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Presented by Google: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. | | | | | |  | | By Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun | | | CHILD TAX CREDIT STATE OF PLAY — Our Senate ace Burgess Everett just sent us this quick dispatch on a key part of the reconciliation talks: “SHERROD BROWN is just saying no to efforts to impose tough restrictions on who should qualify for the next round of child tax credits from the reconciliation bill. He told a pair of reporters in the Capitol midday that he wouldn't consent to squeezing out people from getting the benefit unless they were from relatively wealthy families. “‘If they want to bring down the eligibility for families making $200, $300, $350, $400K, I’m fine with that. But the fact is this has been the most effective, quantifiable, provable answer to child poverty that we’ve done in a generation. Comparable to what the Affordable Care Act did. Why would we scale that back?’ “Asked about JOE MANCHIN’s efforts to scale back who receives the benefit, Brown replied: ‘No. no. no. Just no on it. It’s too important. I’ve had conversations with Manchin about it. Manchin wants to scale back the top and we can get major savings if that’s what he wants to do. We’ve already compromised on this, we wanted 10-year permanence. And now we’re looking at 3-4 years.’" IXNAY ON THE CARBON TAX-AY? — This morning, we reported that the possibility of a carbon tax was increasingly being discussed in reconciliation talks as a way to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Today, Sens. Manchin and JON TESTER (D-Mont.) voiced something between hesitance and outright opposition to the idea, as Burgess writes in Congress Minutes. — Tester was pretty diplomatic: “You might have problems with me on a carbon tax,” he said. “I use a lot more fuel than [a trucker does], and we’re both going to get the same check and it’s going to make us whole? It’s just not going to work.” — Manchin was very … Manchin about it: “The carbon tax is not on the board at all right now.” That keeps Dems in a lurch as they continue to hunt for ways to fulfill President JOE BIDEN’s emissions ambitions within a reconciliation bill that can actually pass the Senate. — FWIW, one senator involved in the talks told Playbook this afternoon that Dems are “very very close” to a deal on the climate provisions in the reconciliation bill and that a carbon tax, despite Manchin’s comment, is indeed still on the board. Speaking of: The Two Joes™ met this morning at the White House, a source tells Burgess. The topic? You guessed it: The “president’s jobs and families plan.” This afternoon, two groups of lawmakers are also headed to the White House. — The progressives: At 2 p.m., nine House members — including Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair PRAMILA JAYAPAL — will meet with Biden, VP KAMALA HARRIS and Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN. — The moderates: A group of eight moderates from the House and Senate will meet at 4:30 with the same crew. Notable in that meeting is Sen. MARK WARNER (D-Va.), who has been pushing the House to pass the BIF and give Democrats a big win before Virginia’s gubernatorial race is all said and done in two weeks. — Related reading: “Biden bets his agenda on the inside game,” by Christopher Cadelago and Marianne LeVine Interesting read: Are Dems getting the messaging all wrong on the reconciliation bill? For POLITICO Magazine, Farah Stockman offers advice on that front: “I knew the Democrats had a messaging problem the day I saw newspapers describe Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan as a vast expansion of the social safety net. Safety nets are those cumbersome things that catch you when you stumble and fall. They’re important, but they are not the stuff of inspiration. … “Democrats need to get back to being the party of work , not the party of social safety nets. … [Build Back Better] is not a safety net bill. It’s a way to get Americans back to work, to prepare them for 21st century jobs and to make sure that people who do work can make ends meet. Universal pre-K and quality child care will help parents return to the labor force after the pandemic.” It’s Tuesday afternoon. Guten Tag. Axel Springer’s acquisition of POLITICO is now complete — you can read more about that in the press release that went out a few minutes ago. And though it’s a time of transition here, Playbook will continue to be Playbook, bringing you all the scoops, news, intrigue and insider nuggets you’ve come to expect from us. | | A message from Google: Google keeps more people safe online than anyone else in the world. Cybersecurity leadership is one of the ways Google is helping America grow and thrive. To combat today’s risks, Google is investing $10 billion to help companies, organizations, and governments around the globe modernize their security infrastructures. Learn more. | | | THE WHITE HOUSE POTUS WORKS PHONES IN VOTING RIGHTS PUSH — As the Freedom to Vote Act comes up for a key vote on Wednesday, Biden and Harris got on the phones Monday to discuss the legislation, the White House said today. Biden spoke by phone with Sens. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-Ga.) and ALEX PADILLA (D-Calif.) and Harris spoke with Sens. ANGUS KING (I-Maine), AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-Minn.) and JON OSSOFF (D-Ga.). JUDICIARY SQUARE TRUMP’S TOUGH DRAW — Former President DONALD TRUMP’s attempt to block Congress’ Jan. 6 select committee from obtaining White House records has landed before a judge that has been tough on Capitol rioters, Kyle Cheney and Anthony Adragna report for Congress Minutes. Judge TANYA CHUTKAN, “an Obama appointee to the federal district court of Washington D.C. in 2014, has even imposed sentences that went beyond prosecutors' requests in recent Capitol riot cases. Chutkan also presided over the case of MARIA BUTINA, the Russian spy who sought to infiltrate influential Republican circles.” HEADS UP — The FBI swarmed OLEG DERIPASKA’s D.C. home on Tuesday, NBC’s Tom Winter, Michael Kosnar and Laura Strickler report . “The reason for their presence wasn’t immediately clear. The spokesperson said the agency is conducting “law enforcement activity at the home,” but wouldn’t elaborate. Deripaska is a billionaire oil tycoon with close ties to Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN.” CONGRESS FBI CLOSES IN ON FORTENBERRY — Rep. JEFF FORTENBERRY (R-Neb.) said in a video posted on Monday that he expects to be indicted for lying to the FBI despite his claims of innocence, Omaha World-Herald’s Paul Hammel reports. “The anticipated indictment grew out of an FBI investigation, launched in California during the Trump administration, regarding $180,000 in illegal ‘conduit’ campaign contributions from GILBERT CHAGOURY, a Nigerian billionaire of Lebanese descent.” The video — Fortenberry’s lawyer: Former Rep. TREY GOWDY (R-S.C.), per KLKN. MO MONEY, MO PROBLEMS — Rep. MO BROOKS (R-Ala.), who is running for Senate, was “about a month late in disclosing that he sold up to $50,000 worth of stock in pharmaceutical company Pfizer — despite criticizing the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer and bashing mandates that force people to get its coronavirus vaccine,” Insider’s Kimberly Leonard, Warren Rojas and Dave Levinthal report . Brooks’ wife, MARTHA, told Insider that she was to blame for the late filing: “I do not run those things through Mo. It’s only me. I have full control of that.” | | | | 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. | | | | | AMERICA AND THE WORLD FOR YOUR RADAR — “The Haitian gang that abducted a group of American and Canadian missionaries is asking for $1 million each for their release, a total of $17 million, a top Haitian official said on Monday,” WSJ’s Kris Maher, Juan Montes and Clare Ansberry report. “President Biden has been briefed, White House press secretary JEN PSAKI said Monday, and the FBI will help Haitian officials investigate the kidnapping and try to negotiate a release.” THE PANDEMIC DISINFO DIGEST — COLIN POWELL’s death due to Covid-19 complications quickly became a topic used to undermine vaccine efficacy. Despite Powell being 84 years old and immunocompromised — he had multiple myeloma and Parkinson’s disease — “public health experts said they expect Powell’s death to be misconstrued to feed a narrative that the vaccinations do not work,” WaPo’s Annie Linskey writes. THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION RAHMING HIS WAY THROUGH — Amid progressive opposition to his nomination as ambassador to Japan, RAHM EMANUEL is going on offense “touting his support among Black organizations in closed-door meetings with lawmakers ahead of his confirmation hearing this week,” WaPo’s John Hudson, Jacqueline Alemany and Theodoric Meyer report. But some Dems who he’s meeting with aren’t being charmed so easily as they still have questions “over his role in the police killing of Chicago teenager LAQUAN MCDONALD.” — MEANWHILE … WaPo’s @seungminkim: “One tidbit as ambassador-a-rama kicks off this week - [Sen. TED] CRUZ tells me he won’t hold up confirmation for [JEFF] FLAKE for Turkey, [TOM] UDALL for New Zealand, etc out of senatorial courtesy. Cruz has a hold on various State/Treasury noms due to ongoing battle with admin over Nord Stream 2.” HISTORY MAKING — RACHEL LEVINE is set to become admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, making her the first openly transgender four-star officer, WaPo’s Dan Diamond writes. ALL POLITICS VA GOV LATEST — Abortion used to be a topic that “Democrats and Republicans alike used to turn out bedrock supporters and attack their opponents,” WaPo’s Marc Fisher writes. But in the Virginia governor’s race, only one candidate is pressing the issue. “While abortion rights advocates embrace Democrat TERRY MCAULIFFE as a firewall who would keep abortion legal in Virginia, antiabortion groups have made an unusual pivot, arguing that the issue they long made a focus of state politics might best be relegated to the sidelines.” — Two things both sides are talking about: Trump and education. Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser has more on the latest ad campaigns from McAuliffe and GLENN YOUNGKIN. | | | | 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. | | | | | POLICY CORNER IMMIGRATION FILES — The recent blowup over the Border Patrol’s use of horseback agents to round up would-be migrants in Del Rio, Texas, was expected to be a topic at today’s confirmation hearing for Biden’s CBP chief, CHRIS MAGNUS. But the issue goes much deeper than Del Rio, NYT’s Eileen Sullivan writes — it’s about “the poor treatment of Black migrants that has spanned administrations, often overshadowed by the larger debate about the broken immigration system and a persistent focus on waves of migrants from Central America.” HOW TO DEAL — NYT’s Neil Irwin writes about the economic conundrum that is dividing Democrats right now: Whether the Obama-era policies and ideas are still relevant in 2021. “That tension, and how it resolves itself — or doesn’t — will be central to the evolution of the Biden presidency and American economic policy for years to come. On the surface, there is a clash between lawmakers with different political instincts. But there is also a clash over whether a more traditional view will prevail over a newer approach that has become mainstream among economists — especially those who lean left, but with some acceptance among center-right thinkers.” BEYOND THE BELTWAY TRUMP-BACKED TEXAS ‘AUDIT’ BILL D.O.A. — Two Trump-backed bills in the Texas legislature appear to be dead in the water, Texas Tribune’s Taylor Goldenstein reports . “One would have eased up the process for requesting an election audit, and another would have raised the penalty for the crime of illegal voting, a reversal of a provision that top Republican leaders said was accidentally included in a sweeping elections bill Republicans passed in the summer.” THE PROGRESSIVE PUNT — GOP legislatures across the country have implemented laws aimed at abortion, voting rights, mask requirements and more. But many states aren’t seeing an increase in prosecutions for breaking these new laws. That’s because progressive prosecutors across the states are “increasingly declaring they just won’t enforce some GOP-backed state laws, a strategy at work in response to some of the most controversial new changes in recent years,” AP’s Jonathan Mattise writes in Nashville, Tenn. AFGHANISTAN FALLOUT STILL AT IT — An informal network of former government and military officials hasn’t given up on the Afghanistan evacuation efforts, “working to fulfill a promise and save the Afghan colleagues who risked their lives for America’s long fight in Afghanistan,” NYT’s Roger Cohen reports . “So far, the network has evacuated 69 people from 23 families from Afghanistan since mid-August.” PLAYBOOKERS TRANSITIONS — Jonathan Graffeo and Phalen Kuckuck are joining Hamilton Place Strategies. Graffeo will be a managing director and most recently was deputy staff director on the Senate Appropriations Committee for Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.). Kuckuck will be a director and most recently was digital director at PLUS Communications and FP1 Strategies. | | | | A message from Google:   To prevent unauthorized access to accounts and networks, Google is automatically enrolling users in two-step verification, with a goal of 150 million users this year. | | | | | | | 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 | | | | |  |
