| | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza, Rachael Bade and Eugene Daniels | | | With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross
| | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | FUN ONE — As Washington wrings its hands over the aging Senate, WaPo’s Jesús Rodríguez checks in with some of the chamber’s voluntary retirees, including PATRICK LEAHY, OLYMPIA SNOWE, TOM HARKIN and BARBARA BOXER, who attests, “There is life after the Senate. And it’s good.”
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Sen. Bob Menendez speaks during a press conference on Sept. 25, 2023, in Union City, N.J. | Andres Kudacki/AP Photo | SENATE DEMS FACE THE PRESS ON MENENDEZ — In the House, KEVIN McCARTHY will again try to pass a rule to advance a spending bill. In the Senate, CHUCK SCHUMER will hold the first vote to advance a CR to avoid a government shutdown in five days. We’ll get back to all of that in a moment. But the real gold mine of news in Washington today will be from returning Democratic senators hounded by reporters for their reaction to the BOB MENENDEZ indictment. In New Jersey, where there are statehouse elections this November and Democrats could lose their majority in Trenton, party leaders from the governor on down were swift and ruthless in calling for Menendez to resign. He already has a credible 2024 primary opponent in Rep. ANDY KIM. In Washington, it’s a different story. President JOE BIDEN punted, with White House press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE telling reporters yesterday that the matter was, in the president’s view, “up to [Menendez] and the Senate leadership to decide.” Schumer and No. 2 leader Sen. DICK DURBIN, meanwhile, have already made statements standing by Menendez. Only three Democratic senators have called for his resignation: Freshmen JOHN FETTERMAN (D-Penn.) and PETER WELCH (D-Vermont), plus SHERROD BROWN (D-Ohio), who is in-cycle in a red state. Most everyone else has been quiet since the indictment was unsealed Friday. That all changes today as every elected official in Congress will need to have an answer on the Menendez question. We have heard from a lot of folks in the Dem strategist class, who have no senatorial loyalty to Menendez, that their party is already blowing this by hesitating to cut off a massive political liability that will be used to muddy the waters against Biden and Democratic candidates in House and Senate races next year when the party wants to runs hard against Trump’s multiple criminal indictments. That sentiment is now being given voice by none other than former New Jersey Sen. ROBERT TORRICELLI, who tells our Matt Friedman that there’s a “burden” on Schumer to act: “As [New Jersey Gov.] PHIL MURPHY has skillfully navigated New Jersey Democrats to separate themselves from this debacle, the Senate caucus needs to do the same,” he says. “Otherwise you’re going to get candidates in competitive states like Montana and West Virginia having to answer questions about Menendez and whether he represents a problem in the party.” — Related read: Philadelphia Inquirer editorial: “U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez should resign” SILENCE IS GOLDEN: In defiant public comments in his hometown of Union City, N.J., after which he took no questions, Menendez explained that the $480,000 in cash found in his closet were for “emergencies” and was withdrawn from his own personal accounts. He accused prosecutors from the Southern District of New York of hyping the indictment to make it “as salacious as possible.” He was silent about the gold bars found in his closet, his Google searches about their worth, the DNA evidence and fingerprints from the alleged bribers found on some of the cash, and whether he would still seek reelection next year. Menendez — who will be arraigned tomorrow with his wife and other co-defendants — said he would be back in Washington this week, so we’ll be watching to see how he interacts with his colleagues on the Senate floor when they return for votes this evening. HEART OF GOLD: No senator is being watched more closely than Sen. CORY BOOKER, Menendez’s fellow New Jersey Democrat, whose wide-ranging friendships and political alliances have occasionally caused him trouble. Booker’s long friendship with SHMULEY BOTEACH fell apart after Booker felt the celebrity rabbi exploited him for political gain. Democrats attacked Booker in the 2020 presidential primary for his work in Newark with BETSY DeVOS, who by then was Trump’s education secretary. And supporters were puzzled when they learned that Booker wrote a letter to the judge sentencing ELIZABETH HOLMES, who was convicted for fraud, defending her character and asking for leniency. But no relationship has pitted Booker’s loyalty against his politics like his friendship with Bob Menendez. Despite rising to prominence as an enemy of Jersey machine politics, Booker was the face of Team Menendez as soon as the latter was indicted on corruption charges in 2015. When Menendez’s trial ended in a hung jury in 2017, it seemed to vindicate the decision to stick by him. The largest swarms of reporters today will be buzzing around Booker for a good reason. Menendez might stick around no matter what Booker says, but if Booker calls for Menenedez’s resignation it will make it safer and easier for every other Democrat who has remained mum to do the same. On the other hand, a supportive statement from Booker will be worth its weight in gold. MIDAS TOUCH: Menendez is right that the indictment is salacious — in fact, the allegations look shockingly bad: interfering with a DOJ criminal investigation in exchange for a Mercedes, doing favors for a foreign regime in return for cash and gold. But as someone who beat corruption charges once before, Menendez seemed confident Monday that he could do it again. And he might not be wrong. STAN BRAND, the law professor and former House general counsel, raises two good legal issues: — “First, while the indictment charges a conspiracy to commit bribery, it does not charge the substantive crime of bribery itself. This may suggest that the government lacks what it believes is direct evidence of a quid pro quo — ‘this for that’ — between Menendez and the alleged bribers.” — Second, Brand notes to The Conversation, the Supreme Court’s recent rulings have narrowed what constitutes an “official act” under the federal bribery statute: “That definition does not include less-formal actions like those performed by Menendez, such as meetings with Egyptian military officials. … Menendez may well be able to argue that much of what he did in fact did not constitute ‘official acts’ and therefore are not illegal.” Good Tuesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
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|  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is seen during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 19, 2023. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | SHUTDOWN LATEST — While House Republicans continue to twist themselves into knots, the Senate will take its first steps tonight to try to avert a shutdown. A 5:30 p.m. vote will advance the House’s FAA reauthorization bill, a shell that Schumer plans to amend and use as a vehicle for a short-term measure to keep the government open. As our colleague Burgess Everett scooped yesterday, Schumer is considering a short, “clean” four- to six-week continuing resolution that would postpone the debate over additional Ukraine aid and possibly even disaster funding. The stopgap is expected to have some Ukraine and disaster money tucked in, enough to keep operations moving. But the idea, per senior aides, is to punt those sensitive issues and give the House no excuse to refuse to pass the shutdown-averting patch. (Expect some messaging spin on this today, with Democrats eager to show Ukraine aid is still flowing so as to not rebuff the White House, while Republicans emphasize a pause on the larger supplemental to try to appease the Ukraine-skeptical House.) The White House, for what it’s worth, is not openly objecting to the strategy, with a OMB spokesperson telling us last night that the administration is working to make sure any CR will “ensure our efforts to support Ukraine continue alongside other key priorities like disaster relief and regular government activities.” The Senate could be tied up the rest of the week finishing the CR up, with Sen. RAND PAUL (R-Ky.) threatening to throw sand in the Senate gears over Ukraine aid. The next procedural vote could come late tomorrow night, with final votes potentially over the weekend. The question that millions of federal workers are hanging on, of course, is whether Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY will put that bill on the House floor for an up-or-down vote— an act of governance that both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate believe he has a responsibility to undertake, but still might not, given the threats he’s facing from hardline conservatives. “If McCarthy can’t put a clean CR on the floor, then he really can’t do anything, honestly,” said one Senate GOP aide. “This is engineered in a way to try to prevent a shutdown.” The House is moving forward with its own plan today, with McCarthy once again trying to unite his conference around a long-term spending plan that does nothing to address the looming shutdown deadline but might butter up his hard-right critics a bit. But first he’ll have to pass a rule, after failing twice last week, so expect a long day of whipping ahead of the 6:30 p.m. vote. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — A new Bipartisan Policy Coalition/Morning Consult poll finds that a majority of voters are concerned about a government shutdown and blame both sides of the aisle The new numbers show that 78% of Democrats, 60% of Independent and 59% of Republican voters “are concerned about a federal government shutdown,” while 41% of voters blame both Republicans and Democrats for the shutdown. Meanwhile, voters are split on if they have faith (47%) or doubt (42%) the House will be able to craft a deal and keep the lights on, while 81% of voters think Congress failing to pass a budget would impact the U.S. economy. — Courage for America is launching a new $315,000 ad buy linking a shutdown to “MAGA extremism,” including spots airing during “Good Morning America.” Targeted House Republicans include Reps. LAUREN BOEBERT (Colo.), KEN CALVERT (Calif.), ELI CRANE (Ariz.), ANTHONY D’ESPOSITO (N.Y.), MATT GAETZ (Fla.), MIKE GARCIA (Calif.), RICHARD HUDSON (N.C.), MARC MOLINARO (N.Y.), BARRY MOORE (Ala.), DAVID SCHWEIKERT (Ariz.), JASON SMITH (Mo.) ELISE STEFANIK (N.Y.) and SCOTT PERRY (Pa.). Watch the ad JOIN US — The POLITICO AI/Tech Summit tomorrow will feature tons of fascinating conversations about the future of technology and the world, including Eugene interviewing Sen. ED MARKEY (D-Mass.). Also on the docket: FTC Chair LINA KHAN, Sen. TODD YOUNG (R-Ind.), Reps. JAY OBERNOLTE (R-Calif.) and TED LIEU (D-Calif.), deputy national security adviser ANNE NEUBERGER, LAKSHMI RAMAN and PALMER LUCKY. RSVP here
| | | | A message from bp:   And, not or. See how it’s driving our investment in America. | | | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | On the Hill The House will meet at noon and at 2 p.m, with last votes expected at 6:30 p.m. The Senate will meet at 3 p.m. to resume a motion to proceed on an amendment reauthorizing and improving the FAA, with a cloture vote at 5:30 p.m. 3 things to watch …
- As the Senate begins work on a bipartisan CR with minimal Ukraine funding, the reaction among House conservatives will be important to monitor. Will the hard right signal that such a measure would put McCarthy’s leadership at risk? Or will they send signals that they might be able to live with a quick punt?
- If the House can clear tonight’s rule vote, and it’s a big if, debate will immediately begin on the fiscal 2024 Agriculture-FDA spending bill — including 102 amendments made in order by the Rules Committee. Some of the juicier ones include protecting the sale of chocolate milk in schools, defunding covid vaccine development and the USDA’s weekly farmer’s market, and eliminating the salaries of a half-dozen top FDA officials.
- The next turn of the screw in the House’s Biden family probes comes tomorrow, when the Ways and Means Committee votes on unveiling more whistleblower information on the IRS investigation into HUNTER BIDEN, Brian Faler reports. Ahead of the vote, however, lawmakers are free to privately review the information in question, which is protected by taxpayer secrecy laws.
At the White House Biden will depart the White House at 9:55 a.m. en route to Joint Base Andrews, where he’ll board Air Force One and fly to Wayne County, Mich. Upon arrival, he’ll join striking UAW members on the picket line. Later in the afternoon, he heads to California for a campaign fundraiser in Atherton before ending the day in San Francisco.
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The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington. | AFP via Getty Images | BEHIND THE CURTAIN — As former President DONALD TRUMP and his legal team prep for a March trial date on charges related to the Jan. 6 insurrection, the judge in the case — TANYA CHUTKAN — took on a much lower-profile case that involved some of the same thorny issues that could come into play next year, Kyle Cheney reports. The gist: “The defendant was ANTONY VO, an Indiana man charged with misdemeanors for breaching the Capitol with the Jan. 6, 2021, mob … and while Trump’s case will no doubt be far more complicated, Chutkan’s handling of some core trial issues are instructive about the way she runs her courtroom.” “Chutkan has rejected attempts by other Jan. 6 defendants to change venues, and during jury selection in the Vo case, she repeated her universal creed: It’s OK to have opinions and biases. What matters, she said, is ‘whether you can put those opinions aside and be fair and impartial.’” Turning up the heat: Chutkan “repeatedly mentioned the temperature of her courtroom,” Kyle writes “describing herself as ‘a tropical person’ who liked to keep the room warm despite a preference among many judges to blast cold air.” More top reads:
2024 WATCH
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United Auto Workers members walk the picket line at the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Mich., Sept. 18, 2023. | Paul Sancya/AP Photo | SHOWDOWN IN MOTOWN — As Biden and Trump make back-to-back visits to Michigan this week to campaign around the United Auto Workers strike, both candidates are facing a test of their appeal in the crucial swing state, WaPo’s Matt Viser and Isaac Arnsdorf report: “Biden comes at the invitation of union leaders. Trump came despite their warnings to keep his distance.” The context: “‘Biden narrowly won Michigan in 2020, defeating Trump by about three percentage points in a state Trump had carried in 2016, and exit polls showed him winning with about two-thirds of those from union households in the state. But Trump has long tried to drive a wedge between union members and their leaders. Trump won more union households in 2016 than any Republican since RONALD REAGAN.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Ahead of tomorrow’s debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, former Reagan administration officials T. KENNETH CRIBB JR., EDWIN J. FEULNER JR., DONALD PAUL HODEL and HELENE VON DAMM are endorsing former VP MIKE PENCE: “We believe Mike Pence is the candidate best equipped to uphold the Reagan legacy and lead our party and our nation forward,” they write. Read the full letter More top reads:
- The RNC finalized the seven participants for tomorrow’s debate: Pence, RON DeSANTIS, NIKKI HALEY, TIM SCOTT, DOUG BURGUM, CHRIS CHRISTIE and VIVEK RAMASWAMY. More from WaPo’s Maeve Reston
- Meanwhile in South Carolina … Trump added a number of new prominent South Carolina Republicans to his list of supporters, The Messenger’s Marc Caputo scoops: “Leading the South Carolina endorsements: Attorney General ALAN WILSON, Secretary of State MARK HAMMOND and state House Majority Leader DAVEY HIOTT, along with about a dozen members of the South Carolina House of Representatives.”
| | | | A message from bp:   Just two of the ways bp is investing in America. | | | MORE POLITICS BIG QUESTION — “Americans Are Down on Biden. Why Does His Party Keep Winning Elections?” by Reid Epstein. This year, Democrats have outperformed Biden’s 2020 numbers in 21 of 27 special elections for state legislature — and done so by an average of 7 points. That, plus the “11-point triumph for a liberal State Supreme Court candidate in Wisconsin this spring and a 14-point defeat of an Ohio ballot referendum this summer in a contest widely viewed as a proxy battle over abortion rights, run counter to months of public opinion polling that has found Mr. Biden to be deeply unpopular heading into his re-election bid next year,” Epstein writes. “Taken together, these results suggest that the favorable political environment for Democrats since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade has endured through much of 2023. Democratic officials have said since the summer of 2022, when the ruling came down, that abortion is both a powerful motivator for the party’s voters and the topic most likely to persuade moderate Republicans to vote for Democratic candidates.” MAPS AND LEGENDS — “Court appointee proposes Alabama congressional districts to provide representation to Black voters,” by AP’s Kim Chandler: “The three proposals all create a second district where Black voters comprise a majority of the voting age population or close to it — something that state lawmakers refused to do when they drew lines this summer.” POLICY CORNER HELPFUL CHEAT SHEET — “All you need to know about the return of federal student loan payments,” by Michael Stratford: “Individual borrowers face a series of decisions about how to repay: whether they should enroll in the Biden administration’s income-driven repayment program or avail themselves of a new, temporary forbearance option that postpones payments but drives up interest costs. … At the same time, a prolonged government shutdown could complicate the Education Department’s ability to manage the student loan program.” THE NUCLEAR OPTION — “US aims to create nuclear fusion facility within 10 years, Energy chief Granholm says,” by AP’s Stephanie Liechtenstein and Matthew Daly AMERICA AND THE WORLD NAUGHTY LIST — The Commerce Department has added 28 companies from several countries including China, Russia and Pakistan to their U.S. export “blacklist,” WSJ’s Yuka Hayashi reports. Among them are “nine companies implicated in an alleged conspiracy to violate export controls, including for a scheme to supply the Special Technology Center, a Russian entity that has been on the list since 2017.” CUBAN EMBASSY LATEST — “Sullivan condemns reported attack on Cuban embassy in Washington,” by Andrew Zhang WARSAW AND PEACE — “US offers Poland rare loan of $2 billion to modernize its military,” AP BEYOND THE BELTWAY DEEP IN THE HEART — “‘We are not going away’: Paxton whistleblowers vow to continue legal fight in court,” by the Texas Tribune’s Robert Downen and Patrick Svitek BIG OUT WEST — "Labor strikes limited the Hollywood campaign ATM. It could soon reopen for business," by Melanie Mason
| | | | GO INSIDE THE CAPITOL DOME: From the outset, POLITICO has been your eyes and ears on Capitol Hill, providing the most thorough Congress coverage — from political characters and emerging leaders to leadership squabbles and policy nuggets during committee markups and hearings. We're stepping up our game to ensure you’re fully informed on every key detail inside the Capitol Dome, all day, every day. Start your day with Playbook AM, refuel at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report and enrich your evening discussions with Huddle. Plus, stay updated with real-time buzz all day through our brand new Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Cassidy Hutchinson says she has “higher standards” than to date Matt Gaetz. Jim McGovern is a Travis Scott fan. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED Sunday evening at The Gatsby celebrating Abby Phillip’s new primetime show, “CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip”: Brandon Neal, Symone Sanders-Townsend, Steve Benjamin, Erica Loewe, Rachel Scott, Ashley Etienne, Ashley Williams, Dan Meyers, Judy Byrd, Virgil Miller, Maia Hunt Estes, Nicole Young Collier, Engel Burns, Jason Green, Dana Gresham and Candice Burns. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Sarah Schakow is now deputy assistant DHS secretary for media relations. She most recently was comms director for Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and is a Joe Donnelly alum. — Brian Derrick and Taylor Ourada have launched Oath, a democratic giving platform. Derrick is a Mikie Sherrill and Kirsten Gillibrand alum. Ourada has previously been at Accenture. ENGAGED — Liz Trotter, founder and executive director of Full Set Communications, and Eduardo Angel, a Cuban-American artist and photographer, got engaged Sept. 19. The couple, who met in Miami, resides in Brooklyn with their pit bull, Largo. WEEKEND WEDDING — Caitlin Chin, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Kenny Rothmann, a program analyst at the Naval Sea Systems Command, got married at the Whittemore House in Dupont Circle on Sept. 16. The couple met playing on rugby club teams at the University of Maryland. Photo by Rebecca Wilcher Photography HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.) … Beto O’Rourke … Semafor’s Dave Weigel … WaPo’s Kathleen Parker … Evan Hollander of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee … Robert Kagan … POLITICO’s Casey Miles … Steward Health Care’s Josie Martin … former Rep. Frank Guinta (R-N.H.) … Bill Scher … Missy Edwards of Missy Edwards Strategies … Jon Rosborough … Tom Gannon of H&R Block … Mark Isakowitz of Google … Stephen Voss … Jeff Eshelman of IPAA … Doug Sosnik … Greg Lorjuste … Sam Drzymala … Dayne Cutrell … Brennan Georgianni of the American Cleaning Institute … former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman … former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer … Max Schechter … Erin Cathleen Conaton … NBC’s Abby Marks 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 producer Bethany Irvine.
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