Playbook PM: D.C.’s next crisis arrives in force

From: POLITICO Playbook - Monday Oct 04,2021 05:39 pm

Oct 04, 2021

By Eugene Daniels, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun

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“No, I can’t. That’s up to Mitch McConnell.”

That was PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN’s answer to whether or not he can guarantee that the United States would not breach the debt limit on Oct. 18, when Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN says the country will run out of money. In a speech this morning, the president excoriated Republicans as “reckless and dangerous” for vowing to block a majority vote to raise the ceiling.

Biden told reporters he had just received a letter from MITCH McCONNELL in which the Senate minority leader prodded him to pressure his party to raise the limit with only Democrats. (Which Republicans blocked Democrats from doing last week through normal Senate procedure.) Biden said he planned “on talking to Mitch about it.”

As for the possibility of default? “I don't believe that” will happen, Biden said. “But can I guarantee it? If I could, I would, but I can't.”

This is getting serious, folks.

If you’re just tuning in: McConnell is demanding that Democrats use the majority-vote reconciliation process to deal with the debt limit, avoiding the need for GOP votes. Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER and now Biden insist that’s a nonstarter: The president said today going the reconciliation route would be “incredibly complicated and cumbersome.”

His statement (and continued GOP opposition) takes this staring contest to a whole other level, putting the U.S. economy at risk. We’re still at square one on the debt limit with about two weeks left to go.

“For now, it’s impossible to predict who will blink in the debt limit standoff. The country may run right up to the brink of catastrophe in the coming weeks,” our colleagues Burgess Everett and Alex Thompson wrote this morning.

Schumer told his conference this morning he wants to pass a debt ceiling bill by the end of the week, without explaining how. In a “Dear Colleague” letter, he said Senate Democrats would be discussing it at their caucus lunch Tuesday.

Good Monday afternoon.

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TRUMP CARDS

THE WINK-AND-NOD CAMPAIGN — Former President DONALD TRUMP was ready to formally roll out his 2024 campaign operation in August as the Biden White House was underwater with its bungled Afghanistan withdrawal. But aides pumped the brakes before a decision was made, according to WaPo’s Michael Scherer and Josh Dawsey . A formal announcement “would force a reshuffling of his newly formed fundraising apparatus” while others worried “that Democrats might use his announcement in their effort to frame the midterm elections around his candidacy.” One person familiar with the conversations summed up the strategy as such: “The biggest point we drove home was that he doesn’t want to own the midterms if we don’t win back the House or Senate.”

THE GRISHAM REDEMPTION TOUR — STEPHANIE GRISHAM is making the rounds ahead of the release of her forthcoming tell-all book about her time in the Trump White House. She told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos this morning that she regrets enabling a “culture of casual dishonesty” in the administration. “Especially now when watching him, and so many people, push the false election narrative. I now want to, in whatever way I can, educate the public about the behaviors within the White House because it does look like he's going to try to run in 2024,” Grisham said.

— Asked by Stephanopoulos about whether she could have done more to protect a young female staffer who Grisham says Trump took an “unusual interest” in, she deflected: “I don't know if I could have, there’s, there’s not an HR department at the White House. … I didn't feel comfortable talking to [then-COS] MARK MEADOWS. I don't believe he would have done anything. So I did the best I could, in terms of never letting her be alone with him in the cabin. I tried to keep her off trips as often as I could. I did the best I could, I think, in that environment.”

CONGRESS

TESTIMONY TWO-STEP — The New Republic’s Edward Graham takes a look at how successful Democrats have been in beefing up “rules about what nongovernment witnesses must disclose prior to their testimony.” The answer so far appears to be not very, as think tanks routinely exploit loopholes to flout the rules. “It’s still all too common for think tank–affiliated witnesses to sidestep the enhanced disclosure rules by claiming they’re not representing their organizations but merely testifying on their own behalf, thereby bypassing the need to disclose any federal or foreign funding that might influence their testimony.”

SINEMATOGRAPHY — With Sen. KYRSTEN SINEMA (D-Ariz.) at the center of much Democratic frustration and angst about Biden’s agenda, the LAT’s Mark Barabak writes from Tempe, Ariz. that “anyone surprised by Sinema’s stance hasn’t paid attention.” “‘This is exactly what she told Arizona she would do,’ said STAN BARNES, a former Republican state lawmaker who has known Sinema since she served in the Legislature before going to Congress. ‘A cynic would say you do what you do to get elected’ and then change once in office. Apparently, Barnes said, ‘she didn’t get the memo.’”

THE WHITE HOUSE

CALL TO ACTION — DEBRA and MARC TICE, the parents of AUSTIN TICE, are out with an open letter to Biden urging him to take action in securing Austin’s return from captivity in Syria. “Mr. President, Austin needs you to step out and boldly lead. Please say our son’s name in public. Talk about Austin Tice; let people in Washington and Damascus know you are thinking of him. Put courage in their hearts to do the right thing. We have no doubt your family will support you, and our government will unite behind you.” Debra and Marc also requested a meeting with Biden and his family to “show that you have taken the lead and we are working on this together.” The letter

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THE PANDEMIC

BOOSTER BOON — Johnson & Johnson is expected to seek federal approval for a booster shot this week, becoming the last of the three major vaccine makers to line up extra shots as officials determine that the one-dose jab’s effectiveness could wane over time, NYT’s Sharon LaFraniere reports.

THE JUDICIARY

ABORTION ON THE DOCKET — Conservatives have long lamented when international law is used in U.S. court cases. But that has changed when it comes to abortion, as conservatives are citing foreign practices to bolster their case for restrictive abortion laws like the one from Mississippi which will come up before the Supreme Court later this year, NYT’s Adam Liptak writes.

ALL POLITICS

FOR YOUR RADAR — Rep. JEFF FORTENBERRY (R-Neb.) is under scrutiny as he reportedly “raised money for a legal defense fund with claims he’s facing federal prosecution that a spokesperson later disavowed,” Axios’ Lachlan Markay reports . “The investigation in question, the spokesperson said, had to do with illegal campaign contributions by a Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire to a number of congressional Republicans.”

DONE WITH DEMS — ANDREW YANG has officially changed his voter registration to Independent.

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AMERICA AND THE WORLD

MORE OF THE SAME — The Biden administration is not interested in easing up on its “combative economic approach toward China,” at least not right now. In a call with senior Biden officials, they made clear that even though the president “may have criticized the Trump administration’s aggressive approach, his White House will continue trying to counter China’s economic threats with trade barriers and other punitive measures,” NYT’s Ana Swanson and Keith Bradsher write.

WHO YA GONNA CALL? ANGELA MERKEL has long been thought of as the dominant figure in European politics, and often was the world leader who the White House most often found an ally in. But as she prepares to end her term as chancellor of Germany, there is a handful of European leaders “competing to fill the power vacuum she leaves,” Ryan Heath writes.

MEDIAWATCH

BELIEVE IT WHEN WE SEE IT — Ozy Media is not shutting down, its CEO CARLOS WATSON told CNBC this morning . “‘We were premature,’ Watson said in a ‘Squawk Box’ interview of the decision. He added that over the weekend, the company had ‘good conversations’ with investors and advertisers. ‘We have lots of things we have to do to improve, but I very genuinely feel like we have a meaningful, transformational voice,’ he added. ‘At our best, this will be our Lazarus moment.’”

THIS IS NEWSY — Newsy “is expanding its programming to 17 hours a day with an eventual goal of operating around-the-clock and, for the first time, will be available as an over-the-air television service” with the goal to provide “an unflashy service that goes beyond headlines to look at the breadth of news in some detail and without a political bias,” per AP’s David Bauder.

PLAYBOOKERS

IN MEMORIAM — “Ex-US Rep. Todd Akin, sunk by ‘legitimate rape’ remark, dies,” by AP’s John Hanna and Jim Salter: “Former U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, a conservative Missouri Republican whose comment that women’s bodies have a way of avoiding pregnancies in cases of ‘legitimate rape’ sunk his bid for the U.S. Senate and became a cautionary tale for other GOP candidates, has died. He was 74. Akin had cancer for several years, his son Perry said in a statement. He died late Sunday at his home in Wildwood, a St. Louis suburb.”

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Christianné Allen is now deputy to the SVP of global engagement at GETTR, the new social media app launched by Jason Miller. She most recently worked for Rudy Giuliani as comms director at Giuliani Communications.

TRANSITIONS — John Mix is joining Physicians for Human Rights as chief marketing and development officer. He previously was VP of marketing and comms at Catholic Medical Mission Board Worldwide. … Nick McGee is now senior issues and advocacy adviser at ExxonMobil. He previously was senior director of public affairs at PhRMA. … Steve Abbott is now policy lead at Gusto. He previously was senior officer of government relations at the Pew Charitable Trusts.

BONUS BIRTHDAY: Megha Bhattacharya of second gentleman Doug Emhoff’s office

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