The Playbook Podcast

On Monday, just hours after a federal judge struck down the nationwide public transportation mask mandate, major airlines (and even President Joe Biden’s beloved Amtrak) began telling their passengers they could stop wearing the protective face coverings — sometimes while they had already boarded and taken their assigned seats.The surprise ruling seems to have caught the White House flat-footed on the question of whether or not to appeal the ruling.Officially: White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters the administration was “reviewing the decision, and, of course, the Department of Justice would be making any determinations about any litigation.”Unofficially: The White House is still figuring out what to do next, weighing two very big factors: credibility and politics.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Democratic strategists have split in two over how to discuss inflation. One camp tends to blame the media for focusing too much on the issue at the expense of positive economic news such as low unemployment. This group tends to promote statistics buried beneath the headlines that suggest inflation isn’t that bad. But privately, more and more Democrats see inflation in far more dire terms — and not just for their prospects in elections this year. One top progressive sounded the alarm over the weekend on a widely read off-the-record email list. The author gave us permission to quote from their missive — “Danger: Inflation Is a Third Rail” — which was ricocheting around lefty circles Sunday night.

With Ohio’s May 3 Senate GOP primary barely two weeks away and no clear frontrunner, J.D. Vance's rivals are mounting an all-out effort to head off a potential endorsement from former President Donald Trump, per our colleagues Natalie Allison, Meridith McGraw, Alex Isenstadt and Daniel Lippman. Trump seems intent on picking a horse in all the big GOP primaries. But several candidates are bunched together in polling in Ohio, making this one a real roll of the dice.Listen to Playbook Deep Dive: Biden’s pollster on the recipe for how to ‘not get our a---- kicked’ in the midtermsRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

In the coming weeks and months, we’ll be out covering the key districts and states that will decide the outcome of the midterm elections. Nevada has one of 2022’s most under-covered Senate races. The incumbent, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, keeps a low profile in Washington and back home, but she’s raised a record amount of money and is spending big on TV ads. Nevada has a famously transient population, so she’s started with a biographical spot to introduce herself to the hundreds of thousands of potential new voters who weren’t around when she was first elected in 2016. Her other messaging is straight from the Dems’ generic 2020 strategy for vulnerable senators: reminding voters of all that Covid relief money that kept businesses afloat.The political environment for Cortez Masto is brutal. Consider the latest poll, released this week from Suffolk University and the Reno Gazette Journal: Biden’s approval rating in the state was 35%. Cortez Masto would lose to either GOP nominee: 43-40 against the well-known Adam Laxalt, and 40-39 against the relatively unknown Sam Brown. 72% of Nevada voters said the economy was just fair or poor. Inflation is the top issue for voters — 40% of whom said they are worse off compared to four years ago. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Here’s something Democrats agree on: High gas prices — and the inflation rate they’re driving up — are a huge political liability.Here’s something Democrats don’t agree on: what to do about it.On Tuesday, as the new 8.5% annualized inflation rate was announced, President Joe Biden was in Iowa, addressing concerns about energy costs and touting his decision to remove restrictions on the sale of E15, an ethanol-gas mix the administration hopes can ease the proverbial pain at the pump.“I’m not going to wait to take action to help American families,” Biden said. “I’m doing everything within my power by executive orders to bring down the price and address the Putin price hike.”Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

This morning at 8:30 a.m., the Labor Department will release its newest consumer price index report, and the White House is bracing itself for the political impact of inflation numbers that are widely expected to be the highest yet faced during the Biden administration. What to expect: Economists polled by Reuters anticipate that the report will show that, year-over-year, “consumer prices rose 8.4% in March, up from 7.9% in February.” That would be the highest rate since December 1981, notes CNBC. Why it’s likely to be that bad: This is the first CPI report since the large jump in oil and gas prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Worth noting: “Economists consider two versions of the CPI data: The headline number that includes all prices consumers face, and a so-called core CPI that excludes often volatile food and energy price fluctuations,” writes CNBC’s Thomas Franck. “The White House says it anticipates a wider-than-normal disparity between the headline and core readings because of an abnormal increase in gas prices that occurred last month.” Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Rep. Liz Cheney has set another personal fundraising record.The Wyoming Republican is fighting off a serious challenge from Harriet Hageman, a Cheyenne attorney, and the Aug. 16 primary has turned into the most important and closely watched contest between the MAGA and traditional wings of the GOP.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

In a history-making vote Thursday afternoon, the Senate confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, where she will be the first Black woman in history to serve as a justice. Immediately after VP Kamala Harris called the 53-47 vote, Senate Democrats (and, notably, Utah Republican Mitt Romney) gave a standing ovation while most Senate Republicans sulked from the chamber floor.Listen to Playbook Deep Dive: Khanna’s BBB advice to Biden: ‘Just get Sanders and Manchin in the room and hammer this out’Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

There’s no denying it: Covid is rocking Washington right now. Days after Saturday’s annual Gridiron Club dinner, multiple attendees of the boujee 600-seat confab have come down with it — including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Joaquin Castro (D-Texas).Throughout the district on Wednesday, the possible superspreader event was seemingly all anyone could talk about, as NYT’s Katie Rogers writes. Reporters and pols alike found themselves trading text messages about who sat by whom and whether so-and-so who was feeling ill got a positive test result. The entire situation, she notes, is a reminder “that, even as officials seek to pivot away from strict restrictions and encourage Americans to learn to live with the coronavirus, the pandemic is not over.”Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Sen. Mitt Romney is having a bipartisan moment.The Utah senator kept everyone in suspense until Monday on how he would vote on Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation. He voted against confirming her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit last year, but flipped and will now vote to confirm her to the Supreme Court.Six weeks ago, House Democrats blew up a bipartisan deal on Covid funding when they stripped $15 billion in pandemic relief money from a bill to fund the government. Biden and Democrats scrambled to find a way to pass a stand-alone bill and they needed a GOP partner. Romney stepped in and spent the last month and a half negotiating with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the White House. They announced a $10 billion deal on Monday. On Tuesday, it fell apart.