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DRIVING THE DAY
President JOE BIDEN will formally outline his $2 trillion-plus infrastructure plan this afternoon in Pittsburgh, but it’s already under attack from the left, center and right:
— Rep. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-N.Y.) says it’s “not nearly enough. The important context here is that it’s $2.25T spread out over 10 years. For context, the COVID package was $1.9T for this year *alone,* with some provisions lasting 2 years. Needs to be way bigger.” She’s not alone: Rep. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-Mich.) and Sen. ED MARKEY (D-Mass.) proposed a $10 trillion climate plan this week.
— Moderate Democrats are demanding the restoration of the state and local tax deduction. “No SALT, no deal,” Rep. TOM SUOZZI (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. Rep. RICHARD NEAL (D-Mass.), chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, has also raised concerns about tax increases.
— Most Republicans so far are ruling out cooperation on infrastructure spending if it means raising the corporate tax rate to pay for it, which is exactly what Biden intends to do (from 21% to 28%).
Our read on this plan based on these initial reactions Tuesday is:
1) Keeping Democrats united will be a much heavier lift than it was on the Covid relief plan. Democrats largely deferred to the White House on that package because of the unique circumstances — namely the urgency of the pandemic and economic crisis — and not wanting Biden to fail on his first major initiative.
2) Finding 10 Republicans to support a bill of this size and with this kind of tax hike is all but hopeless. So it will almost certainly need to go through budget reconciliation to pass. On a call with reporters Tuesday night, an administration official did not emphasize bipartisanship. “If people have other ideas, they have other ideas how to pay for it, they have other ideas to structure it, that’s what this process is going to be about,” he said.
3) There will be enormous pressure on the White House from every interest group to include their top priorities in this bill rather than the promised follow-on legislation focused on social welfare spending. The reason: After passing two multi-trillion-dollar bills (assuming Democrats can get this one approved), the chances of getting a third major package through Congress will be greatly reduced.
Democratic constituencies will be pitted against one another to get into the first bill rather than the second. So far one big winner is labor, which will get its top priority — the PRO Act — endorsed by Biden for the first bill. On the other hand, as AOC noted Tuesday night, climate activists are disappointed. But even further down the priority list are advocates for universal pre-K and free community college, items slated for the second package.
Here are some of the top reads on exactly what’s in the plan Biden will announce today:
— “Biden looks for an infrastructure win where Obama and Trump failed,” by Megan Cassella and Tanya Snyder. (Megan and Natasha Korecki also report that the Elizabeth Warren wealth tax is out.)
— “Biden Details $2 Trillion Plan to Rebuild Infrastructure and Reshape the Economy,” NYT
— “What’s in Biden’s infrastructure investment, corporate tax plan,” Roll Call
— White House fact sheet on the plan
NEW POLLING ON INFRASTRUCTURE — Earlier this month, Senate Minority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL put it plainly: “I don’t think there’s going to be any enthusiasm on our side for a tax increase” to pay for a massive infrastructure package. But according to the latest weekly POLITICO/Morning Consult poll out today, Americans continue to be overwhelmingly in favor of infrastructure investment paid for with tax hikes.
By a 2-to-1 margin, registered voters backed a hypothetical $3 trillion infrastructure package financed by tax increases on those making over $400,000 as well as raising the corporate tax rate. And 47% said they would be more likely to support an infrastructure plan if it were paid for by raising the corporate tax rate, vs. 21% who said they’d be less likely to support it and 31% who said that wouldn’t affect their thinking. Individual components that have been floated — on boosting electric vehicles, universal pre-K, low-income housing and more — also poll well. Toplines… Crosstabs
Good Wednesday morning. Got a news tip? A document to share? Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri.
WELCOME TO GAETZ-GATE — It was a whirlwind Tuesday for the Florida congressman and premier Trump defender: First, news broke that he was looking to ditch Congress for a gig at Newsmax. And then, hours later … “Matt Gaetz Is Said to Face Justice Dept. Inquiry Over Sex With an Underage Girl,” NYT: “Investigators are examining whether Mr. Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking laws, the people said. A variety of federal statutes make it illegal to induce someone under 18 to travel over state lines to engage in sex in exchange for money or something of value. The Justice Department regularly prosecutes such cases, and offenders often receive severe sentences.
“It was not clear how Mr. Gaetz met the girl, believed to be 17 at the time of encounters about two years ago that investigators are scrutinizing, according to two of the people. … Mr. Gaetz called the investigation part of an elaborate scheme involving ‘false sex allegations’ to extort him and his family for $25 million that began this month. He said he and his father, Don Gaetz, had been cooperating with the F.B.I. and ‘wearing a wire’ after they were approached by people saying they could make the investigation ‘go away.’ In a second interview later Tuesday, the congressman said he had no plans to resign his House seat and denied that he had romantic relationships with minors. ‘It is verifiably false that I have traveled with a 17-year-old woman,’ he said.”
His day was capped by a bizarre TV interview in which Gaetz went down memory lane with TUCKER CARLSON. “You and I went to dinner about two years ago, your wife was there, and I brought a friend of mine, you’ll remember her,” the congressman told the Fox News host. “And she was actually threatened by the FBI, told that if she wouldn’t cop to the fact that somehow I was involved in some pay-for-play scheme that she could face trouble, and so I do believe that there are people at the Department of Justice who are trying to smear me, you know, providing for flights and hotel rooms for people that you’re dating who are of legal age is not a crime. And I’m just troubled that lack of any sort of legitimate investigation into me … would then convert into this extortion attempt.”
To which Carlson responded, “I don’t remember the woman you’re speaking of or the context at all, honestly.”
BIDEN’S WEDNESDAY — The president and VP KAMALA HARRIS will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 10:15 a.m. Biden will leave the White House at 1:40 p.m. en route to Joint Base Andrews and will depart at 2 p.m. for Pittsburgh, Pa., where he is scheduled to arrive at 3 p.m. At 4:20 p.m., Biden will deliver remarks at the Carpenters Pittsburgh Training Center. The president will leave Pittsburgh at 6:15 p.m. to return to D.C. and is scheduled to arrive back at the White House at 7:30 p.m.
— Harris will hold a roundtable discussion with faith leaders on their efforts to encourage communities to take the Covid-19 vaccine at 1:30 p.m. in the Vice President’s Ceremonial Office.
— The White House Covid-19 response team and public health officials will brief at 11 a.m. Principal deputy press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE will gaggle aboard Air Force One on the way to PIttsburgh.
THE HOUSE and SENATE are not in session.
PLAYBOOK READS
CONGRESS
DEPT. OF DEMOCRATS DIVIDED — “Democrats Splinter Over Strategy for Pushing Through Voting Rights Bill,” NYT: “While few Democrats are willing to publicly say so, the details of the more than 800-page bill — which would radically reshape the way elections are run and make far-reaching changes to campaign finance laws and redistricting — have become a point of simmering contention. Some proponents argue that Democrats should break off a narrower bill dealing strictly with protecting voting rights to prevent the legislation, known as the For the People Act, from collapsing amid divisions over other issues.
“A broad coalition of Democrats and liberal advocacy groups insist that the measure should not be broken apart, arguing that now is the time for an ambitious overhaul. But with Senator Joe Manchin III, a conservative West Virginia Democrat, opposed to the measure in its current form, Democratic leaders and Mr. Biden face tough decisions in the coming weeks about whether they can wrangle all their members behind it more or less as is, or must consider striking a narrower compromise.”
THE WHITE HOUSE
BRINGING DIVERSITY TO THE BENCH — “What Biden’s first list of judicial nominees tells us about his approach to the courts,” Vox: “Nine of Biden’s 11 nominees are women, and a majority are people of color. So Biden is clearly signaling that he intends to name judges who will add racial and gender diversity to the bench. His list would also add a different kind of diversity to a bench populated with former law firm partners and prosecutors, as almost half of the nominees worked as criminal defense lawyers for indigent clients. …
“If this list is any sign of how Biden plans to pick judges in the future, an ambitious young lawyer with judicial aspirations is better off taking a job representing poor Americans during the most vulnerable moment of their lives than they are taking a job trying to lock up those Americans.”
BIDENOMICS TAKES SHAPE — “Behind Biden’s Big Plans: Belief That Government Can Drive Growth,”WSJ: “President Biden envisions long-term federal spending claiming its biggest share of the American economy in decades. He wants to pay for that program in part by charging the highest-earning Americans the biggest tax rates they’ve faced in years. …
“It all marks a major turning point for economic policy. The gamble underlying the agenda is a belief that government can be a primary driver for growth. It’s an attempt to recalibrate assumptions that have shaped economic policy of both parties since the 1980s: that the public sector is inherently less efficient than the private, and bureaucrats should generally defer to markets.”
PANDEMIC
IS ANYTHING NOT A CULTURE WAR? — “Republicans seek to make vaccine passports the next battle in the pandemic culture wars,” WaPo: “The issue has received an increasing amount of attention from some of the party’s most extreme members and conservative media figures, but it has also been seized on by Republican leaders like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is considered a potential 2024 presidential candidate. ‘We are not supporting doing any vaccine passports in the state of Florida,’ DeSantis said Monday. ‘It’s completely unacceptable for either the government or the private sector to impose upon you the requirement that you show proof of vaccine to just simply be able to participate in normal society.’
“The hyper-charged rhetoric is directed at a nascent initiative between the Biden administration and private companies to develop a standard way for Americans to show they have received a coronavirus vaccination. The idea behind the passports or certificates is that they would be a way to ensure that people could return to normal activities without risking further spread of a virus that has killed more than 550,000 Americans.”
A WATERGATE MASTERMIND DIES
REMEMBERING G. GORDON LIDDY, via AP: “G. Gordon Liddy, a mastermind of the Watergate burglary and a radio talk show host after emerging from prison, died Tuesday at age 90 at his daughter’s home in Virginia. … Liddy, a former FBI agent and Army veteran, was convicted of conspiracy, burglary and illegal wiretapping for his role in the Watergate burglary, which led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. He spent four years and four months in prison, including more than 100 days in solitary confinement.
“‘I’d do it again for my president,’ he said years later.”
PLAYBOOKERS
IN MEMORIAM — “Charles Hill, diplomat, Yale professor and top adviser to George Shultz, dies at 84,” WaPo: “Laconic and soft-spoken, Mr. Hill spent nearly his entire government career working behind the scenes, avoiding photo ops while serving as a speechwriter and aide to secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and George P. Shultz. He was later a policy consultant to Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the secretary general of the United Nations, during a tumultuous period in the 1990s.”
YOU MIGHT GET TERRITORIAL TOO IF YOU LIVED AT THE W.H. — “Bidens’ dog Major involved in another biting incident,” CNN: “The incident, which involved a National Park Service employee, took place on the White House South Lawn on Monday afternoon. The employee was working at the time and needed to stop in order to receive treatment from the White House medical unit. First lady Jill Biden’s press secretary Michael LaRosa told CNN that Major is ‘still adjusting to his new surroundings.’”
MEDIAWATCH — Rebecca Leber is joining Vox as a senior reporter covering climate change. She previously was an environmental politics and policy reporter for Mother Jones.
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Rod O’Connor is joining the American Clean Power Association as its first chief commercialization and engagement officer. He is president of the ROC Group and is a 2020 Democratic National Convention and Obama Energy Department alum.
TRANSITIONS — Emily Harding is joining the Center for Strategic and International Studies as senior fellow and deputy director of the international security program. She most recently was deputy staff director for the Senate Intelligence GOP. … Michelle Sara King will be lead international trade specialist for the International Trade Administration starting next month. She is currently president and CEO of King Consults. …
… Julie Oliver and Mike Siegel are joining Register2Vote. Oliver will be executive director and was the Democratic candidate for Texas’ 25th Congressional District. Siegel will be political director and previously was the Democratic candidate for Texas’ 10th Congressional District.
ENGAGED — Dan Pino, media director at Assemble and a Pete Buttigieg alum, and Laurie Van Hall, who runs Bee Compliance and is a Buttigieg and EMILY’s List alum, got engaged Saturday at their D.C. home with their rescue dog, Kenobi, as witness. The two met on Hinge in D.C. in late 2018 and then separately joined the Buttigieg campaign before moving to South Bend, Ind., together and later returning to D.C. Pic … Another pic
WELCOME TO THE WORLD — DJ Napolitano, principal at Dewey Square Group, and Grace Napolitano, an attorney at Boston law firm Pierce Pierce and Napolitano, welcomed Brendan Daniel on March 23.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Al Gore (73) … Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) (81) and Angus King (I-Maine) (77) … Reps. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.) (69), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) (66) and Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) (58) … the White House’s Meghan Hays and Jennifer Molina … MSNBC’s Ari Melber … Monica Dixon of Monumental Sports & Entertainment … POLITICO’s Ben White … NYT’s Astead Herndon (28) … CNN’s Sara Murray … Kara Alaimo … WaPo’s Marina Lopes … former Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) (81) … former Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.) (73) … John Kilvington … Poy Winichakul … Michael McAdams … Lauren Hutchinson … Rusty Bermel of Bermel & Co. … PBS NewsHour’s Emily Knapp … Jake Rau … Jean Guerrero … Campbell Wallace, senior comms adviser for Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) (29) … Bob Liff … Alan Zibel … Dave Mandl … Skadden’s David Zornow … Ron Insana … Michael Savage … Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke (53) … Eric Hoffman of Hoffman Public Affairs … Steven Schrage … Francoise Champey … Toyota’s Ed Lewis … Philip Lasseigne … Anthony Giannetti … Michael Yancey … Neil Moseman
Send Playbookers tips to [email protected]. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike Zapler and producers Allie Bice, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross.
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