The Archive

LAME-DUCK SESSIONS

House to vote on NDAA as government funding talks flounder

The House will vote today on the National Defense Authorization Act, one of the two must-pass pieces of legislation Congress must enact during the lame-duck session. This sets up a Senate vote next week on the annual defense policy bill, which has been approved by Congress every year since the early 1960s.

The House action on the NDAA comes a day after Congressional Black Caucus members threatened to take down a rule on the measure unless Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats agreed to attach voting rights legislation to the package. With only a two-seat margin, Pelosi couldn’t afford to lose any votes. Democratic leaders, however, wouldn’t agree to the CBC demand since that would unravel a hard-fought bipartisan deal on the NDAA.

So the House will take up the NDAA under suspension, a procedure used for non-controversial bills. There’s only limited debate and a two-thirds supermajority is required for passage. Democratic and GOP leaders predict it will pass. And it’s difficult to see what CBC members gain by voting against the NDAA.

The NDAA package – which calls for $847 billion in defense spending, $45 billion more than President Joe Biden requested for FY2023 – includes a number of GOP policy wins. The vaccine mandate for members of the armed forces is being rescinded, a victory for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) permitting reform proposal was left out, as was the SAFE Banking Act, a cannabis banking bill opposed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. A proposal by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) to bar U.S. government contractors from using Chinese-made semiconductors was included in the legislation. There’s authorization for up to $10 billion to help boost Taiwan’s defense capabilities, as well as language fast-tracking sales of U.S. weapons.

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The other big piece of the lame-duck legislative puzzle – funding the government for the next year – is still nowhere. The two sides remain tens of billions of dollars apart on a “topline” spending figure, and there hasn’t been any real movement for days. The current funding measure expires Dec. 16, but party leaders aren’t really even negotiating at this point.

Sources tell us Republicans refuse to put their offers on paper, and they won’t move past what Biden proposed in his FY2023 budget request. Democrats are submitting their offers in writing, but are more than $25 billion higher on the non-defense side.

If there’s no topline deal by the beginning of next week, Senate Democrats plan to offer their own version of an omnibus spending package to cover all of FY 2023. As we’ve reported that Democrats have been drafting an omnibus package at spending levels they believe Republicans can largely accept, including for the Pentagon. But the overall non-defense spending target is higher than GOP leaders want.

If Republicans reject that offer – and they will – then Democrats will offer a full-year CR at current funding levels. This would be a serious blow to the Pentagon, which has never had to operate under such budgetary restrictions.

Senate Republicans will reject that as well, which then leaves both sides with some serious decisions to make. As we noted, the current CR runs out on Dec. 16. Party leaders could actually reach a compromise after all this. Or, Congress can pass another short-term CR into early 2023. This would mean the House GOP majority and a Democratic Senate would have to figure out a way forward, and that would likely be pretty tough. Conservative Republicans in both chambers are pushing this plan, figuring it will result in lower spending. Yet it also pushes a shutdown threat on the table.

We still believe that congressional leaders and the White House will reach an agreement in the next few days on a topline. Failure to do so leads to even worse potential outcomes that neither side really wants, despite today’s hyper-partisan political environment.

Also: The House is expected to give final passage to the same-sex marriage bill today.

— John Bresnahan and Jake Sherman

LEADER LOOK

Schumer to get another 2 years as majority leader

Following a huge win on Tuesday in Georgia for Senate Democrats, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will be formally given another two years in his post.

Senate Democrats are meeting this morning in the Mansfield Room off the Senate floor to elect their leadership for the 118th Congress. Coming off a successful election cycle, which saw Democrats reelect every incumbent – a feat that hadn’t been done by either party in nearly 90 years – Schumer and his leadership team is riding high for the moment. They face a tough 2024, but for now, Democrats feel very good about themselves.

The only major change in the Democratic lineup is that Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who won reelection as well, will serve as president pro tem, replacing the retiring Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). She’s the third in line for the presidency behind the vice president and speaker. Murray is the first woman in this post. Murray had been the assistant Democratic leader.

Murray will also succeed Leahy as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Holding the two positions simultaneously gives Murray – first elected to the Senate in 1992 – nearly as much office space in the Capitol as Schumer.

Here’s the leadership slate that Schumer recommended to his caucus in a “Dear Colleague” letter on Monday:

→	Senate Democratic Leader and Chair of the Conference: Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.).

→	Whip: Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.).

→	Chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee: Sen. Debbie Stabenow (Mich.).

→	Chair of Steering Committee: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.).

→	Vice Chair of the Conference: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.).

→	Vice Chair of the Conference: Sen. Mark Warner (Va.).

→	Chair of Outreach: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

→	Vice Chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee: Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.).

→	Senate Democratic Conference Secretary: Sen. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.).

→	Vice Chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee: Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.).

→	Vice Chair of Outreach: Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.).

→	Deputy Democratic Conference Secretary: Sen. Brian Schatz (Hawaii).

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Across the aisle, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will face another meeting in the same room next Wednesday with conservative GOP critics of his leadership. Ironically, comes even as McConnell prepares to break the record for the longest serving party leader in history, besting the last Sen. Mike Mansfield’s (D-Mont.) achievement.

The conservative group – which our friend Burgess Everett dubbed “The Breakfast Club” in a story Wednesday – has formally requested this meeting under GOP conference rules. They haven’t offered any proposals, at least not yet, but they’ve been critical of McConnell and his leadership style. They want a more confrontational approach in taking on President Joe Biden and the Democrats. One member of the conservative group – Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) – chaired the NRSC this cycle, only to see GOP candidates falter badly. Scott then lost a leadership challenge to McConnell.

“I think you should view it as a group that’s going to offer some creative ideas,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Graham huddled privately with McConnell this week.

– John Bresnahan

VIP FINDINGS RECEPTION

Last night, we hosted a VIP cocktail reception at the Punchbowl News Townhouse on Capitol Hill to kick off The Findings, our inaugural summit focused on racial equity and sustainability. The evening featured cocktails and conversations, with remarks from Punchbowl News CEO and Founder Anna Palmer and American Beverage Association President and CEO Katherine Lugar.

Raising a glass: Mariel Saez of SKDK, Merideth Potter, Amy Hancock, and Franklin Davis of American Beverage Association, Isaac Reyes and Amanda Nusz of Target, Ellen Frawley of GMMB, Rick Wade of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Paul Thornell of Mehlman Castagnetti, Steve Hartell of Amazon, Joshua DuBois of Gauge, Jeyben Castro of the House Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Sam Varie, Kayla Pennebacker, and Dhrtvan Sherman of the House Education and Labor Committee, Britton Burdick and Josh Crandell of Rep. Donald Norcross’ (D-N.J.) office, and Kenneth Coleman and Jackson Long of Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-S.C.) office.

PUNCHBOWL NEWS EVENTS

Missed our conversation with Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) yesterday? Catch up on the full video here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df7vEKTs3LU

OVERSIGHT WATCH

New: Coronavirus select subcommittee to issue final report Friday

The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis will issue its final report on Friday, weeks before when Republicans take over the House majority and put the panel’s fate in the balance.

The select committee, chaired by House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, will also announce plans for a final hearing and business meeting.

“Issuance of the final report will be the committee’s final official act, pursuant to its authorizing resolution,” a committee spokesperson said. “The final report will reveal new findings from the committee’s investigations and put forward recommendations to prevent and prepare for future public health emergencies and their economic consequences.”

Helming the coronavirus panel was a major role for Clyburn, who examined the Trump administration’s handling of the virus. The committee launched in April 2020 and trained its focus on how former President Donald Trump interfered with government agencies involved in Covid mitigation.

On the Covid oversight front next Congress, Republicans have vowed to investigate “where COVID originated, how it initially spread, and who potentially played a role in the virus’ creation.

— Max Cohen

MOMENTS

9 a.m.: President Joe Biden will get his daily intelligence briefing.

11:30 a.m.: Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will enroll the same-sex marriage bill.

12:15 p.m.: Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will have lunch.

12:30 p.m.: Karine Jean-Pierre will brief.

1 p.m.: Pelosi will hold her weekly news conference.

2:10 p.m.: Biden will speak about “building a stronger economy for union worker[s] and retirees.” Labor Secretary Marty Walsh will be in attendance.

CLIP FILE

WaPo

→	“A narrow GOP majority is forcing moderates to find their voice,” by Marianna Sotomayor

→	“Walker’s loss in Ga. spurs new GOP hand-wringing, calls for new strategy,” by Colby Itkowitz, Hannah Knowles and Dylan Wells

→	“Rollback of covid vaccine mandate met with furor at Pentagon,” by Dan Lamothe, Alex Horton and Karoun Demirjian

Politico

→	“How the plan to pass a weed package went awry,” by Natalie Fertig