White House Correspondents’ Association dinner weekend is in full swing. If you’re in town and a little bleary this morning, you might want to deploy your best hangover cure (and let us know what it is, by the way), because the party circuit only speeds up today.
President JOE BIDEN and host TREVOR NOAH will be addressing the crowd at the official dinner this evening. Our money is on Noah to produce the most laughs, but we’re eager to see how Biden’s set lands after years of no presidential podium presence at the WHCD. (CNN’s Kevin Liptak has a curtain-raiser this morning for a speech that seeks to combine plenty of jokes with a serious message about the free press.)
On Friday night, official Washington ripped up the town from afternoon to the early hours of the morning. Administration officials, members of Congress, journalists and even some celebs rubbed shoulders and raised glasses. The Playbook team fanned out across the social scene to report back, plus readers sent in their own spotteds — keep them coming tonight! (And please, no more fake texts about congressmen getting stuck in bathrooms.) You can email tips to [email protected], or just text us: 202-556-3307.Here’s a taste of some of the crowd:
— NBCUniversal News Group held a reception Friday afternoon to formally toast the opening of its new Washington bureau, which serves as home base for NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC and Noticias Telemundo. CEO Jeff Shell, Chair Cesar Conde and SVP/Washington bureau chief Ken Strickland offered remarks and a toast with colleagues at 400 North Capitol St. to kick off the weekend. Guests were greeted with a red-carpet entrance and an electric cellist. Sangria infusion cocktails and passed hors d’oeuvres were served along with a global slider station. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) was spotted using the infamous NBC News Big Board to show off his winning numbers in his district. SPOTTED: Noah Oppenheim, Rashida Jones, Andrea Mitchell, Karine Jean-Pierre, Symone Sanders, Chuck and Kristian Denny Todd, Stephanie Ruhle, Jonathan Lemire, Jason Johnson, Joy Reid, Katy Tur, Geoff Bennett, Kelly O’Donnell, Shaquille Brewster, Jonathan Karl, Jonathan Allen, Kristen Welker, Matt Cuddy, Ken Strickland, Peter Alexander, Beau Ferrari, Mehdi Hasan, Garrett Haake, Claire McCaskill, Chris Licht, Tony Dokoupil, Jacob Soboroff and Katie Phang.
Courtesy of NBC
— David and Katherine Bradley and Laurene Powell Jobs hosted a dinner at the Bradleys’ home. SPOTTED: Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Cabinet Secretary Evan Ryan, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, CIA Director Bill Burns, press secretary Jen Psaki, Deputy A.G. Lisa Monaco, Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel, Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-U.S. Virgin Islands), homeland security adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, Jeffrey Goldberg, Nick Thompson, Peter Lattman, Anne Applebaum, Russell Berman, Franklin Foer, David Frum, Elaine Godfrey, Adam Harris, Mark Leibovich, Jeff Dufour, Heather Kuldell, Kevin Baron, José Andrés, Enes Kanter, Mitch Landrieu, Dafna Linzer, Rachel Martin, Judy Woodruff, Jake Tapper, Wolf Blitzer, Jonathan Capehart, Katty Kay, Steve and Jean Case, John Dickerson and Jen Palmieri.
— CNN’s Abby Phillip and the founder and CEO of ColorComm Lauren Wesley Wilson hosted Politics & Inclusion: An inaugural WHCD private dinner to bring together more than 50 people of color across the major news networks and traditional print media and politics to “celebrate the bi-partisan diverse voices in politics and media, both rising stars and established industry leaders.” Abby and Lauren said they’ve been talking about doing the event for more than three years and were finally able to take the plunge Friday night. SPOTTED: Gayle King, Sunny Hostin, Symone Sanders, Ana Navarro, Tiffany Cross, Suzanne Malveaux, Kirsten Allen, Yamiche Alcindor, Don Lemon, Weija Jiang, Tiffany Cross, Alicia Menendez, Yvette Miley, Laura Coates, Jim Acosta, Geoff Bennett, Laura Barrón-López, Amna Nawaz, Eugene Scott, Astead Herndon, Jennifer Molina, Erica Loewe, Jasmine Wright and Averi Harper.
— The Motion Picture Association held an indoor/outdoor reception at its D.C. HQ where guests mingled with both members of Congress and Hollywood stars and observed some movie memorabilia — including the glass slipper from the live-action “Cinderella.” (We didn’t see any pumpkins turn into carriages, though.) SPOTTED: Reps. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), Monaco Ambassador Maguy Maccario Doyle, Charles Rivkin, Fran Drescher, Sir Alan Parker, Jeff Shell, Susan Fox, Melissa Moss, Jonathan Silver, Don Baer, Juleanna Glover, Richard Siklos, Mike Castelano, Kira Alvarez, Kim Harris, Sena Fitzmaurice, Cesar Conde, Caitlin Conant, Marc Adelman, Nicole Elkon, Sarah Kate Ellis, Gail MacKinnon, Emily Lenzner, Urmila Venugopalan, Mike Allen, Christa Robinson, Mathias Döpfner and Ali Dukakis.
Courtesy of Daniel Swartz
Courtesy of Daniel Swartz
— CAA hosted a delightful indoor/outdoor cocktail party at the Viceroy. SPOTTED: Amy Schneider, Jon Karl, Andrea Mitchell, Peter Alexander, Susan Rice, Jonathan Lemire, Tony Dokoupil and Katy Tur, Ari Shapiro, Ashley Biden, Sophia Bush, Audie Cornish, Peter Rice, George Cheeks, Noah Oppenheim, Cecilia Vega, Kate Bolduan, Jacob Soboroff, Phil Rucker, Weijia Jiang and Luther Lowe, Phil Rucker, Leigh Ann Caldwell, David Fahrenthold, Ashley Parker and Michael Bender, Pam Brown, Brian and Jamie Stelter, Olivia Nuzzi, Bryan Lourd, Rachel Adler, Ali Spiesman, Alan Berger, Mark McGrath, Craig Gering, Rebecca Kutler, John McCarthy and Kasie Hunt.
— Voto Latino hosted the 14th annual “Our Voices” reception at the National Archives Museum. María Teresa Kumar presented the “Truth in Journalism” Award to CBS’ Ed O’Keefe, who joked that a lot of people wouldn’t understand why “an Irish guy” was getting an award from the Voto Latino Foundation but went on to talk about how as a child with a Guatemalan mother, he and his sisters were the only Latinos he knew growing up in upstate New York. SPOTTED: Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Reps. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.) and Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), Rosario Dawson, Maria Cardona, Rashida Jones, Ingrid Duran, Catherine Pino, Adrian Saenz, Julie Rodriguez, Estuardo Rodríguez, Eve O’Toole, Henry Muñoz, Lalo Alcaraz and Karen Finney.
Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Voto Latino
— Media startup Semafor threw a party hosted by Justin Smith, Ben Smith, Gina Chua, Steve Clemons and Rachel Oppenheim at Justin’s Kalorama home. SPOTTED: Lynda Carter, Mathias Döpfner, Matt Kaminski, Lindsay Peoples, Joanna Coles, Marc Adelman, Senay Bulbul, Reps. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Belgian Ambassador Jean-Arthur Regibeau, Chinese Ambassador Qin Gang, Michael LaRosa, Jesse Rodriguez, Margaret Carlson, Linda Douglass, Jan Bayer, Mike Castellano, Lucy DoCanto, Jesse Salazer, Bob Cohn, Audie Cornish, Gloria Dittus, Elizabeth Falcone, Joe Hack, Edward Luce, Niamh King, Eric Kuhn, Nicholas Logothetis, Eric Fanning, Jason Miller, Melissa Moss, Craig Newman, Alejandro Roark, Patrick Steel, Neera Tanden, Omar Vargas, Leana Wen, Karen Knutson, Lisa Grimes and lots of D.C. journos.
— Elle Magazine and Chief hosted a private reception at Versus’ Ceil social club featuring Chief members from New York and D.C. Elle executive editor Sara Austin spoke about encouraging more women in leadership roles and praised D.C.’s many powerful women. Guests huddled around a venue decked in cherry blossoms, St. Germain cocktails and cheese plates and enjoyed the outdoor views. SPOTTED: Nikki Schwab, Christina Sevilla, Rachel Palermo, Kiki and Tim Berger, Meredith Fineman, Anchyi Wei, Kate Michael, Madison Feller, Jondle Roder, Zaina Javaid, Helena Andrews, Olivia Peterson, Kelly Collis, Vinoda Basnayake, Jessica Powers, Dannia and Maha Hakki, Courtney Gazaleh, Haley Dorgan, Carolyn Childers, Ali Dukakis, Teddy Duvall and Jessica Hoy.
— Funny or Die and People Magazine hosted one of the late-night party options at The Reach at the Kennedy Center. Billy Eichner — whose popular “Billy on the Street” series was produced by Funny or Die for a time — addressed the crowd and spoke out against the various anti-LGBTQ bills being passed across the country. Guests were served specialty margaritas along with churro and milkshake stations and passed hors d’oeuvres. SPOTTED: Brooke Shields, Harry Hamlin and his daughter Amelia Gray, Julian Casablancas, Kevin McHale, Henry Muñoz, Gayle King, British Ambassador Karen Pierce, DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, W.H. chief of staff Ron Klain, Steve Ricchetti, Andrew Bates, Ned Price, Liz Allen, Ana Navarro, Ashley Parker and Michael Bender, Jay Carney, Kyle Dropp, Sarah Kate Ellis, Holly Harris, and Alyssa Farah.
Courtesy of Ben Chang
— United Talent Agency put on “A Celebration of America’s Journalists” at Fiola Mare, hosted by UTA co-president Jay Sures. In honor of the weekend’s festivities, UTA made a donation to the Committee to Protect Journalists. SPOTTED: DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, press secretary Jen Psaki, Karine Jean-Pierre, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), Brooke Shields, Sophia Bush, Bill Nye (yes, the Science Guy!), Pat Sajak, Dafna Linzer, Norah O’Donnell, Don Lemon, Bret Baier, Baratunde Thurston, Dan Abrams, Molly Jong-Fast, Doug Heye, Symone Sanders, Stephanie Ruhle, Kurt Bardella, Tammy Haddad, Pam Brown, Adam Wright, Ali Vitali, Lindsay Peoples, Susanna Quinn, Erik Smith and Edith Gregson, Howard Fineman and Amy Nathan, and Jan Crawford. (Sures also hosted a dinner at Bourbon Steak with a number of guests, including Mayorkas, Lemon, O’Donnell, Baier, Brennan, Abrams, Kaitlan Collins, Kara Swisher, Matt Dornic and Peter Rice.)
Courtesy of Daniel Swartz
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Good Saturday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
Here’s a rundown for the rest of today:
- 11 a.m.: The 27th Annual White House Correspondents’ Weekend Garden Brunch. A reminder from the hosts: “Aside from designated press areas, the event is off the record. We ask that you follow the same rules established by the WHCA for the dinner: No professional cameras or audio/video recorders are allowed inside the Party. Interviews are not permitted inside the event. Reporting on ‘overheards’ is strongly discouraged.”
- 5:30 p.m.: ABC News reception.
- 6 p.m.: POLITICO-CBS reception.
- The main event — 7:30 p.m.: The White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton.
- 9 p.m.: Vice News’ “Break the News” party.
- 9:30 p.m.: Modern Luxury DC party.
- 10:30 p.m.: theGrio’s “A Seat at the Table” party celebrating Black media and APRIL RYAN’s 25th anniversary covering Washington.
- 10:30 p.m.: An Evening of Magical Realism, hosted by the ambassador of Colombia.
- 11 p.m.: The Paramount After Party.
- 11:30 p.m.: The NBCUniversal After Party.
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WATCH: What should Noah not do tonight? We have a Punchlines and Playbook collaboration with Matt Wuerker and Ryan Lizza talking about the most cringeworthy moments from past White House Correspondents’ Association dinners. Check it out here
New Window
BIDEN’S SATURDAY — The Bidens will attend the WHCD at the Hilton at 9:30 p.m., with Biden delivering remarks.
9 THINGS THAT STUCK WITH US:
1. STUDENT LOAN LATEST: While the White House still hasn’t made a decision on forgiving some student loan debt, WaPo’s Jeff Stein this morning scoop the latest proposals under consideration: Executive action could erase at least $10,000 per person for Americans who earned up to $125,000 or perhaps $150,000 the previous year, and could be limited to undergraduate expenses. That would apply to the vast majority of borrowers, and could end up totaling hundreds of billions of dollars in debt wiped out.
2. CASH DASH: A rare spot of good news for House Dems’ midterm prospects: Sarah Ferris and Anthony Adragna write for Congress Minutes that “all but two of the 35 House Democratic frontline members outraised their Republican opponents during the most recent quarter. That money may not be enough in a hostile political environment but certainly can’t hurt.
3. SEARCH PARTY: New data released Friday suggested that the FBI performed up to 3.4 million warrantless searches of Americans’ online data, though administration officials tell WSJ’s Dustin Volz that the actual number is probably much lower. There’s no indication of impropriety in the searches. Still, it could revive privacy concerns among lawmakers or the public.
4. UNDER THE DOME: Facing staffing gaps, the Capitol Police on Monday will start using contract security officers, Roll Call’s Chris Marquette reports. The USCP said the additional workers will help finally reopen the Capitol in full, but the police officers’ union has opposed such a move.
5. POLLS OF THE DAY: A pair of surveys out from NPR on Friday provide telling, and sometimes counterintuitive, insight about the state of the union.
- Despite all the culture-war battles over curricula, an NPR/Ipsos poll finds a silent majority of school-age parents who are satisfied with their kids’ schooling across party lines. Nearly half say the pandemic hasn’t even disrupted their children’s education. As for the hot-button issues: “Just 18% of parents say their child’s school taught about gender and sexuality in a way that clashed with their family’s values; just 19% say the same about race and racism; and just 14% feel that way about U.S. history,” Anya Kamenetz reports.
- An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll finds, for the first time since 2014, an advantage for Republicans on the generic congressional ballot (they’re ahead by 3 points). Independents break for the GOP by 8 points. Biden’s approval rating sits at 41%. “Of note, about three times as many independents say they think Republicans would do a better job controlling inflation as they say Democrats,” Domenico Montanaro writes.
6. DOJ JUMPS IN ON TRANS LAWS: The Justice Department filed a complaint Friday seeking to stop Alabama’s new ban on gender transition-related medical care for youth. The filing accuses Alabama of violating the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. The state’s Republican leadership vowed to defend their law as other litigation against it proceeds as well. More details from AL.com’s Howard Koplowitz
7. BEYOND THE BELTWAY: For the first time in six years, new states — Kentucky and Oregon — are seeking to create an under-discussed program within the Affordable Care Act, creating health insurance plans to catch people who are just outside Medicaid eligibility, Megan Messerly reports. “The moves demonstrate a wide understanding that the Biden administration likely won’t be able to deliver on its promise to expand health care,” she writes.
8. KNOWING JOE KAHN: The incoming NYT executive editor is weighing the possibility of defending the newspaper’s journalism more forcefully and publicly, he tells AP’s David Bauder — a break with precedent of trying to let the work stand on its own.
9. WHAT WENT WRONG: NYT’s Luis Ferré-Sadurní, Nicholas Fandos and Jeffery Mays examine how New York Gov. KATHY HOCHUL missed the red flags in selecting now-resigned Lt. Gov. BRIAN BENJAMIN. While his vetting report highlighted questions about his campaign contributions, Benjamin told her team they were innocent mistakes. “But he failed to disclose something far more troubling: Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office had already served a subpoena to his comptroller campaign.”
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LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN UKRAINE
— Russia is moving more troops to the front in eastern Ukraine amid difficulties making anything more than slow progress, Ukrainian officials said today. A British assessment declared that the new Russian attack is beset by some of the same morale and logistical problems that bedeviled its earlier Ukraine campaign. The shuffling of troops is “a potential sign of the strain on Moscow’s military,” NYT’s Marc Santora reports. Ukraine said Russia was “not succeeding” in the Donbas, having failed to capture three crucial areas, per WaPo.
— Still, heavy fighting continued, including Russian strikes raining down on the steel plant in Mariupol that has become Ukrainian fighters’ last stand in the city.
— Turning down the temperature? Having rattled the world earlier this week with a warning about nuclear conflict, Russian Foreign Minister SERGEY LAVROV pulled back in a new interview, saying Russia is not at war with NATO.
CLICKER — “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,” edited by Matt Wuerker — 17 funnies
GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Ryan Lizza:
— “The Night Kennedy and Nixon Were Bunkmates,” by Bryan Bender in POLITICO Magazine: “They would become rivals, but on an overnight trip early in their careers they demonstrated a kind of politics that placed ideas above party.”
— “He Was 5’7”. After Surgery, He’ll Be 5’10,”” by BuzzFeed’s Elamin Abdelmahmoud: “Originally designed to correct mismatched length in legs, limb-lengthening surgery has become increasingly popular for men looking to permanently increase their height.”
— “Who’s Afraid of the Subway?” by N.Y. Mag’s Reeves Wiedeman: “Riding every line in the days after the Sunset Park shooting.”
— “The lost Jews of Nigeria,” by The Guardian’s Samanth Subramanian: “Until the 1990s, there were almost no Jews in Nigeria. Now thousands have enthusiastically taken up the faith. Why?”
— “What The New Yorker Didn’t Say About a Famous Writer’s Anti-Semitism,” by The Atlantic’s Caitlin Flanagan: “Why are Alice Walker’s vile beliefs about Jews treated so gently?”
— “Henry Winkler Breaks the Curse of Stardom,” by Matthew Klam for NYT Magazine: “Now in his 70s, the pop culture icon has found his true calling on ‘Barry,’ as the king of character actors.”
Geoff Morrell is leaving his post at Disney after three months, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Elon Musk had, uh, quite the interaction on Twitter.
The Henry Cuellar campaign apparently loves unlimited breadsticks, like the rest of us.
SPOTTED: Sheryl Lee Ralph, Tim Daly and Caity Lotz at the Capitol with the Creative Coalition on Friday. Pic
STAFFING UP — Karin Orvis will be the new U.S. chief statistician at OMB, the first time the role has been filled permanently in two years, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman scooped. She previously was director of the Defense Suicide Prevention Office at DOD.
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Ben Chang will be VP of comms and spokesperson for Columbia University. He previously was deputy VP of comms and spokesperson at Princeton University and is an Obama NSC and State Department alum.
TRANSITION — Julian Fleischman is joining the Kyle House Group as policy associate. He previously was senior legislative assistant for Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.).
BIRTHWEEK (was Friday): Amazon’s Jena Gross and Jillian Irvin
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres … Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) and William Timmons (R-S.C.) … Tina Flournoy … POLITICO’s Luiza Savage and Kedest Tadesse … Time’s Brian Bennett … Brooke Sammon … Fox News’ Matt Wall … Lindsay Walters … cartoonist and illustrator Barry Blitt … Tori Taylor … John Mulligan of Monument Advocacy … GMMB’s Jim Margolis … Taylor (Weeks) Armentrout … James Johnson of JL Partners … Chris Mindnich … Courtney Rice of Nan Whaley’s Ohio gubernatorial campaign … Jose Aristimuño … Matt Loffman of PBS NewsHour … Robert Shalett … Zach Mendelovici of Rep. Ken Buck’s (R-Colo.) office … Joel Payne … Airbnb’s Eric Feldman … CBS’ Caitlin Yilek … Michael Stroud … Ali Solis … Michael Herson of American Defense International … Rachel Cohen … Jonathan Jagoda … Bill Meierling … Doug Harbrecht … Joshua A. Levy … Stone Workman … Vanity Fair’s Joe Hagan … Andrea Woods … former Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx … Daniel Wolman … former Reps. Bill Clay (D-Mo.) (91) and Bob Livingston (R-La.) … New Heights Communications’ Ian Moor … NBC News PR’s Liz Kushel … Nimrod Novik … former British Ambassador Kim Darroch … Marc Slutsky
THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here):
NBC “Meet the Press”: Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) … DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas … Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns … Erin McLaughlin. Panel: Helene Cooper, Garrett Haake, Stephen Hayes and Claire McCaskill.
FOX “Fox News Sunday,” guest-anchored by Bret Baier: Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) … DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Panel: Marc Short, Mara Liasson, Harold Ford Jr. and Olivia Beavers.
ABC “This Week”: Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova … USAID Administrator Samantha Power … Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas). Panel: Kara Swisher and Dan Abrams. Panel: Donna Brazile, Chris Christie, David Remnick and Susan Page.
CNN “State of the Union”: DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas … Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Panel: Will Hurd, Nayyera Haq, David Urban and Bakari Sellers.
MSNBC “The Sunday Show”: Virginia state Del. Danica Roem … Ruth Ben-Ghiat … French Ambassador Philippe Etienne … Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) … George Hahn … Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) … Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.).
CBS “Face the Nation”: USAID Administrator Samantha Power … Paul Burton … Deborah Birx … Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.).
CNN “Inside Politics”: Panel: Jill Dougherty and retired Brig. Gen. Steven Anderson. Panel: Jonathan Martin, Maggie Haberman and MJ Lee.
Correction: Due to incorrect information provided to POLITICO, Friday’s Playbook mistakenly included Andy Oros and James Kariuki on the birthday list.
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CORRECTION: An earlier version of this newsletter misspelled the names of Lauren Wesley Wilson and Laura Coates.
