D.C.’s nerd prom will go on

From: POLITICO West Wing Playbook - Wednesday Apr 06,2022 10:04 pm

Apr 06, 2022

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For the past two years, the tuxedos owned by Washington’s most well-connected schmoozers, hacks, and dweebs have been gathering dust as the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner was canceled due to Covid.

But planners of this year’s dinner say it is definitely happening, despite the fact that a fresh wave of Covid is ripping through the administration and the press corps that covers it.

White House Correspondents Association president STEVEN PORTNOY told West Wing Playbook that the dinner will go on as planned on April 30. The organization, he insisted, is taking numerous precautions to ensure that the spread of the virus is minimized.

Questions about the event’s status have been swirling in recent days after it became clear that a similar annual Washington banquet likely doubled as both a celebration of journalism and a facilitator for the spread of Covid.

As Politico reported, a host of attendees at last weekend’s Gridiron Club dinner, the annual gala hosted by the highly-exclusive D.C. journalism association of the same name, have since come down with the virus. Commerce Secretary GINA RAIMONDO, one of the event’s main speakers, announced on Wednesday that she tested positive. So did Democratic Reps. ADAM SCHIFF (Calif.) and JOAQUIN CASTRO (Texas), who both attended the dinner and said on Tuesday that they contracted the virus. Attorney General MERRICK GARLAND was there and got Covid. So too did Vice President KAMALA HARRIS’ comms director, JAMAL SIMMONS. A number of reporters from outlets like PBS, The Washington Post, the Associated Press, and several other major newspapers have come down with Covid following the dinner.

Multiple members of the WHCA in recent weeks expressed concern that the spread of the latest Covid variant could directly coincide with many of the events scheduled around the dinner and possibly complicate the dinner itself.

But Portnoy told West Wing Playbook that the organization developed guidelines months ago in preparation for a more-complicated-than-normal dinner. All attendees will have to show proof of a negative test the day of the event. There is no vaccine mandate (as there was for the Gridiron dinner), but the WHCA has previously said that the vast majority of its members are vaccinated and boosted, reducing the likelihood that contracting the virus would put many of those individuals at risk of serious illness.

The WHCA is also coordinating with the White House on “a separate additional set of protocols with anyone who will be in contact with the president and the first lady,” Portnoy said. But he wouldn’t disclose the details.

“The concern drove us to make the decision up front, we’re not reacting to what happened last weekend,” the CBS News radio White House correspondent said. “The board decided months ago to have a testing requirement for our dinner, even at a time when Omicron was in the rearview mirror.”

Other events organized around the dinner that weekend are also proceeding as planned.

While the number of parties has shrunk significantly over the years, several major talent agencies and networks are still planning on hosting their annual gatherings. Talent agency CAA is putting on an exclusive party on a hotel rooftop near Logan Circle, while MSNBC and CNN are both still planning yet-to-be-announced parties. POLITICO is hosting several events, including the annual brunch at the home of founder ROBERT ALLBRITTON that will require vaccines and boosters for entry. The invites for UTA’s annual party Friday night at Georgetown’s Fiola Mare went out on Wednesday.

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Or if you think we missed something in today’s edition, let us know and we may include it tomorrow. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com or you can text/Signal/Wickr/WhatsApp Alex at 8183240098 or Max at 7143455427.

WHAT YOU TEXTED: In response to yesterday’s piece about frustrations with the FTC’s chief of staff, JEN HOWARD, several people wrote in asking where she bought her “Fuck” necklace.

So we asked Howard, who told us she made it custom through an Etsy seller.

Democratic operative PATRICK DILLON, husband to deputy chief of staff JEN O’MALLEY DILLON, subtweeted us last night, writing : “I don’t know the first thing about internal dynamics at FTC but I know here we are in the year of our Lord 2022 and somehow official Washington still gets the vapors about a woman and the F-word. [P]eople say DC is like a big high school but sometimes it’s more like welcome to the 4th grade.”

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POTUS PUZZLER

It’s reader-submitted trivia Wednesday! Thank you FRED CUMMINGS for this one — who was the first President to attend Jewish synagogue services?

(Answer at the bottom.)

The Oval

PRIME DRAMA — President JOE BIDEN seemed to celebrate, with gusto, the vote among workers at an Amazon warehouse to unionize, telling union leaders today “Amazon, here we come.” It was hailed by progressive and labor advocates as one of the most vocally pro-union sentiments a president has recently uttered and one especially notable for the ties that Biden has to the online retail giant. Biden’s former communications director, JAY CARNEY, is Amazon’s senior vice president for policy and press. We reached out to Carney to see if he had any thoughts on his old boss’ comments.

He did not respond.

But by the afternoon, Press Secretary JEN PSAKI seemed to take the air out of the president’s remarks . "What he was not doing is sending a message that he or the U.S. government would be directly involved in any of these efforts,” Psaki said at the briefing.

SHOUT OUT: Psaki continued to offer her public assessments of press team members as she is reportedly entering her final weeks as press secretary. Today was KEVIN MUNOZ’s turn, who recently turned 26. Psaki noted he can finally rent a car.

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Agenda Setting

GATHERING ON HUNTER — Top Republicans are pledging to look into HUNTER BIDEN ’s business dealings overseas, despite an ongoing DOJ probe, our ANDREW DESIDERIO and OLIVIA BEAVERS report.

Rep. JAMES COMER (R-Ky.), who is slated to become the House Oversight Committee chair if Republicans win the majority in November, said that the party will be “all over Hunter Biden” next year. Comer added that Republicans are “going to focus on Hunter Biden not for political reasons, but because we feel he’s a national security threat.”

House Minority Leader KEVIN McCARTHY (R-Cali.) echoed the sentiment, saying the president’s son’s business dealings are “definitely something we should look at.”

GONE, GONE, GONE — Biden on Wednesday erased the defaults of millions of federal student loan borrowers who fell behind on payments before the pandemic, saying in a statement that the move provides “additional flexibilities and support for all borrowers.”

The administration will allow “all borrowers with paused loans to receive a ‘fresh start’ on repayment by eliminating the impact of delinquency and default and allowing them to re-enter repayment in good standing,” the Education Department said in a separate statement. Our MICHAEL STRATFORD has more details on the move.

GROWING LOUDER — While Biden issued sanctions on Russia as a result of the country’s invasion of Ukraine, some lawmakers say the president should keep up the pressure and leave the sanctions in place, even if Putin decides to withdraw. Our NAHAL TOOSI reports that support for that stance amongst lawmakers is growing within Congress — and it's a bipartisan one. The sentiment puts the president in a sticky situation as he tries to navigate negotiating peace in Ukraine through sanctions relief for Russia. His team has already suggested there could be sanctions relief if Russia fully withdraws from Ukraine.

The calls also come as the administration announced it will issue tougher sanctions against Sberbank, Russia’s largest financial services company, and Alfa Bank, the country’s largest private lender, our VICTORIA GUIDA and KATE DAVIDSON report.

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Filling the Ranks

SEC STOCK UP — Biden is expected to nominate JAIME LIZÁRRAGA, an aide to House Speaker NANCY PELOSI, to the Securities and Exchange Commission, replacing a Democratic Commissioner set to leave in June. The president is also set to nominate MARK UYEDA, an SEC lawyer currently detailed to the Republican staff of the Senate Banking Committee, to fill a Republican slot on the board left vacant since January, Kate reports for Pro s.

What We're Reading

Fauci Sees Covid Infection Uptick Coming From BA.2 Subvariant (Bloomberg’s Riley Griffin)

Fed Officials Reinforce Message That Rates Are Heading Higher (Bloomberg’s Craig Torres and Steve Matthews)

Justice Department Charges Russian Oligarch With Sanctions Violations (WSJ’s Sadie Gurman and Aruna Viswanatha)

White House to oil companies: Stop sitting on record profits and lower gas prices (USA Today’s Maureen Groppe)

Where's Joe

Biden received the President’s Daily Brief.

In the afternoon, he delivered remarks at the North America’s Building Trades Unions Legislative Conference at the Washington Hilton. Aides who traveled with the president included: Director of the Office of Public Engagement CEDRIC RICHMOND, Director of Oval Office Operations ANNIE TOMASINI, Senior Director for Defense CARA ABERCROMBIE, Trip Director TRAVIS DREDD, and Director of Message Planning MEGHAN HAYS.

He also signed the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 into law.

Where's Kamala

Harris swore in RANDI CHARNO LEVINE to be the U.S. ambassador to Portugal in the Vice President’s Ceremonial Office.

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The Oppo Book

With two kids and a full-time job in the federal government, SARAH BIANCHI, Biden's deputy United States trade representative, rarely gets a moment to herself.

"My lifestyle is not for people who need a lot of down time or alone time," she told her grade school alma mater, The Paideia School in Georgia , during the Obama administration. "I have none. After the kids go to bed, I often go back to email to work more.”

Bianchi said that people often tell her she’s like her father “in that I really like being around people or constantly doing something. He is known to say that ‘I am fine spending time alone as long as I have some company.'"

We feel that. Sam often is complaining that he has to get his kids fed right as this newsletter goes out. We think it’s just an excuse to keep us on deadline though.

POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER

ULYSSES S. GRANT. He attended synagogue services on June 9, 1876 at the Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C.

A CALL OUT — Think you have a more difficult trivia question? Send us your best question on the presidents with a citation and we may feature it.

Edited by Sam Stein

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