| | | | |  | | By Katherine Tully-McManus | | | BACKING THE BLUE AND YELLOW— There's general agreement among many lawmakers as they return to Capitol Hill this week: the U.S. needs to do more for Ukraine. But lawmakers in both parties and both chambers will have to move past verbal agreement to legislative action on a new tranche of aid to bolster Ukraine's defense against an alarming new phase of the Russian invasion. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) says the House will "stand ready to act on the additional supplemental appropriations requested by President Biden this week to provide further support for Ukraine's defense." But Covid-19 and immigration — polarizing issues on Capitol Hill, even in the best of times — are poised to complicate the efforts. Biden asks for cash: The Biden administration is expected to renew its pressure campaign on Congress to fund testing, treatments, therapeutics and prevention of future surges of coronavirus as lawmakers return this week. Biden will also be formally asking Congress to approve a second supplemental funding package with more aid to Ukraine, and with haste. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has said he could seek to package the two together. That has the potential to make it harder, not easier, move the legislation. Rewind: Last month, the Biden administration requested $22.5 billion in supplemental coronavirus relief funding for testing, treatments, therapeutics and preventing future outbreaks. After it was stripped from the omnibus spending bill, negotiators got together on a scaled-back $10 billion package. But that bipartisan bill didn't move before the two-week recess. Border speedbump: We'll see if it ends up being a wall. The holdup was disagreement over Title 42, a pandemic-era rule that allowed U.S. authorities to expel migrants who enter the U.S. at the southern border citing the ongoing public health emergency. The Biden administration plans to end Title 42 in May, a move that Republicans and a growing number of Democrats oppose. RELATED: Heavy weaponry pours into Ukraine as commanders become more desperate, from Christopher Miller and Paul McCleary, Congress returns to battles over spending as inflation looms, from Tony Romm at The Washington Post | | | | DON'T MISS ANYTHING FROM THE 2022 MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE: POLITICO is excited to partner with the Milken Institute to produce a special edition "Global Insider" newsletter featuring exclusive coverage and insights from the 25th annual Global Conference. This year's event, May 1-4, brings together more than 3,000 of the world's most influential leaders, including 700+ speakers representing more than 80 countries. "Celebrating the Power of Connection" is this year's theme, setting the stage to connect influencers with the resources to change the world with leading experts and thinkers whose insight and creativity can implement that change. Whether you're attending in person or following along from somewhere else in the world, keep up with this year's conference with POLITICO's special edition "Global Insider" so you don't miss a beat. Subscribe today. | | | | |
GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Monday, April 25, where it's the perfect date.
ON THE BRINK — Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday that Biden will name Bridget Brink to be ambassador to Ukraine. She's a career diplomat who is currently the ambassador to Slovakia (confirmed in the Senate by voice vote in 2019.) Brink would be the first official ambassador to Ukraine since 2019, when former President Donald Trump removed Marie Yovanovitch. HOUSE ISN'T HOME (YET)— The House doesn't gavel back in from recess until tomorrow. The chamber will vote this week on a different piece of the Ukraine aid puzzle, a bill to smooth the way for the U.S. to provide Ukraine with arms transfers by reviving a World War II-era "lend-lease" program. The Senate cleared the bill by unanimous consent before the recess. Chips taste the crunch: Also on the agenda as lawmakers return is conference action on the bipartisan innovation and competition package, which is expected to contain more than $50 billion in subsidies for chip makers, plus billions more for other industries to bulk up U.S. manufacturing capacity to compete with China. BORDER BOUND — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) leads a group of nine GOP lawmakers to the southern border in Texas today ahead of more fights on Capitol Hill about the Biden administration's decision to end Title 42. Who is headed to Eagle Pass, Texas? GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Republican Policy Committee Chairman Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) along with Texas Republicans Randy Weber, Michael Guest, Tony Gonzales, and Chip Roy. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee and Blake Moore of Utah are also on the CODEL. The trip comes as McCarthy faces criticism after being caught in a tangled lie, with audio recordings of the GOP leader telling colleagues in the days following the January 6 insurrection that he planned to advise Trump to resign. McCarthy defended himself Friday, saying he was just walking through different scenarios on the call, not advocating for Trump's resignation. Can McCarthy's trip to Texas steer attention back to the border or will his call tapes dominate the day? We'll see. RELATED: McCarthy's push to ascend to House speaker relies on Trump, from Lisa Mascaro at The AP Another border visit… New Hampshire Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan is facing fierce criticism for her immigration stance following a visit to the border. (Not the one in her own state, the one with Mexico.)
| | | | A message from ACT|The App Association: Open and fair competition in the digital marketplace drives our members' success, but the proposals in the Open App Markets Act will hinder our small business members' opportunity for continued prosperity. https://actonline.org/2022/04/04/give-small-developers-a-chance-not-higher-barriers-to-entry/ | | | FAREWELL TO SENATOR AND SONGWRITER — Former Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, who was the longest-serving Republican senator in history (in addition to being a prolific songwriter) died Saturday at 88. During his Senate career he held the gavel of three Senate committees: Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Judiciary and Finance. Don't miss a very thorough home-state obituary from Matt Canham and Thomas Burr at the Salt Lake Tribune. NEVER A DULL MOMENT WITH MADISON — Some North Carolinians who backed Rep. Madison Cawthorn's (R-N.C.) first bid for the House have soured on the brash Trump loyalist who is also the youngest member of Congress. A restaurant owner who had a billboard for Cawthorn outside her restaurant and held a fundraiser for him two years ago, wants him gone. "He's done nothing for the people of North Carolina," Bonnie Whitener told the Wall Street Journal's Natalie Andrews. Natalie digs into how Cawthorn's first act in Washington, ripe with controversy both personal and political, is playing among voters in his home state and what it means for the slate of primary challengers: Madison Cawthorn's Blunders Open Door to Primary Challengers Did you miss the photos of Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) sporting women's lingerie? (Good for you if you took advantage of the glorious recess weather and logged off at 4:30 on Friday and didn't go online all weekend!) WHERE ARE THEY NOW — Trouble, seems to be the answer for former Miami Rep. David Rivera (R-Fla.). Rivera diverted $13 million from Venezuelan deal to convicted drug trafficker, others, report Jay Weaver and Antonio Maria Delgado at the Miami Herald.
| | | | JOIN US ON 4/29 FOR A WOMEN RULE DISCUSSION ON WOMEN IN TECH : Women, particularly women of color and women from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, have historically been locked out of the tech world. But this new tech revolution could be an opportunity for women to get in on the ground floor of a new chapter. Join POLITICO for an in-depth panel discussion on the future of women in tech and how to make sure women are both participating in this fast-moving era and have access to all it offers. REGISTER FOR THE CHANCE TO JOIN US IN-PERSON. | | | | | QUICK LINKS Redistricting and Democrats' stalled agenda put this blue Arizona House seat in play , from Dierdre Walsh and Barbara Sprunt at NPR California Dems are eyeing Feinstein's seat — but they're not talking about it, from Jeremy B. White Alaska Republican Party endorses Nick Begich III for US House, from Liz Ruskin at Alaska Public Media TRANSITIONS Jack Arriaga is now managing federal relations for the city of Portland, Ore. He previously was senior legislative assistant for Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.). Mark Pettitt has returned to be chief of staff for Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), coming back after two years of retirement. Kiara Kearney is now deputy press secretary/digital director for Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.). She most recently was a staff assistant for Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.).
| | | | A message from ACT|The App Association:   | | | TODAY IN CONGRESS The House convenes at 12:30 p.m. for a pro forma session. The Senate convenes at 3 p.m. AROUND THE HILL 11 a.m. The office of Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) holds a staff-level background briefing on the mistreatment of military families in privatized housing.
| | | FRIDAY'S WINNER: Jim Miner correctly answered that William Taft was the last U.S. President with a mustache, and Benjamin Harrison was the last to have a beard. TODAY'S QUESTION: What iconic repository celebrated its 222nd birthday over the weekend? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to ktm@politico.com. GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning. Follow Katherine on Twitter @ktullymcmanus
| | | | A message from ACT|The App Association: When the largest sellers on the app stores, with multi-billion-dollar valuations, come to Congress with proposals to reshape the mobile marketplace to suit their needs, policymakers should be rather skeptical. We urge Congress not to sacrifice consumers' most important privacy and security protections–and with them, the competitive prospects of small app companies–in order to further advantage the app stores' biggest winners. https://actonline.org/2022/04/04/give-small-developers-a-chance-not-higher-barriers-to-entry/ | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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