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February 14, 2023
Presented by AARP
48 million family caregivers give everything to help older loved ones. They give time and energy, too often giving up their jobs and paying over $7,000 a year out of pocket. With a new Congress, it’s time to act on the Credit for Caring tax credit.
PRESENTED BY
THE TOP
Happy Tuesday morning. And happy Valentine’s Day!
Senators will walk into a classified briefing this morning that’s probably unlike any they’ve ever been to before.
The U.S. military has shot down four objects in American airspace within a span of just eight days, an unprecedented and alarming trend that comes amid growing fears of Chinese espionage.
The American public — including lawmakers — knows surprisingly little about these objects aside from the White House’s unequivocal contention that they have nothing to do with aliens.
And a Senate that badly wants to conduct oversight of the Biden administration’s handling of these incidents and figure out how to prevent more in the future has been largely paralyzed.
What does the oversight even look like? What, if anything, can be done through the committee or appropriations process by Democratic leaders as a starting point for these inquiries?
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, hasn’t a clue. And he’s not alone. Here’s what Rubio told us Monday night:
Rubio’s counterpart on the Intelligence Committee, Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.), said he’s “not satisfied yet” with the Biden administration’s response thus far. Warner added that he hasn’t even received an update on what’s been recovered from the four shootdown sites.
Warner has also been trying to figure out “whether there’s an appropriate notification system,” because “you would think it should ping so that there was some ability to identify.” Warner is referring to an IFF system (Identification Friend or Foe), which allows flight controllers to identify aircraft.
That’s one of the huge questions here. Is there a protocol for handling these types of incursions? Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who’s leading the effort from the defense appropriations side of things, said he doesn’t think one exists but “there could be one and I just don’t have it yet.”
Despite many questions, expectations for today’s briefing are quite low.
“I hope they can say more than that this wasn’t an alien invasion,” Senate Minority Whip John Thune said. “It would be nice if we could add a little bit more context to all of this.”
Party leaders and senior leadership aides are encouraging their rank-and-file to keep calm and not feed any kind of panic or hysteria. They note this all started with a legitimate uproar over the Chinese spy balloon, which now appears to be part of a larger, long-running surveillance program run by Beijing.
However, there’s little if anything known about the last three incidents, including whether there was even a need to shoot the objects down.
While some senators insist this issue isn’t resonating outside the Beltway, others note they’ve heard directly from their constituents.
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) told us that he received multiple calls from county officials across Montana over the weekend as portions of the state’s airspace were inexplicably shut down by military officials. It was later revealed that this was due to the flying object that was downed over Lake Huron.
Daines has repeatedly criticized President Joe Biden for failing to issue a statement or address the nation on the matter. Remember, two of these objects — including the initial Chinese spy balloon — flew over Montana, so Daines is more tuned into this issue than some other senators.
“The concern is the president is not getting out in front of this,” Daines said. “We saw Prime Minister [Justin] Trudeau do it today. We’re asking the president: please tell the American people what you know and what you don’t know. And let them know the plan going forward.”
Below is the list of officials the Pentagon is sending for the all-Senate briefing. We’ll note that all of them testified last week before Tester’s subcommittee and later held a classified session with senators on the Chinese spy balloon. It’s also largely the same group that briefed reporters following Sunday’s shootdown.
Here’s more from Tester — who still hasn’t announced whether he’s running for reelection in 2024 — on why this issue matters:
Also: The January consumer price index data will be released at 8:30 a.m. this morning.
— Andrew Desiderio and John Bresnahan
INTRODUCING THE LEADERS
The Leaders is officially live! Check out our first profile featuring Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R), who is leading his state through an economic recovery by investing in renewable energy, education, health care and infrastructure. Read it today!
DEBT DISPATCH
Top Banking Democrats aren’t freaking out about the debt limit yet
Democrats’ overall messaging on the consequences of a default on U.S. federal debt has been a steady drumbeat of doom. Financial collapse, hemorrhagic job losses and a global hit to the country’s international reputation are all on the table, they say.
But while the top Democratic lawmakers who shape financial policy are concerned about the economic fallout from Republican brinkmanship, they’re not panicking quite yet.
Last week, we checked in with the two top Democrats in the panels of jurisdiction – the House Financial Services’ Committee’s Ranking Member Maxine Waters (Calif.), and Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown (Ohio).
Waters said “the greatest threat to the country is not being responsible for the debt that we have incurred.”
And Brown told us he’d been hearing from Ohio bankers lately:
But but but: No one sees a five-alarm fire yet. “No, I’m not as worried as one might think,” Waters told us. “I think, in the final analysis, we raise the debt limit.”
Part of that is just math, the California Democrat said, pointing to Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s five-member margin in the House. She suggested Democrats would be able to work with some moderate Republicans to deploy a discharge petition to raise the debt limit if needed as Washington drifts closer to default in the late spring or summer.
Brown, too, was fairly upbeat, but also left a bit of room for doubt.
“I’m still confident that they’ll come to their senses,” Brown said. “I don’t know. I’m hopeful they will do the right thing for the country, but I don’t know.”
Punchbowl News’ survey, The Canvass, unveiled last week found both the vast majority of K Street leaders — 82% of Republicans polled and 81% of Democrats believed Congress would raise the debt ceiling this year.
– Brendan Pedersen
INSIDE THE SENATE GOP
McConnell vs. Scott
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell doesn’t do things by accident.
So when McConnell spoke to Kentucky radio host Terry Meiners last week and once again trashed Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), it was obviously deliberate.
McConnell didn’t just recycle his criticisms of Scott’s “12-point plan.” The longtime GOP leader went as far as to suggest that Florida’s seniors would be wary of Scott’s proposals – especially on Social Security and Medicare – and even suggested it could hurt the freshman senator’s reelection chances next year in the Sunshine State:
This is really extraordinary for a party leader to do, yet it underscores the deep divisions within the Senate GOP conference, as well as the toxic relationship between McConnell and Scott. And that’s putting it nicely.
It’s also a message to other Senate Republicans – especially conservatives worried about budget deficits – that the GOP leadership will loudly repudiate any budget plans that target Medicare or Social Security. Medicaid is clearly in a different category, and there will be discussions on other entitlement programs. But not Medicare and Social Security, not with the Senate map as good as it is in 2024 for Republicans and Democrats ready to pounce on the issue.
Of course, McConnell’s jabs weren’t unprovoked. Scott has been raising money off his McConnell antagonism, and Scott unsuccessfully challenged McConnell for GOP leader back in November. McConnell won that fight handily.
We caught up with Scott and his allies Monday night. The Florida Republican said he wasn’t surprised McConnell went after him. And the former governor pushed back against the suggestion that he won’t be able to win reelection in 2024.
But even as Scott doubles down on his plan, he seems to be tacitly admitting that the criticism is leaving a mark. Scott on Friday unveiled legislation that would raise the threshold for making cuts to entitlement programs.
McConnell has long been worried that Scott’s efforts to promote his plan are giving Democrats ammo to suggest that Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare — something he and other GOP leaders insist isn’t true. Scott’s plan calls for sunsetting all federal legislation unless it’s explicitly re-authorized by Congress.
McConnell’s view is that this issue was decided when he beat back Scott’s challenge to his leadership post. The pair had also openly clashed over campaign strategy, with Scott serving as chair of the party’s Senate campaign arm during the last cycle. Scott refused to get involved in GOP primaries, which led to blown opportunities in several key states.
President Joe Biden is constantly referencing Scott’s 12-point plan as he argues in favor of a clean debt-limit increase. That came to a head last week during the State of the Union when the president more directly addressed it, prompting jeers from Republicans when he said some GOP lawmakers want to cut entitlements.
“I didn’t come up here to be part of the establishment. I came here to change Washington. Not everybody wants to change Washington,” Scott said. “I believe that we have to do something else. So I put out a plan. If somebody has a better idea, they ought to put a plan out.”
Scott’s fellow GOP hardliners are defending both him and his 12-point plan, arguing that it wasn’t appropriate for McConnell to go after the Florida Republican the way he did.
“The leader ought to be supportive of our incumbents,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said. “Sen. Scott’s done a good job in Florida. I think Floridians appreciate the fact that he’s forthright and honest with them. And I know from my personal involvement with Sen. Scott, his only interest is in saving those programs.”
Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) said Scott “is concerned about saving” entitlement programs, “not sunsetting it in the sense of getting rid of it. If we want it there for future generations, we’ll have to do something to keep it alive.”
Many Democrats will read that as a call to cut Social Security and Medicare. They’ll also try to exploit this open split between McConnell and Scott.
— Andrew Desiderio and John Bresnahan
PRESENTED BY AMERICAN BEVERAGE ASSOCIATION
The Coca-Cola Company, Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo are offering more choices with less sugar. In fact, nearly 60% of beverages sold contain zero sugar. BalanceUS.org
DOWNTOWN DOWNLOAD
| → | Gilead Sciences has hired the Tiber Creek Group to lobby on “medicare reimbursement and HIV.” |
| → | Former Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) is now lobbying for All Points LLC on “policies and funding related to payload processing services.” |
– Jake Sherman
PRESENTED BY AMERICAN BEVERAGE ASSOCIATION
America’s beverage companies are delivering more choices with less sugar. BalanceUS.org
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Presented by AARP
48 million family caregivers give everything to help older loved ones. They give time and energy, too often giving up their jobs and paying over $7,000 a year out of pocket. With a new Congress, it’s time to act on the Credit for Caring tax credit.