Democrats’ massive reconciliation plan is sure to have a lot of progressive priorities in the initial offering — but don’t expect everything to stay in once the Senate Parliamentarian gets involved. | Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo
DEJA VU — Axios’ @alaynatreene: “NEWS: [Sen. TIM SCOTT] sets a new deadline on police reform. He tells @axios they need to pass a bipartisan bill by the end of the month. ‘I don’t think we can do this, after this month if we’re not finished,’ he told me & other reporters.” More from Axios
Reminder: Scott said “June or bust” last month.
THE NEXT BIG FIGHT — Our colleagues Jennifer Scholtes, Alice Miranda Ollstein and Ryan McCrimmon have a great look ahead at what might be in Democrats massive reconciliation plan: “Free lunch, immigration, more Medicare: What’s in the mix for Democrats’ ‘go-big’ bill”
— From the story: “Because Democrats only get one more crack this year at passing a bill that doesn’t require any support from Senate Republicans, every lawmaker in the majority party is lobbying to push their priorities into the final package passed using the filibuster protections of budget reconciliation.”
— The wishlist includes: Universal pre-K, two years of free community college, extending the expanded child tax credit, a paid family and medical leave program, free school meals for all, cheaper prescription drugs and a pathway to citizenship for dreamers (to name just a few).
Here’s where Dems get lucky: Technically, they can try to tuck in every progressive policy item they can think of — throwing some red meat to the liberal base — while knowing many of these ideas could get scrapped by the Senate Parliamentarian. Remember: Under rules governing reconciliation, provisions in the bill have to have a significant impact on revenues and spending. The parliamentarian gets to determine what is “significant” — and can therefore act as the bad guy when the Dems have to deal with disappointed lefties. More on this in the coming weeks.
Here’s where Dems have a problem: Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) says the party needs to pay for everything. “I’d like to pay for all of it,” he told our own Burgess Everett today. “I don’t think we need more debt.” Burgess has the story
— Another angle to the infrastructure/reconciliation convo: “Democrats Promised ‘No Climate, No Deal.’ But They Haven’t Decided What That Means.” by MoJo’s Kara Voght: “The ‘No Climate, No Deal’ tracker — a joint venture between the Sunrise Movement and Evergreen Action, a climate-focused think tank — has identified 14 Democratic senators who support that pledge, as of last Friday. … Mother Jones asked all the Democrats listed on the tracker what specific climate-related measures that they’d be willing to hold an infrastructure deal hostage over, and only two shared their lines in the sand. … Eight of the senators declined to share any specific red lines … with no coherent marker on what would constitute a breaking point — or force them to reject the bipartisan infrastructure package if it doesn’t meet certain climate criteria.”
CHENEY ROLLING IN THE MONEY — Rep. LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.) is out with another record-setting fundraising quarter, according to a Fox News report this morning. She brought in $1.9 million during Q2, which is even more than the new conference chair ELISE STEFANIK, who raised $1.5 million in the same three months. Of course, Cheney is going to need every penny: Trump World is coming after her, and her own GOP leadership is unlikely to lift a finger to help. Wyoming will be the primary to watch. Book your plane tix now for Casper, Cody and Jackson!
Good Tuesday afternoon.
YOU LOOK HAPPY AND HEALTHY — OLIVIA RODRIGO, the teen pop sensation of the year, will visit the White House on Wednesday to meet with President JOE BIDEN and Dr. ANTHONY FAUCI, and record videos promoting vaccinations among young people.
Our question is: Will Olivia get Biden to say “vaccines are good 4 u”? And to all the members of the D.C. press corps — including Rachael — asking who Olivia Rodrigo is, all we have to say is: God, it’s brutal out here. We’re just happy our fellow Olivia fan Brittany Shepherd will be Wednesday’s pooler.
A message from Amazon:
Voters of both parties support wage increases.The most recent elections made it clear: Voters in both political parties support a higher wages. The federal minimum wage hasn’t changed in 12 years, despite significant cost-of-living increases. Amazon saw the need to do more for their employees and communities and established a $15 an hour starting wage in 2018.
TUCKER TALKS UP THIEL-BACKED SENATE CANDIDATES — Fox News host TUCKER CARLSON gave two Senate candidates a boost on his show last night — something he rarely does, despite his heavyweight status in MAGA World. “The Republican Party is getting better,” said Carlson, who frequently rips on establishment GOPers in the House and Senate. “We know this because of two new Republican Senate candidates. The first is J.D. VANCE in Ohio, and the second: In the state of Arizona, BLAKE MASTERS is running [and is] every bit as impressive.” Expect that to be snipped for their campaign ads.
Masters is the COO of Thiel Capital, the investment firm founded by PETER THIEL the tech billionaire and Trump supporter. Vance worked for Thiel after graduating from Yale Law School, and Thiel was an early investor in Vance’s VC firm.
FOR YOUR RADAR: “Biden to participate in CNN town hall in Cincinnati next week,” CNN
FLOTUS ABROAD — First lady JILL BIDEN will travel to Tokyo to lead the U.S. delegation for the Olympics opening ceremony on July 23, the White House announced this morning. More from Marissa Martinez
WHAT JANET YELLEN IS READING — “Prices rise 5.4 percent in June over last year, largest spike since 2008, as economy continues to recover,” by WaPo’s Rachel Siegel: “Prices rose 5.4 percent in June compared with one year ago, reflecting upward surge in inflation throughout the economy, as more consumers open their wallets and supply chains struggle to bounce back from pandemic pressures.
“Data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday showed that prices rose 0.9 percent in the past month, a hike after prices also rose 0.6 percent in May. The price hike in June marked the largest 1-month spike since June 2008. Still, policymakers at the Federal Reserve and White House continue to predict that as the economy has time to heal, the surge in inflation will cool and overall prices will settle back down.”
VACCINE CHECK-IN — “J&J, AstraZeneca Explore Covid-19 Vaccine Modification in Response to Rare Blood Clots,” by WSJ’s Jenny Strasburg and Parmy Olson: “Fast-developing clues into how the clots form — driven in part by independent scientists in Europe, the U.S. and Canada — are boosting hopes of identifying the cause and possibly re-engineering AstraZeneca’s shot by next year … It is too early to know whether either shot can be modified, or whether doing so would make commercial sense, these people say.”
— “Surgeon General: Virus booster shots ‘possible,’” AP: “Surgeon General VIVEK MURTHY told CNN that no decision had been made yet after a meeting Monday with Pfizer to discuss its request for approval of a third shot of its coronavirus vaccine. He added as officials make their assessments, ‘what we’re really looking for is clear evidence that immunity is waning,’ such as breakthrough infections in the vaccinated population.”
TRUMP BOOK CLUB — CNN’s Devan Cole is out with some new details from WSJ reporter MICHAEL BENDER’S book on the closing days of the Trump administration, “Frankly, We Did Win This Election.” In 2020, amid widespread protests in Washington following the murder of GEORGE FLOYD, Trump was taken to the White House bunker — and when the NYT broke that story, Trump “held a tense meeting with top military, law enforcement and West Wing advisers, in which he … shouted at them to smoke out whoever had leaked it. It was the most upset some aides had ever seen the president,” Bender wrote.
“‘Whoever did that, they should be charged with treason!’ Trump yelled. ‘They should be executed!’” the book reads. Writes Cole: “Trump, angry over the leak for days, ‘repeatedly asked [then-COS MARK] MEADOWS if he’d found the leaker,’ with his top aide becoming ‘obsessed’ with finding the source, according to the book, which noted that ‘those who said they’d heard the president issue that warning had interpreted the outburst as a sign of a president in panic.’”
BIDEN NOMINATES MANCHIN ALLY — “Biden to pick former West Virginia health official as nation’s drug czar,” by WaPo’s Dan Diamond: “RAHUL GUPTA, the top health official at maternal-and-child advocacy group March of Dimes, will be nominated as the next director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, [sources] said. Biden’s announcement is slated for 4 p.m. Tuesday.
“Gupta, a primary-care doctor who previously served as West Virginia’s health commissioner and led Biden’s transition efforts for the drug policy office, would be the first physician to serve as drug czar if confirmed by the Senate. … Gupta, an ally of Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W. Va), has been favored for months to take the role of drug czar, but he faced resistance from some anti-addiction advocates, who argued he did too little to ensure safe-needle exchange during a 2017 HIV outbreak in West Virginia.”
CLIMATE FILES — “White House appoints new director to steer key climate change report,” by WaPo’s Jason Samenow: “The Biden administration has tapped scientist ALLISON CRIMMINS from the Environmental Protection Agency to guide the U.S. government’s next authoritative report on the consequences of climate change. The report, known as the National Climate Assessment, may take on unsurpassed importance in the Biden administration, which has made climate change a top priority.” It’s due out by the end of 2023.
— “California fires are burning faster, hotter, more intensely — and getting harder to fight,” by L.A. Times’ Hayley Smith and Alex Wigglesworth: “In 2020 … fires scorched twice as much land statewide as they did in 2018.”
— “Drought Hits the Southwest, and New Mexico’s Canals Run Dry,” by NYT’s Simon Romero in Ledoux, N.M.
AMAZON’S JEDI MIND TRICK — “G.O.P. Lawmakers Question Amazon’s Connections on Pentagon Contract,” by NYT’s Ken Vogel and Kate Conger: “Previously unreleased emails show that Pentagon officials in 2017 and 2018 lavished praise on several of the tech executives whose companies expressed interest in the original contract, especially Amazon, while concerns about the company’s access appear to have been glossed over, according to the emails, other documents and interviews.
“Two Republican lawmakers who have pushed to rein in the dominance of Amazon and other tech companies in consumer markets are seizing on the emails as evidence that Amazon unfairly used its influence in competing for taxpayer-funded contracts. Representative KEN BUCK of Colorado and Senator MIKE LEE of Utah called for Amazon to testify under oath about ‘whether it tried to improperly influence the largest federal contract in history,’ the $10 billion project called the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, that would move the Pentagon’s computer networks into the cloud.”
THE LATEST IN THE MIDDLE EAST — “Iranian commander urged escalation against U.S. forces at Iraq meeting, sources say,” Reuters/Baghdad: “A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander urged Iraqi Shi’ite militias to step up attacks on U.S. targets during a meeting in Baghdad last week, three militia sources and two Iraqi security sources familiar with the gathering said. American forces in Iraq and Syria were attacked several times following the visit by an Iranian delegation led by Revolutionary Guards intelligence chief HOSSEIN TAEB, which came after deadly U.S. air strikes against Iran-backed militias at the Syrian-Iraqi border on June 27. While encouraging retaliation, the Iranians advised the Iraqis not to go too far to avoid a big escalation, three militia sources briefed on the meeting said.”
— “Taliban surge in north Afghanistan sends thousands fleeing,” by AP’s Kathy Gannon in Camp Istiqlal, Afghanistan
2022 WATCH — “North Carolina Democratic voters yearn for a new type of Senate candidate after years of defeats. Now they have two,” by WaPo’s Mike DeBonis in Durham: “[CHERI] BEASLEY is a different kind of candidate — an African American woman and veteran judge who has previously run three statewide campaigns — who is so far overseeing a largely conventional campaign that has prioritized fundraising, endorsements and a low-key listening tour of the state.
“[State Sen. JEFF] JACKSON, on the other hand, is a very familiar type of candidate — a White male Army veteran and former state prosecutor — but one who is offering a wholly different kind of campaign from past Senate candidates in North Carolina. It’s one built on a significant social media presence and a barnstorming tour inspired by BETO O’ROURKE’S 2018 run in Texas that is drawing sizable crowds of curious Democrats many months before the primary. The two are offering competing answers to a high-stakes question with national implications: How do Democrats motivate voters in a midterm election year where political head winds have traditionally blown against the president’s party?”
CASH DASH — Sen. TED CRUZ (R-Texas) announced he raised just over $5 million in the second quarter of the year, the second time in a row he’s crossed that threshold.
HMM — “The obscure foundation funding ‘Critical Race Theory’ hysteria,” by Popular Information’s Judd Legum and Tesnim Zekeria: “A Popular Information investigation reveals that many of the entities behind the CRT panic share a common funding source: The Thomas W. Smith Foundation.
“The Thomas W. Smith Foundation has no website and its namesake founder keeps a low public profile. THOMAS W. SMITH is based in Boca Raton, Florida, and founded a hedge fund called Prescott Investors in 1973. … [The] Foundation has more than $24 million in assets. The person who spends the most time working for the group is not Smith but JAMES PIERESON, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.”
MEDIAWATCH — Julián Castro is joining NBC News/MSNBC as a political analyst.
SPOTTED at a book party hosted by Mike Bloomberg on Monday night to celebrate the publication of Gary Ginsberg’s new book, “First Friends” ($21.85 on Amazon) at Bloomberg Philanthropies: Blair and Cheryl Effron, Patti Harris, Kevin Sheekey, Walter and Cathy Isaacson, Wes Moore, Suzanna Aron, Sol Shapiro and Kerith Aronow, Howard Wolfson, Michael Lynton, Brynne Craig, Chris Licht, David Gergen, Kate Bolduan, Jake Siewert, Tammy Haddad, Claire Bingham and Joe Finnerty, Rick Stengel, John Avalon, Jim Rutenberg, Holly Peterson, Stu Loeser and Doug Band.
TRUMP ALUMNI — Matthew Pottinger is now chair of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ China Program. He previously was deputy national security adviser in the Trump White House.
TRANSITIONS — Sam Goodstein is joining Venn Strategies as EVP. He previously was the longtime chief of staff to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). … Christine Hennessey is joining Narrative Strategies from Sen. Tom Carper’s (D-Del.) office, where she’s been comms director. Rachel Levitan will step into that role, heading press operations for Carper’s personal office and the Environment and Public Works Committee. …
… Former Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening is now a senior adviser at Scarlet Oak Strategies. He previously was president of the Smart Growth Leadership Institute. … Lexie Rock will be comms director for The Independence Fund in Charlotte, N.C. She most recently has been digital director for Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). … Trident DMG has added Helen McCarthy as a senior account manager (previously at Weber Shandwick) and Emma Novak as an assistant account manager.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Sean Ruberg, director of marketing strategy at Stand Together, and Hope Hurley, associate director at Finsbury Glover Hering, welcomed Keelan Robert Ruberg, their second child, on Monday.
— Phillip Giampapa, a congressional adviser at the State Department in the Bureau of Legislative Affairs, and Kaitlin Giampapa, an attorney adviser at DHS, welcomed Michael Frank Giampapa on Friday. He came in at 6 lbs, 14 oz. Frank was the name of Phillip’s father, who died while Phillip was deployed to Afghanistan, 10 years and one day before Michael’s birth. Pic
— Anja Crowder Morice, talent producer for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and an ABC News alum, and Peter Morice, COO at Teg Energy Group, welcomed Sophie Amelia Morice on July 6. Pic … Another pic
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