The Archive

IN THIS EDITION

Congress stuck in neutral — again

The Republicans running on abortion rights

Experts discuss the future of fintech at Punchbowl News HQ

Why Tuberville’s new military nom hold is different

ICYMI: The Future of Defense Aviation

THE TOP

Congress stuck in neutral — again

Happy Friday morning.

The House and Senate came back from a very long recess on Monday.

Maybe they should’ve stayed gone.

Led by Speaker Mike Johnson — and under pressure from President Donald Trump — House Republicans drafted a six-month stopgap government funding bill that includes the SAVE Act. The package would require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections while keeping agencies and departments open through March 28 — early into a potential Trump presidency.

But Johnson couldn’t round up enough GOP votes to pass the Republican-drafted bill, so he delayed any floor action. It’s just the latest embarrassing setback on spending for Johnson and top House Republicans dating back to late July.

Worse, Johnson didn’t even tell House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) that he was postponing the vote, according to three Republican lawmakers. That upset the normally affable Cole, who’s never loved the idea of a six-month CR, although he backs the speaker’s proposal.

Across the Capitol, senators are still waiting to see what the House does on government funding. They’re not expected to move on a funding bill before the House sorts out its mess. Because why would they do that? The Senate hasn’t passed any of the FY2025 spending bills. And federal agencies are only running out of money in 18 days.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is moving judicial nominations and planning another show vote on an IVF bill that already failed earlier this year. There could also be a messaging vote on the long-stalled rail safety bill. Confirming federal judges, of course, is something Democrats want to prioritize given the growing likelihood that Republicans win the majority on Election Day.

“It makes it difficult. The timing makes everything difficult,” Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) lamented. “It’s a shame because some of these things need to be done.”

Congress has been stuck in neutral for months, doing little of substance. As expected, the battle for the White House — and Trump’s legal woes — dominated the headlines throughout the summer. When Democrats stunningly shifted from Joe Biden to Kamala Harris, that reset the entire political landscape, changing the nature of the reelection campaigns for many lawmakers.

Yet the presidential race was always going to suck up all the oxygen in the political world this year. Congress has just limped along until now. The House passed 25 China-related bills this week. Does anyone know or care? No. Trump’s debate debacle was all anyone wanted to discuss.

Neither chamber has accomplished much of anything since adopting the massive foreign aid and FY2024 spending packages back in March and April. FISA got reauthorized too. The debt limit isn’t an issue until 2025.

Beyond keeping the government open, the must-pass annual defense authorization bill needs to get done. Parts of the farm bill expire in a few weeks. The Department of Veterans Affairs says it must have $15 billion by Sept. 30. Low-income food programs need $8 billion quickly too. State governments want billions of dollars in disaster aid, and Maryland is pushing for the feds to pick up the tab for the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse and rebuild.

There have been some big moments but not any major legislative accomplishments since the spring. The Senate passed a landmark Big Tech crackdown intended to safeguard children online, although House GOP leaders won’t bring it up. The House stood up a bipartisan task force on the assassination attempt against Trump.

But the FY2025 appropriations process is a mess, with both chambers pursuing completely different strategies that’ll very likely yield a year-end omnibus everyone will hate.

Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), the top Senate GOP appropriator, is warning that failure to finish the FY2025 appropriations process before the end of this year would put the new president “at a huge disadvantage.” Whoever it is will come into office and immediately have to deal with getting funding bills passed even while staffing up a new administration.

“We need to get our work done as soon as possible,” Collins said.

— John Bresnahan and Andrew Desiderio

New this month: Join Punchbowl News Founder and CEO Anna Palmer on Tuesday, Sept. 24, at 8:30 a.m. ET for an extended conversation on the importance of small business policy and its impact on the nation’s economic future.

We’ll speak with Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) for conversations focused on the news of the day and their legislative priorities when it comes to small business issues and the economy. This event is the culmination of a partnership with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices program and the final event in the series for 2024. RSVP now!

The Republicans running on abortion rights

After the GOP largely ignored the issue of abortion rights during the 2022 midterms, Republicans in tough races are running ads attempting to distance themselves from national abortion bans and anti-IVF measures.

Reproductive rights is widely seen as the GOP’s biggest vulnerability in November and is credited with the party’s massive underperformance last cycle. As a result, NRCC Chair Richard Hudson urged his candidates this cycle to push back, admitting in January that “the voters think the Republican position is like, ‘We’ll throw you in jail if you get an abortion.’”

So far, a growing number of GOP candidates are following that advice. We’ve seen a recent string of direct-to-camera ads where Republicans pledge to reject their own party’s “extremes” on abortion rights.

Some stand-out examples include Republican Matt Gunderson, who’s challenging Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.), introducing himself in an ad as “pro-choice.”

At-risk Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.) said in an ad that he believes “health decisions should be made between a woman and her doctor — not Washington.”

This rhetoric is indistinguishable from what you would hear from Democrats on the trail.

“I’m against a federal ban and for a common sense approach,” Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) said in an ad. “I support exceptions including for rape, incest and, of course, protecting the life of the mother.”

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), another incumbent in a Democratic-leaning seat, told us he’s proud of his record “pushing back against the attempts to ban mifepristone” and opposing national abortion bans.

“In my district, when I make clear my position [on abortion], people appreciate that,” Lawler said. “Democrats’ whole campaign strategy is to just lie about my record.”

This is a different route than what we heard from our on-the-ground reporting in California swing seats when GOP members told us the election wouldn’t be decided on abortion rights.

Senate GOP candidates are also joining in. Most notably, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has pledged support for codifying Roe v. Wade in his race in the deep-blue state. Recent spots from Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick and Nevada Senate candidate Sam Brown insist they support abortion in cases of rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother.

Democrats aren’t buying it: In some cases, Republicans releasing ads supporting IVF have previously backed legislation that would endanger the practice. Democrats argue that the GOP messaging push is just that: Lip service to the support of reproductive freedom.

“It’s laughable,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told us about the GOP ads.

“Republicans are on the run because they know they have gone too far. But they are lying to the American people when it comes to reproductive freedom, and the American people understand it.”

The DCCC is even running ads pushing back on the GOP strategy, like in this one rebutting Molinaro’s spot.

By the numbers: Despite the trend of more Republicans engaging on abortion, Democrats are far and away outspending the GOP on reproductive rights ads on the airwaves.

Per AdImpact, Democratic House candidates have spent $55.4 million on abortion ads this cycle, compared to just under $4 million from Republicans.

In Senate races, Democratic candidates have poured $45.6 million into abortion ads, while Republican candidates have spent only $3.7 million.

— Max Cohen

PUNCHBOWL NEWS EVENTS

Experts discuss the future of fintech at Punchbowl News HQ

The fintech world is growing fast, and that comes with plenty of opportunities and challenges for regulators, banks and advocates.

We hosted a panel discussion Thursday on the future of fintech and state government’s role at the Punchbowl News HQ during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference. The panel was made up of Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, National Bankers Association President and CEO Nicole Elam and Yasmin Salina, co-founder and executive director of The Hustlers Guild.

Banking and fintech: Elam, whose organization represents minority depository institutions, said fintech is changing the landscape and allowing such banks to increase their digital offerings, streamline their operations and enhance customer experiences.

“Our customers are demanding to be able to do everything on their phone. Well, that requires fintechs and advanced technology solutions,” Elam said, adding that MDIs have to leverage technology to remain competitive.

Elam also said a survey of members of the National Bankers Association, which are minority-owned and operated banks, found that 69% wanted to leverage fintech, and just 23% were actively pursuing fintech partnerships, due to costs and regulatory concerns.

The regulatory balancing act: Fintech is quickly evolving with implications for consumers. Regulators have to balance the need to protect customers with the need to boost innovation.

Ford cited emerging rules for earned wage access as an example of a regulatory area that stakeholders are grappling with. Ford said a recent proposal from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for regulating earned wage access products goes too far, even though he typically aligns with the agency. The CFPB rule would treat earned wage access as loans and would require similar stringent disclosures.

“That’s too onerous from my perspective,” Ford said. “And certainly in the context of emerging technologies and financial technologies arena, finding out ways in which to stand with consumers to protect them… but also recognizing the need for innovation, for these for these technologies that come in that disrupt things.”

Fintech and financial literacy: Salina, whose organization, The Hustlers Guild, provides opportunities and mentorship to at-risk youth, said fintech has become important for financial literacy education with the young people she serves.

“A lot of our kids’ families are still going to check-cashing places in their neighborhoods and these are the pioneers now to the digital world for them,” Salina said. She added that the organization uses the interests of the young people to connect them to the fintech world.

Ambassadors roundtable: We also sat down for a special discussion featuring four current and past Punchbowl News CBC ambassadors.

This year’s ambassadors included: Pamela Alexander, managing director, head of corporate citizenship at KKR, Emily Hawkins, founder of The Black Tech Collective, Crystal Carson, communications director for First Lady Michelle Obama, and Vincent Evans, executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus.

The panelists discussed their career trajectories and the barriers to uplifting communities of color. The ambassadors also shared their ideas on how to help the next generation of leaders in their respective industries.

Their ideas included financial literacy, boosting the economy and education.

“If we’re thinking about creating a generation that’s better than we are right now and we’re thinking ahead and not just in this moment, the best way to create a society of whole people, of accepting people, is to work on our education system,” Carson said.

Hawkins suggested that narrowing the digital divide would go a long way, including making the internet more accessible.

“Because you can’t even get to the starting line for a race if you — regardless of background, socioeconomic status — if you don’t have access to the tools of technology like the internet,” Hawkins added.

You can watch the full ambassador conversation here.

ICYMI: If you missed our earlier talk with Rep. Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.), you can watch the full conversation here.

And if you weren’t able to join us in person, you can watch the highlights from our Punchbowl News HQ at the CBCF ALC here.

— Laura Weiss and Mica Soellner

THE SENATE

Why Tuberville’s new military nom hold is different

Nearly nine months after he ended his unprecedented blockade of senior military promotions, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) has placed a hold on the promotion of a high-level officer tapped to lead U.S. Army forces in the Pacific.

But Tuberville’s latest move is distinct from his 2023 blockade — and much more in line with Senate traditions.

For more than 10 months in 2023, Tuberville placed a blanket hold on all senior military promotions in order to pressure the Pentagon to scrap its abortion policy for service members. Tuberville relented in December and got nothing in return except bipartisan ire from his colleagues and the Pentagon.

Now, Tuberville is employing a common practice in the Senate: placing a hold due to concerns with the specific nominee.

Tuberville placed a hold on the promotion of Lt. Gen. Ronald P. Clark, who currently serves as a senior aide to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The Washington Post first reported on Tuberville’s move.

Inside the hold: It stems from Austin’s January hospitalization, which neither Austin nor his office disclosed to the White House. The episode prompted bipartisan outrage.

But unlike his previous promotions blockade, Tuberville is actually giving himself a clear off-ramp here.

“I’m waiting for the [inspector general] review [about] him screwing up and not telling the president of the United States that his boss and head of the Department of Defense was in the hospital,” Tuberville told us. “You don’t need to get a promotion when everybody’s wondering, ‘What the heck’s going on here?’”

A defense official told us that the chain of command “was not compromised,” adding that it’s “completely inappropriate” for Tuberville to question the oath Clark took.

Clark is a West Point graduate who served in several major operations around the world for the past three decades. He currently serves as Austin’s senior military assistant. A DoD review of Austin’s hospitalization and the failure to alert the White House stated that there were no indications of “ill intent or an attempt to obfuscate.”

Next steps: There’s no timeline for the completion of the IG review, so it’s unclear how long Clark’s promotion will be tied up.

“We’ve got to get the confirmation done. Hopefully the information [Tuberville] wants will be provided,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) told us.

Reed indicated he’d be willing to push for a floor vote on Clark’s promotion, but that could be difficult. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is prioritizing judicial nominations on the floor, and senators will eventually need to pass a government funding measure to avert a shutdown before Sept. 30.

— Andrew Desiderio

FUTURE OF

ICYMI: The Future of Defense Aviation

We launched our latest project, The Future of Defense Aviation, earlier this week. This four-part series explores the state of the aero defense sector and what the administration, lawmakers and the private sector are doing to ensure the industry can keep up with increasing demand and latest technologies. This is particularly important as the risk of global conflicts increases and several wars rage across the globe.

As we wrote in the first segment, the Russia-Ukraine war that has continued for more than two years now was a wake-up call about the dismal state of America’s defense industrial base. Lawmakers from both parties acknowledge the U.S. just isn’t producing air defense machinery fast enough to meet current and future demands.

However, political maneuvering in Congress, spending caps and a notoriously slow legislative process complicate efforts by the defense sector to keep up with the rapid technological advancements of America’s adversaries.

You can read the full segment here and listen to the accompanying podcast here.

— Elvina Nawaguna

MOMENTS

CLIPS