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Presented by Facebook: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. | | | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross | | | BREAKING — Police reform in Congress is officially dead. WSJ’s Eliza Collins and Sadie Gurman scooped that Sen. CORY BOOKER (D-N.J.) called Sen. TIM SCOTT (R-S.C.) “to tell him the Democrats were done negotiating after Mr. Scott didn’t accept their final offer.” — From Nicholas Wu: “Rep. KAREN BASS, who’d been the lead House Dem negotiator, said unions’ intransigence was one breaking point but ‘It wasn’t like there was a big fight. It wasn’t like there was a big rupture. But at a certain point, you have to recognize that you’re just spinning your wheels.’” HOT TICKET — Democrats have been agitating for President JOE BIDEN to get more involved with Hill negotiations lest his teetering agenda topple next week when the infrastructure bill hits the House floor. This afternoon, the president is taking a big step to iron out major policy differences on health care, taxes, climate, education and more by inviting Dem leaders, moderates and progressives to the White House. Our Burgess Everett and Marianne Levine have the itinerary: MEETING I: THE LEADERS — Speaker NANCY PELOSI and Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER. MEETING II: THE MODERATES — Reps. SUZAN DELBENE, JOSH GOTTHEIMER, STEVEN HORSFORD, STEPHANIE MURPHY and MIKE THOMPSON, and Sens. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, JOE MANCHIN, JEANNE SHAHEEN, KYRSTEN SINEMA, JON TESTER and MARK WARNER. MEETING III: THE PROGRESSIVES — Reps. KATHERINE CLARK, PRAMILA JAYAPAL, BARBARA LEE, MIKE POCAN and JIM MCGOVERN, and Sens. CORY BOOKER, PATTY MURRAY, BRIAN SCHATZ, RON WYDEN and BERNIE SANDERS. — Manchin said beforehand he doesn’t think Democrats will be able to reach a deal on reconciliation by next week, per CNN’s Manu Raju. — Murphy warned that there will be a price to pay if House Democratic leaders renege on their promise of a Monday vote on BIF. “The mistrust that exists currently between members will spread to mistrust between leadership and members, and I think that wouldn’t be healthy for our Congress accomplishing Biden’s agenda,” she told CNN’s Annie Grayer. — Rachael Bade reports: Republican House leaders will formally whip against the BIF vote, GOP Whip STEVE SCALISE (La.) told members today in a private meeting. HEADING FOR THE BRINK — WaPo’s Jeff Stein reveals that former Treasury Secretaries HANK PAULSON and STEVEN MNUCHIN tried to resolve the debt ceiling standoff in private conversations earlier this month with Senate Minority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL and current Secretary JANET YELLEN. As you’re surely aware, they did not bear fruit. But it’s a sign of how worried the business world is about potential economic disaster. Paulson and Mnuchin both relayed to the Biden administration that McConnell isn’t bluffing. — Paulson is among a group of former Treasury secretaries who sent a letter to congressional leaders this morning warning about the “serious economic and national security harm” that would follow if the U.S. defaults on its debt, Caitlin Emma reports. “[E]ven delaying resolution until default is imminent can be detrimental,” reads the letter, which is also signed by MICHAEL BLUMENTHAL, ROBERT RUBIN, TIMOTHY GEITHNER, LARRY SUMMERS and JACOB LEW. | | A message from Facebook: Internet regulations are as outdated as dial-up
Facebook supports updated regulations, including four areas where lawmakers can make quick progress:
– Reforming Section 230
– Preventing foreign interference of our elections
– Passing federal privacy law
– Setting rules that allow people to safely transfer data between services | | | BREAK OUT THE CHAMPAGNE — Biden spoke this morning with French President EMMANUEL MACRON, who agreed to have the French ambassador return to Washington next week — that was fast! — after the diplomatic kerfuffle over the U.S.-U.K.-Australia submarine deal. Per the White House’s readout of the call, they “agreed that the situation would have benefitted from open consultations among allies” and will commence “a process of in-depth consultations,” including a Biden-Macron meeting in Europe late next month. — Bloomberg’s Jennifer Epstein calls it “half Biden apology and half putting the blame on Australia for not communicating better.” — VIDEO OF THE DAY: With tensions with France still high, British PM BORIS JOHNSON isn’t going easy on them. “I just think it’s time for some of our dearest friends around the world to prenez un grip about this and donnez-moi un break,” the fluent French speaker told reporters in Washington today. Watch here … More from Bloomberg … Great photo of Johnson looking at a WINSTON CHURCHILL bust VAX DIPLOMACY — At his virtual pandemic summit this morning, Biden urged the world’s wealthiest nations to step up and donate more vaccines to low-income countries. He positioned the U.S. as the “arsenal of vaccines,” announced a new partnership with the EU on vaccine distribution, and made it official that the U.S. will send 500 million Pfizer doses abroad. Biden also called for a follow-up virtual summit in the first quarter of next year. Good Wednesday afternoon. THE WHITE HOUSE HOW LOW CAN HE GO? — Biden’s approval rating hit a new low in Gallup’s latest poll out this morning, sinking to 43% approval and 53% disapproval (the first time that metric has crossed the majority threshold). Independents caused a significant share of that decline. Gallup says the ongoing pandemic and Biden’s handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal were key factors. The poll BORDER WOES — Amid outcry over the treatment of Haitian migrants at the Texas border, the Congressional Black Caucus and NAACP President DERRICK JOHNSON met with top administration officials at the White House/virtually today, per theGrio’s April Ryan. — DHS Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, testifying on the Hill today, said his department will have an investigation into the mounted border agents’ actions done within days, per USA Today. CONGRESS KNOWING CORI BUSH — Harper’s Bazaar’s Kaitlyn Greenidge is out with a glowing profile of the Missouri Democrat, in which Bush talks about watching her father’s political career (he eventually became mayor of Northwoods, Mo.) and deciding she’d never run for office — only to change her mind after Ferguson. “I thought, What are you doing to make his world better? The more I said no, the more this yes rose up inside of me.” SPAC-TACULAR — A group of Senate Democrats led by ELIZABETH WARREN (Mass.) is asking for information from prominent special purpose acquisition companies (or SPACs), questioning “misaligned incentives,” Bloomberg’s Heather Perlberg scooped. POLITICS ROUNDUP 2022 WATCH — The DSCC is launching a $30 million organizing investment bolstering on-the-ground field efforts in nine states facing big Senate races next year: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. They’re touting the “Defend the Majority” program as the largest such investment the DSCC has made this early in a cycle. Scoop from NBC’s Henry Gomez THE NEW GOP — In Lander, Wyo., USA Today’s Ledyard King and Hannah Gaber take a detailed look at how endangered Rep. LIZ CHENEY really is in next year’s Republican primary. Former Sen. ALAN SIMPSON thinks she’ll still win, in part due to non-Republicans voting in the primary. But according to the piece, “[t]he feud has left Wyoming Republicans asking uncomfortable questions: Why would our Republican congresswoman go against a Republican president in this conservative state? And why keep doing so publicly after he’s left office? At times, it seems their gripes could better be posed this way: What happened to the Liz Cheney we elected – and do we want her back?” 2021 WATCH — The latest Monmouth poll has New Jersey Gov. PHIL MURPHY up 13 points over GOP challenger JACK CIATTARELLI, a margin that has shrunk by 3 points over the last month. The poll THE VOTING RIGHTS BATTLE — With slim prospects for new federal legislation protecting voting rights, the administration’s outside allies are beginning a smaller-scale push working with local organizations. Per Sabrina Rodríguez, Building Back Together and others will educate groups about reporting violations of the law when Latino, Asian and other voters in certain jurisdictions aren’t given bilingual resources. It’s “the first national initiative focused on language access issues.” | | | | TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: Do you listen to POLITICO podcasts? We want to hear from you! Tell us what you like, what you could do without, and what you want to see in the future from the POLITICO Audio team! Your responses will help us improve our offerings and tailor our podcast content to better fit your needs. Find the survey here. | | | | | TRUMP CARDS PAGING THE NRSC — ADAM LAXALT, the frontrunner for the GOP Nevada Senate nomination, will be called to testify in the criminal trial of RUDY GIULIANI associate LEV PARNAS, per Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney. Prosecutors say Laxalt was tricked into taking what he thought were legitimate donations from IGOR FRUMAN — and that “Parnas had informed them he intends to impugn Laxalt’s credibility by questioning certain politically charged positions he has supported.” The court filing POLICY CORNER DIRTY WORK — A porn industry trade organization known as the Free Speech Coalition is hiring lobbyists for the first time to fight big changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, reports Hailey Fuchs. It’s a stance that aligns the adult entertainment biz with social media/internet giants trying to avoid weakening their powerful liability shield. INCOMING — The Fed will release a policy statement at 2 p.m. today, and the bank “is widely expected to indicate it is getting ready to announce it will start paring back its $120 billion in monthly purchases of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities,” CNBC reports. AMERICA AND THE WORLD ON THE CALENDAR — National security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN is heading next week to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, Axios’ Barak Ravid reported. WATCH: Can Biden bounce back at UNGA 2021? In recent months, Biden has faced growing criticism from his allies across the pond. From his policies on climate to Covid-19 and Afghanistan, some world leaders are comparing Biden’s performance to his “America First” predecessor, DONALD TRUMP. This week, Ryan is joined by Ryan Heath to break down why other countries are mad and how Biden will try to make amends at UNGA. | 
| BEYOND THE BELTWAY ON THE BALLOT — In the city that in many ways became the heart of the “defund the police” movement, Minneapolis voters will decide in November whether to enshrine police limits in an amendment to the city’s charter. Maya King calls it “the first ballot test of a big-city police department overhaul in advance of the midterm elections.” Despite activist energy, some top Democrats oppose the amendment, including the governor, the mayor (who’s up for reelection) and Sen. AMY KLOBUCHAR. ABORTION BAN FALLOUT — Texas women are heading to Louisiana, Oklahoma and elsewhere to get abortions and other services after their state’s near-total ban, WSJ’s Elizabeth Findell reports from Austin. The onrush is causing backlogs and delays at overwhelmed clinics. THE PANDEMIC STINGY WITH SUPPLY — As poor countries around the world still struggle to get sufficient vaccine doses, the Biden administration (and others) are pressing Pfizer and Moderna to share their vaccine technology with manufacturers abroad. But they’ve proven unsuccessful, and anger is growing especially at Moderna, which got $2.5 billion from the Trump administration to develop its vaccine but is refusing to share its recipe. A senior official anonymously “expressed deep frustration” to NYT’s Stephanie Nolen and Sheryl Gay Stolberg. HAPPENING TODAY — An important CDC advisory committee is meeting today and Thursday to weigh booster shots of the Pfizer vaccine, days after an FDA advisory committee voted to recommend limiting them to high-risk people. The heated booster debate has seen the Biden administration’s plans to roll out boosters widely and quickly hit some scientific roadblocks, and this vote — likely not coming until Thursday — will provide another chance for experts to weigh in. More from Barron’s | | | | JOIN THURSDAY FOR A WOMEN RULE CONVERSATION ON ENDING SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THE MILITARY: Sexual assault in the military has been an issue for years, and political leaders are taking steps to address it. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) proposed bipartisan legislation to overhaul military sexual assault policies, but still face opposition. Join Women Rule for a virtual interview featuring Sens. Ernst and Gillibrand, who will discuss their legislative push and what it will take to end sexual assault and sexual harassment in the military. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS CRYPTO MEET UNGA — Crypto industry insiders partied into the night at Beyond Protocol’s “Secret” Party in NYC on Tuesday. SPOTTED: Samuel Harrison, Andrew Durgee, Dusan Kovacic, Erika Isett, Shan Aggarwal, Dave Wang, Herbert Barbosa, Porter Smith, Steve Kim, Amy Wu and Paul Veradittakit. OUT AND ABOUT — NYU professor Bill Easterly was honored with the 2021 Julian L. Simon Memorial Award from the Competitive Enterprise Institute on Tuesday night at the REACH at the Kennedy Center. The space was turned into the “upside down” for a “Stranger Things”-themed evening, with emcee Chris Stirewalt of The Dispatch and keynote speaker Joseph Henrich of Harvard. SPOTTED: Fred and Fran Smith, Kent Lassman, Ajit Pai, Kathy Kraninger, Susan Dudley and Brian Mannix, Kim Dennis, Grover Norquist, Lawson Bader, Jim Neill, Erica Suares, Jason Russell and Kellan Howell, Clive Crook, James Wegmann, Ginger Gibson, Cindy Herrle, Shoshana Weissmann, Geoff Pohanka, Jennifer Butler, Will Dunham, Evan Swarztrauber, Alexa Walker, Andrew Stuttaford, Michael and Gina Pack, Andrew Grossman, Ilya Shapiro and Sarah Skwire. STAFFING UP — The White House announced several national security nominations Tuesday: Shannon Corless as assistant Treasury secretary of terrorism and financial intelligence, Carrie Ricci as general counsel of the Army, Douglas Bush as assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, and Ashish Vazirani as deputy undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness. TRANSITIONS — Former Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) is now special counsel in Eckert Seamans’ government affairs practice. … Tres Bailey is now VP of U.S. federal government relations at Ecolab. He previously was senior director of federal government affairs at Walmart. WEEKEND WEDDINGS — Claire Nance, comms director for Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), and Jonathan Klakring, international security analyst for Leidos, got married Friday in Berryville, Va. The couple met through mutual friends at Liberty University. Pic … Another pic — Zach Parkinson, deputy comms director and research director at the RNC and a Trump White House/campaign alum, and Hillary Gross, chief of staff for Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio), got married Saturday in Baltimore. They met in middle school and reconnected when they both were working on the Hill. Pic … Another pic … SPOTTED: Bob Gibbs, Raj Shah, Julia Hahn, Adam Kennedy, Matt Wolking, Andrew Clark, Francis Brennan, Ali Pardo, Sarah Hasse, Scott Clark, Dickie Sant, Kerry Rom, Katie and Pat Velliky, Jonathan Frank, Brad Rateike, Alex Briggs, Ryan Dilworth, Hawley Stanton, Meredith Dolan, Ryan Stenger, Corry Marshall, Danielle and John Nelson, Meghan Cruz and Dallas Gerber. — Adam Carbullido, director of policy and advocacy at the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations and a Madeleine Bordallo alum, and Bobby Mushroe, a partner and VP at Sage Media Planning and Placement, got married this weekend at the Perry Belmont House in Washington, D.C. Pic BONUS BIRTHDAYS: John Moylan of the first lady’s office … Daniela Fernández of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute … Ben Mueller of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation’s Center for Data Innovation | | | |   | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |  |
