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May 7, 2021
Presented by Wells Fargo
At Wells Fargo, we cover more rural markets than many large banks, and nearly 30% of our branches are in low- or moderate-income census tracts. What we say, we do. See how.
 PRESENTED BY BY JOHN BRESNAHAN, ANNA PALMER AND JAKE SHERMAN  THE TOPThere’s more drama in the House Republican leadership. Rep. Mike Johnson (La.) — the House GOP conference vice chair — has been privately complaining to his colleagues about what he has called the “coronation” of Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) as House Republican Conference chair. Johnson has griped about why the field was cleared for Stefanik, and he’s questioned her conservative credentials to fellow Republicans. Stefanik has received the backing of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and Minority Whip Steve Scalise (La.) — as well as former President Donald Trump — in her bid to replace Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) as GOP Conference chair. We were told that Johnson is not proactively calling people, but rather receiving calls from colleagues about Stefanik. His team didn’t have any on-the-record comment. We’ve heard these kinds of complaints before in other leadership races. The fact is Stefanik has jumped to favorite status because she’s been working the phones and winning votes. You don’t win races by griping about the way things are; you win races by running and locking down votes quickly. Yes, McCarthy and Scalise are backing Stefanik, and yes that helps. But we’ve seen leaders back candidates who’ve lost. There’s time for him to get in the race if he thinks Stefanik is insufficiently conservative. Also, the “people-have-been-calling-me-to-complain” trope is familiar to us. To be clear, we don’t doubt that people are calling Johnson. But we hear this all the time in leadership races. It makes the act much more passive and innocent. Johnson’s grumbling is spreading far and wide in the House Republican Conference — countless people we spoke to Thursday brought it up. Johnson is also white man in a leadership team with two white men. He’s from Louisiana. So is Scalise. All of that works against him Meanwhile, Stefanik has been working to bolster her right-wing support. She appeared on Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka’s podcast. She will speak with the Freedom Caucus next week. Stefanik does have the support of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the most prominent House Republican in the Trump wing of the party. Also: The House GOP leadership hasn’t yet decided the timing of the elections next week. On Wednesday, the party is slated to vote on Cheney’s removal as conference chair. If she’s replaced as expected, the leadership will allow for some time for lawmakers to consider the field — if anyone else gets in — and then call a vote. The vote on Cheney’s replacement could be sometime next week, or it might slip to the week of May 17. A quick election will benefit Stefanik. PRESENTED BY GOOGLE Digital safety net helping small businesses adapt, recover, and grow According to a newly released report by the Connected Commerce Council in partnership with Google, COVID disrupted nearly 9 in 10 businesses. However, digitally advanced small businesses were 3.2 times more successful at retaining customers, experienced half the revenue losses, and saw five times the hiring rate of their less advanced counterparts. WHITE HOUSE STRATEGY What the W.H. is watching for this jobs day  The Biden administration is eagerly awaiting the April jobs report, which will be released at 8:30 a.m. Here’s what the senior White House staff is watching: If the U.S. economy adds 700,000 jobs in this latest report, that will be 2 million new jobs in the first 100 days of the new administration. Joe Biden would be the first president to reach 2 million jobs in that time period. Some analysts are expecting a bigger number. The jobs issue is, of course, a huge one for Biden, and he mentioned it during his visit to New Orleans on Thursday. Biden urged Congress to pass his massive, $2.3 trillion infrastructure package, the American Jobs Plan, during his quick trip to the Big Easy. “One of the things that I am proud of is, in the first 100 days [since] I became president, we have created more jobs in that period of time than any administration in history,” Biden said. “But the way I look at that, that’s just the down payment getting us back with the American [Rescue Plan]… A lot of that had to do with getting people vaccinated, getting 600 million doses of the… vaccine, and getting people in a position where it was available.” Remember: Biden mentioned jobs 40 times during his address to a joint session of Congress on April 28. White House officials were buoyed by very strong GDP numbers last week. And on Thursday, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits was the lowest it’s been in more than a year. Jobless claims fell to 498,000 last week, the Labor Department announced. Republican governors in Montana and South Carolina are even pulling their states out of Covid-related unemployment program, saying that Americans aren’t looking for work because they’re getting federal relief. However, more than 16 million Americans are still collecting federal unemployment benefits in mid-April, and there are eight million fewer jobs than a year ago. JAN. 6 FALLOUT Mo a no show for Swalwell complaint  An attorney for Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) says Alabama GOP Rep. Mo Brooks is ducking efforts to be served a complaint as part of a lawsuit brought by the California Democrat. Swalwell has sued Brooks, former President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Rudy Guiliani, Trump’s attorney, alleging that they incited the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6 in order to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) also is suing Trump, Guiliani and the Proud Boys, a far-right group that backs Trump. During his speech at the pro-Trump rally Jan. 6, Brooks — who had falsely claimed for months that the election was stolen from Trump — told the crowd, “Now is the time to start taking down names and kicking ass!” According to Swalwell’s attorney, Philip Andonian of the law firm Caleb Andonian, they’ve already served complaints on the other three defendants, but Brooks and his aides have refused to cooperate so far. “We have been attempting to serve our complaint on Mo Brooks for more than a month,” Andonian said in a statement to Punchbowl News. “I talked to staffers in his D.C. office who promised a response from someone, which never came. I sent the complaint and a waiver of service form in a detailed email to his chief of staff and counsel, which to date remains unanswered.” Adonian even “engaged the services of a private investigator,” but security around the Capitol since Jan. 6 have made it difficult to get near Brooks or his Capitol Hill office. “The other defendants in the case — including Donald Trump — have all agreed to waive service in the interest of getting to the merits of the case. It seems clear that Brooks is choosing to make a political stunt out of a part of the process that essentially is a formality, which is unfortunate. Although not surprising.” Brooks and his aides did not respond to texts, emails and phone messages on Thursday in response to Adonian’s statement. Brooks, who is running for the Senate seat to replace the retiring Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. But Brooks’ Jan. 6 remarks caused outrage among House Democrats. Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) introduced a censure resolution against Brooks, although they haven’t pushed for a vote on it yet. PRESENTED BY GOOGLE  Report: Due to COVID-19, approximately 11 million small businesses (37%) would have closed all or part of their business without digital tools. DUCKWORTH GETS THE BIG NAMES  Check out this invitation: Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are appearing together at a fundraiser for Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.). Those are some big names. Duckworth is up for re-election. MOMENTS 10 a.m.: VP Kamala Harris will hold a virtual bilateral meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. 10:30 a.m.: President Joe Biden will receive his intelligence briefing. 11:30 a.m.: Biden will speak about the April jobs report. 12:30 p.m.: Biden will have lunch with Harris. 1:45 p.m.: Biden and Harris will receive their economic briefing. 3:15 p.m.: Biden and Harris will meet with the “jobs cabinet.” 5:30 p.m.: Biden will fly to Camp David, where he’ll stay for the weekend. CLIP FILE NYT → “Russian Spy Team Left Traces That Bolstered C.I.A.’s Bounty Judgment,” by Charlie Savage, Eric Schmitt and Michael Schwirtz →“Court Overturns Fraud Conviction of Corrine Brown, Ex-U.S. Representative,” by Neil Vigdor → “Biden Aides Quietly Say His Tax Increases Would Help Charities,” by Jim Tankersley → “Pentagon Struggles to Wean Afghan Military Off American Air Support,” by Thomas Gibbons-Neff in Kabul, and Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt in D.C. WaPo → “Biden once asserted Republicans would have an ‘epiphany.’ Now he admits he doesn’t understand them,” by Matt Viser → “Arizona Republicans push back against Justice Department concerns, setting up possible clash over Maricopa County recount,” by Roz Helderman → “‘It’s pretty marginal’: Experts say Biden’s vaccine waiver unlikely to boost supply quickly,” by Tyler Pager, Dan Diamond and Jeff Stein WSJ → “Walmart Deal Shows Expansion in Telehealth, New Front With Amazon,” by Sarah Nassauer and Rolfe Winkler AP → “Big US job gain expected, if employers found enough workers,” by Christopher Rugaber → “Red meat politics: GOP turns culture war into a food fight,” by Thomas Beaumont and Scott McFetridge → “Jonathan Bush, brother of President George H.W. Bush, dies” AJC → “Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms won’t run for reelection,” by J.D. Capelouto, Wilborn P. Nobles III and Greg Bluestein PRESENTED BY GOOGLE Helping small businesses acquire new digital skills Due to COVID-19, 11 million small businesses would have partially or completely closed without digital tools, according to a newly released report by the Connected Commerce Council (3C) in partnership with Google. To help small businesses adapt and recover in the post-COVID landscape, Grow with Google offers free digital training and tools.  Enjoying Punchbowl News AM?  Subscribe 10 friends with your unique link (below) and get a Punchbowl News hat! Your referral link is: Or share via You currently have: 0 referrals Editorial photos provided by Getty Images     |
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Presented by Wells Fargo
At Wells Fargo, we cover more rural markets than many large banks, and nearly 30% of our branches are in low- or moderate-income census tracts. What we say, we do. See how.