The Playbook Podcast

All eyes are on Sean Parnell when he testifies today for the second and final time in an ugly child custody battle with his estranged wife, Laurie Snell. Though Parnell unequivocally denied abusing his wife and children on the stand Monday, the Republican Senate candidate in Pennsylvania is starting to bleed high-level support, two sources familiar with the matter told Playbook. The Jan. 6 panel issued subpoenas Monday to a half-dozen Trump advisers, including campaign manager Bill Stepien, campaign senior adviser Jason Miller, national executive assistant to the campaign Angela McCallum and former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Subscribe to POLITICO Playbook. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Congress is out this week and the Biden administration will spend much of the next few days promoting the benefits of BIF, making the case for the reconciliation bill and pushing parents and schools to get kids vaccinated. So enjoy a brief window of calm in between last week’s Virginia and BIF news and the holiday insanity coming to Congress. The must-read of the day to get prepared for what’s coming is this WSJ piece by Nick Timiraos, Natalie Andrews and Ian Talley on the obstacles looming for Biden. Subscribe to POLITICO Playbook. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

The House adjourned just after 10 p.m. on Thursday night as Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team struggled to round up votes to pass the twin infrastructure and Build Back Better bills. Democratic leadership announced the House will be back in session at 8 a.m. and votes would happen today. — One reason for Democrats to be optimistic today: “[M]any in the caucus are set to embark on overseas trips ahead of next week’s recess.” A deadline, in other words, could help push them to act. — One reason for Democrats to be pessimistic: “But party leaders’ failure to corral the votes they need on Thursday — after several exhausting weeks spent hashing out many of the same issues — has left some Democrats privately wondering how they’ll pull it off on Friday.” Subscribe to POLITICO Playbook. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Following an embarrassing election night for Democrats, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her caucus have redoubled their efforts to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill (BIF) and Build Back Better package (BBB) through their chamber this week. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced Wednesday night that both bills could even see a floor vote as soon as today. For now, the GOP sweep in Virginia and Dems’ razor-thin victory in New Jersey seem to have done what months of negotiations on the Hill could not: force moderates and progressives into line on passing both bills. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

New Jersey’s gubernatorial race is still too close to call as you wake up this morning. With 88% of the expected vote in, incumbent Phil Murphy is trailing Republican Jack Ciattarelli by just over 1,000 votes. President Joe returned from Europe overnight to a Washington where politics has been completely upended since he left six days ago. Before he departed, Biden told House Democrats, “I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that the House and Senate majorities and my presidency will be determined by what happens in the next week.” He meant inaction on his two legislative priorities, leaving Europe with no congressional backing for his climate proposals, and potential defeats in one or more crucial elections Tuesday that would make everything worse. Biden may have been prescient. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Could prescription drug pricing reform make it into the reconciliation bill after all? Senate and House Democrats and the White House came close to reaching a deal on the issue Sunday, report Burgess Everett, Alice Miranda Ollstein and Heather Caygle. The plan in the works would allow some Medicare negotiations with pharmaceutical companies — but if it comes together, it would still be much narrower than many Democrats initially intended. And, the race for governor in Virginia heads into the final stretch. The final polls: FiveThirtyEight’s poll tracker has Youngkin surging into a slight lead, now up by an average of 0.6 points. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

To say Thursday was a roller coaster for President Joe Biden's agenda wouldn’t do justice to how truly head-spinning the day was. The White House releases a Build Back Better (BBB) deal backed by Manchinema (now they’re getting somewhere) — only to watch Bernie Sanders balk (never mind). The president delays his trip to Europe to rally House Democrats behind his plan — then whiffs, somehow neglecting to deliver the tough love message Democratic leaders wanted him to so they could pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill (BIF) this week. But just when it looked like the day would end in embarrassment for Democrats, the Congressional Progressive Caucus issues a surprise endorsement of the president’s compromise plan — removing one of the last big obstacles in its way. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

A senior White House official recently described the reconciliation negotiations as a “nine-way teeter-totter.” Wednesday was a good example. Ever since Sen. Kyrsten Sinema nixed the party’s plan to raise corporate, capital gains and individual tax rates to pay for the bulk of the reconciliation bill, Democrats have been struggling to re-balance the revenue plank. And, House Majority Whip James Clyburn had this to say speaking to the Jewish Federation of Charleston on Wednesday night: “I’m not too sure that Democrats have yet developed the will to win in 2022.” Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

President Joe Biden was hoping to announce a deal on his legislative agenda before he heads to Europe on Thursday. But it’s Wednesday already, and so far this week, it’s been two baby steps forward, one giant leap backward for Democrats. We’re not saying a deal won’t materialize; odds are it will — eventually. Here’s a look at the state of play. And, A local TV station in Nevada took down a pro-Catherine Cortez Masto ad Tuesday after the NRSC complained it included “flagrantly false” information about the vulnerable senator’s GOP challenger. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

President Joe Biden might be finally homing in on a deal with Sen. Joe Manchin, but a sense of discontent is starting to bubble up among progressives on the Hill, and it threatens to impede what the White House hoped would be a big week for the Biden agenda. As the reconciliation bill’s provisions on Medicare, climate and family leave get watered down — if not axed entirely — progressives who initially sounded a positive note after meetings at the White House are now expressing concerns. And those worries are steering the left into a moment of reckoning over how hard to fight for their priorities. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

The next nine days are the most important of Joe Biden’s young presidency: He needs to rescue his legislative agenda in Congress, rescue his party’s political candidates in two states and rescue America’s leadership on climate policy in Scotland. The White House is hoping for a virtuous cycle of developments that will help accomplish all three goals: Securing a deal on the reconciliation bill could help Democratic candidates in Virginia and New Jersey. The climate provisions of the final deal will tell world leaders at next week’s COP26 how serious the United States is when it comes to reaching Biden’s stated emissions goals. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Taking questions at a live town hall in Baltimore, Biden got into the nitty-gritty of the reconciliation negotiations, speaking about his mix of frustration with and respect for Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) with surprising candor. He also made some news about the particulars of the bill/framework at this point in time. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

The Joe Manchin news that shook Washington on Wednesday was David Corn’s report in Mother Jones that the West Virginia senator is considering motoring his houseboat out of the Democratic dock: “In recent days, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has told associates that he is considering leaving the Democratic Party if President Joe Biden and Democrats on Capitol Hill do not agree to his demand to cut the size of the social infrastructure bill from $3.5 trillion to $1.75 trillion, according to people who have heard Manchin discuss this. Manchin has said that if this were to happen, he would declare himself an ‘American Independent.’ And he has devised a detailed exit strategy for his departure.” A rather angry Manchin told our Burgess Everett that Corn’s story was “bullshit.” We talked to Corn on Wednesday night and came away with the impression of a reporter who is 1,000% sure his story was correct. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

President Joe Biden began pitching lawmakers on an outline for his Build Back Better plan Tuesday night. The proposal, pegged in the range of $1.75 to $1.9 trillion, is far from a done deal: Moderates and progressives will have plenty to say before giving anything their blessing. But Hill Democrats are relieved that Biden is getting his hands dirty after sitting on the sidelines for weeks. “This was a productive conversation and also one that demonstrates momentum,” said a senior congressional aide briefed on one of several meetings Tuesday between the president and lawmakers. “This is a sign that the White House is actually putting pen to paper.” Here’s what Biden told lawmakers about the state of play, as well as our own analysis of the latest. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

An unusual confluence of factors have brought back a climate-change fighting policy that many Democrats saw as politically toxic: the carbon tax. While the idea has long been the favored tool of economists (Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is a strong supporter), some Republicans (like Sen. Mitt Romney) and the American Petroleum Institute, the Biden White House has always opposed pricing carbon. The president’s staff has feared both the general politics and the specific fact that a carbon tax could violate the president’s pledge not to raise taxes on Americans making under $400,000 a year. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Congress returns from recess today with 13 days until Speaker Nancy Pelosi's new Halloween deadline to pass the party’s package of infrastructure and social services legislation. One problem: The latter has yet to be written — or really even outlined. And yet: A series of calls Sunday with sources we trust to give us an honest read on the state of play turned up some genuine optimism they can get it done. At least perhaps an outline of an agreement. The end of October is both the official deadline to renew transportation funding and the effective deadline to provide a boost to Democrat Terry McAuliffe in his surprisingly close campaign for Virginia governor. As Heather Caygle and Burgess Everett wrote over the weekend, there’s a recognition among top Democrats that they’ve got to get this done to help save the state — and that a loss could be seen as an indictment of the party’s legislative agenda. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser writes that House Democrats have the upper hand over House Republicans in fundraising ahead of the 2022 midterms. A quick look at the numbers: In September: DCCC raised $14.5 million; NRCC raised $12.2 million In Q3 (July-Sept.): DCCC: $35.8 million; NRCC: $25.8 million In the first nine months of 2021: DCCC: $106.5 million; NRCC: $105 million BUT BUT BUT… cash on hand: DCCC: $63 million; NRCC: $65 million And, former chiefs of staff to Obama and Bush agree that Ron Klain may be spending too much time on Twitter while managing the leader of the free world. Listen and subscribe to Playbook Deep Dive Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

It’s a story we’ve become all too familiar with since Democrats took control of the House in 2019: Lawmakers issue subpoenas to Trump White House officials — who then stonewall at his behest. Today, the Jan. 6 committee could find itself hitting the same roadblocks. Steve Bannon and Kash Patel have been subpoenaed for questioning today, and Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino are slated for Friday. Trump has asked them not to cooperate, claiming executive privilege bars their participation — an assertion Democrats call bogus. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

So what’s the state of negotiations between the White House and Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema? The talks have been shrouded in mystery, but we have some fresh details we can share this morning. More is known about Manchin than Sinema, and for a good reason: While Manchin has been willing to discuss his priorities in detail with his colleagues in the Senate, Sinema only negotiates with the White House. Part of solving the Manchinema puzzle is that the 74-year-old former governor from a coal state and the 45-year-old former Green Party activist from Arizona are at odds on some major policies. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

With the exception of today — when the House briefly returns to clear the Senate-passed, short-term debt ceiling stopgap — Congress is out on recess this week after lawmakers kicked the can on their entire legislative to-do list. The big question on everyone’s mind right now is this: Will the delay help them get it all done, or just make matters worse? Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

A shouting match erupted on the Senate floor after the vote to delay the debt limit crisis for two months. Sens. John Thune and Mitt Romney confronted Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer after he lambasted Republicans in a floor speech right after the vote. And, it’s no secret that Trump’s endorsements have been impulsive, and it looks like he jumped the gun again by giving an early nod to Sean Parnell in the open Pennsylvania Senate race. Republicans we talked to in Washington and Trump-world are clearly worried since the news broke this week that Parnell requested a gag order on his estranged wife Laurie and her lawyer during their custody battle. Shortly after Trump endorsed Parnell in September, rival Jeff Bartos revealed that Parnell’s wife filed two protective orders against him in 2017 and 2018. Both were expunged, but some Republicans worry that there may be more shoes to drop. Take the POLITICO Podcast Listener Survey Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Donald Trump and Sen. Elizabeth Warren actually agree on something: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell backed down Wednesday when he offered Democrats an extension of the debt ceiling until December. (As of early this morning, the two sides hadn’t finalized the deal.) “McConnell caved,” said Warren. “Looks like Mitch McConnell is folding to the Democrats, again,” said Trump. Was it the filibuster? McConnell backed down after Democratic threats of nuking the filibuster for the debt ceiling started to become more real. At their Tuesday lunch, Democratic senators discussed how McConnell’s blockade on the debt ceiling was boosting the case of filibuster reformers. Later that day, Biden, generally a skeptic of filibuster reform, said such a change for the debt ceiling was now a “real possibility.” Take the POLITICO Podcast Listener Survey Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Republicans are set to filibuster Democrats’ latest bid to raise the debt ceiling today, just as Mitch McConnell has been saying they’d do since this summer. What is Chuck Schumer's Plan B? The majority leader, a political animal to his core, never passes up an opportunity to put the GOP on record on issues he thinks make Republicans look hypocritical. But privately, many Democrats acknowledge this isn’t going to get them out of the pickle they’re in because McConnell is seemingly impervious to shame — and Dems are running out of time. Take the POLITICO Podcast Listener Survey Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Now that the dust has settled from last week’s drama on the Hill, let’s take stock of where things stand with President Joe Biden's core legislative agenda. Oct. 31 is the new Sept. 30: Congress extended the highway bill, which expired Thursday, until Halloween. “Our goal is to get both bills done in the next month,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said at an event in New York on Sunday. Take the POLITICO Podcast Listener Survey Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

So much for that make-or-break Thursday vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Speaker Nancy Pelosi delayed the roll call just before 11 p.m. after a flurry of late-night meetings trying to strike a deal with Sens. Krysten Sinema and Joe Manchin over the still-not-final reconciliation package, Build Back Better, at the heart of progressives’ reluctance to pass the BIF at this moment. Here are some takeaways from a crazy day on Capitol Hill... Take the POLITICO Podcast Listener Survey Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Tuesday was the day it became clear either: A) President Joe Biden's legislative agenda is about to implode or B) Biden made serious progress toward a deal to salvage his agenda. The public evidence points to option A. By the end of the day, there was no indication Democrats were near a deal that would allow BIF to pass the House on Thursday. But the real action was shrouded in secrecy: the talks between Biden and the two senators who control the fate of his presidency, Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. So you can’t rule out option B. Take the POLITICO Podcast Listener Survey Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

The Democrats’ “two-track” process is no more. After weeks of linking passage of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package (BIF) to the party’s larger reconciliation bill, Speaker Nancy Pelosi told her members Monday night that she’s forging ahead with a stand-alone vote on BIF as the much larger social spending bill is being hashed out. It’s a reversal by not only Pelosi but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and President Joe Biden. Their previous position was that one should not — indeed, cannot — pass without the other. This sets up a major showdown between Pelosi and the Squad, as well as other members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. CPC Chair Pramila Jayapal has been saying her members will tank the Thursday vote if the Senate doesn’t pass the larger multitrillion-dollar reconciliation bill first. Take the POLITICO Podcast Listener Survey Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Congress is three days out from a critical vote on a key plank of the president’s agenda — a massive $1.2 trillion infrastructure package (BIF) — and President Joe Biden and House Democratic leaders haven’t even started the whipping process, we’re told from sources across the Democratic spectrum. Our colleagues Natasha Korecki and Laura Barrón-López reported Sunday night that the president was making calls and doing Zoom sessions from Camp David over the weekend on BIF and the larger reconciliation package. But the seeming lack of urgency so far — given the sheer scale of the task and mere days to complete it — is alarming some House Democrats going into a critical week, multiple people involved told us Sunday night. “I don’t understand why the president isn’t whipping his own historic bill,” said one moderate House Democrat. Take the POLITICO Podcast Listener Survey Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Subscribe to Global Insider Global Insider's Ryan Heath runs all over New York, capturing the madness of UNGA’s kickoff, accompanied by his sidekick, producer Olivia Reingold. Hear from Ryan’s go-to “U.N. whisperer,” Richard Gowan of the Crisis Group, and Penny Abeywardena, New York City's Commissioner for International Affairs. Plus: protestors accusing the U.S. of “vaccine apartheid” stop New York City traffic, setting the tone for critics of the Biden administration to come throughout the week. Also: if you have the time, we’re trying to learn more about our listeners. We’d appreciate it if you’re able to take our short survey. Ryan Heath is the host of the "Global Insider" podcast and newsletter. Olivia Reingold produces “Global Insider.” Irene Noguchi edits “Global Insider” and is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio. Richard Gowan is the Crisis Group’s UN director. Penny Abeywardena is New York City's Commissioner for International Affairs. Linda Thomas-Greenfield is the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. You can subscribe to Ryan’s “Global Insider” newsletter here.

Buckle up. That was the advice from Capitol Hill late Thursday night as news got out that Speaker Nancy Pelosi privately told her committee chairs that she does, in fact, intend to bring the reconciliation bill to the floor next week, reports Heather Caygle. The question now: Is it bravura or bravado? And, The Arizona Republic scooped the results of the Maricopa County “audit” paid for by “Stop the Steal” and Donald Trump allies: It found that Trump lost the key county by a wider margin than the official election results. To put a finer point on this: The firm selected by the people promoting the election lie, Cyber Ninjas, did its own count and found that Joe Biden won. Take the POLITICO Podcast Listener Survey Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Here’s the most important development that came from President Joe Biden's five hours of meetings with 23 legislators in the Oval Office on Wednesday, according to a senior White House official: “Moderates agreed that they need to coalesce around an offer to the liberals.” It might not sound like much. But given how dug in both sides have been, the White House views the commitment from the Manch-ema wing as “a real breakthrough.” And, the killing of 20-year-old Army soldier Vanessa Guillen, who had told family she was being sexually harassed by several soldiers prior to her disappearance at Fort Hood last year, has galvanized calls to change how the military deals with sexual assault and harassment. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Joni Ernst, a veteran and a sexual assault survivor, have long pushed Congress to act on the issue. Join Playbook's Rachael Bade today at 1 p.m. for a Women Rule virtual joint interview with Ernst and Gillibrand to discuss the state of their proposed legislation and what it will take to curb sexual assault and sexual harassment in the military. Register here Take the POLITICO Podcast Listener Survey Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Can the House get to 218 on the BIF? That’s the big question on Capitol Hill after Speaker Nancy Pelosi made clear Tuesday her team would not delay a Monday vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, aka the BIF. Here’s what we’re watching as Pelosi’s whipping operation gets underway for what promises to be a close vote. Take the POLITICO Podcast Listener Survey Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Internal Democratic discord has wounded President Joe Biden’s massive social spending plan, raising the prospect that the package could stall out, shrink dramatically — or even fail altogether. Myriad problems have arisen. Moderate Senate Democrats Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) continue to be a major headache for party leadership’s $3.5 trillion target. The Senate parliamentarian just nixed the party’s years long push to enact broad immigration reform. House members may tank the prescription drugs overhaul the party has run on for years. And a fight continues to brew over Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) push to expand Medicare. And today, Biden interrupts his mission to rescue his agenda in Congress with a mission to rescue his agenda with world leaders. He’ll speak at 10 a.m. before the U.N. General Assembly to an audience far more skeptical about his insistence that “America is back” than they were in the afterglow of Donald Trumps loss, which was (mostly) celebrated around the world. Take the POLITICO Podcast Listener Survey Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

- WaPo’s Arelis Hernández and Nick Miroff report overnight that some 10,000 Haitian migrants have crossed the Rio Grande and congregated under a border bridge in South Texas. - President Joe Biden announced in April that his community college professor wife would lead the administration’s efforts on new education initiatives, including her longtime mission to make two years of community college tuition-free. - NYT’s Jonathan Martin broke a stunning but perhaps not surprising story last night: Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio), one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump, is bowing out of what he said would have been a “brutal” reelection primary fight against former Trump aide Max Miller. Take the POLITICO Podcast Listener Survey Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a deal with about a dozen skeptical House moderates In late August to win their support on the party’s $3.5 trillion budget. If they backed the fiscal blueprint, Pelosi promised two things. One was to hold a vote on the bipartisan, $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill by Sept. 27, a sweetener for those members eager to campaign on the policy win. The other promise was less straightforward but no less important: Rather than the House and Senate drafting and voting on separate sweeping reconciliation bills, she agreed to figure out the contours of the social spending package with her Senate counterparts on the front end, ensuring any bill that passes the House would have 51 votes to clear the upper chamber. Now, however, some moderates are increasingly concerned that Pelosi and her team are playing fast and loose with that commitment. They worry that Democratic leaders are charging ahead with their own expansive version of the reconciliation package without getting on the same page with the Senate first — and making them walk the plank in the process. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio. Subscribe to POLITICO Playbook

Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom crushed the recall attempt by a nearly 2-to 1 margin. The coverage: David Siders and Carla Marinucci with how he did it. … AP’s Nick Riccardi with 5 takeaways … LAT’s Steve Lopez on possibly “ the most frivolous waste of time in California election history” And, Stephanie Grisham writes in her upcoming book that she did not believe that the election was stolen and tried to convince Melania Trump there was no grand conspiracy to deny her husband a second term. But a senior Trump aide provided text messages to Playbook suggesting that Grisham was sympathetic to — and in one instance tried to assist — efforts to stop the certification of the election in her home state of Arizona. Subscribe to POLITICO's newest podcast, Global Insider Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

At 1:25 p.m. on Jan. 6, soon after rioters had broken through barricades outside of the Capitol, Melania Trump received a text message from her then-chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham. “Do you want to tweet that peaceful protests are the right of every American, but there is no place for lawlessness and violence?” Grisham asked the first lady. A minute later, Melania replied with a one-word answer: “No.” At that moment, she was at the White House preparing for a photo shoot of a rug she had selected, according to exclusive excerpts of Grisham’s forthcoming book, “I’ll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw in The Trump White House,” obtained by POLITICO. And late last night, lawmakers, Hill aides and tax lobbyists were sending around a five-page memo outlining House Ways and Means Democrats’ proposed $2.9 trillion in tax increases. The hikes would “amount to the biggest tax increase in decades, and enough to cover most of what even progressive Democrats hope to spend on their coming ‘reconciliation’ package,” our tax team colleague Brian Faler writes. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

On Thursday, President Joe Biden was unsparing about the burdens that the unvaccinated have thrust onto the rest of us: thousands more dead, overflowing hospitals, a rebounding economy showing signs of retreat. Pandemic politics, as Biden called it, are not simple. But eight months into the crisis, any new set of rules offered by the president raises an obvious question: Why didn’t he do this already? The White House calls it a 6-point plan, but there were two big new things that Biden announced: — Vaccinations: Biden is finally leveraging the unilateral power of the federal government to expand vax mandates to some 100 million Americans: all workers at companies with over 100 employees, all federal employees and contractors, anyone who works for a health care provider that receives Medicare or Medicaid reimbursements, any employee at a school that receives federal money from Head Start and a few other programs. — Testing: Biden is using federal authorities to surge the production and distribution of rapid Covid tests, including at-home tests. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

They started off with a $6 trillion price tag, then lowered it to $3.5 trillion. Now, there’s reporting suggesting Sen. Joe Manchin wants the total for Democrats’ reconciliation plan to drop as low as $1 trillion or $1.5 trillion (though for what its worth some people close to him say his comfort zone is probably closer to $2 trillion). So what exactly will Democrats’ topline number be? And, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has promised to bring up long-stalled voting rights legislation when the Senate returns. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

A scoop on the Trump revenge front: Marc Caputo and Alex Isenstadt report that Donald Trump is set to endorse Wyoming attorney Harriet Hageman in her expected primary against GOP Rep. Liz Cheney. the former president’s top target in his attempt to purge the Republican party of his fiercest critics. Caputo and Isenstadt call it “the most important political endorsement yet in Trump’s post-presidency,” while noting that not too long ago Hageman was a staunch supporter of Cheney. As of Tuesday night, Hageman “still had a photo of the two of them together on [her] website.” And, on Tuesday, Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, released a major batch of legislation that he wants stuffed in the Dems’ $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill, including proposals on family and medical leave, retirement, child care, trade, elder care, nursing and an expansion of Medicare to include dental, hearing and vision coverage. Progressives cheered. But in no time, a source close to the negotiations reached out to us to dampen the celebration on the left: “Neither the White House or Senate Dems approved the Ways & Means package released today. Negotiations are ongoing.” It is the latest example of a frequent complaint from House staffers: that Biden and his White House have a Senate bias. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

One challenge in covering the Dems’ $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill is conveying the sheer enormity of it. Nobody really even knows what to call it. Is it a jobs package? A human infrastructure bill? A climate bill? Social welfare legislation? Yes. Because Dems aim to pass into law every major domestic priority on which they can find agreement, it is all of those things and more. The NYT’s Jonathan Weisman today has one of the better distillations of the breadth of this legislation by looking at its “cradle to grave” qualities and how they would affect the relationship between Americans and the federal government. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

A few reactions and realities the day after the Supreme Court abortion decision... States are already weighing copycat laws on abortions, Covid-19 precautions, and gun restrictions... Democrats feel the limits of their power in trying to protect Roe v. Wade... Even some anti-abortion conservatives think the Texas law is bad for their cause. MEDICARE EXPANSION VS. ACA: Democratic leaders have been spending the August recess privately sparring over which health care programs should get priority in the party’s $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill. The fight is expected to drag out for days if not weeks — and pits extra benefits for seniors versus coverage for more low-income individuals... Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to shore up subsidies for Obamacare, while Sen. Bernie Sanders is looking to expand Medicare to include dental, vision and hearing... in the middle, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is trying to persuade Pelosi. Carlos Prieto is a Politico podcast producer.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

BREAKING OVERNIGHT: The Supreme Court, by 5 to 4, declined to block Texas’s law banning abortions after six weeks — a strong but not final indication that the court will soon overturn Roe v. Wade … Conservative majority cites “complex,” “novel” legal technicalities and insists constitutionality can still be reviewed later on … Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s three liberals write outraged dissents describing the law as clearly unconstitutional and blasting the majority for shirking their duty. … The ruling, per AP, “​​for now [strips] most women of the right to an abortion in the nation’s second-largest state.” What you’ll hear today from abortion rights supporters, via former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal (@Neal Katyal): “Congress should tmrw pass legislation to codify Roe. SCOTUS powerless to stop it. If [Republicans] filibuster, great [argument] to get rid of it.” Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

President Joe Biden ended August on Tuesday with a combative speech in which he defended his decision-making on Afghanistan, which has become by far the most controversial turn of his short presidency. He criticized Afghan national security forces for melting away in the face of the Taliban. He insisted that Americans in Afghanistan had “multiple warnings and offers to help them leave.” “Biden is fighting The Blob,” noted our colleague Alex Ward. “That seems to be the messaging here, both in and out of DC.” And, Biden is about to make a sharp pivot from fighting D.C.’s foreign policy Blob to fighting D.C.’s interest group Blob. Two weeks from today, congressional committees are scheduled to complete assembling the myriad pieces of Build Back Better into a single bill — resulting in possibly the largest package of new legislation in American history. Today we start Playbook’s series of deep dives into the major policies of the reconciliation bill by digging into the Dems’ proposals to lower prescription drug costs.

It’s been a month from hell for President Joe Biden. From the Afghanistan pullout mission that led to American casualties, to the spike in Covid-19 hospitalizations — and an accompanying hit to his poll numbers — September can’t come soon enough for the president. After the last soldier boarded a C-17 to depart Afghanistan on Monday, the White House and Democrats are looking for a reset, our colleagues Natasha Korecki, Chris Cadelago and Laura Barrón-López report. The trio write today that Biden and the Democrats are “racing to put the conflict’s tumultuous exit behind them … plotting a way forward that hinges tactically on Biden’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and passage of his sweeping economic agenda on Capitol Hill. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Lara Seligman has a breathtaking account from inside the Pentagon that is based on detailed notes of three classified calls in the hours leading up to Thursday’s terrorist attack outside Abbey Gate at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport that killed almost 200 people. Lara documents the Pentagon’s deepening frustration with reliance on the Taliban to provide security in Kabul (and even drive buses for evacuees), as well as Biden officials’ growing conviction that an attack was coming and a fateful decision to keep the airport’s Abbey Gate open in order to process British evacuees. And, add Hurricane Ida and North Korea to the list of crises President Biden is facing this week. August was supposed to be devoted to highlighting pieces of the Biden economic agenda that is now being assembled by congressional committees into a $3.5 trillion bill. Biden hasn’t held an event devoted to a piece of that bill since the evacuation crisis began. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.