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On Friday, after a group of seven House conservatives issued a public letter outlining the demands that GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy would need to meet to win their support in his bid for speaker, a key McCarthy backer quietly reached out to several moderate Republicans with a request, according to people familiar with the conversations. The Freedom Caucus rabble-rousers had reiterated their demand that McCarthy restore a 200-year-old, now-infamous House rule known as the “motion to vacate,” which allows any one member to force a floor vote to oust the speaker at any moment. McCarthy’s camp wanted the centrists to push back hard on the proposal, which the speaker-hopeful fiercely opposes. If they did, McCarthy would be able to point to their opposition, say his hands are tied and refuse to give in to conservatives’ demands. McCarthy’s office declined to comment to Playbook. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Congressional negotiators announced late Tuesday they had reached agreement on a “framework” for FY2023 spending, clearing the way for passage of an omnibus appropriations package before Christmas. Appropriators are not expected to reveal detailed top-line spending levels until a bill is written and filed, but negotiators had largely settled on a $858 billion defense budget while haggling over the nondefense number. The parties had been roughly $26 billion apart, with Republicans refusing to exceed the $1.65 trillion in total discretionary spending in President Joe Biden's budget request. And more than eight years ago, President Barack Obama stood before dozens of African leaders and made promises at the opening session for the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, the first of its kind. The summit, it was hoped, would be a jumping-off point for stronger ties between the United States and the continent. Fast-forward eight years later: Biden is hosting a sequel, and he is likely to give very similar remarks. But the situation on the continent has only grown more dire, with global crises such as climate change, Covid-19 and the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine all hitting the continent especially hard. And after four years of Donald Trump at best neglecting and at worst denigrating the continent, this summit is something of a Hail Mary pass to improve relations. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Today’s House Financial Services Committee hearing on the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange will go on as scheduled without its star witness: Former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday at the behest of U.S. prosecutors who have secured indictments on a range of fraud charges. National political correspondent Ben Schreckinger stops by to share to what to expect. Panel chair Maxine Waters said in a statement Monday night she still wants to hear from Bankman-Fried, saying “the American public deserves to hear directly … about the actions that’ve harmed over one million people, and wiped out the hard-earned life savings of so many.” Current FTX CEO John Ray III, a cleanup expert known for his work at Enron after its 2002 collapse, will testify as planned. “The public has been waiting eagerly to get these answers under oath before Congress, and the timing of this arrest denies the public this opportunity,” Waters added. “While I am disappointed that we will not be able to hear from Mr. Bankman-Fried tomorrow, we remain committed to getting to the bottom of what happened.” More from NYT And House Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro is the biggest remaining obstacle to a huge government spending compromise that congressional leaders are circling, Caitlin Emma, Sarah Ferris and Burgess Everett report. Time is running short, but DeLauro said she’s “optimistic we can get to yes.” The Senate appropriations leaders have closed the $26 billion gap between Democrats’ and Republicans’ proposals, but “they’ve so far been unable to win DeLauro’s buy-in.” — Meanwhile, Congress has to pass a stopgap funding bill this week to avoid a shutdown and buy more time to negotiate the long-term deal. More from the WSJ Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Senate Appropriations Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced Sunday night that Democrats would not proceed as planned with a vote today on their own spending package, citing “sufficient progress in negotiations … over the weekend.” Government funding runs out Friday. Talks have stalled for weeks as the parties wrangle over funding levels, with Republicans thus far refusing to give Democrats the nondefense plus-ups they desire. Could the distant chime of jingle bells finally be having an effect? There’s no way an omnibus can be negotiated, drafted and passed in the next five days, so expect another stopgap to move this week. Beyond that? There’s already chatter about negotiations dragging right up to and even through the holiday season. We’ll see who blinks first. More from Roll Call Playbook editor Mike DeBonis and co-author Rachael Bade discuss the funding fight plus the week ahead, including Sam Bankman-Fried's visit to Congresss and President Joe Biden's planned signing ceremony for the Respect for Marriage Act on the South Lawn. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

POLITICO's Burgess Everett with a mega-scoop this morning: “Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is changing her party affiliation to independent, delivering a jolt to Democrats’ narrow majority and Washington along with it. “In a 45-minute interview, the first-term senator told POLITICO that she will not caucus with Republicans and suggested that she intends to vote the same way she has for four years in the Senate. ‘Nothing will change about my values or my behavior,’ she said. “Provided that Sinema sticks to that vow, Democrats will still have a workable Senate majority in the next Congress, though it will not exactly be the neat and tidy 51 seats they assumed. They’re expected to also have the votes to control Senate committees. And Sinema’s move means Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) — a pivotal swing vote in the 50-50 chamber the past two years — will hold onto some but not all of his outsized influence in the Democratic caucus.” Plus, Mike DeBonis and Rachael Bade discuss the feasibility of a so-called unity House speaker, and FDA reporter and astrology emperor Katherine Foley stops by for some birthday news. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

The battle to become President Joe Biden's top defender on Capitol Hill is on. With Republicans sharpening their investigative knives for Biden (this week, House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy released a list of more than a dozen lines of inquiry into the administration), the race to succeed outgoing Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) as the top Dem on the House Oversight Committee raging at a fever pitch. Who will it be? Plus, deputy editor Zack Stanton chats with Daniel Lippman's major investigation into the conduct of No Labels, the centrist group that has embarked on an ambitious $70 million project laying the groundwork for a unity ticket presidential campaign in 2024. But the story is different inside the walls of the organization. “Interviews with 14 former employees — including five who left in the last few months — and four other people familiar with No Labels reveals a cutthroat culture, one where staffers are routinely fired or pushed out, have little trust in management, and believe the workplace environment can be difficult for minority and female colleagues."

Over the past 30 months, Raphael Warnock has won a Senate primary, got the most votes in two general elections and won two runoffs. On Tuesday night, he finally won a full six-year term in the United States Senate. A lot has been said about how flawed a candidate that Warnock’s opponent, Herschel Walker, was. (A lot.) And so much of the conversation and coverage of Georgia’s election centered on what it would mean for the power of a current and a former president. But Warnock’s three-point win Tuesday underscored his own talents and cemented the 53-year-old pastor as one of the nation’s most compelling and effective Democratic politicians. Plus, Playbook editor Mike DeBonis and author Rachael Bade stop by to discuss the hot-and-cold relationship between House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Six days after top congressional leaders emerged from the White House suggesting they would work together to pass an omnibus government funding bill before the holidays, Kevin McCarthy went on Fox News last night and sent a very different message. “We’re 28 days away from Republicans having the gavel. We would be stronger in every negotiation. So any Republican that's out there trying to work with [Democrats] is wrong,” he said to host Laura Ingraham, who used her monologue last night to rail against Democrats trying to “take advantage of the few weeks remaining to ram through as much sweeping change as possible.” McCarthy extended his warning to Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell: “Wait till we’re in charge,” he said.

In roughly 37 hours, Georgians will cast the final votes of the 2022 midterms, deciding the Senate runoff between incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican football legend Herschel Walker. The two campaigns spent the final weekend very differently. Warnock continued his flood-the-zone strategy, with six events across the state, while Walker held just one public event, on Sunday with GOP Sens. Tim Scott (S.C.) and John Kennedy (La.). Playbook editor Mike DeBonis and deputy editor Zack Stanton preview the race in Georgia, Wednesday's SCOTUS case on the ‘independent legislature’ theory that could radically reshape elections and South Carolina's request to hold the first presidential primary on the calendar. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

The 11th Circuit delivered a unanimous opinion shutting down the special master review of the documents that the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago and dismissing Donald Trump's civil lawsuit over the matter. The opinion was an embarrassing rebuke of U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, who was widely criticized for indulging what legal scholars across the ideological spectrum described as Trump’s specious arguments. The appeals court did not think the case was even a close call. “This appeal requires us to consider whether the district court had jurisdiction to block the United States from using lawfully seized records in a criminal investigation,” the opinion began. “The answer is no.” Plus, tech reporter Rebecca Kern stops by for the latest update on Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, including his endorsement of possible GOP 2024 presidential contender Ron DeSantis, his possible spat with Apple and CEO Tim Cook and the future of anti-trust legislation. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Since Election Day, the drama in the House has been concentrated on the GOP side, as Kevin McCarthy tries to overcome a MAGA world mutiny to get the gavel, and Democrats smoothly elect three new leaders to succeed Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn. But it turns out things are not all kumbaya in the House Dem caucus. — Amid some Democrats’ discontentment about Clyburn’s insistence on staying in leadership, Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) has decided to challenge him for the assistant leader job — a vote that will happen later today. — And there’s an intense whisper campaign happening behind the scenes about Rep. Tony Cárdenas' (D-Calif.) bid to head the DCCC — one that compiles ugly past allegations about sexual assault, as well as new alleged connections to a man known as the “boogeyman of porn.” Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

In 1992, two days into a crippling railroad strike, then-Sen. Joe Biden came to the Senate floor and decried the lopsided nature of federal labor laws dealing with the rail industry — laws, he argued, that essentially allowed corporations, regulators and, ultimately, Congress to run roughshod over workers. “We need to restore a measure of balance to these negotiations,” he said, before voting with just five other senators against halting the strike. Thirty years later, as president, Biden is turning to those very same laws to prevent another strike and impose a tentative contract agreement that his administration brokered but multiple rail unions voted to reject. “As a proud pro-labor President, I am reluctant to override the ratification procedures and the views of those who voted against the agreement,” the president said in a statement. “But in this case — where the economic impact of a shutdown would hurt millions of other working people and families — I believe Congress must use its powers to adopt this deal.” Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

President Joe Biden and lawmakers return to Washington this week facing a lengthy lame-duck to-do list with only three weeks scheduled to resolve it — a recipe for a very un-merry holiday season should negotiations falter in the final throes of the 117th Congress. — First up: government funding, which expires Dec. 16. The verdict is still out on whether a bipartisan full-year appropriations deal is within reach — or whether Congress will just kick the can down the road and pass another continuing resolution into next year. All eyes this week will be on Senate Republicans — and especially GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, who will have to decide whether to help put up the 10 needed GOP votes to clear a 2023 omnibus. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

As we all pack up and take a quick break for Thanksgiving, the Peach State is still abuzz with activity as voters prepare to settle the final Senate race of this cycle. On Tuesday, a new poll by the AARP — the first major public survey since the November general election — showed the race remains inside the margin of error, with incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock pulling in 51% to Republican Herschel Walker's 47%. One key data point: “Warnock has a commanding lead of 54% to 39% over Walker among independent voters — an important bloc that once reliably voted for Republicans in Georgia.” Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

It’s one of the slowest weeks in politics as our elected leaders slip into the Thanksgiving break, when they have a chance to assess the fallout from the surprising midterm results and ponder the way forward. As you prepare your own holiday plans, you’ll probably want to be armed at the dinner table with something smart to say about the meaning of the midterms. If you want to filter out a lot of the noise in the results and focus in on the signal, this morning’s Ron Brownstein piece at CNN is a good one to clip and save for Thursday. He identifies a few key trends present in the 2022 results that tell us a lot about 2024. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Playbook editor Mike DeBonis and deputy editor Zack Stanton break down the weekend in politics, including the Republican Jewish Coalition conference in Las Vegas, NV. “2024 Republican rivals put Trump on notice,” by Alex Isenstadt in Las Vegas: “If former President Donald Trump thought his early 2024 announcement would cow prospective Republican primary rivals into submission, he clearly miscalculated. “At this weekend’s Republican Jewish Coalition conference, a parade of ambitious Republicans hit all the notes that politicians eyeing future campaigns for the White House typically do. Their tones and messages varied — few called out Trump by name — but collectively they made clear they are not going to back down to the former president after a third consecutive poor election with him at the helm. What the contenders sound like: “Mike Pompeo, Trump’s hand-picked secretary of State and CIA director, warned that for Republicans to win elections, they can’t simply ‘go on Fox News or send tweets.’ Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who ran Trump’s transition, said Republicans were losing because ‘Donald Trump has put himself before everybody else.’ “Nikki Haley, Trump’s U.N. ambassador who said last year she wouldn’t run if her former boss did, has apparently changed her mind. She used her Saturday evening speech here to say she was looking at running in a ‘serious way,’ and to call for ‘a younger generation to lead across the board.’ … “‘He’s not going to have the financial support he had anymore, he’s not going to have the internal support that he had before,’ said New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, whose state hosts the first-in-the-nation GOP primary. ‘And so therefore, there’s opportunity there. That political weakness is blood in the water for some folks.’” Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

On Wednesday night, just before 11 p.m., Nancy Pelosi's longtime spokesperson Drew Hammill announced on Twitter that today, the speaker will finally announce her plans for the future — putting an end to mounting speculation about whether she’ll retire (a possibility Hammill has batted away), stay on as the top House Democrat or step down from leadership but continue to serve in Congress. “@SpeakerPelosi has been overwhelmed by calls from colleagues, friends and supporters,” Hammill wrote. “This evening, the Speaker monitored returns in the three remaining critical states. The Speaker plans to address her future plans tomorrow to her colleagues. Stay tuned.” The tweet came just a few hours after the House was called in favor of Republicans — sending the rumor mill already churning over Pelosi’s future into warp drive. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

You’ve heard allies of Rep. Kevin McCarthy say it a gazillion times — and they’ll say it another gazillion times over before the House speaker vote in January: You can’t beat somebody with nobody. But what if history repeats itself? What if McCarthy, as in his 2015 bid for the speakership, fails to appease the renegade right and falls short of the 218 votes he needs to seize the gavel? With 31 House Republicans spurning McCarthy in Tuesday’s nominating vote — and with McCarthy likely able to afford no more than three or four defections based on current election returns — the question is more than academic. To be clear, Team McCarthy and most GOP lawmakers tell us they believe the California Republican will get 218 — eventually. But if he can’t, Playbook co-author Rachael Bade stops by the show to discuss the most likely alternative members mentioned during our travels on the Hill this week. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

As the Republican Party wrestles with whether it should stick with its three current leaders — Donald Trump, Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell — today is crucial, especially for the first two. McCarthy faces a vote of House Republicans on whether he will be their nominee for speaker in January. He should easily pass that test, but the margin will tell us how much trouble he’s in. (More on McCarthy below.) And then tonight at 9 p.m., Trump is scheduled to announce his third campaign for president. The best way to understand the context of this announcement is to take a spin through the last 24 hours of Trump news. The big takeaway is that the movement on the right to abandon Trump is the strongest it’s been since the days after Jan. 6, 2021. (But, then again, it wasn’t very strong back then.) Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

For Republicans, Festivus comes early this year. In fact, it starts today at 4:30 p.m. That’s when House Republicans kick off their candidate forum for leadership positions next Congress — the first formal event in what is expected to be a weeklong, party-wide Airing of Grievances following Republicans’ abysmal Election Day performance. Plus Mitch McConnell, we hear, is confident of his own reelection as leader — even as he faces mounting pushback from Trump allies in the chamber. On Sunday night, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) became the latest Republican to back a delay of Wednesday’s scheduled leadership elections — citing the Dec. 6 Georgia runoff. And Trump’s scheduled Tuesday campaign announcement is still moving full steam ahead despite fellow Republicans begging him to hold off in light of the pending Georgia contest. GOP drama aside, Speaker Nancy Pelosi might actually be the pivotal character of the week. With control of the House still in the balance, House Democrats have been left twiddling their thumbs as they await a long-anticipated retirement announcement — or news that she plans to seek another term as leader. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

When John Boehner suddenly retired in 2015, members of the House Freedom Caucus showed up at speaker-in-waiting Kevin McCarthy’s office with a list of demands: In exchange for their support, they wanted McCarthy to name one of their own to a senior leadership position and embrace rules changes that empowered conservatives. If he refused, they told him, they would band together to block him from securing the needed 218 votes to be speaker. But McCarthy was unwilling to subjugate his power in order to appease a splinter faction, and ultimately, the California Republican dropped his bid for his dream job, paving the way for Paul Ryan's rise. Yet seven years later, McCarthy once again finds his dream held hostage by the same group of hardliners. Thanks to the GOP’s lackluster midterm performance, he is seeking to preside over what appears likely to be an extremely thin majority — a scenario that hands massive leverage to the far right. And on Tuesday night at the election watch party for Nevada Democrats on the Vegas Strip, aides to Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto were cautiously optimistic about her prospects for victory. The campaign’s main concern was whether their Republican opponent, Adam Laxalt, would prematurely declare victory and throw the post-election vote-counting period into chaos. As Laxalt’s strong rural vote came in, he overtook Cortez Masto in the count, and Democrats’ concerns increased. But so far their fears have been misplaced. In 2022, this counts as a positive development for American elections. Candidates are largely refraining from using the seesaw nature of vote-counting to sow doubts about the results, as Trump infamously did in 2020. What hasn’t changed since 2020 is that Nevada (and Arizona and California and many other states) take days to finish counting. While still trailing Laxalt, Cortez Masto’s chances of victory improved Wednesday, with the majority of the outstanding vote consisting of mail ballots from Nevada’s urban centers, which are Democratic strongholds. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Let’s start with Joe Biden. A midterm is a referendum on the president. By all historic measures, voters should have handed Biden’s party a massive rebuke. Inflation is at historic levels, crime is up, Biden’s approval is underwater, Democrats have one-party control. The party of recent presidents in similar circumstances lost between 40 and 63 House seats. And yet here’s where things stand this morning: — In the House, Republicans are expected to gain control the chamber, but well short of both historical averages and pre-election predictions. Addressing supporters early this morning — hours after Republicans thought they would have victory in hand — Kevin McCarthy could only promise, “When you wake up tomorrow, we will be in the majority.” (Like his prior prediction that Republicans would gain 60 seats, that, too, has failed to pan out.) — In the Senate, the outcome hinges on Nevada, where incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto fell behind her GOP challenger Adam Laxalt this morning, and Georgia, where Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock is ahead by a hair but the race is likely headed for a runoff on Dec. 6. Republicans need to win both races to take control of the Senate. (Wisconsin and Arizona haven’t been called, but the incumbents — Republican Ron Johnson and Democrat Mark Kelly, respectively — are ahead in both states.) Many of the (plausible) outcomes predicted by top GOP officials didn’t materialize. There was no massive shift of the Hispanic vote toward the GOP. There was no surge of hidden Trump voters. There was no widespread takeover of deep blue House territory. There was no expansion of the Senate map into New Hampshire, Colorado and Washington, where incumbent Democrats cruised to reelection. The governor of New York won easily. There was no red wave. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Every ad has been cut. Every speech has been delivered. Every poll has been taken. And now we wait for the voters to decide. Needless to say, the stakes are high. Inflation is at a 40-year peak, abortion rights are on the ballot, rising interest rates are stoking recession fears and election deniers are on the cusp of taking office. But no one has more riding on the outcome than President Joe Biden. Throughout all the headwinds he has faced in the two years and one day since he clinched the presidency, he had House and Senate majorities and experienced congressional leaders backing him up. Now that backstop is seriously at risk. A Republican House threatens to Roto-Root his administration with subpoenas while turning routine spending bills into high-stakes standoffs. A GOP Senate could compound the misery, hamstringing his ability to appoint judges, ambassadors and Cabinet officials. So how is Bidenworld facing this moment of reckoning? By essentially arguing that, whatever happens, it could have been much worse. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

We’re truly in the home stretch with one day to go until Election Day. That means we are running out of precious time to deploy our favorite campaign season cliches. So allow us to note: It all comes down to turnout. And as we all know, the only poll that matters is the one on Election Day... Playbook editor Mike DeBonis and Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza preview the crucial week ahead, including, what should, actually, constitute a red wave? In the House, the most likely outcome is that this will be a typical midterm in which the president’s party loses seats. The modern average is a loss of 27 House seats. Three of the last four presidents did much worse in their first midterms: Bill Clinton lost 54 seats, Barack Obama lost 63 seats, and Donald Trump lost 40 seats. Every election brings with it confident predictions of some enduring new majority. George W. Bush and Barack Obama were both seen as ushering in eras of dominance for their respective parties. Donald Trump’s election supposedly meant the end of the Democratic Party’s presidential prospects. Some liberals say that the 2018 and 2020 anti-Trump surges prove that a stable center-left coalition exists to extinguish MAGA. The challenge after Tuesday is to keep two things in mind: There can be a massive change in policy direction (the House flipping) with only a small change in the electorate (less than 5% of House seats changing hands). Ryan's Playbook Deep Dive interview with Lynn Vavreck: Hindsight is 20/20 Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Oprah Winfrey endorsed Democrat John Fetterman in the ultratight Pennsylvania Senate race during a virtual GOTV event Thursday night. More than just another celebrity endorsement, it’s a pointed snub by Winfrey of Mehmet Oz, the celebrity doctor she single-handedly brought to national prominence. "If I lived in Pennsylvania,” she said, “I would've already cast my vote for John Fetterman, for many reasons.” The endorsement was in the works for months, our Holly Otterbein reported late last night: “Fetterman's orbit knew how powerful a nod from Winfrey would be, and it worked behind the scenes to court her. The Fettterman campaign made a direct appeal to her for a meeting, according to a person familiar with the outreach.” And Steve Shepard shares his penultimate Election Forecast update, with ratings changes in three Senate, 13 House and four governor races. All but one are moving toward Republicans. The Senate … The overall landscape continues to be in “Toss-Up” territory, but Republicans appear to have a growing upside: With six races now coin-flips, an even split of those races would be enough to secure a GOP majority, while a sweep would hand the party 54 seats. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

There are just six days left in this chaotic midterm, which means campaigns around the country are readying their final pitches for voters. Candidates traditionally use their last flight of ads as a “closing argument” — a chance to tell voters who they are, what they plan to do if they win and, most importantly, ask for their vote. It’s the executive summary of their campaign, typically delivered direct-to-camera in a bid to make one final connection with voters. But this year has been anything but typical. As those final ads have started trickling into Playbook HQ (with a big assist from POLITICO campaign guru Steve Shepard) we’ve seen some candidates observe the old pieties, while others just continue bludgeoning their opponents. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Even though it was Halloween, two political extremists were unmasked yesterday, one on each coast. What they said tells us a lot about the future of political violence in America. In Washington, at the Oath Keeper trial, Graydon Young, the first Oath Keeper to plead guilty to charges related to storming Congress on Jan. 6, broke down in tears as he apologized for his role. “I guess I was acting like a traitor against my own government,” he said. In San Francisco, an FBI agent who specializes in investigations of domestic terrorism — that is, “primarily” Americans “who commit violent criminal acts in furtherance of their political or social ideology” — filed the criminal complaint against David DePape in which we learned the horrific details of the attack on Paul Pelosi. We tend to think of the Oath Keepers and groups like it as the face of political extremism and violence in America. But domestic politcal terrorists are increasingly more like DePape. The big trend is what terrorism researchers call “ungrouping,” in which individuals need no formal organization to recruit and indoctrinate them with fringe ideas when they have easy access to them online — and major political figures endorsing them. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Another landmark Supreme Court decision from the 1970s is likely to fall. This morning, SCOTUS will hear oral arguments in two cases challenging the use of race in college admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. There is little mystery about the outcome. And Playbook deputy editor Zack Stanton stops by to give updates on key midterm Senate and House races just eight days away from Election Day. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

For months, President Joe Biden and Donald Trump have been shadow-boxing on the campaign trail — zig-zagging across the country on parallel paths that never quite intersected. That’s about to change. On the final weekend before Election Day, both men will campaign in Pennsylvania — “the must-win battleground has emerged as a proxy fight between the two,” report Christopher Cadelago and Meridith McGraw. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Senior campaigns and elections editor Steve Shepard is out with the latest update of POLITICO’s 2022 forecast. Let’s begin with the headline: Five races are changing in this update, four of them in the GOP’s direction and one toward the Democratic candidate: Arizona Senate: Lean D to Toss-Up Pennsylvania governor: Lean D to Likely D CA-27: Toss-Up to Lean R CA-49: Lean D to Toss-Up OR-05: Toss-Up to Lean R Steve joins the show to break down the methodology behind the shifts and what else he's keeping an eye on with less than two weeks until Election Day. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Let’s state the obvious: John Fetterman struggled to effectively communicate during his one and only Senate debate with Mehmet Oz Tuesday in Harrisburg. We don’t usually dwell on a single debate in a single race, but this one is different. Control of the Senate, and the future of policymaking in Washington, may hinge on the outcome of the Fetterman-Oz race. The conventional wisdom over the summer was that Oz was a deeply flawed candidate who couldn’t win, but the race is a toss-up. Republicans just decided to pour an additional $6 million into Pennsylvania to help Oz. “We believe if we win Pennsylvania, we win the majority,” Steven Law, who runs the most important Senate GOP super PAC, told POLITICO Tuesday. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

“For some of Ukraine’s most ardent backers, even talking about diplomacy amounts to appeasement,” Gideon Rachman, the chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times, noted last week. Thirty House Democrats led by Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal learned this lesson the hard way on Monday, after they sent President Joe Biden what they believed was a nuanced and carefully worded letter endorsing direct diplomacy with Russia to end the war in Ukraine. They condemned Russia’s “outrageous and illegal invasion of Ukraine,” reiterated their support for “a free and independent Ukraine,” and they were clear that American “military and economic support” should continue. Unlike House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, they did not hint at voting against future aid packages. But their use of the D word precipitated a torrent of criticism — mostly from fellow Democrats — that had some of them backtracking within hours. (In one notable example, former CPC co-chair MARK POCAN told a constituent the missive was written amid different circumstances in July, adding, “I have no idea why it went out now. Bad timing.”) Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

15 days left until Election Day. … 7,501,492 early votes already cast as of 10:20 p.m. Sunday, per the United States Elections Project. And Playbook editor Mike Debonis and deputy editor Zack Stanton preview the packed debate schedule around the country, including the highly anticipated debate between Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz on Tuesday. Plus, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis endorsement of Colorado Republican Joe O'Dea is a notable boost for the moderate and a sharp contrast with Trump, who blasted O’Dea in a feud last week. “A BIG MISTAKE!” Trump responded on Truth Social. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Our colleague Natalie Allison got her hands on some new polling data out of Nevada that shows the closely watched race between Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Republican Adam Laxalt tightening even further. “Laxalt has inched ahead of Cortez Masto by 2 percentage points, within the poll’s margin of error, a gain from a month ago when he was down 3 percentage points, according to a poll conducted this week by the conservative Club for Growth and shared exclusively with POLITICO.” And even as the national trend seems to have tilted in the GOP’s favor in recent days, Alaska’s independents seem poised to swing dramatically toward the Democrats — and that could be an ominous sign for Republicans throughout the nation, David Siders reports from Wasilla.

There’s a reason White House chief of staff RON KLAIN checks AAA’s survey of gas prices every single morning. For all the well-informed punditry about whether this or that issue will be the terrain upon which 2022 rises and falls, today — with 19 days left until Election Day — it seems that the most salient issue in the election for most voters could be pretty straightforward: It’s the gas prices, stupid. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

We definitely have Georgia on our minds here at Playbook. The Senate race in the Peach State — pitting Sen. Raphael Warnock against football legend Herschel Walker — is likely the most consequential Senate race on the map this year. Early voting begins today. There’s nothing better as a reporter than getting out of the swamp to see what voters are thinking and saying for yourself — so Playbook's Eugene Daniels headed to Atlanta for a check-in. In a special dispatch after his trip, Eugene chats with Playbook Deputy Editor Zack Stanton about what he found. There's a sense that the scandal-ridden Walker is sucking up all the political oxygen in the state. Even Warnock campaign aides admit surprise when reporters call to talk about the sitting senator and not about Walker’s travails. In a story out this morning, Eugene explores how Warnock is a man in two worlds. At Ebenezer, no one calls him “senator.” It’s “reverend,” and members of his flock will correct you immediately. But while he enjoys a deep connection with his congregation, some Black political strategists worry that Warnock has not yet secured the broad support he’ll need from Black voters to earn a full term. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

For a minute there, Donald Trump wasn’t the dominant political story. In between peak coverage in August of the FBI’s search of his Mar-a-Lago home and Thursday’s public vote by the Jan. 6 committee to subpoena the former president, there were long stretches when Trump wasn’t the main character of the midterms. In some ways he still isn’t. As NYT’s Blake Hounshell and Alyce McFadden point out, Jan. 6 “is practically invisible on the nation’s airwaves, despite nearly a billion dollars in overall ad spending this year.” POLITICO’s Jordain Carney, Sarah Ferris, and Ally Mutnick note that “Democrats have aired just two dozen spots focused on threats to democracy this cycle, in roughly 16 different battleground districts.” But even if he didn’t appear in a single ad — and there are plenty that include him — Trump still looms over everything in politics. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Since the very first hearing of the House Jan. 6 committee, the panel has vowed to do three things: (1) correct the historical record of the aftermath of the 2020 election; (2) present the case that former President Donald Trump was at the center of a scheme to overturn the results of a free and fair election; and (3) outline an ongoing attack on American democracy. This afternoon, they’re set to tie all three together in what is expected to be the committee’s final televised hearing. The hearing itself will “feature evidence that Trump’s allies were pushing him to declare victory on Election Day 2020 even before the votes were counted, and that Trump was warned of the unfolding violence at the Capitol before he tweeted an inflammatory attack on then-Vice President Mike Pence,” as our Nicholas Wu and Kyle Cheney write in their preview this morning. But of perhaps equal importance is the hearing’s place in the broader arc of post-insurrection Washington. And FDA reporter Katherine Foley joins the show for this week's astrology readings. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

It’s perhaps the most precious campaign resource in all of American politics — a presidential fundraising visit. So why, with less than four weeks till Election Day, is President Joe Biden pointing Air Force One at Oregon this weekend? And, senior campaigns and elections editor Steve Shepard joins the show to talk about the tactical battle over campaign advertising in Ohio, Arizona, Pennsylvania and North Carolina ahead of the midterms. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

This morning we have the first scoop from Robert Draper’s latest book, “Weapons of Mass Delusion: When the Republican Party Lost Its Mind" ($29), which will be released Oct. 18. It’s been widely reported that Donald Trump and Kevin McCarthy had a fiery exchange on Jan. 6, 2021. But Draper adds a dramatic and newsworthy new detail about the House GOP leader’s side of the conversation, one that makes his later submission to Trump even more undignifying. And the latest scoop from Playbook’s own Rachael Bade and co-author Karoun Demirjian appears in The Washington Post today, sourced from their new book, “Unchecked: The Untold Story Behind Congress’s Botched Impeachments of Donald Trump” ($28), also on sale Oct. 18. Two weeks after Trump’s second acquittal, McCarthy yelled so forcefully at Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) for going public about his Jan. 6 call with Trump that he made the Washington Republican burst into tears. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Last night at a fundraiser in New York City, President Joe Biden issued a stark warning about the risks of nuclear war in Ukraine. “First time since the Cuban Missile Crisis, we have a direct threat of the use [of a] nuclear weapon if in fact things continue down the path they are going,” Biden told donors at the home of investor James Murdoch. “I’m trying to figure out what is [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's off ramp? … Where does he find a way out? Where does he find himself in a position that he does not not only lose face but lose significant power within Russia?” And it's the most common topic in ads for Democratic congressional candidates and their allies this cycle: abortion rights — and, more specifically, the GOP’s designs on a nationwide abortion ban. Inasmuch as there is a unifying Democratic message this cycle, this is it. In districts as disparate as suburban Omaha and heavily Catholic rural Texas, Dems and their allies have spent more than $25 million in broadcast TV ads depicting Republicans as “extremists who would imprison doctors and force women who have been raped to carry pregnancies to term,” our Ally Mutnick reports this morning. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

For months, aides to President Joe Biden have been backchanneling to keep OPEC from cutting oil exports and, in turn, raising oil and gas prices around the world. So much for all that. On Wednesday, OPEC+ announced that it will cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day starting next month — a move that “sharply undercuts President Biden’s effort to avoid an increase in gas prices ahead of the midterm elections, while setting back his push to constrain the oil revenue Russia is using to pay for its war in Ukraine,” write NYT’s David Sanger and Ben Hubbard. And two days after setting the political world aflame with its report that in 2009, Herschel Walker — who is running for U.S. Senate in Georgia while touting his opposition to abortion rights — paid for his then-girlfriend to obtain an abortion, the Daily Beast’s Roger Sollenberger lit more kindling on Wednesday night: “She Had an Abortion With Herschel Walker. She Also Had a Child With Him.” Plus, FDA reporter Katherine Foley stops by to dissect the stars for House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.) and Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.). Happy birthday! Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

President Joe Biden will arrive this afternoon in Fort Myers, Fla., where he will survey the damage from Hurricane Ian via helicopter and then receive a briefing on disaster response and recovery efforts from state and local officials, including one of his most bitter political rivals: Gov. Ron DeSantis. The president and the governor have talked on the phone several times. They’ve complimented each other. Florida Playbook author Gary Fineout calls it “a rare moment of bipartisan calm” in his preview from Tallahassee. So what explains the detente — especially the mature reaction from DeSantis, who has defined himself by an own-the-libs style of politics? And it looks as though Elon Musk will go ahead with the $44 billion purchase of Twitter that he first proposed in April. Recall that Musk tried to abandon the deal weeks later and soon found himself in messy litigation with the company. The judge in the case has ruled against Musk at nearly every turn and, with a deposition and trial looming, Musk appears to have reversed course yet again. Twitter is enormously consequential to American politics and media, and the takeover by Musk will have major implications. He’s such a micromanager that when Tesla was having production issues he famously camped out on a factory floor to help solve assembly problems. Despite all his tweets, we don’t know the full picture of what Musk plans for the platform. But he has made a few things clear. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker promised Monday night that he would file a lawsuit this morning against The Daily Beast, after the website’s Roger Sollenberger reported that Walker paid for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion in 2009. The woman, who was not identified, provided Sollenberger with a receipt for the procedure, a get-well card signed by Walker and an image of a personal check signed by Walker for $700. The Beast reported also that it corroborated the woman’s claims with a close friend who took care of her after the procedure. And campaign guru Steve Shepard shifted POLITICO Election Forecast ratings for 23 House and governor races in a column sent to Campaign Pro subscribers Monday night. That so many races are in flux isn’t necessarily surprising with Election Day just five weeks away. What is surprising is how those 23 races are shifting: Twelve went toward Republican candidates, while 11 went toward Democrats. Plus Playbook's Eugene Daniels chats with Maggie Haberman about her new book, “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America” ($32), released today. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

AP’s Meg Kinnard and Adriana Gomez Licon: “A revived Hurricane Ian set its sights on South Carolina’s coast Friday and the historic city of Charleston, with forecasters predicting a storm surge and floods after the megastorm caused catastrophic damage in Florida and left people trapped in their homes. “With all of South Carolina’s coast under a hurricane warning, a steady stream of vehicles left Charleston on Thursday, many likely heeding officials’ warnings to seek higher ground. Storefronts were sandbagged to ward off high water levels in an area prone to inundation. And the Senate battlefield is narrowing, and leaders in both parties agree that control of the upper chamber is coming down to two (very different) Sun Belt swing states: Nevada and Georgia. “Democrats' most straightforward path to keeping the majority still means bringing back their so-called Core Four battleground senators: Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Mark Kelly of Arizona, Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada,” Burgess Everett and Natalie Allison report this morning. “And while Hassan and Kelly are breathing a bit easier these days, Cortez Masto and Warnock are sweating it out in extremely tight races.” Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

A new Gallup poll set for release today shows a drop in approval of and confidence in the Supreme Court. Gallup previewed some of the key findings for Playbook: The topline: “Less than half of Americans say they have ‘a great deal’ or ‘a fair amount’ of trust in the judicial branch of the federal government, representing a 20-percentage-point drop from two years ago, including seven points since last year.” And as it made landfall in Florida on Wednesday, Hurricane Ian forced roads to close, rained in torrents, flooded vast coastal areas, spawned tornadoes and forced locals who hadn’t already escaped harm’s way to bunker down. One thing the hurricane didn’t stop? Negative campaign ads. Plus, FDA reporter Katherine Foley stops by to dissect the stars for NASA Administrator and former senator Bill Nelson who turns 80 today. Happy birthday! Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Hurricane Ian is set to reach Florida’s Gulf Coast as early as this afternoon after days of dire warnings about its potential impacts. This morning, the national Hurricane Center said winds had reached 140 mph, strengthening to a Category 4. More than 2 million people are under orders to leave their homes. Said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis: “That doesn’t mean you need to go all across God’s creation to evacuate — just get to the higher ground and get into a safe structure.” And he’s been the de facto decision-maker for the Senate Democratic majority, but after a week of holding the line, Sen. Joe Manchin had to admit defeat Tuesday — for now. The West Virginia senator was dead-set on passing a permitting overhaul for energy projects this month, by tying the legislation to a must-pass spending stopgap. Manchin world was convinced the time was right for action, with fresh buy-in from Democratic leaders, combined with long-standing support for the notion of permitting reform among Republicans. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Countdown — Six weeks until Election Day! Continuing Resolution released — Full text … Section-by-section summary Nestled into the stopgap spending bill that Congress is aiming to pass to avert a government shutdown this week is over $12 billion in aid for Ukraine, AP’s Kevin Freking reports. What else is in it: “The funding package, which Congress is set to consider this week, will also provide disaster assistance, including for Jackson, Mississippi. … Also in the package is money to help households afford winter heating and funding to assist Afghans in resettling in the U.S.” What’s not in it: Biden’s request for emergency funds to fight Covid and monkeypox. What’s in it for now, but might not be for long: Sen. Joe Manchin's permitting reform bill. IFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis spent his first term becoming one of the most influential Republicans in the country — a likely 2024 contender who’s already shaping his party’s national agenda. But DeSantis still hasn’t faced one of the toughest challenges a Florida leader can encounter: A hurricane. That’s all changing this week as Hurricane Ian barrels toward the state, and, Matt Dixon writes from Tallahassee, “depending on how well the governor responds to the potentially catastrophic storm, DeSantis may emerge more popular or open himself up to criticism.” Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Playbook editor Mike DeBonis and deputy editor Zack Stanton discuss Maggie Haberman's anticipated book, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America. POLITICO's Steve Shepard's must-read this morning, Pollsters fear they’re blowing it again in 2022 and the odds of a government shutdown if Congress can't reach a deal by Friday at midnight. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

It’s perhaps the wonkiest, most in-the-weeds debate happening on Capitol Hill: The battle over Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-W.Va.) permitting reform bill. It’s also the biggest hold-up in the quest to keep the government from shutting down next week. The measure (aka the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2022) would basically shorten the process to get permits for energy projects. Its inclusion in the must-pass continuing resolution is the result of a deal struck between Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Joe Biden that secured the West Virginian’s support for the reconciliation bill. For Manchin and those Dem leaders, it’s the ultimate compromise: Legislation that would benefit new fossil fuel projects (including specifically approving the Mountain Valley Pipeline planned for West Virginia) and speed up the creation of new clean energy projects. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.