricting for Congressional seats in the United States House of Representatives as every other State in our Nation is doing, Republican or Democrat.” Heeding the call: Indiana Gov. Mike Braun posted on X today that he had a “great call” with Trump amid the redistricting scuttle and said he remains “committed to standing with him on the critical issue of passing fair maps in Indiana to ensure the MAGA agenda is successful in Congress.” 3. INVESTIGATION STATION: A federal magistrate judge ruled that “government misconduct” — including mistakes made by lead prosecutor Lindsey Halligan — may have undermined and now imperiled DOJ’s criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey, POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein report. In a 24-page opinion, Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick argued Halligan appeared to have made two “fundamental misstatements of the law” when indicting Comey, including an improper characterization of the government's burden of proof and improper suggestions to the grand jury about the DOJ’s evidence. “The record points to a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps, missteps that led an FBI agent and a prosecutor to potentially undermine the integrity of the grand jury proceeding,” Fitzpatrick wrote. The magistrate also ordered prosecutors to turn over their records of the grand jury proceedings to Comey’s defense attorneys. What it means: “The magistrate judge’s assessment adds to the mounting possibility that Comey’s case will be dismissed before it goes to trial. In addition to the procedural flaws Fitzpatrick said appeared to occur, Halligan is facing a challenge to the validity of her appointment altogether and could be disqualified from the case,” Kyle and Josh write. Meanwhile, Trump doubled down on his calls for more formal investigations into his political enemies today in a slew of Truth Social posts. This morning, Trump reposted a Truth that featured photos of several former officials, including former FBI Director Chris Wray, captioned with the words “Obama HOAX Treason Club.” Trump also shared two other Truth Social posts calling for a DOJ investigation into Wray. 4. SCOTUS WATCH: “Supreme Court to rule on practice of halting asylum seekers,” by Josh Gerstein: “The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether federal law allows immigration officials to turn away foreigners who present themselves at a border crossing and request asylum in the U.S. … In a routine order list Monday, the high court said it will consider a policy known as ‘metering’ that began on a trial basis under the Obama administration in 2016. … It aimed to control the number of asylum seekers arriving at U.S.-Mexico border crossings by having U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers block some applicants on the Mexican side of the border.”
| | | | 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. | | | | | 5. 2028 WATCH: Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) recent scuffle with Tucker Carlson could signal his hopes to launch a presidential bid in 2028 and set him on a possible “collision course” with VP JD Vance, Axios’ Alex Isenstadt reports. Cruz has lambasted Carlson for engaging in antisemitism for his recent podcast interview Nick Fuentes, and top Republicans say Cruz is “endearing himself to powerful pro-Israel donors” who are “deeply angered” by the interview. Though the Texas Republican has taken to the speaker’s circuit and is expected to host a donor retreat next year, Cruz will still “need to reckon with a Republican primary electorate that has largely abandoned its George W. Bush-era support for an interventionist foreign policy.” 6. BIG DOJ READ: “The Unraveling of the Justice Department,” by NYT’s Emily Bazelon and Rachel Poser: “Justice Department norms dictate that career attorneys, who are generally nonpartisan public servants, rarely speak to the press. And the Trump administration’s attempts to crack down on leaks have made all federal employees fearful of sharing information. But the exodus of lawyers has created an opportunity to understand what’s happening within the agency. We interviewed more than 60 attorneys who recently resigned or were fired from the Justice Department. Much of what they told us is reported here for the first time. “Beginning with Trump’s first day in office, the lawyers narrated the events that most alarmed them over the next 10 months. They described being asked to drop cases for political reasons, to find evidence for flimsy investigations and to take positions in court they thought had no legitimate basis. They also talked about the work they and their colleagues were told to abandon — investigations of terrorist plots, corruption and white-collar fraud.” A spokesperson for DOJ called the report a “useless collection of recycled, debunked hearsay from disgruntled former employees” and a White House spokesperson deemed it “pathetic complaints lodged by anti-Trump government workers.”
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| | | | 7. STEEL STANDING: EU officials are warning Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick against expanding the list of European products hit with steep metals tariffs, arguing the move would undermine the trade deal struck this summer, Bloomberg’s Alberto Nardelli and Jorge Valero report. The EU’s trade chief and trade ministers from the 27 member states are prepared to raise their concern with Lutnick when they all meet in Brussels on Nov. 24. “The EU is particularly concerned that the breadth of goods hit by the 50% metals rate — currently surpassing 400 items — as well as potential new, higher levies on different industries will dilute the EU-US trade deal and the agreed 15% tariff ceiling.” 8. TOP TALKER: “Kash Patel’s girlfriend being protected by FBI's SWAT team as security perk,” by MS NOW’s Ken Dilanian and Carol Leonnig: “Alexis Wilkins, Patel’s girlfriend, has a security detail made up of elite FBI agents usually assigned to a SWAT team in the FBI field office in Nashville, where Wilkins spends time for her work. She and Patel first met in Nashville and while they travel together at times, they do not share a residence. Patel often travels to Washington for work but keeps a legal residence in Las Vegas. “People familiar with FBI security protocols said they were unaware of any instance in which the girlfriends of top FBI officials received government-staffed security details. … SWAT team agents on a detail with Wilkins would presumably be unable to respond or delayed in responding to crises that might develop in their territory, such as mass shootings or terror attacks, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters. An FBI spokesman did not respond to MS NOW requests for comment.”
| | | | Sponsored Survey WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU: Please take a 1-minute survey about one of our advertising partners. | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | MAGA WARS — Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts’ decision to defend Tucker Carlson’s interview with Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes is still reverberating across the conservative think tank. “In a post to Facebook, board member Robert P. George said he can no longer remain part of the foundation without a ‘full retraction’ of the video released last month” by Roberts, per POLITICO’s Cheyanne Daniels. “Although Kevin publicly apologized for some of what he said in the video, he could not offer a full retraction of its content. So, we reached an impasse,” George said. FOR YOUR HOLIDAY WISH LISTS — America250.org and the White House Historical Association unveiled their limited-edition ornament celebrating America’s semiquincentennial today, per the AP. The hand-crafted keepsake features a print of the Declaration of Independence on one side, while the “other side shows American flags waving atop the White House and the America250 logo with the years 1776-2026 on a red ribbon. The ornament is trimmed in 24-karat gold.” AND THE AWARD GOES TO — The Poynter Institute hosted its annual Bowtie Ball Saturday night, where CBS’ Jane Pauley was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award and NYT’s Dean Baquet and Doonesbury creator G.B. “Garry" Trudeau each received Distinguished Service to Journalism Awards. MEDIA MOVE — Kevin Grant is the new executive director of The Allbritton Journalism Institute. He was previously the director of development at NOTUS. TRANSITIONS — Sara McLean is now a regulatory and health care & life sciences partner at Akin. She previously worked at the DOJ. … Don Nelson is now SVP for external affairs at InnovAge. He previously worked at Magellan Health. ENGAGED — Matt Vuono, a senior manager at Narrative Strategies and an FGS Global alum, and Emma Horsey, an events and sponsorship specialist at IP law firm Fish & Richardson, got engaged on Saturday at the Georgetown Waterfront. The couple met through a mutual friend, and their first date at Kramers Bookstore in Dupont Circle inspired the name of their dog, Kramer. Pic, via Stefan A. Photography … 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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