The Playbook Podcast

The idea started out promising, at least from the GOP’s perspective. Over the summer, Mitch McConnell surprised much of Washington when he drew a bright line on the debt ceiling, demanding Democrats use reconciliation to raise the borrowing cap on their own. The idea was to force President Joe Biden's party to vote to increase the $29 trillion debt by a specific number — then hammer them for out-of-control spending on the camping trail. Republicans cheered.But while McConnell struck a deal with Chuck Schumer on Tuesday that will ultimately achieve the same result, his method of getting there has left many of his own rank-and-file members unhappy. Instead of gumming up the works by forcing Democrats to use reconciliation, he agreed to a convoluted strategy that enables Democrats to bypass the filibuster.It goes like this: At least 10 Republicans will have to join Democrats as early as Thursday in approving new legislation allowing Schumer’s party to temporarily raise the debt ceiling by a simple majority vote. Maybe they’ll get more GOP backing; but maybe not.Subscribe to POLITICO Playbook.Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.

There’s still a lot we don’t know about the Omicron variant: It could be like Delta and current vaccines will offer robust protection. But there’s also a chance that Omicron could be vaccine resistant, so vaccine makers are readying a booster to protect against the new variant, just in case.That could be the future: a new variant, followed by a new vaccine booster to defend against it, followed by a new variant… Rinse. Repeat. It’s what we do to fight the annual flu. But it all takes time, and a new coronavirus variant can spread rapidly and kill a lot of people during the process.And, ahead of President Joe Biden’s highly anticipated video conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, sources tell NYT’s David Sanger and Eric Schmitt that the president is “expected to encourage diplomatic de-escalation over the conflict in Ukraine,” and warn Putin that “if he orders the Russian forces poised at the border to invade Ukraine, Western allies may move to cut Russia off from the international financial system and seek direct sanctions on Mr. Putin’s closest associates.” How BIden handles this meeting could mean the difference between a free and independent Ukraine and one overrun by Russian troops. No pressure. Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Congress’ holiday season theme of governing by crisis continues this week, as lawmakers return to Washington to address what could be the trickiest issue of the month: the debt ceiling.House Democratic leaders have discussed adding a provision addressing the debt ceiling to the final National Defense Authorization Act and voting on it as soon as this week, according to a senior Democratic aide. That’s assuming, of course, that compromise NDAA language is ironed out between the two chambers. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has privately signaled to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that he could go along with this idea, which would end their months-long stalemate. But, there are serious questions about whether this defense-debt ceiling sandwich could pass the House. And much of that is because of one man who might typically be aligned with McConnell, but on this issue appears opposed: Kevin McCarthy.Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Congress avoided a government shutdown after Senate conservatives dropped their demands to nix President Joe Biden's vaccine mandates in the funding bill — and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer gave them a way out. Conservatives will argue they got something out of this drama: a vote on their issue. In reality, it was a face-saving measure. The far-right started out demanding that Congress effectively scuttle the mandates, then reduced their ask to a mere vote they knew would fail, ensuring smooth passage of a continuing resolution a full 30 hours before the shutdown deadline. Listen and subscribe to Playbook Deep DiveRaghu 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.

Symone Sanders, a senior adviser and chief spokesperson for VP Kamala Harris, “is expected to leave the White House at the end of the year,” Eugene Daniels, Chris Cadelago and Daniel Lippman reported Wednesday night. “It was not immediately clear where Sanders is heading next or when she will be leaving the vice president’s office. Sanders, a 31-year-old African-American strategist and one of the admin’s most recognizable advisers, leaves amid a flurry of stories about internal frictions and disorder in the VP’s office. Sanders was often the aide who pushed back on those storylines, defending the VP and advocating for her both publicly and in one-on-one dealings with reporters.Subscribe to POLITICO Playbook.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.

Most people on Capitol Hill are kissing Christmas — or at least most of December — goodbye this year. “We could be in every weekend between now and Christmas, so … sorry,” Sen. Debbie Stabenow told reporters Monday night. Sen. Patrick Leahy is so worried about being here on Christmas that he and his wife bought a holiday tree for their home in D.C.Here are some reasons for the growing pessimism.Subscribe to POLITICO Playbook.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 drama surrounding Rep. Lauren Boebert's Islamophobic comments about Rep. Ilhan Omar is about to heat up as lawmakers return from Thanksgiving recess this week. Sources tell us a faction of Democrats is expected to push leadership to strip Boebert of her committee assignments or censure her after she joked about Omar, who is Muslim, being safe to ride with in an elevator because she wasn’t wearing a backpack.Subscribe to POLITICO Playbook.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.

Because we’re POLITICO, Marc Caputo has a story up this morning on Donald Trump's potential 2024 map. Granted, it’s not terribly surprising, centering on the five states that Joe Biden flipped in 2020. But the level of engagement within Trumpworld this far out — that we didn’t necessarily expect. “Trump’s shadow campaign … recently polled Trump-Biden matchups in the five states, all of which were decided in 2020 by fewer than 3 percentage points. According to the poll …  the former president led Biden in Arizona by 8 percentage points, Georgia by 3 points, Michigan by 12 points, Pennsylvania by 6 points and Wisconsin by 10 points.And, With Sean Parnell dropping his campaign for Senate in Pennsylvania, some of his former supporters who are close to Donald Trump Jr. are now pushing hedge fund millionaire David McCormick to run.Subscribe to POLITICO Playbook.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.

If a “New York minute” is a few passing seconds, then the opposite is a “McCarthy minute” — something that drags on and on for hours.On Thursday night, at 8:38 p.m., House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy took to the House floor with a speech designed to delay Democrats’ passage of the Build Back Better package. This morning, at 5:10 a.m., some 8 hours and 32 minutes later, he finally stopped talking. Subscribe to POLITICO Playbook Deep Dive.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.

If you want to know more about the state of the House GOP conference, today should provide a pretty telling snapshot. Ten months after rioters stormed the Capitol hunting for lawmakers, most House Republicans are expected to vote against rebuking one of their colleagues, Paul Gosar, who posted an anime video of himself stabbing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.And, voters have increasing doubts about the health and mental fitness of President Joe Biden, the oldest man ever sworn into the White House, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll.”Subscribe to POLITICO Playbook.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.