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By Adam Wren with Dasha Burns and Will Steakin |
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With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco and Irie Sentner Good Tuesday morning. It’s Adam Wren back in the saddle. On behalf of the new team, thanks for all your kind notes and texts. Let’s get right to it. Get in touch. In today’s Playbook … — Donald Trump leaves his House majority starving for a win to fend for themselves. — A new test of the president’s power is percolating in South Carolina. — The Boldfaces: Lisa McClain, Thomas Massie, Chip Roy, Pete Hegseth, Dan Caine, Brooke Rollins, Russ Vought, Darline Graham, Randy Villegas, David Valadao and Kash Patel, and more.
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DRIVING THE DAY |
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House Republicans are hurtling toward August recess and a 105-day sprint to midterm elections, and President Donald Trump is showing little interest in boosting their prospects. "Zero," a person close to the president told Playbook when asked about his engagement on the Hill. Trump "doesn't care about anything beyond SAVE, Iran, and the ballroom,” another White House ally put it. Republicans are staring down Election Day with a short list of accomplishments to sell, forcing them to reconcile two truths: The president doesn’t appear interested in helping Speaker Mike Johnson ram legislation over the finish line, and one of the only cases they have to make back home is to frame Democrats as communists. Rep. Lisa McClain (Mich.), the GOP conference chair, who not long ago shared Republicans’ midterm messaging strategy with Playbook, told us she’s whittled that down to something simpler: Democrats are crazy. “We voted for capitalism,” McCLain told Playbook. “We voted to lower your taxes: every Democrat voted to raise your taxes, and they are crazy. They want communism. They hate this country. They hate what this country stands for. That’s crazy.” Never mind the president pitching federal stakes in private companies himself, McClain said. “He’s doing that to level the playing field for America.” Is the White House leaning into their agreed-upon messaging enough? “No,” she said. “We need to use it, and then when we think we've exhausted it, we need to use it some more,” McCLain said.
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Which leads us to kitchen sink week: After weeks lost to infighting, Johnson scheduled votes on a CR, NDAA, a ban on stock trading for government officials and to kickstart reconciliation 3.0 — all of which stand significant chances of failure over the same squabbling that put them in this predicament. Absent even one victory, all they’ll have to lean on amid rising energy prices and sticky inflation is the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which they passed over a year ago. And while Democrats are primed to showcase their opposition with attempts to block any GOP effort to fund Trump’s war effort, POLITICO’s Leo Shane III, Riley Rogerson and Jordain Carney report, McClain suggested it won’t score points with voters. “I don't want to downplay it, like ‘Oh, nobody's concerned about it,’” McClain said of the Iran War. “But it's really not a big concern.” Perhaps right on cue, a person with Senate Majority PAC told us: “All Republicans are doing is talking about their crazy out of step ideas — the more they keep doing that the more they are avoiding the real issues at hand and looking like they have their heads in the sand about the cost of living and inflation and gas prices, the more people are just increasingly fed up with their behavior — the better it is for Democrats heading to November.” On today’s Playbook Podcast: Dasha and POLITICO’s Sam Benson highlight the risks for the House GOP rushing toward summer break without a clear path forward on their biggest legislative priorities, and the increasingly crowded field eyeing the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s seat.
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A message from Anthropic:  
How a small shop finds new ways to create using Claude
New ways to create start with new ways to solve problems. Learn more. |
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THE DOWNLOAD |
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HOUSE BET: House Republicans’ entire agenda hinges on a make-or-break procedural vote today that will either tee up votes on a government funding package into December, a must-pass annual Pentagon reauthorization bill, the framework for a third party-line, filibuster-skirting package meant to boost defense spending and carry parts of the SAVE America Act and the stock-trading ban — or see Republicans spiral into dysfunction as members of the conference air various frustrations over the heavy legislative load.
- The good news for Johnson: Key GOP holdouts from opposite sides of the conference told POLITICO’s Inside Congress they plan to support the rule. The bad news: Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) says he won’t, while Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said he’s undecided.
- More bad news: They can’t expect help from moderate Democrats, who are privately sweating the broadly popular ban on congressional stock trading with aspects of the SAVE America Act — a combination they see as an effort to trap vulnerable members, Will reports. “It’s a bill to jam us. It’s a messaging bill,” one House Democrat said, adding that battleground members want to support it because they fear opponents will otherwise accuse them of voting against a stock-trading ban.
ACROSS THE CAPITOL: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins are testifying today before the Senate Appropriations Committee about Trump’s supplemental funding request as the war in Iran ramps up again.
- OMB chief Russ Vought makes his pitch for Republicans’ $95 billion third reconciliation package this morning during a House GOP conference meeting.
WHAT TO WATCH: It’s primary day in Arizona, and POLITICO’s Andrew Howard — a Grand Canyon State native — is out with a must-read recap of the four big races to watch tonight. “From battleground House races to the top of the ticket race for governor, the swing state has a number of tests for the direction of both parties ahead of November’s midterms.”
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Catch up on On the Road with Jonathan Martin Season 2 is underway. Watch the premiere from North Dakota, where Jonathan Martin sits down with Doug Burgum, Kelly Armstrong and Kevin Cramer to talk Trump, Teddy Roosevelt, conservation politics and the future of the GOP.
Watch now. |
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THE FRONT PAGE |
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CARTE BLANCHE: The White House is actively courting Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) to get acting AG Todd Blanche’s nomination across the finish line, POLITICO’s Chris Marquette and Jordain Carney report. The longtime senators — members of the so-called retiring Republican “YOLO caucus” — were spurned by the Trump administration for not being adequately loyal. “It shows how the balance of power, at least in this high-stakes confirmation battle, has shifted for the two outgoing lawmakers — and how Cornyn and Tillis both know it.” SHE’S RUNNING: Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) will run for a full term to fill the seat held by her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, to which she was appointed last week, POLITICO’s Samuel Benson reports. Graham is joining a somewhat crowded Aug. 11 GOP primary in the special election for the seat, which is open for the first time in more than two decades — but Trump endorsed her days before she announced her run, saying Friday on Truth Social that “there would be nobody better to honor the legacy of her beloved brother.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said yesterday he would not endorse any candidate, but said Graham would be a “strong candidate,” Jordain reports.
- The endorsement is shaping up to be a test of the president’s power over the party that South Carolina Republicans aren’t sure Trump will pass, Sam writes this morning alongside POLITICO’s Erin Doherty and Liz Crampton. “Other Republicans are still charging forward, seeing an opening in a race with a highly untested candidate. … a signal that challenging a Trump-backed candidate may no longer be the career-ender it once was within the party.”
She’s not: Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who began exploring a bid hours after Graham died after placing fifth in the state’s gubernatorial primary earlier this year, announced yesterday she wouldn’t make a bid. “I’m not running for the U.S. Senate, not because I’m backing down from a fight, but because the one I’m already in matters right now,” she said in a video announcement. More from Erin FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Survey says: In California’s tossup 22nd Congressional District, a new House Majority PAC poll found Democrat Randy Villegas leading GOP Rep. David Valadao 48 percent to 44 percent, Playbook’s Eli Okun scoops. The survey was conducted last month among 800 likely voters by Tulchin Research. More details
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A message from Anthropic:  
How a small shop finds new ways to create using Claude |
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5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW |
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1. WAR REPORT: The war with Iran is entering a bleak new stage as the breakdown of peace talks and new American casualties leave White House allies concerned Trump is running out of ways to pull the U.S. out of the expensive and unpopular conflict, POLITICO’s Megan Messerly and Alex Gangitano report. “This is what a quagmire looks like,” said one person close to the White House granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.
- The war — already a liability for Republicans ahead of the midterms — could grow even more unpopular following the killing of two American servicemembers in Jordan after an Iranian ballistic missile struck housing units where troops lived and slept, per WSJ’s Michael R. Gordon and colleagues. And even though the U.S. has struck Iran every day for more than a week, the renewed violence is unlikely to sway Tehran’s negotiating position, according to a new intelligence assessment, WaPo’s Warren P. Strobel and John Hudson report.
2. KASH DASH: FBI Director Kash Patel is planning a trip to Russia, likely in mid-October, POLITICO’s Nahal Toosi and colleagues scoop. He’s scheduled to visit Moscow and St. Petersburg, and is likely to be hosted by the FSB, the Russian security service that’s heir to the Soviet-era KGB, according to a U.S. official familiar with the travel plans. 3. TARIFF TIME: Trump said yesterday he’ll impose 50 percent tariffs on some Canadian goods, escalating his trade war with the U.S.’s northern neighbor as the Trump administration intensifies negotiations on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. More from POLITICO’s Daniel Desrochers and colleagues 4. MAINE CHARACTER: Troy Jackson, the presumptive Democratic nominee to replace embattled former Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, was known for having a sharp temper during his six years as the state’s Senate president, WaPo’s Dan Merica and colleagues report. That pattern of heated disagreements includes throwing a water bottle in a meeting and yelling and cursing at other lawmakers with whom he disagreed. 5. WHY SO PRESSED: The Trump administration issued subpoenas seeking the phone records of several NYT journalists and their relatives in its search for the identities of leakers who shared with the Times information about security concerns with Trump’s new Qatari-donated Air Force One, NYT’s Michael M. Grynbaum reports. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said yesterday the plane would be taken out of service for a month for “additional upgrades and enhancements.” More from NYT’s Tyler Pager
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TALK OF THE TOWN |
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IN MEMORIAM — “Tim Murphy, who represented Western Pa. in Congress for 15 years, dies at 73,” by The Pittsburgh Post Gazette's Roberta Burkhart and Jimmy Cloutier: “Murphy, a Republican who lived in Upper St. Clair, was first elected to Congress in 2002 after serving in Pennsylvania's state Senate from 1997 to 2003. … During his time in Congress, Murphy devoted much of his legislative career to the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. His legislation — described by some as the most sweeping change in mental health policy in decades — was incorporated into the 21st Century Cures Act signed into law in 2016 by President Barack Obama.” HOW THOUGHTFUL — Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) gifted two female staffers personalized, pink and blue handguns when they worked in his office in 2024, Axios’ Kate Santaliz reports. The House Ethics Committee is investigating Edwards over his conduct with young female aides. A lawyer for one of the former staffers told Axios she “only awkwardly accepted the gift for fear of reprisal against her employment but later legally disposed of it because she did not want it in her possession.” In a statement to Axios, Edwards touted his past as a licensed firearms dealer and said he had "taught several staff members to shoot and handle weapons, and in some cases, I provided them with their own.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Workplace drama: After the Kennedy Center faced internal turmoil in mid-May, the center’s VP of HR LaTa’sha Bowens quietly carried out a mysterious internal probe about workplace culture issues and interviewed a number of employees about unspecified “allegations,” POLITICO’s Daniel Lippman reports. Bowens and an HR colleague asked employees pointed questions, according to two people interviewed who were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive internal matters: Were they aware of concerns about favoritism and unequal treatment because of relationships at the center? Officials, who recorded the meetings, also asked if they were aware of inappropriate relationships among staffers. Playbook viewed a transcript of one meeting. It’s unclear what HR was investigating and a Kennedy Center spokesperson declined to comment. But a separate person familiar with the probe said it focused on a current employee but declined to say who or what it was about, adding only that the investigation closed last month and found no wrongdoing. Bowens didn’t respond to a request for comment. |
A message from Anthropic: How a small shop finds new ways to create using Claude
New ways to create start with new ways to solve problems. Joe Bacus and Leef Armontrout, founders of BLA Studios in St. Louis, are doing both with Claude—from welding machinery, to a steel-saving program, to community improvements. Learn more. |
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OUT AND ABOUT — Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) and Dina Powell McCormick, vice chairman and president of Meta, hosted a dinner last night at their Georgetown home for incoming chief of staff to the vice president Nick Luna and current national security advisor to the vice president Cliff Sims. SPOTTED: Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Deputy Treasury Secretary Francis Brooke, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, Deputy National Security Advisor Mike Needham, White House cabinet secretary Meghan Bauer, RNC chief of staff Mike Ambrosini, Tony Sayegh, Taylor Budowich, Arthur Schwartz, Chris Ruddy, Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.), Jacob Reses, and Alexandra Preate.
TRANSITIONS — Tessa Browne is now comms director at the Chamber of Progress. She is a Senate Foreign Relations Committee and John Garamendi alum. … Tatum Wallace is joining Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-Ark.) office as comms director. She previously worked for Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) … Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) … Fox News’ Peter Doocy … Mick Mulvaney … CNN’s Mark Preston … Justin Fulcher … David Stacy … Google’s Ali-Jae Henke … SoftBank’s Christin Tinsworth Baker … Nancy LeaMond of AARP … Target’s Samantha Summers Kemp … State Department’s Michael Sessums … Trita Parsi … Dave Noble … Athena Johnson … Katherine Schneider … Jahan Wilcox … Government Publishing Office’s Hugh Halpern … Roshan Patel … Brian Parnitzke … former Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), Jimmy Duncan (R-Tenn.), Ed Towns (D-N.Y.) (91), John Salazar (D-Colo.) and Bobby Bright (D-Ala.) … John Negroponte … former Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy … Garrett Ventry of GRV Strategies … Bob Shrum … Meta’s Ritika Robertson … Steve Lerch … retired Gen. Dick Tubb … Christian Morgan of HB Strategies … American Conservation Coalition’s Andy Dunbar … Mary-Sumpter Lapinski 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. Correction: Yesterday’s Playbook misspelled Donavan McKinney’s name.
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