| | | | |  | | By Daniella Diaz | | | With assists from Sarah Ferris, Caitlin Emma, Nicholas Wu, Jennifer Scholtes and Burgess Everett |  House GOP leaders are racing to complete a couple of less-controversial agency spending bills before recess, not to mention the slated expiration of government funding on Sept. 30. | Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Photo |
CONGRESS PLAYS BEAT THE CLOCK ON 3 TOP PRIORITIES
With only two weeks before Congress' August recess and a lot left to accomplish, let’s check in on the three big priorities that the House and Senate want to get done — and who is standing in their way. Federal Aviation Administration: This agency’s reauthorization is set to hit the House floor this week — but as Huddle first reported Thursday, there are some lingering question marks on the GOP side of the aisle. Chief among those is the debate over whether to allocate more space for long-haul flights at Reagan National Airport. Who’s in the way? Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), whose San Antonio-area district would benefit from more nonstop flights to the D.C. area, is leading the charge on more slots at Reagan. And Roy sits on the powerful House Rules Committee, giving him influence over any amendments taken up to the FAA bill. We’ll be watching for how this plays out during today’s Rules committee hearing. Spending: House GOP leaders are racing to complete a couple of less-controversial agency spending bills before recess, not to mention the slated expiration of government funding on Sept. 30. The Rules panel is set to meet this week to tee up floor action on two fiscal 2024 measures: One would fund the FDA and the Agriculture Department, the other going to military construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Two sources close to the process said that Republicans hope to put the bills on the House floor during the last week of the month, before recess starts, but that timeline could very much slip. Some Republicans have said privately they are skeptical, though, that the House GOP can clear these two measures — considered the least controversial out of this year's spending bills — by August recess. Over in the Senate, appropriators will be meeting Thursday on three of their less divisive spending bills, touching on transportation, housing, energy and the State Department. Who’s in the way? The same crew that often is: Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s right flank. The two bills will again test McCarthy’s ability to unify his fractured conference on divisive spending issues. And as Sarah noted in a story earlier this week, House conservatives are creating an abortion-related holdup on the usually less-controversial bill that funds the Department of Veterans Affairs and military personnel. Don’t forget, also, that House Republicans are taking up spending totals far below the levels set in last month’s bipartisan debt limit deal – and the Senate is going to use those debt-deal numbers. It all points to a bigger fight to come later this fall over how to reconcile those visions. Defense: We expect the upper chamber to start debate on Tuesday on the must-pass annual defense policy bill, which it’s aiming to finish by August recess. Whatever passes the Senate will include no contentious abortion provision – unlike the House, which used its version to reverse Biden administration policy on reimbursing travel costs for service members seeking abortions. Who’s in the way? Defense experts Connor O’Brien and Joe Gould are watching which Republicans push for a vote on that abortion policy (though it’s not going to get the 60 votes it would need to pass). The Senate also could see skirmishes on Ukraine aid, a new China competitiveness proposal and a submarine transfer pact between the U.S., UK and Australia.
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE GOLDEN STATE POLITICAL ARENA: POLITICO’s California Playbook newsletter provides a front row seat to the Golden State’s political power centers, from inside the state Capitol and governor's mansion in Sacramento, to the mayor’s office and City Council and Los Angeles, to the influence of Silicon Valley. Authors Lara Korte and Dustin Gardiner bring you exclusive news, buzzy scoops and behind-the-scenes details that you simply will not get anywhere else. Subscribe today and stay ahead of the game! | | | | | GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Monday, July 17, where yesterday was National Ice Cream day and Sen. Chuck Grassley got a treat to celebrate. JAYAPAL STIRS DEM DIVISIONS ON ISRAEL When Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal called Israel a “racist state,” she clearly had no clue of the fallout she’d receive from her own party in the hours that followed. Jayapal made the comments on Saturday while addressing pro-Palestine protesters at the Netroots Nation conference in Chicago – and walked back her comments Sunday in a tweet, writing, “I do not believe the idea of Israel as a nation is racist.” But the damage was done. So much so that a group of her colleagues in the Democratic Party spent Sunday preparing a statement denouncing her initial remarks. “We will never allow anti-Zionist voices that embolden antisemitism to hijack the Democratic Party and country,” the draft statement reads. It is signed by Reps. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) and Kathy Manning (D-N.C.) Even House Democratic leadership, led by Jeffries, said in a group statement (without naming Jayapal directly) on Sunday: "Israel is not a racist state … As House Democratic leaders, we strongly support Israel’s right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people. We are also firmly committed to a robust two-state solution where Israel and the Palestinian people can live side by side in peace and prosperity.” This week: Expect a lot more comments and outcry from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle before Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s joint address to Congress on Wednesday. A small group of progressives have already said they plan to skip the speech, citing concerns about the treatment of Palestinians.
| | | | A message from PBM Accountability Project: PBM profits are tied to the cost of drugs. That means that PBMs make more money if drug prices are higher. Let’s end the PBM shell game once and for all. Learn more. | | | CRANE AIRS REGRET OVER DEROGATORY COMMENT Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) told Olivia he regrets using the words “colored people” on the House floor Thursday, saying that he misspoke and is sorry that his words hurt people. Crane added that he blames himself for the blowback his staff has gotten on the matter. Some Republicans said lawmakers would move on soon: Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), the chief appropriator in charge of Pentagon spending, said it’s time to turn the page: “We got some divisions here, but we’ll get through it.” But Dems aren’t ready yet. Their more senior members warned that Crane’s remark – and the polarizing fights the GOP picked on this year’s defense bill – are a sign that Congress can’t maintain one of its last bipartisan bastions. “I guess nothing is off-limits anymore, and everything is just their culture wars. That’s the frightening thing,” Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) said. Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) said Crane’s comments were “unbecoming” of a member of Congress and that he’s waiting for a more official apology. “He has yet to formally apologize, to publicly acknowledge just how derogatory a term that is — the history of its meaning,” he told Nicholas. McCarthy told reporters Friday that Crane’s comments were “unacceptable” and that he’d take Crane’s word about misspeaking. SLOTKIN’S PRO-GOP VOTE, EXPLAINED Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), her party’s leading Senate contender in her state’s must-win race next year, raised some eyebrows late Thursday by voting for GOP language that would ban Pride flags at military bases. We caught up with her as she explained why. It came down to a fear that one of the flags to fly on a military base could someday be a Confederate flag — “or worse,” Slotkin said. “I'm the daughter of a woman who came out in the 1980s, and I'm a big believer in supporting gay rights,” she told Sarah. “I'd rather have no hateful flags than horrible things flying above our bases ... I just couldn't stomach seeing a Confederate flag fly above our bases.” In the end: Slotkin, a one-time CIA official, joined the vast majority of her Democratic colleagues to oppose the “repugnant” Pentagon policy bill on the floor. Republicans “all fell in line,” she said of the multiple culture-war amendments that Republicans adopted, including the abortion restriction. “Even those who privately pulled me aside and said, ‘I don't believe in any of these.’”
| | | | A message from PBM Accountability Project:   | | | WHAT’S THE WHITE HOUSE DOING WITH SINEMA? After Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) came out against Labor secretary nominee Julie Su, the Biden White House widely distributed an anonymous quote asking him and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) to “reconsider their position.” The quote clearly suggested that Su doesn’t have the votes to be confirmed, and Sinema is part of the problem. Does this ‘White House official’ know something we don’t? Sinema has not said how she will vote on Su. And recent history should tell Biden’s team that poking Sinema is not a good strategy. The Arizona Democrat-turned-independent has regularly faced backlash from Democrats ever since Biden became president. She’s a natural dealmaker on many fronts, but on some red lines she just doesn’t bend: She’s for the filibuster, won’t increase tax rates and won’t touch the private equity tax loophole known as “carried interest.” Flashback: The White House tried shaming Manchin to vote for a massive party-line tax and health care bill in 2021, then quickly reversed course. If Sinema treats the Su comment as she’s treated other call-outs, it’s hard to see how this helps the White House’s Labor secretary nominee get confirmed.
| | | | A message from PBM Accountability Project: Every time you go to the pharmacy counter, health insurance middlemen called pharmacy benefit managers – or PBMs – increase their already high profits. Last year alone, the top 3 PBMs recorded more than $27 billion in profits.
It’s time to end the PBM shell game. There is growing, bipartisan agreement in Congress to break the link between the price of medicine and PBM revenues to help Americans afford and access their medications.
Voters agree. More than 80% of voters want to stop PBMs from directly profiting off drug prices.
We need actionable reforms to hold PBMs accountable and to address the games they play that drive up out-of-pocket costs at the pharmacy counter. Decisive action is needed by Congress today. Learn more. | | | GOP TO BIDEN: WHERE’S THE DISASTER AID? Republican lawmakers tell us they’re puzzled and annoyed that the Biden administration hasn’t asked for emergency money to buoy the nation’s natural disaster fund, which is expected to run dry in August. Why it matters: The fund is expected to become a key leverage point in Congress’ fall funding showdown, since nothing rallies votes like the promise of disaster assistance. That’s especially true when lawmakers want help for districts hit by floods, fires, tornadoes and hurricanes – but FEMA’s coffers are empty. The Senate’s top Republican appropriator, Maine Sen. Susan Collins, said she’s hounded the Biden administration for a sign that an emergency funding request might be coming for both Ukraine and disaster aid. “We've been trying for months to get information about when we could expect that and still haven't,” Collins told us. New numbers from FEMA add to the urgency. The agency’s balance sheet shows the Biden administration is on track for a combined shortfall of almost $5 billion next month in the two accounts used for immediate response to disasters, rebuilding and payouts that help survivors cover costs like temporary housing. Ohio Rep. Dave Joyce, the Republican appropriator in charge of disaster funding, says FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told him directly that she expected an emergency funding request to remedy the shortfall. “We have yet to receive this request, leaving Congress in the dark,” Joyce said, warning that cash will run out in the middle of Atlantic Ocean hurricane season.
| | | | 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. | | | | | QUICK LINKS LaRose leaps into GOP’s messy Ohio Senate primary, from Olivia Beavers and Ally Mutnick A group of GOP centrists threatens hardline tactics on tax bill, from Sarah Ferris and Benjamin Guggenheim The corporate gig Katie Porter erased from her whiteboard, from Christopher Cadelago TRANSITIONS Dane Hughes is now a professional staff member for the House Armed Services Committee where he covers the Army and energy policy. He most recently was director of strategy at Research Innovations Inc. and is a Trump DOD alum. TODAY IN CONGRESS The House convenes at 2 p.m. for legislative business. First and last votes are at 6:30 p.m. The Senate is out. AROUND THE HILL 4 p.m. House Rules Committee meeting to consider the Securing Growth and Robust leadership in American Aviation Act (H.R. 3935) and the Schools Not Shelters Act (H.R. 3941). (H-313 Capitol)
| | FRIDAY’S WINNER: Albert Wolf correctly guessed that Roscoe Conkling, famed New York political boss, had been confirmed but turned it down after having been nominated by President Chester Arthur. TODAY’S QUESTION: The last time Hollywood actors and screenwriters joined together for a joint walkout, this future U.S. president was president of the Screen Actors Guild. 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 Daniella on Twitter @DaniellaMicaela | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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