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December 1, 2022
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PRESENTED BY
THE TOP
Happy Thursday morning. And happy December. This is going to be a long month on Capitol Hill. But remember – airline credits can be used for a while!
President Joe Biden’s last-minute request to have Congress preempt a railroad strike has presented progressives with an interesting quandary and a public test of their mettle.
The question for progressives is this — do they fight or do they fold?
Progressive lawmakers are furious that the deal the White House cut with railroad companies and labor unions has just one day of paid leave for workers. The House passed a separate provision to increase the number of paid leave days to seven, while also clearing the underlying agreement that Biden cut with the unions and railway companies.
It seems exceedingly unlikely that enough Senate Republicans will join Democrats to vote to increase the number of paid leave days, even though this episode has scrambled typical partisan alliances. For example, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has found himself in the same position as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in pushing for the seven days of leave for thousands of unionized railroad workers.
So now, just a week before a potentially devastating rail strike begins, progressive senators will have to decide whether to try to vote down the agreement because of what they consider a paltry amount of paid leave. Or will they ratify a deal they claim puts cash-rich railroad corporations ahead of workers?
As of now, not a single progressive we spoke to seems committed to the fight.
Sanders called it “absurd” that railroads “making record breaking profits” cannot give workers “doing dangerous jobs” paid leave.
Sanders only allowed that the Senate “will have [a] vote” on increasing the paid leave to seven days. When asked if he was willing to kill the Biden agreement to force the issue, he said he did not want to speculate.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the majority whip, said he “hoped” the Senate would pass the House’s bill, which included the week of paid leave. But Durbin wouldn’t entertain holding up the agreement to win the fight over the provision.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), a staunch union ally, wouldn’t even entertain the idea that Democrats would have to fight. Read this quote with all the sarcasm intended:
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has signaled openness to more paid leave for workers, saying he would vote for “what the workers support.” Also: Several Senate Republicans have said they would vote for the Biden-cut deal.
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will meet today with Senate Democrats to discuss the potential fallout of a rail strike, which could ground freight shipments to a halt.
How does this story end? Some Senate Republicans have suggested Congress should push off the Dec. 8 strike deadline so the unions and management can find a deal.
But at this point, it seems likely that progressive Senate Democrats will have to swallow a rail deal that includes just one day of paid leave. Because Biden asked them to do so.
BTW … The 2023 House legislative calendar is out. Check it out here.
– Jake Sherman
DECEMBER EVENTS!
We have two more events this year in December that you won’t want to miss. We hope you join us virtually or in-person for these timely conversations!
Dec. 7: We’re sitting down in-person with Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) to talk about his role on the Ways & Means Committee and the panel’s priorities for 2023 on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 9 a.m. ET. RSVP to join us in-person or on the livestream!
Dec. 13: We’re interviewing Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) on Tuesday, Dec. 13 at 10 a.m. ET in a virtual conversation about the importance of privacy and security in new and existing technologies. RSVP here!
MONEY WOES
Progress in gov’t funding talks but no deal yet
Following Tuesday’s meeting at the White House between President Joe Biden and the Big 4 congressional leaders, the pace of negotiations over FY2023 funding has picked up. Yet the two sides remain tens of billions of dollars apart on spending levels, and there’s just two weeks to go until government funding runs out.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the panel’s ranking member, met Wednesday in an attempt to break the deadlock, as we told you in the PM edition.
Shelby repeated the GOP position that they won’t go beyond the $1.7 trillion in discretionary spending called for under Biden’s proposed 2023 budget.
Senate Republicans want to raise Pentagon spending to the level approved by the Armed Services Committee in the annual defense authorization bill – which also needs to be passed. That’s $45 billion more than Biden has sought for national security programs.
And Republicans don’t want any more money for domestic programs, arguing that Democrats already boosted non-defense spending when they passed the Inflation Reduction Act in August. Senate Democrats are pushing for $26 billion more on the non-defense side.
We’ll keep you up to speed on the Democratic response today. But it’s a good sign that the two sides are at least bargaining. That hasn’t been happening up until now.
Senate Democrats could close this gap by adding more funding to Biden’s request for new Ukraine aid. The White House has sought an additional $37 billion. That could help Ukrainian forces in their fight against Russia until mid-summer. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan gave a classified briefing to top senators on Wednesday on the situation in Ukraine, and there seems to be support for going above the $37 billion threshold.
“I think there’s a strong case” for more Ukraine aid, said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who chairs the Defense subcommittee on Appropriations. Here’s more from Tester:
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who will take over as ranking member on Appropriations next year, echoed that view.
“I’m a strong supporter [of Ukraine] and believe more assistance is needed,” Collins said. “I know there’s been an issue of having more oversight of that assistance. I’m completely open to that. But we need to move.”
– John Bresnahan
OVERSIGHT WATCH
News: The FBI’s response to Jim Jordan
A top priority for incoming House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is investigating allegations of political bias at the FBI. Jordan recently released a 1,000-page report — mostly made up of his letters to the FBI — revealing what he claims is evidence of liberal bias in the bureau. Jordan complains that he hasn’t received substantive response to his missives.
We obtained the FBI’s official response to Jordan’s letters, penned by Jill Tyson, assistant director for the FBI’s Office of Congressional Affairs.
Read the full letter here, dated Nov. 29.
Tyson asserts that FBI employees are held to a high ethical standard and are required to undergo extensive training on their Hatch Act responsibilities.
Tyson also indirectly hit back at Republican claims that the FBI has become a political tool of President Joe Biden’s administration.
“It is important to emphasize that allegations against one or a very small number of employees do not reflect a widespread political bias or a lack of objectivity by the FBI’s 38,000 employees who perform their jobs objectively, rigorously, and with professionalism,” Tyson wrote. “Nor do such allegations fairly call into question the FBI’s motivations and actions to fulfill its mission, which reflect the collective judgment and effort of our workforce.”
Jordan’s report centered on FBI whistleblower reports that described “the FBI’s Washington hierarchy as ‘rotted at its core,’ maintaining a ‘systemic culture of unaccountability’ and full of ‘rampant corruption, manipulation, and abuse.’”
| → | Here’s how the FBI responded: “The FBI takes all allegations of misconduct very seriously, and that includes taking seriously our responsibility to FBI employees who make protected disclosures under the whistleblower regulations,” Tyson wrote. |
Jordan has accused the FBI of purging employees with conservative views.
| → | What the FBI said: “The FBI has strong procedures in place to promote accountability when an FBI employee strays from their obligations—including employee actions that create the appearance of political, social, or other bias,” Tyson wrote. |
The letter previews the tense dynamic between House Republicans and the FBI heading into a new GOP majority next year. Conservatives have trained their ire on the Justice Department under the Biden administration, initially raising alarm at how federal officials reacted to protests at school board meetings during the Covid-19 pandemic. The calls to investigate the FBI further increased following the raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
This will be a major storyline to watch in the next Congress. We’ll have much more on this in the weeks to come.
— Max Cohen
PRESENTED BY INSTAGRAM
THE QUEST FOR 218
Conservatives win – with some help from McCarthy
Key members of the right flank of the House Republican Conference won changes to the party’s rules Wednesday, after Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy helped tweak and build support for their proposals.
This is all part of McCarthy’s quest to win the speakership. He has helped hone a number of rules changes sought by conservatives and ushered them through an internal GOP conference debate.
Here are some of the key provisions:
| → | The conference passed by voice vote a proposal by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) to require the leadership to give five-day’s notice to any bills being considered under fast-track suspension rules in the House. Roy has expressed opposition to support McCarthy for speaker. |
| → | Another Roy proposal that would require the Rules Committee to consider amendments that have the support of 20% of the conference also passed by voice vote. This is a largely symbolic amendment because Rules can consider and discard any amendment. Roy had initially called for the threshold to be much lower. |
| → | The conference passed by voice vote a Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) proposal that expedites internal party motions in the House Republican Conference. |
| → | Rep. Scott Perry’s (R-Pa.) motion to require a party meeting before consideration of major pieces of legislation also passed by voice vote. |
One miss: Rep. Tom McClintock’s (R-Calif.) motion to ban earmarks was defeated resoundingly on a recorded vote, 158-58-1. It was the only recorded vote during the session.
If you’re McCarthy, you consider this a good day. Conservatives got much of what they wanted out of proposed rules changes while McCarthy was seen as lending a helping hand without giving away too much.
– Jake Sherman
PUNCHBOWL NEWS’ THE STAKES
Last night, we hosted The Stakes, an evening of cocktails and conversation about a changing Washington at Silver Lyan in partnership with GP3 Partners. Jake sat down with Brett Horton, chief of staff to incoming House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, to discuss what to expect in the lame duck session and the next Congress. Darrell Lauterbach, CEO and president of GP3 Partners, also gave remarks.
Raising a glass: Jane Adams of Johnson & Johnson, Danielle Goonan of the Rockefeller Foundation, Matt Miller and Michael Steel of Business Roundtable, Kate Bernard and Caitlyn Morrison of Arnold Ventures, Erin Streeter of the National Association of Manufacturers, Fred Humphries of Microsoft, April Boyd of Spotify, Bruce Harris of Walmart, Jodi Sakol of AARP, and Marcie Kinzel and Marie Sanderson of GP3 Partners. Thanks to all who joined!
PRESENTED BY INSTAGRAM
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Presented by Apollo Global Management
Learn how Apollo is rethinking retirement income to last the modern lifespan. Think It New.