🤫 Biden's 9/11 confrontation

Plus: GOP moves to split Dems | Thursday, March 10, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Business Roundtable   Axios Sneak Peek By the Axios Politics team ·Mar 10, 2022 Welcome back to Sneak. 📅 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: 1,028 words ... 4 minutes. Edited by Glen Johnson.     1 big thing: Exclusive - 9/11 families call out Biden Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Photo: Royal Court of Saudi Arabia/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images   The chair of one of the most prominent 9/11 family coalitions has written to President Biden raising concerns about potential renewed U.S. engagement with Saudi Arabia, Axios' Zachary Basu has learned. Why it matters: 9/11 Families United chair Terry Strada wants Biden to uphold his campaign pledge to make Saudi Arabia a "pariah," after Axios' Hans Nichols reported this week the president's advisers are discussing a possible trip to convince the Kingdom to pump more oil. "We share Americans' 'pain at the pump,' and we recognize there are a number of important issues between our two countries, but any dialogue must include our years-long quest for justice and accountability," Strada wrote. "No reset of our nation's relationship with Saudi Arabia can be successful without proper reconciliation for the attacks on September 11, 2001." The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The push to repair relations with the Saudis triggered outrage from progressives and activists. They continue to demand Biden hold Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman accountable for the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The letter from Strada, who lost her husband in the 9/11 attacks, opens a new front in the pressure campaign to halt any movement toward warmer ties with Saudi Arabia. 9/11 Families United represents 3,000 family members who lost loved ones in the terrorist attacks. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals. 👓 Read the full letter. Keep reading.     2. GOP's move to force Biden-Dem split Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios   Senate Republicans are trying to force Democrats to pick between a policy many of them support and President Biden, who opposes it, Axios' Andrew Solender and Hans Nichols write. Driving the news: The Republicans want to expand an oil sanctions bill so it includes a provision suspending Russia's permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status, which would put its trade relationship with the U.S. in the same category as North Korea and Cuba. In the post 9/11 era, lawmakers — especially Democrats — have attempted to constrain presidents from both parties and prevent them from escalating foreign conflicts. Why it matters: With Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Congress is pushing in the opposite direction: pressing the president to be more aggressive. From kicking Russia off the SWIFT financial system to imposing an embargo on Russian energy products, and now working to revoke Russia's PNTR status, Congress has been forcing the White House's hand. Revoking PNTR would allow new tariffs on imports from Russia and Belarus. The White House is trying to calibrate its actions as it seeks to preserve off-ramps for Russia amid escalating rhetoric and sanctions. What we're hearing: Senate Republicans are looking for the best avenue to vote on revoking PNTR status. "There's definitely an effort to add an amendment [to put PNTR] back into [the House] bill once it gets over," a senior GOP Senate aide told Axios. "One way or the other, we're going to try to move it," said Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. An amendment, he said, is the "option that I would like to do." The other side: The White House has been working aggressively to protect the president's prerogative with foreign policy, and to keep U.S. actions aligned with those of its allies. "The administration is working with members of Congress and WTO members to hold Russia accountable for Putin's premeditated, unprovoked and unjustified attack on Ukraine," a spokesperson for U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told Axios. Keep reading.     3. Charted: Rattled election workers Re-created from Brennan Center for Justice; Chart: Axios Visuals Election officials worry about politicians interfering with their jobs, as well as new colleagues who embrace theories about widespread election fraud, according to a survey by the Brennan Center for Justice reviewed by Axios' Stef Kight. Why it matters: It's been nearly a year and half since the 2020 election, but baseless allegations of fraud from former President Trump and associates are still fueling anxiety. Brennan found that one in five election workers they're likely to leave their jobs before 2024. By the numbers: One out of every six local officials interviewed said they'd been threatened because of their job, whether over the phone, in person or through social media, the survey of nearly 600 officials found. More than one in three said they're "very worried" about interference by political leaders over how they and other election officials do their jobs in future elections. Just 13% said they'd been "very worried" before 2020. The majority said social media has made their jobs "somewhat" — if not "a lot" — more difficult and dangerous. Benenson Strategy Group conducted 596 interviews from Jan. 31-Feb. 14, 2022, among local election officials across the country, and of all political affiliations. The margin of error for the dataset is +/- 3.95%. Keep reading.     A message from Business Roundtable Good tax policy supports long-term economic growth     A globally competitive tax code for U.S. businesses means increased investment in operations and research and development, higher wages and more jobs here at home—leading to stronger economic growth that benefits all Americans. Learn more.     4. Worthy of your time Flowers and other mementos color the front of the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images   🇺🇦 Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) broke with much of the GOP by criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He called him a "thug" whose government is "pushing woke ideologies" in a video reported by local NBC affiliate WRAL, Andrew also reports. 🗣️ Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) caused a stir on the Senate floor by pushing for a separate vote on Ukraine aid in the annual federal budget. Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) shot back that Scott's proposal would lead to the government shutting down, stating, "I don't think that's a smart move." ⚖️ Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer lauded Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during a floor speech with the "three B's": "brilliant, beloved and she belongs on the Supreme Court." 🏛️ Former national security adviser Michael Flynn appeared before the Jan. 6 select committee in response to a subpoena requesting testimony about a meeting in which Trump allegedly discussed seizing voting machines, according to NBC News and the Washington Post. 🐘 Former Oklahoma state House Speaker T.W. Shannon is joining an already crowded GOP primary to succeed retiring Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.). The group includes Inhofe's chief of staff Luke Holland, Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) and state Sen. Nathan Dahm.     5. Pic du jour Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images   Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) applied his John Hancock to the door of a tractor-trailer participating in the convoy inspired by Canadian truckers. They're calling for an end to governmental states of emergency that have led to vaccine mandates. Participants also want congressional hearings to examine the government's pandemic response.     A message from Business Roundtable Billions of dollars in investments. Tens of thousands of American jobs     Globally engaged U.S. businesses support American workers and communities. Business Roundtable CEOs are committed to inclusive innovation and a thriving U.S. economy—one that positions American workers and businesses to compete and win globally.   🥂 Thanks for reading this week. We appreciate it — especially with all that's going on and weighing on you. We'll be back Sunday evening. Subscribe to Sneak or any of Axios' other free local and national newsletters through this link. Like this email style and format? It's called Smart Brevity®. 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