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May 17, 2022
Presented by Wells Fargo
At Wells Fargo, we cover more rural markets than many large banks, and nearly 30% of our branches are in low- or moderate-income census tracts. What we say, we do. See how.
PRESENTED BY
THE TOP
Happy Tuesday morning.
House Democratic leaders have renewed their efforts to pass the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act in the wake of Saturday’s horrific, racially motivated shooting in Buffalo that left 10 Black victims dead.
The white teenage gunman who carried out the Buffalo attack was reportedly motivated by racist ideology, including the “Great Replacement” theory. This extremist narrative claims that non-white immigrants are being brought into the United States and other Western societies to replace whites. It has been tied to mass shootings in New Zealand and the U.S..
The bipartisan legislation would create offices inside the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation “to monitor, investigate and prosecute cases of domestic terrorism,” with a focus on white supremacist-related incidents. An interagency task force that includes the Pentagon would also be established “to combat white supremacist infiltration of the uniformed services and federal law enforcement.” It passed the House by voice vote during the 116th Congress but later stalled in the Senate.
“I can’t say [the bill] would have stopped what happened in Buffalo, but it gives federal law enforcement — FBI, Justice, Homeland Security — better tools to better try to stop the next one,” the bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) told us.
Just three weeks ago, House Democratic leaders had to pull the bill after the Squad revolted against the legislation.
At that time, the ACLU also had issues with the definition of “domestic terrorism,” while the Council on American Islamic Relations urged a no vote due to “overpolicing” concerns.
The bill does have three GOP co-sponsors – Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Fred Upton of Michigan and Don Bacon of Nebraska. But it’s unclear how much additional Republican support there will be in the current hyper-partisan atmosphere. Judiciary Committee Republicans opposed the bill, claiming that the Biden administration may use its new authority “to target Americans for their political beliefs and misuse existing domestic terrorism resources.”
WIth only a six-vote margin, Democratic leaders tweaked the wording in the domestic terrorism provision, reverting back to old language from the 115th Congress. They also added some First Amendment protections. The ACLU is expected to remain neutral on the legislation now, sources told us.
“I think we’ll take care of that,” House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said Monday night about changes to the legislation to win over progressive holdouts. A manager’s amendment will be offered to the bill “to take care of some of those problems.”
The tweaks seem to be having an effect on even the most ardent members of the Squad. During the April fiasco, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) told us the DTPA was “a horrible bill.” When we asked Omar about the measure last night, she struck a very different tone.
“We have been working with [leadership] to make some changes,” Omar said. “They’ve been working with us diligently… We have concerns about the First Amendment, we have concerns about it being used. We know how wild the Patriot Act went, we don’t want to duplicate stuff, so we’re trying to make sure there are guardrails.”
We also caught up with Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), who led the initial opposition to the bill. Bush said the legislation needs stronger language on public oversight in order to hold law enforcement officials accountable for abuses of power, but she feels confident that an agreement can be reached this week.
House Rules Committee Chair Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) announced the DTPA would be in front of the Rules Committee today, ahead of a potential floor vote later this week. The House leaves for a two-week recess Thursday, so the timeline to pass the bill is tight.
But with House Republicans broadly opposed to the measure, its fate is unclear in the Senate.
At the same time as they’re pushing the domestic terrorism bill, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her top lieutenants are trying to round up the votes for price gouging bill for oil companies. Democratic aides expressed confidence that the legislation would pass this week, and the House Rules Committee is set to take it up today.
Moderate and vulnerable Democrats have been clamoring for some kind of action – anything – on soaring gas prices, which are crushing President Joe Biden and the party politically.
This bill, the Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act, was introduced by Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) and Katie Porter (D-Calif.). Under the proposal, the president could declare an “energy emergency proclamation.” Companies would be barred from charging “unconscionably excessive” prices for gasoline or other fuels during the emergency. The Federal Trade Commission could investigate allegations of price gouging at the federal level, while state attorneys general could take action at the retail level.
House Democrats were still doing a whip count on the bill on Monday night. While there was some “resistance,” the leadership was certain they could pass it. We heard from some House Democrats that they were concerned about the price control provisions in the bill.
Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.), ranking Republican on the Rules Committee, complained that the FTC already has the authority to investigate price gouging by oil companies. Cole called it a “pathetic fig leaf of a bill that will do absolutely nothing to solve this crisis.”
New: We’re excited to announce our first event in June! We’re interviewing Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) on Tuesday, June 7 at 9 a.m. ET about the impact of 5G on manufacturing. The conversation is the first in a three-part series sponsored by CTIA exploring the wide ranging use of 5G technology, especially when it comes to climate change. Chris Balcik, VP & GM, Mobile B2B Division at Samsung and Bhushan Joshi, Head of Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility at Ericsson will join Anna afterward for a fireside chat. RSVP today!
Check your inbox: We’ll be sending out the latest survey of The Canvass: Capitol Hill this morning. Make sure to weigh (anonymously) on all the latest survey questions from unionization on Capitol Hill to what can actually get done before the midterms.
– John Bresnahan, Christian Hall, Max Cohen, Jake Sherman and Heather Caygle
THE MONEY GAME
House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries and Vice Chair Pete Aguilar hosted an event at District Winery last night. They raised nearly $1.5 million, with $1 million raised in the room from other members. Here’s the letter they sent to Democrats and here’s the invite:
– Heather Caygle and Jake Sherman
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Presented by Wells Fargo
At Wells Fargo, we cover more rural markets than many large banks, and nearly 30% of our branches are in low- or moderate-income census tracts. What we say, we do. See how.