| | | |  | | By Ali Bianco | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R- S.D.) meets with reporters at the Capitol on June 10, 2025. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP | MEGABILL WOES: The Senate parliamentarian is ruling on key Byrd bath arguments as Republicans wait to see which pieces of the sprawling reconciliation bill fall on the chopping block ahead of planned action in the Senate next week. The details: Slashing funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a no-go in the bill, and so is cutting some Fed employees’ pay, cutting the Treasury’s Office of Financial Research and dissolving the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, POLITICO’s Jasper Goodman reports today. It’s back to the drawing board for Banking Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and other Republicans as they search for $1 billion in cuts, Jasper writes, though it’s a narrow fraction of the overall bill. Other strikeouts: The parliamentarian said the megabill can’t include provisions that would exempt some infrastructure projects from judicial review if they pay a fee for accelerated permitting reviews, nor can it repeal the Biden EPA’s tailpipe emissions rule for model years 2027 and later, POLITICO’s Josh Siegel writes. It also can’t ax a variety of Inflation Reduction Act programs Republicans had targeted for repeal, although they are still permitted to claw back unobligated funds from those initiatives. The provision from Armed Services that punishes the Pentagon for not explaining to Congress how it would use a $150 billion allocation was also shot down, POLITICO’s Connor O’Brien reports. Still to come: The Senate Finance Byrd bath arguments this Sunday. That’s the big one to watch as leadership angles to move forward with the timeline next week ahead of the self-imposed July 4 deadline to deliver the bill to President Donald Trump’s desk. ALL EYES ON THUNE: Senate Majority Leader John Thune is talking nearly daily with Trump to get his “big, beautiful bill” to the floor as soon as Wednesday, POLITICO’s Jordain Carney reports. Thune’s also on a media blitz, hitting the airwaves to pitch Trump’s bill, writes the Washington Examiner’s David Sivak, who notes that Thune has “gone on national TV 29 times” since becoming majority leader and his radio and podcast appearances have also reached double digits. Making an appeal: Senate Democrats are pushing Thune to walk back changes to social safety net programs, Jordain reports. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) penned a letter today to reconsider cuts to health care and food assistance programs. Though the effort amounts to an overture that is all but guaranteed to fail,” Jordain writes, it “highlights how Democrats plan to keep up their attacks on two of the most controversial pieces” of the legislation. THE HOLDOUTS: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is now pushing the GOP to cut language on a controversial Medicaid financing provision that is anathema in the House. “I don’t know why we would pass something that the House can’t pass and will force us into [a] conference,” Hawley said in an interview with Jordain. “Unless you want to be here in August and September still doing this, I think that is a bad, bad plan.” The spending question: Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) are threatening to vote as a bloc to reject the bill and get bigger spending cuts to address the deficit, per The Hill’s Alexander Bolton. Johnson said on Fox Business that he planned to speak with NEC Director Kevin Hassett today. On the other hand: Some Senate Republicans are getting frustrated with the backseat driving from the House side now. “They’re entitled to their opinion. I don’t think it’s influencing our decision in terms of what we’re going to do,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) tells NOTUS’ Daniella Diaz and Helen Huiskes, adding: “They had their chance.” Happy Friday afternoon — and a happy (and humid) summer solstice. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Spot something? Send me your tips at abianco@politico.com. | | | | A message from The Vapor Technology Association: The U.S. vaping industry and the thousands of small businesses it supports were crushed by the Biden Administration, which used broken policies and regulations to keep flavored vapes out of the country and hands of American consumers.
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Learn more at VaporTechnology.org. | | | | | | 7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | 1. IRAN LATEST: Diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict between Israel and Iran are on shaky ground today, as foreign policy chiefs from some of Europe’s top powers met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to search for an off-ramp that could spare U.S. involvement. The talks in Geneva today ended “with no signs of a breakthrough,” per NYT’s Mark Landler. “We are keen to continue ongoing discussions and negotiations with Iran, and we urge Iran to continue their talks with the United States,” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said. Araghchi said “Tehran was not interested in negotiating an end to the war until Israel stopped its attacks,” per NYT. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar dumped cold water on diplomacy, too. What Sa’ar said: “‘All diplomatic efforts until now were not successful,’ Sa’ar said in an interview with the Axel Springer Global Reporters network, of which POLITICO is a member. ‘They usually use these talks in order to deceive, in order to waste time,’” he said, per POLITICO’s Yurii Stasiuk and Paul Ronzheimer. “When asked what Iran must do for a negotiated solution to the conflict, he responded: ‘We are not dealing with negotiations with Iran’ and reiterated Trump’s call for ‘unconditional surrender.’” Hope springs: Still, with Trump setting his trademark “two-week” window for deliberations, some U.S. officials think that “Iran — under constant Israeli attack and having suffered losses to its missile arsenal — will relent on its hardline position and agree to terms it had previously rejected, including abandoning its enrichment of uranium,” CNN’s Kevin Liptak and colleagues report. Mark your calendar: Thune has scheduled the all-senators classified briefing on Israel and Iran for Tuesday, Punchbowl’s Andrew Desiderio reports. The Democratic debate: Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) gave his perspective on where Democrats should be positioning themselves, telling Playbook’s own Dasha Burns that Democrats “can be the party of peace in that region,” on this week’s “The Conversation with Dasha Burns.” “We now need to say that 'Enough. Stop the war.' … We can remove Hamas from Gaza, not through military action, but getting these 23 states … to have a new administration in Palestine that will recognize Israel’s right to exist. And America should play that leadership.” Watch the preview clip 2. VOA ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK: The U.S. Agency for Global Media launched a mass layoff today of hundreds of Voice of America and USAGM staff, VOA’s White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara wrote on X. The staff cuts include Persian reporters that were called back to VOA last week to cover the unfolding crisis between Iran and Israel. “It spells the death of 83 years of independent journalism that upholds U.S. ideals of democracy and freedom around the world,” Widakuswara said. More from POLITICO’s Ben Johansen 3. SCOTUS WATCH: Another decision day at the court. The justices sided unanimously with a 2019 law created by Congress that allows Americans killed or wounded in terrorist attacks in the Middle East to go forward with lawsuits against the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority under the Anti-Terrorism Act, AP’s Mark Sherman reports. It was a three-box day, but with 10 decisions left we’re still waiting for those all-important verdicts on Trump’s birthright citizenship order and national injunctions. Next week could be a big one. 4. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: A bipartisan group of senators is heading to the NATO summit next week at The Hague, where they’ll meet with European leaders including NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Punchbowl’s Andrew Desiderio reports. The delegation consists of Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.). Though more senators generally travel for the summit, “given the uncertainty about timing for floor action on reconciliation, senators who would’ve otherwise joined are staying back in Washington. The summit is taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday.”
| | | | Did you know Playbook goes beyond the newsletter—with powerhouse new co-hosts at the mic? Tune in to The Playbook Podcast every weekday for exclusive intel and sharp analysis on Trump’s Washington, straight from Jack Blanchard and Dasha Burns. Start listening now. | | | | | 5. LIVE FROM NEW YORK: Andrew Cuomo, who’s still leading the polls in NYC’s Democratic mayoral primary ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, clinched a key endorsement today from Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), whose backing could help Cuomo turn out Black voters, NYT’s Emma Fitzsimmons reports. Clyburn has a history of jumping in to back candidates who could beat out Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) more left-leaning picks. Zohran Mamdani — Sanders’ endorsed candidate — is not faring so well with Black voters. Despite throwing his support behind candidate Adrienne Adams, the first Black woman to lead the NYC City Council, Mamdani’s not getting much-needed backup, NYT’s Jeffrery Mays writes. Smart read: Some of our ace POLITICO colleagues in New York have a roundtable on the race out today that’s worth your time. They handicapped the odds that voters will prefer youth over experience. Why New Yorkers seem to discount Cuomo’s well-documented misdeeds and notoriously aggressive style. How much of a role the crisis in the Middle East and allegations of antisemitism are playing, and even whether a heat wave predicted for Tuesday is going to put a damper on turnout of a crucial demographic. 6. CRAVING A CUT: A top official at the Federal Reserve is joining Trump’s calls for the Fed to cut interest rates, saying the cuts should come down as soon as July, per CNBC’s Jeff Cox. Christopher Waller, a member of the Fed’s Board of Governors, isn’t calling for the same massive rate clamp down as Trump. He said the central bank should “start slow,” but look beyond the potential “one-off” effect of Trump’s tariffs. “We’ve been on pause for six months, thinking that there was going to be a big tariff shock to inflation. We haven’t seen it,” Waller said. Notable context: “Powell’s term as chair expires in May 2026, and Waller is considered a contender for the job,” Cox notes. 7. IMMIGRATION FILES: Trump’s facing pushback from his own party on deportations, with Republicans from California, Texas and Florida publicly calling for the administration to focus on deporting criminals instead of migrants who have been in the country for a while, WSJ’s Molly Ball reports. But with the growing arrest numbers, ICE is reopening a Florida facility that was cut loose under the Biden administration because of serious concerns that it didn’t meet detention standards and didn’t have proper medical care, CNN’s Randi Kaye and David von Blohn write. “It is unfit to be anything even close to use for immigration detention,” an immigration lawyer told CNN. Going to California: VP JD Vance is visiting Los Angeles today, where he will “tour a multi-agency Federal Joint Operations Center, a Federal Mobile Command Center, meet with leadership and Marines, and deliver brief remarks,” according to a readout of the planned trip, POLITICO’s Gigi Ewing writes. And LA Times’ Brittny Mejia and Rachel Uranga report how ICE is raiding an immigrant refuge in Hollywood: the local Home Depot. A push for oversight: As DHS puts the brakes on visits to ICE facilities, nine Democrats from New York’s congressional delegation are demanding answers on conditions at ICE’s NYC field office, where it’s gotten so overcrowded that immigrants are sleeping on the floor, NYT’s Luis Ferré-Sadurní reports. The Democrats sent a letter today to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem requesting to visit the 10th floor office, arguing a denial of the request would violate federal law.
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Learn more at VaporTechnology.org. | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | IN MEMORIAM — “William Cran, ‘Frontline’ Documentarian, Is Dead at 79,” by NYT’s Clay Risen: “William Cran, an Emmy-winning master of the television documentary whose expansive body of work, primarily for the BBC and the PBS program “Frontline,” delved into complex subjects like the history of the English language and the private life of the F.B.I. director J. Edgar Hoover, died on June 4 in London. He was 79. His wife, Vicki Barker-Cran, said cause was complications of Parkinson’s disease.” PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION: “Seeking Jobs and Purpose, Fired Federal Workers Form New Networks,” by the NYT’s Eileen Sullivan: “The groups that have emerged in response are large and small, impromptu and more formal. They meet for happy hours in the Washington area, gather virtually and stay connected through messaging apps. For the most part, those involved said, the focus has been on helping people with similar expertise or experience navigate their next chapter in the private sector or elsewhere. … Not only are people losing their careers, experts said, they are losing a sense of self.” OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at a rooftop party in honor of Sam Tanenhaus’ new biography of William F. Buckley, Jr., “Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America” ($29.05) hosted by Matthew Sitman and Katy Roberts last night: Beverly Gage, David Klion, Pamela Paul, Jennifer Szalai, Kathy Bonomi, Ian Ward, David Oshinsky, Alex Star, Randy Boyagoda, Max Boot and Sue Mi Terry, Andrew Marantz, Samuel Adler-Bell, Jennifer Schuessler, Barry Gewen, David Margolick, Nina Burleigh, Jacob Heilbrunn, John Ganz and John Williams. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — The Treasury Department is bringing on a slate of new appointments to senior positions: Tyler Badgley will serve as deputy general counsel, Francis Brooke will serve as counselor to the secretary and has been nominated as assistant secretary for International Trade and Development, Donald Korb has been nominated to serve as chief counsel of the IRS, Rachel Miller will serve as executive secretary and Christopher Pilkerton will serve as acting general counsel and has been nominated as assistant secretary for Investment Security. WHITE HOUSE ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Eric Wallerstein is now a special adviser to the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. He most recently was chief markets strategist at Yardeni Research and is a WSJ and Federal Reserve Bank of New York alum. TRANSITIONS — Mark Matava is now comms director for Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa). He most recently was press secretary for Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah). … Tristeza Ordex is joining VoteVets as digital organizer. She currently is owner and principal of Fuerza Strategies. 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. Correction: Tuesday’s Playbook PM misspelled Cedar Attanasio’s name.
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