| | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | THE GHOST OF ARTHUR BURNS — “Yellen defends Fed independence as Trump allies push plans for more control,” by Michael Stratford: Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN, “a former Fed chair, will use a speech on Friday at the McCain Institute’s Sedona Forum to argue that an independent Fed and democracy are good for the economy.” THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE — “Federal Money Is All Over Milwaukee. Biden Hopes Voters Will Notice,” by NYT’s Lydia DePillis
|  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) move is just the latest chaos to roil the House GOP Conference. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | I WANT MY MTV — Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.) officially put a time frame on her effort to oust Speaker MIKE JOHNSON, announcing at a press conference this morning that she’ll bring up the motion to vacate as a privileged matter next week. Greene’s move will be just the latest chaos to roil the House GOP Conference, but unlike the successful push to depose KEVIN McCARTHY last year, this one “seems doomed,” Olivia Beavers and Jordain Carney report. Having readied for this moment, House Republican leaders are planning to move to quash her attempt, with help from Democrats repulsed by Greene’s coup attempt. (We’ll see what procedural tricks they have up their sleeves to dispense with it as quickly as possible.) The big question is whether Greene and her allies can build up some support — and to what level — over the next week. Once they make the motion, a vote on Johnson’s speakership would take place within two days. Appearing with Greene today, Rep. THOMAS MASSIE (R-Ky.) called the speaker “a lost ball in tall weeds” and said he should resign before the motion to vacate even comes up. Greene maintained that her motion was driven not by personal vendettas but by Johnson’s policy moves, including his decision to push through a big foreign aid package dependent on Democratic votes. Rep. WARREN DAVIDSON (R-Ohio) told CNN’s Manu Raju that he wouldn’t support an expected procedural vote to kill the motion to vacate, but he said he wasn’t sure about the underlying question — whether to save Johnson or not. Johnson doesn’t seem too concerned. “This motion is wrong for the Republican Conference, wrong for the institution, and wrong for the country,” he said in a brief statement this morning. And in an interview with NewsNation’s Blake Burman that’s slated to air on “The Hill” tonight, Johnson gave Greene a NANCY PELOSI-esque kiss-off with a Southern twist: “Bless her heart.” Burman: “Is she a serious lawmaker?” Johnson: “I don’t think she is proving to be. No. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about her.” What Republicans would like to focus on instead … At Johnson’s direction, House Energy & Commerce is summoning NPR CEO KATHERINE MAHER to investigate allegations of liberal bias, Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind scooped. And House Oversight Chair JAMES COMER (R-Ky.) said he’ll hold a hearing next week on the D.C. police’s actions (or lack thereof) around the pro-Palestinian student encampment at George Washington University, per Punchbowl’s Max Cohen. Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com. MIDDLE EAST LATEST — In Israel today, Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN urged leaders to strike a cease-fire and hostage release deal with Hamas. And there were some new signs that Israel was moving toward an agreement: Their latest proposal accedes to a major demand that displaced Palestinians be allowed back to northern Gaza en masse, without significant restrictions, NYT’s Adam Rasgon reports. Hamas hasn’t yet responded to the offer. At the same time, though, Israeli PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU told Blinken that he will not go for a deal that includes a permanent end to the war, which has been a major Hamas demand, Axios’ Barak Ravid reports. “The only reason that [a cease-fire] wouldn’t be achieved is because of Hamas,” Blinken said today, putting the onus on the militant group, per WSJ’s Rory Jones and Carrie Keller-Lynn. The campus angle … As protests continue on quadrangles across the U.S., Palestinians trapped in Gaza have been grateful for and inspired by the support, NBC’s Chantal Da Silva and Yasmine Salam report. But Hill Democrats have grown more anxious by the day about the political fallout, Axios’ Andrew Solender and Stephen Neukam report. Ahead of a vote today on Republicans’ bill to expand the definition of antisemitism, House Democratic leaders said they aren’t whipping members to vote one way or the other, per Nick Wu and Anthony Adragna. President JOE BIDEN will deliver a speech about antisemitism Tuesday at a Holocaust memorial ceremony on the Hill, Haaretz’s Ben Samuels scooped.
| | | | A message from the Small Business Payments Alliance: SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS: FORCED ADOPTION OF NEW CARD MANDATES IS UNFAIR COST: According to a new survey, nearly two-thirds of small business owners believe mandates forcing new processing networks, as called for in the Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Bill, would place an unfair cost burden on their business. Don't let Durbin-Marshall make it harder for small businesses to thrive and succeed. Read full survey here. | | | | | 7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | |  Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is encroaching on Donald Trump's media turf. | Mario Tama/Getty Images | 1. SPOILER ALERT: ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.’s media appearances are increasingly shifting onto DONALD TRUMP’s turf, as his schedule fills up with appearances on Fox News, Newsmax and conservative podcasts. That’s starting to worry Trump’s campaign, Natalie Allison, Alex Isenstadt and Brittany Gibson report. CHRIS LaCIVITA goes on the record to call their decision to platform Kennedy “concerning and beyond logic.” And our colleagues write that Trump could be damaged politically as “Kennedy is actively courting an audience with the young listeners of bro podcasters and conservative-coded YouTubers that skew anti-‘woke.’” On the flip side: “Donald Trump courts an increasingly friendly Libertarian Party,” by Semafor’s Dave Weigel: “Trump will speak at the Libertarian National Convention on May 23rd in D.C. … The LP invited both Trump and President Joe Biden.” 2. THE DEBT RELIEF TRAIN KEEPS ROLLING: “Biden to cancel $6 billion in student debt for borrowers misled by The Art Institutes, a former for-profit college group,” by CNN’s Katie Lobosco: “The administration is using its authority under an existing federal student loan program, known as borrower defense to repayment, [for 317,000 borrowers] … A total of almost $160 billion in student loan debt for nearly 4.6 million borrowers has been canceled under Biden to date. That’s 10% of all outstanding federal student loan debt.” Related read: “The botched FAFSA rollout leaves students in limbo. Some wonder if their college dreams will survive,” by AP’s Collin Binkley 3. BOOGIE WOOGIE WOOGIE: Treasury’s much-debated rules over tax credits for electric vehicles could be issued in their final form as soon as Friday, Bloomberg’s Ari Natter reports. Aiming to beat the window after which regulations could be repealed by Congress, the Biden administration move will set new limits on which cars qualify for the subsidy, giving a boost to domestic manufacturing.
| | | | THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists.
Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY. | | | | | 4. YIKES: “How Shifting U.S. Policies Led to One of the Deadliest Incidents Involving Immigrants in Mexico’s History,” by Perla Trevizo for ProPublica and The Texas Tribune: “Forty men were killed and more than two dozen [a year ago] … [I]t was the foreseen and foreseeable result of landmark shifts in U.S. border policies over the last decade, by which the Trump and Biden administrations put the bulk of the responsibility for detaining and deterring staggering numbers of immigrants from around the world onto a Mexican government that’s had trouble keeping its own people safe.” 5. STEVE BANNON’S STRATEGY PAYS OFF: “The Making of Michele Morrow,” by The Assembly’s Carli Brosseau: “With Bannon urging ‘action, action, action’ toward the end of the ‘uniparty’ … [MICHELE] MORROW invited new activists into the GOP. She wasn’t just a ‘homeschool mom’ with a history of inflammatory online posts, as she has so often been characterized. [The North Carolina GOP nominee for superintendent of public instruction] was part of Bannon’s vanguard as he seeks to cast off the ‘establishment’ and reconstitute a Republican Party to dominate for the next century.” 6. ANATOMY OF A LIE: From Allentown, Pennsylvania, NBC’s Nicole Acevedo excavates the story of how a false post on X spread via ELON MUSK to Trump, Greene and elsewhere. The misinformation reached millions of people, claiming incorrectly that hundreds of thousands of migrants had registered to vote in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Texas. Despite prominent debunkings, the rumor kept circulating — including in posts on Facebook that Meta didn’t label as false until NBC asked about them. 7. PRIMARY COLORS: In the competitive Democratic primary for Maryland’s 6th District, JOE VOGEL is getting some support from some big names in Congress. Reps. LINDA SÁNCHEZ (D-Calif.), RITCHIE TORRES (D-N.Y.) and MARK TAKANO (D-Calif.), the leaders of Bold PAC and Equality PAC, will host a fundraiser tonight at the Bold PAC townhouse for Vogel, who is Latino and gay. Reps. BECCA BALINT (D-Vt.), ROBERT GARCIA (D-Calif.), ERIC SORENSEN (D-Ill.), ZOE LOFGREN (D-Calif.), CHRIS PAPPAS (D-N.H.) and TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ (D-N.M.) will also take part.
| | | | POLITICO IS BACK AT THE 2024 MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE: POLITICO will again be your eyes and ears at the 27th Annual Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles from May 5-8 with exclusive, daily, reporting in our Global Playbook newsletter. Suzanne Lynch will be on the ground covering the biggest moments, behind-the-scenes buzz and on-stage insights from global leaders in health, finance, tech, philanthropy and beyond. Get a front-row seat to where the most interesting minds and top global leaders confront the world’s most pressing and complex challenges — subscribe today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Howard Lutnick and others are hosting a Manhattan fundraiser for Donald Trump. Xi Jinping was not happy with Mike Pompeo’s memoir. Rashida Jones will be the University of the District of Columbia commencement speaker. Dianne Feinstein’s legacy lives on, sartorially, on the Hill. OUT AND ABOUT — The Recording Academy hosted its annual “GRAMMYs on the Hill Awards” yesterday evening, honoring Sheryl Crow alongside Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) for their contributions to support music creators. Performers included Lauren Daigle, Dwan Hill, The War and Treaty and ARKAI. Candiace Dillard Bassett was the emcee, with Mark Ronson, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), Jimmy Jam, Max Baca and Josh Abbott presenting. SPOTTED: Reps. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Jason Smith (R-Mo.). — Astrolab showed off its FLEX lunar rover yesterday to FAA and Commerce Department officials, some of whom test-drove it, followed by a reception at Dirty Habit. SPOTTED: FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, Narda Jones, Katie Thomson, Ed Bolton, Kelvin Coleman, Michael O’Donnell, Rick Spinrad, Michael Morgan and Jaret Matthews. TRANSITIONS — Stephanie Rodriguez is the first-ever director of the STEMM Opportunity Alliance, which is releasing its national strategy at a White House summit today. She most recently was a senior workforce fellow at the Labor Department. … Cranfill Sumner is launching a new D.C. office/boutique group, Mincey Bell Milnor, with white-collar partners Patrick Mincey and Stephen Bell as well as Christina Zaroulis Milnor, who previously was assistant secretary of the SEC. … … Christopher Amolsch is now a senior consultant at Berke Farah. He continues to have his own nationwide practice practicing white-collar law. … Jessica DeNisi will be a partner at Klasko Immigration Law Partners. She most recently was an attorney adviser at the State Department. … Mitchell Sandler is adding Jon Seward as of counsel and Olivia Kelman as a partner in the fair lending practice group. Seward previously spent nearly 25 years in the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. Kelman previously was a partner at K&L Gates. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Wendy Hamilton, director of operations for House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), and Marvin Foster, senior adviser at CareJourney, welcomed Hendrix Foster on April 23. Pic … Another pic 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 Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
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