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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.

New: With thousands of Russian troops massed near the Ukrainian border, U.S. officials are rushing to shore up the Ukrainian government’s financial position. Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued this statement late Monday: 

“The United States is reaffirming our strong commitment to the Ukrainian people by joining with allies and partners to mobilize robust international support for Ukraine. The U.S. government is offering a sovereign loan guarantee to Ukraine of up to $1 billion to support its economic reform agenda and continued engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).  This offer – combined with the strong partnership between Ukraine, the IMF, other international financial institutions, the G7 and other bilateral donors – will bolster Ukraine’s ability to ensure economic stability, growth, and prosperity for its people in the face of Russia’s destabilizing behavior.”

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had briefed House and Senate leaders on the loan guarantee Monday. This latest economic move comes on top of dramatically increased U.S. military aid to Ukraine during the last few months. And lawmakers have discussed a “Lend Lease” program to boost that military support even further modeled after the famous World War II program that – ironically – helped keep the Soviet Union afloat at a critical time. 

FWIW: Reuters report from Moscow just before 4 a.m.:

“Some troops in Russia’s military districts adjacent to Ukraine are returning to their bases after completing drills, Russia’s defence ministry was quoted as saying on Tuesday, a move that could de-escalate frictions between Moscow and the West.

“Russia’s Interfax news agency cited the ministry as saying that while large-scale drills across the country continued, some units of the Southern and Western military districts have completed their exercises and started returning to base.”

The FT’s Polina Ivanova in Kyiv put it this way:

“Russia is returning some troops to their bases after military exercises were completed, the defence ministry said on Tuesday, signaling some de-escalation of the military build-up on Ukraine’s eastern border. 

“European equities and U.S. stock futures rose while the oil price fell on news that units from Russia’s southern and western military districts were heading back to base following the completion of drills.”

The front pages of the New York Times – as always, we included it below – has a story that Russia is now seeking negotiations with the West. Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz today.

So the tone of this dangerous situation has again shifted slightly. But U.S. policymakers remain very wary of Putin and his intentions.

We asked Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) on Monday about signals from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that the Russians may be open to talks. Menendez: “I think it’s all a ‘dog-and-pony show.’” Meaning don’t trust what the Russians say, watch what they do.

Hello partisanship, my old friend

Last week, the narrative around D.C. was that bipartisanship was breaking out in Congress. 

Well, that was last week. The Senate has run smack into a partisan wave this week, making life more difficult for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democrats. Nothing – and we mean absolutely nothing – is simple or easy in a 50-50 Senate.

Check out what’s going on right now:

→ After weeks of negotiations, Republicans and Democrats have been unable to find agreement on a package of sanctions on Russia. There was internal debate in both parties about whether sanctions should come before or after a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Congress did what it does best and settled on doing nothing. In fact, after weeks of saying that a sanctions package would be the only way to show the world that the United States was united in its resolve to punish Russia for malign behavior, the chamber is going to settle for passing a non-binding resolution expressing praise for Ukraine. Senators from both parties say that President Joe Biden has all the sanction authority he needs. They’ve gone from in a hurry to pass sanctions to one chamber passing a non-binding resolution.

Asked if such a resolution would send a message that the Senate is divided at a crucial moment, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, cast doubt on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is “following the ins and outs of the legislative process in D.C.” 

→ The federal government runs out of money on Friday, and the Senate is suddenly stuck on two unrelated government funding snafus. Our reporting tells us that this will get resolved and there won’t be a government shutdown, but it just shows once again the endless minefield that is a 50-50 Senate. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) has a hold on a three-week stopgap funding bill because she believes – based on a media report – that the Biden administration is trying to set aside money to hand out crack pipes. The White House, Health and Human Services Department and Office of National Drug Policy all say it’s not the case. But Blackburn says she’s waiting on the Biden administration to respond formally to her concerns before dropping her hold.

Separately, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and several other GOP senators are demanding a vote on an amendment to ban the federal government from funding a vaccine mandate for federal workers, contractors and the military. 

Again, neither of these issues is going to shut down the government, but these kinds of last-minute snafus are standard operating procedure for the Senate. ”I never saw anything like this when I first came here, that people were far more interested in the sound bite than they are in helping the country,” complained Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who has been in the Senate since 1975. We’ll get a clearer idea of what’s in store for the next few days following today’s party lunches.

→ A major U.S. Postal Service reform bill, which passed the House with 120 GOP votes, is now delayed in the Senate because of Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.). Scott objected to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s request to fix a technical error in the bill because he said the legislation is flawed. Of course, objecting to this technical correction won’t change the bill – it will only delay it for a few weeks.

This is a great illustration of just how fleeting some moments are on Capitol Hill, and how quickly the tone and tenor of the institution can change. 

Schumer and the White House did get a win on Monday when the Senate invoked cloture on Robert Califf’s nomination for FDA commissioner. There will be a final vote today on that nomination.

Schumer also filed cloture on two Pentagon nominees that Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) had placed a hold on: Celeste Wallander for Assistant Defense Secretary for International Security Affairs, and David Honey to Defense Deputy Under Secretary for Research and Engineering. Hawley has been seeking Senate hearings on the botched U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer, but Democrats have complained loudly that the Missouri Republican was hurting President Joe BIden’s ability to have his nominees in place at top Pentagon posts during the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Looks like Democrats are willing to fight this out now. 

And we’re closely watching today’s action in the Senate Banking Committee. The panel is set to take up the nomination of Jay Powell for a second term as Federal Reserve chair, as well several other Biden picks for the Board of Governors. These include Sarah Bloom Raskin – wife of Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) – and Lisa Cook. Republicans strongly oppose both nominees. Cook would be the first Black woman in that high-profile role. 

Reminder: Wednesday, we’re interviewing Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on the future of American innovation. In-person spots are filled, but you can still tune in virtually! RSVP here.

We’re coming to SXSW!

We’re headed to Austin! Punchbowl News will be at SXSW on March 11-13. We want to see you! We’ll be moderating panels and would love to meet up with our community. Got a fun pop up experience we should visit? Happy hour we should attend? Partnership idea? Send us your info. 

NEWS

Key Pelosi ally moves on Hill unionization

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), the chair of the House Administration Committee, is asking the Capitol’s workplace authority to clarify regulations as to how congressional aides might unionize, the first official step by a lawmaker that could allow staff to band together and organize.

Here’s the letter, which is floating around Capitol Hill. We obtained a copy on Monday.

The letter is signed by Lofgren, a close ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It essentially asks the ​​Office of Congressional Workplace Rights to clarify 1996 regulations that allowed congressional aides to unionize and bargain collectively. This update will give a clear roadmap as to how aides in House personal offices and committee staffers might organize.

Here’s the key excerpt:

The Committee on House Administration (CHA) recently held an oversight hearing on OCWR, on November 9, 2021, which included discussion of this specific issue. In her testimony, your colleague, Director Barbara Camens noted that in the ensuing quarter century since OCWR recommended regulations to Congress, the current members of the Board of Directors “have not looked at them, we have not reexamined them, and we have not taken a position on them.” Ms. Camens also noted that OCWR’s adoption of regulations in 1996 predated the service of the “current iteration of the board.” 

Much has changed since 1996. For example, CHA recently took a lead role in drafting and enacting a reform law with significant bipartisan input and support to update the protections of the CAA to provide greater protections for legislative branch employees, including making it easier for them to assert their rights and protections under the law. Accordingly, I request that the Board of Directors of the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights review the regulations it proposed in 1996 related to collective bargaining. It is my hope that an expeditious review will inform the House’s consideration of how to better improve the workplace for our Congressional staff.

Following passage of the 1995 Congressional Accountability Act – a landmark bill that required Congress to abide by many of the same laws it had long exempted itself from – the issue of whether congressional aides could unionize was a hot topic. The CAA allowed legislative support agency employees, including the U.S. Capitol Police, the Library of Congress and GAO,  to unionize, and they did.

For congressional aides working in personal offices and congressional committees, the Office of Compliance – now the OCWR – ruled that they could unionize as well. The House would have to pass a resolution covering the House side, and the Senate the same for its aides. This was never done, however.

Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) has introduced a resolution to do just that. It has more than 140 cosponsors. The resolution has been referred to the House Administration Committee for any legislative action.

This letter, however, shows that Lofgren is taking proactive steps to clarify these regulations first.

→ We are pretty firmly against Valentine’s Day political content, but what the hell, we’ll show you this one. Club for Growth is running an anti-Pat McCrory ad in the North Carolina GOP primary. The spot, which is running across the state, says that McCrory, as governor, appointed Democrats to jobs and cozied up to Democratic lobbyists. Club has endorsed Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) for the Senate seat. Thanks to AdImpact for the spot.

FRONTS

MOMENTS

9:50 a.m.: President Joe Biden will get his daily intelligence briefing.

2 p.m.: Biden will speak to the National Association of Counties at the Washington Hilton. … Senate leadership will speak after their respective party lunches.

3 p.m.: Jen Psaki will brief.

CLIP FILE

NYT

→ “U.S. Requests Extradition of Former Honduran President,” by Joan Suazo and Maria Abi-Habib in Tegucigalpa, Honduras 

→ News Analysis: “Court Filing Started a Furor in Right-Wing Outlets, but Their Narrative Is Off Track,” by Charlie Savage

→ “2020 Election Denier Will Run for Top Elections Position in Colorado,” by Azi Paybarah

WaPo

→ “Inside the White House preparations for a Russian invasion,” by Ellen Nakashima and Ashley Parker

WSJ

→ “Elon Musk Gave $5.7 Billion of Tesla Shares to Charity Last Year,” by Rebecca Elliott and Meghan Bobrowsky

AP

→ “Canada’s Trudeau invokes emergency powers to quell protests,” by Rob Gillies and Ted Shaffrey in Ottawa, Ontario

Politico

→ “Stefanik starts quieting her doubters as House GOP messaging chief,” by Olivia Beavers

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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images