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Presented by PhRMA: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. | | | | | |  | | By Eli Okun and Garrett Ross | | | THE LONG, HOT SUMMER — Buckle up. In a Dear Colleague letter this morning, Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER wrote that “Senators should be prepared for the possibility of working long nights, weekends and remaining in Washington into the previously-scheduled August state work period.” Here’s why: Schumer wants the chamber to take up both the bipartisan infrastructure deal and the Democrats-only budget resolution this work period (alongside all their other priorities). The full letter — Also of note from Schumer: He wrote that “Senate Democrats stand ready to expeditiously fill any potential vacancies on the Supreme Court should they arise,” which WaPo’s Seung Min Kim calls “the hardest nudge I’ve seen from a Democratic senator re: [Justice STEPHEN] BREYER (which is to say, it is not hard at all but notable).” But even if Senate Dems manage to push through both the infrastructure bill and budget resolution — and that’s a big “if” — they’ll need to do a much better job selling them to the public than they have so far. That’s the takeaway from Natasha Korecki’s latest piece, which amounts to a giant flashing warning sign for Dems: “Biden-allied group warns: Voters are largely clueless about POTUS’ accomplishments” — From the article: “The message, delivered in a late June strategy memo by Unite the Country, advised Democrats that they could face midterm losses unless they took a more aggressive approach in touting the president’s $2 trillion Covid-relief bill and defining his infrastructure proposal. … The memo, obtained by POLITICO, was based off of a series of focus groups conducted in battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin” — i.e. the five states that President JOE BIDEN flipped. “And its findings about the state of the current political landscape are among the more sober issued by the president’s allies to date. “They not only sow doubt in President Joe Biden’s ability to avoid the typical losses the party in the White House faces during a president’s first midterm election, but serve as a reminder of the difficulties that come in translating policy initiatives into political successes. Having pledged to avoid the missteps of the Obama years — in which officials acknowledged that they failed to sell their stimulus bill to the public — the Unite the Country memo suggests that Biden may be succumbing to the same fate.” | 
BONUS PHOTO OF THE DAY: AP’s Andrew Harnik captured the removal of an “Area Closed” sign on post-Jan. 6 fencing around the Capitol, after the Capitol Police Board approved plans to start taking the fencing down today. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo | MEANWHILE, ON THE HILL … Rep. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-Miss.), chair of the select committee investigating the insurrection, is not wasting time getting started. Thompson said on MSNBC this morning that they’ll have their first hearing on July 21 or 22 — even if House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY hasn’t named his picks for the committee by then. VOTING RIGHTS LATEST — As civil rights leaders met with Biden and VP KAMALA HARRIS at the White House on Thursday, Eugene noted that the participants were frustrated that the president hadn’t been aggressive enough in the fight over voting rights. Well, it appears that the president got the message: This morning, the White House announced that Biden will travel to Philadelphia on Tuesday to deliver a big speech about “the sacred, constitutional right to vote.” Stay tuned. | | | | A message from PhRMA: Out-of-pocket costs shouldn’t be out-of-this-world confusing. If we fix insurance, we can fix out-of-pocket medicine costs. See how. | | | MORE FROM BIDEN’S WEEK AHEAD: — Monday: Biden will meet with local leaders at the White House to talk about reducing gun and other violent crimes. — Thursday: Biden will deliver remarks on the day that families get their first payments from the expanded child tax credit in the American Rescue Plan. In addition, German Chancellor ANGELA MERKEL will visit the White House. — Friday: Biden will take part remotely in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ retreat, focusing on the pandemic. Then he’ll head to Camp David for the weekend. Happy Friday afternoon. TO RUSSIA, WITH LOVE — Biden had a roughly hourlong call this morning with Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN in which he told Putin to take action on ransomware attacks and “reiterated that the United States will take any necessary action to defend its people and its critical infrastructure,” per the White House readout. They also celebrated a deal at the U.N. to extend a humanitarian aid channel to Syria for another year — or another six months plus six months, as Russia framed it. (Diplomacy!) HAITI LATEST — Press secretary JEN PSAKI said at this afternoon’s briefing that the U.S. is sending top FBI and DHS officials to Haiti ASAP to help investigate the assassination of President JOVENEL MOÏSE. And they’re sending vaccines as early as week. (Also going out today: 3 million to Indonesia, 1.5 million to Nepal and 500,000 each to Moldova and Bhutan.) NEWS YOU CAN USE — “CDC Urges Schools to Welcome Kids Back, Vaccinated or Not,” WSJ: “Schools should stay open this fall with some precautions in place, even where Covid-19 cases are rising, federal officials said, edging some of the nation’s most communal spaces closer to pre-pandemic norms.” — “Vaccinated teachers and students don’t need masks, CDC says,” AP: “The nation’s top public health agency is not advising schools to require shots for teachers and vaccine-eligible kids. And it’s not offering guidance on how teachers can know which students are vaccinated or how parents will know which teachers are immunized. … “Another potential headache: Schools should continue to space kids — and their desks — 3 feet apart in classrooms, the CDC says. But the agency emphasized that spacing should not be an obstacle to getting kids back in schools. And it said distancing is not required among fully vaccinated students or staff. All of this may prove hard to implement, and that’s why CDC is advising schools to make decisions that make the most sense.” PULLOUT FALLOUT — Pentagon press secretary JOHN KIRBY acknowledged on CNN this morning that things are not going swimmingly in Afghanistan as the U.S. departs. “We are seeing [the Taliban] continue to advance on district centers around the country. And it is concerning.” Echoing Biden’s remarks Thursday, he defended the decision to leave, and he called on the Taliban to come to the table and negotiate a political solution. As for the Afghan troops? Good luck! Kirby said: “It’s also time … for Afghan forces to show the capacity and the capability that we know that they have. They are brave. They are fighters. They have taken a lot of casualties over the last year. And we know that they’re willing to defend their country and we’re going to help them do that, but really it’s their job to do that now.” He added that “it is not inevitable” that the Taliban will take over everything soon. — Here’s how that’s going … Reuters has a special report out this morning on one early casualty of the Taliban’s advance: “Afghan pilots assassinated by Taliban as U.S. withdraws,” by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Hamid Shalizi with a Kabul dateline: “At least seven Afghan pilots … have been assassinated off base in recent months, according to two senior Afghan government officials. “This series of targeted killings, which haven’t been previously reported, illustrate what U.S. and Afghan officials believe is a deliberate Taliban effort to destroy one of Afghanistan’s most valuable military assets: its corps of U.S.- and NATO-trained military pilots. In so doing, the Taliban -- who have no air force -- are looking to level the playing field as they press major ground offensives. … Pilots take years to train and are hard to replace, representing an outsized blow to the country’s defenses with every loss.” — “U.S. Considers Downsizing U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan Amid Security Concerns,” by WSJ’s Gordon Lubold and Jessica Donati in Kabul — CLOCK IS TICKING: “Biden administration still debating internally how to evacuate Afghan interpreters,” by NBC’s Dan De Luce, Courtney Kube and Julia Ainsley: “Biden administration officials have been locked in an internal debate over plans to evacuate Afghans who worked for the U.S. military, with some officials arguing against taking the evacuees to U.S. territory where they would have more legal rights once they arrived … “‘There seem to be two sides that haven’t reached a consensus in the administration itself,’ said one refugee rights advocate, who was not authorized to speak on the record. ‘They’re wasting time. These are people’s lives.’” | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO WEST WING PLAYBOOK: Add West Wing Playbook to keep up with the power players, latest policy developments and intriguing whispers percolating inside the West Wing and across the highest levels of the Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | FRIDAY SNACK — “Dems Convert Jon Ossoff Thirst Into Campaign Cash,” by The Daily Beast’s Sam Brodey: “In the over-the-top worship of the 33-year old [Sen. JON OSSOFF ] from Georgia, some observers might see proof of an online fan culture run amok. But a crew of progressive digital organizers sees something different: a bunch of easy marks. Enter the ‘Ossimp Patrol’ — a portmanteau of the senator’s name and a popular slang term for effusive online adoration — a group of very online, mostly Gen Zers who have spent the last year turning an abundant quantity of online Ossoff thirst into campaign cash for Democrats. “Whenever someone offends, a few accounts are quick to respond to them directly with a link to a page on the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue that functions like an online swear jar — if the offense were instead letting slip a few too many sexually suggestive emojis and GIFs in response to a tweet about Ossoff. The revenue collected from that ActBlue page — what organizers call the ‘bonk tax’ — is currently being directed to the campaign of Sen. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA) and organizations supporting voter registration and outreach … The organizer behind the main Ossimp Patrol Twitter account is pretty much who you’d expect it to be: an 18-year old U.C. Berkeley student.” — And the reaction: “‘Thank you,’ Ossoff told The Daily Beast, ‘for bringing this to my attention.’” WILD WEST — “‘We don’t like bullies, egomaniacs or jerks’: Allen West crashes Texas governor’s race,” by Marc Caputo: “Top state Republicans called on [ALLEN WEST ] to quit his post immediately as state GOP chair Tuesday, citing a conflict of interest with his campaign (he refused). He called the party’s vice chair ‘a cancer’ on Wednesday (she’s a cancer survivor). Then West committed a Texas-sized error by heading Friday to Alaska for a joint Texas-Alaska GOP fundraiser bearing a title that strikes at Lone Star pride: ‘THE HEART OF ALASKA IS BIGGER THAN TEXAS.’ “West’s bid for governor is a long shot: He moved to Texas only in early 2015 after serving a single term as a Florida tea party congressman. Gov. GREG ABBOTT appears to be in solid shape, with high approval ratings among GOP primary voters and a stunning $55 million in the bank. But with his no-holds-barred style, West stands to complicate Abbott’s reelection campaign — which some Republicans view as a precursor to a 2024 presidential bid by the governor.” IRAN SO FAR AWAY — “U.S. Frets That Time Is Running Out to Revive Iran Nuclear Deal,” by Bloomberg’s Nick Wadhams: “President Joe Biden’s team is beginning to grapple with the possibility that the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran he promised to revive may soon be beyond saving. “Hopes for a quick re-entry to the accord that DONALD TRUMP abandoned have dimmed after six rounds of negotiations in Vienna, with little sign of when a seventh might start. The stalemate is compounded by Iran’s technological advances and the election of a new hard-line president, raising doubt about whether the agreement reached in 2015 would be sufficient to constrain the country’s nuclear ambitions anymore.” STOP US IF YOU’VE HEARD THIS BEFORE — “Trump, after agreeing to sit for a raft of book interviews, declares them a ‘total waste of time,’” by WaPo’s John Wagner | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO WOMEN RULE : The Women Rule newsletter explores how women, in Washington and beyond, shape the world, and how the news — from the pandemic to the latest laws coming out of statehouses — impacts women. With expert policy analysis, incisive interviews and revelatory recommendations on what to read and whom to watch, this is a must-read for executives, professionals and rising leaders to understand how what happens today affects the future for women and girls. Subscribe to the Women Rule newsletter today. | | | | | AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN IMPACT — “Schools Face Unfamiliar Quandary: How Should We Spend All This Money?” by WSJ’s Jennifer Calfas: “For many districts accustomed to tight budgets, the influx of a historic level of federal funding has created a high-stakes opportunity to develop new learning opportunities and, many leaders hope, forge long-term change with short-term funding. … “[T]he Education Department has required administrators to ask parents, teachers, students, organizations and community members for input before many must submit spending plans in August. Common requests include more time for learning—either through a longer school year or school day, or after-school tutoring. Some communities are pushing for increased mental-health resources, such as added counselors … Others want smaller class sizes or new enrichment activities.” HOT ON THE LEFT — “Education Department urges Biden to extend student loan relief,” by Michael Stratford: “Those administration voices join a growing chorus of top congressional Democrats and advocacy groups pushing the White House to continue pandemic benefits for more than 40 million student loan borrowers. The White House has not yet made a final decision … But Education Department officials have suggested to the White House that the administration extend loan relief one final time, through the end of January.” THE JAN. 6 CASES — “Feds agree to pay $6.1M to create database for Capitol riot prosecutions,” by Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney: “To take on the daunting task, the federal government has turned to Deloitte Financial Advisory Services … Prosecutors are trying to organize thousands of hours of body-worn camera footage, closed-circuit surveillance camera footage, more than a million social media videos, data from phones and email accounts, and the responses to more than 6,000 grand jury subpoenas.” MEDIAWATCH — “TV news crews are increasingly threatened with violence on the job,” by WaPo’s Paul Farhi: “One in five TV news directors surveyed by the Radio Television Digital News Directors Association said their crews had been attacked at some point last year. About half of the episodes stemmed from covering mass gatherings … But about 15 percent of the episodes occurred at random, involving no protest or rally. … The number of incidents last year appears to have prompted a wholesale reassessment of security precautions.” IN THE DOGHOUSE — “Secret Service Says It Has No Plan for Protecting White House Pets During an Attack,” by Gizmodo’s Tom McKay: “The agency says it found no records of a plan to secure White House pets, like President Biden's dog, Major, during a significant emergency.” AFTERNOON READ — Our POLITICO California colleague Mackenzie Mays went back to her home state to deliver this deeply reported feature: “West Virginia is Trading Trump for Tech Workers” From the piece: “Morgantown would be first in line for a new privately funded $25 million program called Ascend WV that offered outsiders $12,000 cash to move to West Virginia to work remotely. … [S]ix months have passed since Trump left office, and it is clear the state is no better off than when he first appeared, and in some important ways it has fallen farther behind. “While Trump maintains a philosophical hold on a portion of the voting populace that still adores him, even his most prominent supporters in state government now recognize that Trumpism offers no viable solutions for reversing the state’s decline and are throwing their weight behind forward-looking programs like Ascend WV, which promote the appeal of some of the most liberal parts of the state where the partisan culture wars that Trump has pushed are least popular.” REAL ESTATE SECTION — The North Carolina home of the late Rev. BILLY GRAHAM is on the market for the first time: four beds, two baths, $599,000. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Jason Ryan is now senior media relations manager at American Clean Power. He most recently was director of public affairs at BP, and is an ABC News alum. DHS ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Kimberly O’Connor is now executive secretary at DHS. She previously was on the DHS and ONDCP Agency Review Teams during the transition, was assistant VP for mental health first aid at the National Council for Behavioral Health and is an Obama DHS alum. | | | | A message from PhRMA:   The way insurance covers your medicine is too complicated. See how we can make the system work for patients. 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