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Presented by Facebook: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. | | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | | BREAKING — “FBI Recovered Eleven Sets of Classified Documents in Trump Search, Inventory Shows,” by WSJ’s Alex Leary, Aruna Viswanatha and Sadie Gurman: “FBI agents who searched former President DONALD TRUMP’s Mar-a-Lago home Monday removed 11 sets of classified documents, including some marked as top secret and meant to be only available in special government facilities.”
|  “This is a fabulous bill we’re going to pass,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an interview. | Nathan Howard/Getty Images | Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act is barreling toward the finish line, teeing up transformative investments in clean energy, a novel approach on drug pricing, an overhaul of corporate taxation and more in what could be the final big-ticket item under unified Democratic control in Washington. In a series of procedural votes, the House voted 219 to 208 along party lines to begin debate on the Democrats’ cornerstone $700 billion-plus energy, tax and health care package. The final vote on the package is expected later this afternoon, following up to three hours of debate on the House floor. We counted 143 House members who cast their votes by proxy on the rule. Notable absentees included ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-N.Y.), JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-N.J.), KATIE PORTER (D-Calif.), CATHY MCMORRIS RODGERS (R-Wash.), RONNY JACKSON (R-Texas) and BRAD WENSTRUP (R-Ohio), who had attended a news conference of House Intelligence Republicans on Capitol Hill earlier in the morning. “This is a fabulous bill we’re going to pass,” Speaker NANCY PELOSI told WaPo’s Tony Romm before the vote. “It’s not anything that anybody, three months ago, would have said is a possibility. But it is, and we’ll have a good strong vote, send it to the president … and the clock will start ticking.” On the floor, Republicans took repeated aim at the bill’s increase in funding for the IRS — citing over and over the heavily contested claim that the bill would unleash some 87,000 new tax agents on middle-class Americans. “This bill is simple,” said Rep. JASON SMITH (R-Mo.). “It is welfare for the wealthy environmentalists and big corporations, paid for by increased taxes and audits on middle- and low-income taxpayers.” Democrats attempted some rebuttal — no, not all the new IRS funding will go toward hiring audit agents, and the bill focuses those new resources on high-income taxpayers — but they sought to keep the focus on the big picture. “Today, we will make a real difference — we will use the power of the federal government to make American lives better and our country and planet safer,” said House Budget Chair JOHN YARMUTH (D-Ky.). “In other words, we will do our job.” Or, put more succinctly by Rep. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-N.Y.): “It’s a big effing deal.” What’s in the bill: One of the less discussed provisions would revamp a program to target debt relief to Black farmers that drew pushback from conservatives and the courts last year, NYT’s Alan Rappeport reports . The new approach would send assistance to farmers, ranchers and others who have faced discrimination or financial distress. Democrats see it as a workable alternative to their original plan; Black farmers say they reneged on old promises. From the Mountain Valley Pipeline to benefits for coal miners with black lung disease, the bill “has West Virginia written all over it,” thanks to Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.), writes AP’s Leah Willingham in Charleston. How it’ll play: The reconciliation bill will present a novel political opportunity: the chance to see how major congressional climate action could affect elections (or not). Axios’ Ben Geman delves into the possibilities: Democrats hope it’ll be a boon with younger voters and an example of concrete action, with plans to emphasize potential effects on lowering energy costs. Republicans intend to use the bill as a cudgel, saying it fails to offer much inflation relief. Happy Friday afternoon.
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Learn more about our work ahead. | | | Two quick non-politics sirens: — SALMAN RUSHDIE was stabbed in the neck on stage at an event in western New York today, and has been transported to a hospital. His condition is largely unknown, though New York Gov. KATHY HOCHUL said he’s alive. A suspect was taken into custody at the scene. No motive is known yet. More from CNN — NYC announced that polio has been detected in the city’s wastewater, raising more fears of an outbreak after a case in the suburbs. More from the NYT TRUMP CARDS MORE MAR-A-LAGO SEARCH FALLOUT — It’s past 1 p.m., and there’s still no sign of the warrant or other documents related to the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago being unsealed. Trump's statement today didn’t deny the blockbuster claims of classified nuclear information, but instead played a familiar game of whataboutism: “President BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA kept 33 million pages of documents, much of them classified. How many of them pertained to nuclear? Word is, lots!” — House Republicans had some mixed messaging this morning amid the latest revelations about the documents Trump may have stored at Mar-a-Lago, Andrew Desiderio reports : National security-focused members like Reps. MIKE TURNER (Ohio) and BRIAN FITZPATRICK (Pa.) dialed back the rhetoric and proceeded with caution, calling for DOJ to release the affidavit for the search warrant. But top political leaders like House GOP Conference Chair ELISE STEFANIK (N.Y.) continued to attack law enforcement, saying — without evidence — that the search was politically motivated. — DCCC Chair SEAN PATRICK MALONEY (N.Y.) was overheard in the Capitol saying he wants to hold a vote on defunding the FBI to put Republicans on the record, per NBC’s Sahil Kapur . — The bureau will change its “security posture” in the wake of the Thursday attack on an FBI office in Cincinnati, Director CHRISTOPHER WRAY told employees, per NBC . TRUMP INC. — A judge allowed a criminal fraud and tax evasion case against the Trump Organization and ALLEN WEISSELBERG to go forward today, per CBS . It’s scheduled to head to trial in October. The defendants have pleaded not guilty. AMERICA AND THE WORLD DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS — China is making plans for President XI JINPING to meet with President JOE BIDEN in person on a Southeast Asia trip in November, perhaps at one of two summits in Bali and Bangkok, WSJ’s Keith Zhai scooped . It will be Xi’s first voyage abroad in almost three years after he pulled back significantly when the coronavirus pandemic hit. “The trip preparations suggest that the 69-year-old Mr. Xi is confident about his fortunes at a twice-a-decade congress set to take place this fall, where he is expected to break with recent precedent and claim a third term as Communist Party chief.” DEAL OR NO DEAL — As the Biden administration nears a potential revived Iran nuclear deal, the recent news of an alleged Iranian assassination scheme against JOHN BOLTON could throw a last-minute wrench in the works, Nahal Toosi reports . Along with the arrest of a man accused of trying to kidnap an Iranian American dissident, the Bolton headlines provide ammunition to bipartisan opponents of the deal. But Biden officials aren’t changing their tune on negotiations.
| | | | 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 . | | | | | JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH SECRET SERVICE SECRETS — DHS IG JOSEPH CUFFARI has stonewalled an independent investigation into his handling of missing Secret Service texts related to Jan. 6, WaPo’s Lisa Rein reports . His office “refused to release certain documents and tried to block interviews, effectively delaying that probe, which has now stretched for more than 15 months and evolved into a wide-ranging inquiry into more than a dozen allegations of misconduct.” Congressional Republicans led by Sen. JOSH HAWLEY (R-Mo.) have pressured the investigators to step back amid Cuffari’s claims of politicization. “[F]ormer watchdogs said they have never seen a colleague under investigation seek partisan allies to defend them to the degree that Cuffari has.” ALL POLITICS CHENEY’S LAST STAND — Rep. LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.) gets the Mark Leibovich treatment in The Atlantic this morning, as he writes from Laramie that she’s already pivoting from the primary she’ll likely lose next week to 2024. “Cheney is playing a longer game, she says. She has spent many hours working on her address for Tuesday night. It will almost certainly be a concession speech, but Cheney seems to view her primary more as a speed bump—and her address as a prime-time launching pad into a political future far more consequential than anything she could have achieved in Congress.” From Green River, Ben Jacobs has a different framing of the primary for Vox : as another skirmish in the Wyoming GOP’s internecine wars. The establishment Republicans and the Tea Party inheritors are the two sides, and their differences (tonal if you ask one camp, ideological if you ask the other) run deeper and further back than Trump. On the ground, Jacobs finds, even more than Cheney’s emphasis on Trump, “what has particularly sparked aversion from the new guard is Cheney’s open efforts to court Democrats to change their registration for the congressional primary.” UP FOR DEBATE — MEHMET OZ today challenged Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. JOHN FETTERMAN to a series of five debates in their Senate race, per NBC . Oz is looking to claw back some ground he’s lost in the polls — and perhaps to highlight Fetterman’s lingering speech/health troubles months after his stroke. Fetterman hasn’t yet agreed to the five debates. As Fetterman finally returns to the campaign trail tonight, the Philly Inquirer’s Julia Terruso looks at why he selected Erie: The county has long been seen as a Pennsylvania bellwether and a microcosm of the state, and it also represents the blue-collar areas that Fetterman has tried to highlight in his campaign. THE BIG PICTURE — “Will This Be An Asterisk* Election?” by FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver: “Republicans are still fairly clear favorites to keep the House. … But the circumstances of these midterms are also potentially unusual, with high uncertainty, and that’s why Democrats keeping the House is a thinkable outcome.” 2020 HINDSIGHT — Ali Vitali shares an excerpt with POLITICO Magazine from her forthcoming book, “Electable: Why America Hasn’t Put a Woman in the White House … Yet” ( $23.19 ), featuring quite the kicker from Sen. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-Mass.): “We’d talked about the dynamics of Iowa, her competitors and the pressure she put on herself not ‘to screw this up.’ But here and now she offered her plainest view of the landscape yet: ‘Everyone comes up to me and says, “I would vote for you, if you had a penis.”’”
| | | | A message from Facebook:   | | | THE WHITE HOUSE DUNN DUNN DUNN — New financial disclosures show that ANITA DUNN will have to divest an investment portfolio that’s anywhere between $17 million and $48 million as she’s returned to the White House, CNBC’s Brian Schwartz reports . To avoid conflicts of interest, Dunn will also have to recuse herself from decisions involving a range of SKDK clients, including AT&T, the American Clean Power Association, Lyft, Micron, Pivotal Ventures, Pfizer, Salesforce and Reddit. CONGRESS SINEMATOGRAPHY — Arizona Democrats see Sen. KYRSTEN SINEMA’s fight to shield private equity in the reconciliation bill as a political liability that will hit hard beyond just progressives and make a primary likelier in two years, The Daily Beast’s Sam Brodey reports . He also uncovers that Sinema’s campaign has been running Facebook ads designed to look like they’re coming from a local news outlet. (One expert says “it definitely undermines transparency.”) 2023 DREAMING — If Democrats manage to beat the odds and retain the House this fall, Ways and Means Chair RICHARD NEAL (D-Mass.) said they’ll seek to raise corporate and individual tax rates next year, per Bloomberg’s Erik Wasson . THE ECONOMY ANOTHER POSITIVE SIGN … Consumer sentiment this month brightened, rising higher than economists expected in new preliminary University of Michigan data, per the WSJ . Expectations of inflation over the next year also ticked down from July. On the flip side: Inflation expectations on a longer time horizon increased. The details … AND A NEGATIVE ONE: The housing affordability index from the National Association of Realtors dropped in June to its lowest level since 1989, per the WSJ . Rising mortgage rates and super high home prices continued to pose obstacles to first-time buyers and others.
| | | | 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 AGAINST THE GRAIN — There’s been plenty of chatter lately about Ukraine nearing a major counteroffensive to retake Kherson and other territory in the country’s south. But in the Mykolaiv region, WaPo’s Loveday Morris, Liz Sly, Dalton Bennett and Anastacia Galouchka find that such talk may be overblown: “there is little sign that a major counteroffensive is brewing,” as “Ukrainian soldiers hunker down from an escalating onslaught of artillery, with little ability to advance.” An extended stalemate seems like a distinct possibility instead. PLAYBOOKERS OUT AND ABOUT — Irish Ambassador Daniel Mulhall and Greta Mulhall hosted a “Last Hurrah” party on Thursday night at their residence celebrating Mulhall’s retirement. SPOTTED: Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Marcelle Leahy, Terry and Dorothy McAuliffe, Kelly O’Donnell, Kathy “Coach” Kemper, Margaret Brennan, Yado Yakub, Tom Donohue, Mark Tuohey, Susan Davis and incoming Irish Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason. — Nate Evans, deputy chief of staff to Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), had a sendoff party at St. Vincent on Wednesday night as he heads to New York. SPOTTED: Danielle Melfi, Pav Abraham, Christopher Jerrolds, Josh Dawsey, Carlie Waibel, Evan Hollander, Eli Yokley, James Adams, Malcolm Fouhy and Lizzie Kubo, Kevin Munoz, Stacy Eichner, Sean Higgins, Abdullah Hasan, Devan Cayea, Blair Mallin and Alex Fox, Lily Adams and Corey Ciorciari, and Priyal Amin. — SPOTTED at the National Digital Roundtable’s “Breaking Through” discussion series at the British Embassy on Wednesday: Patrick Kane, Anthony Shop, Meredith McPhillips, Lauren Devoll, Jeff Valliere, Adam Shapiro and Kevin Coroneos. MEDIA MOVE — Lawrence Hurley is leaving Reuters , where he’s been a Supreme Court reporter for several years. TRANSITIONS — Steven Cliff, who just became administrator National Highway Traffic Safety Administration two months ago, today was named executive officer at the California Air Resources Board. He’ll start in September. … Christina Pushaw is moving from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office, where she’s been press secretary, to his reelect, where she’ll be director of rapid response. Already not known for pulling punches, she tweeted , “Now, the gloves are off.” Bryan Griffin will succeed her as press secretary. … Jeff Glassburner is joining Mark Ronchetti’s New Mexico gubernatorial bid as campaign manager. He previously managed Karrin Taylor Robson’s Arizona gubernatorial campaign.
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