Playbook PM: Top takeaways from our Ron Klain interview

From: POLITICO Playbook - Thursday Apr 01,2021 05:11 pm

Apr 01, 2021

By Ryan Lizza, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross

Presented by Facebook

Breaking (not an April Fool’s joke) … Major bummer for D.C. area baseball fans: The Nats’ opener tonight against the Mets at Nationals Park has been postponed because of a positive Covid-19 test on the team. The Nationals are doing contact tracing and won’t play Friday either. The Orioles-Red Sox game in Boston is rained out. More from WaPo’s Jesse Dougherty

RON KLAIN INTERVIEW RECAP — In our conversation this morning with White House chief of staff RON KLAIN, we covered a lot of ground: legislative strategy for the American Jobs Plan, taxes, immigration, student debt, antitrust policy and how Klain thinks about his role as chief of staff.

Top takeaways and moments:

— BIPARTISANSHIP IS NOT THE GOAL: On attracting Republican votes for the infrastructure bill, Klain’s rhetoric sounded similar to how the administration discussed the Covid relief bill: “Let’s work together and see if there’s a way for us to deliver this. In the end, let me be clear, the president was elected to do a job. And part of that job is to get this country ready to win the future. That’s what he’s going to do. We know it has bipartisan support in the country. And so we’re going to try our best to get bipartisan support here in Washington.”

— THE WHITE HOUSE IS PUNTING ON RECONCILIATION: When Ryan asked, “What’s the argument for not using budget reconciliation?” Klain made it clear Dems shouldn’t jump there just yet, but the White House doesn’t care about the process that’s ultimately used: “What we want to do is get this passed. And I think that starts with a conversation with a broad array of members in both parties to see where the support is, how this looks as we move it through the process. That’s our first goal. And I’m not going to get into legislative tactics today.” More from Quint Forgey

— KLAIN SOUNDED OPEN ON SALT, BUT NOT A GIVEN: Moderate Dems are demanding the restoration of the SALT deduction, and Klain wants them to prove their case for it. “I’ve talked to [Rep.] Josh [Gottheimer (D-N.J.)]. He’s an old friend. And we want to engage the members from that part of the country, for whom this is really a major issue. We understand the concern. I want to hear from them how they would pay for this tax deduction. I want to hear [from] them how it fits into the overall package.”

— HE THREADED THE NEEDLE BETWEEN THE LEFT AND CENTER ON DEFICITS AND PAY-FORS: There is a lively debate on the left over how much deficits matter and whether Democrats should detail tax increases for every spending initiative. The White House included pay-fors in its bill, but Klain also argued that those pay-fors are good policy on their own: “First, one of the objections to infrastructure has been, by some in Congress, ‘You can’t show us how to pay for it.’ And we want to remove the objections. … We want to strip away any excuses around that. Second thing I’d say about our corporate tax reforms is that yes, they are a way to pay for it, if that’s something that members are concerned about. We also think they’re just good policy. So for example, the idea that some big corporations pay no taxes at all, that’s just not fair and we ought to fix that.”

— KLAIN MADE NEWS ON STUDENT DEBT: Progressives like Rep. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-Wash.) have been pushing President JOE BIDEN to use what they argue is his executive power to cancel $50,000 in student debt. Klain said the president “asked his secretary of Education, who’s just been on the job a few weeks, once he got on the job to have his department prepare a memo on the president’s legal authority. And hopefully we’ll see that in the next few weeks. And then he’ll look at that legal authority, he’ll look at the policy issues around that, and he’ll make a decision.”

— BIDEN RUNS THE WHITE HOUSE MORE LIKE OBAMA THAN REAGAN: Some presidents — RONALD REAGAN is a famous example — have given their White House staffs wide latitude to clear away the underbrush of decisions and ask for only the biggest ones to be taken into the Oval Office for presidential review. Others — BARACK OBAMA comes to mind — have wanted to be deeply involved with even the small stuff. Klain: “We bring all significant decisions to the president, even if they’re decisions that the staff is in consensus on, because maybe sometimes our consensus isn’t where he is, and the president is the person who was elected by the American people … [and] to Vice President Harris as well.”

— A SIGNAL ON ANTITRUST? Antitrust activists want the White House to choose JONATHAN KANTER over JON SALLET for associate A.G. for antitrust. They also want a trustbuster as chair of the FTC. Klain declined to say who Biden will put in these roles, but this comment cheered activists because it suggested to them — and they may be reading too much into it! — that these spots will be filled by people in the mold of TIM WU and LINA KHAN, two tough-on-antitrust figures Biden has already appointed: “Those jobs will be filled by people who are on the Joe Biden side of the antitrust debate. And so he’s picked a team in all these positions that reflect his views that we need to tackle some of the bigness in our country. And we need to make sure that we have a system that’s working for the middle class and for consumers. And so his picks have reflected that to date. And those remaining picks that you talk about will reflect it as well.”

— HEALTH CARE WILL BE PART OF THE NEXT BILL: Ryan asked whether the public option will be part of the American Families Plan, and Klain gave this cryptic answer: “I’ll let us roll out the American Families Plan when we’re ready to roll it out. … Health care will certainly be a part of that, with a focus on trying to lower costs for most Americans, particularly around prescription drugs. And efforts also to expand affordable health care. … Some versions of how to tackle the issue of high health care costs will be part of that plan.”

WATCH: Biden’s chief of staff on reconciliation:

JUST IN … @burgessev: “McConnell says Biden’s infrastructure-ish package ‘is not going to get support from our side. The last thing the economy needs is a big whopping tax increase.’”

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HOUSE FUNDRAISING NUMBERS ROUNDUP, via Ally Mutnick and Mel Zanona:

— Rep. ANTONIO DELGADO (D-N.Y.) raised over $1 million in Q1 and has over $4 million on hand.

— Rep. ADAM KINZINGER (R-Ill.), one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach DONALD TRUMP, raised $1.1 million for both his anti-Trump PAC and his reelection. Meanwhile, state Sen. KERRY DONOVAN, the top Democratic challenger to Rep. LAUREN BOEBERT (R-Colo.), raised over $614,000 in just 55 days.

— Rep. ANDY KIM (D-N.J.) brought in $959,000 and has $1.3 million banked. (h/t New Jersey Globe’s David Wildstein)

— Rep. TONY GONZALES (R-Texas) raised $600,000. (h/t Texas Tribune's Patrick Svitek)

— And Rep. TIM RYAN (D-Ohio) raised $1.2 million ahead of his expected Senate run. (h/t Cleveland.com)

VACCINE UPDATE — “Pfizer, BioNTech Say Shot Still 91.3% Effective Six Months After Vaccination,” WSJ

FOR YOUR RADAR — @SymoneSanders46: “The Vice President and Second Gentleman will move in to the Vice President’s residence at the Naval Observatory residence next week. The move was initially delayed to allow for repairs to the home that are more easily conducted with the home unoccupied.”

JAN. 6 FALLOUT — “Republicans seek DOJ briefing on claims of ‘suspicious’ pre-Jan. 6 Capitol tours,” by Kyle Cheney: “Republicans on a key House committee are pressing the Justice Department and Capitol Police to brief them on a review of Democratic allegations that some GOP lawmakers provided ‘suspicious’ tours to possible rioters in the days before the Jan. 6 attack on Congress.

“Rep. Rodney Davis of Illinois, the top Republican on the House Administration Committee, and other GOP members of the panel are asking officials in both agencies to provide a ‘confidential briefing’ about the status of their review of those claims. … A source familiar with the House’s investigations said the department has also turned over heaps of footage from the five days before Jan. 6.”

THE UNEMPLOYMENT PICTURE — “U.S. jobless claims rise to 719K as virus still forces layoffs,” AP: “The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose by 61,000 last week … 18.2 million people were receiving some type of jobless aid in the week that ended March 13. That’s down from 19.7 million in the previous week.”

AILING AMERICA — “U.S. hunger crisis persists, especially for kids, older adults,” AP: “Food banks around the U.S. continue giving away far more canned, packaged and fresh provisions than they did before the virus outbreak tossed millions of people out of work, forcing many to seek something to eat for the first time. For those who are now back at work, many are still struggling, paying back rent or trying to rebuild savings. …

“Data from Feeding America, a national network of most food banks in the U.S., shows that its members dispensed far more in the last three months of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. The food banks that agreed to let Feeding America publicly share their data, 180 out of 200 total, collectively distributed far more food — about 42% — during the last quarter of 2020 than in the same period of 2019. The amount of food allotted in the last quarter slipped just slightly from the previous three months, down around just 1%.”

JOIN THE CONVERSATION, SUBSCRIBE TO “THE RECAST” Power dynamics are shifting in Washington, and more people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that all politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. “The Recast” is a new twice-weekly newsletter that breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics, policy and power in America. Get fresh insights, scoops and dispatches on this crucial intersection from across the country and hear from new voices that challenge business as usual. Don’t miss out on our latest newsletter, SUBSCRIBE NOW. Thank you to our sponsor, Intel.

IMMIGRATION FILES — “Migrants freed without court notice — sometimes no paperwork,” AP: “Overwhelmed and underprepared, U.S. authorities are releasing migrant families on the Mexican border without notices to appear in immigration court or sometimes without any paperwork at all — time-saving moves that have left some migrants confused. … Families are released with booking records; only parents are photographed and fingerprinted. …

“Last week, the [Border Patrol] added instructions to report to an ICE office within 60 days to adults’ booking documents. But some got no documents at all, including dozens at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in the Texas border city of Mission, where about 100 migrants released by U.S. authorities had been arriving each night to sleep on mats in classrooms in a shuttered elementary school.”

OOPS — “Interior Department chief of staff being shifted from job after indoor party fiasco,” by Daniel Lippman: “The White House is removing the Interior Department’s chief of staff, Jennifer Van der Heide, who recently planned a 50-person indoor party at the agency that the White House ordered canceled, and is moving her to a senior counselor job at the agency, according to two Biden administration officials. …

“One Biden administration official said that ‘the party was the thing that broke the camel’s back’ and was the ‘latest lapse in judgment’ on Van der Heide’s part in her new job … Lawrence Roberts, who was the head of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs at the end of the Obama administration, will be the new chief of staff.”

BEYOND THE BELTWAY — “California’s rooftop solar program collides with equity concerns,” by Colby Bermel in Sacramento: “A pandemic-era backlash against California’s yawning wealth gap is taking aim at the state’s pioneering climate policies. The latest target: incentives for rooftop solar panels. The generous rewards paid to those who can afford to install them on their roofs amount to subsidies for the rich, utilities and other critics of the program argue.

“It’s the latest fault line in a clash over whether too many Californians are being left behind by the state’s green push. For years, the state has wrestled with similar concerns about electric vehicle rebates flowing to wealthy Tesla drivers. … But some solar advocates worry the resulting policy changes to the incentive program known as ‘net metering’ could swing too far, or that they will inspire similar rollbacks in other states making the thorny transition to zero-carbon electricity.”

TUNE IN TO GLOBAL TRANSLATIONS: Our Global Translations podcast, presented by Citi, examines the long-term costs of the short-term thinking that drives many political and business decisions. The world has long been beset by big problems that defy political boundaries, and these issues have exploded over the past year amid a global pandemic. This podcast helps to identify and understand the impediments to smart policymaking. Subscribe and start listening today.

AFTERNOON READ — “How Nancy Reagan helped end the Cold War,” by WaPo’s Karen Tumulty, adapted from her new book, “The Triumph of Nancy Reagan” ($32.50 ): “[George] Shultz got a call from Nancy. ‘Why don’t you and your wife come over and have supper with us?’ she asked. … [S]uddenly, the secretary of state realized that the purpose of the evening was not entirely social. Nancy had planned it so that Shultz would begin to understand something important about her husband, something that had the potential to change history. …

“Hers was a multi-front campaign … [At a 1984 reception, Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei] Gromyko casually took a glass of cranberry juice from a waiter’s tray, lifted it in a toast and asked Nancy why it had been so hard to get Reagan to the bargaining table. ‘Does your husband believe in peace?’ he said. ‘Yes, of course,’ she replied, bristling slightly. ‘Then whisper ‘peace’ in your husband’s ear every night,’ Gromyko told her. ‘I will, and I’ll also whisper it in your ear,’ Nancy said. She put her hands on the foreign minister’s shoulders, pulled him close and said softly: Peace.”

MEDIAWATCH — “LA Times Billionaire’s Daughter Is Tinkering With the Paper. And Staffers Welcome It,” The Daily Beast: “Over the past year … [Patrick Soon-Shiong’s] daughter has emerged as a surrogate between the paper and its ownership family. LA Times insiders say Patrick Soon-Shiong has been somewhat less engaged in the paper during the COVID-19 pandemic — two of his pharmaceutical companies have been developing a vaccine that is currently in clinical trials — but his daughter has taken on a larger informal role and become a familiar presence in some newsroom affairs.

“While she has no official title or duties at the paper, the LA Times itself reported that Nika has become increasingly involved in high-level management decisions, acting as another representative for the family in decisions about the paper and its direction.”

— John Yearwood is now global news editor for POLITICO’s world/national security team. He previously was a deputy editor for trade and agriculture.

IN MEMORIAM — “Paul Brock, a founder of Black journalism group, dies at 89,” WaPo: “Paul Brock, a former public relations consultant, radio news broadcaster, movie producer and Democratic National Committee communications official who in 1975 was one of the principal organizers of the National Association of Black Journalists, died March 14 …

“The NABJ began with 44 members and with Mr. Brock as founding executive director. In ensuing years, he rarely missed the group’s annual conference, once taking a train from Washington to the convention in New Orleans when his doctor restricted him from flying on a plane after a surgery.”

TRANSITIONS — Noel Perez is now director of federal and administrative affairs at General Motors. He previously was director of outreach for the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee, and is a House Democratic Caucus and Xavier Becerra alum. … Reed Elman Waxham is joining the DCCC as regional digital director for the Sunbelt. He previously was on the client strategy team at Rising Tide Interactive. …

… Mandi Merritt is now comms director for Jane Timken’s Ohio Senate campaign. She previously was national press secretary for the RNC. Cleveland Plain Dealer … Ghada Alkiek is joining the Hub Project as a campaign director. She previously was political manager for Senate Majority PAC, and is a Dan Kildee alum. … Liz Murray is now scheduler at SKDK. She previously was director of operations and scheduling for Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and is a Katie Porter alum.