POLITICO Playbook: Scoop: Cindy McCain set to land Biden ambassadorship

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DRIVING THE DAY

President JOE BIDEN is preparing to name Republican CINDY MCCAIN to a coveted ambassador post in Western Europe in what would be his administration’s first Republican appointee to a Senate-confirmed position.

McCain is undergoing vetting to be nominated for U.S. ambassador to the U.N. World Food Programme, a mission based in Rome, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter. This comes after the administration declined to install at least one member from the opposing party in a Cabinet position — a practice of three consecutive presidents (BILL CLINTON, GEORGE W. BUSH and BARACK OBAMA) before DONALD TRUMP broke the streak.

Cindy McCain, the wife of the late Sen. JOHN MCCAIN, gave Biden a critical boost in Arizona with her endorsement of the Democrat over Trump. Biden was the first Democratic presidential nominee to carry the state since Clinton in 1996.

McCain, 66, is undergoing a background check for the post. The Biden administration is expected to announce most of its ambassadors at the same time, rather than individually.

As chair of the McCain Institute board of trustees, McCain has worked on curbing world hunger and human trafficking. During the 2008 campaign, she traveled to Georgia with the U.N.’s World Food Programme to visit wounded soldiers after a Russian invasion and also monitored the program’s work in Southeast Asia and Africa.

SENATE BARRELS TOWARD POSSIBLE FIRST LEGISLATIVE FILIBUSTER OF 2021 — There’s been a lot of talk in recent months about whether Democrats should kill the filibuster — even though Republicans haven’t blocked a single major piece of legislation this year.

That could change this week.

Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER will move in the coming days to hold a vote on Sen. MAZIE HIRONO’S (D-Hawaii) hate crimes bill, aimed at stopping the uptick in violence against Asian Americans. Republicans typically oppose these sorts of measures, which they say give the federal government broad, unspecified authority to police speech. So, many Hill watchers expect we could see that bill fail to muster the supermajority needed for passage.

Technically, Republicans haven’t whipped against the bill yet. And it’s unclear whether the politics of hate crime legislation have shifted. But the legislation, if blocked, will only increase the chatter surrounding going nuclear.

Good Monday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook, your unofficial guide to official Washington. Congress is back and somehow it’s already mid-April? Where has the year gone? Got a news tip? A document to share? Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri.

HAPPENING TODAY: BIDEN HUDDLES WITH BIPARTISAN GROUP ON INFRASTRUCTURE — Biden and VP KAMALA HARRIS will meet at 1:45 p.m. with a group of Republicans and Democrats to gauge how much bipartisan support he can muster for his $2 trillion infrastructure-jobs package. Sources tell us several moderate Republicans who could deal are still peeved about Biden’s remark last week suggesting they decided not to compromise on pandemic relief. One source called it a flat-out “mischaracterization” to say Republicans didn’t make an effort — particularly because GOP moderates made a counteroffer to Biden’s initial proposal, only to see him wave it off.

The group of Republicans visiting the White House today isn’t exactly known for bipartisanship. The White House has invited ranking members on relevant committees, rather than the GOP members with a history of brokering deals with Democrats. Today’s GOP batch includes: Sen. ROGER WICKER (Miss.), Sen. DEB FISCHER (Neb.), Rep. GARRET GRAVES (La.) and Rep. DON YOUNG (Alaska), who once notoriously put a knife to JOHN BOEHNER’S throat during a disagreement.

Democrats who will join them include Sens. MARIA CANTWELL (Wash.) and ALEX PADILLA (Calif.) and Reps. DONALD PAYNE JR. (N.J.) and DAVID PRICE (N.C.).

SPEAKING OF …

BRING OUT THE PORK — The NYT’s Emily Cochrane, Pranshu Verma and Luke Broadwater point out in a story up today that Biden has one form of bait to tempt Republicans to get on board: pork for their districts. In fact, some members eager to get their pet projects in the package are already hounding White House officials behind the scenes — though they appear to be mostly Democrats so far.

“Senior lawmakers have started collecting lists of requests from their colleagues for what should be included in the bill, while top White House officials are fielding a torrent of calls from rank-and-file lawmakers, all of whom have their own ideas. ‘My phone is blowing up,’ Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, said in an interview. Nearly every lawmaker ‘can point to a road or a bridge or an airport’ in his or her district that is in dire need of repair,’” the trio writes.

“Representative Mikie Sherrill, Democrat of New Jersey, wants to tackle the Gateway rail tunnel under the Hudson River. Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the minority leader, has suggested that surely the ‘functionally obsolete’ Brent Spence Bridge in his state should receive funding. …

“Representative Peter A. DeFazio of Oregon, the chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the committee’s top Republican, Representative Sam Graves of Missouri, are also asking lawmakers to identify priorities in their districts.”

BUT, BUT, BUT …

INTERNAL SENATE GOP MEMO PANS BIDEN PLAN AS A ‘SLUSH FUND’: Ahead of this meeting, the Senate Republican Conference is sending around a memo to all GOP comms staff, jabbing at the White House for calling its infrastructure bill a “jobs plan.” What they’re calling it instead? “A partisan plan to kill jobs and create slush funds on the taxpayer dime.” The memo includes dozens of headlines about tax increases and the price tag.

From the memo: “Biden’s Partisan, Job-Crushing Slush Fund spends just 5% of the total $2.7 trillion on roads and bridges. The rest is: a wish list of non-infrastructure spending on failed Obama policies; a dog’s breakfast of slush funds for Democrats’ pet projects without any accountability or transparency; expensive green energy mandates on Americans; a ban on the right to work; and a flurry of tax hikes that will to drive companies out of the U.S. and give China and Russia a say in the United States’ tax laws. As a result, the plan will eliminate at least 1 million jobs.”

Meanwhile, WaPo’s Ashley Parker interviewed ANITA DUNN about the White House trying to redefine “bipartisanship.” Here’s what the senior Biden adviser told Parker: “If you looked up ‘bipartisan’ in the dictionary, I think it would say support from Republicans and Democrats … It doesn’t say the Republicans have to be in Congress.”

So much for that bipartisanship! Here’s the memo. And the WaPo story.

BIDEN’S MONDAY — The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 10 a.m. Biden will briefly join the virtual CEO Summit on Semiconductor and Supply Chain Resilience at noon, with national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN, NEC Director BRIAN DEESE and Commerce Secretary GINA RAIMONDO also attending. At 1:45 p.m., Biden and Harris will meet with the members of Congress to discuss the American Jobs Plan.

— The White House Covid-19 response team and public health officials will brief at 11 a.m. Press secretary JEN PSAKI will brief at 12:15 p.m.

THE SENATE returns at 3 p.m. and will vote at 5:30 p.m. on POLLY TROTTENBERG to be deputy secretary of Transportation. THE HOUSE is back Tuesday.

PLAYBOOK READS

CONGRESS

WHERE MITCH AND JOE ARE ALLIES — There aren’t many policy areas where Biden and MITCH MCCONNELL agree. But this morning, our Andrew Desiderio has a deep dive on one where the president and Senate minority leader are not only in sync but working together behind the scenes right now: restoring democracy in Myanmar.

McConnell is known for many things. To Democrats, he’s the “Grim Reaper.” To Republicans, he’s a champion of conservative judges and fighting campaign finance reform. Few think of him as a freedom fighter for a place run by military juntas more than 8,000 miles away. Yet McConnell has a longtime close relationship with AUNG SAN SUU KYI, the legitimately elected leader of Myanmar. He has championed democracy in the region since the early 1990s, even secretly sharing notes with the once-activist while she was under house arrest for years.

Since February, when the nation also known as Burma slipped back into military rule, Andrew writes that Biden and Sullivan have been consulting with McConnell on what to do. Sullivan is quoted praising McConnell, and the Republican leader compliments Biden in return. “On the domestic front, I have not yet witnessed something that I’ve been happy about,” McConnell (R-Ky.) said in an interview. “But in this area, I think their instincts are good. I think they’re trying to do the right thing.” An interesting read.

MORE GOP FUNDRAISING RECORDS — House Minority Whip STEVE SCALISE (R-La.) today will announce that he’s raised $7.1 million, more than anyone in his job in the first quarter of a non-election year — despite the corporate PAC ban. In a release that will go out this morning, Scalise will say that $4.4 million of that fundraising haul is going into the NRCC’s coffers to flip Democratic seats or defend GOP incumbents.

— “Hawley hauls in $3M after attempt to block election results,” by Alex Isenstadt: “Hawley received more than 57,000 donations during the first quarter, according to a person familiar with the totals. He managed to raise nearly $600,000 during the two-and-a-half weeks following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, despite temporarily halting his fundraising outreach.

“It represents a massive increase for Hawley. By comparison, he raised just $43,000 during the first quarter of the last election cycle, immediately after taking office. The senator is not up for reelection until 2024, and his totals are unusual for a senator who is not in-cycle.”

THE AFTERMATH OF JAN. 6 — “Congressman opens up about post-traumatic stress after Jan. 6 insurrection,” NBC: “NBC News’ Hallie Jackson sat down with Rep. Dan Kildee, who took that familiar photo of officers with their guns drawn in the House chamber, for an exclusive interview where he opens up about his mental health struggles since the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.”

POLITICS ROUNDUP

WHAT MCCONNELL IS READING — “More than 100 corporate executives hold call to discuss halting donations and investments to fight controversial voting bills,” WaPo: “Executives from major airlines, retailers and manufacturers — plus at least one NFL owner — talked about potential ways to show they opposed the legislation, including by halting donations to politicians who support the bills and even delaying investments in states that pass the restrictive measures, according to four people who were on the call, including one of the organizers, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a Yale management professor.

“While no final steps were agreed upon, the meeting represents an aggressive dialing up of corporate America’s stand against controversial voting measures nationwide, a sign that their opposition to the laws didn’t end with the fight against the Georgia legislation passed in March.”

THE WHITE HOUSE

INSIDE BIDEN’S SHIELD-THE-BOSS PRESS STRATEGY — Biden has settled on a press strategy, per EUGENE, who sums it up like the ex-football player that he is: Protect the quarterback and let his media-proficient Cabinet take the hits. “The president is not doing cable news interviews. Tweets from his account are limited and, when they come, unimaginably conventional. The public comments are largely scripted. Biden has opted for fewer sit down interviews with mainstream outlets and reporters. He’s had just one major press conference—though another is coming—and prefers remarks straight to camera for the marquee moments. The White House is leaning more heavily on Cabinet officials to reach the audiences that didn’t tune into his latest Rose Garden event.

“It’s the Hippocratic Oath for engagement with the fourth estate. And if it means criticism from the press and opponents about Biden’s availability, so be it.” Full story here.

— Also new from POLITICO: “Biden White House puts its police oversight commission on ice,” by Laura Barrón-López: “The White House is putting the creation of a national police oversight commission on hold, nixing a campaign pledge made by President Joe Biden to establish one within his first 100 days … The decision to shelve the commission underscores the ways in which campaign promises can clash with the realities of governing and potentially trip up a president’s agenda.

“Biden first promised to set up an oversight commission last June, roughly one week after Floyd’s killing. As numerous cities staged mass protests against the killing of Black people, Biden called for reforms to policing, including a national database of police misconduct and a ban on the use of chokeholds. But he refrained from endorsing the biggest policy demands from the Black Lives Matter movement on issues like police liability, and declined to embrace their call to ‘defund the police’ and reallocate funding to social programs and community priorities.”

PAGING ILHAN OMAR — “Biden set to accept fewest refugees of any modern president, including Trump, report says,” by WaPo’s Amy Wang: “Since his days on the campaign trail, President Biden has tried to cast himself as diametrically opposed to former president Donald Trump when it comes to welcoming refugees into the United States.

“Within two weeks of taking office, Biden signed an executive order to rebuild and enhance federal programs to resettle refugees … Biden also revoked some restrictive immigration policies Trump had put in place, including ones that sought to ban refugees from certain countries. In February, Biden announced he was raising the annual cap on refugee admissions to 125,000 for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, up from Trump’s historically low limit of 15,000.

“However, Biden has yet to do one thing that would make all of those changes official: sign what is known as a presidential determination. Without that action, Trump’s old policies and his 15,000-person cap on refugee settlements remain in effect.”

— We interviewed Omar, the Minnesota progressive Democrat and former refugee herself, about this a few weeks ago. And we know she brought up her concerns about the lack of momentum on this issue during a meeting with Biden chief of staff RON KLAIN at the White House recently. So far the plea appears to be falling on deaf ears.

BEYOND THE BELTWAY

WHAT WARREN AND SANDERS ARE HATE-READING — “CEO Pay Surged in a Year of Upheaval and Leadership Challenges,” WSJ: “Median pay for the chief executives of more than 300 of the biggest U.S. public companies reached $13.7 million last year, up from $12.8 million for the same companies a year earlier and on track for a record, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.

“Pay kept climbing in 2020 as some companies moved performance targets or modified pay structures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and accompanying economic pain. Salary cuts CEOs took at the depths of the crisis had little effect. The stock market’s rebound boosted what top executives took home because much of their compensation comes in the form of equity.”

MONDAY LISTEN — Navajo Nation President JONATHAN NEZ is on the latest episode of “Dispatch.” Nez criticizes the Trump administration for how hard Navajo was hit by the coronavirus, specifically pointing to a “lack of resources,” and calling the difference of support from Trump to Biden “night and day.” He also takes aim at surrounding states for not enforcing mask mandates, saying that it has contributed to a rise of cases in Navajo Nation. “Other jurisdictions around us do not take this pandemic seriously,” Nez says. Listen and subscribe

MEDIAWATCH

BEN SMITH’S NYT COLUMN: “Why We’re Freaking Out About Substack”: “Substack has captivated an anxious industry because it embodies larger forces and contradictions. For one, the new media economy promises both to make some writers rich and to turn others into the content-creation equivalent of Uber drivers, even as journalists turn increasingly to labor unions to level out pay scales. … This new ability of individuals to make a living directly from their audiences isn’t just transforming journalism.

“It’s also been the case for adult performers on OnlyFans, musicians on Patreon, B-list celebrities on Cameo. In Hollywood, too, power has migrated toward talent, whether it’s marquee showrunners or actors. This power shift is a major headache for big institutions, from The New York Times to record labels. And Silicon Valley investors, eager to disrupt and angry at their portrayal in big media, have been gleefully backing it. Substack embodies this cultural shift, but it’s riding the wave, not creating it.”

RACIAL RECKONING — “When a cardiologist flagged the lack of diversity at premier medical journals, the silence was telling,” Stat: “When cardiologist Ray Givens read the article in the Journal of the American Heart Association, it stopped him in his tracks. Written by a fellow cardiologist, it claimed educational affirmative action programs were promoting underprepared Black and Hispanic trainees who would not gain admission to top medical schools or become the best doctors. …

“So began a deep dive by Givens into the race and ethnicity of the editors and decision-makers at top-tier medical journals. His findings were stark, and stretched beyond the heart association publication, to the nation’s two premier medical journals. … Both the New England Journal and JAMA said they have increased the number of editors of color on their boards since October … But Givens and other critics say the troubling overall lack of diversity on editorial boards may be one reason the issue of health inequities that shorten the lives of people of color have received less clinical and research attention than they should.”

FINDING A NEW HOME — “Vox Media to Buy Owner of Preet Bharara’s Podcast,” WSJ

PLAYBOOKERS

IN MEMORIAM — “Lee Hart, wife of former U.S. Sen. Gary Hart, dies in Lakewood after brief illness,” Denver Post

TRANSITIONS — Logan Hollers is starting today at Invariant. He most recently was policy adviser and counsel to Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and is a Debbie Wasserman Schultz alum. … Elizabeth Kelley is joining the Duberstein Group as a VP. She most recently was VP of philanthropic partnerships at the Urban Institute and is an Obama White House alum. …

… Jessica Skaggs is now deputy comms director for the House Ways and Means GOP. She previously was press secretary for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). … Kristin Lance is now director of marketing at the Better Business Bureau National Programs. She previously was director of marketing at the Chamber of Commerce and is a POLITICO alum.

ENGAGED — Tom Zigo, comms director at the MPA, proposed to JP Tarangelo, senior program analyst at G2 Global Solutions, on Saturday in the Teddy Roosevelt suite at The Willard. They met through their mutual friend Kyle Hreben. Pic … Another pic

— Emily Mayer, co-founder of progressive Jewish organization IfNotNow, and Waleed Shahid, spokesperson for Justice Democrats, got engaged Wednesday in Philadelphia. They met at Haverford College, where they went to school together. Pic

— Ian Mariani, comms director for Rep. Cindy Axne (D-Iowa), and Baillee Brown, legislative director for Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), got engaged recently while visiting family in Arizona and California. They originally met at Occidental College in Los Angeles and began dating in D.C. three years ago. Pic

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Derrick Plummer, who recently started as director of public affairs and crisis comms at Intuit, and Anita Plummer, an assistant professor at Howard University, welcomed Jonathan A. Plummer on Thursday. Pic

BIRTHWEEK (was Sunday): CNN’s Jonathan Auerbach … Citi’s Ed Skyler … Netflix’s Erika Masonhall

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) (7-0) ... Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.) … Fred Ryan … Rachel Overboe … Mindy Myers … Amber Goodwin ... Brad Elkins ... CBS’ Rita Braver ... Katherine Rodriguez of DCI Group ... Gretchen Andersen ... Sindy Benavides ... Anthony Bellmon ... Meredith Friedman … Peter Scher of JPMorgan Chase … Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) (4-0) … Tim Waddell … Paula Helfer ... Christian Datoc ... Shayna Englin of 42 Comms ... Jacob Hay ... Laly Rivera Perez … Nick Iacovella… National Student Legal Defense Network’s Aaron Ament … Audra McGeorge … Chris Gorud ... Reed Galen … Vice’s Eric Ortega … Shalla Ross … WaPo’s Carrie Camillo … Jack Pandol Jr… Chris Harvey … Corry Robb… Diane Crawford … AARP’s Timothy Gearan … CNN producer Greg Clary … Julie Asher … Woody Johnson … Ben Baker of the Open Society Foundations … Eric Leckey

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