Playbook: Biden blasted over border blunder

Presented by

With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross

DRIVING THE DAY

NEW JMART COLUMN — Jonathan Martin goes inside the RON DeSANTIS campaign in Tallahassee and brings back this scoop-studded report:

“Gathered around a conference table at the Florida Republican Party’s headquarters here late last month, Gov. Ron DeSantis’s inner circle did little to hide their eagerness to get into the presidential race or mask their frustration over the rising skepticism about their candidate-in-waiting …

“[T]he aides working for the former Yale baseball player don’t want their phenom to be judged before he even steps into the batter box, to stretch the metaphor. That’s why they invited me to Tallahassee.

“DeSantis’s high command recognizes that the catnip-for-junkies national polling has shifted toward [DONALD] TRUMP this year, but they believe they retain a fundamental advantage. ‘The majority of the Republican Party wants to move on,’ said GENERRA PECK, DeSantis’s campaign manager and closest aide.”

BIDEN BRACES FOR TITLE 42 BACKLASH — Title 42 ended at midnight. For more than two years, immigrant rights advocates have been pressuring President JOE BIDEN to undo the Trump-era pandemic policy that allowed the federal government to send asylum seekers back to Mexico. (Previously, asylum seekers who crossed the southern border illegally could wait in the U.S. while their cases were pending.)

With the Covid emergency now officially over, there’s no justification for the policy. But its demise may create a surge of migrants, and the Biden administration is trying to return to what it views as a more humane asylum policy without encouraging an unmanageable stream of migrants that becomes both a humanitarian and political crisis.

As the clock expired on Title 42 last night, Homeland Security Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS released a tough statement on the Biden administration’s new enforcement efforts.

“Starting tonight, people who arrive at the border without using a lawful pathway will be presumed ineligible for asylum. We are ready to humanely process and remove people without a legal basis to remain in the U.S. We have 24,000 Border Patrol Agents and Officers at the Southwest Border and have surged thousands of troops and contractors, and over a thousand asylum officers to help enforce our laws. Do not believe the lies of smugglers. The border is not open. People who do not use available lawful pathways to enter the U.S. now face tougher consequences, including a minimum five-year ban on re-entry and potential criminal prosecution. Together with our partners throughout the federal government and Western Hemisphere, we are prepared for this transition.”

TITLE 42 READS …

THE PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW: HENRY CUELLAR — The border-state Democrat has a lot to say about the Biden administration’s record on immigration.

Cuellar was born to immigrant farm workers in Laredo, Texas, went to college and law school, eventually jumped into Texas politics and, in 2004, was elected to Congress. His district, the Texas 28th, stretches from San Antonio to Laredo and includes 200 miles of the southern border.

The first thing you notice when visiting Cuellar’s office in Rayburn are the letters “PhD” after his name on the plaque next to his door. His parents drilled into him the importance of education, and he’s never stopped going to school. He likes to point out that he’s got more degrees than anyone else on the Hill: an A.A, a B.S., an M.A., a J.D., and that PhD. (He’s currently studying at the Naval War College for another degree.)

The left does not like him. In the last two election cycles, he was targeted by national progressives and barely survived primary challenges. One reason: immigration — an issue where he is well-known for being to the right of many of his Democratic colleagues. He’s also been frustrated with Biden, who he thinks has been too captured by their party’s liberal wing on this issue. (Though he voted, along with every other House Democrat, against the border security bill that House Republicans put on the floor yesterday.)

Cuellar is a lonely centrist on an issue that has become much more polarized over the last decade. And he thinks Joe Biden should join him in the middle and stop taking advice from the left, as the president braces for the coming aftershocks of his Title 42 decision.

You can listen to the full interview on the Playbook Deep Dive Podcast. What follows are some key excerpts.

On the buses of migrants being sent from Texas to big cities up north:

“The buses that they’re sending to D.C. or Chicago or New York are just a drop of what a border community [sees] — and they’re already complaining. They’re already complaining. They’re talking about sending buses from New York City to other places! … I had that position way before DeSantis was governor — that was back in 2014. … It’s different when it happens in your own backyard.”

On the “resentment” directed at new migrants by Hispanics:

“A lot of first-generation Americans — mainly Hispanics in South Texas … they’re saying: ‘Hold it. We and our parents came in through a long process, [a] legal process.’ And they’re seeing people just come through the border. … It causes a little resentment. And I emphasize the word ‘resentment,’ because a lot of first-generation Hispanics did it the right way.”

On how Biden is perceived in border communities:

“We at the border, we always smile: Every time there’s a new president, it’s one extreme the other way and then another extreme when it deals with the border. Trump comes in, separates kids … wants to build a wall and all that — one extreme. Then the impression in my area is Biden’s [going] the other way: ‘Hey, let everybody in’ — even though they say ‘don’t let anybody in.’ … When you say ‘the border’s not open,’ but … you’re watching, and people are just streaming in? I mean, let me ask you: What was the last time you saw somebody being deported?”

On the shift Biden is attempting:

“Politically, now the president’s trying to move to the center when it comes to immigration policies — I think a little bit too late, but they’re moving to the center now.”

On the political salience of images from the border:

“You open up the newspaper. You turn on the TV and [listen to the] radio — whatever the case. They see this every day. So that gets ingrained in their minds. …. The image, you know, is powerful. … What we’re seeing at the border is powerful. When I see this affecting folks [who] are not political at all but are worried about it … that has to have an impact. And if we start losing Democrats to the Republicans, they feel we’re not doing the job and securing the border or we start losing the independents because the Independents were with Biden. He doesn’t want to lose those Independents.”

MEANWHILE … Our colleague Brittany Gibson reports this morning that some progressive groups are thinking about taking another swing at Cuellar in 2024. “NARAL Pro-Choice America, the abortion rights advocacy group, told POLITICO that it is ‘committed to removing’ Cuellar from office. JOEL PAYNE, chief communications officer at MoveOn.org, didn’t rule out spending on a primary. Other progressive organizations indicated that they may jump in again, too.”

“I think that appetite has turned more into a raging starvation,” a Democrat who worked for multiple campaigns in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas last cycle told Brittany.

Happy Friday. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.

INSIDE STORY — N.Y. Mag’s Shawn McCreesh has a story up this morning, “When Fox News Turns On Its Own,” with a look inside Fox News in the post-TUCKER CARLSON world and the team of staffers he left behind: “Paranoia, conspiracy, and character assassination — it’s like watching an hour of Tucker Carlson Tonight. And what an entertaining spectacle it is: The people who for years happily put out prime time’s most poisonous program never thought they would end up on this side of it.”

BIG ATLANTIC READ — “The Abortion Absolutist,” by The Atlantic’s Elaine Godfrey: “WARREN HERN has been performing late abortions for half a century. After Roe, he is as busy with patients as ever.”

LET THE DEM FREAKOUT COMMENCE — For more than a year, Biden and his allies have been singing the same tune about the 2024 election: The world doubted us before, and we’ll prove them wrong again. That conviction has only been fortified by the last two years, as major legislative strides and a better-than-expected midterm came in the face of routine skepticism.

But as Biden’s campaign gears up, other Democrats are warning that the past cannot be considered prologue — and they’re concerned the president’s team might be a touch overconfident about a Biden-Trump rematch.

The problem isn’t just anemic poll numbers.

“Top officials privately have expressed anxiety about the state of the president’s reelection operation,” Eugene and Jonathan Lemire report. “Currently, there is no headquarters and only a handful of full-time staffers in place, not one of which is a finance director. The president’s political team refuses to discuss its fundraising numbers in public, sparking anxiety among donors that the number is underwhelming and could continue to lag as the summer months approach.”

This week’s bruising ABC-WaPo poll has some little to repair the frayed nerves among Biden’s allies.

“The ABC poll, while it is an outlier, it’s also a warning, right?” said TERRANCE WOODBURY, CEO of HIT Strategies, a progressive polling firm. “They are a very confident White House. … He’s passed some damn good legislation. But that ain’t always good politics.”

Aides close to Biden bristle at the criticism and even the critics themselves, arguing their track record should earn them the benefit of the doubt.

“If you’re the sort of coward who’d rather throw stones at the people wrestling with the devil than at the devil himself, and who has no comparable record of success, it makes sense you’d confuse strength with overconfidence,” one 2020 Biden campaign alum told POLITICO. “Reporters aren’t your therapists, kids.”

Other Biden world officials insist they are taking nothing for granted, pointing out a bolstered DNC is handling the lion’s share of the work, while still others think that there’s nothing that Biden world could do differently that would quash the angst that is practically part of the party’s DNA.

“Democrats are bedwetters, historically,” said JIM MESSINA, who managed BARACK OBAMA’s reelection campaign.“There’s like, just full-throated fucking panic.”

PHOTO OF THE DAY

PLAYBOOK READS

CONGRESS

WHO’S AT DEFAULT — Biden and the Big Four congressional leaders are delaying their previously scheduled Friday meeting on the debt limit to give staffers more time to work on details, WaPo’s Paul Kane and Tyler Pager were first to report.

So what does the delay mean for the talks? Hard to say. “One GOP lawmaker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private talks, said the meeting had been postponed because discussions among staff members had been moving too slowly,” Kane and Pager write. “Another person familiar with the matter disputed that, saying that the delay is a positive development that gives staff members more time to prepare options for the president and congressional leaders.”

Meanwhile, our colleagues Sarah Ferris and Katherine Tully-McManus report this morning that the flurry of negotiations on both the leadership and staff level “look more and more like they could end in a spending-caps deal, a bargain not unlike the one that ended the 2011 ‘fiscal cliff’ standoff between Republicans and then-President Barack Obama.”

Sarah and Katherine note that the “biggest obstacle to such a deal may be length, with House Republicans thinking much more long-term than Biden and his Democratic negotiators.” White House officials are “privately aiming for a two-year deal that would lift the debt limit and impose new limits on discretionary spending,” while McCarthy’s camp “made clear Thursday that they’re dreaming much bigger — 10 years, to be precise.”

New this morning: “I urge you to implore our Republicans colleagues: Take Default Off the Table,” Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER writes in a new Dear Colleague.

Related read: “Vulnerable Republicans Caught in the Middle in Debt Limit Fight,” by NYT’s Catie Edmondson

THE TALENTED MR. SANTOS — “George Santos confesses to theft in Brazil to avoid prosecution,” by WaPo’s Terrence McCoy, Marina Dias and Isaac Stanley-Becker in Rio de Janeiro: “Santos appeared virtually Thursday afternoon at the criminal court hearing in the Rio suburb of Niterói, during which he was given 30 days to pay around $2,000 in fines and $2,800 to the victim. The case won’t be dismissed until the payments are made, court officials said.”

MEANWHILE, IN NEW JERSEY — “Criminal investigation into Sen. Bob Menendez expands with new subpoenas,” by NBC’s Jonathan Dienst and Courtney Copenhagen: “Two sources familiar with the matter said at least one powerful New Jersey politician — North Bergen Mayor NICHOLAS SACCO — was among those who received subpoenas.”

THE ECONOMY

YELLEN AND MEETIN’ — “Yellen plans to huddle with Wall Street bankers as default looms,” by Sam Sutton and Ben White

2024 WATCH

TRUMP TRIES AGAIN — CNN’s Trump town hall offered a peek at Trump’s “second-term vision,” NYT’s Shane Goldmacher, Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman and Stephanie Lai write. The gist: It’s “a sharp departure from core American values that have been at the bedrock of the nation for decades: its creditworthiness, its credibility with international allies and its adherence to the rule of law at home.”

Notable quotable: “From my perspective, there was an evolution of Donald Trump over his four years, with 2020 I think being the most dramatic example of him — the real him,” former Trump Defense Secretary MARK ESPER told the Times. “And I suspect that would be his starting point if he were to win office in 2024.”

MR. ‘NEVER BACK DOWN’ — “DeSantis stays mum on Trump, for now, after town hall,” by Gary Fineout

UHH, WHOOPS — “Trump campaign attack ad uses stock images from Ukraine to depict Americans suffering under Biden,” by the N.Y. Post’s Steven Nelson

THE WHITE HOUSE

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Yesterday, White House chief of staff JEFF ZIENTS met with student loan forgiveness advocates from 17 organizations to discuss “ongoing efforts on debt relief and higher education priorities,” according to a person familiar with the meeting.

One attendee said they left feeling reassured that Zients understood the stakes of the issue and was taking it seriously. (Loan forgiveness advocates had a good relationship with Biden’s first chief RON KLAIN, and some were unsure if that high level access would continue under his successor.) The meeting comes just weeks before expected rulings from the Supreme Court on two challenges to Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.

TRUMP CARDS

WHAT JOE TACOPINA IS READING — “E. Jean Carroll May Sue Trump a Third Time After ‘Vile’ Comments on CNN,” by NYT’s Benjamin Weiser, Lola Fadulu and Kate Christobek

Related read: “Trump notifies court he plans to appeal $5 million E. Jean Carroll verdict,” by NBC’s Dareh Gregorian

POLICY CORNER

FOR YOUR RADAR — “Under fire, CIA moves to overhaul its handling of sexual assault,” by Daniel Lippman

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

HELP WANTED — “Biden administration hunts for high-value Russians for potential prisoner swap,” by CNN’s Kylie Atwood and Matthew Chance

VALLEY TALK

MEET THE NEW BOSS — “NBCUniversal’s Linda Yaccarino Is in Talks to Become Twitter CEO,” by WSJ’s Jessica Toonkel, Suzanne Vranica and Alexa Corse

SUNDAY SO FAR …

ABC “This Week”: Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas). Panel: Chris Christie, Donna Brazile, Larry Hogan and Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.).

CBS “Face the Nation”: Nikki Haley … El Paso, Texas, Mayor Oscar Leeser.

FOX “Fox News Sunday”: Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.). Panel: Gillian Turner, Karl Rove, Richard Fowler and Cal Thomas.

NBC “Meet the Press”: Panel: Rachael Bade, Peter Baker, Al Cardenas and Kimberly Atkins Stohr.

MSNBC “Inside with Jen Psaki”: New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu … Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) … Alexis McGill Johnson … Eileen Psaki.

PLAYBOOKERS

Eleanor Holmes Norton wants to make the Botanic Garden lit.

Vivek Ramaswamy, how good is your backswing?

Yesterday’s Senate GOP border news conference was Exhibit A in why outdoor pressers are a crapshoot.

What the duck is going on over at the State Department?

TAKING HOME THE PRIZE — Congratulations to POLITICO’s video team for being recognized with two National Headliner Awards, one of the oldest and largest journalistic contests in the industry. Yesterday, The POLITICO Show on Snapchat, hosted by Jackie Padilla and produced by Meiying Wu, took home first place in the social media category, while an episode of our midterm video series “Inside the Forecast,” co-written by senior video producer Renee Klahr and Steve Shepard, won second place in an online news video category. In a note to staff, newsroom leaders also shouted out animator Dan Ashwood, “and all of the many POLITICO reporters and staff who lent time to participate in these videos.”

OUT AND ABOUT — The Atlantic Council hosted its annual Distinguished Leadership Awards yesterday evening at the Anthem. SPOTTED: DNI Avril Haines, Gen. Laura Richardson, Adena Friedman, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Steven Hadley, Adrienne Arsht, Frederick Kempe, David Rubenstein, Almar Latour, Markus Dohle, John F.W. Rogers, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, British Ambassador Karen Pierce, New Zealand Ambassador Bede Corry, Dominican Republic Ambassador Sonia Guzmán, Romanian Ambassador Dan-Andrei Muraru, Jamaican Ambassador Audrey Marks, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, Vivian Salama, Felicia Schwartz, Ana Swanson, Matt Kaminski, Francesca Chambers, Ryan Heath and Souad Mekhennet.

WHITE HOUSE ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Arjun Krishnaswami is now senior policy adviser for clean energy infrastructure at the White House. He most recently was special adviser in the office of the secretary at DOE.

TRANSITIONS — Stephanie Addison has been named head of comms at the Sugar Association. She most recently was VP of public affairs for the American Securities Association. … Madison Oakley is now advocacy and member engagement coordinator at the American Retirement Association. She previously was a senior associate at Molly Allen Associates.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Georgette Kerr, EVP and co-founder of Plurus Strategies, and Charlie Kerr, National Air and Space Intelligence Center liaison to the Pentagon, welcomed Hudson Charles Kerr yesterday afternoon. He came in at 8 lbs, 11 oz and 21 inches. He joins big sister Emory. Pic … Another pic

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Colorado Gov. Jared Polis … Paul Begala … DNC’s Isabel Burgos … CNN’s Natasha Bertrand … RealClearPolitics’ Philip Wegmann … Patricia Zengerle of Reuters … Joe DeFeo … Forbes’ Alexandra Levine … NPR’s Miranda Kennedy … Jonathan Kaplan of the Open Society Foundations … Amanda Christine Miller of PayPal … Kim Dixon … Erica Arbetter of Google … Kevin Fox of Rep. Ro Khanna’s (D-Calif.) office … Amanda Malakoff … former Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.) … CBS’ Elizabeth Campbell … Josh Cohen of New Heights Communications (4-0) … Leigh Szubrowski … Jonathan Daniels of CRD Associates … Victoria Lion-Monroe ... Rachel McGreevy … author James Rosen … Madison Link Rees of the American Conservation Coalition … Penny Lee of the Financial Technology Association … Tom Strong-Grinsell

Send Playbookers tips to [email protected] or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine.