News: House GOP asks: Who’s next?

Thursday, February 23, 2023

House GOP asks: Who’s next?

Feb 23, 2023

WHO’S ON DECK? — Republicans kicked off their tenure atop the House Administration Committee with a hearing that helped oust a scandal-plagued Capitol official.

And in interviews with your fill-in Huddle host, lawmakers ticked off a laundry list of other agencies, institutions and projects under their purview that they also expect to shine their investigative spotlight on. Coming up: Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress and the Cannon building renovation

“You're gonna see a much more robust schedule,” Administration Committee Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) told your fill-in Huddle host.

Also on the panel's list: The Office of the Attending Physician. Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) said that he would be digging into decisions and guidance that stemmed from the office during the height of the coronavirus.

At the time, there were different coronavirus restrictions for both sides of the Capitol based on decisions from leadership in the House and Senate. On the House side of the Capitol, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced in 2020 that she would require masks while on the House floor. Meanwhile, on the Senate side, masks were optional. (Senators suggested to us at the time that instituting a similar requirement on their side of the Capitol would have required a rules change. Instead, masks were encouraged — and most senators voluntarily complied.)

And Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), who is chairing the oversight subcommittee, said the panel will probe the decision to temporarily re-install a fence around the Capitol ahead of President Biden’s address earlier this month. The decision created an unusual split in the Capitol Police Board, with House Sergeant at Arms William McFarland, newly tapped by Speaker Kevin McCrathy (R-Calif.), opposing it.

Across the aisle: Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), the ranking member on the panel, ticked off several of his priorities: Expanding ballot access, “appropriate oversight” of the Capitol Police, including ensuring adequate resources and training, making sure the committee is getting “maximum value for taxpayers” in the day-to-day running of the House and bolstering resources for members.

Mark your calendar: The committee will meet on Tuesday, Feb. 28, for a business meeting to adopt its “oversight and authorization plan” for the 118th Congress.

No one puts the Senate in the corner: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter to former Architect of the Capitol Brett Blanton asking him when he’ll repay taxpayers. He also sent a letter to acting AOC Chere Rexroat, asking if she’ll seek repayment.

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GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, Feb. 23, where your fill-in Huddle host is really channeling her inner Gilmore Girl in her need for coffee.

TWO MORE — Two former House GOP candidates say the Air Force alerted them this month that their military records were improperly released during the midterm campaign, reports Olivia. Both Sam Peters, who ran for a House seat in Nevada, and Kevin Dellicker, who lost a GOP primary in Pennsylvania, said they received Feb. 8 letters notifying them that Abraham Payton of Due Diligence Group made “multiple requests” for their military personnel records last year.

DEMS SIGH OF RELIEF — Democrats caught a 2024 break with Sen. Jon Tester’s (D-Mont.) announcement that he will run for reelection, giving them their best shot at holding onto the red-state seat. Tester, 66, will be a top GOP target as he seeks a fourth term in a state then-President Donald Trump won by more than 16 percentage points in 2020.

Thrill of the fight: Tester, in a statement, said Montana needs “a fighter holding Washington accountable” and that he’s running for re-election “so I can keep fighting for Montanans and demand that Washington stand up for our veterans and lower costs.” (Tester chairs the Senate’s Veterans’ Affairs Committee.)

Now we’ve got bad blood: Sen. Steven Daines (R-Mont.) might reside in the same state as Tester, but he’s hardly pulling his punches— the latest chapter in one of the Senate’s most openly combative home-state duos.

Daines, who chairs the Senate GOP campaign arm, said that Tester “just made the same mistake Steve Bullock did in 2020.” (ICYMI, Tester helped recruit Bullock to run against Daines in 2020.)

Republicans could have their own headaches. Among the potential contenders for challenging Tester is Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), who previously ran and lost to the Montana Democrat in 2018 (Daines campaigned with Rosendale at the time.) Other GOP challengers could include: Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), Gov. Greg Gianforte and state Attorney General Austin Knudsen.

Map math: Despite Tester’s decision, Democrats still face a tough map in 2024 that includes playing defense to try to hold onto nearly two dozen Senate seats. (For those keeping track at home, your Huddle host notes this is the same class cycle that cost them seats in Missouri, Indiana, North Dakota and Florida in 2018.)

The party’s pick up opportunities are limited, Democrats are still waiting to see if any of their other incumbents will retire, and they could face a three-way race in Arizona if independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema seeks a second term.

MY DANCE SPACE, YOUR DANCE SPACE — Encompassing the difficult map the party faces, Tester, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who has already announced he will run again and Sen Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who hasn’t yet announced what he’ll do, will all need to do what is becoming increasingly rarer: Successfully persuade voters to split their tickets. All three are running in states where Trump won handily in 2020.

And the success, or failure, of at least two of their three red-state incumbents will likely determine if Democrats are able to hold onto their 51-seat majority, Burgess reports.

McCARTHY SPEAKS — Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) broke his days-long silence Wednesday on his decision to grant Tucker Carlson access to thousands of hours of Jan. 6 security footage. The California Republican told The New York Times’s Luke Broadwater and Jonathan Swan that he had “promised,” after previously being asked about releasing the footage. He’s also fundraising off the decision. (ICYMI, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) previously indicated last month that agreeing to release the footage was a concession McCarthy made during his bid to win the speaker’s gavel.)

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), in a “Dear Colleague” letter, said that he was “surprised” to learn of the decision and that “the Senate strongly objects to the release of this sensitive security footage to Tucker Carlson and Fox News.” McCarthy or any elected official, he added, “does not have the right to jeopardize the safety of senators nor Senate and Capitol staff for their own political purposes.”

Related: Your host’s dive with Kyle, where we were the first to report that key security officials didn’t find out about McCarthy’s decision until around the time on Monday that Axios first reported about the tape transfer, and that McCarthy’s move came after the House Administration Committee recently asked for (and received) access to the Jan. 6 footage.

TIME KEEPS ON SLIPPIN, SLIPPIN, SLIPPIN — The House Oversight Committee’s deadline for Hunter Biden, James Biden and Eric Schwerin to hand over documents appears to be slipping.

Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) sent a letter to attorneys for the three earlier this month requesting a laundry list of documents and communications, with an end-of-day Feb. 22 deadline. And Hunter Biden’s attorneys did a near immediate clap back sending a letter to the committee arguing that it “lacks a legitimate purpose and oversight basis” for requesting the records.

Your temporary Huddle captain checked in on deadline day. An Oversight spokesperson told us that they had “received correspondence” from attorneys representing Hunter and James Biden and “will be in communication with them” about the requests. (It’s not unusual for oversight deadlines to slip.)

“We are also in contact with Eric Schwerin’s attorney and expect him to start producing documents to the Oversight Committee,” the spokesperson added.

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HUDDLE HOTDISH

MAKE FRESHMAN ORIENTATION GREAT AGAIN? — Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.) took an interesting path to the House Administration Committee: She initially pitched leadership on her thoughts for improving freshman orientation.

“The way that the orientation was presented and the material particularly that was presented I felt like were not as helpful as they could have been to an incoming freshman member. And I mentioned it to leadership in 2021,” Bice told your Huddle host.

She then went back to McCarthy and his staff with her own plan, and had conversations with then Administration ranking member Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), who lost his primary last year. Keep an eye out: Bice said she’s hoping the next freshman orientation, which will take place in late 2024, will have “a little bit of a different layout.”

In the meantime, Bice is chairing the modernization subcommittee, which is tasked with modernizing the House and the legislative branch. She is predicting that the subcommittee keeps the bipartisan flavor of the previous select committee, as well as its more unusual elements including a roundtable environment. (Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) will serve as the subcommittee’s ranking member and the two are already chatting about priorities.)

And while Bice cautioned it's still early days, she already has her eye on some steps she is hoping will improve functionality: room processing and de-conflicting committees to try to facilitate members being able to attend more hearings, as well as improving turnaround time for the Congressional Research Service.

QUICK LINKS

House GOP’s top tax man throws K Street in a tizzy, by POLITICO’s Brian Faler

Rep. Scott Perry fights to keep phone from team probing Jan. 6 attack, by The Washington Post’s Rachel Weiner

Modern Dads Are Embarrassing. Which Just Might Be Good Politics, from The New York Times’s Phillip Maciak

Ryan says Biden, Trump put country at risk by swearing off changes to Medicare, Social Security, by The Washington Post’s Patrick Marley

Herrera Beutler Weighing Gov Run, Donors Say, by The Dispatch’s Andrew Egger, David M. Drucker and Audrey Fahlberg

TRANSITIONS

Chuck Kieffer is retiring after nearly two dozen years as a leading staffer on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Kieffer most recently served as staff director to Senate Appropriations Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who retired in December, but stayed on to help with Sen. Patty Murray’s (D-Wash.) transition to chair. Senate HELP veterans Evan Schatz and John Righter will assume the roles of staff director and deputy staff director for Murray, respectively.

Simone Kanter has been promoted to be communications director for Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.). He most recently was press secretary for Goldman.

TODAY IN CONGRESS

The House is out. The Senate will hold a pro-forma session at 9:30 a.m.

AROUND THE HILL

House Judiciary Committee Republicans will hold a field hearing in Yuma, Ariz., at 2 p.m. MT on "The Biden Border Crisis: Part II.” Democrats on the panel previously announced they wouldn’t attend, citing scheduling conflicts, and will take their own trip to the border region.

Trivia

WEDNESDAY’S WINNER: Bruce Brow was the first to correctly guess that Calvin Coolidge is the only person to have been elected as a lieutenant governor, governor, vice president and president.

TODAY’S QUESTION from Benjamin Wainer: Which two senators make up the longest serving Senate duo (ie, two senators from the same state, who served together)?

The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to jcarney@politico.com.

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