Playbook PM: House Republicans take Manhattan

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WHO’S AT DEFAULT — Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY laid out his ambitious gambit for reining in federal spending as a condition of raising the debt ceiling in a speech at the New York Stock Exchange this morning.

McCarthy vowed that House Republicans would soon pass a plan to lift the debt limit for one year, paired with some significant changes: returning federal spending to 2022 levels with only 1% annual increases for a decade, clawing back unspent Covid money, restoring work requirements for government benefits programs and more.

And he demanded that President JOE BIDEN meet with McCarthy to start negotiating on an agreement. “Your partisan political games are provoking the very crisis you claim to avoid,” McCarthy said. “The longer President Biden waits to be sensible … the more likely it becomes that this administration will bumble into the first default in our nation’s history.”

Worth highlighting: McCarthy has yet to release a budget proposal of his own — which the White House has repeatedly said is necessary before any talks take place, lest the administration be forced to effectively negotiate against itself. They’re instead holding firm on calling for a clean debt ceiling increase with no conditions. And House Republicans have not reached agreement about what a proposal would look like: It still isn’t clear if McCarthy has the votes for his own plan.

McCarthy said defaulting is not an option, but blasted Biden for having “embraced the fantasy that debt doesn’t matter.” And he also played some defense against common attack lines, arguing that the real threat to Social Security and Medicare was allowing the national debt to keep ballooning. “Don’t believe anyone who tells you these are draconian,” he added. “Don’t believe anyone who says our plans hurt [the] American social safety net.”

But his speech didn’t leave Washington anywhere close to a deal to stave off calamitous default in a matter of months.

In a statement today, White House spokesperson ANDREW BATES blasted McCarthy’s approach as “dangerous economic hostage taking” that would hurt Americans. The speech “again failed to clearly outline what House Republicans are proposing and will vote on, even as he referenced a vague, extreme MAGA wish list that will increase costs for hard-working families.”

“McCarthy’s speech belied the risks in the GOP’s political gambit, which threatens to sink the stock market, thrust millions of Americans from their jobs and jolt the global financial system,” writes WaPo’s Tony Romm. “On Monday, though, investors seemed largely unfazed, as the Dow Jones industrial average ticked up slightly.”

JIM JORDAN NEEDLES ALVIN BRAGG — “Trump allies take fight to Bragg’s backyard with hearing on NYC crime,” by NBC’s Scott Wong and Allan Smith: “Rep. ZOE LOFGREN, D-Calif., and other Democrats suggested that the witnesses were being taken advantage of and used as props. … Firing back, Rep. MATT GAETZ, R-Fla., said the committee is ‘here not to use anyone but to uplift the voices of brave people who are here to tell their story.’”

WHAT’S THE RUSH? — Team Biden still feels no real urge to jump into a reelection bid immediately, with no primary threat and plenty of GOP infighting. But the planning efforts among Democrats and allies are nonetheless kicking into a new gear, NYT’s Shane Goldmacher and Reid Epstein report. There’s some talk of waiting until early summer, but “a low-key video announcement on April 25” — next week! — is also a possibility, since it’s the anniversary of his entrance into the 2020 race.

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CONGRESS

BORDER SONG — A big tranche of House Republican-backed legislation on the border and immigration will come up for a markup in the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Jordain Carney and Sarah Ferris report. It will be one package — the Border Security and Enforcement Act of 2023 — rather than eight separate bills. The bill text, via Punchbowl

ANOTHER ONE — Sen. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R-Tenn.) became the latest GOP senator to say she wouldn’t go along with Democrats’ plan to replace Sen. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D-Calif.) on the Judiciary Committee while she’s out sick.

NOMINATION TRAVAILS — “Biden’s pick for top WH economist faces Senate grilling,” by AP’s Seung Min Kim and Josh Boak: JARED “BERNSTEIN’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday is one of the few opportunities GOP senators will have to directly go after Biden’s handling of inflation and publicly put the White House on defense.”

MEDIAWATCH

FOX IN THE DOGHOUSE — As whispers swirl about possible eleventh-hour settlement negotiations, the judge in the Fox News/Dominion Voting Systems trial said in brief comments today that the trial’s delay until tomorrow “does not seem unusual.” He provided no further explanation.

NEW ON THE SCENE — “A brash new media network bets ‘Trump’ translates into Spanish,” by WaPo’s Manuel Roig-Franzia in Las Vegas: It’s “a long-game wager that the drift of Latinos toward the Republican Party in some states is far from over, and that it’s the Spanish-dominant speakers who are now the most ripe for persuasion. … Americano [Media] is modeled on the Fox News formula of right-leaning news programming bookended by much-further-right-leaning opinion shows.”

ALL POLITICS

CASH DASH — The DCCC raised $37.7 million in the first quarter of the year, Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser scooped. It’s a record off-year, first-quarter sum for the House Democratic campaign committee, and leaves its rival NRCC’s haul in the dust by about $12 million. The DCCC went into the second quarter with $26.7 million on hand.

AD WARS — One Nation, a nonprofit aligned with Senate Minority Leader MITCH McCONNELL, has placed new Senate broadcast ads in West Virginia, per WaPo’s Leigh Ann Caldwell, bringing the total up to nearly $600,000.

IT STARTS AT HOME — Recent local-level wins in cities like Chicago and St. Louis have boosted the hopes of progressives after a series of setbacks in 2022, AP’s Will Weissert and Sara Burnett report: “The next opportunities could lie in Philadelphia and Houston, which also hold mayoral elections this year. The focus on lower-level contests already has helped progressives gain power and influence policy at a local level, organizers say … It also may help the movement find future stars.”

THE WHITE HOUSE

VETO THREATS — As the House Rules Committee this afternoon takes up two high-profile GOP bills — one targeting transgender girls in women’s sports, the other overturning local D.C. police reforms — the White House issued statements today saying Biden would veto either bill if it advances to his desk.

RON KLAIN’S NEXT MOVE — The former White House chief of staff is returning to O’Melveny as partner in its litigation department, Axios’ Mike Allen reports. Klain also touted the health benefits of a post-White House life, saying he’s shed 15 pounds and lowered his blood pressure since leaving: “I’m on the ‘no more White House Mess cheeseburgers’ diet.”

JUDICIARY SQUARE

HARLAN CROW SPEAKS — In an interview with The Dallas Morning News’ Cheryl Hall, the GOP megadonor pushes back on ProPublica’s recent reporting about his friendship and financial ties with Justice CLARENCE THOMAS as “factually incorrect and being written with a strong political agenda.” (ProPublica, which is nonpartisan, noted that it offered Crow a chance to respond to their stories and he questioned none of their facts.)

TRUMP CARDS

WITHOUT DELAY — “Judge denies Trump’s request for delay in trial involving rape allegation,” by WaPo’s John Wagner and Shayna Jacobs: “A federal judge on Monday denied a bid by DONALD TRUMP to delay a civil trial involving a rape allegation by author E. JEAN CARROLL against the former president, rejecting a contention that a ‘cooling off’ period is needed after Trump’s arraignment this month. … In an order, U.S. District Judge LEWIS A. KAPLAN said the trial will begin in Manhattan on April 25 as planned.”

KNOWING MATTHEW COLANGELO — “DA’s Secret Weapon May Be Lawyer Who’s Dogged Trump for Years,” by The Daily Beast’s Jose Pagliery: “A little-known lawyer in New York has long been the thorn in Donald Trump’s side, pressing deeper with every passing year by taking down his scammy charity, blocking his presidential policies, investigating his finances, grilling his annoyed son with questions, and finally indicting the former president last month.”

POLICY CORNER

WINDS OF CHANGE — The Interior Department’s big plans for expanding wind energy off the mid-Atlantic coast is running into some concerns from the Pentagon, Bloomberg’s Jennifer Dlouhy reports. The Navy and Air Force are warning that major swathes of the water designated to be leased for offshore wind projects are “highly problematic” and conflict with military priorities, especially off Maryland and North Carolina. The objections “have spooked renewable power developers and U.S. East Coast states” and “could imperil President Joe Biden’s bid to install 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power” this decade.

FOLLOWING THE MONEY — “Revealed: Nearly $500 million continues to sit in a bloated, unused government fund,” by Raw Story’s Alexandria Jacobson: “With the untapped [Presidential Election Campaign Fund] likely to continue growing after Tax Day en route to half a billion dollars, politicians and nonprofits have ideas for how to reform the nation’s obsolete public campaign financing policies and reallocate this resource.”

VALLEY TALK

TIKTOK ON THE CLOCK — Sen. THOM TILLIS (R-N.C.) and Rep. DAN CRENSHAW (R-Texas) have spearheaded a new letter from more than a dozen Republicans urging the leaders of the Senate Rules and House Administration committees to block members of Congress from using TikTok officially, Katherine Tully-McManus reports. They want congressional rules to be changed so that members can’t go on the platform for “official business” due to national security concerns. The letter

— TikTok and SKDK, the influential Democratic public affairs firm, have stopped working together, WaPo’s Cristiano Lima reports, “leaving the social media giant with one fewer ally in Washington as it faces growing regulatory head winds.” Daniel Lippman’s original story on their ties

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

EVAN GERSHKOVICH LATEST — “Evan Gershkovich, the detained Wall Street Journal reporter, has received a consular visit,” by NYT’s Cassandra Vinograd: “On Monday, LYNNE M. TRACY, the ambassador [to Russia], said she had been allowed to see Mr. Gershkovich in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison. ‘He is in good health and remains strong,’ she said in a brief statement posted on Twitter. ‘We reiterate our call for his immediate release.’”

WHAT PUTIN HAS WROUGHT — “With Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, NATO Readies for Combat on Its Borders,” by NYT’s Steven Erlanger in Brussels: The war “has propelled the North Atlantic Treaty Organization into a full-throttled effort to make itself again into the capable, war-fighting alliance it had been during the Cold War. The shift is transformative for an alliance characterized for decades by hibernation and self-doubt. … NATO is rapidly moving from what the military calls deterrence by retaliation to deterrence by denial.”

BEYOND THE BELTWAY

A NEW FRONT IN THE CULTURE WARS — Dozens of bills in Republican-led states are seeking to restrict higher education initiatives around diversity, equity and inclusion, AP’s David Lieb reports. The Manhattan Institute and Goldwater Institute put out model legislation to ban those types of offices at colleges and universities, as have several other conservative and libertarian groups along similar lines.

PLAYBOOKERS

TRANSITIONS — Crossroads Strategies has added Cheryl Jaeger as principal and Ivelisse Porroa-Garcia as SVP. Jaeger previously was a principal at Williams & Jensen and is an Eric Cantor alum. Porroa-Garcia previously was director of government affairs at Ferox Strategies and is a Congressional Hispanic Caucus alum. … Frédérique Irwin is now president and CEO of the National Women’s History Museum. She most recently was managing director of impact strategy at the Sorenson Impact Center. … Marisa Burleson is now director of operations and member services for Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.). She previously was operations director for Rep. Jake LaTurner (R-Kan.).

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