News: Solemnity before the Senate’s weekend storm

Friday, August 6, 2021

Solemnity before the Senate’s weekend storm

Aug 06, 2021

Presented by ProsperUS

With an assist from Nicholas Wu

SLOW, SOLEMN BEFORE THE SENATE STORM — The Senate sits in an intervening day, which some lawmakers will spend putting one of their former colleagues to rest before a weekend slog.

After days of infrastructure amendments, the Senate is expected to stay quiet today with no votes teed up. Many lawmakers are heading to Wyoming to pay their respects to former Sen. Mike Enzi.

But there's a wild weekend ahead. And it might not just be infrastructure and the budget vote-a-rama on the agenda.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is privately telling his members that they should expect more votes on election reform legislation before the August recess, people familiar with the discussions tell Nicholas and Marianne.

A group of Democratic senators has toiled for weeks out of the infrastructure spotlight to put together voting legislation that incorporates recommendations from key moderate Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who had reservations about the initial ethics and election overhaul package Democrats put forward.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) has participated in the talks, including a Wednesday meeting with senior Democrats about next steps on the voting proposal. He signaled Thursday that the measure could be unveiled next week, as "the vehicle that now Dems are unified" behind.

Nicholas and Marianne look at how election legislation could get wedged onto the schedule ahead of recess: https://politi.co/3fD3aHx

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SELF-IMPOSED SENATE TORTURE — Eventually the only thing standing between the Senate and the August recess will be the reconciliation process for the budget resolution, which will set up a future vote on the $3.5 trillion wishlist of Democratic priorities backed by zero Republicans.

The measure will bypass a Senate Budget Committee markup, but its fate on the floor will include the all-night Senate torture device known as vote-a-rama. The first amendment spree, which is on track to start this weekend or early next week, would culminate with the adoption of the budget resolution.

Recess will be within reach. And a second vote-a-rama is required down the line ahead of official passage of the Democratic policy bill. But Republicans are intent on amending or killing the resolution and will line up an endless roster of amendments to further their aim. Caitlin Emma and Jennifer Schultes lay out the path forward: https://politi.co/2VE7G1C

Related: Roll Call's Jim Saksa digs into why, oh, why the Senate leans on all-night sessions and pre-recess cramming to get things done: The Senate is about to pull some all-nighters. Why?

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BUT FIRST, INFRASTRUCTURE — Talks to wrap up the infrastructure bill fell apart Thursday night, leading Schumer set up a pivotal vote to limit debate on the Biden-backed bipartisan plan for Saturday.

"We very much want to finish this important bill, so we will reconvene Saturday at noon to vote [to overcome a filibuster] and then we will follow regular order to finish the bill," Schumer said.

The legislation, which is a top priority of President Joe Biden's and would spend $550 billion in new money on roads, broadband and other physical infrastructure, will need 60 votes and at least 10 Republicans to advance when it comes back up on Saturday.

"Well, we've got people who want to use it all," Minority Whip John Thune told reporters after midnight of the 30 hours of post-cloture time that would start ticking Saturday.

"I think after the cloture vote on Saturday, that'll be one of those formative moments, and we'll see from there, kind of what people's appetite is to stay on the bill," Thune said.

Senators spent all of Thursday trying to close out action on the infrastructure bill but faced "numerous objections" on remaining amendments, beyond the nearly two dozen already debated this week.

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) refused to sign off, citing the Congressional Budget Office's analysis of the bill's financing, despite intense lobbying from Republican colleagues.

Burgess looks at what tripped up Thursday's action and what's ahead this weekend: https://politi.co/37n9Bdl

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GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Friday, Aug. 6. Yes, it is a voteless August Friday, but it is a mirage as weekend work approaches.

WEDNESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: You needed to know more about a former staffer-turned-candidate being belittled: Sexist comments followed by silence mar Alabama Senate race, from Nathan Gonzales at Inside Elections and Roll Call.

INFRASTRUCTURE INFECTION — There are Covid cases percolating among Senate staff who worked through last weekend on infrastructure talks, finalizing the bill under consideration this week. Multiple sources confirmed to POLITICO that there are cases tied to the talks, or at least among staffers involved.

Your Huddler got a Covid test yesterday with no wait and quick turnaround time (negative, thanks for asking!). Maybe I'm a nag, but this feels worth nagging about ... get tested, even if you're vaccinated.

GOP IS FEELING FEENSTRA — Republican presidential hopefuls already have their eyes on Iowa and freshman Rep. Randy Feenstra is giving a warm welcome as his district becomes a magnet for big names in the party.

Feenstra says he will have an open door to anyone who wants to visit Iowa.

Last month, former Vice President Mike Pence paid his first visit to Iowa since losing the 2020 presidential campaign. He helped kick off the inaugural "Feenstra family picnic." Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton has a trip planned, and former Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina have already visited Feenstra for separate fundraisers.

"I'm just going to be the ambassador to everybody," Feenstra told Olivia about the role he's assumed. "To me, it is a small area, but it is the pulse of Iowa. … That is why I think a lot of candidates like to come through the area."

Olivia has more on Feenstra's fast rise as a potential Iowa kingmaker: https://politi.co/3xpIB7z

COMMITTEE CONSOLIDATION — There's a handoff happening. The House Oversight Committee has postponed multiple scheduled witness interviews about former President Donald Trump's final days in office, ceding them to the select panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

Shifting the jurisdiction of those interviews with former Justice Department aides marks an abrupt change in House Democrats' investigations of the end of Trump's presidency and allows them to prevent overlap in investigations.

The move underscores the growing importance of the select committee's work as it readies its next steps with a political spotlight on Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and the panel's two anti-Trump Republicans, Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.

Notably , the shift in the investigation did not appear to affect the Senate. A Senate Judiciary Committee spokesperson told Nicholas and Betsy Klein on Thursday that the panel is beginning to interview witnesses this week in its own inquiry. The chair of that panel, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), told POLITICO that his committee planned to interview two Trump-era DOJ Justice Department officials soon.

Read the scoop from Betsy and Nick: https://politi.co/3lFUTqa

TRANSITIONS

Palmer Brigham, press secretary for Sen. Wicker (R-Miss.), is joining Rep. Elise Stefanik's personal office as communications director on Monday, Aug. 9. She previously worked for Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia and Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee.

Andrea Hitt is now deputy press secretary for the House Republican Conference. She previously was a press assistant for Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.).

TODAY IN CONGRESS:

The House meets at noon for a pro forma session.

The Senate is not in session; it will convene at 11 a.m. Saturday.

AROUND THE HILL

10 a.m. Speaker Nancy Pelosi holds her weekly news conference

10:30 a.m. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) holds a news conference with Texas Democratic state legislators on the anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act.

Many senators are headed to Gillette, Wyo., to attend the funeral of former Sen. Mike Enzi.

TRIVIA

THURSDAY'S WINNER: Stumped!! No one provided the correct answer that Woodrow Wilson was the first president to throw out the first pitch in Philadelphia. Many, many of you said William Taft, but he threw out the first pitch in Washington, though the Phillies were playing.

TODAY'S QUESTION: Name the senators from the state that sent the most athletes to the Tokyo Olympics this year. (Bonus: Name the senators from the state that send the most athletes *per capita* to Tokyo.)

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.

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