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Presented by PhRMA: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. | | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | | BREAKING — “Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi says he will resign,” CNBC
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President Joe Biden said he held out hope for the stalled talks on reviving the Iran nuclear deal, reiterating that diplomacy was the ideal route. | Maya Alleruzzo, Pool/AP Photo | POTUS ABROAD — President JOE BIDEN’s Middle East trip kicked off today — and in no time, he was confronted with the thorny geopolitical questions that have bedeviled the long lead-up to this expedition. On Iran: Israeli PM YAIR LAPID leveled harsher rhetoric at Iran than Biden did at the men’s joint press conference this morning, declaring that “the only way to stop them [from getting a nuclear weapon] is to put a credible military threat on the table.” Biden said he held out hope for the stalled talks on reviving the Iran nuclear deal, reiterating that diplomacy was the ideal route. But Biden, too, had a warning: “We’re not going to wait forever.” On Saudi Arabia: Asked whether he would raise the murder of JAMAL KHASHOGGI with Saudi Crown Prince MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN, Biden wouldn’t specifically commit to doing so, though he defended his stance toward the Saudis: “I always bring up human rights, but my position on Khashoggi has been so clear, if anyone doesn’t understand it in Saudi Arabia or anywhere else, then they haven’t been around for a while,” he said. Biden said his Saudi visit sought to promote U.S. interests more broadly and avoid a vacuum that could allow Russia and China to advance in the region. Related read from NYT’s Ben Hubbard: “Biden’s Saudi Lesson: The Only Path Runs Through M.B.S.” JUST POSTED — “Model anti-abortion legislation would have forced 10-year-old rape victim to carry to term, author says,” by Megan Messerly and Adam Wren: “She would have had the baby, and as many women who have had babies as a result of rape, we would hope that she would understand the reason and ultimately the benefit of having the child,” said JIM BOPP, the National Right to Life Committee’s general counsel. Good Thursday afternoon. I’m filing today from Brooklyn, where a new Data for Progress survey of the crowded open Democratic primary here in NY-10 finds CARLINA RIVERA leading a fractured field with 17%, followed by YUH-LINE NIOU at 14% and DAN GOLDMAN at 12%. Rep. MONDAIRE JONES is in sixth place, while former NYC Mayor BILL DE BLASIO is in seventh. More from City & State New York
| | | | 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. | | | LOOK WHO’S BACK — DONALD TRUMP is returning to Washington for the first time since leaving it, as the keynote speaker at the America First Policy Institute’s America First Agenda Summit. It’s taking place July 25-26. TRUMP 2024 WATCH — Will Trump run in 2024? “In my own mind, I’ve already made that decision,” he told N.Y. Mag’s Olivia Nuzzi. (Rebecca Buck notes that this is basically the same language he used with her in May 2015, ahead of his first run.) More from Nuzzi’s interview with Trump: “‘I would say my big decision will be whether I go before or after,’ he said. ‘You understand what that means?’ His tone was conspiratorial. Was he referring to the midterm elections? He repeated after me: ‘Midterms.’ Suddenly, he relaxed, as though my speaking the word had somehow set it free for discussion. ‘Do I go before or after? That will be my big decision,’ he said.” WaPo’s Michael Scherer and Josh Dawsey report that Trump is now looking at a possible September announcement, potentially tossing a political grenade into the midterms landscape. One “prominent Republican strategist” tells WaPo: “Of all the selfish things he does every minute of every day, it would probably be the most.” SNEAK PEEK: PLAYBOOK DEEP DIVE — Ryan sat down with Los Angeles DA GEORGE GASCÓN to discuss “law and order” politics, the recall effort against him and his role as a national leader in the criminal justice reform movement. You can hear the full conversation on Friday’s episode of “Playbook Deep Dive,” but here’s a sneak peek … Gascón on the surge of support for criminal justice reform after the murder of GEORGE FLOYD: “I’m hearing white affluent people understanding the suffering of Black people in this country and poor people. And I thought, ‘This is a reversal.’ I was wrong.” Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and get “Playbook Deep Dive” as soon as it posts ALL POLITICS CASH DASH — House GOP leadership’s super PAC Congressional Leadership Fund raked in $43.5 million in Q2, leading to $130.4 million cash on hand as the fall midterms approach. That’s way more money than the super PAC has ever had at this point in a cycle — and, notably, the Q2 haul is more than double the $19.7 million that Dems’ House Majority PAC raised, as we scooped in Playbook PM earlier this month. — Speaker NANCY PELOSI pulled in $41.8 million in the second quarter for her caucus, including more than $31.7 million for the DCCC, per Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman. — Sen. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO (D-Nev.) raised more than $7.5 million last quarter, and has almost $10 million on hand. That’s a record for the state. More from The Nevada Independent PRIMARY COLORS — Next week’s Maryland GOP gubernatorial primary will function as another test of the party’s direction, and a proxy fight between Trump and Gov. LARRY HOGAN, reports AP’s Brian Witte . Polls indicate it could be a tight finish between DAN COX and KELLY SCHULZ, though Democrats likely have the edge in November. — Could SURAJ PATEL shock the New York political scene by upending the banner battle between Dem Reps. JERRY NADLER and CAROLYN MALONEY? NYT’s Nicholas Fandos reports that Patel is trying to tap into younger voters’ frustration with the party establishment, though ideological differences between him and the incumbents are less clear. Nadler: “Most people do not go with that sort of ageism, most people look at people’s records.” POLL OF THE DAY — In Georgia, a new AARP poll finds Gov. BRIAN KEMP leading STACEY ABRAMS 52% to 45%, but Sen. RAPHAEL WARNOCK ahead of HERSCHEL WALKER 50% to 47% — more evidence for the theory that Kemp-Warnock crossover voters may be key. AD WARS — The new Heritage Foundation-affiliated super PAC Sentinel Action Fund has dropped money on its first political ad, as Axios’ Lachlan Markay flagged: They’re spending $400,000 against Democratic Sen. MARK KELLY in Arizona. FROM 30,000 FEET — Axios’ Josh Kraushaar has a new piece about the nascent shifts in the parties’ coalitions, as Democrats make inroads with well-off white people while Republicans threaten their progress by improving among working-class people of color. It includes this startling paragraph: “Democrats are statistically tied with Republicans among Hispanics on the generic congressional ballot, according to a New York Times-Siena College poll out this week. Dems held a 47-point edge with Hispanics during the 2018 midterms.”
| | | | HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT ROE BEING OVERTURNED? JOIN WOMEN RULE ON 7/21: Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade , abortion policy is in the hands of the states and, ultimately, voters. Join POLITICO national political correspondent Elena Schneider for a Women Rule “ask me anything” conversation featuring a panel of reporters from our politics and health care teams who will answer your questions about how the court’s decision could play out in different states, its impact on the midterms and what it means for reproductive rights in the U.S. going forward. SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS AND REGISTER HERE. | | | | | POLICY CORNER ANTITRUST THE PROCESS — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce sued the FTC today over what it deemed a failure of transparency in its antitrust efforts, Bloomberg’s Leah Nylen scooped. It’s “an unusual move designed to pressure a federal agency whose policies the trade group opposes,” after the FTC denied public records requests from the Chamber. Under Chair LINA KHAN, the agency has gotten more aggressive on antitrust, earning the ire of many in the business world. IMMIGRATION FILES — ICE laid out new procedures today to try to avoid unintentional parent-child separations at the border or elsewhere in the U.S., NBC’s Julia Ainsley scooped. JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH BANNON LATEST — A judge today again denied STEVE BANNON’s efforts to delay his contempt of Congress trial, slated to begin Monday. More from NBC THE WHITE HOUSE POLL POSITION — FiveThirtyEight’s Geoffrey Skelley digs into what’s underlying Biden’s historically bad job approval ratings, worse at this point than any of his predecessors in the modern era. Key factors include Americans’ overall pessimism about the state of the country, driven in large part by inflation and economic concerns (notably among Democrats, too). Younger adults are also feeling dissatisfied with the Biden administration’s lack of big progress. “We can’t know for sure where Biden’s approval will go from here, but many of the factors playing into his approval rating don’t look likely to disappear anytime soon,” Skelley writes.
| | | | A message from PhRMA:   What’s fueling inflation? Not prescription drugs. The administration’s own economic data proves it. | | | CONGRESS COVID IN CONGRESS — As more frequent Covid-19 diagnoses among Senate Democrats hamper their ability to pass bills, WaPo’s Mike DeBonis reports on an interesting element of this pandemic wave in Congress: “Democrats appear to be victims of their own diligence, testing more frequently than Republicans and publicizing their results more routinely.” Sen. TIM KAINE (D-Va.): “I would venture to suggest that the rates of infection are precisely identical between Democrats and Republicans. One group is publicly disclosing, and one group is not — that is my intuition.” Sen. MAZIE HIRONO (D-Hawaii): “Either they’re not telling us or they’re simply not getting tested.” Exception to the rule: Sen. BEN SASSE’s (R-Neb.) office announced this morning that he has mild Covid after coming back from the Ukrainian border, and will be working remotely. RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES — Sen. DICK DURBIN (D-Ill.) says he’s “somewhat encouraged” by the reconciliation bill talks’ progress from Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER and Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) — a more positive tone than Durbin has struck before, notes WaPo’s Leigh Ann Caldwell. KNOWING ANGUS KING — At 78, Sen. ANGUS KING (I-Maine) maintains “one of the most interesting Instagram feeds in all of the Senate,” filled with photos he mostly takes himself, NBC LX’s Noah Pransky reports in a new profile from Brunswick, Maine. King also talks about his opposition to abolishing the filibuster and the bipartisan reforms he’s trying to work on. “Some of the really tough issues — immigration, voting rights — we just haven’t been able to get across the finish line,” he says. “We’re not addressing the country’s problems the way we should.” THE PANDEMIC WARNING SIGN — Low uptake of the coronavirus vaccine for children in states like Alabama and Mississippi is worrying doctors and experts about broader vaccine skepticism and distrust of public health, Krista Mahr and Lauren Gardner report. The numbers are dizzyingly low: Nationwide, less than a third of kids ages 5 to 11 are fully vaccinated. Alabama has ordered enough shots only to cover one dose for 13% of its children under 5 (though jabs are also delivered through pharmacies and health centers, not just state governments). Florida hasn’t ordered a single one. Meanwhile, “some pediatric long Covid clinics across the country have monthslong waiting lists for children suffering from a wide range of symptoms.”
| | | | 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. | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS SPOTTED: First lady Jill Biden dining Wednesday at Le Diplomate, where she had the moules-frites. … California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Mark Milley on the Hill (separately) today. HOLLYWOODLAND — Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton will premiere their new eight-part docuseries, “Gutsy,” on Sept. 9 on Apple TV+. The eclectic group of women they’ll talk to includes Jane Goodall, Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson, Kim Kardashian, Megan Thee Stallion, Amy Schumer, Gloria Steinem and Wanda Sykes. HEARTENING UPDATE — Four months after barely surviving an attack in Ukraine, Fox News’ Ben Hall has made “remarkable” progress at a Texas military hospital as he nears his 40th birthday, Fox’s Suzanne Scott told employees. More info and pics from People OUT AND ABOUT — The 32nd annual The Fund for American Studies scholarship dinner was held at the Four Seasons Hotel on Wednesday night, where Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) were honored with the 2022 Congressional Leadership Award, Jade West was honored with the 2022 Business Leadership Award and Andrew Powaleny was honored with the Kevin Burket Alumni Service Award. SPOTTED: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, Randal Teague, Brian McCormack, Karen Kerrigan, David McIntosh, Mike Maibach, Bridgett Wagner, Suhail Khan and Missy Foxman. WHITE HOUSE MOVE — Nahid Bhadelia is now senior policy adviser for global Covid response on the White House Covid-19 response team, per Boston University’s The Brink. She’s on sabbatical from her role as a BU School of Medicine associate professor of infectious diseases. TRANSITIONS — Laurel Sakai is now national director of public policy for Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She previously was deputy health policy director for the Senate HELP Committee, and is a Senate Veterans’ Affairs alum. … Diana Oo is now director and head of U.S. federal affairs at Netflix. She most recently was VP for government relations and policy at Univision Communications. … Jeff Joseph will be president, Washington, D.C., at BCW. He previously was president of the Software & Information Industry Association. … … Rebecca Kagan Sternhell is the new executive director of the Homeland Security Advisory Council at DHS. She previously was director of federal affairs for New York City. … Deion Lemelle is now assistant director at the University of Chicago Center for Effective Government. He previously was special assistant and engagement manager at Win the Era, and is a Chasten Buttigieg alum. … Dan Tomanelli is now director of national security space at Voyager. He most recently was a public sector manager at Orbital Insight, and is a Trump administration Air Force and NSC alum.
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