| | | | | |  | | By Katherine Tully-McManus | Presented by ProsperUS | TEXT, BUT WHAT'S NEXT? — After more than a month of "frameworks" and "agreements in principle" there's finally bill text for the bipartisan infrastructure package. The bill runs more than 2,700 pages, more than five reams of paper… not exactly the light summer read you might be looking for to kick off August. Senate negotiators and their staff worked throughout the weekend to finish the language for the bipartisan agreement, which will include $550 billion in new spending on roads, bridges, highways, broadband and water infrastructure. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) called the process "the most enjoyable adventure for the last six to eight weeks." (I'm glad someone had fun.) Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Sunday evening took the next procedural step to move the legislation forward, predicting it would pass the chamber in a "matter of days." He reiterated his vow that the chamber would pass both the bipartisan bill and a budget blueprint for Democrats' $3.5 trillion social spending package before the August recess. But first, the bill will go through an arduous amendment process. Get ready for the Carper-Capito show! Delaware Democrat Tom Carper and West Virginia Republican Shelley Moore Capito, both part of the key negotiating group, will take the lead shepherding the package through floor action and navigating amendment debate as other senators try to make changes to the fragile bipartisan package. While Schumer and negotiators are aiming for the Senate to clear the bipartisan bill by the end of the week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has publicly and privately committed to holding the physical infrastructure bill until the House receives the $3.5 trillion social spending package. Marianne spent her Sunday like Blink-182: Watching, waiting, (commiserating). Catch up here: https://politi.co/3xebCD3 Related: The quiet Biden-GOP talks behind the infrastructure deal, from Seung Min Kim at the Washington Post. | | | | 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. | | | | | CORI LEADS A CAMPOUT — Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and progressive allies camped outside the Capitol this weekend to highlight their frustration with House leadership, which last Friday abandoned efforts to extend the federal eviction moratorium put in place in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The chamber then left town for a seven-week summer recess. Bush, who has experienced homelessness and lived in her car with her two children before her career in politics, camped out on the House chamber's East Front steps to bring attention to the end of the eviction freeze and call for the House to reconvene to extend the moratorium. Other progressives, including Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Jim McGovern (Mass.), Jamal Bowman (N.Y.) and others joined Bush, speaking to a gathered crowd throughout the weekend and joining Bush's calls for the House to return to take action. They criticized fellow Democrats for heading home to their districts with this issue still outstanding. The multi-day demonstration came after eight House lawmakers, including Bush and Ocasio-Cortez, urged President Joe Biden in a letter to extend the moratorium. Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) put out a statement Sunday night, kicking responsibility for the eviction moratorium back to the Biden administration. "Action is needed, and it must come from the Administration. That is why House leadership is calling on the Administration to immediately extend the moratorium," said the Democratic House leaders in their statement. "The virus is still a threat," they said. "The moratorium must be extended, and the funds Congress allocated to assist renters and landlords must be spent. An extension of the moratorium is based on public health and the delta variant. It will also give more time to allow the money that Congress allocated to finally flow." They are calling for an extension to Oct. 18, 2021. The Biden Administration said it did not extend the moratorium implemented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because of a Supreme Court ruling last month that indicated that a majority of the justices believed the CDC had exceeded its authority with the freeze. Congress had provided $46 billion of rental assistance to tenants so they could pay their landlords and bills, but many states have been slow to distribute the funds. Just $3 billion was doled out by the end of June. In a statement released Friday, President Joe Biden called on state and local governments "to take all possible steps to immediately disburse these funds." Millions of Americans who struggled to pay bills during the pandemic may face eviction in the coming days. Katy O'Donnell has the latest on the eviction ban here: https://politi.co/3jgkSBE Related: For Tenants Nationwide, a Scramble to Pay Months of Rent or Face Eviction, from the New York Times. | | A message from ProsperUS: The economy is what we create, what we buy, what we need. The economy is powered by us – and it's time it worked for us. We need more bold public investment in jobs and families. We are ProsperUS. Learn more here. | | | GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Monday, August 2. Senators worked the weekend, which doesn't usually make for a cheery Monday around here. FRIDAY'S MOST CLICKED: You were all looking ahead and clicked on "Pelosi and Sanders brace for Democratic upheaval over Biden agenda." BLACK CAUCUS CONUNDRUM — The winner of a special House election in northeast Ohio is almost certain to be one of two Black women. But the Congressional Black Caucus is intervening with an unusual goal: playing favorites between them. The CBC's decision to get so involved in the race has highlighted tensions and ideological fractures among Black Democrats. Ally Mutnick, Maya King and Heather Caygle dig deep into the dynamics of the Ohio race and what it means for the CBC: https://politi.co/3zVgZZE DEBT CEILING DILEMMA — After a two year suspension, the U.S. debt ceiling became operative again overnight and lawmakers on Capitol Hill haven't yet outlined a plan to avoid default later this year. The debt cap was put on hold for two years in August 2019, as part of a budget deal in Congress. Congressional leaders have yet to outline a plan to either increase the limit or suspend it again. Here's the latest from Bloomberg: https://bloom.bg/3rLybxO STAFF SHOUT OUT — Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) took time on Sunday, while everyone waited for infrastructure text to come out, to thank the staffers, clerks, parliamentarians, Capitol Police and others who worked through the weekend to support the Senate's effort to get the infrastructure package done. "Sometimes I might say — only half in jest — the senators are merely constitutional impediments to their staffs" said Leahy. "We are very fortunate to have some of the brightest women and men anywhere in the staffs of the senators of both parties, and certainly in those who administer the senate, including those who are presently sitting, preparing to help us on everything from points of order to making sure the right papers are done and that the votes are counted properly. I see all of these people working hard here today," he continued. Schumer also got in on the staff praise late Thursday night. "I want to especially thank the staffs, who have burned the midnight oil many a night, for their diligence, hard work, intelligence, and skill. Thank you staff listening and a few in the room here tonight," he said. Leahy was 100 percent correct about something: "I'm sure just about everybody had other plans for Saturday and Sunday. Instead, they were here," he said. | | | | Be a Policy Pro. POLITICO Pro has a free policy resource center filled with our best practices on building relationships with state and federal representatives, demonstrating ROI, and influencing policy through digital storytelling. Read our free guides today . | | | | | GAVEL TAUNT — If you thought last week's name calling between Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy signaled a deterioration of their relationship, McCarthy took it a step further over the weekend. At a Saturday night event , McCarthy joked that it "will be hard not to hit" Pelosi with the speaker's gavel if Republicans take control of the chamber in the 2022 midterms and he becomes speaker. The comment was reported by Main Street Nashville, complete with audio: https://bit.ly/3jcraCz "I want you to watch Nancy Pelosi hand me that gavel. It will be hard not to hit her with it," McCarthy said in audio posted to Twitter by a Main Street Nashville reporter. The GOP leader made the comments at a fundraising event in Tennessee, when members of the Tennessee congressional delegation handed him an oversized gavel. TRUST DEFICIT — A good read on why trust is hard to find on Capitol Hill these days, from Carl Hulse of the New York Times: https://nyti.ms/3A1zcFa CHILD CARE CRUNCH — The big promises of President Joe Biden's childcare proposal could be slowed by the reality that right now there aren't enough childcare workers or facilities. "That's not going to happen in three days. First we have to build the capacity and get the workers, and then we will have the ability then to move on," Senate HELP Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said. Eleanor Muller has a reality check on the Biden childcare plan: https://politi.co/3A0oEpz | | | |   | | | TRANSITIONS Matthew Handverger is leaving Rep. David Cicilline's (D-R.I.) office to start as Rep. Mark Pocan's (D-Wisc.) communications director later this month. TODAY IN CONGRESS The House is not in session. The Senate convenes at noon. AROUND THE HILL Nothing yet. TRIVIA FRIDAY'S WINNER: Lillian Kelly correctly identified Senate Olympians as Sen. Wendell Anderson (D-Minn.) in hockey in 1956 and Sens. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.) in basketball and Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) in judo in 1964. TODAY'S QUESTION: On July 30, 1980 President Jimmy Carter presented more than 450 U.S. Olympic athletes with Congressional Gold Medals on the Capitol steps. Why did the athletes get a Congressional Gold Medal instead of Olympic medals? 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 ProsperUS: We are ProsperUS, a coalition of movement, labor, small business, faith, and policy groups. And we demand a people-centered economy.
This is our chance, this is our moment – to finally unlock prosperity for all of us. We need housing, health care, caregiving, action on the climate crisis, and millions of good-paying jobs. We need bold public investment now. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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