HOOT AND HOLLER — President Joe Biden used his visit to Congress last night to tout his party's accomplishments, but he also spoke directly to Republicans who oppose his priorities, calling for cooperation and asking for help on key to-do list items including raising the debt limit. Biden took a moment at the top of his speech to offer an olive branch to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). "Speaker, I don't want to ruin your reputation, but I look forward to working with you,” he said to laughs from his audience and even McCarthy himself as he turned back to look at him. He also took a jab at GOP members who are willing to vote against bills like the bipartisan infrastructure package, but are happy to reap the rewards: “To my Republican friends who voted against it but still ask to fund projects in their districts, don’t worry. I promised to be the president for all Americans. We’ll fund your projects. And I’ll see you at the ground-breaking,” he said with a smile. And although some of his Biden’s remarks angered his GOP detractors – we all saw Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in her white, fur-lined jacket call him a liar when the president said “some” Republicans want to sunset Medicare and Medicaid – Biden continued to make his appeal to work with them throughout his speech. Another tense moment between Biden and conservatives in the audience, Sarah and Burgess note in their inside-the-chamber story last night, is when Biden touted his administration's accomplishments along the border (which Republicans don’t see as accomplishments at all). They noted that dozens of other Republicans joined in with chants to “secure our border” as Biden spoke of the need for an immigration overhaul. Another moment: Several other Republicans called out “liar,” and at least one shouted “it’s your fault” as Biden touted efforts to lower fentanyl deaths. Define decorum: Some lawmakers lamented the lack of decorum, the shouting and heckling during the speech. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said the ruckus “Might be accepted in a Third World country. But not here.” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) referenced maybe the closest parallel: “This is not the House of Parliament,” in reference to the rambunctious shouting, booing and heckling that the UK’s House of Commons gives the prime minister each Wednesday during “Prime Minister's Questions.” The weeks-long scandal from 2017 after Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) shouted “You lie!” during then-President Barack Obama’s speech seems far in the rearview mirror. Republican aides were quick to point out that decorum is subjective, apparently still offended by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi tearing up Trump’s 2020 speech. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was in a bind as his members got rowdy. He had promised no “childish games” but didn’t resort to the meme-able Pelosi move of signaling for his colleagues to zip it. When McCarthy meets with Senate Republicans today we’ll see if the more staid side of the building has thoughts on his task of keeping a rebellious conference in line — both on legislation and in big moments like last night. (More on that after the jump.) Biden being Biden: The president spent 73 minutes delivering his speech from the House rostrum Tuesday night and then another hour-plus afterwards chatting, shaking hands with lawmakers and Supreme Court justices, facetiming with members’ kids and posing for selfies. The man loves to schmooze. Key takeaway: If you’re a member who wanted to talk to the president and didn’t get a chance, that’s on you. Romney’s tough talk: Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) got into it with Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) last night after the speech. Burgess caught up with the man himself to get his take on the scandal-ridden freshman. Romney called Santos an “embarrassment” and said he shouldn’t be in Congress at all. “Trying to shake hands with every senator in the United States — given the fact that he’s under ethics investigation, he should be sitting in the back row and saying quiet, instead of parading in front of the president and people coming into the room,” Romney said. RELATED READS (SOTU ROUNDUP): The state of Biden’s union with a GOP Congress: It’s tense, from Sarah and Burgess; The debt moment when Biden’s State of the Union turned spicy, from Sarah Ferris and Katy O’Donnell; 'An embarrassment': Romney on his sharp words for Santos, from Burgess Everett and Kelly Garrity PLUS: Biden pledges to protect America after Chinese balloon incident, from Connor O’Brien; The 9 big policy ideas that Biden hit during his speech, from Adam Cancyrn; Biden calls for ban of online ads targeting children, from Alfred Ng If you don’t want to read one more word about this speech, that’s fair. The rest of this edition is a SOTU-free zone. Except this.
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