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Presented by PhRMA: Mar 14, 2019 View in browser
By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, Daniel Lippman, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun

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SOMEONE GET LIGHTHIZER SOME BACKUP! ... PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP on Twitter this morning: "My Administration looks forward to negotiating a large scale Trade Deal with the United Kingdom. The potential is unlimited!"

-- SO, the U.S. -- led by ROBERT LIGHTHIZER -- is in the middle of trying to pass a rewrite of NAFTA, trying to negotiate a deal with China and looking to cut a deal with the United Kingdom.

SPOTTED: SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-N.Y.) having breakfast with STACEY ABRAMS at Bistro Bis this morning.

NEWS ... SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL is announcing several senior staff changes. SCOTT RAAB, who has been on McConnell's staff since 1999, most recently as policy director, will now be deputy chief of staff for policy. STEFANIE MUCHOW has been promoted to deputy chief of staff for operations. Muchow was been with McConnell since 2003.

DAVID POPP, McConnell's communications director, will lead the McConnell communications team now that Stew has left.

-- MCCONNELL bid farewell to Stew -- Don Stewart, his longtime comms director -- today on the Senate floor. McConnell cried during the speech. Watch

Good Thursday afternoon.

WHAT PELOSI SAID THIS MORNING AT HER PRESS CONFERENCE ... SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI (D-CALIF.) said BETO O'ROURKE is a "welcome addition" to the 2020 Democratic field, adding that his experience in the House -- given TRUMP'S election -- is enough to qualify him for the office.

-- IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ... SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D-OHIO) on Beto this morning on CNN: "I have no reaction. Just one more, one more, one more gets in the race."

PELOSI said she did not expect to discuss policy issues with TRUMP at the annual St. Patrick's Day lunch this afternoon.

ASKED about her comments to WaPo cautioning against impeachment, PELOSI said: "I made the comment that I made because I make it every week. ... It didn't seem to catch on until I added a gimmick. 'He's not worth it.' Boom."

TRUMP on Beto: "I think he's got a lot of hand movement. I've never seen so much hand movement. I said, 'Is he crazy? Or is that just the way he acts?'" Asked who is the bigger threat for 2020 between BETO or JOE BIDEN, he said: "Whoever it is, I'll take him or her on." Video of the full pool spray

A message from PhRMA:

There are wrong and right prescriptions for changing Medicare. Seniors need Washington to focus on the right ones. Cutting costs for everyone except seniors and limiting access to lifesaving medicines are the wrong prescription for Medicare. Making changes that help seniors pay less out-of-pocket are the right prescription for Medicare.

THE LATEST ON THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY ... THE PRESIDENT TWEETS at 6:44 a.m.: "A big National Emergency vote today by The United States Senate on Border Security & the Wall (which is already under major construction). I am prepared to veto, if necessary. The Southern Border is a National Security and Humanitarian Nightmare, but it can be easily fixed!"

... at 10:13 a.m.: "Prominent legal scholars agree that our actions to address the National Emergency at the Southern Border and to protect the American people are both CONSTITUTIONAL and EXPRESSLY authorized by Congress..."

... at 10:13 a.m.: "....If, at a later date, Congress wants to update the law, I will support those efforts, but today's issue is BORDER SECURITY and Crime!!! Don't vote with Pelosi!"

... at 10:46 a.m.: "A vote for today's resolution by Republican Senators is a vote for Nancy Pelosi, Crime, and the Open Border Democrats!"

-- LE SHOCK ... MARIANNE LEVINE: "Romney, Alexander to buck Trump on national emergency": "Romney and Alexander are the latest GOP senators to break with the president on his plans to unilaterally steer funds his border wall, joining Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina had written an op-ed denouncing Trump's national emergency declaration, though it was unclear this week how he would vote." POLITICO

-- WAPO'S ERICA WERNER, SEUNG MIN KIM and JOHN WAGNER: "Three senators crash Trump dinner with last-ditch plea as opposition mounts to emergency declaration": "Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he showed up at the White House Wednesday night with Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ben Sasse (Neb.), interrupting Trump as he dined with First Lady Melania Trump. They discussed how to satisfy GOP concerns on the emergency declaration but reached no agreement, and Trump renewed his veto threat Thursday morning.

"'I said thank you for meeting with us. Sorry we ruined your dinner. And again, if it'd been me, I would have kicked us out after about five minutes,' Graham said, adding he was still holding out hope just hours ahead of the vote." WaPo

BOEING UPDATE -- CONNOR O'BRIEN: "Shanahan hasn't spoken about 737 MAX 8, supports probe into his Boeing ties"

UP NEXT -- BRIAN FALER: "Mnuchin tells Democrats he 'can't speculate' on demand for Trump's tax returns": "'I will consult with the legal department within Treasury and I will follow the law,' Mnuchin said Thursday morning, in his first appearance before the House Ways and Means Committee since Democrats took power in January. ...

"'We will follow the law and we will protect the president as we would protect any individual taxpayer under their rights,' he said. Mnuchin's comments came as Democrats prepare to formally demand Trump's returns under an arcane law allowing the chairs of Congress's tax committees to examine anyone's confidential tax filings." POLITICO

THE INVESTIGATIONS ... JOSH GERSTEIN and DARREN SAMUELSOHN: "Top Mueller deputy stepping down from special counsel's office": "Deputy Special Counsel Andrew Weissmann, who oversaw Mueller's high-profile cases against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, is expected to leave the office soon and take a teaching post at New York University this fall, a source familiar with the move. The personnel move, first reported by NPR, is just the latest sign that the bulk of Mueller's work may be over." POLITICO

-- ANDREW DESIDERIO: "House overwhelmingly approves resolution urging release of Mueller report"

-- "House Republicans release transcript of former FBI official Peter Strzok," by WaPo's Karoun Demirjian, Matt Zapotosky and Devlin Barrett

-- AP: "'Apprentice' contestant's Trump defamation suit can proceed": "A New York appeals court has ruled that President Donald Trump isn't immune from a defamation lawsuit filed by a former 'Apprentice' contestant who accused him of unwanted kissing and groping.

"A state Supreme Court Appellate Division panel issued its ruling Thursday in a case brought by Summer Zervos. The decision lets Zervos' suit proceed and increases the prospect that Trump could have to sit for sworn questioning." AP

-- NBC'S ALEX MOE (@AlexNBCNews): "Chairman @RepJerryNadler says he believes about HALF of the 81 people/groups the House Judiciary Committee sent letters to requesting info for their Trump/obstruction of justice probe have replied so far. Deadline is Monday. A number, he says, want 'friendly subpeonas' issued."

-- CNN'S KARA SCANNELL (@KaraScannell): "SAVE THE DATE: Roger Stone's trial in DC is set for November 5, 2019."

REMEMBERING BIRCH BAYH -- DAVID COHEN: "Former Indiana Senator Birch Bayh dies at 91": "During his three terms in the Senate, the Indiana Democrat was one of the main architects of the 25th and 26th Amendments to the Constitution, as well as the ultimately unsuccessful Equal Rights Amendment. 'Senator Bayh has the distinct honor of being the only American since the Founders to draft multiple amendments to the Constitution,' the Fordham Law Review said in 2011.

"He was also co-author of Title IX, a 1972 education amendment that required colleges to end quotas for women in higher education; it ultimately served to give women equal opportunity to participate in sports, vastly altering the landscape of college, professional and Olympic athletics. He also once pulled Sen. Edward M. Kennedy to safety from a crashed plane." POLITICO

2020 WATCH -- DAVID SIDERS: "How Beto got to yes": "Privately, O'Rourke's advisers were struck by the tenor of the crowd at his [February El Paso] rally. The chants and placards were less about opposing Trump than encouraging to O'Rourke to run for president. And the candidate himself began to overcome concerns about the demands a campaign would place on his family. ...

"Then, in recent days, O'Rourke began plotting a trip to Iowa to coincide with his announcement. While O'Rourke began calling high-profile figures in the first-in-the-nation caucus state ahead of his visit today, he dispatched intermediaries to seek meetings with labor and Latino leaders, two sources familiar with O'Rourke's conversations told POLITICO." POLITICO

-- JAMES ARKIN and DANIEL STRAUSS: "Swing-state senators become 2020 kingmakers": "As Democrats prepared to dive into the 2020 presidential election, they have sought counsel from Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. But they've also looked to Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan for advice from the key states that tipped the 2016 election to President Donald Trump.

"The three Midwestern Democratic senators all won reelection in 2018, and they've begun advising 2020 Democrats about how to replicate their success in the heartland next year." POLITICO

-- CASH DASH ... WSJ'S JULIE BYKOWICZ: "Democratic Big Money Flows Into Four Key States": "Two of the Democrats' best-funded outside groups-both of which are backed in part by New York billionaire George Soros-are planning at least a $130 million campaign to attack President Trump and build support for Democrats in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida, where Mr. Trump narrowly prevailed over Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016. A third group, an $80 million voter-engagement effort, is at work in these and three other battleground states." WSJ

ON THE WORLD STAGE -- "U.K. lawmakers gear up for vote on Brexit delay request," by AP's Danica Kirka, Jill Lawless and Raf Casert

AT TREASURY -- WSJ'S RICHARD RUBIN and ALEXANDRA BURZON: "Steve Wynn Met With Treasury Officials About Opportunity Zones After Stock Sale": "Former casino executive Steve Wynn generated $2.1 billion and a big potential tax bill last March when he was forced to sell his stake in Wynn Resorts Ltd. after sexual-misconduct allegations. Less than three months later, he held a meeting with Treasury Department officials as they were writing regulations for a new tax incentive that had the potential to help him defer and reduce those taxes.

"Mr. Wynn met with senior Treasury officials on June 4 to discuss 'opportunity zones,' a break that was part of the 2017 Republican tax overhaul. ... Mr. Wynn's interaction with the Treasury Department doesn't appear to violate any laws or ethics rules, but it shows that he retained access to senior officials in government despite being largely locked out of the business and political worlds he had previously inhabited." WSJ

NYT'S ERIC LIPTON and JULIE TURKEWITZ: "Pentagon Pushes for Weaker Standards on Chemicals Contaminating Drinking Water": "The Pentagon's position pits it against the Environmental Protection Agency, which is seeking White House signoff for standards that would most likely require expensive cleanup programs at scores of military bases, as well as at NASA launch sites, airports and some manufacturing facilities. ...

"How the administration resolves the fight has potentially enormous consequences for how the United States is going to confront what a top official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has called "one of the most seminal public health challenges" of the coming decades." NYT

THE PLAYBOOK POOL IS BACK: March Madness starts next week, which means it's time for the third annual Playbook Pool bracket challenge. Track who's up and who's down throughout the tournament and compete against friends, top Playbookers, political insiders and VIPs to win great prizes. Fill in your bracket starting on Selection Sunday (March 17) after the teams are chosen. Click HERE to get in the game!

MEDIAWATCH -- Omri Nahmias is joining The Jerusalem Post as D.C. bureau chief. He most recently was Washington correspondent for Israel's Walla News.

TRANSITIONS -- Drew Maloney, president and CEO at the American Investment Council, has been appointed to the board of trustees at the Wilson Center. ... Jonathan Grella is launching JAG Public Affairs in April. He most recently was EVP of public affairs at the U.S. Travel Association. ... AshLee Strong has moved to Montana to start her own communications business. She previously was an adviser to former Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

BONUS BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Joshua Walker, global head of strategic initiatives and Japan at the Eurasia Group. What he's been reading: "I just finished my Alexandrian neighbor Ret. Gen. Stan McChrystal's recent book 'Leaders: Myth and Reality' ... I'm currently reading Suzy Hansen's 'Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World,' which is particularly appropriate as she talks about what it was like to live in Turkey these days, which is very different from my days as a Fulbright Scholar and local contractor at the U.S. Embassy Ankara." Playbook Plus Q&A

A message from PhRMA:


There are wrong and right prescriptions for changing Medicare. Seniors need Washington to focus on the right ones. Learn more

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