In a town of the image conscious, this economic policy wonk actually dances like no one’s watching.

Sometimes for two straight hours with WH staffers.

And once in an East Room dance-off with Usher.

w/ ⁦Lauren Egan⁩ politico.com/newsletters/we…

Biden's decision to delay the menthol ban rather than fully abandon it means he could revive the rule if reelected.
But after two years of work, there's little expectation now it'll be released during his first term, as health officials initially planned.
politico.com/news/2024/04/2…

SCOOP: A manufacturing issue with certain avian influenza tests was discovered earlier this week, but the CDC says no tests are inaccurate or need to be repeated.

w/ 🌸 Chelsea Cirruzzo: subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2024/0…

The Biden admin is getting torched by some of its close allies for further delaying a menthol cigarette ban

President Joe Biden is delaying an FDA plan to ban menthol cigarettes, a move that could effectively kill any chance the rule will be released before the election in November.

W David Lim: politico.com/news/2024/04/2…

Washingtonian is hosting a Women in Journalism party tonight honoring
Kara Swisher Meridith McGraw @carolleonnig Rachel Scott.

NOT invited: The women journalists who work at Washingtonian. But we’re here anyway fighting for fair pay and parental leave!

“White House officials declined to directly address Abbott’s actions in Texas, and have offered little insight into how the administration is managing the demonstrations nationwide.”

Insights from Adam Cancryn and Eugene Daniels

politico.com/news/2024/04/2…

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff spoke with two Jewish leaders at Columbia earlier this week, in private calls focused on antisemitism.

It’s the most extensive outreach to date from a WH reluctant to weigh in on the campus protest movement

w Eugene Daniels
politico.com/news/2024/04/2…

NEW: Biden’s team thinks they’re “entitled” and often “failing” in their coverage.

The NYT says the WH isn’t “being realistic” and has grown frustrated they can’t get an Oval Office interview.

A look at how this relationship deteriorated.

politico.com/news/magazine/…

New: The WH developed an unlikely working relationship—and even grudging respect—for Mike Johnson that helped hand Biden a major foreign policy win.

But that doesn't mean Biden's about to lift a finger now to help Johnson keep his job.

w Jennifer Haberkorn: politico.com/news/2024/04/2…

NEW: As bird flu spreads in cows, U.S. response has echoes of early covid. Testing of cows too limited. Results + studies not shared fast enough. Genetic analysis of H5N1 suggests outbreak started months before it was noticed. w ⁦Rachel Roubein⁩ washingtonpost.com/health/2024/04…

A key element of the battle over TikTok from Christine Mui: Unlike other social platforms that revolve around mass interaction, TikTok's feeds are personalized —making it harder to build activist movements, including on behalf of TikTok itself.
politico.com/news/2024/04/2…

The Pentagon is preparing to quickly approve a weapons package for Ukraine that includes urgently needed artillery and air defenses as Congress lines up votes to pass additional funding for the country, according to two U.S. officials. W/ Connor O'Brien politico.com/news/2024/04/1…

GAO is out with a brutal evaluation of HHS' initial handling of the mpox outbreak, based on feedback from state officials. Their conclusions square with Politico's and others' reporting in real time on the dept's leadership and coordination missteps: gao.gov/assets/d241062…

“Speaker Mike Johnson’s sudden bid to deliver aid to Ukraine came days after fresh intelligence described the U.S. ally at a true make-or-break moment in its war with Russia” politico.com/news/2024/04/1…

Israel launched a strike on Iran early Friday in what appeared to be a limited response to Tehran’s drone and missile assault last weekend, according to a U.S. official and a person familiar with the discussions. w Alex Ward politico.com/news/2024/04/1…

Speaker Johnson’s foreign aid bill came days after fresh intel described a make-or-break moment for Ukraine in the war. It was exactly the kind of dire assessment the White House had spent months privately warning Johnson was inevitable.
w/Adam Cancryn
politico.com/news/2024/04/1…

NEW - The promise of an onslaught of spending from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee has loomed over Democratic primaries for months — but it hasn’t yet materialized.

That’s not stopping progressives from using it as a foil
w/ Madison Fernandez
politico.com/news/2024/04/1…

Less Biden, more women: Joe Biden's campaign plans to hammer Donald Trump on abortion rights with ad after ad of ordinary women describing the deeply personal — and sometimes life-threatening — consequences of state abortion bans.
w Elena Schneider Jennifer Haberkorn: politico.com/news/2024/04/1…

Shorter Ron Klain, per the Eugene Daniels scoop: