| | | | |  | | By Andrew Desiderio | | | With Kyle Cheney, Josh Gerstein, Nicholas Wu and Marianne LeVine. THE RUNDOWN — Congress is preparing to (virtually!) welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The House is readying legislation to restrict trade with Russia. The Senate? Noms, noms, and more noms . But first, a note from our legal eagles, Kyle and Josh… FORTENBERRY ON TRIAL — When Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) faces a jury this week, it will be the first time a sitting member of Congress has been criminally tried since 2016, when then-Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.) was convicted on corruption charges. He quickly resigned after his conviction. In fact, most members of Congress facing criminal charges have resigned before going to trial or pleading guilty. The most recent batch includes former Reps. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) and Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), both of whom were pardoned in the closing days of Donald Trump's presidency. The allegations: The Nebraska Republican has been accused of making false statements to the FBI about his awareness of political contributions that originated with a foreign donor. Prosecutors say Fortenberry repeatedly told investigators that he was unaware that some of his political contributions came from Gilbert Chagoury, a French-Lebanese billionaire. But they say that Fortenberry had already been told, multiple times, that the source of the donations was illicit. The FBI knows this because it enlisted an informant to tell the congressman — and surreptitiously recorded the call. Prosecutorial tactics: Fortenberry's defense has argued publicly and in pretrial motions that the case is the product of political bias on the part of ambitious, left-leaning prosecutors in Los Angeles. The congressman's defense has also contended that the prosecutors dragged the case out from 2019 to 2021 in order to give Biden appointees a chance to approve the indictment. Prosecutors have denied any impropriety , and U.S. District Court Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr., a Trump appointee, has ruled out such arguments in front of the jury. Indeed, in court he seemed angry about the defense's suggestion that modest political donations to Democrats by the lead prosecutor, Mack Jenkins, undermined the case. One of the most controversial aspects of the case against Fortenberry is that the FBI went after the lawmaker ABSCAM-style, with hidden-camera video rolling, despite no real indication that he knew at the time the donations were made that they came from abroad or from sources other than the declared donors. Legal experts are doubtful that some top Justice Department officials would have approved a sting against a sitting federal lawmaker under those circumstances, but the prosecution says all necessary approvals were obtained.
| | | | WIN A VIP TICKET TO THE GREATEST POLITICAL SHOW ON EARTH! POLITICO and SHOWTIME are teaming up for an evening of cocktails and conversation featuring the POLITICO Playbook team and Mark McKinnon and Jennifer Palmieri from "The Circus" on Showtime in Washington, D.C. Enter for a chance to win a ticket to join fellow Playbookers and newsmakers at this exclusive, VIP event by Friday, March 18th. Winners will be notified on that date (travel and accommodations not provided, this is a widely attended event pursuant to House & Senate ethics rules). ENTER HERE. | | | | | GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Tuesday, March 15, 2022, where your fill-in Huddle host is eager for March Madness to start — and for the Villanova Wildcats to take the crown. Looking at you, #NovaNation. IS THE SENATE… WORKING? The Senate in recent weeks has racked up several bipartisan wins: an anti-lynching law that passed after hundreds of attempts; postal reform; legislation addressing sexual misconduct claims in the workplace; $14 billion in aid to Ukraine; a sweeping spending bill and reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. Those victories, after Democrats failed to pass President Joe Biden's signature domestic policy bill and change Senate rules to pass election reform along party lines, could be a sign that the 50-50 Senate is perhaps working the way it's supposed to. And Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) isn't shying away from bragging a little about the chamber's latest accomplishments. "Mitch McConnell may have had 53 votes, but he never put many bills on the floor. When we can get the votes, we want to get it done," Schumer said in an interview. Republicans don't quite see it that way. "95 percent of the time seems to be spent on partisan stuff, and 5 percent on bipartisan stuff. They've realized they've needed some accomplishments. I'm all for that," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). But he added: "I don't think the age of Aquarius has broken out or anything." More from Burgess and Marianne here. OPEN FOR BUSINESS — House Democratic aides got a real-talk message on Monday: Reopening the Capitol might take longer than hoped for, given Capitol Police staffing shortages. Top Democratic aides were told at a Monday meeting that the Capitol Police's level of manpower would decide the pacing of the reopening, according to several people familiar with the situation. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger has pointed to the staffing shortfalls as a major challenge for the agency. The department has lost more than 100 officers since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. A spokesperson for the Capitol Police said the department is working to come up with a "safe plan" to open up the Capitol to the public — which will be updated when the final call happens. The omnibus bill passed last week included an $87 million funding boost for the department, which could help alleviate its staffing crunch. Read more from Nick and Emily Birnbaum on Congress Minutes.
| | A message from Freight Rail Works: In times of recovery, America needs a transportation network that can keep goods moving, help businesses prosper and remain responsive to changing customer needs. Not only does freight rail invest $25 billion annually to provide U.S. businesses with safe, reliable service. Today's rail shipping rates are 44% lower than in 1981, which keeps U.S. businesses competitive. See how railroads are helping America get back on track. | | | EXCLUSIVE — Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) is poised to chair the Senate GOP's campaign arm for the 2024 cycle, Burgess scoops. Things could get awkward, though, since one of his biggest tasks in the role would be to defeat his fellow Montanan, Democratic Sen. Jon Tester. Daines, for his part, said he has "very strong support" among Republican senators, and downplayed any possible tension between him and Tester. "There will be a number of Senate races in 2024," he said. "And I'm sure we'll be working hard." More from Burgess. FED TROUBLE — Yet another high-profile Biden nomination has effectively been nixed. Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) announced Monday that they'll oppose Sarah Bloom Raskin's nomination as the Federal Reserve's top banking regulator. Senate Republicans were already blocking Democrats' efforts to confirm her, having boycotted a Banking Committee vote on the nomination; now, it's nearly certain that Raskin won't have the 50 votes necessary to win Senate confirmation. But there are no indications that the White House is prepared to pull her nomination. Victoria Guida and Burgess have more. WELL, THAT'S CLEARED UP — The entire Senate Republican conference, with the exception of Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul, has vowed to oppose the revived Iran nuclear deal that the Biden administration has been pushing for. While skepticism of a JCPOA re-entry is generally bipartisan, 49 senators are now on-record opposing any eventual agreement — which remains elusive at best. "By every indication, the Biden administration appears to have given away the store," the senators wrote in a joint statement, warning that a new agreement would "deepen Iran's financial and security relationship with Moscow and Beijing, including through arms sales." More from your fill-in Huddle host on Congress Minutes.
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO NATIONAL SECURITY DAILY : Keep up with the latest critical developments from Ukraine and across Europe in our daily newsletter, National Security Daily. The Russian invasion of Ukraine could disrupt the established world order and result in a refugee crisis, increased cyberattacks, rising energy costs and additional disruption to global supply chains. Go inside the top national security and foreign-policymaking shops for insight on the global threats faced by the U.S. and its allies and what actions world leaders are taking to address them. Subscribe today. | | | | | THE RAND ROADBLOCK — Paul, ever known for being the sole detractor in the Senate and in his party, is holding up passage of a bipartisan Lindsey Graham-led resolution calling for Vladimir Putin to be investigated for war crimes. Paul is demanding changes to the measure, per CNN's Ali Zaslav , before agreeing to allow it to proceed. "We sent him over some amendments," Paul said. You'll recall that Paul essentially did the same thing when the Senate tried to pass a non-binding resolution last month condemning Russia's aggression against Ukraine — demanding changes to the symbolic measure before agreeing to a UC request.
| | | Strange bedfellows … Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth had this to say about his fellow Kentuckian who didn't sign that Senate GOP statement on Iran. Trolled … Connie Schultz made us laugh with this observation about her husband, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). Convoy catastrophe … The trucker convoy made its way into D.C. yesterday, clogging traffic for hours on key freeways and bridges in the city. WaPo's Seung Min Kim got caught in the standstill, and DefenseOne's Kevin Baron had this observation: "Trucker convoy disrupts traffic into the Pentagon during a war in Europe."
| | | | A message from Freight Rail Works:   | | | QUICK LINKS DOJ: Film crew was present at Jan. 5 meeting between leaders of Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, from Kyle 'Clock is ticking': 2024 Republicans try to leap out of Trump's shadow, from Alex Isenstadt Lawmaker pressure on Biden hits its limits, from The Hill's Cristina Marcos and Mike Lillis Trump's rhetoric on Ukraine has shifted. His rhetoric on Putin hasn't. From The Washington Post's Philip Bump Appeals court could soon rule on challenge to Madison Cawthorn's candidacy over January 6, from CNN's Marshall Cohen TRANSITIONS None today. TODAY IN CONGRESS The House convenes at noon, with votes at 6:30 p.m. The Senate convenes at 10:00 a.m., with votes currently scheduled for 4:00 p.m. The Senate will briefly recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. for the weekly caucus lunches. AROUND THE HILL Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will host an Equal Pay Day event with the House Democratic Women's Caucus and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh at 11:45 a.m. in the Rayburn Room. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) will lead a press conference at 12:00 p.m. in the Senate Radio-TV studio calling for an end to federal transportation mask mandates. Reps. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Jim Langevin (D-R.I.), and Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) will hold a press conference at 4:30 p.m. at the House Triangle on energy independence and national security.
| | | MONDAY'S WINNER: Libby Lukens correctly guessed that Colorado was the second state to grant women full voting rights. Libby's question: During the State of the Union, President Biden mentioned a goal to cap the price for which medication to $35? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to ktm@politico.com. GET HUDDLEemailed to your phone each morning. Follow Andrew on Twitter @AndrewDesiderio | | A message from Freight Rail Works: Alleviating an extraordinary supply chain crisis requires an extraordinary transportation network—like America's freight railroads. The dedicated employees of America's freight railroads are working 24/7 to find powerful solutions to maximize efficiency and reliability. Learn more about how railroads are creating an unbreakable link between manufacturers, retailers and other critical rail customers. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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