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IN THIS EDITION

Ukraine moves and TikTok briefing

TikTok shifts focus to Senate as House vote nears

Hur on the Hill, but it’s 2024 time

Senate mounts a housing redux, plus tax latest

THE TOP

Ukraine moves and TikTok briefing

Happy Tuesday morning.

News: Officials from the FBI, DOJ and Office of the Director of National Intelligence will be on Capitol Hill at 1 p.m. today to give House lawmakers a classified briefing on TikTok, the hugely popular social media app.

The House is slated to vote on a bill Wednesday that would force Chinese-based ByteDance to divest its holdings in TikTok or face a ban. The bill is expected to pass by huge margins in the House but could have problems in the Senate. Much more on this below.

Ukraine: We’re going to focus this morning on the effort to push through tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan in the House. Speaker Mike Johnson is working to kill off any discharge petition in the House, of which there are two right now. This is natural for any speaker, of course. But at the same time, Johnson said he’s made no promises to put a foreign aid bill on the floor.

This doesn’t sit well with Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), the top Ukraine booster among GOP lawmakers. Fitzpatrick is a former FBI agent who was stationed in Kyiv before he came to Congress. Fitzpatrick and his allies are basically done with giving Johnson more time to come up with a Ukraine strategy.

How it would work: Fitzpatrick’s discharge petition is eligible for signatures, he just hasn’t “turned it on” to allow lawmakers to sign. But if 218 members sign on — most Democrats and a handful of Republicans — it would bypass the Rules Committee and come to the floor. Seven days after it reaches the threshold, Fitzpatrick can go to the floor and notice his intent to ask for a vote. A vote must then be set within two days.

Behind the scenes: Fitzpatrick’s bill includes Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan funding like the Senate-approved package, but with significant changes.

For example, Fitzpatrick is putting immigration provisions in the bill, including the “Remain in Mexico” policy. This requires migrants to seek asylum in their home country or in Mexico. The legislation also includes new expulsion authority. These two provisions would last for one year only.

But Fitzpatrick is looking to tweak the bill further to draw more votes. For example, he’s inserting new humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza, a key demand from Democrats. He’s planning to add more funding for Border Patrol to deal with the migrant crisis, which is aimed at winning the Border Patrol union’s support. Another provision would allow for the seizure of Russian assets.

Most notably, Fitzpatrick is doing two things to help get votes from GOP conservatives. “Lend-Lease” language on U.S. weapons sales to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan will be added, a nod to former President Donald Trump. Lend-Lease authority for Ukraine was passed by Congress in 2022, but it expired last year. The United States used similar programs in World War II.

Fitzpatrick will also add language requiring the Biden administration to provide monthly updates to Congress about U.S. strategy in Ukraine.

The vote count: There are loads of members skeptical of Fitzpatrick’s effort here. House Democrats are focused on trying to urge Johnson to put the Senate foreign aid bill on the floor. This is a waste of time since Johnson isn’t going to do that.

But in public, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries continues to demand Johnson give members a chance to vote on the Senate bill.

“You have a bipartisan, comprehensive national security bill that passed the Senate with 70 votes,” Jeffries told us Monday. “If Johnson were to call it up, there are at least 300 members of the House of Representatives who would support it.”

Not all Democrats are going to take Jeffries’ lead.

“We should’ve done this six months ago,” said Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), who said he would sign a petition. “It’s an embarrassment.”

Democrats are hopeful that public pressure can force Johnson to act here, likely after the appropriations process is over. Again, we aren’t too hot on this theory.

If Fitzpatrick’s effort is to be successful, the Pennsylvania Republican has to convince lawmakers that this is the only way to get aid to Ukraine. He’ll have to make the argument that the Senate’s bill is a non-starter with Republicans and the GOP will need border provisions to ease the passage of more money to Ukraine.

– Jake Sherman, John Bresnahan, Max Cohen and Mica Soellner

Join us next week for The Summit: The Digital Payments Economy on Tuesday, March 19 at 9 a.m. ET. We’re exploring how digital payments support consumers, small businesses and the economy.

The half-day event will feature a one-on-one interview with House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), a panel conversation with speakers from a variety of industries and a fireside chat on innovation in payments and how the ecosystem supports consumers, small businesses and the economy. RSVP here!

THE SENATE

TikTok shifts focus to Senate as House vote nears

The House is on track to overwhelmingly pass a bipartisan bill this week effectively banning Chinese-owned social media app TikTok from the United States. The company’s CEO is already setting his sights on the Senate.

Ahead of what’s expected to be a big House vote on Wednesday, TikTok CEO Shou Chew will begin meeting today with senators to make the case against the House’s effort to force the company to divest from its parent, ByteDance. TikTok officials privately say Chew was supposed to be in Washington for a social event and has added the Senate sessions to his schedule.

The path forward in the Senate is unclear. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer isn’t making any commitments for a vote, and Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) is still pushing for a watered-down version of the House bill. Former President Donald Trump’s sudden opposition to a TikTok ban could turn Republicans against the House measure.

There’s also the fact that the Senate’s track record on standing up to social media companies isn’t great.

“I’m absolutely for Trump,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who supports banning TikTok. “But my observation is that nothing that Big Tech doesn’t want moves across the Senate floor.”

Senators in both parties also have raised constitutional concerns with the House legislation, noting that it names a single private company.

Yet if the House vote is a blowout as expected, it will be difficult for the Senate to simply ignore the bill or refer it to committee — meaning slowly kill it.

Some senators are already declining the TikTok CEO’s meeting requests, we scooped Monday night. This includes senators on national security committees such as the Intelligence panel.

Senate Minority Whip John Thune, who co-authored a separate proposal last year, told us on Monday that he has no issues with the House’s approach, calling it “fairly measured.”

“Technologies that are put forward by foreign adversaries need to be very carefully scrutinized to see if these are national security threats,” Thune said. “The conclusion with TikTok is that it is a national security threat.”

Thune, of course, is a potential successor to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Another leadership candidate — Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who’s running for GOP Conference chair — said sitting down with TikTok’s CEO is “no better than meeting with Hamas or the Taliban.”

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Thune’s opponent in the GOP leader race, was lukewarm about the House bill but said he believes TikTok is a national security concern.

— Andrew Desiderio and John Bresnahan

INVESTIGATION NATION

Hur on the Hill, but it’s 2024 time

Former Special Counsel Robert Hur will testify today before the House Judiciary Committee on his report into President Joe Biden’s retention of classified documents. But expect the majority of the hearing to center on Biden’s fitness for office.

Hur is no longer employed by the government and will be testifying in a personal capacity after leaving the Justice Department last week, the department said Monday night. This was first reported by The Independent. Hur was a lawyer in private practice prior to his January 2023 appointment as special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

This means that Hur won’t be bound by DOJ guidelines on his congressional testimony. So the already high stakes for this hearing are going up even more and we could get some real fireworks here. Plus, Hur is being represented by big-time GOP lawyer William Burck.

As with everything in D.C. this year, the presidential election will loom large over the proceedings. The White House — recognizing concerns over Biden’s age will play a role in the campaign — has furiously tried to rebut many of Hur’s findings in his report.

Republicans will press Hur on his conclusion that charging Biden wouldn’t be fruitful because a jury would likely see the president as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

Democrats will highlight that the special counsel decided against prosecuting Biden. And they’ll also point out that Hur made clear that Biden’s approach to the investigation differed significantly from former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case.

What’s in the report: Hur wrote that, after leaving office, Biden improperly retained two sets of classified documents from his time as vice president. One set of documents dealt with the war in Afghanistan, while the other included Biden’s handwritten notes on classified material.

While Hur’s opening statement said there was evidence that Biden “willfully retained” these documents, the special counsel later asserts there isn’t enough proof to conclude this beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Trump factor: While Republicans will tout the most eye-opening accusations from Hur’s report (such as Biden forgetting when he was vice president and when his son Beau Biden died), Democrats will try to deflect attention to the former president.

Judiciary Democrats will lean on video components to show instances of Trump failing to remember key facts, according to a source familiar with the Democratic strategy. One clip that will receive play: When Trump confused E. Jean Carroll for his ex-wife Marla Maples.

What’s next in oversight: Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and James Comer (R-Ky.), the chairs of the Judiciary and Oversight panels, are demanding access to the transcript or video of Biden’s interview with Hur. To date, the DOJ hasn’t given the Republicans what they requested in their subpoena. We’ll be tracking any new developments on this front today.

— Max Cohen

THE NEW POWER PLAYERS

Monday night, we hosted Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) for our second event in The New Power Players series, presented by The Network and Arnold Ventures. Schatz sat down with Punchbowl News’ Anna Palmer to discuss the housing crisis, clean energy, permitting reform and news of the day. Arnold Ventures’ James Williams and Charlie Anderson gave opening remarks. Afterward, attendees mingled for cocktails and conversations.

Raising a glass: Brytan Mendes, Karla Rodriguez and Shannon Miekka of the office of Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas); Austin Kennedy of the office of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.); Jack Waguespack of the office of Rep. John Duarte (R-Calif.); Deirdre Ramsey and Hayley Meadvin of Precision Strategies; Eric Bustos of WMATA; Paul Thornell and Veer Shah of Mehlman Consulting; Hugh Gamble of Salesforce; Ashley Lerner of GM; Kris Schneider of Comcast; and Holly Harris, Sam Freer and Cortland Broyles of The Network.

Senate mounts a housing redux, plus tax latest

The Senate Banking Committee convenes this morning to talk housing, housing, and housing. Here’s what you need to know.

Housing reform is a bicameral priority for Hill Democrats. Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) told us back in January that housing would be one of his top 2024 priorities. Across the Capitol, there’s no bigger issue for Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) than housing policy.

But in the Senate, it’s been tough to find bipartisan crossover between Brown and ranking member Tim Scott (R-S.C), who has a housing framework that Brown has so far dismissed as “partisan.”

So that’s the main hope with today’s hearing — getting to something resembling consensus between the panel’s top members. Brown will say he looks forward to finding “bipartisan consensus” in opening remarks.

Down the dais: We’ve written before about the bipartisan rural housing bill from Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.). Expect that to get some play.

There’s broad interest here in other rural-focused policies. Lawmakers like Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) both flagged housing tweaks for indigenous communities as a top priority coming into the hearing today.

“These aren’t going to solve the big problem our nation is having, due to interest rates in housing,” Lummis told us Monday night. “We still want to be able to address some of the smaller issues that can have some significant impact for very targeted populations.”

And in tax land: The Senate Finance Committee has a hearing this morning on growing manufacturing through the tax code, which is some convenient timing given the gridlock on the bipartisan tax bill. The Wyden-Smith bill would revive key tax breaks that manufacturers really want back. Could be some fireworks!

This week kicked off with senators as deadlocked as ever on the tax bill. “Talking, no progress,” was Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden’s (D-Ore.) only comment on the tax deal Monday night.

The Finance panel’s top Republican Mike Crapo (Idaho) said he’s expecting “further refinement on what are poison pills, what are not” this week for the Senate GOP.

Meanwhile, House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) was in the Senate again Monday night for meetings with GOP senators. Smith told us he’s getting close to meeting with most of the conference to discuss his bill.

— Brendan Pedersen and Laura Weiss

AND THERE’S MORE…

Exclusive: House Minority Whip Katherine Clark raised $1.1 million for Democrats in Boston Monday. The massive haul includes $1 million raised for the DCCC through Clark’s WomenLEAD fundraiser. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene and Reps. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), Annie Kuster (D-N.H.) and Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) attended.

Frontline Reps. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas), Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.), Hillary Scholten (D-Mich.) and Emilia Sykes (D-Ohio) were there as well. Clark brought in more than $100,000 for the Frontline women at a Boston event earlier Monday.

News: Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) is rebranding his leadership PAC into an effort focused on promoting gun safety legislation. Beyond Thoughts and Prayers PAC will hold a launch event with Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) in Newton, Mass., on Thursday.

The PAC aims to “change the politics of gun violence” by supporting House candidates in swing seats, while also spending in red states and backing pro-gun safety Democrats in safe districts.

Auchincloss is an ambitious second-term member who launched a leadership PAC during his freshman term. Last cycle, Auchincloss aided Democratic candidates with more than $500,000. He’s already up to $200,000 this cycle.

Also: House Republicans will hold their closed party meeting at the Capitol Hill Club today so they can talk about politics. They will review redistricting results and note that Democrats did not get the maps they wanted in New York and Wisconsin. Leadership will also push for Republicans to help Laurie Buckhout beat Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.).

House GOP retreat update: The House GOP retreat in West Virginia this week runs Wednesday and Thursday. There’s no programming on Friday. Speakers include legendary venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog, pollsters John McLaughlin and Bryan Lanza, and author Os Guinness. There will also be panels on the political climate and pro-life policies. Fox Business anchor Larry Kudlow is the keynote speaker.

Here’s the schedule, for your viewing pleasure.

— Max Cohen and Heather Caygle

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