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Presented by The Clean Hydrogen Future Coalition (CHFC): The power players, latest policy developments, and intriguing whispers percolating inside the West Wing. | | | | | |  | | By Lauren Egan, Jennifer Haberkorn, Eli Stokols and Lawrence Ukenye | Presented by The Clean Hydrogen Future Coalition (CHFC) | Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from producer Raymond Rapada Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Eli | Email Lauren
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Lauren Egan/POLITICO | WILMINGTON, Del. — Just about everyone crammed into booths during a recent lunch hour at the Charcoal Pit diner knows JOE BIDEN. And if they don’t, then they know someone who knows Joe Biden. There’s the woman who says JILL BIDEN was her daughter’s teacher. A man who says he used to march in every Fourth of July parade with then-Sen. Biden. There’s the waitress who’s served Biden so many times over her 25-year career that she can recite his order without skipping a beat: “Cheesesteak and a black-and-white milkshake — thick.” And tucked into a corner booth in the back, there’s CHARLES DOUGHERTY, an 80-year-old retired police chief who hung out with Biden at the Charcoal Pit after sports games as kids. “He has a temper, I have to be honest about that,” Dougherty says in between bites of his cheesesteak, pointing to scars on his shins that he says are from when a frustrated Biden would check him during ice hockey matches. When Biden’s reelection team released a video last week announcing that its official headquarters would be in the president’s hometown of Wilmington, the images were standard campaign fodder: Biden on a stage with Vice President KAMALA HARRIS, Biden visiting a factory, Biden walking through the White House. But spliced between those shots was a clip of a diner sign that in big white bubble letters read “Charcoal Pit.” It was the only business establishment highlighted in the clip. Affectionately known to locals as “the Pit,” the diner has played an important part of Biden’s life. He started hanging out there as a teenager and then brought his kids as an adult. He’d bring the grandkids in on weekends when he was senator and vice president — and even got his boss President BARACK OBAMA to visit in 2014. The food itself is, if we’re just being honest about it, not gonna win the joint major prizes. The french fries could use some extra time in the fryer. The burger is thick and dry. And the steak-to-onion-and-pepper ratio in the cheesesteak is off. But the real draw is the ice cream — which might explain why Biden keeps coming back all these years. Ice cream sundaes are named after the local high schools, and regular customers know to order the “kitchen sink” special — 20 scoops of ice cream, bananas, whip cream, wet walnuts and cherries served in a huge bowl. The whirring of the milkshake machine often drowns out the oldies music playing and the final product, served in a frosted stainless steel cup, is just as good as everyone says it is. “Best chocolate milkshake I’ve ever tasted,” Sen. TOM CARPER (D-Del.) told West Wing Playbook. (We would have to agree.) “You drive by there morning, noon or night — especially at nights and weekends — the parking lot is always crowded,” he said. “It’s a young crowd, but it also includes people who used to be young. They’ll go there just to relive some wonderful memories and to savor chocolate milkshakes.”
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Barbara and Charles Dougherty | Lauren Egan/POLITICO | Which is exactly what Dougherty does once a week with his wife, BARBARA. “You couldn’t get into the parking lot back when we were kids. This was the hang out spot,” Dougherty said. “Back then [Biden] could talk for two hours and you’d walk away and scratch your head and ask yourself — ‘Now what did he say?’” When the Charcoal Pit opened in 1956, it was a segregated establishment — a fact that, as Biden tells it, played an important part in his civil rights education. In his book “What It Takes,” about the 1988 presidential race, author RICHARD BEN CRAMER wrote about how Biden often stretched the truth on the campaign trail about his activism. Biden, for example, did not march during the civil rights movement, as he liked to claim. But one story Biden frequently recounted that appeared grounded in some truth was about the time he went to the Charcoal Pit for french fries with his football team and the waiters refused to serve one of his Black teammates. “So Joe walked out,” Cramer writes. “ … and so did the rest of the guys, they walked out.” MESSAGE US — Are you Wilmington Mayor MIKE PURZYCKI? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!
| | | | A message from The Clean Hydrogen Future Coalition (CHFC): The clean hydrogen future is coming. Let’s get there faster. Clean hydrogen can help power the heavy industries America relies on with lower CO2 emissions. That’s why we support practical clean hydrogen rules in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). So we can build the clean hydrogen industry of the future now using clean power sources America already has today. See who’s working to speed up America’s clean hydrogen economy. | | | | | Which four presidents never got to seat a justice on the Supreme Court? (Answer at bottom.)
| | IN REMEMBRANCE: Biden on Tuesday will sign a proclamation honoring EMMETT TILL and his mother MAMIE TILL-MOBLEY by creating monuments at three sites in Illinois and Mississippi. It’s the third time Biden has specifically recognized Till’s legacy, following his signing last year of an anti-lynching law named for Till and a White House screening of the movie “Till” earlier this year. “The president has made it very clear: we cannot pick or choose our history,” White House press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE told reporters on Monday, noting that Till’s killing helped spark the civil rights movement. “This is American history,” she continued, saying the administration is “committed to making sure that we tell America’s and this nation’s complete story.” WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by Axios’ HANS NICHOLS about the South and Mountain West regions gaining a large share of the country's roughly 800,000 new manufacturing jobs. The development is a positive one for the administration and Nichols writes that “the U.S. economy has defied expectations and continues to add jobs. An elusive soft landing to the Fed's aggressive rate hiking — in which inflation continues to decline without unemployment rising — now seems possible.” White House senior communications adviser ROB FRIEDLANDER tweeted the piece. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by the Wall Street Journal’s NICK TIMIRAOS about how the Federal Reserve isn’t quite ready to take a victory lap over recent news that inflation is finally easing. While economists are more hopeful that new data signals the possibility of a so-called soft landing, many fear wage growth is too high and that a tight labor market will increase inflation next year, Timiraos writes. Some also view reduced inflation “as long overdue after the fading of pandemic-related shocks that pushed up rents and the prices of transportation and cars.” SORRY, BIDEN. IT’S TAYLOR’S ECONOMY: While the administration has been quick to push back against reporting that suggests their “Bidenomics” message isn’t landing with voters, the Wall Street Journal’s JOSEPH PISANI reports that there may in fact be one person who can take credit for growing the economy — TAYLOR SWIFT. The pop superstar’s Eras Tour is on track to gross $1 billion and has helped provide local businesses an economic lift that rivals pre-pandemic levels. Swifties’ spending spree also got a hat tip from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve earlier this month as it acknowledged the tour boosted local hotel revenue in the city. IT’S STILL GOT THAT NEW BRIEFING ROOM SMELL: The 49 creaky, sticky old briefing room chairs that reporters have sat in for decades were replaced over the weekend with shiny, newer ones, making Monday’s briefing the first in what print pooler S.V. DATE called the “freshly refurbished” briefing room. As we noted when we wrote a bit on the renovations earlier this month, the briefing room chairs are the one part of the broader overhaul of the press workspace at the White House that the government, not the press, paid for. Jean-Pierre recognized the work of all involved at the top of Monday’s briefing. When she turned to AAMER MADHANI of the Associated Press to start the questioning, she asked if she’d put him to sleep with all her opening comments. “The seats are quite comfortable,” he replied.
| | | | KEEP AN EYE ON THE GOLDEN STATE: Our most loyal West Wing Playbook readers might be keeping an eye on what Gavin Newsom is up to and the latest happenings inside the political arena of the world’s fourth largest economy. A quick tip: You need to add California Playbook to your daily reading. We have a new team at the helm who are eager to take you behind the scenes in California’s power centers, from Sacramento and Los Angeles to Silicon Valley and beyond. Get exclusive news, buzzy scoops and behind-the-scenes details of the latest from the Golden State, sent straight to your inbox. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | | | | | OUR OWN BUREAUCRAT GETS HITCHED: This past weekend was a joyous one for the West Wing Playbook family as one of our frequent contributors, the irreplaceable DANIEL B. LIPPMAN, got married to SOPHIA S. NARRETT, an artist and, we do say, beautiful bride. Now, if Lippman were writing his own blurb about his own wedding, he would surely include some spotteds. We won’t indulge such madness, save to say SAM STEIN got down to his favorite Earth, Wind & Fire track. [Do you remembah! The 21st night of Septemba!] The food was on point. The drinks were — judging by our hangover — quite strong. The Horah was completed without incident. Most importantly, the bride and groom could not have looked happier. It was a lovely affair. Congratulations, Daniel and Sophia.
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Courtesy of Daniel Lippman | TAKING OVER FOR TERRELL: SHUWANZA GOFF will serve as Biden’s new director of legislative affairs, our NICHOLAS WU reports. Goff is the first Black woman to serve in the role and has previously enjoyed amicable relationships with House Republicans — a partnership that will be increasingly vital in avoiding a looming government shutdown. The move comes after former director LOUISA TERRELL stepped down from her role earlier this month after working in the administration since the beginning of Biden’s presidency, Lauren and Eli reported. MORE PERSONNEL MOVES: Deputy Secretary of State WENDY SHERMAN will retire on Friday, the department announced. Sherman served under three presidents and five secretaries of State while at the department. Biden has tapped VICTORIA NULAND to be State’s acting deputy secretary until the Senate confirms Sherman’s successor.
| | KNOCK IT OFF: More than 500 spouses of active duty troops have signed onto a petition urging Sen. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-Ala.) to relent in his monthslong hold on military promotions over the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy, AL.com’s HOWARD KOPLOWITZ reports. The petition, created by the Secure Families Initiative, calls on Senate leadership to “reiterate to Senator Tuberville the dangers and ramifications of his political grandstanding.” The number of nominees awaiting promotion or confirmation has ballooned to nearly 300.
| | | | A message from The Clean Hydrogen Future Coalition (CHFC):   | | | | | NOW COMES THE HARD PART: After waiting more than two years to be confirmed, DAVID UHLMANN is set to navigate a new series of challenges while leading the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, our KEVIN BOGARDUS and LAMAR JOHNSON report for Pro s. The agency’s enforcement office has lost roughly a third of its workforce since 2011 due to consistent budget cuts, prompting Uhlmann to advocate for additional resources. Uhlmann also now has a limited amount of time to ensure the agency meets its Oct. 1 deadline for presenting its four-year plan for enforcement and compliance initiatives. NO MORE SURPRISES: The IRS is reducing the number of agents it sends to homes and businesses in an effort to restructure its enforcement strategy, the New York Times’ ALAN RAPPEPORT reports. The new moves are intended “to project a more customer-focused approach to taxpayers” amid fears stoked by Republicans after the agency planned to hire 87,000 agents.
| | | | HITTING YOUR INBOX AUGUST 14—CALIFORNIA CLIMATE: Climate change isn’t just about the weather. It's also about how we do business and create new policies, especially in California. So we have something cool for you: A brand-new California Climate newsletter. It's not just climate or science chat, it's your daily cheat sheet to understanding how the legislative landscape around climate change is shaking up industries across the Golden State. Cut through the jargon and get the latest developments in California as lawmakers and industry leaders adapt to the changing climate. Subscribe now to California Climate to keep up with the changes. | | | | | | | | | Biden lawyer who defended affirmative action grapples with diversity in her own office (WaPo's Tobi Raji and Theodoric Meyer) Unions working at the 2024 Democratic convention promise no picket signs (NBC News' Natasha Korecki) U.S. Weighs Potential Deal With China on Fentanyl (WSJ’s Brian Spegele and Charles Hutzler)
| | Presidents ZACHARY TAYLOR, WLLIAM HENRY HARRISON and JIMMY CARTER never nominated anyone to the Supreme Court because there weren’t any vacancies while in office. President ANDREW JOHNSON also never got to seat anyone because his nominee did not get confirmation. A CALL OUT! Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents, with a citation or sourcing, and we may feature it! Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.
| | | | A message from The Clean Hydrogen Future Coalition (CHFC): Clean hydrogen can power the heavy industries our nation relies on with lower CO2 emissions. The Inflation Reduction Act is poised to jump-start the clean hydrogen economy in the US, and help decarbonize critical industries like refining, steel and fertilizer production.
That’s why the Clean Hydrogen Future Coalition supports practical clean hydrogen rules. We can bring clean hydrogen to market faster using the clean power sources America already has today, and annually match that power to hydrogen production, while we invest in the clean hydrogen industry of the future.
America can’t wait to start decarbonizing the industries our nation relies on. We're working to speed up America’s clean hydrogen economy. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
