The Playbook Podcast

Today is launch day for the Space Launch System Rocket, which will push the Orion spacecraft on a trajectory to orbit the moon. It lifts off at 8:33 a.m. Eastern time from the ​​Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA TV’s stream of the enormous 30-story tall rocket is already live with a countdown clock.

This is a big day for VP Kamala Harris. There have occasionally been snickers about the fact that the vice president chairs the administration’s National Space Council. Today the potential upside of that assignment will take center stage.

If all goes well, in six days, the unmanned Orion capsule — which can accommodate four astronauts in future missions — will begin orbiting the moon from a distance of some 43,000 miles from the lunar surface.

Kara Tabor is an audio producer for POLITICO Audio.
Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

The deadline for the Justice Department to unseal a redacted version of the affidavit used to secure the FBI warrant for the Mar-a-Lago search is noon today (absent a last-minute appeal). 

Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein: Judge Bruce Reinhart “emphasized that prosecutors had shown ‘good cause’ to redact elements of the affidavit that would reveal ‘the identities of witnesses, law enforcement agents, and uncharged parties,’ ‘the investigation’s strategy, direction, scope, sources, and methods’ and ‘grand jury information.’

And Victoria Guida joins from Jackson Hole, Wyo.: “Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will face a room of economists and a world of observers as he aims to send a message that the central bank will not falter in its fight to bring down inflation. One bit of awkwardness that might make his task harder: Powell last year at the same conference predicted that price spikes were likely to be temporary. (They were not.)”

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Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

The Biden administration on Wednesday announced it was canceling up to $10,000 of student debt for millions of people and up to $20,000 of debt for low- and middle-income borrowers who previously received a Pell Grant.

But Biden’s long-awaited plan to cancel some student debt, one of the most contentious issues dividing Democrats, has reignited the intra-party policy wars.

Politico's education reporter Michael Stratford explains how deliberations went down and how it will play in the midterms. 

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Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

It’s time to adjust your expectations for November.

For weeks, pundits have homed in on the special election in New York’s 19th Congressional District as a national bellwether. The seat is a true toss-up — one of those rare districts won by Barack Obama in 2012, Donald Trump in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020 — and the national parties responded appropriately, sending in huge sums of money and organizational resources to win it. 

The race would offer a trial run of the parties’ general election messages. Democrat Pat Ryan's “ads hammered on the need to elect a representative who would fight for abortion rights in the wake of the Supreme Court’s June decision undoing Roe v. Wade,” writes Bill Mahoney, while Republican Marc Molinaro's campaign “centered on crime and inflation.”

Last night, Ryan defeated Molinaro.

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Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
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Some of the year’s most consequential (and highly anticipated) primary battles will be decided tonight in two of the largest states in the country: New York and Florida.

Sunshine State Democrats will settle on a nominee to take on Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis as his national star ascends. In one corner, there’s Charlie Crist, the current Democratic congressman and former Republican governor. In the other is state Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried.

Politico's Florida Playbook author Gary Fineout joins the show from Florida to tell you what you need to know. 

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Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

It’s been a long time (months? years?) since we’ve seen national Democrats in such a good mood about their electoral chances. Over the last few weeks — amid a spate of legislative movement, falling gas prices, stumbling Republican Senate candidates and the sense of a growing backlash to efforts to restrict abortion — the fight for control of Congress seems to have tightened. Gone are the days when pundits confidently predicted a red tsunami.

The latest NBC News poll — which still shows Republicans with a lead in the generic congressional ballot — had two data points that stuck out to us:

1. Democrats have almost eliminated the enthusiasm gap with Republicans. “According to the survey, 68% of Republicans express a high level of interest in the upcoming election … versus 66% for Democrats,” notes Mark Murray. “That 2-point GOP advantage is down from 17 points in March and 8 points in May.” 

2. Voters ranked “threats to democracy” as a more important issue than cost of living.

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Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
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Our colleagues have a pair of stories up this morning as election attention turns to the Empire State’s Tuesday primary.

— “Want to know if a red wave is happening? Watch this special election next week,” by Ally Mutnick and Sarah Ferris. The race to succeed Democrat Antonio Delgado in New York’s 19th district next week will offer one of two signals about the 2022 election: It will either (1) preview the pain headed the Democratic Party’s way in November, or (2) provide powerful evidence that a Republican wave election is not in the offing. Ally and Sarah report from Woodstock, N.Y., that “both parties are dumping money into this Hudson Valley district to notch a short-lived but symbolic victory in the last competitive race before the midterms.”

— “Maloney kicks NY-12 campaign into overdrive. But will it be enough?” by Sally Goldenberg and Georgia Rosenberg. Back in Manhattan, Rep. Carolyn Maloney is charging forward in a late push to keep up with fellow Rep. Jerry Nadler in the 12th district’s Democratic primary amid a surge in his support over recent weeks (he nabbed the endorsement of the NYT and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer).

Listen to Playbook Deep Dive: Ron Klain says ‘season of substance’ could save Dems

Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Twelve weeks before the midterm elections, Republicans’ hopes of retaking the Senate rest on a slate of Donald Trump's hand-picked nominees. And, across the board, they appear to be struggling.

In Pennsylvania, a ferocious Democratic campaign to paint Mehmet Oz as an out-of-touch carpetbagger has left him trailing in multiple polls. Herschel Walker may be a Georgia Bulldogs legend, but key voters appear to be doubting him after a series of gaffes and abuse allegations. The backing of Silicon Valley titan Peter Thiel hasn't yet been enough to sell Blake Masters' sharp-edged conservatism to Arizona voters. 

Yes, it's still early. Yes, Democrats have been on a bit of a winning streak lately. And, yes, plenty is going to change before Nov. 8. But with only one competitive state (New Hampshire) yet to select its Senate nominee, the picture is clear: Democrats across the country are finding ways to run ahead — sometimes well ahead — of Joe Biden's approval ratings.

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Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Rep. Liz Cheney is wasting no time beginning the next phase of her bid to prevent Donald Trump's return to office. 

“In coming weeks, Liz will be launching an organization to educate the American people about the ongoing threat to our Republic, and to mobilize a unified effort to oppose any Donald Trump campaign for president,” Cheney spokesperson Jeremy Adler tells Playbook exclusively.

The new group, which will serve as Cheney’s primary political vehicle as she considers whether to run for president in 2024, does not have an official name yet. An informed guess: The Great Task, which was the name of Cheney’s final ad of the campaign. The phrase is from the last sentence of the Gettysburg Address, and Cheney also referenced it in her concession speech from Jackson, Wyo., last night. 

Cheney will be on NBC’s “Today Show” at 7 a.m.

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Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

When it comes to dealing with Donald Trump, plenty of Republicans have chosen sycophancy — backing him no matter what. Others pick their spots, delivering an occasional critique alongside heapings of praise. Others just keep their heads down and hope for the best. And then there’s Liz Cheney.

A three-term congresswoman from the least populous state in the union, Cheney walked into Congress the same month that Trump walked into the Oval Office. During his presidency, she voted with Trump more than 90% of the time.

Now she’s the Republican face of the anti-Trump movement, a position she has cemented as the vice chair of the Jan. 6 select committee, and it will likely cost Cheney her political career — at least for now. 

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Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.