Playbook PM: NRCC chief to Trump: Please don’t

From: POLITICO Playbook - Wednesday Mar 03,2021 06:43 pm

Mar 03, 2021

By Eugene Daniels, Rachael Bade, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross

Presented by

CAPITOL POLICE WARNING — “Police uncover ‘possible plot’ by militia to breach Capitol,” AP: “The U.S. Capitol Police say they have intelligence showing there is a ‘possible plot’ by a militia group to breach the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. The revelation was detailed in a statement from the Capitol Police. It comes at the same time the acting police chief is testifying before a House subcommittee.

“‘The United States Capitol Police Department is aware of and prepared for any potential threats towards members of Congress or towards the Capitol complex,’ the agency said in a statement. ‘We have obtained intelligence that shows a possible plot to breach the Capitol by an identified militia group on Thursday, March 4.’”

— More from the Jan. 6 hearing, via Kyle Cheney and Andrew Desiderio

EMMER MAKES 2022 PRIMARY PLEA TO TRUMP — At a POLITICO Live event this morning, NRCC Chair TOM EMMER (R-Minn.) told us that former President DONALD TRUMP getting involved in House primaries is “not gonna be helpful” to their effort to retake the House. Trump has made clear he and his allies plan to primary the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach him, but Emmer said he would talk to Trump at some point to ask him to change his mind.

Emmer, a longtime Trump supporter, wouldn’t go as far as to tell the head of his party to butt out completely, but his intentions were clear. “He can do whatever he wants,” Emmer said. “But I would tell him that it’s probably better for us that we keep these people and we make sure that we have a majority that can be sustained going forward.”

Emmer’s comments might seem obvious: Of course the GOP doesn’t want Trump taking down their members. But they are significant because House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY has refused to say even that. Reporters have been chasing McCarthy around the Hill for days, asking for clarity. Emmer has officially become the first member of Republican leadership to publicly caution Trump against acting out on his thirst for revenge.

Republicans behind the scenes are worried Trump-approved candidates will be too Trumpy in some swing districts. Democrats have already begun to hit the GOP as a party spreading the “big lie” that led to the Capitol insurrection and the party of QAnon. But Emmer said, “I don't care what they do down the street [at the DCCC]. I’m totally focused, and we’re unified as a group on winning back a Republican majority.”

Even with possible Trump primaries, Emmer guaranteed us that House Republicans would win at least the five seats they need to flip the chamber next November. Their strategy is to continue to tie Democrats (including moderates) to socialism and what he called “radical” left-wing policies. He repeated some version of the word “socialism” nine times in the 30-minute interview. Check out the full interview here if you missed it

White House press secretary JEN PSAKI said this afternoon that she did not expect a new nominee for OMB director to be named this week. Asked how NEERA TANDEN came to withdraw her name, Psaki simply said it was a “recognition that Neera Tanden made,” declining to offer any further details.

— MOMENTUM FOR SHALANDA YOUNG — “House Democratic leaders press Biden for their budget chief pick,” by Caitlin Emma and Heather Caygle

A message from the American Investment Council:

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COVID RELIEF LATEST — “Biden strikes stimulus deal with Senate Democrats,” by Burgess Everett: “Senate Democrats and President Joe Biden settled a last-minute debate over Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill, choosing to keep federal unemployment benefit payments at $400 per week but phase out the measure’s $1,400 stimulus checks more quickly. …

“Senate Democrats need all 50 of their members to kick off consideration of the bill, a vote expected on Wednesday afternoon. After that the chamber will plunge into a long debate and finish with a series of amendment votes that could run for hours on end, known as a ‘vote-a-rama.’ Senate Republicans are debating how painful to make things for Democrats, possibly by dragging out the marathon of unlimited amendments overnight. That would likely happen late on Thursday and run into early Friday morning.”

DEMOCRACY IN DECLINE — Freedom House’s annual report on the state of democracy around the world finds that the U.S. slipped from a score of 86 last year to 83 this year, thanks in part to Republicans’ lies about the election. Around the world, the gap between the number of countries that improved and the number that worsened stretched to its worst chasm over the past 15 years of declining freedoms. INDIA was a notable downgrade, falling from Free to Partly Free. The only country to see a positive status change was SEYCHELLES. The report

TOP-ED — PENCE DOUBLES DOWN ON VOTING RESTRICTIONS: “Election Integrity Is a National Imperative,” the former VP’s first monthly column at The Daily Signal

HOW IT’S PLAYING OUT — “Georgia Takes Center Stage in Battle Over Voting Rights,” NYT: “Two bills, one passed by the House on Monday and another that could pass the Senate this week, seek to alter foundational elements of voting in Georgia … Taken together, the new barriers would have an outsize impact on Black voters …

“The Georgia effort comes as former President Donald J. Trump continues to publicly promote the lie that the election was stolen from him, which has swayed millions of Republican voters. It has also put further pressure on Republican state legislatures … If a highly restrictive bill ends up on [Gov Brian] Kemp’s desk, he will be faced with a complicated dilemma.”

YIKES — “Rep. Ronny Jackson made sexual comments, drank alcohol and took Ambien while working as White House physician, Pentagon watchdog finds,” CNN: “The Department of Defense inspector general has issued a scathing review of Rep. Ronny Jackson during his time serving as the top White House physician, concluding that he made ‘sexual and denigrating’ comments about a female subordinate, violated the policy for drinking alcohol while on a presidential trip and took prescription-strength sleeping medication that prompted concerns from his colleagues about his ability to provide proper care. …

“Jackson claimed the report was politically motivated in a statement to CNN on Tuesday, saying the inspector general ‘resurrected’ old allegations against him because he refused to ‘turn my back on President (Donald) Trump’ … He also told CNN he rejects ‘any allegation that I consumed alcohol while on duty.’ … The report also notes that the investigation into Jackson ‘was limited in scope and unproductive’ as White House counsel under Trump insisted on being present at all interviews of current White House Medical Unit employees, which had a ‘potential chilling effect’ on the probe.” The report

THE LATEST ESCALATION — “U.S. forces: Rockets hit airbase in Iraq hosting U.S. troops,” AP: “At least 10 rockets targeted a military base in western Iraq that hosts U.S.-led coalition troops on Wednesday, the coalition and the Iraqi military said. It was not immediately known if there were any casualties. The rockets struck Ain al-Asad airbase in Anbar province at 7:20 a.m.”

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MAKING MOVES ON DISTRIBUTION — “White House taps insurers to boost vaccinations among vulnerable communities,” by Susannah Luthi: “The Biden administration on Wednesday will announce a new initiative with health insurers to ensure some of their most high-risk customers get vaccinated against Covid-19 …

“The effort, organized by White House coronavirus adviser Andy Slavitt and led by major lobby America’s Health Insurance Plans, is aiming to fully vaccinate 2 million people 65 and older from vulnerable communities over the next 100 days … The White House hopes the new focus will help quicken the pace of vaccinations for the most vulnerable patients, as confusing appointment websites or overloaded queues increase the risk they'll be left behind.”

HOW WE GOT HERE — “‘They just were not all in’: How the White House convinced two pharmaceutical giants to collaborate on a vaccine,” CNN: “Preliminary conversations that began under the Trump administration about a vaccine manufacturing partnership between the pharmaceutical giant and its competitor, Merck, whose own vaccine attempt had failed, were ‘incremental’ and going nowhere fast, according to two senior administration officials …

“That changed when Jeff Zients, the White House’s coronavirus czar, called Johnson & Johnson’s CEO Alex Gorsky on a Sunday in early February and urged the company to meet the moment, stressing that the US is in a ‘national emergency’ and that it was time to go ‘big and bold.’ … Zients reminded Gorsky -- a West Point graduate and US military veteran -- of Johnson & Johnson’s major contributions during World War II, including manufacturing the first-ever duct tape and other military supplies.”

THE HILL PUSHES BACK — “Bipartisan senators introduce bill to strip Biden of war powers,” by Andrew Desiderio: “Senators from across the ideological spectrum signed onto the Kaine-Young bill as co-sponsors on Wednesday, including Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). [Tim] Kaine and [Todd] Young have introduced similar efforts before, but Biden’s airstrikes in Syria breathed new life into their push.”

IN FOGGY BOTTOM — “State Department Should Be More Diverse And Engaged Across U.S., Report Says,” NPR: “‘Transforming State,’ from the Truman Center, a think tank in Washington … focuses on how to make the department more ethnically diverse, equitable and innovative, while making a case for strong diplomacy to the American public by engaging locally across the country.” The report

BIDEN CABINET ROUNDUP — “Labor Nominee Faces Scrutiny Over Boston’s Contracting Practices,” WSJ … “Susan Collins Will Vote For Interior Secretary Nominee Deb Haaland,” HuffPost … “Senate panel deadlocks on advancing Biden’s pick for health secretary,” by Alice Miranda Ollstein

REP. KAREN BASS (D-Calif.) in USA TODAY: “Thirty years ago, I watched Rodney King beaten. We thought our fight was finally over: When the police officers in the Rodney King case were acquitted, I felt hopeless and defeated. That’s how we will continue to feel until we act.”

STILL KICKING — “Solid sign-ups for Biden’s new ‘Obamacare’ coverage offer,” AP: “More than 200,000 people signed up for coverage in the first two weeks after President Joe Biden re-opened HealthCare.gov as part of his coronavirus response … National enrollment will be higher when totals from states running their own insurance websites are factored in later.”

FIND OUT THE LATEST WHISPERS FROM THE WEST WING : What's happening inside the West Wing, and what are the real conversations taking place behind-the-scenes in the halls of power? Who really has the ear of the president? What's going to happen across the executive branch next, and why? Transition Playbook chronicles the people, policies and emerging power centers of the Biden administration. Don't miss out. Subscribe today.

MAGALOMANIA — “Trump aides build out the MAGA-verse with new groups,” by Alex Isenstadt: “[Brooke] Rollins has moved aggressively since Trump left the White House, with her soon-to-be-launched organization — America First Policy Institute — taking up office space in Arlington, Va., hiring about 30 staffers so far, and, according to Rollins, raising millions of dollars.

“Rollins is joining an increasingly long list of former White House officials who’ve set up Trump-allied political groups since the 2020 election … Republicans have expressed interest in building out a constellation of new conservative nonprofit groups, believing that Democrats have established a critical advantage in that space in recent years.” Plus Brad Parscale, Corey Lewandowski, Ben Carson and Russ Vought

ELENA SCHNEIDER (@ec_schneider): “SCOOP - Facebook lifting its political ad ban on March 4, per email to political clients.”

BIG POLITICAL AD IMPLICATIONS … WSJ: “Google to Stop Selling Ads Based on Your Specific Web Browsing”

DISINFORMATION DIGEST — “Fake News Gets More Engagement on Facebook — But Only If It’s Right-Wing,” Wired: “New research released today … appears to be the first to show empirically that the relationship between accuracy and engagement varies dramatically based on where the source aligns on the partisan spectrum. According to researchers at the Cybersecurity for Democracy project at New York University, far-right purveyors of misinformation have by far the highest levels of engagement per follower compared to any other category of news source.

“Indeed, the researchers found that while left-leaning and centrist publications get much less engagement if they publish misinformation, the relationship is reversed on the far right, where news organizations that regularly publish false material get up to 65 percent more engagement than ones that don’t. The study provides perhaps the most substantial evidence yet about what types of news — and fake news — perform best according to this metric on Facebook.” The study

XI SAID — “‘The East Is Rising’: Xi Maps Out China’s Post-Covid Ascent,” NYT: “Xi Jinping has struck a confident posture as he looks to secure China’s prosperity and power in a post-Covid world, saying that the country is entering a time of opportunity when “the East is rising and the West is declining.”

“But behind closed doors, China’s Communist Party leader has also issued a blunt caveat to officials: Do not count out our competitors, above all the United States. ‘The biggest source of chaos in the present-day world is the United States,’ Mr. Xi said … Leaders in Beijing appear much more focused on the United States, which they see as remaining bent on hobbling China’s ascent, regardless of who is in the White House.”

REAL ESTATE SECTION — @EricTrump: “Just listed in Palm Beach, FL!! 1125 South Ocean Blvd.” With pics

WHITE HOUSE ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Reggie Greer has been appointed director of priority placement at PPO and senior adviser on LGBTQ issues at the White House. He previously was LGBTQ+ vote director for the Biden campaign.

TRANSITIONS — Igor Khrestin is now a managing director at Finsbury Glover Hering. He most recently was national security adviser to Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations East Asia subcommittee. … Katherine Mooney Carroll is joining Stripe as global head of policy. She most recently was a banking and regulatory partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, and is a Defense Department alum. Bloomberg … Frances Townsend is now EVP of corporate affairs for Activision Blizzard. She previously was vice chair, general counsel and chief administrative officer for MacAndrews & Forbes and is a George W. Bush DHS alum.