| | | | | |  | | By Katherine Tully-McManus | | | With Anthony Adragna and Nicholas Wu. MID-WEEK ETHICS DUMP — The House Committee on Ethics is looking into separate complaints filed against four House lawmakers, the panel announced Tuesday. The inquiries into Reps. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn.), Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.), and Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) are all being extended by the committee, which is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. The extensions are a relatively passive move, not signaling dismissal of the cases or a ramp-up to impanelling an investigative subcommittee. All four cases were referred to the committee from the nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics on July 23. "The Committee notes that the mere fact of a referral or an extension, and the mandatory disclosure of such an extension and the name of the subject of the matter, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee." Previous reporting pulls back the curtain on what each lawmaker might be in hot water for, since the Ethics panel's announcements were short on details: Malinowski: A March report from Insider revealed that Malinowski had failed to disclose dozens of stock trades early in the pandemic worth $671,000. The story spurred two conservative groups to ask the OCE to investigate. Mooney: An OCE report found that Mooney improperly reported campaign funds and converted campaign cash for personal use. Kelly: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on potential ethics violations from Kelly that involve tangling stock trades with advocacy for policy relating to those industries (in this case, steel.) Hegedorn: A Minneapolis lawyer filed a complaint with the OCE against Hagedorn last year, according to the Minnesota Reformer. Mark your calendars for Thursday, October 21, 2021, when House Ethics is expected to announce next steps. | | | | 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. | | | | | WIGGLE ROOM — Democrats are cracking open the door that the Sept. 27 deadline to get both parts of President Joe Biden's infrastructure done may be a bit wobblier than it seemed when House leaders struck a deal with moderates last month. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), asked yesterday at the Capitol whether that Sept. 27 deadline to pass the bipartisan package still stood, simply replied: "That's the plan." Plans slip all the time on Capitol Hill, so that doesn't sound like a 100 percent firm commitment. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) told Marianne after the pro-forma Senate session: "I don't know whether we'll get there by that specific date," she said. "I trust [Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)]'s got his process. It's worked so far. It's not always been the prettiest process but that's Democrats" Reminder what Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) told Marianne last week: "We're trying to get agreement between and among all 50 of us, and that presents some challenges," Casey said. "As much as I thought we'd be done in September, I would guess we wouldn't." Another dynamic at play: Much of the focus always centers on the insistence of Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Krysten Sinema (D-Ariz.) that the $3.5 trillion topline number come down (maybe as far as half ), but progressives are adamant in their position that it not budge at all. The nearly 100-member Progressive Caucus asked for specifics in a Tuesday tweet: "what popular, urgently needed programs would you cut?" It all adds up to a fluid, messy September. Buckle up, folks. (Optional if you're over 18 in New Hampshire.) | | | | A message from AT&T: Accessible, affordable broadband helps communities reach their American Dream. That's why we're making a $2 billion, 3-year commitment toward helping close the digital divide, so more low-income families have the ability to succeed. Learn more. | | | GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Wednesday, September 8, where your Huddle host is hoping to spot zebras on the loose. TUESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Grateful to know that Huddle readers are either already (or soon to be) big fans of Katmai National Park and Preserve's Fat Bear Week. ENCRYPTION COULD CRAMP 1/6 INVESTIGATION — The congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection could soon face an obstacle familiar to law enforcement: the popularity of encrypted communications. Nick has the story: https://politi.co/3yYc0q5 The committee sent dozens of requests to social media and telecommunications companies asking them to hold onto individuals' communications data related to attempts to overturn the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 Capitol siege. (Including that politically fraught bid for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's phone records, which the California Republican is not pleased about.) But the encryption used on many of those services will limit the amount of data the select committee is able to gather if it does make a formal request or issue a subpoena for the actual messages, experts told Nick. OH NO, ANOMALY TIME — President Joe Biden asked Congress Tuesday for billions of dollars extra in its government funding package this month, a request known on the Hill as "budget anomalies." This double-barreled ask — at least $14 billion billion for disaster aid for natural disasters before Hurricane Ida, $10 billion for Ida related costs plus $6.4 billion to pay for Afghan refugee resettlement — scrambles the calculus further as lawmakers and aides stare down the slim but very real possibility of a shutdown this fall. While anything related to Afghanistan is sure to flare GOP criticism for how the Biden administration handled the U.S. exit, the massive resettlement effort would be seen by many as an emergency (even if Republicans see it as a Biden-made crisis.) Tacking Afghan resettlement aid and natural disaster funding onto a must-pass spending bill is sure to complicate things, but could lure lawmakers' votes. Caitlin Emma has more: https://politi.co/2YBNZca | | | | 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 . | | | | | PLAYING CHICKEN — McCarthy sent fried chicken from Chik-Fil-A to the Capitol Police Tuesday, but not all the officers were happy with the gift. Most ate the chicken (free lunch, after all), according to one source. But some officers chose not to eat the chicken, the source said, and expressed disappointment that McCarthy would support them privately with chicken and not publicly through legislation. David Laufman, an attorney who represented two Capitol Police officers when they testified before the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, tweeted a picture of the chicken and said he was sure it's delicious "but would prefer support for democracy and the rule of law if you're not tapped out." And Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), tweeted that "tons" of USCP officers had told him about the chicken "in disbelief." McCarthy "dishonors the police but sends them…chicken. Fitting," he wrote. STATUE OF LIMITATIONS — The towering statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, is set to come down today after rulings last week by the Supreme Court of Virginia cleared the way for its removal. Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, Confederate icons have also been removed from the Capitol building in recent days. A statue of Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith had been representing Florida in the Capitol, but was removed during the summer recess. Rep. Cathy Castor (D-Fla.) touted the removal last week and anticipated replacement: a statue of civil rights leader Mary McLeod Bethune will take its place in the National Statuary Hall Collection. Huddle hasn't taken attendance recently, any other statue moves on Capitol Hill we should know about? | | | |   | | | QUICK LINKS — How 9/11 changed members of Congress, from The Washington Post. — Two staffers who opened their Capitol Hill homes to colleagues on 9/11, from Roll Call. — Adlai E. Stevenson III, Ex-Senator and Scion of Formidable Political Family, Dies at 90, from the New York Times TRANSITIONS Amy Hasenberg is now deputy communications director for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.). She previously was deputy communications director for the House Oversight GOP. Hannah Lindow is now head of policy communications at Cruise. She is the former communications director for Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.). Nick Xenakis has joined Covington & Burling's Public Policy practice as special counsel. He was most recently a top aide to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), serving as her chief counsel and general counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. TODAY IN CONGRESS The House is not in session. The Senate is not in session. AROUND THE HILL 9:45 a.m. Pelosi holds her weekly press conference. TRIVIA TUESDAY'S WINNER: Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) correctly answered that Frances Perkins was the first female Cabinet secretary in U.S. history, leading the Department of Labor under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Beyer generously included an additional fun fact: his grandmother Clara Mortenson Beyer was an aide and adviser to Perkins during her time at Labor. More on Clara Heyer here: https://wapo.st/3tsfXT8 TODAY'S QUESTION from The Gentleman From Virginia: There are two former U.S. Ambassadors in the current U.S. House -- Ann Wagner (R), who served in Luxembourg, and Don Beyer (D), who served in Switzerland. Who was the first U.S. Ambassador to serve overseas and THEN come back to be elected to the US House of Representatives? 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 AT&T: Kamal Bell is the proud owner of Sankofa Farms, a thriving family farm that employs his community. He knows food insecurity impacts minority groups in his area. But with help from accessible and affordable broadband, he can provide a food source to local food deserts, and teach Black youth about agriculture and STEM. He also uses new tech to collect data, run beekeeping operations, and monitor his farm with drones. Thanks to Access from AT&T, we can connect low-income households like the ones Kamal works with, and more communities in areas we serve with their American Dream. Learn more. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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