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Jan 09, 2024

By Lauren Egan, Myah Ward and Ben Johansen

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Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from producer Raymond Rapada.

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When word of SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR’s death broke on the morning of Friday, Dec. 1, newsrooms around the country hit the publish button on their pre-written obituaries honoring the Supreme Court justice’s life and legacy.

For years, as the 93-year-old justice’s health declined, journalists had tinkered with their stories and sharpened their anecdotes. They were just missing a few elements: date, time, cause of death and, perhaps, a statement from the sitting president, JOE BIDEN.

The first facts came relatively quickly. The president’s statement, by contrast, took awhile.

It wasn’t until Saturday, Dec. 2 around 4 p.m. ET — more than 24 hours after O’Connor’s death was made public — that the White House finally released a 324-word statement from Biden on her passing. In it, the president celebrated her as an “icon” who “never quit striving to make this nation stronger.”

The White House has a team of writers and communications staffers who can quickly churn out statements on the president’s behalf. And just like reporters, those staffers prewrite drafts for foreseeable events that the White House might want to weigh in on.

But the Biden White House often takes its time issuing official statements, especially when it involves the death of someone who the president knew.

Biden aides say that’s deliberate. Biden is known to give a very heavy edit and will sometimes direct staff to hold off on publicizing statements until he has given final approval — which, depending on how busy his schedule is, can significantly slow down the process.

“He takes these kinds of statements and eulogies for people he knows well with a lot of weight,” said a former Biden aide.

When first lady ROSALYNN CARTER died on Sunday, Nov. 19, Biden was on his way to the Norfolk Naval Station for a Friendsgiving dinner with service members. As reporters traveling with Biden asked when they could expect a statement from the president on Carter’s passing, White House staff urged patience. Biden, the aides said, liked to have eyes on the final draft. He wouldn’t be able to get to it until he finished serving the mashed potatoes.

Although Biden briefly spoke about Carter as he was leaving the Friendsgiving, it wasn’t until Air Force One was wheels down in Washington that evening when the White House shared a statement on her.

A person familiar with the process told West Wing Playbook that the president puts a lot of care into his statements and, as a result, his team does as well. The person said staff ensures statements reflect the relationship the president had with the person, the person’s major accomplishments and how that person’s life fit into the broader American story.

Biden aides note there’s no real consequence to not putting these statements out faster. Only reporters and editors eager to freshen up their stories actually care about the timeliness. Perhaps the biggest inconvenience is to Vice President KAMALA HARRIS’ aides, who have to hold off on releasing her statements until the president has weighed in first.

Biden’s editing habit is not new. Aides who worked for him before he assumed the presidency told West Wing Playbook that when he had more free time, he’d often insist on writing the statement on occasion of someone’s death or the eulogy himself. If he was busy, he’d settle for a heavy edit or dictate his thoughts to staff.

The president’s attention to these statements isn’t limited to notable public officials. When ANNE KEARNS, the woman who bought the president’s childhood home in Scranton, Pennsylvania, passed away on Christmas Eve, the president personally edited a statement the White House provided exclusively to the Scranton Times-Tribune memorializing her.

Aides said the extra care Biden gives to those types of comments is emblematic of how grief has come to define his public persona and how seriously he takes his role of consoler-in-chief.

When he was in the Senate, Biden kept a binder full of remarks, notes and drafts of eulogies that he had given for childhood friends, lawmakers and even his own father, as the New York Times reported in 2020. The Times wrote that the binder included a section of Biden’s favorite passages that often appeared in his public comments, labeled “Quotable Quotes: Death.”

“Death is part of this life,” one item read, “and not of the next.”

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Obesity is a chronic disease affecting millions of Americans, and disproportionately impacting Black and Hispanic adults. Leaders need to act now.

POTUS PUZZLER

Which president has been falsely seen as a self-proclaimed lover of pickles?

(Answer at bottom.)

The Oval

WHAT AUSTIN WAS KEEPING SECRET: Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN revealed today that it was a prostate cancer diagnosis — and a related urinary tract infection — that led to the hospitalization he had kept secret from virtually everyone. In fact, we learned that Biden himself was just informed about the cancer diagnosis today, even though doctors discovered it in early December.

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center announced Tuesday that Austin has been hospitalized since Jan. 1 after complications from surgery to treat the cancer, our MATT BERG, LARA SELIGMAN and ALEXANDER WARD report. Austin, who is sixth in line to the presidency, was initially diagnosed with a UTI before doctors transferred him to the intensive care unit and found that collections of abdominal fluid impaired the functions of his small intestines. The doctors said Austin is recovering well, but did not provide an update on his release.

The news of Austin’s condition — and yet another delayed communication to the president — comes after a weekend of scrutiny toward the Pentagon for not disclosing his medical status to the White House until days after the hospitalization, which White House spokesperson JOHN KIRBY admitted was not “optimal.”

RELATED: Following the fallout from the Austin controversy (at least the initial one), the White House announced it is launching a review of protocols for how Cabinet heads delegate their authorities, Lauren and Myah report. In a memo to Cabinet secretaries, chief of staff JEFF ZIENTS ordered them to confirm their delegating protocols are in line with existing standards and to submit a review of their processes to the White House by Friday. Zients also ordered secretaries to notify his office if they ever can’t perform their duties.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This Daily Beast opinion piece by JONATHAN TURLEY — the former witness in the House GOP’s impeachment hearing into Biden. House Republicans are now pushing for the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS — and Turley lays out the reasons why lawmakers have failed to meet impeachment standards. Turley calls Mayorkas “dishonest, duplicitous, and derelict,” yet argues his actions have not amounted to high crimes and misdemeanors, and do not warrant impeachment.

White House spokesperson IAN SAMS shared the piece on X.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This op-ed by The Guardian’s MOUSTAFA BAYOUMI, who warns that support from a key coalition Biden needs to win reelection — Arab American and Muslim American voters — is falling apart. The Arab American Institute found that only 17 percent of Arab Americans say they will vote for Biden in 2024, down nearly 60 percent from 2020. Bayoumi also notes that Muslim leaders from key swing states have begun a campaign to move away from Biden.

RELATEDLY: A new statewide poll commissioned by The Detroit News and WDIV-TV finds that Biden is trailing DONALD TRUMP by 8 percentage points among likely general election voters in Michigan, a state with a larger Arab American population.

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THE BUREAUCRATS

HIGH STAKES TRIP: Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN on Tuesday traveled to Israel to meet with Israeli officials in Tel Aviv, CNN’s JENNIFER HANSLER reports. In the meeting, Blinken stressed the importance of avoiding civilian harm and protecting civilian infrastructure, but reaffirmed the administration’s belief that Israel has the right to prevent another attack from happening.

According to a readout of the meeting between Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, the two discussed “ongoing efforts to secure the release of all remaining hostages and the importance of increasing the level of humanitarian assistance reaching civilians in Gaza.”

TAKE TWO: The president renominated acting Labor Secretary JULIE SU even though his original nomination languished for nearly a year, The Hill’s ALEX GANGITANO reports. Biden first nominated Su to replace former Labor Secretary MARTY WALSH back in February, but the effort has been held up by opposition from Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) and Sen. KYRSTEN SINEMA (I-Ariz.).

PERSONNEL MOVES: On Tuesday, Food and Drug Administration commissioner ROBERT CALIFF named ELIZABETH JUNGMAN as chief of staff, our LAUREN GARDNER reports for Pro subscribers. Jungman will take over on Jan. 28 for JULIE TIERNEY, who stepped down in December.

A message from the Health Equity Coalition for Chronic Disease:

Agenda Setting

NOT THE BEST LOOK, DON: In an interview Monday night, former President Donald Trump said he expected there would be an economic crash and hoped it would come in the next 12 months, as opposed to after the election. The Biden folks quickly jumped on his comments. “Donald Trump should just say he doesn’t give a damn about people, because that’s exactly what he’s telling the American people when he says he hopes the economy crashes,” Biden campaign manager JULIE CHÁVEZ RODRÍGUEZ said in a statement.

White House deputy press secretary ANDREW BATES also chimed in: “A commander in chief’s duty is to always put the American people first; never to hope that hard-working families suffer economic pain for their own political benefit.”

MORE THAN A TITLE: On Tuesday, the Labor Department announced a new rule intended to make it easier for millions of independent contractors to be considered company employees, our NICK NIEDZWIADEK reports for Pro subscribers. The rule will expand the reach of federal law that requires companies to provide certain benefits to their workers considered employees — including minimum wage and overtime pay — to contractors.

“We are confident that this rule will help create a level playing field for businesses, protect workers from being denied the right to fair pay, and affirm the vital role true independent contractors play in our economy by allowing them to thrive,” acting Labor Secretary Julie Su told reporters.

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What We're Reading

Elections and Disinformation Are Colliding Like Never Before in 2024 (NYT’s Tiffany Hsu, Stuart A. Thompson and Steven Lee Myers)

‘It’s a scary time’ as world shatters temperature record (POLITICO’s Zack Colman)

In South Carolina, Biden and Harris Test Policy-Heavy Pitch to Black Voters (NYT’s Maya King)

The Oppo Book

While studying at NYU’s Stern School of Business, COURTNEY RIZZO, director of finance at the White House, served as editor-in-chief and president of The Opportunity, the graduate school’s newspaper. During that time, she wrote a column, “Rizzo Reviews,” in which she gave her takes on an array of dramatic performances, including in theater and opera around the city and at the school.

In one of her reviews, she discussed SHAKESPEARE’s "Macbeth," writing of one of the star actresses: “She clearly delights in playing the power-hungry, devious Lady Macbeth. She sounds ravishing and, with her blond wig let down over a busty silver nightgown, received more than one excited ‘Brava!’ from the opera-matinee-aged men sitting around me.”

It seems like Rizzo had quite the liking toward opera, as she worked at, bear with us: the Santa Fe Opera, Chelsea Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera, Eugene Opera, Seattle Opera, the Lincoln Center, and the Los Angeles Opera.

Courtney, send us your recommendations please. We’re always in the mood for some opera work music.

POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER

THOMAS JEFFERSON has falsely been quoted as saying: “On a hot day in Virginia, I know nothing more comforting than a fine spiced pickle, brought up trout-like from the sparkling depths of the aromatic jar below the stairs of Aunt Sally’s cellar.”

A CALL OUT! Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents, with a citation or sourcing, and we may feature it!

Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.

A message from the Health Equity Coalition for Chronic Disease:

Obesity is the second leading contributor to preventable death in the United States only after smoking. For communities of color — who are disproportionately impacted by obesity — it’s time for immediate action.

Our leaders have the power to combat the obesity epidemic — starting with allowing Medicare to cover lifesaving, FDA-approved obesity medications.