The Playbook Podcast

With four offhand words, “the pandemic is over,” President Joe Biden touched off a firestorm during his Sunday “60 Minutes” interview.The White House cleanup attempt was swift. Obviously the president wasn’t saying the American people shouldn’t take Covid seriously, it told reporters. Sure, he could have been more nuanced, but he was simply saying we’ve hit a different phase.And yet: A summary declaration that the pandemic is kaput carried implications that Biden did not appear to fathom as he walked the floor of the Detroit Auto Show with Scott Pelley. For one, more than 300 Americans are still dying from the disease each day as the nation’s public health establishment works to convince Americans to get the new bivalent booster shot ahead of a possible winter wave.The remarks also did nothing to convince Republicans to back an administration request for $22 billion in new Covid relief funding, a fight that will come to a head in the coming days. As Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told CNN’s Manu Raju on Monday: “If it’s over, then I wouldn’t suspect they need any more money.”Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Is 2022 a ‘waves’ election? Evidence that the election will likely be closer than originally thought continues to mount, as two new polls give a sense of the contours of the race.First, there's the NBC poll, which paints a decidedly mixed portrait. Seven weeks out, voters are evenly split at 46% in their preference for which party should control Congress next year. Biden’s approval rating has risen to its highest in 11 months, while DONALD TRUMP’s favorability has dropped. Sixty-one percent oppose the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, 63% said their income is falling behind the cost of living, and “threats to democracy” ranked as the issue most important to voters.Republican dreams that a huge swath of Latino voters will run to their side aren’t coming true — yet. That comes from our second poll, the latest from the NYT and Siena College, which shows Democrats maintaining a hold on the Latino electorate. Asked which party’s candidate they’d vote for if the election were held today, 56% of Latinos sided with the Democrats, compared to 32% for the Republicans.Kara Tabor is a producer for POLITICO Audio.Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe, many Democrats pushed for legislation codifying the right to same-sex marriage, lest it, too, be taken away by the high court. Over the past two months, those efforts gained momentum thanks to the efforts of a small bipartisan group that saw a path to winning support from the requisite 10 Senate Republicans, raising hopes that a bill would soon hit Biden’s desk. Those dreams are now on hold through (at least) the midterms, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), the bill’s chief sponsor, told reporters on Thursday. “Earlier in the day, the group of five senators leading talks on the bill recommended to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that a vote occur after the election after several Republicans called for a delay,” writes Burgess Everett. “Democrats had planned to hold a vote as soon as Monday.” There’s a real risk to this approach: If Republicans are able to flip the Senate, there could be little appetite to jump on board and support a Democratic priority during a lame-duck session. Senate reporter Marianne LeVine joins Playbook Daily Briefing to explain how we got here and where the bill might go next.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

“Biden: Tentative railway labor deal reached, averting strike,” AP: “President Joe Biden said Thursday a tentative railway labor agreement has been reached, averting a potentially devastating strike before the pivotal midterm elections. He said the tentative deal ‘will keep our critical rail system working and avoid disruption of our economy.’”And NYT’s Peter Baker and The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser, two old friends of Playbook (Susan was POLITICO’s editor from 2014-2016), will release "THE DIVIDER: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021," on Tuesday. But after The Guardian’s resourceful Martin Pengelly snagged a copy early, the book’s embargo was lifted last night, leading to a flurry of coverage.In the NYT, Baker himself writes up an incredible account from the book about the time Trump’s friend, the cosmetics billionaire Ronald Lauder, convinced him that the U.S. could buy Greenland.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, most Republicans stuck to a simple message: The decision merely sent the issue back to the states; it was not a prelude to any national ban on abortion.Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) tossed all that out the window Tuesday, dropping a bill that would implement a nationwide ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy while allowing states to pass more restrictive laws. The immediate effect was to put fellow Republicans, who had already been on their heels over Roe’s reversal, straight onto their butts.And senior legal affairs reporter Josh Gerstein and POLITICO founding editor John Harris discuss the life of Ken Starr, who passed away yesterday at the age of 76.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

 Back in July, a coalition of civil rights and reproductive rights groups pushed President Joe Biden for “continued leadership” in the wake of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, requesting a POTUS meeting. On Monday evening, they got their meeting — with VP Kamala Harris, who spent about 90 minutes with the groups’ leaders. Her message, attendees said, echoed the rising sentiment in Democratic circles that abortion rights stand to be a key motivating factor in the midterms — and she said the Biden administration would continue raising the salience of the issue. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

We’re keeping our eyes on three big things this week when senators return this afternoon:1. The brewing Manchin-Sanders faceoff.2. The status of the marriage bill.3. How will the White House handle the new Taiwan bill?And Playbook's Eugene Daniels chats with New York magazine reporter (and former POLITICO) Gabriel Debenedetti about his new book, “The Long Alliance,” that comes out Tuesday. In it, he explores the complex and — as he puts it — “misunderstood relationship” between President Joe Biden and Barack Obama. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

As expected, the Justice Department said on Thursday that it will likely move forward with an appeal of Judge Aileen Cannon's recent decision largely blocking DOJ’s use of materials seized at Mar-a-Lago and appointing a special master.But in the meantime, the government tried a new approach to convince Cannon to rethink her recent decision, at least when it comes to the key documents seized from Mar-a-Lago by the FBI.And Politico's health care reporter Alice Miranda Ollstein explains the Michigan Supreme Court ruling that an abortion amendment must appear on its November ballot.Listen to Playbook Deep Dive: Kara Swisher knows when to fold ‘emRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

It would have been unthinkable just a few months ago, let alone a decade ago, but senators of both parties are increasingly optimistic they can overcome a filibuster and pass a bill enshrining same-sex and interracial marriage into law as soon as this month.On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters a same-sex marriage vote “will happen on the Senate floor in the coming weeks.” But there are potential land mines.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Legal pundits have had another day to digest Monday’s confounding opinion from Judge Aileen Cannon.Recall that the 41-year-old Trump appointee (who was confirmed in the days after the 2020 election) granted the former president’s request to appoint a special master to review the documents taken from Mar-a-Lago, and enjoined the Department of Justice “from reviewing and using the seized materials for investigative purposes.” She ordered the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to continue its damage assessment review of the documents.  Lawyers are, by definition, a quarrelsome bunch, and members of the pundit bar are especially quick to second-guess any opinions that aren’t theirs. But they are also as ideologically divided as the rest of the country. So it’s notable that while Cannon has had little trouble finding political support for her decision, she has been largely alone when it comes to support for her legal arguments.And Senate Republicans tried to tamp down the burgeoning feud between Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and NRSC Chair Rick Scott (Fla.) over campaign strategy at a Tuesday meeting, Burgess Everett and Marianne LeVine report. “Republican senators said after the meeting that there was little talk inside McConnell’s leadership suite of a split between Scott and the GOP leader. Still, the divide hung over the Senate’s return like Washington’s steamy early September weather.”Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.