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Presented by Climate Power: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. | | | | | |  | | By Rachael Bade, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun | Presented by |  | | | With all eyes on Minneapolis as the nation awaits a verdict in DEREK CHAUVIN’S murder trial, President JOE BIDEN is facing a critical first test of how he will handle issues of race and policing. This morning, Biden told White House reporters that he recently spoke with GEORGE FLOYD’S family and, with the jury now sequestered, seemed to suggest that he hopes they’ll reach a guilty verdict. “I’m praying the verdict is the right verdict,” Biden said. “The evidence is overwhelming in my view.” Biden’s decision to go out on a limb like that is a bit surprising. Presidents and other politicians typically refrain from weighing in while juries deliberate — DONALD TRUMP, of course, being a glaring exception — and his words prompted criticism even from those sympathetic to the prosecution, like The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer. Still, if Chauvin is found not guilty, Biden will be called on to do more than simply play consoler-in-chief. He campaigned on a promise to address police brutality, Black voters played a major role in handing him the White House, and Biden is going to have to show that he’s taking concrete action to address racism in policing. Philonise Floyd talking about Biden’s call on the “Today” show MEANWHILE ON CAPITOL HILL, Republicans and Democrats are going at each other this morning over House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY’S move to try to censure Rep. MAXINE WATERS (D-Calif.). The word “hypocrisy” is just about everywhere. Democrats accuse the GOP of being upset about Waters while turning a blind eye to Trump. Republicans counter that Dems can’t impeach Trump for inciting violence while not censuring Waters for encouraging protesters to “get more confrontational” if they dislike the Chauvin verdict. House Democratic Caucus Chair HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-N.Y.) had this zinger in his presser today, speaking to McCarthy point blank: “LAUREN BOEBERT is a mess. MATT GAETZ is a mess. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE is a mess. Clean up your mess, Kevin. Sit this one out. You’ve got no credibility here. We support peaceful protests.” House Republican Conference Chair LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.), meanwhile, urged consistency from both parties when it comes to rebuking members whose words could incite violence — and, as one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump, she has some cred on this matter. Speaker NANCY PELOSI, said Cheney, is “wrong in terms of not holding [Waters] accountable.” But she called for the GOP to do more to stamp out inflammatory rhetoric within its own ranks: “We have a particular obligation to make clear at all times that we’re the party of LIncoln” and “what we stand for.” | | A message from Climate Power: America can’t wait. Let’s get to work and get people back to work -- with a bold plan to build back better with clean energy infrastructure and millions of new union jobs. | | | MORE HILL NUGGETS FROM THIS MORNING: — GOP COUNTEROFFER COMING: Sen. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO (R-W.Va.) told reporters that the outlines of a Republican infrastructure proposal will be unveiled this week. She said it would include a topline spending total, some details on projects and pay-fors. — Cheney on the House GOP retreat in Orlando next week: “What we have to do as Republicans is get back to being the party of ideas and the substance and the policy of conservatism, and that’s going to be a big part of the retreat.” Q: “Will Donald Trump be there?” Cheney: “I haven’t invited him.” (h/t Hill pool) — Across the Rotunda, Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER is celebrating 4/20 by calling for marijuana legalization: “Today is what you might call a very unofficial American holiday. … It’s as appropriate a time as any to take a hard look at our laws that have overcriminalized the use of marijuana and put it on par with heroin, L.S.D. and other narcotics that bear little or no resemblance in their effect either on individuals or on society more broadly.” LATEST MANEUVERING — “Democratic leaders find a way to defuse conservatives’ House floor sabotage,” by Sarah Ferris, Melanie Zanona and Olivia Beavers: “Under the response shaped by House Majority Leader STENY HOYER (D-Md.), leaders of the far-right Freedom Caucus would no longer be able to effectively seize control of the floor by demanding individual votes on dozens of suspension bills and forcing members to vote late into the night. “Instead, Hoyer plans to package much of that broadly palatable suspension legislation into a single block on the floor.” Good Tuesday afternoon. JOIN US — A day after testifying before the Senate about the Biden administration’s $2 trillion infrastructure and climate plan, Commerce Secretary GINA RAIMONDO will join RYAN and EUGENE on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. to discuss the plan’s prospects. They’ll also cover Biden’s relationship with corporate America, the administration’s milestones as it approaches the 100-day mark and what to expect from Biden’s address to Congress. Register here to watch live SITTING, WAITING, WISHING — “Trump’s former aides say he whiffed on vaccination legacy,” by Joanne Kenen and Meridith McGraw: “Former President Donald Trump’s unwillingness to pitch his voters on getting the jab has become the source of frustration for former aides, who lament the political benefits that would have come had he done so. It has also worried health officials from his own administration, who told POLITICO about a monthslong effort to get him to publicly take the lead; and medical experts, who say a full-throated endorsement could sway vaccine skeptics on the right and get the country closer to herd immunity. “‘If he spent the last 90 days being the voice — and taking credit because he deserved to for the vaccine — and helping get as many Americans get vaccinated as he could, he would be remembered for that,’ said a former senior administration official. ‘Honestly, I think if he was out on the road and celebrating his accomplishments and trying to get people vaccinated, he wouldn’t have been in the mindset that led to [Capitol riots on] January 6.’” | | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING : The Biden administration is quickly approaching 100 days in office — has it delivered on its early promises? What tactics and strategies are being debated in West Wing offices? What’s really being talked about behind the scenes in negotiations with Congress on the infrastructure plan? Add Transition Playbook to your daily reads for details that 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. | | | | | CASH DASH — “RNC sets fundraising record in March in drive to retake control of Congress,” Fox News: “The Republican National Committee (RNC) raked in $17.8 million in fundraising last month, which it highlights is its best ever off-cycle March haul. And the RNC says it brought in a total of $44.4 million during the January-March first quarter (Q1) of fundraising this year, its best post-presidential election first quarter in the national party committee’s history.” — THE CITIZENS UNITED WORLD: “Dozen Megadonors Gave $3.4 Billion, One in Every 13 Dollars, Since 2009,” NYT: “The report, produced by Issue One, a nonpartisan group that seeks to reduce the influence of money in politics, shows the top 12 donors split equally between six Democrats and six Republicans. The list includes multiple Wall Street billionaires and investors, a Facebook co-founder, a shipping magnate and the heir to a family fortune dating back to the Gilded Age. “The study quantifies the intensifying concentration and increasing role of the super rich in American politics following the loosening of restrictions on political spending by the U.S. Supreme Court more than a decade ago.” The report D.C. STATEHOOD WATCH — The White House put out its first-ever Statement of Administration Policy backing the D.C. statehood bill, which is scheduled to get a vote on the House floor on Thursday. Not surprising, given Biden’s prior support, but historic all the same: The statement HOW THE SAUSAGE GETS MADE — “How politics is shaping Biden’s infrastructure proposal,” WaPo: “When it comes to the beneficiaries of President Biden’s infrastructure proposal, the Weatherization Assistance Program ranks among the big winners. … There’s just one problem: Independent analyses suggest that the program — which got its last big boost under the 2009 stimulus bill — isn’t a cost-efficient climate strategy. … “Rather than seek the perfect policy answer — an approach touted by the Obama administration — [Biden officials] are focused on solutions that can muster a broad base of support. The plan also includes funding electric vehicles without setting a timeline for when the nation will stop selling gas-powered cars and trucks, and funding highly subsidized inland waterways without spelling out how much industry will pay for new locks and dams.” FOR YOUR RADAR — “Chad’s President Idriss Deby killed in frontline clashes with rebels, state TV reports,” CNN: “Army spokesman AZEM BERMENDAO AGOUNA said Deby — a longtime Western ally — died ‘as a result of his injuries on the front line.’” RUSSIAN AROUND — “Satellite Images Show Russia’s Expanding Ukraine Buildup,” WSJ: “Russia has moved warplanes to Crimea and bases near Ukraine to an extent greater than has previously been disclosed, adding to its capability for political intimidation or military intervention, according to commercial satellite photos of areas being used for the military buildup.” NOT SO SECRET — “DHS watchdog declined to pursue investigations into Secret Service during Trump administration, documents show,” WaPo: “JOSEPH CUFFARI, the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, rejected his staff’s recommendation to investigate what role the Secret Service played in the forcible clearing of protesters from Lafayette Square on June 1 … “Cuffari also sought to limit — and then the office ultimately shelved — a probe into whether the Secret Service flouted federal protocols put in place to detect and reduce the spread of the coronavirus within its workforce, according to the records.” More from the Project on Government Oversight IMMIGRATION FILES — “Biden to Increase Seasonal-Worker Visas by 22,000,” WSJ: “The decision comes just weeks after the Biden administration lifted a ban on the guest-worker visas and other work visas imposed by the Trump administration last June amid the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. “Six thousand of those additional visas will be set aside for applicants from the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, which together are sending the largest number of migrant families and children to the U.S. border seeking asylum.” AT THE BORDER — “Unaccompanied migrant children spend weeks in government custody, even when their U.S.-based parents are eager to claim them,” WaPo: “HHS has been taking 25 days on average to approve release and grant custody to the mother or father, a number that dipped to 22 days Thursday, according to the latest internal data reviewed by The Washington Post. … “Federal officials say they are scrambling to speed up reunifications, streamlining requirements and even offering to pay for parents’ transportation costs. But lawyers, lawmakers and White House officials are urging them to act faster.” | | | | LAUNCHING THIS WEEK - A NEW PLAYBOOK PODCAST : Washington is full of whispers, colorful characters and hard to believe stories that are all too real. Playbook Deep Dive is a new, weekly podcast that pulls back the curtain on the political theater and dives deep into the most compelling, confounding and often shocking stories from the nation’s capital. Featuring the Playbook authors, reporters from across POLITICO’s newsroom, and larger than life personalities with stories that you need to hear for yourself to believe. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | FIRST LADY FILES — “First lady Jill Biden to visit Albuquerque health facility,” AP: “The White House announced Tuesday that [JILL] BIDEN on Wednesday afternoon will be accompanied by New Mexico Gov. MICHELLE LUJAN GRIFFIN when the first lady visits the First Choice Community Healthcare location at South Valley Medical Center. Biden on Thursday and Friday plans to visit the Navajo Nation’s capitol in Window Rock, Arizona. Details of that stop haven’t been released yet.” — “The Power of the First Lady,” The Atlantic: “How LADY BIRD JOHNSON and NANCY REAGAN advanced their husbands’ ambitions—and their own.” 2022 WATCH — “John B. King, former Obama education secretary, running for Maryland governor,” WaPo: “King, 46, has spent his career in top education and government roles but has never sought public office before. In launching his first campaign, he said he would focus on inequity, emphasizing that he would be the first Black governor of Maryland, where his great-grandfather was enslaved. … “King is the second high-profile Democrat to formally launch a bid in the wide-open 2022 governor’s race to succeed the term-limited [Republican LARRY] HOGAN.” THE NEW COMPETITION — “As China revs up battery production, Dem lawmakers see another Middle East nightmare,” by Gavin Bade and Eric Wolff: “The Biden administration and Congressional Democrats plan to pump taxpayer money into the battery sector — investing in research, backing risky start-ups and developing tax incentives and grant programs to bring not just battery production but also the entire supply chain into the U.S. “It’s an attempt at a rapid turnaround after the U.S. largely lost the battle for solar production in the 2010s, when China dumped billions of dollars into its own panel production. The U.S. now trails its economic rival in manufacturing batteries that will drive a coming wave of electric vehicles and make solar and wind more reliable, and the advantage is triggering comparisons to the Middle East’s ability to dominate oil markets decades ago.” MEDIAWATCH — Reporters Without Borders is out with its 2021 World Press Freedom Index. The U.S. score slipped slightly, but its rank improved by one spot: It’s now 44th in the world. “[W]hile the most obvious symptoms of an ailing democracy may have cleared up,” they write, “many chronic, underlying conditions -- from the disappearance of local news to the ongoing and widespread distrust of mainstream media -- remain.” The full diagnosis … The global landscape MEET THE NEW RUSH — “Dan Bongino isn’t just taking over where Rush Limbaugh left off — he’s building a conservative media universe,” WaPo: “He was the fulminating, one-man conglomerate presiding over a mini-empire of words that included a booming website, a highly rated podcast, a regular Fox News gig, a Facebook page that routinely registered an astonishing slice of the top 10 shared posts, best-selling books, and a thriving YouTube channel. He was doing more than raging against Democrats and the mainstream media. “He was also setting in motion his grand aspiration to create a parallel digital economy in which the right wing builds its own digital infrastructure, separate from large tech companies he believes are anti-conservative, by acquiring its own ‘pipes’ that ferry information on the Internet. … Now, leveraging his personal wealth, growing fame and connections, Bongino’s been eyeing more tech acquisitions.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Former Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) will join the Center for American Progress as a distinguished senior fellow, focusing on criminal justice, democracy reform and racial equity and justice. He’ll start by moderating an online panel Wednesday at the event “A Blueprint for Ending White Supremacist Violence.” TRUMP ALUMNI — Cody Sanders is now senior principal editor and writer at Northrop Grumman. He previously was policy coordination manager at the NSC and director of proclamations and messages for the White House. TRANSITIONS — Russel Read is now comms director for Rep. Scott Franklin (R-Fla.). He previously was comms director for Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.). … Peter Prowitt is joining the Aerospace Industries Association as COO. He currently is executive director of global government relations for GE Aviation. … Christopher Rufo is joining the Manhattan Institute as a senior fellow and director of its new Initiative on Critical Race Theory. He currently is a contributing editor for City Journal. ENGAGED — Rishi Banerjee, manager for EatSafe at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, and Neha Chatterjee, a Biden campaign alum, got engaged Saturday at the penthouse of La Vie at the Wharf. Rishi enlisted the help of D.C. artist Maggie O’Neill to set up a fake painting class on the rooftop at sunset and flew Neha’s parents in from Texas before he popped the question. Pic … Another pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Erin O’Grady, a senior intelligence specialist with the U.S. Air Force, and Bryson Wong, a legislative assistant for Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), welcomed Dennis James Wong on April 4. Pic … Another pic | | | | A message from Climate Power:   We must meet this urgent moment and do what America does best — BUILD. | | | | | | | 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 | | | | |  |
