The Archive

IN THIS EDITION

Trump MIA on NRCC fundraising

Funding reality gets real for House Republicans

The Vault: It’s Gensler week on the Hill

The Future of Defense Aviation: Interview with a leading voice

Dems bring in public testimony on Project 2025

THE TOP

Trump MIA on NRCC fundraising

Happy Tuesday morning.

Vice President Kamala Harris recently transferred $10 million to the DCCC. How much has former President Donald Trump given the NRCC? Not one red cent.

Trump also has yet to appear at a major fundraising event for the NRCC, leaving a huge, eight-figure hole in the committee’s budget. Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee hasn’t given to the House GOP’s campaign arm all cycle.

As Republicans have grown increasingly alarmed by their massive cash gap with Democrats, securing a Trump fundraising event has become a top priority for House GOP leaders.

Senior House Republicans, including NRCC Chair Richard Hudson, have been privately lobbying Trump to speak at an NRCC event, according to multiple GOP sources. So far, they’ve had no luck.

Speaker Mike Johnson was planning to make an overture to Trump at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month, we’re told. But that was the day an alleged attempted assassin was caught with a gun on Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Fla.

In the absence of a Trump fundraiser on the books, House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik was enlisted to ask Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Trump’s vice presidential nominee, for his help, according to sources familiar with the matter, and Vance agreed. Stefanik was a special guest at a joint fundraiser with Vance last week that benefited Senate GOP candidates.

It’s overly simplistic to say that Trump is the cause of the NRCC’s fundraising issues. The GOP campaign committee has $70 million in the bank. By comparison, the DCCC has $87 million in the bank.

The DCCC also is routinely outraising the GOP. In August, the DCCC raised $22 million and the NRCC raked in just $9.7 million.

Trump, of course, has his own fundraising woes. Harris is routinely outraising the former president. Various Trump-related entities are helping pay his legal bills. In other words, money isn’t plentiful for any Republican.

But the NRCC has counted on Trump’s fundraising capacity in the past. Trump’s appearance at the 2018 NRCC spring dinner raked in $32 million. In 2019, Trump raised the NRCC $23 million. In 2021, Trump spoke at an NRCC dinner in Tampa, Fla., which raised $17 million.

Trump was slated to appear at the NRCC’s spring dinner this year, but he couldn’t attend because of his legal problems. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) took Trump’s place instead.

Sources told us that Trump’s operation has agreed to fundraise for the NRCC, but they haven’t found the time to make it happen. Soon it will be too late. There are just 42 days left until the election.

Scoop: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be at the Capitol on Thursday, we’re told.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is scheduled to host Zelensky for a bipartisan meeting with senators. Zelensky is in the United States this week for the U.N. General Assembly and will meet with President Joe Biden at the White House.

It’s still unclear at this time if Zelensky is meeting with House leaders as well.

Investigation news: Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent this letter to congressional Republicans, pushing back against claims he’s obstructed the GOP investigation into the deadly Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee has scheduled a hearing today on the chaotic U.S. pullout. Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) subpoenaed Blinken to appear.

But Blinken notes in his letter that he’ll be in New York City with President Joe Biden during the U.N. General Assembly. Blinken offered to have other top State Department officials testify. Blinken also pointed out that he appeared before the Foreign Affairs Committee in May. McCaul has responded by threatening Blinken with a contempt resolution.

McCaul also is pushing a resolution to be voted on by the House later this week that “condemns” Biden, Blinken, Harris, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other top administration officials over their handling of the Afghanistan endgame. Johnson recently awarded Congressional Gold Medals to the families of 13 U.S. servicemembers killed in the Aug. 26, 2021, bombing at the Kabul airport.

— Melanie Zanona, Jake Sherman, Andrew Desiderio and Max Cohen

TODAY at 9 a.m. ET! We’re hosting an extended conversation on the importance of small business policy and its impact on the nation’s economic future. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) will discuss 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. Doors open at 8:30 a.m. You can still RSVP here!

GOVERNMENT FUNDING

Funding reality gets real for House Republicans

Speaker Mike Johnson and House GOP leaders threw in their final towel on Monday night and moved forward with a government-funding plan that will need lots of Democratic help to pass.

This sets up a House floor vote as soon as Wednesday on a continuing resolution to keep federal agencies open through Dec. 20. Then it will be up to the Senate to finish up work on the measure before next week’s shutdown deadline. More on that below.

After Johnson’s six-month continuing resolution with the SAVE Act was defeated last Wednesday, House and Senate appropriators cut a bipartisan deal over the weekend. The agreement angered GOP conservatives but means House Democrats will vote for the CR, ending any threat of a shutdown.

It also signals that there’s very likely to be an omnibus package to wrap up FY2025 spending bills hammered out in the lame-duck session post-election.

Despite the angst from the right, House GOP leaders pretended for most of Monday that they were going to go ahead with the rule despite the frustration on the right. The Rules Committee met to prepare a rule for the CR.

However, when senior Republicans finally huddled, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told us that the CR would be considered under suspension. That means the CR will need a two-thirds majority to pass. Democrats will provide the majority of those votes.

“We wasted a year. There’s no need to push these things to the brink,” complained Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

Lots of conservative House Republicans don’t like this current plan, although party leaders, appropriators and moderates are expected to back the CR.

“I’m not voting for the CR,” House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said. “I voted for the one last week.”

Next stop: As we told you in Monday’s AM edition, there’s little interest in delaying the inevitable when it comes to final passage of the CR in the Senate.

Senate GOP leaders are already starting to make the case against dilatory objections and demands for amendment votes that would prevent fast-tracking the measure.

“I’d love to get an amendment vote on the SAVE Act, but it wouldn’t get 60 [votes] and we know it’s… a dead end in terms of consideration in the House,” Senate Minority Whip John Thune told us. “So I think our members will be looking at all of those — hopefully — factors very realistically as they think about this.”

But pressure from party leaders doesn’t always work, and any individual senator can drag out the process for several days. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Monday he hasn’t yet decided whether he’ll seek an amendment vote.

Paul said he plans to force a Senate vote this week on his balanced budget proposal — a privileged motion — but said this won’t impact whether he seeks an amendment vote as part of the CR debate.

In the meantime, Senate GOP appropriators are urging their colleagues to wait until December to push their policy priorities.

“There’s plenty of time to bring up [their] issues when we do the broader appropriations package,” said Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), the ranking Republican on the Appropriations Committee.

— John Bresnahan and Andrew Desiderio

The Vault: It’s Gensler week on the Hill

The five commissioners who make up the Securities and Exchange Commission will spend some quality time testifying before Congress this week, starting with the House at 10 a.m. today.

We expect SEC Chair Gary Gensler to get most of the attention. You can get up to speed with what Gensler’s been up to with this conversation we published last week.

You’re probably well-acquainted with how lawmakers talk about Gensler. Republicans and their industry allies object to just about anything the chair touches — particularly when it comes to crypto. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer shared a Gensler tweet on social media Monday to say he was “looking forward to holding your feet to the fire. #FireGaryGensler.”

Pro-crypto Democrats also have their own long list of problems with Gensler’s approach to the sector.

“I am eternally grateful that Gary Gensler, maybe the smartest person on earth, would grace us with his presence,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) said sarcastically.

But Gensler has some friends on the Hill, chiefly among Democrats who like his get tough approach. Sen. Cynthia Lummis — a top crypto backer — also said she had a good relationship with Gensler, even though the Wyoming Republican plans to grill him on how the agency is handling exemptions to Staff Accounting Bulletin 121.

“[Gensler] and I have had a very good working relationship from day one,” Lummis said, adding “He and I just strongly disagree about some things.”

This is the first time Gensler has appeared before Congress alongside his fellow SEC commissioners.

Looking ahead, the stakes this week may be higher for the agency’s GOP members. In Republican circles, Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda are both contenders to lead the SEC in a potential GOP administration. This will be a high-profile audition.

Meanwhile in the Senate: Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) will unveil legislation targeting a reform of capital markets today — just in time for an appearance at a Punchbowl News event.

The package, co-sponsored by almost all Senate Banking Republicans, is designed to ease a raft of legal requirements for companies below certain size thresholds when it comes to raising capital and filing investment disclosures.

Read a fact sheet here and the full bill here.

Some tax prep news: Senate Finance Committee Democrats have been holding info sessions for staff ahead of the 2025 tax fight, according to a person familiar with the work.

Committee staff have also been individually meeting with aides for each Senate Democrat. The purpose of these huddles is to talk through senators’ priorities for the big tax debate when the Trump tax cuts expire next year. This staff-level work will continue during the October recess.

Like what you’re reading? Members of our Premium Policy: The Vault community get Washington x Wall Street intel every day with deep analysis integrated into their Midday and PM newsletters, the Sunday Vault, exclusive interviews and breaking news alerts. Join The Vault community to stay in the know.

— Brendan Pedersen and Laura Weiss

THE FUTURE OF…

The Future of Defense Aviation: Interview with a leading voice

As part of our series, The Future of Defense Aviation, Punchbowl News interviewed Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) to get his thoughts on the sector, including how Congress can ensure the U.S. remains a global leader in air defense capabilities.

Scott, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Congress must “get past the cycle of continuing resolutions” so that it can provide consistent funding that defense contractors need to keep up with the demand for aero defense supplies.

You can read the full segment featuring Scott’s remarks here.

Earlier in the series, we wrote about the state of play of the defense aviation sector and why it’s important for deterring the United States’ adversaries and assuring its allies.

We also explored the legislative landscape, with a look at the major vehicles through which Congress shapes policy and funds the nation’s defense aviation.

— Max Cohen

AND THERE’S MORE…

Dems bring in public testimony on Project 2025

News: House Democratic leadership will hear from Americans regarding their fears about Project 2025 in a special public presentation later today.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark, Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and leaders of the Steering and Policy Committee, co-chaired by Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), will all participate.

The presentation will be broken down into three different panels focused on abortion and health care, workers’ rights and Social Security. It’s the latest effort by Democrats to message against the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 as part of a campaign strategy we wrote about last week.

Witnesses include:

– Health care: Gracie Ladd, a Wisconsin resident who left the state to receive an abortion for medical reasons. Suki O., an ultrasound tech who works at an abortion clinic in Georgia; and Vicki Gonzalez, a nurse and SEIU local president in Miami who will discuss the impact of the Affordable Care Act on her patients.

– Workers’ rights: J.J. Jewell, an autoworker for the Ford Motor Company in Michigan; Rodney Fresh, a Detroit teacher who will talk about the policy proposals’ impact on high-poverty students.

– Genevieve Grinkley, a retiree in Stafford County, Va., whose sole income is Social Security.

In other news: Sens. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and John Fetterman (D-Pa.) are unveiling their bill to force social media platforms to display warning labels about mental health today.

Under the “Stop the Scroll Act,” popup labels would be developed by the surgeon general and Federal Trade Commission. Users would need to dismiss these labels each time they log on.

The surgeon general has previously called for such a label, and earlier this month, 42 state and territorial attorneys general pushed Congress to make them happen.

— Mica Soellner and Ben Brody

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