The Archive

IN THIS EDITION

FISA doubts linger as Appropriations, Rules shift likely

House Intel to hear from ‘Havana Syndrome’ victim amid new probe

Top Main Street Republicans miffed by growing support for Good’s challenger

K Street scoffs at Biden’s handling of migrant crisis

House Republicans boost McCormick in Pennsylvania

THE TOP

FISA doubts linger as Appropriations, Rules shift likely

Happy Thursday morning.

News: We have a few news nuggets we wanted to share with you.

1) The House Republican leadership wants to install retiring Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) as the chair of the House Rules Committee for the rest of this Congress. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), the current chair, is expected to be tapped as the next chair of the House Appropriations Committee during a GOP Steering Committee meeting on April 9. Cole is heavily favored to replace retiring Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), who is stepping down from the Appropriations post. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) wants to delay that vote, although that doesn’t seem likely to happen. So Texas would get one gavel but lose another. Speaker Mike Johnson gets to appoint the chair of the Rules Committee.

One quick aside here — there’s never been an Appropriations Committee chair from Oklahoma or Alabama.

Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.) is seen as the future chair of the Rules Committee, but GOP leaders would prefer to keep him as the chief deputy whip for the time being. Chief deputy whips have a long history of success in the House Republican Conference — Roy Blunt (Mo.), Eric Cantor (Va.), Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), Patrick McHenry (N.C.) and Dennis Hastert (Ill.) all served as chief deputy whip.

The looming shuffle at the Appropriations and Rules panels is part of the broader wave of committee makeovers that House Republicans face heading into the 119th Congress.

McHenry is giving up the Financial Services Committee gavel, while Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) is also retiring. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) is term-limited (again) at Education and Workforce, as is Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Science, Space and Technology Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.). Some of those members will seek waivers to stay in their posts; Foxx already got one waiver to chair the Education and Workforce panel this Congress. Some of these chairs will get challenged if they try to stay on, as is already happening at Transportation and Infrastructure.

There’s also Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.), who announced he was retiring, only to reverse course and unretire.

2) Don’t hold your breath for a Ukraine aid bill to come to the floor next week. The Republican leadership intends to move a FISA extension before putting a foreign aid package on the floor, according to multiple sources familiar with GOP plans.

FISA expires on April 19. Ukraine aid is possible after the FISA fight is resolved, but almost everyone believes it’s far more likely to hit the floor the week of April 15.

3) Let’s talk about the FISA situation. There’s still no agreement between the House Judiciary and Intelligence panels over how to handle the Section 702 controversy. This has been going on for months with no resolution.

In December and February, Johnson pulled FISA bills because the two panels — in what’s a bipartisan split — can’t agree on the highly contentious issue of whether the FBI and national security agencies must go to court and obtain a search warrant for any surveillance queries that involve a U.S. person.

The Judiciary Committee, led by Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), the chair and ranking member, wants this provision added to FISA. The Intelligence Committee, led by Reps. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) and Jim Himes (D-Conn.) — and backed up by the national security agencies — says no.

Johnson has been unable to find a consensus, even when he sat Jordan and Turner down for a face-to-face negotiation. Johnson backed away from bringing the Intelligence Committee version of the legislation to the floor last month.

There’s been lots of chatter behind the scenes this week over potential permutations for a floor vote. Would Johnson try to go to Rules on the previous FISA package — favored by the Intelligence Committee — and allow amendment votes? Would he just attempt to bring it up under suspension, figuring it can garner 290 votes? Will he try again for a compromise?

Again, there hasn’t been a decision made on this.

Also news: The Congressional Leadership Fund raised $25 million in the first quarter of 2024. They have $65 million on hand. In 2020, the last presidential election year, CLF raised $5.4 million in the first quarter.

CLF and the American Action Network have raised $142 million this cycle. Johnson, like McCarthy before him, backs the groups and helps them raise money.

— Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan

Two weeks out! Rep. John Joyce (R-Pa.) will join Punchbowl News Managing Editor Heather Caygle on Thursday, April 18 at 9 a.m. ET for an interview on the news of the day and how 5G supports America’s global competitiveness. RSVP now!

WASHINGTON X THE WORLD

House Intel to hear from ‘Havana Syndrome’ victim amid new probe

A U.S. government official inflicted with the mysterious illness known as Havana Syndrome is slated to appear before the House Intelligence Committee in a classified setting as soon as next month.

The official, whom Punchbowl News isn’t naming, has been providing classified information to committee investigators about the potential causes of what the U.S. government formally calls “anomalous health incidents.”

News of the upcoming testimony comes just days after a “60 Minutes”-led investigation uncovered new evidence that a Russian military-intelligence unit could be behind the incidents, which have targeted U.S. diplomats and intelligence agents overseas and on American soil. Lawmakers were first informed about the nexus to Russia’s GRU in 2021.

The individual’s cooperation with the House panel shows that despite recent intelligence assessments casting doubt on the notion that a foreign adversary is behind the incidents, Congress is still actively investigating the matter — including whether U.S. intelligence agencies have sought to downplay the causes and severity.

A spokesperson for the Intelligence Committee said it’s a violation of both the panel and House rules “to comment, confirm, or deny anything related to the identity of whistleblowers.”

The House Intelligence Committee, along with its Senate counterpart, has been investigating the issue for several years now. The “60 Minutes” investigation renewed lawmakers’ concerns about the U.S. government’s forthrightness on this issue.

Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.), who chairs the panel’s CIA subcommittee, told The Daily Mail on Wednesday that the investigative work “will continue until we are satisfied with the Intelligence Community’s response to this challenge.”

The official expected to appear before the Intelligence Committee is one of several current and former government employees who were compensated under the HAVANA Act, a 2021 law that set aside new funding for victims and their families.

Many victims have suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of the phenomenon, which causes a person to feel ringing and pressure in the ears, among other debilitating symptoms.

A recent NIH study determined that the symptoms “are very real, cause significant disruption in the lives of those affected and can be quite prolonged, disabling and difficult to treat.” However, the study also found “no significant evidence of MRI-detectable brain injury.”

A previous U.S.-commissioned report found “directed, pulsed radiofrequency energy” as the likely cause, leading lawmakers to begin referring to the incidents as “directed-energy attacks.”

— Andrew Desiderio

THE HOUSE GOP

Top Main Street Republicans miffed by growing support for Good’s challenger

When the political arm of the center-right Main Street Caucus endorsed Rep. Bob Good’s (R-Va.) challenger last month, it raised some eyebrows on Capitol Hill.

While the chair of the House Freedom Caucus is far from beloved among pragmatic GOP types, Good’s opponent — MAGA state Sen. John McGuire — doesn’t fit your typical “governing conservative” brand favored by Main Street.

In conversations with top Main Street members, there’s befuddlement about the decision to meddle in Good’s primary. To be clear, the political wing of the Main Street Caucus — the Defending Main Street PAC — operates independently from the official group. But the group’s Hill leaders nevertheless expressed a notable amount of suspicion over the move directed by their off-campus allies.

“I’m certainly not going to give John McGuire any money, I’ll tell you that,” Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), the Main Street chair, told us.

“Sarah’s gonna do what she’s gonna do,” Johnson added, referencing the RMSP CEO, Sarah Chamberlain.

Another Main Street leader, Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), told us he hasn’t been tracking the race closely. But he bemoaned that groups are getting involved in primarying sitting members despite Speaker Mike Johnson’s plea not to do so.

“If everybody’s a free agent, people are going to engage in different places. So everyone plays with the rules as they are and not the rules as they wish they were,” Armstrong said. “At the same time, we got the speaker asking everybody not to go, and we got guys campaigning against [Rep. Tony] Gonzales in Texas too.”

Chamberlain said her organization “spends 99% of our time supporting incumbents in tough races and pragmatic conservatives in open seats.”

“But there are exceptions to every rule. Bob Good is one of those exceptions,” Chamberlain added.

Good’s view: Good is relishing Main Street’s involvement in the race. Good senses an opportunity to use the group as a foil to burnish his conservative bona fides.

“I think the Main Street group should come down and campaign for my opponent. That would really help me,” Good said. “I would owe them an in-kind campaign contribution if they do that.”

Good recently appeared alongside Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas), two of the most hardline conservatives in Congress

But despite Good’s far-right policy positions, his early endorsement of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the presidential race has angered former President Donald Trump and his allies. Good endorsed Trump after DeSantis dropped out, but the damage had been done. Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita has pledged to end Good’s career.

McGuire, who was present at the Jan. 6 Ellipse rally, has received a bevy of support from a number of sitting members who span the House GOP ideological spectrum. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), harboring a grudge after being booted from HFC, is backing McGuire. As is center-right majority-maker Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.), who rarely is on the same side as MTG.

— Max Cohen

K Street scoffs at Biden’s handling of migrant crisis

Most K Street leaders are dissatisfied with how the Biden administration is handling the U.S.-Mexico border crisis, according to our latest survey, The Canvass.

Unsurprisingly, respondents were split across party lines, with 92% of Republicans and 35% of Democrats disapproving of President Joe Biden’s stance on the border.

House Republicans have been eager to knock the White House for the surge in migrant crossings, going so far as to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in February.

At the same time, 73% of K Street leaders said it’s unlikely Congress will send additional funding to American cities to handle the increase in the number of migrants coming in. This prediction was shared across party lines, with 74% of Democrats and 72% of Republicans in agreement.

This comes as no surprise. The same Republicans who blame Biden for the border crisis also walked away from the Senate’s bipartisan border bill after almost four months of negotiations. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans withdrew their support after former President Donald Trump came out against the deal.

Plus, Speaker Mike Johnson continues to push for the House GOP’s hardline border security bill, H.R. 2, which no Democrats support.

The Canvass K Street was conducted March 4-22 in partnership with LSG.

Want to take part in The Canvass? Our survey provides anonymous monthly insights from top Capitol Hill staffers and K Street leaders on key issues facing Washington. Sign up here if you work on K Street. Click here to sign up if you’re a senior congressional staffer.

— Donna Baeck

2024 WATCH

House Republicans boost McCormick in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick is slowly picking up help from House Republicans.

Several House Republicans — including some hardliners — expressed interest in heading up to the Keystone State to help McCormick as he faces off against Democratic Sen. Bob Casey.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is planning a late April fundraiser for McCormick and hopes to hold events with the Pennsylvania wrestling community to raise McCormick’s profile. The two share a wrestling background.

“McCormick’s a great candidate and a wrestling guy,” Jordan told us. “We want to do some things with the wrestling community in Pennsylvania because it’s so strong. It’s the biggest wrestling state in the country.”

Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.) is a surrogate speaker for McCormick and has been holding fundraisers and events for him in Washington and Pennsylvania.

“He’s running the smartest campaign that he knows how,” Meuser told us. “He’s on the right side of the policies. He’s a really hard worker and he’s a problem solver.”

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) told us he and other Freedom Caucus members are also open to helping McCormick.

“It’s McCormick’s campaign, so he’s going to decide what he wants and then let us know and then we’ll figure it out if it fits our profile,” Perry said.

Republicans view Pennsylvania as a possible re-do opportunity after Democratic Sen. John Fetterman handily defeated Mehmet Oz in 2022. McCormick ran for the GOP nomination that year but lost to Oz.

— Mica Soellner

MOMENTS

CLIPS