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PRESENTED BY

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

THE TOP

Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. And happy February. Aka “The Coldest Month.”

Nothing will ever compare to the internal firing squad that was Donald Trump’s White House. But as President Joe Biden’s poll numbers and national standing have swooned, top administration officials – from Vice President Kamala Harris on down – have all had their turn being made the scapegoat for Biden’s political problems, at least in part.

Today features a repeat customer: HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. The Washington Post has a story on its front page saying that the White House is “frustrated” with Becerra and senior aides have “openly mused about who might be better in the job.” Becerra served in House Democratic leadership and as the attorney general of California. He’s intimately familiar with internal drama. In 2009, Becerra suggested to progressives that the Nancy Pelosi-led leadership gave up too easily on the public option during the health care battles under former President Barack Obama. Pelosi said Becerra threw her under the bus.

Becerra has been getting hit for months during this latest Washington go-round too, so today’s story isn’t exactly new news, although the tone is pretty harsh. Definitely worth your time to read.

Yet lots of top administration officials have had their turn taking flak of late:

→ NBC reported over the weekend that DNC Chair Jamie Harrison has considered leaving his post because of tensions with the White House. Harrison hit back.

→ White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain had his turn last week, with stories in the WaPo and Politico. Politico’s headline was: “It’s Ron Klain’s turn in the barrel.” 

→ CDC Director Rochelle Walensky has been bashed as well. Here too.

→ Harris has spent months under fire, with Biden even facing questions about whether he wants her on the ticket in 2024. AP wrote last month Harris was “struggling to define herself one year” into the administration. Late last year, CNN reported on “dysfunction” in Harris’s job. There has been a staff shakeup in Harris’ office.

Much of this is typical for any White House, especially one where the president has seen his political fortunes turn so dramatically in the wrong direction. And no one has taken more flak than Biden himself. But if you’re working in the upper level of the Biden administration, the question you might be asking is this – Are you next?

Funding Battles: Can Congress get a spending deal?

There are 17 days until government funding expires. There will not be a government shutdown, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see how Congress will be able to craft a yearlong spending package before we reach the Feb. 18 deadline. There would have to be some really dramatic progress in the next couple of days for Congress to get a large-scale agreement by then. The more likely scenario is another short-term funding bill while party leaders and the White House try to craft a longer-term package.

The “Four Corners” – the chairs and ranking Republicans on the House and Senate appropriations committees – will meet this afternoon in an effort to extend government funding.

Right now, the two sides haven’t come to an agreement on a “topline” number for overall government spending this year. Republicans are demanding “parity” between any increases in defense and nondefense spending, which Democrats won’t support. Without a topline number to work from, none of the 12 subcommittees have begun to draft their own individual spending bills. 

“I want parity. Absolutely. And I’m not by myself,” Sen. Richard Shelby (Ala.), the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, told reporters on Monday. “America needs parity. And there are other things. But maybe I’ll have a better feeling by tomorrow.”

There are also a number of policy riders that the two sides need to hash out, including the Hyde Amendment, which bars federal funding for abortions.

Sources close to the talks suggested a deal on a topline number may be possible by the end of this week. That would include a “framework” to begin drafting the 12 individual spending bills. Policy fights can be resolved inside the subcommittees, or kicked up to the “Four Corners” or leadership, if needed.

But there’s another issue that’s waiting for a topline number deal – additional Covid relief funding.

The White House is preparing another Covid funding request for Congress that could include both domestic and international priorities. But House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) has asked the White House to hold off on that request until a topline number is agreed to, according to multiple Democratic sources. DeLauro, in her first omnibus negotiations as Appropriation Committee chair, wants to make progress on the overall package before considering another Covid relief package.

But as we said at the start, making the Feb. 18 deadline is difficult at this point. There could be a short-term continuing resolution if the two sides are making progress toward an omnibus vote. If not, a year-long CR could become more likely. The Pentagon has never run on a yearlong stopgap, and military leaders have warned repeatedly that this would be a huge problem for them considering the growing tension in Ukraine and elsewhere. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is meeting with Democratic appropriators this morning, and the “Four Corners” meeting is later in the afternoon. So we’ll have updates throughout the day and tomorrow AM.

Reminder: We’re almost one week away from our virtual conversation with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on cybersecurity and privacy online. Join us for this timely event on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 9 a.m. EST! RSVP here.

THE COLLINS SHOW

Electoral reform group to huddle with Klobuchar, Blunt

News: The Senate’s bipartisan group trying to hash out a deal on changing election laws is planning to meet with Senate Rules Chair Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the committee’s top Republican, in the coming days. The Rules Committee would handle any change to election laws, and if a package comes together, it would need Klobuchar’s buy-in. 

A date for the meeting has not been set, but it’s clear here there is movement, not only motion. 

Remember: This bipartisan Senate group only came together after Republicans blocked two Democratic voting rights bills. The core of what they’re looking at is reforming the Electoral Count Act of 1887. In particular, the senators want to clarify the vice president’s role in certifying the election and overhauling how many lawmakers will be needed to challenge a state’s election results. This issue was at the core of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, of course, and there’s strong bipartisan interest in trying to avoid that situation again.

This Senate group has a similar composition to the core gang that drafted the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, so they’ve shown they can get something done. 

→ The group has split up into five “sub-groups” charged with examining different parts of the package. The groups are: the Electoral Count Act (Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins and West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin are leading this one); protecting election workers and officials; voting practices/voting rights; the Election Assistance Commission and Help America Vote Act grants; and presidential transitions and contingent elections.

→ Collins said staffers have met with voting experts and consulted with the parliamentarian. 

→ The bipartisan group is considering federal penalties for those who threaten election workers. Collins said the group is exploring whether these penalties can apply to local elections or only elections with federal candidates on the ballot. 

→ Klobuchar said she supports that the group is “moving ahead and I want to have as strong a bill as possible.”

→ Manchin said the group will work all week and see where they are on Friday, when the senators will have a Zoom meeting to “put pen to it.” 

→ This legislation is likely to go through committee instead of being streamlined through the leadership. Judiciary and Rules will have jurisdiction here, so we’ll have to see if both get a whack at this.

The White House is supportive of this effort. It’s clear this has gotten a lot of energy with the rank and file. Now we’ll have to see how the leadership handles this. We’ve seen bipartisan groups get legislation signed into law this Congress, and it looks an awful lot like this. 

→ Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer reported raising $5.4 million in the final quarter of last year. He has a staggering $36.2 million in cash on hand.

→ Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.) raised $1.4 million and has $6.2 million on hand.

→ The Congressional Leadership Fund filed its twice-yearly report, and we now get to see who is making big bets on the House GOP winning the majority. CLF raised $53.5 million in the second half of 2021. As we reported yesterday, Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin gave $10 million. Patrick Ryan, the founder of the AON Corporation, also gave $10 million. Craig Duchossois gave $2 million. Thomas Peed, his wife Rhonda and their Sandhills Global gave a total of $6 million. Charles Schwab gave $1.5 million. Arkansas billionaire Warren Stephens gave $1 million. Koch Industries gave $500,000. Cherna Moskowitz gave $750,000. Former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) gave $70,000.

→ Senate Leadership Fund, a Senate GOP focused super PAC, also got $5 million from Ken Griffin of Citadel. Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus cut a $2 million check. SLF raised $42.8 million in the second half of the year and has $47 million on hand.

→ Senate Majority Fund, the Senate Democratic super PAC, raised $61.5 million and has $30.5 million on hand.

→ Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who just won re-election, raised $1.3 million and has $13.3 million on hand.

DOWNTOWN DOWNLOAD

→ Invariant signed Flexport Inc., the freight logistics company, to “[m]onitor and educate members on the global supply chain.”

FRONTS

MOMENTS

10:15 a.m.: President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will get their daily intelligence briefing. 

1:30 p.m.: Jen Psaki will brief.

2 p.m.: Senate lunches will break up.

1:45 p.m.: Biden and Harris will meet with Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on the Supreme Court vacancy.

CLIP FILE

NYT

→ “Trump Had Role in Weighing Proposals to Seize Voting Machines,” by Alan Feuer, Maggie Haberman, Mike Schmidt and Luke Broadwater

→ “As the U.S. Pulls Back From the Mideast, China Leans In,” by Ben Hubbard and Amy Qin in Beirut

→ “Billionaires and Big Checks Shape Battle for Congress,” by Shane Goldmacher and Rachel Shorey

→ “Trump Entered 2022 With $122 Million in the Bank,” by Shane Goldmacher

WaPo

→ “Blinken to try diplomacy again with Russian counterpart after sharp U.N. clash over Ukraine,” by Isabelle Khurshudyan and Rachel Pannett in Kyiv

→ “Republicans lead 2022 money race as both parties hit record levels of cash on hand,” by Michael Scherer and Isaac Stanley-Becker

→ “Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for children under 5 could be available by the end of February, people with knowledge say,” by Laurie McGinley, Lena H. Sun and Carolyn Y. Johnson

WSJ

→ “EPA Moves to Restore Obama-Era Rules on Power Plants,” by Katy Stech Ferek

Politico

→ “A crypto breakthrough? Western states consider taking digital currency,” by Ben Schreckinger

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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images