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PRESENTED BY

BY JOHN BRESNAHAN, ANNA PALMER AND JAKE SHERMAN

THE TOP

Unity is what they were striving for in the House Republican Conference this week. Enough with the infighting, they said. They were going to take a stand against President Joe Biden’s agenda from now on and focus on hitting Democrats instead of warring with each other.

But for the second week in a row, House Republicans find themselves engaged in a nasty round of internecine warfare, second-guessing and turning against the tactics of their leadership.

The topic of disagreement this time: A bill authorizing a bipartisan commission to review the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he was opposed to the legislation Tuesday, but Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.) — who helped put together the bipartisan deal at McCarthy’s behest — made a pitch for his colleagues to back it.

McCarthy’s gripe was lame to many House Republicans. He said this commission should be focused on other political violence, not just Jan. 6. A lot of Republicans found this excuse incredibly weak, especially since most GOP members had called for a Jan. 6 commission months ago. 

In fact, there are 31 sponsors of a GOP bill to create a commission that mirrors the bipartisan compromise. The GOP truly doesn’t have solid ground to stand on here.

Within hours of McCarthy coming out against the bill, dozens of rank-and-file Republicans were telling their leaders they were inclined to side with Katko and House Democrats, and against McCarthy, in a stunning rebuke of the California Republican’s leadership.

We hear that anywhere between 20 to 50 Republicans could vote for this commission, with the total very fluid. Republicans are concerned about a “jailbreak,” in which a flood of lawmakers back the legislation en masse. The House Problem Solvers Caucus endorsed it late Tuesday, which could help bring over a dozen or so GOP votes. 

Behind all this internal GOP drama, of course, looms former President Donald Trump. He fomented the insurrection at the Capitol, and it’s his actions — and those of his allies and aides, including McCarthy — that the commission is ultimately designed to look at.

Trump still controls the Republican Party. Republicans — including McCarthy — worry about his reaction to events in the Capitol. They try to send messages to him through television interviews, and support legislation they think he’d back. Some even talk about Biden in the way Trump does to appease the former president. Trump released a statement on Tuesday night calling the commission a “Democrat trap,” and he hoped “Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy are listening!”

Many senior GOP leadership figures understand that forcing their rank and file to vote against this bill is damaging for their most vulnerable members in the long run. It’s a tough vote to explain away — especially when so many Republicans are on record supporting something nearly identical.

But regardless, the GOP leadership started pressing their lawmakers Tuesday night to vote against the bill. Their whip notice came with a red disclaimer: “IMPORTANT: If your boss intends to vote in favor of the bill, it is imperative that you contact the Whip Floor Team by email.”

In whipping Republicans against the commission, the GOP leadership said the panel would run for too long and could interfere with efforts to prosecute the Jan. 6 rioters. They also said it wouldn’t allow an investigation into the shooting of Republican lawmakers at a baseball field four years ago or the killing of U.S. Capitol Police Officer Billy Evans last month. 

We spoke to more than a dozen House Republicans during votes late Tuesday afternoon, and we were surprised how many were undecided, squishy or leaning toward voting for the commission. This is a bad sign for the leadership.

→ Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.): “I’m a true believer in getting to the bottom of that terrible day.” He told us he will be voting for it “absent something changing that I’m not aware of now.”

→ Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio): “I’m leaning yes.”

→ Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio) is a yes.

→ Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is a yes.

→ Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) said he sympathized with McCarthy, but hadn’t made his mind up yet.

→ Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) is undecided. “I want to see who’s going to get appointed. Are they political appointees or are they real appointees? What’s the endgame? Where do we want to get to? I’m still up in the air… I think a lot of guys are like me right now, on the fence.”

→ Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.): “Still deciding.” Davis is the top Republican on the House Administration Committee. He and Katko introduced the Jan. 6 commission bill in mid-January that is similar to what Democrats are proposing.

→ Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), ranking member on the Rules Committee, told us he was undecided.

→ Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) is leaning no. “We need to have a much more expansive role if we’re going to do that. We, the American people. We need to look at a lot of the different things that have gone on, including the earlier riots last summer,” Fleischmann said.

→ Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) is a no despite her criticism of Trump’s actions on Jan. 6. “DOJ, FBI, and Homeland Security are all doing investigations. I’d like to see them do their job.”

Not only is there disagreement among House Republicans, but there’s also a tiny sliver of space at the moment between McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). McConnell said he is willing to listen to arguments about why there should be a commission. It’s hard to see McConnell backing the commission in the end, but he clearly sees a political interest in letting the game play out a bit.

What this means for McCarthy: McCarthy is damaged by this incident, even if the Jan. 6 commission bill never becomes law. His treatment of Katko rubbed some Republicans the wrong way. Katko may very well be at fault here —  McCarthy allies suggest he cut a deal that some Republicans couldn’t back. But, for McCarthy, this comes soon after the Cheney drama, so this  has been a very rough stretch for House Republicans.

One other note: We expect to hear from Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton — the 9/11 commission co-chairs — endorsing the Jan. 6 commission. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has used the 9/11 commission as a model for this latest panel. Pelosi will hold a separate press conference today with Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) — the chairs the Appropriations, Homeland Security and House Administration panels, respectively — to discuss the Jan. 6 commission, as well as the Democrats’ $1.9 billion proposal to “harden” security for the Capitol complex.

HE MATTERS!

NEWS: Ralston is writing a Harry Reid bio

If you’re reading this newsletter, you know Jon Ralston. He’s the unofficial dean of Nevada political press corps and knows more about the Battle Born State than anyone. He also founded the Nevada Independent, a must-read publication.

Great news: Ralston is writing what will be the definitive biography of Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat and former Senate majority leader. Reid is cooperating and has agreed to sit down with Ralston for a series of interviews for the book.

The book is being published by Simon and Schuster. Matt Latimer and Keith Urbahn at Javelin represented Ralston. We can’t wait for this one.

NEWS IN THE INFRASTRUCTURE TALKS

Carper presses W.H. on climate priorities

The talks between Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and White House officials over a bipartisan infrastructure bill are pretty much a black box. In other words, all we’re getting out of it is the conversations have been good, they’ve been productive and they look forward to talking more. Cool. Great.

Capito met with senior administration officials Tuesday and presented them with a new infrastructure plan and the White House is expected to make a counteroffer of some variety within days.

But we’re starting to get some more information out of these talks — and the White House is going to find this quite interesting. Senate Democrats are beginning to get a bit itchy about the climate provisions in a bipartisan infrastructure package. 

To borrow verbiage from Chuck Schumer, Democrats want “big and bold” climate provisions. And, according to multiple sources in the talks, the climate provisions are already a point of contention in the talks between the two sides. This was a topic of conversation in the Senate Democratic lunch Tuesday and in a Senate Democratic Environment and Public Works meeting Friday. 

Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) — the chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee and a close ally and friend of President Joe Biden — has been pressing the administration to hold out against Republican demands to pare back their climate demands.

We will be keeping an eye on this. This is the kind of disagreement that can truly mess up negotiations and blow up a bipartisan bill. There is no chance Democrats are going to go for a bill without aggressive climate provisions.

MORE DRAMA. SURE, WHY NOT?

House fines Republicans for ditching masks on the floor

Fed up with the mask mandate on the floor Tuesday night, a group of House Republicans removed their masks in protest.

These GOP lawmakers — arguing that the CDC’s guidance has changed and the Senate has already dropped the requirement — decided to test Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Democratic leadership. They were even taking selfies on the floor and posting them, a sort of double whammy, if you will.

So guess what? They’re gonna get fined now. Or they were warned about fines the next time they do it. 

Getting hit with $500 fines on Tuesday for a second offense were Reps. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) and Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas).

Those receiving warnings included GOP Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Thomas Massie (Ky.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Chip Roy (Texas), Bob Good (Va.), Louie Gohmert (Texas) and Mary Miller (Illinois).

The fines are deducted automatically from the lawmaker’s congressional salary. They can appeal to the House Ethics Committee, but since they will need some Democratic support to win those appeals and that’s unlikely to happen.

The mask mandate remains in place for the House for the time being, Democrats say, because so many GOP lawmakers either aren’t getting vaccinated or won’t disclose whether they have.

RUH ROH

N.Y. AG joins Trump suit

Scoop by CNN’s Sonia Moghe and Kara Scannell:

New York Attorney General Letitia James is joining the Manhattan district attorney’s office in a criminal investigation of the Trump Organization, James’ office said Tuesday.

The attorney general office’s investigation into the Trump Organization, which has been underway since 2019, will also continue as a civil probe, but the office recently informed Trump Organization officials of the criminal component.

“‘We have informed the Trump Organization that our investigation into the organization is no longer purely civil in nature. We are now actively investigating the Trump Organization in a criminal capacity, along with the Manhattan DA,’ James’ spokesman Fabien Levy told CNN. ‘We have no additional comment.’”

No matter which way you slice this, it can’t be good to be under investigation by the city and state of New York.

MOMENTS

8:15 a.m.: President Joe Biden will leave the White House for Andrews, where he will fly to Quonset Point Air National Guard in North Kingstown, R.I. He’ll get his intelligence briefing on the plane, and Karine Jean-Pierre will gaggle on Air Force One. Biden will arrive in Rhode Island at 9:40 a.m. 

10:30 a.m.: Biden will leave Rhode Island for New London, Conn. He’ll arrive at the Coast Guard Academy at 10:45 a.m.

11 a.m.: Biden will speak at the Coast Guard Academy graduation.

2:05 p.m.: Biden will fly from New London to Rhode Island and back to D.C. He’ll arrive at Andrews at 4:15 p.m.

2:30 p.m.: Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other senior House Democrats will speak about the Jan. 6 commission and the supplemental spending bill to harden the Capitol.

4:15 p.m.: VP Kamala Harris will meet virtually with Guatemalan justice leaders.

4:35 p.m.: Biden will arrive at the White House. 

6 p.m.: Harris will speak at the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Unity Summit in the South Court Auditorium.

CLIP FILE

NYT

→ “Publicly Supportive, Biden Is Said to Sharpen His Tone With Netanyahu in Private,” by Michael Crowley and Annie Karni

→ “Troubled Vaccine Maker and Its Founder Gave $2 Million in Political Donations,” by Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Chris Hamby and Rebecca R. Ruiz

→ “CNN’s Zucker, Reunited With a Powerful Friend, Sees His Fortunes Change,” by Michael Grynbaum and John Koblin

WaPo

→ “Biden is increasingly at odds with other Democrats over Israel,” by Sean Sullivan and Anne Gearan

→ “House Democrats’ 2020 election autopsy: Bad polling hurt and GOP attacks worked,” by Paul Kane

→ “Arizona Senate president says 2020 recount will proceed, despite angry objections from Maricopa County officials,” by Roz Helderman

WSJ

→ “Covid’s Next Challenge: The Growing Divide Between Rich and Poor Economies,” by Joe Parkinson in Johannesburg

→ WSJ Editorial Board: “The Jan. 6 Narrative Commission”

AP

→ “Israeli airstrikes kill 6, level large family home in Gaza,” by Fares Akram and Joseph Krauss in Gaza City, Gaza Strip

→ “Restrictions reimposed as virus resurges in much of Asia,” by Huizhong Wu and Zen Soo in Taipei, Taiwan

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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images