| | | | |  | | By Daniella Diaz | Presented by The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing | With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team
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A new man is leading Republicans for the first time in 18 years: Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) won the race Wednesday to succeed longtime GOP leader Mitch McConnell. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | OLD BOSS, NEW BOSS With the Senate under firm Republican control next year and the House likely to follow, a new power couple is set to dictate how President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda moves across Capitol Hill in the 119th Congress. One of those faces is familiar: Mike Johnson ran unopposed Wednesday to continue leading House Republicans in an internal party leadership vote. While it doesn’t guarantee he will remain speaker — that vote will happen on the House floor in January — it appears Trump’s backing has quieted the pockets of opposition to Johnson. Meanwhile, in the Senate, a new man is leading Republicans for the first time in 18 years: Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) won the race Wednesday to succeed longtime GOP leader Mitch McConnell. His immediate task will be to shepherd Trump’s personnel picks to confirmation — a job that suddenly got a lot trickier with intended nominations of former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) as director of national intelligence and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) as attorney general. Here’s a snapshot of each leader and their power bases on the Hill: INSIDE JOHNSON’S ORBIT … Unlike his predecessor Kevin McCarthy, who ran the House through a “shadow cabinet” of informal advisers, Johnson relies heavily on his elected leadership to execute the jobs they were elected to do. First elected in 2016, Johnson has also had comparatively less time to develop deep relationships with fellow members. When he was first elevated into the speakership last year, members joked he was more likely to hang out with wife than his colleagues. Needless to say, that has since changed. Coming and going: Johnson is close with Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas), who ran his campaign for the speakership, and Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), the chair of the centrist Main Street Caucus who attends regular leadership meetings. But he is losing two close allies who are retiring this Congress: Reps. Drew Ferguson (R-Ga.) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.). The conservatives: Before he was speaker, Johnson attended some House Freedom Caucus meetings — and since then, he has worked hard to maintain good relations with the renegade group, particularly with Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), one person close to Johnson said. But some members of the faction have criticized him for cutting spending deals with Democrats. As for Trump: The once and future speaker’s biggest ally right now is the president-elect, who offered Johnson vocal support during his visit with the House Republican Conference on Wednesday morning. The two remain in close contact, the person close to Johnson said. INSIDE THUNE’S ORBIT … Thune, who serves as Republican whip under McConnell and previously chaired the GOP conference, has built a host of strong relationships over his 20 years of Senate service. Those relationships paid off Wednesday, when he beat out Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who had public support from billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk, and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who has his own history in Republican leadership. Great Plains posse: When it comes to Thune’s closest allies, look to the senators who gave early backing to his leadership run: For months, Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) had delivered the only public endorsements in the race. He also won public support from neighboring Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.), and picked up an influential supporter in Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) — the NRSC chair who was rumored to be a potential dark-horse candidate himself. Daines and Rounds gave Thune’s nominating speeches Wednesday, a person familiar with the election said. As for Trump: It hasn’t always been the smoothest relationship between the two men — Thune, like many Senate Republicans, was critical of Trump’s post-2020-election doings — but Thune has worked the last few years to repair their standing. Thune and Trump have spoken several times, and allies of both men now believe they are in a good spot. That includes Mullin, who told reporters on Wednesday that, if asked, he would be happy to “play whatever role” in bridging differences between the two. — Daniella Diaz, with assists from Jordain Carney and Ursula Perano
| | | | A message from The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing: Big Pharma games the system to keep prescription drug prices high. Brand name drug companies build blockades of patents to extend monopolies and block competition from more affordable alternatives – costing patients, taxpayers and the U.S. health care system billions of dollars each year. Market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable for their egregious anti-competitive tactics, especially patent thickets, have broad bipartisan support. Congress must pass these solutions into law. Learn more. | | | GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Inside Congress, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Wednesday, Nov. 13, where we hope you are finding some peace and calm amid all the hustle and bustle. GAETZ PICK SHOCKS CAPITOL HILL Reporters tracking leadership votes Wednesday swarmed Republican senators when the news broke that Trump would be nominating Gaetz to be his attorney general. Remember: With a likely 53-vote GOP majority and all Democrats and independents likely to oppose confirming one of Congress’ most partisan figures, Trump can lose no more than three Republican votes. "Did that happen?" asked Cornyn. "I'm still trying to absorb all this." “This one was not on my bingo card,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). “I don’t think it’s a serious nomination for the Attorney General.” “I was shocked by the announcement,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). “That shows why the advice and consent process is so important, and I'm sure that there will be a lot of questions raised at his hearing.” In another scrum, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) just stopped speaking at one point and stood in silence. Paging Kevin McCarthy: Gaetz is the main reason why the former speaker was booted from leadership last year. And while a Justice Department investigation into Gaetz’s personal behavior was closed last year without criminal charges, there is still a pending Ethics Committee investigation against him over the same claims. He has denied any wrongdoing. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) — who dunked on Gaetz after McCarthy’s ouster, accusing him of, ahem, inappropriate behavior — said on CNN that the Florida Republican has “got to come to Congress and sell himself on this one.” Bookmark it: Be sure to follow our transition liveblog where we’re tracking it all moment by moment. — Daniella Diaz, with assists from Nicholas Wu, Anthony Adragna, Ursula Perano, Katherine Tully-McManus and Mia McCarthy
| | | | A message from The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing:   | | | AI IN LAME DUCK LIMBO Outgoing Majority Leader Chuck Schumer did not include artificial intelligence legislation Wednesday in his shortlist of lame-duck priorities, despite talks of a bicameral deal last month on the emerging technology. Here’s how Schumer described the to-do list: “We have a lot to get done. First, we have to make sure the government is funded by Dec. 25,” Schumer told reporters. “Next we need to pass the [National Defense Authorization Act] to keep America safe, to take care of our soldiers, to hold a line against America's adversaries around the world.” He added that there were “other priorities” Democrats want to take action on before Republicans take control of the chamber, name-checking disaster funding, the farm bill and judicial confirmations. Schumer's office said the bipartisan deal on AI reported in October was still being negotiated, and Schumer himself said, "Look, we're talking to Speaker Johnson. … We had bipartisan support for lots of pieces of legislation.” Spokespeople for Johnson did not immediately reply to POLITICO’s questions. Where AI fits in: The best chance for AI legislation to pass appears to be through the NDAA. Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said the defense policy bill will invest in “the people, platform, infrastructure and technology that will define the future” and added that the bill addresses the opportunities and risks of “disruptive technologies like hypersonics, artificial intelligence, drones, quantum computers.” What that leaves undone: That appears to leave other AI bills off the table. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said the NO FAKES Act, which would protect individuals’ voices and likenesses from AI-generated replicas, was not in the NDAA, though he said in an interview, “I am going to try and move it [this Congress].” Schumer’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on that bill. — Mohar Chatterjee
| | Get your style cues from Jasmine Crockett. How the House GOP reacted to the Gaetz news. Robert Garcia is handing out mini bottles of Tapatio as he seeks a leadership position.
| | | | A message from The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing: Big Pharma's abuse of the patent system is designed to maintain monopolies over their biggest money-makers, boosting brand name drug makers’ profits at the expense of American patients and taxpayers. One of their anti-competitive tactics involves filing dozens, sometimes hundreds, of patents on blockbuster products to build extensive “patent thickets,” completely disconnected from any true innovation. An economic analysis found Big Pharma’s patent thickets on just five drugs cost American patients and the U.S. health care system more than $16 billion in a single year.
The Congressional Budget Office has confirmed bipartisan, market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable for patent abuse will lower drug prices and the U.S. Senate unanimously passed one solution, Cornyn-Blumenthal (S.150), earlier this year. Now is the time for Congress to finish the job – and pass solutions to lower drug prices by cracking down on patent abuse and promoting competition. Learn more. | | | QUICK LINKS House Democrats start to air post-election grievances, from Daniella Diaz and Nicholas Wu House Foreign Affairs Chair McCaul 'briefly detained' by police after appearing drunk at airport, from Ryan Nobles, Jonathan Allen and Alexandra Marquez at NBC News Trump’s Cabinet was looking relatively normal. Then came Matt Gaetz , from Natalie Allison, Megan Messerly, Meridith McGraw and Lisa Kashinsky
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| | | | Policy change is coming—be the pro who saw it first. Access POLITICO Pro's Issue Analysis series on what the transition means for agriculture, defense, health care, tech, and more. Strengthen your strategy. | | | | | TOMORROW IN CONGRESS The House and Senate are in session. THURSDAY AROUND THE HILL Not too much going on.
| | | TUESDAY’S ANSWER: Steve Finley was the first to correctly guess that Howard Baker married twice in life, once to the daughter of the Senate minority leader, and the second time to the daughter of one of his party’s presidential nominees. TODAY’S QUESTION, from Steve: After this president met someone who was serving in his administration, he asked his staff, "Who is the guy dressed like a clown?" This president later appointed that person to the Supreme Court. Who was the president and the Supreme Court justice? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@politico.com. GET INSIDE CONGRESS emailed to your phone each evening. | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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