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The power players, latest policy developments, and intriguing whispers percolating inside the West Wing. | | | | |  | | By Hailey Fuchs, Eli Stokols and Lauren Egan | Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice. Send tips | Subscribe here| Email Eli | Email Lauren Last month, a group of influencers descended on Washington at the behest of the social media giant TikTok, hoping to convince lawmakers not to ban the app. The company’s invite list was strategic, according to a person familiar with the strategy. Those dispatched included those who had previously been asked by the White House to help brandish the president’s agenda. The fly-in was part of a larger effort to flex D.C. muscle, one which has seen TikTok hire a band of lobbyists and PR professionals. But it also was emblematic of a broader struggle TikTok has faced as it fights for its life: it doesn’t have great relations with the West Wing. In fact — in recent years — the company’s in-house lobbyists have never met with those who work at the Biden White House, according to the person familiar with TikTok’s strategy. While some Democrats have come to accept and even embrace the audience that TikTok can provide, the Biden administration has increasingly hardened its stance towards the app, warming to the criticism that its Chinese ownership poses a national security threat. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has told ByteDance, the company at the helm of TikTok, to divest from it or face a ban. The White House has offered an endorsement of a bill that could be used to ban TikTok. Faced with these threats, TikTok enlisted a number of individuals who have been a part of Biden world. ANDREW WRIGHT, former director of legal policy for the Biden transition, is an outside counsel for congressional investigations. JAMAL BROWN, former national press secretary for the Biden campaign and deputy press secretary at the Pentagon, is a company spokesperson. ANKIT DESAI, a former legislative correspondent to Biden, has registered as a lobbyist. The powerful Democratic communications firm SKDK is also working for TikTok. Beyond that, the company has turned to influencers who have worked with the White House before. Among the crew that went to D.C. for the TikTok-sponsored trip last month was AIDAN KOHN-MURPHY, the 19-year-old founder of Gen-Z for Change, who had organized a group of creators to support Biden’s 2020 campaign. For the March fly-in, he participated in a press conference, attended a congressional hearing on the app, and toured the Capitol. He expressed some frustrations that the White House, which had asked him for help spreading news about the Inflation Reduction Act, had not bothered to hear creators’ input on a potential TikTok ban. Another influencer brought in for the fly-in was VITUS SPEHAR, who goes by V Spehar, a self-described TikToker who discusses the news with their 2.9 million followers. Spehar explained that they had been invited to the White House multiple times, including during the time period when the administration was promoting the Covid vaccine boosters. They even met with Biden and Vice President KAMALA HARRIS. But when Spehar reached out to the White House to express concerns about the banning of TikTok, they did not hear back. “My concern with the White House was like, how can you be inviting me as a political TikToker, understanding that my platform is TikTok and not social media broadly and then at the same time, Biden comes out and says he’s in support of a ban and that this is extremely dangerous, like both of those things are hard to put together,” Spehar said. In a statement, White House spokesperson ROBYN PATTERSON reiterated the administration’s support for legislation to address potential risks to U.S. data from some foreign governments. “This White House has been outspoken in expressing our national security concerns with certain technology products and services from China, which relate to both data security and content manipulation,” Patterson said. “That is why we have called on Congress to pass bipartisan legislation empowering the United States government to prevent certain foreign governments from exploiting technology services operating in the United States in a way that poses risks to Americans’ sensitive data and our national security.” In its own statement, a TikTok spokesperson — who is a familiar face to this administration — emphasized the widespread use of its app in the United States. “All the creators invited represent the more than 150 million American users and 5 million U.S. businesses who rely on TikTok to make a living and can be directly impacted by the government's decision,” said Brown, the TikTok spokesperson who had served as a spokesperson for the Biden campaign and administration. 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| | | | GO INSIDE THE 2023 MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE: POLITICO is proud to partner with the Milken Institute to produce a special edition "Global Insider" newsletter featuring exclusive coverage, insider nuggets and unparalleled insights from the 2023 Global Conference, which will convene leaders in health, finance, politics, philanthropy and entertainment from April 30-May 3. This year’s theme, Advancing a Thriving World, will challenge and inspire attendees to lean into building an optimistic coalition capable of tackling the issues and inequities we collectively face. Don’t miss a thing — subscribe today for a front row seat. | | | | | | | | | This one is from reader and WaPo reporter DAN DIAMOND. Which president’s brother worked as a journalist and journalism professor before becoming president of three universities and advising eight U.S. presidents? (Answer at bottom.)
| | EARLY LID: The press didn’t lay eyes on the president Wednesday. According to the official White House schedule, Biden had lunch with Vice President Kamala Harris. But there was no other information about his day. He leaves for a weekend at Camp David on Thursday. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This CNN opinion piece by the president marking Passover and committing to fight antisemitism. “Passover is more than just a recounting of the past. It is also a cautionary tale of the present and our future as a democracy. As Jews read from the Haggadah about how evil in every generation has tried to destroy them, antisemitism is rising to record levels today,” Biden writes. “To the Jewish community, I want you to know that I see your fear, your hurt and your concern that this venom is being normalized.” The White House press office sent the piece to reporters in an “ICYMI” email. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This People magazine writeup of ANGEL REESE's interview with the "I Am Athlete" podcast in which the Louisiana State University hoops star, whose on-court trash talk during Sunday’s NCAA women’s championship game sparked some controversy online, rejected first lady JILL BIDEN’s apology. On Monday, Biden tried to walk back her suggestion that Iowa, which LSU trounced, should join in the eventual White House celebration. “I don't accept the apology,” Reese said. “You said what you said." Adding insult to injury, Reese said her squad may decide not to accept an invitation from the White House. "[Iowa] can have that spotlight. We'll go to the Obamas. I'm gonna see Michelle. I'm gonna see Barack." According to Reese, the first lady, who attended the championship in person, had also offered to visit both teams in their locker rooms prior to tip-off, an offer LSU wasn’t interested in because the president hadn’t picked the Lady Tigers to advance in his bracket. “He didn't even put us on his bracket to get out of Baton Rouge so I was like, 'bet.'” NO HARM NO FOUL: Although the president’s recent moves on immigration have received backlash from progressives, it may not hurt him in the 2024 election, FiveThirtyEight’s ALEX SAMUELS reports: “Not only is immigration usually less of an important issue to Democrats than Republicans, recent data also suggests that Americans might not be quite as pro-immigration as they were previously,” Samuels writes. GOING INTERNATIONAL: Biden is set to travel to the United Kingdom and Ireland from April 11-14, stopping in Belfast, Northern Ireland, part of the U.K. before traveling to Ireland, the White House announced Wednesday. The rough outline from press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE seemed to confirm reporting about Biden’s itinerary, which is likely to include an overnight stay at Hillsborough Castle outside Belfast and two days in the president’s ancestral homeland. Jean-Pierre said he would go to “Dublin, County Louth, and County Mayo, where he will deliver an address to celebrate the deep, historic ties that link our countries and people.”
| | | | FIRST IN WEST WING PLAYBOOK: BEN KRAUSS has returned to speechwriting and strategic communications firm Fenway as CEO, DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. He most recently was senior adviser in the Office of Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation at the White House on a temporary stint as a special government employee. MORE PERSONNEL MOVES: GABE SEHR is now director for legislative affairs at the National Security Council. He previously served as a congressional liaison at the Columbia Class Submarine Program Office in the Navy. AND ANOTHER ONE GONE: MONICA MEDINA, the State Department’s assistant secretary for oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs, is stepping down at the end of the month to serve as president and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society, our JORDAN WOLMAN reports for Pro s. — BEN HARRIS, the assistant secretary for economic policy in the Treasury Department, has left his position after four years with the president, Bloomberg’s NANCY COOK reports. NEW ERA FOR THE WORLD BANK: AJAY BANGA, Biden’s nominee to lead the World Bank, said Wednesday that under his leadership the bank will “get creative to improve the operating model.” Banga added that “change is appropriate … It isn’t a symptom of failure or drift or irrelevance, it is a symptom of opportunity, life, and importance.” Banga just wrapped up a global “listening tour,” where he met with 37 governments as he campaigns to lead the institution. Our ZACK COLMAN has more for Pro s.
| | GHOSTED BY CHINA: Since Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN called off his trip to Beijing in February following the Chinese spy balloon fiasco, he’s been looking to reschedule. But China hasn’t reciprocated, our NAHAL TOOSI, PHELIM KINE and ERIN BANCO report. Since February, Beijing has “frozen high level bilateral diplomatic contact.” On top of rescheduling Blinken’s meeting, the administration has also been looking to set up other trips by top U.S. officials and a phone call between Biden and Chinese leader XI JINPING, but no progress has been made. AMPING UP THE URGENCY: The State Department intends to formally designate WSJ reporter EVAN GERSHKOVICH as “wrongfully detained" by Russia, which “would rev up the U.S. government’s efforts to win [his] release,” WSJ’s VIVIAN SALAMA and ANDREW RESTUCCIA report. “Supervision of his case would then shift to a State Department section known as the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, which is focused on negotiating for the release of hostages and other Americans classified as wrongfully detained in foreign countries.” DON’T YOU KNOW THAT YOU’RE TOXIC?: The Environmental Protection Agency Wednesday released a proposed update that would strengthen “an Obama-era rule limiting toxic pollutants from coal-fired power plants,” our ALEX GUILLÉN reports for Pro s. With it, the administration aims to further reduce toxic emissions from coal plants, like mercury, nickel and arsenic, though the effort is likely to be met with criticism from the coal industry and Republicans.
| | Sutherland Springs victims, U.S. reach tentative $144.5 million settlement (WaPo’s Holly Bailey) Why Many Democrats Want a Trump-Biden Rematch in 2024 (WSJ’s Catherine Lucey and Eliza Collins) A wartime NATO struggles to replace its chief (POLITICO Europe’s Lili Bayer)
| | | Speaking of sports… Internal Revenue Service commissioner DANNY WERFEL has a very similar name to American football star DANIEL WUERFFEL, who won the Heisman trophy as University of Florida’s quarterback in 1996. Back when Werfel was confirmed to lead the Office of Federal Financial Management in the Obama administration, the Office of Management and Budget director PETER ORSZAG noted the distinction in a blog post, saying the confirmation was “better than the Heisman.” Considering Wuerffel’s NFL career and just how important the IRS is, it’s not really a debate as to who had the larger cultural impact.
| | | | DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO MOBILE APP: Stay up to speed with the newly updated POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need, reimagined. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS– DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID. | | | | | | | | | MILTON EISENHOWER, Dwight’s brother. Early in his career he was a journalist in Kansas; later he was president of Kansas State, Penn State and Johns Hopkins. He was Dwight’s closest confidant, and his older brother thought that Milton was qualified to be U.S. president himself. A CALL OUT — Thanks Dan for this question! Do you think you have a harder one? Send us your best one about the presidents with a citation and we may feature it. Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
