📣 MAGA power play

Plus: Biden's unfilled top spots | Thursday, December 08, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Instagram   Axios Sneak Peek By Alayna Treene and Hans Nichols · Dec 08, 2022 Welcome back to Sneak Peek. Smart Brevity™ count: 990 words ... 3.75 minutes. ⚡Situational awareness: House Republicans who flipped to "no" on same-sex marriage faced "intense lobbying" from conservatives, Axios' Andrew Solender reports.     1 big thing: MAGA power play Photo illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images   Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is making a new play for influence, becoming a surprising yet crucial defender of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Alayna Treene reports. Why it matters: Greene has a playbook to follow from Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), another outsider who climbed the ranks within the House GOP. "Jim and I talk frequently ... we're similar thinkers," Greene told Axios about Jordan, a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus and longtime antagonist of GOP leadership. Jordan was one of the first high-profile members to publicly support Greene when she first ran for office, and she continues to seek his advice, sources familiar with their relationship tell Axios. The big picture: Greene is betting that backing up McCarthy in his time of dire need will pave a path to legitimacy and power if he becomes speaker. She's increasingly drawing herself closer to the establishment without abandoning her bombastic rhetoric and contentious ideology. "I think that to be the best speaker of the House and to please the base, he's going to give me a lot of power and a lot of leeway," Greene told The New York Times in October. "I haven't been promised anything," Greene told Axios. "I've asked for committee positions, but I'm not doing it with a guaranteed deal." Jordan is expected to be the chairman of the powerful Judiciary Committee in the new Congress. "I think [Greene's] like me in thinking that Leader McCarthy's done a good job of keeping our team focused, keeping us together.… I assume she's supporting him for the same reason I am," Jordan told Axios. Zoom out: Unlike former House Republican Speakers, like John Boehner and Paul Ryan, McCarthy has brought many controversial figures into the fold. That includes Greene, former Trump adviser Stephen Miller and lawmakers in the conservative House Freedom Caucus. Greene meets weekly with McCarthy, and the minority leader often invites her to high-profile policy meetings. Share this story.     2. Inside the Walker campaign fiasco Herschel Walker and his wife, Julie Blanchard Walker, leave after his concession speech Tuesday in Atlanta. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images   In August, during the heat of one of the most important Senate races in the country, Herschel Walker's campaign staffers were preoccupied with a dog, Axios Atlanta co-author Emma Hurt reports. "Alvin the Beagle" was a star of Sen. Raphael Warnock's campaign ads, and Walker and his wife, Julie Blanchard Walker, wanted the world to know that Alvin wasn't Warnock's dog. Incredulous staff ultimately complied with crafting a digital ad on the subject to appease them. Why it matters: Walker's Senate campaign was as troubled behind the scenes as it appeared in public, according to nearly a dozen campaign officials. "It was just an effing roller coaster all the way through," one senior campaign official told Axios. The big picture: Staffers allege that Blanchard Walker — aided by unpaid campaign co-chair Michele Braddock-Beagle — ran a "shadow campaign" and refused to cede control of key strategy decisions to experienced, paid staff. Staffers were blindsided by almost all reports about Walker's past, they told Axios. The Walkers' response would be an immediate flat denial, even when documents backed up the reports. The other side: In response to a request for comment to Blanchard Walker, Timmy Teepell, who identified himself as a Walker campaign senior strategist, said: "This coordinated attack by disgruntled anonymous campaign staffers is unseemly, dishonest and unethical.  Julie is a professional, energetic and unwavering defender of her husband as she should be, and Herschel was a tireless campaigner who outworked everyone." A request for comment to Braddock-Beagle was not returned. Go deeper.     3. Biden's unfilled top spots Includes all Senate-confirmed positions such as judges, ambassadors and part-time positions; Data: Partnership for Public Service; Chart: Jacque Schrag/Axios Democrats' new 51-seat Senate majority should help President Biden remedy the number of unfilled top positions in his administration, Hans Nichols reports. The new math will also strip any single Democrat — like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who torpedoed Neera Tanden, Biden's first OMB pick — of an effective veto. Zoom out: "Given the insane system that we have, Biden is doing well," said Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, which tracks the data. "He is hanging with the norm." "But the reality is that there are very large gaps in leadership positions across the government," he said. Share this story.     A message from Instagram Explore 30+ Instagram tools helping teens have positive experiences     Instagram's tools can help parents keep their teens safe on social media, help teens see less sensitive content and help them spend less time on our platform. Because teens' experiences on Instagram should be positive and supportive. Explore our tools and set them up today.     4. House Dems scramble on defense Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) Photos: Getty Images   A three-way race is brewing for the top Democratic spot on the House Oversight Committee, Axios' Sophia Cai reports. The three: Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), and Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) Why it matters: The ranking member will go toe to toe with Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) and be a first line of defense against pending Republican investigations. Raskin, a constitutional scholar, told Axios: "I've thrown myself into the defense of the rule of law, the Constitution and government accountability and transparency and integrity, and I think we're still very much in the thick of this fight." Connolly, chair of the Government Operations Subcommittee, told Axios the question of how he'll go face to face with Comer and Jordan is not theoretical, saying, "I've been doing it! I've gone after Jim Jordan and it's gone viral. I've gone after Mr. Comer where appropriate." Lynch, the committee's longest-serving member, did not respond to requests for comment for this story. Go deeper.     5. Pic du jour: Marriage equality clears Congress Photo: Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images   House Speaker Pelosi triumphantly posed today with retired Rep. Barney Frank after the House passed marriage equality legislation, sending it to President Biden's desk. Frank, a Democrat from Massachusetts, was one of the first openly gay members of Congress. "I was here for the birth of [the Defense of Marriage Act], so I am very grateful to be able to be here for the funeral. And it's kind of a New Orleans moment; we are tooting our horns for the funeral — a much happier occasion than the birth," Frank told The New York Times.     A message from Instagram Instagram's daily time limits can help teens spend less time online     Parents can help teens spend time online more intentionally with Instagram's daily time limits, which lets them say how long their teens can spend on the platform once supervision is set up. Set up daily time limits and explore 30+ tools that can help teens have a positive experience on Instagram.   📬 Thanks for reading this week. This newsletter was edited by Justin Green and copy edited by Brad Bonhall. Are you a fan of this email format? Your essential communications — to staff, clients and other stakeholders — can have the same style. Axios HQ, a powerful platform, will help you do it.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: