Presented by Google.

Good Thursday morning. I'm Adrienne Hurst and welcome to your Politico Playbook audio briefing.

We've got three big stories driving the day today. Number one, will she or won't she?

Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth McDunna is expected to rule as soon as today on whether a $15 minimum wage can be tucked into Joe Biden's COVID relief bill.

But even if she rules it can, Dems are hardly in the clear.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tells Politico she might vote against the entire relief

bill if Dem leaders cut the provision on their own.

She also poured cold water on the idea of striking a deal

with moderates for a smaller wage hike, saying it's completely unacceptable. $15 is already a

compromise. Story number two, Nira Tandon's nomination is still on life support. Dems have delayed

her confirmation vote and Mitch McConnell is firing up Republicans to hold the line against the OMB nominee. White House Chief of Staff Ron Clayne said this on MSNBC last night. Certainly we're fighting our guts out to get her confirmed. And story number three, Biden is set to speak with Saudi Arabia's King Salman this week. Axios reported the call was planned for yesterday.

Now the New York Times reports it's still in the works and that the real purpose of the call

is to warn the king that the intelligence report about the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

is set to be declassified and published.

Now, the first two of those top three stories, the minimum wage fight

and confirmation drama, highlight the wild game of whackamold that the White House and

congressional dims are playing right now. There's literally no margin for error in a 50-50 Senate.

Just one dimmed defection and Republicans are calling the shots, which would be pretty embarrassing

for a party that controls

both chambers of Congress and the White House. Of course, this super delicate balance means in a lot of

cases it's all about the moderates. And a potentially getable one for Dems, GOP Senator Susan

Collins of Maine, is icy toward Chuck Schumer after he tried to oust her in Maine's 2020 Senate race.

...