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Presented by PhRMA: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. | | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | | After he lost the 2020 election, DONALD TRUMP insisted to aides that he would simply refuse to leave the White House, MAGGIE HABERMAN reveals in her new book, “Confidence Man” ( $32 ). Per CNN’s Jeremy Herb, “Haberman writes that in the immediate aftermath of the November 3 elections, Trump seemed to recognize he had lost to [JOE] BIDEN. He asked advisers to tell him what had gone wrong. … But at some point, Trump’s mood changed, Haberman writes, and he abruptly informed aides he had no intention of departing.” Trump is back in the D.C. area today — hanging out at his golf course in Sterling, Va. Biden, on the other hand, is hitting the road.
|  In Boston, President Joe Biden touted the bipartisan infrastructure law’s major investment for improvements at Logan Airport’s Terminal E. | Andrew Spear/Getty Images | Biden’s positivity pivot: Prices are still high throughout the country, but with some costs falling in recent months, the president is now focusing less on inflation as he travels around the country. The “self-edit” is made possible by economic improvements, AP’s Josh Boak reports, but it’s also part of an effort to elevate two main midterm talking points: (1) his legislative wins and (2) criticism of Republicans on the issues of abortion rights and democracy. The shift was on display this afternoon in Boston, where Biden touted the bipartisan infrastructure law’s major investment for improvements at Logan Airport’s Terminal E, which he said will improve passengers’ travel experience and create roughly 5,900 jobs. “When you see these big projects in your hometowns — cranes going up, shovels in the ground — I want you to feel the way I feel: pride,” Biden said. “Pride in what we can do. Pride in what we can do when we come together.” (A Logan aside: WaPo’s Amanda Morris has a new story on employees there barring Rep. JIM LANGEVIN (D-R.I.) from flying to Italy last month because of misplaced concerns about lithium-ion batteries in his wheelchair.) But fresh economic threats are never far away. The U.S. could be jolted by a major strike of 57,000 railroad workers if negotiators can’t reach a deal by the start of Friday — which the White House is scrambling to prevent, WaPo’s Tyler Pager, Lauren Kaori Gurley and Jeff Stein report. The situation poses a conundrum for Biden: “The president has been an adamant defender of union workers but does not want a breakdown in the nation’s transportation infrastructure that would disrupt commuter and passenger services.” A strike could snarl supply chains and cost billions of dollars. Labor Secretary MARTY WALSH tried again Sunday to break the impasse, and put off an Ireland trip to focus on this, per Bloomberg’s Augusta Saraiva and Jordan Fabian. The next test of Biden’s ability to de-emphasize inflation will come Tuesday, when the August consumer price numbers are released. Economists predict that it will show inflation falling but still remaining quite elevated. MAR-A-LAGO LATEST — Trump’s attorneys’ latest legal filing in the Mar-a-Lago records case asked U.S. District Judge AILEEN CANNON to maintain her block on the DOJ investigation into the classified materials seized by the FBI. Responding to the feds’ request for a stay of Cannon’s order, the Trump team calls the matter “a document storage dispute that has spiraled out of control.” But the filing “dances around the question of whether Trump declassified any of the records before leaving office,” Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein report. The 21-page filing — Congressional fallout: Though the Senate Intelligence Committee has requested information for the “Gang of Eight” lawmakers on the Mar-a-Lago documents, Cannon’s ruling to appoint a special master has delayed any briefing, Andrew Desiderio and Nancy Vu report in Congress Minutes. — Later today: Each side is due to submit responses to the other’s proposed special master candidates to oversee the federal document review. Good Monday afternoon.
| | | | A message from PhRMA: According to new findings, insured Americans favor policy solutions that improve their ability to navigate and access their care while lowering their out-of-pocket costs – by tackling the barriers introduced by insurers and middlemen like PBMs. Read more. | | | ALL POLITICS BATTLE FOR THE SENATE — Republicans are feeling bullish about their prospects for unseating Sen. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO in Nevada, where massive Democratic spending hasn’t been able to pull her out of a dead heat with Republican ADAM LAXALT, NBC’s Sahil Kapur and Natasha Korecki report from Las Vegas. With the economy front and center for Nevadans, Laxalt is hammering Cortez Masto on inflation and the cost of living. He’s largely avoided gaffes on the trail, and is on the airwaves with positive biographical ads. But Cortez Masto paints him as “a self-serving politician who isn’t interested in helping the state.” — As MEHMET OZ keeps hitting JOHN FETTERMAN on his health in Pennsylvania, “five state Democratic Party officials interviewed in the past two weeks expressed worries about Fetterman’s health and whether Republican attacks were swaying voters,” Reuters’ Jarrett Renshaw reports. — Republican J.D. VANCE leads Democratic Rep. TIM RYAN by 1 point in Ohio, 47% to 46%, in a new Suffolk/USA Today poll, per the Columbus Dispatch. — Vance is out with an ad hitting Ryan on crime, quoting Ryan calling the criminal justice system racist. “Tim, fight the criminals, not the cops,” Vance says. — A new 30-second DSCC spot hits Arizona GOP Senate nominee BLAKE MASTERS for his comments about privatizing Social Security. DEMOCRACY DIGEST — A striking new Axios/Ipsos poll finds that a sizable chunk of Americans across party lines hold anti-democratic views, David Nather and Margaret Talev report . Various non-democratic norms attracted the support of roughly one-third of U.S. adults, including the idea that a strong unelected leader is better than a weak elected one (higher for Republicans), the idea that presidents should be able to sack judges “when their decisions go against the national interest” (higher for Democrats) and the idea that journalists should be prosecuted for “unpatriotic statements.” Anti-democratic views were highest among younger and poorer Americans. GEORGIA ON MY MIND — As Georgia has grown purple, Republicans are shifting their strategy away from the Atlanta suburbs to more rural regions, AP’s Jeff Amy reports. “Those changing dynamics have intensified pressure on [Gov. BRIAN] KEMP to maintain — or strengthen — his support in rural mountainous communities like Toccoa to offset losses closer to the capital city.” The swing is also pushing the GOP further to the right, as it relies more heavily on white, culturally conservative voters in MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE territory. In these ancestrally Democratic areas, the Dems of 2022 are simply trying to keep Republicans’ margins a bit lower. THE COST OF MEDDLING — Democratic interference to bolster far-right Republicans in GOP primaries has gotten plenty of ink this year. Now WaPo’s Annie Gowen tallies up the price tag: Dems spent about $19 million on the tactic across eight states. If you add the Illinois gubernatorial race, it leaps to $53 million. The candidates elevated by Democrats won four times and lost seven (with two more being decided Tuesday). SPORTS BLINK — STEPHEN CURRY speaks to Rolling Stone’s Matt Sullivan for an extensive look at the NBA superstar’s recent forays into the political world. In it, Curry reveals a number of intriguing tidbits: He and his wife AYESHA had reservations about their endorsement of Biden over abortion (he “considers himself neither pro-choice nor pro-life”), the expletive-laced encouragement BARACK OBAMA gave him after the Warriors’ NBA Finals win this year, his thoughts on Trump, and a cameo from STACEY ABRAMS, who says she would welcome Curry’s endorsement in Georgia. (Says Curry: “I’m no HERSCHEL WALKER over here. … But with the level of influence I know I have, I feel like I’m just getting started on that front.”)
| | | | A WOMEN RULE CONVERSATION ON LEADING FROM THE GROUND UP: Join POLITICO’s Women Rule on Sept. 15 for conversations focused on creating and leading sustainable, healthy and inclusive communities. The program will feature a Member Exchange panel followed by a keynote discussion exploring the most pressing issues facing women in their communities and women in leadership roles who are best positioned to solve these problems. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | TRUMP CARDS KNOWING FANI WILLIS — The Fulton County, Ga., DA has an expansive vision of a prosecutor’s purview and a “distinct and forceful personality,” which have propelled her to take on everyone from Trump to criminal gangs, NYT’s Richard Fausset writes in a profile from Atlanta. Locally, she’s staked out a sometimes controversial middle ground between progressive reformers and conservatives on crime. And Willis’ experience building multiple extensive racketeering cases is informing her work on the Trump probe. “She tends to speak as if the world were her jury box. Sometimes she is colloquial and warm. … But she can also throw sharp elbows.” CONGRESS THE MARRIAGE BILL — A new letter from more than 400 top Republicans urges the Senate GOP to get on board with the legislation codifying same-sex and interracial marriage rights, WaPo’s Leigh Ann Caldwell and Theo Meyer report. Among the standout names: top Senate nominees Oz and JOE O’DEA, DAVID URBAN, TONY FABRIZIO and Massachusetts Gov. CHARLIE BAKER. WAR IN UKRAINE NEW FROM KYIV — As Ukraine stuns with Russia with ongoing advances to reclaim territory ( including fresh progress in the south ), Kyiv plans to ask the West for significant new weapons assistance, WSJ’s Warren Strobel and Michael Gordon scooped. The list of “29 types of weapon systems and ammunition” includes the long-range Army Tactical Missile System, which the U.S. has previously been hesitant to provide for fears of escalation.
| | | | A message from PhRMA:   New research examines how insured Americans navigate unclear and unaffordable insurance coverage. | | | BEYOND THE BELTWAY FORMULA STATUS UPDATE — Though baby formula shortages have abated somewhat, supplies remain short around the country: As of late August, 23% were out of stock, compared to a typical 10%, NYT’s Julie Creswell and Michael Corkery report. AGAINST THE GRAIN — “Teacher shortages are real, but not for the reason you heard,” by AP’s Sharon Lurye and AL.com’s Rebecca Griesbach in Birmingham, Ala.: “In reality, there is little evidence to suggest teacher turnover has increased nationwide or educators are leaving in droves. Certainly, many schools have struggled to find enough educators. But the challenges are related more to hiring, especially for non-teaching staff positions. Schools flush with federal pandemic relief money are creating new positions and struggling to fill them at a time of low unemployment and stiff competition for workers of all kinds. … [T]he problems are not as tied to teachers quitting as many have suggested.” AILING AMERICA — Americans are generally dissatisfied with the U.S. health care system, with less than half saying it’s handled well in a new AP/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. Among the least popular components are prescription drug costs, nursing home care and mental health care. THE PANDEMIC WORKFORCE EFFECT — Roughly half a million Americans have left the labor force due to illness from Covid-19, a new study has found, per WSJ’s Gwynn Guilford. The numbers in part reflect the lingering hit from long Covid, and the estimates are likely conservative. The study THE WHITE HOUSE DIVERSITY REPORT — A new study from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies finds that 11% of Biden’s top aides (the 139 senior-most White House officials) are Black, WaPo’s Cleve Wootson Jr. and David Nakamura report . Though that’s actually close to parity with U.S. demographics, the think tank authors criticize Biden for not coming close to the 22% of his 2020 support that came from Black voters.
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don’t miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS MEDIA MOVE — Brian Stelter will be the fall 2022 Walter Shorenstein media and democracy fellow with the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. He previously was chief media correspondent for CNN Worldwide and the anchor for CNN’s “Reliable Sources.” Announcement WHITE HOUSE DEPARTURE LOUNGE — Nabeela Barbari is now EVP at national security consulting firm OTHSolutions. She previously was a director for resilience and response at the NSC, and is a CISA alum. TRANSITIONS — Sharon McGowan is now a partner at Katz Banks Kumin. She most recently was chief strategy officer and legal director for Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, and is an Obama DOJ and OPM alum. … Patrick Costello is now SVP of Mercury’s D.C. office. He most recently was CEO of the American Security Project, and is a Council on Foreign Relations alum. … … Tucker Aiken will be counsel for Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). He most recently was Republican staff counsel for the Senate Commerce Committee. … Kathy Didawick is now a strategic partner with Strategic Elements. She previously was VP of political and external affairs for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, and is president of the Dovetail Group. ENGAGED — Lewis Plush, associate director of legislative affairs at NAFCU, and Elisabeth Brisley , senior manager of government relations at Encompass Health, got engaged last week in the Maldives. The couple met in 2017 at the Capitol Hill bar Stanton & Greene and have a yellow lab together named Betty. WEEKEND WEDDING — Liz Kenigsberg, EVP and co-chair of the tech and cyber practice at SKDK, and Josh Pincus , a VP on the U.S. tech investing team at The Carlyle Group, got married Saturday at the San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito, Calif. The couple were set up by college friends. Pic … SPOTTED: Andrew Pincus, Laura Wertheimer, Jill Zuckman, Natalie and Doug Farren, Julia Schechter, Shira Berg, Caroline Selby, Gerson Zweifach, Chris Lisi and Caroline Darmody.
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