The Playbook Podcast

House Republicans are set to embark on a multiweek stretch of ups and downs — starting today, with the release of a massive energy package authored by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, aimed at boosting domestic oil-and-gas production, lowering consumer costs and drawing a sharp contrast with the Biden administration’s pivot to green energy. The legislation will be designated “H.R. 1,” underscoring how the energy issue is a central plank of the GOP agenda following a campaign cycle dominated by soaring gasoline, electricity and heating fuel prices.While the House is expected to clear the bill by month’s end, the GOP faces a rockier road on the other side: With the debt-ceiling deadline looming, Republicans are already fretting about how they’re going to write a budget that balances in 10 years, as Speaker Kevin McCarthy promised conservatives during his campaign for the gavel, let alone pass one with only a four-seat majority.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the host and senior editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio

If you work at Compass Coffee, Roblox, Vox Media, Etsy, Roku, Vimeo, LendingClub or any of the other companies with deposits at Silicon Valley Bank, you are waking up this morning with welcome news.After a white-knuckle weekend you can be confident that payroll will be met, checks will clear and your company will have access to every cent of its SVB deposits, not just the FDIC-insured limit of $250,000, after federal agencies stepped in Sunday evening to backstop the failed bank and attempt to stem a burgeoning crisis among the nation’s medium-sized banks.If you’re a banker, investor, financial regulator, business owner or Biden administration official, you might still be plenty nervous. While Sunday’s announcement was aimed at restoring faith in the banking system, the early word Monday is that the markets might not be buying it.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the host and senior editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio

Over the last 24 hours, the dynamics that will define the 2024 Republican primary have begun to come into clear view, as told in three must-read stories:1. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis “has indicated privately that he intends to run for president,” WaPo’s Hannah Knowles and Isaac Stanley-Becker report from Davenport, Iowa.2. Former President Donald Trump appears likely to face criminal charges in Manhattan stemming from his alleged payment of hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels, NYT’s William Rashbaum, Ben Protess and Jonah Bromwich scooped last night.3. Other leading Republicans are taking aim at both Trump and DeSantis, our own Jonathan Martin reports in a piece that just published.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the host and senior editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

It’s the day all of D.C. has been waiting for with bated breath. Around noon, President Joe Biden will release his proposed federal budget.No one in the White House seriously believes that Congress will adopt it in its current form. In private, administration officials readily admit that they know it’s not going anywhere. So why does it matter? Beyond the obvious implications for governing, we’re told it’ll constitute the crux of Biden’s pitch as he’s expected to launch his reelection campaign in the near future. (We’re sure it’s purely coincidental that he’ll be unveiling the budget in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania.)It’s a messaging exercise. And as such, the White House sees no downside whatsoever to throwing out things that will never pass the Republican-controlled House. The fight is the point.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the host and senior editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

A new trove of exhibits unearthed as part of Dominion’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News was released on Tuesday, including emails, text messages and transcripts from depositions by numerous Fox News personalities and executives.There are lots of interesting details in the documents that reinforce the allegations made in Dominion’s recent motion for summary judgment. But the main takeaways are: Most corners of Fox News — from reporters and producers to primetime hosts to the most senior executives — knew that the claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election put forward by Donald Trump, his lawyers and their political allies were bogus. Despite this, Fox News executives and primetime hosts leaned into the election conspiracy theories after they realized their Trump-loving viewers were abandoning the network for more right-wing alternatives. The news and opinion divisions at Fox News, never great allies even in less stressful times, went to war with each other in the post-election period. Tucker Carlson hates Trump. And Speaker Kevin McCarthy's decision to fork over Jan. 6 footage to Carlson  continued to reverberate around Capitol Hill yesterday following the Fox host’s first big dispatch, which drew prominent rebukes from Democrats and Republicans. It was “a headache of [House Republicans’] own making,” write Sarah Ferris, Olivia Beavers and Kyle Cheney, one that “reopened a painful fault line that his party has repeatedly tried to mend.”Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the host and senior editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

A prominent Democratic think tank is raising alarms about a third-party ticket spoiling 2024 for Democrats and landing Donald Trump back in the White House.A new two-page memo from Third Way, obtained by Playbook, takes aim at the potential “unity ticket” being promoted by the centrist group No Labels. With tens of millions of dollars in financial backing, No Labels’ stated intention is to nominate a moderate alternative to potential extreme major-party nominees as an “insurance policy.” But Third Way notes that No Labels has been cagey about what scenario would prompt it to move forward, including whether it would stand down if President Joe Biden seeks reelection. In any case, the memo argues, a third-party ticket would mainly peel off Democrats, ultimately boosting the former president who tried to steal an election and incited a riot on the Capitol.“[T[he conclusion is inescapable: No Labels is committed to fielding a candidate that will, intentionally or not, provide a crucial boost to Republicans — and a major obstacle to Biden,” they write. “As a result, they’ll make it far more likely — if not certain — that Donald Trump returns to the White House.” Read the memo

Our colleague Betsy Woodruff Swan has an eye-popping story up this morning on a previously unreported DHS domestic-intelligence program, “one of many revelations in a wide-ranging tranche of internal documents reviewed by POLITICO.“Those documents also reveal that a significant number of employees in DHS’s intelligence office have raised concerns that the work they are doing could be illegal. Under the domestic-intelligence program, officials are allowed to seek interviews with just about anyone in the United States. That includes people held in immigrant detention centers, local jails, and federal prison.And while plenty of Republicans are eager to send Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to Washington, many of them have forgotten that he’s been here before. This morning, Playbook co-author Rachael Bade and Playbook editor Mike DeBonis discuss Rachael and Playbook producer Bethany Irvine's deep dive on DeSantis’ low-profile House tenure, interviewing over a dozen of his former colleagues about his six years among the back benches.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the host and senior editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

What’s more important: respecting the principle of D.C. self-governance, or staying on the right side of an explosive national issue?Yesterday, President Joe Biden chose politics over principle. It did not go over well with some Democrats. In November, the D.C. Council passed a major reform of the District’s criminal code. The legislation was vetoed by Mayor Muriel Bowser, who objected to reductions in penalties for some serious crimes, such as carjackings and home burglaries. In January, her veto was overridden by the council, 12-1.At the time, the White House issued a statement of administration policy opposing the resolution on the grounds that “denial of self-governance is an affront to the democratic values on which our Nation was founded.” An overwhelming majority of House Democrats voted against the resolution (31 Dems supported it). As the resolution was teed up in the Senate, it became conventional wisdom that Biden would veto it.That was incorrect. On Thursday, while addressing Senate Democrats, the president shocked Washington and declared that he would sign the measure if it reached his desk.“I support D.C. Statehood and home-rule,” Biden tweeted after the meeting, “but I don’t support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward over the Mayor’s objections — such as lowering penalties for carjackings. If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did — I’ll sign it.”Plus, Playbook editor Mike DeBonis catches up with national political correspondent Meridith McGraw who's on the ground at CPAC, the annual conservative conference. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the host and senior editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Since Trump’s first appearance at CPAC in 2011, the conference had become an early venue for him to court the base of the Republican Party.Now, the fate of the Schlapp-era CPAC and Donald Trump himself are tied together. The annual event, which began yesterday in National Harbor, has been abandoned by most top GOP elected officials.The annual event, which began yesterday in National Harbor, has been abandoned by most top GOP elected officials. Here’s a breakdown: Senate GOP leadership: None attending. House GOP leadership: Only ELISE STEFANIK is attending. GOP governors: Only Idaho Gov. BRAD LITTLE. GOP presidential candidates, declared and undeclared: Trump, NIKKI HALEY, MIKE POMPEO and VIVEK RAMASWAMY. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the host and senior editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

A bipartisan group of six senators today will introduce the Railway Safety Act of 2023, legislation aimed at preventing a repeat of the toxic firestorm in East Palestine, Ohio, that followed the Feb. 4 derailment of a chemical train.According to a summary we saw last night, the legislation would: 1) require rail carriers to give advance notice to state emergency response officials before running trains carrying hazardous materials; 2) mandate trains run with at least two-person crews; 3) require better monitoring of railcar wheel bearings — which overheated in the Ohio train accident, according to the NTSB, and likely caused the train to jump the tracks — and 4) increase penalties for wrongdoing in the industry. AP’s Julie Carr Smyth with the scoopAnd as House Republicans ramp up their investigation into alleged politicization at the Justice Department, Attorney General Merrick Garland will use his opening statement at a congressional hearing today to defend the integrity of his workforce.Speaking at the Senate Judiciary Committee, Garland will emphasize how DOJ officials have worked to combat violent crime and hate crimes, to assist Ukraine officials in defending democracy and to “protect reproductive freedom,” according to an excerpt shared with Playbook.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the host and senior editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.