Memphis to Biden: Don't forget Tyre

The power players, latest policy developments, and intriguing whispers percolating inside the West Wing.

Feb 14, 2023 View in browser   By Lauren Egan and Eli Stokols 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 Eli | Email Lauren MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Nearly two weeks after the Rev. J. LAWRENCE TURNER led the service for TYRE NICHOLS, tributes to the 29-year-old killed at the hands of police here remained stacked around his office. There’s a poster-size photo of Nichols holding his newborn baby. Homemade signs honor his life. National TV cameras no longer stand watch outside Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, where Vice President KAMALA HARRIS visited to offer her condolences. The country is paying less attention to his death each day, leaving many Memphians to confront uncomfortable questions. What will justice for Nichols look like? Will President JOE BIDEN help us get there? “This is where it becomes very important to continue pressing the issue [of police reform],” Turner said. “Once this is no longer in the national news, it becomes our responsibility to continue raising the profile of this issue to the federal level.” For Turner and other Memphians, justice for Nichols would, in part, mean passing federal legislation overhauling the American police system, such as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. But in order to make that happen, Turner said that it is on Biden to make police reform a bigger legislative priority. Biden ran his presidential campaign promising to put an end to the type of police brutality that killed GEORGE FLOYD, but nearly three years later, the nation is faced with similar crises. As the president contemplates whether to seek re-election, progress (or lack thereof) on these matters is putting his standing among Black voters on the line. “There's not a lot of faith in [Biden] and his ability to do what’s necessary,” said LJ ABRAHAM, a Memphis activist who is close to Nichols’ family. “He keeps making all these empty promises and he's not pulling through for people that voted for him.” Turner acknowledged frustration over the lack of movement Biden has made on police reform, but said the president’s State of the Union address provided hope. A year ago, Biden used the annual address to Congress to celebrate billions of dollars in federal funding to hire more police officers around the country. But in last week’s speech, he spoke about the importance of police accountability, telling lawmakers: “We need to rise to this moment. We can’t turn away. Let’s do what we know in our hearts, what we need to do.” Turner said he was especially moved when Biden addressed the fact that, unlike every Black parent, he never had to have “the talk” with his children about how to minimize their risk if they were stopped by law enforcement. “I felt seen,” he said. “And maybe this will spark people to begin to ask — who don't know what ‘the talk’ is — What is it? What is he talking about?” But outside of Turner’s church pews, other Memphians lack the same hope about progress. Since Biden took office, more than 2,100 people have been shot and killed by police, according to a Washington Post database. Nichols, who died on Jan. 10, three days after he was brutally beaten by a group of police officers, is not counted in the database, which does not include killings from beatings or other forms of police violence. “People here are angry right now. And righteously angry because this is not something that just happened out of nowhere,” said CHELSEA GLASS, an organizer with Decarcerate Memphis, which advocates for criminal justice reform.“[Biden] has not done anything to change the material conditions for Black and brown people in America.” On Saturday afternoon, Turner sat in his office beneath a painting of the “I Am a Man” sign used during the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike, after which MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. was assassinated. With a determined look on his face, he said “justice is a destination” that requires a “sustained effort over a number of years.” Biden, he explained, needs to follow through on his State of the Union push for Congress to “come together and finish the job on police reform,” especially as other issues like student debt cancellation (which is currently being held up in the courts) have left some Black voters feeling let down by the administration. “They’ve got to put this at the top of their list when it comes to legislative priorities if, as he campaigns for re-election, he’s going to have some credibility with African American voters,” Turner said. “You don’t want this cloud hanging over your re-election.” MESSAGE US — Are you RYAN HARPER, special assistant to the president and National Security Council deputy chief of staff? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!     LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today.     POTUS PUZZLER This one is from Allie. Land that is now southern Arizona and part of southern New Mexico was purchased as part of an agreement signed by which president? (Answer at the bottom.) The Oval ’TIS THE SEASON: White House press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE passed out heart-shaped cookies to the press during her daily briefing in honor of Valentine’s Day. The cookies were from Uncle Chip’s, a small Washington, D.C. business, according to an administration official. Our CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO snapped a pic: Tweet by Christopher Cadelago | Twitter THIS IS AMERICA: Following Monday night’s shooting at Michigan State University, the president on Tuesday made an all too familiar statement, urging Congress to “enact common sense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, closing loopholes in our background check system, requiring safe storage of guns, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets. Action is what we owe to those grieving today in Michigan and across America.” FILLING DEESE’S SHOES: Biden has tapped LAEL BRAINARD, the outgoing vice chair of the Federal Reserve, to serve as his next top economic adviser, Bloomberg’s KATE DAVIDSON, JENNIFER JACOBS and JOSH WINGROVE were first to report late Monday night. Biden’s official announcement of his full econ team came Tuesday afternoon. The president will also nominate JARED BERNSTEIN to replace CECILIA ROUSE as head of the Council of Economic Advisers. Also included in the announcement: new roles for BHARAT RAMAMURTI, HEATHER BOUSHEY and JOELLE GAMBLE. Brainard will succeed BRIAN DEESE as the National Economic Council director. It had been two weeks since her name first surfaced as a frontrunner for the job. A veteran of the Clinton and Obama administrations, Brainard was the preferred choice of progressive allies, and her Fed background and past experience on China policy could prove well suited for the moment. She also happens to be married to Biden’s China czar, KURT CAMPBELL. Guys, we’re free for dinner any time. SO MUCH DRAMA IN THE FTC: A long simmering feud within the Federal Trade Commission exploded into public view on Tuesday when Commissioner CHRISTINE WILSON, the one appointee of former President DONALD TRUMP who remains on the panel, announced her forthcoming resignation in an Op-Ed for the Wall Street Journal. In it, she accused the Biden-appointed chairwoman, LINA KHAN, of “abuses of government power” and “disregard for the rule of law.” Wilson, whose term wasn’t due to expire until September 2025, blasted Khan for not recusing herself from the FTC’s legal actions against Meta over past statements clarifying her desire to block the tech giant from acquiring additional companies. Khan and two other commissioners issued a terse official response wishing Wilson well. But a source familiar with the commission told West Wing Playbook that Wilson’s behavior had grown increasingly concerning and suggested that her complaints mostly reflect disagreements with her colleagues. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: Anything about Biden’s 100th federal judge confirmation Tuesday. “The Senate voted 54-45 to make Gina Méndez-Miró a district court judge in Puerto Rico; the nomination passed a key test vote that indicates she has the necessary support to be confirmed and will become Biden’s 100th confirmed judge,” NBC News’ SAHIL KAPUR reports. “She will be Biden’s 69th confirmed district court judge. He has also secured Senate approval for 30 circuit court judges and one Supreme Court justice: Ketanji Brown Jackson.” WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This New Republic article by WALTER SHAPIRO about how, despite his persona as an average Joe who used to take Amtrak home to Delaware every weeknight to be with his growing sons, “Biden also accepted the credo of the Washington elite.” “Biden made sure that his children would always swim in that Ivy League river of power. … It is an unalterable truth of life in supposedly meritocratic America — the powerful and the connected want to pass their privilege on to their progeny. And, as Biden recognized nearly a half-century ago, the Ivy League and a few similar schools embody the yellow brick road in America.” MARYLAND BOUND… AGAIN: Biden is scheduled to travel Wednesday to Lanham, Md., where he’ll tout the administration’s latest economic wins, the White House announced. THE BUREAUCRATS PERSONNEL MOVES: BENJAMIN MOSSBERG has been named deputy director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council, DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. He most recently was senior policy adviser for Africa at the Treasury Department and worked for the State Department for 15 years. — CHRISTINA PRYOR is now chief of the office of public affairs at the Drug Enforcement Administration, Lippman also has learned. She most recently worked at the Brunswick Group and is also an alum of the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. — KIMBERLY DONOVAN is starting at the Atlantic Council next week as the director of the Economic Statecraft Initiative within the GeoEconomics Center, Lippman has also learned. She most recently was acting associate director of the intelligence division of Treasury’s FinCEN. RON’S REFLECTION: Former White House chief of staff RON KLAIN reflected on the past two years of Biden’s presidency in an interview with the New Yorker’s EVAN OSNOS. Klain compared working in the administration to “being on a sports team. And a lot of this is sports radio, where everyone’s, like, ‘Oh, you should have called that play. You should have called that play. Fire the damn coach!’ … I think part of experience and maturity is tuning out all that noise and believing in the strategy, and the plan we had, and the team we had, and the people we had, and continuing to execute.” Read the full interview here. Agenda Setting NOT SHOUTING, YELLEN: Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN issued another warning Tuesday about defaulting on the debt, saying such a move would result in “an economic and financial catastrophe.” But speaking during a National Association of Counties meeting, Yellen called the potential calamity “entirely preventable. The solution is simple — Congress must vote to raise or suspend the debt limit and it should do so without conditions.” BRIEFING BOLTON: The Biden administration is set to brief former national security adviser JOHN BOLTON about the Chinese spy balloons that flew into U.S. airspace during the Trump presidency, our ALEXANDER WARD reports. The meeting will take place Wednesday at Liberty Crossing Intelligence Campus in Virginia, with Bolton pledging to “ask for all the details, top to bottom.”   DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO MOBILE APP: Stay up to speed with the newly updated POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need, reimagined. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS– DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID.     What We're Reading Rumors swirl about balloons, UFOs as officials stay mum (AP’s David Klepper) U.S. focuses on training Ukrainian troops to use less ammo (POLITICO’s Paul Mcleary) The U.S. now faces simultaneous showdowns with China and Russia (CNN’s Stephen Collinson) POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER President FRANKLIN PIERCE approved the Gadsden Purchase, in which “the U.S. agreed to pay Mexico $10 million for a 29,670 square mile portion of Mexico that later became part of Arizona and New Mexico,” according to the State Department’s Office of the Historian. “Gadsden’s Purchase provided the land necessary for a southern transcontinental railroad and attempted to resolve conflicts that lingered after the Mexican-American War.” 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 Sam Stein.   Follow us on Twitter Eli Stokols @EliStokols Lauren Egan @Lauren_V_Egan Allie Bice @alliebice   Follow us

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