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Presented by PhRMA: Mar 12, 2019 View in browser
By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, Daniel Lippman, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun

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UPDATE ... JOE BIDEN spoke to a firefighters union today. He has still not announced a run for president. L.A Times says he "strongly hinted" he's in ... JMart, in the Times, says Biden "moved even closer to entering the presidential race"

WILD STORY -- BEN WERMUND: "Celebrities, wealthy parents charged by FBI in college admissions scheme": "The scheme involved bribing coaches and college administrators - with about $25 million in payments over seven years - and paying off college entrance exam administrators to allow students to cheat on their tests, according to charging documents.

"Among those charged are 'Desperate Housewives' star Huffman and Loughlin of 'Full House' fame. Loughlin's husband, clothing designer Mossimo Giannulli, was also charged. They and several others are accused of scheming to get their children into schools including Georgetown; Yale; Stanford; the University of Texas; the University of Southern California; the University of California, Los Angeles; and others. Coaches at Georgetown, USC, UCLA and other schools face racketeering charges." POLITICO

FLIGHT FRIGHT -- @realDonaldTrump at 10 a.m.: "Airplanes are becoming far too complex to fly. Pilots are no longer needed, but rather computer scientists from MIT. I see it all the time in many products. Always seeking to go one unnecessary step further, when often old and simpler is far better. Split second decisions are...."

... at 10:12 a.m.: "....needed, and the complexity creates danger. All of this for great cost yet very little gain. I don't know about you, but I don't want Albert Einstein to be my pilot. I want great flying professionals that are allowed to easily and quickly take control of a plane!"

-- BOB KING: "Trump's FAA increasingly isolated as other countries ban Boeing jet": "U.S. lawmakers of both parties called Tuesday for the FAA to join a growing list of governments in grounding Boeing's beleaguered 737 MAX 8 jetliner - a step that would threaten major disruptions of some domestic air traffic and one of the nation's top manufacturers.

"The pressure from members of Congress, a flight attendants union and dozens of countries and foreign-based airlines is leaving the FAA increasingly isolated, a day after the agency said it's awaiting more information about the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people Sunday, including eight Americans. Though the cause of the crash has not been determined, it bears similarities to an October air disaster in Indonesia in which 189 people died, raising questions about whether a Boeing stall-prevention system on the MAX 8 sent the plane into a fatal dive just after takeoff.

"Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said Tuesday that the FAA shouldn't wait for those answers before taking the MAX 8 out of service - echoing similar statements Monday from Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)." POLITICO

-- WAPO'S PHIL RUCKER (@PhilipRucker): "The purchases Trump celebrated in Hanoi two weeks ago included VietJet buying 100 Boeing 737 MAX jets."

Good Tuesday afternoon.

FDA UPDATE -- "Cancer institute director named acting FDA commissioner," by Sarah Owermohle: "National Cancer Institute Director Norman 'Ned' Sharpless will serve as acting commissioner after acting FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb departs in about a month, HHS Secretary Alex Azar announced at a congressional hearing today.

"The oncology doctor was appointed to head the institute, part of NIH, in June 2017 and quickly made modernizing research, diversifying clinical trials and improving outreach to underserved populations some of his signature issue areas." POLITICO

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.

ON THE WORLD STAGE -- BREXIT UPDATE: "Endgame: UK's May aims to avert looming Brexit deal defeat," by AP's Jill Lawless and Danica Kirka in London: "Prime Minister Theresa May's mission to secure Britain's orderly exit from the European Union appeared headed for defeat Tuesday, as lawmakers ignored her entreaties to support her divorce deal and end the political chaos and economic uncertainty that Brexit has unleashed.

"With EU leaders warning there would be no more changes or negotiations, and less than three weeks to go until the U.K. is due to leave, British lawmakers were facing a stark choice in a vote later: Support a deal many consider inadequate or run the risk that Brexit might happen chaotically, or not at all." AP

THE LATEST IN VENEZUELA -- AP'S ZEKE MILLER (@ZekeJMiller): "CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuelan attorney general says opposition leader Juan Guaido under investigation for alleged attack on power grid."

THE BUDGET AUTOPSY -- NYT'S KATIE ROGERS: "Trump Lauded Farmers, Medicare and AIDS Programs. Then He Unsheathed the Budget Knife": "The Trump administration's annual budget proposal on Monday envisioned a series of cuts that contrasted with the president's own words of support for both programs and people - including some groups that make up his political base. To help make way for more military and border spending, it would slash programs large and small, from Medicaid and Medicare - which President Trump as a candidate promised to protect - to safety nets for farmers.

"Democrats, who control the House, immediately announced the budget proposal dead on arrival, and many of its ideas stand little chance of passing Congress. But it lays down a marker that could help chart the political course ahead, albeit a course that sometimes seems at odds with Mr. Trump's own pronouncements." NYT

-- AP'S ZEKE MILLER and CATHERINE LUCEY: "Trump's budget proposal offers preview of upcoming campaign"

AT THE PENTAGON -- WAPO'S DAN LAMOTHE: "Pentagon faces internal questions about program to screen recruits with foreign ties, emails show": "A Pentagon program designed to screen potential recruits with foreign ties, including green-card holders and some U.S. citizens, has prompted questions from military officials about whether it will have detrimental effects on the services, according to emails and documents obtained by The Washington Post.

"Defense officials touted the program as a way to speed up vetting of recruits who have what the Pentagon considers 'foreign nexus' risks. The process could be completed 'in a matter of days or . . . in a few weeks, as compared to months and years' required under traditional background checks, according to one Defense Department memo. ... But the new plan also may come with complications, according to emails obtained by The Post. That would be a concern for a military that has long sought to attract immigrants to meet its recruiting goals in part by promoting the possibility of U.S. citizenship." WaPo

TRADE WARS -- AP'S CHRISTOPHER RUGABER: "WH official: US, China in 'final weeks' of trade talks"

2020 WATCH -- MAGGIE SEVERNS: "Hillary Clinton to headline DNC fundraiser": "Clinton will raise money for the [DNC] at an intimate dinner fundraiser in Washington, D.C. later this month, according to an invitation to the event obtained by POLITICO.

"The event, scheduled for March 27, is billed as 'dinner & conversation' with Clinton and DNC Chairman Tom Perez, as the DNC ramps up for the 2020 presidential race. Between 20 and 30 people are expected to attend, according to a person familiar with the event. The fundraiser is being hosted by Claire Lucas and Judy Dlugacz, a couple who fundraised for Clinton during her 2016 bid." POLITICO

-- THEO MEYER in POLITICO MAGAZINE: "Inside Biden and Warren's Years-Long Feud: He sided with the banks in Congress. She was a crusading law professor on the make. In 2020, are we about to get a rematch?" POLITICO Magazine

IMMIGRATION FILES -- WSJ'S NATALIE ANDREWS and LOUISE RADNOFSKY: "Democrats' Dreamers Legislation Appears Set to Reignite Debate": "According to a document viewed by The Wall Street Journal, the proposed legislation would grant the Dreamers a conditional permanent resident status for 10 years. They would have to meet requirements including continuous residence in the U.S. for the prior four years and not have a criminal conviction that carries a prison sentence of a year or more. ...

"The bill is expected to pass the House, where Democrats have made clear they see the passage of such legislation as not just popular, but a priority. But it is less clear whether it will gain Republican backing there, or whether it will be taken up in the GOP-controlled Senate. Republicans, including Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, said they would likely want to pair the bill with more border-security measures, which this bill doesn't have." WSJ

THE INVESTIGATIONS ... ABC'S KYRA PHILLIPS, CHRIS VLASTO, JOHN SANTUCCI and MATTHEW MOSK: "As Democrats arm for more investigations, Trump insider confides, 'We're not ready'": "Speaking on the ABC News podcast 'The Investigation,' [David] Bossie said that a growing realization is taking hold of Republican Washington that the conclusion of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign will only be the start of investigatory pressures on the White House. There will be need, he said, to address the inquiries as they migrate from the Department of Justice to Capitol Hill. Both the administration and the Republican team in Congress now clearly recognize they
need reinforcements, Bossie said." ABC

NBC'S SUZY KHIMM: "Sen. Kamala Harris unveils bill to require carbon monoxide detectors in public housing": "Harris (D-Calif.) unveiled a bill Tuesday requiring carbon monoxide detectors in federally subsidized public housing, after an NBC News investigation showed how a widespread lack of the devices posed a threat to millions of low-income families.

"At least 11 public housing residents have died of carbon monoxide poisoning since 2003, but the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development does not require CO detectors, the investigation found. ... Harris' proposed legislation would require all public housing to have at least one carbon monoxide detector on each floor of each unit, based on standards determined by HUD." NBC

CLIMATE FILES -- "Tiny Costa Rica Has a Green New Deal, Too. It Matters for the Whole Planet," by NYT's Somini Sengupta and Alexander Villegas in San José, Costa Rica: "[I]f its decarbonization strategy succeeds, it could provide a road map to others, especially developing countries, showing how democratically elected leaders can grow their economies without relying on polluting sources of energy. But if it doesn't work, in a country so small and politically stable, it would have equally profound consequences." NYT

HMM -- "Wanted in Russia, he partied at Mar-a-Lago - and invested in cheap South Florida homes," by Miami Herald's Nicholas Nehamas and Lily Dobrovolskaya

BEN SCHRECKINGER: "How a Fledgling Millennial Hit the Big Time by Hugging Trump: Christos Marafatsos was a small-time aspiring investor. Then he connected with the Trump campaign, and everything changed."

OUT AND ABOUT -- SPOTTED at a Capitol Counsel celebration for Lyndon Boozer at Charlie Palmer on Monday: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Tom O'Donnell, Patrick Steel, John Raffaelli, Shannon Finley, David Jones, Denise Morrisey and Karen Anderson.

-- SPOTTED: Michael Hayden at a Hayden Center event, "The Hill Has Eyes: Congressional Oversight of Intelligence" at the Ronald Reagan Building Amphitheater on Monday, his first public appearance since November following a stroke.

-- SPOTTED at a launch party of Kate Childs Graham's "Why I Run: 35 Progressive Candidates Changing Politics" on Monday at Beuchert's Saloon near Eastern Market: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) and Bob Bland.

-- SPOTTED: Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao on a Southwest flight from Austin, Texas to DCA this afternoon.

TRANSITIONS -- David Shulkin will be a special adviser for ArmadaHealth's Clinical Advisory Board. He previously was VA secretary. ... Pam Patenaude will be senior community liaison at IEM. She previously was deputy secretary at HUD. ... Chris Del Beccaro will be VP at Card & Associates. He previously was policy director and western region political director at the NRCC.

WEEKEND WEDDING -- Ryan Shay, legislative aide for Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), married Euojin Lee, information systems specialist at the Federal Reserve Board. The couple met on the app Coffee Meets Bagel in August 2017. Pic ... Another pic

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Beth Elliott Ellikidis, head of U.S. public affairs at Zoetis and a Tom Perriello alum, and Phil Ellikidis, salesforce administrator at Bloomberg BNA, welcomed Charlotte. Pic


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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Anna Palmer @apalmerdc

Jake Sherman @JakeSherman

Daniel Lippman @dlippman

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