The Playbook Podcast

Days after Mitch McConnell's political flacks complained about our reporting detailing the GOP leader’s concerns about Herschel Walker running for Senate in Georgia, CNN has a story confirming the scoop and adding to it. McConnell, it turns out, is so worried about the former NFL star and Donald Trump favorite becoming the GOP nominee that he’s seeking other candidates.

And, it’s been nearly eight months, and the Biden administration does not have a single ambassador to a country confirmed.

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. 
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Chuck Schumer is about to double-dog dare Mitch McConnell and his members to vote against a debt ceiling increase this fall. Just weeks after the minority leader implored his counterpart to tack a debt ceiling increase on to their party’s massive reconciliation bill — lifting the $28 trillion borrowing cap without any GOP votes — Schumer instead is maneuvering to make Republicans squirm.

The tentative plan: Tack the debt-ceiling hike on to a short-term funding bill designed to avert a government shutdown at the end of September, a move that would require GOP support. The Democratic leader is, in short, betting the GOP will cave rather than risk the blame for destabilizing an already shaky economy. 

And during the 2020 primary season, we had countless conversations with Biden campaign officials who warned that it was crucial to separate the social media conversation about Democratic politics from the conversations happening offline in early states. 

It became a cliche to say that Biden’s unofficial campaign slogan was “Twitter isn’t real life.” While Biden and Bernie haven’t been very far apart on policy, old electoral divisions have repeatedly resurfaced in campaigns this year, and we’ve been having a familiar conversation with folks in Biden world recently.

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. 
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Mike Carey might have been on the ballot, but in the Buckeye State on Tuesday night Donald Trump was just as much the winner. The former president’s candidate prevailed in a 10-way primary to replace former Rep. Steve Stivers, showing that the “Trump influence waning” narrative last week was premature.

For the second time in recent weeks, progressives came up short. Our Ally Mutnick, reporting on the ground in Bedford Heights, Ohio: “The Democratic establishment dealt a crushing blow to the progressive movement Tuesday, with Shontel Brown, the preferred candidate of party stalwarts, triumphing over Nina Turner, a face of the insurgent left, in a special congressional primary election.”

And, New York Democrats are gearing up to impeach Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo — and soon — after he refused to step down in the wake of state A.G. Tish James’ Tuesday report that he sexually harassed 11 women. We break down what it will look like.

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. 
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

The two special election primaries for Congress in Ohio today offer windows into each party a little more than six months into President Joe Biden's tenure — and Donald Trump's post-presidency.

And, for a while now the hottest ticket in town has been an invitation to Sen. Joe Manchin's houseboat. He’s entertained top White House officials like Ron Klain, but mostly he’s used the boat to bring together bipartisan groups of senators.

But this week Manchin’s ongoing attempts to lubricate the gears of Congress with bonhomie aboard Almost Heaven, as the vessel is called, took a frightening turn when a vaccinated Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of his Saturday guests, tested positive for Covid-19.

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. 
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

All eyes are on the Senate again this week.

On Sunday night, a little past 9 p.m., the bipartisan infrastructure bill finally hit the Senate floor. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced the legislation with these momentous words: “I call up the Sinema-Portman substitute amendment!”

OK, maybe it doesn’t read as momentous on the page, but we watched it live, and after weeks of delay — and a comical weekend of Schumer repeatedly coming to the Senate floor and granting the bipartisan group more time — it seemed like a big deal.

And, with the lapsed moratorium on evictions now Washington’s latest political hot potato, House Democratic leadership sent out a joint statement Sunday night calling on the White House and CDC to extend the protections, and declaring that “action is needed and it must come from the Administration.”

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. 
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Sen. Krysten Sinema is not letting BIF or the reconciliation bill get in the way of her summer plans.

When Chuck Schumer announced earlier this month that he might keep the Senate in session into August — delaying a previously scheduled recess in order to shepherd the two gigantic bills through the chamber — Sinema told the majority leader that she was not sticking around to vote, multiple Senate sources tell Playbook.

She had prior vacation plans, she said, and wasn’t about to let the infrastructure or reconciliation bills get in the way.

She may be in luck, though: Rank-and-file hopes run high on the Hill that if the BIF-related votes pass without a hitch, Schumer could hold a vote-a-rama on the budget Thursday night, allowing senators to leave Washington by Aug. 6 with their summer plans intact. But maybe that’s too rosy (or rosé, if you’ll pardon the pun).

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. 
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wants to flip the chamber in 2022. But one potential obstacle keeps coming up time and again: multiple Donald Trump-inspired candidates who might sweep their GOP primaries but go on to lose in the general election.

Take Georgia: While Trump is all but begging NFL legend Herschel Walker to run against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, McConnell views Walker’s personal history as a vulnerability.

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. 
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio

In the special election runoff in Texas’s 6th District, Jake Ellzey defeated the Trump-endorsed candidate, Susan Wright. It's a pretty rough outcome for Trump in a district where his super PAC spent over $100,000 last weekend, according to the Dallas Morning News.

And, this was the week we stepped back in time when it comes to masks, and ditched carrots for sticks when it comes to vaccinations.

Expect this to get politicized quickly with announcements in the coming days from states, cities, companies and political entities either embracing or condemning vaccine requirements. 

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. 
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio

This is going to be an all-around tough day for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy — and to a large degree, it’s a self-inflicted predicament.

The House’s Jan. 6 committee makes its debut this morning.

And, for the first time across dozens of high-profile Trump-related oversight hearings, Republican leadership and allies will have no voice on the panel.

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. 
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Earlier this year, two of the most unlikely pairings in America started on a journey that we here at Playbook have been watching closely: Bennifer and BIF.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's first clandestine meetings were reported in the spring. Around that same time, some Republican senators began quietly meeting with their Democratic colleagues to discuss infrastructure. Both reunions were so improbable that they needed to be shrouded in secrecy lest they fall apart under the glare of public scrutiny.

In the end, Bennifer went public before BIF. The couple made it “Instagram official” Saturday, but we’re still waiting to see the full details of the bipartisan infrastructure framework.

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. 
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.