The Playbook Podcast

When Kabul fell to the Taliban several days ago, rocking President Joe Biden's pullout operation, the White House made a strategic choice: They doubled down, didn’t apologize and crossed their fingers that the nation would move on quickly. Now, 13 U.S. service members are dead following a pair of suicide bombs — the first U.S. troops to be killed in Afghanistan in 18 months — as are 95 Afghans. The attack, carried out by ISIS-K, is the deadliest assault on U.S. troops in the country in a decade. 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.

Today is the kind of day that candidate Joe Biden said he was uniquely prepared for. Congress is gone, domestic policy has been momentarily pushed aside, and global crises are colliding. President Biden awakens to the burden of his promises with a busy public schedule completely focused on foreign policy. He receives an update on the situation in Afghanistan from his national security team in the morning, has two bilateral meetings with new Israeli PM Naftali Bennett before noon and hosts a late-afternoon Zoom with governors who have volunteered to help resettle Afghan refugees. Here's what to expect in the day ahead. 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.

We try our best around here to sift through the competing narratives each day and present our dear listeners with a coherent story. But this is one of those weeks in American politics when it’s best to lay out some possibilities, especially across the three great challenges that President Joe Biden is facing right now: Afghanistan, the Covid-19 pandemic and Build Back Better. 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.

“How dare you?!” … “I’m pissed off!” … "Please, everybody vote for the damn thing.” Those were just some of the choice phrases being thrown around in the House Dems’ caucus meeting Monday night as tensions over the budget standoff between Speaker Nancy Pelosi and moderate Democrats reached a boiling point. The chamber broke shortly after midnight without any deal in place to advance the fiscal blueprint vital to passing President Joe Biden’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.

A pair of must-reads on Afghanistan overnight: — A WSJ scoop that casts perhaps the harshest light yet on the administration’s performance, by Vivian Salama: “An internal State Department memo last month warned top agency officials of the potential collapse of Kabul soon after the U.S.’s Aug. 31 troop withdrawal deadline in Afghanistan, according to a U.S. official and a person familiar with the document. — A POLITICO tick-tock on “five days of panic” inside the Biden administration as Afghanistan unraveled and crisis ensued, by Alexander Ward, Lara Seligman, Andrew Desiderio, Alex Thompson and Bryan Bender: “[B]y Thursday morning in Washington, more population centers were falling to the Taliban by the hour, including the provincial capitals of Ghazni and Badghis. And, did Barack Obama ruin the party in D.C.? His over-the-top 60th birthday party in Martha’s Vineyard first drew criticism for the size of the guest list during the Delta surge — and then after he slimmed it down, the former president was blasted for throwing an opulent party during a pandemic. It didn’t matter that he was following CDC protocols for an outdoor event. The bashing of the bash is having a chilling effect on the D.C. party scene as (especially Democratic) pols and their staffers scramble to figure out when and where — or even if — they can party again. 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 universally agree that President Joe Biden's bungled handling of the Afghanistan pullout has given them fresh ammunition to attack the commander in chief. Many Democrats think the same. But a major rift is starting to emerge in GOP messaging, as the Donald Trump wing of the party seeks to turn the matter into a base appeal with anti-immigration rhetoric. Over the past week, most GOP lawmakers have lambasted Biden for abandoning interpreters and Afghan civilians who put their lives at risk to help U.S. troops — and are now trapped as armed militias block their escape. But a not-insignificant chunk of the party is using the Afghanistan disaster as fodder for their campaign against immigration. The unsubstantiated charge: that Biden intentionally fumbled the withdrawal in order to flood the U.S. with Afghans. 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's average approval rating is below 50% for the first time this year. 538: 49.8% … RCP: 49.4% The dip has been driven by a slow erosion among independents that seems tied to the Delta surge and predates the problems in Afghanistan. It also may be inevitable. FiveThirtyEight’s Geoffrey Skelley: “We don’t know the range in which Biden’s approval will ultimately settle, but if the past two presidents are any indication, it’ll be a narrow one: Donald Trump’s approval mostly hovered between 40 and 45 percent during his presidency, while Barack Obama’s approval tended to fall between 45 and 50 percent.” And, in the coming days we’re going to be picking out the most consequential proposals in the infrastructure plan and digging into the politics of these policies. But first we want to hear from you. What policies do you most want to see unpacked? What are the political crosscurrents that you’re witnessing from your perch at, say, a House committee, Cabinet agency or outside interest group? What policies are the most vulnerable and unlikely to survive the sausage-making process? What are the hidden land mines in Build Back Better? Send us your scoops, insights, requests and tips at [email protected]. We’ll keep it all confidential, and it will help us cover this unprecedented period of legislating in Washington. 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.

Before President Joe Biden took the podium to address the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan on Monday, senior Obama White House advisor David Axelrod was on CNN giving him some free advice: “You cannot defend the execution here. … This has been a disaster,” he said. “He needs to own that failure. … He’s the commander in chief.” As Axelrod said after, Biden did anything but. Even as he asserted that “the buck stops with me,” Biden pointed fingers at everyone but himself: Donald Trump tied his hands with his deal with the Taliban, the Afghan army wasn’t willing to fight, and some civilians didn’t initially want to leave. Most of all, he defended the pullout he’s been advocating for years. 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.

Every biography or deep profile of President Joe Biden emphasizes his stubbornness, the chip on his soldier, his lifelong desire to prove doubters wrong — whether it was overcoming a stutter, or demonstrating his intellectual bona fides or entering political contests the experts said he couldn’t win. This is what the right gets wrong about Biden. Many conservatives see Biden’s Afghanistan blunder as evidence of a president who is detached and a plaything of his strongest advisers. Nothing could be further from the truth. 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.

Zach Montellaro, a POLITICO campaigns reporter and expert in (among other things) redistricting, writes in with a special dispatch today: Thursday brought the Census Bureau’s long-delayed release of redistricting data — the granular demographic data that mapmakers across the country will use to redraw political boundaries for the next decade. And while it’ll take some more number-crunching before data is ready for prime time, we already have some big takeaways: 1) The country is more diverse. 2) America is more urban. 3) We’re getting older. 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 is calling the House back from summer recess Aug. 23 to vote on the party’s $3.5 trillion budget, but she has a problem: Six moderate House Democrats, our ace House reporters Sarah Ferris and Heather Caygle report, have indicated that they’ll oppose the fiscal blueprint unless the speaker puts the Senate-passed BIF up for a vote at the same time. The speaker can lose only three votes. So this sets up another Washington staredown, this time pitting Pelosi against some of her most electorally vulnerable members, whom she often bends over backward to protect. And, former President Donald Trump is expected to meet Thursday with Harriet Hageman, a potential challenger to Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, his Republican nemesis in the House. 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.

We have liftoff. Early this morning, in a 50-49 vote along party lines, the Senate passed a $3.5 trillion budget resolution that outlines the Dems’ policy agenda. We stayed up late watching the Senate vote-a-rama, the long and free-wheeling debate over amendments to the budget resolution. The vote-a-rama is meaningless in some ways. The amendments — as well as the underlying resolution — are all non-binding. But if there was one area where the Republican Party repeatedly revealed a Democratic divide, it was on climate policy. 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 about time. After months of haggling, the chamber is expected to pass the BIF today at 11 a.m., then move fairly quickly to consider Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget resolution. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer indicated late Monday night that he thought both sides would agree to forgo the 50 allowable hours of debate. That would allow the chamber to start their vote-a-rama today and get out of town ASAP. But, it’s the Senate, y’all. And all it takes is one senator to slow things down. And, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel has picked up on a really juicy dynamic playing out in Democratic districts across the country: a war between Justice Democrats and Democratic Majority for Israel. Per Kassel, the faceoff between the two groups is “unusually personal” and “has animated several high-profile contests in recent cycles, particularly amid growing divisions between the hard left and moderates over Israel.” We saw this playing out last week in the election-night speeches of Shontel Brown, who benefited from contributions from pro-Israel groups and thanked “my Jewish brothers and sisters,” and Nina Turner, who complained about “evil money” from outside groups. The Democratic Majority for Israel super PAC spent nearly $1 million to boost Brown. 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.

Days after Mitch McConnell's political flacks complained about our reporting detailing the GOP leader’s concerns about Herschel Walker running for Senate in Georgia, CNN has a story confirming the scoop and adding to it. McConnell, it turns out, is so worried about the former NFL star and Donald Trump favorite becoming the GOP nominee that he’s seeking other candidates. And, it’s been nearly eight months, and the Biden administration does not have a single ambassador to a country confirmed. 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.

Chuck Schumer is about to double-dog dare Mitch McConnell and his members to vote against a debt ceiling increase this fall. Just weeks after the minority leader implored his counterpart to tack a debt ceiling increase on to their party’s massive reconciliation bill — lifting the $28 trillion borrowing cap without any GOP votes — Schumer instead is maneuvering to make Republicans squirm. The tentative plan: Tack the debt-ceiling hike on to a short-term funding bill designed to avert a government shutdown at the end of September, a move that would require GOP support. The Democratic leader is, in short, betting the GOP will cave rather than risk the blame for destabilizing an already shaky economy. And during the 2020 primary season, we had countless conversations with Biden campaign officials who warned that it was crucial to separate the social media conversation about Democratic politics from the conversations happening offline in early states. It became a cliche to say that Biden’s unofficial campaign slogan was “Twitter isn’t real life.” While Biden and Bernie haven’t been very far apart on policy, old electoral divisions have repeatedly resurfaced in campaigns this year, and we’ve been having a familiar conversation with folks in Biden world recently. 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.

Mike Carey might have been on the ballot, but in the Buckeye State on Tuesday night Donald Trump was just as much the winner. The former president’s candidate prevailed in a 10-way primary to replace former Rep. Steve Stivers, showing that the “Trump influence waning” narrative last week was premature. For the second time in recent weeks, progressives came up short. Our Ally Mutnick, reporting on the ground in Bedford Heights, Ohio: “The Democratic establishment dealt a crushing blow to the progressive movement Tuesday, with Shontel Brown, the preferred candidate of party stalwarts, triumphing over Nina Turner, a face of the insurgent left, in a special congressional primary election.” And, New York Democrats are gearing up to impeach Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo — and soon — after he refused to step down in the wake of state A.G. Tish James’ Tuesday report that he sexually harassed 11 women. We break down what it will look like. 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 two special election primaries for Congress in Ohio today offer windows into each party a little more than six months into President Joe Biden's tenure — and Donald Trump's post-presidency. And, for a while now the hottest ticket in town has been an invitation to Sen. Joe Manchin's houseboat. He’s entertained top White House officials like Ron Klain, but mostly he’s used the boat to bring together bipartisan groups of senators. But this week Manchin’s ongoing attempts to lubricate the gears of Congress with bonhomie aboard Almost Heaven, as the vessel is called, took a frightening turn when a vaccinated Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of his Saturday guests, tested positive for Covid-19. 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.

All eyes are on the Senate again this week. On Sunday night, a little past 9 p.m., the bipartisan infrastructure bill finally hit the Senate floor. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced the legislation with these momentous words: “I call up the Sinema-Portman substitute amendment!” OK, maybe it doesn’t read as momentous on the page, but we watched it live, and after weeks of delay — and a comical weekend of Schumer repeatedly coming to the Senate floor and granting the bipartisan group more time — it seemed like a big deal. And, with the lapsed moratorium on evictions now Washington’s latest political hot potato, House Democratic leadership sent out a joint statement Sunday night calling on the White House and CDC to extend the protections, and declaring that “action is needed and it must come from the Administration.” 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.

Sen. Krysten Sinema is not letting BIF or the reconciliation bill get in the way of her summer plans. When Chuck Schumer announced earlier this month that he might keep the Senate in session into August — delaying a previously scheduled recess in order to shepherd the two gigantic bills through the chamber — Sinema told the majority leader that she was not sticking around to vote, multiple Senate sources tell Playbook. She had prior vacation plans, she said, and wasn’t about to let the infrastructure or reconciliation bills get in the way. She may be in luck, though: Rank-and-file hopes run high on the Hill that if the BIF-related votes pass without a hitch, Schumer could hold a vote-a-rama on the budget Thursday night, allowing senators to leave Washington by Aug. 6 with their summer plans intact. But maybe that’s too rosy (or rosé, if you’ll pardon the pun). 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.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wants to flip the chamber in 2022. But one potential obstacle keeps coming up time and again: multiple Donald Trump-inspired candidates who might sweep their GOP primaries but go on to lose in the general election. Take Georgia: While Trump is all but begging NFL legend Herschel Walker to run against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, McConnell views Walker’s personal history as a vulnerability. 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

In the special election runoff in Texas’s 6th District, Jake Ellzey defeated the Trump-endorsed candidate, Susan Wright. It's a pretty rough outcome for Trump in a district where his super PAC spent over $100,000 last weekend, according to the Dallas Morning News. And, this was the week we stepped back in time when it comes to masks, and ditched carrots for sticks when it comes to vaccinations. Expect this to get politicized quickly with announcements in the coming days from states, cities, companies and political entities either embracing or condemning vaccine requirements. 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

This is going to be an all-around tough day for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy — and to a large degree, it’s a self-inflicted predicament. The House’s Jan. 6 committee makes its debut this morning. And, for the first time across dozens of high-profile Trump-related oversight hearings, Republican leadership and allies will have no voice on the panel. 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.

Earlier this year, two of the most unlikely pairings in America started on a journey that we here at Playbook have been watching closely: Bennifer and BIF. Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's first clandestine meetings were reported in the spring. Around that same time, some Republican senators began quietly meeting with their Democratic colleagues to discuss infrastructure. Both reunions were so improbable that they needed to be shrouded in secrecy lest they fall apart under the glare of public scrutiny. In the end, Bennifer went public before BIF. The couple made it “Instagram official” Saturday, but we’re still waiting to see the full details of the bipartisan infrastructure framework. 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.

No matter what happens to BIF, Pete Buttigieg has already won. The Iowa caucus winner-turned-Transportation secretary has redefined the backwater Cabinet position where Democrats typically plant their obligatory Republican senior official and vice versa (e.g. Obama/LaHood, Bush/Mineta). Buttigieg has assumed celebrity status in D.C., a mainstay of Playbook “spotteds”: In the past six months we’ve seen him riding his bike to work, hanging with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at the dog park, waiting in line for ice cream, sitting next to President Joe Biden in the Oval Office and beamed into our living rooms giving off warm fuzzies about a pretty non-ideological issue: infrastructure. It’s a posting that has never led to the presidency, yet some say Buttigieg has positioned himself well by taking the gig, right when fixing roads and bridges is the issue. 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 should be among the most important oversight investigations Congress has ever conducted. But the select committee on Jan. 6 hasn’t even had its first hearing and it’s already consumed by drama after Speaker Nancy Pelosi decision to reject two GOP appointees, Reps. Jim Jordan and Jim Banks. And, we told you Wednesday about how GOP leaders are going on offense against Biden’s $3.5 trillion reconciliation package by framing it as a “reckless tax and spending spree.” Well today, White House senior adviser Anita Dunn is going to the Hill to arm Democrats for the messaging war ahead. Dunn will appear at Senate Democrats’ caucus lunch and the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, we’re told. According to a copy of the presentation obtained by Playbook, her talk will encourage Democrats to argue that Build Back Better will usher in “more jobs,” “tax cuts” and “lower costs for working families.” 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.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wanted today to be the GOP’s moment to put up or shut up on the bipartisan infrastructure deal. But based on our conversations with sources involved Tuesday night, it probably won’t be. Republicans will vote against a motion to proceed to the BIF if the text isn’t done by the time of the vote. But members of the bipartisan group are optimistic that if the BIF is within striking distance — Schumer and President Joe Biden will have to give the deal a few more days to gel. And over the weekend, aides to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate GOP Conference Chair John Barrasso and NRSC Chair Rick Scott huddled to devise a counterattack against Democrats’ $3.5 trillion reconciliation behemoth. Expect to hear one phrase in particular from Republicans over and over this summer: “reckless tax and spending spree.” 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 Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework has had an entire political life that few pieces of legislation enjoy: a much-ballyhooed agreement after months of closely watched discussions, a ceremony at the White House, a presidential trip to a swing state where BIF was celebrated. Yet after all of that drama, it could be as if BIF never existed. And, it’s no secret that Rep. Jim Banks is ambitious. The Indiana Republican and leader of the Republican Study Committee has had his eye on the House Republican Conference chairmanship for a while now and would likely make a play for the post if Elise Stefanik only serves one term, as she has said she would. Now House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is giving the third-term lawmaker and member of the U.S. Navy Reserve an audition: ranking Republican on the Jan. 6 select panel. 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.

Chuck Schumer seems to be channeling Mitch McConnell these days. The Senate majority leader is taking a gamble worthy of the last guy to have his job by scheduling two major deadlines this week to force action on President Joe Biden's agenda. It’s a hardball move meant to test whether Republicans who say they want bipartisanship mean it — but also to strong-arm his own ideologically diverse caucus into line on the massive, Dem-only reconciliation bill. 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 fair to wonder whether Caitlyn Jenner is running for governor of California or filming another reality show. Well, it turns out she’s doing a little bit of both. Jenner is showing up at campaign events and rallies with a film crew like famous candidates often do — but she’s also brought the crew to an interview with Sean Hannity and to an appearance at CPAC. And, a pair of stories up from CNN and POLITICO spotlight Democrats’ upcoming gambit to back-door immigration reform through the reconciliation process — Senate parliamentarian be damned. “Top Democrats, with the support of the White House, are planning to tuck a handful of immigration measures into their forthcoming $3.5 trillion spending bill. The tactic — which just months ago seemed like a long shot even to liberals — is now widely seen as President Joe Biden's best shot at confronting one of Washington’s policy leviathans and delivering on a decades-long party promise." 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.

Back in 2019, when the House Intelligence Committee was about to kick off public hearings for Donald Trump's first impeachment, Trump and his allies pressed Kevin McCarthy to yank centrist Republicans from the panel and install the president’s most vocal allies instead. McCarthy wouldn’t do it. A year-and-a-half later, McCarthy is in essentially the same position: about to decide which Republicans to appoint to the special committee on the Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol. 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.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer proclaimed Tuesday night that Democrats are “very proud” of the $3.5 trillion budget agreement he had just unveiled, before adding: “We know we have a long way to go.” “Long” is one way to put it. “Painstaking” and “treacherous” are a few others. Here are the dynamics we’re watching as the whipping operation gets underway. 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 was after 9 p.m. on Friday, and staff for the bipartisan Senate infrastructure working group were hammering out legislative text over Zoom. Suddenly, the girlfriend of a staffer for Sen. Angus King walked into the room to announce they had a visitor. In walked the senator himself to thank those on the call for their hard work. Thought No. 1: These people really know how to live it up on a Friday night. Thought No. 2: This could all be for naught. Here’s why. And, it's Groundhog Day for the Democratic Party when it comes to voting rights. Once again, civil rights leaders and the left are clamoring for President JOE BIDEN to nix or alter the filibuster in order to pass the party’s voting rights bills. And once again, Biden is likely to disappoint. 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 Uprising’s Hunter Walker scooped that the likely next mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, is headed to the White House today to meet with President Joe Biden, Attorney Garland Merrick Garland and other local leaders to discuss what the White House calls its “comprehensive strategy to reduce gun crimes.” And, another story to keep an eye on this week: the ongoing struggle by the administration to break through vaccine hesitancy among the remaining third or so of American adults who’ve refused the shot. In a story that posted Sunday night, the NYT’s Tiffany Hsu called out Fox News — specifically Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson — for feeding into the problem. We know from our own conversations with White House officials that they see the anti-vax rhetoric as a real problem amid the spread of the Delta variant. 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 White House is scheduled to issue an executive order Friday to promote competition throughout the U.S. economy in the most ambitious effort in generations to reduce the stranglehold of monopolies and concentrated markets in major industries. And, It’s Donald Trump's most frequent complaint: people profiting off his name. The latest offender? His son’s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle. Aides told Playbook that Trump has been openly griping that Guilfoyle joined Eric Greitens' campaign for Senate in Missouri as national campaign chair, and he’s becoming increasingly short with Guilfoyle. 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 Congress gone, Joe Biden, our low-key president, has been the main story in Washington. He’s already addressed two major issues this week: how to respond to the Delta Covid-19 variant, and attempting to sell the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework and his American Families Plan to Trump-voting skeptics in Illinois. Today, he grapples with two big foreign policy dilemmas: He’ll receive an update in the Situation Room about Afghanistan and then address the public about the American withdrawal. He also told reporters Wednesday he would decide today what to do about the recent Russian cyberattacks. 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.

Back when Biden’s aides were debating whether to have a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the pro-meeting side argued that if he ignored Putin, the Russian leader was more likely to act out and create headaches for the new administration. A little engagement and attention, the argument went, might forestall the worst behavior. So far, it’s hard to see how Putin has reined in anything since the Geneva one-on-one with Biden. 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 House and Senate on break, President Joe Biden will be at the center of political coverage this week — and the three big Biden stories are Afghanistan, Covid-19 and infrastructure. All three issues share something in common: They are monumental policy and political challenges with enormous long-term consequences for America (and the world). Six months into his presidency, there has been major progress on all three issues, but no final resolution. In each case, a reversal of fortunes or outright failure is still possible. 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 former president was on a conference call with his advisers Monday discussing his favorite topic — revenge — when he was interrupted with an update on the Manhattan D.A.’s investigation. He would not be personally indicted, Trump was told — only Weisselberg and the Trump Organization would be. Trump was thrilled by what he saw as light charges, and according to one of the advisers on the call, his mind raced to 2024. “Just wait until 2024, you’ll see,” Trump said. The former president implied that the legal case would be seen as a political witch hunt that would backfire on Democrats. 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.

Tallies released Tuesday afternoon indicated that New York City mayoral Democratic candidate Kathryn Garcia had come within 2.2 points of leading candidate Eric Adams after ranked-choice tabulations were processed. But, shortly after the results were released, reporters and campaign staffers noticed there were roughly 135,000 more votes counted than those reported on election night. And, the president said something really important the other day and nobody noticed. At his press conference celebrating the bipartisan infrastructure deal, Joe Biden suggested there would be no coming back for seconds: When it comes to spending on basic physical infrastructure (for roads, bridges, public transportation, etc.), the bipartisan deal is it. There will be no using the parallel, Democrats-only reconciliation package to spend more on those things than Republicans agreed to. 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 surprised Washington when her office announced Monday that she was open to appointing a Republican to fill one of her party’s spots on the select committee to investigate Jan. 6. So instead of eight Democrats and five Republicans on the 13-member panel, it would be a 7-6 breakdown. So who will get the job? 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 GOP rebellion over President Joe Biden's Thursday veto threat of the bipartisan infrastructure bill seems to have been quelled. ICYMI, on Saturday the White House released a long and windy statement to mollify Republicans who supported the deal. Biden said he supported the deal “without reservation.” On Sunday, three of the five Republicans who negotiated it made it clear that the president’s walkback was good enough for them. So does that mean it will pass? Well, no, not quite yet. Here are the landmines we'll be watching out for that could still derail the bill. 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, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a rather daring new strategy Thursday for getting the president’s agenda passed. The gist is this: If Biden’s proposal for “family infrastructure” and climate change doesn’t pass, then neither will the bipartisan infrastructure deal that senators just struck. But the Biden-Schumer-Pelosi playbook also has the makings of a serious legislative cluster — and high drama over whether Democrats can actually pull this off — this summer and possibly into the fall. 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.

Joe Biden appears to have all but secured that elusive bipartisan infrastructure deal that both parties have been prattling on about for years. The core group of ten Senate centrists working on the proposal emerged from a meeting with White House officials Wednesday night and declared that they had a working framework. So now what? 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 top legislative priority of progressive Democrats is set to die in the Senate today with barely a whimper of protest from the White House. Republicans will easily filibuster the For the People Act, killing the sweeping elections proposal once and for all. The left, however, is not happy. Progressives are steaming that President Joe Biden didn’t use his bully pulpit to try to move the needle on the bill — or strike a deal allowing Congress to block GOP legislatures from curbing access to voting. They want to know how Democratic leaders can claim in one breath that democracy is in jeopardy — and in the next let this legislation crash and burn. 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.

Not to be too dramatic, but this is a big week for democracy. The Senate is back in session today at 3 p.m., and by the end of the week we’ll know a lot more about how broken the upper chamber is. As legislators headed out of town last week, there was some tantalizing progress on bipartisan legislation across three big issues: infrastructure, police reform and voting rights. 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.

Kyrsten Sinema's advisers heard it constantly from her during her 2018 campaign for Senate: “I want to be the next John McCain.” After she won, Sinema called the late senator a “legend” and “my personal hero.” This year, when she voted against a minimum wage hike, she rankled the left by mimicking McCain’s iconic thumbs-down that tanked the GOP’s effort to kill Obamacare. Now Sinema’s commanding the spotlight not only as a rare swing vote in a hyperpartisan Congress but as a lead negotiator on an infrastructure deal that could determine the success of President Joe Biden's first term. If she pulls it off, she will establish herself, like McCain, as a legislative force inside the Senate. 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.

As he returns from Europe, President Joe Biden faces a major decision that will have consequences for the rest of his agenda: Does he take a bipartisan compromise on infrastructure and hope the rest of his agenda can pass on reconciliation without assurances from Sinema and Manchin? Or does he move on and go for one big Democrats-only proposal? 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.