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![]() PRESENTED BY![]() BY JOHN BRESNAHAN, ANNA PALMER AND JAKE SHERMAN THE TOPDept. of The Easy Stuff: President Joe Biden has tasked Vice President Kamala Harris with: → Figuring out how to pass voting rights legislation — a task that would likely require Harris to convince Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and other hesitant senators to blow up the filibuster. It’s worth recalling that Harris went on West Virginia TV to push for passage of Biden’s coronavirus relief bill several months ago, which upset Manchin. → Figuring out how to stop Central American migrants from coming into the United States. VPs get all the tough, undoable assignments. Just like former Vice President Mike Pence was tasked with managing the Covid response, and probing voter fraud early in the administration. BTW: Biden called out Manchin and Sinema during his speech in Tulsa, Okla., on Tuesday, although not by name. "I hear all the folks on TV saying why doesn’t Biden get this done?" Biden said in a speech in Tulsa to commemorate the 100-year-anniversary of that city’s horrific racial massacre that left more than 300 Black people dead. “Well, because Biden only has a majority of effectively four votes in the House and a tie in the Senate, with two members of the Senate who vote more with my Republican friends.” Speaking of really hard: Biden will meet at 2:45 p.m. today with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) on infrastructure. White House officials seem upbeat but realistic about the meeting. As we said last week, the GOP’s plan to pay for infrastructure by using “unspent” Covid relief cash won’t fly with the Biden administration. No way, no how. So they’ll have to find another way to come up with a few hundred billion dollars without raising taxes (GOP red line) or user fees (Democratic red line). News: As the Senate was leaving town last Friday for the Memorial Day recess, Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough quietly issued a new ruling on a key issue driving legislating in Washington right now: Can Democrats use the same budget resolution twice to trigger the fast-track reconciliation process? The answer is yes, but it’s not that easy, and it may impact what happens to the American Jobs Plan and American Family Plan this summer. According to Hill sources, MacDonough’s decision would allow Democrats to use Section 304 of the 1974 Budget Act to create multiple reconciliation bills within one fiscal year. These reconciliation bills could get through the Senate on a simple majority vote rather than needing 60 votes to overcome a GOP filibuster, such as the Democrats did for the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan in March. We knew this was the outline of what the parliamentarian ruled a few months ago. However, there are limits to what Democrats can do — and this is the news: The majority party — in this case, the Democrats — cannot use reconciliation simply to avoid the regular legislative process, and there have to be reasons beyond political expediency for triggering the majority threshold, such as an economic downturn. In other words, the parliamentarian said Dems can’t use this as a shortcut. In addition, Democrats would have to start the process from the beginning if they want to pass more than one reconciliation bill. That means going back to the House and Senate Budget panels, passing essentially new budget resolutions and bringing them to the floor. In the case of the Senate, this means a “vote-a-rama” for each budget resolution. Democrats would be potentially exposing their vulnerable members such as Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire to tough votes on politically themed amendments offered by Republicans. None of this would be impossible for Democrats to do, but there are still many questions about how it would work, and what impact it would have on the Senate. Republicans, of course, would go ballistic over this, so it would be a huge political risk. Senate Democrats had little to say on the ruling’s impact or how it might affect their strategy moving forward. According to a Senate Democratic aide briefed on timing, “We’re planning to move forward with infrastructure in July and [we’re] weighing all the options.” This is in line with what Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has said publicly. He wants an infrastructure bill done in July. Whether Democrats can pass that, and what this latest parliamentarian ruling means, will all unfold in the next eight weeks or so. Also: The Lookahead is back! Want to make sense of everything ahead of Congress returning next week? Join Anna, Jake and Bres Sunday at 6 p.m. We’ll talk about what to watch in what will certainly be a pivotal month on infrastructure, police reform and much more. Sign up! PRESENTED BY FACEBOOK The internet has changed a lot since 1996 – internet regulations should too. It’s been 25 years since comprehensive internet regulations passed. See why we support updated regulations on key issues, including: – Protecting people’s privacy – Enabling safe and easy data portability between platforms – Preventing election interference – Reforming Section 230 JAN. 6 STRATEGY Pelosi’s Jan. 6 commission options — and how to think about each one ![]() At the tail end of a House Democratic Caucus call Tuesday afternoon, Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) asked for an update on the effort to create a Jan. 6 commission after Republicans in the Senate voted it down last week. This wasn’t a surprise; before the broader caucus call, Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke to her leadership team about what Democrats should do on this issue. Pelosi seemed to be in a listening mode during both calls, and she hasn’t shown her cards on how she might proceed. We’re going to lay Pelosi’s options, and we’ll give you our reported analysis on the upsides and downsides of each one: → The House can push for another Senate vote. Our analysis: Senate Democrats were modestly close to attracting 10 Republicans last time to break the GOP filibuster, although Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pushed hard against this plan as a huge political liability for Republicans heading into 2022. But there really is no upside here in forcing another Senate vote, in our view. The House rarely is successful in pressuring the Senate. But how about this move: The House could pass another version of the Jan. 6 commission bill, this time incorporating changes offered by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who had concerns over the commission’s staffing and end date. There were already 35 House Republicans who voted for the commission; these Collins-drafted changes only make the commission more bipartisan. Then the House would send the bill back to the Senate, and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) could again try to bring it up. It may be worth a shot. → Pelosi can appoint a select committee. Analysis: Pelosi seems very open to this idea, although we’ll never presume to guess what she’ll do next. Many of the members of the House Democratic Caucus that we speak to are very enthused about the idea of a select committee. It would give the investigation into Jan. 6 heft and would allow Pelosi to have control over who sits on the committee and probes the attack. There’s an outside chance that Republicans wouldn’t name any members to a select committee, which would make the probe partisan. But we don’t think House Minority Leader Kevin McCathy (R-Calif.) would do that. He didn’t for the coronavirus select committee, fearing it would just give Democrats a forum to bash former President Donald Trump. We’d expect he would apply the same reasoning in this situation. → Pelosi can allow the standing committees to investigate or choose one committee to take the lead running the investigation. Analysis: House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) would prefer to keep the investigation inside the standing committees. It’s the institutional point of view, and he’s not entirely wrong. The Homeland Security Committee has the expertise, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) — the panel’s chair — has leadership’s trust night now, and he has a good Dem member lineup on that committee to get this done. It would also present a problem for McCarthy. Rep. John Katko of New York is the top Republican on the panel. Katko voted for Trump’s impeachment and he helped craft the Jan. 6 commission deal with Thompson. Will McCarthy want Katko atop an investigation into Jan. 6? Will Katko want that job himself? Democrats are going to want to have a clear pathway forward by the time Congress comes back into session next week. STATE OF THE ART Majority Forward puts $1.5M on TV, online Majority Forward, the Senate Dem outside group, has put $1.5 million into TV and digital ads in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and New Hampshire to thank in-cycle senators for passing the American Rescue Plan. The ad explicitly links stores, businesses and the world reopening to senators in those states voting for the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. That measure passed in March with only Democratic support. The above ad thanks Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.). Here’s the spot for Sen. Mark Kelly in Arizona, here’s Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s spot in Nevada and Sen. Maggie Hassan’s in New Hampshire. This is the kind of ad campaign lawmakers love. They took what could be termed a tough vote, and now there’s backup coming in to thank them in the beginning of what promises to be a difficult election season. THE HOUSE AND THE WORLD Gottheimer leads bipartisan Iron Dome letter Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) is circulating a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to express “our strong support for the Biden Administration’s ironclad commitment to Israel’s safety and security, including replenishing Israel’s stock of interceptors for the Iron Dome missile defense system and other important matters.” More from the letter:
![]() There are a number of senior Democrats on the bipartisan letter, including House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries of New York. It comes as a parade of Republicans have flown to Israel to stand with Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s embattled prime minister, with a similar message about boosting U.S. assistance to the government following the recent bloody military conflict with Hamas in Gaza. Overall, forty-seven lawmakers — both Republicans and Democrats — have signed the letter. You can check it out here. There are some in the progressive wing of the House Democratic Caucus who question U.S. support for Israel, saying Americans can’t ignore the plight of Palestinians. Yet overall, backing for Israel remains strong — albeit not as universal as it once was. MOMENTS 9:45 a.m.: VP Kamala Harris will swear in Eric Lander as the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. 10:15 a.m.: President Joe Biden and Harris will receive the daily intelligence briefing. 11 a.m.: Biden and Harris will get a Covid-19 briefing. Noon: Jen Psaki will brief reporters. 1:15 p.m.: Biden will speak about Covid-19 and vaccinations. 2:45 p.m.: Biden will meet with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) about infrastructure. 5:15 p.m.: The president and first lady will leave D.C. for Rehoboth Beach, Del. The Bidens will arrive at 6:15 p.m. and they’ll be there until Friday. CLIP FILE NYT → “Biden Suspends Drilling Leases in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,” by Coral Davenport, Henry Fountain and Lisa Friedman → “‘Contested, Heated Culture Wars’ Mark Ultraconservative Texas Session,” by Edgar Sandoval, David Montgomery and Manny Fernandez in Austin → “As Israelis Await Netanyahu’s Fate, Palestinians Seize a Moment of Unity,” by Patrick Kingsley, Isabel Kershner and Adam Rasgon in Jerusalem WaPo → “Democrat wins New Mexico special election for U.S. House, overcoming a Republican emphasis on rising crime,” by Dave Weigel → “Trump’s company puts D.C. hotel lease up for sale, again,” by Jonathan O’Connell and Shayna Jacobs → “Snubbed, fired and vilified, opposition lawmakers unite in disdain for Netanyahu,” by Steve Hendrix and Shira Rubin in Jerusalem → “Blinken says U.S. will soon distribute coronavirus vaccines in first visit to Latin America, but details are slim,” by John Hudson in San Jose, Costa Rica WSJ → “Mixing and Matching Covid-19 Shots in Fully Vaccinated People Is Subject of New Study,” by Peter Loftus Politico → “How Cory Booker is wielding newfound Senate power,” by Marianne Levine The 19th → “In Tulsa and beyond, Biden tasks Black women with fighting the legacy of inequity,” by Errin Haines PRESENTED BY FACEBOOK Why Facebook supports updated internet regulations 2021 is the 25th anniversary of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the last major update to internet regulation. It’s time for an update to set clear rules for addressing today’s toughest challenges. See how we’re taking action on key issues and why we support updated internet regulations. ![]() 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
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