News: An interminable August recess-eve

Wednesday, August 11, 2021

An interminable August recess-eve

Aug 11, 2021

Presented by The American Petroleum Institute (API)

Assists from Nicholas Wu, Heather Caygle and Sarah Ferris

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING … The Senate passed Democrats' $3.5 trillion budget resolution, clearing the way for House action. Much more on that below.

LET THE (POSTURING) GAMES BEGIN — The long-awaited brawl to get the Senate's infrastructure plan through the House is finally here. And the two noisiest factions of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's caucus aren't wasting any time in laying down their stakes.

Call me, beep me: House Democrats will hold a caucus call today at noon, their first (virtual) huddle since the Senate bill passed. This call comes after moderates and progressives sent dueling letters Tuesday laying out their demands for how to move ahead on President Biden's economic agenda. Spoiler alert: They have vastly different and conflicting ideas (more on that below).

Reality check: Sometimes these calls can get a little raucous when tensions are running high. But people usually hold their fire (unless they want something to leak), and leadership tends to filibuster at the top to keep things in control. We'll keep you posted.

Dems in Dynamism: In one corner, a band of House moderates wants to vote immediately on the Senate-passed bill. Nine of them, all from the Problem Solvers Caucus, sent a warning to Pelosi shortly after that vote on Tuesday, laying out publicly what they've been quietly forecasting for weeks.

But in a separate missive to Pelosi, the Congressional Progressive Caucus laid out an opposite — but just as strong — warning, saying its members won't vote on the bipartisan bill until they're satisfied with their party's *other* bill.

Of course, that tug-of-war is spilling into the open more now that the Senate has finally passed its $550 billion bill. And both sides know they have leverage with just a three-seat margin in the House. Plus, Dem leaders have tons of decisions to make in the next 13 days: 1. Will the House try to tweak the Senate-passed bill? 2. Will the House try to mesh its budget resolution with the Senate's? 3. How will all these votes be sequenced?

Mark your calendars: The House is set to return Aug. 23, we tweeted to ya first last night. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the House will take up and pass the budget resolution and H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

Notably missing? Any guidance on when the House might consider the Senate infrastructure bill.

PELOSI, meanwhile, said Tuesday those opposing stances are exactly why she's holding tight to her two-track strategy. She said Democrats only got support for the reconciliation bill because of the bipartisan bill. "And I think we were able to get the bipartisan package because we had the $3.5 trillion," she said at a news conference in San Francisco. "They are, so we say, compatible in my view."

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BUDGET > BEDTIME — The budget vote-a-rama wrapped up overnight with a party-line and final roll call vote to adopt the 92-page framework that will pave the way for Democrats' $3.5 trillion package of climate and social initiatives, including subsidized child care, expanded Medicare and paid family- and medical-leave benefits.

A soaking thunderstorm rolled through right around dinner time and weather-trapped senators snapped photos of the lighting and cloud-obscured Washington Monument, cuddled with a puppy named Goldie (unfazed by the thunder; good girl Goldie) as they bided their time between dozens of amendment votes. There were hopes it would all wrap up by midnight, but it instead carried on until after 4 a.m.

Republicans forced roll call votes on dozens of amendments on divisive issues like critical race theory, defunding the police, immigration enforcement and using federal money to cover abortions.

The adoption of the budget measure, if it also clears the House, unlocks the once-obscure (now famous) reconciliation process that will allow Democrats to pass their $3.5 trillion wishlist bill with just 51 votes in the Senate, bypassing the 60 vote threshold.

The proposal could set in motion the largest expansion of the federal safety net since FDR's New Deal. But as Democrats work in the coming weeks to draft and finalize the measure, moderates and progressives will have to pull together. More on that ahead.

What comes next: Before the massive party-line bill can head to the White House for President Joe Biden's approval, there's at least one more vote-a-rama. And those amendments could actually matter, unlike the nonbinding proposals that kept the Senate up until dawn.

GOP senators acknowledged that they'll be using more firepower in the next budget vote-a-rama, because amendments during that round will actually affect the legislative text, instead of the budget framework.

A roster of about a dozen Senate committees will now get down to business of debating details of the final reconciliation package. Schumer is eyeing the week of Sept. 15 for a deadline to have the legislation completed and ready for the Democratic Caucus to review. For much, much more on what went down overnight, read Caitlin Emma and Jennifer Scholtes: https://politi.co/2XhExKm

HAPPY RECESS! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Wednesday, Aug. 11. The Senate was still in session when Huddle was written this morning, so it's gonna be a weird one.

TUESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: The Atlantic's profile of Rep. Hakeem Jeffries: The Next Face of the Democratic Party

WHO WILL WOO — Senate Republicans know that they can't stand in the way of Democrats forging ahead to spend as much as $3.5 trillion on social priorities like climate change and childcare, but there's a lobbying effort underway to sway swing-vote Democrats Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.

They're hoping to persuade the senior Democratic senators from West Virginia and Arizona to buck their party and shave down the social spending bill by holding out their votes, which are essential in the evenly divided Senate.

"Their vote is the whole enchilada. If they want to stop this thing, they can. And I hope they will use that power," Senate Minority Whip John Thune said.

"I think they are going to do what they think is right. And I don't think that means they are going to tear it down," Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said. Their vote, he said, "depends on all sorts of shit."

Manchin and Sinema's colleagues from both sides of the aisle talked to Burgess about how they are approaching the pair as action on the $3.5 trillion measure progresses: https://politi.co/3CCsabV

TEED UP — Before the Senate gavelled out for the delayed August recess, Schumer set up a vote on elections and voting overhaul legislation for mid-September.

"Voting rights, voting rights, will be the first matter of legislative business when the Senate returns to session in September. Our democracy demands no less," Schumer said.

The Senate voted 50-49 along party lines early in the wee hours of Wednesday morning to discharge Democrats' sweeping voting rights measure from committee. Schumer said the chamber would take up a yet-to-be reached compromise as the first amendment next month.

A message from The American Petroleum Institute (API):

The American Petroleum Institute (API) released a new analysis of the natural gas and oil industry's impact on the U.S. economy and highlighted its importance to the nation's post-pandemic recovery. The industry is a driver of every sector of the U.S. economy, supporting 11.3 million total American jobs in 2019 across all 50 states. The industry's total impact on U.S. GDP was nearly $1.7 trillion , accounting for nearly 8% of the national total in 2019.

FIRST IN HUDDLE — A group of congressional Democrats wants to be ready for the next pandemic. Nearly two dozen lawmakers led by Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) are asking congressional leaders to fund at least $30 billion to prepare for future pandemics.

"If we do not make strong investments in pandemic preparedness now, we are likely to face more devastating impacts to our country when the next pandemic arises," they write. "The cost of a $30 billion investment now is nothing compared to the cost of a future pandemic."

The Senate's budget resolution instructs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee to draft provisions on "pandemic preparedness," though the provisions will not be finalized for some time. Read the full letter: https://bit.ly/3lSpxwB

(ALSO) FIRST IN HUDDLE — A coalition of liberal and establishment Jewish organizations and others is coming together to back the nomination of Dilawar Syed to be deputy administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Confirmation would make Syed the highest-ranking Muslim in the administration, and the groups are pushing back on what they call "anti-Muslim bias and bigotry" against the nominee.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Bend the Arc: Jewish Action as well as civil rights, Jewish, and faith-based organizations wrote a letter to the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee calling for swift action and a vote on Syed's nomination.

"Unfortunately, the delay of this confirmation has come with concrete losses to American small businesses — including tens of thousands of minority-owned businesses devastated by the pandemic." They added, "The longer the Senate delays its consideration of this nomination, the more that hard-working Americans will suffer irreparable damage at a time when they need your help the most." Read the full letter here: https://politi.co/3jNLQRk

MORE ROSEN REVELATIONS — Donald Trump asked the country's top legal official in late December about a conspiratorial draft complaint aimed at overturning the 2020 election results, according to a previously unreported account of Trump's phone call with former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen. Betsy and Nick scoop that Rosen convinced Trump it wasn't a good idea, per sources familiar with Rosen's testimony to Senate investigators.

The revelations come as the Senate Judiciary Committee continues to ramp up its investigation into the former president's attempts to pressure the Justice Department into interfering in the 2020 election. The 54-page draft complaint, modeled after Texas' failed lawsuit, would have urged the Supreme Court to declare that the Electoral College votes from six key swing states lost by Trump "cannot be counted" because of baseless allegations of fraud asked and for the justices to order a "special election" for president be held in those states.

Byung Jin Pak, former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia who resigned in early January amid controversy over Trump's efforts to overturn the state's presidential balloting, will sit for an interview with the committee on Wednesday morning, according to a source familiar with his plans.

Read the full story from Betsy and Nick: https://politi.co/3iCUenz

REPORTS ON REPORTS — The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office is out with a new report faulting an at-times confusing process at the Department of Homeland Security for designating special security events as contributing to a lack of preparation for the Jan. 6 insurrection.

"Being able to be dynamic and responsive to change would enable federal entities to implement better security planning," the GAO wrote.

This report is the first of three expected to be published by the GAO on security failures leading to the attack on the Capitol. The next two reports, both of which are set to be published later this fall, will examine intelligence about the attack on social media and law enforcement agencies' failures in intelligence-sharing.

"The GAO's independent investigation will help Congress continue to gather the facts and make necessary changes to ensure the security of the Capitol," said Reps. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). Crow had led a group of House Democrats in requesting the GAO investigate the attack.

MOZZARELLA MYSTERY — You cannot survive a vote-a-rama without snacks; that's just a fact. So when your Huddler saw a report Tuesday morning that an enterprising (but unidentified) Senate aide was heading to work armed with an air fryer … reader, I was inspired.

A source revealed the identity of the air fryer toting aide: Katie Bailey, legislative director for Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.). Katie, I salute you for the commitment, preparation and initiative to haul your air fryer to work as vote-a-rama loomed. Braun's team feasted on piping hot mozzarella sticks as the Senate worked into the night. Photo evidence here.

MATTERS OF THE SOLE — House employees got a very, very important memo yesterday. No, not the one about August recess being cut short.

"Shoe repair services will be temporarily unavailable starting Friday, August 13." Plan accordingly, folks!

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TRANSITIONS

Mackenzie Martinez is now press secretary for Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio). She most recently was press assistant for Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.).

Marysol Ibarra is now communications director for Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.). She previously was a press fellow for Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.).

TODAY IN CONGRESS:

The House not in session. (But returning Aug. 23)

The Senate gaveled out at 5:56 a.m. Pro formas only until Monday, Sept. 13 at 3 p.m.

AROUND THE HILL

11:30 a.m. Schumer holds a press conference on the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure package and the Democrats' budget resolution.

TRIVIA

TUESDAY'S WINNER: Wilson Golden correctly answered that the longest Senate vote in modern history occurred on March 5 of this year, on an amendment about implementing a $15 federal minimum hourly wage during a previous vote-a-rama. It lasted 10 hours and 43 minutes. (More info on that: https://bit.ly/3xJmf1e)

TODAY'S QUESTION from Wilson : Which politician/astronaut had two near-death shuttle experiences? What were the spacecrafts and what is his current position?

The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to ktm@politico.com

GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning.

Follow Katherine on Twitter @ktullymcmanus.

A message from The American Petroleum Institute (API):

The American Petroleum Institute's recently released PwC study shows how the natural gas and oil industry is essential to economic recovery in other sectors, like manufacturing, agriculture, industrial and more, as well as opportunities for job creation. As economic activity, travel patterns and consumption continue to grow during the post-pandemic recovery, the U.S. Energy Information Administration expects global oil and liquid fuels consumption to surpass 2019 levels in 2022. In addition to accounting for nearly 8% of the U.S. GDP in 2019, the natural gas and oil industry generated an additional 3.5 jobs elsewhere in the U.S. economy for each direct job in the U.S. natural gas and oil industry. Learn how the industry is powering each state's economy by using the interactive map linked here.