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House GOP preps for Garland contempt vote

Punchbowl News is expanding into coverage of tech policy

Trump irritates HFC with endorsements

What we’re watching

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House GOP preps for Garland contempt vote

Happy Monday morning.

The House and Senate are in tomorrow. President Joe Biden heads to Italy on Wednesday for the G7 summit in Brindisi.

The G7 leaders are expected to announce a joint plan to tap into Russian sovereign assets that stops short of outright seizure, something Congress authorized with the passage of the REPO Act. The goal is to use those funds to pay for Ukraine’s reconstruction.

Crucially, the vast majority of those Russian assets are held in Europe, so G7 coordination is important. Lawmakers who crafted the REPO Act have told us they’re expecting a deliverable on this issue from the summit.

Garland contempt. Now let’s talk about Attorney General Merrick Garland and a possible House contempt resolution vote.

The House Judiciary and Oversight committees are demanding that Garland turn over the audiotapes of Biden’s interviews with Special Counsel Robert Hur as part of the Biden impeachment inquiry. DOJ has handed over transcripts of these interviews but not the audiotapes. Now, the House is preparing for floor votes on contempt resolutions against Garland this week.

Here’s Oversight Committee Republicans in their panel report on the dispute:

A contempt resolution would include a referral to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia for criminal prosecution. That isn’t going to happen, of course. So this case will end up in federal court if and when the two panels sue the DOJ. This means that there won’t be a final decision until after the election.

Democrats and the Justice Department are just as adamant about how pointless this whole dispute is. Here’s Oversight Committee Democrats:

Top House Republicans are confident that they can pass the contempt resolution.

They’re also whipping a bill that would allow criminal cases against former presidents to be moved from state court to federal court. This is a reaction to former President Donald Trump’s conviction in the New York hush-money case. Moderate Republicans don’t love this bill, however, and there’s no guarantee it will move forward at this point.

House Republicans are eyeing floor action on the FY2025 defense authorization bill as well.

Senate’s next show vote: Across the Capitol, Senate Democratic leaders are taking their next step to use abortion and related issues to hammer Republicans — this time with a floor vote expected Thursday on IVF.

Democrats have seized on the issue in the aftermath of the Alabama Supreme Court’s February decision that effectively halted the practice in the state. Democrats pointed to the overturning of Roe v. Wade as the catalyst.

Alabama’s legislature passed a measure in response aimed at preserving IVF access, but it didn’t address the biggest issue created by the court’s decision — whether an IVF-created embryo can be considered a human.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is looking to use the issue to put Republicans on the spot while at the same time giving a much-needed boost to his vulnerable incumbents.

The big question here is whether Republicans will deny Democrats the 60 votes needed to advance the bill, as they did with Democrats’ contraception bill last week.

While the vast majority of Republicans voted to block the contraception bill, some argued during a closed-door lunch in favor of advancing the bill as a way to go on offense over the issue. So it’s an open question as to how Republicans will handle the IVF bill, especially since it’s generally an easier issue for them to message on than contraception. However, the anti-abortion group SBA List is urging Republicans to block the Democratic bill.

Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) recently introduced a bill that would block Medicaid funding from states that ban IVF. Their proposal has faced pushback from some conservatives, most notably the Heritage Foundation.

Then there’s Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-Fla.) non-binding resolution in support of IVF. This could be another vehicle for Republicans to push back on the Democratic effort.

This is news: Cruz and Britt are expected to go to the floor at some point this week to try to pass their bill via unanimous consent. Scott could do the same for his resolution. Still, senior GOP aides tell us they expect a similar result as last week, with Republicans voting near-unanimously to block the Democratic bill.

As of now, there’s no consensus yet on a floor strategy and no active whip effort.

— John Bresnahan and Andrew Desiderio

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PUNCHBOWL NEWS TECH

Punchbowl News is expanding into coverage of tech policy

Punchbowl News is taking on tech coverage. Let us tell you why.

How Washington tackles the perils and promises of technology is one of the biggest questions of the day. Whether it’s artificial intelligence, semiconductor chips, privacy, social networks, payment systems, e-commerce or the U.S. relationship with China, what Congress does will reverberate from Washington to Silicon Valley and across the globe.

With this in mind, Punchbowl News is excited to announce our new tech policy vertical. American Edge will serve as Punchbowl News Tech’s launch partner.

Punchbowl News Tech will delve into the power, people and politics shaping tech policy, offering insider access and market-driving scoops. This fall, members of the Punchbowl News community will begin receiving tech coverage as part of our AM, Midday and PM newsletters. We will also publish a special edition newsletter at the end of the year.

The upcoming coverage is a preview of our latest Premium Policy membership, which will launch in early 2025.

As a part of our expanded coverage, we’re hiring two reporters focused on the intersection of Washington and tech. Apply here.

Stay in the know about our latest tech coverage by joining our interest list.

— Dave Clarke

HOUSE REPUBLICANS

Trump irritates HFC with endorsements

There’s usually not a lot of daylight between the House Freedom Caucus and former President Donald Trump. But there is one area where Trump is really irking the group of conservative hardliners — endorsements.

First, Trump endorsed against the group’s chair, Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.). Now, senior HFC members are openly criticizing the former president’s endorsement strategy in other GOP primaries.

Trump has also supported incumbents who have been critical of Freedom Caucus members, including Reps. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) and William Timmons (R-S.C.).

And Trump has taken a similar tack in Senate races, endorsing the GOP campaign arm’s preferred moderate candidates in key races, including former Rep. Mike Rogers in Michigan and Tim Sheehy in Montana.

“He is endorsing moderates in most races if there’s a conservative in the race,” said Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio). “We can’t send the swamp any people that are just going to keep funding the status quo.”

In the House: Timmons is facing a primary challenge by South Carolina state Rep. Adam Morgan, who chairs the South Carolina Freedom Caucus. Morgan told us he thinks Trump will regret his choice not to back him.

“[Trump] needs to listen to a lot of different people on who to endorse,” said Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), who is supporting Morgan. “I don’t know how much time and thought he puts into it.”

Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.), who is running for North Carolina attorney general, said Trump is “under a great deal of pressure,” but needs to ensure that he chooses candidates who will fight for his agenda in the next Congress.

“I hope he’s paying close attention because he needs allies in Congress and not continuing what many are doing, which is blocking his path,” Bishop told us.

The Good factor: Trump has occasionally been known to “forgive and forget” when it comes to endorsing GOP candidates who have previously said nasty things about him.

But Trump recently doubled down on his support for Virginia state Sen. John McGuire, who is running against Good in Virginia’s 5th District. Good endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president before backing Trump after DeSantis dropped out.

Since then, Trump and his allies have gone all in to defeat Good in the June 18 primary. Trump has accused Good of stabbing him in the back. Trump’s campaign also sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding Good stop implying Trump supports him this time around.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who campaigned for McGuire last week, said the candidate has frequently come up in conversations she’s had with Trump.

“[Trump’s] excited about John McGuire,” Greene told us. “Bob Good is not as liked as much as he claims.”

Good told us he can win without Trump’s endorsement, which he said doesn’t matter as much as grassroots support.

“What people in D.C. don’t understand is that I’m doing what Republican voters in my district want,” Good told us. “They didn’t wait around for three and a half years to see if somebody was going to endorse me.”

But of course, Trump’s endorsement is highly coveted and the former president’s support for a candidate has the ability to make or break a race.

— Mica Soellner

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What we’re watching

Tuesday: The House Rules Committee will prepare several bills for floor consideration, including the NDAA and the contempt of Attorney General Merrick Garland. House Appropriations will mark up the FY2025 Agriculture spending bill in subcommittee.

Wednesday: The House Appropriations Committee will mark up the State-Foreign Operations and Homeland Security spending bills.

Thursday: House Appropriations will mark up the Defense, FSGG and Legislative Branch bills. CFPB Director Rohit Chopra will testify in front of House Financial Services. Ways and Means will have a hearing about “antisemitism, radical faculty and the failure of university leadership.”

Senate Commerce will have FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker. SEC Chair Gary Gensler and CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam will be in front of Senate Appropriations.

— Jake Sherman

Correction: Rostin Behnam is chair of the CFTC, not the FCC.

…AND THERE’S MORE

Former President Donald Trump delivered a last-minute boost to Republican Sam Brown by endorsing the candidate in the Nevada Senate GOP primary. Trump backed Brown in a Truth Social post late Sunday evening. Bizarrely, Trump didn’t publicly endorse Brown during his Las Vegas rally just hours earlier.

Brown, who is backed by the NRSC, is facing a challenge from Trump’s former ambassador to Iceland, Jeff Gunter. The primary in the critical swing state is Tuesday.

In other news: Americans 4 Security PAC, which has been boosting House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.), has a new ad up. The spot says challenger Paul Bondar lives in hotels in Oklahoma.

— Max Cohen and Jake Sherman

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