Good Friday morning. I'm Jake Sherman and this is your political playbook audio briefing sponsored by Chevron.

Two things we picked up on yesterday during conversations with top players in D.C. The White House is

starting to get involved in shutdown discussions, sending info to Capitol Hill on expiring provisions.

This is a good sign, but the White House is agitating for a shutdown by demanding border wall

funding in the bill. The only question is whether

the shutdown will happen in September or December. People on the Hill are very, very confident that

there will be a shutdown at some point this year. Keep an eye on Texas where a hurricane is about to make

landfall. It's going to be a category three storm, a strength our country hasn't seen in 12 years.

This could be a challenge for Trump. We know it's hokey, but natural disasters are always a challenge for the White House. Very fascinating interview with Gary Cohn in the Financial Times. He's punted again on tax reform, saying it'll be done by the end of the year. He said it should be easy because Congress has been holding hearings on it for years. Yeah, kind of. Two committees have. Most members have never dug in on it. Remember, the White House has now said tax reform will be done by July, August, November, and the end of the year. Catch this trend? He also said Trump is going to push for tax reform across the country, starting with a speech in Missouri next week. Okay, we've heard that before. Can he do this without dumping on a Republican leader? He hasn't been in the game for a long time, Republicans say. A non-taxulated element of what Cohn said. He said he was under enormous pressure to resign and to stay after the Charlottesville incident. He says, quote, as a Jewish American, I will not allow neo-Nazis ranting Jews will not replace us to cause this Jew to leave his job. Rachel Bade reports from Racine, Wisconsin that Paul Ryan is about to enter the dicyest stretch of his speakership. Bade writes that no one says that Ryan's job is in jeopardy, but he has a tough few months ahead of him. Trump is meeting today with Rex Tillerson and then going to Camp David. The Washington Post reports that Stephen Mnuchin watched the eclipse from the rooftop of Fort Knox.

Nice being Treasury Secretary. Check out Playbook for photos of Playbookers on the road, including

Carl Rove. Subscribe to Playbook at politico.com slash playbook.