August 17, 2023
THE TOP
Happy Thursday morning.
News: The State Department has turned over 300 pages of Afghanistan withdrawal documents to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a breakthrough in the simmering dispute between the House GOP and the Biden administration.
The latest document production followed a call this week between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas). Blinken promised to turn over more information to the panel in order to comply with McCaul’s subpoena, according to a source familiar with the call.
This is the latest example of McCaul working with Blinken to receive more information on the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan in 2021. The withdrawal culminated in chaotic scenes at the Kabul airport and a devastating suicide bombing that killed 13 American servicemembers. Among both parties in Washington, McCaul’s probe is seen as less overtly political than other House investigations yet just as damaging to the White House.
Many of the documents produced this week were situation report memos from the Biden administration’s Afghanistan task force during the key months leading up to and during the military pullout. The information mainly details the U.S.-led evacuation efforts and how many individuals left Afghanistan each day.
“I appreciate the secretary’s commitment to me to provide more regular document production going forward and hope he is true to his word on that,” McCaul said in a statement. “Time is of the essence and we owe our veterans and our Gold Star families answers.”
McCaul issued a subpoena in July for the underlying documents that State used to compile its after-action review of the U.S. withdrawal. McCaul had been unhappy with State’s response, writing to Blinken last week that the current pace of the production was “meager.”
We’re told that the latest document production doesn’t include any of the eight specific documents flagged by McCaul in that Aug. 9 letter. But the GOP Foreign Affairs Committee team is confident Blinken will hand over more documents.
“The Department continues to have productive conversations with Chairman McCaul and make responsive documents available to the Committee in addition to the thousands of pages that have already been provided,” State spokesperson Vedant Patel told us.
Before leaving for recess, McCaul had floated holding Blinken in contempt of Congress for failing to hand over Afghanistan documents. The latest development, however, suggests that the two have once again found common ground on Congress’ oversight of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Earlier this year, McCaul came close to marking up a contempt resolution targeting Blinken over a dispute about access to a dissent cable from Kabul Embassy staff. But McCaul called off the effort when Blinken allowed him and Ranking Member Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.) to view the dissent cable.
— Max Cohen
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CORRECTING THE RECORD
Hey Mark Houck: We have receipts!
On Tuesday, we ran an item detailing how House Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry (R-Pa.) encouraged Mark Houck, a conservative activist, to launch a primary challenge to Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.).
Fitzpatrick, of course, is a leading House moderate who holds a seat that President Joe Biden won. So, trying to knock him off could lead to Republicans losing a key seat.
Houck then told Penn Live we “misunderstood” his comments about Perry’s support.
“He’s not colluding with me to take Brian Fitzpatrick out of office,” Houck told the outlet. “… It wasn’t like that at all.”
But here’s precisely what Houck told our colleague Mica Soellner during a Monday interview. Listen to the audio here and read what he said below.
This also isn’t the first time Houck has name-dropped Perry as a motivating figure in his decision to run. Houck has been telling conservative and religious media for weeks that he leaned on his conversations with Perry before launching his campaign.
On Aug. 2 – the day Houck announced his campaign – he told Sebastian Gorka on the conservative radio show “Don’t Back Down” that Perry warned him about “the republic falling apart.”
On Aug. 4, Houck told the Vortex it was due to the influence of not just Perry but also Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Mike Johnson (R-La.) who inspired him to run.
Houck also reiterated the story he told of Perry warning him of a failing republic in that same podcast.
Houck later told the Delaware Valley Journal that Perry told him that Congress needs “people of integrity” and “people of your character in Washington.”
“So, if not you, then who? Right?” Houck said Perry told him.
Houck also told the Church Militant that he credited Perry’s counsel as a factor in his campaign launch. Houck said Perry gave him advice on what to expect and “what the future would look like for my family.”
Perry also invoked Houck’s name in a June interview with Newsmax comparing his treatment of the Justice Department to Hunter Biden’s “sweetheart” deal. Houck was acquitted in January of federal charges that he violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act earlier. His arrest and prosecution made Houck a national figure among anti-abortion rights activists.
Of course, we also know that Perry invited Houck as his guest to this year’s State of the Union.
Houck told us he reached out to Perry to apologize after our story ran.
– Jake Sherman and Mica Soellner
HOMELAND WATCH
Homeland Security panel seeks Mayorkas’ testimony
Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) wants DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to testify before his panel in October.
Green wrote to Mayorkas on Wednesday asking him to accept an invitation to testify before the committee the week of Oct. 23. Here’s the full letter.
“The scope of the hearing will primarily focus on border security with an emphasis on examining the actions and policies implemented since January 2021 and their impacts on the border and throughout the interior of the country,” Green wrote.
Green, of course, has been spearheading the House GOP’s investigation into Mayorkas. This could eventually lead to an impeachment inquiry.
Green’s “five-phase accountability plan” is expected to be completed in the fall and then turned over to the House Judiciary Committee. So far, one report has been released by the committee.
Mia Ehrenberg, DHS spokesperson, said the agency will take appropriate steps to respond to Green’s request.
“DHS responds to congressional correspondence directly via official channels, and the Department will continue to respond appropriately to Congressional oversight,” Ehrenberg said in a statement.
Mayorkas testified before the Judiciary panel last month, and GOP lawmakers grilled him over his oversight of the U.S.-Mexico border. He’s appeared six other times before Congress during the past year.
House conservatives have grown antsy over the impeachment push, often asserting that Mayorkas would be the easiest target for a formal inquiry.
“That smirking son of a bitch who is the secretary of Homeland Security and should not only be impeached, the entire organization [should have] funding withheld until we stop what’s happening at the border,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said Wednesday on the Chris Salcedo Show.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) also renewed his calls for House leadership to start impeachment proceedings against Mayorkas.
“The Biden Administration refuses to do anything to remedy the situation, and Secretary Mayorkas still claims that the border is closed.The House must begin impeachment proceedings,” Biggs tweeted earlier this week.
Green, meanwhile, has been reluctant to use the word “impeachment” to describe his probe. Green said he’s focused on detailing the “dereliction of duty” in the Biden administration.
Some Republicans would rather try to impeach President Joe Biden or Attorney General Merrick Garland. These GOP lawmakers believe there will only be time for one impeachment inquiry and it should be a higher-profile target than Mayorkas.
Of course, the Democratic-run Senate isn’t going to remove any Biden administration official from office.
– Mica Soellner
Fed officials see debate over future hikes becoming ‘two sided’
Some senior officials at the Federal Reserve are becoming more wary of future interest rate increases, though most members of the Federal Open Market Committee continue to believe losing control of inflation is a bigger risk than hiking rates too high.
The Fed released minutes from the U.S. central bank’s July meeting on Wednesday. The FOMC voted to bump rates up by another 25 basis points after a pause in June. That was the first time the Fed hadn’t hiked since March 2022, an historic run designed to quell soaring inflation following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Investors have been quite keen to know what exactly went into July’s decision to boost rates once more. The minutes themselves, which you can read here, don’t really suggest that July’s hike was a toss-up. “Most participants continued to see significant upside risks to inflation, which could require further tightening of monetary policy,” the document says.
But as price pressures have eased, more participants are arguing for a “balance” in how the Fed approaches inflation. That’s another way of saying the central bank should be mindful of tipping the U.S. economy into a recession or otherwise cratering the labor market.
Here’s more from the minutes:
The Fed continues to believe the U.S. banking system is “sound and resilient,” particularly as the significant financial stress from last spring’s regional banking crisis has “calmed.”
But there are certainly still risks out there, and commercial real estate continues to be a concern for both banks and other financial firms that are “heavily exposed to CRE,” the minutes state.
One last thing that caught our eye toward the end of the document: The FOMC minutes noted that “several participants emphasized the need for banks to establish readiness to use Federal Reserve liquidity facilities and for the Federal Reserve to ensure its own readiness to provide liquidity during periods of stress.”
In other words, the policymakers want to make sure the banking system has enough liquidity to go around in the event of a financial crisis. It’s possible both banks and the Fed itself have a bit of groundwork to hammer out now to make sure that can happen quickly. Never hurts to be prepared!
– Brendan Pedersen
THE CAMPAIGN
Bacon teases ‘special announcement’
Since winning election to Congress in 2016, Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) has made a name for himself as one of the most outspoken moderate voices in the House GOP Conference. Bacon, who isn’t shy about criticizing former President Donald Trump, is also one of the 18 House Republicans representing a district President Joe Biden won in 2020.
So when an email was sent to Nebraska Republicans teasing a “special announcement” Bacon was planning, it piqued our interest. During an annual BBQ event in Omaha, Neb., Bacon is set to make an announcement alongside recently elected Gov. Jim Pillen and former Gov. Dave Heineman.
A statewide run seems unlikely since Nebraska just elected a new governor and a new senator. So we’ll be closely following what comes out of this event next week.
— Max Cohen
DOWNTOWN DOWNLOAD
Avis Budget Group, the massive rental car company, has registered to lobby for itself. They will lobby on “[i]ssues related to full expensing/bonus depreciation, infrastructure electrification.”
The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania have signed up Mehlman Consulting to lobby on “[h]ealth issues impacting health systems and academic medical systems.”
– Jake Sherman
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