View in web browser

PRESENTED BY

BY JOHN BRESNAHAN, ANNA PALMER AND JAKE SHERMAN

THE TOP

Getty Images

Kevin McCarthy called us from Florida late Monday to chat about his political and policy objectives over the next two years. The House minority leader travels non stop because he is by far the biggest fundraising draw for the House Republican Conference. We’ve said this, but it needs to be reiterated here: Despite a rough few weeks for Republicans, McCarthy’s entire focus is on winning back the House in 2022. Election Day is 637 days away. 

In thinking about that goal, here’s what he told us: 

— McCarthy is in the early stages of planning an in-person policy conference in Florida this spring. He insisted it would be Covid safe. McCarthy said he will focus his efforts in three areas this cycle: Immigration, the American worker and “fighting back against socialism.” The California Republican is setting up “communications task forces” in each area to draw attention to GOP views on the issues.

— McCarthy told us he’s had practically no contact with President Joe Biden’s administration so far. NEC Director Brian Deese was on a phone call with top Republicans on each committee, but there has been no outreach from the top of the White House. This is a bit surprising to us, because it would be an easy thing to reach out to McCarthy, even if it’s just a courtesy call. 

— McCarthy is bullish about taking back the House. The eighth-term lawmaker said the GOP has made inroads with Hispanic voters and women. And, in his view, Democrats have been slow to take the reins of government.

“[They kept] the majority, [they took] the Senate, [they took] the White House, and then you have everybody go [home] in the first week. There’s nothing more telling than they weren’t prepared to govern — it’s like trying to fix the car while you’re driving it down the highway. It doesn’t work so well that way. And that’s, that’s kind of what they’re doing right now.”

— McCarthy said the key is recruiting good candidates and expanding the electoral map further  — “We’ve proven that we can win from Miami to Minnesota to California and I think you’re going to see things in Oregon.” McCarthy thinks redistricting will help the GOP substantially, as other election experts have also predicted. He said Florida will gain two seats, Texas will gain three, with Arizona and California both adding seats, while Northeastern and Midwestern states will lose seats. This is fertile ground for Republicans, McCarthy said.

— It’s early, of course, but McCarthy believes that he can lay a subpar job-creation situation and rising gas prices at Democrats’ feet next year. McCarthy also thinks that some early Biden executive orders, such as canceling the Keystone Pipeline, will hurt Democrats politically.

— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s prominence has a lot of people wondering about the future of the GOP. Despite the enormous controversy surrounding MTG, McCarthy said that he looks at new members such as Reps. Ashley Hinson (Iowa), Carlos Gimenez (Fla.) and Young Kim (Calif.) as the future of the Republican Party.

— McCarthy visited Donald Trump in Florida a few weeks ago during a fundraising trip there, a move that was very heavily criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike. McCarthy defended his actions — “I can talk to anyone. Just as I can go talk to Joe Biden if President Biden wants to talk. I was in Florida, working. [Trump] wanted to have lunch. Yeah, I’m going to talk to him. One of the problems we have in America today is people aren’t talking to each other enough. And I don’t quite grasp why we’re now challenging people that they can’t talk to one another.”

— We asked McCarthy about Liz Cheney, who almost lost her leadership post after voting to impeach Trump. Cheney also declared Trump wasn’t the future of the GOP. Here’s what he said: “[The Republican Party has] always been about conservative ideas, promoting opportunity, and the uniqueness of this party today is we’re the workers party, we’re the American workers’ party.”

IMPEACHMENT

Behind the scenes of Trump’s trial

Getty Images

The Senate impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump starts today, and leaders from both parties are trying to get their logistics together. Trump is being charged with inciting the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and if convicted, he can be barred from seeking future office.

As required by its rules, Trump’s impeachment trial will become the Senate’s top priority, and other matters — including nominations and legislative activity — will be thrown off track by the proceedings.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will hold a 9 a.m. call each morning with his colleagues to touch base and go over that day’s message. Senate Democrats had lunch every day during the first Trump trial, so this is standard practice for Schumer.

Schumer will also hold a news conference Tuesday morning with other top Democrats to “discuss how critical work on President Biden’s American Rescue Plan will continue during the Senate impeachment trial.” House committees will begin marking up portions of the Covid relief bill this week, although the Trump trial will slow down the Senate’s work on the proposal.

As for Republicans, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is planning on holding a daily lunch with his rank-and-file lawmakers. He also did this during the 2020 proceedings.

The trial was scheduled to run from Tuesday to Friday evening. There was supposed to be a break Saturday, with the trial resuming Sunday. The Saturday break was to accommodate Trump defense lawyer David Schoen, an observant Jew who didn’t want to work on the Sabbath. However, Schoen has now withdrawn that request, meaning the proceedings will continue on Saturday, with Sunday as an off day. Schumer and McConnell are expected to offer a unanimous consent agreement on the new schedule Tuesday.

Like previous impeachment trials, much of the second floor near the Senate chamber will be restricted access for reporters and photographers, who need special passes to interact with senators.

Trump’s defense team will work out of the LBJ Room, where the Democrats traditionally have held their party lunches. The House impeachment managers will use the president pro tem’s space, as well as an additional office on the first floor. 

Both sides plan to make frequent use of video evidence during their presentations, a technique that was also employed during Trump’s first trial. The impeachment managers will argue that Trump incited the Jan. 6 attack, which left five people dead, including a U.S. Capitol Police officer, and dozens more wounded. Trump’s lawyers counter that the proceedings are both unconstitutional and a violation of the former president’s free speech rights.

A Trump conviction seems very, very unlikely barring some stunning new revelation or evidence. With that in mind, most senators are predicting the trial will be over by early next week, perhaps as early as Monday.

THE WASHINGTON GAME

Cory Gardner’s new super PAC

​Getty Images 

Former Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) is chairing a new super PAC that aims to funnel money directly to candidates. The PAC is called the National Victory Action Fund.

Here’s the play: They will run ads that will urge donors to contribute directly to candidates. This is the way for donors to get the biggest bang for their buck. Candidates get lower television advertising rates and can better use the cash to promote their message. This is the right’s attempt to mimic what Stacey Abrams does in Georgia. The GOP group tested this in the Georgia runoff and raised $11 million for then-Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.

Board members include Jeff Larson, Sarah Morgan, former Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Calif.) and Beth Myers. Veteran GOP spokesman Matt Gorman is handling communications. 

Gardner lost his reelection bid in November, being ousted by Democrat John Hickenlooper. Gardner is a former chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

SNEAK PEEK

Brian Kemp speaks

Brian Kemp spoke to Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug and Michael Duncan for their Ruthless Podcast.

Here are a few nuggets

→ Kemp on Brad Raffensperger: “You know, a lot of the changes before the election, you know, it’s easy to Monday morning quarterback now, but I had concerns with those I probably wouldn’t have done things the same way, but the people of Georgia elected Secretary Raffensberger to be the Secretary of State and he made those decisions and there’s legislators that are upset with some of them but he also you know has spoken out in regards and I’ll let him speak for himself.”  

→ "I do think there’s things that we need to do, seeing how many people voted absentee, the demand and the volume is significantly more than we’ve ever seen in the past. And I think that gives us some reasoning to go into this session, which we’re doing now and consider other ways to make it easy to vote in Georgia, but also hard to cheat. And one of the things that I’ve championed is a photo ID requirement for absentee ballots by mail, just like we have for in person." …

→ Holmes: "Are you concerned at all about the number of conservatives in the runoff, particularly in North Georgia that were dispirited by what they felt like was a stolen election and ultimately didn’t show up for that runoff that may have made the difference. Do you think that there has to be a more fulsome effort over the next couple years to regain confidence with these people and the voting procedures in Georgia?"

Kemp: "Well, no doubt about it. I’m looking forward to it. And I’ve already started having those conversations with some people that just, quite honestly are misinformed. They didn’t really know, you know, my position per se. A lot of frustration out there. I hear that. We gonna work on that. But also there was a lot of people that were distracted, Josh. They didn’t vote.

"They just didn’t want to engage. And then, you know, we also, I think there’s a lot of people that leaked on us in the primary. The white, educated suburban voter. If they did turn back out, they didn’t vote for us in that election. And whereas, in November, they did. And that’s what we got to really stay focused and not get distracted. People were more concerned with having a special session than they were with holding the United States Senate."

MOMENTS

9:30 a.m.: President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris will get the daily briefing.

10:30 a.m.: Sen. Chuck Schumer and committee chairs will hold a news conference.

Noon: Harris will swear in incoming VA Secretary Denis McDonough.

12:45 p.m.: Jen Psaki will brief. 

12:55 p.m.: The House managers will begin proceeding toward the Senate chamber.

1 p.m.: The impeachment trial will begin.

1:45 p.m.: Biden and Harris will meet with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and business leaders.

CLIP FILE

NYT: “‘Its Own Domestic Army’: How the G.O.P. Allied Itself With Militants,” by David D. Kirkpatrick and Mike McIntire in Lansing, Mich.

“Using Connections to Trump, Dershowitz Became Force in Clemency Grants,” by Ken Vogel and Nick Confessore

“Fox Files Motion to Dismiss Smartmatic’s $2.7 Billion Defamation Suit,” by Michael Grynbaum and Jonah Bromwich: “Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corporation on Monday filed a motion to dismiss the $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit brought against it last week by the election technology company Smartmatic, which has accused Mr. Murdoch’s cable networks and three Fox anchors of spreading falsehoods that the company tried to rig the presidential race against Donald J. Trump.”

“Minimum Wage Hike Would Help Poverty but Cost Jobs, Budget Office Says,” by Jason DeParle

WaPo: “Biden works hard to suggest he’s not paying attention to Trump’s impeachment trial,” by Anne Gearan and Matt Viser

“N.Y. court won’t revive Paul Manafort’s fraud case, ending prosecutor’s bid to sidestep Trump’s pardon,” by Shayna Jacobs: “The state’s highest court has upheld a ruling blocking Manhattan’s district attorney from pursuing criminal charges against Paul Manafort, former president Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign chairman, marking a death knell for the mortgage fraud case widely seen as an attempt to circumvent a pardon for Manafort’s related federal crimes.”

WSJ: “Reddit’s Valuation Doubles to $6 Billion After Funding Round,” by Sarah E. Needleman: “Reddit Inc. doubled its valuation to $6 billion in a new round of funding that comes as the social-media company has added users through the Covid-19 pandemic and more recently has gained attention for its role in the recent Wall Street trading frenzy.

“Reddit on Monday said it raised $250 million in a late-stage funding round led by venture-capital firm Vy Capital. Previously it was valued at $3 billion after its last funding round in February 2019, according to PitchBook, a provider of private-market data. Current investors in Reddit also include venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and internet conglomerate Tencent Holdings Ltd.”

WSJ Editorial Board: “So why hold this trial? The answer is transparently political. Hatred for Donald Trump is the Democratic Party’s single most unifying principle. Democrats have prospered politically since Mr. Trump was elected, and they’d like to keep him as a foil for as long as they can. …

“Perhaps the trial will turn up some new evidence that moves the Senate toward conviction. But don’t count on it. The House rushed impeachment without hearings, and the only witness the managers have called is Mr. Trump—an obvious political stunt. The irony of this trial is that Republicans would like to move on to debating Mr. Biden’s agenda, but Democrats can’t let Mr. Trump go.”

Politico: “Dems split as progressives rage over immigration vote,” by Burgess Everett and Marianne LeVine

People: “Reporter Forgoes Covering President as Romance Blossoms with Biden Aide Battling Cancer: ‘Didn’t Think Twice’: “We both realized we both felt the same way,” TJ Ducklo, a White House deputy press secretary, says of Axios’ Alexi McCammond. “We’re both really happy, and we wanted to do it the right way,” by Adam Carlson

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