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THE TOP
Bowman falls in blow to Squad
Happy Wednesday morning.
After years of failed attempts, anti-Squad forces finally beat a progressive Democratic incumbent.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s (D-N.Y.) defeat at the hands of Westchester County Executive George Latimer struck a bitter blow to the Democratic Party’s far-left flank. Latimer beat Bowman by 17 percentage points. But Latimer’s win isn’t easily replicated across the country. Here’s a look at the unique dynamics behind Bowman’s loss.
Millions in outside spending by AIPAC. The 16th District primary was the most expensive House primary of all time, thanks to more than $14 million in spending from AIPAC’s super PAC. This cycle is the first year that the pro-Israel lobby’s super PAC, the United Democracy Project, is investing heavily in primary campaigns.
The pro-Latimer overwhelming spending advantage was an unprecedented boost for the challenger. As we experienced during a reporting trip to the district last week, attack ads hitting Bowman dominated the local airwaves.
Bowman’s many controversies. Make no mistake: AIPAC wouldn’t have dedicated millions of dollars to a primary challenge unless the incumbent was already vulnerable. Exhibit A: The group barely backed fellow Squad member Rep. Summer Lee’s (D-Pa.) primary opponent earlier this spring.
But Bowman stood out as a prime target because of the litany of negative headlines that hampered him. Bowman pulled a fire alarm during a House vote in 2023. Bowman trafficked in 9/11 conspiracy theories in an old blog. Bowman speculated that reports of Hamas terrorists raping Israelis on Oct. 7 were “propaganda.” (He later apologized). Bowman voted against two of President Joe Biden’s signature legislative compromises — the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
What’s more, Bowman faced internal criticism in his district that he wasn’t focused enough on local issues.
Latimer’s deep local ties. Oftentimes challengers to Squad members are written off as outsiders trying to parachute into the district. But that criticism doesn’t hold water with Latimer, a fixture in Westchester politics for decades. Latimer won the endorsement of numerous local officials and capitalized on his high name recognition to effectively campaign.
Next up for AIPAC’s super PAC is the Aug. 1 primary that pits Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) against UDP-backed challenger Wesley Bell. UDP is signaling that it’s willing to heavily invest again to unseat Bush. Bell is the St. Louis prosecuting attorney and is seen as a serious contender to knock off Bush, who’s under DOJ investigation for hiring her husband as a security guard.
In other primary news:
→ | Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah) defeated former President Donald Trump’s endorsed candidate to win the Republican Senate primary in Utah. |
→ | Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-Utah) is ahead of GOP challenger Colby Jenkins by just four points. Maloy, who was elected in November, had Trump’s endorsement. Jenkins had the backing of Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah). |
→ | Former CNN anchor John Avlon won the Democratic nomination to take on vulnerable Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) in the 1st District. In the 22nd District, state Sen. John Mannion will face endangered GOP Rep. Brandon Williams. |
→ | Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) won the Republican primary for Colorado’s 4th District, successfully switching districts and avoiding a potentially tough general election rematch against Adam Frisch in the 3rd District. Republican Greg Lopez won a special election in the 4th District to fill the rest of former Rep. Ken Buck’s (R-Colo.) term. |
Put together, the victories by Latimer, Curtis and Maloy indicate that the center is holding in 2024.
Also: The House will consider three FY 2025 appropriations bills this week — Defense, State-Foreign Operations and Homeland Security. The House Rules Committee has made 329 amendments in order. Not all of these amendments will get a vote on the floor. Here’s the list of amendments.
There are a large number of technical amendments aimed at specific programs, especially on the Defense bill. There are also a slew of “culture war” amendments from hardline conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus.
Plus, some Republicans want to cut the salaries of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to just $1. Other Biden administration officials are also targeted. This won’t happen.
One amendment that won’t be considered: Montana GOP Rep. Matt Rosendale’s provision that would bar the Pentagon from spending money on IVF. Rosendale said IVF is “morally wrong.”
All three spending bills are opposed by House Democratic leaders, and the White House has threatened a veto if they ever get to Biden’s desk.
— Max Cohen and John Bresnahan
June Events! Tomorrow at 9 a.m. ET, join Punchbowl News founder and CEO Anna Palmer for a conversation with Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.). They’ll discuss news of the day and bipartisanship in the 118th Congress. RSVP!
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DATA PRIVACY WATCH
Energy and Commerce to move on data privacy, children’s online safety bills
The House Energy and Commerce Committee will move forward with a big markup Thursday — the American Privacy Rights Act, a bipartisan data privacy bill, and the Kids’ Online Safety Act, which would establish new federal safeguards for children online.
Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) sent out a markup notice late Tuesday night. Thursday’s session will begin at 10 a.m. and should take up most of the day.
In addition to APRA and KOSA — learn your acronyms, people — the committee will also mark up some health care bills and CRA disapproval resolutions.
There’s pretty significant tech industry and business group opposition to both bills. House GOP leaders also aren’t in any hurry to move forward on the twin measures, to say the least.
Yet getting these bills through Energy and Commerce is a win for privacy advocates who’ve been pushing similar legislation for years.
APRA is a bipartisan deal between CMR and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), ranking member of the panel. CMR and Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) had earlier struck a bicameral agreement outlining the framework for a data privacy push in Congress.
The CMR-Pallone bill would create new federal privacy standards, including on how information is collected, used and retained by tech companies. It would allow users to opt out of targeted advertising. There’s also a “private right of action” that lets individual Americans to sue “covered entities” that misuse their personal data without consent. Small businesses are exempted from these requirements.
In addition, the bill includes an updated version of COPPA, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. That legislation mandates a ban on targeted advertising to minors, among other restrictions.
As we’ve reported, there’s pretty strong opposition from Big Tech, business groups and advertisers, as well as some civil liberty advocates, to the CMR-Pallone proposal.
However, NFIB — which represents small businesses — has come out in favor of the exemption included in the legislation.
“Specifically, we thank the Committee for recognizing that small businesses are not the intended target of this legislation,” said Andrea McGee, one of NFIB’s top lobbyists, in a letter to CMR and Pallone on Tuesday.
KOSA, which is sponsored by Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), Erin Houchin (R-Ind.), Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) and Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.), would create an array of new requirements for online platforms to “exercise reasonable care” that they’re not harming children. It would impose restrictions on access to minors’ personal data, and parents would be able to limit how any platform is used.
The advancement of KOSA in the House is a big deal considering that the bill has been stalled for months in the Senate Commerce Committee despite having 70 co-sponsors. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) are the lead sponsors.
Last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer — a KOSA cosponsor — said he was still trying to secure a unanimous consent agreement to hold quick votes on the bill. Senate leaders want to try to avoid burning several days of floor time on legislation that has such overwhelming support.
KOSA could still move across the Senate floor at some point in July, with or without a time agreement.
— John Bresnahan and Andrew Desiderio
Weekday mornings, The Daily Punch brings you inside Capitol Hill, the White House, and Washington.
Listen NowINSIDE THE HOUSE GOP
Emmer to cut big checks for House GOP
News: House Majority Whip Tom Emmer plans to announce two big political moves this morning at a closed party meeting.
The Minnesota Republican will announce that he is transferring another $1.5 million to the NRCC. And Emmer will also reveal that he’s cutting more than $2 million worth of checks to candidates and incumbent House Republicans. He has transferred $10 million to the NRCC and candidates this cycle.
Emmer has raised more than $21 million this cycle so far, vaulting toward the top of the House Republican fundraising list.
The politics-focused conference meeting today, held at the Capitol Hill Club, will feature leadership reports and the altar call, in which lawmakers pony up to the NRCC.
NRCC Chair Richard Hudson is going to review district-level polling, which is aimed at showing shifts toward the GOP from 2020. And Hudson will also spike the football on the NRCC topping the DCCC in fundraising in May.
— Jake Sherman
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The Vault: Bennet talks running on taxes
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) sees a winning message for Democrats to run on their tax agenda this November.
We sat down with the Colorado Democrat to talk about the looming 2025 fight over the expiring Trump tax cuts for our latest in a series of Q&A’s with tax writers. We covered a range of big priorities for Bennet, a member of the Senate Finance Committee who has been one of Democrats’ most vocal advocates for expanding the child tax credit.
Bennet told us he’s also thinking about goals like simplifying the tax code and deficit reduction in a potential tax package next year.
With Capitol Hill’s attention shifting to the campaign trail, we also dove into the politics. There’s a huge amount at stake on Nov. 5 when it comes to tax policy.
Bennet told us he did well with both educated and less-educated voters in his 2022 reelection race thanks to running on priorities like a bigger child tax credit and ending Trump tax cuts for wealthy households. That election had a lot to do with other factors – like abortion rights – but issues such as the child tax credit were a prominent part of Bennet’s platform.
Now, Bennet said he sees a path for President Joe Biden to boost his reelection chances with similar messaging.
“I think it is very important for the American people to understand – we know what the choice is here. It’s not hard.”
Bennet said Biden can draw a contrast with former President Donald Trump and his tax cut law by highlighting attempts to make Democrats’ 2021 child tax credit expansion permanent and bipartisan bills including the infrastructure law and the CHIPS package.
On the campaign trail: Republicans have been plenty eager to message on the Trump tax cuts with the election closing in. Republican lawmakers have been arguing that Biden would raise taxes next year, pointing to the president’s statements about letting parts of the signature 2017 GOP law expire.
But plenty of Democrats are keen to push back on this messaging and argue the law did too much for wealthier households and big corporations.
“Those two records from the vantage point of the American people who want no more trickle-down economics – I mean, you couldn’t get clearer than that,” Bennet said. “That is what we’ve got to litigate between now and November.”
— Laura Weiss
THE CAMPAIGN
Pennsylvania news: Sen. Bob Casey’s (D-Pa.) reelection campaign is running a new ad hitting Republican Dave McCormick on abortion rights. McCormick has said he’ll oppose a federal abortion ban and supports abortion exceptions for rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother.
But Casey is still slamming McCormick for a string of comments he made pledging to “stand tall on pro-life policies.” The ad concludes McCormick is “simply wrong for the women of Pennsylvania.”
House fundraising news: Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) will announce during this morning’s Democratic Caucus meeting that he is making a $120,000 contribution to the DCCC. Pallone will now have chipped in a total of $550,000 in DCCC dues so far this cycle.
As of May, Pallone has raised or donated more than $1 million to Frontliners and Red-to-Blue candidates.
Wisconsin update: New Democrat Coalition Chair Annie Kuster (D-N.H.) and Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) are hosting a fundraiser tonight for Rebecca Cooke. Cooke is running to unseat Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.). The Cooke team sees a tightening race.
— Max Cohen
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Walmart’s investment in U.S. manufacturing is supporting 750,000+ American jobs.
MOMENTS
ALL TIMES EASTERN
10 a.m.
President Joe Biden will get his daily intelligence briefing… Speaker Mike Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emmer, GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik and Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) will hold a post-meeting news conference.
11:15 a.m.
Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, Vice Chair Ted Lieu, DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene and Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) will hold a post-meeting news conference.
4:30 p.m.
Johnson will lead a panel discussion on Title IX and women’s sports.
CLIPS
NYT
“Biden Officials Pushed to Remove Age Limits for Trans Surgery, Documents Show”
— Azeen Ghorayshi
WaPo
“Closed-door espionage trial of U.S. journalist kicks off in Russia”
— Francesca Ebel
WSJ
“The Reason U.S. Arms Shipments to Israel Have Slowed”
— Nancy A. Youssef and Jared Malsin
Politico
“Trump’s endorsement is starting to show its limits”
— Ally Mutnick and Madison Fernandez
Axios
“Mike Johnson to file brief backing Steve Bannon’s Supreme Court appeal”
— Rebecca Falconer
Sacramento Bee
— David Lightman
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Walmart is helping create more than 750,000 jobs across the country by investing an additional $350 billion in products made, grown or assembled in America by 2030. Walmart started working with Freshpet in 2007 and has helped the U.S. made supplier grow their team by 900 employees. That means more jobs and a stronger community in Ennis, TX and Bethlehem, PA. With two-thirds of products sold coming from local suppliers, Walmart supports American jobs and communities across the country. Learn more about Walmart’s commitment to U.S. manufacturing.
Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. Political ads courtesy of AdImpact.
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