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Presented by PhRMA: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. | | | | |  | | By Garrett Ross | | | | 
“Today is many things. It’s proof that despite the naysayers, we can make meaningful progress on dealing with gun violence,” President Joe Biden said in remarks on Monday. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo | This morning, President JOE BIDEN held a ceremony on the south lawn of the White House to highlight the recent passage of bipartisan gun safety legislation. But the event, which was billed as a “celebration,” didn’t quite turn out that way. At the outset of the event, VP KAMALA HARRIS spoke to tee up Biden’s prepared remarks. “We would not be here were it not for the vision, the courage and the unwavering determination of one particular individual: Joe Biden,” she said. But over on the internet … DREW BRANDEWIE, comms director for Sen. JOHN CORNYN (R-Texas), who helped broker the bipartisan deal, tweeted in reference to Biden: “He was nonexistent.” Back on the South Lawn, things got messier. “Today is many things. It’s proof that despite the naysayers, we can make meaningful progress on dealing with gun violence,” Biden said. At that, MANUEL OLIVER — whose son, Joaquin, was killed in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. — stood up and shouted: “We have to do more than that!” As Oliver continued yelling, he could be heard saying: “I’ve been trying to tell you this for years.” Biden replied: “Sit down, you’ll hear what I have to say.”
|  Oliver stands up to speak out during Biden's remarks. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | As security approached Oliver, Biden asked them to “Let him talk,” before continuing with his remarks. “Make no mistake about it: This legislation is real progress, but more has to be done,” Biden said. Oliver was eventually escorted out of the event. Watch a 1:12 clip In an appearance on CNN earlier this morning, Oliver was asked what he thought of the bill and “what you plan to tell President Biden if you get the chance.” He said: “It’s been a while that I've been calling out that using the word ‘celebration’ … is like we’re going to a party, to a wedding.” He continued: “For me, it’s not only not enough what we’re passing. … There was no reason for this event to be called as it’s called.” Watch the 1:22 clip In a story that was posted this morning, AP’s Zeke Miller got at that idea, writing that the “celebration” of the new legislation “after just 16 days in effect, already has been overshadowed by yet another mass shooting.” IGOR VOLSKY, director of Guns Down America: “There’s simply not much to celebrate here. … It’s historic, but it’s also the very bare minimum of what Congress should do. … And as we were reminded by the shooting on July 4, and there’s so many other gun deaths that have occurred since then, the crisis of gun violence is just far more urgent.” Heads up: Oliver and other survivors of gun violence are planning to host a news conference at 2 p.m. in front of the White House. Good Monday afternoon.
| | | | A message from PhRMA: Inflation is causing pain for people across the country. As policymakers search for ways to help provide relief, some are erroneously tying inflation to prescription medicines. To make matters worse, this false premise is being used to build support for harmful policies.
It’s important to make medicines affordable for patients, but let’s get a few facts straight – starting with the fact that prescription drugs are not fueling inflation. | | | JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH FEDS STILL WANT BANNON TRIAL — The Justice Department on Monday told a federal judge that STEVE BANNON should still face trial for defying the Jan. 6 committee’s subpoena, despite the fact that he eventually relented and agreed to provide testimony. What DOJ said in its filing: “The Defendant’s last-minute efforts to testify, almost nine months after his default — he has still made no effort to produce records — are irrelevant to whether he willfully refused to comply in October 2021 with the Select Committee’s subpoena.” More from WSJ’s Alexa Corse ALL POLITICS DESANTIS VS. TRUMP — It’s no secret that Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS’ political star is rising and challenging Trump’s hold as the standard bearer in the Republican Party — poll after poll confirms as much. For now, his campaigning is, at least in theory, confined to his reelection bid in Florida — but his reach is already well beyond his home base. WSJ’s John McCormick reports from West Bend, Wis., where voters are eager to drop DeSantis’ name when asked about a 2024 Republican presidential nominee. How they view it:
- “ANGELA BUESING, a 50-year-old information-technology manager who twice voted for Mr. Trump, said she would like a GOP nominee with a ‘better moral compass’ and worries the former president wouldn’t be able to win over enough independent voters.”
- RANDY MARQUARDT, chairman of the Washington County GOP, “described the Florida governor as ‘a guy who is willing to fight the battles and maybe even stating more eloquently the reasons behind them than Trump did.’”
— Related read: “DeSantis rails against wokeness. But Florida has paid $700K to a firm that teaches racial inclusivity,” by Matt Dixon and Andrew Atterbury FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Holly Otterbein writes in: In Pennsylvania’s pivotal Senate race, the GOP just notched a small victory over a super PAC attacking MEHMET OZ. The Senate Republicans’ campaign arm complained to TV stations that Planned Parenthood Votes was running an ad that misleadingly characterized Oz’s position on abortion by suggesting he supported a ban on the procedure with no exceptions for rape and incest, among other things. According to email correspondence obtained by POLITICO, Philadelphia ABC station WPVI required the super PAC to edit the spot. An updated version of the ad makes no mention of exceptions. A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Votes said the original spot does not claim Oz would vote for a ban without exceptions, and that the group “stands by the content of our advertisements, both of which continue to run in various markets across the state.” Oz spox BRITTANY YANICK: “Dr. Oz has been very clear — he’s pro-life and he supports exceptions for life of the mother, rape and incest. Planned Parenthood tried to lie to Pennsylvanians and got caught.”
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | ABORTION FALLOUT THE RIPPLE EFFECT — NYT’s Alex Burns examines the economic impact of the post-Roe v. Wade America, which he writes is “threatening to reshape the lines of economic competition between conservative and liberal states.” Companies must now contend with a new map of red and blue states that present political and social landmines — a reality that “represents a potential disruption to the calculus that has made Republican-led Sun Belt states a draw for big companies, which have tended to embrace the reduced taxes and regulations while treating local social policy as something of a sideshow.” IN THE STATES — “Michigan activists submit signatures to put abortion rights on the ballot in November,” by Alice Miranda Ollstein WHAT TO WATCH NEXT — “The Right to Travel in a Post-Roe World,” by NYT’s Adam Liptak: “In a concurring opinion last month, Justice BRETT M. KAVANAUGH said the Constitution did not allow states to stop women from traveling to get abortions. But the issue is more complicated than that.” FOR YOUR RADAR — “Over-the-counter birth control? Drugmaker seeks FDA approval,” by AP’s Matthew Perrone: “HRA Pharma’s application on Monday sets up a high-stakes decision for health regulators amid legal and political battles over women’s reproductive health. The company says the timing was unrelated to the Supreme Court’s recent decision overturning Roe v. Wade.” THE ECONOMY FOR YOUR RADAR — California, Connecticut, Illinois and New York — all Democratic-led states with budget surpluses — have decided “not to fully repay the federal government for money borrowed to fund unemployment benefits,” WSJ’s Jimmy Vielkind writes, “a move that will impose increased charges on businesses to help make up the difference.” What happens next: “If the debts aren’t fully repaid by Nov. 10, as officials in the four states envision, the federal government will start charging $21 per employee annually on all businesses in the states next year. In addition, state taxes on businesses to fund their unemployment programs will go up by varying amounts.”
| | | | A message from PhRMA:   What’s fueling inflation? Not prescription drugs. The administration’s own economic data proves it. | | | POLICY CORNER MAJOR OVERHAUL — The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is in need of an overhaul, health officials have discovered as they implement changes to “strengthen an overstretched network of call centers that didn’t connect with about one in six callers in recent years,” WSJ’s Brianna Abbott, José Luis Martínez and Ryan Tracy report. One major change: The line “will transition on July 16 to a three-digit number for calls and texts, 988, from a 10-digit number that has operated since 2005.” The details: “Nationally, some $432 million in federal funding and additional state funding to improve the crisis line will help to cut response times and answer more calls in-state after the 988 number goes live, public-health officials and mental-health advocates said.” SPORTS BLINK — “Justice Department Is Investigating PGA Tour Over Potential Antitrust Violations in LIV Golf Battle,” by WSJ’s Louise Radnofsky and Andrew Beaton AMERICA AND THE WORLD NEIGHBORS TO THE SOUTH — The relationship between the U.S. and Mexico has “become a wide range of disagreements over trade, foreign policy, energy and climate change,” AP’s Mark Stevenson and Zeke Miller write. That’s sure to be put on center stage when Mexican President ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR visits D.C. on Tuesday. What both sides want: “U.S. officials want López Obrador to retreat on his reliance on fossil fuels and his campaign to favor Mexico’s state-owned electricity utility at the expense of foreign-built plants powered by gas and renewable energy. … What the Mexican president is interested in talking about is inflation, which in June spiked to almost 8%. Inflation and the economic after-effects of the pandemic are leading an increasing number of Mexicans to emigrate.” PRE-TRIP READING — As Biden heads to the Middle East later this week, here’s one storyline to watch, via AP’s Joseph Krauss : “For more than two years, the Biden administration has said that Palestinians are entitled to the same measure of “freedom, security and prosperity” enjoyed by Israelis. Instead, they’ve gotten U.S. aid and permits to work inside Israel and its Jewish settlements. The inconsistency is likely to come up when President Joe Biden visits Israel and the occupied West Bank this week for the first time since assuming office.” — Related video: “Biden's meeting with Saudi Arabia's MBS: 6 things to know,” by Renee Klahr and Nahal Toosi PULLOUT FALLOUT — “The Biden administration recently began discussing how to handle the anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan next month to avoid missteps that could add to President Joe Biden’s political woes,” NBC’s Carol Lee and Courtney Kube report. “The National Security Council also has been reaching out over the past few weeks to the Defense and State department and intelligence officials to check on the status of their internal reviews of the withdrawal, officials said, as Biden’s advisers brace for a renewed spotlight on a widely criticized effort that shook his standing with Americans.” BIG INVESTIGATION — “Uber wooed Russia’s rich and powerful but failed there anyway,” by WaPo’s Ian Duncan: “A lobbying push in the Russian parliament fell apart, and stiff competition from a homegrown rival proved insurmountable.”
| | | | INTRODUCING POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don’t miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | WAR IN UKRAINE — “Ukraine Digs for Survivors in Rubble of Apartment Building Destroyed by Russian Missile,” by WSJ’s Ian Lovett: “The death toll from the Russian missile attack Saturday on the five-story structure in Chasiv Yar, in the Donetsk region, rose to 19 people, according to Ukraine’s emergency services. Eight survivors had been pulled from the rubble as of Monday morning.” — “Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN signed a decree on Monday expanding a fast-track procedure to receive Russian citizenship to all Ukrainians, in yet another effort to expand Moscow’s influence in war-torn Ukraine,” AP’s Mstyslav Chernov reports from Kharkiv. PLAYBOOKERS TRANSITIONS — John Heinemann and Brendan Malone are now U.S. policy manager and policy associate at Paradigm, respectively. Heinemann most recently was at the House Financial Services Committee and Malone joins from the Federal Reserve. … Dwight Draughon has rejoined Steptoe & Johnson as a partner. He previously was assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland. … … Leah Boley is now VP of comms at BAE Systems’ intelligence and security sector. She previously was head of comms for the aeronautics systems sector at Northrop Grumman. … Will Smethers is now legislative director for Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.). He previously was senior legislative assistant for Rep. Michelle Fischbach (R-Minn.).
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