| | | |  | | By Irie Sentner | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Makayla Gray
|  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
President Donald Trump last night delivered an hour-and-47-minute State of the Union address. | Alex Kent for POLITICO | SOTU, DAY TWO: After President Donald Trump wrapped his record-breaking, hour-and-47-minute State of the Union address, most lawmakers quickly fled the House chamber, ignoring reporters to head home well after 11 p.m. This morning, they awoke ready to talk about it. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was up early on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” to bash the president’s address, which he said was “riddled with dirty, rotten lies, including his unwillingness to confront the affordability crisis.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on CNN called the speech Trump’s “state of delusion.” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) doubled down on her repeated heckling of the president last night, telling CNN it was “really important to my constituents to hear that I was reminding the president that Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed under this administration.” Republicans, on the other hand, lauded Trump’s speech and are already deploying his rhetoric from some of the more memorable sound bytes of the night. “Democrats are crazy,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said on X, echoing Trump’s repeated references to Democrats. “The difference today isn’t between right vs left. It’s normal vs crazy,” Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders posted alongside a clip of people dressed as frogs waving flags as Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) spoke at the progressive “State of the Swamp” counterprogramming event. Even the New York Post’s conservative editorial board weighed in, running the headline: “Trump’s home-run State of the Union 2026 showed exactly how crazy the Democrats are.” Schumer, however, defended the Democrats who didn’t stand when Trump implored lawmakers to rise if they believed the government’s first duty is to protect American citizens, not unauthorized immigrants. “We agree we need to protect Americans,” Schumer told CNN, per POLITICO’s Gregory Svirnovskiy. “He’s not. By his reckless ICE agency in Minnesota, two Americans were killed. Americans are being pulled out of their cars and beaten. Americans’ houses, the doors are being knocked down, you know, without a warrant.” DATA CENTER REALITY CHECK: Trump promised during his speech last night that tech companies should shoulder the majority of the costs associated with the massive AI data center boom — but energy industry experts say it’s actually consumers who will be on the hook, POLITICO’s Zack Colman and Peter Behr report. The politics: Meanwhile, the construction of those massive data centers across the country is fueling Democratic underdogs in races nationwide, POLITICO’s Timothy Cama, Amelia Davidson and Natalie Fertig report. From Georgia to Michigan, “the issue is bubbling up as a wedge for lesser-known candidates looking to differentiate themselves from the pack.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — In the states: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will deliver her final State of the State tonight at 7 p.m. and is expected to call on Congress to renew ACA subsidies, according to a copy of her prepared remarks obtained by Playbook’s Adam Wren. “Last year, the majority in Washington, DC voted to slash Medicaid and SNAP by $1 trillion, ripping health care and food away from millions of our neighbors, family, and friends. They went home and did nothing and let premiums on the Affordable Care Act skyrocket,” Whitmer will say. She's also expected to lean into health care costs with a proposal to cap interest rates on medical debt; prevent such debt from showing up on credit reports; require hospitals to set up financial assistance programs for patients and ban liens or foreclosures on homes over medical debt. Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. This is Irie Sentner, fighting the urge for a second sugar-free Red Bull. Get in touch at isentner@politico.com.
| | | | A message from AHIP: 35 Million Seniors Could See Reduced Benefits and Higher Costs. Health plans welcome reforms to strengthen Medicare Advantage. However, a proposal for flat program funding at a time of sharply rising medical costs and high utilization of care will directly impact seniors' coverage. If finalized, this proposal could result in benefit reductions and higher costs for 35 million seniors and people with disabilities when they renew their Medicare Advantage coverage in October 2026. Learn more. | | | | | | 8 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | 1. SUMMERS’ BREAK: “Summers To Resign From Teaching Appointments, Relinquish University Professorship Over Epstein Ties,” by The Harvard Crimson’s Hugo Chiasson and Elise Spenner: “The resignation marks an extraordinary unraveling for [Larry] Summers, long one of the most influential figures in American economics. His career spanned prize-winning research, service as United States Treasury Secretary, and the presidency of Harvard.” 2. WHAT DO YOU MEANS? Casey Means, Trump’s nominee to serve as surgeon general, refused today to rule out a link between vaccines and autism and said she would not direct parents to vaccinate their children against measles and the flu, POLITICO’s Amanda Friedman reports. “I believe every patient, mother, parent needs to have a conversation with their physician,” Means said, though she also said she’s supportive of the measles vaccine and professed that “vaccines save lives.” The response came under sharp questioning from Senate HELP Chair Bill Cassidy, a gastroenterologist who has publicly sparred with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over the last year. 3. TOP SECRET: DNI Tulsi Gabbard’s office is refusing to share with Congress the classified intelligence behind a whistleblower complaint against Gabbard, citing “the assertion of executive privilege” in an email to Democratic congressional staffers, WSJ’s Dustin Volz reports. The Journal previously reported that the intelligence includes details about a conversation between two foreign nationals about Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the top Democrats on both chambers’ intelligence panels, replied in a letter Tuesday asking for details on who asserted the executive privilege and on what basis. 4. MUST-READ DISPATCH FROM UKRAINE: “What happened after Elon Musk took the Russian army offline,” by WELT’s Ibrahim Naber for POLITICO as part of Axel Springer’s Global Reporters Network: “A decision earlier this month by SpaceX to shut down access to Starlink satellite-internet terminals caused immediate chaos among Russian forces who had become increasingly reliant upon the Elon Musk-owned company’s technology to sustain their occupation of Ukraine, according to radio transmissions intercepted by a Ukrainian reconnaissance unit … The communications breakdown significantly constrained Russian military capabilities, creating new opportunities for Ukrainian forces.”
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➡️ Subscribe Now | | | | | 5. GONZALES LATEST: Speaker Mike Johnson has told Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) “publicly and privately” that he must address the serious sexual harassment allegations he’s facing “head on with his constituents” — and that the scandal now will “play out” in his primary election six days from now, POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill reports. Though House Republican leadership has not pulled its endorsements of Gonzales, several congressional Republicans have over allegations that he had an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide. 6. DAMAGE CONTROL: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in St. Kitts and Nevis today to meet with Caribbean leaders who are unnerved by the Trump administration’s policies in the Caribbean, AP’s Matthew Lee and Dánica Coto report. The leaders of the 15 nations comprising the Caribbean Community are huddling with Rubio amid an increasingly aggressive U.S. posture in the region, including repeated strikes on alleged drug boats, capturing Nicolas Maduro and squeezing Cuba. 7. TRAIL MIX: Democrats hold a 14-point advantage when it comes to voter enthusiasm heading into the midterms, according to a WaPo-ABC News-Ipsos poll out today. Among registered Democrats, 79 percent said they were certain they would vote in November, compared to just 65 percent of Republicans — the largest advantage Dems have had ahead of the midterms since 2006, WaPo’s Liz Goodwin and Scott Clement report. The latest in Texas: Rep. Jasmine Crockett holds a double-digit lead over state Rep. James Talarico in the Texas Senate Democratic primary race, according to the latest polling from the University of Texas’ Texas Politics Project. Crockett received support from 56 percent of voters compared to Talarico’s 44 percent. Crockett runs up a huge advantage with Black voters (87 percent) and a slim lead among Hispanic voters, while Talarico holds a narrow edge with white voters. More from the Texas Tribune 8. LOOSENING DATA RESTRICTIONS: “Trump Administration Moves to Allow Intelligence Agencies Easier Access to Law Enforcement Files,” by ProPublica’s Tim Golden: “Government officials said the changes could give the intelligence agencies access to a database containing hundreds of millions of documents — from FBI case files and banking records to criminal investigations of labor unions — that touch on the activities of law-abiding Americans.”
| | | | A message from AHIP:  
| | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — The Democratic Governors Association has a new slate of leaders, according to a release shared exclusively with Playbook … and it’s almost the same as last year’s. At a meeting of Democratic governors in Washington last week, DGA announced Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey will continue serving as chair of the Women Governors Fund and California Gov. Gavin Newsom will continue to serve as policy chair. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will take over from former New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy as finance chair. They join DGA Chair Andy Beshear and Vice Chair Gretchen Whitmer for yearlong terms. CASTING THE RAGE BAIT — Izzy Gardon, Gavin Newsom’s top spokesperson, is the face of the fiery language that’s drawing attention to the governor’s anti-Trump strategy, POLITICO’s Dustin Gardiner and Melanie Mason write. “The emergence of Gardon as a prominent character is a result of Newsom’s anti-Trump strategy, a ‘fight fire with fire’ approach designed to undermine the president through imitation, using outlandish memes, hyperbole and AI-generated images. Newsom’s aides have pointed to his rising favorability ratings as evidence of its effectiveness.” DRINKS ON TRUMP — Free beer flowed at a State of the Union watch party at Penn Social up until Trump made a jab or insult during his address last night, WaPo’s Danielle Paquette reports. The crowded bar near Capitol Hill assumed the drinks would be flowing for no longer than five minutes, but the offer wasn’t up until after the 15-minute mark when Trump made his first dig at the Supreme Court over last week’s tariff ruling. — Voto Latino hosted its SOTU watch party last night at Penn Social, which culminated in a viewing of Sen. Alex Padilla’s (D-Calif.) Spanish-language response. SPOTTED: Padilla, Estuardo Rodriguez, Ron Estrada, Santiago Mayer, Indira Islas, Samantha Lozano, Jessie Hernandez, Alejandro Garcia, Santiago Ginebra Campillo and María Teresa Kumar. RIDE AT YOUR OWN RISK — Empower, the local ride-hailing app that’s been ordered to halt operations and hasn’t, will have its fines reinstated after a court-rejected pause, WaPo’s Jasmine Golden reports. The company and its CEO Joshua Sear have “racked up around $7 million in court sanctions since last year,” after failing to register as a private sedan business and digital dispatch service and ignoring the Department of For-Hire Vehicles’ cease-and-desist. Empower attorneys have argued that the company was illegally denied registration, which they are appealing. FIGHT AT THE MUSEUM — “A professor challenged the Smithsonian. Security shut the gallery,” by WaPo’s Kelsey Ables: “As President Donald Trump seeks to reshape its museums and other cultural institutions, wall text has become a battleground and documentation a form of resistance.” MEDIA MOVES — Ali Velshi is now MS NOW’s chief data reporter. He will continue hosting his show “Velshi” while taking the lead on polling and election results heading into the midterms. … Yun-Hee Kim is joining WP Intelligence as deputy editor. She most recently served as San Francisco bureau chief and technology editor at WaPo. … Benjamin Guggenheim is joining WP Intelligence leading its new daily newsletter. He previously worked at POLITICO covering Congress. TRANSITIONS — Lauren Hickey is joining the Senate Republican Steering Committee as a policy adviser for Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.). She previously worked for Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.). … Edward Do is now the communications director for Rep. Val Hoyle (D-Ore.). He most recently served as communications director for Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas). WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Amanda Fuldner Farnan, comms director for Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-Va.) and a POLITICO alum, and Chris Fuldner, who works in business development for Allsteel, welcomed Chloe Ruth Fuldner on Feb. 11. 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 editor Giuseppe Macri and deputy editor Garrett Ross.
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