| | | | |  | | By Eli Stokols, Lauren Egan and Ben Johansen | | Presented by |  | | | Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Eli | Email Lauren When the White House decided last year not to hold its usual event celebrating Cinco de Mayo, the official explanation was that the East Wing wanted to streamline its events schedule by holding only one-a-year for each constituency group. Given the East Room celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, aides said, a Cinco party was no longer necessary. If that was ever really the case, it’s not anymore. With six months to go before voters decide whether to give President JOE BIDEN a second term, the administration is throttling up its Latino engagement. And this week, that means seizing the holiday. When several hundred Latinos gathered for Monday afternoon’s event, there were the usual accouterments: tacos and salt-rimmed glasses of icy margs accompanied by Mariachi Lindas Mexicanas, an all-woman band that had just flown in from Los Angeles to play punchy tunes over the din of conversation. When Biden and first lady JILL BIDEN walked to the stage, an announcer heralded their arrival. Miami Heat rookie JAIME JAQUEZ JR., the most prominent Mexican-American in the NBA, was greeted with shouts of “UCLA!” (his alma mater) before offering a brief introduction. When Biden spoke, he ticked off his administration’s accomplishments for Latino voters — job creation, support for small businesses and predominantly Latino colleges and universities, reducing student loan debt and a plan to lower the cost of housing — and contrasted his record on immigration with former President DONALD TRUMP, the presumptive GOP nominee. “We are a nation of immigrants and we shouldn’t forget it,” said Biden. He concluded by reminding the crowd that a bust of CÉSAR CHÁVEZ sits in the Oval Office and by quoting the legendary labor leader’s words: “Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.” The president and first lady had already appeared with two Latino radio personalities, ALEX “EL GENIO” LUCAS and STEPHANIE “CHIQUIBABY” HIMONIDIS, who were invited to broadcast live from the White House. Other prominent Latinos in the administration, including political director EMMY RUIZ, also joined Himonidis. But hanging over the festivities and booze and upbeat music was a sobering reality: Polls show Trump making gains with Latino voters, especially men. That’s a big reason for the revved up outreach, which coincided with a new TV ad by Biden’s campaign targeting Latino men on the issue of protecting abortion rights. It’s also why administration officials are asking for help from prominent Latino actors, comedians and influencers who were on campus Monday not just for the party but, prior to that, for meetings with senior officials and the first lady. Comedian AL MADRIGAL was part of that 20-person group that also included WILMER VALDERRAMA, ARTURO CASTRO and CRISTO FERNÁNDEZ (the “football is life” character in “Ted Lasso”). They met with Secretary of Education MIGUEL CARDONA, HHS Secretary XAVIER BECERRA and Office of Intergovernmental Affairs director TOM PEREZ. “It seems like they have a communications problem,” Madrigal said. “Becerra was pretty honest about that.” Ensuring health care access for DACA recipients, lowering the costs of insulin and prescription drugs for seniors and helping Hispanic home buyers avoid discrimination, Madrigal said, are tangible achievements that most Hispanics aren’t fully aware of. “The wins that this administration has had are almost akin to redoing your plumbing or rewiring your house,” he continued. “People aren't seeing it. You have guests over and you did this great thing, but no one knows.” The Democratic advocacy group Equis organized the “Hermanos at the White House” event in hopes of spreading the word. The goal, essentially, is that Madrigal and other Hispanic influencers will use their personal platforms to tout Biden’s record. But the Biden campaign is also prioritizing Latino outreach, focusing on Spanish-language media and building a campaign presence in Latino communities across a number of swing states. "This is the largest and earliest investment ever in Hispanic media," said campaign spokesman KEVIN MUNOZ. MESSAGE US — Are you STEPHANIE “CHIQUIBABY” HIMONIDIS? 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!
| | | | A message from the Electronic Payments Coalition: WORKING-CLASS AMERICANS DEPEND ON CREDIT CARD REWARDS: A new study finds credit card rewards like cashback empower low-income families to pay for the rising price of everyday essentials—like groceries and gas. So why are DC politicians partnering with corporate mega-stores to end those hard-earned rewards programs that Americans rely on? The Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Bill takes billions from American families, lining corporate pockets instead. Tell DC politicians to OPPOSE the Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Bill. | | | | | Which boy band did BARACK OBAMA once threaten to take out in a drone strike? (Answer at bottom.)
| | BIDEN’S BILLIONS: The Biden administration has spent a whopping $1.6 trillion on a New Deal-style transformation of the country. At least one-third of that will be tax breaks for things like clean energy manufacturing, electric vehicles and home energy updates, with the rest going to highways, greenhouse gas reduction and semiconductor manufacturing, among other items. But according to this POLITICO analysis of public data, only a small portion of the money has been actually spent. And as our colleagues write, Biden’s attempt to secure an FDR-style legacy is running short on time: Hundreds of billions of dollars that Congress approved at Biden’s urging remain unspent as he approaches a rematch this November with Donald Trump. SPEAKING TO THE NATION: President Biden on Tuesday warned of a “ferocious” surge of antisemitism in America and around the world amid a wave of anti-Israel campus protests, our MYAH WARD, ADAM CANCRYN and JONATHAN LEMIRE report. Speaking at the U.S. Capitol in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Biden called out the violent excesses of those protests and reaffirmed the U.S. alliance with Israel. “Antisemitism, antisemitic posters, slogans calling for the annihilation of Israel, the world’s only Jewish state. Too many people denying, downplaying, rationalizing, ignoring the horrors of the Holocaust and Oct. 7 … It is absolutely despicable, and it must stop,” Biden said. Notably, hours after Biden’s speech concluded, White House press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE was asked if he would deliver similar remarks about the plight of Palestinians or Islamophobia. She did not commit to any upcoming address. “You’ve heard the president address the war and address the suffering that we’re seeing in Gaza,” she replied. “The president has spoken to this many times.” OWNING IT. SORTA: After Monday’s newsletter detailed two separate mishaps where the pool of reporters shadowing the president were separated from his motorcade, the U.S. Secret Service responded to our request for a comment and took responsibility for the snafus, which it said was inadvertent. “There were some internal communication gaps caused by events during the motorcade movement,” said USSS spokesman ANTHONY GUGLIELMO. “The second incident where the agent was away from his vehicle was prompted by an encounter with a member of the public which the agent was addressing. During this time, he was temporarily away from the vehicle and unable to move it in that moment.” He added: “We regret any inconveniences these caused.” The explanation, while appreciated, doesn’t quite jibe with what three individuals in the pool van said in regards to the second instance. According to those individuals, the driver of the pool van and the White House press wrangler repeatedly asked the agent to move his vehicle so they could rejoin the motorcade and the agent repeated multiple times that he would not. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by Axios’ SAREEN HABESHIAN, who reports that despite recent, anti-Israel college protests taking the nation’s attention, a small percentage of students are participating in them or view it as a top issue. According to a new Generation Lab survey, only eight percent of college students have participated in either side of the protests, and students ranked the conflict in the Middle East as the least important issue facing them out of nine options. On the actual protest tactics, 67 percent say occupying campus buildings is unacceptable, while 58 percent say it’s not acceptable to refuse a university’s order to disperse. Communications director BEN LABOLT shared the piece on X. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by WSJ’s REBECCA BALLHAUS and ANDREW ACKERMAN, who report on an investigation into the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, finding widespread sexual misconduct, bullying and discrimination within the agency. More than 500 FDIC employees out of fewer than 6,000, most of them current, spoke with the law firm in charge of the investigation about their experiences of misconduct at the agency — including women being subject to naked photos from senior bank executives and male supervisors making lewd comments to female colleagues. The review also called into question the leadership of FDIC Chairman MARTIN GRUENBERG, who was accused of verbally abusive behavior. It comes after an extensive WSJ investigation in November revealed a toxic workplace culture at the agency, with many Republicans calling on Gruenberg — who was nominated by President Biden for a second term in 2022 — to resign.
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | | REMEMBER THAT?? The Biden campaign launched a new digital ad titled “Ripped Apart,” aimed at reminding voters of the Trump administration’s family separation policy, which was officially announced six years ago today, Axios’ ASTRID GALVÁN reports. The ad combines Trump’s anti-immigrant comments with images of families being separated at the border, ending with Biden condemning Trump’s actions. DAMN. The Biden campaign joined (sort of) the KENDRICK LAMAR–DRAKE beef Monday night, putting out a TikTok using Kendrick's “Euphoria” over images of Donald Trump. The lyrics go as follows: “It’s always been about love and hate, now lemme say I’m the biggest hater. I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk, I hate the way that you dress.” The campaign subbed those with: “I hate the way that you walk over women’s rights, the way that you talk about immigrants, I hate the way that you dress.”
| | | | A message from the Electronic Payments Coalition:   | | | | | LINES TO READ BETWEEN: The Biden administration is holding up the shipment of two types of Boeing-made precision bombs to send a political message to Israel over its Gaza policy, our Defense folks report. The U.S. has not signed off on a pending sale of Boeing’s Joint Direct Attack Munitions — both the munitions and kits that convert them to smart weapons — and Small Diameter Bombs. It appears to be the first instance of the Biden administration withholding aid from Israel as it grows increasingly frustrated over its military campaign against Palestinians in Gaza. One industry official told POLITICO that the administration told Boeing to halt the shipment for “political reasons,” not because of supply chain strain. ON THE OTHER HAND … The Biden administration’s report on whether Israel has violated humanitarian law during their military campaign in Gaza has been delayed, our MATT BERG and JOE GOULD report. The State Department was expected to release a report Wednesday determining whether Israel had violated international humanitarian law, but according to multiple Senate and House aides, the White House notified the Hill that it had missed the date — without providing a clear reason why.
| | Ukraine arrests 2 rogue colonels over secret plot to murder Zelenskyy, Kyiv says (POLITICO Europe’s Veronika Melkozerova) “We’re Not Selling Hysteria”: Inside the Cold Calculation and Unyielding Optimism of the Biden Brain Trust (Vanity Fair’s Chris Smith) The Politics of Fear Itself (Peter Wehner for The Atlantic)
| | | | A message from the Electronic Payments Coalition: NEW STUDY DEBUNKS MYTH CREDIT CARDS REWARDS ARE ONLY FOR THE RICH: Politicians in DC are teaming up with corporate mega-stores to push a false narrative only the rich benefit from credit card rewards. New research disproves this, showing rewards have a significantly larger financial benefit for low- and middle-income Americans. These rewards, especially cashback, help working class families pay for everyday essentials--equivalent to a 17 cent per gallon gas price reduction. Yet, politicians are trying to pass a new law that would end rewards programs that Americans rely on, favoring corporations over people. The card mandates included in the Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Bill would weaken security measures, disrupt rewards, and burden households already grappling with rising costs. With food and rent prices soaring, stripping cashback rewards from hardworking American families would be devastating. Learn more here. | | | | | BERT KAUFMAN, senior adviser to Commerce Secretary GINA RAIMONDO, can credit his career journey to Furbies. You know, those creepy robotic, owl-like dolls. On the Sunday before Christmas in 1998, the 16-year-old Kaufman journeyed to a Baton Rouge Walmart to buy some toiletries, where he ran into then Louisiana Sen. JOHN BREAUX’s state director JIM NICKEL. Nickel's wife had sent him there to buy a Furby for each of his two young daughters and wouldn’t let him come home without them. The Baton Rouge location was the only spot selling the hottest Christmas gift that winter. And without knowing who Nickel was, Kaufman helped him buy a Furby. “After we walked out of the store, I gave him my Furby and he gave me his business card,” Kaufman said in a 2019 Q&A with POLITICO. “That Furby led to an internship in Sen. Breaux’s office in 2001, which led to many other amazing opportunities.” Ok, that’s insane.
| | At the 2010 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, Obama called out the JONAS BROTHERS, lamenting the fact that his daughters were huge fans. “Boys, don't get any ideas. I have two words for you: Predator drones. You will never see it coming,” Obama said, garnering laughs. “You think I’m joking,” he added. 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 Sam Stein and Mike DeBonis.
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