| | | | | |  | | By Olivia Beavers | Presented by American Civil Liberties Union | COVID BILL COMING TOGETHER: Did our friends on the Senate side have fun on Friday… and erm Saturday morning setting the record with the longest Senate vote in modern history? Looked like it... But now the rest of the heavy lifting is back over to the House. Next stop: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) announced over the weekend that the House will vote on the Senate-amended coronavirus relief package on Tuesday, after the lower chamber considers the rule for the bill's consideration on Monday night. His announcement came shortly after Senate Dems pushed the mammoth $1.9 trillion bill across the finish line in a paper-thin 50-49 party line vote, following multiple changes to the House-passed version. This means they are on track to pass the American Rescue Plan before March 14. While it was a win, it was messy. The $15 minimum wage hike was stripped from the bill after the Senate parliamentarian's assessment, then Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) still introduced an amendment to add in the wage increase measure back in, which eight Democrats voted against. Senate Democrats also adjusted the income threshold for direct payments and unemployment insurance provisions. All of this gives us a big glimpse into the broader challenges President Joe Biden's other upcoming agenda items will face going forward. Last stop on the Covid relief package express? Biden's desk. Once passed, eligible recipients could potentially see the $1,400 stimulus payments in their bank accounts within just a few days of Biden signing the bill. ICYMI over the weekend: Schumer leads Dems to messy but major win on Covid aid, by Burgess and Marianne: http://politi.co/3sSRDrK | Burgess also has you covered on the eight Democrats who defected on the $15 minimum wage hike: http://politi.co/2O8O3Lq Related: What's in the stimulus bill? A guide to where the $1.9 trillion is going, by NYT's Thomas Kaplan: http://nyti.ms/3uX3yXs | Narrow relief bill victory provides warning signs for broader Democratic agenda, by WaPo's Ashley Parker and Marianna Sotomayor: http://wapo.st/3ej3wDy Also on tap this week: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has prepared procedural cloture motion votes on Tuesday evening for both Marcia Fudge's nomination to be Biden's HUD secretary as well as Merrick Garland nomination to be Biden's Attorney General. If cloture is invoked, Biden will have both a new HUD chief and top cop. | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" TO JOIN AN IMPORTANT CONVERSATION: Power dynamics are changing. "Influence" is changing. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that all politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. "The Recast" is our new twice-weekly newsletter that breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics, policy and power in America. And POLITICO is recasting how we report on this crucial intersection, bringing you fresh insights, scoops, dispatches from across the country and new voices that challenge "business as usual." Don't miss out on this important new newsletter, SUBSCRIBE NOW. Thank you to our sponsor, Intel. | | | | | SCOOP, THERE IT IS: A federal prosecutor who has been handling criminal cases stemming from the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6 is joining the Senate Judiciary Committee as a counsel for oversight matters, our Josh Gerstein reports. The job change came to light after Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole McClain indicated at court hearings last week that she was handing off her pending cases to other prosecutors. A Judiciary Committee source confirmed the move. During a lull between hearings Friday morning, Chief Judge Beryl Howell asked McClain where she was going and the attorney said she was taking a counsel's job at the Judiciary Committee. "I think that's a position Your Honor used to hold," McClain said. Indeed, Howell spent a decade on the Senate Judiciary Committee staff and served as the panel's top lawyer from 1997 to 2003. McClain has been assigned to about a half-dozen of the more than 300 pending prosecutions related to the riot, including that of Richard Barnett, the Arkansas man accused of entering the capitol with a stun-gun walking stick, putting his boot up on a desk in Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office and leaving her a vulgar note. McClain, who did not respond to an email seeking comment , got her bachelor's degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and attended law school at George Washington University, graduating in 2013. She's a member of the bars of Maryland and D.C. (h/t Andrew Desiderio and Marianne LeVine) FIRST IN HUDDLE: Hey hey! ho ho! Proxy voting has got to go, according to Rep. Mike Gallagher. The Wisconsin Republican is planning to introduce a bill today to repeal the House resolution that allows members to vote by proxy and participate in committee activities remotely. Gallagher argues members of Congress have been vaccinated for months now -- or have had the option -- to protect them against Covid, rendering the need for proxy voting moot. Instead, he said, members are abusing the rule to build name recognition and fundraise, including attending political conferences (*cough* CPAC *cough*). "Proxy voting is destroying this institution and accelerating a trend in which members of Congress use their platforms not to legislate, but to fundraise and accrue media fame," Gallagher said in a statement to your Huddle host. "At a time when vaccines have been available to members for months, there's simply no logical reason to keep this practice in place – unless of course you think space launches and political conferences are more important than the work we do in Congress." Gallagher hasn't been shy about his feelings on this topic, but it shows how the frustration is bubbling over among Republicans after last weekend's adventures.
| | A message from American Civil Liberties Union: We can't wait any longer. Congress must pass legislation to help create a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people living in the U.S. Americans delivered a mandate for Biden and Congress to undo the damage done by Trump's attacks on immigrant communities and prevent discriminatory bans, such as the Muslim ban which ultimately targeted many Africans. Now is the time to step up and build a just immigration system. Learn more. | | | HAPPY MONDAY! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill on this March 8, where let's be honest, anything anyone was paying attention to last night was Oprah's interview with Meghan and Harry. Here are some real time reactions from the royal family. FRIDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Axios' story on Khanna criticizing Biden for his Middle East foreign policy was the big winner. PSA: Sergeant First Class Vincent Scalise, a National Guardsman from New York, is on a mission to get pictures with all 100 senators during his deployment to the Capitol and he is missing just a handful, or two. Per Andrew, and as of Friday, the missing senators on his list include: Sens. Sinema, Schatz, Risch, Kennedy, Moran, Hyde Smith, Hawley, Merkley, Sasse, and Hoeven. Staffers in these officers, help a Guardsman out! We asked Vinny who is his favorite senator so far. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who served in the Iowa Army National Guard, took the cake. HERE COMES HONORE: Army Lieutenant General Russel Honore is slated to brief House members behind closed doors today on his security review of the Capitol complex security, which was triggered in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack, Bloomberg's Billy House reports. "Recommendations in the draft report include hiring more Capitol Police officers, streamlining the force's command structure, improving its intelligence capability, and upgrading fences and security surveillance. It even suggests restoring horse-mounted patrols to the Capitol complex that were disbanded in 2005," Billy writes. In the meantime, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is not his biggest fan. In a statement Sunday, the GOP leader said he met with Honore on Wednesday and pressed him on his "notorious partisan bias," which included past remarks before his appointment like the "inflammatory accusation that Capitol Police officers themselves were complicit in the attack." McCarthy claims Honore's past comments raise serious questions about why Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) appointed him, essentially claiming that Honore's after-insurrection security review is all part of a plot by Pelosi to turn "the Capitol into a fortress." Pelosi appointed Honore -- who is best known for commanding the task force in charge of the military's response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 -- on Jan. 15, before the fights over fencing and the deployment of the National Guard really got underway. More here from Billy: http://bloom.bg/3kUmEJ7 Related: Prominent retired generals aided Honoré review of Capitol security, by Kyle: http://politi.co/2OtXXHA CHAMBER OF CONFLICT AVOIDANCE: The Chamber of Commerce in a new memo says it does not plan to pull its $$ support from the members of Congress "solely based" on their decision to vote against certifying President Biden's election -- a position that comes two months after the Jan. 6 attack. "There is a meaningful difference between a member of Congress who voted no on the question of certifying the votes of certain states and those who engaged and continue to engage in repeated actions that undermine the legitimacy of our elections and institutions," wrote Ashlee Rich Stephenson, a senior political strategist at the chamber. More here from WaPo's Aaron Gregg, who first reported the memo: http://wapo.st/3brUSRn Related: Josh Hawley is 'not going anywhere.' How did he get here? By NYT's Elaina Plott and Danny Hakim: http://nyti.ms/2O1zUzT | | | | TUNE IN TO GLOBAL TRANSLATIONS: Our Global Translations podcast, presented by Citi, examines the long-term costs of the short-term thinking that drives many political and business decisions. The world has long been beset by big problems that defy political boundaries, and these issues have exploded over the past year amid a global pandemic. This podcast helps to identify and understand the impediments to smart policymaking. Subscribe and start listening today. | | | | | YOU JUST GOT RNC'D = REALLY NOT CEASING (OR DESISTING): Our Playbook friends over the weekend scooped that lawyers for former President Donald Trump sent a cease-and-desist to the GOP campaign arms, RNC, NRCC, and NRSC for using his name and likeness in fundraising emails and to sell merch. Their response to the former president is pretty well summed up here: https://bit.ly/2PzYJDe SOUNDS LIKE A BAD WORKOUT CLASS: Sen. Joe Manchin won't support nixing the filibuster, but he isn't opposed to making it more "painful" for the minority party to wield. "The filibuster should be painful, it really should be painful and we've made it more comfortable over the years," the West Virginia Democrat said on "Fox News Sunday." "Maybe it has to be more painful." "If you want to make it a little bit more painful, make him stand there and talk," Manchin said. "I'm willing to look at any way we can, but I'm not willing to take away the involvement of the minority." What does this mean? Manchin is talking about the "talking filibuster." He wants to make it so that senators looking to force a 60-vote threshold would be required to stay on the floor and talk as opposed to simply notifying Senate leadership of his or her opposition. Nick Niedzwiadek has more: http://politi.co/3rrGBtr Related: With virus aid in sight, Democrats debate filibuster changes, by the AP's Hope Yen: http://bit.ly/3kUNuAO | | | | A message from American Civil Liberties Union:   | | | CAMPAIGN CENTRAL: -NC Senate Race: "Joan Higginbotham, a former NASA astronaut and the third Black woman to go to space, is seriously considering running for Senate in North Carolina as a Democrat," multiple people familiar with her deliberations tell James Arkin: http://politi.co/30jOQMf -In Georgia, Republicans take aim at role of black churches in elections by NYT's Nick Corasaniti and Jim Rutenberg: http://nyti.ms/3kVVSAo -Trump to take on Murkowski: Trump vows to campaign against 'disloyal' Sen. Lisa Murkowski, by our Alex Isenstadt: http://politi.co/38k4UBY -Oh No for Cuomo: The Democrats who could take Gov. Andrew Cuomo's place… which includes a list of potential members of Congress. Bill Mahoney has the names: http://politi.co/3vbZm6z ICYMI OVER THE WEEKEND: -'It is a trap!': Inside the QAnon attack that never happened, by our Tina Nguyen: http://politi.co/3rqYY1n -Graham deals with Trump "dark side" to "harness the magic," by Axios' Jonathan Swan: http://bit.ly/3cct0Qk -Greene sounds off on GOP after her Republicans colleagues expressed increasing frustration to The Hill about her efforts to delay congressional business, by The Hill's Celine Castronuovo: http://bit.ly/2OeGJhk -Russian disinformation campaign aims to undermine confidence in Pfizer, other Covid-19 vaccines, U.S. officials say, by WSJ's Michael Gordon and Dustin Volz: http://on.wsj.com/2OyFR7i CABINET CORNER: The Senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the nomination of Marcia Fudge as Biden's HUD secretary. TRANSITIONS Renata Miller will be starting as a press assistant for Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) today. She was previously a LatinX constituency organizer for the DCCC during the 2020 election cycle. Leticia Mederos is now a senior managing director in Clark Hill's government and regulatory affairs practice, where she'll be a registered lobbyist. She most recently was chief of staff for House Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.). Amy English is now foreign policy adviser to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). She most recently was director of advancement and external affairs at Pathfinder International. Angela Ebiner is now policy adviser to Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.). She most recently was a VP at Cassidy & Associates. From R to D: Caleb Moore is now administrative director for Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). He previously was director of operations for former Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.). TODAY IN CONGRESS The House will meet at 12 p.m. for morning hour debate and 2 p.m. for legislative business. Votes are not expected until after 6:30 p.m. The Senate convenes at 3 p.m. AROUND THE HILL 10:30 a.m.: The House Rules Committee will meet to discuss multiple measures. Honore meets with House members behind closed doors. TRIVIA FRIDAY'S WINNER: Bob Koczera was the first person to correctly guess that the vice president who claimed to have cast the second most tie-breaking votes (30, though Senate records cannot confirm them all) was George Mifflin Dallas. TODAY'S QUESTION: From Bob: How many Vice Presidents served under two presidents? And name them. The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answer to obeavers@politico.com. GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning. Follow Olivia on Twitter: @Olivia_Beavers | | A message from American Civil Liberties Union: We can't wait any longer. Congress must pass legislation to help create a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people living in the U.S., end the limbo faced by Dreamers, and prevent discriminatory bans, such as the Muslim ban which ultimately targeted many Africans.
Americans delivered a mandate for Biden and Congress to act humanely and swiftly on immigration. After years of attacks, now is the time to step up and build a just and fair immigration system that meets the values our country aspires to achieve.
We have a duty to support our immigrant neighbors, friends and loved ones. Congress must take action to create a path to citizenship and undo the damage done by the Trump administration's attacks on immigrant communities. Learn more. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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