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Presented by Facebook: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. | | | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza and Eli Okun | Presented by Facebook | @samstein: “The so-called boring Biden presidency: Massive J&J vaccine news, Readout of a call with Putin (with news of a potential summit), News break of full Afghanistan withdrawal by 9/11, [Eulogy] for killed Capitol police officer, all before noon.” … @PressSec: “can confirm it is not feeling boring in here.” Let’s dive in … BREAKING — THE FOREVER WAR GETS AN END DATE: “Biden will withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021,” WaPo: “President Biden will withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan over the coming months, people familiar with the plans said, completing the military exit by the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that first drew the United States into its longest war. “The decision, which Biden is expected to announce on Wednesday, will keep thousands of U.S. forces in the country beyond the May 1 exit deadline that the Trump administration negotiated last year with the Taliban … The decision highlights the tradeoffs the Biden administration is willing to make to shift the U.S. global focus away from the counterinsurgency campaigns that dominated the post-9/11 world to current priorities.” — @laraseligman: “BREAKING: Senior administration official says the withdrawal from Afghanistan by Sept. 11 is NOT conditions based. Biden has judged that ‘a conditions based approach, which has been the approach of the past two decades, is a recipe for staying in Afghanistan forever.’” THE OTHER NEWS OF THE DAY — “U.S. Calls for Pause on Johnson & Johnson Vaccine After Clotting Cases,” NYT: “[S]ix recipients in the United States developed a rare disorder involving blood clots within about two weeks of vaccination. All six recipients were women between the ages of 18 and 48. One woman died and a second woman in Nebraska has been hospitalized in critical condition. Nearly seven million people in the United States have received Johnson & Johnson shots so far … “While the move was framed as a recommendation to health practitioners in the states, the federal government is expected to pause administration of the vaccine at all federally run vaccination sites. Federal officials expect that state health officials will take that as a strong signal to do the same. … The move could substantially complicate the nation’s vaccination efforts.” This announcement poses an enormous challenge for administration officials, health care providers and the media, and it’s already sparking controversy. Caution from government officials about very rare side effects will run headlong into an online environment of mass disinformation, vaccine hesitancy, broad innumeracy and a press that has often fallen short in explaining complicated science to the public. How political leaders and reporters present the findings about J&J’s vaccine through this investigation will be crucial to whether it bolsters or undermines confidence in vaccines. JEFF ZIENTS released a statement emphasizing that with Pfizer and Moderna alone, the U.S. will still be on track to hit 3 million shots a day and 200 million doses within President JOE BIDEN’S first 100 days. J&J has so far made up less than 5% of shots in the U.S. The pause isn’t likely to last long, officials predicted at the CDC/FDA briefing this morning. So the biggest impact here may be on public perceptions. More from Lauren Morello Zients and ANTHONY FAUCI will join press secretary JEN PSAKI at today’s briefing at 12:45 p.m. | | A message from Facebook: It’s time to update internet regulations
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See how we’re making progress on key issues and why we support updated regulations to set clear rules for addressing today’s toughest challenges. | | | Biden spoke this morning in tribute to the late Capitol Police Officer BILLY EVANS as he lay in honor at the Capitol rotunda: “He was defined by his dignity, his decency, his loyalty and his courage. … A time’s going to come, I promise you, not believable now, when a memory, a fragrance, a scene, a circumstance, the way his son tilts his head the way he did when he was that age, is going to bring back the memory. … My prayer for all of you is that a day will come when you have that memory and … you smile before you bring a tear to your eyes.” Watch the memorial service, via C-SPAN — NBC’s @frankthorp: “Just absolutely gut wrenching to see Officer Billy Evans' children standing at the top of the steps of the East front of the Capitol holding teddy bears as they watch their father's casket being carried to the rotunda so he can lay in honor.” Good Tuesday afternoon. Biden spoke with Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN this morning, during which Biden proposed holding a summit in a third country “in the coming months.” Also notable from the White House readout of the call: “President Biden also made clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of its national interests in response to Russia’s actions, such as cyber intrusions and election interference. “President Biden emphasized the United States’ unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The President voiced our concerns over the sudden Russian military build-up in occupied Crimea and on Ukraine’s borders, and called on Russia to de-escalate tensions.” The JOHN BOEHNER book is out today, and Time’s Lissandra Villa interviewed him ahead of its release. Read the whole thing, but two nuggets stood out to us: — He denies the widely reported detail that his f-bomb asides about people like Sen. TED CRUZ (R-Texas) during the audio recording of the book were a result of wine-soaked sessions. Boehner: “No wine [was] consumed during the writing of the book or the recording of the book. It’s one of those internet myths that continues to get propagated.” Hmm, how did this internet myth get started? We’re no Snopes, but perhaps it was in late February when Boehner tweeted a picture of himself recording the audio book while holding a glass of wine and wrote, “You can blame the wine for the expletives.” — After everything Boehner has had to say about DONALD TRUMP and the recent takeover of the GOP by radicals and conspiracy theorists and people he repeatedly describes as “lunatics” and “morons” and “crazies,” Lilla asked the former speaker of the House who he voted for for president in 2020. Surely, like a lot of never Trumpers, he wrote in the name of a conservative hero like RONALD REAGAN or went third party or, like his longtime Ohio colleague JOHN KASICH, voted for Biden, right? Nope. Boehner: “I voted for Donald Trump.” The WSJ joins the NYT in panning the book: “Former House Speaker John Boehner doesn’t understand why House Republicans went mad. Maybe it had something to do with him.” AT THE WHITE HOUSE today for Biden and VP Kamala Harris’ meeting with Congressional Black Caucus members: Cedric Richmond, Louisa Terrell, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Reps. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) and Joe Neguse (D-Colo.). More from TheGrio on what they’ll discuss LATEST FROM MINNESOTA — The prosecution in the DEREK CHAUVIN trial has rested. Closing arguments could arrive by Monday. More from the Star Tribune | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" TO JOIN AN IMPORTANT CONVERSATION: Power is changing, in Washington and across the country. 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Thank you to our sponsor, Intel. | | | | | FILIBUSTER WATCH — “GOP could edge back from filibuster cliff on hate crimes bill,” by Nicholas Wu: “Democrats say a bipartisan effort is underway to amend their party’s anti-hate crime legislation in the Senate … Republicans have not yet decided as a party to block the bill, which would stoke the already simmering debate within Biden’s party over whether to try to weaken or kill the legislative filibuster. “And if the GOP were to agree to start debate on the hate crimes bill, both parties are discussing an amendment that would attach separate, bipartisan legislation on the issue, according to a senior Democratic aide. The current effort could lead to a spark of bipartisan collaboration in the 50-50 chamber, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s encouragement. Republicans are increasingly inclined to get on the bill, according to one GOP source.” CHOCK FULL OF ANECDOTES AND INTERVIEWS — “Andrew Cuomo’s White-Knuckle Ride,” NYT Magazine: “Amid scandals, accusations and calls for his resignation, the New York governor seems determined to prove that the instincts that have gotten him into trouble can get him out of it too.” CASH DASH — “Cruz’s cash: Texas senator hauls in over $5.3M so far this year,” Fox News 2022 WATCH — “Meet the Texas veteran who could blaze a trail for the anti-Trump GOP,” by Melanie Zanona and Ally Mutnick: “[Michael] Wood is campaigning on an explicitly anti-Trump platform as he competes with 22 other candidates in a special election to fill the seat of the late Rep. Ron Wright (R-Texas), who represented a rapidly diversifying district in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs. … “Wood’s race, conducted in a so-called jungle-style format where candidates from all parties compete on one ballot, could be the first real bellwether of anti-Trump Republicans’ future success. … Wood has the type of profile that would normally make him a prized recruit for the GOP: a young, square-jawed conservative with four small children and two Purple Hearts from Marine Corps service, which includes two tours of duty in Afghanistan. But his views on Trump could end his political career before it even begins.” — “Taking aim at ‘cancel culture,’ Gibbons jumps into Ohio Senate race,” Fox News: “[Mike] Gibbons served as Ohio finance co-chair for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and contributed to Trump’s 2020 reelection bid. He stressed in the video that ‘the left is working around the clock to destroy everything President Trump accomplished during his time in office… they’re counting on us to go away – to cower before the power of Washington, D.C., and their media enablers. But I’m not going anywhere. I’m ready for battle.’” Launch video DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO — “Ron DeSantis Once Had Vote Tossed When Officials Couldn't Verify Signature on Ballot Was His,” NBC LX/Miami: “When then-Congressman Ron DeSantis cast his mail ballot for Florida’s primary election in 2016, election workers in his hometown flagged the signature as a mismatch. “When DeSantis provided the canvassing board a new signature as a backup to the signatures already on file, they determined that handwriting also had ‘no similarities’ to the signature on DeSantis’ ballot and rejected the vote, according to Flagler County elections officials. … Now, DeSantis is leading the charge in Florida to change how voters obtain a mail ballot, as well as how easily they can drop it off at their local elections offices.” TUESDAY LISTEN — The latest podcast from Serial and the NYT, “The Improvement Association,” launched today. It dives into what really happened — and is happening — with election fraud in Bladen County, N.C., where a congressional race in 2018 got tossed out. More | | | | YOUR GUIDE TO THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: As the Biden administration closes in on three months in office, what are the big takeaways? Will polls that show support for infrastructure initiatives and other agenda items translate into Republican votes or are they a mirage? What's the plan to deal with Sen. Joe Manchin? Add Transition Playbook to your daily reads for details you won't find anywhere else that reveal what's really happening inside the West Wing and across the executive branch. Track the people, policies and power centers of the Biden administration. Subscribe today. | | | | | KNOWING KRISTEN CLARKE — “Kristen Clarke faced abuse for taking on Trump. Now she’s poised to lead Justice Dept.’s civil rights team,” WaPo: “Clarke’s first visit to a courtroom came three decades ago at Choate, an exclusive boarding school in Wallingford, Conn., when a teacher took her class to Hartford to watch oral arguments in Sheff v. O’Neill , a school desegregation case. “Clarke, whose parents immigrated from Jamaica, grew up in one of the nation’s largest federally subsidized public housing projects, in east Brooklyn, before earning a Prep for Prep scholarship for minority students that placed her at the boarding school. The visit to the courtroom lit a spark, she has told associates, prompting her to reflect on the gulf between her own opportunities and the obstacles facing so many students of color — and launching her interest in civil rights.” THINKING BIG — “Unions eye Brookings, Urban Institute as push to organize think tanks grows,” by Rebecca Rainey: “Staff at the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute on Tuesday asked their employers to grant them voluntary recognition — which doesn’t require a secret ballot election — of their unions, which are affiliated with the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union, IFPTE Local 70. “The labor movement’s efforts to organize think tanks — major players in influencing and informing the policy debate on Capitol Hill — is the latest white-collar sector to see a burst in collective bargaining.” CLIMATE FILES — Washington Examiner’s Joshua Siegel @SiegelScribe: “NEW: @SecGranholm, speaking at @BloombergNEF Summit, says ‘there are versions of a clean electricity standard that work for reconciliation rules,’ enabling approval with 50+1 votes. ‘No decision has been made on how exactly it’s going to be working,’ Granholm adds.” — JOHN KERRY ON THE MOVE: “U.S. Climate Envoy to Arrive in Shanghai on Wednesday for In-Person Meeting with Chinese Counterpart,” WSJ: “Mr. Kerry’s [three-day] visit to Shanghai will make him the first senior Biden administration official to visit China. … Beijing doesn’t have high expectations for the meeting … The two sides are scheduled to discuss a possible relaunch of the U.S.-China Climate Change Working Group, though likely under a new name.” ON THE WORLD STAGE — “U.S. to Increase Military Presence in Germany,” NYT: “Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, on a visit to Germany, announced an addition of 500 personnel to strengthen deterrence and defenses in Europe.” IRAN SO FAR AWAY — “Official: Iran to enrich uranium to 60%, highest level ever,” AP: “The announcement marks a significant escalation after the [Natanz facility] sabotage, suspected of having been carried out by Israel. … Already earlier in the day, Iran’s foreign minister had warned that the weekend assault could hurt ongoing negotiations over its tattered atomic deal with world powers.” TOP-EDS: — JACK SHAFER : “Television’s Trumpiest New Show: Sebastian Gorka’s new ‘Reality Check’ proves that propaganda makes lousy TV.” — NYT’s ROSS DOUTHAT: “What Bidenism Owes to Trumpism: The Biden agenda tries to seize the populist opportunity that Trump let slip away.” — WaPo’s EUGENE ROBINSON: “I want to believe justice is possible in Derek Chauvin’s trial. But a part of me holds back.” — WaPo’s CATHERINE RAMPELL: “The most anti-refugee president in modern history might not be Donald Trump” — JOHN MCWHORTER: “The Elect: The Threat to a Progressive America from Anti-Black Antiracists” | | | |   | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |  |
