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DRIVING THE DAY
We specialize in the coverage of human folly (i.e. politics) here — lots of it below! — but start your morning off with some inspiration: WATCH the SpaceX Starship rocket (finally) take off and land successfully, LOOK AT the Mars rover investigate some “delightfully goofy rocks,” and READ some (more) good news about the miracle of mRNA vaccines, which a spate of new studies say protect against several coronavirus variants.
If we had a dollar for every time we’ve written about how the future of the Republican Party was about to be decided over some choice about loyalty to DONALD TRUMP … well, let’s just say we would be doing almost as well as if we had invested in dogecoin.
But the all-but-certain decision by House Republicans to oust Conference Chair LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.) looks like one of those historical hinge moments — a party solidifying around the idea of loyalty to a single person, one who is obsessed with repeating crackpot lies about election fraud, rather than to policy or ideas.
Two numbers tell the tale: 56 and 82.
Fifty-six is Rep. ELISE STEFANIK’S (N.Y.) last rating from Heritage Action. Eighty-two is Cheney’s score from the same conservative group, which once upon a time could scare the hell out of Republicans who strayed from the organization’s policy choices.
The Club for Growth has actually come out against Stefanik, but few Republicans seem to care. We have heard about some conservatives complaining about her privately, and one gathering of far-right wonks argued that they want Cheney’s deputy, Rep. MIKE JOHNSON (La.), the former Republican Study Committee chair, instead. But Trump supports Stefanik and opposes Cheney, and that’s pretty much all that matters.
That’s certainly how Cheney views it, according to her explosive WaPo op-ed Wednesday afternoon that reads as if it were written for history and by someone who knows they are fighting a losing but noble political battle. She argued that the GOP “is at a turning point.” Republicans “must decide whether we are going to choose truth and fidelity to the Constitution.” And if they side with Trump instead, another Jan. 6 could follow. “There is good reason to believe that Trump’s language can provoke violence again,” she said.
BEHIND-THE-SCENES LATEST ON LIZ: House Republican sources tell us Cheney is “checked out” and already accepting her fate. Unlike the last attempt to oust her in February, which she handily defeated, she’s not making calls or whipping. A source close to Cheney said she intends to lean on the argument that leaders should be able to say what they think is right without repercussions.
JACK SHAFER: “How Democrats Learned to Love the Cheneys”
Washington Free Beacon’s ELIANA JOHNSON: “The Real Reason Republicans Want to Oust Liz Cheney”: Johnson argues that Cheney’s’ downfall has “more to do with the inside game essential to political survival in Washington, including Cheney’s ability — or inability, as the case may be — to cultivate the loyalty of colleagues, donors and friendly journalists.”
NYT HEADLINE DOESN’T MINCE WORDS: “In Turning on Liz Cheney, G.O.P. Bows to Trump’s Election Lies”
HOW IT’S PLAYING IN WYOMING: “The Trump vs. Cheney fight here in Wyoming is a battle for the soul of the Republican Party”: Nick Reynolds of WyoFile explains in WaPo how Cheney’s reelection “is quickly becoming a free-for-all.” More from our Ally Mutnick
DEPT. OF FRAGILE MALE EGOS: The WSJ says one of Cheney’s big mistakes was not being nice enough to her boss: “In the days after the February vote, which Ms. Cheney won to keep her post by a decisive vote of 145-61, Ms. Cheney failed to thank [House Minority Leader KEVIN] MCCARTHY for backing her, irking the top House Republican.”
TRUMP MASTERMINDING IT ALL FROM AFAR? McCarthy and Trump have of course had an on-and-off relationship, but “my Kevin” is back in Trump’s good-ish graces. They’ve exchanged two phone calls this week, according to a source familiar. And it’s all because of one thing: his decision to oust Cheney.
“Kevin wants to make Trump happy, and he sees this as a cheap and easy way,” one Trump adviser told us. The source, however, was still peeved that it took McCarthy this long, adding: “Kevin’s getting rid of Liz because she’s making Kevin’s job tougher. He wasn’t interested when she was only making Trump’s life difficult.”
A REVEALING NUGGET FROM THE DAILY BEAST: “Cheney’s standing in the conference is so poor now that a source familiar told The Daily Beast that at least one [GOP] member who voted to impeach Trump had complained to leadership about Cheney’s behavior.”
We’ve heard something similar: Rep. JOHN KATKO, a moderate from New York, has been telling colleagues that while he voted to impeach Trump, he’s stopped talking about the former president since. Cheney, he said according to one Republican, “should shut her mouth” as well. (His office denies this.)
MORE ON YOUR NEW GOP CONFERENCE CHAIR — “From Paul Ryan acolyte to Trump disciple: Elise Stefanik sets out to replace Liz Cheney in GOP leadership”: WaPo’s Paul Kane writes about the evolution of Stefanik, who entered politics out of a desire to follow in Ryan’s footsteps and “has morphed into a disciple of former president Donald Trump’s vision for the Republican Party.”
The upshot: “That version of Stefanik no longer exists.”
Good Thursday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook, where we would never oust a member of our leadership. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri.
ABOUT THAT ‘ROOM’ MCCARTHY RENTED — The WaPo Fact Checker goes deep on the FRANK LUNTZ-McCarthy housing arrangement, including these new details: Chez Luntz is a 7,000-square-foot, 12-bedroom mega apartment made from combining four penthouses that cost him nearly $4.3 million in 2018. Rent on a place like that would be astronomical — tens of thousands of dollars. (The 12-bedroom apartment market is pretty small, so there’s nothing in D.C. with which to compare it.)
McCarthy’s tab? $1,500 per month. The reason he’s able to get away with paying such a pittance to Luntz is that he is claiming that’s the fair market value for the single bedroom he rents. This is quite a deal, especially considering that Luntz has talked about how he’s on the road all the time. Imagine paying $1,500 a month for what is essentially a mansion carved into a high-rise? It’s good to be the minority leader!
ALEX THOMPSON, who apparently has a newsletter or something — just kidding, it’s great and you should subscribe! — has another excellent entry in his series of deep dives on top White House staffers, this one about BRUCE REED. Read the whole thing.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN’S THURSDAY:
- 9:30 a.m.: Receives the President’s Daily Brief.
- 10:10 a.m.: Leaves the White House for Lake Charles, La., to deliver remarks about the American Jobs Plan near the Calcasieu River Bridge.
- 2:30 p.m.: Leaves for New Orleans to tour the Carrollton Water Plant.
- 5:40 p.m.: Departs New Orleans, arriving at the White House at 9:05 p.m. Eastern time.
— Principal deputy press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE will gaggle on Air Force One on the way to Lake Charles.
THE HOUSE is out. Energy Secretary JENNIFER GRANHOLM and Commerce Secretary GINA RAIMONDO will testify before Appropriations subcommittees at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
THE SENATE is also out.
PLAYBOOK READS
THE WHITE HOUSE
GETTING BACK TO NORMAL — “Biden wants the nation to ‘return to normal.’ Will the White House follow?” by Natasha Korecki and Anita Kumar: “As the president this week set an ambitious goal to get 70 percent of Americans vaccinated by July Fourth and ‘return to normal,’ 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is starting to open up. How much, however, remains unclear, in part because White House officials are reluctant to say.
“Those officials insist they are moving cautiously and still working to balance medical guidance in the workplace and the realities of employees returning to work within cramped quarters. They’re also aware that every aspect of the Covid precautions they take — from mask-wearing to vaccinations — has been intensely scrutinized. That includes just how closely they’re adhering to their own medical guidance around how communities and workplaces should be reopening.”
BIDEN DOUBLES DOWN — “Biden Leans Into Plans to Tax the Rich,” NYT: “In an exchange with reporters at the White House, Mr. Biden defended with gusto his plans to increase taxes on high earners and the wealthy. He railed against high-earning chief executives and promised that his plans were ‘about making the average multimillionaire pay just a fair share.’ ‘We’re not going to deprive any of these executives of their second or third home, travel privately by jet,’ Mr. Biden said after brief remarks on an economic aid program he signed into law this year. ‘It’s not going to affect their standard of living at all. Not a little tiny bit. But I can affect the standard of living that people I grew up with.’”
SCOTUS WATCH
THE NEWEST JUSTICE — “How Amy Coney Barrett has changed the Supreme Court in ways Kavanaugh hasn’t,” CNN: “As she has adopted the legal method of her mentor, the late Justice ANTONIN SCALIA, Barrett has avoided the flamethrower rhetoric that defined him and some followers on the bench today. … So far, Barrett’s votes with [CLARENCE] THOMAS and [NEIL] GORSUCH have revealed loyalty to the textualist method of interpretation more than to a particular result. …
“Barrett’s pattern so far contrasts with that of Justice BRETT KAVANAUGH, who in the conservative bloc has sided mainly with [JOHN] ROBERTS on the center-right. … During the weeks of oral arguments that wrapped up on Tuesday, Barrett’s approach has been exacting. She asked probing questions of both sides.”
FACEBOOK RULING FALLOUT
THE STEP BACK — “Facebook’s political nightmare deepens,” by Cristiano Lima: “It is facing a whole new round of censure, especially from the right — months after the company suspended Trump over his remarks during the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, triggering calls from conservative lawmakers to break up, rein in or otherwise restrain the world’s biggest social media network.
“And that means Facebook’s political threats from Republicans may be poised to get a lot worse, at a time when the pro-Trump wing of the GOP is feeling especially emboldened. Wednesday’s board decision arrived just as the former president’s supporters were poised to oust an anti-Trump apostate from their House leadership, with Trump’s vocal endorsement, and days after a squeeze on Democratic seats gave Republicans new reason to feel optimistic about their chances of reclaiming Congress next year.”
— AND FOR TRUMP: “Trumpland thought he’d get back on Facebook. Now, they’re anxious and scrambling,” by Meridith McGraw: “In practical terms, the main driver of Republican Party enthusiasm would be less omnipresent in voters’ lives — a reality that sparked fear for some GOP operatives. As for Trump, he would remain without one of the great money-raising spigots in all of politics as his political operation geared up for a possible 2024 run. …
“[O]ther Republicans feared that MAGA fanatics would become less engaged politically as Trump grew more remote in their lives. ‘Fundraising begets fundraising so him raising money helps,’ said a separate top GOP operative who is working on congressional races this cycle.”
— RICH LOWRY COLUMN: “Facebook’s Speech Policies Are Even More Arbitrary Than We Thought”
TRUMP CARDS
GIULIANI LATEST — “Giuliani cuts down his entourage,” by Daniel Lippman: “[RUDY] GIULIANI laid off several staffers and independent contractors in the last few weeks, according to one of the people, who said the ousted employees had been told that the former New York mayor was seeking to cut costs. …
“The news of Giuliani’s shrinking entourage comes after years of stories suggesting he might be having financial difficulties — or is at least seeking creative ways to make money as he manages his growing legal woes.”
BEYOND THE BELTWAY
WHAT NEW YORK IS READING — “Yang falls behind Adams for first time in New York mayor’s race poll,” by Sally Goldenberg
RECALL ME MAYBE — It felt more DIANE SAWYER than SEAN HANNITY, but the Fox News host’s sit-down with CAITLYN JENNER ended in a teary and touching conversation about the struggles of being a trans woman. It did make a little bit of news too — Jenner, who calls herself a “compassionate disrupter,” declared: “‘I am all for the wall' at the border.”
MEANWHILE, Vanity Fair reports that GAVIN NEWSOM’S team is “thrilled” that Jenner, who hired a bunch of Trump aides, has entered the race, as he tries to argue that the recall is a Trump-driven power grab.
BATTLE OVER THE BALLOT — “U.S. Justice Department worried about Arizona Senate recount,” AP: “The U.S. Department of Justice expressed concern Wednesday about ballot security and potential voter intimidation arising from the Republican-controlled Arizona Senate’s unprecedented private recount of the 2020 presidential election results in Maricopa County.
“In a letter to GOP Senate President KAREN FANN, the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said the Senate’s farming out of 2.1 million ballots from the state’s most populous county to a contractor may run afoul of federal law requiring ballots to remain in the control of elections officials for 22 months. And Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General PAMELA S. KARLAN said that the Senate contractor’s plans to directly contact voters could amount to illegal voter intimidation.”
AMERICA AND THE WORLD
EU PATENT PANIC: Our colleague Christian Oliver writes that Europeans are “not thrilled” about Biden’s shift on Covid vaccine patents: “The EU had always counted on the U.S. as a core ally in protecting Big Pharma at the World Trade Organization, and that alliance is now cracking. Completely wrong-footed by the U.S. announcement, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen played for time this morning, saying Brussels was ‘ready to discuss’ America’s move.”
IN UKRAINE: “Antony Blinken: U.S. will respond to reckless Russia acts,” BBC
PLAYBOOKERS
WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO — New Bill Clinton podcast with James Carville and Paul Begala. It’s like the political equivalent of a great ’90s band reuniting.
— New Preet Bharara podcast in which he interviews Jerry Blackwell and Steve Schleicher, the lead prosecutors in the Derek Chauvin trial.
HMM … “Biden’s bizarre Amtrak story doesn’t add up,” Fox News
NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT — “Pentagon tracking an out-of-control Chinese rocket expected to crash into Earth,” CNET
IF YOU SEE SOMETHING … TWEET SOMETHING — ANDREA CATSIMATIDIS tweeted Wednesday that she was 500 feet from a woman who was being robbed at gunpoint in Central Park, an experience she called “a nice welcome home!” The Manhattan Republican Party chair had some more thoughts on the incident, texting the N.Y. Post, “This never used to happen, this is not the NYC I grew up in.”
VEEP’S DRY KISS — Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff’s masked kiss looked like another miss for the Biden administration as they try to convince unvaccinated Americans that there are perks to getting a jab — like being able to walk around outside without a mask. The vaccinated couple pecked each other through their masks as the VP boarded Air Force Two for Rhode Island, where she picked up “The Topeka School,” a novel that explores white male rage, a topic we haven’t quite figured out either.
BIDEN TO HIS STAFF: ‘THESE ARE MY TACOS!’ — Biden dashed out of D.C.’s Taqueria Las Gemelas on Wednesday with two large shopping bags full of food. He was there to promote the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, but according to Eater he left with: “Four tacos — al pastor, lengua, carnitas, and barbacoa … two quesadillas: hongos (mushrooms) with salsa taquera, and chorizo with habanero salsa.” Here’s a video in which Biden makes clear to his staff — which apparently has a penchant for helping themselves to his carry-out orders — that “these are my tacos.”
SPOTTED: Florida Gov. Ron Desantis’ new strategist Phil Cox and Jason Miller flying back to D.C. together from Palm Beach.
SPOTTED at the 21st annual interfaith Ramadan Iftar dinner outdoors at the Mount Vernon estate of Ray and Shaista Mahmood on Wednesday: Reps. French Hill (R-Ark.) and Andre Carson (D-Ind.), Dov and Deborah Zakheim, Ed Royce, Mike Rogers, Amy Pope, Pakistani Ambassador Asad Khan, Swiss Ambassador Jacques Pitteloud, Mark Green, David Norquist, Rabbi Jack Moline, Father Mark Morozowich, Hurunnessa Fariad, Pastor Bob Roberts, Grover and Samah Norquist, Suhail A. Khan, David and Donna Keene, Fred and Kim Humphries, and Martin Gillespie. Pic
WAPO-WATCH: The Daily Beast reports “a consensus has emerged that the internal favorite to replace long-time executive editor MARTY BARON is Post national editor STEVE GINSBERG … Others believe the job could still go to New York Times assistant managing editor MARC LACEY, who insiders claimed is viewed as the strongest external candidate.”
MEDIA MOVES: Ariel Edwards-Levy is joining CNN as polling and election analytics editor. She previously was senior reporter and polling editor at HuffPost (and Twitter’s resident pun maestro). … Elizabeth Neumann is now an ABC contributor on national and homeland security. She’s a former assistant DHS secretary who worked with Republican Voters against Trump last year. … Katherine Borgerding is now social media editor at MarketWatch. She is an alum of Protocol, Vox, Recode and POLITICO.
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — J. Toscano is launching a new Democratic media firm, Backstory Strategies, with a particular focus on persuasion video content. He previously was a partner at 76 Words and GMMB, and won several POLLIES this week for work he did last cycle with VoteVets.
— Husch Blackwell Strategies is launching HBS+, an affiliated public engagement firm that will work on grassroots advocacy, digital and public opinion campaigns. Meghan Cox will be the firm’s CEO. She previously was principal at Lincoln Strategy Group.
— Julie Carney is now a principal at Locust Street Group. She most recently was an SVP at Edelman.
TRANSITIONS — American Bridge 21st Century has added Allyson Marcus as political director and Ian Smith as polling and analytics director. Marcus most recently was Northeast regional political director at the DCCC and is an Antonio Delgado campaign alum. Smith most recently was a senior analyst for the research team at Bully Pulpit Interactive, and is a Cory Booker campaign alum. …
… Eric Heigis is now legislative director for Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.). He previously was legislative director for Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.). … Paul DelPonte is the new executive director of the National Crime Prevention Council. He most recently has been a comms consultant working with health and aging organizations.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) … Jamie Gorelick … Spencer Pederson … Bloomberg’s Joe Nocera … Tucker Eskew of Vianovo … Wendy Helgemo of Big Fire Law & Policy Group … Liza Romanow, director of comms for Madeleine Albright … Abraham David Sofaer ... Kate Jaffee of the Aspen Institute ... Meghan Conklin … Benjamin Levine of the Sovereign Infrastructure Group ... MSNBC’s Lisa Ferri ... Rebecca Powell Marx ... Bill Dolbow … Claire Mullican of Rep. Dan Meuser’s (R-Pa.) office … Pat Cipollone … David Rogers … former Rep. Eric Fingerhut (D-Ohio) … POLITICO’s Trevor Corning … Rob Rozansky … Sheena Mollineau of PwC … Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York … former British PM Tony Blair … Martha Nussbaum
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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