Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from producer Ben Johansen. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Eli | Email Lauren In the greenroom two weekends ago, just before a big network Sunday show was set to air, guests and producers making the usual small talk noted that no one on the show that day was representing the White House. There was no one to push back on behalf of President JOE BIDEN. It fit what producers at this network and others described as a pattern: the Biden administration seeming increasingly uninterested in putting senior officials and Cabinet members on the flagship Sunday morning shows that — at least in years prior, and in official Washington’s collective psyche — help set the capital’s weekly agenda. “The White House knows what we want to ask about right now, and it doesn’t align with the message that the administration is trying to drive,” said one network host who was granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic. “So instead, the White House says that people aren’t available or just takes too long to get back to you. Sometimes they offer up all of these surrogates, but most producers aren’t interested in that — they want the administration officials.” Several network producers who spoke to West Wing Playbook speculated the White House was wary of being asked about HUNTER BIDEN’s legal troubles, a topic the president has refused to comment on. Others wondered why the administration wasn’t more eager to provide guests to tout Biden’s accomplishments, especially as he heads into a reelection year. In reality, the White House continues to offer up its top officials as Sunday show guests. They’re just not always who the bookers and producers want. For shows on Sunday, Aug. 13, the aforementioned date where greenroom chatter focused on this growing tension, the White House offered two guests to talk about the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act. Both climate adviser ALI ZAIDI and climate implementation czar JOHN PODESTA were available to all five major Sunday shows. But all five had other ideas. CBS, hoping to focus on Biden’s new executive order on China, asked for either Commerce Secretary GINA RAIMONDO or Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN, according to people familiar with the discussions. Fox News, hoping to talk about foreign policy, asked for either Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN or national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN. ABC asked for climate czar JOHN KERRY, who it hoped could discuss both the IRA anniversary and the China-related executive order. And NBC requested Raimondo, too, but when she wasn’t available, the White House offered press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE instead. NBC said no. In the end, two networks did book a White House guest: FEMA administrator DEANNE CRISWELL, who appeared on CBS and Fox to discuss the administration’s response to the Maui wildfires. Criswell appeared again from Hawaii this past weekend on three more Sunday shows. And U.S. ambassador to Japan RAHM EMANUEL was slated to appear on CBS to discuss Biden’s Camp David summit two days prior, but the network later pulled back on his appearance. “We make sure that every week there is always an offer with the networks that they have the option to take or not,” said LUCAS ACOSTA, the White House director of broadcast media. “We do try and come up with a major through-line for the week, but if a request is outside of that, we'll still consider it. Sometimes we'll try to make it work, sometimes we'll decline it outright.” Acosta spends a good chunk of his time working on Sunday show programming, starting on Wednesdays, when he checks in with network bookers. He then meets with senior members of the comms team to decide on the administration’s focus for the shows and which officials could best articulate it, according to people familiar with the process. For Sunday shows on July 30 and Aug. 6, two days after July’s jobs numbers came out, the administration offered economic advisers JARED BERNSTEIN and LAEL BRAINARD. CBS, however, wanted Raimondo both weekends and was denied, the White House said. NBC wanted Transportation Secretary PETE BUTTIGIEG — also denied. “There is often a disconnect between what’s being requested and what’s being offered,” one Sunday show producer told West Wing Playbook, noting that there tends to be more alignment when shows want to focus on foreign policy. With Biden’s reelection campaign starting to take shape, producers have another option for booking surrogates, a national advisory board that can defend the president and his record more broadly. Ultimately, every request for Cabinet officials goes through the White House, not the communications teams at their respective agencies. And the administration has made it clear it’s not going to green-light guest appearances by its more polished communicators just to satisfy producers looking for lively panel discussions on the news of the week. As one person close to the process put it: “Sorry, but you can’t just have Pete every week.” MESSAGE US — Are you former “Meet The Press” moderator DAVID GREGORY? 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!
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