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Presented by PhRMA: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. | | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | | |  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis chose Martha's Vineyard for its self-proclaimed “sanctuary” status for immigrants, but it's much less equipped to handle an influx of people in need of assistance than big cities. | Jeff Swensen/Getty Images | Just a day after Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS flew dozens of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Texas Gov. GREG ABBOTT this morning had two busloads show up outside VP KAMALA HARRIS’ Naval Observatory residence, per Fox News’ Timothy Nerozzi and Tyler Olson. Roughly 75 to 100 immigrants from several countries were quickly received by a local NGO. “Multiple migrants, asked by Fox News Digital, said they think the border is open, contrary to what Harris said Sunday during an interview.” The buses’ destination made a political statement, certainly, but sending immigrants to D.C. has been typical for this slow-burning phenomenon over the past several months. Abbott and Arizona Gov. DOUG DUCEY have sent more than 10,000 border-crossers out of their states, largely to D.C., NYC and Chicago. There was a key difference with the Martha’s Vineyard episode: The migrants appear not to have been aware of their destination. Those boarding buses to D.C. are often grateful for the free ride deeper into the U.S. But three migrants on the Vineyard told NPR that “a woman they identified as ‘Perla’ approached them outside the shelter [in San Antonio] and lured them into boarding the plane, saying they would be flown to Boston where they could get expedited work papers. She provided them with food. The migrants said Perla was still trying to recruit more passengers just hours before their flight.” The island, a vacation haven for East Coast elites that DeSantis chose for its self-proclaimed “sanctuary” status for immigrants, is also much less equipped to handle an influx of people in need of assistance than big cities. Notably, the Vineyard arrivals were mostly Venezuelans — a growing political force in Florida, and a group that Republicans have championed for fleeing the leftist regime in Caracas. (Related read: “Venezuelans are a growing Latino group in the U.S. Can they recreate the Cuban American voter playbook?” by USA Today’s Rebecca Morin) The political fallout: Members of Congress were largely split along party lines today. Per CNN’s Manu Raju, Sen. BOB MENENDEZ (D-N.J.) said DeSantis and his supporters were acting “like human traffickers … They supposedly are the advocates for human life. They have no concern for the lives of these people.” But Republicans said sending migrants to other parts of the country reduced the burden on border states and highlighted what they call President JOE BIDEN’s failed immigration policies — which has been Abbott and Ducey’s goal all along. “Terrific idea,” said Sen. JOHN CORNYN (R-Texas). ALL THE LIVE-LONG DAY (AND NIGHT) — After coming within 24 hours of an economy-altering railroad strike, Biden today took a victory lap at the White House after his administration helped broker a deal between rail companies and workers. “Today is a win — and I mean this sincerely — a win for America,” Biden said. He touted better pay, benefits and working conditions for workers, and greater ability for the companies to recruit and keep workers. Though union members still need to ratify the deal, those involved — who worked through the night — “seemed optimistic it would hold,” Nick Niedzwiadek reports . Even if workers reject the deal, at the very least, the deadline that would have triggered a strike has been postponed several weeks. And it saves Democrats from a sudden shock to the nation’s infrastructure less than two months before the midterms. Time off for workers to get medical care, which had been a significant sticking point in the negotiations, was included in the final deal, WaPo’s Jeff Stein and Lauren Kaori Gurley scooped. “Over the last few days, President Biden expressed a mixture of confusion and anger that the rail carriers were adamantly refusing to provide paid sick leave to their workers,” Stein noted. Good Thursday afternoon. Tune in: POLITICO’s Women Rule: The Exchange features back-to-back conversations with the White House Gender Policy Council’s JENNIFER KLEIN and STACEY ABRAMS, happening now.
| | | | A message from PhRMA: Did you know: 39% of insured Americans say they don’t understand what’s covered by their insurance. Health insurance coverage should be predictable and transparent, and insured Americans agree. Learn more from our latest Patient Experience Survey report. | | | TRUMP CARDS THE INVESTIGATIONS — New York AG TISH JAMES has rejected the Trump team’s settlement offer in her civil probe into the Trump Organization and is weighing a lawsuit against at least one of DONALD TRUMP’s children, NYT’s Ben Protess, Jonah Bromwich and William Rashbaum report . With the prospect of a lawsuit accusing the Trumps of fraud on the table, “there is no indication that a settlement will materialize anytime soon.” A potential loss in court for Trump “could impose financial penalties and restrict the former president’s business operations in New York.” Trump has said he committed no wrongdoing. 2024 WATCH — On HUGH HEWITT’s show this morning, Trump indicated that any potential criminal indictment might not stop him from another presidential bid: “I would have no prohibition against running.” And Trump warned hazily about what would happen if he were indicted: “I think you’d have problems in this country the likes of which you have ever seen before.” “What kind of problems?” Hewitt asked. “Big problems,” Trump responded. TRUMP-RUSSIA NEVER ENDS — “Former top FBI official involved in Trump-Russia investigation under scrutiny by federal prosecutors for his own ties to Russia,” by Insider’s Mattathias Schwartz: “Late last year … US attorneys secretly convened a grand jury that examined the conduct of CHARLES McGONIGAL , the former head of counterintelligence at the FBI field office in New York City. … [A] witness subpoena obtained by Insider seems to indicate that the government, in part, was looking into McGonigal’s business dealings with a top aide to OLEG DERIPASKA, the billionaire Russian oligarch who was at the center of allegations that Russia colluded with the Trump campaign to interfere in the 2016 election.” ON THE ROAD — Trump will hold a rally Oct. 1 in Warren, Mich., with the state’s top GOP nominees, per the Detroit Free Press. MEDIAWATCH NEW IN THE LINEUP — CNN today announced a big shakeup for its morning programming: DON LEMON, POPPY HARLOW and KAITLAN COLLINS will host a significantly updated morning show with a new name and structure, NYT’s John Koblin reports. No set start date yet, but Koblin writes that the network wants it to launch shortly before the midterms. It amounts to “CHRIS LICHT’s biggest programming move since taking over as CNN’s chairman in May,” and it also opens up the 10 p.m. hour that Lemon has currently. JOHN BERMAN and BRIANNA KEILAR will move to different spots at CNN. Licht said the revamp would be “a mass appeal play” and “an evolved version of the network morning shows.”
| | | | DON’T MISS - MILKEN INSTITUTE ASIA SUMMIT : Go inside the 9th annual Milken Institute Asia Summit, taking place from September 28-30, with a special edition of POLITICO’s Global Insider newsletter, featuring exclusive coverage and insights from this important gathering. Stay up to speed with daily updates from the summit, which brings together more than 1,200 of the world’s most influential leaders from business, government, finance, technology, and academia. Don’t miss out, subscribe today. | | | | | ALL POLITICS DOWN BALLOT — The DNC hasn’t given the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee any money this cycle, raising concerns that the party — once again — isn’t doing enough to win crucial statehouse seats, The Daily Beast’s Jake Lahut reports. The DNC says “the party works with the DLCC in other ways to ‘maximize the DNC’s hard federal dollars.’” But the DLCC is unhappy — and on the record: “Democrats don’t believe in trickle-down economics, but they do believe in trickle-down politics,” spokesperson CHRISTINA POLIZZI says. MASTERS AND COMMANDERS — Arizona GOP Senate nominee BLAKE MASTERS “explicitly called for a wholesale firing of the generals at least seven times between August 2021 and March 2022,” Vice’s Cameron Joseph reports. That’s “the generals” as in … all the U.S. military’s generals (and admirals). Masters has repeatedly argued that the military’s top leaders are too “woke” and driven by liberal ideology. He says they need to be replaced en masse by “the most conservative colonels,” who he argues would restore an apolitical approach to the military. THE PENNSYLVANIA SENATE RACE — In a 40-minute NYT interview, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. JOHN FETTERMAN said his Democratic Senate campaign is back to “perfectly normal” after his stroke and that he was up to its physical demands, Katie Glueck, Blake Hounshell and Gina Kolata report . “He described driving his children to school, walking several miles a day and rapidly improving his auditory processing.” Fetterman used closed captioning for the video interview, but “Democratic officials who have interacted with Mr. Fetterman closely also said recently that they were encouraged by his progress.” — Republicans are zeroing in on crime as the issue they think can turn the race around, putting Fetterman on defense and slashing his poll lead, the Philly Inquirer’s Jonathan Tamari and Julia Terruso report. The Senate Leadership Fund has put $10 million into ads on crime in the past month, and Fetterman has gone up with three of his own on the issue. Cutting through the noise: “Neither candidate has said much about what specifically he would do as a U.S. senator to fight crime.” ON THE SAME PAGE — New Hampshire Gov. CHRIS SUNUNU and DON BOLDUC may have clashed during the GOP Senate primary, but now that Bolduc is the nominee, they’re putting their differences behind them: The state’s most prominent Republicans hugged it out this morning, per Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser. — Bolduc pivoting hard: Bolduc, who has long said falsely that Trump won the 2020 election, changed his tune on Fox News this morning: “Live and learn. … The election was not stolen. Was there fraud? Yes. … Unfortunately, President Biden is the legitimate president.” NOTABLE POLL — Though Alaska’s ranked-choice election makes polling even harder, a new AARP survey finds GOP Sen. LISA MURKOWSKI essentially tying far-right challenger KELLY TSHIBAKA, 50% to 50%, after votes are redistributed — much closer than the incumbent would like. In the House race, Democratic Rep. MARY PELTOLA has a 6-point edge over SARAH PALIN.
| | | | A message from PhRMA:   New research examines how insured Americans navigate unclear and unaffordable insurance coverage. | | | CONGRESS THE MARRIAGE BILL — As Democrats push to pass the bill to codify same-sex and interracial marriage rights, Sen. SUSAN COLLINS (R-Maine) said negotiators had finalized a religious liberty amendment that’s now being circulated, Bloomberg’s Laura Litvan reports. Bill text is expected today, with a potential vote Monday. But the timing remains uncertain, as does the level of GOP support. Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER said on the Senate floor that negotiators are meeting again today and his top priority is passage — “suggesting his timeline may be flexible,” NBC’s Julie Tsirkin notes. MY KEVIN — House Minority Leader KEVIN McCARTHY told Olivia Beavers that he knows who leaked the tapes of him saying Trump was partially responsible for Jan. 6, she scooped in Congress Minutes. “I’ll bring it forward” at some point in the future, he said. “I have it.” IRA IMPACT — Tesla is considering shifting some of its electric vehicle battery production from Germany to the U.S. thanks to credits in the Inflation Reduction Act, WSJ’s Rebecca Elliott and Mike Colias scooped. THE ECONOMY BY THE NUMBERS — A bevy of new economic data out this morning shed light on where the U.S. stands currently: — Mortgage rates: The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped to 6.02% in the latest Freddie Mac data, the first time it’s crossed the 6% threshold since the 2008 financial crisis, per WaPo’s Kathy Orton . “The dramatically swift escalation has chilled what had been a hot U.S. housing market, increasing pressure on an economy plagued by unremitting inflation.” — Jobless claims: New unemployment filings dropped to 213,000 last week, the fifth consecutive week of decreases. It’s the lowest level since May, “showing that employers are still reluctant to let go of workers despite some economic slowing,” per CNN’s Alicia Wallace. — Retail sales: In August, retail sales rose 0.3% month to month, per new Commerce Department data, in particular thanks to cars, clothes and back-to-school supplies, WSJ’s Harriet Torry and Austen Hufford report. The rise was unexpected. The upshot: The labor market’s ongoing strength, combined with the persistence of inflation in this week’s latest report, adds more fuel to the fire for the Fed to keep raising interest rates at a breakneck clip.
| | | | 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 OUT AND ABOUT — The Recording Industry Association of America held its “RIAA Honors: Pioneers of Hip Hop” celebration at its headquarters in Washington Wednesday night. Honorees included rappers Grandmaster Flash and MC Lyte, Universal Music Group executive Jeff Harleston, and House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.). Jeffries reminisced about paying tribute to the Notorious B.I.G. on the House floor in 2017, and touted his role in the creation of the Music Modernization Act. Pic … Another pic … SPOTTED: Reps. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) and CBC Chair Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Mitch Glazier, Morna Willens, Michele Ballantyne, Carla Hayden, Hannah Karp, Datwon Thomas, Henry Hicks, Todd Valentine, Tasia Jackson, Mitchell Rivard and Melissa Cusack. — SPOTTED at a Rosh Hashanah celebration Wednesday night hosted by Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog: second gentleman Doug Emhoff, AG Merrick Garland, Reps . Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), Kathy Manning (D-N.C.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Barbara Leaf, Deborah Lipstadt, Ned Price, Anne Neuberger, Aaron Keyak, Sallai Meridor, David Friedman, Elliott Abrams, Dennis Ross, Robert Satloff, Kenneth Weinstein, David Makovsky, and Eric Gertler. — SPOTTED at a party for Rep. David Cicilline’s (D-R.I) book “House on Fire” ($29) at Mandy Grunwald’s house in Georgetown on Wednesday: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Reps. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), Mike Manatos, Jonathan Martin, Abby Tracy, Mike Donilon, Matt Gerson, Jonathan Capehart, Tom Quinn, Lyndon Boozer, Gerry Harrington, Judith Pryor, Rich Luchette, Luke Barr, Nandita Bose, Ben Siegel, Ramsey Touchberry, Peter Karafotas, Jane Moffat and E.J. Dionne. — SPOTTED at a Latine Prom Eve LGBTQ+ Event at Number Nine on Wednesday to celebrate the night before the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Gala: Arizona state Rep. Andrés Cano, Utah state Sen. Derek Kitchen, Ingrid Duran, Catherine Pino, Ruben Gonzales, Ernie Apreza, Alma Acosta, Kenneth Romero, Jackie Puente, Joaquín Tamayo and Reggie Greer. — SPOTTED at a party for David Gelles’ book “The Man Who Broke Capitalism” ($28) at the Lower East Side home of Kyle Dropp and Jackie Dreier in NYC: Michael Ramlet, Emma Goldberg, Alex Bruell, Steve Barrett, Margot Edelman, Jeff Cartwright, Felix Salmon, Alexis Gay, Olivia Petersen, Oscar Salis, Nayeema Raza, Alice Fournier, Ashley and Ben Chang, Brian Marchiony, Christian Busch, Heidi Browning and Jeanne LaCour. Pic — Navigator Research hosted its first Cocktails and Crosstabs happy hour at The Crimson on Wednesday night to usher in midterms season with new polling. SPOTTED: Bryan Bennett, Michael Podhorzer, Arkadi Gerney, Joel Payne, Wisdom Cole, Maura Quint, Atoyia Deans, Zach Cohen, Molly Ball, Laura Weiss and Christian Paz. MEDIA MOVES — Brianna Tucker will be deputy politics editor at WaPo. She most recently has been deputy editor on the 202 newsletters team. Announcement … Chris Gordon is now senior editor at Air & Space Forces Magazine. He most recently was on WSJ’s national security desk. … Masih Khybari is now director of partnership and strategy at National Journal. He most recently was counselor for the Friends of the American University of Afghanistan. TRANSITIONS — Adil Ahmed is now chief counsel to FEC Vice Chair Dara Lindenbaum. He most recently was special counsel for the U.S. Army. … Jessica Medeiros Garrison has been named president of the Land Betterment Exchange and LBX Carbon Offsets. She most recently was VP of government affairs at Clearview AI, and is a RAGA alum. … … Natalie Armijo is now a strategist with Federal Street Strategies. She most recently was a senior adviser to New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham … Cecilia Narrett is now a development associate at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. She most recently was a humane educator at Farm Sanctuary. … John Fisher is now an account manager at Trident DMG. He previously was an account executive at Rokk Solutions. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Sally Adams, chief of staff for Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-Ariz.), and Andrew Ishizuka, SVP for translational research at Vaccitech, welcomed Theo Andrew Ishizuka on Sept. 6. BONUS BIRTHDAY: USAID’s Katie Thompson Correction: Wednesday’s Playbook PM misstated the office held by Nebraska Republican Deb Fischer. She is a senator.
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