Have you seen my stapler?

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

Apr 06, 2023 View in browser   By Lauren Egan, Daniel Lippman 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 A literal turf war is underway inside the White House. With a handful of senior White House officials having left their administration jobs in the past few weeks, key West Wing office space has been up for grabs. Chief of staff RON KLAIN, communications director KATE BEDINGFIELD, National Economic Council director BRIAN DEESE and director of the office of public engagement KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS are among the senior officials that have recently moved on, along with some of their assistants, including Klain’s close aide, REMI YAMAMOTO. The first task may be filling those roles with new hires. But a secondary challenge is figuring out whether to rearrange the West Wing’s seating order. Some of the decisions on who gets what office were obvious, like Zients taking over Klain’s spacious (by White House standards) corner room with its stately fireplace and trellised patio that is typically reserved for the chief of staff. New comms director BEN LABOLT, unsurprisingly, took over Bedingfield’s digs in upper press. But other decisions, like what to do with Yamamoto’s spot, were a bit trickier. Yamamoto’s former office might not even qualify as an “office” by most definitions. It’s really just a desk in a windowless room on the basement level that other staffers have to walk through in order to get to their own work spaces. But there is room for a small meeting table and some chairs. In a cramped building where lots of staffers work in what are basically closets, that makes it a hot commodity. The office didn’t go to SALONI SHARMA, who took over Yamamoto’s portfolio and is working from the second floor of the West Wing. Instead, VINAY REDDY — Biden’s chief speechwriter and one of the staffers who had to walk through Yamamoto’s “office” to get to his own desk — ended up taking over the spot. An administration official said that Yamamoto’s desk was traditionally meant for speechwriters but that she had been given the spot during Covid when staffers were trying to practice social distancing. The plan, the official said, was always to give the desk back to Reddy so that he could have more of his team around him. Still, in a workplace where every square foot (and its proximity to the Oval) matters, the move was seen internally by some as a sign of the growing importance Reddy’s speechwriting team has in the White House as President JOE BIDEN gears up for his expected reelection campaign. “The West Wing is too small. There is always jockeying for office space in every administration,” said a White House official who also worked in the Obama administration. In a statement to West Wing Playbook, White House spokesperson ROBYN PATTERSON said she hadn’t “seen a news outlet spend this much energy covering seating arrangements since my high school paper’s deep dive on why Blair and Serena stopped sitting next to each other in the cafeteria.” (Sounds like a sharp high school paper.) Even getting a foot in the West Wing in the first place is challenging. Most of the White House staff work out of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is still on the White House campus but sits on the other side of a driveway across from the West Wing. Proximity to the Oval Office is viewed as key to having influence in any administration. Even some top officials, like senior adviser GENE SPERLING, will cram into small, windowless rooms rather than opt for a more spacious setup across the street (like senior clean energy adviser JOHN PODESTA’s cavernous EEOB corner office). Deciding which senior staffers work out of EEOB rather than the West Wing can be sensitive. Some officials were offended when Bottoms was put in the EEOB after she took over OPE from CEDRIC RICHMOND, who had a West Wing office. (Senior adviser ANITA DUNN took Richmond’s office when he left, but Bottoms eventually moved over to the West Wing. A White House official said that it is standard practice for officials to work in EEOB while their permanent West Wing place is being set up.) In a positive sign for OPE, when STEVE BENJAMIN took over the office this month, he moved directly into a West Wing office. MESSAGE US — Are you VINAY REDDY, Biden’s chief speechwriter? 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!     GO INSIDE THE 2023 MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE: POLITICO is proud to partner with the Milken Institute to produce a special edition "Global Insider" newsletter featuring exclusive coverage, insider nuggets and unparalleled insights from the 2023 Global Conference, which will convene leaders in health, finance, politics, philanthropy and entertainment from April 30-May 3. This year’s theme, Advancing a Thriving World, will challenge and inspire attendees to lean into building an optimistic coalition capable of tackling the issues and inequities we collectively face. Don’t miss a thing — subscribe today for a front row seat.     POTUS PUZZLER This one is from reader SEAN DEMPSEY. Which president made the first official state visit to a country in sub-Saharan Africa and what country was it? Bonus points if you know the date! (Answer at bottom.) The Oval WHITE HOUSE REPORT DOES NOT FAULT WHITE HOUSE: The White House Thursday released a report on the U.S.’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. In it, they noted that Biden intended to withdraw troops when he came into office in 2021, but that his “choices for how to execute a withdrawal … were severely constrained by conditions created by his predecessor,” the report states. The report placed hefty blame on the Trump administration, saying it left the Biden administration “a date for withdrawal, but no plan for executing it. And after four years of neglect — and in some cases deliberate degradation — crucial systems, offices, and agency functions that would be necessary for a safe and orderly departure were in disrepair.” NYT’s KATIE ROGERS has more. BRING BACK SPICER!: The president and first lady are set to host their annual Easter Egg Roll this weekend, and CNN’s BETSY KLEIN reports that the White House’s Easter Bunny mascot has gotten a new look. The team is “‘egg-cited’ to have our own Official White House Easter Bunny Family, thanks to the generous support of the White House Historical Association,” said VANESSA VALDIVIA, spokesperson for the first lady. Although its makeover will be revealed at the event, we hope it's not as terrifying as previous mascots. We also would like to see SEAN SPICER — who appears to be leaving his current gig at Newsmax — reprise his bunny role this year, in the spirit of bipartisanship of course. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by NBC’s ALEX SEITZ-WALD about how the White House is accusing Republicans of helping Mexican drug cartels that traffic fentanyl into the U.S. by threatening to cut funding for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Seitz-Wald writes that “as President Joe Biden gears up for re-election, the White House has been trying to turn the tables on Republicans, who often accuse Democrats of being anti-police and soft on crime.” Deputy press secretary ANDREW BATES, who is quoted in the article, shared the piece on Twitter. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by CNN’s NICOLE GOODKIND about how “after months of a remarkably strong U.S. labor market and economy, everything seems to be slowing down. The latest high-frequency data shows that the consumer could be running out of steam, hiring activity is moderating, business activity is softening, interest-rate sensitive sectors are pulling back and housing is suffering.” The real indication of an economic slowdown will be in Friday’s job report, Goodkind adds. WHEN PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL PATHS CROSS: Vice President KAMALA HARRIS hoped to see her Indian grandfather’s house while in Zambia last week, but there was a problem — the house “had been torn down and replaced with a stucco-roofed office building,” LA Times’ COURTNEY SUBRAMANIAN reports. “The U.S. Embassy had worked for a year to locate her grandfather’s old residence in Lusaka. … The home would have been a great backdrop for a press event, one that would highlight her heritage and her roots, and how they influenced her. But a few days earlier, the embassy had delivered her team the news: Although its researchers had located the plot, the house wasn’t there.” 2024 WATCH: ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., nephew of President JOHN F. KENNEDY and son of former U.S. Attorney General ROBERT F. KENNEDY, is jumping into the 2024 presidential race as a Democrat, our KELLY GARRITY reports. Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist, is the second Democrat to join the race, after MARIANNE WILLIAMSON announced her candidacy last month. THE BUREAUCRATS THE TOUGH WORK BEGINS AGAIN: ROGER CARSTENS, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, is likely to be at the helm of negotiations to get WSJ reporter EVAN GERSHKOVICH, who was detained by Russia this week, back to the U.S. “Since assuming his position in March 2020, Carstens has had a hand in the release of more than two-dozen American detainees and hostages, sometimes following negotiated swaps such as the one that allowed [WNBA superstar Brittney] Griner to exit Russian custody,” WSJ’s JAMES T. AREDDY, ARUNA VISWANATHA and NANCY A. YOUSSEF report. “‘My office is like a hospital emergency room,’ he told a conference audience last month in Qatar, meaning it does what is necessary. ‘We want this to be government not as usual.’” FIRST IN WEST WING PLAYBOOK: DAVID BONINE and VERNON BAKER have joined the White House office of legislative affairs' Senate team as special assistants to the president, DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. Bonine most recently was deputy assistant secretary for legislative affairs at the State Department and is an alum of Sen. CHRIS MURPHY’s (D-Conn.) office, while Baker most recently was a legislative assistant for Sen. DEBBIE STABENOW (D-Mich.). PERSONNEL MOVES: JENNY YANG is now deputy assistant to the president for racial justice and equity at the White House Domestic Policy Council, taking over from CHIRAAG BAINS. Yang most recently was director of the office of federal contract compliance programs at the Department of Labor. She is also a former chair, vice-chair, and commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the Obama administration. THE OPTIMISM IS ALWAYS OF THE CAUTIOUS VARIETY: Despite economic uncertainty looming, Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN plans to express cautious optimism in a series of International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings this week, our ZACHARY WARMBRODT reports. Yellen will likely be met with questions about the U.S. government’s handling of the banking crisis, in the event it affects the global economy. Agenda Setting STAYING OUT OF IT: The Biden administration isn’t saying whether or not Senate Democrats should reevaluate the blue slip rule after Sen. CINDY HYDE-SMITH (R-Miss.) said this week she would block judicial nominee SCOTT COLOM, our JENNIFER HABERKORN reports. “I’ll leave it to the Senate to figure that piece out,” White House press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE said during Wednesday’s briefing, reiterating that the administration is staying silent on the matter. NEW IRS SPENDING PLAN JUST DROPPED: The Internal Revenue Service unveiled its plan for how it will spend $80 billion in funds from the Inflation Reduction Act, our BENJAMIN GUGGENHEIM reports. Some of the objectives include “creating ‘world-class’ customer service for taxpayers seeking assistance; developing data management systems so IRS employees can have a 360-degree view of a taxpayers’ information; and hiring specialized lawyers and accountants who can help audit the most complex corporate and partnership returns.” What We're Reading Jill Biden accepts tulip named for her by the Netherlands (AP’s Darlene Superville) Chipotle Sues Sweetgreen Over Its New Burrito Bowl (WSJ’s Joseph Pisani) Clarence Thomas and the Billionaire (ProPublica’s Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski)   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.     POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER President JIMMY CARTER visited Nigeria on March 31, 1978. This stop was the first official state visit to a sub-Saharan African country by a U.S. president, according to the Office of the Historian. President FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT traveled through various African countries en route to other destinations, but did not have an official state visit in one. 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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