Presented by

With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross

Congress is out for a two-week recess. President JOE BIDEN’s keeping a light schedule ahead of Easter. Things have yet to really heat up on the presidential campaign trail. So — unless you’re in Chicago or Wisconsin — you can guess who’s poised to dominate the week’s political news landscape.

But before DONALD TRUMP hijacks the headlines, here’s two scoopy reads about 1) a bitter 2024 rivalry that’s flown under the radar, and 2) a debt-ceiling back channel that the White House wants to squash …

PENCE VS. HALEY — A lot of ink has been spilled about the nasty public feud between the GOP presidential frontrunners, Trump and Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS. But there’s also a bitter war for third place quietly brewing between former VP MIKE PENCE and former South Carolina Gov. NIKKI HALEY, according to a new story by our Adam Wren and Natalie Allison.

“Pence might harbor deep-seated resentment toward Donald Trump for his handling of Jan. 6. But it’s Nikki Haley who really gets under the Pence camp’s skin,” the pair write in a story spotlighting the rivalry roiling the ex-veep’s orbit.

Pence’s team, they continue, is furious about Haley “drawing what they view as more favorable media coverage” than their boss. “People don’t view [Haley] as a serious candidate,” one senior Pence adviser told them. “Her campaign is floundering … and by all accounts is failing its own competency test.” Another called her “thin-skinned.”

Playbook can attest to Pence world’s sensitivities, given that their team complained that our newsletter recently highlighted Haley’s move calling foul on federal spending under the Trump-Pence watch. We also know they’ve been grumbling in recent days to reporters — us included — about what they perceive as a relative lack of coverage for Trump’s two-time running mate (who, unlike Haley, has yet to launch a campaign).

The dynamic, Adam and Natalie write, underscores how some lower-tier candidates appear to be more eager to nip at each other rather than snarl at the two big dogs leading the pack. The sniping, some Republicans worry, will only help Trump win the nomination.

The Pence-Haley rivalry is especially interesting because the pair have similarly hawkish foreign policy views and have publicly praised each other. Pence even backed Haley during the 2016 transition as she angled for a Cabinet post. They’ve also traded political operatives over the years, and tensions rose in the latter part of the Trump administration amid whispers that Haley could replace Pence on the 2020 ticket — and Pence’s team felt that Haley didn’t do enough to tamp down the rumor mill.

WH: GO SOLVE SOMETHING ELSE — Members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus have spent weeks quietly discussing a potential escape plan should Biden and House Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY fail to reach an agreement to raise the debt ceiling. But this morning, our colleagues Sarah Ferris, Adam Cancryn and Burgess Everett write that “the White House wants no part of it” and that Biden officials and Democratic leaders on the Hill are “bristling at the attempts at a compromise.”

Why? Any Plan B, they fear, will take heat off Republicans, who they believe will eventually swallow a clean debt ceiling increase due to implacable GOP infighting.

Look no further than this quote from Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER (D-N.Y.), who has been in lockstep with Biden in demanding that GOP leaders show they can actually pass the spending cuts they want in exchange for a debt limit bump: “We’re gaining ground because of [House Republicans’] inability to put together a plan. … I’m certainly willing to entertain a mix of things on the budget. Not on the debt ceiling.”

“You’ve got party leaders in both houses that don’t want us to talk to one another,” one centrist Democrat told them — and, no, they don’t plan to listen.

“None of us work for the White House. We work for our constituents. And they should start talking and negotiating,” added Rep. JARED GOLDEN (D-Maine), who co-leads the centrist Blue Dog Coalition.

HAPPENING TODAY: HALEY AT THE BORDER — Haley today will become the first 2024 presidential candidate to visit the U.S.-Mexico border, touring Texas entry points between San Antonio and Eagle Pass alongside Rep. TONY GONZALES (R-Texas).

We have a first look at her schedule, which includes:

• A stop at a train station in Hondo, where some migrants jump off moving trains as they try to enter the U.S. via freight routes, risking injury and death.
  
• A visit to a shoe factory in Del Rio, where Haley is hoping to highlight how the border surge has affected local communities and businesses.
  
• A Border Patrol ride-along, where Haley aims to highlight her plan to address low morale among border agents and speak with ranchers about issues they encounter with migrants crossing on their property.
  
• And a news conference at the Eagle Pass International Bridge, where she’ll discuss her proposals to 1) require businesses to use E-Verify; 2) hire 25,000 more Border Patrol and enforcement employees; 3) ensure undocumented immigrants can’t benefit from federal tax dollars; and 4) reestablish the Title 42 and “remain in Mexico” policies restricting asylum.

Good Monday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.

THE WEEK AHEAD — The House and Senate are out. Today: Biden will travel to Minnesota to tour a power generation facility; Trump travels from Mar-a-Lago to NYC … Tuesday: Trump is arraigned in Manhattan; Election Day in Wisconsin (Supreme Court) and Chicago (mayor); Biden meets with his Council of Advisors on Science and Technology … Thursday: Biden and first lady JILL BIDEN travel to Camp David for the Easter weekend … Friday: March employment numbers released.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

MORE POLITICS

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Via Burgess Everett: Independent Arizona Sen. KYRSTEN SINEMA will report more than $9.9 million on hand after the most recent fundraising quarter, according to a person familiar with the numbers. Sinema has not announced whether she will run for a second term, but she’s clearly fundraising as if she might: Sinema had about $8.2 million on hand at the end of December.

WHAT TO WATCH TOMORROW …

In Chicago: “Teachers are testing their political might in Chicago runoff,” by Juan Perez Jr. and Shia Kapos: “The Chicago Teachers Union is one of the most powerful political institutions in this city. And it has more at stake in Tuesday’s mayoral runoff election than either man running for the office.”

In Denver: “Homelessness Shapes Denver’s Crowded Mayoral Race,” by WSJ’s Dan Frosch: “Divided residents set to choose Tuesday among 16 candidates with differing approaches.” A June 6 runoff is likely.

KNOWING KATIE PORTER — The New Republic’s Grace Segers is up this morning with a look at Rep. KATIE PORTER’s (D-Calif.) rise in Congress and her Senate campaign: “Katie Porter Will Tell You What She Thinks”: “As she embarks on a high-profile and likely high-cost run for the California Senate seat soon to be vacated by retiring Senator DIANNE FEINSTEIN, Porter’s whiteboard is a distinguishing feature, an embodiment of her belief that the powerful should be accountable to the powerless in one clear symbol.”

FRAUD FILES — “Republicans push for stricter election laws, despite scant proof of fraud,” by WaPo’s Amy Gardner and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez: Among the measures that could pass in state legislatures this year: A “North Carolina voter ID law that would encompass both in-person and mail voting, a Texas measure to create marshals to investigate election fraud and a proposal in Missouri that would allow citizens to initiate election reviews.”

WHO GETS LEFT BEHIND — “Voters with disabilities often overlooked in voting battles,” by AP’s Ayanna Alexander: “Since 2016, the Department of Justice has entered into more than three dozen settlements or agreements to force better access in cities and counties under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Many of those places are holding elections this year.”

CONGRESS

THE EDUCATION OF AOC — “From agitator to insider: The evolution of AOC,” by Nicholas Wu and Jordain Carney: “Her evolution is driven partly by a new political reality for her party: Democrats lost the House last year, and progressives have found a lot to like in Joe Biden’s first two years in the White House. But [Rep. ALEXANDRIA] OCASIO-CORTEZ’s shift also comes as the 33-year-old lawmaker is mulling her next steps. In a lengthy recent interview in her Capitol Hill office, Ocasio-Cortez wouldn’t rule out any number of options, from challenging Sen. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-N.Y.) next year (‘don’t ask me that question … print that,’ she said with a laugh), to remaining in the House for the long haul or, perhaps, leaving Congress entirely. …

“Ocasio-Cortez’s shift suggests a potential exchange of one type of power — her penchant for internal pot-stirring and the outsize media attention that comes with it — for a more conventional kind of influence. Whether AOC 2.0 is actually more powerful than the previous one isn’t clear yet.”

… AND OF MTG — On the other side of the spectrum, Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.) got the CBS “60 Minutes” treatment last night, an interview worth watching. Some highlights:

• On her influence in the House GOP conference: “On an issue, when I’m outspoken about it, and I take my stand or my position, the first reaction is, ‘Marjorie’s crazy. Marjorie’s extreme. Marjorie’s a right-wing extremist.’ And then what will happen is my colleagues will go back home to their district, and their own constituents are coming up and saying, ‘Are you supporting Marjorie? … Have you cosponsored Marjorie’s bill?’ And then they find out, ‘Oh, maybe she’s not crazy.’”
  
• When interviewer LESLEY STAHL pointed out that Trump contributed to the $31 trillion national debt as well as Democrats: “I said everybody” is to blame. “Republicans, Democrats … It was all before I got here.”

• On her previously calling Democrats “a party of pedophiles”: “I would definitely say so. They support grooming children.” And when Stahl pushed back: “Democrats support, even Joe Biden, the president himself, supports children being sexualized and having transgender surgeries. Sexualizing children is what pedophiles do to children.” (Stahl’s reaction: “Wow.”)

• On whether she would apologize for calling the Parkland shooting a “false flag”: “I’ve never said that. School shootings are horrible.” (She did, and CBS had the tweet to back it up.)
  
• On whether she would apologize to NANCY PELOSI for liking a tweet calling for her assassination: “Other people also ran my social media. I don’t think I did that.”

TRUMP CARDS

SIREN — “Justice Dept. said to have more evidence of possible Trump obstruction at Mar-a-Lago,” by WaPo’s Devlin Barrett, Josh Dawsey and Perry Stein: “The additional evidence comes as investigators have used emails and text messages from a former Trump aide to help understand key moments last year, said the people, who like others interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation.

“The new details highlight the degree to which special counsel JACK SMITH’s investigation into the potential mishandling of hundreds of classified national security papers at Trump’s Florida home and private club has come to focus on the obstruction elements of the case — whether the former president took or directed actions to impede government efforts to collect all the sensitive records.”

Related Read: “Trump faces setbacks in other probes as NY case proceeds,” by AP’s Eric Tucker

TRUMPOLOGY — “Trump Flourishes in the Glare of His Indictment,” by NYT’s Peter Baker: “While no one wants to be indicted, Mr. Trump in one sense finds himself exactly where he loves to be — in the center ring of the circus, with all the spotlights on him. He has spent the days since a grand jury called him a potential criminal milking the moment for all it’s worth, savoring the attention as no one else in modern American politics would.”

To wit: “In between rounds of golf, Trump considers how best to use indictment as 2024 rallying cry,” by CNN’s Kristen Holmes

THE LATEST LOYALTY TEST? — WaPo’s Josh Dawsey tweets this nugget: “Trump is trying to get elected officials and surrogates to his event on Tuesday night at Mar-a-Lago, per invite that went out this evening. … Invite ends: ‘We look forward to hosting you for this memorable and historic evening.’”

HISTORY LESSON — “In Trump case, experts see echoes of failed case against Sen. John Edwards,” by WaPo’s Rosalind Helderman

THE PREP WORK — “As Trump Arraignment Looms, New York City Braces for a Day of Tumult,” by NYT’s Jesse McKinley and Chelsia Rose Marcius

ON THE GROUND — “Lone MAGA supporter awaits Trump in New York, fears antifa,” by Wesley Parnell

JUST POSTED — “In Days Before Trump Appears in Court, Few Signs Point to a Jan. 6 Repeat,” by NYT’s Glenn Thrush, Alan Feuer and Adam Goldman: “The police, for instance, sent a stand-ready order to about 35,000 officers, a force larger and better trained than some national armies. … [T]he response is informed by lessons learned from the Capitol riot and from the challenges posed by the nationwide protests against police violence in 2020. … As of Sunday, neither law enforcement officials nor outside experts have picked up evidence that Mr. Trump’s defenders or detractors are gearing up for a major event.”

POLICY CORNER

KNOWING JULIE SU — “What a landmark sweatshop case tells us about Julie Su’s approach to labor,” by The 19th’s Mel Leonor Barclay: “Su’s path to confirmation won’t be smooth as she faces objections by major business groups who say her career shows hostility toward small businesses. Supporters of Su’s nomination, including major labor, women and immigrant advocacy groups, say America’s most vulnerable workers also stand to benefit from her confirmation, along with businesses who take the high road.”

IMMIGRATION FILES — “More Ecuadorians move to U.S., spared many others’ hurdles,” by AP’s Michael Weissenstein and Gonzalo Solano: “Biden administration policies introduced in January have sharply reduced illegal U.S. border crossings by targeting migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela and getting Mexico to take them back. Migrants from Ecuador and some other countries don’t face the same hurdles, and are generally allowed to stay in the U.S. while they pursue asylum — part of the piecemeal nature of U.S. immigration policy.”

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

THE WELL-OILED MACHINE — “Saudis, other oil giants announce surprise production cuts,” AP: “Higher oil prices would help fill Russian President Vladimir Putin’s coffers as his country wages war on Ukraine and force Americans and others to pay even more at the pump amid worldwide inflation. It was also likely to further strain ties with the United States, which has called on Saudi Arabia and other allies to increase production as it tries to bring prices down and squeeze Russia’s finances.”

TAIPEI BRIEFING — “‘On a Tightrope’: How Taiwan’s President Navigated the U.S. and China,” by NYT’s John Liu, Amy Chang Chien, Chris Horton and Paul Mozur: “Privately, [Taiwanese President TSAI ING-WEN] has likened the position to ‘walking on a tightrope,’ according to two people who have worked closely with her. For a model, she has looked to the former German chancellor ANGELA MERKEL, who came out of academia, as she did.”

THE LATEST IN ISRAEL — “Israel Moves Forward With Far-Right Plan for National Guard,” by NYT’s Patrick Kingsley in Jerusalem: “ITAMAR BEN-GVIR, one of the most extreme voices in the Israeli government, had long sought to create a national guard. Ministers agreed on Sunday to set up a committee to discuss next steps.”

DEEP DIVE — “A Front Company and a Fake Identity: How the U.S. Came to Use Spyware It Was Trying to Kill,” by NYT’s Mark Mazzetti and Ronen Bergman

REFUGEES’ ROUGH ROAD — “These Ukrainians Arrived Under a Biden Program. They Ended Up Homeless,” by NYT’s Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura

FOR YOUR RADAR — “Finland’s PM Marin concedes defeat as right-wing NCP wins election,” by Reuters’ Anne Kauranen and Essi Lehto

BEYOND THE BELTWAY

GUNS IN AMERICA — “How Nashville Prepared for the Day It Never Wanted to Face,” by NYT’s Emily Cochrane: “The swift response to the shooting at the Nashville school on Monday, in which three adults and three 9-year-old children were killed, highlighted how law enforcement tactics and training have evolved to confront the reality of repeated mass shootings at American schools.”

Related read: “States aim to boost school safety after Tennessee shooting,” by AP’s Claire Rush

HAPPENING THIS WEEK — “Taxes, trans rights, abortion hot as Kansas deadline looms,” by AP’s John Hanna

Jill Biden watched the NCAA women’s basketball final with Billie Jean King.

MEDIA MOVE — Joe Gould is joining POLITICO to be the main author of our Morning Defense newsletter. He previously covered land warfare, the Pentagon and Capitol Hill at Defense News and is an Army Times, Inside the Army and New York Daily News alum.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — NRCC veterans Michael McAdams and Jared Solomon are launching a media production and public affairs firm, Spotlight Media Group. The firm will focus on creating TV and digital ads for Republican candidates and GOP-aligned groups as well as providing public affairs support to corporations, trade associations and high-net-worth individuals.

— Madeleine Russak is joining Signal Group as VP. She previously was comms director for Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). The firm is also promoting Jess McCarron and Scott Lusk to EVP.

— John Buntin is now a senior adviser at the Council on Criminal Justice. He most recently was director of policy and community safety for Nashville Mayor John Cooper and is an alum of Governing.

TRANSITIONS — Maura Gillespie is launching Bluestack Strategies, where she will be founder and principal. She most recently was deputy chief of staff for former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.). … Justin Wein is now legislative adviser to the director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network at Treasury. He previously was chief of staff for Rep. David Price (D-N.C.), and is a Nita Lowey alum … David Watkins is now director of government affairs for the Union of Concerned Scientists’ climate and energy program. He previously was staff director for the House Natural Resources Dems. …

… Kendyl Parker is now campaign manager for Rep. Zach Nunn’s (R-Iowa) reelect. She previously was a manager at FP1 Strategies. … Alison Cohen is now health and domestic policy legislative aide for Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.). She previously was legislative aide for Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.). … Janel Forsythe is now media associate for the Campaign Legal Center’s campaign finance and ethics team. She previously was a strategist at UpShift Strategies.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Rachel Dolin, a professional staff member for the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Dems, and Thomas Eager, a professional staff member for the House Intelligence Dems, welcomed Henry Isaac Eager on March 22. Pic

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: POLITICO’s Goli Sheikholeslami, Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns … Susannah Wellford of Running Start … Jeff Forbes … Chanse Jones … Russ Newell of UnitedHealth Group … Hope Goins of the House Homeland Security Dems … Fox News’ Lacey Christ … NBC’s Greg Martin … Ed Cash of Frontier Security Strategies … Greg Honan … Savannah Lane … Troy McCurry of the Pew Charitable Trusts … Keith Norman … Eliot Cohen … Mario Ruiz … Brian Zuzenak … Sam Newton (3-0)

Send Playbookers tips to [email protected] or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine.