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Presented by Emergent BioSolutions: | | | | | |  | | By Alex Thompson and Theodoric Meyer | Presented by |  | | | With help from Allie Bice and Daniel Payne Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. Did someone forward this to you? Subscribe here! Have a tip? Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. KARINE JEAN-PIERRE was nervous. Besides making history as the first openly gay woman and the second Black woman to lead a White House briefing, her performance would set the tone for whether or not she’d continued to be viewed as the logical successor as White House press secretary. Inside and outside the White House, Jean Pierre has her fans and her detractors, the latter of whom have glommed onto her past slip ups. She wrongly said the Biden administration supported Ukraine’s admittance to NATO earlier this month and has made smaller errors like calling Alaska “U.S. foreign soil.” But her rivals are likely feeling disappointed this evening, because KJP’s performance got raves from much of the West Wing brass. After she left the podium and joined fellow administration aides, she sighed with relief, said, “Oh my God,” and received a round of applause, POLITICO’s man in the room EUGENE DANIELS tells us (follow him!). “It is no surprise that Karine absolutely crushed it today with an expansive base of knowledge and her own graceful style,” JEN PSAKI told West Wing Playbook. “History made (and a job well done),” tweeted White House chief of staff RON KLAIN. “You done good!,” Pentagon spokesperson JOHN KIRBY wrote. Second Sister MAYA HARRIS also voiced her enthusiasm: “<3 to see it.” Jean-Pierre made some slight fumbles during the briefing, like when she said Biden was “the president for eight years,” in reference to his time as vice president. There weren’t any particularly contentious lines of inquiry, either. Four reporters started their questioning with “congratulations.” But White House officials say she made no large missteps, managed the clock well and remained calm. She also checked off perhaps the most important Biden criteria: don’t make news (or less charitably: Be boring). And she has clearly picked up some Psaki-isms, such as not trying to answer questions you don’t know enough to answer. “I have not seen this letter. I don't have a comment for you right now, but I'm happy to go back and talk to the team and get back to you on that specific letter,” she said at one point. Today’s performance will at least temporarily solidify KJP’s status as the most likely successor to Psaki, who she expects to leave the podium in the next year or so. As the principal deputy press secretary, the 46-year-old is technically next in line, but there has been some jockeying behind the scenes in favor of other candidates. A source familiar with the internal machinations said that there aren’t any real discussions about Psaki’s successor yet. Psaki has also told colleagues that she is now happy to stay on longer and won’t just walk out the door at her one-year mark, meaning that would-be successors may have to wait much longer than they expected. On the day of her inaugural briefing, KJP got a visit from the first Black woman to helm the White House briefing room lectern. JUDY SMITH, the inspiration for “Scandal”’s Olivia Pope, faced down the press corps in 1991 during the GEORGE H.W. BUSH administration. The duo took a picture from behind the podium, which one White House official tweeted out with the hashtag “gladiators,” a reference to “Scandal.” Smith had nothing but praise for Jean-Pierre. “I think she did an amazing job, right?,” she told West Wing Playbook. “If you go back and you look at the briefing, she was able to refer to the president in a way that clearly illustrated that she knew the person, she knew the man and she knew the policy.” Does Smith think KJP could be press secretary herself one day? “I am rooting for her,” she said “I hope so.” | 
Tweet by Amanda Finney | Twitter | PSA — We’re going to be experimenting with some new items and sections. Tell us what you like and what you hate. Do you work in the Biden administration? Are you in touch with the White House? Are you MAJU VARGHESE? 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. You can also reach Alex and Theo individually. | | | | A message from Emergent BioSolutions: At Emergent, we make things you never thought you’d need — until you do. Until you need to counteract an opioid overdose. Or need protection against smallpox, anthrax, cholera, or botulism. And now, we’re in the fight against COVID-19. At Emergent, we take on public health challenges and work to help protect public health. And that’s why We Go. | | | | | | With the Partnership for Public Service Vice presidents and their families reside on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory. Vice President KAMALA HARRIS moved into the residence in April of this year, but who was the first vice president to live there? (Answer is at the bottom.) | | | RIP NORMA LONG — Biden made a visit to Wilmington, Del., Tuesday night to pay respects to the family of NORMA LONG, a longtime aide and Delaware scheduler in his Senate office who died of complications from myelodysplastic syndrome/leukemia. There were few people with more knowledge of Biden’s orbit than Long, having started working for the first-term senator in 1977. She was also close with Joe’s sister, VALERIE BIDEN OWENS. Fellow Biden aide MARGARET AITKEN HAGGERTY recalls Long even remembered people who had mowed Biden’s lawn a decade after the yardwork. “She was really like the traffic cop, the hub, the encyclopedia of our office,” she says. Biden’s longtime chief of staff TED KAUFMAN added in an email that, “Norma Long was one of the most caring, talented, and well-liked Senate staffers I ever knew.” She remained close to the Biden family. Her death notice suggested that: “In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Beau Biden Foundation.” EN VOGUE: Sources tell us that Psaki is getting the Vogue magazine treatment. ELIZABETH WIDDICOMBE, a writer for the New Yorker freelancing for Vogue, interviewed Psaki. A source familiar tells us that the interview is for an issue of the magazine coming out sometime in the fall. Reached by phone, Widdicombe said she’d ask her higher-ups about the exact publication date but did not respond before our deadline. | | | ONE LESS GOP TALKING POINT — Energy Secretary JENNIFER GRANHOLM sold her holdings in electric bus maker Proterra this week, DOE confirmed to ERIC WOLFF, following criticism from Republicans that she might be profiting from the administration's push for electric vehicles. | | | BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND — The White House announced its selection of LISA BROWN, the general counsel of Georgetown University and an alumna of the Obama and Clinton administrations, to serve as the next top lawyer at the Education Department, MICHAEL STRATFORD reports for Pros. Biden’s selection of Brown follows pressure from progressive groups earlier this month for the administration to move more swiftly to appoint a permanent leader for the office of general counsel. OTHER NOMINEES ANNOUNCED TODAY: Biden has tapped BRIAN NELSON as Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence; ELIZABETH ROSENBERG as assistant Treasury secretary for terrorism financing; MATT OLSEN as assistant attorney general for national security; ARUN VENKATARAMAN as assistant Commerce secretary for global markets; and GWYNNE WILCOX as member of the National Labor Relations Board. | | | ANNALS OF COMPENSATION — Some Biden nominees are taking bigger pay cuts than others as they depart the private sector. CAROLINE KRASS , Biden’s nominee to be the Pentagon’s general counsel, has earned nearly $3 million since Jan. 1, 2020, working as American International Group’s deputy general counsel, according to her newly filed personal financial disclosure. She also disclosed an “anticipated bonus” from the company worth between $500,000 and $1 million. She wouldn’t be the first general counsel to sacrifice her salary to work in the Pentagon. JEH JOHNSON — who went on to become Homeland Security secretary — gave up a $2.6 million salary at the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to serve as Obama’s first Defense Department general counsel. NEXT STOP, THE FLOOR: The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved the nominations of SHANNON ESTENOZ to be assistant Interior secretary for fish and wildlife and RADHIKA FOX and MICHAL FREEDHOFF to be assistant EPA administrators. The Veterans’ Affairs committee advanced VA nominees DONALD REMY to be deputy secretary; MATTHEW QUINN to be undersecretary for memorial affairs; and MARYANNE DONAGHY and PATRICIA ROSS to be assistant secretaries. MARK YOUR CALENDARS — Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on the nominations of DEBORAH BOARDMAN and LYDIA GRIGGSBY, both to be judges for the District of Maryland, as well as RONALD DAVIS to be director of the U.S. Marshals Service. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee will vote on three Interior Department nominees: ROBERT ANDERSON to be solicitor and SHANNON ESTENOZ and TANYA TRUJILLO to be assistant secretaries. The Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee will hold a hearing with JANIE HIPP, nominated to be the Agriculture Department’s general counsel. The Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing with assistant secretaries of Defense nominees DEBORAH ROSENBLUM and CHRISTOPHER PAUL MAIER. Also testifying: JILL HRUBY, nominated to be undersecretary of Energy for nuclear security, and FRANK ROSE, nominated to be principal deputy administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration. The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing with RAJESH NAYAK, TARYN MACKENZIE WILLIAMS and DOUGLAS PARKER, each nominated to be an assistant secretary of Labor. The Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee will hold a hearing with three Department of Homeland Security nominees: JOHN TIEN to be deputy secretary; ROBERT PETER SILVERS to be undersecretary for strategy, policy, and plans; and JONATHAN MEYER to be general counsel. | | | | A message from Emergent BioSolutions:   | | | | | | FIRST IN WEST WING PLAYBOOK — An unusual coalition of conservative and progressive groups is urging the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel to make public most of its confidential opinions, which advise the executive branch on what’s legal and what isn’t. Refusing to disclose such opinions “creates secret laws relied upon by agencies but invisible to the public,” the groups wrote in a letter today addressed to CHRISTOPHER SCHROEDER, Biden’s nominee to lead the office. “When uncovered, these secret laws undermine public confidence in the agencies, who in turn point at OLC.” The groups also point out that Schroeder signed a document in 2004 arguing that the opinions should be made public. The letter’s signatories include: progressive outfits American Oversight and Demand Progress, the conservative Americans for Prosperity and R Street Institute and New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice, among others. The Justice Department declined to comment. | | | The Biden administration calls for new protections for lesser prairie chicken — which could have major consequences for the oil and gas industry (The Post’s Joshua Partlow and Juliet Eilperin) What Biden didn’t realize about his presidency (The Atlantic’s Edward-Isaac Dovere) | | | No public events scheduled. | | | She met with Sens. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-Minn.), BEN RAY LUJAN (D-N.M.), and DAN SULLIVAN (R-Alaska) and Rep. FRANK PALLONE (D-N.J.) to discuss broadband infrastructure funding in the vice president’s ceremonial office. Sen. MARK WARNER (D-Va.) and Reps. JIM CLYBURN (D-S.C.), CATHY McMORRIS ROGERS (R-Washsh.), MIKE DOYLE (D-Pa.) and BOB LATTA (R-Ohio) attended virtually. | | | It’s safe to say Securities and Exchange Commission Chair GARY GENSLER is a dedicated athlete — he’s run nine marathons, one of which was the JFK 50 Mile ultramarathon, and goes mountain climbing with his eldest daughter annually. It began back when Gensler was a student at the University of Pennsylvania, studying economics. He served as a coxswain on Penn's crew team — the rower at the back of the boat who steers and directs the rest of the team. Gensler was so dedicated to the sport, he ended up dropping down to 112 pounds to maintain the proper weight on the boat, according to a 2002 Baltimore Sun article. "I'm somewhat goal-oriented," he told the Sun’s JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS (now The New York Times’ congressional editor) regarding the weight loss. Got any tips, Gary? The Covid 10 is weighing us down. HELP US OUT — Do you have a story — that’s potentially embarrassing but not too mean or serious — you think we should use for an "Oppo Book" item? Email us: westwingtips@politico.com | | | WALTER MONDALE was the first vice president to live there. He moved in in January 1977. We want your tips, but we also want your feedback as we transition to West Wing Playbook. What should we be covering in this newsletter that we’re not? What are we getting wrong? Please let us know. Edited by Emily Cadei | | | | A message from Emergent BioSolutions: At Emergent, we make things you never thought you’d need — until you do. Until you need to counteract an opioid overdose. Or need protection against smallpox, anthrax, cholera, or botulism. And now we’re in the fight against COVID-19. At Emergent, we take on public health challenges. For over 20 years, we have produced therapies and vaccines to help protect public health. And that’s why We Go. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
