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Presented by Facebook: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. | | | | |  | | By Garrett Ross | | | MURKOWSKI, PALIN ADVANCE IN ALASKA — Republican Sen. LISA MURKOWSKI will take on KELLY TSHIBAKA, a DONALD TRUMP -backed challenger, in the November general election, after the two advanced from an all-party ranked-choice voting primary on Tuesday — a first in Alaska.
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| In the primary for Alaska’s open House seat, former Gov. SARAH PALIN, another Trump-supported candidate, also advanced to the general election, along with Republican candidate NICK BEGICH and Democrat MARY PELTOLA. AP’s Becky Bohrer has more from Juneau
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| And in a special election to fill out the remainder of the term in that open seat, Peltola currently leads Palin and Begich, with about 70% of the vote counted. Worth flagging: The final results may not be known until Aug. 31, when the state's ranked-choice calculations will be done. Latest results
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| HAGEMAN SNUBS CHENEY — @Olivia_Beavers: “Rep. LIZ CHENEY tells me her concession call to HARRIET HAGEMAN ended up being a ‘clear and direct’ voicemail that she left before she went on stage last night, after trying multiple times to get in touch w/ her. Cheney says she still has not heard anything back.” PENCE SPEAKS — Former VP MIKE PENCE is in New Hampshire today for the Politics & Eggs event at St. Anselm College. He made a little bit of news regarding the Jan. 6 select committee, opening the door ever so slightly toward providing potential testimony. — Here’s what he said: “If there was an invitation to participate, I would consider it. But, you’ve heard me mention the Constitution a few times this morning. Under the Constitution, we have three co-equal branches of government. Any invitation directed at me, I’d have to reflect on the unique role I was serving in as vice president. It would be unprecedented in history for the vice president to be summoned to testify on Capitol Hill. But, as I said, I don’t want to prejudge ever any formal invitation rendered to us.” — He added this intriguing nugget: “The American people have a right to know what happened. And in the months and years ahead, I’ll be telling my story even more frequently.” More from Lisa Kashinsky and Kyle Cheney
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Former VP Mike Pence speaks during the "Politics and Eggs" event in Manchester, N.H. | Charles Krupa/AP Photo | Pence also addressed some of his fellow Republicans’ attacks against the FBI in light of the recent search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound: “I also want to remind my fellow Republicans, we can hold the attorney general accountable for the decision he made without attacking the rank-and-file law enforcement personnel at the FBI,” he said, per AP’s Holly Ramer . “The Republican Party is the party of law and order. … Our party stands with the men and women who stand on the thin blue line at the federal and state and local level, and these attacks on the FBI must stop. Calls to defund the FBI are just as wrong as calls to defund the police.” Good Wednesday afternoon.
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Learn more about our work ahead. | | | HAPPENING TODAY — RUDY GIULIANI is appearing before the Fulton County grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Tamar Hallerman and Bill Rankin have the report from the scene: “Pryor Street in downtown Atlanta took on a circus-like atmosphere as some three-dozen reporters and camera-people from local and national news outlets jockeyed for the best view of the former New York City mayor. He arrived around 8:30 a.m., accompanied by his lawyer, ROBERT J. COSTELLO, and former GOP gubernatorial candidate VERNON JONES.” “‘Grand juries, as I recall, are secret,’ Giuliani said when asked about his testimony. ‘They ask the questions and we’ll see.’”
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Rudy Giuliani arrives at the Fulton County Courthouse. | John Bazemore/AP Photo | All indications are that Giuliani won’t tell the investigators much. Here’s what he had to say on Newsmax on Monday , per the AJC: “It’s just a further desecration of the Sixth Amendment. I was his lawyer of record in that case,” Giuliani said. “The statements that I made are either attorney-client privilege, because they were between me and him, or they were being made on his behalf in order to defend him.” As for how he got to Atlanta — a subject of much back-and-forth after his lawyers said he couldn’t fly due to health concerns — Giuliani said: “I’ll give you one answer: I didn’t walk.” NYT’s Richard Fausset has the backstory on what landed Giuliani before Georgia investigators THE ECONOMY INFLATION NATION — The latest inflation indicator released today showed that consumers are “shifting savings from falling gasoline prices to purchases of everyday goods,” WSJ’s Harriet Torry and Austen Hufford report. “Overall retail sales — a measure of spending at stores, online and in restaurants — were flat in July compared with the prior month’s revised 0.8% increase, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. With gasoline and auto sales removed from the picture, sales rose 0.7% last month from June. Spending at gasoline stations, which makes up about one-10th of retail outlays, fell 1.8% on the month.”
| | | | 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. | | | | | CONGRESS WHAT DEMS WANT NEXT — Even though universal pre-K and paid family leave fell out of Dems’ sprawling reconciliation package, some Democratic lawmakers are signaling that they want to come back to address those issues. But any movement will have to come after the midterms — and likely only if Dems pick up a seat or two in the Senate, given that Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) was largely responsible for dropping the policies. “As soon as we get a couple more votes in the Senate, we have to pass this,” Rep. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-Wash.) said, per WSJ’s Catherine Lucey and Natalie Andrews, before taking a shot at Manchin: “The country agrees with us, and 49 Senators agree with us.” ALL POLITICS DESANTIS’ DELICATE DANCE — RON DESANTIS has made a point not to wade into the baseless claims that JOE BIDEN wasn’t the rightful winner of the 2020 election — but that hasn’t stopped the Florida governor from backing Republicans who have. Among the GOP candidates who DeSantis has stumped for or is set to appear with are gubernatorial nominees KARI LAKE in Arizona and DOUG MASTRIANO in Pennsylvania, plus Ohio Senate pick J.D. VANCE . “The governor’s decision to help out several GOP nominees in other states comes during a relatively slow period for his own reelection campaign, but it has added to ongoing speculation that he will run for president in 2024,” Gary Fineout reports from Tallahassee. SURVEY SAYS — Three more numbers worth noting from the latest POLITICO/Morning Consult poll: - Biden’s approval rating: 42% approve, 56% disapprove. Net: -14. (Last week: 39% approve, 59% disapprove. Net: -20)
- The generic congressional ballot: Dems have a four-point advantage over Republicans, 46%-42%. (Last week: Dems at 44%, GOP at 43%.)
- Right track/wrong track: Thirty percent of voters say that things in the country are generally going in the right direction, while 70% say they’re on the wrong track. (Last week: 25% said right direction, 75% said wrong track.) Crosstabs … Toplines
2024 WATCH — Sen. TOM COTTON (R-Ark.) was in New Hampshire on Tuesday, ostensibly to support 2022 candidates, but Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser notes that it marked just the latest early-state stop for Cotton as speculation swirls that he may mount a 2024 bid. “The senator met in June with top donors and advisers at the Hay Adams Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C. Sources attending that meeting confirmed to Fox News that Cotton said he wouldn’t defer to any other potential candidate — including former President Donald Trump — when it comes to his own decision about launching a national campaign. And Cotton said that decision on whether to run for president would come after November’s midterm elections.” ABORTION ON THE BALLOT — Planned Parenthood is planning to pour in a record $50 million into the midterms this fall as it seeks to keep abortion rights as a central theme in key gubernatorial, Senate and legislative races, AP’s Brian Slodysko reports. Where they’re spending: “Planned Parenthood says its spending will help remind voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin what’s at stake in a bid to drive turnout by Democratic and independent voters.”
| | | | A message from Facebook:   | | | THE PANDEMIC CRACKDOWN AT THE CDC — CDC Director ROCHELLE WALENSKY “delivered a sweeping rebuke of her agency’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying it had failed to respond quickly enough and needed to be overhauled,” NYT’s Sharon LaFraniere reports. “In a meeting with senior staff, Dr. Walensky outlined in broad terms a plan to reorganize the agency’s structure to prioritize public health needs and efforts to curb continuing outbreaks, and to put less emphasis on publication of scientific papers about rare diseases.” MONKEYPOX LATEST — WaPo’s Dan Diamond, Fenit Nirappil and Lena Sun have a deep dive on the evolution of the national response to the monkeypox outbreak, including a recent clash between the nation’s top health officials and the vaccine’s sole manufacturer. ““[One hundred] days after the outbreak was first detected in Europe, no country has more cases than the United States — with public health experts warning the virus is on the verge of becoming permanently entrenched here.” POLICY CORNER THE LOAN LURCH — The Biden administration is making plans to offer significant relief to 7.5 million Americans who have defaulted on their federal student loans, “restoring their eligibility for financial aid and removing the incident from their credit history” as part of the first step in the Education Department’s “Fresh Start” initiative, WaPo’s Danielle Douglas-Gabriel reports. The details: “Anyone now in default on a federal loan made directly by the department, Perkins loans held by the agency and old bank-based debt held by the department or private companies, is eligible for the program. Their eligibility for federal Pell grants, work-study and loans will be reinstated, according to a fact sheet shared with Congress and advocacy groups this week.”
| | | | 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. | | | | | AMERICA AND THE WORLD BACK AT IT — North Korea “fired two cruise missiles on Wednesday morning, returning to weapons activity for the first time in two months,” WSJ’s Dasl Yoon reports from Seoul. “The missiles were launched from South Pyongan province, South Korea’s military said, without specifying the flight distance, altitude or the precise launch time. … North Korea’s latest missile launch comes as the U.S. and South Korea prepare for their biggest combined military training in four years.” FOR YOUR RADAR — “Syria denies it is holding American journalist Austin Tice,” by AP’s Albert Aji and Bassem Mroue HEADS UP — “U.S. says airstrike in Somalia kills 13 members of al-Shabaab terror group,” by CNN’s Oren Liebermann PULLOUT FALLOUT — “‘This Was the Albatross Around His Neck All Year,’” by Elise Labott for POLITICO Magazine: “Americans don’t rank foreign policy as one of the top issues facing the country. So why is the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal still hovering over Biden?” WAR IN UKRAINE — “Ukraine admits it was behind three explosions in Crimea. Here’s what we know,” by CNN’s Vasco Cotovio and Tara John — “Americans are paying for slogans on bombs aimed at Russians,” by WaPo’s John Hudson and Kostiantyn Khudov PLAYBOOKERS MEDIA MOVE — Azi Paybarah is joining WaPo as a national politics breaking news reporter. He previously was a politics reporter at the NYT and is a POLITICO alum. The announcement TRANSITIONS — Cody Sargent will be press secretary for Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.). He currently is a director in the public affairs practice at PLUS Communications. … Patrick Finnegan is now director for government affairs at Micron Technology. He most recently was director for federal government affairs at the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies.
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