🤫 McCarthy's red line

Plus: First lady overlap | Monday, April 04, 2022

Open in app View in browser     Axios Sneak Peek By the Axios Politics team ·Apr 04, 2022 Welcome back to Sneak. ⚡ Situational awareness: Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah announced they were joining Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in voting for Ketanji Brown Jackson, all but ensuring her elevation as the first Black woman Supreme Court justice. 🚀 Countdown: Tomorrow is Axios' inaugural What's Next Summit! Register here to attend virtual livestream sessions throughout the day featuring the CEOs of GM, Accenture, TIAA and more. Smart Brevity™ count: 990 words ... 3.5 minutes. Edited by Glen Johnson.     1 big thing: McCarthy's red line House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images   Kevin McCarthy's recent showdown with Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) has revealed the House minority leader's clear red line in punishing members: whether the entire conference — especially those on the far-right — has his back. Why it matters: McCarthy's forthright and public condemnation of Cawthorn — after lesser actions against Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) — offer a glimpse into how he'd lead the party as House speaker, write Axios' Alayna Treene and Andrew Solender. McCarthy's willing to take risks when he knows he has political cover from the most outspoken House Republican members. He backtracked, for example, when he got blowback for criticizing former President Trump over the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. A McCarthy spokesman declined comment. Behind the scenes: Rather than keep his tense, closed-door conversation with Cawthorn private — as he's done with past controversies — McCarthy blasted the 26-year-old member both privately and publicly and left open the opportunity to take future action against him. He took the more aggressive approach only after it was clear the majority of his members not only welcomed such a move but demanded it. The strategy is in line with McCarthy's innate attempts to make everyone in his conference happy — something that's burned him in the past. What we're hearing: McCarthy felt emboldened to take a hardline approach with Cawthorn after members aired their grievances during two tense meetings last week, sources familiar with his decision tell Axios. Multiple conservative members slammed Cawthorn during a House Freedom Caucus (HFC) meeting last Monday for claiming his Republican colleagues have done cocaine and invited him to orgies. Several other House GOP members then demanded action during a full conference meeting last Tuesday. Keep reading.     2. Jill Biden taps Michelle Obama team members Jill Biden hugs Michelle Obama as their husbands greet one another on Inauguration Day 2021. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images   As former President Obama returns to the White House tomorrow for the first time since his term ended, he'll find some familiar faces — and not just in the West Wing. First lady Jill Biden is leaning on staff originally hired by former first lady Michelle Obama. Why it matters: Presidential spouses are notoriously insular and tend to rely on a longtime, trusted inner circle. Biden's hiring shows a focus on honing her strategy and brand — an approach that vaulted Obama into a policy advocate, style icon and, since leaving office, best-selling author and content creator. The details: Three staffers on the first lady's team previously worked for the Obama White House. Rory Brosius was tapped to lead the strategy for Joining Forces, a pro-veterans effort that started under Obama and was relaunched under Biden last year. Brocius was the deputy executive director in Obama's office. Kelsey Donohue, Biden's new deputy communications director, was Obama's assistant press secretary. And Gina Lee is the director of scheduling and advance. She worked in communications and scheduling for the Obama White House. What they're saying: Analysts said the hirings make practical sense, even without political or personal motivations. "I see this as totally in line with an increasingly strategic and intentional mobilization of staff surrounding the president's spouse," said Lauren A. Wright, an associate research scholar and lecturer in politics and public affairs at Princeton University. In fact, the majority of the members of the first lady's staff have worked for her or the president on and off for years.  Keep reading.     3. Charted: Russia's cash cow Reproduced from Bloomberg; Chart: Axios Visuals Russia's massacre of civilians in Bucha has reignited a debate within the European Union about banning Russian energy imports — and whether any threshold of atrocity in Ukraine would justify plunging Europe into a recession, reports Axios' Zachary Basu. Why it matters: The EU's continued reliance on Russian energy is refilling the Kremlin's coffers at a breakneck pace, financing President Vladimir Putin's war machine at the same time Western leaders claim to be collecting evidence for a future trial at The Hague. By the numbers: EU countries have paid Russia more than $20 billion for fossil fuels since the invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Russia is projected to earn $320.7 billion from energy exports this year — 36% more than in 2021, according to Bloomberg Economics. Oil and gas exports made up about 40% of the Russian government's budget last year. Driving the news: The searing images from Bucha over the weekend prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to come out today in favor of a fresh round of sanctions on Russian oil and coal. Russian gas would be left out of any potential embargo for now, as it accounts for 40% of Europe's supply. Keep reading.     A message from Axios 5 comms strategies for stronger workplace culture     We went on a search to understand how innovative organizations, big and small, are rethinking employee communications. This report digs into five tips for modern internal communications, from execs who've helped teams survive and culture thrive in Hybrid 2.0. Get the free report.     4. Worthy of your time President Biden takes a closer look at a semitruck after an event highlighting his "Trucking Action Plan" to ease supply-chain woes. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images   🕑 A pivotal Senate Judiciary Committee vote to advance Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court nomination was delayed after Sen. Alex Padilla's (D-Calif.) flight to D.C. was delayed, showcasing the harsh realities of Democrats' razor-thin majority. 🗳️ When the panel did finally meet, all 11 Democrats voted to advance her nomination and all 11 Republicans voted against it, as expected. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will likely schedule a full Senate vote to get the nomination out of committee and set Jackson up for confirmation on Thursday. 🏛️ During a Rules Committee hearing to consider contempt referrals against ex-Trump aides Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), vice chair of the Jan. 6 committee, said her panel has heard from "many" Republicans from state legislatures, state agencies, the Justice Department and the Trump White House. 💉 Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) and Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), both members of the COVID-19 Global Vaccination Caucus, are signaling objections to a $10 billion Senate deal on coronavirus funding that lacks spending to send vaccines abroad.     5. Pic du jour Photo: Evan Vucci/Pool/AFP via Getty Images   A Democratic secretary of State, Antony Blinken (right), paid tribute to a Republican predecessor, James A. Baker III, at the unveiling of a bust in his honor. It will sit in the old part of the State Department, onetime home of the War Department. It's also just steps from the office once used by famed diplomat George Marshall.     A message from Axios 5 comms strategies for stronger workplace culture     We went on a search to understand how innovative organizations, big and small, are rethinking employee communications. This report digs into five tips for modern internal communications, from execs who've helped teams survive and culture thrive in Hybrid 2.0. Get the free report.   📬 Thanks for reading tonight! Please tell your family, friends and colleagues they can 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®. Over 200 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. 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