The Archive
Every issue of the Punchbowl News newsletter, including our special editions, right here at your fingertips.
Join the community, and get the morning edition delivered straight to your inbox.
April 14, 2023
Punchbowl News Presents
By transforming bill tracking and floor action with expert analysis from the Punchbowl News team, The Portal delivers concise, curated insights that cut through the noise, helping policy leaders win. Request a demo today.
PRESENTED BY
THE TOP
Happy Friday morning.
When Congress returns next week, Washington will begin to get noisy with chatter about the debt limit and federal spending. But also, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — the not-quite-yet presidential candidate — will be in D.C. to talk about policy and meet with a group of House and Senate Republicans.
Here’s the invite and we’ll talk more on the other side.
A few things to point out here:
No. 1: While there’s no absolute stunner on the list of hosts, we were a little taken aback by Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-Utah) participation. Furthermore, Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), a staunch conservative who gave Kevin McCarthy a very difficult time during the January floor fight for speaker, would appear more likely to line up with former President Donald Trump. But alas, this may be a bit of a confusing primary for a lot of Republican elected officials.
No. 2: Simply attending this meeting is putting a target on your back in Trump World. The attendees of the meeting will definitely leak out — we’ll be reporting on it! — and if they’re considering throwing their support to DeSantis, Trump won’t be happy. We know Trump has been out of Washington for a few years, but his passion for vengeance on those who cross him appears undimmed.
No. 3: This event is being held in the Heritage Foundation’s building on Pennsylvania Avenue, SE.
No. 4: Every Republican who goes to this event will be asked whether they support DeSantis’ approval of a new Florida law to ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The Florida legislature passed the bill Thursday, and DeSantis signed it late last night in a private ceremony. The Florida Supreme Court still has to rule on the state’s current 15-week abortion ban, so the status of this new legislation is still unclear.
No. 5: DeSantis is getting a lot of flak right now from pro-Trump forces for being outside of Florida (he was in Ohio Thursday and will be in New Hampshire today) as a “1-in-1,000 years” rainstorm dumped mind-boggling amounts of water on Fort Lauderdale and Broward County Wednesday. There was flooding everywhere across the region. Fort Lauderdale’s airport was shut down, although it will reopen today. DeSantis — who returned to Florida on Thursday night — issued a state of emergency declaration for Broward County on Thursday.
This is the big challenge when you’re a governor running for president. It’s difficult to have a day job running a large state while moonlighting as a presidential candidate. Every step you take outside the state is scrutinized — and someone will be angry. Especially when something goes wrong back home. And it always does.
No. 6: DeSantis and Trump are both speaking at the NRA convention today in Indianapolis. Trump will be in person, DeSantis by video. Also speaking — and this shows how influential the NRA remains inside the party despite some rough years — are former Vice President Mike Pence; Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) by video; former S.C. GOP Gov. Nikki Haley by video; and former Arkansas GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson, among others.
Also: Read this very interesting story in ProPublica about billionaire Harlan Crow buying Justice Clarence Thomas’ family home in South Carolina. Thomas never disclosed the 2014 transaction on his financial disclosure form as required.
Sen. Sheldon Whiteouse (D-R.I.) – a frequent Supreme Court critic – is calling on the Judicial Conference to refer Thomas to Attorney General Merrick Garland for a possible ethics probe. Or Whitehouse wants Chief Justice John Roberts to look into Thomas’ dealings with Crow, a GOP mega donor.
Democrats aren’t going to let this matter just go away, especially inside the Senate Judiciary Committee.
– Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan
Next week: Punchbowl News founders Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman will interview House Problem Solvers Caucus Co-Chairs Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) on Thursday, April 20 at 9 a.m. ET. The co-chairs will share their views on the challenges facing small business owners. This conversation is the first in a three-part series, Small Business, America’s Future. RSVP now!
PUNCH POWER MATRIX
— Max Cohen
OVERSIGHT WATCH
Reading between the lines of the Oversight spat
A messy confrontation between House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member, over panel rules dominated coverage last week. But the spat can’t change an uncomfortable reality for Democrats — when it comes to GOP investigations, there’s not much they can do in the minority.
So as Comer plugs away at his controversial, high-profile investigation of President Joe Biden’s family members and their business dealings, Raskin is doing his best to try to reorient the narrative. The progressive firebrand is crying foul at Comer’s methods while making sure the biggest committee news comes from the Democratic side, not from the Kentucky Republican.
The fight spilled into the open last week, incensing Oversight Republicans who argue Raskin is trying to distract from GOP breakthroughs in reviewing bank records tied to questionable Biden family deals.
In recent memos and letters sent both to Comer and Oversight Democrats, Raskin repeatedly complained that Comer isn’t playing by the rules. Raskin accused Comer of issuing “secret subpoenas” and failing to give Democrats “equal access” to information. Republicans, furious at Raskin’s claims, argued Raskin was spreading disinformation.
Along with Raskin’s procedural arguments, the Democrat has divulged major Oversight news within his missives. In a March letter upbraiding Comer for his treatment of the Mazars case dealing with Trump’s tax returns, Raskin announced Comer had subpoenaed a business associate of Hunter and James Biden. Raskin was at it again last week, writing that Comer had quietly subpoenaed four financial institutions and another Biden family associate.
Accompanying the subpoena news was an inside baseball dispute over whether Republicans were giving Democrats enough heads-up and access to information.
The issue is extremely niche and the arguments likely don’t make much difference to the American public. But the flashpoint still matters inside the committee and it’s sparked major conflicts.
To recap briefly: Raskin’s initial April 6 letter accused Comer of “efforts to shield information.” Comer responded by calling Raskin “untrustworthy.” A subsequent April 6 Raskin memo claimed Comer issued “secret subpoenas.” The House Oversight GOP Twitter account released an April 7 thread labeling Raskin’s claim “DEM DISINFO.”
Democratic aides rebutted the Twitter thread to us, arguing there was a difference between formal committee rules and a bipartisan agreement between the chair and ranking member. Here’s a statement from a Democratic Oversight Committee spokesperson slamming Comer for acting in bad faith. So that’s how strongly the two sides feel here.
Although this particular war of words is new for this Congress, the Comer-Raskin back-and-forth reveals a typical strategic dilemma. Minority parties in the House are powerless to issue subpoenas of their own — or block the majority’s subpoenas — and can do very little to obstruct investigations.
So the more the two sides bicker about procedure, the less attention is on the substance of Comer’s claims, Republicans argue.
“Democrats’ latest tactics are just more attempts to distract from the Oversight Committee’s efforts to hold President Biden and his administration accountable,” Comer said to us.
Raskin’s team insists these are serious concerns that deserve to be addressed.
In the meantime, Comer promised on Fox News this week that he’d hold a news conference in two weeks time with updates on his Biden family investigation. Until then, the partisan fights will rage on.
Raskin’s approach mirrors that of other House Democrats in similar positions. Weaponization of the Federal Government Subcommittee Ranking Member Stacey Plaskett (D-V.I.) wrote to Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) in March accusing him of keeping her out of the loop on committee business.
“I must assume from these actions that you are not a professional, nor are you an honest broker,” Plaskett said to the Ohio Republican.
And House Judiciary Democrats also tried to preempt GOP investigations last month by releasing a sprawling staff report seeking to pre-but whistleblower testimony that Jordan conducted.
— Max Cohen
PRESENTED BY BAYER
Bayer RUNs BLUE with Mina Guli. As the lead sponsor of Mina’s campaign, Bayer has helped generate worldwide awareness surrounding the water crisis.
THE CAMPAIGN
| → | News: Freshman Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.) raised $460,000 during the first quarter of 2023. Sorensen, a Frontliner who replaced Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) in Congress, narrowly won in 2022 by four points. His campaign has $420,000 on hand. |
| → | News: The New Democrat Coalition Action Fund — the campaign arm of the moderate House Democratic group — raised over $1.45 million in Q1. Of this total, $1 million was raised directly into the group’s PAC and $450,000 went to New Dem members. As we reported earlier this year, this is the first year New Dem Action Fund has had a dedicated national finance team, led by Reps. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) and Marc Veasey (D-Texas). |
| → | Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) raised over $620,000 in Q1. The freshman lawmaker’s cash-on-hand is more than $560,000. |
| → | Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) raised $745,722 and has north of $5 million on hand … Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) raised $285,608 and has $1.7 million on hand. … Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) has $10 million … Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) has $2.1 million in the bank … Rep. Alex Mooney’s (R-W.Va.) Senate campaign has $1.3 million. |
– Max Cohen, Jake Sherman and Mica Soellner
DOWNTOWN DOWNLOAD
| → | Crossroads Strategies has signed up to represent GE Aerospace. They’ll lobby on “[l]egislative and policy issues related to the aerospace industry including defense authorization and appropriations related legislation.” Former Sens. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and John Breaux (D-La.) are on the account. |
| → | Check out this fundraising invite for a breakfast supporting Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas). A number of senior lobbyists at theGROUP are organizing the fundraiser. |
– Jake Sherman and Max Cohen
Crucial Capitol Hill news AM, Midday, and PM—5 times a week
Join a community of some of the most powerful people in Washington and beyond. Exclusive newsmaker events, parties, in-person and virtual briefings and more.
Subscribe to Premium
The Canvass Year-End Report
And what senior aides and downtown figures believe will happen in 2023.
Check it outEvery single issue of Punchbowl News published, all in one place
Visit the archive
Punchbowl News Presents
By transforming bill tracking and floor action with expert analysis from the Punchbowl News team, The Portal delivers concise, curated insights that cut through the noise, helping policy leaders win. Request a demo today.