Monday, July 18, 2022

Solidarity reigns: House staff to unionize

Presented by GE: A play-by-play preview of the day's congressional news
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POLITICO Huddle

By Katherine Tully-McManus

Presented by GE

THE MID-JULY RUSH IS HERE — Congress is cranking through legislation and holding blockbuster hearings this week ahead of a true sprint to the finish ahead of the August recess.

Money on the move: The House is set to take up its first tranche of spending bills for fiscal 2023 this week, with a goal of clearing all 12 before the August recess. The first measure on the docket combines the Agriculture, Energy-Water, Transportation-HUD, Interior-Environment, Financial Services and Military Construction-VA spending measures and it is under consideration at House Rules today. More than 600 amendments were filed to the package. Keep in mind: House and Senate appropriators have not yet reached a bipartisan, bicameral deal on fiscal 2023 funding, meaning that the House's spending levels as-written aren't locked in.

Gun gambit: House Judiciary takes up an assault weapons ban from Rep. David Cicilline's (D-R.I.) on Tuesday, a proposal that hasn't seen serious consideration in decades. Floor action is expected before August, but the proposal is doomed in the Senate. On Wednesday, House Oversight have invited executives from gun manufacturers Daniel Defense, Surm, Ruger & Company, Inc. and Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. to testify alongside anti-gun violence groups.

Competition complication: The Senate could take up a slimmed down bill on computer chip production legislation as soon as Tuesday. Last week, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told senators they could expect to move forward on $52 billion in initial funding for chip factories, as well as a tax credit for ongoing semiconductor production. But the narrow bill would mean a likely end to formal talks on a more sweeping bill aimed at bolstering U.S. competitiveness with China.

TODAY IS THE DAY — The largest expansion of workers rights for Capitol Hill employees in almost thirty years takes effect today: House staff are now protected from retaliation or firing if they choose to organize a union.

Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) who sponsored the House resolution to activate these rights, spoke to your Huddle host last week about what he expects to see starting today:

"I'm not going to steal the thunder of the workers because this is their story, not mine… I do believe we'll see a bunch of workers organizing and asking for recognition and following that process," starting today. "Whenever they do that, I'll be standing behind them cheering," he said.

Stay tuned: Your Huddle host expects to see announcements starting today that offices are seeking recognition and kicking off the process with management and the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights to seek a union contract. We're hearing as many as eight offices could file today, we expect Levin's to be among the initial movers. We'll see if the offices that take the plunge this week inspire a cascade of others. The Congressional Workers' Union, a group assisting eligible staff to organize their teams, say that they've been in touch with more than 100 offices about potentially unionizing.

 

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GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Monday, July 18, where they're gonna roll the union on.

CAN YOU SPELL MURKOWSKI WITHOUT D-E-M-S? "She's never won the easy way," Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said of his GOP colleague Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). And that's an understatement.

Lisa Murkowski quashed a Tea Party primary challenger a dozen years ago and before that she lost a primary, but taught enough folks in The Last Frontier how to spell Murkowski to win a write-in campaign. This time, her vote to impeach President Donald Trump prompted a Trump-backed primary challenge from Kelly Tshibaka.

Democrats on Capitol Hill are coming out of the woodwork to support Murkowski and she hopes to see the same from Dems in Alaska in the state's new open, top-four primary system and ranked-choice general election runoff.

Cornyn noted that as a Republican with a centrist and left-leaning coalition, her approach "wouldn't work in other parts of the country but I think it works for her." (Aka: Don't try that in Texas.)

Murkowski described her coalition as "broad ... my supporters have always been kind of the cross-the-board Alaskan: Republican, Democrat, independent, not affiliated," in a recent interview with Burgess. More on Murkowski Democrats, from Burgess this morning: Democrats for Murkowski: Alaska Republican counts her fans across the aisle

RELATED: Murkowski maintains heavy cash advantage in Alaska U.S. Senate race, from Iris Samuels at The Anchorage Daily News

MEANWHILE IN WYOMING… The primary system works differently, but Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is another Republican banking on Democratic support. That means teaching Dems how to register as Republicans to GOTV in the primary. More from The Casper Star Tribune: For Wyoming Democrats, voting for Cheney is another chance to vote against Trump

187 MINUTES — Jan. 6 investigators are giving the Secret Service until Tuesday to turn over documents related to the deleted text messages from Jan. 5 and 6, 2021 and multiple members of the panel said over the weekend that they expect the agency to comply. On Thursday, the panel has a prime-time hearing this week, focused on what it has called the crucial "187 minutes" – the length of time it took for former President Donald Trump to urge his supporters to leave the Capitol after the attack began.

RELATED: A criminal probe of Trump could complicate Jan. 6 cases, from Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney

 

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FEELING FOLDI — A gen-Z conservative is courting big-name GOP supporters, including Donald Trump Jr., Mike Pompeo and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, in his bid to oust Democrat David Trone from his Western Maryland seat. Sarah dives in ahead of Tuesday's primary: National GOP endorsements poured in for a 25-year-old. It might not matter.

A PARLIAMENTARIAN HAS PASSED Former House Parliamentarian John Sullivan passed away on Friday. He served eight years as the chamber's parliamentarian and 25 years in the office of the parliamentarian. He had a reputation for fair interpretation of precedent and the rules and received glowing farewell speeches from then-Speaker John Bohner (R-Ohio) and current Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) upon his retirement in 2012. But let it be known: He was also a prolific (and almost always correct) Huddle Trivia player. Your Huddle Host will miss his emails.

STAFFERS THROW FIRE Among those voicing dismay and displeasure at Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-W.Va.) preference to eliminate the climate and tax proposals in the Democrats' planned climate, tax and prescription drugs bill are the more than 1,100 staff represented by the Congressional Progressive Staff Association.

"For our membership, many of whom are young people who will bear the brunt of climate change, the fight to pass legislation that averts climate catastrophe cannot end like this. We know all too well that there are policy solutions to climate change — we help write them — but time and again, they are overlooked, slimmed down and traded away. Now, Senator Manchin threatens to dispose of climate policy this Congress entirely," writes CPSA in a statement over the weekend.

 

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HUDDLE HOTDISH

123, eyes on me…  Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) is helping design a fake eye for Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas). She says she plans on putting a gator on it, a nod to the University of Florida's mascot.The final design isn't locked down and Crenshaw wouldn't dish out more details, but he told Olivia that he might want to debut the new eye as a surprise.

QUICK LINKS 

Justice Jackson, a Former Law Clerk, Returns to a Transformed Supreme Court, from Adam Liptak at The New York Times

'At the tip of the spear' for GOP: Rep. Michelle Fischbach counters Democrats' agenda , from Hunter Woodall at the Star Tribune

Right-Wing Think Tank Family Research Council Is Now a Church in Eyes of the IRS, from ProPublica

TRANSITIONS 

Mike Inacay adds deputy chief of staff to his title in Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) office, alongside his role as communications director.

Regina Brennan starts today as legislative correspondent for Judiciary issues in Sen. Bob Casey's (D-Penn.) office. She is replacing legislative aide Sara-Paige Silvestro, who is heading to law school. Brennan previously served as a staff assistant and intern in the office.

 

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TODAY IN CONGRESS

The House convenes at noon for morning hour and 2 p.m. for legislative business.

The Senate convenes at 3 p.m.

AROUND THE HILL

1 p.m. House Rules Committee meets to consider two bills, including a six-bill fiscal 2023 appropriations minibus package and a bill that would protect a person's ability to access contraceptives and to engage in contraception, and to protect a health care provider's ability to provide contraceptives and contraception. (Capitol H-313.)

2 p.m. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) hold a press conference on the Judiciary Act (House Triangle).

6:30 p.m. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) holds a pen and pad session with press on climate change "in light of Sen. Manchin's recent news" (Senate Daily Press).

TRIVIA

FRIDAY'S WINNER: Joe Bookman correctly answered that in 1998, Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) became the first woman veteran of the U.S. armed services elected to Congress. She served in the Air Force from 1978 to 1989.

TODAY'S QUESTION: What year did the House Speaker start appointing parliamentarians?

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 GE:

GE has made a global impact with technology that will help address the sustainability challenges of today. Our Sustainability Report displays some innovative technology like onshore wind, hydrogen fuel, carbon capture, small modular nuclear reactors, and more, that are leading to a cleaner future. Learn more.

 
 

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