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Good Tuesday morning. The most important news for D.C. first: Metro is operating on a Saturday schedule today. (Doesn’t every day feel like a Saturday schedule?) http://wapo.st/2mmJUAo And the federal government is opening three hours late, per the Office of Personnel Management.
– “Snowed In? Here’s What to Cook, Watch, Listen To and More,” by NYT’s Tim Herrera and Michelle L. Dozois: http://nyti.ms/2nzdyml
THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE has spoken, and 24 million is the number. That’s how many more people the CBO predicts will be uninsured by 2024 under the current Republican plan. That’s a big number. Period. Here’s what Republicans will try to say: We never said we would insure as many people as Obamacare does. And the bill might still pass the House. Here is what a senior GOP aide said to us last night: “Members are in a good place. The key takeaway for them in the report was lower premiums. The president is committed to winning and getting this plan through and relief for Americans.” WHAT YOU'LL HEAR REPUBLICANS SAY: CBO can't judge what we're ACTUALLY trying to do.
BUT, BUT, BUT … This is not “insurance for everybody,” as President Donald Trump once promised. If you’re looking to kill the House bill, this might be your chance. Remember: this CBO director was appointed by Republicans. And Republicans tell us their biggest fear is that they now own health care. Have a problem with your health insurance? It’s now the Republicans’ fault, as one lawmaker told us.
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REALITY -- “GOP scrambles after scorching health bill appraisal,” by Kyle Cheney, Burgess Everett and Rachael Bade: “House Republican leaders plunged into damage control mode Monday after a brutal budgetary assessment of their Obamacare replacement threatened to upend Senate GOP support and armed their critics on the left. Speaker Paul Ryan’s team quickly pinpointed rosier elements of the report by the Congressional Budget Office, from cost savings to lower premiums. But the bottom line -- that the number of uninsured Americans will climb by 24 million within a decade -- threatened to upend the GOP leadership’s fragile efforts to unite congressional Republicans around the plan. ‘Can’t sugarcoat it. Doesn’t look good,’ said Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.). ‘The CBO score was, shall we say, an eye popper.’” http://politi.co/2n4kyLp
THE HEADLINE -- NYT: “24 MILLION MORE AMONG UNINSURED UNDER G.O.P. PLAN … Also by 2026, C.B.O. Projects $337 Billion to Be Cut From the Federal Deficit” http://nyti.ms/2mmP12X ... USA TODAY: "ACA repeal may boost uninsured 24M."
-- “Health Bill Would Add 24 Million Uninsured but Save $337 Billion, Report Says,” by NYT’s Thomas Kaplan and Robert Pear: “The House Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act would increase the number of people without health insurance by 24 million by 2026, while slicing $337 billion off federal budget deficits over that time, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Monday. Republicans had been bracing for what was almost certain to be a bleak accounting of the legislation’s projected effects. The American Health Care Act, as Republicans call their bill, was already facing widespread criticism from health care providers, some conservatives and a united Democratic Party.
“The much-anticipated judgment by Capitol Hill’s official scorekeeper did not back up President Trump’s promise of providing health care for everyone and was likely to fuel the concerns of moderate Republicans. Next year, it said, the number of uninsured Americans would be 14 million higher than expected under current law. But it also provided talking points for House Republican leaders who need the support of rebellious conservatives to pass the measure: lower deficits, reduced federal spending and tax cuts.” http://nyti.ms/2mEL7UX
-- “CBO: Defunding Planned Parenthood would lead to thousands more births,” by WaPo’s Sandhya Somashekhar: http://wapo.st/2nof0J2
SCOOP -- IT COULD BE WORSE -- “White House analysis of Obamacare repeal sees even deeper insurance losses than CBO,” by Paul Demko: “A White House analysis of the GOP plan to repeal and replace Obamacare shows even steeper coverage losses than the projections by the Congressional Budget Office, according to a document viewed by POLITICO on Monday. The executive branch analysis forecast that 26 million people would lose coverage over the next decade, versus the 24 million CBO estimates. The White House has made efforts to discredit the forecasts from the nonpartisan CBO. White House officials late Monday night disputed that the document is an analysis of the bill’s coverage effects. Instead, they say it was an attempt by [OMB] to predict what CBO’s scorekeepers would conclude about the GOP repeal plan.”
“‘This is not an analysis of the bill in any way whatsoever,’ White House Communications Director Michael Dubke told POLITICO. ‘This is OMB trying to project what CBO’s score will be using CBO’s methodology.’ The analysis found that under the American Health Care Act the coverage losses would include 17 million for Medicaid, six million in the individual market and three million in employer-based plans. A total of 54 million individuals would be uninsured in 2026 under the GOP plan, according to this White House analysis. That’s nearly double the number projected under current law.” http://politi.co/2n4aLVL
CARE ABOUT HEALTH CARE? -- Get the latest news on the health care fight. Sign up for Dan Diamond’s POLITICO Pulse to get the newsletter every weekday morning — in your inbox. http://politi.co/2mVjdWD
THE PRESIDENT is lunching with Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the deputy crown prince and defense minister of Saudi Arabia. He’s going to call Anthem CEO Joseph Swedish and HHS Secretary Tom Price. And then he’s calling Speaker Paul Ryan and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Trump’s planned meeting today with German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been pushed back to Friday because of the storm.
-- CREDIT WHERE DUE: Trump makes public way more phone calls than Obama did.
SOMETHING TO WATCH -- “Issa’s own poll suggests that Trump is a burden,” by L.A. Times’ Joshua Stewart: “A month after Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) won reelection in the closest congressional race in the country, the congressman got a warning that his next contest could be even tougher. An internal poll by Issa’s campaign showed a nearly 10-percentage point drop in his favorability ratings between mid-October and early December -- and that one likely reason the lawmaker’s image took a hit was because of his support for President Trump.” http://lat.ms/2mmMPby
EYEBROW RAISER -- “Kushners Set to Get $400 Million From Chinese Firm on Tower,” by Bloomberg’s David Kocieniewski and Caleb Melby: “A company owned by the family of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, stands to receive more than $400 million from a prominent Chinese company that is investing in the Kushners’ marquee Manhattan office tower at 666 Fifth Ave. The planned $4-billion transaction includes terms that some real estate experts consider unusually favorable for the Kushners. It provides them with both a sizable cash payout from Anbang Insurance Group for a property that has struggled financially and an equity stake in a new partnership.” http://bloom.bg/2nz5Vw6
WHAT MIKE POMPEO IS READING -- “Trump Gave CIA Power to Launch Drone Strikes,” by WSJ’s Gordon Lubold and Shane Harris: “President Donald Trump has given the Central Intelligence Agency secret new authority to conduct drone strikes against suspected terrorists, U.S. officials said, changing the Obama administration’s policy of limiting the spy agency’s paramilitary role and reopening a turf war between the agency and the Pentagon. The new authority, which hadn’t been previously disclosed, represents a significant departure from a cooperative approach that had become standard practice by the end of former President Barack Obama’s tenure: The CIA used drones and other intelligence resources to locate suspected terrorists and then the military conducted the actual strike.” http://on.wsj.com/2lVU3YI
UPDATE -- “2 more U.S. attorneys win reprieves from dismissal order,” by Josh Gerstein: “The chief federal prosecutors in Connecticut and northern New York have won short-term reprieves from President Donald Trump’s abrupt action Friday demanding immediate resignations from several dozen U.S. attorneys appointed by President Barack Obama. U.S. Attorney for Connecticut Deirdre Daly said in a statement Monday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions agreed to allow her to remain in her job until later this year. ... Albany-based U.S. Attorney Richard Hartunian issued a similar statement. Nominated by Obama in 2009 and confirmed in 2010, Hartunian said he was being allowed to stay through June in order to hit his 20-year mark at the Justice Department.” http://politi.co/2nzdjYt
TILLERSON GETS A WIN -- “Cuts to State will be reduced in final Trump proposal,” by Shane Goldmacher and Josh Dawsey: “The State Department budget won’t be getting cut as deeply as President Donald Trump initially suggested after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson successfully pushed back with the White House, according to people familiar with the plans. The budget blueprint expected later this week will still trim funding for both the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development next year, but by less than the 37 percent initially floated in preliminary documents sent out by the White House in late February. The budget revision is expected to include ‘staged cuts’ spread out over several years, instead of the immediate hit, according to a senior administration official, who said that the White House is giving Tillerson time ‘to do a deeper analysis on foreign aid.’” http://politi.co/2nzkpw4
-- “White House Seeks to Cut Billions in Funding for United Nations,” by Foreign Policy’s Colum Lynch: “State Department staffers have been instructed to seek cuts in excess of 50 percent in U.S. funding for U.N. programs, signaling an unprecedented retreat by President Donald Trump’s administration from international operations that keep the peace, provide vaccines for children, monitor rogue nuclear weapons programs, and promote peace talks from Syria to Yemen, according to three sources. ... It remains unclear whether the full extent of the steeper U.N. cuts will be reflected in the 2018 budget.” http://atfp.co/2mV0wCz
COMING ATTRACTIONS – “Pence slated to visit Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and Australia in April,” by CNN’s Dan Merica: “Details on the trip are not yet public, but it represents a chance for Pence to smooth over relations with US allies who are adjusting to President Donald Trump’s new leadership style and to discuss Trump’s decision to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a deal that would have included Japan and Australia.” http://cnn.it/2mHA12P
DEEP DIVE – NEW NYT MAG COVER STORY, “The New Party of No: How a president and a protest movement transformed the Democrats,” by Charles Homans: Harry “Reid brought [Elizabeth] Warren onto the Democratic Senate leadership team in 2014, and she was one of the people he most trusted to keep the Senate caucus on its bearings through the difficult weather ahead. Shortly before Thanksgiving, he summoned Warren to the minority leader’s office. When she arrived, the room was littered with art supplies; on an easel was a half-finished portrait of Reid that would be unveiled at his retirement party the following month. Its subject was preoccupied with the future of the party to which he had dedicated decades of his life. Reid told Warren she needed to think seriously about running for president in 2020.” http://nyti.ms/2n41U6m … The cover http://bit.ly/2nzmd8q
THE JUICE …
-- THE CAFE MILANO CROWD: Tom Barrack, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Michael Wolff, Tammy Haddad, Steve Clemons and Francesca Chambers all spotted at the Georgetown restaurant last night.
-- FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: AMERICAN BRIDGE, the liberal super PAC founded by David Brock, is out with a polling memo on Trump’s vulnerabilities. Their findings: “Trump’s plans for Obamacare, Planned Parenthood and tax cuts for the wealthy raise the most concerns with these voters. Of the 13 aspects of Trump’s agenda that we tested in this poll, the three that raised the most concerns with Obama / Trump voters were his plans to repeal Obamacare, to defund Planned Parenthood, and to pass a tax plan that gives massive tax cuts to the wealthy, but little to regular Americans.” The memo http://politi.co/2n4h0cb
-- BIPARTISAN ROAD TRIP: Because of messed-up flights due to the storm, REP. BETO O’ROURKE (D-Tex.) and REP. WILL HURD (R-Tex.) are renting a car (a Chevy Impala) this morning in San Antonio and driving back to D.C. in a marathon 24-hour trip. They will livestream as much of the trip as they can and take questions from their Facebook and Periscope accounts in a countrywide town hall. Pic of them in front of their rental this a.m. http://bit.ly/2mnhaI3
SIGN UP TODAY! -- PLAYBOOK POOL COLLEGE BBALL CHALLENGE – SUBMIT YOUR BRACKET! On Day 1 we’ve already had over 1,000 entries – have you signed up? Here’s how to enter: 1) Head to our website and make your picks. 2) Be sure to list your “sponsor” – aka, the Playbook that referred you. 3) Choose wisely – you’ll be up against POLITICO insiders, VIPs & elected officials. 4) Sit back and compete to win prizes and brag to your friends when your name is atop the leader board. The deadline for the bracket challenge is now extended to Thursday, March 16 at 11:45 a.m. http://bit.ly/2mBRTNX
BREITBART VS. RYAN – “Exclusive — Audio Emerges of When Paul Ryan Abandoned Donald Trump: ‘I Am Not Going to Defend Donald Trump—Not Now, Not in the Future’” http://bit.ly/2nz3Sbs … Flashback, 10/10/16, Politico, “Ryan abandons Trump” http://politi.co/2mmYxDW
MEGATRENDS – “World prepares to move on without U.S. on trade: Competitors say they have no choice but to take the money U.S. businesses would have earned otherwise,” by Adam Behsudi in Vina Del Mar, Chile: “Here’s what happens when the U.S. pulls out of a major trade deal [like TPP]: New Zealand seizes the opportunity to send more of its milk and cheese to China. Japanese consumers pay less for Australian beef than for American meat. Canadians talk about sending everything from farm products to banking services to Japan and India. ... [O]ther countries are ready to rush into the vacuum the U.S. is leaving behind, negotiating tariff-cutting deals that could eliminate any competitive advantage for U.S. goods.” http://politi.co/2mmZD1R
IN THE AIR -- “Trump Force One Is Ready for Takeoff: After decades in the sky, the president’s fleet is finally getting an upgrade—unless the new passenger-in-chief adds turbulence,” by Garrett Graff in Bloomberg Businessweek: “[A]lmost two decades after the first efforts to upgrade Marine One and Air Force One began, both are at least momentarily ready for takeoff. There’s no telling yet whether the new president, who has a keen interest in aviation, will let the programs proceed or send them back to the gate. Two helicopters have been built and are undergoing on-the-ground testing; the first is expected to take to the air this summer. If everything stays on track, the debut presidential flight could come as soon as 2020, with the full fleet arriving by 2023, at a total cost of about $5 billion, if not less.” http://buswk.co/TrumpForceOne
MEET ‘WAYNE TRACKER’ -- “Tillerson Used ‘Alias’ Email for Climate Messages, N.Y. Says,” by Bloomberg’s Erik Larson: “New York says Secretary of State Rex Tillerson used an email alias to discuss climate change while he was Exxon Mobil Corp.’s chief executive: Wayne Tracker. Tillerson sent messages from the account to discuss the risks posed by climate change, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a court filing about his office’s fraud investigation of the company. Tillerson, whose middle name is Wayne, used the Wayne Tracker account on the Exxon system from at least 2008 through 2015, Schneiderman said. Schneiderman made the claim in a letter Monday to Justice Barry Ostrager in New York state court in Manhattan, accusing Exxon of failing to turn over all relevant documents required by a court order.
“The filing comes in a protracted legal dispute in which Exxon seeks to derail probes by New York and Massachusetts into whether the company misled investors for years about the possible impact of climate change on its business. Tillerson used the account for ‘secure and expedited communications between select senior company officials and the former chairman for a broad range of business-related topics,’ after his primary account began receiving too many messages, Exxon spokesman Alan Jeffers said in an email.” http://bloom.bg/2mmNdqA
FACT CHECK -- “No, Microwave Ovens Cannot Spy on You—for Lots of Reasons,” by Wired’s Lily Hay Newman: “It’s true that lots of things can be turned into listening devices. It’s also true that attackers can compromise internet-connected gadgets. And yes, the WikiLeaks data outlines various (alleged) CIA methods of compromising cellphones and Samsung TVs to surveil targets. [Kellyanne] Conway isn’t even the only one who associates microwave ovens with government spying. ‘Is the CIA listening to me through my microwave oven, and through my TV, and through my cell phone,’ asked late-night host Stephen Colbert of former CIA and NSA head Michael Hayden last week. (The answer was ‘no,’ at least if you’re an American citizen.) Still, it must be said: Microwave ovens are not an effective spy tool.” http://bit.ly/2mmFg5B
--MOLLY BALL in The Atlantic, “Washington’s Spy Paranoia: Who did the Russian ambassador meet in D.C.? Welcome to America’s capital city, where everyday encounters may not be what they seem”: “It is a funny feeling to realize you may have unwittingly come into contact with Russian intelligence—but not, these days, a totally uncommon one in Washington. ‘There I was, standing in the entrance hall,’ recalled Trevor Potter, a prominent election lawyer and former chairman of the [FEC]. This was in December, at a lavish holiday party at the French ambassador’s residence, teeming with D.C. types—diplomats, journalists, consultants, lobbyists, current and former officials. Potter had just entered when he saw the French ambassador, whom he knew, conversing with a man he didn’t know: a stocky, Slavic-looking fellow in a dark suit.
“‘The French ambassador said, ‘Do you know Sergey, the Russian ambassador?’ I said I did not, and we shook hands,’ Potter told me recently. At the time, there was nothing particularly notable about the encounter. But now, with Congress and federal investigators probing alleged Russian meddling in last year’s presidential election, it feels a little bit creepy. The ambassador Potter met that night, Sergey Kislyak, is a central figure, alleged to be a high-level Kremlin spy, and his every phone call and handshake with associates of President Trump has come under close examination.” http://theatln.tc/2n4djDe
JACK SHAFER on PREET BHARARA: “The Canonization of Preet Bharara”: “Almost everybody errs at some point during their career by thinking that their job belongs to them and not to their boss. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara pretended to make this mistake last week when he declined to hand in his resignation when, as is his right, President Donald Trump asked for it. Once the White House obliged Bharara’s grandstanding message of I won’t quit, you’ll have to fire me, the torrents of predictable press accolades began cascading down on him like a spring thaw in the Rockies.” http://politi.co/2mmWJKe
MEDIAWATCH -- “How a Wonky National-Security Blog Hit the Big Time,” by Emily Bazelon in the NYT Mag: “With a steady stream of writing by law professors and law students as well as former Bush and Obama officials, Lawfare has helped translate and test the legal and policy framework that lawyers in the military and intelligence communities have hammered out. … In the Trump era, the blog has at once lost its cachet in the highest echelons of government and become relevant to a far larger audience as the writers train their expertise on the biggest controversies of the new presidency. Lawfare contributors still have deep ties throughout the national-security and foreign-service career ranks, and many posts reflect their shared concerns about Trump and his team ... Lawfare has already generated more traffic for 2017 (about 3.5 million page views) than for all of 2016.” http://nyti.ms/2lVNSUB
--“Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Set to Interview President Trump” in an interview that will air Wednesday night – The Wrap: http://bit.ly/2n444CW
--“CNN hires Chris Cillizza,” by Hadas Gold: “Cillizza is joining CNN Politics as a reporter and editor at large, with a digital presence and an on-air role.” http://politi.co/2niI6fW
SPOTTED -- House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) with his police escort boarding the Acela early Monday from N.Y. headed to D.C. -- he boarded ten minutes early and was later seen ordering food in the cafe ... Mark Halperin and Mark McKinnon with some camera equipment yesterday morning in the lobby of the Georgetown Four Seasons ... Mark Leibovich last night at the Edgar bar at the Mayflower ... Denis McDonough, dressed for winter, walking up 14th street at R around 8:45 a.m. ... NYT’s Kinsey Wilson on the 4 p.m. Acela, getting out of D.C. pre-storm ... Jamie Dimon yesterday in the Hay Adams lobby.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Model Kenza Fourati and MSNBC anchor Ayman Mohyeldin welcomed their first child on Sunday night. “Their daughter Dora Fourati Mohyeldin surprised them by arriving two weeks earlier than planned after a weekend hiking trip in upstate New York. Baby Dora is named after Kenza’s mother, an award-winning filmmaker. The couple chose the name because it works in the many languages she’ll grow up with in their multi-cultural family: French, Arabic and English. It’s also a nod to the tradition of strong women in baby Dora’s family on both her mother’s and father’s side.” Pic http://bit.ly/2nzbnPt
ENGAGED -- MAKE AMERICA BIPARTISAN AGAIN -- Michael Thompson, managing director at Goldman Sachs and alum of former Sen. Sam Brownback, Sen. Mike Enzi, and former Rep. Vito Fossella, proposed to Elizabeth Alyson Hart, executive vice president at Crossroads Strategies and alum of Baron Hill, Melissa Bean, and John Carney, after a quiet dinner at Le Refuge in Old Town. Pic http://bit.ly/2nmpgRS
TRANSITIONS -- Daniel “Danny” Glaser, former Treasury assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes, has joined the Financial Integrity Network as a principal. http://politi.co/2mEVE2o ... TJ Ducklo has left Bloomberg, and has joined “The Circus” team at Showtime -- doing some producing and helping with communications on the show. He’s also continuing to work with Mark Halperin and John Heilemann on their other projects. ... Michael Beckel has joined Issue One as manager of research for investigations and policy analysis. He was formerly a political reporter with the Center for Public Integrity. ...
… Cathy McLaughlin, former executive director of the Harvard Institute of Politics, is headed to Delaware to join the Biden Institute as the executive director for strategic initiatives and administration. ... Kyle Sanders is joining D.C. government affairs firm Chamber Hill Strategies as a principal; he previously was legislative director and counsel for Rep. David Rouzer (R-N.C.). http://politi.co/2mmAjck Eric Schmutz joined the firm as principal last week; he most recently was legislative director and deputy COS for Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kans.).
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Lily Adams, Clinton campaign alum and comms director for Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), is 3-0 – she’s celebrating by having dinner tonight with her parents and brother at Red Hen – “the last time we were all together on my birthday, George W. Bush was in the WH” -- read her Playbook Plus Q&A: http://politi.co/2lW8Tyj
BIRTHDAYS: Craig T. Smith, former consultant for Hillary for America ... Matt David, VP of global public affairs at Match Group, Huntsman and Kasich Super PAC alum and the pride of Wagoner, Okla., is 38 … Andrea Bozek, SVP at Mercury and former NRSC comms. director ... Chris Edwards of Edward Marc Chocolatier, a Bush alum and the pride of Pittsburgh ... WaPo Tokyo bureau chief Anna Fifield, an FT alum ... Ashley Simmons, newly promoted director of gov’t and public affairs at the Telecommunications Industry Association ... Allen Gannett, founder and CEO of competitive marketing intelligence firm TrackMaven (h/t Jack Quinn) ... Alicia Pardo ... Deb Jospin (h/ts Jon Haber) ... Kelsey Cooper, Rand Paul’s state comms director (h/t Sarah Pompei) ... former Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) is 69 ... Susan Swecker, chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia (h/t Sean Johnson) ... Ebs Burnough, president of EBSI Communications and Public Affairs ... GOP fundraiser Jim McCray … Lauren Mullins, comms director for Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy (h/t Hanna Hope) … Christian Gomez, economic growth advisor at USAID and the pride of the Potomac School ... T.A. Hawks, former Thad Cochran COS now at Monument Policy Group (h/t Stewart Verdery) ... Coleman Lapointe of the Barbara Bush Foundation, who was Jeb’s body man during the campaign (h/t Jon Otto) ... Amy Travieso, director of congressional and public affairs at the U.S. Chamber ... former Rep. Bill Jefferson (D-La.) is 7-0 ... Rick Grafmeyer, a partner at Capitol Tax Partners (and formerly deputy staff director for the Joint Committee on Taxation as well as for the Senate Finance Committee) is 6-0 – he celebrated by checking off a bucket list item: he played tennis and shared stories with Jimmy Connors over several days in Boca Raton (h/t wife Sheila) ...
... Josh Walker, director of global programs at APCO Worldwide, fellow at the German Marshall Fund and a State alum, celebrating in Astana, Kazakhstan, with Expo 2017 and the Syrian peace negotiations ... Xometry’s Jennie LaCourt, a Politico alum ... Peter Rose, Sard Verbinnen & Co. vice chairman and former Blackstone Group head of public affairs (h/t Devin Banerjee) ... Jerry Greenfield, one-half of the eponymous Ben & Jerry’s ice cream (Ben is four days younger), is 66 (h/t Jewish Insider) ... Alexander Niejelow, SVP for global public policy at Mastercard and Obama NSC, OMB and DHS alum, and former Durham, NC police officer (h/t girlfriend Ioanna Kefalas) … N.Y. Post’s Carl Campanile … Bush alum Kathy Wright ... Lizzie Kendrick, director of digital engagement at The Campaign Workshop and DSCC alum ... DOE’s Allison Lantero and “@RayLaHood’s biggest fan,” per her Twitter ... Greg “Junior” North ... Andy Tannen ... N.H. Democratic State Sen. Martha Fuller Clark … Cantor alum Lloyd Lenhart … Prieur Du Plessis ... Steven Ellis ... Max McConkey, long-time education lobbyist now chief policy and comms. officer at ed R&D firm WestEd … Jason Klindt, Sam Graves alum now in gov’t affairs at Kansas City Power & Light … Margita Thompson, a Cheney, Schwarzenegger and CNN alum now VP of comms. at California Resources Corporation ... Julian Babbitt, ED at the Republican Party of Orange County ... John Aggrey is 58 ... filmmaker Elizabeth Mayo Chancey ... John Nagel ... Fox News’ John L Wallace III is 58 ... Albie Dickson, celebrating with the love of her life … John Frew … Gus Bickford … Ben Hodapp (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) ... Gregory North ... Billy Crystal is 69 ... Prince Albert II, the ruler of Monaco, is 59 ... Simone Biles is 20 (h/ts AP)