| | | | |  | | By Anthony Adragna, Daniella Diaz and Katherine Tully-McManus | Presented by The Alzheimer's Association | With a hand from Caitlin Emma, Jordain Carney, Nicholas Wu and Olivia Beavers.
|  Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) has found plenty of allies in his effort to pressure Hungary into allowing Sweden to join NATO. | AP | THIS AIN’T A SCENE, IT'S AN ARMS RACE — It's a rare moment of genuine bipartisanship in the Senate, anchored by an unlikely cause: blocking a weapons sale to a NATO ally. Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the ranking member of his chamber’s Foreign Relations Committee, is ratcheting up the pressure on Hungary to allow Sweden to join NATO by blocking a $735 million U.S. arms sale to Budapest. And Risch has found plenty of allies rushing to his side. “If Hungary is going to continue to deny Sweden the ability to join NATO and side with Vladimir Putin on issues, then I don't think they should get any special treatment,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said, saying she agreed with the move. “I support the effort,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who, like Shaheen, is also a member of the committee. “These are countries that are getting the benefit of the NATO alliance, and they need to be faithful partners — and that includes making room for Sweden.” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said he has “no complaint about” Rish’s tactic, while Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called the move "pretty clever." Sweden’s push to join NATO came in the months following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. But while Sweden’s neighbor Finland joined the mutual-defense alliance in April, Stockholm’s ascension into the alliance has been blocked by two members, Turkey and Hungary, both of which have closer ties to Russia than their NATO peers. Turkish objections to ratifying Sweden as a NATO member center largely around Stockholm’s support for Kurdish groups that Turkey considers to be terrorist entities. While momentum has apparently built towards Turkish approval for Sweden’s accession into NATO, Turkey’s President President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signaled this week that his nation remains unmoved. Hungarian objections to Sweden joining NATO have been harder to pin down. The Hungarian government has said its protests are the result of Swedish criticism of Budapest’s credentials as a democracy. But officials in Europe said in April that they see Hungary’s objections stemming from its ties to Turkey and Russia.
| | | | 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. | | | | | | Risch confirmed his move, first reported by The Washington Post, in an interview with Anthony. “Right now, there's 30 out of the 31 of us pulling the wagon and getting Sweden in and one isn’t,” he said of Hungary. “So, we just all need to step back, take a deep breath and rededicate ourselves to the fact that if we're going to be in this alliance, we ought to all be doing the same thing.” He added that “everybody understands where I am” but predicted it would ultimately be worked out: “This isn't as big as what I think you guys are making it. It's simply a matter of getting through an issue and we will get through this issue. We’ll come out stronger than we went in.” Risch’s move to tighten the screws on Hungary is especially notable given the celebrity that Hungarian President Viktor Orban enjoys in conservative circles. Orban has spoken at Conservative Political Action Conference events in the U.S. and has played host for an international version of CPAC in Budapest. Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), for his part, stopped short of endorsing Risch’s block but voiced support for getting Sweden admitted into NATO: “Obviously, we want both Hungary and Turkey to do the right thing. Sweden is eligible under all the metrics — all the criteria. It would be a force multiplier for NATO. We should get that done,” he said. On the House side: Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs committee, said he understood why Risch was making the decision to pressure Hungary: “I know we all want Sweden in the NATO. That's a priority of mine, a priority of Menendez, a priority of all the four corners, all want Sweden in.” Context read from back in April: ‘Annoying sideshow’: Hungary frustrates NATO allies, from Lili Bayer. GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, June 15, where we congratulate Republicans for winning at last night’s Congressional Baseball game! (more on that below) HOUSE DEMS WANT NOM — First in Huddle: A group of House Democrats, led by Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.), sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to nominate a new head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a job that’s been largely vacant for years, after the withdrawal of Ann Carlson’s nomination.
| | | | A message from The Alzheimer's Association: Medicare Access Restrictions: Only for Alzheimer’s? Breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s research have led to new FDA-approved treatments. But, for the first time ever, CMS blocked Medicare coverage to these treatments costing patients with a terminal disease time they will never get back. Now CMS insists on imposing unprecedented, unclear and unnecessary restrictions for coverage that are not required for any other FDA-approved drug. Medicare must be fair. Learn more. | | | “During a time of record-breaking traffic deaths that are devastating communities nationwide, we urge you to do everything in your power to advance an NHTSA Administrator nominee through the Senate with no further delay," the lawmakers wrote in the letter. ICYMI: The surprising corner of the Senate that’s sinking Biden nominees, from Burgess, Jennifer Haberkorn and Daniella LET’S TRY THAT AGAIN — House appropriators are meeting bright and early this morning after failing to approve funding totals for a dozen spending bills on Wednesday night, Caitlin reports. The panel abruptly adjourned after Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the panel, and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), a senior appropriator, tore into Republicans for reneging on the bipartisan debt limit deal. GOP spending leaders are instead pursuing about $119 billion in spending cuts below the budget caps included in the debt package, in line with fiscal 2022 funding levels, to appease hardline conservatives unhappy with the bipartisan debt agreement. “My friends, the bipartisan budget agreement was to get us back to regular order. To regular order,” DeLauro said. “You all voted for it, except for a few. It is the law of the land, and now you walk away from it. And the ink is not even dry, and you’re walking away from it.” “You think any of us would have made a deal if we thought your ’22 number was the deal?” said Hoyer, the lead Democrat on the Financial Services spending panel, whose bill would be slashed by a whopping 59 percent compared to current government funding levels. “What kind of deal is that? What kind of respect for yourselves is that?”
| | | | A message from The Alzheimer's Association:   | | | House Appropriations Chair Kay Granger (R-Texas) said she was “stunned” by the heated exchange as she gaveled out the hearing, telling appropriators to reconvene this morning. “My goal is to find the right landing spot for these bills, so we can pass them through the House,” she said earlier. SCHIFF NOT CENSURED — Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s (R-Fla.) measure to formally reprimanded Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) for his conduct on the Intelligence Committee was tabled Wednesday with a handful of Republicans joining most Democrats in killing the measure. Luna’s effort would have censured Schiff for his previous leadership of the House Intelligence Committee and probes into former President Donald Trump and would've also called for an ethics investigation into Schiff that could have resulted in a $16,000,000 fine if the probe found he committed transgressions. Meanwhile… First in Huddle: While Schiff survived this censure vote, he’s not out of the woods yet, Olivia reports. The Center for Renewing America – specifically Russ Vought, who was formerly the director of Office of Management and Budget in the Trump administration but is now the president of the CRA – filed a complaint against Schiff with the Office of Congressional Ethics requesting that OCE and/or the Committee on Ethics promptly investigate whether he violated House rules and federal law. Vought is requesting disciplinary action to be considered, such as removing Schiff from office. INSIDE MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT EFFORTS — House Republicans are quietly ramping up their campaign to get the votes they need to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — and backers insist they’re making progress. New reporting from Jordain lays out how the unofficial impeachment whip campaign is playing out in public and behind the scenes. The House Homeland Security Committee formally launched an investigation on Wednesday that will include a series of hearings and released a preliminary report laying out its evidence so far. Meanwhile, the House Judiciary Committee has planned out several hearings before the August recess, including testimony from Mayorkas himself in the final week of July. Democrats, meanwhile, argue Republicans are trying to impeach Mayorkas over political differences and that the hearings constitute an impeachment inquiry without labeling it as such to get around divisions within their own conference. And it is far from clear that any impeachment effort would ultimately pan out, given Republicans will need near-total unity to clear it on the House floor. GETTING SALT-Y? Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), who is spearheading the GOP tax bill, was spotted meeting on Wednesday in Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) office with a group of House Republicans who have strong opinions on the state and local taxes (SALT) deduction, Jordain reports. The meeting attendees also included Reps. Young Kim (R-Calif.) and Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), two of the co-chairs of the SALT caucus, several other New York Republicans, including Reps. Mike Lawler and Marc Molinaro, and New Jersey GOP Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. They are all members of the bipartisan SALT caucus, which opposes the current $10,000 SALT deduction cap. What to watch: With Republicans’ five-seat majority, the GOP members in the SALT caucus — which got a boost during the 2022 cycle from the uptick in blue-state GOP lawmakers — have the ability to hold significant sway over the conference’s tax bill if they band together to exert their influence. CBC MEETS BLINKEN — Congressional Black Caucus members will meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken for a roundtable discussion on the CBC’s foreign policy priorities, a State Department official told Huddle. The official said Blinken is set to thank CBC members for their continued support for Ukraine as well as emphasize the importance of diversity in the State Department.
| | | | Playing to the base … Republicans won this year’s Congressional Baseball Game 16-6, making it the GOP’s third win since 2021. Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.), back pitching for the GOP after a bad fall earlier this year, helped carry them to victory. Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) also put up a valiant effort against the GOP’s heavy hitters. The game had its lighter moments… Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.) was hit by a pitch and then ran towards the pitcher’s mound to hug Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas). Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) was spotted working the selfie line. And there were signs. A tipster also tells Nick, Huddle’s baseball correspondent, that McCarthy and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) were spotted at an event around the game sponsored by AIG and NBC Universal/Comcast. Your correspondent was told the two friends had a long embrace. “The crowd, only partially invested in the game to start, is focusing almost entirely now on networking and flirting,” wrote Roll Call’s Jim Saksa, with a brutally accurate read of the stands.
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don’t miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | Culture war reaches the House daycare … Our friends at Playbook obtained an email sent on Friday to a listserv of parents and staff at the House Child Care Center announcing that due to “concerns raised earlier today around the appropriateness of a book seen at our center,” daycare employees were “reviewing all books available at the center tonight to ensure that all books are age appropriate.” More here. Menu moment… First term Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) told Igor Bobic he’s not into the Senate Bean Soup. Not a real moose… No, there was not a real, live moose on the loose in the Senate on Tuesday and Wednesday. But photos of the creature on the move sparked interest. QUICK LINKS Haley Stevens endorses Elissa Slotkin for U.S. Senate, from Riley Beggin at The Detroit News Barbara Lee says she voted against Abraham Accords bill by mistake, from Marc Rod at Jewish Insider Tuberville rejects GOP attempts to end military promotions blockade, from Alexander Ward and Joe Gould TRANSITIONS Jackie Rogers, formerly Deputy Communications Director for Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), will be starting as Rep. Melanie Stansbury’s (D-N.M.) Communications Director. Darcy Merline has been promoted to be legislative director for Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.). She most recently was senior policy adviser for Norman. Louise O’Rourke has been promoted to be chief of staff for Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.). She most recently was district director for Schrier. Oliver Hidalgo-Wohlleben is now Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-N.Y.) campaign manager, Nancy has learned. He most recently was a political director managing Sen. Bernie Sander’s (I-Vt.) political action committee, Friends of Bernie Sanders.
| | | | A message from The Alzheimer's Association: Are Continued Restrictions for FDA-approved Alzheimer’s Treatments the Future of Medicare? For people living with Alzheimer’s, Medicare hasn’t been the “rock solid guarantee” President Biden has promised. For more than a year, CMS has blocked Medicare coverage to FDA-approved Alzheimer’s treatments costing patients with a terminal disease time they will never get back. Now the agency is planning to continue unprecedented restrictions, saying they’ll provide coverage only through a registry — something Medicare has never before done for an FDA-approved drug. Yet with a deadline only weeks away, CMS has yet to explain the barriers patients will face or the steps doctors must take to prepare to deliver long-delayed treatment. Each day is crucial to someone living with early stage Alzheimer's when it comes to slowing the progression of this disease. Medicare must do better for beneficiaries with Alzheimer’s. | | | TODAY IN CONGRESS The House convenes at 9 a.m. for legislative business. First and last votes are expected at 10:40 a.m. The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. to resume consideration of Nusrat Jahan Choudhury to be U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of New York with a confirmation vote at 11:15 a.m. At 1:45 p.m., the Senate will vote on cloture on nomination of Julie Rikelman to be U.S. circuit judge for the First Circuit. AROUND THE HILL 9 a.m. House Natural Resources Committee legislative hearing on H.R. 3397, which would require the Bureau of Land Management to withdraw a BLM rule relating to conservation and landscape health. (1324 Longworth) 9:30 a.m. Senate Aging Committee hearing on planning for older Americans and people with disabilities in all phases of emergencies. (106 Dirksen) 9:30 a.m. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), as well as Reps. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Lou Correa (D-Calif.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Pramila Jayapa (D-Wash.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.), María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) and John Duarte (R-Calif.) hold a press conference on the on the American Dream and Promise Act. (HVC-200) 10 a.m. Senate Commerce Committee business meeting to consider the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2023 and U.S. Coast Guard promotions. (253 Russell) 10 a.m. Senate Judiciary Committee business meeting to consider Tara K. McGrath’s nomination to be a U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California and two bills, including one that would require online platforms to negotiate with and pay news publishers. (216 Hart) 11:30 a.m. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) and Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) hold a press conference to announce the bipartisan Southwest Caucus. (Studio B)
| | WEDNESDAY’S WINNER: Tom Lawrence correctly answered that the three presidents who lost the popular vote twice are John Quincy Adams, Benjamin Harrison and Donald Trump. Adams was elected in 1824 but lost a rematch to Andrew Jackson in 1828. Harrison was elected in 1888 but lost a rematch to Grover Cleveland in 1892. Trump was elected in 2016 and then lost to Joe Biden in 2020. TODAY’S QUESTION from Tom: When was the last time the Democratic and Republican -- or Republican and Democratic -- presidential candidates were not first and second in an election? And what two states left the incumbent president off the ballot? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to ddiaz@politico.com. GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning. Follow Katherine and Daniella on Twitter @ktullymcmanus and @DaniellaMicaela | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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