| | | | |  | | By Nicholas Wu, Daniella Diaz and Katherine Tully-McManus | Presented by The Alzheimer's Association | With an assist from Olivia Beavers
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The bill Republicans passed Wednesday was immediately panned by the White House and is a non-starter in the Democratic controlled Senate. It’s unclear at this point what President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats will do now. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images | | After House Republicans barely passed their debt bill, House Democrats are getting ready to pull out the playbook that worked for them in 2018 to win back the majority in 2024. In those midterm elections, Democrats hammered Republicans over tough votes that swing seat lawmakers made on repealing Obamacare and enacting tax cuts. This time, Democrats think they’ll be able to hitch vulnerable Republicans to Wednesday’s vote pairing a debt limit hike with spending cuts. “I think the American people are pretty upset with what's happening, and they want to see governance work, and Republicans are going to be held accountable for not governing,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) said in an interview. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) set the tone at the beginning of the week, privately telling Democrats in a leadership meeting that the debt vote could be framed to the American people in the same way liberals responded to Republican efforts to privatize Social Security, repeal Obamacare and pass the 2017 tax cut package, according to a person familiar with his remarks. “We're focused on doing the right thing by the American people, which is to make sure we avoid a dangerous default and ensure that America pays its bills,” he said Wednesday in a brief interview. Democratic groups are already gearing up to knock Republicans over the debt standoff. The DCCC said vulnerable Republicans were “helping build the case against themselves” and their re-election, and House Majority PAC singled out frontline Republicans who voted for the bill. A focus on the GOP’s debt bill and proposed cuts isn’t without its own political pitfalls. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) made clear his caucus is not responding to Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) legislation – ultimately putting the issue between President Joe Biden and the speaker after its passage in the House. By contrast, the 2017 tax bill was signed into law with a GOP trifecta, giving Democrats real-life consequences to use against Republicans. It also gave candidates an avenue to campaign against Republicans without tying them specifically to then-President Donald Trump. But what Democrats saw as effective campaign messaging in the 2022 midterms around the Jan. 6 insurrection and abortion rights could end up ranking higher on the list than potential spending cuts. What’s next for addressing the debt limit? The bill Republicans passed Wednesday was immediately panned by the White House and is a non-starter in the Democratic controlled Senate. And our friends at Playbook reported today that McCarthy promised conservatives that he would not support any debt ceiling legislation weaker than what the House approved on Wednesday, a position that immediately puts him in a tough spot for negotiations with Democrats. It’s unclear at this point what President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats will do now. Who makes the first move? We will wait and see.
| | | | A message from The Alzheimer's Association: The future of Medicare? President Biden recently called Medicare “a rock solid guarantee.” But that’s not true for beneficiaries living with early Alzheimer’s. For the first time ever, CMS has blocked Medicare coverage to FDA-approved drugs. Now CMS is stalling despite compelling evidence and coverage by the VA. Today it’s people living with early Alzheimer’s. Who will it be tomorrow? Learn more at alz.org/coverage. | | | GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, April 27, where the debt limit fight is still an uphill battle.
|  Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.) attended the state dinner last night (her daughter was her guest) and is part of the committee that will walk the Korean president to the podium in just a few hours. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images | STEEL’S STORY — Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.) grinned ear-to-ear as she expressed her enthusiasm for South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s visit to Washington, his first as president and Steel’s first meeting with him. “I am so excited about this,” she said in an interview with Huddle Wednesday. “We were all working really hard, but there was no definite yes that he could speak for the joint session. So I went straight to [McCarthy] and I said, ‘Kevin, we really want Korean President Yoon, who is really working hard to rebuild a relationship and he has to speak. He told me, ‘Yes, I promise you that it's going to happen.’” Yoon’s visit to Washington comes on the heels of the 70th anniversary of the U.S.-South Korea mutual defense treaty – which committed the two countries to assist each other in the event of “armed attack and communist subversive activities.” But it also comes at a time that South Korea is facing increased military threats from North Korea as well as China’s growing power and influence in the Indo-Pacific. Stee was born in South Korea but raised in Japan by parents who fled North Korea before she was born. Roughly a third of the constituents in her Orange County, California, district are Asian-American. “It's personal to me,” she said. “And it's very, very important since the [Chinese Communist Party’s] aggression is getting stronger and North Korea, you don't know what they're gonna do next because they are shooting all these missiles. I really liked this president, and he's doing the right thing. And hopefully he's gonna really do something about this while he’s in his term.” Steel is hoping her legislation will be taken up this Congress to authorize the President to lend or lease defense supplies to the Government of Taiwan in defense of China. “Taiwan is an island and they have to defend themselves until we get there,” Steel said about her bill. “So that's the reason that I introduced the bill and this bill telling China, ‘Don't even think about it.’” Steel attended the state dinner last night (her daughter was her guest) and is part of the committee that will walk the Korean president to the podium in just a few hours. “I think it's really important because this (Korean) President is working really hard to rebuild the relationship with the United States,” she said. “He comes here, and he's gonna relay the message to all the members on the floor what exactly what his policy is.. That’s really important.” Related reads: U.S., South Korea Pledge Cooperation on Potential Use of Nuclear Arms, from Michael R. Gordon at The Wall Street Journal
| | | | A message from The Alzheimer's Association:   | | | HOW McCARTHY MADE IT HAPPEN — Don’t miss Sarah, Olivia and Burgess’ breakdown of exactly how the House GOP debt deal came together, starting just after the bruising speakership race wrapped up back in January. Some only in Huddle details from their notebooks:
- Russ Vought, who has helped work with the 20 McCarthy detractors during the speakership battle and the House Freedom Caucus on the debt ceiling, told Olivia yesterday: “In the whole, this was a package that was largely informed about what house conservatives — who now have a seat at the table — would be excited about, and as a result, you have people like me excited about it and talking about it. It largely fits what we thought was necessary to save the country in December, what we thought the speaker fight should be about.”
- How Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) avoided leaks. When a colleague would ask “can you just send it to me?” Emmer would say no. “There will be nothing in writing. But you can get a pen and you can get a piece of paper and I will read it to you. And you can take copious notes, but you're not going to get anything from our office.”
- Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), one of the corn-belt Republicans who threatened to vote against the plan before GOP leadership moved on an amendment addressing their biofuel credit concerns, said leadership was aware of their concerns, but it wasn’t until they were able to sit down and “explain to them what was really in the bill and what it meant” that leadership realized “the impact that would have” on them.
Related reads: Why the Senate isn’t jumping at the opportunity to end the debt crisis, from Burgess
| | | | HAPPENING NEXT WEEK! GO INSIDE THE 2023 MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE: POLITICO is proud to partner with the Milken Institute to produce a special edition "Global Insider" newsletter featuring exclusive coverage, insider nuggets and unparalleled insights from the 2023 Global Conference, which will convene leaders in health, finance, politics, philanthropy and entertainment from May 1-4. This year’s theme, Advancing a Thriving World, will challenge and inspire attendees to lean into building an optimistic coalition capable of tackling the issues and inequities we collectively face. Don’t miss a thing — subscribe today for a front row seat. | | | | | HILTON CHECKS-IN TO THE HILL — Paris Hilton will be back on Capitol Hill today, this time to join Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), as well as Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), to introduce the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, legislation that, if passed, would provide more oversight and data transparency of institutional youth programs. Also: We also know that Hilton is making a stop with Republicans – Huddle learned first that she will have a closed-door meeting with the GOP Doctors Caucus to discuss juvenile justice reform, primarily focused on medical neglect and the preventable deaths that occur in youth residential programs.
| | LATE NIGHT DRAMA: A House Financial Services committee hearing went late into Wednesday night and let’s just say, it definitely wasn’t boring. SPOTTED on the Hill (just on Wednesday, in no particular order): Elon Musk, Ronald McDonald and Grimace, Fat Joe, Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones and former Reps. Tom Malinowski, Rodney Davis and Ted Deutch. SNEAKERHEADS UNITE — Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) and Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) are launching the Congressional Sneaker Caucus for lawmakers and staff to unite over their love of footwear. Moskowitz said in a statement he was starting the group “to use sneakers to promote social interaction between Members of Congress, their staff, and visitors to the capital.” Meanwhile, your Huddle host has been rocking sneakers at the Capitol for years because staking out on stone floors is a killer.
| | | | The McCain Institute will convene its 10th annual Sedona Forum on May 5-6, featuring lawmakers, journalists, military leaders, business executives, and more. This year’s theme, “Indispensable Power,” will examine the diplomatic, military, and economic means employed to protect democracy, human rights, and the global competitive edge. Established by Senator John McCain, the Sedona Forum is held each spring in the red rock country of Sedona, Arizona, to advance the mission of the McCain Institute – fighting for democracy, human dignity, and security. Visit TheSedonaForum.org to register for the livestream today. | | | | | QUICK LINKS Congress Is Moving To Crack Down On Cockfighting. Will Hawaii’s Delegation Help?, from Nick Grube at the Honolulu Civil Beat TRANSITIONS Meredith Happy is now press assistant for Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). She previously was an account associate at Subject Matter. TODAY IN CONGRESS The House convenes at 9 a.m. for legislative business and recess immediately. The House will reconvene at approximately 11 a.m. in a Joint Meeting with President of the Republic of Korea Yoon Suk Yeol. The Senate convenes at noon and will have votes at 12:30 p.m. on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the Equal Rights Amendment and the motion to invoke cloture on Anthony Devos Johnstone to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit.
| | | | A message from The Alzheimer's Association: The Biden Administration is continuing to block access to FDA-approved Alzheimer’s treatments. Despite the fact that Medicare has always covered FDA-approved treatments for those living with a disease, CMS has made the unprecedented decision to deny access to FDA-approved treatments for people living with Alzheimer’s. Each day CMS blocks access, more than 2,000 people transition to a more advanced stage of Alzheimer’s where they are no longer eligible for treatment. Each day matters to someone living with early stage Alzheimer's when it comes to slowing the progression of this disease. The Administration’s policy to block access to these treatments eliminates people’s options, resulting in continued irreversible disease progression and contributes to greater health inequities. The role and responsibility of CMS is to provide health care coverage, not to stand between a patient and a doctor when deciding what FDA-approved treatments are appropriate. This decision must be reversed. | | | AROUND THE HILL 9 a.m. The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance holds its first hearing on FISA reauthorization. (2237 Rayburn) 1 p.m. House Ways and Means Committee hearing on “Accountability and Transparency at the Internal Revenue Service,” with testimony from IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. (1100 Longworth) 2 p.m. Reps. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) hold a press conference to re-introduce the RAP Act, Restoring Artistic Protect. (House Triangle) 2:15 p.m. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) joins Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Mark Green (R-Tenn.) and Michael Guest (R-Miss.) for a press conference to release the House Republican border security package that will be put on the Floor for a vote in May. (Studio A) 2:30 p.m. The Committee on House Administration holds a hearing entitled “American Confidence in Elections: State Tools to Promote Voter Confidence.” (1310 Longworth)
| | WEDNESDAY'S WINNER: Ted Green correctly answered who was the first woman to serve in both the House of Representatives and the Senate? TODAY’S QUESTION from Ted: What is the most populous county in the U.S.? 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 | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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