| | | | |  | | By Eugene Daniels and Eli Okun | | | PELOSI TESTS POSITIVE — Just before she was scheduled to appear at her weekly presser, Speaker NANCY PELOSI's office announced this morning that she'd tested positive for the coronavirus. The 82-year-old is asymptomatic but quarantining per public health guidelines. Her trip to Taiwan has been postponed. — Worth highlighting: Pelosi was right next to President JOE BIDEN and other Democratic congressional leaders — all maskless — at a White House bill signing Wednesday . But the White House said in a statement that Biden was not a close contact of Pelosi (defined as 15+ minutes of contact) and tested negative Wednesday night. — Notes Kyle Cheney: "Currently, the 2nd, 7th and 10th officials in the presidential order of succession have Covid." — Also newly testing positive: VALERIE BIDEN OWENS and D.C. Mayor MURIEL BOWSER. A HISTORIC DAY ON CAPITOL HILL — Barring any surprises, KETANJI BROWN JACKSON is about to be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice in a narrow-but-bipartisan vote, becoming the first Black woman to ascend to the high court. — She passed a final procedural hurdle as the Senate invoked cloture in a 53-47 vote. — The final vote is expected at 1:45 p.m., with VP KAMALA HARRIS presiding, her office said this morning. Jackson will not alter the court's partisan makeup, but Democrats are hoping that this moment of celebration will be a political shot in the arm to excite their base and tout an achievement. SCOOPLET: The White House has begun sending invitations to an event celebrating Jackson's confirmation Friday afternoon at the White House. We're told Biden, Harris and Jackson are all expected to attend. No word yet on whether there will be additional Covid restrictions in light of the increase in cases at the top ranks of the administration in recent days. It could be Democrats' only chance to celebrate. Senate Minority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL repeatedly refused to tell Axios' Jonathan Swan today whether he'd even hold hearings for another Biden SCOTUS nominee if Republicans retake the Senate and an opening arises next year. "I choose not to answer the question," he said. TOP-ED — ANITA HILL declares that the Supreme Court confirmation process is broken and in need of reform in a new WaPo column, which also castigates Senate Judiciary Republicans for having "mistreated" Jackson. TWO 100-0 VOTES — The Senate today unanimously passed bills to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus and codify a ban on Russian oil imports. The votes followed a deal Senate negotiators landed Wednesday night. The House has already passed similar bills, but these versions are now back before the lower chamber for votes before going on to the White House. Just moments ago, the House passed the trade bill with only a handful of dissenting votes. More from The Hill Good Thursday afternoon. We had some technical issues that made this morning's Playbook harder to read. We apologize for any inconvenience.
| | | | A message from Amazon: "This is the first time in my life when I've only had to have one job," said Amazon employee Mary Kate. "I didn't have a work-life balance." Today, she's earning more than she did after 14 years in education, and her comprehensive benefits started her first day on the job – including health care. | | | MEDIAWATCH SIGN OF THE TIMES — A new internal NYT memo from executive editor DEAN BAQUET lays out new guidelines for Times staffers' Twitter use, including encouraging them to spend less time on the platform and barring them from criticizing (or subtweeting) their coworkers, reports Insider's Steven Perlberg, who obtained and reprinted the memo in full. The policy "reset" includes making it optional for staffers to have a Twitter presence, and laying out new steps to back up reporters who face harassment online. WaPo's TAYLOR LORENZ, who left the Times amid high-profile disputes over her presence and harassment online, wrote a Twitter thread explaining why she is not a fan. JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH INSIDE TRUMP'S HEAD — WaPo's Josh Dawsey scored an interview with DONALD TRUMP at Mar-a-Lago in which he says the Secret Service stopped him from marching on the Capitol with his supporters at the rally on Jan. 6. Trump also assumes no responsibility for what went wrong at the insurrection, which he "hated seeing," blaming Pelosi and Bowser. He doesn't regret urging his supporters to come to Washington that day. And he wouldn't say whether he'd testify before the Jan. 6 committee. "He meandered during the interview and stonewalled questions with long answers," Dawsey writes. "He appeared to be in a good mood, aside from when he faced a series of questions about Jan. 6." — Chair BENNIE THOMPSON (D-Miss.) told reporters today that the Jan. 6 committee will "be talking about the likelihood of a Trump interview in the not too distant future," Kyle Cheney reports in Congress Minutes. GARLAND TAKES ACTION — The DOJ is in the early stages of investigating Trump's removal of "top secret" and other boxes of records to Mar-a-Lago, WaPo's Matt Zapotosky and Jackie Alemany report. WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT — Prosecutors accused two men of pretending to be federal agents on a DHS task force investigating Jan. 6, arrested in a raid on their luxury Southeast apartment building by a dozen FBI agents Wednesday evening, AP's Michael Balsamo reports. ARIAN TAHERZADEH and HAIDER ALI are alleged to have given gifts to Secret Service agents while pretending to be law enforcement: "rent-free apartments — including a penthouse worth over $40,000 a year — along with iPhones, surveillance systems, a drone, flat screen television, a generator, gun case and other policing tools." The motive remains unclear. And four Secret Service employees have also been put on leave.
| | | | INTRODUCING DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED: Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today. | | | | | BEYOND THE BELTWAY WHITMER MOVES TO PROTECT ABORTION RIGHTS — As Democrats brace for a possible repeal of Roe v. Wade, Michigan Gov. GRETCHEN WHITMER sued today to ask the state Supreme Court to overturn Michigan's 1931 abortion ban. The law has been unenforceable since the 1970s, but it could snap back into place depending on how the high court in Washington rules this summer. It's the latest instance of states getting ready for a major shift in abortion policy across the country. More from the Detroit Free Press CLIMATE FILES — Methane emissions smashed another record in 2021, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said today. They rose by 17 parts per billion, an even faster increase than 2020's previous record-setting increase of 15 parts per billion. The gas is the No. 2 biggest contributor to the climate crisis, and the latest data show we're not coming close to the reductions needed to avert the worst impacts of climate change. Stunning stat, via CNN : "The concentration of methane in the atmosphere is higher now than any time in at least 800,000 years." THE UNEMPLOYMENT PICTURE — New jobless claims edged down again last week, dropping by 5,000 to a lower-than-expected 166,000 across the country, per new data released today. More from Reuters STATE OF THE UNIONS — The success of a bottom-up Staten Island organizing movement at an Amazon warehouse has some national labor leaders wondering if they should adopt a different approach, NYT's Noam Scheiber reports. "The question is whether traditional unions, while ramping up their contributions to these efforts, including opposition research and other public relations strategies, will be able to resist the temptation to seize control from the workers who fueled them." MEGATREND — For the second straight year, the pandemic pushed U.S. life expectancy lower in 2021, per a new analysis out today. The average length of a life ticked down to 76.6 years, driven largely by a decline among white men as Black life expectancy increased slightly. That discrepancy, along with the disparity between the U.S. and other wealthy countries over the past couple of years, likely reflects vaccination rates, public health precautions and deaths from Covid-19. More from NPR
| | | | A message from Amazon:   Amazon's benefits allowed Mary Kate to treat a health problem she dealt with for 15 years. | | | THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION COME TO YOUR CENSUS — ROBERT SANTOS, the new census director, has a difficult job ahead, writes NYT's Michael Wines : "not just to rebuild battered public trust in the census, but to prepare for a 2030 count that could rely on government data and even private data from internet giants like Amazon to achieve a more accurate count." In a Q&A, Santos tells him the bureau plans to lay the groundwork to try to erase undercounts of communities of color next time. STAFFING UP — What's considered one of the worst jobs in Washington could soon be filled, Bloomberg Law's Ben Penn reports: The White House is planning to tap CARLOS URIARTE as the Justice Department's main Capitol Hill liaison. Uriarte's an alum of the Obama DOJ and the House coronavirus select subcommittee. "The first pick, HELAINE GREENFELD, a seasoned department official and Capitol Hill staffer, withdrew her nomination last year out of displeasure with the office's operations." WAR IN UKRAINE REACTION FROM THE WORLD … — The U.N. booted Russia off the Human Rights Council, following global outrage over reports of atrocities in Ukraine. The measure required two-thirds support to pass, and the vote was 93-24 with 58 abstentions. More from NPR — In the first U.S. enforcement action under the new export controls for Russia, the Commerce Department today barred three Russian airlines, including the biggest, from getting American parts and services, per Bloomberg. LATEST ON THE GROUND … — Thousands of civilians are fleeing eastern Ukraine as the country braces for a more narrowly focused Russian military presence in the region. Ukrainian officials said today they'll need more military assistance from the West and harsher sanctions on Russia to fend off the offensive, WSJ's Isabel Coles and Daniel Michaels report. — Bad sign for peace talks: Russia said today that Ukraine's latest proposal differed from previous drafts, while Belarusian President ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO insisted that his country also take part in the talks, NYT's Ivan Nechepurenko reports. — War crimes watch: German intelligence said they'd obtained two communications "in which Russian soldiers discuss carrying out indiscriminate killings in Ukraine," per WaPo. The Der Spiegel scoop, for our German-fluent readers
| | | | DON'T MISS ANYTHING FROM THE 2022 MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE: POLITICO is excited to partner with the Milken Institute to produce a special edition "Global Insider" newsletter featuring exclusive coverage and insights from the 25th annual Global Conference. This year's event, May 1-4, brings together more than 3,000 of the world's most influential leaders, including 700+ speakers representing more than 80 countries. "Celebrating the Power of Connection" is this year's theme, setting the stage to connect influencers with the resources to change the world with leading experts and thinkers whose insight and creativity can implement that change. Whether you're attending in person or following along from somewhere else in the world, keep up with this year's conference with POLITICO's special edition "Global Insider" so you don't miss a beat. Subscribe today. | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS FOX NEWS — "I was headed home Tuesday afternoon from Capitol Hill when the infamous fox bit me. Then I got an intimate lesson on how rabies shots work," our colleague Ximena Bustillo recounts in Congress Minutes. OUT AND ABOUT — The Thurgood Marshall College Fund hosted a reception for HBCU presidents and chancellors in the Mansfield Room at the Capitol on Wednesday night. SPOTTED: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.), James Kvaal, Harry Williams, Lodriguez Murray, Lezli Baskerville and Ashling Kelly Preston. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Michelle Dover is now executive director for the State Department's International Security Advisory Board, which is relaunching to advise the under secretary for Arms Control and International Security on arms control, disarmament, nonproliferation, international security and related aspects of public diplomacy. Dover previously was director of programs for the Ploughshares Fund. MEDIA MOVE — Dan Eggen is moving up to be senior politics editor at WaPo. He most recently has been Washington editor. Announcement TRANSITIONS — Katie Larkin is now campaign manager for Tanya Wheeless' Arizona congressional campaign. She previously was a policy analyst at Mehlman Castanetti Rosen & Thomas. … Vincent Morris is now a VP at the Clyde Group. He previously was manager of government relations and media relations for the D.C. Water Authority. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Andrea Bozek Grant, a partner at Big Dog Strategies, and Chris Grant, CEO at Big Dog Strategies, welcomed Andrew Stephen Grant last Wednesday. He joins big sister Audrey June Grant. Pic
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