| | | | |  | | By Garrett Ross | | | | 
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) resumed his sparring with President Joe Biden this morning. | Francis Chung/E&E News | It’s the day after the State of the Union address, which means the reactions are still rolling in as lawmakers in both parties try to use President JOE BIDEN’s speech to reinforce their positions in a divided Washington. Republicans continued unraveling the thread that Arkansas Gov. SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS picked at in her SOTU response last night, decrying Biden’s speech as too radical and unreasonable. But perhaps the most prominent Republican response this morning came from Sen. RICK SCOTT (R-Fla.), who has emerged as Biden’s most consistent sparring partner in Congress. “If they think they can shut me up or intimidate me by lying … I’m here for it,” Scott tweeted in a thread this morning. “I will not be silenced by the Washington establishment.” The two have gone back and forth in the past few months over Scott’s proposed “Rescue America” plan, which proposed a sunsetting of all federal legislation after five years, thus forcing Congress to repass legislation if it so wishes. Scott initially put no caveats or codicils on his policy proposal, prompting Biden and numerous Democrats to cast it as a shadow effort to cut Medicare and Social Security. Biden last night called out but did not name members of the Republican Party whom he claimed were in favor of doing just that — which appeared to prompt Scott’s pushback. Much as Scott revised another platform plank last year, one that would have amounted to a major tax increase on low-income Americans, Scott accused Biden of being “confused” and “twisting my words” while significantly amending his stated view. While Biden didn’t namecheck Scott last night, the White House Twitter account was less polite today. The account tweeted out a thread citing GOP lawmakers by name who have proposed a range of policies that could curtail senior benefits, including Scott and fellow GOP senators RON JOHNSON (Wis.), LINDSEY GRAHAM (S.C.) and MIKE LEE (Utah).
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Biden delivers his State of the Union address on Tuesday. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | Democrats, meanwhile, were eager to hit the airwaves and social media channels to tout Biden’s bona fides, applauding his calls for action and his success in baiting Republicans to bite on his provocations seeking bipartisanship. Here’s a taste of the Democratic response, via Kelly Hooper:
- Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”: “Joe Biden was so deft. He let them walk into his trap. He rope-a-doped them. And now all of America has seen the Republican Party say, ‘No, we’re not going to cut Social security and Medicare.’ He did a service.”
- VP KAMALA HARRIS on “CBS Mornings”: “The president was in command and he focused on the American people as opposed to necessarily the gamesmanship that was being played in the room.”
- Rep. JIM CLYBURN (D-S.C.) on “CNN This Morning”: “I saw in him last night the kind of maturity that the American people would like to see in a president. He took on the hecklers. Let them have their say. Gave them a nice little smile and responded in a very positive way.”
THE VIEW FROM BEIJING — “China says it was smeared in Biden State of the Union speech,” AP: “China does not fear competing with the U.S. but is ‘opposed to defining the entire China-U.S. relationship in terms of competition,’ Foreign Ministry spokesperson MAO NING said at a daily briefing Wednesday. ‘It is not the practice of a responsible country to smear a country or restrict the country’s legitimate development rights under the excuse of competition, even at the expense of disrupting the global industrial and supply chain,’ Mao said.” GOING TO CALIFORNIA — Chris Cadelago is leaving the White House beat to return to Sacramento as California bureau chief for POLITICO, leading the politics coverage there as we expand further into the Golden State. A native San Franciscan and alumnus of Berkeley, the San Diego Union-Tribune and the Sacramento Bee, Chris will take over his new role in the summer. Read the announcement Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line: gross@politico.com.
| | | | A message from Airlines for America: Did you know? 90 percent of Americans have flown at least once. More than half of Americans have flown before their 16th birthday. Two million people choose to fly each day in the U.S. This is possible because robust competition among U.S. airlines generates enormous options for consumers, which is why Americans from a range of economic, cultural and racial backgrounds have flown. In 2021, one-third of Americans who flew had family incomes under $75,000. Learn more: www.airlines.org. | | | CONGRESS FOLLOWING THE MONEY — “Federal official warns $191 billion in covid unemployment aid may have been misspent,” by WaPo’s Tony Romm: “The new estimate — computed by LARRY D. TURNER, the inspector general of the Labor Department — galvanized House Republicans as they intensified their scrutiny of the roughly $5 trillion in emergency funds approved since the start of the crisis. Turner presented the information at a hearing Wednesday convened by Rep. JASON T. SMITH (R-Mo.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, according to testimony shared early with The Washington Post. Opening the inquiry, Smith described the problems plaguing unemployment insurance as the ‘greatest theft of taxpayer dollars in American history.’” ALL POLITICS TRUMP’S SLIPPING GRIP — “Charlie Kirk’s right-wing empire loses a key asset: Students for Trump,” by WaPo’s Isaac Stanley-Becker: “Students for Trump has leased its popular web domains and social media accounts to [CHARLIE] KIRK’s Turning Point Action since 2019, supporting the group’s move into more explicit campaign work and solidifying its identity for donors as the country’s premier conservative youth movement. … “Now, Students for Trump is clawing back control over those assets, according to contract documents and people familiar with the situation, raising questions about how closely Turning Point will be associated with DONALD TRUMP’s 2024 campaign. The split, which has not been previously reported, shows how the Turning Point network, which gained prominence over the last seven years because of its proximity to Trump, is wrestling with its role and direction as parts of the GOP seek out an alternative standard-bearer.” 2024 WATCH — “Noem to deliver high-profile speeches in DC, sparking more 2024 speculation,” by Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser: “Republican Gov. KRISTI NOEM of South Dakota will … spotlight the threat to the U.S. posed by China, highlight Noem’s opposition to closing her state during the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and focus on the American work ethic.” CHANGING OF THE GUARD — “In Latino-Majority San Antonio, New Faces at the Head of the Table,” by NYT’s Edgar Sandoval in San Antonio: “Asian American politicians have risen to power in communities with large Asian American populations, like San Francisco. But their presence in Texas politics has been less visible. … Both [PETER] SAKAI and [RON] NIRENBERG won voters over with agendas that appealed to a large Democratic Latino base, like promising to lift people out of poverty and keep families together in a culture where it is not unusual for several generations to live under the same roof or close by.”
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | POLICY CORNER LOST IN THE LABYRINTH — “The FBI’s McGonigal labyrinth,” by Insider’s Mattathias Schwartz: “The FBI is racing to discover how deep the alleged deceits by an ex-agent who'd held one of its most sensitive posts might run. Was [CHARLIE] McGONIGAL working for the Russians while he was still running the bureau's New York counterintelligence efforts? Or did the FBI succeed in putting a stop to [OLEG] DERIPASKA’s courtship of McGonigal while it was still in its early stages?” ALGORITHM AND BLUES — “TikTok’s Secret Sauce Poses Challenge for U.S. Oversight, Researchers Say,” by WSJ’s Ryan Tracy and Georgia Wells: “TikTok says it has devised a plan that would allow U.S. officials to check whether its proprietary algorithm — the secret sauce of computer code that recommends videos to users — was being influenced by Beijing. That arrangement faces practical difficulties, according to some U.S. officials and independent researchers, who say that determining why the algorithm promotes or demotes content is a complex task that often doesn’t yield clear answers.” THE ECONOMY INFLATION NATION — “New White House Wage Data Show Slowing Pressure on ‘Supercore’ Inflation,” by WSJ’s Greg Ip: “New White House wage figures suggest labor-cost pressures are easing in the parts of the economy where the Federal Reserve is most concerned about inflation. Fed Chair JEROME POWELL said recently he is analyzing inflation pressures by focusing on prices for services other than housing, which includes things such as haircuts, dining out and visits to the dentist. “That excludes prices for goods, food, energy and housing, the categories most distorted by the pandemic. Some economists have dubbed this narrower measure ‘supercore,’ to distinguish it from core inflation, which excludes just food and energy. In December, annual supercore inflation was running at about 4%, below overall inflation of 5% but still double the Fed’s 2% target.”
| | | | JOIN POLITICO ON 2/9 TO HEAR FROM AMERICA’S GOVERNORS: In a divided Congress, more legislative and policy enforcement will shift to the states, meaning governors will take a leading role in setting the agenda for the nation. Join POLITICO on Thursday, Feb. 9 at World Wide Technology's D.C. Innovation Center for The Fifty: America's Governors, presented by Cisco, where we will examine where innovations are taking shape and new regulatory red lines, the future of reproductive health, and how climate change is being addressed across a series of one-on-one interviews. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | WAR IN UKRAINE ZELENSKYY IN THE U.K. — Visiting London this morning, Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY “lavished praise on former British Prime Minister BORIS JOHNSON and made a fresh plea for fighter jets as he gave an historic address to the U.K. parliament in a rare trip out of his country,” our colleague Esther Webber reports from across the pond. “He held talks with British Prime Minister RISHI SUNAK and will be granted an audience with KING CHARLES III. Ahead of their meeting, Sunak announced the U.K. will now train pilots on the operation of NATO-standard fighter jets as well as marines.” Zelenskyy is planning to visit France next, according to officials. ON THE GROUND — “In Rural Ukraine, Medicine and Hope Roll In on a Truck,” by NYT’s Michael Schwirtz in Levkivka, Ukraine MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU — Our colleague Wilhelmine Preussen scored an exclusive interview with LUKE SKYWALKER— er, MARK HAMMILL, who is signing a limited number of Star Wars posters to raise money in support of Ukraine. Jackie Padilla breaks down the story on The POLITICO Show on Snapchat … Read Wilhelmine’s original report
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| AMERICA AND THE WORLD THE LATEST IN TURKEY — “Satellite images show scale of the earthquake devastation in Turkey,” by NBC’s Aina Khan PUTIN IMPLICATED — “Dutch probe implicates Putin in 2014 downing of Malaysia passenger jet,” by WaPo’s Mary Ilyushina: “While the prosecutors said they had documented ‘strong indications’ of [Russian President VLADIMIR] PUTIN’s direct role in the decision to send missiles, they said their evidence ‘was not concrete enough’ for a new prosecution.” KHASHOGGI LATEST — “Khashoggi's wife asks U.S. and U.N. for help recovering husband's devices from Turkey,” by NBC’s Phil McCausland: HANAN ELATR KHASHOGGI, the wife of slain journalist JAMAL KHASHOGGI, “has asked the U.S. government and United Nations to intervene and help her recover her husband’s electronic devices from the Turkish government so she can take legal action before the statute of limitations runs out later this year.” GREENER PASTURES — “Europe moves from anger toward acceptance of U.S. climate law,” by Gavin Bade and Doug Palmer: “After meeting with U.S. officials, ministers from France and Germany said the need for Europe to respond with its own subsidy package is clearer than ever.” THE BALLOON’S LONG TAIL — “U.S., states weigh farmland restrictions after Chinese balloon,” by AP’s Matthew Brown and Sam Metz in Harlowton, Mont. ON THE KOREAN PENINSULA — “North Korea’s Kim Jong Un gives clearest sign daughter is heir apparent,” by WaPo’s Min Joo Kim in Seoul MEDIAWATCH WALKOUT WATCH — “NBC, MSNBC employees plan walkout in protest of layoffs,” by WaPo’s Jeremy Barr: “The NBC News Digital union has filed a unfair labor charge with the National Labor Relations Board over the cuts, which it described as abrupt and illegal, as well as a claim that some digital staffers for MSNBC were told by management that they were no longer part of the union.” A DIFFERENT KIND OF PRIMETIME — “Fox News Is Giving Greg Gutfeld a Super Bowl Ad,” by The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin PLAYBOOKERS FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Dan Caldwell has now joined the Center for Renewing America. He previously was VP of foreign policy at Stand Together and senior adviser at Concerned Veterans for America. TRANSITIONS — Alex Copeland is now data and polling director at the NRSC. He previously was the data director for the NRCC. … Caitlin Reed is now VP at Public Opinion Strategies. She most recently was polling director at the NRCC. … Lauren Friedel will be a partner at Tarplin, Downs & Young, LLC. She was previously clerk and GOP staff director for the Senate Appropriations Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee and is a Richard Shelby alum. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine.
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