| | | | | |  | | By Olivia Beavers | Presented by American Civil Liberties Union | With Melanie Zanona. SLIMMING DOWN: House Democrats have a margin of error of about five votes on bills brought to the floor, which has led to a lot of wrangling by Dem leaders ahead of the Covid relief bill. But that flimsy margin looks like it will soon be slimmer. The Senate is poised Wednesday to confirm Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) to lead the Housing and Urban Development Department after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer prepared procedural cloture motion votes on Tuesday evening for her nomination. Another House Dem, Rep. Deb Haaland (N.M.), who President Joe Biden has nominated to lead the Department of Interior, is also inching closer to a confirmation vote by the full Senate after the Senate Energy Committee advanced her nomination last Thursday. With the two looking like they will soon fly the coop, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is facing a tighter margin as Democrats look to tackle a list of ambitious legislative priorities now that Biden's Covid relief bill is almost out of the way. Think: Infrastructure, immigration, etc. Your Huddle host tried to ask Pelosi if she was concerned by this at all. Unfortunately, the mask killed my question delivery, so the Speaker answered in kind: "I'm not worried about anything. I don't know what your question was, but I'm not." Take Two: Luckily, your Huddle host had better luck enunciating with Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who cited their recent success as an indicator that they will be able to get additional legislation passed. "You've seen us voting a number of times now. And we're pretty unified, even with a small number. So, no, I'm not concerned about that but it makes it tighter," Hoyer told me. "And it takes time to -- as you know, you can't be appointed to the House -- so we have to elect members so for a time we will be short." He did note it makes "a lot of things more difficult." As we've gamed out before, both moderates and progressives have more power with narrow majorities in the House and Senate and could torpedo an amendment or a bill should they feel their policy pushes or views aren't getting a fair shake. During the House vote on the Covid relief bill, House Democrats lost the support of two of their own. But then again, they only need that one extra vote to get their legislation passed. Should Fudge be confirmed, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, would have to set a date for a special election to replace her, guided by the state's election rules. And in the case of Haaland, if confirmed, the New Mexico Secretary of State must within ten days after the vacancy call a special election, which must be held no less than 77 days or more than 91 days after the date the seat opened. | | | | 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. | | | | | KEEPING US IN SUSPENSIONS: House Democrats yanked over a dozen suspension bills from getting a quick floor vote last night because Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas) were threatening to force recorded votes, which would have taken all night. So-called "suspender" bills are typically non-controversial and bipartisan; last night's batch even included a measure presenting the United States Capitol Police with a congressional gold medal. (Now they'll just be rescheduled, though it will take longer.) Here's the low down: Sources tell Mel that Republicans are fed up with a host of things: the lack of amendment debate and opportunities, Democratic threats to black ball Republicans who challenged the election results, proxy voting, Dems weakening a procedural tool for the minority, and even the razor-wire fencing around the Capitol and magnetometers outside the chamber. Put more broadly: "This place is completely dysfunctional," Roy said. So what now? Republicans are still mulling whether to make this an ongoing thing. Roy said that is "to be determined" and he wants to continue conversations with his colleagues about how to make Congress "work better." Meanwhile, Hoyer said he's trying to figure out a path forward with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), per Sarah. Roy also said he talked to one "unnamed Democrat" who argued that suspenders are "the last thing we've got that has some sort of bipartisan agreement on how to move things through [the House] easily." Stay tuned on whether this becomes the latest casualty of the rapidly deteriorating relations in Congress. ALL EARS: House Republicans held a nearly two-hour listening session last night to discuss a very pressing and important issue facing the conference: whether to take advantage of earmarks when Democrats bring them back, which is expected to happen relatively soon. The GOP conference is pretty split on the issue. Sources in the room tell Mel and yours truly that members on both sides of the debate took turns arguing their viewpoints, with Texas Rep. Kay Granger — the top GOP appropriator in the House — leading the charge in favor of earmarks. What's next : House Republicans expect to eventually vote on whether to lift their internal conference ban on earmarks, though nothing has been scheduled yet. McCarthy told Mel after the meeting that he didn't weigh in one way or another, because he doesn't want to "influence" the conference and just wanted to hear their input. But if GOP lawmakers remain at odds over the thorny issue, it might be easier to reach a broad consensus if McCarthy takes a stance — especially for those wavering Republicans who privately want to start requesting money for projects back home, but are wary to say so publicly. | | 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 TUESDAY! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill on this March 9, where your Huddle host learned yesterday from a helpful Huddler that Sergeant First Class Vincent Scalise successfully met all 100 senators over the weekend with the reported help of Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.). MONDAY'S MOST CLICKED: The Hill's story on Greene sounding off on her GOP colleagues for criticizing her procedural moves. FINAL STRETCH: House Dems are readying a final vote on Biden's $1.9 trillion pandemic aid package as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday, which means they will have hoisted this mammoth bill through Congress in less than eight weeks. As Sarah reports: "In the House, which will send the bill to Biden's desk, Democratic lawmakers and aides acknowledged that a passage vote could slip to Wednesday as Senate officials race to prepare necessary paperwork. But they vowed a one-day delay would not have an impact on boosted jobless benefits set to expire this weekend." More here: http://politi.co/3qs7jRf Related: Pandemic relief bill fulfills Biden's promise to expand Obamacare for two years, by NYT's Sheryl Gay Stolberg: http://nyti.ms/2O6S6Ir | Child tax credit expansion sets up showdown with GOP, by the AP's Alexandra Jaffe and Josh Boak: http://bit.ly/3bsQ7Xy | Relief bill is most significant legislation for Black farmers since Civil Rights Act, experts say, by WaPo's Laura Reiley: http://wapo.st/3ruOvSV BLUNT BOWS OUT: Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt (R), No. 4 GOP leader, is the latest senator to drop the retirement bombshell, announcing Monday that he will not run for reelection in 2022. Blunt is a longtime Capitol Hill fixture who first served seven terms in the House before heading to the Senate in 2010. His departure comes after GOP Sens. Richard Burr (N.C.), Pat Toomey (Pa.), Richard Shelby (Ala.) and Rob Portman (Ohio) also announced they are not seeking planning to run again -- all members who were willing to reach across the aisle to get legislation done. And with any Senate retirement, there is also a quick shuffle of determining who is looking to run for the opening seat. Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) is signaling her clear interest, saying in a statement that she plans to discuss with her family "what the future holds for me in the coming days." Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) is another House possibility, but he declined to tip his hand to your Huddle Host, telling me: "Today is Roy Blunt's day." And Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.) says he is " seriously looking at it." There are also a handful of state politicians looking to jump in as well. Also not a no: Freshman Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) who said she was "surprised to learn" of Blunt's retirement, cites people reaching out to her: "As always, I'm focused on how best to deliver for St. Louis." Andrew has the story on Blunt's retirement and what it will mean: http://politi.co/3elR7yI Related: As Grassley weighs his future, Republicans eye his seat by CNN's Manu Raju and Jeff Zeleny: http://cnn.it/3v1t1PH | RNC brushes back Trump team on 'cease-and-desist' demand, by our Alex Isenstadt: http://politi.co/3rBT4Li | | | | THIS THURSDAY: HEAR FROM GOVERNORS ACROSS AMERICA : 2020 was marked by crisis —from the global pandemic and ensuing economic recession to racial injustice protests and the fallout from the presidential election and its aftermath. Governors have been left to pick up the pieces. "The Fifty: America's Governors," is a series of live conversations featuring various governors on the unique challenges they face as they take the lead and command the national spotlight in historic ways. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | TRUMPERS LOOK AT HIGHER OFFICE: Amid the retirement wave, there are at least half a dozen Trump-loving House members ready to get their feet wet and explore bids for higher office -- whether it be in the Senate or into governors' mansions, Mel reports. Some of the seats are safe red seats. Others are even in states Biden won, like Arizona and Georgia. If they're successful, ascending MAGA lawmakers could spell trouble for Biden, trading negotiators for bomb throwers. Such names include Reps. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Warren Davidson (R-Ohio). Melanie dives in: http://politi.co/3caybQG Side Note: I asked Greene if she has interest in running for the Georgia Senate race. She didn't say no... "Oh my goodness. Let's talk about things like gun bills, talk about the Equality Act…" she replied as the elevator at votes began to close. Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.), meanwhile, said he would not run. Related: Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy endorses Julia Letlow in 5th Congressional District race, by Monroe News-Star's Greg Hilburn: http://bit.ly/2OBsG5y | Texas Rep. Crenshaw decided pandemic was perfect time to buy stocks, by the Daily Beasts' Roger Sollenberger: http://bit.ly/3br5lMS HELD UP HPSCI: We are now in the second week of March and the House Intelligence Committee still has not organized for the 117th Congress. Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) tells me there are still ongoing discussions about the ratios that have yet to be resolved. (But since they are not formally constituted, they've kept busy doing roundtables in place of hearings.) Schiff says the following issues are "front and center" of what he wants to focus on: -The series of recent, serious cyberattacks -A deep dive on the pandemic and whether the IC needs to restructured given "the lack of really good information on the pandemic" -The panel's ongoing probe into the politicization of intelligence around the domestic terror threat -The challenge posed by China, which Schiff said is "enormous." Also interesting: Schiff is on board with gutting the legislative filibuster. Related: Biden won't embrace filibuster reforms even as the rest of his party does, by Laura Barrón-López: http://politi.co/3btyaZ6 | Will Kyrsten Sinema change her mind? By The Atlantic's Russell Berman: http://bit.ly/30tE71E POLITICAL TRIPWIRE? Retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré has proposed a series of intensive security measures to help address the security gaps around the Capitol complex after a violent mob breached the people's House and disrupted the transfer of presidential power, including a retractable fence around the building and background checks that are designed to "decrease insider threat risks." BUT if Pelosi chooses to implement these two changes, she is certain to be confronted with bipartisan questions and further skepticism from Washington locals about closing the Capitol off from the public. Look no further than this video of Rep. Lauren Boebert attacking "wall" around the Capitol, punctuated with gunshot sound effects: https://bit.ly/3v6kVVY Kyle and Sarah have the story: http://politi.co/3qCRp6V Related: The officers danced at a Black Lives Matter rally. Then they stormed the Capitol, by NYT's Sabrina Tavernise: http://nyti.ms/2PPnv2r | Man threatened to lynch two congressmen, U.S. says, by NYT's Neil Vidgor: http://nyti.ms/3t2DLvj | | | | A message from American Civil Liberties Union:   | | | CABINET CORNER: At 5:30 p.m. the Senate will proceed to roll call votes on motion to invoke cloture on the nominations of both Fudge to be HUD secretary and Merrick Garland to be attorney general. If cloture is invoked, the confirmation vote for Fudge and Garland will occur on Wednesday. 9 a.m.: The Senate Judiciary Committee will have a committee hearing on the nominations of Lisa Monaco to be deputy attorney general and Vanita Gupta to be associate attorney general. Here is Gupta's opening statement: https://bit.ly/3ejE4h1 | Related: Biden's pick for DOJ No. 3 bins backing of law enforcement FIRST IN HUDDLE: Per Daniel Lippman, the Judicial Crisis Network is launching a new $1 million ad nationally in its ongoing campaign to try to stop the confirmation of Gupta to be Associate AG, criticizing her for leading a group that accepted money from outside groups in its efforts to block the confirmation of conservative Supreme Court justices. TRANSITIONS -AJ Sugarman is now Deputy Chief of Staff to Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), the top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee. AJ most recently served as a White House liaison in the Trump admin to Capitol Hill. He is also a Rubio campaign alum. -Aaron White is joining the Progressive Policy Institute as its new communications director. He was previously communications director for Rep. Sean Maloney (D-N.Y.). -Clare Doherty, former staff director for the Senate Appropriations Committee's transportation subcommittee, has joined CAE, the aircraft simulation and training company, as a director of government relations. -Emily German is joining House Ag as staff director for the subcommittee on commodity exchanges, energy and credit, and Joshua Lobert will serve as counsel for the committee, Chairman David Scott (D-Ga.) announced Monday. TODAY IN CONGRESS The House will meet at 12 p.m. for legislative business. The Senate meets at 3 p.m. AROUND THE HILL 10 a.m.: GOP Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), Conference Secretary Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), et al., will hold a press conference after the House Republican Conference has its 9 a.m. closed meeting on party matters. 10:30 a.m.: Dem Caucus Chair Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Vice Chair Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Ga.) and Rep. Frank Mrvan (D-Ind.) will hold a press conference. 1 p.m.: Pelosi addresses the National League of Cities' 2021 Congressional City Conference. 2 p.m.: Senate Republicans hold a media availability after closed policy luncheon. TRIVIA MONDAY'S WINNER: Henry Frisch was the first person to correctly guess that two Vice presidents have served under two presidents: George Clinton and John C. Calhoun. TODAY'S QUESTION: From Henry: How many African-American U.S. senators have there been and how many were Democrats and how many Republicans? 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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