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Presented by Meta: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. | | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | | THE NEXT BIG SHOE TO DROP — “Special counsel trades immunity for fake elector testimony as Jan 6 probe heats up,” by CNN’s Katelyn Polantz, Sara Murray, Zachary Cohen and Casey Gannon: “Special counsel JACK SMITH has compelled at least two Republican fake electors to testify to a federal grand jury in Washington in recent weeks by giving them limited immunity … That activity could signal that investigators are nearing at least some charging decisions in a part of the 2020 election probe.”
|  In an 8-1 decision written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court ruled that Texas and Louisiana lacked standing to sue over an immigration policy. | Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via AP Photo, Pool | SCOTUS WATCH — We’re still waiting on decisions for some of the biggest cases of the term, but the Supreme Court today handed a significant win to the Biden administration on immigration policy. In an 8-1 decision written by Justice BRETT KAVANAUGH, the justices ruled that Texas and Louisiana lacked standing to sue over a policy that prioritized security threats for immigration detention and deportation. Now, after a year of being blocked, the White House will again be able to follow its own guidelines for enforcement. The Biden administration rolled out the plan, a departure from DONALD TRUMP’s tougher approach, in September 2021, but Republican-led states quickly sued. A year ago, a lower-court Trump appointee blocked President JOE BIDEN’s guidelines, and the Supreme Court at the time declined to reinstate it immediately in a 5-4 shadow docket ruling. That initial decision turns out not to have been predictive of the court’s ultimate ruling in United States v. Texas, from which only Justice SAMUEL ALITO dissented today. Kavanaugh dismissed the states’ challenge as “extraordinarily unusual,” granting ICE agents greater discretion to decide immigration enforcement. Justices AMY CONEY BARRETT, NEIL GORSUCH and CLARENCE THOMAS had concurring opinions but didn’t sign onto Kavanaugh’s rationale. More from The Texas Tribune In a separate immigration-related case, the high court ruled today that a law banning the encouragement of illegal immigration is constitutional and does not violate the First Amendment. The vote was 7-2, with liberal Justices KETANJI BROWN JACKSON and SONIA SOTOMAYOR dissenting. More from NBC THE WEEKEND’S MAIN EVENT — A cattle call of GOP presidential contenders are appearing today at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Conference, a critical stop to shore up their credentials with Christian conservatives. Among the highlights so far: — MIKE PENCE challenged every candidate to back a national 15-week abortion ban. He got big applause for opposing gender transition-related medical care for kids and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ embrace of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, per Semafor’s Dave Weigel. — VIVEK RAMASWAMY got “a much warmer reception than Pence,” per Bloomberg’s Nancy Cook. — CHRIS CHRISTIE got booed when he criticized Trump. — Miami Mayor FRANCIS SUAREZ shared the personal story of his family’s infertility difficulties. — ASA HUTCHINSON declared that “God created two genders,” though he said he approved of a recent court decision blocking Arkansas’ ban on transition care for minors. — Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS decried “cultural Marxism” around gender and other issues. He also explicitly defended Alito and Thomas against recent criticism, in the wake of ProPublica reporting that raised questions about possible conflicts of interest. And yet … Despite everyone parading across the stage, notes McClatchy’s Alex Roarty, this is still largely the Trump show, with many of the speakers who aren’t running for president praising Trump publicly. North Carolina Lt. Gov. MARK ROBINSON, who’s likely to be the GOP gubernatorial nominee next year, endorsed Trump on stage. More reading: “GOP Rivals on Mission to Pry Evangelical Voters Away From Trump,” by WSJ’s Alex Leary and John McCormick Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
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Explore more possibilities with the metaverse. | | | 2024 WATCH GOOD SIGN FOR TRUMP — Trump is announcing today that he’s landed the endorsements of Reps. JOHN JOYCE, MIKE KELLY, DAN MEUSER, SCOTT PERRY and GUY RESCHENTHALER, Alex Isenstadt reports. That’s a majority of the Pennsylvania GOP delegation and the latest example of Trump far and away trouncing his rivals in congressional backing. BRIAN JACK and JOHN BRABENDER have been working to coordinate the Pennsylvania endorsements. WARNING SIGN FOR TRUMP — It’s a very different story, at least at the state level, in Michigan. As Trump heads to the state this weekend, The Detroit News’ Craig Mauger and Beth LeBlanc find scant support for him among its elected officials. Just three of the 72 Republicans in the state legislature say they’re backing Trump, compared to 25 for DeSantis. THE STEP BACK — Half the Republican presidential candidates are people of color, Axios’ Sophia Cai notes, a striking shift for the party that has historically struggled with racial diversity. TRUMP CARDS TOP-ED — Smith gets backup from former Bush administration AG ALBERTO GONZALES, a Republican, who penned a CNN op-ed this morning decrying the “baseless conspiracy theory” that the federal criminal prosecution of Trump is politicized. Gonzales writes that the facts of the case supported the charges. And he warns that “disingenuous” critics of the indictment threaten the rule of law. INSIDE THE PROSECUTION — Investigators had trouble building their classified documents case against Trump, hinging on the question of motive, until they found a critical audio tape and other crucial evidence in February, WSJ’s Aruna Viswanatha and Sadie Gurman report. Before that moment, some officials were skeptical about the criminal charges. Then they got the July 2021 tape from Bedminster, N.J., and that “gave prosecutors direct evidence that Trump knew what he was doing was wrong.”
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH OFF THE DEEP END — A counter-narrative detached from reality has emerged on the far right to rewrite the history of the Jan. 6 insurrection, taking root among an “ecosystem of true believers [who have] embraced ‘J6’ as the animating force of their lives,” NYT’s Robert Draper reports. And though their views are fringe, they’ve also “migrated so swiftly to the heart of presidential politics” that leading GOP presidential candidates are pledging to pardon Jan. 6 defendants. REALITY CHECK — Despite claims from Republicans and ELON MUSK himself that Twitter has censored conservative views, a new video and other records obtained by WaPo’s Drew Harwell reveal that Twitter actually chose to leave up pro-Trump posts company officials feared could lead to violence in the days before Jan. 6. The materials show a “company that fought until the end to give some of Trump’s most belligerent supporters the benefit of the doubt, even as its internal teams faced an overwhelming volume of tweets threatening retribution in line with Trump’s lies.” CONGRESS HEADS UP — “House conservatives challenge their leaders on abortion,” by Axios’ Juliegrace Brufke: “The Republican Study Committee is pushing House GOP leadership for a vote on the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act … Moderates and some members of GOP leadership are worried the bill could hurt members in swing districts. … Multiple GOP members said they don’t believe that the legislation has the support to pass … But some conservatives have argued that sidelining the legislation would be hypocritical to the messaging they ran on.” NOMINEE TRAVAILS — House Democrats are up in arms over how their Senate counterparts and the Biden administration are handling a range of key nominations, Nick Wu, Daniella Diaz and Burgess Everett report. They don’t have any official say in the process. But “[t]op Congressional Black Caucus members are steaming that the Biden administration isn’t adequately consulting them on judicial nominees. Swing-district Democrats want the Senate to pick up the pace on filling key vacancies. And progressives are furious that the chamber still hasn’t considered JULIE SU’s nomination as Labor secretary.” MANCHIN IN THE MIDDLE — Sen. JOE MANCHIN’s (D-W.Va.) fight with the administration over the Inflation Reduction Act’s electric vehicle planks hinges on a dispute over what was promised during negotiations, POLITICO’s E&E News’ Emma Dumain reports. Manchin insists that Biden is breaking a direct pledge he made that the law would be implemented to the senator’s specific wishes. But nearly two dozen other sources question that version of events, saying he should have known it was open to interpretation and failing to confirm his account of the promise. “The end result is a morass of finger-pointing and accusations of bad faith, as well as something of a cautionary tale of how not to craft legislation.”
| | | | A message from Meta:   | | | POLICY CORNER PROTECTION PROTECTION — Biden is signing an executive order today aimed at preserving people’s access to contraception, a move tied to the one-year anniversary of Dobbs that made advocates fear restrictions on birth control could be next, per Reuters. Biden’s move will direct the government to explore forcing private insurers to cover contraception more, along with other ways to make birth control cheaper and more accessible. UP IN THE AIR — “Pete Buttigieg Warns of Flight Delays as 5G Deadline Looms,” by WSJ’s Alison Sider: “Aircraft that haven’t gone through the necessary equipment changes won’t be cleared to land in certain weather conditions when visibility is low starting July 1, when U.S. wireless companies plan to boost their 5G service to higher power levels. ‘There’s a real risk of delays or cancellations,’ [Transportation Secretary PETE] BUTTIGIEG said in an interview.” BEYOND THE BELTWAY THE ABORTION LANDSCAPE — “Inside An Abortion Clinic That Fled a Red State,” by Myah Ward in Moorhead, Minn., for POLITICO Magazine: “Today, Red River performs between 25 and 30 abortions each Wednesday — a small increase from the days at the old clinic in Fargo, N.D. — with a mix of patients from North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska.” CHAMBER SHUFFLE — “GOP Split With Big Business Gives States New Lobbying Clout,” by WSJ’s Eliza Collins and Natalie Andrews: “In contrast to years past when the U.S. Chamber of Commerce drove the pro-business agenda in Washington, some House Republican leaders now prefer to meet directly with state affiliates. The Arizona and Texas state chambers of commerce have met with Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY of California and Majority Leader STEVE SCALISE of Louisiana about border security, immigration, trade and regulation. The shift is the latest sign of how the main voice for corporate America has lost influence with Republican decision makers.”
| | | | 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 SPOTTED having breakfast at the Four Seasons Hotel today: Fred Ryan and David Bradley … Jeremy Bash and Fred Hochberg … Goli Sheikholeslami, Geoff Morrell and Heidi Sommer. OUT AND ABOUT — The Hispanic Leadership Trust held its first annual tequila tasting event at the D.C. offices of the National Association of Broadcasters last night. SPOTTED: Reps. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.), Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.), Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas), Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) and Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.), Del. Jenniffer González-Colón (R-Puerto Rico), Jack Smedile, Chris Berardini, Nando Gomez, Kathleen McNamara, Mark Williams, Judd Smith, Zuraya Tapia-Hadley, Omar Franco and Brooks Brunson. — The Motion Picture Association’s Charles Rivkin and Disney’s Susan Fox, Bill Bailey and Jess Moore hosted the House Chiefs of Staff Association for an advance screening of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” yesterday evening. SPOTTED: Mitch Rivard, Jonathan Day, Mitch Glazier, Chris Crawford, Patrick Kilcur, Pete Spiro, Robert Edmonson, Nicole Gustafson, Mark Dreiling, Michael Mucchetti, Glen Roberts, Tracie Pough, Tara Hupman, Josh Brown, Michael Lowry, Jess Killin and Chris Tomassi. — SPOTTED last night at Advanced Advocacy’s summer cigar smoker event at Casa de Montecristo: Matt Haller, Josselin Castillo, David Ozgo, Kent Lassman, Kevin Glass, Tom Herbert, Patrick Hedger, Phil Bell, Charlie Katebi, Alexandra Perez, Bartlett Cleland, Larry Spiwak, Juan Londono, Josh Levine, Ginervra Joyce-Meyers, Abigail Nugent, Nick Swezey, Nick Down, Svetlana Gans, John Dunagan, Peter O’Toole, Alex Hendrie, Cesar Ybarra, Ted Ellis, Pat DiFrancesco and Andrew Kovalcin. — SPOTTED last night at the K&L Gates public policy and law practice’s 50th-anniversary celebration at the Library of Congress: Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), Cliff Bentz (R-Ore.), Mary Peltola (D-Alaska), Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), Gerald Grinstein, Jim Barker, Ashley Poling, Mary Brady, Stu Solomom, George Longwell, Marco Davis, Kelle Strickland, Madalene Mielke and Steve Livengood. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine.
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