HUNTER THE HUNTED — HUNTER BIDEN made a surprise appearance on the Hill today as the House Oversight and Judiciary committees gathered for two separate votes to hold him in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena requiring him to sit for a closed-door interview. Surprising no one, chaos ensued. During his short cameo, the president’s son sat silently in the front row of the Oversight Committee room as members spoke. Some, like Rep. NANCY MACE (R-S.C.) used the opportunity to fling insults and accusations at the president's son. “You are the epitome of white privilege, coming into the Oversight Committee, spitting in our face, ignoring a congressional subpoena to be deposed,” Mace said. “What are you afraid of? You have no balls.” “If the gentlelady wants to hear from Hunter Biden, we can hear from him right now,” Rep. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-Fla.) interjected. “Let’s take a vote and hear from Hunter Biden.” Video of the exchange “Biden left the meeting shortly after he arrived, when Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.) tried to start questioning him,” Jordain Carney and Anthony Adragna report. “‘Apparently you’re afraid of my words,’ she said.” As a PR stunt, the move showed some savvy: As MTG spoke, the cable news networks went from carrying the hearing to instead showing Biden’s lawyer, ABBE LOWELL, speaking in the hallway outside the hearing room. Lowell said the House GOP was motivated by “improper partisan motives” and called the subpoena for a closed-door deposition "a tactic that the Republicans have repeatedly misused in their political crusade to selectively leak and mischaracterize what witnesses have said,” NBC News’ Sarah Fitzpatrick and Summer Concepcion report. ICYMI: Eugene and Betsy Woodruff Swan on Hunter Biden’s new counter-offensive strategy So what now? Should the votes move forward as expected the contempt resolution would head to the House floor for a full vote. If the House votes to hold Biden contempt, it will be up to the Department of Justice to decide whether to prosecute. MEANWHILE, IN CANNON — The House Homeland Security Committee held their first hearing this morning in their longstanding efforts to impeach DHS Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS for his handling of the immigration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. Prior to the hearing, Rep. CHIP ROY (R-Texas) sent a letter calling on his colleagues to support ousting Mayorkas, arguing “the case has never been stronger.” More from Katherine Tully-McManus: "The GOP's move to impeach Mayorkas without evidence of criminal or other improper activity beyond its policy dispute with him is unprecedented. Republicans argue that Mayorkas is not upholding existing immigration laws, but Democrats counter that the entire affair is designed to appeal to their base in an election year." On the right: During opening remarks, Chair MARK GREEN (R-Tenn.) described the hearing as a “solemn occasion,” saying that Mayorkas “has brazenly refused to enforce the laws passed by Congress that knowingly made our country less safe. What we are seeing here is a willful violation of his oath of office.” On the left: Democrats on the panel repeatedly pushed back against the GOP’s claims, with Ranking member Rep. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-Miss.) called the House GOP’s impeachment push a “pre-planned, predetermined political stunt,” adding “this is not a legitimate impeachment.” SPENDING STATE OF PLAY — Despite weeks of deadlock, House Speaker MIKE JOHNSON maintained an optimistic outlook on the Senate's ongoing deliberations over border security policies today during an appearance on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, Anthony reports. Johnson noted that while he's yet to see the text of the latest proposal he’s “cautiously optimistic” on a deal. Johnson said he’s planning on calling former president DONALD TRUMP today to “talk him through the details of” of the spending framework proposed over the weekend. Still, a solution still seems pretty far off. KTM reports that while Senate Republicans are now “resigned to the fact that they’ll need another stopgap measure,” to keep the government’s lights on, their House colleagues aren’t on board with the idea: Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at birvine@politico.com.
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