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PRESENTED BY

BY JOHN BRESNAHAN, ANNA PALMER AND JAKE SHERMAN
WITH MAX COHEN AND CHRISTIAN HALL

THE TOP

Happy Wednesday. We wanted to bring you a little bit more on the backstory of how the White House completely reversed its position from “We can’t issue a new eviction moratorium” to “We’re going to issue a new eviction moratorium.”

There’s no doubt that Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Mondaire Jones’ (D-N.Y.) public pressure campaign — which included Bush camping out on the Capitol steps for five days — was key to creating the political environment for Biden’s decision. With so much anger from the left, inaction wasn’t an option.

Yet behind the scenes, Speaker Nancy Pelosi played a pivotal role. She helped convince the Biden administration to issue a revised moratorium that lasts until Oct. 3, despite possible legal challenges from landlords. The previous moratorium expired on July 31, leaving millions of  families facing possible eviction and causing an uproar among progressives.

Over several days, Pelosi engaged in a frantic round of phone calls and lobbying, pressing President Joe Biden and senior White House officials to respond. Pelosi spoke directly with Biden three times over the weekend and into Tuesday, making a case that the White House found compelling. Pelosi was adamant the president needed to move unilaterally and insisted the Delta variant presented a new public health emergency.

Pelosi argued the White House didn’t need to issue a national moratorium but should rather focus on halting evictions in areas where the CDC was recommending masking. That way, the two public health emergencies overlapped for the agency, according to people familiar with the arguments Pelosi made to Biden, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain and Steve Ricchetti, a counselor to Biden.

During one conversation with Pelosi, Biden said his legal advisers were warning him that he couldn’t extend the moratorium due to a June 29 Supreme Court ruling. The high court had let the moratorium stand in a 5-4 decision, but Justice Brett Kavanaugh said the CDC had “exceeded its existing statutory authority” and Congress must act to extend the ban. Biden asked Pelosi if she had any legal experts with a different take. Pelosi provided Biden with several names, including Laurence Tribe, the well-known Harvard Law professor. Tribe also has a long friendship with Klain, himself a Harvard Law grad. Tribe encouraged White House officials to move ahead with the revised moratorium. 

When Biden decided to make his announcement on Tuesday on the new moratorium, the first person he called was Pelosi, who’d just finished a caucus call with her members and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

“Today is a day of extraordinary relief,” Pelosi said in a statement released by her office. “Thanks to the leadership of President Biden, the imminent fear of eviction and being put out on the street has been lifted for countless families across America. Help is Here!”

INFRASTRUCTURE

When will Schumer cut off amendments?

The Senate will vote at 12:15 p.m. today on an amendment to the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that would prohibit the Biden administration from canceling border wall contracts.

This amendment was offered by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), and is certain to fail. Johnson has offered this amendment previously on other legislation, and it was voted down by Democrats, so we don’t expect any different outcome here.

Republicans and Democratic leaders are continuing to sift through possible amendments, to see what they have consent to vote on. We anticipate votes will continue throughout the day.

The big question right now — which we explored in detail for subscribers in our Midday edition yesterday — is when does Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer file cloture to end the amendment process. Republicans warned Schumer against filing on Tuesday, and he didn’t, but he will have to cut off debate at some point soon. The consensus seems to be that Schumer can get away with filing cloture on Thursday, which would set up a Saturday vote. That would mean a vote on final passage vote early next week. 

Keeping Track: What the White House has done on infrastructure: Since June, the White House says it has done 375 meetings with chiefs of staff, members of Congress and staff directors on the Build Back Better Agenda. Here are some details about Cabinet and senior level appearances during that period.

NEW

Axios to jump in against Politico Pro

Axios executives plan to jump into the policy journalism market this fall with new mid-and high-priced subscriptions products, according to a person briefed on the plan. 

This represents an effort by the D.C.-based news outlet to take on Politico Pro, and jump into a market with Bloomberg owned B-Gov and CQRoll Call. 

Axios plans to start offering mid-range products for investors and private equity firms first, and then higher-priced ones that are designed to challenge Politico Pro. Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz — Axios’ founders — started Politico Pro, and have long toyed with a similar product at Axios. They have intimate knowledge of the business and would seek to create a modernized version. VandeHei had no comment. 

Disclosure: We all worked at Politico with VandeHei, Schwartz and Mike Allen, and we now compete against them.

SPECIAL ELECTIONS ARE SPECIAL

Brown tops Turner, and Trump’s candidate romps

Shontel Brown, a moderate Democrat backed by House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, defeated progresssive Nina Turner in a closely watched Ohio Democratic primary to replace Rep. Marcia Fudge. Fudge is now HUD secretary. 

The Brown-Turner faceoff was the latest grudge match between moderate and progressive Democrats. Brown had support from Clyburn, Hillary Clinton, the Congressional Black Caucus PAC and other establishment figures. While Fudge stayed out of the race, her mother endorsed Brown. Turner was supported by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and progressive groups, including the Justice Democrats, and she outspent her opponent. In the end, Brown won by about seven points. Brown is heavily favored to win this Democratic district in the November general election. Laverne Gore won the GOP nomination.

Over in the Columbus-based Ohio-15, Mike Carey — who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump — easily won a GOP primary to replace retired Rep. Steve Stivers. “Tonight, Republicans across Ohio’s 15th Congressional District sent a clear message to the nation that President Donald J. Trump is, without a doubt, the leader of our party,” Carey said following his victory. A Trump-endorsed candidate lost a special election in Texas last week, but Carey’s win shows the ex-president is still the most powerful figure in the GOP by far. Carey will take on Democrat Allison Russo. 

The Coverage: 

→ NYT:  “Democratic Insider and a Republican Backed by Trump Win Ohio House Races,” by Jeremy Peters

→ WaPo: "Liberal-wing candidate loses in Ohio Democratic primary," by Dave Weigh and Colby Itkowitz

→ Columbus Dispatch: “Trump secures win in 15th Congressional District with Mike Carey,” by Haley BeMiller

STALLED?

Top negotiators downbeat about police reform

For months, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) has been relatively positive about the prospects of rewriting the laws that govern police conduct in the United States. He’s been working with Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) to work toward a deal. The trio even announced a framework for a compromise back in late June.

But Scott sounds quite pessimistic at the moment.

Here’s our brief interview with Scott from last night.

Punchbowl News: Anything new on police reform?

Scott: “No.”

Punchbowl News: That’s the first time in months you said no.

Scott: “We’ve been inching and we’ve been trading paper but [is there anything] ‘new?’ No.”

Punchbowl News: You thought you were going to have to get something done by August. Is that still your thinking?

Scott: “I still think we have to get something done before we leave, yeah.”

Punchbowl News: And your confidence level is…

Scott: “I don’t know where it is today. We’ll see tomorrow. Maybe I’ll be more optimistic tomorrow.”

Booker, for his part, said little about the state of play in the negotiations, as he’s done for a while.

“I have a lot of faith in our efforts, but again, there’s no guarantees,” Booker said. “It’s going to be a very hard thing to get done.”

Booker noted that he and Scott “have been meeting every week for the last many months.”

MOMENTS

10 a.m.: President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will get their intelligence briefing.

11:15 a.m.: Biden will meet with Eric Landler, his science adviser, to plan for future pandemics.

12:30 p.m.: Jen Psaki will brief reporters.

CLIP FILE

NYT

→ “Obama Cancels 60th Birthday Party as Virus Cases Rebound,” by Annie Karni

→ “Cuomo Stands in a Long Line of Politicians Accused of Mistreating Women,” by Jennifer Medina

→ Editorial Board: “You Should Resign, Governor Cuomo”

→ “Democratic Insider and a Republican Backed by Trump Win Ohio House Races,” by Jeremy Peters 

→ “Amazon Faces Wider Fight Over Labor Practices,” by Noam Schreiber

WaPo

→ “Cuomo report spotlights role of top aide Melissa DeRosa in trying to contain sexual harassment crisis,” by Josh Dawsey

→ “Missouri governor pardons Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who pointed guns at protesters,” by Meryl Kornfield 

WSJ

→ “Crypto ‘Wild West’ Needs Stronger Investor Protection, SEC Chief Says,” by Paul Kiernan

→ WSJ Editorial Board: “The Eviction Ban Has to End Sometime”

AP

→ “For Missouri congresswoman, eviction fight is personal,” by Brian Slodysko and Jim Salter

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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images