CONGRESS A TALE OF TWO GOP LEADERS — MITCH MCCONNELL and McCarthy are very different types of leaders. The contrast between the two men came into stark relief Tuesday in their reactions to the RNC's "legitimate political discourse" flub. McConnell blasted the RNC for censuring Republican Reps. LIZ CHENEY (Wyo.) and ADAM KINZINGER (Ill.) over their role investigating the attack on the Capitol as part of the Jan. 6 committee. "That's not the job of the RNC," the Senate minority leader said. His members also haven't held back, as we chronicled in Playbook on Tuesday. In the House, McCarthy briskly walked away from ABC's Rachel Scott as she asked him about the censure, telling her to make an appointment. Rank-and-file House Republicans similarly dodged. Conference Chair ELISE STEFANIK (R-N.Y.) said Tuesday that the RNC has "every right to take any action" before saying she condemns violence on all sides. THE TAKEAWAY: This is another reminder of the divergent political calculations the two leaders have made on Trumpism. McCarthy, eager to be speaker someday, is known for trying to maintain GOP unity no matter the scandal. Remember, he was the GOP leader who first encouraged Hill Republicans to stick with Trump after the "Access Hollywood" video emerged. He has maintained that strategy since. McCarthy is still betting — probably correctly so — that people outside the Beltway (or at least people who might vote for Republicans) don't give a rip about anything related to Jan. 6. So he and fellow leaders are advising members to focus on election issues and ignore questions about the intra-GOP drama, we're told. McConnell also prefers to show a unified front but has drawn a line on Jan. 6. He refuses to speak to Trump and has not held back calling what happened that day a violent insurrection attempt. While he's picked his moments to publicly push back on MAGA world conspiracies and the whitewashing of the storming of the Capitol, he's clearly taking a long-term view of things: that Trump's influence will fade eventually and he wants to be on the right side of history. SPEAKING OF … An interesting nugget in this Josh Dawsey and Felicia Sonmez WaPo story : "The phrase 'legitimate political discourse' did not appear in an original draft of the resolution by top Trump ally DAVID BOSSIE, according to a copy reviewed by The Washington Post. Instead, Bossie's version said the committee had a disregard for 'minority rights' and 'due process' and seemed 'intent on advancing a political agenda to buoy the Democrat Party's bleak electoral prospects.' "It is unclear how the words 'legitimate political discourse' came to enter the document as it was edited in Salt Lake City by Bossie, [RNC Chair RONNA] MCDANIEL and others. … Several RNC members said it was frustrating that, aside from a small number of resolution committee members on Thursday afternoon, no one else saw the text of the resolution until 1:38 a.m. Friday, when the document showed up in inboxes of the committee's members. It was not read or presented aloud before it was voted on nine hours later." ORGANIZING THE HOUSE — While talk of unionizing on Capitol Hill is increasing, our Katherine Tully-McManus and Sarah Ferris write that "it turns out that many of the problems with the Capitol as a workplace — notably, that there are more than 535 offices, each of which sets their own policies — are some of the same reasons it would be so tricky to collectively organize. … "While lawmakers approving a resolution to officially grant staff the right to organize is the clear next step, most employees agree where to go from there remains incredibly murky. Senior House aides confirmed that institutional lawyers are looking into the matter, acknowledging there are huge questions about what comes next. For staff, that includes how to keep union momentum in an environment subject to high employee turnover and whether senior staff could be in the same union as junior staff." — FIRST IN POLITICO: AFL-CIO President LIZ SHULER recorded a video for congressional staffers organizing the union. "To the brave congressional staffers sharing their stories and speaking out for change, we stand with you," she says. "The labor movement has been watching recent developments on the Hill very closely. You are demanding better pay and working conditions, and you have a home in America's unions. Our doors are wide open." 1:14 video SCHUMER'S STOCK TRADING BAN TAKE — Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER said Tuesday that he supports "his colleagues' growing efforts to rein in their fellow lawmakers' trades of individual stocks," Insider's Bryan Metzger, Warren Rojas and Brent Griffiths report. Schumer said that he believes in the initiative and has "asked members to get together to try to come up with one bill. I would like to see it done." The comments are particularly noteworthy given his counterpart Pelosi's previously stated skepticism toward this move. Indeed, most leaders privately scoff at what they see as a base play, noting that there are laws on the books prohibiting illegal insider trading. Schumer has been guarding his left flank in the run-up to his primary. (ANOTHER) SHUTDOWN AVERTED — The House on Tuesday evening passed "a short-term government funding bill to avert a shutdown at the end of next week Funding is currently set to expire on February 18, but the measure the House approved would extend funding through March 11," CNN's Clare Foran reports. It now heads to the Senate for approval. TOP-ED — "Where Chuck Schumer went wrong on voting rights" : The Hill's editor at large Steve Clemons has some tough words for the Senate majority leader for dedicating only one day to voting rights on the chamber floor: "Schumer's decision to rob the nation of a chance for extensive debate — to learn what the act would do to stop voter suppression, to refute whatever electoral fraud concerns exist — was, at best, a missed opportunity and, at worst, a signal that some Democratic Party elites care less about democratic institutions than they profess." Related: The Brennan Center for Justice just posted its latest "Voting Laws Roundup" of voting rights laws around the country. ALL POLITICS FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — House Majority PAC, the outside group aligned with Pelosi, will announce a seven-figure campaign to help Democrats introduce themselves to new constituents after redistricting. The program, called "Operation New Lines," is a recognition that while Democrats have come out ahead in restricting, doing much better than predicted, they'll still have new constituents unfamiliar with their records, undercutting incumbent advantage. The group has already chosen Reps. CINDY AXNE (Iowa) and JARED GOLDEN (Maine) as recipients, but will continue to add more names in the coming weeks. "Operation New Lines will play a crucial role in defining Democratic candidates and introducing them to new voters before Republicans have the chance to falsely smear them," executive director ABBY CURRAN HORRELL will say in the release , shared with Playbook this morning. "Through investments in targeted digital and mail campaigns, we plan to meet the voters where they are and secure a House Democratic Majority in 2022." ABRAMS APOLOGIZES — Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate STACEY ABRAMS apologized Tuesday, after a picture of her maskless with students who were wearing masks received backlash over the weekend. Abrams said on CNN that she "took her mask off to read to students at a school last week so that children listening remotely in other classrooms could better hear her, but that she shouldn't have posed maskless for photos after her reading," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Greg Bluestein recaps. "In the excitement after I finished, because it was so much working with those kids, I took a picture. And that was a mistake," Abrams said. "Protocols matter, and protecting our kids is the most important thing. And anything that can be perceived as undermining that is a mistake. And I apologize." JUDICIARY SQUARE SCOTUS WATCH — South Carolina lawmakers, most prominently House Majority Whip JIM CLYBURN, have been pushing MICHELLE CHILDS for the Supreme Court pick, prompting some pushback from labor advocates who worry she'd be too business-friendly. But one of labor's biggest supporters, Sen. SHERROD BROWN (D-Ohio), has given his stamp of approval: "If she's chosen, I'll be enthusiastic," he told Burgess Everett and Laura Barrón-López. "I've heard things. I am reassured from Clyburn and others that she would be a good nominee." As the left splits on Childs, Brown's backing "is a huge shot in the arm" for her, they write.
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