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By Ali Bianco |
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With help from Eli Okun, Irie Sentner and Makayla Gray Good Sunday afternoon — and happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. This is Ali Bianco with your Sunday read. Send me your thoughts.
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DRIVING THE DAY |
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Upward of 19 members of the Congressional Black Caucus are at risk of losing their seats. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP |
The Congressional Black Caucus is facing an existential crisis. As red states rush to ax majority-minority districts across the South, the ascendancy of one of the premier power centers in the House Democratic Caucus is at stake. The coalition was primed for one of its biggest electoral years yet. The caucus has a record 62 members. They’re playing in major primary battles. They represent a loyal base of Black voters that has long been a backbone of the party. And they have a shot at elevating the first Black speaker of the House. Now the CBC is bracing for new maps across the South that threaten to draw members out of their districts after the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling earlier this month all but erased protections from the Voting Rights Act. The Virginia Supreme Court’s ruling nullifying the voter referendum on the state’s new Dem-leaning map only added to the blows. Upward of 19 members of the caucus — about one third of its ranks — are at risk of losing their seats. A worst-case scenario could look like the complete erasure of Black representation across the South, according to 10 CBC members who spoke with Playbook. It’s a generational moment CBC lawmakers compared to the Reconstruction era and civil rights movement. And it’s testing how far the caucus will be willing to go to preserve their political might. “This is a battle of life and death,” Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), one of the first Black lawmakers targeted by redistricting, told Playbook. “We are looking at this as a bold and sinister attempt to throw us back into the 1950s.” And they’re preparing to fight back on multiple fronts. “You're going to see the outrage,” Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.) told Playbook. “It's the kind of disenfranchisement that has driven voter turnout throughout the decades.” The CBC’s political arm and its affiliated nonprofits quietly launched an initial six-figure investment into their creator program to reach voters through social media, a person familiar with the PAC’s strategy told Playbook. The investment is the first move in what the PAC anticipates will become an investment “well into seven figures” to push its message in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Callais decision and turn out Black voters in the midterms. And the PAC is preparing to pour millions into races where Black voters could prove decisive. “You're going to see members of the CBC on the road to make sure that we're keeping the energy high to understand that when Democrats get power back, we are not going to accept moving forward without comprehensive voting rights legislation,” Rep. Christian Menefee, who’s locked in a primary runoff with fellow CBC member Rep. Al Green in Texas, told Playbook. The caucus is also preparing to duke things out in the courts. The CBC is coordinating behind the scenes with groups like Elias Law Group and the Legal Defense Fund to challenge the GOP’s redistricting efforts state-by-state. But lawsuits can drag on for months if not years. Legislatures across the South are barreling toward redrawing their lines, and many will be a moving target depending on how many states act this year. Conversations are also “moving aggressively” within the CBC to once again make voting on parts or all of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act a party priority, a person familiar with the caucus’ thinking said. The measure has passed the House twice but never cleared the Senate. But there’s serious skepticism among members that any legislative fix can be done in the current Congress. “For legislation to pass — it's gonna take us taking back the majority,” Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.) told Playbook.
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A message from The Alzheimer's Association: A simple blood test can detect Alzheimer’s before symptoms appear, enabling significantly more effective treatment. The bipartisan Alzheimer’s Screening and Prevention (ASAP) Act ensures people benefit from this scientific milestone. Congress has acted to allow Medicare coverage for mammograms and other pivotal screening tests. Now Congress has the same generational opportunity to redefine Alzheimer’s care: Unlock early detection to enable early treatment. Congress must pass the ASAP Act. |
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So members say their biggest push has to focus on maximizing their base of Black voters to win in November. Despite recent setbacks, Democratic leaders are bullish they can flip the House and protect the CBC’s ranks. “We will win the House in 2026 and then aggressively pursue decisive electoral, campaign finance and judicial reform,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told Playbook in a statement. “Democrats will protect the right of African-American communities to elect their candidate of choice through litigation, legislation and intense mobilization. We are in this fight until we win this fight." The GOP’s campaign arm, meanwhile, believes Democrats are “panicking because decades of unconstitutional, race-based gerrymandering are finally being exposed — and because they no longer have a monopoly over Black voters,” RNC spokesperson Ally Triolo said in a statement. “President Trump and Republicans are earning growing support from Black voters because they’re delivering safer communities, greater opportunity, and a stronger economy for all Americans.” The CBC’s future may come down to how Jeffries’ “maximum warfare” approach plays out. Several CBC members led by Jeffries himself are pushing their party to double down and try to secure as many seats in blue states as possible — even though some of their colleagues warn that risks diluting more majority-minority districts in the process. When asked if they shared those concerns, several CBC members dodged the question. But others like Menefee were direct: “Look at the end of the day, it's our job to win and to get stuff passed,” he said. CBC Chair Yvette Clarke is also onboard. The threat to Black representation is “far more important in this moment than dilution,” the New York Democrat said. Several of the caucus’ ranks don’t hail from majority-Black districts, and multiple members stressed Black candidates and incumbents can still win under new maps. “Just because a state has drawn out a majority-Black district does not mean that there's not an opportunity to win, or to elect Black people,” Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) said. While many members expressed their confidence in the CBC and in Jeffries, there’s some doubts within the caucus about whether the party is prepared to go the extra mile. “I will just say that the Democratic Party has been very tepid when it comes to standing up for Black voters,” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) told Playbook. “They ask us to show up when it matters in other races.” Now it’s the party’s turn to “stand up,” she said. And she’s not the only one. “I think that the party is not quite ready to fight this, I'll be 100 percent honest with you,” Rep. Marc Veasey, who’s not running for reelection after his Texas district was redrawn last year, told Playbook. He believes the party needs to devote more resources at the state legislative level to fend off the redistricting challenges. But the stakes of failure are just too high, several members said. What happens over the next few months is just the beginning, as states like Georgia that won’t redistrict this year have left the door open for after the midterms. All of this is “setting the stage for what happens in 2028,” Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.) said. “Unfortunately, we're getting into a tit-for-tat, but we have to do this,” Strickland told Playbook. “We cannot take this lying down and just complain about what the Republicans are doing. We have to fight fire with fire.”
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A message from The Alzheimer's Association:  
More than 9 in 10 Americans say they would want a simple test for Alzheimer’s. Learn more. |
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SUNDAY BEST … — Energy Secretary Chris Wright on the state of gas prices, on NBC’s “Meet the Press”: “I'm just avoiding price predictions. … Gasoline and diesel prices are up, and they will remain up while this conflict's in place, and then they will come back down. And ultimately they'll come back down lower than they were before.” On suspending the federal gas tax: “We're open to all ideas, everything has trade-offs, all ideas to lower prices for American consumers and American businesses.” More from POLITICO’s Cheyanne Daniels — U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz on what he expects from conversations between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, on “Fox News Sunday”: “I think it's going to be a much broader conversation. You have the number one, number two economies and militaries in the world. The heads of state should be coming together not only in this forum, but President Xi's visit back to the United States and other forums like APEC and ASEAN. So this will be one of several. I think you will see conversations around a board of investment, a board of trade, Boeing deals. President Trump always leads with commercial diplomacy that ultimately affects America first and looks at it through that lens.” — Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) on Republican-led states’ efforts to redraw their maps including in South Carolina, on CNN’s “State of the Union”: “The Supreme Court, two years ago, spoke to this district and said it was not unconstitutional. But the president says he wants them to redraw the lines anyway. All I’m going to say to that is — be very careful what you pray for, because what I do believe is that when they finish with the redistricting, there will be the possibility of at least three Democrats getting elected here in South Carolina to the United States Congress.” More from Cheyanne TOP-EDS: A roundup of the week’s must-read opinion pieces.
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POLITICO Security Summit On May 12, POLITICO's Security Summit will convene administration officials, policymakers and industry leaders for urgent conversations on the most pressing issues in defense and cybersecurity – including global defense cooperation, intelligence sharing, investments in new weapons systems, defense tech, and more. Register to attend. |
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6 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 1. WAR REPORT: Iran delivered its response on the U.S. proposal to end the war in Iran to Pakistan today, per Reuters. The proposal would focus negotiations mainly on a stop to hostilities. But as talks continue, Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is seemingly nowhere to be found. He hasn’t appeared publicly since officials said he was injured in the airstrikes two months ago, per WSJ. Meanwhile, Israel was quietly preparing for this conflict by setting up a military outpost in Iraq to support its efforts that was almost discovered in early March, WSJ’s Anat Peled and Jared Malsin scoop. Speaking of diplomacy: Trump is headed to China this week for a crucial visit that was originally postponed because of the conflict. But the war’s impact, especially given China’s deep economic ties to Iran, will loom large over the trip, AP’s Will Weissert writes. 2. TAIL OF THE TAPES: “Lawyers: Biden to fight DOJ plan to release audio of his talks with ghostwriter,” by POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney: “Former President Joe Biden intends to intervene in litigation to block the Trump administration’s effort to release 70 hours of partially redacted audio recordings of interviews he conducted in 2017 with a ghostwriter who worked with Biden on his memoirs, the Justice Department indicated in new court papers. “DOJ lawyers told a federal judge in Washington on Friday that they expected Biden would seek to ‘prevent any such disclosures’ of the audio tapes to Congress and to the conservative Heritage Foundation, which sued last year to access the materials. Justice Department attorneys advised U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich that they set a deadline of Tuesday for Biden to take legal action to block the release and agreed to hold off any disclosure until June 15 if Biden does go to court before this week’s deadline. A spokesperson for Biden confirmed Sunday that he plans to resist release of the audio to the public or to lawmakers.” 3. FED UP: Kevin Warsh’s friends and colleagues are describing the Fed chair nominee as the “dog who caught the car” — expressing their anxiety over the potential threats to the central bank that Warsh will have to navigate as its new steward, POLITICO’s Victoria Guida reports from Palo Alto, Warsh’s intellectual stomping grounds, in her latest column. “Talk among the Hoover conference attendees often drifted to an inevitable question: How long will it take for the president to turn on his new Fed chief?”
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4. HINDSIGHT IS 2020: “Republicans who denied 2020 election results could be governors next year,” by WaPo’s Dan Merica and colleagues: “The GOP fields for governor include activists who took vocal, and sometimes official, actions in support of Trump’s efforts to claim victory in 2020, a sheriff who recently seized ballots in California, and members of Congress who voted to reverse the 2020 results … Only a few of the candidates explicitly raise doubts about the validity of the 2020 election on their campaign websites. At least 30 have embraced overhauling election policies. … None agreed to be interviewed, other than Mike Lindell, the MyPillow founder and Minnesota candidate.” 5. FROM THE WILDERNESS: Barack Obama believes he’ll likely get more involved on the campaign trail with no other clear Democratic leader as more critical primaries approach, the former president told a crowd in Toronto on Friday, POLITICO’s Zi-Ann Lum reports. The remarks came during an appearance at Canadian think tank Canada 2020’s anniversary gala, where former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was also in attendance. Attendees who were inside the room told POLITICO that Obama said he'd rather live a more private life, but recognizes he has a massive audience that could help Democrats going into the primary season — and he’s ready to use it. No photos or recordings were allowed of Obama’s remarks and members of the media were barred access to the event. The attendees were granted anonymity to share details of the sold-out event. 6. SPORTS BLINK: The bipartisan excitement over the World Cup is giving way once again to partisan divides — and it’s started to impact preparations for soccer’s biggest sporting event, POLITICO’s Sophia Cai and Ry Rivard write. “The polarization is now affecting World Cup views among everyone from American voters — who now tell pollsters they are divided by party on Iran’s participation and ICE’s role in tournament security — to the Congressional Soccer Caucus, a bipartisan group that built broad coalitions to cheerlead the tournament’s arrival and help line up federal funding.”
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POLITICO Pro As policy challenges grow more complex, POLITICO Pro delivers authoritative reporting, expert analysis, and powerful tools to help professionals understand what is happening, why it matters, and what comes next. Learn More about POLITICO Pro. |
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TALK OF THE TOWN |
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PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — “After 20 years, the Prince of Petworth still reigns in Washington,” by WaPo’s Liam Scott: “Dan Silverman talks fast and walks faster. It’s hard to keep up with the local Washington celebrity who’s better known by his blog moniker: the Prince of Petworth. … Silverman, 51, launched PoPville in 2006, during the blogging boom of the aughts, when everyone seemed to have a blog. But as other local D.C. sites have come and gone, PoPville has stuck around. … Later this year, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) plans to issue a proclamation to commemorate PoPville’s 20th anniversary.” COLD OPEN — Saturday Night Live opened last night with a sketch featuring Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (played by Colin Jost), Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (played by Matt Damon) and FBI Director Kash Patel (played by Aziz Ansari) all sharing a drink at Georgetown’s iconic Martin’s Tavern. Take a look RETURN TO THE REAL WORLD — “Sean Duffy Filmed Reality Show Over Past Seven Months,” by NY Mag’s Margaret Hartmann: “Friday on Fox & Friends, the secretary and his wife, Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy, revealed that they celebrated the semiquincentennial by traveling the country with their nine children. And they filmed the whole adventure for a reality series called The Great American Road Trip, which launches on YouTube next month.” HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and John Curtis (R-Utah) … Reps. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) and Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) … Howard Ou … Punchbowl’s Andrew Desiderio … Daniel Watson … Jonathan Powell of the Motion Picture Association … Bloomberg’s Craig Gordon and Jorja Siemons … Gabe Debenedetti … Stan Greenberg of Greenberg Research … POLITICO’s Mike Lee, Christine Mui and Ariel Wittenberg … Finch Fulton … Converge Public Strategies’ Fara Sonderling … Doug Farrar … CNN’s Jeremy Herb … Chris Tuttle … WaPo’s Vineet Khosla … Andrew Card … Gary Goldberg of Dentons … Clarence Tong … Mercatus Center’s Veronique de Rugy … Brad Bannon … Maggie Karchmer of Wiley Rein … Rachel Drian … Adam Janofsky … Tim Powderly of Apple … Ian O’Keefe … Grant Cummings … former Sens. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) and Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) … Terry Holt … former Rep. Steve Gunderson (R-Wis.) … Meredith Dodson of the Coalition on Human Needs … Melissa Frankel 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.
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A message from The Alzheimer's Association: The ASAP Act is a “mammogram moment” for Alzheimer’s — an opportunity to make early detection the standard of care. When Congress enabled Medicare coverage for routine mammograms, screening rates soared and breast cancer deaths dropped significantly. That early investment led to earlier detection, better outcomes and improved quality of life.
Congress can deliver this same breakthrough for those with Alzheimer’s through the bipartisan ASAP Act, which would allow Medicare to cover a simple blood test to detect Alzheimer’s before symptoms appear. Until Congress acts, Medicare cannot cover dementia screening tests. But fewer than 10% of people receive a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment when today’s FDA-approved treatments are significantly more effective. Expanding access to blood-based screening will help more patients receive an early diagnosis, and the opportunity for earlier, more effective treatment. Congress must support the ASAP Act and appropriate Alzheimer’s care. |
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