SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN — The government funding process has gotten so fractious in the House that Republicans don’t even have the votes to pass the rule for the Defense spending bill: Leadership just postponed the vote from this afternoon.
This $826 billion version of the bill already won’t become law, because it’s full of conservative culture-war provisions that won’t fly with Senate Dems or President JOE BIDEN. But even this bill has become collateral damage as the House GOP’s far-right faction holds out in the absence of much steeper cuts in the overall government funding process. The House has passed just one of 12 appropriations bills this year. As of now, “there are no signs of a deal between [Speaker KEVIN] McCARTHY and his right-wing critics that would shake the bill loose,” Connor O’Brien and Joe Gould report.
To take a step back, this is a pretty dismal position for McCarthy to find himself in. He’s not stretching to pass a monumental piece of legislation. This is a routine spending bill — one that is typically the least controversial, seeing as it funds troop salaries and otherwise provides for the national defense. If he can’t pass this, what can he pass?
Pulling the Defense bill makes clear that the Biden impeachment inquiry didn’t mollify McCarthy’s right flank — and the “conservative revolt” means he’s still staring down the threat of a government shutdown and potential motion-to-vacate votes, Sarah Ferris, Jordain Carney and Olivia Beavers report.
Today at a GOP Conference meeting, McCarthy floated the prospect of packaging the Defense, Homeland Security and Military Construction-VA spending bills together with emergency disaster relief funding, per Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman.
Another bill falls apart: The Agriculture-FDA bill is dead in the House for now after negotiations collapsed over Republicans’ insistence on banning abortion pills’ mail delivery in the bill, Meredith Lee Hill and Alice Miranda Ollstein scoop. That gives the Senate much more leverage over what’s typically one of the least controversial appropriations bills.
For the latest on the Hill: Check out Inside Congress Live, POLITICO’s latest repository for all the Hill coverage you want — including up-to-the-moment coverage of new subpoenas, the impeachment inquiry and more.
TOP-ED — “Michael Gerson’s words make the case for saving PEPFAR,” by GEORGE W. BUSH in WaPo: “We are on the verge of ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. To abandon our commitment now would forfeit two decades of unimaginable progress and raise further questions about the worth of America’s word.”
INFLATION NATION — The U.S. still hasn’t quite kicked the last stubborn couple of percentage points of elevated inflation. The consumer price index ticked back up last month, according to new Labor Department data released today, rising from a 3.2% annual pace in July to 3.7% in August.
The culprit, far and away, was gas prices, which accounted for a majority of the increase and now threaten to become a political headache again for Biden. Core CPI, which omits capricious fuel and food prices, actually fell to 4.3% year over year, down from 4.7% and the lowest in two years. But on a monthly basis, it ticked up from 0.2% to 0.3%. (Of course, both the annual measures are still a fair bit above the Fed’s 2% target.)
Airfares, car repairs, housing and car insurance also pushed prices higher, while Americans got a bit of relief on used cars, dairy and produce.
The report is in line with economists’ expectations that the final stages of reaching 2% will be slow and potentially fitful, though the days of massive inflation increases are likely over. The central bank is expected to keep interest rates steady at its meeting next month, but if gas and other prices remain high, officials could be wary of letting up, keeping another increase on the table later in the year. More details from WaPo
Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at [email protected].
CONGRESS
AWFUL NEWS — Rep. MARY PELTOLA’s (D-Alaska) husband, EUGENE “BUZZY” PELTOLA JR., died this morning in a plane crash, her office announced. “He was one of those people that was obnoxiously good at everything,” Peltola’s chief of staff wrote. She’s returning to Alaska to be with family.
IMPEACHMENT LATEST — House Oversight Chair JAMES COMER (R-Ky.) said his panel will convene this month for a hearing on Biden family activities that broke the law.
KFILE STRIKES AGAIN — Sen. JON TESTER made big ethics pledges in his successful bid to join the Senate in 2006, but hasn’t entirely kept his promises, CNN’s Abby Turner and Andrew Kaczynski reveal. In particular, he hasn’t disclosed staff meetings with lobbyists — which is where most of the influence-peddling really takes place. And he never introduced legislation to force lobbyists to disclose their meetings with congressional offices. That said, Tester has backed other ethics bills and disclosed his own meetings with lobbyists.
WHAT MIKE GALLAGHER IS UP TO — The House China Select Committee last week subpoenaed the city of Reedley, Calif., the panel’s first-ever subpoena as it investigates a Chinese-owned lab there, Olivia Beavers scoops.
NEW ON THE SCENE — Reps. BLAKE MOORE (R-Utah), GREG LANDSMAN (D-Ohio), RUDY YAKYM (R-Ind.) and BRITTANY PETTERSEN (D-Colo.) today launched the What Works Caucus, which aims to focus on data-driven, evidence-based methods to figure out how to spend federal dollars most effectively.
ALL POLITICS
BOWING OUT, PART I — JOHN TUTTLE has opted against a GOP Senate run in Michigan, Ally Mutnick reports. The New York Stock Exchange vice chair would have been well-funded but faced questions of carpetbagging. Several other Republicans are running or considering bids.
BOWING OUT, PART II — Ohio Republican JANE TIMKEN, who ran for Senate last year, announced she won’t challenge Democratic Rep. EMILIA SYKES in a swing district.
AFTERNOON READ — “She’s 25, idealistic, and believes she has the formula to win North Carolina for Joe Biden,” by Myah Ward in Raleigh, N.C.: “The state’s Democratic Party chair [ANDERSON CLAYTON] is organizing youth and rural voters, and people have noticed: ‘They know she’s fighting for them.’”
THE PRIMARY VS. THE GENERAL — Kentucky AG and Republican gubernatorial nominee DANIEL CAMERON claims now that he wouldn’t undo the state’s Medicaid expansion if elected. But NBC’s Alexandra Marquez reveals that earlier this year, Cameron filled out a questionnaire saying he actively supported repeal of the Affordable Care Act. He’s now trying to narrow his position to focusing on adding work requirements for able-bodied recipients.
TRUMP CARDS
MEADOWS LATEST — The federal judge who denied MARK MEADOWS’ attempt to move his Fulton County, Ga., case from state to federal court has also refused to issue an emergency stay of the decision, per a new filing made public today. It’s currently moving through the appeal process. More from CNBC
JUDICIARY SQUARE
NIGHT OF THE HUNTER — “Hunter Biden sues former Trump aide Garrett Ziegler over infamous laptop,” by ABC’s Lucien Bruggeman … “The IRS whistleblower at the heart of the Hunter Biden probe took notes. We’ve got them,” by Betsy Woodruff Swan
WILL ONE BREAK PROMPT ANOTHER? — At a hearing today, a judge listened to testimony about whether jurors in the PETER NAVARRO trial were inappropriately exposed to protesters outside the courthouse while they took a break for fresh air, Kyle Cheney reports. Depending on how the judge rules, Navarro’s criminal conviction for contempt of Congress could be in jeopardy.
2024 WATCH
GIVING HIS REGARDS TO BROADWAY — The Biden campaign fundraising drive is stepping way up, Bloomberg’s Jordan Fabian, Michelle Jamrisko and Bill Allison report. The president is headlining nine events before the end of the month, including one focused on Broadway next week. And VP KAMALA HARRIS will be in Chicago this week for a retreat with top donors. Notable number: Bloomberg floats $43 million as the amount the Biden campaign expects to report raising this quarter.
WHO NEEDS CONGRESS? — VIVEK RAMASWAMY tells Semafor’s Shelby Talcott that as president, he would act unilaterally to shutter five federal agencies: the FBI, Education Department, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, USDA Food and Nutrition Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He tells Axios’ Sophia Cai that he’s also eyeing the IRS and Commerce Department for massive cuts — and slashing 1 million federal jobs in total across the government. Ramaswamy shared the legal basis for the plans, which build on Trumpist ideas but go even further, in a speech at the America First Policy Institute today. Experts say the ideas are wildly implausible.
THE OTHER AGE QUESTION — Is Ramaswamy too young? From Laconia, N.H., WSJ’s Annie Linskey examines whether voters consider a 38-year-old, who’d be the youngest president ever elected by several years, experienced enough for the Oval Office. His fresher ideas — and willingness to buck orthodoxy — have juiced his standing and elevated him to the race’s upper tiers. Ramaswamy finds that he’s connecting with younger voters, even as his inexperience opens him up to attacks from rivals.
THE DOOR CRACKED OPEN — In his latest POLITICO Magazine survey of Republican county chairs nationwide, Seth Masket finds that DONALD TRUMP is still (of course) in pole position. But there’s a big swath of undecided leaders who sound “increasingly open” to Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS, Sen. TIM SCOTT (R-S.C.), NIKKI HALEY or Ramaswamy.
MILESTONE — Never Back Down, the super PAC supporting DeSantis’ presidential bid, says it’s now hit 2 million door knocks across the country, Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser scoops.
2025 DREAMING — TROUP HEMENWAY is moving from the America First Policy Institute to the Heritage Foundation as the field teams for the next Republican presidency staff up to build out a robust vision for deconstructing the administrative state, Semafor’s Shelby Talcott reports.
POLICY CORNER
HOW THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT IS WORKING — New data out today from the Clean Investment Monitor shows how the IRA is transforming the private clean energy sector a year on, and the areas where it’s falling short, NYT’s Jim Tankersley reports. The share of spending on such technologies has now doubled in just a few years, and there have been major investments in solar panels, electric vehicles and green hydrogen, as manufacturing and new technologies have really benefited. On the flip side, wind power has so far fallen flat.
CATCHING A CHARGE — “Even Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Can’t Find a Reliable EV Charger,” by WSJ’s Jennifer Hiller: “America’s electric-vehicle drivers are increasingly unhappy with public charging, as problems that include glitchy or inoperable equipment seem to be getting worse, not better. Now the U.S. government plans to launch a $100 million effort to try to tackle the reliability issue and make public charging less annoying and more consistent. The funding aims to repair and replace thousands of old or out-of-commission chargers.”
THE TOMMY TUBERVILLE EFFECT — NYT’s Helene Cooper takes a big swing at how the Alabama Republican senator’s holds on Defense promotions are playing out at the Pentagon, where after more than a half year they’re now “cutting deep.” With top positions increasingly filled by acting officials, who “cannot impose any long-term vision on the military,” the U.S. is in danger of losing a slew of important leaders who will leave the military if they can’t get promoted. And there’s no end in sight to Tuberville’s blockade. (There’s also some grumbling in the ranks about Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN not doing enough to prevent it.)
HAPPENING THIS AFTERNOON — “Biden to announce new ‘Cancer Moonshot’ efforts to improve treatment, prevention,” by UPI’s A.L. Lee: “Biden will announce $240 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health.”
REALITY CHECK — Biden and Democrats want to make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts a key campaign issue, as they’ll have to be extended or expire shortly after the election. But the truth is that most of Republicans’ tax reform is sticking around, WSJ’s Richard Rubin writes: Biden already supports provisions that account for two-thirds of its cost. And it’s extremely hard politically to raise taxes, ever: That’s why, much like entitlement spending, tax cuts remain budget-busters and deficit expanders year after year under both parties. Experts say the enduring inaction raises the risk of a debt-driven crisis at some point.
SUCCESS STORY — “This Obamacare disaster had a surprising turnaround,” by Paul Demko: “[A] decade after the tumultuous launch of the Obamacare [co-op] markets, there are three unlikely survivors with robust enrollment growth, providing much-needed competition in sparsely populated parts of the country with older demographics.”
PLAYBOOKERS
OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at APCO Worldwide’s D.C. office end-of-summer reception honoring Courtney Crowder, newly named managing director of D.C. and chair of advocacy: Reggie Love, Brandon Neal, Ami Copeland, Candice Tolliver Burns, Nicole Young Collier, Dana Gresham, Richard Caesar, Dan Meyers, Margery Kraus, Kelly Williamson, Evan Kraus, Nina Verghese and Hannah Morecraft.
MEDIA MOVE — Sidney Blumenthal is now a regular columnist for the Guardian US.
TRANSITIONS — Kasey White is now director of climate policy at the Niskanen Center. She most recently was director for geoscience policy at Geological Society of America. … Alex Schaffer is now VP of digital fundraising at SBDigital. He previously was VP of digital strategy at New Blue Interactive.
ENGAGED — Aaron Anderson, a cloud engineer at VMware, proposed to Bridget Reed Morawski, a freelance environment reporter and the writer of Energy News Network’s Northeast Energy newsletter, on Labor Day weekend at Dry Tortugas National Park near Key West, Fla. They met at the college news station at Emerson College. Pic … Another pic
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