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IN THIS EDITION

Trump headlines GOP retreat as budget battle heats up

Senate Dems, GOP negotiate changes to ICC sanctions bill ahead of key vote

Hispanic Caucus seeks a new voice against Trump

What we’re watching

THE TOP

Trump headlines GOP retreat as budget battle heats up

Happy Monday morning.

Good morning from Doral, Fla., where we are covering the House Republicans’ annual retreat. We have a lot to review this morning, including the latest on President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees. More on that below.

Trump day at the GOP retreat. Trump will be the keynote speaker today at the House Republicans’ annual retreat, held this year at Trump National Doral Miami. The hotel even boasts a Donald J. Trump Ballroom. Vice President JD Vance is expected to attend on Tuesday.

The House GOP event will open up with a “casual lunch” from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The “kickoff and welcome” is at 4 p.m. That will feature Kelle Strickland of the Congressional Institute, the nonprofit that puts on the event; Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), who represents this district; and House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain, who is presiding over her first retreat.

The main event is, undoubtedly, Trump’s appearance at his hotel at 5 p.m. today.

The session is titled “Agenda47.” But given Trump’s proclivity to riff about the issues of the day, we don’t expect that he’ll be weighing in on the magnitude of spending cuts to social safety net programs that Republicans will have to stomach in order to extend the 2017 tax cuts, for example.

Yet Trump is good for rallying the frequently warring factions of the House Republican Conference. More importantly, the House GOP could always use a reminder that they’re part of a governing trifecta that has a limited amount of time to enact Trump’s agenda.

If you talk to anyone in the House GOP leadership, you’ll know Republicans desperately need to coalesce around reconciliation instructions soon.

That’s because Speaker Mike Johnson has said that he wants the House and Senate to pass a budget resolution by Feb. 24. This leaves just three weeks for Republicans to release a budget plan and get it through Congress. We also scooped over the weekend that Trump will deliver a joint address to Congress on March 4. He’ll want this process well underway by then.

Remember that the House and Senate need to adopt the same budget resolution to unlock the reconciliation process. So GOP lawmakers need to get on the same page regarding cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and other social programs, as well as their tax-cut plans.

The meaty part of the House Republican policy conversations will take place Tuesday and Wednesday. There will be a leadership townhall Tuesday at 10 a.m. followed by a “budget reconciliation outlook” session with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), chair of Republican Policy Committee and House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas).

On Tuesday afternoon, from 2:45 p.m. to 5 p.m., individual committees will hold reconciliation discussions. And on Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., each committee will deliver “reports” on reconciliation.

Cabinet nominations. This is a huge week for Trump’s Cabinet-level nominees. Three of his most controversial picks will appear for confirmation hearings.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee for secretary of health and human services, will testify before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday and the HELP Committee on Thursday.

Kash Patel, the FBI director nominee, and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s (Hawaii), Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, have their confirmation hearings on Thursday morning before the Judiciary and Intelligence committees respectively.

Let’s start with Gabbard, the most endangered of the three. We’ve reported extensively on GOP senators’ concerns with Gabbard — her foreign policy views, her trip to Syria, her support for Edward Snowden and opposition to FISA Section 702, her rhetoric on Russia and Ukraine and more.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) alluded to most of these during his interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday. Graham also revealed something that wasn’t supposed to be made public quite yet — that former Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) will introduce Gabbard at her hearing. We’re told that Burr has been offering advice and counsel to Gabbard in recent weeks as well.

This is significant because Burr is a former Intelligence Committee chair who’s well-respected by incumbent Republicans, including those who are seen as potential swing votes on Gabbard’s nomination. Burr was among the Republicans who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial.

Gabbard’s path to Senate confirmation remains fraught with trouble. At least two GOP members of the Intelligence Committee — Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Todd Young (Ind.) — are on the fence about Gabbard. Republicans have a one-seat majority on the panel, so it would be exceedingly difficult to advance her nomination to the floor if just one Republican defects.

Nom votes: Senators will vote this evening on the confirmation of Scott Bessent as treasury secretary. Bessent got 67 votes for cloture on Saturday, so he’ll be confirmed easily. Next up is Sean Duffy, the nominee for transportation secretary. He’ll be confirmed by Tuesday afternoon.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is expected to file cloture on additional Cabinet nominees as soon as tonight. Thune has several to choose from, including Interior Secretary nominee Doug Burgum, EPA nominee Lee Zeldin, HUD Secretary nominee Scott Turner, VA Secretary pick Doug Collins and Energy Department nominee Chris Wright.

— Jake Sherman and Andrew Desiderio

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THE SENATE

Senate Dems, GOP negotiate changes to ICC sanctions bill ahead of key vote

News: Senate Democrats and Republicans spent the weekend negotiating potential changes to a House-passed bill that would impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court over its targeting of Israeli officials, according to multiple sources involved in the talks.

And U.S. tech companies are now getting involved behind the scenes amid fears that they’d be the target of crippling sanctions under the GOP-drafted bill, which could pass the Senate with Democratic help.

The bill, which will get an initial procedural vote Tuesday, was the subject of a closed-door Democratic Caucus meeting on Friday as the party wrestles with how to address GOP-led proposals that divide their party.

Senate Democrats sent the GOP a proposal over the weekend, and Republicans, led by Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), countered on Sunday night, we’re told. As we scooped on Friday, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the Foreign Relations Committee’s top Democrat, gave a presentation during the caucus meeting outlining her concerns with the bill as written.

The negotiations center on Shaheen’s argument that the bill is so far-reaching that it would impose mandatory sanctions even on American technology companies.

Many Big Tech companies provide the ICC with cybersecurity support to counter Russian hackers looking to undermine investigations into Moscow’s alleged war crimes in Ukraine. These companies also help the ICC identify online footprints of accused war criminals.

The politics: All 53 Republicans are expected to back the ICC legislation, and GOP negotiators believe there are at least seven Democratic senators who would vote to advance the bill on Tuesday.

Indeed, there are several Democrats who may feel pressured to support moving forward with the bill due in part to political pressure. That’s why senior Democrats are engaging with Republicans to try to limit what they see as potentially disastrous consequences of the legislation as written.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has long taken a hands-off approach with his vulnerable incumbents. But Democrats tell us they want a more cohesive game plan from Democratic leaders after a hot-button immigration bill divided the party and gave President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans an early legislative win.

In that case, a group of moderate and politically vulnerable Democrats provided the votes to push the Laken Riley Act over the finish line. That same group will be decisive for the ICC sanctions bill.

“I don’t think that we had a cohesive Democratic position on that,” Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) told us about the Laken Riley Act. Bennet said that Senate Democrats need “to understand how we lost a second presidential election to Donald Trump.”

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) encouraged Democrats to ignore “shiny objects” and focus on reconciliation — what he referred to as the upcoming “Republican tax cut for billionaires.” Murphy has been advocating for the party to embrace populism in the aftermath of the 2024 election.

It’s an approach shared by many Democrats eager to shift the focus from the GOP’s floor agenda to the cost of living crisis.

“It’s so clear that none of the things that they brought up right out of their new majority are the issues that quoters care most about — voters want people to be bringing down costs,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) said.

— Andrew Desiderio and Max Cohen

HISPANIC CAUCUS

Hispanic Caucus seeks a new voice against Trump

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is grappling with an identity shakeup as internal tensions boil over regarding how to best use its voice on immigration and border security issues in a GOP-dominated Washington.

There’s growing frustration among the group’s House members over what several CHC sources complain is an overly passive approach by its Senate counterparts. Beyond that, there’s a divide between progressives and Frontline members on how Democrats should counter the Trump administration’s hardline border policies.

Take the Laken Riley Act for example.

During an internal meeting between CHC members and House Democratic leadership last week, progressive lawmakers griped about losing two CHC senators — Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) — on that vote.

“The Senate may feel like they don’t know what the House is doing and the House feels exactly the same,” Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) told us. “If we’re not working together, they’re just going to play us, and they played us on this last bill.”

Bicameral Beef: Tensions between CHC leadership and senators have been heating up since last Congress, when House members complained they weren’t included in bipartisan Senate talks on crafting a border bill.

Just last week, Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) told lawmakers in an internal meeting that the group should request a meeting with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer over what they view as his failure on the issue. Some CHC sources also griped about the continuing absence of Latino senators in the group’s activities, including its first press conference last Thursday that highlighted the caucus’s priorities.

Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) told us the group should have “a family conversation” on how they can better work together to craft a united message on the border and immigration.

“Everyone can do better and I certainly hope that that is a reflection that all my colleagues in the Hispanic Caucus agree on — that we all can do better,” Luján said.

Gallego, a once progressive House member who has moderated his positions since running for Senate, also pushed back on complaints from his former colleagues over his vote in support of the Laken Riley Act.

“If CHC is concerned about the view of Latinos on immigration, the way I’m voting is exactly where the median Latino voter is voting and how they feel about the border,” Gallego told us. “They can debate all they want but the Latino voters in the country have spoken.”

A united front: CHC Chair Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) has been seeking to move his members to the middle on border security and immigration. But he also wants to hone in on a strong economic message.

CHC members want to focus on positions favored by a broad swath of the caucus — Dreamers and protecting farm workers — rather than how far to go on border security measures that are a problem for more vulnerable members of the caucus.

Senior sources also tell us the group is looking to be more active after many felt they got rolled by the Biden administration on immigration. We wrote about the strained relationship between the CHC and the Biden White House. Some CHC insiders said they want to be more like the Congressional Black Caucus, which has a seemingly unending well of political capital in the Democratic Caucus.

“We got to stick together,” Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) told us. “There’s no question about standing strong with immigrants, especially going through the next four years.”

— Mica Soellner and John Bresnahan

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What we’re watching

Tuesday: The Senate Armed Services Committee has a hearing on defense innovation and acquisition reform.

The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on the Panama Canal and its impact on U.S. trade and national security. Louis Sola, the chair of the Federal Maritime Commission and former Rep. Daniel Maffei (D-N.Y.), a commissioner on the FMC, will be among the witnesses.

Wednesday: The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a vote on Pam Bondi’s nomination to be attorney general.

The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to run the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Senate Commerce Committee will hold its organizing meeting and then will move straight into considering Howard Lutnick’s nomination to be secretary of commerce.

The Senate Small Business Committee will hold a hearing on Kelly Loeffler’s nomination to run the Small Business Administration.

Thursday: The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Kash Patel’s nomination to be the director of the FBI.

The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on Daniel Driscoll’s nomination to be secretary of the Army.

The Senate HELP Committee will hold a hearing on RFK Jr.’s nomination.

The Senate Intelligence Committee will hold a hearing on former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s (Hawaii) nomination to be director of national intelligence.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a vote on Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R-N.Y.) nomination to be ambassador to the United Nations.

Saturday: The DNC election will be held on Feb. 1. The final candidate forum will take place on Jan. 30 in person in Washington.

— Jake Sherman and Mica Soellner

… AND THERE’S MORE

New: The American Academy of Pediatrics is lobbying Senate offices ahead of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination hearing by highlighting the benefits of vaccination policies. Kennedy’s vaccine skeptical beliefs may prove to be a major liability among swing vote GOP senators.

Downtown Download. DoorDash, the food delivery app, has hired Stewart Strategies and Solutions to lobby. The firm is run by Jennifer Stewart, who touts on her website that she has “especially strong ties with many members of the Congressional Black Caucus.”

Stewart Strategies will be lobbying on “[m]atters affecting app based delivery services; Competition issues impacting the delivery and technology industry; Provide counsel on policy matters related to labor issues, independent workers, consumers, and businesses.”

— Max Cohen and Jake Sherman

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