Playbook PM: Biden — and Pelosi — try to squeeze progressives

From: POLITICO Playbook - Thursday Oct 28,2021 04:49 pm

Oct 28, 2021

By Rachael Bade, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun

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When the White House began narrowing in on a reconciliation deal with Manchinema in recent days, they made a promise to progressives on Capitol Hill, according to multiple people familiar with the talks: Whatever Build Back Better (BBB) “framework” was agreed to between President JOE BIDEN and the pair of moderate Senate Democrats would be run by progressives for final approval before a deal was announced, allowing them to call foul if they had a problem.

Now the White House has moved ahead with an announcement — sans the approval of the left.

But that’s not all: Speaker NANCY PELOSI is trying to pressure progressives into voting for the bipartisan infrastructure legislation (BIF) without a roll call — or even legislative text — on the larger Build Back Better package. (Remember: Progressives have long said no BIF without BBB.)

— The timing: In a private caucus meeting this morning, Pelosi told members she wants a BIF vote before Biden lands in Europe tonight for the climate summit. She also told members “that she plans to hold the vote open on the floor if she needs to,” per Sarah Ferris and Heather Caygle.

— The pitch: She told members not to “embarrass” the president by voting down the bipartisan infrastructure bill, per CNN’s Manu Raju.

But already there are signs that this heavy-handed approach isn’t working, even as Pelosi’s whip team kicks into high gear.

— “I want to see it improved,” Sen. BERNIE SANDERS told our Burgess Everett, even as he called the framework the “most consequential bill since the 1960s,” albeit with “major gaps.” He wants his Medicare expansion and prescription drug reform language restored. “Before there is a vote in the House on the infrastructure bill, members of the House have a right to know that 50 U.S. senators are supporting a strong reconciliation bill.”

— In the House, the left is also balking on BIF right now. As our Hill team reports, leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus “insist that roughly 30 of their members need to see an ironclad commitment that both Sens. JOE MANCHIN and KYRSTEN SINEMA will vote for the party-line spending plan, along with legislative text at a minimum. A group of roughly 10 to 15 Democrats also say they’ll be satisfied with nothing less than a full House vote on the broader social policy bill, according to multiple sources close to the discussions.”

If it’s any indication of how things are going, the ever-quotable Rep. RASHIDA TLAIB (D-Mich.) emerged from the progressives’ confab with a simple message, per Nicholas Wu: “Hell no on BIF.”

THERE’S ALSO THIS LITTLE PROBLEM: BIDEN DIDN’T SELL IT. This entire episode looks similar to what happened in late September, when House Democratic leaders hoped Biden would come to the Hill and say to progressives: Vote for this damn BIF, and vote for it now.

But once again, he didn’t. And progressives picked up on that.

“He did not ask for a vote on the BIF today,” Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-Wash.) said right after the meeting. “The speaker did, but he did not. He said he wants votes on both bills."

(By the way, Biden gets some rough marks for his dealmaking skills. According to the latest AP-NORC poll, 36% of Americans say they approve of Biden’s handling of the reconciliation negotiations, with 41% disapproving. More from AP’s Kevin Freking and Hannah Fingerhut)

SO WHERE IS THIS GOING? Good question. It’s interesting that most House progressives appear to be scoffing at the sequencing of the votes more than the content of the BBB framework itself. Does that mean they’re going to go along with the framework and are just putting up a little fight on timing in the meantime to make it look like they held the line? We’ll see.

Meanwhile, Biden, in a speech just before lunch, called for his party to come together to get his agenda passed: “No one got everything they wanted, including me, but that’s what compromise is. That’s consensus. And that’s what I ran on. … I know it’s hard. I know how deeply [people] feel about the things they fight for.”

MORE ON THE “DEAL,” if you can call it that:

— What’s in: $1.75 trillion worth of spending; a one year extension of enhanced child tax credit; Affordable Care Act credits through 2025; expanded Medicare coverage for hearing; $150 billion for home care; 2 years free pre-K; $555 billion in clean energy incentives; a 15% corporate minimum tax and surtax on millionaires; $200 billion for deficit deduction

— What’s out: Prescription drug pricing negotiation; Medicare coverage of dental and vision; paid leave; corporate tax rate increases; free college. More from Sarah Ferris, Heather Caygle, Nicholas Wu and Eugene

— What’s left to figure out: Could prescription drug reform make a comeback? Sinema reached an agreement with Biden on the issue, sources told our colleagues Burgess Everett and Alice Miranda Ollstein . But a Biden administration official said there are “not yet enough votes” for it to be included. Progressives haven’t bought into the current shape of the provisions and think they’re insufficient.

Good Thursday afternoon. Are you tired yet?!?

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CONGRESS

ON THE HOT SEAT — Big Oil executives from ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell are on the Hill today for a House Oversight Committee hearing “about the fossil fuel industry’s alleged efforts to mislead the public about climate change,” WaPo’s Maxine Joselow and Dino Grandoni report. The highlights, via WaPo’s live coverage:

— Shell CEO GRETCHEN WATKINS declined to answer a “yes” or “no” question from Rep. CAROLYN MALONEY (D-N.Y.) about whether global warming poses an existential threat to humanity.

— A report released by the Oversight Dems found that “Exxon, Chevron, Shell, BP and the American Petroleum Institute have spent a combined $452.6 million on lobbying the federal government since 2011. But less than 0.4 percent of the industry’s legislative lobbying over the past decade was on carbon pricing legislation, the analysis found, even as the top executives of BP, Shell and API plan to tout their support for carbon pricing in their prepared testimonies.”

— Related: FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — KEITH MCCOY, the former Exxon Mobil lobbyist who has been invoked throughout the leadup to (and the duration of) the Big Oil CEO hearings today, is speaking out for the first time and denounced Greenpeace UK's tactic in getting him to say on video that the energy industry didn't take climate change seriously. The video … The fallout

“I believe that climate change is a serious issue that requires the urgent action and attention of policy makers, elected officials, corporations, scientists, and environmental advocates. I have devoted my career to encouraging productive debate and helping to find solutions to complex problems," McCoy said in an exclusive statement to Playbook. “Over the summer, a highly-edited video of me was made public by Greenpeace UK, a video that does not accurately reflect what I believe or my character. I believe there is a necessity to work together — this is not business and jobs on one side and the environment on the other.” The full statement (h/t Daniel Lippman)

THE CLIMATE SUMMIT

KERRY’S CONUNDRUM — JOHN KERRY, the U.S. climate envoy, is seeking to secure a statement win for his legacy at the global Glasgow climate summit. But with a softened climate agenda working its way into the reconciliation package — albeit still a sizable investment — Kerry “may find that his prestige around the world on the issue does little to persuade countries like China and India to abandon the fossil fuels they see as critical to their economies — if the United States isn’t willing to take the first step,” Zack Colman writes.

— TO WIT: “China Hurries to Burn More Coal, Putting Climate Goals at Risk,” by NYT’s Keith Bradsher in Linfen, China

URGING ACTION — U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights MICHELLE BACHELET delivered a stern call to action for nations ahead of the Glasgow confab, saying that “only urgent, priority action can mitigate or avert disasters that will have huge — and in some cases lethal — impacts on all of us, especially our children and grandchildren,” per the AP.

THE LOST WORLD — The U.N. Development Program is out with a video ahead of the summit. The message: “Don’t choose extinction.” The featured speaker: A computer-generated dinosaur at the U.N. General Assembly, voiced by JACK BLACK. More from WaPo’s Amy Cheng, with video

POTUS ABROAD

BLACKOUT AT THE VATICAN — The Vatican called off a planned broadcast of POPE FRANCIS greeting Biden, “the latest restriction to media coverage of the Holy See,” AP’s Nicole Winfield reports in Rome . “Cancelled was any live coverage of Biden actually greeting Francis in the palace Throne Room, as well as the live footage of the two men sitting down to begin their private talks in Francis’ library.”

— What they’re expected to discuss: “Vatican officials and experts said they doubted that the antagonism of American bishops would come up in the private audience between Francis and Mr. Biden, and that they would instead talk about issues like addressing climate change, caring for the poor and ending the pandemic,” NYT’s Jason Horowitz writes in Vatican City. “Francis is likely to press the president to ramp up coronavirus vaccine distribution to the developing world, and he rarely misses the chance to speak out against arms dealing and the consequences of war.”

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.

THE ECONOMY

THE GOOD — U.S. unemployment claims reached a new pandemic low last week, dropping to 281,000, per AP’s Paul Wiseman . “The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week gyrations, fell by nearly 21,000 to 299,250, also a pandemic low.”

THE BAD — The U.S. economy saw a slowing to a 2% annual rate in the period between July and September, marking “the weakest quarterly growth since the recovery from the pandemic recession began last year,” AP’s Martin Crutsinger reports . “Thursday’s report from the Commerce Department estimated that the nation’s gross domestic product — its total output of goods and services — declined sharply from the 6%-plus annual growth rates of each of the previous two quarters.” But some economists see signs that the GDP will bounce back in the next quarter.

AFGHANISTAN FALLOUT

ANOTHER INTEL FAILURE — Leading U.S. intelligence agencies “failed to predict the rapid Taliban takeover of Afghanistan prior to the final withdrawal of American troops and instead offered scattershot assessments of the staying power of the Afghan military and government,” according to a review of classified materials by WSJ’s Vivian Salama and Warren Strobel.

“The assessments charted Taliban advances from spring 2020 through this July, forecasting that the group would continue to gain ground and that the U.S.-backed government in Kabul was unlikely to survive absent U.S. support. The analyses, however, differed over how long the Afghan government and military could hold on, the summaries show, with none foreseeing the group’s lightning sweep into the Afghan capital by Aug. 15 while U.S. forces remained on the ground.”

ALL POLITICS

SHOW ME THE MONEY — ERIC GREITENS is being accused of campaign finance violations in his campaign for the Senate, St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Kurt Erickson reports. “In a complaint filed Thursday with the Federal Election Commission, Washington-based Campaign Legal Center … said the Republican spent more than $100,000 from his Missouri account to finance the startup costs of his political comeback attempt. The potentially unlawful spending included payments to a longtime aide who is now his Senate campaign manager, as well as to public relations firms and media consulting firms, and for digital media costs, the complaint noted.”

CALIFORNIA LOVE — Democrats in California are tapping into what they hope will be a secret weapon in turning out Latino voters next year: Sen. ALEX PADILLA. “The plan is to leverage Padilla’s popularity — especially among Latinos — into stronger Latino turnout in the state, where they make up about 30 percent of the electorate,” Sabrina Rodríguez writes . “Part of the goal, Latino Democratic operatives and leaders say, is to deliver Democratic wins in districts with high populations of Latinos that have been overlooked by the party in the past.”

VALLEY TALK

FACEBOOK FILES LATEST — Despite a deep internal knowledge about the online spread of disinformation on Covid and vaccines, Facebook declined to share details, leading to a scuttle with the White House, WaPo’s Gerrit De Vynck, Cat Zakrzewski and Cristiano Lima report.

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.

THE PANDEMIC

RIPPLE EFFECT — When counting the true toll of coronavirus-related deaths, an unexpected data set must be considered: America’s spiking murder rate. “The increased violent crime during the Covid-19 pandemic hit everywhere — big cities, small towns and rural areas as well,” Maya King reports in Atlanta.

PLAYBOOKERS

PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — WMATA announced today that its service disruptions will continue through Nov. 15, with Red Line trains operating every 15-20 minutes and all other lines every 30-40 minutes. The thread

TRANSITIONS — Errol Cockfield and Andrew Williams are joining the Brunswick Group as partners. Cockfield most recently was an SVP of comms at MSNBC. Williams most recently was managing director of corporate comms at Goldman Sachs.