GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, March 16, where Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) was a teen barely old enough to drive when the U.S. invaded Iraq. UKRAINE AS A LITMUS TEST? — Most Senate Republicans have continually backed U.S. support for Ukraine in their war against Russia, and now plenty are saying that they want their party’s presidential pick to be on the same page. Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis aren't interested in further aiding Ukraine, while senators see it as an essential deterrent against both Russian President Vladimir Putin and China. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) wants a candidate who won’t “kowtow to the isolationist wing of the Republican Party,” naming Mike Pompeo, Mike Pence, Nikki Haley and Tim Scott as contenders who align with his thinking on Ukraine. Yes, there is an anti-Ukraine corner of the Senate GOP caucus, including newcomer J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who told Fox News last night that Trump and DeSantis have "the right view" and that "our voters are certainly there." Burgess and Anthony look at Senate Republicans' stance on Ukraine and what it could mean for 2024. SENATE SPENDING SCHEDULE — It’s time to pencil in 32 (!) Senate Appropriations subcommittee meetings into your calendar over the next few months. Appropriations Chair Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and ranking member Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) released a robust calendar of when each panel will hold hearings on the fiscal 2024 budget request. The packed schedule has the committee moving speedily through June. The committee stresses that the hearings are tentative. “Note that this list is not final; hearings listed can and will change—and additional hearings may be announced.” Don’t miss the fun. STEUBE’S RETURN — Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) will return to Capitol Hill this month after a long absence as he recovered from a major accident. Steube took a serious fall in January and suffered a fractured pelvis, torn ligaments in his neck and a punctured lung. He said Wednesday that his doctor has cleared him to fly and he’s looking forward to returning to Washington. GETTING GARCETTI TO INDIA — It took Eric Garcetti 614 days to get to New Delhi, on a path paved with embarrassment, $90,000 in lobbyists paid by his parents and a brutally lukewarm statement from the typically animated Senate majority leader. “The United States-India relationship is extremely important and it's a very good thing we now have an Ambassador,” Schumer’s statement read after the vote. Ouch. Despite that celebration of sending a warm body to the embassy, it is notable that the Garcetti vote finally, finally, came to the floor just weeks after Schumer’s big trip to India (a rare CODEL for the New Yorker.) Garcetti’s detractors and accusers met with nearly a third of the Senate to discuss their experiences of working under Garcetti and allegations that a top aide had sexually harassed and assaulted fellow office members and others. But allies like Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo worked the phones to whip votes. A look at how Garcetti got here, from Chris Cadelago in California and Marianne on Capitol Hill. GRASSLEY’S BRUSH WITH DANGER — Newly released video of the Capitol attack shows just how close rioters came to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Jan. 6, 2021. The footage shows the apparent evacuation from the Senate chamber as a uniformed officer separates him and his security detail from the first wave of rioters that had breached the building. Those rioters were led by Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola, who used a riot shield to shatter a Senate window and ignite the breach of the building near the chamber. Kyle and Jordain report how the caught-on-tape proximity to the pro-Trump rioters adds new dissonance to Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s on-air minimization of the siege — a portrayal that palpably split Senate and House Republicans.
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment