The Archive

INSIDE THE HOUSE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS

W.H. to House Dems: Don’t worry, be happy

When House Democratic chiefs of staff heard that they’d be getting a briefing from Louisa Terrell, the director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, at their weekly gathering Monday, they were hopeful.

Terrell comes to the Hill often, and these influential House Democratic aides – the real backbone of the caucus – expected the White House to have some positive news to share. This anxious group is keeping a wary eye out for the latest political developments as the midterms grow closer.

But Terrell’s presentation, delivered in the House basement Monday, was a complete bust, a half-dozen staffers who attended the meeting told us afterward.

With gas averaging $4.37 per gallon, Terrell said House Democratic chiefs of staff should have their bosses tout the fact that prices have fallen in recent weeks. No one is talking about that, Terrell insisted.

Several chiefs described her message as “weird,” “out of touch” and “landing like a lead balloon.”

Terrell also suggested House Democrats talk more about the bipartisan infrastructure law that President Joe Biden signed into law last November, or the American Rescue Plan, which became law in March 2021.

And Terrell said Biden would do more to tackle the climate crisis, but she didn’t offer specifics on what the president has in mind.

During her presentation, Terrell read from a list of talking points. She said the administration has made lots of progress and they’re excited to go into the August recess with momentum.

One bright spot for Democrats? Terrell mentioned how Cabinet members, particularly popular officials such as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, plan to travel “extensively” in the coming weeks to talk up the administration’s agenda.

Most of the chiefs and leadership aides we spoke to didn’t agree with Terrell’s perspective or message. At all. One attendee put it this way, summing up the feeling from several of our sources: “What we got from the White House was boilerplate, a lecture and more bullshit about what Biden is going to do on climate with no specifics.”

Some sources reached out to us to say that the meeting was a standard briefing from the White House. Jamie Fleet, the staff director on the House Administration Committee, told us that the “presentation was a timely reminder of the shared successes of House Democrats and the administration.”

“It was also an opportunity to continue to partner to lift up this message to the American people during the August recess and [Terrell] suggested specific strategies to do just that,” Fleet said.

Here’s Vince Evans, the staff director for the Congressional Black Caucus:

Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman, sent us this statement:

But let us set the scene here for a moment. House Democrats are a dejected bunch right now. The House has lost on many of its priorities in the CHIPS Plus bill. The reconciliation bill the Senate may take up next week – if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer can muster 50 votes – represents just a fraction of what House Democrats voted for way back in November. Furthermore, House Democrats are being forced to swallow the Senate’s bill, on which they have no input.

And as we laid out above, the party is in a constant state of unrest, with progressives and moderates often bashing the other. The party is on the verge of losing the House and possibly the Senate. And Biden is a political piñata, with polls showing even a majority of Democrats don’t want him to run again.

Part of the House Democratic Caucus meeting this morning will be devoted to what the leadership suggests as ideal messaging over the August recess.

– Jake Sherman and Heather Caygle

INSIDE THE SENATE GOP

The Summer of John (Cornyn)

We at Punchbowl News have been focused intently on the burgeoning competition between the “Three Johns” – Sens. John Cornyn of Texas, John Thune of South Dakota and John Barrasso of Wyoming – in the slow-motion yet very real race to become the next Senate Republican leader whenever Mitch McConnell calls it quits. Which won’t be anytime soon.

It’s hard not to notice that Cornyn, the Texas Republican, has had a good couple of months.

“It’s been a long, strange trip,” Cornyn said, invoking the poets Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh and Robert Hunter, aka the Grateful Dead. “But it looks like we’re going to get there.”

There are two ways to view Cornyn’s recent success. His detractors will say that he may be sticking his neck out too far, getting crosswise with a hardline conservative swath of the Senate Republican Conference. Cornyn freely acknowledges that two of his big accomplishments – CHIPS and guns – came on issues that divided Republicans, and that could be a challenge in mounting a race for leader. But Cornyn supporters say that leaders lead. They find ways to solve thorny issues and move the party toward sometimes uncomfortable but necessary compromises.

Here’s how Cornyn put it to us:

This gets us back to the ultimate question which we try to return to as frequently as possible: What does Cornyn want, and will deal-making help him get there? There’s no question in our mind that he wants to be GOP leader – as do Thune and Barrasso. Cornyn – a former NRSC chair – raises a ton of money, comes from a reliably red state and has policy and political depth. He checks all the boxes on the leadership resume requirements.

But even Cornyn acknowledges that it’s more complex than that.

We asked Cornyn if his successful summer helps him move toward the leader slot. “Depends what people are looking for,” Cornyn responded. In other words, will Senate Republicans want a bomb thrower or someone who can tiptoe on narrow political ground?

More from Cornyn:

None of this is to say that Cornyn is the top of the Three Johns. Both Thune and Barrasso have significant upside as well. Thune is the current GOP whip and has broad appeal within the GOP conference. Barrasso is seen as the most unflinchingly conservative of the three. But Cornyn has clearly used this summer to make a mark as a legislative workhorse.

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who, like Cornyn, is close to McConnell, put it this way:

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), the Democratic lead on the gun-control package, said that when he presides over the Senate every Tuesday between 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Cornyn is on the floor “eviscerating Democrats and the president over some particular policy.” Murphy dubbed Cornyn one of the party’s most effective messengers. So when Cornyn says that he sees a “narrow area of agreement” with Democrats, that has credibility, Murphy said.

The ultimate question all of this leads to is this: Does dealmaking still matter in the Senate? And the answer to that is yes and no. There are obviously far fewer deals to be had then there were 30 years ago. But Senate leaders still have to find bipartisan agreement on legislative items ranging from government funding to the debt limit to political emergencies, such as gun control in the wake of several horrific mass shootings that stunned the nation. On this, Cornyn is proving adept. Here’s Cornyn:

– Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan

THE CAMPAIGN

Masters, of course, has been endorsed by Trump ahead of the Aug. 2 Arizona Republican Senate primary.

Here are previously unreported Masters’ comments, delivered to the Superstition Mountain Republican Club on July 14:

Masters also said McConnell is “part of the establishment” and “part of the swamp” in previously unreported comments at an Arizona Young Republicans mixer in October 2021.

“I will only vote for a majority leader who I am convinced will effectuate a Trump 2016 agenda,” Masters said. “I don’t think [McConnell’s] on the America First agenda like he needs to be. That’s a conversation I will have with him when I’m in the U.S. Senate, for sure.”

Watch the full exchange here.

To be sure, Masters has attacked McConnell publicly in recent weeks. But these newly unearthed comments are just the latest example of how the Trump-endorsed candidate is continuing to slam the GOP’s Senate standard-bearer.

Arizona’s Senate race is a major focus as Republicans look to unseat vulnerable incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).

– Max Cohen and Jake Sherman

WHAT DEPUTY SECRETARY DON GRAVES TOLD US

Catch up on our conversation with Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves here. We discussed the impacts of passing the CHIPS Plus legislation, the state of the U.S. economy and the possible location of the National Semiconductor Technology Center.

MOMENTS

9:30 a.m.: President Joe Biden will receive his daily intelligence briefing virtually.

10:15 a.m.: House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries and Vice Chair Pete Aguilar will hold a post-caucus meeting news conference.

10:45 a.m.: House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, Republican Conference Vice Chair Mike Johnson and Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) will hold a news conference following the GOP conference meeting.

11 a.m.: Speaker Nancy Pelosi will hold a ceremony to dedicate a statue of famed pilot Amelia Earhart.

2:30 p.m.: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and other GOP senators will hold a news conference to talk about crime.

3 p.m.: Karine Jean-Pierre will brief. … House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer will hold his pen and pad.

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