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Presented by Better Medicare Alliance: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. | | | | | |  | | By Rachael Bade, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun | | | A NEW END TO THE DEBT-CEILING LOGJAM? — In her news conference this morning, Speaker NANCY PELOSI just floated an idea percolating among Democrats that would, in theory, give party leaders a way out of the precarious standoff over the debt ceiling: allowing the Treasury secretary to raise the debt ceiling on his or her own accord while giving Congress the power to overrule the secretary should lawmakers want to. “I do think it has merit,” the California Democrat told reporters, arguing that the proposal has bipartisan support — or, at least, has in the past. We reached out to Senate Minority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL’s office on this and will let you know what we hear back. But if Republicans are eager to harangue Democrats on the campaign trail for both voting to raise the national debt by several trillion dollars and also spending trillions on new programs, it seems unlikely that they’ll go along. We’ll see. MORE PELOSI: — The speaker reiterated that Democrats need to start making cuts to their larger reconciliation package to bring it closer to the range favored by Senate moderates. “If there are fewer dollars to spend, there are choices to be made,” she said. — Pelosi also acknowledged the ongoing debate about whether they should tackle fewer policies with longer timelines, or more policies with shorter lifespans. “Some members have written back to me and said, ‘I want to do everything,’” she said, referring to the “Dear Colleague” letter she circulated last night. “We’ll have that discussion.” Good Tuesday afternoon. OBAMA, BIDEN TO CAMPAIGN FOR MCAULIFFE — Former President BARACK OBAMA is planning to rally for TERRY MCAULIFFE next week in Richmond, Va., Zach Montellaro reports. The planned appearance by Obama will come on Saturday, Oct. 23 — 10 days before Election Day and on the heels of other high-profile boosters to the campaign this coming weekend: First lady JILL BIDEN and STACEY ABRAMS will stump for McAuliffe on Friday and Sunday, respectively. — And despite all that has been made of McAuliffe’s apparent distancing from President JOE BIDEN, the former governor said today that Biden will return to the campaign trail before voters go to the polls. Via National Journal’s Josh Kraushaar: “At an education roundtable, Terry McAuliffe said President Biden will be campaigning for him. ‘He'll be coming back. You bet he will.’” TRUMP HOTEL NEARS DEAL — Former President DONALD TRUMP may be on the verge of selling his D.C. hotel, WSJ’s Craig Karmin and Julie Bykowicz report. “CGI Merchant Group, a Miami-based investment firm, is in talks to acquire the lease on the hotel, these people said,” they write. “The lease deal could ultimately fetch closer to $400 million, which would represent roughly a doubling of the money the Trump Organization spent to convert the government building into a luxury hotel, said one of the people familiar with the matter.” | | A message from Better Medicare Alliance: Seniors are counting on Congress to stand up for the health coverage they need and deserve. Learn more about how Medicare Advantage creates value for taxpayers and provides high-quality, affordable health coverage to a more diverse, more at-risk beneficiary population in our 2021 State of Medicare Advantage report. | | | CONGRESS HEADS UP — DEBORAH BIRX, the Trump White House Coronavirus Response coordinator, “is taking questions from the congressional select committee investigating the pandemic,” sources tell Betsy Woodruff Swan and Erin Banco. “The session is part of the probe into how the Trump administration handled the onset of the global coronavirus pandemic.” More from Congress Minutes DON’T MESS WITH MAXINE — @RepMaxineWaters: “I have been hacked and my Twitter account has been erased. I know who has done this. I will take care of this. M Waters.” The tweet, from the account in question, which appears to be fully intact AFGHANISTAN FALLOUT GRAB KABUL BY THE HORNS — Biden is planning to tap ELIZABETH JONES as coordinator for Afghan relocation efforts, sources tell Lara Seligman, Andrew Desiderio and Nahal Toosi . “The State Department plans to announce as soon as this week that Jones, a veteran diplomat who served as the ambassador to Kazakhstan and as deputy special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, will replace JOHN BASS, the former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, the people said. In the new position, Jones will be responsible for overseeing the entire Afghanistan effort, from facilitating the departures of people who still want to leave, to relocating them in the U.S.” MEANWHILE — The European Union “said Tuesday that it will provide $1.16 billion in aid to Afghanistan and neighboring countries as a way to avoid ‘catastrophe,’” WaPo’s Chico Harlan reports in Rome. “The E.U.’s pledge came just ahead of a virtual Group of 20 summit on the topic of Afghanistan, where one of the most urgent issues involves how to stave off famine and the collapse of basic services while not providing a signal of support for the Taliban leaders.” THE WHITE HOUSE HISTORY MADE — “Under a groundbreaking decision by state and federal officials, many private health plans sold in Colorado will soon be required to cover hormone therapy, genital reconstructive services and other procedures sought by transgender patients,” WaPo’s Dan Diamond writes . “The change, which would take effect on Jan. 1, 2023, would mark the first time the federal government has approved a requirement for transition-related coverage in individual and small-group health plans.” | | | | INTRODUCING CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO’s new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. GET A FIRST LOOK AT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE. | | | | | ALL POLITICS A POLITICAL COVID TEST — Gov. PHIL MURPHY is popular in New Jersey, receiving high marks for his early response to the coronavirus pandemic. But that isn’t stopping his GOP challenger, JACK CIATTARELLI, from setting up the gubernatorial election as a referendum on Murphy’s record. NYT’s Tracey Tully writes that the contest in New Jersey this November will be “one of the first statewide tests of how voters feel about strict coronavirus-related mandates as the health crisis stretches into its 20th month and pandemic fatigue mounts.” THE ECONOMY RECORD NUMBER OF AMERICANS QUITTING JOBS — Just days after it released a rocky jobs report, the Labor Department dropped another tranche of data this morning showing that “4.3 million people quit jobs in August, according to the monthly survey — about 2.9 percent of the workforce,” WaPo’s Eli Rosenberg writes. “The numbers add another data point to a surprising aspect of the pandemic: that workers are emerging with more leverage, as many employers say they are struggling to staff up.” FEDERAL REVENUE HITS NEW HIGH — Federal tax receipts are booming, Brian Faler reports . “Revenues jumped 18 percent in the fiscal year that just ended, analysts say — the biggest one-year increase since 1977. That translates into $627 billion more than in 2020, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which estimates that, for the first time, total government revenues topped $4 trillion.” POLICY CORNER IMMIGRATION FILES — DHS Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS told Yahoo’s Michael Isikoff that the Trump-era Title 42 authority “is not an immigration policy that we in this administration would embrace, but we view it as a public health imperative as the Centers for Disease Control has so ordered.” | | | | BECOME A GLOBAL INSIDER: The world is more connected than ever. It has never been more essential to identify, unpack and analyze important news, trends and decisions shaping our future — and we’ve got you covered! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Global Insider author Ryan Heath navigates the global news maze and connects you to power players and events changing our world. Don’t miss out on this influential global community. Subscribe now. | | | | | BEYOND THE BELTWAY ABORTION ON THE DOCKET — The Biden administration urged the courts this morning to halt Texas’ abortion ban, its latest attempt to intercede in the ongoing battle, AP’s Paul Weber reports in Austin. “The days ahead could now be key in determining the immediate future of the law known as Senate Bill 8, including whether there is another attempt to have the U.S. Supreme Court weigh in.” — Related reading: “Justices’ views on abortion in their own words and votes,” by AP’s Mark Sherman and Jessica Gresko HUNGER IN AMERICA — Hunger and food insecurity in the U.S. is dropping in measurable ways, AP’s Ashraf Khalil writes , but is still running above pre-pandemic levels. “An Associated Press review of bulk distribution numbers from hundreds of food banks across the country revealed a clear downward trend in the amount of food handed out across the country, starting in the spring as the COVID-19 vaccine rollout took hold and closed sectors of the economy began to reopen. … All told, families facing food insecurity find themselves still dependent on outside assistance and extremely vulnerable to unforeseen difficulties.” AMERICA AND THE WORLD BIG-STICK DIPLOMACY — “In an apparent continued effort to drive a wedge between Washington and Seoul, [KIM JONG UN] also used his speech at a rare exhibition of weapons systems Monday to stress that [North Korea’s] military might isn’t targeted at South Korea and that there shouldn’t be another war pitting Korean people against each other,” AP’s Hyung-Jin Kim reports from Seoul. “‘The U.S. has frequently signaled it’s not hostile to our state, but there is no action-based evidence to make us believe that they are not hostile,’ Kim said Monday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. ‘The U.S. is continuing to create tensions in the region with its wrong judgments and actions.’” PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION PREP SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL — St. Albans, the prestigious D.C. boys school, is cracking down on hate speech, the Washington Free Beacon’s Aaron Sibarium reports . “‘It is the impact of hate speech, rather than the intent of those perpetrating it, that is of utmost importance,’ the draft policy states. As such, boys could be expelled ‘even in the case of a single expression, act, or gesture’ — including ‘misplaced humor,’ which the policy says ‘should be reported immediately to the student’s adviser.’” PLAYBOOKERS MEDIA MOVE — Kate Davidson is joining POLITICO as an author for Morning Money. She previously was an economic policy reporter at WSJ. OBAMA ALUMNI — Antoinette Rangel will be an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. She most recently was a judicial law clerk for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and is an Obama White House and Hillary 2016 alum. TRANSITION — W. Robert de Jongh is joining the Brunswick Group as a partner. He most recently was a managing director at Deloitte. WEDDINGS — Toby Tyler, deputy comms director for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Clay Douthat, national bank examiner at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, got married on Friday at the D.C. War Memorial. Pic — Lindsay Walters, SVP for U.S. public affairs at Edelman, and Patrick Clifton , got married on Oct. 2 at St. Joseph’s on The Brandywine in Wilmington, with a reception at the bride’s family farm in Chadds Ford, Pa. The two met while working in the Trump White House. Pic by Andrea Hanks ... Another pic … SPOTTED: Joe Hagin, Dan Walsh, Beau Harrison, Nick Butterfield, Mike Haidet, Douglas Sellers, Stewart Young, Margo Martin, Kate Karnes, Sarah Sanders, Tom Bossert and Jessica Ditto, Casey Black, Lauren Pratapas and John Legittino. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Jamie Matese, manager of federal government relations at National Grid and a Peter King alum, and Trevor Matese, VP of commercial real estate at the Congressional Bank, welcomed James John Matese on Monday. He joins big sister Grace. — Spencer Wolf, a VP at The Daschle Group, and Holly Wolf, a management consultant at Guidehouse, welcomed Winifred “Winnie” Wolf last Wednesday. She joins big sister Colette. Pic … Another pic BONUS BIRTHDAY: Former Labor Secretary Seth Harris | | | | A message from Better Medicare Alliance:   Read more about the Medicare Advantage difference. | | | | | | | 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 | | | | |  |
