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| Axios Sneak Peek |
| By the Axios Politics team ·Feb 17, 2022 |
| Welcome back to Sneak. 😷 SOTU seats are back — for the masked. 🗓️ Join Axios virtually at our inaugural What's Next Summit on April 5. Register here to attend livestream sessions with discussions on trends that will revolutionize our future. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,323 words ... 5 minutes. Edited by Margaret Talev. |
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| 1 big thing: Senate Dems ditching BBB as inflation fix |
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| Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios |
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| Several Democratic senators facing re-election are looking past President Biden's stalled Build Back Better agenda as they ramp up other plans to try to ease voters' inflation fears, Axios' Sophia Cai reports. Why it matters: They're making independent decisions to set themselves up for success in November, whether it's suspending the federal gas tax until 2023, extending homebuyers' deductions or other ideas. - But some of the moves may complicate Biden's hope of salvaging individual elements of his own plan.
What we're hearing: Inflation and the U.S. economy came up at today's lunch with senators and White House officials — but not a strategy session about how to pass chunks of BBB. - "Well, there is no Build Back Better," Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) told Axios. She said negotiations to lower prescription drug costs may hold the key to offsetting inflation.
What we're watching: Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) this week pitched Senate Democratic colleagues on suspending state sales tax for some essential goods. He also introduced legislation to cap patients' out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 per month — which Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said tonight would be a priority for the caucus in the coming weeks. - He's one of several Democrats who told Axios they're also concerned about corporations pushing brazen price spikes under the cover of inflation.
- Last week, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) reached across the aisle to join with Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) on a bipartisan bill to provide tax relief to middle-class homeowners by permanently extending a tax deduction.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Hassan last week proposed suspending the 18-cent federal gas tax until next year. Several frontline Democrats signed on, including Warnock and Cortez Masto. - The Washington Post notes there are questions about whether this would actually help consumers or gas producers more — and how hard it might be politically to ever end a suspension.
- The senators say gas tax relief is an immediate and tangible measure to offset rising prices. "We have long-term issues, to look at the drivers of inflation," Hassan told Axios. "But in the short term, we have to do everything we can to lower people's costs."
Between the lines: Lawmakers also are talking about proposals to blunt price-gouging on staples from masks to meat. That is another example of looking past BBB — but it's largely in step with the president's own emphasis for months on probing price-gouging in energy and other sectors. Be smart: The gas tax suspension was discussed at Senate Democrats' lunch Tuesday, but Schumer said the caucus hadn't taken a position on it. It's also unclear how much Republican support it could get. - Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told Axios he's opposed to the idea.
Keep reading. |
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| 2. More inflation plans — governors' edition |
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| Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images |
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| U.S. governors from both parties also are releasing a flurry of proposals as the political potency of inflation hits, Axios' Alexi McCammond reports. Why it matters: The lousy numbers — a U.S. inflation rate at its highest in four decades and prices up more than 7% over the past year — are coming not just at the start of a pivotal midterm election year but also at the start of the annual sessions for many state legislatures around the country. Between the lines: With insufficient support to move Biden's agenda through the Senate, voters are looking to governors and their states to lead. Driving the news: Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announced in his "State of the State" address this week that he'll extend the University of Wisconsin's tuition freeze for another year. The Democratic governor also renewed calls to funnel the state's budget surplus back to taxpayers, giving every Wisconsin resident a $150 tax rebate. - Maine Gov. Janet Mills, also a Democrat, unveiled a plan to give residents a one-time $500 check "to help them deal with pandemic-driven inflation." Her supplemental budget also includes various tax relief measures, as well as funding for two years of free community college.
- Mills said in a statement that she's been "drawing on good ideas from both Republicans and Democrats."
Democratic governors are eyeing relief for property and car owners, workers and patients with ongoing health care costs. Republican governors are eyeing broad plans to lower taxes. - In Idaho, Gov. Brad Little signed into law earlier this month a $600 million tax cut plan — the state's largest ever.
- In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp proposed last month giving residents $250 to $500 tax credits from the state's budgetary surplus.
Keep reading. |
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| 3. Charted: Redistricting report card |
 Data: Princeton Gerrymandering Project with RepresentUs; Table: Axios Visuals Seven of 12 new congressional district maps have received "F"s — including four passed by Democrats — as graded by the Princeton Gerrymandering Project and RepresentUs, Axios' Stef Kight reports. Why it matters: Both major parties engage in political gerrymandering — even if they favor different tactics to achieve their aims. By the numbers: 35 states have now finished the redistricting process. The Redistricting Report Card project has released grades for 12 of the resulting maps. - Six of the remaining 15 states aren't subject to congressional redistricting, since they only have one House seat.
Between the lines: Colorado, Michigan, Arizona and Virginia received "A"s overall. The grades are generated by an algorithm and calculations that measure partisan bias, competitiveness and geographic manipulation in new district lines. Keep reading. |
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| A message from Axios |
| Local D.C. News in Your Inbox |
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| 4. Worthy of your time |
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| Secretary of State Antony Blinken, at the U.N. Security Council, said intelligence shows Moscow could order an assault on Ukraine in the "coming days." Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images) |
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| 🐘 House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy endorsed Harriet Hageman, a Trump-endorsed challenger to Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), Axios' Andrew Solender reports in tonight's Sneak roundup. McCarthy told the Federalist, "I look forward to serving with Harriet for years to come." - "Wow, she must be really desperate," Jeremy Adler, a spokesperson for Cheney, said of Hageman. Cheneyworld's relationship with McCarthy was strained after her ouster from GOP leadership for her repeated criticism of former President Trump.
🛎️ Top Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are pushing to end the government's lease for the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., before Trump can reach a deal to sell it and "reap millions in profit." - Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) noted in a letter to the General Services Administration that the accounting firm Mazars USA recently cut ties with Trump and said the Trump Organization's financial statements "should no longer be relied upon."
🗳️ Former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Democrat who was ousted by Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-Fla.) in 2020, is forgoing a rematch with Giménez, the Miami Herald reported. - Republicans quickly seized on the news as part of a pattern of Democratic recruitment struggles in the region, with National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Camille Gallo stating, "No one wants to run on Democrats' socialist agenda because it's a recipe for failure in South Florida."
💨 Former New York Times columnist Nick Kristof announced the end of his campaign for Oregon governor after the state's Supreme Court ruled he does not meet the residency requirements. - "This ruling represents the end of my campaign for governor. But I'm not going anywhere," Kristof tweeted.
🗽 Incumbents won big at New York's Democratic Convention, with Gov. Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and all other statewide elected officials securing endorsements from the state party for their re-elections. - New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Hochul's main progressive opposition, won just 12% of the vote for the party's nomination, short of the 25% threshold needed to make it on the primary ballot without having to petition.
Editor's note: An item included in yesterday's Sneak roundup has been corrected to reflect that the purpose of Sen. Tom Cotton's (R-Ark.) objection to confirming U.S. attorney nominees was to defend U.S. marshals, not due to broad complaints of Democrats' criminal justice positions. |
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| 5. Mapped: Ukraine danger zone |
 Data: Mapbox/OSCE as of Feb. 14; Map: Will Chase/Axios Senior U.S. officials pivoted today from warning of the threat that Russia could soon invade Ukraine to the firm expectation the invasion is about to begin, Axios' Zachary Basu and Dave Lawler write in tonight's World newsletter. This map gives one big clue about where they're watching. Keep reading. |
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| 6. Tweet du jour |
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| Screenshot: @parscale/Twitter |
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| Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale's take on our story last night about GOP angst over the former president's aggressive fundraising tactics. |
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| A message from Axios |
| Local D.C. News in Your Inbox |
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| Axios D.C. features the best local news written and curated by the reporters who know the city best. Subscribe for free. |
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