| | | | |  | | By Anthony Adragna and Burgess Everett | Presented by Brennan Center for Justice | | 
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) told Huddle that “the people in Wyoming certainly don't want Joe Biden as president. They also don't want Kamala Harris taking over.” | Francis Chung/POLITICO |
SENATE REPUBLICANS COOL TO HOUSE GOP IMPEACHMENT FEVER
Speaker Kevin McCarthy may be edging closer to an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden — we repeat, may. But across the Capitol, Senate GOP leaders are lukewarm to the idea, at best. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to comment on the House’s Biden impeachment push on Tuesday. His top deputies, who are usually simpatico with McConnell’s views, sounded wary of what might come out of the House as they raced to their weekly leadership meeting. Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said he’s not sure what evidence the House might have but pointed to the “pretty high standard” for impeachments: “Staying focused on the future, not the past, is in my view the best way to change the direction of the country. And that’s to win an election.” Senate Republican Conference Chair John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) phrased his coolness more glibly to Huddle: “The people in Wyoming certainly don't want Joe Biden as president. They also don't want Kamala Harris taking over.” Why this matters: McCarthy reiterated Tuesday that if the House GOP’s investigative work “continues to rise to the level of an impeachment inquiry, House Republicans will act.” It’s the furthest he’s come yet to launching a Biden inquiry as he reckons with a razor-thin majority and a conservative bloc that’s agitated for an impeachment fight already this Congress. But Senate Republicans, who acquitted President Donald Trump twice in one term, don’t sound particularly enthused about a redo under Biden — even as some of them raised significant concerns about Hunter Biden’s business dealings. (It’s worth noting here that the Democratic-run Senate would ultimately acquit Biden. Beyond that, the current lukewarm support for impeachment among Senate Republicans could isolate the House GOP, opening the latter up to further attacks from Democrats.) “That’ll come down to the House,” Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, the No. 4 GOP leader said, adding that the Senate should focus on the annual defense policy bill and government spending. Some top GOP senators sounded more open to the idea. National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Steve Daines (Mont.) said impeachment is up to the House, “but as more facts continue to come out I think for all of us it’s very, very troubling.” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said Republicans have “got to do the homework” if they do launch an inquiry. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a McConnell consigliere, suggested impeachment might be a viable step, if only because of Democrats’ treatment of Trump: “When you impeach a president twice, then what goes around comes around, unfortunately.” Sneak preview: Expect McConnell to get questions about a Biden impeachment when his leadership team holds its weekly briefing on Wednesday.
| | | | A message from Brennan Center for Justice: The freedom to vote is on the line. Election deniers threaten the fairness and safety of our elections, and gerrymandering and big money dilute the power of voters. But that’s not the whole story — a growing pro-democracy movement is fighting for our freedoms. The Freedom to Vote Act would set baseline national standards to protect voting and prevent election deniers from interfering with our elections. Congress should pass the bill now. Our democracy can’t wait. Learn more. | | | GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Wednesday, July 26, where nobody likes to see a funnel cloud pop up over the dome! (However harmless it may be.) WHAT’S ON FETTERMAN’S MIND Sen. John Fetterman hosted a group of reporters in his office on Tuesday to chat about politics and his home state of Pennsylvania. The Democrat was in good humor after returning to the Senate following a stroke and treatment for depression, answering a variety of questions with some trademark off-color remarks and the help of captioning screens. Some highlights:
He’s walking the Sinema tightrope, too: One of Fetterman’s political advisers, Rebecca Katz, is helping Rep. Ruben Gallego’s (D-Ariz.) campaign to unseat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) next fall. Yet despite that, and their opposite positions on the filibuster (Fetterman ran on abolishing it, Sinema backs it), he isn’t going to go toe-to-toe with Sinema: “I do support [Gallego’s] campaign,” he said, “but I’m not actually going to be working or moving against Sinema.” - He thinks Trump is stronger than DeSantis: Fetterman says former President Donald Trump won’t be able to beat President Joe Biden in Pennsylvania next year, but he’s far more worried about Trump than Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “Trump is very popular. You still see Trump signs everywhere … you’ve got to respect Trump’s strength.”
- He’s giving Manchin space: Fetterman panned third-party presidential campaigns as a “vanity project” that he didn’t think would affect the race in his swingy home state. But when asked specifically about Manchin’s flirtations with such a bid, Fetterman said it’s Manchin’s call and did not criticize Manchin’s decision-making.
— Burgess Everett
| | | | 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! | | | | | AS DEMS PUSH MTG CENSURE, GOP’S SANTOS CRITICS SEE SLOW-WALKING House Democrats are floating a pair of pushes to censure controversial GOP figures. But only one of them has the votes to pass – the plan to formally rebuke indicted Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.). So why aren’t Democrats acting on it? Santos whip count: Six New York GOP lawmakers told POLITICO last week that they’d support a censure resolution targeting Santos if Democrats brought it to the floor. Santos’ fellow New York Republicans are among his loudest critics in Congress — a stance that also happens to give them distance from his scandals as they run for reelection. Several of those anti-Santos Republicans openly wondered to us if Dems are passing on censuring the New Yorker to avoid letting them claim a political win by voting yes.
- Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) texted: “Two weeks ago, Dems claimed they wanted to censure Santos. After enough Republicans publicly agreed to support it to have it pass, Dems went radio silent. What happened?!”
- Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.) put it more plainly. “I have no doubt they abandoned the move to censure Santos because members like me were ready to do it. Bring that to the floor so we can vote.”
What about the other censure?: First-term Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) on Tuesday proposed to censure Rep Marjorie Tayloy Greene (R-Ga.) over incendiary language the MAGA favorite has recently used, slamming her for “fann[ing] the flames” of hatred. Balint’s measure is a so-called “privileged” motion that allows her to force a floor vote, but she’s been noncommittal about whether she’d do that this week. — Nicholas Wu and Olivia Beavers IMPEACHMENT-HUNGRY GOP READY FOR MAYORKAS Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, facing many Republican lawmakers who are eager to impeach him. The GOP’s Mayorkas impeachment fever may be cooling as the party focuses more on the Biden family and Attorney General Merrick Garland. Still, expect a testy hearing where pro-impeachment Republicans will make their case. Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) previewed his line of questions in a letter to Mayorkas on Tuesday, adding that he hopes the secretary is “prepared with specific data and information during your appearance.” Read Jordan’s full letter here. Reminder: Republicans on the committee have acknowledged that they don’t yet have the votes to impeach Mayorkas, both on the panel and more broadly within the GOP conference. Democrats, and even some Republicans, have warned that political disagreements don’t meet the bar for impeachment. Dems’ rebuttal: Expect Democrats’ questions to largely align with a memo from their members on the Oversight and Homeland Security Committees, which highlighted closed-door interviews with Border Patrol officials saying that the nation’s southern border has improved. Republicans accuse Dems of cherry-picking excerpts from those reports, but Dems are also likely to defend Mayorkas’ word with Customs and Border protection figures from June that show total encounters along the southern border were the lowest in more than two years. Mayorkas will, according to excerpts obtained by POLITICO, use his opening statement to tout DHS’s work force and say that “Americans are safer today” because of DHS. He will also urge Congress to work with the department to “fix our broken immigration system.” — Jordain Carney
| | | | A message from Brennan Center for Justice:   | | | HOUSE GOP WRAY CONTEMPT VOTE ON HOLD — FOR NOW A House committee vote to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress isn’t happening this week — but isn’t off the table completely. That’s according to the Judiciary Committee chair, who stepped back from scheduling a committee vote for Thursday after the FBI handed over more documents ahead of a noon deadline Jordan had set. The documents that were delivered to Republicans focus on FBI handling of threats made against school boards, as well as a memo that has fed GOP accusations of Catholic targeting by the bureau – a memo condemned by Wray and Garland. Read the letter the FBI sent Jordan on Tuesday here. Why this matters: While Jordan and House Republicans juggle other potential impeachment inquiries, they have not yet ruled out adding Wray contempt to their to-do list. In a brief chat with POLITICO, the Judiciary chief made clear that he’s not abandoning his threat to hold the (Trump-appointed) director in contempt as members seek more documents. — Jordain Carney ACTION PRIMED FOR SPENDING BILL House GOP leaders continue their whipping struggle with the first of their government funding bills ready for debate. They’ve given the Freedom Caucus a spreadsheet, according to Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), that outlines more budget slashing to get the 12 spending bills down to the lower non-defense total the conservative bloc is demanding. But Perry, the Freedom Caucus chair, says the numbers are “notional” and that McCarthy’s going to need to fully map out the strategy for meeting conservative demands to reset non-defense discretionary accounts to their levels from two years ago. “How’s it all going to happen? Like where’s the manager’s amendment? There’s a lot of outstanding questions,” Perry told reporters last night. “A plan that shows how we get there, what the messaging is going to be. What are our priorities? What are we going to fight on in policy? A plan." On the floor: The House is scheduled to kick off debate today on the first GOP funding bill on deck — Military Construction-VA — after the Rules Committee voted late last night to tee it up,allowing floor debate on 41 amendments. But several House conservatives say they won’t back the veterans funding bill unless they feel good about McCarthy’s overall strategy for shrinking the dozen funding bills. “I’ve gotta see a whole plan,” Perry said. “I’m not going to let it just be piecemeal.” Appeasing the conservatives will surely rankle other Republicans. “We are working with Scott Perry and many others, looking at a path to maximize savings while obviously getting to 218. And it's a careful balance,” Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) told us last night. As Graves and McCarthy’s other top advisers try to rally enough yes votes for the funding bills, Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) is urging members of the conservative group to “remain steadfast in defending the House position” on spending. He accused Senate appropriators of choosing to “effectively violate” the bipartisan debt limit deal by adding nearly $14 billion in emergency funding to their own funding bills. — Jennifer Scholtes
| | | | HITTING YOUR INBOX AUGUST 14—CALIFORNIA CLIMATE: Climate change isn’t just about the weather. It's also about how we do business and create new policies, especially in California. So we have something cool for you: A brand-new California Climate newsletter. It's not just climate or science chat, it's your daily cheat sheet to understanding how the legislative landscape around climate change is shaking up industries across the Golden State. Cut through the jargon and get the latest developments in California as lawmakers and industry leaders adapt to the changing climate. Subscribe now to California Climate to keep up with the changes. | | | | | HUDDLE HOTDISH Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said in an interview with Olivia that she’s leading the charge to make Congress more family friendly in the form of lactation rooms and childcare for members who give birth. She’s seeing buy-in from leadership with the goal of implementing some of the changes by the end of the August recess. “They’re working on that,” Luna, who is currently expecting her first child, said. “Congress has families too, you know.” House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) told Olvia he wishes he wasn’t in the photos with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) posters from last week’s Hunter Biden hearing: “When I saw the picture, I immediately wished that it had been taken from the opposite angle and gotten Glen Grothman in the background instead of me” Greg Casar led a hunger strike on the steps of the Capitol, joined by other politicians like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), in support of greater federal protections against heat-related illnesses. QUICK LINKS I'm a U.S. Congressman. I Hid a Big Secret for a Long Time, by Adam Smith in Newsweek Billionaire Leon Black made a $158 million payment to Jeffrey Epstein. Senators want to know why, by Elisabeth Buchwald in CNN Republicans in Congress Seek to Block Hunter Biden’s Plea Deal, by Luke Broadwater and Michael S. Schmidt in The New York Times California senator won her Central Valley election by 13 votes. Now she might run for Congress, by Lindsey Holden in The Sacramento Bee TODAY IN CONGRESS The Senate is in at 10 a.m. with a vote scheduled for 12:15 p.m. as the chamber works its way through amendments to the annual defense policy bill. The House convenes at noon for legislative business with last votes slated for late afternoon. Votes possible on appropriations legislation, several disapproval resolutions and suspensions. AROUND THE HILL 10 a.m. Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emmer and Conference Chair Elise Stefanik hold a media availability. (RNC Lobby) 10:15 a.m. Senior House Democrats hold press availability after their weekly caucus meeting. (HVC Studio A) 12 p.m. Democratic lawmakers hold a press conference to urge the Biden administration to “to expand parole and work permits for migrants.” (House Triangle) 12:15 p.m. Democrats including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hold a press conference on the Inflation Reduction Act. (Senate swamp) 2 p.m. Senate leaders hold their weekly press availabilities following conference lunches. (Ohio Clock Corridor) TRIVIA TUESDAY’S WINNER: Peter Roff was first to identify Dean Barkley of Minnesota as the most recent, non-incumbent member of a third party to serve in the Senate. TODAY’S QUESTION: Who is the only person in U.S. history to serve as senator from three different states? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to aadragna@politico.com. GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning. Follow Daniella and Anthony on Twitter at @DaniellaMicaela and @AnthonyAdragna.
| | | | A message from Brennan Center for Justice: The freedom to vote is on the line. States have passed almost 100 laws rolling back voting rights in the 10 years since the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act. Gerrymandering and big money undermine the voices of voters across the country. The American people rejected election deniers at the ballot box, but attempts to undermine safe and secure elections continue to spread. Every American should be able to cast a vote and make their voices heard – the Freedom to Vote Act is the pro-democracy bill that we need. It would establish baseline national standards that protect the freedom to vote and make it harder to manipulate elections. It would ban partisan gerrymandering and counter big money in politics, and it would protect voters of color. Americans support it, and they expect action: Congress should swiftly pass the Freedom to Vote Act. Learn more. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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