| | | | |  | | By Katherine Tully-McManus | | | With an assist from Andrew Desiderio
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Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) walks to the Senate Chamber on August 02, 2022 | Getty Images | THE ARIZONA WILDCARD — Everyone is waiting to see where centrist Arizona Democrat Kyrsten Sinema comes down on the Democrats' $700 billion-plus energy, tax and health care bill, but she is waiting on the Senate parliamentarian. Chamber chat: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) spoke to Sinema (D-Ariz.) on the Senate floor on Tuesday afternoon. Burgess spotted him animatedly waving his hands during the hushed discussion. Afterwards, he summed it up as a "nice talk" and said "she'll make a good decision based on facts, and I'm relying on that." Sinema is a wildcard on the underlying bill, which includes a carried interest provision targeting private equity and hedge fund managers that she has long opposed. She could also turn heads with how she votes during the amendment marathon that is looking like it could dominate the weekend. More moving targets: Sinema's vote is far from the only moving target on this bill. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) indicated Tuesday that Democrats will try to tack on provisions aimed at tackling astronomical costs for insulin. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) said his party will attempt to attach his legislation to cap insulin costs at $35 to the larger reconciliation package. But expect a major challenge from Republicans, who think they can make the case to the parliamentarian that the insulin plan would violate the Senate's budget rules and require a 60-vote supermajority. What's ahead: Schumer hopes to move the bill later this week, starting with a vote to proceed to the measure. That is the first test that all 50 Senate Democrats would have to agree to. That would be followed by 20 hours of debate and then (dun dun dun) a vote-a-rama of unlimited amendments that could take days and nights. Republicans are expected to offer most of the amendments. But Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is not entirely thrilled with the bill, said Democrats should use this week to "study this bill thoroughly and to come up with amendments and suggestions as to how we can improve it." More on Sinema's singular role on this: Dems ready to gamble their domestic agenda on Sinema , from Burgess A KANSAS BOMBSHELL — Voters in Kansas rejected a proposed state constitutional amendment that would have allowed the state's legislature to ban or impose tighter restrictions on the procedure. The first referendum on the issue since the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to an abortion drew jaw-dropping turnout: more than double the turnout for the 2018 primary. Alice Miranda Ollstein is on the ground in Kansas and writes that the issue was "rocket fuel" for the midterm primary. More from Kansas . Kaine walks abortion tightrope… Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is occupying a very interesting role on abortion, collaborating with Republicans on a bipartisan proposal to protect some abortion rights, while maintaning his personal stance in opposition to the procedure. "It's one thing to be a practicing Catholic and behave according to my church's rules, which I do … take really seriously, especially on life issues," Kaine told Marianne this week. "I don't believe my job as an elected official is to use especially criminal law to mandate people to follow things that I voluntarily choose to embrace as a member of the church." More on Kaine's personal ideology and the roots of the the Kaine-Collins proposal, from Marianne: Why one pro-Roe Democrat is still seeking bipartisanship on abortion
| | | | 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 Wednesday, August 3. GETTING NATO FINN-ISHED — The Senate is set to put its seal of approval on Finland's and Sweden's bids to join NATO today. More than half of the 30 NATO member-nations have already done this, so there's some urgency to get it done now rather than wait until September. The Senate will voice-vote Sen. Dan Sullivan's (R-Alaska) amendment to reinforce the defense spending requirement, followed by a roll-call vote on Sen. Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) amendment stating that Article 5 doesn't supersede a declaration of war by Congress. After that, it's final passage, where we expect the "yes" column to be north of 95 votes. Hawley stands alone?: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) might end up being the only "no" vote on Finland and Sweden joining NATO, depending which way Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) goes. The freshman from Missouri is carrying on former President Donald Trump's "America First" mantra on foreign policy, and explicitly calling for a pivot to Asia at the expense of existing security commitments in Europe, writes Andrew. Hawley's opposition to the two countries' accession to NATO puts him at odds with his fellow GOP presidential aspirants, some of whom are already trying to poke holes in Hawley's arguments. It's a microcosm of the schism within the GOP over which direction to go on foreign policy — Reagan-era hawkishness, or MAGA-populist. Andrew has more: With 2024 approaching, Hawley takes a Trumpian turn to clip NATO PRIMARY RESULTS ROLL IN — No more Meijer: Michigan Republican Rep. Peter Meijer, who voted to impeach Trump as one of his first acts in Congress, conceded defeat to Trump-endorsed John Gibbs in the GOP primary. Levin leaving: Rep. Haley Stevens defeated fellow incumbent Democrat Rep. Andy Levin in an intraparty matchup in Michigan. Myah Ward has more . This Eric or that Eric: In Missouri, Eric Schmitt, the state's attorney general, won the Republican nomination for Senate, foiling a comeback from scandal-plagued former Gov. Eric Greitens. From Alex Isenstadt: Inside the secret, yearlong campaign to torpedo Eric Greitens' attempted comeback Blake masters Arizona: Trump-backed Blake Masters won the GOP nomination for Senate in Arizona and will face Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) in November. Watching Washington: There's no final outcome yet for Washington state Republican incumbent Reps. Jaime Herrera Beutler and Dan Newhouse, both of whom voted to impeach Trump and faced tight races. In the open-party primaries, Newhouse was slightly ahead of the leading Democrat and well ahead of his GOP challengers, putting him on track to advance to the general election. Herrera Beutler was trailing the top Democrat in her race, but was ahead of the other Republicans. She'll need to stay there to advance.
| | | | A message from PhRMA: "The slippery slope [of government price setting], once established, will get slipperier, & American drug innovation will be the poorer for it," writes the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board. When given a chance to stand with patients, Congress chooses to stand with insurers and middlemen. Government price setting will harm patients and threaten future treatments. Read more. | | | | 
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) speaks during a news conference about the PACT Act on Capitol Hill July 28, 2022 in Washington, D.C. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images | BURN PITS: PASSED — "The Senate on Tuesday passed a sweeping expansion of veterans health care, sending it to President Joe Biden's desk after GOP resistance held up the bill last week. Lawmakers voted 86-11 to back the measure, which caps a yearslong quest to help veterans who were exposed to substances like Agent Orange and toxins from burn pits while on active duty. Republicans quickly fell in line behind the bill — after blocking it less than a week ago — after Schumer allowed three GOP amendment votes, all of which failed on the floor," write Anthony and Jordain. ELECTORAL COUNT ACT HEARING — The Senate Rules Committee takes up the bipartisan proposal to overhaul the 1887 law that governs the process of casting and counting Electoral College votes. The law came under fresh scrutiny after the attempts to invalidate the 2020 presidential election results on Jan. 6, 2021. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) will be at the witness table, as leading negotiators on the new proposal. ARRAIGNMENT IN NAPA — Paul Pelosi, the Speaker's husband, is scheduled to be arraigned today on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury. | | | | 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 . | | | | | | | | Unpaid is unpopular… The Wall Street Journal looked at how the unpaid internships that once dominated Washington are falling out of favor . But many paid internships still don't pay the bills. 3 p.m. picket… The Senate dining workers and Unite Here 23 will picket again this afternoon, starting at 3 p.m. On Tuesday, Sen. Bob Casey's (D-Pa.) team had a pizza party to show support for the picketers. Price to beat... Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is paying her interns in New York and Washington, D.C. $18 per hour . QUICK LINKS Federal judge upholds U.S. House Republicans' fines for dodging metal detectors , from Jacob Fischler at States Newsroom TRANSITIONS Clifton Snorten is now director of scheduling for Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.). He is an alum of Rep. André Carson's (D-Ind.) office. Judd Deere is the new communications director for Sarah Huckabee Sanders' Arkansas gubernatorial campaign. He most recently was deputy chief of staff for communications for Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), and is a Trump White House alum. Ami Shah is now chief immigration counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee. She previously was counsel on the House Judiciary Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee.
| | | | A message from PhRMA:   | | | TODAY IN CONGRESS The House is out. The Senate convenes at noon with up to three votes expected around 4:30 p.m. AROUND THE HILL 10 a.m. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the nomination of Nathaniel Fick to be an ambassador-at-large for cyberspace and digital policy (Dirksen 419). Noon Republican Sens. Mike Crapo (Idaho), Pat Toomey (Pa.) and Rob Portman (Ohio) discuss Democrats' spending and taxation policies (Senate Studio). 2:30 p.m. Senate Finance Committee hearing on "addressing organizational failures of the U.S.' organ procurement and transplantation network" (Dirksen 215).
| | | TUESDAY'S WINNER: Dan Cohen correctly answered that former Sen. Elaine Edwards (D-La.) was appointed by her husband, then-Louisiana Gov. "Fast" Eddie Edwards following the death of Sen. Allen Ellender. For everyone who said Rose McConnell Long: Her husband was once the governor, but did not appoint her to the Senate. Her seat in the chamber came via widow's succession – she took Sen. Huey Long's Senate seat after he was assassinated. TODAY'S QUESTION from Dan: The Constitution lists only three qualifications for the Presidency — the President must be at least 35 years of age, be a natural born citizen, and must have lived in the United States for at least 14 years. Who was the first President to successfully meet all three aspects of this criteria? Bonus points to name the Presidents sworn into office in technical violation of this Constitutional requirement. 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: ICYMI: Democrats' misguided drug pricing proposal will threaten patient access to medicines and future innovations – a dangerously "slippery slope," according to a WSJ editorial. The majority of cancer R&D takes place after the initial approval of a medicine. For example, an FDA approved treatment for a type of skin cancer has since been approved for use in treating roughly 20 additional cancers. Government price setting jeopardizes critical innovation. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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