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Presented by Meta: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. | | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | | THE WORLD’S MOST PRESTIGIOUS FIGHT CLUB — Things are getting testy in Congress today. NPR’s Claudia Grisales reports that Rep. KEVIN McCARTHY (R-Calif.) shoved Rep. TIM BURCHETT (R-Tenn.) in the hallway today as she was interviewing him, prompting Burchett to yell, “Why’d you elbow me in the back, Kevin?! Hey Kevin, you got any guts!?” And then Burchett took off on a chase after McCarthy and his security detail. McCarthy denied it: “I didn’t elbow you in the back.” Burchett told Grisales it was the men’s first communication since Burchett voted to remove McCarthy as speaker. “I can still feel it,” he said to reporters later. “It was a clean shot to the kidney.” And across the Capitol, Sen. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-Okla.) nearly came to blows with Teamsters President SEAN O’BRIEN at a HELP Committee hearing about corporate greed. Responding to O’Brien’s tweets challenging him to a fight, Mullin said, “You want to run your mouth … we can finish it here.” Then they both told each other to “stand your butt up” — and indeed Mullin stood up as if prepared to fight. Chair BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.) intervened, saying “You’re a United States senator!” to Mullin, and ultimately brought the temperature down. Video of the standoff
|  “We can’t be complacent” on climate change, President Joe Biden said at the White House today. | Win McNamee/Getty Images | BIDEN’S BIG CHALLENGES — Of course, most political and policy fights are not so physical. We got fresh insight, and some mixed results, today from two of the biggest ongoing battles President JOE BIDEN’s administration is waging: against inflation and climate change. Inflation nation: The October Consumer Price Index report released today showed inflation slowing faster than expected, dropping from 3.7% annual growth in September to 3.2% last month. Significantly lower gas prices were a notable boon. But even the core measure, stripping out fuels and foods, was at 4%, a decrease. The data overall “showed telltale signs of progress — and a kind of assurance that has been hard to come by since the pandemic,” WaPo’s Rachel Siegel writes. Rent and other housing costs are still the biggest driver of inflation, but even they displayed some positive indicators. It’s welcome news for American families struggling with still-high prices — and for Biden, whose reelection bid has been burdened by broad, ongoing negative perceptions about the economy driven principally by inflation and housing. Stock markets rose on the news, as the CPI report showed a broad slowdown that included prices outright falling for airfares, used cars, doctors’ services and other fields. The other policy impact: The Fed is now even less likely to raise interest rates any higher, WSJ’s Amara Omeokwe and Nick Timiraos report. In this climate? The U.S. released its fifth major National Climate Assessment today, which takes stock of the latest climate science across a range of federal agencies and concludes that worsening climate devastation will hit the most vulnerable Americans the hardest, Zack Colman reports. From hurricanes to wildfires to heat, many climate impacts caused by humans are too far gone to forestall over the next decade, as temperatures climb more quickly in the U.S. than the world average. Extreme disasters are getting more common. Behavioral and policy changes in the U.S. and other developed nations have been too small. “Nearly every cherished aspect of American life is under growing threat,” NYT’s Raymond Zhong writes. The cost to the American economy is roughly $150 billion a year. To make matters worse, a bleak new U.N. report card today finds that the world is falling short of its pledges under the Paris accord to make changes that would prevent catastrophe. Instead of carbon emissions falling, they’re actually on track to rise 9% over 2010 levels by the end of the decade, Sara Schonhardt reports — and that’s only if countries keep their promises. And yet there are glimmers of hope here, too. The U.S. report outlines the many (and growing) ways that technological innovation is blunting emissions. More states are planning for climate risks, and the “severe toll has prompted parts of the country to respond faster and more creatively than ever,” WaPo’s Brady Dennis and Scott Dance write. And the White House announced a new $6 billion investment in improving climate resilience and curbing pollution, per UPI. “We can’t be complacent,” Biden said at the White House today. “We have to keep going.” Good Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
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Explore the impact. | | | CONGRESS SHUTDOWN SMOKE SIGNALS — Emerging from conference meetings this morning, both Republicans and Democrats gave indications that the House will likely have enough votes to pass the two-pronged clean continuing resolution to keep the government open today. On the GOP side, there is some sharp opposition — the Freedom Caucus officially came out against the CR. But even though opponents of the CR “were visibly mad at the policy, they did not personally attack the speaker” in the conference meeting, WaPo’s Marianna Sotomayor reports. Among Democrats, House Rules ranking member JIM McGOVERN (Mass.) said he would probably vote yes, a stance echoed by other Dems. Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair PRAMILA JAYAPAL (Wash.) sounded somewhat positive about the prospects of avoiding a shutdown. And Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER also sounded notes of cautious optimism on the floor. The House did manage to pass the rule for the Labor-HHS spending bill on a narrow party-line vote today, after overcoming internal GOP divisions. HAMAS HORRORS — Roughly 100 House members today attended a screening of footage of the Hamas attacks on Israel last month, leaving many of them crying or “stunned into shock and disbelief,” Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. JOHNSON ARCHIVE DIVE I — Like many Republicans, now-Speaker MIKE JOHNSON opposed DONALD TRUMP when he first launched his presidential campaign in 2015, NYT’s Annie Karni and Steve Eder reveal. Then a Louisiana state legislator, Johnson wrote that Trump “lacks the character and the moral center we desperately need” and mused aloud about the national security dangers of Trump’s temperament in the Oval Office. Of course, also like many Republicans, Johnson has since come all the way around to a Trump defender. Right on cue, Johnson endorsed Trump this morning on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” He also refused to criticize Trump’s 2020 election fraud lies, saying he trusted that Trump actually believes them. “He just felt like he was cheated in that election,” Johnson said, “and I think that’s a core conviction of his.” JOHNSON ARCHIVE DIVE II — One of the key experiences that shaped Johnson from early in his career was a legal battle against the Delta abortion clinic in Baton Rouge, NYT’s Nicholas Confessore, Steve Eder and Julie Tate report. It made fighting abortion central to his legal and political life. And those who knew him say Johnson was “someone who believed that the culture wars could be won by attrition, through incremental legislative and legal resistance” — a strategy that has handsomely paid off with the speakership and the Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling. CASH DASH — “Scalise launches big-money political vehicle,” by Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman: “Scalise Leadership Fund 2024 … is aimed at supporting more than 50 Republican incumbents, candidates and committees.”
| | | | CALIFORNIA CLIMATE: Climate change isn’t just about the weather. It's also about how we do business and create new policies, especially in California. So we have something cool for you: A brand-new California Climate newsletter. It's not just climate or science chat, it's your daily cheat sheet to understanding how the legislative landscape around climate change is shaking up industries across the Golden State. Cut through the jargon and get the latest developments in California as lawmakers and industry leaders adapt to the changing climate. Subscribe now to California Climate to keep up with the changes. | | | | | 2024 WATCH BIG SHIFT — Major liberal super PAC Priorities USA is morphing along with American media habits: It’s planning a $75 million effort for the 2024 campaign that will be entirely focused on digital, with no TV ads, NYT’s Rebecca Davis O’Brien reports. That’ll encompass everything from work for the Biden reelect and other Dem campaigns to partnerships with TikTok influencers, as Priorities becomes “a full-service communications, research and training behemoth.” TEFLON DON — Trump is perhaps the most important anti-abortion politician in America thanks to his appointment of three Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. Yet he’s maintained a certain public vagueness about his abortion positions now, allowing him to skate through the GOP presidential primary without being hurt politically on either side, NYT’s Ruth Igielnik reports. And so far, he’s not really paying a price for it in a general-election matchup, either: NYT/Siena College battleground state polls found Biden leading Trump by just 1 point among voters who want abortion to be mostly legal. HALEY ON THE RISE — As she makes a bid for second place in Iowa, NIKKI HALEY today released a list of 72 notable new endorsements in the state, the Des Moines Register’s Brianne Pfannenstiel reports. It includes two state reps, business leaders and well-known operatives like DAVID OMAN and DOUG GROSS. — Haley is also talking with JAMIE DIMON, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, per Axios’ Mike Allen. Their private conversations about the economy have led Dimon to admire Haley’s ideas and potential to unify America, one source says. ENDORSEMENT ROUNDUP — ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. scored the backing of three notable retired athletes today, Fox News’ Houston Keene scooped: Utah Jazz great JOHN STOCKTON, former Green Bay Packers offensive lineman KEN RUETTEGERS and mountain biker KYLE WARNER. AFTER THE CAMPAIGN — MIKE PENCE’s new book, “Go Home for Dinner,” comes out today, just weeks after he suspended his presidential bid, USA Today’s Maureen Groppe writes. MEDIAWATCH COULD BE SIGNIFICANT — Democrats are starting to worry about whether Univision is getting newly cozy with Trump, WaPo’s Michael Scherer and Josh Dawsey report, as some journalists at the Spanish-language network “think that the past week has demonstrated the heavy hand of their new corporate bosses.” FIRST AMENDMENT FILES — Former Fox News reporter CATHERINE HERRIDGE says she will not identify her sources for a story about Chinese American scientist YANPING CHEN. Chen, whom the government investigated but decided not to charge, has sued the government and is now asking a judge to hold Herridge in contempt if she won’t reveal where she got her info, AP’s Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer report. There are “potentially far-reaching press freedom implications” if the judge holds Herridge, now at CBS, in contempt.
| | | | A message from Meta:   | | | AMERICA AND THE WORLD TREND WATCH — The number of illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border dipped 14% last month, the Biden administration said today, citing in part U.S. efforts to reduce the number of Venezuelan migrants coming illegally, per the AP. Of course, the overall number (188,778) is still very high. BORDER SONG — “Border Wall Falls Leave Migrants With Devastating — and Costly — Injuries,” by NYT’s Miriam Jordan: “Hundreds of migrants have ended up needing extensive treatment in U.S. hospitals after trying to scale barriers along the southern border.” THE EXPECTATIONS GAME — U.S. officials are trying to lower hopes for substantive results from Biden’s summit with Chinese President XI JINPING, NYT’s Katie Rogers and David Sanger report. The achievements may extend only as far as the restart of military-to-military communications and an agreement on keeping AI out of the nuclear arsenal. More on an AI channel from Semafor SANCTIONS STRUGGLE — “Forbidden Russian oil flows into Pentagon supply chain,” by WaPo’s Evan Halper, Dalton Bennett and Jonathan O’Connell: “After multiple changes of ownership, the fuel is sold to a Greek refinery that serves the U.S. military.” HOSTAGE NEGOTIATIONS — 40-year-old American RYAN CORBETT has been held in Afghanistan since 2022 in what the U.S. deems a wrongful detention by the Taliban, WSJ’s Brett Forrest reveals. Now, as his family worries about his health, his case “has become a test of Washington’s resolve to bring back its citizens from the most hostile corners of the world, even if it means engaging with governments it doesn’t recognize.” MIDDLE EAST LATEST — The Treasury and State departments today announced new sanctions against Hamas officials, in coordination with the U.K., AP’s Fatima Hussein reports.
| | | | JOIN US ON 11/15 FOR A TALK ON OUR SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: As the sustainability movement heats up, so have calls for a national standard for clean fuel. Join POLITICO on Nov. 15 in Washington D.C. as we convene leading officials from the administration, key congressional committees, states and other stakeholders to explore the role of EVs, biofuels, hydrogen and other options in the clean fuel sector and how evolving consumer behaviors are influencing sustainable energy practices. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at a party last night celebrating Alexandra Hudson’s first book, “The Soul of Civility” ($29), at Jeanne Ruesch’s house in Chevy Chase, where Daniel Lippman interviewed Hudson: Ashley MacLeay, Kian Hudson, Tim Carney, Vanessa Santos, J.P. Freire, Carrie Sheffield, Jeanne Allen, Dan Hanlon, Karina Lipsman, Bobby Panzenbeck, Molly Drenkard, Ammon Simon, Sharon Rose, Patricia Patnode, Richard and Alyson Miniter, Jerome Copulsky, Philippa Stroud, Josephine Firehock and Jennifer Lim. MEDIA MOVE — Eva Lee will be director of newsroom operations at POLITICO. She previously was head of operations at BuzzFeed News. TRANSITIONS — Cara Morrow is now senior adviser to the USTR. She most recently was director of policy for the International Trade Administration at the Commerce Department. … Molly Drenkard is now VP of public affairs at the National Marine Manufacturers Association. She most recently was director of corporate comms at Anheuser-Busch, and is a Cathy McMorris Rodgers alum. ENGAGED — Harry Fones, comms director for the House Freedom Caucus and a Trump DHS alum, proposed to Nadgey Louis-Charles, deputy comms director for the House Judiciary Committee and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), on Saturday morning under the Arch at the University of Georgia. They first met through mutual friends at a party Harry hosted in D.C. Pic … Another pic 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, producer Andrew Howard and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
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