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Congress returns as all eyes turn to Philadelphia

New faces at Punchbowl News

House Republican leaders post big August hauls amid GOP money woes

What we’re watching

Britt talks appropriations, taxes and small businesses

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Congress returns as all eyes turn to Philadelphia

Happy Monday morning.

After a long recess, Congress is finally back. There are 57 days until Election Day and just a few weeks until a possible government shutdown.

President Joe Biden will be in New York, Pennsylvania and the Pentagon for 9/11 events this week along with Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden welcomes British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to the White House Friday. Biden and Harris will then attend CBC events in Washington next weekend.

Harris will be in Pennsylvania today preparing for her critical debate with former President Donald Trump in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Following the 9/11 memorials, Harris heads to North Carolina on Thursday and is back to Pennsylvania on Friday. The Keystone State is where all the action is until Nov. 5.

This is a huge week for American politics. As we noted, Harris and Trump will meet in their first and potentially only debate in Philadelphia tomorrow night. A new New York Times/Siena poll has Trump leading Harris by a single point nationally but the vice president leading or tied with Trump in all the key battleground states. CBS News has similar results in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. This is going to be a slug match the rest of the way.

In reality, the debate is one of the only events that could dramatically alter the trajectory of the 2024 race. Harris has been hunkered down in Pittsburgh, preparing at the Omni William Penn Hotel with Karen Dunn and Sean Clegg. Philippe Reines is reprising his role as Trump.

Meanwhile, Trump has held a “handful” of sessions and would rather be refreshed on the particulars of his record, according to the NYT’s Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman, Katie Rogers and Reid Epstein. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has been involved in the prep sessions, as has former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii.).

But there’s a massive amount going on on the Hill this week now that lawmakers will be in town.

At 4 p.m. today, the House Rules Committee will take up Speaker Mike Johnson’s six-month stopgap funding bill, which has the SAVE Act attached to it. The 46-page bill would extend government funding through March 28. It’s scheduled to get a vote on Wednesday.

But the bill is silent on a whole host of priorities important to Democrats and many Republicans, including funding for telehealth programs and various other health care initiatives.

In quick succession on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and OMB Director Shalanda Young said that the CR was inadequate. Schumer reiterated Democrats’ position in a Dear Colleague letter on Sunday.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned House and Senate appropriators in a letter that a six-month CR “would set us significantly behind our pacing challenge in the National Defense Strategy – the People’s Republic of China… The PRC does not operate under CRs.” House Republicans have scheduled a “China Week” this week to focus on legislation aimed at U.S. competition with the PRC.

And Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and House Appropriations Committee Democrats note that no “initial” CR in more than 40 years has been extended until March 28. Over the last decade, the appropriations process has only extended longer than that date in one year — 2017. That’s when House Republicans dragged out the process until May following Trump’s victory in November 2016. So yeah.

Republicans counter that Democrats will look out of touch by rejecting a provision that requires proof of citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections.

But Democrats seem completely comfortable opposing the House Republican measure and demanding a three-month funding bill. There are a host of statutory provisions that expire in September and December, so the White House is keen on that date too. And the debt limit looms out there as well.

All this means the GOP proposal is a bit of a political theater. It will never become law. The worst part for the House GOP leadership is that they’re going to have to work overtime just to pass it.

As of now, we don’t anticipate that the Republican leadership will have trouble getting the bill out of the Rules Committee, although Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) says he’s opposed. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) is expected to vote yes on the rule and the underlying bill. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), another Rules Committee member, has notched a big victory here, as the SAVE Act is his bill and it’s attached to the CR.

But we’re getting the sense that moderates are a bit queasy about this tactic. While they’re supportive of the SAVE Act, they aren’t interested in shutting down the government ahead of the election. So they may hold their nose and get this across the finish line, although several moderates we spoke to want to know what’s the next move and when Johnson will accept a clean stopgap bill.

Also: Here is the House GOP’s internal planning document detailing what they plan to vote on this month.

Senate tea leaves: In his Sunday Dear Colleague letter, Schumer hinted at a possible “show” vote on the long-stalled railway safety bill. The intention here would be to embarrass Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), whom Schumer has been slamming for being unable to bring along enough GOP support for the bill.

— Jake Sherman, John Bresnahan and Andrew Desiderio

NEWS ABOUT THE NEWS

New faces at Punchbowl News

The Punchbowl News team is growing!

Mark Cavanagh will be leading our growing subscriptions team. He is joining Punchbowl News after four years at Politico, where he was the senior director for new business development. Mark is a native of Manchester, England, and previously spent time at FiscalNote and Everfi.

Alex Weiss, client engagement manager, and Averill Meininger, business operations associate, have both joined us from The Washington Post to work with our advertising and sponsorship partners. Alex is also a Politico alum. Prior to her last role, Averill graduated with a degree in public policy and economics from The College of William & Mary.

Tech: Ben Brody is joining us to cover technology, our next foray into the policy arena. Ben is a seasoned journalist who is well-sourced across Washington. He comes to us from MLex after previous stints at Bloomberg and Protocol.

The debate over technology — whether it’s AI, social media, privacy or broadband — will continue to be one of the most compelling political and policy stories for years to come. We’ll cover it with the same fervor we cover the top players in leadership and the institutions and decision makers in the financial services space. We’re excited to have Ben on board to own this beat.

Interns: We’re excited to welcome our first fall interns, Samantha Bell and Kaishi Chhabra. Samantha joins us from Arizona State University, where she’s a student at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Kaishi is a student at American University, where she’s completing her master’s in journalism and public affairs.

— Anna Palmer and Elvina Nawaguna

MONEY MOVES

House Republican leaders post big August hauls amid GOP money woes

News: We have an exclusive look at the August fundraising hauls from Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team. The long recess marked a critical stretch for House Republicans, who have been racing to narrow the cash gap with Democrats. Here’s a rundown:

— Johnson raised more than $4 million directly for members and candidates in swing districts. Team Johnson also had its best month ever in online fundraising in August, while also raising several million dollars for the speaker’s campaign entities. Johnson campaigned in 60 cities across 21 states, appearing with nearly 70 members and candidates throughout the month.

— NRCC Chair Richard Hudson helped rake in more than $1.2 million for members, candidates and the House GOP’s campaign arm. Hudson went to a total of 10 states and was with 38 members and candidates.

— House Majority Leader Steve Scalise raised $4 million directly for his own entities and traveled across four states, including a big California swing.

— House Majority Whip Tom Emmer brought in $2.5 million, visited 25 cities and attended 20 candidate-specific events.

— House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik hauled in a total of $4 million, including $2 million for the House Battleground Fund in New York.

The money moves from top House Republicans come as Democrats hold a significant fundraising advantage over Republicans. Democrats’ swamping of Republicans in the money chase is all the chatter in GOP circles in recent weeks.

In the second quarter of this year, Democratic incumbents and challengers outraised their Republican opponents by an average of more than $440,000, according to the DCCC.

The House Democrats’ campaign arm said Frontliners had an average cash-on-hand of $2.7 million. That’s five times more than their GOP counterparts.

The NRCC didn’t respond for a comment regarding this massive fundraising discrepancy.

But there has been a bit of divide inside the House GOP conference over just how candid to be — both publicly and privately — about their money problems.

On the one hand, sounding the alarm could help light a fire underneath donors and members. That was the purpose of the conference-wide call Hudson helped arrange early last month where he warned that lawmakers need to step up to the plate if they want to keep the majority.

But on the other hand, there’s a desire among top Republicans to project optimism. Johnson said on a Trump campaign call Friday that House Republicans potentially could end up with a 13-seat majority if they have a good night on Nov. 5.

Downplaying the cash disparities: Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) acknowledged that he thought Democrats’ fundraising was “impressive,” but the GOP moderate noted that he’s been outraised in previous cycles and still managed to win.

“My opponent got $500K from Act Blue which is tough to match. But, I’ve been outraised [in] three of four elections and have won,” Bacon told us. “We counter with a better ground game, better record and a better message.”

Rep. Anthony D’Esposito’s (R-N.Y.) campaign is hitting his Democratic opponent Laura Gillen by saying most of her donations come from outside of the 4th District while D’Esposito’s are mostly small dollar contributions from locals.

Meanwhile, Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y) said his Democratic opponent Josh Riley’s advocacy against the Trump administration’s border policies — as well as ties to a law firm that once represented Harvey Weinstein — are “big problems” for voters in New York’s 19th District.

“Money won’t change that,” Molinaro told us.

Challengers’ view: Democrats running in these closely-watched races told us their stance on issues like reproductive rights and Vice President Kamala Harris jumping to the top of the Democratic ticket have helped fuel donations.

Candidates have also leaned on the DCCC and leadership for additional financial support.

For example, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar will host an event for Derek Tran in northern California in the coming weeks. Tran is challenging GOP Rep. Michelle Steel in California’s 45th District. That includes Orange County, Calif., a critical region if Democrats want to take back the House.

Tran surpassed Steel for the first time in fundraising last quarter, raising over $1.2 million to Steel’s roughly $1 million. Steel still has a cash-on-hand advantage.

– Mica Soellner and Melanie Zanona

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What we’re watching

Monday: The House Rules Committee will meet at 4 p.m. to prepare several bills for the floor, including the continuing resolution that aims to keep the government open through March 2025.

Tuesday: The House Judiciary Committee will have a hearing on the “Biden-Harris Border Crisis: Victim Perspectives” and another hearing on “non-citizen voting.”

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will testify at a coronavirus subcommittee hearing.

Senate Homeland Security will have a hearing with tech executives on “US companies technology focusing on the Russian war machine.”

Wednesday: Secretaries of state from Michigan, Arizona, Ohio, Florida, New Mexico and West Virginia will testify in front of the House Administration Committee on election security.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee will have Acting Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs John Bass to talk about the “great power competition” in Africa.

– Jake Sherman

PUNCHBOWL NEWS EVENTS

Britt talks appropriations, taxes and small businesses

Did you miss our live event Friday in Alabama with Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.)?

Britt, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, called for regulations that are more supportive of small businesses.

Britt also shared her thoughts on gun violence, appropriations and the GOP’s chances of retaking the Senate majority.

You can watch the full recording here.

– Max Cohen

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