| | | | |  | | By Katherine Tully-McManus | | | |  American flag flies half-staff over the U.S. Capitol to mark the sudden death of Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) | Getty Images | A TERRIBLE LOSS — The flags fly at half mast today on Capitol Hill as colleagues mourn Rep. Jackie Walorski, who died suddenly yesterday. We have much more on that below. CHANGE IS IN THE AIR — …for the Democrats' signature climate, tax and health care bill. Colliding realities could force Democrats to tweak their precision-built bill: the need to get Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) on board and the Senate parliamentarian's rules wringer. "We have been preparing for this … for, like, a year and a half. We went out and recruited people like they were basketball stars because they're so knowledgeable at how you successfully run this extraordinary procedural gauntlet," said Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a former college hoops player himself. About that gauntlet… Provisions designed to encourage the purchasing of electric cars and cut prescription drug costs are still under evaluation and could be on the parliamentarian's chopping block. And those changes could change the calculation of support for the bill on the floor. Fitting the framework: Each piece of the Dems' package must produce a significant impact on federal revenues, debt and spending. Democrats are tasked with defending provisions against challenges from Republicans, and showing that the policy proposals are focused on the federal budget and that spending, revenue or debt impacts are not just a "side effect" of the policies. Marianne and Caitlin dive into specific pieces of the bill that Democrats will have to fight for: Electric cars, drug costs and more: 5 battles Democrats could lose on their marquee bill Don't miss their analysis of the $35 per month cap on what people can pay out-of-pocket for insulin and rules on leasing of public land for oil, gas, solar and wind projects. Arizonan asks: Sinema still isn't saying how she'd vote on the package, but there are some proposed changes floating that she'd like to see. First (and most predictable) is axing language that aimed to tighten the so-called carried interest loophole , which would change the way hedge fund and private equity income is taxed. If Republicans offered an amendment during vote-a-rama to strip the language, it could be adopted with Sinema's vote. That would cut the bill's projected $739 billion down by $14 billion. She's also likely to add $5 billion in spending on drought resiliency, Burgess and Marianne scooped yesterday. Oh, hello, CBO: The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated Wednesday that the Democrats' bill, as it stands today, would slash deficits by about $101.5 billion over a decade (not including language that strengthens IRS enforcement). With the IRS language, the deficit reduction could be $305 billion, the CBO said.
| | | | 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 Thursday August 4, where our thoughts are with the Walorski team. UNTHINKABLE — The Capitol Hill community is reeling from Wednesday's news that Walorski (R-Ind.), 58, died in a car crash in her home state, along with communications director Emma Thomson, 28, and district director Zachery Potts, 27. Olivia and Sarah wrapped up some of the many heartfelt messages about the Walorski from around the Hill yesterday . "Jackie was a no nonsense, get it done woman with whom I shared countless late-night laughs and stories," said Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) in a heartfelt thread on Twitter , calling her "my closest friend and trusted confidant." "It took the wind out of me when I heard. She was a good friend and one of the first people I got to know," Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana said of Rep. Walorski. He learned about her death from a text: "It's like getting punched, when you hear news like that." Tim Cummings, Walorski's chief of staff, called Potts and Thomson "the epitome of public servants." Thomson's former boss, Rep. John Joyce (R-Pa.), said her "intelligence, creativity, drive, determination, and humor were second to none" and called her work ethic "unparalleled." Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Thomson was a "smart and talented communicator" on his 2016 presidential campaign team. "Emma Thomson was an office neighbor of ours on the Hill for years and one of the absolute nicest people on earth. Her loss is deeply tragic — as is Rep. Walorski's, their district director and everyone involved. Prayers for their families," wrote Ben Williamson, a longtime aide to Mark Meadows, a member of Congress before he served as President Donald Trump's chief of staff. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), who worked closely with Walorski on Ways and Means, also put a spotlight on the staffers: "Jackie was always so proud of her team - she couldn't say enough about them. Losing Zach Potts & Emma Thomson today - young people doing great things for Indiana & our nation - just makes it all even harder," he wrote Wednesday. JOE BIDEN 2024? DEMS SAY, "WHY" AND "IF" — Democrats are cheerleading a major piece of President Joe Biden's domestic agenda as it moves on Capitol Hill, but when asked about Biden running again in 2024, they're more muted. Burgess and Sarah talked to more than a dozen Democrats, from leadership to frontliners in both chambers to take the temperature of Dems on Biden .
| | | | A message from PhRMA: Government price setting or the moonshot to end cancer? We can't do both. Democrats' misguided price setting bill won't let us get off the ground. Nearly 60% of oncology medicines approved a decade ago are approved to treat additional cancers today. Harmful drug pricing policies hurt patients and discourage invaluable post-approval innovation. | | | CALCULATING COSTS AND SAVINGS — A new analysis from Third Way of the health care provisions in the Democrats' reconciliation bill show big savings for families with median income and children. The report says that the top three states where families with employer-provided health insurance coverage would save the most between 2023 to 2025 are New Mexico ($3,490), Oklahoma ($3,390), and West Virginia ($3,340). For savings in the public exchange health care coverage, the top three states where families would save from 2023 to 2025 would be Vermont ($11,480), New York ($10,780), and Wyoming ($10,900), according to Third Way. See more from the new analysis, out this morning . MORE THAN NIL — Sens. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) are taking on the regulation of name, image and likeness (NIL) licensing in college sports. (Where does Joe Manchin find the time? Honestly.) It's no surprise that Tubberville, a former college football coach (whose staff in the Senate still call him "coach,") is leading the charge on this issue. "The goal here is to make an even playing field. We want to try to make it as fair in each state so everybody will have an equal opportunity," Tuberville told Sports Illustrated . "There's got to be some rules. Right now, everybody is doing something different. There's a lot of money being paid. But this is not about the money. I've always been for the student-athletes making money. But this is about giving everybody the opportunity on the college level, no matter what university, to feel like you've got an opportunity to compete."
| | | | 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 . | | | | | | | |
Call me Nancy Drew…Colleen Shogan, President Joe Biden's nominee for Archivist of the United States, is also a prolific author of a series murder mystery novels starring congressional staffer Kit Marshall.
Senate bean… Senate dining workers picket Wednesday included the chant "Hope that Senate soup was great—Yesterday my rent was late!" QUICK LINKS A key ingredient to flip the House: A wave of Latino GOP candidates , from Ally Mutnick Sen. Johnson suggests ending Medicare, Social Security as mandatory spending programs , from Amy B. Wang at The Washington Post Detroit will have no Black congressional representation for first time in 70 years , by Beth LeBlanc and Melissa Nann Burke at The Detroit News Walker says he'll participate in a Senate debate , from Greg Bluestein, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution TRANSITIONS David McGonigal is now comms and media manager to the CEO of the One Campaign. He previously was comms director for Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.). Daria Berstell is now a legislative analyst at the office of the assistant secretary for legislation at the Department of Health and Human Services. She was most recently on staff at the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Richard Chalkey is now deputy chief of staff for Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.). He most recently was a senior consultant at Deloitte and is a Trump White House OLA and NEC alum. Lewis Pitchford is now scheduler for Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). He most recently was regional field director for Rep. Mo Brooks' (R-Ala.) Senate campaign.
| | | | A message from PhRMA:   | | | TODAY IN CONGRESS The House meets at 3 p.m. in a pro forma session. The Senate convenes at noon. AROUND THE HILL 10 a.m. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on FBI oversight, with testimony from FBI Director Christopher Wray (Hart 216.).
| | | WEDNESDAY'S WINNER: Stephan Kline correctly answered that Martin Van Buren was the first "natural born citizen," born after independence was declared. Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Quincy Adams, and Jackson were all born prior to independence and were natural born citizens of England. TODAY'S QUESTION from Stephan: How many presidents in the 20th and 21st century selected a different vice presidential candidate for a reelection campaign? 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 PhRMA: Government price setting or the moonshot to end cancer? We can't do both. The majority of cancer R&D takes place after the initial approval of a medicine. An FDA approved treatment for skin cancer has since been approved for use in treating roughly 20 additional cancers, including for use earlier in treatment for many cancers in adults and children. There is a better way to lower costs without risking new treatment options. Government price setting jeopardizes this critical innovation. Learn more. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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