The Archive

IN THIS EDITION

Biden tries to rally following debate debacle as Trump awaits SCOTUS

Stern heads to K Street

2 new financial services lobbying sign ups

Hill staffers pessimistic about House Ag Committee’s farm bill

THE TOP

Biden tries to rally following debate debacle as Trump awaits SCOTUS

Happy Monday morning.

Programming note: We only have AM editions this week. We’ll be back to our regular schedule next week.

Happy July. It’s the July 4 recess. The House and Senate are out of session. President Joe Biden is at Camp David today and will return to the White House tonight.

We’re going to focus this morning on two issues — the continued fallout from Biden’s disastrous debate performance on Thursday, plus the upcoming Supreme Court ruling on former President Donald Trump’s immunity claim regarding his actions during the Jan. 6 insurrection. That decision is expected today.

The Sunday shows were full of Democrats trying to downplay, dismiss or explain away what happened to Biden during the Atlanta debate. Their answers weren’t great, and it underscores the lose-lose situation Democrats now face.

Here’s House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to MSNBC on whether he “opened the door” to replacing Biden on the ticket:

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), national co-chair of Biden’s reelection campaign, was pressed repeatedly by ABC’s Jon Karl on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” whether Biden is the only Democrat who can beat Trump. Coons’ response:

Yet look at this CBS News post-debate poll. When asked whether Biden has “the mental and cognitive health to serve as president,” only 27% of respondents said yes, versus 72% who said no. This is down dramatically from early June.

Perhaps more stunningly, only 54% of Democrats said Biden should be running for president, while 46% said no. Again, that’s registered Democratic voters. This should be incredibly alarming to Team Biden.

It’s not like Trump is doing that great, either. Only 50% of respondents said Trump has the cognitive health to be president, versus 49% who said no. The only reason that Trump number isn’t the headline here is because Americans have soured so much on Biden.

What’s the Biden campaign response? They don’t want to talk about it or they blame the media. Privately, there was speculation that Biden was “overprepared” after spending a week at Camp David getting ready.

Others said the Biden family “trashed his top campaign advisers” and urged the campaign to fire staffers. Some surrogates slammed CNN moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper for not fact-checking Trump during the debate, although that was in reality Biden’s responsibility.

AP’s Steve Peoples reported that DNC Chair Jamie Harrison and Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Biden’s campaign manager, held a call with DNC committee members on Saturday. Harrison and Rodriguez didn’t take questions during the call, which upset many DNC members:

Meanwhile, the Bidens spent part of Sunday getting their pictures taken by legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz at Camp David. This weekend apparently was chosen because Hunter Biden was available.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) gave a frank assessment of the situation.

“Obviously there was a big problem with Joe Biden’s debate performance,” Raskin said Sunday on MSNBC’s “Velshi.”

While Raskin noted that there’s “a tremendous reservoir of affection and love” for Biden among the Democrats, “there are very honest and serious and rigorous conversations taking place at every level of our party” about what happens moving forward.

SCOTUS and Trump. If it wasn’t for Biden’s missteps, this is all we’d be talking about. At 10 a.m. today, the Supreme Court will issue its final decisions of the session. This will include the case in which Trump is seeking immunity for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

But check out what the AP’s Mark Sherman wrote this weekend about the dynamics of the late-term decision:

In other words, the decision is momentous, but it may not have an immediate impact.

Perhaps the biggest blessing for Democrats is that Congress is out of session this week.

— John Bresnahan, Andrew Desiderio and Jake Sherman

NEXT STOP… K STREET

Stern heads to K Street

Keith Stern, a top House Democratic floor staffer, is leaving Capitol Hill after more than 25 years.

Stern is heading to Cornerstone Government Affairs, where he will join several former top Hill leadership aides. Chris Hodgson, former Vice President Mike Pence’s legislative director and a former top aide to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and David Planning, the former floor director to House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, are both at Cornerstone.

Stern has been on the Hill since 1997 when he was a legislative assistant to former Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.). From 1999 to 2015, Stern worked for Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), first as a legislative assistant, then as an associate on the House Rules Committee before finally landing as his chief of staff. From 2015 to 2023, Stern worked for Nancy Pelosi during her time as Democratic leader and then as speaker. Stern is now an adviser to House Minority Whip Katherine Clark.

Stern was on the House floor on Jan. 6 and told his story to the New Yorker.

“Keith is a beloved member of the Capitol Hill community and the House Democratic Caucus family,” Clark said in a statement. “He has dedicated over two decades of his career to public service, helping advance our democracy and build a stronger, more just America. I am incredibly grateful to have worked alongside him, and I wish Keith all the best in his next chapter.”

Cornerstone counts Google, the University of Texas, Samsung Semiconductor, Johnson & Johnson, Target and Citigroup as clients.

— John Bresnahan and Jake Sherman

DOWNTOWN DOWNLOAD

2 new financial services lobbying sign ups

JPMorgan Chase, one of the nation’s largest financial institutions, has signed up Williams and Jensen’s Susan Hirschmann to lobby on “issues impacting banking policy.” Hirschmann, of course, is the former chief of staff to then House Majority Whip Tom Delay (R-Texas). JPMorgan has lots of lobbyists on retainer including Avenue Solutions, Capitol Tax Partners, Dentons, Monument Advocacy and S-3 Group ,among others.

Block Inc., the parent company of Square and CashApp, has signed up Ben Turner and 9th Street Strategies to lobby on “financial services, merchant services, and mobile payments.” Turner is a former aide to former Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) and Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.). 9th Street also has the Bank Policy Institute, Forbright Bank and the Structured Finance Association as clients.

— Jake Sherman

Hill staffers pessimistic about House Ag Committee’s farm bill

Senior Capitol Hill staffers are casting doubt on the prospects of the House Agriculture Committee’s $1.5 trillion farm bill legislation. Our latest survey of top congressional aides found that 40% said their bosses oppose the measure.

The latest farm bill is set to lapse on Sept. 30, a year after its temporary extension.

Still, most senior staffers (60%) who responded to the survey said a five-year farm bill reauthorization is unlikely to pass during this Congress.

The House Agriculture Committee marked up its nearly 1,000-page farm bill at the end of May. We reported last week that House GOP leadership was skeptical the chamber would act on the bill and instead would pass a short-term extension during the lame duck

The GOP-drafted bill has received Democratic opposition over freezes to SNAP payments and changes to environmental and conservation programs.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said the only way to get any kind of farm bill through the Senate is to craft a measure that can get bipartisan support. The retiring Michigan Democrat unveiled her own proposed package of more than 100 related bipartisan bills in May.

The Canvass Capitol Hill was conducted June 3-21 in partnership with independent public affairs firm, 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 Washington is dealing with. Sign up here if you work on K Street. Click here to sign up if you’re a senior congressional staffer.

— Robert O’Shaughnessy

THE CAMPAIGN

Sam Brown, the Republican challenger looking to topple Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), has a new ad that’s solely focused on supporting abortion exceptions for rape, incest, medical emergencies and life of the mother. The ad ends with Brown saying he’s “not going to support a federal abortion ban.”

In one of the most bizarre ads of the cycle, GOP challenger Bernie Moreno has a new spot that has two men riding on a bicycle built for two — theoretically Joe Biden and Moreno’s opponent, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

Democrat Wesley Bell, who is running in a primary against Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), has a new ad up in St. Louis. This spot touts his decision to not prosecute abortion cases in Missouri.

Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) has a new spot in which he says he’s worked “across the aisle to … restore our SALT deduction.” LaLota is facing former CNN analyst John Avlon in the eastern Long Island district.

— Jake Sherman

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