Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With Allie Bice. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Tina With just weeks to go before President JOE BIDEN’s Nov. 22 deadline for federal workers to be vaccinated, the White House has yet to provide vaccination rates for its own staffers. “We are continuing to collect vaccination information from employees as we approach the deadline and already, the vast majority of White House employees are vaccinated,” is as specific as a White House official would get. The White House’s mandate affects not just Biden senior staffers, but also dozens of residence staff, U.S. Secret Service officers and the National Park Service officers who monitor the area just outside the White House gates. The coyness about current rates of compliance comes as the White House routinely cites the vaccination rates at various companies implementing mandates of their own and as they chart the growing vaccination rate of Americans writ large. The U.S. hit 70 percent fully vaccinated today. It also comes as breakthrough cases continue to be an issue for the West Wing. On Sunday afternoon, as much of Washington D.C. was out trick-or-treating, the White House announced that press secretary JEN PSAKI had tested positive. She is fully vaccinated, but still contracted Covid-19 from a family member. “There’s no form of employment at the White House that has a 100 percent vaccination rate, and that’s a big deal when you’re suggesting mandates to the American people,” a source with close ties to the White House told us. The White House released guidance today for federal contractors, whose workforces are also required to get vaccinated under a set of executive orders the president signed on Sept. 9. They have until Dec. 8 to get their first shot. But both federal agencies and contractors are being given flexibility to determine how they deal with those who refuse to get vaccinated. Asked today about carve-outs to the mandate, specifically for those citing religious objections, White House Covid-19 response coordinator JEFF ZIENTS said the exemptions are being reviewed by the HR departments at each agency, following guidance from the federal government. Exemptions aside, the administration’s stance is that although some people may end up quitting or being disciplined, the mandate is increasing rates of vaccination and that the pandemic itself is more disruptive to work forces than people leaving the job because they don’t want the jab. “More and more people are getting vaccinated in the federal government. And the vaccine requirement is working, as it is across many sectors,” Zients said today. Some federal agencies have self-reported their numbers. EPA Deputy Administrator JANET McCABE told staffers in August that 87 percent of her employees were fully vaccinated. And the Department of Energy has reported that the vaccination rate among its employees has surpassed 80 percent. Here’s what will happen to federal employees, including White House staffers, who don’t follow the mandate: education, counseling and, ultimately, “enforcement.” “It’s important to remember that this is a process and the point here is to get people vaccinated, not to ... punish them,” Zients said at an Oct. 20 briefing. “So, agencies will not be removing employees from federal service until after they’ve gone through a process of education and counseling. And just like federal agencies, contractors will follow standard processes for accommodations and enforcement among their employees.” That hasn’t been true elsewhere though. New York City placed 9,000 city workers (out of roughly 378,000) on leave without pay today as the city began enforcing its coronavirus vaccine mandate for the public workforce — one of the toughest in the nation — ERIN DURKIN reports. Besides receiving the vaccine, White House Covid protocols require staffers to wear masks and submit to “regular testing.” They’re also required to be tested every day before they interact with a principal, a White House aide told us. In July, Psaki told reporters Biden is tested every two weeks, “or around every two weeks.” Psaki said she is tested twice a week. “Many are tested twice a week. Some are tested once a week,” Psaki said of those close to the president. She added, “We’re all vaccinated,” though the White House’s statement to us didn’t affirm that point. Do you work in the Biden administration? Are you in touch with the White House? Are you HILARY HURD, senior adviser to the homeland security adviser? We want to hear from you — and we’ll keep you anonymous: westwingtips@politico.com. Or if you want to stay really anonymous send us a tip through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram, or Whatsapp here. Or you can text/Signal Alex at 8183240098. | 
