Playbook PM: Bustos bails

From: POLITICO Playbook - Friday Apr 30,2021 05:36 pm

Apr 30, 2021

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MILESTONE ALERT — Today, the White House announced that 100 million Americans — almost 40% of U.S. adults — have now been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Fifty-five percent of adults have received at least their first shot.

— MORE FROM THE COVID-19 BRIEFING: CDC Director ROCHELLE WALENSKY said she thought New York City’s planned July 1 reopening was a “reasonable target” if current vaccination and case trends continue.

RETIREMENT WATCH — “Democrat Cheri Bustos Announces Retirement From Congress,” HuffPost: “In an interview on Friday, [Rep. CHERI] BUSTOS told HuffPost that nothing in particular was driving her decision to go. She said she tends to make big changes every 10 years ― she worked as a reporter and then an editor for about two decades, and then in health care for 10 years ― and felt it was time for another shift.” Video announcement

— House maven @allymutnick on what this means for 2022: “Cheri Bustos was DCCC chair for the 2020 cycle & had a closer-than-expected reelection of her own in #IL17. Trump won the seat 2016 + 2020 & Bustos’ 2020 challenger is running again. BUT this seat will be redrawn. Dems have trifecta control in Illinois & will try to shore it up.”

HEADS UP — Bloomberg’s Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps): “[W.H. press secretary JEN] PSAKI on AF1: ‘I can confirm that we have completed our DPRK policy review.’” … “‘Our policy will not focus on achieving a grand bargain, nor will rely on strategic patience,’ Psaki says. ‘Our policy calls for a calibrated practical approach that is open to and we’ll explore diplomacy with the DPRK.’” The initial WaPo scoop: “Biden administration forges new path on North Korea crisis in wake of Trump and Obama failures”

BIDEN ALLIES LAUNCH AD WARS — “Pro-Biden Group to Begin Ad Campaign Promoting His Agenda in Swing States,” NYT: “Building Back Together, a progressive organization run by [JOE] BIDEN allies, will air minute-long television commercials next week in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia and Wisconsin that highlight the president’s response to the coronavirus and his wide-ranging economic plans. The group is planning to spend over $3 million on a monthlong effort, including a shorter advertisement that will appear on digital platforms in the same four states and in North Carolina.

“Both spots differentiate Mr. Biden’s approach from that of former President DONALD J. TRUMP. ‘You won’t hear him yelling or sending angry tweets, because for Joe Biden, actions speak louder,’ says a narrator in the television commercial. … Building Back Together is particularly focused on retaining the sort of independent or even Republican-leaning voters who backed Mr. Biden but might have voted for G.O.P. candidates farther down the ballot.” The ad

Happy Friday afternoon.

TO RUSSIA, WITH LOVE — WaPo’s Anne Rumsey Gearan (@agearan): “National security adviser @JakeSullivan46 says at @AspenInstitute that planning is ‘active’ for an early-summer Biden-Putin summit in a third country in Europe. Says he spoke to his Russian counterpart earlier today.”

HERE COMES COMMENCEMENT SEASON — “Kamala Harris to speak at upcoming Naval Academy commencement ceremony,” Yahoo

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2024 WATCH — “Pence hits the 2024 circuit,” by Alex Isenstadt: “According to a person familiar with the plans, [former VP MIKE PENCE’S] schedule includes a pair of stops in Texas next week. Pence is to speak at a fundraiser hosted by House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY, and on May 7 he is slated to appear at a donor appreciation event hosted by … KARL ROVE. …

“In June, Pence will … co-headline the Republican National Committee’s summer donor retreat alongside former Secretary of State MIKE POMPEO, another potential 2024 hopeful. That same month, the former vice president will go to South Carolina, an important early primary state, to raise money for freshman Republican Rep. NANCY MACE.”

— “Mike Pence reemerges. But Trumpworld is moving on,” by Meridith McGraw: In a South Carolina speech Thursday, Pence “touted the administration’s accomplishments, and often alluded to Trump as if they were still in a partnership. … If Pence is seeking solidarity, however, it has not entirely been reciprocated. Since January 6, Trump and Pence have talked more than five times, according to a Pence aide, including three this month. But the two have mostly gone their own separate and distinct ways.

“And Trump aides say they are not keeping tabs on his political machinations like they are for other leading Republicans. Indeed, a handful of those contacted for this piece confided that they had no idea Pence was making his post-White House debut on Thursday. … Inside Trump World, there is a sense that Pence no longer has … the utility he once did.”

DAILY RUDY — “Rudy Giuliani Taps Alan Dershowitz for Legal Advice Following Federal Raid,” The Daily Beast: “On Wednesday, former New York City mayor and Donald Trump lawyer RUDY GIULIANI’S apartment and office were raided by the feds. On Thursday, he picked up the phone and called ALAN DERSHOWITZ.

“‘I had spoken out a number of times against the raid, [and on Thursday] Giuliani called me and asked me if I would share that view with his lawyers,’ Dershowitz … said in a phone interview Friday morning. … Dershowitz said he has agreed to offer Giuliani and his team ‘constitutional advice’ following the raid, but isn’t one of his counsels of record.”

Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER talks to ANAND GIRIDHARADAS: “Chuck Schumer is sounding a ‘last call’ for bipartisanship and then is ready to go for broke”: “‘I will give us a chance to do the parts of the bill that can be bipartisan. We will show our colleagues, the number who want to try bipartisanship, that we'll give it a try. But if Republicans block things, if they block climate, if they block tax increases on the rich and wealthy corporations to pay for this, then we will look at reconciliation. No final decisions have been made, but we have to get it done in reconciliation.’”

— Schumer on his and Biden’s evolutions to the left: “We are on parallel journeys. We’re both from working-class backgrounds and our base is average working people. Both of us spend lots of time talking to these folks. I go to street fairs, I go all over the place and just talk to people.”

DEEP DIVE ON POSSIBLE BREYER SUCCESSOR — “Biden’s court pick Ketanji Brown Jackson has navigated a path few Black women have,” WaPo: “[If confirmed, KETANJI BROWN JACKSON] would join just five other Black women out of 286 judges currently sitting on a federal appeals court bench … At 50, Jackson is also on a shortlist of contenders who could fulfill Biden’s promise to name the first Black woman to the high court. After graduating from Harvard University and Harvard Law School, Jackson was a law clerk to three judges, including Justice STEPHEN G. BREYER, who is under pressure from Democrats to retire. …

“Jackson … has shared with hundreds of Black law students in personal, self-deprecating terms how she rose through the ranks. … She points to her work ethic and late-night study sessions honed as a high school debate champion that ‘made me somewhat boring,’ her ‘funny name’ that made her stand out, and the thick skin she had to develop early as a dark-skinned Black girl who was often the only person of color in her class or social circle.”

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VOTING RIGHTS LATEST — ICYMI: “Mail ballots, drop boxes targeted in voting bill passed by Legislature,” Miami Herald: “The Florida Legislature approved along party lines a multitude of changes to the state’s elections laws Thursday night. … Relenting on a number of ideas that were strongly opposed by county elections supervisors and Democrats, the bill now heading to Gov. RON DESANTIS’ desk is far less onerous than what Republicans were proposing over the last month. …

“It does restrict people from possessing more than two vote-by-mail ballots, reimposing a ban on ballot collection that Republicans did away with 20 years ago. … Senate Bill 90 also would require ballot drop boxes to be used only during early voting hours and that they be manned during those times.”

— THE STEP BACK: “Florida Republicans give DeSantis wins for 2022 — and beyond,” by Matt Dixon in Tallahassee: “Florida’s Republican-led Legislature is handing Gov. Ron DeSantis a series of culture war victories that are leaving Democrats increasingly worried he may be unstoppable … The Legislature, which wraps up its two-month session this week, passed ‘anti-riot’ legislation that DeSantis called for in the aftermath of last summer’s nationwide racial justice demonstrations. It approved a bill targeting Big Tech companies for ‘censoring’ GOP voices. State lawmakers also passed a bill that bans so-called vaccine passports.”

WHAT TISH JAMES IS EYEING — “How Trump scored a big tax break for conserving a golf range,” Reuters: “[T]he 261-acre property on the Palos Verdes Peninsula had a problem. Geologists working for the city would not clear part of it for home-building … The denials infuriated Trump, who lobbied and litigated for eight years in a failed effort to reverse the geologists’ findings … Trump eventually abandoned a plan to build 16 homes and turned instead to the tax code to offset the lost profits — securing a $25 million tax deduction in exchange for a promise not to develop the land. …

“That 2014 agreement, known as a conservation easement, is now one focus of a broader investigation by New York Attorney General LETITIA JAMES into whether Trump improperly manipulated real-estate values for tax and other economic benefits, court records filed by her office show.”

PLUS THIS — “Jared Kushner’s apartment company violated consumer laws in Maryland, judge rules,” Baltimore Sun: “The apartment company of JARED KUSHNER violated Maryland’s consumer protection laws numerous times at Baltimore-area properties by collecting debts without the required licenses, charging tenants improper fees, and misrepresenting the condition of rental units, a judge has ruled.

“In a 252-page decision issued Thursday, Administrative Law Judge EMILY DANEKER found that violations by Westminster Management and the company JK2 were ‘widespread and numerous.’ Kushner — the son-in-law of former president Donald J. Trump — and his brother Joshua each held 50% interest in JK2, according to the legal filing. Westminster is the successor to that company.”

DISCLOSURE DUMP — “John Kerry discloses millions in income from finance, energy firms,” Axios: “The State Department, where [former Secretary of State JOHN] KERRY officially works again, says he has divested assets that could pose a conflict of interest, and signed an ethics pledge … He drew a $5 million salary from Bank of America. … He landed $382,400 in speaking fees from entities including Deutsche Bank, Waste Management and Cornell University. … Kerry also reported receiving $125,000 in consulting fees from The Rise Fund.”

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.

PULLOUT FALLOUT — “Al Qaeda promises ‘war on all fronts’ against America as Biden pulls out of Afghanistan,” CNN: “In an exclusive interview with CNN conducted through intermediaries, two al Qaeda operatives tell CNN that ‘war against the US will be continuing on all other fronts unless they are expelled from the rest of the Islamic world.’ …

“[T]he terror group that once roared to world attention is reduced to a whimper, but it is far from dead. And now says it’s planning a comeback after US forces leave Afghanistan, by partnering once again with the Taliban. … If the Taliban keeps its promises to Biden, then all this is just al Qaeda propaganda, but if it doesn’t, all bets about the future threat it poses are off.”

— “Surge in insider attacks in Afghan army as Americans prepare to go: U.S. govt,” AFP: “The quarterly report of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said attacks on the Afghan security forces, mainly by the Taliban rebel group, surged 37 percent over the January-March period from a year earlier. Notably, insider attacks -- when security forces are targeted by Taliban infiltrators within their ranks -- jumped 82 percent, and casualties from them doubled.”

FOR YOUR RADAR — “U.S.-mediated Lebanon-Israel talks on border at sea to resume,” AP: “Months after they stalled, indirect talks between Lebanon and Israel over their disputed maritime border are to resume next week, a U.S.-mediating team said. Resolving the border issue could pave the way for lucrative oil and gas deals on both sides.”

AFTERNOON READ — “Will the Nursing Home of the Future be an Actual Home?” by Rachel Roubein in The Agenda: “Across the country, in the wake of the pandemic, there’s new momentum for rethinking and revamping how we care for seniors so that the places that are supposed to keep them safe never again become a dangerous breeding ground for an infectious virus.

“But to make significant change, the lawmakers, researchers and advocates who want to upgrade the system don’t have to just change minds. They also have to reform the United States’ fragmented, and underfunded, system of long-term care.”

MAJOR IS OUT OF THE DOGHOUSE — In the Bidens’ interview with NBC’s Craig Melvin that aired on the “Today” show this morning, first lady JILL BIDEN said MAJOR BIDEN is back at the White House. “He is such a sweet, lovable dog. He really is.” And the forthcoming cat? “She is waiting in the wings.” The clip

MEDIAWATCH — Flora Peir is joining the 19th News as its first news editor. She previously was an assistant news editor at the NYT. Announcement

TRANSITIONS — Former FCC Chair Ajit Pai is joining the American Enterprise Institute as a visiting fellow. Announcement … Lauren Hackett will be director of global product management comms at Gartner. She currently is SVP for global comms at The Economist.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Jennifer Miel, executive director of the Middle East, Turkey and Kazakhstan at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Geovanny Vicente Romero, a CNN columnist, recently welcomed Marvin Alejandro. Pic

BONUS BIRTHDAY: Anthony Foxx (5-0)

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