No part of Republicans’ party-line immigration enforcement package has been a cakewalk. That isn’t going to change today. The overnight news of Todd Blanche’s nomination to formally take on the AG role upped the stakes for Republicans’ revolt over the DOJ’s “Anti Weaponization” fund, which already derailed the reconciliation timeline. Just hours later, the Senate’s vote-a-rama got stuck for the entire morning on Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s motion to send the bill back to committee to add language killing the “slush fund,” which requires only a simple majority. In many ways, Blanche’s fate and that of the reconciliation bill are tied. The unequivocal death of the DOJ fund — which President Donald Trump said yesterday he loves — could bolster Blanche’s path ahead, on top of clearing away reconciliation’s biggest hurdle yet. “What we need to do right now is focus on the [Anti-Weaponization] Fund, or [Blanche is] not going to have a very good time in Judiciary Committee,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told reporters. And if this morning is any indication, killing the fund is looking more like a question of how than if. Tillis declined to back Schumer’s motion, but said he does want language to take the fund off the table, telling reporters “we've got to have a treatment for this fund before we get off” of reconciliation, and left the door open to a GOP-led amendment instead. But the motion did get a boost from wildcard Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine). The biggest holdout was Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who spent a significant chunk of the hours-long vote speaking with Senate GOP leaders and colleagues as the vote held at 49 no’s. But Cassidy’s thinking was plain enough in an amicus brief he signed alongside Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) this morning, pushing a federal judge to block the DOJ fund in court. Over two hours later, GOP leaders successfully pushed Cassidy to vote “no” — killing Schumer’s amendment — but clearing the way for on-the-fence Sens. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) to cast “yes” votes. Both face tough reelection bids. But this saga is far from over: Cassidy quickly filed his own amendment to prohibit payments from the DOJ fund. Further amendments will have the harder task of clearing 60 votes. It was just two days ago that Blanche set off to calm the revolt by declaring the fund basically dead. Doing so spurred more questions than answers, and prompted Democratic senators and some Republicans like Tillis to call the DOJ’s bluff to get it in writing during this amendment process. Earlier calls to keep reconciliation focused entirely on immigration seem to have fallen on deaf ears, with the chamber staring down a marathon voting session going into tonight. Blanche’s nomination already elicited hints of pushback from GOP senators that he’ll need to get across the finish line to confirmation, POLITICO’s Jordain Carney writes. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is undecided, telling CNN a key factor for the AG is that “you're also supposed to be able to tell the President ‘no.’” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) doesn’t know yet. Tillis has been consistent about rejecting any defenders of the Jan. 6 riot, which Blanche has yet to disavow. Fetterman, who’s been a crucial Democratic vote in favor of past Trump nominees including Pam Bondi, also told reporters he won’t vote for Blanche (or Bill Pulte for DNI). Blanche told reporters in Ohio today “I don’t say no to phone calls” and that he looks forward to working with senators during the confirmation process. That is, if the Senate moves ahead with confirmation (they could hold off and leave Blanche in an acting capacity). “Hold that thought,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters this morning when asked if Blanche will get confirmed. With just the first vote in the series going for two hours, it spells an agonizingly long day in the Senate — even after House GOP leaders forecasted they hope to take up reconciliation starting tonight. But if the bill is amended between now and whenever the vote-a-rama ends, that could complicate its path in the House, per POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise signaled the bill could pass as soon as tomorrow morning, but without guardrails against the DOJ fund. Even then, once the reconciliation bump is cleared, the Senate will have reauthorizing FISA to deal with — where Pulte’s nomination could prove to be a simultaneous headache. And both chambers now have Iran war powers resolutions with a path forward, which Trump is clearly not happy about. Good Thursday afternoon — and happy Lobster day to all the senators and their plastic bibs at lunch. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Are you placing bets on how long this vote-a-rama lasts? Hit me up at abianco@politico.com.
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1. EX MACHINA: House lawmakers are set to unveil bipartisan AI legislation today that will override some state laws and require disclosures of safety risks related to AI from developers, POLITICO’s Jacob Wendler and colleagues report. The new discussion draft is the first bipartisan push to get AI legislation throughCongress before August and the looming midterms. “But it’s the proposal to preempt state rules on AI developers that has drawn the fiercest attacks from AI safety advocates and tech critics in both parties.” 2. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Ad it up: Courageous Conservatives PAC is spending a total of $715K statewide to unseat Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham, and releasing a new broadcast ad with personal attacks against the incumbent senator for allowing in “illegals” and “foreigners,” Playbook’s Irie Sentner scoops. They’re also sending texts and running digital ads routing voters to GrahamWatchdog.com. Watch the ad Trail mix: The DCCC added four candidates to its competitive “Red to Blue” program — highlighting candidates in top primaries and tough races this November, per Punchbowl. They include Denise Powell in retiring Rep. Don Bacon’s (R-Neb.) seat, Marni von Wilpert in retiring Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-Calif.) seat, Rebecca Bennett challenging Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-N.J.) and Bale Dalton, who’s in a crowded primary to challenge Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.). … Somos Votantes’ PAC is pouring $1.5 million into Manny Rutinel in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District primary, their first-ever primary foray, POLITICO’s Andrew Howard scoops. Who’s counting?: Californians dealt multiple blows to big tech this week, shooting down candidates they backed as anti-tech sentiment bubbles across the country, POLITICO’s Christine Mui and colleagues report. “The tech guys that think they know politics, those are the ones that got spanked,” one Silicon Valley Democratic fundraiser said. “These guys are wannabes, the ones that don’t appreciate that political science is actually a science.” 3. MYTHICAL MARCO: Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s two-day turn about the Hill came with a tall order — defend the administration’s Iran policy and campaign in the Caribbean — but he yet again brandished an “ability to defang criticism through charm and just enough flexibility to suggest he’s not an ideologue but a pragmatist willing to listen,”POLITICO’s Felicia Schwartz and colleagues write. “If anything, the two days cast him as one of the administration’s most effective messengers at a moment of mounting pressure for Trump and the party.”
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4. ETHICS WATCH: Several women in Congress are pointing to a trend that may be affecting the House Ethics Committee’s investigations — it’s dominated by men. “Women in Congress want that to change. It probably won’t,” NOTUS’ Oriana Gonzalez writes. The 10-person panel has never had more than four women sitting on it at once. The committee is actively investigating Reps. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) and Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.). It’s also probing leaks around its now-closed investigation surrounding Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.). 5. KNOWING HASAN PIKER: “‘I’m not a kingmaker’: Hasan Piker grapples with limits of his influence,” by POLITICO’s William Steakin: “[Adam Hamawy’s] win gives Piker, one of the most sought-after political surrogates on the far left, another example to point to that his efforts can help push candidates over the line. But the three candidates he pushed in his home state of California all underperformed and lost their races, revealing some of the streamer’s limitations as he looks to position himself as a new force in Democratic politics.” 6. ANOTHER KENNEDY STORY: Former Trump administration official Amaryllis Fox Kennedy said she resigned because she was frustrated with lack of oversight on how the intelligence community uses taxpayer dollars, WSJ’s Philip Wegmann scoops. The former deputy director of national intelligence, and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s daughter-in-law, originally cited family reasons for her exit. “Until there’s functional oversight of the IC’s ample and unsupervised movement of money and gold, we are stuck living in something less than the constitutional republic our founders designed,” she told WSJ. The CIA called her allegations “totally false.” 7. FOR YOUR RADAR: “John Bolton reaches plea deal over mishandling of sensitive national security documents,” by CNN’s Katelyn Polantz and colleagues: “John Bolton, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser-turned-adversary, is expected to plead guilty over mishandling classified documents,” including “one felony count of illegal retention of sensitive national security documents, according to one of the sources. He has also agreed to pay a more than $2 million fine.”
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THE HILL’S MOST ODIOUS BUILDING — There’s a $9 billion liability sitting right across from the Capitol, whose key systems routinely fail and has dealt in only piecemeal repairs for years. If you guessed the building in need of some TLC is Rayburn, you’re correct. The Architect of the Capitol warned lawmakers of “catastrophic system failures” in Rayburn, POLITICO’s Katherine Tully-McManus reports. But repairing the damage could take over a decade and a price tag that “far outstrips even the cost of the newest NFL stadiums.” DUST UP ON THE HOUSE FLOOR — “Max Miller rebuked for accusing Rashida Tlaib of associating with Hezbollah,” by POLITICO’s Aaron Pellish: “Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) accused Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) of advocating for the terrorist organization Hezbollah during remarks on the House floor Wednesday. Miller’s attack on the Palestinian-American congresswoman came during debate over a proposal she introduced that would block U.S. forces from entering Lebanon … Tlaib protested Miller’s comments, prompting a shouting match between the two on the House floor.” OUT AND ABOUT — The Washington AI Network hosted the Second Annual AI Honors awards dinner at the Waldorf Astoria on Wednesday. Founder of the Washington AI Network Tammy Haddad opened the evening with remarks from Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and a blessing from the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia. Honorees included Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D), Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Kevin O’Leary, NVIDIA co-founder Chris Malachowsky, Michele Jawando, and Maj. Gen. Patrick Ellis. CNN’s Pamela Brown emceed. SPOTTED: Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) and Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), Mayor Muriel Bowser, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, Dario Gil, Rohit Chopra, Dmitri Alperovitch, Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason, Michael Kelly, Shelley Zalis, Aaron Parnas, Scott Kupor, Ylli Bajraktari, Chris Klomp, Jill Hazelbaker Franks, Seval Oz, Franco Nuschese, Ed Luce, David Ginsberg, Kyle Dropp, Reema Dodin, Michael Petricone, Ned Finkel and Maryam Mujica. — The John & Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation hosted its annual “Good Trouble Gala” at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, honoring Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) with the 2026 John Lewis Carry On Award, presented by Rep. Wesley Bell (D-Mo.), and First Lady of Maryland Dawn Moore with the Lillian Miles Lewis Luminary Award, presented by Governor Wes Moore. The evening also included special tributes to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), recognizing their decades of public service and longtime commitment to carrying forward Congressman John Lewis’ legacy of good trouble. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Reps. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.), Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Lizzie Fletcher (D-Texas), Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) and Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), Corrine Brown, Martha Roby, Maria Teresa Kumar, Michael Collins, Rodney Slater, John-Miles Lewis, Tharon Johnson, Kerry Kennedy, Yebbie Watkins, Lyndon Boozer, Jonathan Capehart, Marcus Mason, Paul Brathwaite, Melissa Maxfield, Joyce Brayboy, Marie Sylla Dixon, Larry Duncan, Nicole Venable, Olivia Igbokwe-Curry, April Jones, Moyer McCoy, Cam Henderson, Gina Rigby, Blair Watters, Suhail Khan, Mary Elizabeth Barwick, Sanders Adu, Teresa Carlson, Maryam Mujica, Jana Barresi, Reginald Henderson, Patrice Webb, Laurie Knight, Regina Luzincourt, Gideon Bragin, Anthony Coley and Robert Raben. WHITE HOUSE DEPARTURE LOUNGE — Jacki McGavick has joined Kalshi on its comms team. She previously was policy comms director for the White House. TRANSITIONS — Abhi Rahman is now a VP at Focal Point Strategy Group. He most recently was at the DNC and is an alum of the DLCC, Beto O’Rourke and Stacey Abrams. … Anne Neuberger has joined Andreessen Horowitz as a partner and the firm's first head of global affairs, per Axios. She previously was U.S. deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technologies under the Biden administration. … Ken Hampshire has joined defense company NODA AI as chief technology officer. He previously worked at Anduril and is a former Marine Corps pilot. 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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