| | | | |  | | By Katherine Tully-McManus | Presented by The American Petroleum Institute (API) | With an assist from Sarah Ferris
|  A video featuring Cassidy Hutchinson, former Special Assistant to President Trump, is played during the fifth hearing by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol on June 23, 2022. | Alex Wong/Getty Images | HERE COMES… A HEARING — The next hearings on the Jan. 6 insurrection weren't expected until July, but apparently the panel simply cannot wait. They convene today "to present recently obtained evidence and receive witness testimony." The witness? It is Cassidy Hutchinson, a top aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, two people familiar with the committee's plans told Kyle, Nicholas and Ryan Lizza. She has already provided closed door testimony to the panel about what went on with then-President Donald Trump's trusted inner circle in the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Huchinson switched up her legal counsel earlier this month, replacing the Trump White House's chief ethics lawyer with a different attorney who is a longtime ally of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Her appearance before the panel this week was very hush-hush, in contrast with other hearings, where the committee has made the witness list public in advance. The select panel has maintained its investigative work even as it ramped up its pace of hearings, poring over new documents, footage and information behind the scenes as the carefully choreographed public hearings play out. Still to come: There are at least two additional hearings expected in mid-July. Nicholas and Kyle report that one is expected to zoom in on the connections between Trump's orbit and domestic extremists like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and another on what President Trump did in an 187 minute window in which violent supporters ransacked the Capitol and threatened the lives of then-Vice President Mike Pence and lawmakers.
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Tuesday, June 28, where your Huddle host cannot stop thinking about this nugget of joy. PRIMO PRIMARIES — Voters head to the polls in (deep breath) Colorado, Illinois, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma and South Carolina today. Whew. There's a lot to watch but here is what your Huddle host has her eyes on: Illinois 6: Reps. Sean Casten and Marie Newman face off in a member-on-member matchup for the Democratic nomination in the 6th district. Newman is under the cloud of an ethics probe: Congress's nonpartisan panel is investigating the details of a legal settlement into how she hired a top aide. Illinois 15: A big issue on the table in the bruising race between five-term Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) and first term Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) is a vote each of them took 17 months ago: Miller voted against certifying the 2020 election results and Davis voted to certify. Miller was just days into her job on Capitol Hill, but since then she has praised Hitler and called last week's abortion decision a "historic victory for white life." Nebraska 1: Voters will decide in a special election who will finish out the rest of former Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry's term. He resigned in March after being convicted of three felonies. Only one race is on the ballot, between State Sen. Mike Flood, a Republican, and State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks, a Democrat. (More on Fortenberry's fate below.) Mississippi: Republican Reps. Michael Guest and Steven M. Palazzo are each in separate runoffs today, in the 3rd and 4th districts. Both incumbents have led in fundraising and support from outside groups since the primary. Oklahoma: There's not a lot of room where the wind comes sweeping down the plains. The Senate primary to fill the seat of GOP Sen. Jim Inhofe, who is retiring before the end of his term, is crowded. Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma) and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt are just two of 13 (!) Republicans vying for the nomination.
| | | | A message from The American Petroleum Institute (API): According to the Energy Information Administration, U.S. refineries are operating at or near maximum capacity. So how can we meet ever-growing demand when production is already near all-time highs? To build out refinery capacity, the US natural gas and oil industry needs an energy policy agenda that incentivizes long-term investment in domestic production. On June 14th , the American Petroleum Institute (API) released a plan to achieve just that. Its 10 in 2022 plan – 10 policies that policymakers can advance today to unlock American energy, fuel economic recovery, and strengthen national security. API is calling on policymakers to confront the global mismatch between energy demand and available supply that has driven higher fuel prices by supporting greater U.S. production and infrastructure. Read the plan. | | | DEMS PUSH WHITE HOUSE ON ROE — Progressive Democrats on Capitol Hill are looking to the White House to take immediate and substantial action on abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision last week. And some think the administration is moving way too slow. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) wants to see Biden to "do absolutely everything in his power to protect access to abortion in America—let's really push the envelope to protect women in this country, and let's do it now." Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Primila Jayapal (D-Wash.) wished that the White House had used the weeks between the draft opinion being reported and the final decision to prepare executive actions that could be rolled out immediately once the Supreme Court acted. "We all knew this was coming," she said. Investigating SCOTUS? Jayapal also wants the White House to go on the offensive to expose ethics issues on the Supreme Court -- even name checking Virginia Thomas, wife of Justice Clarence Thomas. She says she is talking to House Judiciary chair Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) about "beginning an exploration of the Supreme Court." "Even with Jan 6 and what's coming out around Ginni Thomas, Elizabeth Warren and I have a bill around ethics reform," she said. "I think it's important we bring attention to it in the House. I understand bills are going to be challenging, but we can do the work of investigating," she told Sarah. Burgess Everett, Sarah Ferris, Adam Cancryn and Jonathan Lemire look at what Dems on the Hill are pushing the administration for and the White House's stance about limits to Biden's power. PRISON OR PROBATION? — Former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) has to wait and see. The former congressman will find out this morning at the same Los Angeles federal courtroom where a jury found him guilty in March of three felonies. More from Paul Hammel at The Nebraska Examiner: Fortenberry finds out Tuesday if he'll be sentenced to prison or probation ICYMI: RISCH'S SECRET TRIP — Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and toured the devastation wrought by Russia's invasion. Andrew has more. | | | | INTRODUCING POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | |
CONDOLENCES — Former Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger died Monday morning. A Marine Corps veteran, Stenger spent 35 years in the Secret Service before joining the Senate SAA team focused on protective services and continuity in 2011. He was promoted to serve as deputy under SAA Drew Willison and then served as chief of staff to SAA Frank J. Larkin. He was appointed to the top job himself in 2018. Former colleagues were notified of his death Monday afternoon.
Stenger resigned from his position days after the violent insurrection at the Capitol. House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving and Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund also resigned in the aftermath of the attack. About the role: The sergeant-at-arms oversees an array of Senate functions from security to information technology services. It is a Senate-elected position that is effectively appointed by the majority leader.
| | | Senate pay survey… It's out in the field! The Secretary of the Senate has launched a survey of salary and benefits for Senate staff in committee and personal offices. It is live through July 15th and links should be distributed by chiefs of staff and staff directors. They stress that responses are anonymous, confidential and results will be reported in the aggregate. Leaving, on a jet plane… Amelia Earhart is set to land on Capitol Hill next month, when a statue will be unveiled by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Kansas Governor Laura Kelly (D) and members of the Kansas congressional delegation. The statue will have its debut in Statuary Hall on July 27th. QUICK LINKS Politicians and national media focus on mass shootings. In West Virginia, most gun deaths are suicides, from Ian Karbal at Mountain State Spotlight Spanberger's rival questions on tape whether pregnancy less likely after rape, from Meagan Flynn at The Washington Post Idaho's fight against the far right, then and now, from Odette Yousef at NPR How the senator from Sandy Hook beat the NRA by caving to the GOP, from Matt Laslo for Raw Story TRANSITIONS Tate O'Connor is now communications director for Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.). He most recently was press secretary for Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). Carianne Lee is joining Pioneer Public Affairs as a policy adviser after serving as a senior legislative assistant for Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.). Marina Chafawill be communications director for Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.). She most recently has been communications assistant for Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.). | | | | A message from The American Petroleum Institute (API):   | | |
TODAY IN CONGRESS
The House convenes at 9 a.m. for a pro forma session. The Senate convenes at 3:30 p.m. for a pro forma session. AROUND THE HILL 10 a.m. The House Appropriations Committee marks up its Energy-Water and Commerce-Justice-Science funding bills for fiscal 2023 (virtual). 11 a.m. The House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism holds a field hearing on "Combating Ransomware: From Our Small Towns in Michigan to DC" (East Lansing, Mich.). | | |
MONDAY'S WINNER: Mac Coleman correctly answered that the first Republican convention was held in Philadelphia and the nominee was John C. Fremont.
TODAY'S QUESTION: Bernie Sanders has one of the most distinctive voices in politics. In 1987, whose songs did he record? 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 The American Petroleum Institute (API): Washington policymakers must confront the global mismatch between demand and supply that has driven higher fuel prices by supporting greater U.S. production. The American Petroleum Institute's 10 in '22 plan outlines a plan for achieving just that. "These 10 in '22 policies are a framework for new energy leadership for our nation, unleashing investment in America and creating new energy access while avoiding harmful government policies and duplicative regulation. It's time to lead," said API President and CEO Mike Sommers. Read the full plan here. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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