| | | |  | | By Jack Blanchard with Dasha Burns | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco, Irie Sentner and Makayla Gray On today’s Playbook Podcast: Jack and Dasha discuss last night’s gripping Democratic primaries in Illinois, and look ahead to a fascinating pair of hearings on Capitol Hill today.
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| Good Wednesday morning. This is Jack Blanchard. Drop me a line! ABOUT LAST NIGHT
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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker celebrates Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton's Senate primary win on Tuesday night in Chicago. | Scott Olson/Getty Images | EVERYTHING’S COMING UP PRITZKER: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker had a triumphant primary night as his top pick in a hotly contested Senate race cruised to victory. Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton is now on course to be Illinois’ next senator after besting Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi by nearly 7 points in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Dick Durbin. Rep. Robin Kelly pulled up third. Assuming she wins in November, Stratton will become only the sixth Black woman to have ever served in the chamber. More from POLITICO’s Shia Kapos in Chicago Stratton’s triumph is a particular victory for Pritzker and Sen. Tammy Duckworth, with the billionaire governor — testing his power ahead of an expected 2028 presidential bid — providing his progressive ally with big money to boost her past crypto-backed Krishnamoorthi and Congressional Black Caucus favorite Kelly. (Crucial election night detail: A drink of water cost $12.85 at Krishnamoorthi’s watch party. That’s worse than some stadium prices.) “This is an early window into Pritzker’s institutional support, and we’ll see in the coming months if it extends beyond Illinois,” Democratic campaign consultant Kevin Walling told Playbook’s Dasha Burns. And Dem campaign veteran Adrienne Elrod told us: “As proven tonight, the Pritzker machine cannot and should not be underestimated.” The House races: In the 2nd District, AIPAC-backed Donna Miller beat former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who was attempting a comeback backed by cash from OpenAI’s affiliated PAC. In the 7th, state Rep. La Shawn Ford was aided by retiring Rep. Danny Davis’ support as he secured a narrow victory over Melissa Conyears-Ervin, despite AIPAC and crypto spending against him. But it was a different story in the 8th, where moderate former Rep. Melissa Bean deployed support from AIPAC and the AI industry to pull off a comeback win over multiple progressives, Junaid Ahmed chief among them, per Shia. In perhaps the most closely watched House primary, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss pulled out a tight 9th District win over 26-year-old social media star Kat Abughazaleh — despite a strong showing from the political newcomer — and state Sen. Laura Fine, per Shia. AIPAC had spent big to try to take Biss down, but he declared last night that his district “understands nuance” on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Enough about AIPAC. May tonight be the last time I utter their name,” Biss said. “This victory belongs to J Street.” The final endorsement scorecards: AIPAC and AI — which collectively dominated super PAC spending — had a mixed night, winning roughly as much as they lost in the big races, as did Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). AIPAC is now facing fresh recriminations from its foes — and some allies, POLITICO’s Lisa Kashinsky and Elena Schneider report. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Justice Democrats fared poorly, as did the crypto PACs. Duckworth did very well. But it was Pritzker who emerged as the “King of Illinois,” Shia, Aaron Pellish and Brakkton Booker write in their must-read wrap of primary night. In today’s Playbook … — Longtime skeptics Tulsi Gabbard and VP JD Vance take center stage on the Iran war. — Jerome Powell gets ready for his penultimate interest rates meeting as Fed chair. — And Elizabeth Warren raises eyebrows with an unexpected endorsement, Adam scoops.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | WALKING THE LINE: President Donald Trump will oversee the dignified transfer of more fallen U.S. service personnel in Delaware today while two members of his Cabinet hold center stage on Iran. DNI Tulsi Gabbard and VP JD Vance each built their political careers in part on their anti-war views. Now both find themselves forced to defend yet another high-risk, high-cost military incursion in the Middle East. We’ll hear from Gabbard first, at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing at 10 a.m. It’s the first time she’s spoken in public since the war began, and should be quite a moment. Dems will presumably dredge up her many past statements on overseas conflict, such as this memorable tweet urging Americans to “Stand with me against Trump’s Iran War!” (The “No War With Iran” T-shirts she sold via her 2020 presidential campaign are also notable.) But it’s not just the historic stuff. Don’t forget that only last year, before this very committee, Gabbard assured members that the intelligence community had assessed “Iran is not building a nuclear weapon.” Yet a few months later she was slapped down by Trump as American bombs were dropped on Fordo. That’s also likely to require some explanation. And then there’s yesterday. The dramatic resignation of her ally and counter-terrorism chief Joe Kent — on a fierce anti-interventionist stance — makes things even trickier for Gabbard. Both had long been sidelined from key discussions over Iran, my Inside Congress colleagues note, but his departure leaves her looking even more isolated — and raises questions about her own future. Kent, meanwhile, will appear on Tucker Carlson’s podcast this afternoon, WaPo reports — a skeptical insider now unshackled from the responsibilities of government. Definitely still shackled: Gabbard gave us a sneak preview of her official position in a designed-to-be-bland X post yesterday, her first public utterance on the war since bombing began 19 days ago. Essentially, she said, it was the president’s call to make, with her role merely to assess and present him with the necessary intelligence. Can she repeat that line over and over for two or three straight hours this morning? And Trump will be watching. Remember — it was only two weeks ago that an ill-judged response before a Senate committee spelled curtains for another Cabinet member, Kristi Noem. Gabbard will be painfully aware that the stakes are high.
| | | | A message from BlackRock: As infrastructure investment grows, so does the need for skilled trades. BlackRock's Future Builders initiative will expand economic opportunity and power the next generation of America's skilled trades workers. Meet Pete and Elijah, a father and son carrying on the craft of American welding. Watch their story. | | | | Sidebar: Keep a close eye too on testimony from CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who’s been in the room and at Trump’s side throughout the war, and whose assessment on the current threat posed by Iran — not to mention the prospect of regime change — will be worth hearing. And we’ll hear from FBI Director Kash Patel on the homeland security threat, with Dems likely to ask him about this CNN reporting that he fired the bureau’s top Iran monitoring team shortly before the war broke out. Patel’s taxpayer-funded trip to the Winter Olympics — beer-chugging and all — may also come up. Then at noon attention switches to Michigan, where Vance is again hitting the midterm campaign trail. (Fascinatingly, per WaPo’s John Hudson, it was Vance from whom Gabbard and Kent sought counsel when Kent decided to quit at the start of the week.) Unlike Gabbard, the VP has already spoken in public on multiple occasions since the war broke out. Yet his personal views on attacking Iran remain hard to pin down. In his first interview, a six-minute softball with Jesse Watters on Fox News on March 2, the VP channeled every answer through the prism of Trump. Vance explained “the president’s view” and “the president’s objective,” and told us how “[the president] made the decision.” Vance’s aides say this is precisely the VP’s job, to act as a presidential surrogate — but helpfully, it meant Vance never had to tell us what he personally thought. More of the same: Vance’s speech and press gaggle in North Carolina last Friday were no more enlightening, nor was his appearance alongside Trump in the Oval Office on Monday. Vance heaped praise on the president’s leadership and said he agreed Iran should never be allowed a nuclear weapon. But his personal view on the war itself and how it develops, he told reporters, is a confidential matter for Trump and his inner circle of advisers. Could that stance leave Vance space to put some distance between himself and this conflict in 2028? We can only speculate. Now let's change the subject! Vance’s main mission today will be to refocus the public’s minds on the economy, with a source familiar saying the VP will use his speech at a Michigan manufacturing plant to discuss “the administration’s successes in lowering prices, growing paychecks, and cutting taxes for working families, and highlighting the administration’s achievements in supporting our manufacturers, including the automotive industry.” Question: Will he talk about gas prices too? They hit $3.86 a gallon in Michigan today, per AAA, up from about $2.91 a month ago. Diesel prices in the state have climbed even faster, hitting $4.90 a gallon — up almost one-third from $3.70 a month ago. And the knock-on effect of higher diesel on inflation could be significant, if this continues. Speaking of inflation: We’ll likely hear a somewhat more downbeat assessment of the U.S. economy from Fed Chair Jerome Powell this afternoon, when he holds his usual 2:30 p.m. news conference following the Fed’s latest interest rates meeting. Powell is widely expected to hold rates steady — but the presser should still be worth watching for his broader take on the wartime economy. And given this is Powell’s penultimate meeting before he steps down as chair, he may feel even less inhibited than usual to speak his mind. WHAT KEVIN WARSH IS WORRYING ABOUT: “Fog of war clouds global rate cut outlook,” by POLITICO’s Victoria Guida and colleagues. “Trump is demanding that the Federal Reserve immediately lower borrowing costs. But the war in the Middle East has now made any interest rate cuts much less likely in 2026 — not just in the U.S. but around the world. With oil prices surging past $100 a barrel and Gulf shipping routes disrupted by the Iran war, governments and investors are bracing for a repeat of the 2022 energy shock.” FURTHER WAR READING: “Trump presses allies for Hormuz pledges, but not specifics,” by POLITICO’s Felicia Schwartz and Eli Stokols … “Trump’s Next Decision: Whether to Retrieve Iran’s Nuclear Fuel, Whatever the Risk,” by NYT’s David Sanger …“Pentagon says lethal boat strikes are ‘just the beginning’ in South, Central America,” by POLITICO’s Leo Shane III
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BlackRock's $100 million Future Builders initiative expands opportunity, trains 50,000 tradespeople, and supports America's growing infrastructure workforce needs. Learn more. | | | | MULLIN’ MULLIN TODAY’S OTHER BIG HEARING: How much difference would a Secretary Markwayne Mullin actually bring to DHS after the messy departure of Kristi Noem? That will be the central question debated by Democrats and Republicans as the Oklahoma GOP senator, a strong backer of Trump’s immigration crackdown, appears for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee at 9:30 a.m. The panel will vote tomorrow. What to watch: Mullin’s confirmation is not really in doubt — the likes of Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) have indicated they’re on board. But he’d inherit a department that’s shut down and in crisis. So you can expect Republicans to ask him about how he’ll restore calm to the agency and get FEMA money out the door, while Democrats will press hard on whether he’ll implement reforms to controversial immigration enforcement, POLITICO’s Eric Bazail-Eimil and Ali Bianco preview. Prepared opening remarks from ranking member Gary Peters (D-Mich.) cite “reservations about [Mullin’s] readiness,” but mostly go after Noem and administration policies. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) warned that his meeting with Mullin “left me with a very clear impression that he has failed to realize … how absolutely necessary change is in that agency.” But Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) says Democrats are mostly just posturing. “If you asked my Democrat colleagues privately, ‘Hey, would you support and vote for Mullin?’ he’d get 80 votes,” he told Ali. “If you ask them on social media or what they’ll actually do, he probably gets one out of 47. That’s sad.” The shutdown showdown: The backdrop to Mullin’s hearing is Washington’s stubborn standoff over ICE, which still looks far from resolved. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats will launch a long-shot discharge petition bid at noon to fund the non-immigration-enforcement parts of DHS. The White House’s latest offer has moderated its position a little, but made only small concessions to Dems on issues like body cameras, per POLITICO’s Myah Ward and Jordain Carney. TRAIL MIX RACE OF THE DAY: Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow won the backing of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a somewhat counterintuitive endorsement from the progressive senator, Playbook’s Adam Wren reports. McMorrow opposes Medicare for All, while her primary rival Abdul El-Sayed supports it. Warren’s backing means McMorrow has now secured endorsements from four senators, including Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), showing the breadth of the ideological coalition she’s building. Warren first built a relationship with McMorrow in 2018 when she flipped her seat. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: A new Kentucky Senate GOP primary poll from the Rep. Andy Barr-aligned Keep America Great PAC shows Barr 2 points behind Daniel Cameron, the former state AG, 29 percent to 31 percent, Adam reports. Nate Morris, the Charlie Kirk- and Elon Musk-endorsed businessman, is at 13 percent. Musk backed Morris with $10 million. But a Morris-aligned super PAC had only started going negative on Barr, and ad data shows he’s about to face nearly $3 million in PAC money. The memo HOTEL CALIFORNIA: San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan jumped into the California governor’s race with a bang. But the moderate Democrat’s deep-pocketed campaign doesn’t seem to have gotten anywhere yet: He’s still languishing at 3 percent, POLITICO polling shows, per Dustin Gardiner. RACE FOR THE SENATE: Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Texas AG Ken Paxton will both officially be on the runoff ballot, as neither dropped out by yesterday’s deadline, per The Texas Tribune. … The Senate Dem-aligned group Majority Forward kicked off a six-figure ad spend tying Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) to high prices, per Axios’ Hans Nichols. … Army veteran Noah Taylor launched a long-shot Democratic Senate bid in Kansas, citing his experience serving in Afghanistan, per the Topeka Capital-Journal’s Stacey Saldanha-Olson. BEST OF THE REST COMPETING PRIORITIES: The Senate’s SAVE America Act debate over proof-of-citizenship and photo ID requirements for voting has begun. Nobody knows how long it will go — or how many other bills, like Congress’ big housing affordability legislation, might suffer in the meantime. “Spending more than a week of floor time on a bill that is all but guaranteed to fail isn’t typically how the Senate operates,” POLITICO’s Jordain Carney drily observes this morning. But intense GOP debates over how far to go — including Trump’s latest threats to withhold endorsements from any Republican who votes no — have divided the party. (You can count the WSJ editorial board among the skeptics.) And Democrats are in lockstep opposition. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will lead a rally against the bill at 11 a.m. Meanwhile, the housing bill — a rare opportunity for Trump to enshrine some policy ideas to help bring down prices for Americans — is getting scant public attention from the president, POLITICO’s Megan Messerly and Alex Gangitano report. He’s all in on the voting restrictions instead. And Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), who’s been tightly aligned with Trump on the SAVE America Act, will today introduce a substitute amendment to add the president’s latest demands, including limits on mail voting and on gender transition-related surgeries for minors. He’ll hold a presser at 12:15 p.m. Read it here
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BlackRock survey shows broad support for expanded retirement investment access. Click to learn more. | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | STRICTLY BALLROOM — The White House’s big ballroom plan received some tough scrutiny yesterday from a federal judge, who questioned Trump administration lawyers about why it’s legal for the project to proceed without Congress’ approval, WaPo’s Dan Diamond and Jonathan Edwards report. The judge said DOJ had been “shifting” its legal claims in the case. MONEY CAN’T BUY YOU CLASS — But several of the “Real Housewives” will argue that it should buy greater access to HIV prevention and treatment when the Bravo reality stars descend on the Hill today for a day of bipartisan advocacy organized by telehealth platform MISTR. Yes, you can expect to see Nene Leakes, Phaedra Parks, Candiace Dillard Bassett, Erika Jayne, Luann de Lesseps, Melissa Gorga and Marysol Patton in the halls of Congress. Last night, MISTR CEO Tristan Schukraft and Hart Health Strategies hosted a dinner gathering with six of the Housewives in the Founders Room at The Ned. SPOTTED: Roger Dawley, Steve Clemons, Chris Bassett, Jordan Alexander, Vicki Hart, Joe Gorga, Jirair Ratevosian, Charles Moran, Brian Rosman, Cal Neikirk and Steven Russell — also in the room looking on were Richard Grenell, Erica Vinish and Juleanna Glover. THE VIBE SHIFT — “Is MAGA in its cringe era?” by WaPo’s Kara Voght: “A little over a year ago, a new class of Trump supporters arrived in Washington to celebrate the dawn of the president’s second term. They were fashion-conscious, politically incorrect and ready to party. They were heralds of a youthful MAGA coalition that was supposed to be more fun than the young fogies of the old right and the uptight killjoys of the contemporary left. … How about now? ‘We were cool for 2½ minutes — that time has passed,’ says Arynne Wexler, 32, a commentator and comedian who had been among those announcing the vibe shift last year.” ANNALS OF INFLUENCE — Brody Mullins and Lisa Camooso Miller have launched “The Deciders,” a new show focused on how Washington advocacy and lobbying are changing in the Trump era. Their first guest is top Trump-aligned lobbyist Brian Ballard. Watch it here OUT AND ABOUT — Edison Electric Institute hosted its spring board of directors and chief executives meeting yesterday, with Energy Secretary Chris Wright speaking last night. SPOTTED: Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), Peter Lake, SEC Chair Paul Atkins, James Danly and FERC Commissioner Lindsay See. — The Carbon Removal Alliance hosted a dinner at Little Pearl on the eve of its annual member fly-in on the Hill. SPOTTED: Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Colo.), Giana Amador, Colleene Thomas, Andrew Fishbein, Christian Theuer, Dana Jacobs, James Lawler, James Burbridge, Chris Bowman, Conor Duggan, Luke Rondel and Rebekah Sprengel. TRANSITIONS — William O’Grady is now comms director for Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Fla.). He previously worked for Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.). … Focal Point Strategy Group has added Lizzy Price as VP and Emily Hoyle as senior associate. Price is an Accountable.US, For Our Future and American Bridge 21st Century alum. Hoyle also previously worked at Accountable.US. … … Dani Marx is now senior director of media relations at the Edison Electric Institute. She previously worked at Precision Strategies. … Matt Krack is now comms director for Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.). He previously worked for Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.). HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.) (favorite birthday treat: chocolate crackle cookies, key lime pie or cheesecake) … former USTR Katherine Tai … Reince Priebus … CNN’s Zachary Cohen … Henry Rodgers … Stephanie Schriock … Andrew McCabe … Terri McCullough … Gary Coby … Will Ragland … POLITICO’s Nick Niedzwiadek and Alix Lockett … David Mark … National Media’s Will Feltus … Katie Denis … Joe Dougherty of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies … Marcus Garza … Fox News’ Jessica Curry … Karrah Kaplan … Katie Hadji of Sen. Bill Cassidy’s (R-La.) office … Chris Harris of Giffords … Jeffrey Surrell of Shot Point Strategies … Liz Gorman … Calvin Moore … Ashlee (Reid) Morehouse … Axios’ Kate Hunter … Winnie Stachelberg … Karen Knutson of MIT … Brad Fitch … Neal McDonald of FlexPoint Media … Errin Haines of The 19th … former Rep. Mike Bishop (R-Mich.) … Laura Cunliffe … Spencer Thibodeau … Feld Entertainment’s Haylie Reichner … Versant Media’s Tucker Wilson … Matt Schuck … Mark Vane of HB Strategies … Kiki Kalkstein … Jim Mazzarella … Marc Adelman 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 Giuseppe Macri and deputy editor Garrett Ross.
| | | | A message from BlackRock: The US faces a generational infrastructure moment. Roughly $10 trillion will be needed by 2033 to build AI-driven infrastructure and modernize traditional assets such as roads, railways and ports. Infrastructure is not just about physical capital: it also requires human capital. Demand for skilled trades like electricians, HVAC technicians and plumbers is projected to grow faster than the national average, creating hundreds of thousands of new roles. Building infrastructure can create pathways to financially secure careers, particularly for people who do not pursue a four-year college degree.
Skilled trades typically pay above-average wages, with electricians, plumbers and ironworkers earning materially more than the median US worker. As infrastructure investment grows, so does the need for skilled trades. BlackRock's Future Builders initiative will expand economic opportunity and power the next generation of America's skilled trades workers. Learn more. | | | | | | | | Follow us on X | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Canada Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | |
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