By Eli Okun

STILL FLAILING — House Republicans dashed their plans for a procedural vote at 2:30 p.m. today for the continuing resolution, holding off on bringing up the rule for now as legislative wrangling continues. (Remember, this is all for the short-term spending plan that won’t even have a prayer of becoming law.) All the latest details from Sarah Ferris, Olivia Beavers and Jordain Carney in Inside Congress Live

“Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence,” President Joe Biden warned at the U.N. | Susan Walsh/AP Photo

TURTLE BAY BULLETIN — President JOE BIDEN delivered an impassioned speech aiming to rally continued support for Ukraine this morning at the U.N. General Assembly, where his target audience included not just world leaders but politicians back in Washington.

“Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence,” Biden warned, with Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY looking on. “But I ask you this: If we abandon the core principles of the United States to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they’re protected? If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?”

It was a familiar message from Biden, but one that comes amid “a dramatically changed backdrop” compared to his U.N. speech last year, Jonathan Lemire reports from NYC. The coalition supporting Ukraine is worried about how long robust support can last if Kyiv’s progress continues to be slow. And in the U.S., opposition to Ukraine aid has emerged as a key litmus test on the hard right, threatening its chances of getting through Congress this month.

“Will we find within ourselves the courage to do what must be done?” Biden concluded. “We must, and we will.”

Though his speech built up to Ukraine, it ran the gamut from AI’s promise and peril to human rights violations in Xinjiang and Darfur — and the importance of safeguarding democracy above all. It wasn’t hard to divine the domestic political resonance of several topics Biden hit: Early in his speech, he made sure to highlight PEPFAR, which has saved more than 25 million lives but is now under threat in Washington, as a “profound testament to what we can achieve when we act together.” And Biden touted U.S. moves to reenter UNESCO and provide extensive humanitarian aid, both rejoinders to DONALD TRUMP’s growing isolationist wing of the GOP.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN appealed for Ukraine’s allies to provide more air defense systems to the country — but “they appeared no closer to commitments on the longer-range missiles,” AP’s Lolita Baldor reports from Ramstein Air Base, Germany. Austin did announce that Abrams tanks are expected to reach the front lines shortly, per the NYT.

Back in D.C., congressional Republicans’ fight over spending could threaten the Ukraine war effort in more ways than one: Lara Seligman scoops that beyond the aid package itself, a government shutdown might prevent crucial weapons from reaching the battlefield and put a halt to military training. Austin could exempt training programs as essential activities to continue, but otherwise “they would be forced to grind to a stop.” And though the funding for weapons deliveries would continue, a shutdown could slow them down.

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CONGRESS

WHOOPSIE — As we wrote in Playbook this morning, Rep. RALPH NORMAN’s (R-S.C.) flip-flop yesterday on House Rules to send the CR to the floor seemed like a positive sign for Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY: one holdout persuaded. Not so fast, it turns out. Norman told Axios’ Andrew Solender that he supported it accidentally, confused about which bill was up for a vote, and will still oppose the CR on the floor.

KEEP DREAMING — Democrats are shooting down the unlikely idea of using a discharge petition as a way out of the government funding mess: “The only path forward to keeping the government open is a bipartisan, bicameral Continuing Resolution,” one aide tells NBC’s Sahil Kapur.

SPENDING SHOWDOWN — Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER said today that the chamber will hold a vote tomorrow to try to advance the “minibus” of three spending bills, which may need two-thirds of senators in the face of Sen. RON JOHNSON’s (R-Wis.) opposition. It’s unclear how much GOP support it will muster.

WHERE THE BUCK STOPS — Rep. KEN BUCK (R-Colo.) is an extremely unorthodox member of the House GOP, and that’s to say nothing of his involvement with the Freedom Caucus. Our colleague Olivia Beavers traveled to Highlands Ranch, Colo., for an insightful profile of the “opinionated and at times contrarian” Buck, who is seemingly always “willing to isolate himself from the right flank at the risk of backlash from his own colleagues.”

That streak has continued as Buck publicly rebukes McCarthy’s fiscal policies with a shutdown looming and his hesitance to embark on an impeachment inquiry into Biden. “I constantly find myself searching for the truth and being surrounded by people who disagree with me — not that they aren’t also searching for the truth, but they just disagree with me. And it’s a frustrating position to be in,” he told Olivia.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF BUDGET — House Budget Chair JODEY ARRINGTON (R-Texas) today put out a plan to reach a balanced budget within a decade, a messaging move that won’t go anywhere in the Senate but makes good on Republican pledges to lay out a path to fiscal responsibility. Details from Roll Call

GAETZ VS. DONALDS, PART II — As Florida GOP Reps. BYRON DONALDS and MATT GAETZ feud over the CR, WSJ’s Lindsay Wise asked Donalds if he would run for Florida governor too, like Gaetz is reportedly planning to do. “Probably,” Donalds responded “nonchalantly,” per NBC’s Scott Wong.

IMPEACHMENT LATEST — The House Oversight Committee has scheduled its opening salvo in the Biden impeachment inquiry for Sept. 28, when the panel will hold a hearing. The committee also said it will issue subpoenas to HUNTER BIDEN and JAMES BIDEN for records as soon as this week. More from NBC

HOW IT’S PLAYING — New Morning Consult polling shows plurality backing for the impeachment inquiry and fairly mixed opinions overall: By a 48% to 42% margin, voters say they support the investigation. Notably, McCarthy seems to be benefiting with his base: His favorability rating among Republicans has jumped from 42% to 49% since he announced the inquiry.

HMM … “House Republicans Downplay Meeting With Key Biden Aide,” by HuffPost’s Arthur Delaney: “Republicans now say the meeting didn’t count. ERIC SCHWERIN, a former Hunter Biden business partner who also did bookkeeping work for Joe Biden, told committee staff in March that the president had no involvement in his son’s business deals, contrary to Republican claims … [A] spokesperson for committee Republicans told Fox News last week that the committee ‘never interviewed Schwerin,’ apparently because the session was not transcribed like other witness interviews.”

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2024 WATCH

2025 DREAMING — The most important under-the-radar storyline in the presidential race is the vast Republican machinery in Washington gearing up to transform the federal bureaucracy in the next GOP administration. Today, Michael Hirsh has a major POLITICO Magazine deep dive into the work underway at the Heritage Foundation and America First Policy Institute. They aim to yank the country back to pre-WOODROW WILSON days by massively shrinking the administrative state, politicizing the bureaucracy, rooting out non-MAGA supporters and giving the White House much greater control over agencies. It’s a new Republican revolution.

Already, the efforts lay the groundwork for mass changes in the way the government is run for decades to come, ensuring that loyalty to Trump (and politicians like him) will be the principal criterion for federal employment:

• “The Project 2025 team is scouring records and social media accounts to rule out heretics — effectively administering loyalty tests.”
• A new series of video classes aims to tutor loyal conservatives in how to run the bureaucracy, positioning them to take over.
• “The exact number being targeted [to be rescheduled under Schedule F and made easier to fire] is still being decided, says RUSSELL VOUGHT.”

THE FOIL — NIKKI HALEY has done more than any other GOP presidential candidate to elevate VP KAMALA HARRIS into a top Democratic target on the campaign trail, WaPo’s Maeve Reston and Marisa Iati report. Focusing on Harris — including with evidence-free claims that Biden will die and be replaced by her — does a neat trick for Haley: subtly highlighting her gender, her age and her assertiveness while positioning her as the GOP’s next-generation answer to Democrats. But Republican attacks on Harris have also “renewed the debate over gender and sexism in the presidential race.”

PROVING GROUND — New Hampshire was the state that vaulted Trump to the forefront of the GOP presidential primary in 2016. In a new vox populi dispatch from Portsmouth, N.H., CNN’s John King takes stock of how Granite State voters feel about the former president now — and finds plenty of ongoing solid support. But there are plenty of mixed opinions, including GOP-leaning fishermen newly intrigued by ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. and independent voters feeling turned off by both parties.

MORE POLITICS

RED-LIGHT REDISTRICT — “Republicans win a temporary freeze in New York’s redistricting fight,” by Bill Mahoney in Albany: “The state’s top court Tuesday declined to force a mapmaking commission to immediately start drafting new lines. … It’s not likely there will be any immediate repercussions … But the court’s decision on Tuesday means that developing the new lines would create a condensed schedule.”

THE WHITE HOUSE

STRIKE WATCH — “Biden is tight with the head of GM. Could it affect the strike?” by Scott Waldman, Hailey Fuchs and Holly Otterbein: “General Motors CEO MARY BARRA has visited the White House eight times since Joe Biden became president. She’s led the auto industry in embracing his electric vehicle agenda. The president has spent years cultivating a tight relationship with her. But now, with the United Auto Workers on strike, Barra’s role as one of the White House’s closest corporate allies could become a problem for Biden.”

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BEYOND THE BELTWAY

BATTLE FOR THE BALLOT — A weekslong trial in Texas is considering the state’s major new elections law, which restricted voting by imposing new requirements after Trump promoted false election fraud claims, NYT’s Edgar Sandoval reports from San Antonio. Voters who couldn’t figure out how to navigate the new law and had their votes tossed out, including disabled and older people, have testified, as have election officials who said the new rules were confusing. But the defense’s side of the case has yet to come.

JUDICIARY SQUARE

BISS STEPS ASIDE — STEVEN BISS, a hard-charging lawyer who unleashed a flood of libel lawsuits in recent years on behalf of former Rep. DEVIN NUNES (R-Calif.) and other Trump allies, fell seriously ill last month and has been sidelined in pending cases, according to court filings reviewed by our Josh Gerstein.

Biss, 58, gained extensive press attention for the Nunes suits — in particular,one from 2019 that named as defendants the operators of two satirical Twitter accounts that mocked Nunes: “Devin Nunes’ Cow” and “Devin Nunes’ Mom.”

About 10 of Biss’ cases have been taken over by attorneys at the Alexandria, Va.-based Binnall Law Group, headed up by JESSE BINNALL, who already represents Trump in civil suits stemming from the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol and served as local counsel for former Trump national security adviser MICHAEL FLYNN.

Binnall’s firm has recently stepped into defamation suits Nunes and Trump Social filed against WaPo, Nunes’ suits against CNN, cases Flynn and his family brought against CNN, a suit former Nunes aide KASH PATEL brought against POLITICO, and Nunes’ appeal of a judge’s ruling throwing out a suit over a story written by POLITICO Playbook author Ryan Lizza while he worked for Esquire.

Judges have sealed details of Biss’ medical condition, but a person briefed on his situation said the attorney suffered a severe stroke. POLITICO could not locate any indication that Biss has communicated directly with the courts since mid-August.

“The court … wishes for a speedy recovery for Mr. Biss,” Manhattan-based U.S. District Court Judge ARUN SUBRAMANIAN wrote in a partially sealed order last week in one of the Flynn suits.

Binnall declined to discuss the details of Biss’ condition, but confirmed that his firm has taken over a slew of cases from the Charlottesville-based lawyer’s practice. “It’s sad circumstances and we’re fighting on,” Binnall said.

The change in legal personnel has created some strange bedfellows. Binnall’s firm is now representing a Texas activist, JOHN SABAL, in a libel suit against LIN WOOD — the prominent Georgia attorney who worked alongside Binnall and SIDNEY POWELL in contesting Trump’s loss in the 2020 presidential election.

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AMERICA AND THE WORLD

HOMEWARD BOUND — The five Americans freed by Iran in a deal that included the U.S. unfreezing billions of dollars finally arrived back on U.S. soil early today, AP’s Ellen Knickmeyer, Jon Gambrell and Lujain Jo report along with an emotional video of the moment. Posing for a group photo, they all shouted, “Freedom!”

SPY GAMES — “Lawmakers Request Details of Chinese Nationals at Sensitive U.S. Facilities,” by WSJ’s Gordon Lubold and Warren Strobel: “House Republicans are demanding the Biden administration provide more information about incidents in which Chinese nationals conducted what U.S. officials say is unauthorized surveillance of sensitive U.S. facilities … In almost all cases, the individuals posed as tourists and said they were lost or indicated they were just touring the area … The incidents, officials say, amount to widespread but low-level espionage by the Chinese government.”

PLAYBOOKERS

OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED last night at a Republican National Lawyers Association reception honoring Charlie Spies as the 2023 Republican Lawyer of the Year, hosted at the home of Bob and Suzy Pence: RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Reps. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), John James (R-Mich.), Laurel Lee (R-Fla.) and David Kustoff (R-Tenn.), Peter Meijer, Jack Kingston, Bill and Bobbie Kilberg, Jessica and Brian Bartlett, Carl Forti, Rob Collins, Mo Elleithee, Katie Pavlich, Morgan Ortagus, Marc Ellinger, Larry McCarthy, Ryan Dollar, Justin Sayfie, Kerri Kupec, Stu Sandler, Brian and Teresa Morgenstern, Mollie and Mark Hemingway, Keith Sonderling, Samantha Dravis and Neil Alpert.

— The American Telemedicine Association’s ATA Action held a congressional reception on Jones Day’s roof terrace last night, amid a fly-in/week of action focused on telehealth. SPOTTED: Reps. Troy Balderson (R-Ohio), Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), Michael Guest (R-Miss.), Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), Susie Lee (D-Nev.), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), Frank Mrvan (D-Ind.), Michelle Steel (R-Calif.) and Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.).

— SPOTTED at a reception this morning about improving the tax code to help families access child care, hosted by First Five Years Fund at The Duck & The Peach: Reps. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.) and Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.), Sarah Rittling, Sarah Rubinfield, Hollis Silverman, Angela Hooks, Brittany Walsh, Jennifer Prosser, Caitlin Codella Low, Allison Muhlendorf, Mary Nugent, Toby Douthat and Nicole Riehl.

TRANSITIONS — Former Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) will lead a new government affairs firm, Skyline Capitol, along with longtime adviser and chief of staff Clay White. The firm will have a strategic partnership with American Global Strategies. … Natalie James is now director of production at McKenna Media. She previously was director of production at Color of Change.

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Correction: Yesterday’s Playbook PM misspelled Gabe Kaminsky’s name.

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