POLITICO

Few people will matter more in Washington this year than James Blair, who will temporarily leave the White House to run Trump's midterm operation. "They are extremely bullish on redistricting," said our @DashaBurns after speaking with Blair. 🎧More highlights from her interview on @playbookdc podcast: politi.co/43aH2wt

NEWS — Speaker Mike Johnson tells @politico he still plans for the House to vote on changes to the Senate’s version of the stalled housing bill — despite intense opposition from White House officials and Senate Republicans. “Yeah, I don't think we have the votes to pass the Senate bill as this, so we're going to stand by the House product,” Johnson said. In doing so, Johnson is defying White House officials who’ve told us they were blindsided by the text release and there could be major problems with it. Johnson was dismissive of that pushback: “I’ve talked to the White House. We'll get it all straightened out,” he said Friday. “We're focused on producing a housing bill that meets all the objectives,” Johnson continued. “It'll be bipartisan, bicameral. It's great for the American people. So, sometimes the process is messy, but we'll get there.” House GOP leaders are planning to put the bill on the floor via suspension next Weds. Johnson told us they would discuss final decisions on timing later today. politico.com/live-updates/2…

Johnson: House will amend stalled housing bill despite White House, Senate GOP pushback dlvr.it/TSYSK1

Voters in both parties want gerrymandering wars, a new Politico poll found. But Dems are split on whether the party should work across the aisle or fight harder — and that has major implications for 2026 and beyond, notes @adamwren on @playbookdc pod. 🎧 politi.co/4dKIA6z

A closely guarded plan to cool Earth is revealed dlvr.it/TSYQqh

New: another consequence of redistricting? Even fewer competitive House seats. so long to wave elections, hello to slim majorities politico.com/news/2026/05/1…

NEW — Nervous Republicans weigh their options amid White House’s ballroom lobbying blitz. That includes Senate Republicans discussing possible changes amid the blowback. “I haven’t committed one way or another until we get more of a further breakdown as to how it’s going to be allocated,” Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.) told @politico Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), who warned earlier this week that the ballroom funding was “not happening” on the immigration bill, told us of his constituents: “They want DHS funded, they want ICE reforms, and they don’t want taxpayer funds going to a ballroom,” Fitzpatrick said. Senate Republicans, including party leaders, are even discussing making potential changes to the $ 1 billion-dollar overall security ask as they deal with member concerns — and wait for the chamber’s parliamentarian to rule on whether it can even be included in the GOP’s party-line immigration enforcement funding bill. No final decisions have been made, but options include REDUCING the amount of funding. The discussions are centered on “how to get 50 votes in the Senate,” Majority Leader John Thune told @jordainc about the security funding talks. “And then obviously what happens with the parliamentarian will have a lot to do with how that shakes out, too.” The WH’s all-out pressure campaign is making some progress too as they lean on GOP lawmakers to approve the $ More w/ @jordainc @_alibianco @Reporter_Mia @JAscholtes @ktullymcmanus politi.co/4tBVloU via @politico

New in @playbookdc: @turek4iowa is out with his latest six-figure buy on this new ad: youtube.com/watch?v=x_S2i6…

NEW: My long chat with @LamarAlexander about his memoir, out next week. He says Jan 6 clearly was "high crimes and misdemeanors" and all but begs his party to move on from Trump "I think the country is going to be ready for an American president with character, temperament, good manners, good use of language, good demeanor. The kind of person that we are happy to introduce our grandson to and hope he emulates." Which we don’t have now? "No, we don’t have that now."

New results from The POLITICO Poll show that Republican and Democratic voters are all in on an ends-justify-means approach to redistricting. More in today’s Playbook ⬇️ politico.com/playbook

‘20 years is enough’: Trump puts a timeline on limiting Iran’s nuclear program dlvr.it/TSYQ1P

Capitol agenda: Nervous GOP weighs options on ballroom dlvr.it/TSYN0x

Becerra’s frontrunner status comes with a warning sign dlvr.it/TSYGmR

Keisha Lance Bottoms’ lead is making some Georgia Democrats uneasy dlvr.it/TSYDm6

How a year of gerrymandering has further slashed competitive House seats dlvr.it/TSYD8V

Nervous Republicans weigh their options amid White House’s ballroom lobbying blitz dlvr.it/TSYD4d

‘A lot of good has come of it’: Trump is bullish on China visit  dlvr.it/TSY5pQ

Senate rulekeeper deals blows to GOP’s immigration enforcement package dlvr.it/TSY0N6

CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Raul Castro’s grandson in Havana, US and Cuban officials say dlvr.it/TSXykd

Newsom tries to balance California’s books — and head off 2028 liabilities dlvr.it/TSXy4t

Key Jeffries ally endorses aggressive tactics to create more blue seats dlvr.it/TSXxNY