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BY JOHN BRESNAHAN, ANNA PALMER AND JAKE SHERMAN

THE TOP

News: The House was in and lawmakers were around the Capitol all day yesterday. We picked up something very interesting which should be on your radar and could help frame your thinking about the Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure plan. 

Some key figures in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s inner circle — including many of the committee chairs that help execute her agenda — are intensely skeptical of the emerging bipartisan Senate infrastructure framework. Of course, it’s early. But this is a very bad sign for the Senate’s negotiating group. The Group of 20 — whatever you want to call it — will meet today. 

Check this out:  

→ Rep. Richie Neal (D-Mass.), the chair of the Ways and Means Committee: “I would prefer bigger. I think this is a once-in-a-career type of opportunity to do what has to be done. We should take advantage of the moment. The public is on our side. The momentum is with us. The president’s rescue package is very popular. … We’ve got considerable momentum. We should take advantage of it.”

→ Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), the chair of the Budget Committee: “I don’t think it’s enough. They can get something done on a bipartisan basis, that’s fine. We’re still gonna work on all the rest of the stuff.”

Then there are the leading liberals who have no interest in what the Senate is talking about.

→ Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), a leading progressive: “First of all, we’re being told it’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. And of course, no one has seen it yet. …  All I can say is a lot of us want to have as robust a bill as possible. There are other people than those 10 people who serve in the House and the Senate, who are gonna want to be heard from so you know, that doesn’t necessarily make it magical. And if anything would proceed — and people are saying there’s going to be other bills that will come —  I think that the expectation from many of us will be, well, then those things either come first, or there’s some more ironclad way to guarantee it’s going to happen.”

Pocan and other progressives are saying they would only support a bipartisan bill if Congress guarantees the passage of a separate piece of legislation with Biden’s social safety-net agenda that would be carried by Democrats alone. That would mean that Congress would have to work on both pieces of legislation simultaneously, and Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and ​Kirsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) would have to be on board for the partisan bill. Good luck to all involved!

→ Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) echoed Pocan’s sentiment: “It’s either going to happen and we know 100% for sure that it’s going to happen, or it’s not going to happen," she said, referring to the second Democratic-only bill. "And I think that the certainty of that second piece is going to determine a lot on our stances on the bipartisan piece.”

In short: It seems safe to say the only way this bipartisan deal happens is if they move another bill at the same time that includes most or all of the party’s progressive agenda. But in that case, would it be more difficult for Republicans to support the bipartisan package? If Pelosi loses Democrats, will she pick up enough Republicans to offset that? Or the Democrats can just drop the bipartisan stuff and pass an infrastructure bill in a reconciliation package with whatever else they want to include. This is all really complicated.

Reminder: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will meet today with the 11 Democratic members of the Senate Budget Committee, as he readies a reconciliation package.

And also: WaPo: “Democrats raise fresh alarms on emerging Senate infrastructure compromise,” by Tony Romm and Seung Min Kim

NYT: “Democrats Vow to Push Their Own Infrastructure Plan as Talks Drag On,” by Emily Cochrane and Jonathan Weisman

30K FEET

Washington still trapped with Trump

On Tuesday, nearly five months after he left the White House and Washington, former President Donald Trump was still all over the news. As much as President Joe Biden and Democrats sometimes try to move past him — and sometimes don’t — Trump still skews the political dialogue in this country like nobody else.

Look at all the ways Trump made headlines in the last 24 hours alone:

→ Fallout from Jan. 6 insurrection: There were two House hearings to scrutinize what happened when a mob of angry Trump supporters led a deadly attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6 in a bid to block Biden’s certification as winner of the Electoral College. 

As part of its hearing, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform released a batch of emails showing the unprecedented pressure campaign by Trump and other top White House officials to get the Justice Department to intervene in post-November election recounts and lawsuits. It didn’t happen, but only because former Attorney General William Barr and former Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen refused to become involved. The Washington Post editorial board called this episode “the most dangerous moment in modern presidential history, orchestrated by a man to whom the GOP still swears allegiance.” 

FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers his agents are still pursuing “hundreds” of more suspects in the Capitol riot and have arrested “close to 500 already.”

And when the House voted Tuesday night to award four Congressional Gold Medals to the U.S. Capitol Police, D.C. Metropolitan Police and others who protected the Capitol on Jan. 6, a total of 21 Republicans voted against it. Most of them were big Trump supporters, of course.

→ Trump is going to do rallies again: CNN reported that Trump will head to Cleveland on June 26 to campaign for House GOP challenger Max Miller. Miller is running against Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio), who voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6 insurrection. Trump will also do an event in Florida around the July 4 holiday, CNN said, with trips to Alabama and Georgia also possible.

But CNN also reported that Trump’s endorsement may not be as powerful in Senate GOP primaries as he thinks it is, especially if the former president hopes to make a comeback in 2024. Although other GOP candidates are digging into their opponents’ records to see if they ever said anything anti-Trump, our friend Reid Wilson wrote. Whatever, it’s all about Trump!

→ Trump is going to the border: Trump announced he’s going to the U.S.-Mexico border with Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott. You know who hasn’t been to the border since taking office? Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris.

→ Trump’s legal woes: The New York Times reported that Allen Weisselberg, CFO of the Trump Organization, could face criminal tax charges this summer brought by the Manhattan DA’s office. Indicting Weisselberg, of course, is prosecutors’ way of getting at Trump, the Times said: “In recent weeks, a grand jury has been hearing evidence about Mr. Weisselberg, who is facing intense scrutiny from prosecutors as they seek his cooperation with a broader investigation into Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization, the people with knowledge of the matter said.”

→ Trump book: Former senior Trump aide Jared Kushner — who also happens to be his son-in-law — has a book deal. Trump, not so much, Politico reported.

→ Fundraising: Practically every other fundraising appeal Republicans send revolves around Trump — the ex president who lost. Check this one out by Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) from last night.

There may be nothing like what we’re seeing with Trump in American history, not even Teddy Roosevelt a century ago. Most certainly not in the post World War II-era, when Richard Nixon, forced to resign in the Watergate scandal, still cast a huge shadow over his party and the nation. Former presidents are just not supposed to have this much sway or make this much news.

But what’s clear is that as much as Trump can’t quit politics, the media can’t quit Trump. Not anytime soon.

SPENDING WARS

House Appropriations wants 12 bills done by July

The House Appropriations Committee will begin marking up all FY 2022 spending bills next week, and the panel hopes to have all 12 done by mid-July. 

But when and which of those 12 bills come to the House floor — or how many of them do — is another issue entirely.

Let’s remember that the Capitol security supplemental package crafted to respond to January’s insurrection passed the House a month ago, yet that bill still hasn’t gone anywhere in the Senate — illustrating the difficulty with which Congress has passing spending bills. There’s no budget caps deal in place, and the two parties are fighting over potentially trillions of dollars in new infrastructure spending. There will need to be a stopgap funding bill passed by Sept. 30 to avoid any shutdown, however temporary. We guarantee there won’t be any shutdown, but this fall is still likely to get ugly.

With the House Budget Committee having passed a “deeming resolution” on Monday setting a topline number of just over $1.5 trillion, Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) announced the first subcommittee markups will begin on June 24 for the Financial Services and General Government and Legislative Branch bills. Full committee markups will kick off the following week. All 12 bills will be through the full committee by July 16 under this plan.

In a statement, DeLauro said: “The coronavirus pandemic has exposed serious needs across America, many of which have been compounded by years of austere budget caps.” Her goal is to “confront the many challenges we face and build an inclusive prosperity that lifts up working families and the vulnerable.”

Of course, the real question is how many of these bills get to the House floor. That’s something that no one in the Democratic leadership wants to discuss right now. It’s clearly not going to be all 12, but which ones make it? 

“It remains to be seen, it remains to be seen,” DeLauro said when we asked her this question. “I’m always optimistic. We’ll get as many as we can.”

For your radar: Politico: “‘Going to be a long winter’: Congress hits snooze on funding the government,” by Jen Scholtes and Caitlin Emma

MOMENTS

7:10 a.m.: President Joe Biden will be greeted by Swiss President Guy Parmelin at Villa La Grange in Geneva.

7:25 a.m.: Biden will take a photo with Parmelin and Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Biden will hold a news conference before he leaves Geneva.

11:15 a.m.: VP Kamala Harris will meet with Texas state legislators who helped block a GOP voting bill in Austin.

11 p.m.: Biden will arrive back in Washington.

SUMMIT COVERAGE

Biden’s encore: The meeting with Putin

The Coverage:

AP: “Face to face: Biden, Putin ready for long-anticipated summit,” by Aamer Madhani and Janathan Lemire in Geneva

NYT: “In Geneva, Putin Wants Respect. Biden Might Just Give Him Some,” by Anton Troianovski in Geneva

→ News Analysis: “Once, Superpower Summits Were About Nukes. Now, It’s Cyberweapons,” by David Sanger in Geneva: “For 70 years, meetings between American presidents and Soviet or Russian leaders were dominated by one looming threat: the vast nuclear arsenals that the two nations started amassing in the 1940s, as instruments of intimidation and, if deterrence failed, mutual annihilation.

“Now, as President Biden prepares to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin here in Geneva on Wednesday, for the first time cyberweapons are being elevated to the top of the agenda.

“The shift has been brewing for a decade, as Russia and the United States, the two most skilled adversaries in the cyberarena, have each turned to a growing arsenal of techniques in what has become a daily, low-level conflict. But at summit meetings, that sort of jousting was usually treated as a sideshow to the main superpower competition.

“No more. The rising tempo and sophistication of recent attacks on American infrastructure — from gasoline pipelines running up the East Coast, to plants providing a quarter of America’s beef, to the operations of hospitals and the internet itself — has revealed a set of vulnerabilities no president can ignore.”

Check out what Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, said:

CLIP FILE

NYT

→ “The U.S. Averted One Housing Crisis, but Another Is in the Wings,” by Conor Dougherty and Glenn Thrush

→ “Cuomo’s Inner Circle Raised Money for Aide Who Was Convicted of Bribery,” by  Brian M. Rosenthal and J. David Goodman

WaPo

→ “Trump administration’s hunt for pandemic ‘lab leak’ went down many paths and came up with no smoking gun,” by Yasmeen Abutaleb and Shane Harris 

→ “Saudi Embassy has helped its citizens facing criminal charges flee the United States,” by Shane Harris

WSJ

→“Federal Judge Stops Biden Administration From Blocking New Oil and Gas Leases,” by Timothy Puko and Katy Stech Ferek

AP

→ “Israeli airstrikes target Gaza sites, first since cease-fire,” by Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem

BEHIND THE SCENES

Check this out: A bunch of senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus are appearing at a fundraiser for Shontel Brown, who is running against Nina Turner for Marcia Fudge’s open Congressional seat. These are some very notable names lining up with Brown, including Rep. ​Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), a member of Democratic leadership; and veteran Congressional Black Caucus leaders like Reps. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.).

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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images