| | | | | |  | | By Olivia Beavers | Presented by the Alzheimer's Association | THE PROGRESSIVE FREEDOM CAUCUS?: Progressives have started to flex their political strength in the narrowly controlled House, threatening to derail bills if their demands are not met. Six progressives bucked the party line last week, either voting present or against Democrats' $1.9 billion emergency funding bill. They said they wanted to know if Capitol Police officers were indirectly complicit in the Jan. 6 attack, as they pushed to implement accountability measures. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), who voted present on the legislation, told your Huddle host and several other reporters last week that he decided how he was going to vote just before he walked on the House floor. The situation put frontline Democrats, who desperately wanted to see the bill passed, in a difficult position. The bill squeezed through in a 213-212 vote. "I think it's very important that we'd be on record as supporting the Capitol Police," Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) told me. "I know that there are some people who are concerned about whether there was any kind of inside job by some members of the Capitol Police and that's why we need the investigation that we voted ... but to withhold security funding -- we saw just how terribly unprepared the Capitol Police were." The second sign: As we first reported in Huddle on Friday, ten progressives sent a letter to Pelosi last week emphasizing that ending qualified immunity is a must in police reform negotiations. Ten votes is enough to tank any bill -- though the letter-writers didn't explicitly threaten to pull their votes. Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and some other Dems have recently signaled they are willing to drop their demands for qualified immunity in order to pass a bill that has other big changes. In 2010, the Tea Party wave crashed down on Washington in response to the Obama administration and a group of ultra-conservatives emerged who were willing to burn the House down if it meant getting what they wanted. Progressives haven't really shown an inclination to do the same, but Your Huddle host is wondering: Are we going to see progressives throwing their weight around more to make their demands known in light of this recent activity? We'll see when they return in June. | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" TODAY: Power is shifting in Washington and in communities across the country. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. The Recast is a twice-weekly newsletter that explores the changing power dynamics in Washington and breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics and policy in America. Get fresh insights, scoops and dispatches on this crucial intersection from across the country and hear critical new voices that challenge business as usual. Don't miss out, SUBSCRIBE . Thank you to our sponsor, Intel. | | | | | ENDLESS SUMMER…TO-DO LIST: It may be shot girl summer, but these next few months will hardly be a vacation for congressional Democrats who have a long list of legislative priorities and a series of looming deadlines hitting in the next few months. Time, in other words, is not on their side. May 25: The most pressing -- albeit soft -- deadline is the one Biden gave for overhauling policing laws, the anniversary of George Floyd's death, which is now only a day away. Negotiators say they are making "meaningful" progress" but there are significant sticking points, such as qualified immunity. May 31: The Biden administration offered Memorial Day as a soft deadline to determine if a deal is possible with Senate Republicans on infrastructure, so we may soon have an answer of which path Democrats plan to pursue in getting this big agenda item passed. The White House's latest offer on Friday showed the two parties are roughly $1.5 trillion apart on their tax and spending plans. Some progressives are starting to lose patience. "You could do police, S. 1 and infrastructure between now and July," said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). But he acknowledged: "For the Senate, it's a pretty heavy lift." June: Democrats are expected to use the month of June to figure out how to pass a budget, which gets especially tricky with tight margins. July 4: Speaker Nancy Pelosi is eyeing this holiday for passage of Biden's infrastructure plan, though some congressional Democrats are starting to suggest that the deadline may be slipping. August: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is vowing to bring Democrats' major elections and ethics bill, known as S. 1, to the floor by August. The problem: Democrats need to see if Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) can be convinced to support the legislation -- they need his vote amid unanimous GOP opposition. Senate Dems are having another caucus meeting focused on S. 1 this Wednesday, according to a Senate Dem aide. September 6: " Before summer's end, Democrats also must determine the fate of pandemic-related unemployment benefits, with an extra $300 per week in federal jobless benefits set to expire Sept. 6. It's likely to be a divisive issue, even among Democrats, with moderates and liberals at odds over whether to extend the aid as vaccinations increase, but the nation continues to see troubling economic indicators. Republicans aren't expected to support an extension, arguing that the benefits discourage returning to work," my colleagues report. September 30: Democrats must work to avert a showdown over both the federal budget and the debt limit by September, and they need to be in lock step in order to do it. Debt limit doesn't have a specific date but it is coming to a head around August and September and Sept. 30 is when current government funding expires. Another thing on the calendar: The Senate is expected to start ramping up the pace of judicial confirmations now that most of Biden's nominees are confirmed, further bogging down the floor schedule. As my colleagues write: "Democrats are publicly grinning through the stress. But they also recognize that their summertime scramble will have enormous implications for the fate of the agenda that got Biden elected. Given the likelihood that next November's midterm could wrest away the party's grip on Congress, Democrats are eager for an intense burst of activity before Washington is overtaken by further preelection political paralysis." More here from Marianne and Sarah: https://politi.co/3uaLdo9 Related: As talks bog down, hopes for bipartisan deals on Biden's priorities dim, by NYT's Catie Edmundson: https://nyti.ms/3wtIzf0 | No bridge in sight for Biden infrastructure plan, by WSJ's Rich Rubin: https://on.wsj.com/3fd5xBe | Biden will host the Floyd family but will miss his police reform deadline, by our Lara Barrón-López: https://politi.co/3fbWuAj | White House willing to let infrastructure talks 'play out,' Richmond says, by our Brianna Crummy: https://politi.co/3u8Kioo | | | | A message from the Alzheimer's Association: Alzheimer's disease is on track to cost our country $1.1 trillion annually by 2050. Beyond the emotional toll Alzheimer's takes on those living with the disease and their caregivers, it also threatens to bankrupt our health system. With millions of lives and trillions of dollars at stake, increased research funding and policies that improve care for those living with dementia will unburden their caregivers and relieve a crippling drag on our economy. Get involved here. | | | HAPPY MONDAY! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill on this May 24, where the Senate Majority Leader isn't afraid to bust out some lyrics. FRIDAY'S MOST CLICKED: The Hill's story on the House Ethics panel dropping the $5K metal detector fines against Reps. Clyburn and Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) was the big winner. ON TAP TODAY: The Senate will resume consideration of the Endless Frontier Act (a.k.a. the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act of 2021) starting at 3 p.m. And at 5:30 p.m., the Senate will resume consideration of Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and will vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination -- so, we could see a potential final vote on her nomination as early as tomorrow. Schumer has also filed cloture on the nomination of Kristen Clarke to to lead the DOJ's Civil Rights division as an Assistant Attorney General, which is expected to face a vote this week. Clarke has seen some fierce GOP pushback to her nomination, including being painted as a "radical" who is anti-police. Her nomination almost barely made it through the Senate Judiciary Committee after it became deadlocked. If confirmed, Clarke would be the first woman -- let alone, the first woman of color -- to hold this top DOJ spot. MORE ISH ABOUT THE COMMISH: The Senate vote on the Jan. 6 commission could come as early as this week and if it does, the thing that everyone will be talking about is which Republicans are open to or will end up supporting the potential investigative body and more importantly: how many. WaPo has a good whip count, with four GOP senators signaling they are a potential yes, including Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Mike Crapo (Idaho), Bill Cassidy (La.), and Mitt Romney (Utah). There are 11 Senate Republicans doing the IDK shrug emoji. You can follow it here https://wapo.st/3yCrnG6. The question is, will Dems get the magic number 10? Already, 25 Republicans have come out as opposed to it. Related: Rep. Lucy McBath is living her son's legacy, by CNN's Dana Bash and Bridget Nolan: https://cnn.it/2Tezet9 | A year after George Floyd: Pressure to add police amid rising crime, NYT's Tim Arango: https://nyti.ms/3vhhxHl | Blunt looks to help Capitol Police after insurrection instead of creating commission: https://politi.co/3fdh3MU | | | | HAPPENING TUESDAY - A PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW WITH ADAM KINZINGER: From the ousting of Liz Cheney from her leadership position to the looming death of a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, Donald Trump appears to be winning the internal GOP battle over the party's future. Join Playbook co-authors Rachael Bade and Eugene Daniels for an interview with a leading member of the Trump opposition, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), to discuss his efforts to change the party's direction -- and whether that is even possible. Register here to watch live. | | | | | THE THREAT LANDSCAPE: Lawmakers worry the toxic atmosphere on Capitol Hill will follow them home, raising safety concerns, Marianna Sotomayor and Paul Kane: https://wapo.st/34cljWO A SIGN OF THE CHANGING TIMES: "Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Sunday that he was in favor of changing the role of military commanders in the prosecution of service members on sexual assault charges, signaling his support for a bipartisan proposal that would instead assign independent prosecutors to handle sexual assault allegations in the military," WaPo reports. "Sexual assault and harassment are pervasive problems in the U.S. military and American culture and we must take comprehensive action to halt sexual violence, hold violators accountable, and support survivors," Reed said in a statement to the newspaper. If Reed is on board with the bill that Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is pushing to pass, then that would be a big sign of how many senators have come around in calling for changes to be made to how the military handles sexual assault cases. More here from WaPo's Amy Wang: https://wapo.st/2QLvSgn IN CHENEY NEWS: Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) may be getting praise from Dems for standing up to former President Donald Trump and many of her colleagues over Jan. 6, but the former conference chair is staying in line with her party on state-level efforts to enact tougher voting restrictions. Axios' Jonathan Swan pushed her in an interview on the linkage between Trump's baseless claim that the 2020 election was stolen and the subsequent GOP push for more restrictive voter laws. "I will never understand the resistance, for example, to voter ID," Cheney said to "Axios on HBO" on Friday. "There's a big difference between that and a president of the United States who loses an election after he tried to steal the election and refuses to concede." More from Swan: https://bit.ly/3oHlvXr Related: They tried to overturn the 2020 election. Now they want to run the next one, by our Zach Montellaro: https://politi.co/3woHncw | Top MAGA ally under fire for 'squishiness' on Trump, by Marc Caputo and James Arkin: https://politi.co/3yx6YC5 ICYMI over the weekend: -Patrick Leahy signals he'll run for ninth Senate term, Burgess and Marianne report: https://politi.co/3feJutT -Rep. Meijer blasts Greene's Holocaust comment, Brianna also reports: https://politi.co/3ugsUhk -Survival of the fittest: Senate Democrats are encouraging blockbuster primaries, by National Journal's Josh Kraushaar: https://bit.ly/34hAA8t | | | |   | | | TRANSITIONS Francisco Pelayo is now comms director for Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.). Pelayo is returning to the Hill after doing a short stint at IBM. He previously worked as the deputy comms director in Menendez's personal office. TODAY IN CONGRESS The House is out doing a committee work week in members' districts. The Senate is back in at 3 p.m. AROUND THE HILL 11 a.m.: The House Administration Committee has a hearing on voting and voter ID laws. TRIVIA FRIDAY'S WINNER: Casey Burgat was the first person to guess that Abraham Lincoln and Harry Truman served as soldiers and as postmasters at some point in their careers before becoming commander-in-chief. Lincoln served in the Illinois Militia during the Black Hawk War and postmaster of New Salem, Ill., while Truman served in the U.S. Army during World War I and postmaster of Grandview, Mo., although Truman delegated his duties (and salary) as the postmaster to a local widow who needed the money more than he did. TODAY'S QUESTION: From Casey: Only two presidents have won the White House without having previously earned a college degree or having served in the military. Who are they? 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 the Alzheimer's Association: More than six million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer's disease. Without a medical breakthrough, that number is projected to reach nearly 13 million by 2050. In 2021, Alzheimer's and other dementias will cost taxpayers $355 billion. Though federal research funding has made great strides from where it stood just a few years ago thanks to bipartisan Congressional champions, continued momentum will allow us to meet the national goal of effectively treating and preventing Alzheimer's by 2025. While researchers work toward treatments, we need a better path to dementia care. With the bipartisan Comprehensive Care for Alzheimer's Act (S. 1125/H.R. 2517), Congress has the potential to streamline today's complicated health care maze for people living with dementia and their caregivers. With increased research funding, we can ensure researchers have the resources needed to discover critical medical solutions. Congress must act now. Learn more at click here. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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