Good Wednesday morning, I'm Jake Sherman and welcome to your Politico Playbook Audio Briefing, sponsored by UC Davis.

And I'm Anna Palmer. We hear the Hill is in punt formation. Congress is likely to pass a one-week

stopgap government funding bill next week. This would effectively push off a government shutdown one

week, giving lawmakers more time to hash out a compromise.

The reality is, this also likely pushes off action on other priorities like health care.

Democrats could not close a deal in a special election for a Georgia house seat.

John Ossoff, a 30-year-old who has never run for public office, guarded 48% of the vote,

forcing a June runoff.

The New York Times Jonathan Martin made a smart point on Twitter.

Republicans had to spend nearly $5 million to keep a 30-year-old first-time candidate below 50% in Georgia.

President Donald Trump is taking credit for John Ossif not getting over 50%.

He tweeted at 12.9 a.m. that despite major outside money, fake media

support, and 11 Republican candidates, Big R. Win with runoff in Georgia, glad to be of help. For the

record, Trump sent six tweets about the race and also did a last-minute robocall.

There are two ways to look at the political climate after the Georgia results.

Republicans are rolling, notching two wins and two special elections this year, or Democrats

came close in two red districts and should pour money into a special election in Montana on May 25th.

On the international front, Vice President Mike Pence warned North Korea Wednesday not to test the U.S.

And that the country's military stands ready. And the New York Times has the story that the White

House was incorrect in saying that an aircraft carrier was sailing toward North Korea to respond

to the country's aggressive behavior. In fact, the carrier and three other

warships were sailing in the opposite direction to take part in exercises with the Australian Navy.

...