| | | | |  | | By Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels and Ryan Lizza | | | With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross
| | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | BATTLE FOR THE SOLE OF AMERICA — Derek Guy, the noted menswear writer, investigates the topic du jour on the campaign trail: “3 Expert Shoemakers Say Ron DeSantis Is Probably Wearing Height Boosters” JUST POSTED — Vanity Fair is up with the first look at Brian Stelter’s forthcoming scoop-filled Fox News book, “Network of Lies,” ($30) out on Nov. 14. The exclusive excerpt is packed with juicy details offering an inside look at the steady rise and rapid fall of TUCKER CARLSON: “It wasn’t one thing. It was everything,” Stelter writes. “We knew we were burning too bright,” one of Carlson’s producers told Stelter, who also got his hands on a trove of internal emails, including Carlson’s last missive to his staff amid his exit. “He got too big for his boots,” RUPERT MURDOCH told at least one confidant.
|  Speaker Mike Johnson suggested the House will need conservative concessions in order to move a shutdown-averting stopgap. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | JOHNSON COMES OUT SWINGING — When he was elected House speaker last week after a hard-right putsch, no one expected MIKE JOHNSON to usher in a bold new era of bipartisanship. But Johnson is showing a special taste for confrontation in his early days with the gavel, setting an aggressive tone for the fights ahead. Sure, Johnson’s early decision to separate out the White House’s funding request for Israel and Ukraine came as little surprise, given the sentiment inside the House GOP. But he’s also taken other pokes at President JOE BIDEN and congressional Democrats — casting doubt on Biden’s cognitive abilities and suggesting he’s “very likely” committed impeachable offenses, to name a couple. Then, on Monday, Johnson unveiled his $14.3 billion Israel aid package — one that not only seeks to offset the spending with cuts elsewhere but taps Democrats’ signature domestic policy legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act, to do it. As a policy matter, reversing the bill’s IRS plus-up doesn’t make a lot of sense. Cutting the agency’s planned enforcement surge against tax evaders would have the perverse effect of increasing budget deficits, not trimming them. But as a political matter, the logic is impeccable: The libs, after all, were owned. Democrat after Democrat, including some of Israel’s most stalwart allies, sputtered in fury over the offset plan, as our Hill team thoroughly documented yesterday. Rep. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-Fla.) accused Johnson of “playing political games with Israeli emergency funding, something our nation has never done in a time of crisis.” Said Rep. JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-N.J.) in a statement to Jewish Insider: “If the extreme-right plays politics with assistance to Israel and Ukraine during times of crises, it will only empower America’s enemies.” And Rep. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-Fla.) called it “Foreign Policy and National Security being conducted as a future political mailer.”
| | | | A message from Amway: Partnership. Integrity. Personal worth. Achievement. Small business ownership. Equipped with these values and a commitment to growth, Amway positively impacts communities where we live, work and play. Driven by our values, Through these values, Amway helps people start their own businesses, strengthens communities and helps people live better, healthier lives. Learn more. | | | Over in the Senate, Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER promptly pronounced the plan DOA, while Finance Committee Chair RON WYDEN (D-Ore.) called it an “absolute nonstarter” and accused Republicans of prioritizing “giveaways to wealthy tax cheats.” Not all House Republicans were cheering Johnson’s move. Rep. THOMAS MASSIE (R-Ky.) said, offset or not, the package amounted to “taking about $100 from every working person in the United States,” while Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.) seconded Massie and pointed out that the nation is already $33 trillion in debt. Yet there’s evidence that Johnson’s move to split Democrats might actually work — at least a little bit. Moskowitz, despite his complaints, said he was “not going to take the bait” and would vote for the bill. There is another way this could have gone. Support for Israel is a huge point of bipartisan accord in an otherwise badly divided Congress, and a standalone funding bill without offsets (as is traditionally done for emergency supplemental funding) might have easily garnered 300-plus votes. It would have forced Democrats to take a vote at odds with the White House and Senate position, while also putting the House GOP in a better position to fend off the Israel-Ukraine combo bill that’s likely to emerge from the Senate. But Johnson chose instead to throw a political grenade at Democrats and keep his own debt-and-deficit-obsessed conference as united as possible — an understandable choice given the upheaval the House GOP has seen this month. That foreshadows plenty about how Johnson will approach the bigger spending fights ahead. Not only is he facing off against angry Democrats on Israel funding offsets, he’s picking a fight with Senate Minority Leader MITCH McCONNELL and a cadre of GOP defense hawks over Ukraine aid. (See below for McConnell’s new ally in that fight.) And then there’s that government funding deadline, now less than three weeks away. In a pair of Fox News interviews, Johnson suggested the House will need conservative concessions in order to move a shutdown-averting stopgap — for instance, accelerating the onset of a 1 percent across-the-board spending cut to align with any new deadline. If all of this sounds familiar, that’s because it’s not all that different from what Johnson’s predecessor, KEVIN McCARTHY, faced or how he proposed to deal with it. The new speaker isn’t dealing with a different president or a different Senate. In fact, he might even have one fewer House Republican voting by the end of the week. Johnson can only hope his fresh face and fighting new style make for a happier ending than McCarthy’s. Good Tuesday morning, and happy Halloween. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza. | | | | A message from Amway:   Driven by our values, Amway helps people live better, healthier lives. | | | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | On the Hill The Senate is in. The House is out. 3 things to watch …
- Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee announced a major new step last night in their investigation into CLARENCE THOMAS and other Supreme Court justices: scheduling a vote next month on subpoenas for GOP megadonor HARLAN CROW and conservative activist LEONARD LEO. “It is imperative that we understand the full extent of how people with interests before the Court are able to use undisclosed gifts to gain private access to the justices,” Chair DICK DURBIN (D-Ill.) and Sen. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-R.I.) wrote in a joint statement. Leo shot back: “I will not bow to the vile and disgusting liberal McCarthyism that seeks to destroy the Supreme Court simply because it follows the Constitution rather than their political agenda.” More from WaPo’s Ann Marimow
- McConnell and other GOP Ukraine hawks are getting a boost this morning from a prominent Trump official. In a new statement, former Secretary of State MIKE POMPEO says the U.S. “must stand with Ukraine in its existential fight for national survival” lest the likes of Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN, Chinese President XI JINPING and Iranian Supreme Leader ALI KHAMENEI benefit. “Make no mistake,” said Pompeo, now a Hudson Institute distinguished fellow, “the outcome of this war will have a direct impact on U.S. national security.” Read the full statement
- The current secretary of State, meanwhile, is one of four Biden Cabinet members to make appearances before Senate committees today. ANTHONY BLINKEN will testify alongside Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN at 9:30 a.m. before Appropriations on the supplemental funding request, while DHS Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS and FBI Director CHRISTOPHER WRAY will testify at 10 a.m. before Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on threats facing the U.S. homeland. More from AP
At the White House Biden will receive his daily briefing in the morning and deliver remarks on retirement security in the afternoon. Press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE and JOHN KIRBY will brief at 1 p.m. VP KAMALA HARRIS and second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF will travel to London en route to the Global AI Safety Summit.
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Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a meeting on Artificial Intelligence on July 12, 2023, in Washington. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images | CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE — Former aides to Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign are collecting signatures for a letter urging the vice president to “seek an immediate ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas, and calling Israel’s Gaza campaign a “genocide,” our colleague Chris Cadelago scoops. “The draft letter, which was obtained by POLITICO, amounts to an attempt to dial up pressure on one of the Biden administration’s most familiar faces. It encourages the vice president to support a ceasefire resolution introduced by Rep. CORI BUSH as well as ‘independent investigations of human rights violations in Gaza.’” The context: “The letter’s existence, even in draft form, illustrates the degree to which the conflict in Gaza has become a political tinderbox, pitting traditional Democratic constituencies against facets of the party’s elected leadership.” More top reads:
- “The politics of Biden’s vast new AI order,” by Brendan Bordelon: “The 111-page laundry list of priorities has drawn immediate support from both the tech industry and its critics. But the vast scale of the order also suggests an effort by the White House to paper over the growing tension between Washington’s rival AI factions — including some with significant pull inside the Democratic Party.”
- Biden’s clean energy plan is facing an unexpected threat: banking regulators, Jasper Goodman writes. “Banks and other backers invested $19 billion last year in projects like solar and wind power in return for the credits and other benefits. But now impending rules to make large banks less risky would also make it a lot more expensive for them to make those investments.”
- “Energy Dept. Pours Billions Into Power Grids but Warns It’s Not Enough,” by NYT’s Brad Plumer
CONGRESS
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Retiring Rep. Earl Blumenauer will almost certainly be succeeded by another Democrat next year. | Steve Dykes/AP | GETTING OFF THE BIKE — Rep. EARL BLUMENAUER (D-Ore.) said yesterday that he won’t seek another term in the House, ending a nearly 30-year career in Congress. “I’m not certain that two more years in Congress in this climate is the best way to deal with things I care about,” Blumenauer told the Willamette Week’s Nigel Jaquiss in an interview that was “by turns pensive, combative and emotional as he reflected on a decision he’s been weighing for months.” “Recognized around the Capitol for wearing bowties as well as a bike pin on his lapel, Blumenauer founded and co-chairs the Congressional Bike Caucus and advocated for funding for nationwide bike infrastructure. A lawyer by training, he currently holds a coveted spot on the House Ways and Means Committee, the powerful tax-writing panel,” Andrew Zhang writes. Who comes next: The Cook Political Report rates Blumenauer’s seat as D+22, meaning that he will almost certainly be succeeded by another Democrat next year. Among those expected to enter the race to fill the seat is Multnomah County Commissioner SUSHEELA JAYAPAL, who is the sister of Rep. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-Wash.), per The Oregonian’s Sami Edge. More top reads:
- House Judiciary Chair JIM JORDAN (R-Ohio) and House Oversight Chair JAMES COMER (R-Ky.) sent a letter to D.C. AG BRIAN SCHWALB, slamming his investigation into Leonard Leo as “improper and politically motivated” and arguing that the probe is “threatening Republican donor privacy,” The Messenger’s Stephen Neukam reports.
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Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) departs the U.S. Capitol Sept. 12, 2023. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | READY, SET, NOT YET — Rep. LAUREN BOEBERT’s (R-Colo.) viral moment in which she was caught on camera vaping and getting handsy with a date during a performance of “Beetlejuice” is putting her on defense in unexpected ways as she prepares for a rematch next year against Democrat ADAM FRISCH, AP’s Jesse Bedayn reports from Pagosa Springs, Colo. “The scandal threw a wrench into an already tough reelection bid. After Boebert won her last race by just 546 votes, she began revamping her campaign strategy. It now includes apologies to voters at campaign events for an episode that has rattled even loyal Republicans.” The other side: “Frisch has raised at least $7.7 million — the third largest House campaign chest nationwide — to Boebert’s $2.4 million. He’s asking voters to help him ‘stop the circus,’ reviving a slogan from the 2022 election. ‘Democrats certainly smell blood in the water,’ Boebert said in an interview, sitting in a long hall in southwest Colorado before the Lincoln Day Dinner.” More top reads:
AMERICA AND THE WORLD THE LATEST ON ISRAEL — The White House rebuked a comparison of Israel to Russia yesterday, as the civilian death toll in the Gaza Strip quickly approaches the number of Ukrainians killed by Moscow since that war began,” Matt Berg writes. The original comparison was made by Rep. Pramila Jayapal on Sunday, but NSC spox JOHN KIRBY pushed back, saying that Russia, unlike Israel, deliberately targets Ukrainian civilians as part of Moscow’s war strategy. News analysis: “Biden’s Support for Israel Now Comes With Words of Caution,” by NYT’s Michael Shear, David Sanger and Edward Wong: “While he continues to declare unambiguous support for Israel, Mr. Biden and his top military and diplomatic officials have become more critical of Israel’s response to the terrorist attacks and the unfolding humanitarian crisis.” On the ground: “Israeli ground forces pushed deeper into Gaza on Monday, advancing in tanks and other armored vehicles on the territory’s main city and freeing a soldier held captive by Hamas militants,” AP’s Najib Jobain, Samy Magdy and Lee Keath report from the Gaza Strip. WALLY’S WORLD — “U.S. Looks to Allay European Fears of a Subsidy War,” by NYT’s Alan Rappeport: “‘A misrepresentation I’ve often heard is that the I.R.A. signals a turn toward American protectionism or the start of a subsidy race to the bottom,’ WALLY ADEYEMO, the deputy Treasury secretary, plans to say in a speech in Germany on Tuesday, according to a copy of his prepared remarks. ‘I want to be clear: It does neither.’” FOR YOUR RADAR — “Nvidia’s $5 Billion of China Orders in Limbo After Latest U.S. Curbs,” by WSJ’s Raffaele Huang and Asa Fitch 2024 WATCH MAKING HIS CASE — Rep. DEAN PHILLIPS (D-Minn.) gave perhaps the most extensive interview of his nascent presidential campaign to Puck’s Peter Hamby, in which he tried to lay out his rationale for running a long-shot primary against Biden. Sticking to his belief that Biden is too old to be reelected, Phillips told Hamby that he personally tried to reach out to Illinois Gov. JB PRITZKER and Michigan Gov. GRETCHEN WHITMER to encourage them to get into the primary but that neither returned his calls. “He told me a story about watching Biden speak to House Democrats behind closed doors, in 2021, as the White House was selling the Build Back Better plan to skeptical progressives in Congress. ‘The President appeared twice in front of the caucus to sell the BBB,’ Phillips told me. ‘Those presentations were … jarring.’ He paused, and I asked him what he meant. He paused again. ‘I want to leave it at that. Everybody who was in that room with me knows exactly what I am saying.’ (I asked two Democrats who were in the room for those meetings what, exactly, Phillips was talking about, and they disputed his account).” TALKING THE TALK — “Hedge fund billionaire Leon Cooperman, in rare public rebuke of a Republican candidate, says Trump ‘belongs in jail,’” by CNN’s Matt Egan BEYOND THE BELTWAY IMMIGRATION FILES — A federal judge yesterday “ordered immigration agents to stop taking down or cutting through concertina wire placed on the Texas-Mexico border in Eagle Pass by state troopers and National Guard members in their efforts to deter migrants from crossing the border illegally,” the Texas Tribune’s Uriel García reports. COMING SOON TO THE BORDER — “Some 5,000 migrants set out on foot from Mexico’s southern border, tired of long waits for visas,” by AP’s Edgar Clemente in Tapachula, Mexico INNOVATION INVESTIGATION — “‘Wholly ineffective and pretty obviously racist’: Inside New Orleans’ struggle with facial-recognition policing,” by Alfred Ng: “Records obtained and analyzed by POLITICO reveal the practice failed to identify suspects a majority of the time and is disproportionately used against Black people.” MEDIAWATCH FOR THOSE KEEPING TRACK — “Judge shuts down Fox bid to look for links between George Soros and Smartmatic,” by CNN’s Liam Reilly: “Fox argued that ALEX and GEORGE SOROS, as well as [Open Society Foundations], possess material necessary to the network’s defense in the defamation trial. The documentation, Fox argued, would establish a connection between George Soros and Smartmatic. But Fox’s documentation was irrelevant, the judge said, adding that the matter was peripheral.”
| | | | PLAYBOOK IS GOING GLOBAL! We’re excited to introduce Global Playbook, POLITICO’s premier newsletter that brings you inside the most important conversations at the most influential events in the world. From the buzzy echoes emanating from the snowy peaks at the WEF in Davos to the discussions and personalities at Milken Global in Beverly Hills, to the heart of diplomacy at UNGA in New York City – author Suzanne Lynch brings it all to your fingertips. Experience the elite. Witness the influential. And never miss a global beat. BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Nancy Mace appeared on “The Daily Show” with Charlamagne Tha God, her high school classmate. Bill Cassidy and Mark Kelly hosted the third-annual Hart Halloween. Gretchen Whitmer enjoyed the Lions’ big Monday Night Football win. Phil Murphy dipped into a taxpayer-funded expense account for a big bill at MetLife Stadium — including at a Taylor Swift concert and a hip-hop music festival. MEDIA MOVE — Margaret Sullivan will be executive director of the Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics at Columbia Journalism School, per NYT’s Ben Mullin. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) is tapping Marvin Figueroa as chief of staff. He previously was director of the Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs at HHS, and is a Ralph Northam and Mark Warner alum. TRANSITIONS — Holt Edwards is now an assistant VP for government affairs at the Association of American Railroads. He most recently worked for Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), and is an EPA and Bob Corker alum. … Ethan Pann is now digital press secretary for House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul. He previously was press and digital coordinator for House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. … Nicole Harrison is joining the American Petroleum Institute as a policy adviser in the midstream department. She previously was a policy adviser for the Congressional Western Caucus. … … Sarah Lindsey and Simone Stapley are joining Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions. Lindsey will be digital comms associate and previously was digital media coordinator for Deseret News. Stapley will be comms coordinator and previously was a social media account manager. … Jenn Miller is now a legislative assistant for Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.). She previously was a legislative assistant for Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and is an Israel Policy Forum alum. … Colby Sholler has joined Nestlé North America’s corporate affairs team. He previously was senior director of government affairs for the Institute of Makers of Explosives. WEDDING — Daniel Fisher, founder and CEO of Kudzu Strategies, and Nick Stewart, senior director of government relations at FDD Action, got married on Saturday at their home, the historic Eames Mansion in New Hartford, N.Y. with a reception at the Munson Museum. Daniel and Nick, both Trump administration alums, met in early 2020 while working at the State Department. Pic … Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Dan Rather (92) … POLITICO’s Betsy Woodruff Swan and Michael Kruse … Jane Pauley … Jack Evans (7-0) … Lee Fang of The Intercept … Frank Bruni … Olivia Alair Dalton of the White House … ProPublica’s Marilyn Thompson … Susan Orlean … former Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuño of Steptoe and Johnson … NBC’s Elias Miller … Jason Abel … Peter Pasi of Zeta Global … Clay Heil of Crowley … Ryan Morgan of Veracity Media … Luke Mullins of Washingtonian … Marilyn Rosenthal of AIPAC … Kenny Thompson Jr. of Vail Resorts … RNC’s Mike Ambrosini … Sam Tanenhaus … Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens … Joe Kon … Lisa Hagen of CT Mirror and WNPR … Brian Kettenring … Rokk Solutions’ Rachel Winer … retired Lt. Gen. Ricky Waddell … former Reps. David Jolly (R-Fla.) and John Barrow (D-Ga.) … Archana Mehta … Daryl Messinger … Kara Gerhardt Ross … George Bogden of White & Case … Justin Bis … Mark Jacobson of the Partnership for Public Service … Piper Perabo Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen (on Halloween or any other day) without our editor Mike Die-Bones, deputy editor Zack-o’-lantern Stanton and producers Boo-thany Irvine and Andrew Howl-ard.
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