🤫 McConnell's '22 playbook

Plus: Dems' pipeline gusher | Thursday, December 02, 2021

Open in app View in browser   Presented By United to Safeguard America from Illegal Trade (USA-IT)   Axios Sneak Peek By the Axios Politics team ·Dec 02, 2021 Welcome back to Sneak. There was late movement in the Senate to avoid a government shutdown. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,151 words ... 4.5 minutes. Edited by Glen Johnson.     1 big thing: Scoop - McConnell's plan: No agenda Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images   Mitch McConnell has told colleagues and donors Senate Republicans won't release a legislative agenda before next year's midterms, people who've attended private meetings with the minority leader tell Axios' Jonathan Swan and Alayna Treene. Why it matters: Every midterm cycle, there are Republican donors and operatives who argue the party should release a positive, pro-active governing outline around which candidates can rally. McConnell adamantly rejects this idea, preferring to skewer Democrats for their perceived failures. Behind the scenes: On the night of Nov. 16, McConnell met with donors, lobbyists and a group of Republican senators in a private function room upstairs at the Capitol Hill Club. The 2022 agenda was on the menu. In attendance was Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which convened the dinner. Also on hand were some Republican senators up for re-election next year: Chuck Grassley of Iowa, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Rand Paul of Kentucky and John Boozman of Arkansas. Each senator sat at his own table with donors, and each spoke for a few minutes about his race. A microphone was passed around for a question-and-answer session. A donor asked a question that could only be answered by McConnell. According to a source in the room, the donor said something to the effect of: We all know what's wrong with the Democrats, but what are we going to be running on to help us win? McConnell's response was something to the effect of, With all respect, that's not what we're doing, the source said. McConnell has long held the view that putting out an agenda ahead of midterm elections is a mistake — at least for Senate Republicans, the sources told Axios. He believes his view has been vindicated by recent history. McConnell points, in particular, to when he led Republicans to win back the Senate in the 2014 midterms without proposing an agenda. Some donors and operatives point to a different memory: the "Contract with America." House Republicans released a governing action plan before the 1994 midterm elections, and their party won back unified control of Congress for the first time in nearly 50 years. Keep reading.     2. Dems receive max money from pipeline lobbyist Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios   A major Democratic donor and Nord Stream 2 lobbyist has made maximum campaign contributions this year to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and vulnerable Senate Democrats, campaign finance records reviewed by Alayna and Axios' Lachlan Markay show. Why it matters: If pressure from the White House to vote against reimposing sanctions on the Russia-backed natural gas pipeline weren't enough, Democrats who back such legislation also will be at loggerheads with one of their party's top fundraisers. Driving the news: Vincent Roberti, a former Connecticut state representative, has given the legal maximum of $5,800 to Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Patty Murray (Wash.). He's also given $2,900 — the maximum primary contribution — to Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H). Both Cortez Masto and Hassan face competitive reelection fights next year. Roberti's firm, Roberti Global, has been paid $8.5 million for its Nord Stream 2 lobbying work, according to lobbying disclosure records. What they're saying: "Sen. Hassan has supported strong action against Nord Stream 2, including voting for sanctions in 2017 and as part of the FY20 and FY21 defense authorizations," a spokesperson told Axios. "Sen. Blumenthal is opposed to the Nord Stream II pipeline," his spokesperson said. "Sen. Blumenthal has been a strong advocate for Ukraine in the Senate and supports Sen. [Robert] Menendez's amendment to trigger severe sanctions if Russia escalates actions against Ukraine, including on Nord Stream II." "Sen. Cortez Masto opposes Nord Stream 2 and the Biden administration's decision to allow the pipeline to move forward. She has consistently supported legislation and sanctions to block it," an aide told Axios. Schumer hasn't spoken to Roberti about this issue, his spokesperson said. Roberti did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Keep reading. Go deeper: Fight over Putin's pipeline consumes Congress.     3. Groups see abortion fight flipping script Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson speaks during an abortion rights rally in October. Photo: Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Women's March   Abortion rights advocates believe the Supreme Court fight over Mississippi's strict abortion bill has the potential to turn the political script: galvanize Democratic voters, instead of its historic ability to drive turnout among Republicans. What they're saying: "The opportunity is that people are enraged," Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood, told Axios' Alexis McCammond during an interview. "What we saw in Texas, and what people will walk away from [the Mississippi oral arguments with], is a level of rage that we could be living in a world six months from now — where our children have fewer rights than we have right now." That rage, McGill Johnson predicted, "is going to get channeled into accountability at the ballot box for those folks who have furthered the situation we're in right now." She predicted that will occur not only in next November's midterms — which will be held about four months after the court's expected ruling in the Mississippi case — but starting in the state legislative season come January. "You will see that rage in statehouses across the country all the way through 2022," said McGill Johnson. Keep reading.     A message from United to Safeguard America from Illegal Trade (USA-IT) Fighting illegal trade in America     Illegal trade is a $464-billion-a-year business, and it's growing. What you need to know: Criminals get rich from illegal trade by robbing revenues used to provide essential services to Americans. Working together, we can fight back. See how.     4. U.S./EU China convergence President Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Photo: Jeff J Mitchell - Pool/Getty Images   The United States and European Union are adopting "increasingly convergent" views about the threat posed by the Chinese government, according to senior Biden administration officials, deepening a trend that could tilt the scales in an era of great power competition. Why it matters: European leaders were initially wary of President Biden's campaign to rally a coalition of U.S. allies to challenge China. But the winds in Europe seem to be shifting, in part due to Beijing's growing belligerence, Zachary Basu writes for a piece that debuted in Axios World. That's helped them overcome their hope to avoid a confrontation between the bloc's two largest trading partners. Driving the news: The U.S. and E.U. released a lengthy joint statement today pledging "continuous and close contacts" to "manage our competition and systemic rivalry with China responsibly." The statement followed the second high-level U.S.-EU Dialogue on China, led by Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman — who has been tipped as State's point person on China — and EU diplomat Stefano Sannino. A day earlier, the European Commission unveiled a €300 billion ($339 billion) "Global Gateway" development program designed to counter China's Belt and Road Initiative. The premise is similar to Biden's "Build Back Better World" initiative. Meanwhile, the incoming German government — which mentioned Taiwan for the first time in its coalition agreement — is expected to move away from Chancellor Angela Merkel's pro-business, "dialogue-first" approach, says Noah Barkin, an EU-China analyst with Rhodium Group. "We Europeans shouldn't make ourselves smaller than we are," Germany's incoming foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, told a German newspaper this week. "China has massive interests on EU market. We should use leverage of common market much more strongly." Keep reading. Go deeper: Subscribe to Axios World through this link.     5. Pic du jour Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images   Actor Billy Porter performs during the National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony on the Ellipse.     A message from United to Safeguard America from Illegal Trade (USA-IT) Fighting illegal trade in America     Illegal trade is a $464-billion-a-year business, and it's growing. What you need to know: Criminals get rich from illegal trade by robbing revenues used to provide essential services to Americans. Working together, we can fight back. See how.   🥂 Thanks for reading this week. We'll be back Sunday evening. A reminder your family, friends and colleagues can subscribe to Sneak or any of Axios' other free local and national newsletters through this link. Like this email style and format? Learn more about Axios HQ. It'll help you deliver employee communications more effectively.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. 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