| | | | |  | | By Eli Stokols, Lauren Egan and Ben Johansen | Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration and Harris campaign. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Eli | Email Lauren LINA KHAN is not running for office, but she did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Okay, fine: It was actually the Best Western in Baraboo, Wisconsin. But with the fall campaign entering the final stretch, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission is on the trail as much as KAMALA HARRIS. Maybe more. After an event on “corporate power and worker freedom” in Austin on Wednesday with Sen. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.) and Rep. GREG CASAR (D-Texas), Khan flew to Wisconsin for a roundtable meeting focused on a local health center and an event with Rep. MARK POCAN at his district office in Madison. Before the day is over, she’ll have appeared at another event just north of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport with Rep. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-Ill.). And on Friday, she’ll be in Phoenix alongside Rep. RUBEN GALLEGO, the Democratic Senate nominee in a hard-fought Arizona race that will help determine control of the chamber next year. The flurry of activity is not going unnoticed. After Punchbowl News covered Khan’s roadshow on Tuesday, Rep. CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS (R-Wash.) posted on X that Khan “using her position — at an independent agency — to campaign for @VP is unacceptable.” All of Khan’s appearances, it must be noted, are official events focused on policy, mostly at the offices of the lawmakers who have invited her to appear. But the context matters, too, and it’s not just about the election. Khan’s own term at the FTC has expired, and many see this PR blitz, which included a splashy “60 Minutes” profile a few weeks back, as about showcasing and solidifying her support across the Democratic Party in a way that might compel Harris, if she wins, to consider leaving her in place. In the interview with LESLEY STAHL, Khan acknowledged — after some light prodding — that she’d like to stay on: “There’s so much work to be done, and it’s such an honor to be in this role. And it would be an honor to have that opportunity to keep going.” Whatever the rising chatter about Khan’s public appearances, it’s clear that the Democrats holding her close see a mutual benefit in highlighting and demonstrating their own support for an agenda that has so incensed the Wall Street Journal editorial board that it has criticized her in print, according to one analysis, roughly every 10 days. In fact, since REID HOFFMAN and BARRY DILLER, two of the party’s most prominent Silicon Valley mega-donors, called for her firing on CNBC in late July, Democratic lawmakers from all wings of the party — from Rep. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-N.Y.) to Rep. JIM CLYBURN (D-S.C.) — have closed ranks around Khan. The same week as Hoffman’s and Diller’s interviews, Khan held a roundtable with Colorado farmers hosted by Assistant Democratic Leader JOE NEGUSE, who praised her in an Instagram reel as “one of the most exceptional, talented and effective chairwomen of the FTC in the agency’s storied history.” The other host of that roundtable was Sen. JOHN HICKENLOOPER, a moderate Democrat who built his own political brand around his background as a former entrepreneur. The backing from Democrats well outside the progressive caucus, not to mention her support from some Republicans or “Khan-servatives,” underlines the popularity of Khan’s consumer-focused efforts to take on some of the country’s biggest corporations. Some observers have noted that Khan of late has emphasized efforts to lower consumer costs over her antitrust suits, suggesting that the shift could be aimed at aligning her own work more fully with Harris’ agenda. But Khan’s allies argue the two things are one and the same, pointing to the FTC’s pending lawsuit attempting to block the largest grocery merger in the nation’s history between Kroger and Albertsons as an effort to maintain a level of competition that results in lower prices. Vulnerable Sen. JACKY ROSEN (D-Nev.), who urged the FTC in a letter last year to sue stop the merger, posted about it on X just Wednesday, writing that mergers “can lead to price gouging” and that’s why she’s “been pushing” Khan to take the action she has. If Khan’s popularity makes her difficult for Harris to replace, a potential GOP-controlled Senate would make her difficult to reconfirm. The simplest and perhaps only option for keeping her atop the FTC is to do nothing: Khan will continue to serve until a replacement is confirmed. MESSAGE US — Are you GIANCARLO STEFANONI, deputy director of the office of the social secretary? 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!
| | Which 1970s band did JIMMY CARTER credit for helping him get to the White House? (Answer at bottom.)
| | STAYING OUT OF THIS ONE: The International Association of Firefighters opted to not endorse either candidate in the 2024 presidential race, our NICK NIEDZWIADEK reports. The IAFF Executive Board said in a statement Thursday that it decided “by a margin of 1.2 percent” against backing one nominee, adding that the union can better advocate for its members if everyone is “standing shoulder-to-shoulder.” “This decision, which we took very seriously, is the best way to preserve and strengthen our unity,” the statement read. The non-endorsement is significant: In 2019, the union was the first to throw its weight behind President JOE BIDEN. BUT DON’T WORRY, SHE GOT BRUCE: Singer BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN on Thursday endorsed Vice President Harris, calling Trump the most “dangerous candidate for president in my lifetime.” The Boss, sitting in an empty diner with a Coke and no food, said Harris and TIM WALZ are “committed to a vision of this country that respects and includes everyone, regardless of class, religion, race, your political point of view or sexual identity.” ON WISCONSIN: Vice President Harris on Thursday evening will appear with former Rep. LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.) — one of DONALD TRUMP’s most prominent Republican critics — in Ripon, Wisconsin, largely considered to be the birthplace of the Republican Party. The joint campaign event will be aimed at appealing to voters who, like Cheney, hold conservative positions but are turned off by the former president. Cheney’s appearance comes the same day that two dozen Wisconsin Republicans — including former lawmakers and elected officials — released an open letter declaring their support for Harris. The vice president’s campaign described the letter as a “product of months of outreach” from both the campaign and state Democratic Party to lure Republicans. As Harris stepped out of Air Force Two this afternoon, Christian Science Monitor’s LINDA FELDMANN noted one photographer capturing the vice president’s arrival: ANNIE LEIBOVITZ. “This is a good one,” she told Feldmann. ONE MORE FOR HARRIS: CASSIDY HUTCHINSON, a former special assistant in the Trump White House — who also testified against him during the House’s Jan. 6 investigation into Trump’s actions — on Wednesday said she is “proud” to endorse Harris. During an appearance on LAWRENCE O’DONNELL’s “Last Word” on MSNBC, Hutchinson said Trump’s character is “a despicable portrayal of the Republican Party” and that he and JD VANCE “cannot be trusted with the Constitution.” WHAT WILMINGTON WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by E&E News’ SCOTT WALDMAN and THOMAS FRANK, who report that a review of Trump’s record and interviews with two former Trump White House officials show he was, at times, flagrantly partisan in responding to disasters. Trump, who’s blasted the Biden administration for ignoring Republican victims of Hurricane Helene, hesitated to give disaster aid to areas he considered politically hostile on at least three occasions while in office. MARK HARVEY, who was Trump’s senior director for resilience policy on the National Security Council staff, said the former president initially refused to approve disaster aid for California after deadly wildfires in 2018. But he said Trump changed his mind after Harvey pulled voting results to show him that heavily damaged Orange County, California, had more Trump supporters than the entire state of Iowa. President Biden, White House communications director BEN LaBOLT and campaign director of rapid response AMMAR MOUSSA shared the piece on X. WHAT WILMINGTON DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by our MEREDITH LEE HILL and MIA McCARTHY, who report that since being tapped as Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz has had a problem misspeaking. He’s found himself having to explain a growing number of inaccurate statements — and at times, embellishments — including comments about his military service, his visit to Hong Kong more than 30 years ago and whether his family used in vitro fertilization. In some cases, key members of the Harris campaign weren’t aware of some of his inaccurate statements until they became public, despite the robust vetting process.
| | TAKING IT IN: President Biden traveled to Florida and Georgia on Thursday to survey the Hurricane Helene damage. Notably, he was not joined by either of the state’s Republican governors, RON DeSANTIS and BRIAN KEMP, though Kemp did speak to the president over the phone earlier today. “We obviously are inviting them,” KARINE JEAN-PIERRE said in a press gaggle. “They are welcome to join us.” In Florida, Biden was instead joined by Republican Sen. RICK SCOTT. Later in Georgia, the president, along with Agriculture Secretary TOM VILSACK, spoke about the devastation to farmers at the Shiloh Pecan Farm in Ray City. WORDS HAVE POWER, JOE: Oil prices surged after President Biden on Thursday said the U.S. is considering whether to support an Israeli attack on Iranian oil facilities, Bloomberg’s ALBERTO NARDELLI, AKAYLA GARDNER, HENRY MEYER and COURTNEY McBRIDE report. “We’re discussing that,” Biden told reporters outside the White House. “I think that would be a little — anyways,” he added, trailing off.
| | DID A FULL 180 … CRAZY: Pop singer DUA LIPA was doing some nightseeing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night, for reasons unbeknownst to us. Like every college freshman at a D.C. school, Dua Lipa truly experienced the city at its peak: Drunk Night monumenting. Some questions remain. Did she go to Dan’s Cafe? Because we know you’re reading this newsletter: Dua Lipa, if you’d like a tour of Politico’s Rosslyn, Virginia, office (don’t be fooled, it’s basically D.C.), you met us at the perfect time. YOU CAN’T FIRE ME, I QUIT! In his newsletter Wednesday evening, Puck’s DYLAN BYERS confirmed the obvious about TAYLOR LORENZ’s decision to leave the Post for Substack. The departure stemmed from the journalist’s recent Instagram story caption calling Biden a “war criminal,” which, Byers reports, the newspaper investigated. “Though its findings have not been made public, I can confirm that the paper determined Lorenz violated the paper's standards and had no desire to continue employing her,” he wrote. PERSONNEL MOVES: KERA PACKAGE is now deputy assistant secretary for grant programs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, our DANIEL LIPPMAN has also learned. Package most recently was chief of staff of the Office of Community Planning and Development at HUD. — BLAKE DAVIS is now deputy assistant secretary for congressional relations at USDA. He most recently was senior policy adviser for AI at the Office of Personnel Management.
| | AN (ENCOURAGING) OCTOBER SURPRISE: A federal judge will let expire a temporary restraining order on the Biden administration’s sweeping new student loan forgiveness plan, potentially delivering relief to tens of millions of Americans, CNBC’s ANNIE NOVA reports. U.S. Georgia District Judge RANDAL HALL — a GEORGE W. BUSH appointee — delivered the win late Wednesday, which could benefit as many as three in every four federal student loan holders. ANOTHER TOUGH ON IMMIGRATION MOVE: The Biden administration will not be extending the legal status of tens of thousands of Venezuelan migrants who were allowed to fly to the U.S. under a sponsorship aimed at reining in illegal crossings, CBS News’ CAMILO MONTOYA-GALVEZ reports. The program, which was first launched in October 2022, was designed to discourage Venezuelans from traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border by offering them a legal way into the country if American-based individuals agreed to sponsor them. In January 2023, the policy was expanded to migrants from Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua. Government data shows that, as of the end of August, 530,000 migrants had flown to the U.S. under the policy — roughly 117,000 of them Venezuelans.
| | How Joe Biden lost his grip on Israel’s war for ‘total victory’ in Gaza (WaPo’s Karen DeYoung and Missy Ryan) The Nightmare That Keeps Wisconsin Democrats Up at Night (POLITICO’s Calder McHugh) Why Legal Experts Are Worried About a Second Trump Presidency (NYT’s Emily Bazelon and Mattathias Schwartz)
| | “It was The Allman Brothers that helped put me in the White House by raising money when I didn’t have any money,” Carter recounted in the 2020 film, “Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President.” The then-governor of Georgia struck a relationship with band members in January 1974, when he hosted a reception for them and BOB DYLAN at the governor’s mansion following an Atlanta performance. None of the band members showed until the tail end, when GREGG ALLMAN rolled up in a limo. A security guard told him the governor would like to see him. “They opened up a bottle of J&B scotch. Governor Carter said they had one drink, which is what he limited himself to,” ALAN PAUL, an Allman Brothers biographer said. “Gregg said they finished the bottle.” 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 Steve Shepard and Rishika Dugyala. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
