| | | | |  | | By Max Tani and Alex Thompson | | | Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice. Send tips | Subscribe here| Email Alex | Email Max It had been over 25 years since the Atlanta Braves won the World Series. But as the team took the right of passage that is the White House visit to celebrate the honor, the Biden administration left the team's hometown paper feeling high and dry. Multiple people familiar with the incident said that several journalists from the Atlanta Journal- Constitution, including the storied Georgia paper's Washington correspondent and a photographer, were denied credentials to attend Monday's celebration of the Braves' 2021 victory. The White House did issue a credential for the AJC's baseball beat writer, who is in town to cover the Braves' three-game series against the Washington Nationals. The White House has on multiple occasions told certain media outlets that they can only have one reporter at East Room events due to space constraints. But a member of the White House press corps told West Wing Playbook on Monday that some reporters without specific credentials for Monday's event were able to attend. And, according to this person, there was "plenty of space in the East Room" at the Atlanta Braves' celebration. Plus, larger outlets often get at least one additional credential for their camera crew. The credentialing incident was the latest in a long back-and-forth between journalists covering the White House and the Biden press team over the administration's screening policy for events on White House grounds. Limiting press access to events initially started as a precaution against Covid-19, but the White House has been slow to roll back restrictions. That's led to complaints from journalists and members of the White House Correspondents Association, which has called for the Biden administration to make more events "open press," which allows entry to any journalist cleared into the White House. Reporters and photographers have been increasingly frustrated with the White House's advance staff over access to events, which has occasionally led to public blow-ups by reporters turned away. Last week, journalists from Ami Magazine, a publication that covers the Jewish community, said they were not given credentials to attend a White House event dedicated to stopping hate crimes and antisemitism. JAKE TURX, a White House correspondent with the publication, told the New York Post that he complained to press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE about the lack of access. He said the White House assured the magazine its reporters would be looped into future events (Turx also got a question at a press briefing last week). The WHCA, which advocates on behalf of reporters covering the building and its main occupant, has repeatedly pressed the Biden White House publicly and privately to do away with the pre-screening process, particularly for major events in the East Room. NPR's TAMARA KEITH, the WHCA president, declined to comment on the specifics of Monday's situation, but told West Wing Playbook the organization "continues to advocate that events in the East Room be open press." It's no surprise that visits to the White House by victorious professional sports teams tend to be a hot ticket item. But Monday's visit by the Braves also presented a thorny question for the Biden team outside of the access issue. Following the team's visit, Jean-Pierre was asked whether the Braves should change their name following protests by Native American groups. The press secretary did not directly weigh in, but said it was "important to have this conversation," and consider the opinions of indigenous Americans. Still, the Atlanta baseball team's visit to the White House wasn't a headache for everyone dealing with the media. White House communications director KATE BEDINGFIELD, a Georgia native, attended Monday's celebration wearing an Atlanta Braves hat. MESSAGE US — Are you Ronald Acuña Jr., an outfielder for the Braves? Email us at westwingtips@politico.com and we may publish your comments.
| | A message from the American Petroleum Institute: New technology is cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Learn more. | | | | | | This question is from Allie. What was the name of FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT's beloved Scottish terrier? (Answer at the bottom.)
| | | THE ECONOMY IS GOOD! RIGHT? RIGHT?!?: Our ADAM CANCRYN reports that the White House wants to brag about some aspects of the economy ahead of the November elections, but such arguments may not land with voters still dealing with stubbornly high inflation. As Rep. HALEY STEVENS (D-Mich.) succinctly summed it up: "I'm very proud of the accomplishments that the president has articulated. ...But you can't force people to feel something." BUT …: STEVE WIETING, chief investment strategist for Citi Global Wealth Investments,told Bloomberg on Monday: "We think the US is heading closer to 2 million job losses net over the course of next year." WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This NYT article by JIM TANKERSLEY, ALAN RAPPEPORT and ANA SWANSON that notes factory jobs are really hot right now: "American manufacturers cut roughly 1.36 million jobs from February to April of 2020, as Covid-19 shut down much of the economy. As of August this year, manufacturers had added back about 1.43 million jobs, a net gain of 67,000 workers above pre-pandemic levels." The story notes, however, that these aren't the manufacturing jobs of yore but rather concentrated in "pharmaceutical plants, craft breweries and ice-cream makers." WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN'T WANT YOU TO READ: This write-up from Bloomberg about how Biden's executive order on student loan debt could cost at least $400 billion, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. As ERIK WASSON writes, that would "wipe out the $238 billion in deficit reduction from [Biden's] tax and climate plan." Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget President MAYA MACGUINEAS: "This might be the most costly executive action in history." White House chief of staff RON KLAIN pushed back on some of the analysis by arguing that "If you want apples-to-apples, note that this is a THIRTY year score; most often, CBO estimates a program's cost over its first TEN years." PSAKI BOMB: The former White House press secretary made some waves Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" when she said Demcorats will lose the midterms if it's a referendum on Biden. Her full quote: "Look, I think that Democrats, if the election is about who is the most extreme, as we saw, you know, Kevin McCarthy touch on there with Marjorie Taylor Greene — I'll say her name, sitting over his left side — then they're going to win. If it is a referendum on the president, they will lose, and they know that."
| | | | HAPPENING 9/29 - POLITICO'S AI & TECH SUMMIT : Technology is constantly evolving and so are the politics and policies shaping and regulating it. Join POLITICO for the 2022 AI & Tech summit to get an insider look at the pressing policy and political issues shaping tech, and how Washington interacts with the tech sector. The summit will bring together lawmakers, federal regulators, tech executives, tech policy experts and consumer advocates to dig into the intersection of tech, politics, regulation and innovation, and identify opportunities, risks and challenges ahead. REGISTER FOR THE SUMMIT HERE. | | | | | | | | @NEERA'S TAKE: Press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE declined to weigh in Monday on news that Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN was granting citizenship to former U.S. security contractor EDWARD SNOWDEN. But staff secretary NEERA TANDEN took to Twitter on Monday with her reaction. "This is my shocked face," she wrote.
| PERSONNEL MOVES: REX BOOTH has left the Office of the National Cyber Director, where he was director of stakeholder engagement, DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. Booth, a Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency alum, is now senior director of cybersecurity operations at the identity security company SailPoint. — ALGENE SAJERY on Friday will leave the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, where she serves as vice president of external affairs and head of global gender equity initiatives. Sajery, who is an alum of Sen. BEN CARDIN's office and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, plans to re-launch her strategic advisory firm Catalyst Global Strategies. VEEP DIPLOMACY: Vice President KAMALA HARRIS is in Japan for the state funeral of the nation's former leader SHINZO ABE, who was assassinated in July. Ahead of Tuesday's funeral, Harris met with Japanese Prime Minister FUMIO KISHIDA and discussed ties between their two nations. She said "the alliance between Japan and the United States is a cornerstone of what we believe is integral to peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region." AP's CHRIS MEGERIAN and MARI YAMAGUCHI have more.
| | | TPS EXTENSION: The Department of Homeland Security announced it was extending Temporary Protected Status for Myanmar nationals for an additional 18 months, through May 25, 2024. PUTTING A CAP ON IT: The White House is fending off efforts from lawmakers to intensify its plan to put a cap on Russian oil prices, WSJ's ANDREW DUEHREN and LAURENCE NORMAN report. Sens. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-Md.) and PAT TOOMEY (R-Pa.) are teaming up on legislation that would force all foreign firms to comply with the cap, instead of just the ones in G-7 countries, but White House officials worry about the effects of escalating the situation.
| | | | A message from the American Petroleum Institute:   | | | | | | The Biden-Trump rematch, in many ways, has already begun (WaPo's Matt Viser) Biden to host French President Macron at White House for first state visit (CNN's Maegan Vazquez and Jim Acosta) TikTok Seen Moving Toward U.S. Security Deal, but Hurdles Remain (NYT's Lauren Hirsch, David McCabe, Katie Benner and Glenn Thrush) Federal Government's $20 Billion Embrace of 'Climate Smart' Farming (NYT's Linda Qiu)
| | | How big is a gopher? Don't ask Biden's national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN. Sullivan grew up in Minneapolis, so "of course I grew up a gophers' fan," he said during a 2013 commencement speech for University of Minnesota's Humphrey School, referencing the school's mascot, "Goldy the Gopher." And it makes sense. According to the university's website, Goldy "is one of the most recognizable and beloved figures in the state of Minnesota. With the toothiest of grins, boundless energy, and an irrepressible spirit, Goldy is paws down the best mascot around (with national titles to prove it)." Sullivan confessed that "for many years as a kid, thanks to Goldy, I actually believed that real-life gophers were 6 feet tall." "It was quite a shock to me to learn that they're in fact really small and they don't wear maroon and gold in the wild," he said.
| | | | DON'T MISS - MILKEN INSTITUTE ASIA SUMMIT : Go inside the 9th annual Milken Institute Asia Summit, taking place from September 28-30, with a special edition of POLITICO's Global Insider newsletter, featuring exclusive coverage and insights from this important gathering. Stay up to speed with daily updates from the summit, which brings together more than 1,200 of the world's most influential leaders from business, government, finance, technology, and academia. Don't miss out, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | FALA, a nickname for "MURRAY THE OUTLAW OF FALAHILL." Fala was so popular, there's even a statue of her next to Roosevelt at the FDR Memorial. A CALL OUT — Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents with a citation and we may feature it. Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Paul Demko.
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