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PRESENTED BY

BY JOHN BRESNAHAN, ANNA PALMER AND JAKE SHERMAN
WITH MAX COHEN AND CHRISTIAN HALL

THE TOP

New: Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) is joining us Tuesday, Nov. 16, at 9:30 a.m. for a one-on-one virtual conversation with Anna about the future of rural communities. This comes as Congress focuses on investments in broadband infrastructure, climate initiatives, and other programs. Afterward, One Country Project Founder and former North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D) will join for a fireside conversation. RSVP here to join!

Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. Government funding runs out in 24 days.

This morning we want to report a little behind-the-scenes drama inside the House Republican Conference over last Friday’s infrastructure vote. 

→ Here’s some news: The GOP leadership is bracing for rank-and-file lawmakers to attempt to strip committee assignments from the 13 Republican lawmakers who voted for the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. Several of these lawmakers are also ranking members — top Republicans on committees — and those could be at risk, too.

A number of GOP lawmakers were upset by the fact that several of their Republican colleagues voted early for the infrastructure package, helping Democrats cross the majority threshold on a key piece of President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda and undermining their party strategy. 

Much of the anger is directed at Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.), who voted early for the legislation. Katko is the ranking member on the Homeland Security Committee. Katko told multiple lawmakers on the House floor that he had seen Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) on television talking about the infrastructure bill, and he was voting early. 

This isn’t the first controversy involving Katko this year. Katko reached an agreement with Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) to create a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 commission. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy later rejected the proposal, but 35 House Republicans ended up voting for the bill.

Katko also voted to impeach former President Donald Trump following the Jan. 6 insurrection, and he supported a criminal contempt referral against former Trump aide Steve Bannon for failing to comply with a subpoena from the select committee investigating the Capitol attack.

Beyond Katko, several of the members who voted for the package hold ranking member posts on full committees or subcommittees. For instance, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), the dean of the House, is the ranking member of Natural Resources. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and David McKinley (R-W.Va.) hold subcommittee ranking spots. 

Three of the 13 are retiring — Reps. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio).

There have been other disputes inside the House GOP Conference this Congress over how members voted. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who was the GOP Conference chair, voted to impeach Trump as well. Cheney was able to fend off the first attempt to oust her by Trump loyalists, but following her continued public criticism of the former president, Cheney was forced out. Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York replaced her in the leadership.

In this case, there was never a doubt that Republican leadership was against the infrastructure bill. McCarthy tried to keep the GOP vote total down, but there were always going to be enough Republicans to help pass the legislation. There was no way McCarthy could keep the total to just a handful of votes. 

Yet those 13 GOP votes gave Speaker Nancy Pelosi some breathing room on the final tally, especially when the Squad voted against the bill. McCarthy’s strategy had been to wait until the Democrats reached 218 votes before Republicans cast their votes, making Pelosi and other Democratic leaders carry it on their own. But Katko and the others blew that up. There’s a lingering feeling of betrayal.

→ Check out this tweet from the House Republican Conference — it’s been the subject of lots of chatter inside GOP circles during the last few days:

The House GOP Conference removed this tweet just after it was posted. You can see why this may anger people who were going to vote for the bill. Fitzpatrick — who voted for the bill — was particularly peeved about this tweet, sources told us. The tweet was removed before it was a bigger problem inside the conference. But, again, there was no secret where GOP leadership was on this bill. 

Some Republicans, including hardliners like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.) and Lauren Boebert (Colo.), publicly called for retaliation against the 13 Republicans who backed the bill.

Our friend Manu Raju of CNN tweeted this last night: “After MTG called them ‘traitors’ and tweeted numbers of the 13 Rs who voted for infrastructure, Upton says on @CNN he has received threats of violence. ‘It’s a real step back…But I have a colleague, as you know, that put out the phone numbers of the 13 of us that voted that way.” 

New Punchbowl News team member!! We’re very excited to announce that Leah Hirsch Bobbitt is joining our team as chief of staff. Most recently Leah worked in Colorado as executive director of the Movement Disorders Foundation and before that as deputy finance director of the Colorado Democratic Coordinated Campaign. She’s no stranger to D.C., she spent nine years at Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas.

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THE SELECT COMMITTEE

Jan. 6 panel’s subpoena for Bill Stepien raises questions for Cheney

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection issued new subpoenas Monday to a half-dozen members of former President Donald Trump’s inner circle. One of those subpoenaed was Bill Stepien, Trump’s former campaign manager.

But this subpoena raises some issues for the select committee, especially Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the Republican vice chair.

Stepien’s firm, National Public Affairs, is managing the campaign of one of Cheney’s Republican primary challengers, Harriet Hageman. Stepien is one of the founding partners of the firm. Trump endorsed Hageman.

Which led us to ask Cheney’s office what her role was in issuing the subpoena for Stepien.

An aide to the select committee gave us this statement: “The full Select Committee doesn’t vote to authorize subpoenas. Subpoena authority rests with the Chairman.”

The aide added: “The purposes for the subpoenas Chairman Thompson issued today are outlined in respective cover letters: https://t.co/t7gJI6fH4S”

Now this didn’t fully answer our questions, including what role, if any, did Cheney have in deciding who is subpoenaed, or whether she was told of the Stepien subpoena beforehand.

We don’t want to obscure the reason that Stepien was subpoenaed, which is important, so we’ll spell out why the select committee wants to talk to the former Trump aide. Here’s the relevant section from the committee’s letter to Stepien on Monday:

“As manager of the Trump 2020 re-election campaign, you oversaw all aspects of the campaign. You then supervised the conversion of the Trump campaign to an effort focused on ‘Stop the Steal’ messaging and related fundraising. That messaging included the promotion of certain false claims related to voting machines despite internal campaign memos in which campaign staff determined such claims were false. The ‘Stop the Steal’ messaging was echoed by individuals who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6 in an attempt to interfere with peaceful and orderly transfer of power. Additionally, the campaign reportedly urged state and party officials to affect the outcome of the November elections by, among other things, asking states to delay or deny certification of electoral votes and by sending multiple slates of electoral votes to the United States Congress.”

Stepien has been given until Nov. 23 to turn over any relevant documents to the panel, and he is required to appear for a deposition on Dec. 13.

→ Amplify New Hampshire, a progressive group, is up with another ad hitting GOP Gov. Chris Sununu over abortion. This is the third ad the group has run on the issue since late September as part of a seven-figure campaign targeting Sununu. Sununu, who has seen his poll numbers take a hit since summer, is considering a challenge against Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan. If he gets in, this will be one of the top races in the country next year. Sununu is beating Hassan in a head-to-head matchup in recent polls.

→ Building Back Together, aimed at boosting the president’s agenda, is running a new ad in D.C. — on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” specifically. The spot thanks President Joe Biden for getting the bipartisan infrastructure deal done, and talks about the benefits of the Build Back Better proposal.

FRONTS

MOMENTS

All times eastern

8:45 a.m.: Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will tour the Institut Pasteur in Paris. 

10:15 a.m.: President Joe Biden will get his daily press briefing.

1 p.m.: Karine Jean-Pierre and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will brief. 

→ From a White House official: “On Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will join the White House daily press briefing to highlight how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal will help close the digital divide in America for the more than 30 million Americans who do not have access to reliable, high-speed internet, particularly in minority and rural communities. Secretary Raimondo will discuss the role of the Department of Commerce to help build up broadband infrastructure and how the approach will include teaching digital skills, getting kids the devices they need to succeed, and improving overall accessibility and affordability. Her visit to the briefing room follows Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as part of initial White House efforts to illustrate how the deal will improve the lives of Americans across the country.”

4:40 p.m.: Biden will speak at a virtual DNC grassroots event. 

5:45 p.m.: Biden will speak at a virtual DNC fundraiser. 

The president’s week: Wednesday: Biden will meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and will travel to Baltimore to talk about the infrastructure deal. Thursday: Biden will go to Arlington National Cemetery for Veterans Day. Friday: Biden will participate in the APEC leaders meeting and will hold a Cabinet meeting.

CLIP FILE

NYT

→ “With Tears, Hugs and Balloons, U.S. Allows Vaccinated Foreign Travelers to Enter,” by Ceylan Yeginsu, Heather Murphy and Concepcion de Lion

WaPo

→ “The infrastructure package puts $66 billion into rail. It could power the biggest expansion in Amtrak’s 50-year history,” by Luz Lazo

→ “Republican Reps. Greene, Clyde fined again for refusing to wear masks on the House floor,” by Mariana Alfaro

WSJ

→ “Robinhood Hack Exposes Millions of Customer Names, Email Addresses,” by Peter Rudegair and Robert McMillan

AP

→ “Obama appeals to young activists to stay in climate fight,” by Ellen Knickmeyer in Glasgow, Scotland

NBC

→ “Pentagon steps up efforts to evacuate families of U.S. troops from Afghanistan,” by Courtney Kube

Politico

→ “Dems weigh a GOP shutout in Maryland redistricting,” by Ally Mutnick

→ “Welcome to the Senate’s year-end to-do list: ‘It’s going to be a train wreck,’” by Burgess Everett and Marianne LeVine

LAT

→ “Thousands protest COVID-19 vaccination mandates as L.A.’s verification rules kick in,” by Nathan Solis and Hailey Branson-Potts

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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images