| | | | | |  | | By Olivia Beavers | Presented by Altria | DING DON, THE DAY HAS COME: Don McGahn is slated to testify before Congress today (sadly, behind closed-doors). It comes more than 25 months after House Democrats first sought to subpoena the former White House counsel for testimony related to his interviews with Robert Mueller that focused on the Russia interference probe and possible obstruction by Donald Trump.
The White House sought to block McGahn from testifying. Efforts by Democrats to compel testimony from McGahn bounced around the courts for two years, as the White House challenged those attempts at every turn. The fight evolved into a broader battle, centered on the power of the congressional subpoena and the abilities of the legislative branch to conduct oversight over the executive branch.
McGahn's agreement to testify before the House Judiciary Committee comes with President Joe Biden's permission and without the former president filing any further legal challenges to his participation. Originally, Trump lawyer Patrick Philbin signaled that the former president planned to intervene, but he reversed course and said they did not plan to intercede after all. It will be transcribed and released within 7 days.
Democrats burned for McGahn's testimony in 2019, particularly in relation to the second volume of the Mueller report on potential obstruction of justice. McGahn had provided the federal probe with extensive and damaging testimony about Trump's attempts to remove Mueller.
Refresher: McGahn refused to move to ax the special counsel. He instead prepared to quit, telling other administration officials that Trump had asked him to "do crazy shit." He even compared the order to fire Mueller to the "Saturday Night Massacre," the legendary episode in 1973 when then-President Richard Nixon's attorney general and deputy attorney general both resigned instead of obeying Nixon's orders to fire the special prosecutor probing the Watergate scandal.
Related: Congress wins battle for Trump aide's testimony, but a broader war over subpoena power goes on, by WaPo's Karoun Demirjian: https://wapo.st/3vPNLdh | Former Treasury official sentenced to six months in prison for Mueller-related leaks, by our Josh Gerstein: https://politi.co/34RwnIV
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ALSO ON TAP: Biden and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) are slated to talk today in a last-ditch effort to strike a bipartisan infrastructure agreement, which comes as both sides appear to be losing hope that they can strike a compromise.
Here's why: "The gap between the two sides is massive at the moment — Biden and Republicans aren't even counting the size of the bill the same way and are approximately $750 billion apart. Their differences appear nearly impossible to bridge right now, according to two GOP sources familiar with the negotiations," Burgess and Sam Stein report.
Another sign: Democrats are searching for backup plans so they are ready to advance an infrastructure package if — or when — they choose to proceed without GOP support.
What we are watching for tomorrow: Will Republicans make one last counteroffer to the Biden administration? If so, what will they offer? Biden and Republicans still don't agree on how to pay for the plan to address the nation's crumbling roads, bridges and other infrastructure. In an attempt to circumvent the GOP redline of reversing the 2017 GOP tax cuts, Biden most recently offered a "global minimum tax" as a way to pay for the plan.
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) told Burgess that Democrats' strategy is "going as far as we can with Republicans and not delay[ing] it beyond this work period without seeing some action." Cardin said he'd guess there are 10 days left before Democrats charge ahead, even if it means no GOP support.
Burgess and Sam have lots more here about the dynamics at play in the infrastructure talks: https://politi.co/3ph1hUL Related: Biden narrows infrastructure request, but hurdles remain for bipartisan deal, by Jim Tankersley and Emily Cochrane: https://nyti.ms/3z07mcC | Biden can't quit infrastructure talks and progressives are losing their minds, by our Laura Barrón-López, Chris Cadelago, and Sam Stein: https://politi.co/3yZ0sEv
ALSO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR: The latest jobs report is expected to be released today, a pivotal time for the Biden administration as it seeks to pass its sprawling infrastructure vision through Congress — one way or another. It comes after a disappointing April jobs report — one that Republicans were quick to hammer Dems on after the unemployment rate actually rose and there was a slowing of jobs added. Some Republicans claimed that the numbers showed that the federal government was stopping the economy from getting back in gear and deterring people from working by providing workers who had been laid off during the pandemic with overly lucrative unemployment benefits.
THE ORIGINS OF COVID SPECIES: Republicans were painted as conspiracy theorists for claiming the novel coronavirus was borne out of a lab accident in Wuhan, China. Then, the WSJ reported that three scientists working in the Wuhan Institute of Virology exhibited symptoms consistent with Covid and other respiratory illnesses and were hospitalized a month before the virus began spreading in China. It breathed new credence into the lab-leak theory, with both parties calling for the White House to give the issue renewed consideration. And now, Republicans are rallying around the idea of Biden establishing a congressional probe or a commission — one they will get behind this go around — to examine the origins of Covid-19.
Democrats, however, don't appear to be fully on board: "Despite a growing chorus of bipartisan calls for such a probe, it's unclear whether Democrats are actually willing to launch a wide-ranging review. The House's select panel on Covid-19 has not committed to exploring how the deadly outbreak started, with its chair, Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, recently suggesting he'd rather look forward rather than backward," my colleagues write.
Republicans plan to use Dems' refusal to establish a commission as a political cudgel — much like Democrats plan to do about the lack of GOP support for a commission to examine the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
"If anything deserves a 9/11 style commission, it's the pandemic that's left half a million Americans dead," said Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), chair of the Republican Study Committee.
More here from Mel and Andrew on the politics of Covid's origins: https://politi.co/3wTzcoY
Related: A scientist adventurer and China's 'Bat Woman' are under scrutiny as coronavirus lab-leak theory gets another look, by WaPo's Eva Dou and Lily Kuo: https://wapo.st/34KFQ4P | Kevin McCarthy: Democrats ignored truth about Covid origins putting politics before American lives, Fox News reports: https://fxn.ws/3ceJng8
Top-Ed: David Asher writes in the WSJ: The world needs answers on Covid's origin: https://on.wsj.com/3fUdT17
| | A message from Altria: Moving beyond smoking. Altria's companies are leading the way in moving adult smokers away from cigarettes – by taking action to transition millions toward less harmful choices. We are investing in a diverse mix of businesses to broaden options beyond traditional, combustible cigarettes. See how we're moving. | | | HAPPY FRI-YAY! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this June 4, on which some pointed out to your Huddle host that using "in the red zone" yesterday to describe time running out on infrastructure negotiations may not have been the best sports analogy to describe the infrastructure talks. Good thing this is a Congress-focused newsletter. I want to let you all know I will be accepting sports terminology consultants going forward. A big thanks to those who have already volunteered.
THURSDAY'S MOST CLICKED: The Hill's story on the parliamentarian's latest ruling on reconciliation was the big winner.
NEXT WEEK: Republican leaders to summit with Trump in N.J. next week over conservative agenda, the New York Post's Juliegrace Brufke reports: https://bit.ly/3cjF8zJ
TURBO'ING TAX...CONCERNS?: "There's a small but growing list of Democratic lawmakers who've expressed reservations. And it's not just moderates desperately trying to cling to their seats next year who are going public — it's also committee chairs and senior lawmakers in no real electoral danger," our Bernie Becker and Aaron Lorenzo report.
"Perhaps the biggest issue for Democrats is that once they are more fully engaged on tax increases, they'll find they have almost zero margin in Congress with which to pass this latest vision of big government. All this has left progressives increasingly impatient with any Democrats worried about the political implications of big tax hikes. … If Democrats don't seize the moment right now, progressives are concerned that there's no telling when the party might get another shot to directly address income inequality and what they view as a tax code too tilted toward wealthy interests."
More here: https://politi.co/34IKq3L
A (SOON TO BE) MEMBER YOU SHOULD KNOW: Democrat Melanie Stansbury is on her way to Washington after trouncing her GOP opponent in New Mexico's special election this week. The race has been framed as a litmus test for the 2022 midterm elections, and some Democrats say her playbook of responding to GOP attacks about police funding and crime could and should be replicated by others in the party. But the representative-elect, who won Deb Haaland's old seat, says that issue was not the key one driving voters during the election.
"What I found most interesting in this particular campaign and race is the way in which the national narrative focused so exclusively on crime," Stansbury told me. "Crime is a concern and an issue in our communities, [but] when you talk to New Mexicans, when you talk to Americans, the biggest thing on the mind right now is how are we going to come out of this pandemic and get life back to normal. … So, I think, for me, what I was most surprised about is that the media didn't focus on the issue of the day."
Stansbury is no stranger to Washington. She lived inside the Beltway for years, serving as an intern in the White House Council on Environmental Quality before working in the Senate.
Stansbury — who researched land, water and economic development issues in 2010 for a doctorate — worked on the Senate Energy Committee in 2016, where she says she learned how to approach bipartisan policy-making by observing the chair and the ranking member of the panel.
"I think it was hugely impactful on my life to see two extraordinary women who might not agree on the policies of energy and different issues but who lead with such incredible integrity and dedication to bipartisanship," she told me. "I feel like I really learned both the art and the craft of policy-making working on the committee under the leadership of Sen. [Maria] Cantwell and Sen. [Lisa] Murkowski."
During our interview, Stansbury nodded to the toxic partisanship that has become a defining feature in today's national politics, which was heavily compounded after the Jan. 6 attack. While Stansbury was not in the Capitol during the deadly insurrection, I asked if she is willing to work with Republicans who did not vote to certify Biden's election win. She replied: "I want to see us get some of the really important legislation that hasn't made it out of the House, that hasn't been able to get through the Senate. So, I will work with anyone — every single day — to get past whatever we can that will provide a benefit for Americans and for our people."
| | | | DON'T MISS OUT ON OUR NEW PLAYBOOK DEEP DIVE PODCAST: Washington is full of whispers, colorful characters and little-known back stories that even D.C. insiders might not know. Playbook Deep Dive is a new, weekly podcast that pulls back the curtain on the stories behind the power. From Congress and the White House to bar stools and backrooms, POLITICO's top reporters and Playbook authors bring you the most compelling and confounding stories that explain what's really going on in Washington. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | Pet issue: Water. "I would love to work with my colleagues to help to bring a vision for 21st-century water management for our country that will help us build a more sustainable future in light of climate change."
One thing she's never shared publicly: "I carry with me everywhere I go a canister of holy dirt from a church in northern New Mexico called the El Santuario de Chimayo. … It's a place where people go across my state. The church has quite an amazing history, and so people go there often times before an important event or somebody in their family is struggling." She says she has been carrying the canister with her everywhere she goes for 20 years.
BACK IN BUSINESS: The Monocle, a hot dining spot near the Capitol, will fully reopen Tuesday, including for full bar service, indoor and outdoor dining, and private events. The restaurant, which has been a family-operated enterprise for more than 60 years, was behind the barbed wire fences circling the Capitol complex after Jan. 6 and unable to open for months. It has most recently been open for limited hours and capacity. No masks required if you are vaccinated.
NO PEEK-A-BROOKS HERE: Rep. Mo Brooks says he isn't hiding from an insurrection lawsuit after Rep. Eric Swalwell hired a private investigator to find him, CNN's Katelyn Polantz and Caroline Kelly: https://cnn.it/3ch95Av
QUICK CLICKS: Facebook to end special treatment for politicians on hate speech after Trump ban, by the Verge's Alex Heath: https://bit.ly/3g1MeK8 | Progressives push Biden to do more to distribute vaccines across the world, by CNN's Ryan Nobles: https://cnn.it/3yWcD53
| | | |   | | | TRANSITIONS
Agnes Rigg is now a research assistant for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs GOP. She previously was a legislative correspondent for Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).
Jess McCarron, former press secretary for the Senate Agriculture Committee and a communications adviser to Chair Debbie Stabenow, has been named a vice president at Signal Group, a public affairs firm.
Angela Hervig is now a legislative assistant in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. She previously was digital press secretary for Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.).
TODAY IN CONGRESS
The House meets in a pro forma session at 9:30 a.m. The Senate is out.
AROUND THE HILL
McGahn will testify in front of a closed session of the House Judiciary Committee. The Biden-Capito infrastructure phone call. TRIVIA
THURSDAY'S WINNER: Rick Shaftan was the first person to correctly guess that when Christine Todd Whitman left the New Jersey governorship in 2001 before her term ended to become administrator of the EPA, four people (both Democrats and Republicans) served as governor or acting governor of New Jersey by the time her term expired a year later in 2002.
Incoming long answer: Republican Donald DiFrancesco, state Senate president when Whitman resigned. Then, Republican John Farmer, who served as attorney general as acting governor for 90 minutes between the end of one state Senate term and the beginning of another. The new state Senate was evenly Split between Republicans and Democrats. The deal was that the Senate presidency (and hence acting governor) would rotate between an Republican and a Democrat until the newly elected governor was sworn in. Republican Jon Bennett first served before Democrats Richard Codey and Jim McGreevey got sworn in as governor.
TODAY'S QUESTION: From Rick: Republicans have had a number of presidents elected without having won a statewide election, most recently Donald Trump. Who was the last Democrat elected president who had never won a statewide election?
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
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