| | | | |  | | By Rachael Bade, Ryan Lizza and Eugene Daniels | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
| | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | MIDDLE EAST LATEST — Israel seized control of the Rafah checkpoint on the border between Egypt and Gaza last night, Reuters reports, amid a series of Israel Defense Forces strikes on the surrounding city where 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering. The incursion, AP writes, “appeared to be short of the full-fledged offensive into Rafah that Israel has planned” but handed Israel full control over a key humanitarian aid corridor, which has now been shut down. Hopes for a cease-fire deal hang by a thread, with Hamas indicating it’s willing to deal, Israel balking at the details and White House officials scrambling to make sense of the fast-moving developments: “At the end of the day, they came to believe, each of the moves signaled less than originally met the eye, but reflected efforts to gain leverage at the negotiating table with a clear resolution not yet in sight,” NYT’s Peter Baker writes.
|  For Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), her relationship with Donald Trump and his inner circle is on the line. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | CONCESSION STAND — The pressure for Republican party unity seems to finally be getting to Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.). After weeks of insisting that she’d force a vote on removing MIKE JOHNSON as speaker, Greene requested a meeting with Johnson yesterday to explore potential off-ramps. The pair ended up huddling for almost two hours. Today, they’ll meet again at 12:30 p.m. in hopes of finding a detente. Johnson struck a conciliatory note after yesterday’s meeting, sympathizing with Greene and pledging to “keep this team together.” But peace in the GOP won’t come for free. Spokespeople for the two lawmakers declined to comment on their discussions, but we hear Greene and allied Rep. THOMAS MASSIE (R-Ky.) showed up to the meeting with a list of potential demands. Per folks we spoke to last night, they include the following:
- No further aid for Ukraine;
- A return to the “Hastert Rule,” meaning no legislation is brought to a vote without support from a majority of the House majority;
- Defunding the special counsel probes into DONALD TRUMP in upcoming appropriations; and
- Enforcement of the “Massie Rule,” whereby government funding is automatically cut across the board if no superseding agreement is reached before a set deadline.
Some of these would be easier for Johnson to agree to than others. Since this Congress has effectively cleared the barn, as they say, of controversial, must-do items such as funding the government, raising the debt ceiling and extending surveillance authorities, Johnson can probably stick to the Hastert Rule. And Democrats agreed to a version of the Massie Rule during last year’s spending talks with KEVIN McCARTHY — so Johnson could probably go there as well. And on Ukraine, Congress just sent Kyiv $60 billion in aid — enough to last through the year by most estimates, though Greene might also want to strike an expected nine-figure aid authorization in the annual Pentagon policy bill that’s expected to move later this year. Defunding special counsel JACK SMITH is no doubt the trickiest request. Front-line Republicans in the past have balked at such demands, to say nothing of Democrats. If Greene is expecting Johnson to put up a fight on a much-anticipated September continuing resolution, that would be a recipe for a federal shutdown just weeks before the election. The two sides don’t have a deal yet — and might never get one — but it’s clear temperatures are dropping. A handshake solution, after all, is in the interest of both parties: It would spare Johnson a risky vote where he’d be relying on the generosity of Democrats to save his gavel. And for Greene, her relationship with Trump and his inner circle is on the line, we’re told. The former president, one person close to him told Playbook last night, “could not have been clearer” in signaling that he isn’t interested in any more intraparty drama this election season. Good Tuesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | 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. | | | TRUMP’S DOUBLE PRISON THREAT — Trump is closer than ever to becoming the first American president to go to jail. The threat came in two waves yesterday in court in Manhattan. Criminal contempt (again) … Ruling on another batch of alleged Trump violations of the gag order in the case, judge JUAN MERCHAN seemed to go out of his way to interpret the gag order narrowly, concluding that only one of four Trump statements presented by prosecutors warranted a new finding of criminal contempt. He let Trump off the hook on statements about key witnesses but was infuriated by his suggestion that the jury was “95 percent Democrats” and drawn from “a purely Democrat area.” The jurors are an inviolable red line for Merchan, who said in his order that Trump “not only called into question the integrity, and therefore the legitimacy of these proceedings, but again raised the specter of fear for the safety of the jurors and of their loved ones.” He fined Trump another $1,000 and warned him that “if appropriate and warranted, future violations of its lawful orders will be punishable by incarceration” — a warning that Merchan reinforced in open court. “The last thing I want to do is put you in jail,” he told Trump, “but at the end of the day, I have a job to do.” Trump did not violate the gag order in his remarks outside the courtroom yesterday after Merchan’s spanking, though he insisted he would risk jail to preserve his right to speak out. He’ll have plenty of chances to do so today when court resumes, and certainly on Saturday, when he is scheduled to host a rally on the beach in Wildwood, New Jersey. New (damning) evidence … While Trump’s chances of going to jail before the trial is over dramatically increased, so too did his chances of serving time after the trial. Prosecutors showed the jury two damning documents: handwritten notes by two different top Trump Organization officials that clearly laid out the details of how MICHAEL COHEN was being reimbursed $430,000 for paying STORMY DANIELS — the original $130,000, plus a bonus that he was owed and money to cover his taxes on the Daniels payment. The notes showed that the company would pay him monthly and classify the payments as “legal expenses” for a “retainer agreement,” which JEFFREY McCONNEY, the company’s former controller, admitted he never saw. On the core allegation of falsifying business records, this evidence was as close to a smoking gun as we’ve seen so far. To seal the deal, prosecutors will still have to show that Trump, who personally signed the 11 checks to Cohen, knew of this underlying bookkeeping fraud. Talking himself into jail? … Ankush Khardori argues that there are more reasons why Trump’s chances of going to prison have increased with all of his extracurricular statements: “First, he may have created more evidence that prosecutors might be able to use against him in the case. Second, and much more importantly, Trump is increasing the odds that he will have to spend some time in prison if he is convicted and loses his reelection bid. … Prosecutors and the judge are well within their rights to be angry about Trump’s behavior and to factor it into their assessment of the appropriate punishment if he is eventually convicted.” The details … “Forget the sex. Check out those titillating invoices at the Trump hush money trial,” by Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney … “Jurors in Trump Trial Hear Witness Tie the President to the Payment,” by NYT’s Ben Protess, Jonah Bromwich, Alan Feuer and William Rashbaum EVERYONE NEEDS AN EDITOR — “Kristi Noem’s Team Told Her to Nix the Dog Story 2 Years Ago,” by Michael Schaffer for POLITICO Magazine: “Then, as now, [South Dakota Gov. KRISTI] NOEM wanted the story in because it showed a decisive person who was unwilling to be bound by namby-pamby niceties, while others on the team — which included agents, editors and publicists at Hachette Book Group’s prestige Twelve imprint, and a ghostwriter — saw it as a bad-taste anecdote that would hurt her brand. The tale was ultimately cut, according to two people involved with the project.” MEET THE NEW BOSS, ETC. — “Putin begins his fifth term as president, more in control of Russia than ever,” by AP’s Emma Burrows: “Already in office for nearly a quarter-century and the longest-serving Kremlin leader since JOSEF STALIN, [VLADIMIR] PUTIN’s new term doesn’t expire until 2030, when he will be constitutionally eligible to run again.” YET ANOTHER DELAY — “Boeing forced to scrub first crewed Starliner launch to the space station,” by NBC’s Denise Chow
| | | | A message from the Electronic Payments Coalition:   Protect our credit card rewards lifeline—tell DC politicians to OPPOSE the Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Bill. | | | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | On the Hill The Senate will meet at 3 p.m. to take up the nomination of DONNA WELTON to be ambassador to Timor-Leste, with a cloture vote at 5:30 p.m. Later, the Senate will resume consideration of the FAA reauthorization. The House will meet at 10 a.m. and at noon will take up various bills. The Oversight Committee will hold a closed briefing on antisemitism in higher education at 10 a.m. IRS Commissioner DANNY WERFEL and DEA Administrator ANNE MILGRAM will testify before Appropriations subcommittees at 10 a.m. Education Secretary MIGUEL CARDONA will testify before the Education and the Workforce Committee at 10:15 a.m. 3 things to watch …
- The Senate is back today, and it has just days to pass an FAA reauthorization and send it to the House for final action ahead of a Friday midnight deadline. Expect talk of a short-term patch to escalate as the day wears and chances for an amendment deal wane. Nearly 100 amendments have been filed over the past week, with many senators hoping their pet bills can hitch a ride on what is likely the only major bill getting signed into law before September. Among the players to watch: Finance Chair RON WYDEN (D-Ore.), who is keen on getting his big tax bill moving.
- Rep. TIM KENNEDY (D-N.Y.) was sworn into the House to replace the retired BRIAN HIGGINS yesterday, bringing the chamber’s split to 217-213 — and giving Johnson a mere one-vote margin of error on party-line votes (at least until after the May 21 special election to fill McCarthy’s seat in California). Fun fact: Tim is the 22nd Kennedy to serve in Congress, and since Rep. JAMES KENNEDY was sworn into the 58th Congress as a Republican in 1903, there have been only six Congresses out of 60 without at least one Kennedy serving. Watch the swearing-in
- It was only last September that Rep. JENNIFER WEXTON (D-Va.) announced her retirement following a diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy, a rapid-onset degenerative disease. Yesterday Wexton rose on the floor, physically diminished but determined to give remarks in support of the naming of a post office in her district for the late MADELEINE ALBRIGHT. She used a text-to-voice app on her tablet to pay tribute to Albright as a “fearless trailblazer” and “devoted public servant.” More from WaPo
At the White House President JOE BIDEN will receive the President’s Daily Brief in the morning. At 11:30 a.m., he will deliver the keynote address at the Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Annual Days of Remembrance ceremony at the Capitol. In the afternoon, Biden will host Romanian President KLAUS IOHANNIS at the White House. Press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE will brief at 2 p.m. VP KAMALA HARRIS will receive briefings and conduct internal meetings with staff.
| | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | THE WHITE HOUSE
|  President Joe Biden’s penchant for a big speech, including one on antisemitism today, is long-standing. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images | FIGURE OF MEACH — Biden is preparing to deliver a major “tentpole” address on the war in Gaza today, which advisers hope will demonstrate that he can bring moral clarity to the unrest, Jonathan Lemire and Jennifer Haberkorn write. “But the speech will also test a rhetorical style and approach to presidential communication that even allies worry doesn’t always resonate best with voters.” Biden’s penchant for a big speech — “on topics ranging from voting rights to race relations to the future of democracy, and, on Tuesday, antisemitism” — is long-standing, and it’s rooted in a belief that Biden’s “optimal impact comes when he is positioned above the fray. But it is not universally beloved inside the White House. Aides have grumbled that the rhetorical flourishes — often with input from historian JON MEACHAM — are too lofty for ordinary listeners; they don’t sound much like classic Scranton Joe.” Ahead of the speech, his administration announced new efforts this morning to counter antisemitism. The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights is issuing new guidance to school districts and colleges to protect Jewish and other students, DHS is building an online campus safety resources guide, and the State Department’s Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism will convene technology firms to identify best practices to address antisemitic content online. ALL POLITICS
| 
In the race to succeed Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, national issues have dominated the GOP primary. | Darron Cummings/AP Photo | HOOSIER HEAT — The bitter gubernatorial primary concluding today in the heavily Republican, traditionally congenial state of Indiana is Exhibit A in the nationalization of politics at every level, Adam Wren writes this morning. The contest has “become so divisive that Lt. Gov. SUZANNE CROUCH, who is running in a crowded field to succeed Gov. ERIC HOLCOMB, says that she has only spoken to him once in the last six months. The governor doesn’t see Crouch as his natural successor, and his own installed GOP state party chair accused her of creating a ‘toxic’ dynamic in the party. She and five other candidates have altogether sunk a record-breaking $40 million into the contest. “But what may be most surprising is not the money or the vitriol, but the focus of the campaign itself. The run-up to the Tuesday primary has been litigated almost entirely on national issues — Sen. MIKE BRAUN’s now-recanted support for Black Lives Matter, where the candidates stand on China, and immigration — a stark example of the nationalization of politics at every level in the era of Donald Trump. … Indiana is hardly a factor at all.” ICYMI: “Five primaries that will shape Indiana Republicans’ future,” by Madison Fernandez and Adam Wren in Weekly Score More top reads:
- Noem is really sticking to her guns, so to speak. The South Dakota governor “pitched herself for a top NRA job as early as last fall,” Axios’ Juliegrace Brufke and Sophia Cai report. “Noem offered to step down early as governor for the role, according to a person familiar with her conversation with former NRA CEO WAYNE LaPIERRE.”
- The Michigan GOP Senate primary is “becoming more combative,” Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser reports, as businessman SANDY PENSLER launches a statewide ad campaign hitting frontrunning former Rep. MIKE ROGERS for role investigating the 2012 Benghazi attack while serving as House Intelligence chair.
2024 WATCH POLL POSITION — Despite the sweeping campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war, which has boosted criticisms of Biden largely from the left, the issue isn’t having much of an adverse effect on the president’s polling numbers, NYT’s Charles Homans and Neil Vigdor report. “Surveys taken in recent months show young voters are more likely to sympathize with Palestinians in the conflict, but few of them rank the Israel-Hamas war among their top issues in the 2024 election.”
| | | | A message from the Electronic Payments Coalition:   Protect our credit card rewards lifeline—tell DC politicians to OPPOSE the Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Bill. | | | CONGRESS
| 
A primary runoff for Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) is forcing House GOP leaders into a tough position. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | Francis Chung/E&E News | PRIMARY COLORS — Rep. TONY GONZALES’ centrist voting record and willingness to excoriate his Republican colleagues are drawing the fair share of enemies in his own party — all while party leaders are still dreading what happens if he loses a runoff this month, Olivia Beavers and Ally Mutnick report. “The West Texan is battling for his political life after being forced into a primary runoff with a gun-rights YouTube star backed by members like Rep. MATT GAETZ (R-Fla.) and House Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. BOB GOOD (R-Va.). BRANDON HERRERA, known as ‘The AK Guy’ after his affection for assault rifles, would likely align with rabble-rousers who have repeatedly challenged GOP leadership.”
- House Republicans are threatening AG MERRICK GARLAND with contempt, “escalating their standoff with the Justice Department as they demand the audio of former special counsel ROBERT HUR’s interview with Biden,” Jordain Carney reports. A May 16 committee vote is scheduled.
- Rep. MIKE COLLINS (R-Ga.) “backtracked on some of his praise for a campus conflict that included a man who made monkey noises and gestures at a Black student who was protesting the Israel-Hamas war,” AP’s Emily Wagster Pettus writes.
AMERICA AND THE WORLD FOR YOUR RADAR — The U.S. Army said yesterday that a soldier was detained in Russia last week, NBC’s Courtney Kube and Mosheh Gains scooped. “The soldier, Staff Sgt. GORDON BLACK, had been stationed in South Korea and traveled to Russia on his own, not on official business, according to four U.S. officials. “He had finished his deployment and was heading back to the U.S. when he made a side trip to Vladivostok, Russia, to visit a woman he was romantically involved with, officials said. They added that he had traveled there without permission from his superiors and that he is being held in pretrial confinement. The soldier is accused of stealing from a woman, the officials said. It was not immediately clear whether it was the same woman he was visiting.” THE BRAVE NEW WORLD — “A New Diplomatic Strategy Emerges as Artificial Intelligence Grows,” by NYT’s David Sanger TRUMP CARDS STICKS AND STONES — Trump delivered some insensitive comments about Sen. JON TESTER (D-Mont.) at a fundraiser in Palm Beach, “comparing the Democrat’s appearance to that of a pregnant woman,” WaPo’s Michael Scherer reports. “The remarks came at a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser for Rep. [RONNY] JACKSON (R-Tex.), Trump’s former White House doctor, who has had a long-running feud with Tester.” What Trump said: “I looked at him and I said, ‘Oh, this finally works for a man or woman, because he looks pregnant to me.’ … Have you seen this guy? He doesn’t look like a fat guy, except his stomach is out to here. Not that I talk about things like that. I don’t even notice them.” POLICY CORNER LOVE, ACTUARY — “Economic growth boosts Social Security and Medicare but funding crisis still looms,” by Michael Stratford: “Federal officials on Monday said they expect Social Security will deplete its combined reserves and run out of money to fully pay beneficiaries in 2035, a year later than projected last year. … The upward revision was fueled by economic growth that exceeded last year’s expectations as well as lower levels of applications for Social Security disability payments.”
| | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | | Jared Moskowitz hasn’t learned his lesson on X. Daisy Bates and Johnny Cash are getting installed in Statuary Hall later this year. David Pecker got swatted on the day that he testified at the Trump trial. Brad Parscale is now an “AI evangelist” for his new company for conservative campaigns. AND THE AWARD GOES TO — The Pulitzer Prizes announced the 2024 winners yesterday, with the NYT and WaPo claiming the most wins at three each. ProPublica won the Public Service honor for reporting on the Supreme Court. Reuters and WaPo each were recognized for National Reporting for reporting on Elon Musk and guns in America. The NYT’s reporting on the Israel-Hamas war took top honors in the International Reporting category. See the full list of winners OUT AND ABOUT — The Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, along with the UW’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications, hosted the Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics at the National Press Club, with the support of Don Graham and WaPo. This year’s award was presented to a team of NBC reporters who showed how authorities in Hinds County, Mississippi, were unceremoniously burying the bodies of missing people without notifying the loved ones still searching for them. CNN’s Manu Raju had a keynote conversation with tech expert Katie Harbath. SPOTTED: Sally Buzbee, Sam Freedman, Mike Hixenbaugh, Carrie Johnson, Kim Kelleher, Catherine Kim, Adam Levine, Tom Namako, Jonathan O’Connell, Rich Schapiro, Julie Shapiro, Jon Schuppe, Owen Ullmann and Meghan Rafferty. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Longtime RNC spokeswoman Emma Vaughn is joining BGR Group as a VP of public relations. She was most recently deputy comms director for the RNC and is a Trump Victory, Dave Joyce and Andrew Garbarino alum. — Jessica Post is now a principal at Civitas. She previously was president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. — Taylor West will be executive director of the Healing Advocacy Fund. She most recently served as a philanthropic advisor to major donors seeking to support expansion of the psychedelic field and is co-creator of the inaugural UC Berkeley Psychedelics Survey in conjunction with the Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics. — Coulter Jones has been hired as a data reporter for investigations at Bloomberg. He most recently had a similar role at the WSJ. TRANSITIONS — Chris Cillizza is joining Dentons Global Advisors as a senior adviser. He will continue to write the “So What” political newsletter for Substack, and is a CNN, Cook Political Report, Roll Call and WaPo alum. … Gabi Ghandour is now a legislative correspondent/aide for Rep. John James (R-Mich.). She previously was a legislative correspondent for Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.). … … Kellyn Blossom is now head of policy and comms at Electra. She previously was VP of public policy at Zipline and is an Obama White House alum. … Lindsey Bornstein is now a PR manager at McDermott, Will & Emery. She previously was a PR specialist at Hogan Lovells. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Michael Short, a managing director at Penta Group, and Natalie Short, an SVP at Edelman Smithfield, on April 28 welcomed Jacob Asher Short, who joins big brother Benjamin. Pic … Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.) and Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) … Fox’s Brian Kilmeade … NBC’s Mark Murray … Keith Stern … Caitlin Carroll … Bruce Haynes of Charles River Laboratories … John Scofield of S-3 Group … Colm O’Comartun of 50 State … Nickie Currie of Amgen … RNC’s Christian Schaeffer … Jim Steinberg … Andrea Purse … 4C Communication Strategies’ Chris Kennedy ... Brad Wolters … former Utah Gov. Gary Herbert … former Reps. Candice Miller (R-Mich.) and Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) … Noelle Garnier … CNBC’s Amanda Macias … The 19th’s Grace Panetta 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. Correction: Yesterday’s Playbook misstated when the launch of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft would occur. It was originally scheduled for yesterday evening.
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
