| | | | | | | | | | | Axios Sneak Peek | | By the Axios Politics team ·Mar 29, 2022 | | Welcome back to Sneak. 🚀 Countdown: 6 days until Axios' inaugural What's Next Summit on April 5! Register here to attend virtual livestream sessions featuring D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the CEOs of GM, NBCUniversal, Northrop Grumman Corp. and the president of the New York Stock Exchange. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,064 words ... 4 minutes. Edited by Glen Johnson. | | | | | | 1 big thing: Democrats take on DOJ |  | | | Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) speaks during the Jan. 6 committee meeting yesterday. Photo: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images | | | | Democratic lawmakers are openly pressuring Attorney General Merrick Garland to bring the weight of U.S. law enforcement against members of former President Trump's inner circle they've deemed uncooperative with the House's investigation of the Jan. 6 attack, Axios' Andrew Solender and Margaret Talev write. Why it matters: The House select committee is seeking to compel or punish Trump loyalists who don't comply with the investigation, while Republicans are preparing to win back control of Congress in November — and end the probe. The big picture: The pressure campaign is putting President Biden on a collision course with his own party. - Distinguishing himself from Trump, who Democrats lambasted for pressuring Justice Department officials during his White House years, Biden has pledged to ensure Garland operates independently of politics.
- "I told you I would not tell the Justice Department what position to take or not take, and I'm not going to instruct the Congress, either," he told reporters on Monday.
What we're watching: During a meeting last night at which the select committee recommended House contempt votes against former Trump aides Dan Scavino and Peter Navarro, Reps. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) all called on Garland to act. - Luria said the Justice Department "must act swiftly," adding: "Attorney General Garland, do your job so that we can do ours."
- Schiff told reporters today it's important for the Justice Department to act quickly and decisively to enforce the committee's prerogatives because "we're trying to prevent another Jan. 6. ... We feel a sense of urgency and we hope the department does also."
- Schiff said the cases against Navarro and Scavino are "pretty clear cut," so "it shouldn't be that difficult for the department to act."
- Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who chairs the select committee, was asked Tuesday about committee members' frustrations with the Justice Department's pace. He replied: "I'm in agreement with my members."
Keep reading. |     | | | | | | 2. Dems target new election foils |  | | | Photo illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios. Photos: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Bloomberg, Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | | | | In digital ads and press releases, Democrats are using Republican Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Rick Scott of Florida and Chuck Grassley of Iowa as foils to contrast their party's vision for health care and the economy. Why it matters: Democrats view recent comments by the three senators as political gifts — and a rare opportunity to go on offense as the party tries to stave off projected midterm losses, write Axios' Alexi McCammond and Andrew. - The White House has struggled to sharpen its message ahead of this fall, leaving Democrats desperate and begging for better direction.
- Health care was a winning issue for Democrats during the 2018 midterms and the party hopes that holds true for this cycle.
- "Ron Johnson said WHAT?!" the Democrats' House fundraising arm — not its usual Senate counterpart — said in a March 10 email soliciting donations that's typical of the new thrust.
The backstory: During a recent interview with Breitbart News Radio, Johnson urged his party to start thinking about what policy items it would prioritize if it takes back the White House, House and Senate in 2024. - Grassley suggested that if Democrats want to pass something to lower prescription drug costs, they need to do it "now" — before Republicans take control of Congress.
- And Scott, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), released his own plan for the GOP 2022 agenda should be. It included a call for having all Americans pay income taxes, even high earners who've managed to escape them.
- Democrats seized on the comment to argue Republicans would raise Americans' taxes if they control Washington.
The other side: T.W. Arrighi, a spokesperson for the NRSC, told Axios that Democrats are "panicking and trying to manufacture new issues." Keep reading. | | | | | | | | 3. Charted: A nation says thank you |  Data: Architect of the Capitol; Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios The late Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) became the latest public figure to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol today, an honor accorded the longest-serving congressman from the current Congress after his death on March 18. Why it matters: The frequency of public figures lying in state or honor in the Capitol has increased during the past two decades, according to data from the Architect of the Capitol reviewed by Axios' Sarah Mucha. Driving the news: The president paid tribute to Young, praying before his flag-draped casket as he lay in repose at the Capitol's Statuary Hall. - The president's service in the Senate overlapped with Young's in the House. Senior aides Steve Ricchetti and Kurt Campbell joined him.
- Statuary Hall is the same setting where the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was honored.
By the numbers: Since 2000, the number of deceased Americans who have lain in the Capital is 13. - During the previous two decades, it was four, including two Capitol police officers killed in the line of duty, Sen. Claude D. Pepper (D-Fla.) and an unknown soldier from the Vietnam War.
- In the 1960s and '70s, Congress honored eight Americans — including four presidents.
| | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Checklist for clearer communications | | |  | | | | This checklist details simple steps to help you think more clearly, communicate more effectively and keep busy readers hooked. - It works for all your vital updates, from internal team priorities to client or community communications.
Get the free checklist | | | | | | 4. Worthy of your time |  | | | President Biden meets with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a rare foreign leader visit to the White House. Photo: Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images | | | | 🐘 Two House Republicans stood up during the GOP caucus meeting to complain about Rep. Madison Cawthorn's (R-N.C.) claims about cocaine use and orgies in D.C. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he and other leaders plan to meet with Cawthorn, according to Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.). He said Cawthorn should "name names, or retract," Andrew also writes in tonight's Sneak roundup. 📱 Former President Trump told the Washington Post and CBS News he has "no idea what a burner phone is" and has "never even heard the term," after the outlets reported the Jan. 6 committee is trying to account for a gap in White House call logs amid the Capitol insurrection. ❌ Former national security adviser-turned-Trump critic John Bolton reportedly told CBS' Robert Costa he recalls Trump using the term "burner phone" several times. 🏛️ House Democrats are split over how to approach what they mostly agree is a clear conflict of interest for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Andrew also wrote today. 🎥 The president "was not able to watch the Oscars," White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said during the daily press briefing, adding the White House doesn't have any official comment on actor Will Smith slapping comedian Chris Rock. | | | | | | | | 5. Pic du jour |  | | | Photo: Shawn Thew-Pool/Getty Images | | | | Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), joined by her husband, Verne Martell, honors her longtime colleague, the late Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), as he lies in state in Statuary Hall. - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi eulogized him as an "endearing colleague with gruff demeanor — we all know that — and, often, a colorful vocabulary."
| | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Checklist for clearer communications | | | | | | | | This checklist details simple steps to help you think more clearly, communicate more effectively and keep busy readers hooked. - It works for all your vital updates, from internal team priorities to client or community communications.
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