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“Biden: Tentative railway labor deal reached, averting strike,” AP: “President Joe Biden said Thursday a tentative railway labor agreement has been reached, averting a potentially devastating strike before the pivotal midterm elections. He said the tentative deal ‘will keep our critical rail system working and avoid disruption of our economy.’”And NYT’s Peter Baker and The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser, two old friends of Playbook (Susan was POLITICO’s editor from 2014-2016), will release "THE DIVIDER: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021," on Tuesday. But after The Guardian’s resourceful Martin Pengelly snagged a copy early, the book’s embargo was lifted last night, leading to a flurry of coverage.In the NYT, Baker himself writes up an incredible account from the book about the time Trump’s friend, the cosmetics billionaire Ronald Lauder, convinced him that the U.S. could buy Greenland.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, most Republicans stuck to a simple message: The decision merely sent the issue back to the states; it was not a prelude to any national ban on abortion.Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) tossed all that out the window Tuesday, dropping a bill that would implement a nationwide ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy while allowing states to pass more restrictive laws. The immediate effect was to put fellow Republicans, who had already been on their heels over Roe’s reversal, straight onto their butts.And senior legal affairs reporter Josh Gerstein and POLITICO founding editor John Harris discuss the life of Ken Starr, who passed away yesterday at the age of 76.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

 Back in July, a coalition of civil rights and reproductive rights groups pushed President Joe Biden for “continued leadership” in the wake of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, requesting a POTUS meeting. On Monday evening, they got their meeting — with VP Kamala Harris, who spent about 90 minutes with the groups’ leaders. Her message, attendees said, echoed the rising sentiment in Democratic circles that abortion rights stand to be a key motivating factor in the midterms — and she said the Biden administration would continue raising the salience of the issue. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

We’re keeping our eyes on three big things this week when senators return this afternoon:1. The brewing Manchin-Sanders faceoff.2. The status of the marriage bill.3. How will the White House handle the new Taiwan bill?And Playbook's Eugene Daniels chats with New York magazine reporter (and former POLITICO) Gabriel Debenedetti about his new book, “The Long Alliance,” that comes out Tuesday. In it, he explores the complex and — as he puts it — “misunderstood relationship” between President Joe Biden and Barack Obama. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

As expected, the Justice Department said on Thursday that it will likely move forward with an appeal of Judge Aileen Cannon's recent decision largely blocking DOJ’s use of materials seized at Mar-a-Lago and appointing a special master.But in the meantime, the government tried a new approach to convince Cannon to rethink her recent decision, at least when it comes to the key documents seized from Mar-a-Lago by the FBI.And Politico's health care reporter Alice Miranda Ollstein explains the Michigan Supreme Court ruling that an abortion amendment must appear on its November ballot.Listen to Playbook Deep Dive: Kara Swisher knows when to fold ‘emRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

It would have been unthinkable just a few months ago, let alone a decade ago, but senators of both parties are increasingly optimistic they can overcome a filibuster and pass a bill enshrining same-sex and interracial marriage into law as soon as this month.On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters a same-sex marriage vote “will happen on the Senate floor in the coming weeks.” But there are potential land mines.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Legal pundits have had another day to digest Monday’s confounding opinion from Judge Aileen Cannon.Recall that the 41-year-old Trump appointee (who was confirmed in the days after the 2020 election) granted the former president’s request to appoint a special master to review the documents taken from Mar-a-Lago, and enjoined the Department of Justice “from reviewing and using the seized materials for investigative purposes.” She ordered the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to continue its damage assessment review of the documents.  Lawyers are, by definition, a quarrelsome bunch, and members of the pundit bar are especially quick to second-guess any opinions that aren’t theirs. But they are also as ideologically divided as the rest of the country. So it’s notable that while Cannon has had little trouble finding political support for her decision, she has been largely alone when it comes to support for her legal arguments.And Senate Republicans tried to tamp down the burgeoning feud between Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and NRSC Chair Rick Scott (Fla.) over campaign strategy at a Tuesday meeting, Burgess Everett and Marianne LeVine report. “Republican senators said after the meeting that there was little talk inside McConnell’s leadership suite of a split between Scott and the GOP leader. Still, the divide hung over the Senate’s return like Washington’s steamy early September weather.”Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Labor Day has long served as the unofficial kickoff of election season: More voters start to pay attention, political TV ads become inescapable, volunteers knock on doors and pollsters adjust their samples from “registered voters” to “likely voters.”Now, with Labor Day behind us, here’s the lay of the land just nine short weeks away from Election Day, per POLITICO’s just-updated forecast. The Senate is a toss-up, with the previous forecast leaning Republican. The House is likely going to flip Republican, with a previous forecast of likely Republican. Today, we dive into some of the reasons behind both.Kara Tabor is an audio producer for POLITICO Audio.Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

There was a lot going on in President Joe Biden's 24-minute primetime speech at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall Thursday night. If you felt some whiplash listening to Biden, you’re not alone. We are in the midst of a confusing and turbulent political period 10 weeks before the midterms, and it seemed to us that Biden was attempting to weave together and make sense of a lot of contradictory political currents. At its core, the speech was about an issue as grave as any that a president might address: what Biden described as “an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic.”Kara Tabor is an audio producer for POLITICO Audio.Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

It's a shocker in Alaska as Democrat Mary Peltola won Alaska’s special election on Wednesday, making her “the first Alaska Native in Congress,” the Anchorage Daily News’ Iris Samuels reports. Peltola is also the first person elected via the state’s new ranked-choice voting system. “Peltola topped Republican former Gov. Sarah Palin after ballots were tallied and after votes for third-place GOP candidate Nick Begich III were redistributed to his supporters’ second choices. Peltola, a Yup’ik former state lawmaker who calls Bethel home, is now slated to be the first woman to hold Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat.” Peltola, Palin and Begich will face off again in November for a full term.While Washington chews on headlines about President Joe Biden's pre-midterm road blitz and former President Donald Trump's legal jeopardy, an American city of more than 150,000 people is struggling to deliver clean drinking water to its residents.There’s no clear end in sight to the crisis in Jackson, Miss., which was sparked by record rainfall that flooded the Pearl River but is rooted in much more persistent issues of public disinvestment, political neglect and racial inequity. As with Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey, as well as the water crisis in Flint, Mich., majority-Black communities are left bearing the brunt of the dysfunction — not just during a crisis, but for years before and after.Kara Tabor is an audio producer for POLITICO Audio.Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.