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By SAM STEIN, ALEX THOMPSON and MAX TANI 
02/23/2022 05:38 PM EST
Presented by Facebook
Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. 
Send tips","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"mailto:[email protected]","_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d08a0003","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d08a0004","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Send tips | Subscribe here ","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/west-wing-playbook","_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d08a0006","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d08a0007","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Subscribe here | Email Alex","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"mailto:[email protected]","_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d08a0009","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d08a000a","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Email Alex | Email Max","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"mailto:[email protected]","_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d08b0000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d08b0001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Email Max
As the Biden administration looks over the cadaver that is their Build Back Better agenda, wondering what components, if any, it can resuscitate, one particular question vexes administration officials.
Could they have ended up in a better place had the framing around the legislation been any different?
The answer, among Democrats, is “likely, no.” In light of failure to pass far-reaching legislation, it’s always convenient to blame communications missteps when other political factors did the trick.
That said, inside the White House there is a sense that their push was hurt — materially so — by the media’s description of Build Back Better as a “social spending” bill and not an economic one.
The legislation does contain components that would have immense impacts on society: from expanded access to health insurance, to opening up avenues for free education, to historic investments in climate change and the lowering of prescription drug costs. For that reason, the shorthand descriptor of “social spending” has been used across the media ecosystem, including in this very outlet you’re reading right now.
But the White House has long argued that the Build Back Better initiative is about economic stabilization; that the point of the bill was to make it so families could get to work more easily, have less anxiety about the care of their children, and access the tools and education that would place them more firmly in the job market. The bill was constructed off Biden’s American Families Plan, which, while less about economic “recovery,” was pitched as","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/28/fact-sheet-the-american-families-plan/","_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d08b0002","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d08b0003","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>pitched as “an investment in our kids, our families, and our economic future.” The Fourth Estate’s decision to present all this under the rubric of social welfare, they contend, has hurt the bill politically.
“The president’s economic growth agenda has always been about rebuilding our infrastructure, our manufacturing and our workforce here at home across the board,” said a senior White House official. “The collective decision of the media to describe this as ‘massive social spending,’ or ‘social welfare,’ reflects the exact problems that have held our economy back for so long, and also problematically suggests that hard-working women are some kind of charity case rather than a true engine of our economy.”
How much actual damage the framing of Build Back Better as a social spending bill did with respect to its passage is inherently impossible to quantify. Certainly, a number of other factors seemed to play prominent roles. The president’s falling approval rating has weakened his bully pulpit; the decision to break off and pass the bill’s infrastructure components sapped momentum for passage of the rest of the package; the persistently high inflation has compelled lawmakers to hit pause on a nearly $2 trillion package; and, more to the point, Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) never was actually on board with the specifics of any deal.
But Manchin’s own utterances have revealed that the bill’s perception as a “social spending” measure worsened its political salience. A few weeks ago, the West Virginia Democrat was asked about his views of legislation to help parents afford childcare in the midst of record inflation.
“I want nothing to do with that, ok? Nothing at all,” he responded","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://twitter.com/josephzeballos/status/1491826456456007680","_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d08b0005","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d08b0006","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>he responded. “These are all social issues. They should go through committee”
And in surveys following TERRY MCAULIFFE’s surprise loss in the Virginia gubernatorial election, Democratic pollsters warned that the party was suffering from a perception problem directly relevant to this debate.
“Voters think we are focused on social issues, not the economy,” wrote BRIAN STRYKER, a Democratic pollster","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://thirdway.imgix.net/pdfs/override/Qualitative-Research-Findings-%E2%80%93-Virginia-Post-Election-Research.pdf","_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d08b0007","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d08b0008","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>wrote BRIAN STRYKER, a Democratic pollster. “They aren’t hearing us talk about the economy enough, and the things they are hearing about our agenda (people mentioned the child tax credit, paid leave, free college) don’t have to do with getting people back to work or taking on the cost of goods. That’s deadly in an environment when it’s the top issue.”
The absence of legislative action on BBB has already had real-world impacts. A Columbia research survey","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.povertycenter.columbia.edu/news-internal/monthly-poverty-january-2022","_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d08b0009","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d08b000a","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Columbia research survey found that the monthly child poverty rate had increased from 12.1 percent in December to 17 percent in January — the same period in which the enhanced child tax credit that Democrats had wanted to extend further through the bill had lapsed. The answer, from inside the White House, has been to try and engineer a framing shift: to continue to argue that Build Back Better could help with inflation by tackling the biggest cost drivers that families face; and that it would lock in the economic gains made over the past year.
“We are still pursuing several critical investments in our economy and our people, through child care and many other issues,” senior adviser to the president, GENE SPERLING, told ADAM CANCRYN, this week. “”We’re continuing to push our policy goals and hope that we’re able to get crucial ones over the line, but I’m not going to try to predict at this point. We all know the challenges”
TEXT US — Are you KURT CAMPBELL, the Asia Coordinator at the National Security Council?  We want to hear from you and we’ll keep you anonymous. 
Or if you think we missed something in today’s edition, let us know and we may include it tomorrow.  Email us at [email protected]","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"mailto:[email protected]","_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d08b000c","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d08b000d","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>[email protected] or you can text/Signal/Wickr Alex at 8183240098 or Max at 7143455427.

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It’s reader submitted trivia Wednesday! Thanks to DAN SHEEHAN for this one — which two presidents share a birthday? Different years, but same day.
(Answer at the bottom.)

SCOOP — ANGIE KELLEY, senior counselor for immigration at the Department of Homeland Security Secretary, announced her departure to staff today. It’s the latest change in the administration’s immigration team that has seen several high-ranking departures over the first year.
In a statement, Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS said: “Angie’s leadership and counsel have been instrumental to our Department’s efforts to rebuild a humane immigration system. We thank Angie for her tireless work during the first year of the administration and wish her the very best.” A DHS official said that Kelley continues to work as a Senior Counselor to the Secretary and is expected to depart DHS in the coming weeks.
WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This New York Times op-ed","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/23/opinion/putin-ukraine.html","_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d0910003","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d0910004","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>This New York Times op-ed by former Secretary of State MADELEINE ALBRIGHT in which she recalls some of her previous interactions with VLADIMIR PUTIN, and predicts that his invasion of Ukraine will be a “historic error.” “Instead of paving Russia’s path to greatness, invading Ukraine would ensure Mr. Putin’s infamy by leaving his country diplomatically isolated, economically crippled and strategically vulnerable in the face of a stronger, more united Western alliance,” she writes.
WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: A warning in the Times","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/23/business/stock-market-correction.html","_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d0910006","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d0910007","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>A warning in the Times about the potentially negative impact of Russia’s invasion on global markets. The paper suggests that recent trends suggest the economic consequences of an invasion and steep sanctions could trigger a bear market or even a recession.

As Playbook noted this morning, ALEIGHA CAVALIER, previously the associate director of the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach at the White House, is now a VP at Precision Strategies.

RARE PRAISE: Sen. TED CRUZ (R-Tex.) announced today that he is lifting","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://twitter.com/AndrewDesiderio/status/1496548250714783747/photo/1","_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d0960000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d0960001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>announced today that he is lifting his hold on confirming Biden State department nominees after the administration announced its plans to impose sanctions on the company and CEO behind the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
Over the past several months, the Texas Republican had held up nominees over the administration’s previous decision to waive sanctions against the company and its chief. Upon lifting his hold, Cruz offered praise for Biden, saying the administration “made the right decision today,” and has taken “positive steps” in the form of formalizing sanctions and providing arms to Ukraine.

“DANGEROUS” — The White House pushed back on Wednesday against several new initiatives by Texas Gov. GREG ABBOTT and state attorney general KEN PAXTON to label certain healthcare measures for transgender kids—including including hormone therapy and puberty blockers — as “child abuse” under state law.
The new measures advise teachers","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://twitter.com/mjs_DC/status/1496564860917895172","_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d0980002","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d0980003","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>advise teachers to report children who undergo such treatments to the state. In a statement to the Dallas Morning News","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.axios.com/texas-abott-gender-affirming-care-trans-kids-423467ea-d634-4f2d-92cf-f688c43369f6.html","_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d0980004","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d0980005","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>a statement to the Dallas Morning News, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE called the move “dangerous,” saying that said conservative officials in Texas should “stop inserting themselves into health care decisions that create needless tension between pediatricians and their patients.”
JOE’S RED LINE: NAHAL TOOSIreports today that Biden is so dead set on avoiding the possibility of a U.S.-Russian military encounter that he pulled scores of U.S. troops out of Ukraine who had been training that country’s fighters. White House Press Secretary JEN PSAKI today repeatedly pledged that U.S. troops are not going to be sent to fight in Ukraine.
Some critics say Biden has emboldened Putin by taking troops off the table but administration officials pushed back on that to Nahal. When asked if Putin’s moves have sparked a rethink or grumbling within the administration about Biden’s stance, they are blunt in their replies.
“No,” one senior administration official said. “Absolutely not,” a Pentagon official added. “No one wants to risk nuclear war with Russia over Ukraine.”

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How Biden shaped the record of his own Supreme Court contenders (POLITICO’s Laura Barrón-López and Burgess Everett)
​​Is Jen Psaki the Next Rachel Maddow?","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://puck.news/is-jen-psaki-the-next-rachel-maddow/","_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d0a10000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d0a10001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>​​Is Jen Psaki the Next Rachel Maddow? (Puck’s Dylan Byers)

Biden received the president’s daily brief in the morning.

Vice President KAMALA HARRIS received the daily brief with the president. She also met with the National Black Caucus of State Legislators in the Vice President’s Ceremonial Office.

One book JOHN KIRBY recommends you read? A journalism related one, of course — he is the press secretary of the Defense Department after all: “Journalism Next,” by MARK BRIGGS.
“I’m an old guy, which means I have very little imagination anymore,” he self-deprecatingly wrote in a reading list he put together for Foriegn Policy","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://foreignpolicy.com/2012/12/31/an-admirals-surprising-reading-list/","_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d0a70000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d0a70001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>he self-deprecatingly wrote in a reading list he put together for Foriegn Policy in 2012. “What I like about this little book is that it forces me to think about ‘what’s next’ in the field of journalism. I know enough to know that if I can’t understand that, I’m dead in this business.”
Kirby gives a sneak peak of the book’s contents, too: “You’ll learn the future of micro-blogging, how to edit digital audio and how to make news ‘participatory.’ It’s a textbook of sorts for digital journalists, but PAOs and MCs can benefit a lot by reading it.”
The 2009 book sounds a bit dated. We asked if he had updated his choice, and he provided us with a whole new list of recs. Stay tuned for it in tomorrow’s edition!

JAMES POLK was born on Nov. 2, 1795, and WARREN G. HARDING was born on the same day","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/on-presidential-births-and-deaths.htm","_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d0a90001","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-4db1-d0ea-a9ff-fdf1d0a90002","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>born on the same day of the year in 1865.
A CALL OUT — Thanks again to Dan for submitting this question. Do you have a better trivia question? Send us your hardest trivia question on the presidents and we may feature it on Wednesdays.
Edited by Sam Stein
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