View in web browser

PRESENTED BY

BY JOHN BRESNAHAN, ANNA PALMER AND JAKE SHERMAN

THE TOP

Getty Images

The ghost of 2009 haunts Senate Democrats in 2021.

Democrats controlled all of the government back then. Veteran lawmakers remember the seemingly endless delay to pass Obamacare while they waited for Republicans to decide whether they would sign onto the plan. Democrats finally got it done on a party line basis. While a major legislative achievement, it didn’t fix the country’s ailing economy. A nearly $800 billion stimulus package and the huge Wall Street bailout wasn’t enough to turn things around. Unemployment soared to 10%, and Democrats were blamed for not reacting forcefully enough to the downturn. They got absolutely creamed in the 2010 midterms, losing 63 House seats and seven Senate seats in a historic beatdown. 

Fast-forward to today. Democrats control the White House and Congress again — although with tight margins. A new Democratic president faces multiple crises, including a pandemic and severe economic downturn. The federal government has spent trillions of dollars to try to prop up the sputtering economy, thanks in large part to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Democrats on the Hill and President Joe Biden want another $1.9 trillion for Covid relief. Some Republicans are suggesting they will cooperate — just like they did in 2009 — but this time, Democrats say they won’t go halfway or wait to see if Republicans join their efforts.

The specter of making the same mistakes of 2009 was raised during a Senate Democratic Caucus call on Tuesday. Ask any Democrat, and you’ll find out that 2009 is on their mind. 

“Let me be very specific about it because I was here in 2009, I was a pretty junior Democrat at that time,” incoming Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said. “The argument against not being bold right in the eye of a horrendous recession was ‘Oh, we’re going to be able to come back. There’s no question about it. We’ll have another bite at the apple.’ That was not the case.”

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) told us this: “I’d put it this way — having seen that [GOP] strategy [of] full-force of delay and obstruction, we’ve seen that movie once, we don’t want to see it play again,”

Moderate Senate Democrats like Joe Manchin of West Virginia would like to see if they can reach some kind of bipartisan deal with their GOP counterparts, but Schumer and the leadership, with 2009 in the back of their minds, aren’t waiting around. 

In other words, Democrats say they’ll move quickly and decisively — unlike 2009. And they won’t wait for Republicans to join. 

Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wants to mark up a budget resolution next week, the initial step in the reconciliation process. Former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial starts the following week, and the Senate is scheduled to take a one-week recess beginning Feb. 15, although that schedule may have to change if Democrats are to have any hope of meeting the March 14 deadline. The $300 per week federal unemployment benefit runs out that day.

Meanwhile, House Democrats are debating internally whether to simply take up the Senate’s budget to save time.

Put simply, nearly 12 years later, Democrats feel like they have no time to waste.

LEAHY UPDATE

Leahy’s illness highlights Schumer’s problems

Getty Images

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) was in the hospital Tuesday and went home Tuesday night. We wish him well. He’s a nice man and has been exceedingly generous with his time with us for the last two decades. 

Leahy’s spokesman said this: “The Capitol Physician suggested that Senator Leahy go to George Washington University Hospital this evening for observation, out of an abundance of caution. After getting test results back, and after a thorough examination, Senator Leahy now is home.”

Leahy, 80, is third in line to the presidency, and he’s scheduled to preside over Donald Trump’s impeachment trial in two weeks.

The Leahy scare highlights just how tenuous Chuck Schumer’s majority is. If Leahy has any extended absence, that puts the 50-to-50 Democratic majority at risk. Schumer literally has no room for error at all. In other words, if Leahy is out, forget about reconciliation because Schumer won’t have the votes.

TRUMP’S DEFENSE

DJT’s lawyer speaks to the Post

Everybody has been wondering: Just who is Butch Bowers and what is his motivation for representing Donald Trump at the upcoming impeachment trial? We broke the news he would represent the former president. The Post’s Michael Kranish landed the first interview with Bowers and here’s what he had to say: 

“It’s who I am. It’s what I do. It’s all about the rule of law in the Constitution,” Bowers told The Washington Post in his first interview since Trump picked him. He was recommended by his longtime friend Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) as the lead attorney in the Senate trial, which is slated to begin Feb. 9. …

“It’s my military experience,” said Bowers, who is a colonel in the South Carolina Air National Guard. “I’m not worried what other people think. … This goes back to my dad. I’m not looking to get anybody to say good things about me. What I’m looking for is to help the people I’m retained to represent. And that’s what I care about.”

Bowers, 55, a graduate of Tulane Law School, declined to discuss his legal strategy, whether Trump might appear at the trial, or whether he would call witnesses. Asked whether he wanted to declare Trump’s innocence, he responded: “You’ll see our case when we present it, and I think the facts and the law will speak for themselves.” Bowers declined to say whether he voted for Trump. “The vote is sacrosanct, so I’m not going to talk about that,” he said."

MOMENTS

9 a.m.: The House has a pro-forma session.

9:30 a.m.: President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris will receive their intelligence briefing. 

11:45 a.m.: Harris will swear in Antony Blinken as secretary of State.

12:15 p.m.: Jen Psaki will brief with John Kerry and Gina McCarthy, both of whom are climate advisers to Biden.

1:30 p.m.: Biden will sign “executive actions on tackling climate change, creating jobs, and restoring scientific integrity.”

NYT News Analysis: “The Battle Lines Are Forming in Biden’s Climate Push,” by Coral Davenport and Lisa Friedman: “As President Biden prepares on Wednesday to open an ambitious effort to confront climate change, powerful and surprising forces are arrayed at his back.

“Automakers are coming to accept that much higher fuel economy standards are their future; large oil and gas companies have said some curbs on greenhouse pollution lifted by former President Donald J. Trump should be reimposed; shareholders are demanding corporations acknowledge and prepare for a warmer, more volatile future, and a youth movement is driving the Democratic Party to go big to confront the issue.

“But what may well stand in the president’s way is political intransigence from senators from fossil-fuel states in both parties. An evenly divided Senate has given enormous power to any single senator, and one in particular, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, who will lead the Senate Energy Committee and who came to the Senate as a defender of his state’s coal industry.”

CLIP FILE

NYT: “Biden Will Restore U.S. Relations With Palestinians, Reversing Trump Cutoff,” by Michael Crowley: “The Biden administration will restore diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Authority, more than two years after President Donald J. Trump effectively ended them. The action signals a return to a more traditional and evenhanded approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after a Trump administration policy that was heavily slanted toward Israel.

“The shift, which will include a resumption of American aid to the Palestinians, was announced on Tuesday in a speech by Richard Mills, the acting United States ambassador to the United Nations.

“Mr. Mills also reaffirmed support for a ‘mutually agreed, two-state solution’ between Israel and the Palestinians, ‘in which Israel lives in peace and security, alongside a viable Palestinian state.’ And he called on the parties to refrain from unilateral actions, such as the annexation of territory and settlement activity by Israel, or incitements to violence by the Palestinians, that could make such an outcome more difficult.” … 

… “Capitol Police Detail Failures During Pro-Trump Assault,” by Luke Broadwater, Emily Cochrane and Adam Goldman: “Testifying by videoconference to a closed session of a House committee, the acting chief of the Capitol Police, Yogananda D. Pittman, acknowledged that the department knew there was a ‘strong potential for violence’ but failed to take necessary steps to prevent what she described as a ‘terrorist attack.’

“Officers were outmanned, had poor communications, lacked sufficient supplies and struggled to carry out orders like locking down the building, she said.” … 

… “Man Charged With Threatening Congressman’s Family as Riot Raged,” by Jonah Engel Bromwich: “The same day that a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and tried to stop Congress from certifying President Biden’s electoral victory, the brother of Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York received several troubling text messages.

“‘Your brother is putting your entire family at risk with his lies and other words,’ one of the messages read, according to a criminal complaint. ‘We are armed and nearby your house. You had better have a word with him. We are not far from his either.’ The message included a picture of a home near where Mr. Jeffries’s brother, Hasan Jeffries, a history professor, lives.” … 

… “C.I.A. Warns Former Officers About Working for Foreign Governments,” by Julian Barnes and Maggie Haberman: “The C.I.A.’s counterintelligence chief sent a note to retired officers this week warning against working for foreign governments either directly or indirectly.

"The note, which was initially drafted some months ago but only sent out on Monday, also urges retired officers to take care in speaking publicly on television, podcasts, panels or social media.

“The letter said the agency was seeing a ‘detrimental trend’ of ‘foreign governments, either directly or indirectly, hiring former intelligence officials to build up their spying capabilities.’ ‘I can’t mince words — former C.I.A. officers who pursue this type of employment are engaging in activity that may undermine the agency’s mission to the benefit of U.S. competitors and foreign adversaries,’ wrote Sheetal T. Patel, the C.I.A.’s assistant director for counterintelligence.”

WaPo: “In first call with Putin, Biden marks a return to skepticism from the top,” by Anne Gearan and Karen DeYoung: “President Biden laid out a bill of complaint against Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, airing allegations of human rights abuses, cyberspying and more while making a hard pivot away from the deference that former president Donald Trump often displayed toward Russia.”

WSJ: “Biden’s Climate-Change Policy Targets Oil Industry,” by Timothy Puko, Ken Thomas and Andrew Restuccia: “The oil industry is emerging as a primary target of President Biden’s climate policy, setting the stage for a confrontation that could shape the future of the energy sector.

“The president is expected to issue an executive order Wednesday that would suspend new oil and gas leasing on federal land, people familiar with the matter say, in what is widely seen as a first step toward fulfilling Mr. Biden’s campaign pledge to stop drilling on federal lands and offshore.”

AP: “US boosting vaccine deliveries amid complaints of shortages,” by Jonathan Drew and Zeke Miller: “Answering growing frustration over vaccine shortages, President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. is ramping up deliveries to hard-pressed states over the next three weeks and expects to provide enough doses to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of the summer or early fall.” …

… “AP Exclusive: DOJ rescinds ‘zero tolerance’ immigration rule,” by Michael Balsamo and Colleen Long: “The Justice Department rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations.

“Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson issued the new memo to federal prosecutors across the nation on Tuesday, saying the department would return to its longstanding previous policy and instructing prosecutors to act on the merits of individual cases. ‘Consistent with this longstanding principle of making individualized assessments in criminal cases, I am rescinding — effective immediately — the policy directive,’ Wilkinson wrote.”

Axios: “Mark Meadows’ new gig,” by Alayna Treene: “Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows is joining the Conservative Partnership Institute, a group run by former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint that operates as a ‘networking hub’ for conservatives, sources familiar with his plans tell Axios.”

MEDIA MOVES

Tom Llamas to NBC

N.Y. Post’s Emily Smith: 

Tom Llamas, the weekend anchor of ABC’s World News Tonight, has dramatically quit the network to move to rival NBC.

Llamas, 41, is being lined up for a wide-ranging role across NBC News that involves work across the network’s news shows, streaming services and MSNBC. … A TV insider said, “The NBC deal is still being finalized. Tom is a big talent and he could do lots of things across streaming, across the network, and even cable.

Enjoying Punchbowl AM?

Subscribe 10 friends with your unique link (below) and get a Punchbowl News hat!

Your referral link is: 

You can see all the rewards in here!

Or share via

You currently have: 0 referrals