The Archive

IN THIS EDITION

The Senate’s tussle over punishing the ICC

The Vault: Jordan to fundraise for Huizenga, Torres dings FHFA

What to watch in these GOP primaries

Oversight Dems: Garland contempt is distraction from ‘sham impeachment’

Galán-Woods up on the air in AZ-01

THE TOP

The Senate’s tussle over punishing the ICC

Happy Tuesday morning.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is mired in a partisan feud that’s threatening to grind the panel’s business to a halt.

The dispute centers around an effort to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court in response to its targeting of top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for potential arrest warrants.

This is news: Sen. Jim Risch (Idaho), the committee’s top Republican, is refusing to give his consent for the panel to take up any legislation or nominations until Democrats agree to move forward on an ICC bill — either in committee or on the floor.

Republicans say Democrats aren’t engaging in a serious way on a bipartisan ICC bill and are trying to give political cover to the White House, which opposes sanctions. Republicans also point to the House’s passage of an ICC sanctions bill that dozens of Democrats supported as another reason to press the issue.

Risch’s ultimatum is significant because the committee operates largely on comity. For instance, the panel’s business meetings usually aren’t scheduled until both sides sign off on the agenda. Democrats see Risch’s move as another example of Republicans trying to use Israel as a political weapon.

In a statement, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ben Cardin (D-Md.) told us that Republicans’ “political maneuvering” is jeopardizing bipartisan efforts to punish the ICC:

The backstory: After the ICC’s top prosecutor announced on May 20 that he was seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials, a dozen senators from both parties got on a conference call and vowed to draw up legislation to punish the ICC, according to sources familiar with the situation.

However, since that call, there’s been no substantive movement toward a bipartisan deal in the Senate. Last week, the House passed a GOP-led ICC sanctions bill that got 42 Democratic votes despite White House opposition. Senate Republicans saw an opening.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer declined to say whether he’d take up the House bill, with a spokesperson deferring to an ongoing “bipartisan negotiation.” Republicans viewed this statement as a deflection. In their view, there’s no actual negotiation occurring because GOP offers have gone unanswered.

When things really blew up: Schumer’s statement, coupled with the fact that the House bill received some Democratic support, caused Risch to tweet the following from the committee’s X account:

The tweet set off a firestorm inside the committee. Senate Democratic leaders maintained that the House-passed bill doesn’t represent a bipartisan compromise.

Risch’s team then told Cardin’s staff that the Idaho Republican wouldn’t sign off on a committee-level business meeting until there’s a definitive path forward on ICC legislation.

Alex Nguyen, Schumer’s spokesperson, said the majority leader and Cardin were already scheduled to meet later today to discuss a bipartisan path forward on an ICC bill.

“This is essentially the same Tuberville-type strategy that doesn’t work,” Nguyen added of Risch’s move. That’s a reference to Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) months-long blockade of military promotions.

Cardin feels the squeeze: Risch has forced Cardin into an uncomfortable spot. The Maryland Democrat, who’s retiring at the end of this Congress, is loath to engage in partisan spats over foreign policy.

But Cardin told us it was “deeply disappointing to see House Republicans push a divisive partisan bill… rather than pursuing a sensible, bipartisan approach.”

Congressional Democrats and the Biden administration joined Republicans in forcefully condemning the possible ICC arrest warrants for both Israeli and Hamas officials, saying it drew a false equivalency between the staunch U.S. ally and a terrorist group. The House GOP bill does, however, give the president the authority to waive some sanctions.

A few more news nuggets:

→	White House sources told us that they expect to announce Christy Goldsmith Romero as the new head of the FDIC this week. Much more on this in the Midday edition. WSJ scooped Romero’s candidacy.

→	The House Energy and Commerce Committee delayed its markup of the American Privacy Rights Act. It was scheduled to be marked up this week. Here’s what the E&C Committee sent to its members and aides last night:

— Andrew Desiderio, Jake Sherman and Brendan Pedersen

JUNE EVENTS! Tomorrow at 9 a.m. ET, join Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman for a conversation with Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.). They’ll discuss the news of the day and how AI will impact the future of infrastructure, security and tourism worldwide. RSVP!

The Vault: Jordan to fundraise for Huizenga, Torres dings FHFA

First in The Vault: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) will travel to Michigan next week for a fundraiser on behalf of Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), according to an invite we obtained.

Jordan will appear alongside Huizenga in Hudsonville, Mich., on Monday as a special guest.

Huizenga, of course, is one of several lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee vying to be the panel’s next top Republican. Jordan is a powerful committee chair who briefly ran for speaker in the aftermath of Kevin McCarthy’s ouster. Among House Republicans, Jordan has about as much clout as any lawmaker outside of leadership.

Jordan’s office said his visit to help Huizenga is in line with the Ohio Republican’s ongoing efforts to boost every member of the GOP conference.

“Chairman Jordan is focused on helping his colleagues across the country in order to expand our majority and get President Trump elected,” said Russell Dye, Jordan’s spokesperson.

We wrote about Jordan’s escalated efforts this Congress to help candidates and incumbents across the country. We see it as a strong potential indicator of the lawmaker’s future ambitions.

First in The Vault, Part II: Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) sent a letter to Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Sandra Thompson this week urging the agency to rethink its approach to single-family closed-end second mortgages.

The letter, which was also signed by Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), told Thompson the lawmakers were concerned that an FHFA proposal from April to begin purchasing those types of mortgages “risks unfairly widening the gap between underserved households, including communities of color, and wealthier homeowners.”

The FHFA argued back in April that their approach would “provide borrowers a lower cost alternative to a cash-out refinance in higher interest rate environments.”

Read the letter here.

— Brendan Pedersen, Mica Soellner and Max Cohen

What to watch in these GOP primaries

Happy primary day to those celebrating in Maine, Nevada, North Dakota and South Carolina! Here are the top questions on our minds today.

Will the late Trump endorsement make it a cakewalk for Sam Brown?

Sam Brown has long been seen as the frontrunner in the Nevada Republican Senate primary, but an elusive endorsement from former President Donald Trump had escaped him. That was until late Sunday evening.

The former president issued a Truth Social post backing Brown after oddly not endorsing the Republican during a Las Vegas rally hours before. But now that Trump is on board, Brown appears to be on a glide path to prevail over Trump’s former ambassador to Iceland, Jeff Gunter.

Brown is supported by the NRSC and most major Republicans. The party establishment is betting he’s the right choice to topple vulnerable Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) in the critical swing state.

Will scandal-hit Nancy Mace survive a stiff primary challenge?

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) is trying to fend off a challenge from Catherine Templeton, the former director of the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Mace, of course, is one of the eight House Republicans who voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, so that dynamic is at play here. McCarthy has been working behind the scenes to topple his opponents by throwing support to viable challengers.

Templeton is endorsed by former Speaker Newt Gingrich, as well as longtime GOP South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson.

Mace has the backing of Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson, who has been working to ensure incumbents keep their seats.

Something to keep in mind: If no candidate wins a majority of the vote, the primary heads to a runoff. There’s a third candidate in this race — Bill Young — and that could raise the chances of a runoff.

Will the Freedom Caucus claim a primary scalp?

We’re also watching Rep. William Timmons’ (R-S.C.) race against state Rep. Adam Morgan, who chairs the South Carolina Freedom Caucus.

Timmons, who has Trump and Johnson’s support, spent yesterday campaigning with Gov. Henry McMaster and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette.

Timmons also released a radio ad over the weekend that featured Trump and Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) encouraging voters to turn out for him.

Morgan, meanwhile, has support from nine House conservatives and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah.).

Will Armstrong win promotion to the governor’s mansion?

Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) is running to succeed retiring Gov. Doug Burgum. Armstrong has secured the Trump endorsement and has led in the polls over his primary opponent, Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller.

In the GOP primary to fill Armstrong’s House seat, Julie Fedorchak is the favorite. She’s backed by both Trump and Burgum.

— Mica Soellner and Max Cohen

Oversight Dems: Garland contempt is distraction from ‘sham impeachment’

News: House Oversight Committee Democrats are circulating a memo painting the Republican move to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt as a way to distract from the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

The contempt resolution, set to be voted on this week in the House, argues that Garland violated a congressional subpoena by refusing to hand over the audiotapes of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s interview with the president. The Justice Department strongly denies this and says it has cooperated by turning over transcripts of the interview. Biden has asserted executive privilege over the audio.

“Hearing these interviews on an audiotape rather than reading them in a transcript will not change the content of these interviews,” the Democrats’ memo reads.

The Republican argument — that the tapes would reveal “verbal nuances” integral to the impeachment probe — is brushed off by the Democrats as “simply ludicrous.”

“These contempt proceedings are a transparent effort to find a scapegoat for the embarrassing failure of this sham impeachment effort,” the memo concludes.

— Max Cohen

AD WATCH

Galán-Woods up on the air in AZ-01

News: Democrat Marlene Galán-Woods’ first ad in the race for Arizona’s 1st District takes aim at Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) as an “extremist” on reproductive rights. Galán-Woods is running in the crowded Democratic primary for a chance to unseat Schweikert in a seat that narrowly voted for President Joe Biden in 2020.

Galán-Woods also incorporates her background into the ad, highlighting how her parents fled Cuba’s Communist regime.

“[Schweikert] wants to criminalize abortion and ban IVF,” she says in the ad. “Thank God we still have a democracy. We don’t have to flee from extremists, we can vote them out of office.”

The primary is July 30.

— Max Cohen

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