Playbook: Nikki Haley’s next move: Jab the GOP

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With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross

DRIVING THE DAY

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Today, in a speech at a private Club for Growth donor retreat in Florida, presidential hopeful NIKKI HALEY will take a major swing at her party over government spending, raising the temperature of the 2024 race by turning her fire at DONALD TRUMP and GOP lawmakers (though without naming any of them explicitly).

In the speech, previewed exclusively with Playbook, Haley will say it’s not just Democrats who are to blame for the exploding national debt, but Republicans. And she’ll argue that while “obviously, the socialist left hates economic freedom … so do some of our fellow Republicans” who “bad-mouth capitalism almost as much as ELIZABETH WARREN.”

“It’s insane that JOE BIDEN has gotten a free pass for this socialist spending spree. But a big part of the reason is that Republicans haven’t held the line — or even upheld the conservative market principles they claim to support,” she will say.

More from the speech: “Here’s the truth. Lots of Republican politicians love spending and wasting taxpayer money almost as much as Democrats. The last two Republican presidents added more than $10 trillion to the national debt. Think about that. A third of our debt happened under just two Republicans.”

Haley won’t spare Congress, either. “Republicans got the ball rolling on the trillion-dollar pandemic blowouts, with all the bailouts and fraud and abuse that followed,” she will say, faulting her party for embracing the $2.2 trillion CARES Act in 2020. “Don’t let the media tell you Republicans and Democrats can’t work together. They always seem to work just fine when they’re spending your money.”

Haley will specifically single out the 158 House Republicans who voted after the midterms to keep appropriations earmarks, what she will call a “gateway drug of wasteful spending.” And she’ll suggest to the crowd that perhaps these lawmakers should pay a price, asking, “Isn’t the Club for Growth known for supporting primary challenges to squishy Republicans?”

As for massive spending bills, Haley will promise to “veto every single one of ’em” as president. “I will stop the trillion-dollar spending sprees and halt our sprint toward socialism.”

Haley’s speech to the Club comes after she wandered Friday into the lion’s den of CPAC, a haven of Trump’s most stalwart supporters. Notably, several other would-be 2024 contenders, including RON DeSANTIS and MIKE PENCE, chose to skip the event this year, dodging embarrassing headlines of what likely would have been a less-than-enthusiastic reception they’d receive. (Haley is the only potential 2024 contender who is attending both gatherings.)

Haley’s CPAC remarks steered clear of direct attacks on fellow Republicans while trying to appeal to GOP voters who are “tired of losing,” according to a dispatch from The Guardian’s Lauren Gambino. While she reportedly received polite applause at the end of her speech, she was confronted with raucous pro-Trump chanting as she left the ballroom.

Her Club speech is likely to find a warmer reception. The message is quintessential Haley, for one thing: During her time in the state house, she regularly jabbed at other Republicans, even losing her committee assignments for doing so. But that combativeness helped elect her governor, and Haley is making the bet that candor will help her stand out in what’s expected to be a large 2024 primary field.

TRUMP DOMINATES CPAC — The former president will address CPAC this evening in what amounts to the event’s keynote speech. His hold over the crowd, however, has already been well documented in a series of stories published over the past 24 hours.

As the WSJ reports in a colorful piece from National Harbor, CPAC vendors are selling Trump hats, buttons, stickers and T-shirts — including one showing him holding a gun and wearing sunglasses under the word “Trumpinator.” The memorabilia for DeSantis or other candidates? Virtually non-existent.

As one attendee told WaPo: “Remember, you’re not at CPAC, you’re at TPAC” — as in, Trump’s Political Action Conference.

The tepid enthusiasm for other candidates was also evident on the main stage. MIKE POMPEO’s speech, according to our Natalie Alllison, didn’t receive much applause. (She tweeted that his most popular line was: “You’re not going to cancel God.”) The NYT’s Shane Goldmacher noted that no one clapped when Haley said conservatives “have failed to win the confidence of the majority of Americans” and pointed out that Republicans have lost the popular vote in seven of the eight elections.

Meanwhile, STEVE BANNON brought the audience to its feet in a speech blasting Fox News, claiming the conservative cable news station opposes Trump, as Allison and Meridith McGraw report. Bannon singled out Fox’s corporate overlord, RUPERT MURDOCH: “You’ve deemed Trump’s not going to be president. But we deem that you’re not going to have a network, because we’re going to fight you every step of the way.”

Good Saturday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.

INVESTIGATION INTRIGUE — WaPo’s Jacqueline Alemany, Josh Dawsey, Spencer Hsu and Devlin Barrett have a report on the latest movements from special counsel JACK SMITH’s probe into Trump. “The investigative activity highlights one of the ways in which the Trump probes are unusual and complex — turning some of his many current or former attorneys into witnesses or potential investigative targets,” they write. The details:

  • “Federal prosecutors investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election have asked witnesses extensive questions about the actions of RUDY GIULIANI, a lawyer for former president Donald Trump — including where he got his information about alleged fraud, what he did in the days around Jan. 6, 2021, and what he knew about the actions coming that day, people who have appeared in front of the grand jury say.”
  • “Investigators looking into classified documents taken to Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida home and private club, have sought to force testimony from another Trump lawyer, EVAN CORCORAN, by saying there is evidence that the former president used the attorney’s legal services in furtherance of a crime.”
  • “And prosecutors have repeatedly sought information on the actions of yet another Trump lawyer, BORIS EPSHTEYN, in connection with both classified documents and Trump’s false electors scheme, three people said. They have quizzed multiple Trump attorneys involved with the documents case, including CHRISTINA BOBB, ALINA HABBA and JESSE BINNALL.”

PHOTO OF THE DAY

PLAYBOOK READS

9 THINGS THAT STUCK WITH US

1. A MOVING MUST-READ: “She witnessed Bloody Sunday in person. 58 years later, she’ll go back again,” by Eugene Daniels in Montgomery, Ala.: “On March 7, 1965, SHEYANN WEBB, a 9-year-old Black girl from Selma, Ala., sat in her bedroom, chest heaving, face streaked with tears, her throat still burning from tear gas. … That morning, Webb had been the youngest participant in the civil rights march that came to be known as ‘Bloody Sunday,’ a 600-person demonstration in Selma that ended with law enforcement beating the protesters. …

“Now 67, she goes by the surname Webb-Christburg. Sitting on a wide chair in her home in Montgomery, less than an hour away from her childhood home, there were no reminders visible of the traumas she’d experienced that day. … But with the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday this weekend, the degree to which that day remains with her is abundantly clear. She will make her yearly sojourn back to Selma this weekend — revisiting the time in her life when she could have perished.”

2. 2024 WATCH: “The Republican presidential nomination could run through California. Yes, California,” by Jeremy White: “Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS is heading into hostile territory this weekend, making a campaign-like swing through California as he seeks to peel off donors and voters from former President Donald Trump in a deep blue state that could be an unusually powerful factor in next year’s Republican primary.

“It’s an awkward stop for the California-bashing DeSantis, made more so by a fresh round of taunting Friday from Gov. GAVIN NEWSOM. ‘You’re going to get smoked by Trump,’ Newsom said in a statement issued ahead of a planned speech by DeSantis at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. The tenor of Newsom’s statement is likely a preview of what could end up as an ugly fight if, as expected, DeSantis tries to wrest the mantle of the GOP away from Trump.”

Related reads …

— “Trump courts early-state Republicans at Mar-a-Lago,” by Alex Isenstadt: “Trump spent Thursday night wooing over a dozen leaders of the Nevada Republican Party, his first outreach to a state that is expected to be among the first to hold its nominating contest.”

— “Former Vice President MIKE PENCE says Republican voters’ familiarity with his story affords him some breathing room as he makes a decision on whether to launch a campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination,” Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser reports. “I think the advantage that we have is I think the American people know the Pences,” Pence told Fox News in an interview.

— “The Democrats’ SOS Candidate Keeps His Options Open,” by NYT’s Jonathan Weisman: “Gov. J.B. PRITZKER of Illinois has maintained his political organization, built a progressive record and is open about his ambitions. For now, he says, they don’t include the White House.”

3. KNOWING LAUREN UNDERWOOD: “A life in Congress: Lauren Underwood learns what it costs,” by WaPo’s Ruby Cramer: “That first week here, four years ago this January, had been so busy, so full of possibility. Everything was new. She remembers wanting to work with her colleagues in ‘this really sweet, optimistic way.’ She remembers searching the halls for a ‘Republican bestie,’ a fellow member of Congress who could be her partner on meaningful health-care legislation.

“But that was before two impeachments, before Jan. 6, 2021, before she knew the job. Now, she was less candid, less trusting, more aggressive about managing her time. Now, she knew that people would waste your time here, if you let them. Now, she knew that some Democrats and Republicans avoided eye contact when they crossed paths in the halls. She also knew that to keep the job, she had to be perfect. She couldn’t mess up. And so she didn’t.”

4. LIFE AFTER LEADERSHIP: “Nancy Pelosi untethered: The former speaker revels in newfound freedom,” by WaPo’s Paul Kane: “Veterans of her team have labeled this new period ‘Pelosi 3.0,’ after a career that saw a 15-year climb to the highest ranks of leadership, then two decades at the top, and now this next phase where she has begun to serve as something akin to roving ambassador for the Democratic Party. She’s not in charge of anything, has no real responsibilities in the House other than casting votes (she declined to take any committee assignments), yet she maintains a level of influence that goes well beyond her rank-and-file status.”

Plus this can’t-miss quip about Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER’s famous flip phone: “See, I wish he would get a phone. He has that thing, and you can’t send a message,” Pelosi said.

5. FOX IN THE DOGHOUSE: “Dems want to cut Fox off after lawsuit revelations,” by Chris Cadelago: “The thunderclap of stories showing Fox News’ role in pushing 2020 election fraud conspiracies and aiding Donald Trump’s campaign has intensified calls among Democrats to black out the network. … For years, Democrats have been engaged in a debate over whether the party should shun the cable news giant or grudgingly use its airwaves to run counterprogramming. But in the midst of the latest saga, a newer type of reaction has emerged: that they should sever all ties, including any money spent advertising on the network.”

6. WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?: “Ohio derailment tests Sen. Brown’s push to buck Dem defeats,” by AP’s Stephen Groves: “As he heads into what could be a tough reelection campaign, [Democratic Sen. SHERROD] BROWN is facing a critical test in the aftermath of a train derailment in an eastern Ohio village. Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, argue the federal response shows Democrats have left such regions behind. Brown is under heightened pressure to prove them wrong. In the early stages of what will be a fierce fight for control of Congress next year, the response to the train derailment in Ohio is emerging as an early barometer of whether Democrats can rebuild support in working-class communities.”

7. ABORTION FALLOUT: “How the Fall of Roe Turned North Carolina Into an Abortion Destination,” by NYT’s Kate Kelly in Raleigh, N.C.: “Providers in the state performed 3,190 abortions in April 2022. That number soared to 4,360 in August, after Roe fell. It was the biggest percentage increase in any state. The state’s abortion providers are under strain, with women sometimes having to wait a month for an appointment. … The large influx of patients has energized local volunteer networks offering rides, money for clinic fees and places to stay. It has also alarmed anti-abortion activists who last June were rejoicing when the court struck down Roe v. Wade, only to later discover a surge of abortions in their state.”

8. WHERE THE MONEY GOES: “The IRS braces for the unthinkable: A normal tax season,” by WaPo’s Jacob Bogage: “The Internal Revenue Service’s massive — and controversial — funding boost has begun to reach the front lines of tax season, and it’s vaulted the agency from more than a decade of disarray, tax experts say, to a once-unimaginable position: a functioning tax service. The IRS is answering 90 percent of its phone calls, has squashed its backlog of overdue returns, introduced new online taxpayer tools to keep pace with private software companies and processed 99.7 percent of returns filed this tax season, according to agency reports.”

9. THE WIDE-ANGLE LENS: “D.C. conflict reflects wider efforts undermining local control,” by AP’s Ashraf Khalil and Gary Fields: “Congress’ expected vote next week to overturn District of Columbia laws dealing with criminal justice and voting has created a political tempest in the nation’s capital — and reflects a contentious political dynamic that is playing out more broadly across the country: Predominantly white legislative bodies are seeking to curb or usurp the authority of local governments in cities with large Black populations, particularly on issues related to public safety and elections.”

Related read: “Nancy Pelosi criticizes Joe Biden admin over handling of D.C. crime bill,” by The Washington Times’ Joseph Clark

CLICKER — “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,” edited by Matt Wuerker — 15 keepers

GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Ryan Lizza:

— “A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder,” by David Grann for The New Yorker: “An excerpt from ‘The Wager,’ which reconstructs an eighteenth-century British naval expedition whose catastrophic end inspired numerous conflicting accounts—and influenced the work of Charles Darwin and Herman Melville.”

— “The Moral Case Against Equity Language,” by The Atlantic’s George Packer: “What’s a ‘justice-involved person’?”

— “Inside the Plan to Fix Baseball,” by Joe Posnanski for Esquire: “With attendance sliding and younger fans turning away from America’s erstwhile pastime, Major League Baseball is making a handful of radical rule changes designed to make games faster and more action-packed. Will the sport’s traditionalists rejoice or rebel?”

— “At Random,” by Christian Lorentzen for Harper’s Magazine: “The business of books and the merger that wasn’t.”

— “‘Hell Is Coming’: How Bill Ackman Predicted The Covid Market Crash—And Made A Fortune,” by Liz Hoffman for Vanity Fair: “In February 2020, the infamous short seller woke up in a cold sweat when he realized the pandemic might spell pandemonium on Wall Street, as Liz Hoffman writes in her forthcoming book, Crash Landing.”

— “All You Touch and All You See: ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ at 50,” by Tal Rosenberg for The Ringer: “A half-century ago, Pink Floyd unleashed a classic that still lingers on the Billboard charts and in college dorms to this day. But what’s the legacy of the blockbuster album? What’s legacy, anyway?”

— “The Woman Shaking Up Italian Politics (No, Not the New Prime Minister)” by NYT’s Jason Horowitz in Rome: “Daughter of Italian and Jewish American parents, Elly Schlein wants to remake the center-left opposition to Giorgia Meloni, if only her party can survive it.”

— “On the Edge,” by ProPublica’s Caroline Chen, Irena Hwang, Al Shaw, Lisa Song and Robin Fields: “The next deadly pandemic is just a forest clearing away. But we’re not even trying to prevent it.”

— “The Fugee, the Fugitive and the FBI,” by Bloomberg’s Jason Leopold, Matthew Campbell and Anthony Cormier: “How rapper Pras Michél got entangled in one of the century’s great financial scandals, mediated a high-stakes negotiation between global superpowers and was accused of major crimes.”

PLAYBOOKERS

Joe Biden is not expected to attend King Charles’ coronation.

Donald Trump Jr. channeled his inner Oprah and Willy Wonka at CPAC.

Ron Klain has a favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez filmed Jamaal Brown and Maxwell Frost rocking out at the House Dems issues conference.

TALK OF THIS TOWN — Kellyanne and George Conway are reportedly preparing for divorce, according to Page Six. “Beltway insiders tell us that they’ve both lawyered up and that the two sides are hashing out the details of the split,” they write.

TRANSITIONS — Laura Nasim is now director of development at Citizens United. She previously was at the American Conservative Union, and is a Trump alum. … Annie Tutor is now with Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-Utah) office handling the Commerce Committee and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee portfolios. She previously was a legislative assistant for Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). … Christine Fox Harbison is now executive VP and chief growth officer at Mercury Systems. She previously was VP and general manager of Northrop Grumman’s combat systems and mission readiness division.

ENGAGED — Jesse Binnall, a lawyer for Donald Trump and founder of Binnall Law Group, proposed Thursday night to Caroline Davis, staff and digital assistant for Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.). Binnall got down on one knee at Kash Patel’s Top Golf reception, surrounded by friends of both. The two met in the fall of 2022 through a mutual acquaintance, a client of Binnall’s and a friend of Davis. Pic … Another pic

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Alexa Henning

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) … Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) … Doug Hoelscher … Shirley Henry … UNICEF’s Cathy Russell … Maria Recio … Jesse Solis … NBC’s Vaughn Hillyard and Alex Butcher-Nesbitt … Emily Bazelon … POLITICO’s Mark McQuillan and Amanda Bertholf … Seth Washington of Rep. Valerie Foushee’s (D-N.C.) office … Allison Putala … Kate Bennett … Stephanie Gidigbi Jenkins … Abby Jagoda … Fenton’s Valerie Jean-Charles … Sean Simons … Jennifer Loraine … Larkin Parker of Rep. Haley Stevens’ (D-Mich.) office … Scott Cunningham … Simone Ward … former Energy Secretary Rick Perry … Callista Gingrich

THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here):

ABC “This Week”: Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) … Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) … Marianne Williamson. Panel: Chris Christie, Donna Brazile, Marianna Sotomayor and Maggie Haberman.

CBS “Face the Nation”: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) … Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker … Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) … Larry Hogan.

FOX “Fox News Sunday”: Mike Pompeo … Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.). Panel: Karl Rove, Catherine Lucey, Jason Rantz and Juan Williams.

NBC “Meet the Press”: Reps. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) and Jim Himes (D-Conn.) … New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu. Panel: Hallie Jackson, Jeh Johnson, Pat McCrory and Susan Page.

CNN “State of the Union”: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries … NYC Mayor Eric Adams … Asa Hutchinson. Panel: Lis Smith, S.E. Cupp, Mondaire Jones and Scott Jennings.

Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures”: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) … Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) … Stephen Miller … Vivek Ramaswamy.

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An earlier version of this newsletter misspelled Meridith McGraw’s name.