| | | | |  | | By Katherine Tully-McManus | Presented by The American Health Care Association | With an assist from Marianne LeVine and Daniella Diaz
|  Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) will try again to move legislation to expand background checks for gun purchases. (J. Scott Applewhite, File) | AP | FIRST IN HUDDLE: ANOTHER SHOT AT BACKGROUND CHECKS — This week has already been marred by a mass shooting at Michigan State University and an El Paso, Texas, shopping mall last night, the latest in what has been a relentless pattern this year. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) is hoping, once again, to meet the moment with legislative action beyond platitudes of “thoughts and prayers” that have become a painful cliche for survivors. He will re-introduce legislation today to expand background checks to the sale or transfer of all firearms, with limited exceptions. The bill, which faces steep odds in the Senate and GOP-controlled House, has two new Senate Democratic caucus members on board: Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Angus King (I-Maine), bringing the total number of cosponsors to 47. (Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) are not among the co-sponsors). Reps. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) reintroduced the House’s version of the bill earlier this month. The reintroduction comes less than a year after Congress passed gun safety legislation for the first time in a generation. While that legislation fell short of the longtime Democratic push for universal background checks, it required the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System to contact state authorities, local law enforcement and a state’s juvenile justice information system to check if an individual under the age of 21 had a “disqualifying” juvenile record for purchasing a firearm. Murphy’s bill would require background checks for the transfer and sale of firearms, including online, at gun shows and unlicensed sellers. Exemptions would include temporary loans for sporting and hunting, gifts to immediate family and transfers between law enforcement officers. More action: On Tuesday, the fifth anniversary of the 2018 Parkland shooting that killed 17 at a Florida high school, President Joe Biden announced that the Justice Department will give more than $231 million to states for red-flag programs and other crisis intervention and gun violence prevention programs. AUGUST IN JEOPARDY, ALREADY — Another year, another reason to only book refundable travel for the August recess. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Treasury will officially run out of cash and exhaust its borrowing authority sometime between July and September of this year… which doesn’t bode well for the Congressional schedule as lawmakers try to tackle the debt limit. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated her warning that an “economic and financial catastrophe” will ensue if Congress doesn’t act. House Republicans are holding onto their position that they won’t agree to lift the debt ceiling until Congressional Democrats and President Joe Biden agree to cut future spending. Biden has opened talks on deficit reduction with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) but maintains that he will not negotiate on raising the debt limit.
| | A message from The American Health Care Association: Nursing homes across the country are facing a historic labor crisis, forcing many facilities to limit patient admissions or worse, permanently close. The long term care labor crisis has affected all aspects of health care, creating bottlenecks in hospitals. A federal staffing mandate for nursing homes without resources to help with recruitment would make things worse. Help us hire, don’t require. | | | GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, Feb. 16, where it’s going to be a long, hot, debt limit-filled summer. CRIME, BOY I DON’T KNOW — Oh, what a difference two years can make. There was once motivation among Democrats for the Senate to move a statehood bill for the District of Columbia, but now Republicans are instead blazing a different trail for the Capital city: using their power to roll back a law passed by the city council. Republicans want to overturn a law that overhauls the city’s criminal laws, many of which date back to 1901. It is a 450-page measure that took 16 years of work to finalize. It would be the first time Congress overruled the D.C. Council since 1991. Forty nine Republican senators are in favor of scrapping the new criminal code and Democrats are far from united against it, so far. In the House, 31 Democrats joined Republicans in favor of overriding the city council, including Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), who was assaulted in her apartment building the morning of the vote. Burgess has more on timing, which Democrats are on the fence and if Biden could launch his first veto. PUTTING THE SENATE TO THE TEST — GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley wants mandatory cognitive tests on federal officeholders of a certain age. What would that look like in the current Congress? “In the America I see, the permanent politician will finally retire,” Haley said. “We’ll have term limits for Congress and mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old.” Currently, that would include 16 senators, including four from her own party: Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky plus Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Mitt Romney of Utah and Jim Risch of Idaho. But by the 2024 election, it could be more. In the House there are currently 36 members 75 or older, nine of them Republicans, and at least eight more members are coming up on that big 7-5 birthday in the next year.
| | | | 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. | | | | | BORDER VISIT — McCarthy joins four House GOP freshmen at the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona today. Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) is hosting his fellow Reps. Derrick Van Orden (Wis.), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (Ore.) and Jen Kiggans (Va.). They'll be briefed at U.S. Customs and Border Patrol’s Tucson sector headquarters, get an aerial tour of the border and visit a local ranch before holding a press conference in Cochise County. THE PAPERWORK IS IN — She hasn’t made the official announcement yet, but Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) has filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission to launch a fundraising committee for a Senate bid to replace retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Lee will join a Democratic field with two of her current colleagues: Reps. Katie Porter and Adam Schiff, both of whom announced before Feinstein finalized her plan to retire after three decades in the Senate. DEFENSE DOLLARS DOWNLOAD — “Lawmakers and lobbyists are pouncing on a Chinese spy balloon’s seven-day incursion over North America this month to push back against possible defense budget cuts — and make the case for even more funding — as Congress grapples with the growing threat from Beijing and doubts about the military’s ability to detect similar objects,” report Connor O’Brien and Lee Hudson. “I don’t think there’s one U.S. senator who has been going to these briefings that thinks that the message out of this is less defense spending,” Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said on Wednesday. A little commotion for this excellent pun headline on Connor and Lee’s story: Lawmakers seize on spy balloon to inflate defense spending Speaking of defense spending… The House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee is one of the most coveted on Capitol Hill, since it controls nearly half of all discretionary spending each year. The addition of freshman Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.) may have ruffled some feathers as more senior lawmakers were passed over for the job. But his resume, including 30 combat missions flying F/A-18 Super Hornets and later as an executive at major defense contractor Raytheon, likely tipped him over the edge. More from Aidan Quigley at CQ Roll Call.
| | | | A message from The American Health Care Association:   | | | NEW FACE AT THE CHC — We previously reported Bianca Lugo Lewis was going to join the Congressional Hispanic Caucus as communications director in the wake of its members questioning Rep. Nanette Barragan’s leadership of the voting bloc. She has started the job, Huddle has learned. “I am definitely excited to advance and highlight the issues that Hispanic communities face. Coming from an island (Puerto Rico), I know the urgency that is needed to find solutions and to achieve that, we all need to be focused and united for a common goal. That will always be my priority wherever I go,” she said in a statement. A refresher on the turbulence and turnover at the CHC in recent weeks. QUICK LINKS Could These UFOs Be Aliens? Some See Official Denials as Hot Air, from Natalie Andrews, Eric Bazail-Eimil and Lindsay Wise at The Wall Street Journal When politicians have no shame, the old rules don't apply, from Tamara Keith at NPR DOJ officially decides not to charge Matt Gaetz in sex-trafficking probe, from Paula Reid and Hannah Rabinowitz at CNN Blinken: Crimea a ‘red line’ for Putin as Ukraine weighs plans to retake it, from Alexander Ward and Paul McCleary TRANSITIONS Darian Burrell-Clay has joined the Children’s Hospital Association as federal affairs manager. Burrell-Clay most recently served as a policy adviser for health, education and labor to Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.). Katie Crane has been promoted to be legislative director for Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas). She most recently was a legislative assistant for Williams. Pete Wyckoff, a senior policy adviser for energy, climate and the environment to Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) is headed to the Minnesota Commerce Department, where he will serve as assistant commissioner of federal and state energy initiatives. Erica Handloff is now comms director at the Senate Budget Committee for Chair Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). She previously was comms director for the Joint Economic Committee Dems. Harshitha Teppala is joining Rep. Jared Moskowitz’s (D-Fla.) office as a legislative assistant. She previously was a legislative correspondent for Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.).
| | | | DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO MOBILE APP: Stay up to speed with the newly updated POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need, reimagined. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS– DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID. | | | | | TODAY IN CONGRESS The House is out. The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. for consideration of the nomination of Lester Martinez-Lopez to be an Assistant Secretary of Defense. At 11:30 a.m. the Senate will vote on the confirmation of Daniel Calabretta to be U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of California and Confirmation of Lester Martinez-Lopez. At 1:45 p.m. the Senate will vote to invoke cloture on Maria Araujo Kahn to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the 2nd Circuit. AROUND THE HILL 10 a.m. Senate Commerce Committee hearing on “Building Transparency and Accountability to Pharmacy Benefit Managers.” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) testifies. (Russell 253) 10 a.m. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on “One Year Later: The Impact of the Russian Federation’s War in Ukraine on European and Global Energy Security.” (Dirksen 366) 11:30 a.m. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) hold a press conference about designating the Wagner Group a terrorist organization. (Senate Studio)
| | | WEDNESDAY’S WINNER: Paula De Santiago correctly answered that Mali was the first to ratify the 2016 Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. TODAY’S QUESTION from Paula: Which of our nation’s founders first declared that public education is primarily the concern of state legislatures? 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 The American Health Care Association: The long term care community needs help. Facing a historic labor crisis, nursing homes cannot find the workers they need, resulting in limited admissions to facilities with some permanently closing. Nursing homes are doing everything they can to recruit caregivers, but with limited government funds, they can’t compete.
This crisis has also created bottlenecks in hospitals as patients wait for beds in nursing homes. A federal staffing mandate without resources to help with recruitment would only worsen access to care for vulnerable seniors.
We need an investment in our long term workforce, not unfunded staffing mandates. Learn more about better solutions to the labor shortage. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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