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January 31, 2023
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PRESENTED BY
THE TOP
Happy Tuesday morning.
The Biden Justice Department has its hands full with a slew of House GOP investigations.
What they probably didn’t expect was the onslaught coming from Senate Democrats, too.
The administration’s refusal to share crucial information about the classified documents recovered from the homes of President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence has ignited bipartisan outrage from the upper chamber, where top Democrats are threatening extreme measures to force compliance.
DOJ’s legislative affairs chief Carlos Uriarte tried to make nice with the Senate Intelligence Committee over the weekend in a letter promising to work with the Director of National Intelligence to respond to the panel’s requests “without harming the ongoing special counsel investigations.”
But Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) wasn’t satisfied with the letter, noting he’s been pushing the administration to provide a briefing and damage assessment for months. Warner also reiterated that he’s not seeking any information that would compromise the ongoing criminal probes.
“I appreciate the communication. But the subject of the communication doesn’t give me clarity on how and when we’re going to be able to fulfill our obligation,” Warner told us Monday night.
The “obligation” Warner speaks of is one that’s relatively routine and nonpartisan on Capitol Hill — oversight of the U.S. intelligence community.
Senators have made clear that they’re not seeking information about the investigations ensnaring Trump or Biden. Rather, they point to their long-standing right to know whether intelligence officials were forced to take steps to mitigate potential harm to national security stemming from the mishandling of these documents.
The DOJ letter came after members of the Intelligence Committee emerged livid from a classified briefing with DNI Avril Haines last week in which they were told — as we first reported in December — that DOJ was blocking the panel’s access to the documents due to the fact that a special counsel had been appointed.
The committee’s top Republican, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, called the DOJ letter “ridiculous” and said the documents recovered from Biden, Trump and Pence likely contain information that the committee already has access to.
Rubio also indicated his patience is wearing thin. He and Warner first asked for a briefing and damage assessment from Haines’ office last August, just days after the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago.
“We’re not going to sit around here for weeks getting the Heisman from these guys,” Rubio said.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a senior member of the Intel Committee, said the Biden administration’s position on the matter is “a complete non-starter” and amounts to a “stonewall.” Wyden said other senators who aren’t on the committee have been raising concerns about it to him.
“Just from a counter-intelligence standpoint — one of the most important aspects of national security — you’ve got to be able to see the documents,” Wyden told us. “This is not a close call.”
The committee has several options to try to force the administration’s hand here. But Warner and Rubio seem hesitant to go that route until they can have a more fulsome discussion with administration officials. Rubio said they’re still trying to find a reasonable accommodation with DOJ and ODNI.
Rubio added:
Already, individual senators have said they’ll move to block nominees and legislation until the Biden administration reverses course. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) is one of them.
If the Intel Committee decides to move toward compulsory action — whether it’s issuing a subpoena, blocking nominees or other methods — it’s likely to be endorsed by every senator.
Warner and Rubio have a close relationship. And they often operate as one unit, unlike other committees whose work is split along partisan lines. It’s a function of the fact that the Intelligence Committee has historically carried out its business in a nonpartisan way, a posture that’s dictated by the panel’s leaders.
But Democrats will ultimately make the final call since they control the chamber. And right now, they’re locked in a pretty ugly — and uncharacteristic — battle with Biden’s DOJ.
— Andrew Desiderio
COMMITTEE SCRAMBLE
Omar controversy roils House leadership
It’s still unclear whether Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) will get kicked off the House Foreign Affairs Committee over past anti-Semitic remarks.
Democratic leaders hope to formally name Omar to the panel as soon as today on the House floor. But Republicans are still scrambling with some of their own committee assignments, so they may not agree to this process yet.
As of late Monday night, GOP leaders were unsure on the timing for this procedure. At the beginning of each Congress, both parties submit their committee rosters on the floor after organizing internally.
Yet senior House Republicans and leadership aides remain confident that they can win a floor vote to remove Omar from Foreign Affairs when it finally does happen, despite a Democratic lobbying blitz aimed at their wavering or undecided members.
“Speaker McCarthy has made clear where we are, whether it’s for Adam Schiff and [Eric] Swalwell on Intelligence, as well as Omar for Foreign Affairs,” Majority Leader Steve Scalise told us last night.
McCarthy has already blocked Schiff and Swalwell from being re-appointed to Intelligence, a move he could take unilaterally as speaker.
But removing Omar from Foreign Affairs will take a floor vote and that’s tougher. GOP leaders can lose only four votes on a resolution booting Omar from the panel.There are already several Republicans who have said they’re either opposed to such a move or are undecided. These include Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Ken Buck (R-Colo.) and Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), among others.
Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) had been another potential Omar supporter, but as our friend Olivia Beavers at Politico noted, he’s now a likely yes. Valadao is close to McCarthy.
GOP leaders are working on other toss-up votes and say in private that they’ll get to 218 votes.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), a constant thorn in the side of Republican leadership, said on Newsmax Monday night that he believes McCarthy should be afforded deference in kicking Omar off the committee. Gaetz, though, said he’s currently undecided in how he would vote.
Here’s Gaetz:
Gaetz added that Omar has clashed with neoconservatives such as former Trump and Bush administration official Elliott Abrams, aligning her with some elements of “America First foreign policy,” Gaetz said.
We assume the leadership will flip Gaetz, but this is a very tenuous situation for McCarthy’s leadership team.
– John Bresnahan and Jake Sherman
1600 PENNSYLVANIA
W.H. will release budget in early March
The Biden administration plans to release the president’s budget March 9, according to multiple sources familiar with the plan.
Federal law mandates that the White House submit a budget to Congress on the first Monday in February. But on more than 20 occasions during the last century, the president has blown past the deadline. President Joe Biden will continue that tradition this year, sources tell us.
The White House didn’t reply to an email seeking comment.
CNN’s Phil Mattingly asked Biden about what his message would be to Speaker Kevin McCarthy during Wednesday’s one-on-one meeting. Biden said this: “Show me your budget, I’ll show you mine.”
Presidential budgets tend to land with a thud on Capitol Hill. The opposition party often puts the president’s budget on the floor with the idea of using it in ads during campaign season.
The more interesting dynamic worth considering here, however, is if and when House Republican leaders offer their own FY2024 budget.
McCarthy has said they will do so, but that resolution may prove difficult to pass. The GOP’s spending blueprint will be pushed so far to the right by hardline conservatives that moderate Republicans – including the 18 GOP lawmakers sitting in districts that Biden won in 2020 – may find it hard to support.
Furthermore, conservative House Republicans will want to vote on the Republican Study Committee’s budget, which purports to balance in a decade while slashing spending on social programs, cutting taxes and raising the eligibility age for Medicare and Social Security, among other things.
– Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan
PRESENTED BY BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD ASSOCIATION
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THE MONEY GAME
BGR Group raises $900K for NRSC
BGR Group, the lobbying giant, raised $916,000 for the NRSC during a fundraiser Monday night.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, NRSC Chair Steve Daines, Senate Minority Whip John Thune and Sens. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) were in attendance.
BGR Group’s Haley Barbour and David Urban were among the hosts.
We reported last week that Brownstein Hyatt Farber and Schreck hosted a similar fundraiser for the DSCC, which brought in more than $500,000.
– Jake Sherman
THE CAMPAIGN
Are you a fan of Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.)? How about Rep. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.)? Have you thought about traveling to the South with them? We’ve got the trip for you. Pallone and Kuster are doing a PAC trip to Savannah, Ga., in April. Savannah is cool. Why not go with two House Democrats?
– Jake Sherman
PRESENTED BY BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD ASSOCIATION
Working to make health care more affordable, for everyone. Learn more.
DOWNTOWN DOWNLOAD
| → | Klarna, the fintech giant, has hired Invariant to lobby on “[b]uy now, pay later; short-term credit; payments; open banking.” |
| → | Binance, the crypto exchange, has hired Ice Miller to lobby on the “crypto industry.” Ice Miller is Binance’s second lobbyist. They recently hired Hogan Lovells and spent $50,000 lobbying on “crypto industry issues.” |
– Jake Sherman
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