| | | |  | | By Zack Stanton | Presented by the Coalition for Medicare Choices | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
| | | Happy Wednesday. This is Zack Stanton. NEWS FROM HOME: Eugene Daniels, the irrepressible force of nature who has been part of the Playbook team (and many of your morning routines) for the last four-plus years, is leaving POLITICO to pursue an exciting new broadcast opportunity. A point of personal privilege: For much of his time at Playbook, I’ve had the opportunity to serve as Eugene’s main editor — a period of enormous personal and professional growth for both of us. Through late-night phone calls, near-constant texting and, frankly, just the simple eloquence of his example, I’ve seen firsthand his kindness, humor, humanity and generosity of spirit. If you hang around him enough, you’re bound to have certain “Eugene-isms” enter your lexicon (his use of “raggedy” as a catch-all adjective for things that grate on him comes to mind). And one thing you’ll hear him say repeatedly is something his mother told him when he was a boy: You belong in every room in which you find yourself. That’s how he carries himself and also how he treats others. What he means to the people in POLITICO’s newsroom isn’t to be underestimated; what he means to me and the rest of the Playbook crew, well, words fail. But we’re thrilled for him and the opportunity that awaits. Congratulations, Eugene. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Gavin Newsom will soon host his own podcast on which the California governor will mix it up with MAGA personalities, open his vast Rolodex for frank conversations with Democrats about how to come back from the wilderness and break news on consequential policy decisions, POLITICO's Christopher Cadelago scoops. The big picture: The solo venture from a likely presidential aspirant comes as Democrats writ large struggle to keep pace with the onslaught of actions from President Donald Trump and Republicans. Leaders across the minority party are casting about for a compelling message while trying to break through in an increasingly siloed media environment. The podcast space, with its proliferation of Trump-friendly personalities, has proven especially challenging for Democrats. The guest list: Newsom declined to name the half-dozen guests he said have privately agreed to come on with him. But he gave a big hint: “Look at the lineup at CPAC.” He also wants to turn the tables on his own party. The challenge: “I want Democrats to come on and sort of challenge where we are on a lot of these issues,” Newsom told Chris. “And so I'm asking the same questions you’re asking of me: Where the hell is the Democratic Party? What are we doing? Who are we? Where are we going? What’s the path back? I’m having the exact same conversations, and I just thought it'd be a hell of a lot more interesting to do it publicly and to do it as honestly as I can.”
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | TODAY: At 11 a.m., Trump holds the first Cabinet meeting of his second term. More on that in a moment, but first … ABOUT LAST NIGHT: POLITICO Capitol Bureau Chief Rachael Bade writes in … House GOP leaders declared victory after adopting their budget resolution last night, a surprise turnaround after they cancelled the vote and sent members home — then called them back a few minutes later having flipped three last-minute holdouts. But the budget drama is far from over.
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President Donald Trump listens in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, Feb. 25, 2025. | Pool photo | The Trump angle: Though he leaned in to try to move at least two GOP holdouts to the “yes” column yesterday, President Trump has also indicated to other GOP lawmakers that he has reservations about parts of the House budget and, I’m told, would like to see changes. What changes? This week, POTUS expressed reservations to some lawmakers about potential cuts to Medicaid, which while not specified in the budget, are expected given that the document calls for the Energy and Commerce Committee to identify more than $800 billion in reductions. While Speaker Mike Johnson has argued that those cuts would come from program “fraud,” many are skeptical the party can reach those kinds of savings without impacting constituents. View from one Trump ally: “He absolutely is depending on [the resolution] to change in the Senate,” one GOP lawmaker told me last night of Trump. “He does not want to cut Medicaid.” But wait, there’s more: Administration officials also haven’t been particularly jazzed about the House budget’s $4-4.5 trillion tax instruction, which they feel is too low even at the high end. They knew weeks ago that such a sum wouldn’t be enough to permanently extend Trump’s tax cuts — let alone POTUS’ pricey pledge not to tax tips, Social Security or overtime, which tacks on $1 trillion-plus. Which means … We’re probably in for another few weeks of haggling between the Senate and House GOP, as the two sides work to negotiate an amended resolution. What House Republicans wanted: Many in the House conference had hoped that once they adopted their own resolution, the Senate would take it up and clear it, foregoing its own “skinny” budget that passed last week. And to be sure, Johnson could still push back on changes — an increase in the tax number or reduction in cuts — though it could, after all, risk upending his detente with conservatives. Hope, meet reality: But if Trump wants tweaks, the Senate GOP will be more than willing to play hardball on his behalf. (And yes — then, we’ll be right back where we were last night, with Johnson scrapping for votes.) THE STEPBACK: The most striking thing about all of this is how well Trump has played the House and Senate GOP against each other on the budget, allowing the rivalry to play out to his advantage. In private … House Republicans have griped for weeks that they’d love nothing more than for Trump to stop waffling on which approach he prefers (their one-bill strategy, or the Senate’s two-bill track) and instead tell the Senate to, effectively, sit down and shut up. Instead … Trump encouraged the Senate to keep working on its own vision for a far narrower proposal, and we’re starting to see why. First, it was about having a fallback plan with the Senate in case the House faceplanted. Then, it was about having a Plan B ready to go if DHS leadership felt like they needed money ASAP for deportations (the House plan is expected to take much longer to pass, after all). And now, those divergent paths give the Senate leverage to make demands of the House on policy matters Trump supports, including potential tax instruction changes. (There’s also no denying that the Senate passing its own budget lit a fire under the House to move ASAP.) In short, it’s about the ends, not the means: What Trump really wants is forward movement, and he's deeply ambivalent about which budget he prefers, as White House officials have said for months. One even told POLITCO’s Dasha Burns “the president wasn’t planning to make calls to whip votes for the House budget, but the chamber’s GOP leaders pushed him to get on the phone with some holdouts Tuesday afternoon.” It’s a reminder: The man behind the Resolute Desk won fame for a TV show where business associates tried to fight their way to the top and earn his favor based on outcomes. Turns out, his days from “The Apprentice” can also be applied to Congress and advancing a budget.
| | | | A message from the Coalition for Medicare Choices: Protect Medicare Advantage: 34 million seniors are counting on it.
Over half of America's seniors choose Medicare Advantage because it provides them better care at lower costs than fee-for-service Medicare. With their coverage and care on the line, seniors are watching closely to see whether policymakers keep the bipartisan promise to protect Medicare Advantage by ensuring this vital part of Medicare is adequately funded.
Learn more at https://medicarechoices.org/ | | | THE MAGA REVOLUTION ELON UNIVERSITY: Elon Musk will attend Trump’s first Cabinet meeting of his second term at 11 a.m., despite not being a Cabinet member, per CNN — and despite the White House’s insistence that he’s not even the acting administrator of the Department of Government Efficiency. (That title apparently belongs to Amy Gleason, the Washington Examiner’s Christian Datoc and Naomi Lim scooped. She worked for the U.S. Digital Service, since transformed into DOGE, during Trump’s first term.) Slight tensions: Hill Republicans this week are increasingly urging decisions about firing civil servants to be placed in the hands of Cabinet secretaries, not DOGE, per the Washington Examiner’s Ramsey Touchberry. Even top White House officials were caught off guard by Musk’s weekend demand for five bullet points, ABC’s Katherine Faulders and Will Steakin report. But of course, Republicans remain broadly supportive of the effort to shrink the federal government — even if they’re uneasy with Musk’s approach. More from POLITICO’s Lisa Kashinsky and Mia McCarthy The purge: The Musk-driven missive asking employees to account for what they did last week or else lose their jobs ended up getting 1 million responses, about one-third to one-half of the federal workforce, POLITICO’s Eli Stokols and Daniel Lippman report. So many civil servants have been fired already that the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board is struggling to keep up with a tidal wave of nearly 2,000 appeals in just the past week, CBS’ Scott MacFarlane reports. But many more could yet be coming: The Trump administration is telling agency leaders to craft “reorganization plans” for mass layoffs by March 13, per CNN’s Alayna Treene. Crashing into the courts: Trump’s drive to dismantle huge swathes of federal spending took two more legal hits yesterday. Federal judge Loren AliKhan extended her pause on OMB’s federal funding freeze, granting a preliminary injunction in saying that the nonprofits who sued would probably win on the merits, per CBS. AliKhan wrote that Trump “may be crossing a constitutional line” and has “no clear statutory hook for this broad assertion of power.” … And federal judge Amir Ali told the administration they have until 11:59 p.m. tonight to actually comply with his directive to unfreeze foreign aid money, per the NYT. They have to detail their progress in a status report by noon. The DOJ has already appealed, and is now asking Ali to pause the deadline, which he almost certainly won’t. USAID acting No. 2 Pete Marocco says Ali’s order would require at least $1.9 billion in payments by midnight. (h/t POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein). Constitutional crisis watch: Musk and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) yesterday called for judges to be impeached and removed. Forging ahead: As Trump dismantles USAID, employees were told they’ll have 15 minutes to collect their belongings from the office tomorrow or Friday, per ABC. On the Hill, OMB Deputy Director-designate Dan Bishop backed the federal funding freeze and said he’d follow Trump and OMB Director Russell Vought, per POLITICO’s Jennifer Scholtes. And House Dems estimate that roughly 6,000 veterans have already been fired, per Punchbowl’s John Bresnahan and Andrew Desiderio. Whoops: After DOGE trumpeted some cost savings last week in a list that was full of errors, it has since deleted the top five “savings” from its “wall of receipts,” NYT’s David Fahrenthold, Aatish Bhatia, Margot Sanger-Katz, Emily Badger, Ethan Singer and Josh Katz report. … A number of fired FDA and CDC workers have already been asked to return to jobs in food supply regulation, medical device safety and 9/11 first responder aid, WaPo’s Rachel Roubein and Lena Sun report. In the DOGE house: Musk is leading — er, sorry, not leading — DOGE from the former War secretary’s suite in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, WaPo’s Faiz Siddiqui, Joseph Menn and Jacob Bogage report in a broader look at data privacy concerns about his employees “skirting guardrails meant to protect sensitive data from misuse.” Across the government, there’s paralysis and confusion in the wake of the Musk/Vought sledgehammer, NBC’s Jonathan Allen reports: One VA official says his agency is in “absolute chaos,” with top employees eyeing the exits. In fact, the fired head of cybersecurity for VA.gov tells AP’s Brian Witte and Rodrique Ngowi that he worries veterans’ info is now vulnerable. I can’t hear you: After House Republicans suffered blowback at town halls last week, party leaders are encouraging members to stop holding them, NBC’s Melanie Zanona, Jonathan Allen and Matt Dixon report. More power grabs? As Trump seizes control of multiple independent agencies, unions and advocacy groups fear that he could take over the U.S. Postal Service — though the White House says he doesn’t plan to do so — and perhaps privatize it or cut back on services relied upon by rural Americans, NYT’s Madeleine Ngo and Michael Shear report. … Democrats have similar worries for the Fed, especially if the Supreme Court overturns precedent and allows presidents to fire more executive branch officials, Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller and Shelby Talcott report. Speaking of conflicts of interest: The Trump administration is using the category of “special government employees” to allow top officials to set government policy — without pay — while also doing private-sector work, WSJ’s Josh Dawsey, Ryan Barber and Katherine Long report. The group includes Musk, Katie Miller, Steve Witkoff and Corey Lewandowski. Some ethics experts say it’s an inappropriate exploitation of a loophole meant more for people who serve part time on a government board than, say, Miller working as a top DOGE aide and advising private-sector clients on contracts. (In previous administrations, the likes of Anita Dunn and Huma Abedin were SGEs, drawing criticism as well.)
| | | | A message from the Coalition for Medicare Choices:  
| | | TO RUSSIA, WITH LOVE UKRAINE LATEST: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will probably come to the White House on Friday to ink a rare earths agreement with the U.S., Trump said, per POLITICO’s Eli Stokols. That follows the news, scooped by FT’s Christopher Miller, Alec Russell and Gideon Rachman, that the two countries agreed to the broad strokes for the natural resources deal, which would open up Ukrainian minerals, oil and gas to the U.S. and deepen economic development ties. The view from Kyiv: Though the framework doesn’t include security guarantees from the Americans, Ukraine will hope it’s a step in that direction (and in the direction of shoring up its standing with Trump). The U.S. let go of its insistence on a $500 billion fund to get revenue, which Zelenskyy had declared a non-starter. The view from Washington: Trump cast the agreement as a way for Ukraine to pay back the U.S. for all its military support during the war. (He also continued to make false claims about the size of that assistance and the nature of Europe’s.) Not to be outdone: Russia has suggested its own rare earths deal to the U.S. — for Ukrainian territory that Moscow has seized, which it hopes to keep in a broader cease-fire agreement, NBC’s Courtney Kube, Carol Lee and Dan De Luce report. The U.S. hasn’t yet said yes or no. The new world order: Trump’s rapid shift on Russia is forcing European countries to get serious about ramping up defense spending in ways that the threat of Russian President Vladimir Putin never did, WSJ’s Max Colchester and Bertrand Benoit write. The U.N. vote this week also laid bare a startling realignment, NYT’s Peter Baker notes: Trump “is positioning the United States in the camp of the globe’s chief rogue states in opposition to the countries that have been America’s best friends since World War II or before.” BEST OF THE REST FIRST AMENDMENT WATCH: In a dramatic escalation of its war on the independent news media, the Trump White House yesterday seized control of the White House press pool, announcing that the administration — not the journalists at the White House Correspondents Association — will pick which outlets have access to the president at events that cannot accommodate the full press corps, POLITICO’s Eli Stokols writes. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the change in the briefing room, saying that the WHCA “should no longer have a monopoly” in organizing the pool. The response: “This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States,” said WHCA President Eugene Daniels, who is also chief Playbook correspondent and a White House reporter for POLITICO. “It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president. In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps.” NYT’s longtime chief White House correspondent Peter Baker reached for a historical parallel: “Having served as a Moscow correspondent in the early days of Putin’s reign, this reminds me of how the Kremlin took over its own press pool and made sure that only compliant journalists were given access.” First steps: The White House kicked HuffPost and Reuters out of spots in the pool of journalists set to follow Trump today, HuffPost’s Kevin Robillard writes. Among the outlets the White House instead selected to cover it are Newsmax and The Blaze. TRADE WARS: In new polling shared exclusively with POLITICO, more Americans oppose Trump’s threatened tariffs against Canada and Mexico than support them. The polling, from the British firm Public First, finds that “just 28 percent of American adults supported specifically applying tariffs to Canada, while 43 percent were opposed,” POLITICO’s Jessica Piper writes. “Tariffs on Mexico were also slightly unpopular, with 35 percent of adults supportive and 39 percent opposed.” Breathing room? Canada and Mexico may have more reason to breathe (slightly) easier: Trump’s comments Monday about tariffs “going forward on time” were referring to reciprocal tariffs slated for April 1, not the North America penalties that have been paused until next week, CBC’s Alex Panetta reports. SCOTUS WATCH: The Supreme Court could transform the nation’s discrimination law in a case it will hear today, WaPo’s Justin Jouvenal and Taylor Telford preview. The case centers on a woman’s claim that she was discriminated against in the workplace for being straight (though she was never told that was the reason, and her supervisor said it was due to her demeanor and lack of skills). It could offer the court’s conservatives the opportunity to set the same bar for anyone to bring a bias claim — currently, members of majority or historically advantaged groups have to meet a higher standard to prove reverse discrimination. BIG RULING: A federal judge in Seattle issued a preliminary injunction to stop Trump’s refugee ban, saying he had likely crossed into “nullification of congressional will” in ending refugee resettlement and refugee support agency funding, per The Seattle Times’ Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks. The temporary block will likely quickly be appealed. THE VENGEANCE PRESIDENCY: Trump yesterday said he’ll pull security clearances and all federal government work from Covington & Burling as punishment for representing special counsel Jack Smith. NYT’s Devlin Barrett, Glenn Thrush, Maggie Haberman and Alan Feuer call it “a breathtaking escalation of Mr. Trump’s effort to employ the vast powers of the presidency against Mr. Smith” and those who worked with him, for the sin of having indicted Trump. IMMIGRATION FILES: In a significant move to criminalize undocumented immigrants, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem plans to force all of them 14 and older to register with the government or get fined or imprisoned, WSJ’s Michelle Hackman scooped. Any such migrants who don’t give their fingerprints and addresses would now be considered to have committed a crime, rather than just the civil offense of entering unlawfully, under the draft rule. … Meanwhile, the ICE operation to find and possibly deport unaccompanied minors could start as early as this week, NBC’s Julia Ainsley and Laura Strickler report. Gitmo latest: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was at Guantánamo Bay yesterday, per the Washington Examiner. New questions about human rights abuses for migrants sent there come from WaPo’s Silvia Foster-Frau and Ana Vanessa Herrero: They report that three Venezuelan detainees, for whom the Post could find no criminal records, recounted military supervision, solitary confinement and being denied access to lawyers. One tried to kill himself. The immigrants Trump likes: The president said yesterday he may want to do away with the EB-5 visa — which gives big investors green cards for permanent residency — and instead create a “gold card” to create a path to citizenship for anyone who pays $5 million, per Reuters. “I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people,” he told reporters. 2026 WATCH: Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), fresh off Trump’s preemptive endorsement, announced on Fox News’ “Hannity” last night that he’ll run for governor of Florida. … Meanwhile in Pennsylvania, Doug Mastriano is weighing a second gubernatorial bid, telling the Philly Inquirer’s Gillian McGoldrick that he thinks embracing mail voting could lead to a different outcome than his drubbing by Josh Shapiro in 2022.
| | | | A message from the Coalition for Medicare Choices:  
| | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | Elon Musk’s personal finances had a (relatively) tough day yesterday: He lost $22 billion in wealth in the wake of stock market and Tesla struggles, per Bloomberg. Rhiannon Giddens became the latest artist to move a Kennedy Center gig due to Donald Trump’s takeover. Zeke Emanuel released a limited-edition dark chocolate cherry bar. Nicole Shanahan has now been baptized as a Jew for Jesus. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at Autos Drive America’s five-year anniversary party at Crane’s on Monday night: Jennifer Safavian, Astrid Schulte, Donald Davidson, Warren Tyron, Takuo Sato, Steve Ciccone, Hideaki Fujisawa and Eike Klapper. — SPOTTED at a “child care means business” reception hosted by First Five Years Fund and the Pre-K and Child Care Caucus: Reps. Sharice Davids (D-Kan.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) and Salud Carbajal (D-Texas), Sarah Rittling, Michelle Kang, Aaron Merchen, Anne Hedgepeth, Molly Day and Roy Chrobocinski. — SPOTTED at the Western Caucus Foundation’s new member reception yesterday: Reps. Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.), Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), Ron Estes (R-Kan.), David Rouzer (R-N.C.), Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), Nick Begich (R-Alaska) and Mark Messmer (R-Ind.). MEDIA MOVES — HuffPost is elevating Whitney Snyder as its new editor-in-chief, leading with Kate Palmer, who will remain executive editor. … The NYT data journalism team is adding Andrea Fuller, Irena Hwang and Steven Rich as data reporters. Fuller previously was at the WSJ, Hwang at ProPublica and Rich at WaPo. TRANSITIONS — The Treasury Department is adding Tyler Badgley as executive secretary, Julia Hahn as assistant secretary for public affairs, Brian Morrissey as the nominee for general counsel, Jillian Wyant as White House liaison and John York as assistant secretary for management. … Kamau Marshall has been named chief strategist and chief comms officer for the city of Baltimore and Mayor Brandon Scott. He most recently was a senior adviser for the Harris campaign and is a Biden Education Department and White House alum. … Adelaide Bullock is now an account director on Berlin Rosen’s impact team, with a focus on comms and reproductive rights. She previously was Georgia comms director for the Harris campaign. … … Reed Craddock is now director at Ervin Graves Strategy Group in the critical infrastructure, technology and analytics practice group. He previously was deputy chief of staff for Rep. Trent Kelly (R-Miss.). … Erin Elmore is now director of art in embassies at the State Department. Her bio lists her as “attorney, journalist, and philanthropist.” … Emily Hershman is now senior director for partnerships and external affairs at Reading Assist. She previously was director of comms for Delaware Gov. John Carney. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: HUD Secretary Scott Turner … Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) … Reps. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) and Brandon Gill (R-Texas) … Corry Bliss … David Beasley (68) … Arden Farhi ... POLITICO’s Katie Ellsworth and Annabel Smith … Carrie Meadows ... Amanda Alpert Loveday ... A’shanti Gholar ... Ashli Scott Palmer ... Li Zhou ... Alan Rosenblatt … Bassima Alghussein … Reuters’ Nicholas Brown ... Maia Estes … Rokk Solutions’ John Brandt … Zara Haq ... Clay Doherty ... Fae Jencks … Kathy Park … George Agurkis … Mike McKenna … Ronald Lauder … Joe Burns of Holtzman Vogel 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 deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. Clarification: Phrasing in yesterday’s Playbook misrepresented the premise of a story by AP’s Meg Kinnard.
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Medicare Advantage outperforms fee-for-service Medicare in preventive care and supporting seniors living with chronic disease. Seniors in Medicare Advantage experience fewer readmissions, fewer preventable hospitalizations, lower rates of high-risk medications and better outcomes.
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