Good Friday morning and happy September. I'm Anna Palmer and welcome to your Politico Playbook

Audio Briefing, sponsored by the American Bankers Association. We've got a fun spotted at the top

this morning. Sean Spicer was seen being fetid at DC hotspot, MXDC, for his White House going

away party. In his remarks, Spicer jokes that former communications director Mike Dubke, who attended,

lasted 10 scaramucci's. We've got a playbook scoop this morning. Jared Kushner headed to North

Carolina last night to raise money at a fundraiser for North Carolina representative Mark Meadows,

to his chairman of the House Freedom Caucus. Meadows and Kushner have met about Israel,

part of Kushner's portfolio, and a key issue for Meadows, and also have met about paid leave, which faces long odds in the Republican Congress. So why does this matter? Easy. Meadows has been a thorn in the side of Republican leaders for years, and is now one of the most powerful men in the capital. He's been a key ally of President Donald Trump's and an intermediary between

conservatives in the House and the White House. Kushner traveling in North Carolina

ahead of the long weekend shows the nature of the relationship between Meadows and members

of the Trump administration. Nancy Cook has an update on tax reform. The White House is expected

to step up its efforts and unveil a tax reform relief website next week.

The administration is also hosting conservative groups on the issue.

One thing to watch, cabinet secretaries are expected to hold pro-tax reform events in the coming

weeks to bolster Trump's efforts.

And in the buzz, multiple trade groups and companies engaged in influence campaigns have asked their DC consultants to exclude anyone in Houston in areas affected by Harvey from getting advocacy emails this week to be sensitive to victims of the disaster.

Rachel Bade and Burgess Everett write that House Republicans are gearing up to pass a Hurricane Harvey relief package as soon as next week.

Plans haven't finalized, but it's likely to include $5.5 billion in relief funds,

flexibility for FEMA to spend more money as needed, as well as $450 million in small business loans.

Meanwhile, our energy colleagues write that Houston is left with a toxic mess as Trump is relaxing EPA

rules implemented in the Obama era around chemical safety. And something we'll all be watching in the

coming weeks. The Wall Street Journal writes that gas prices are already jumping in the wake of Harvey.

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