View in web browser

PRESENTED BY

BY JOHN BRESNAHAN, ANNA PALMER AND JAKE SHERMAN

THE TOP

Good Monday morning. ICYMI: Jake and Anna will sit down Wednesday at 9 a.m. for a virtual Punchbowl News pop-up conversation with Gina McCarthy, President Joe Biden’s National Climate Advisor. Sign up!

And, now onto the news. The House will vote on two big issues this week before leaving for the July 4 recess: a resolution creating a Jan. 6 select committee, and a Democratic-drafted infrastructure bill. We’re not sure any Republicans will vote for either of these initiatives, so Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrats likely will have to pass them on party line votes.

→ Jan. 6 select committee: After Senate Republicans blocked creation of a bipartisan commission to look into the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection by supporters of former President Donald Trump, Pelosi and other top House Democrats decided to move ahead with a select committee. There are pluses and minuses to this approach for Democrats.

On the plus side, there’s no time limit (as long as Democrats control the House), no restrictions on what the select committee can look into and no need to seek GOP support for any subpoenas. The bipartisan commission would’ve forced Democrats to work with Republicans.

On the minus side, Trump and Republicans will attack whatever a Democratic-run investigation finds, while a bipartisan commission would’ve been hard to dismiss. Then again, Trump will attack anything negative said about him anywhere by anyone at any time, so this may work out anyway.

Key issues: Who will chair the select committee? Who will serve on it? Will Republicans take part? When will it get up and running? Who will staff it? Who gets called to testify? When will it issue its findings? 

The first and second questions overlap. Pelosi hasn’t tipped her hand on who will run the select committee or who she wants to serve on it. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the Homeland Security chair, is seen by many Democrats as a likely choice to head up the select committee. House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) has been lobbying for Thompson to be chair. But it’s up to Pelosi, and she hasn’t announced anything yet.

It’s also unclear if it will be just committee chairs or rank-and-file Democrats on the panel or a mix of both. Again, we won’t know until we see the resolution to create the select committee. A number of these issues are likely to be handled there.

Democratic aides don’t expect Pelosi to announce who will serve on the select committee until the resolution is passed by the House, which will be later this week. But once again, this is Pelosi’s call. 

As for what House Republicans will do, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) hasn’t said what his intentions are. McCarthy noted to reporters last week that Pelosi hasn’t spoken to him about the commission, so he’s not in position to respond. Ok, got it.

In the recent past, McCarthy has leaned on Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as his go-to person. Jordan likes to mix it up with Democrats, he doesn’t really care what the media thinks and he just blasts out whatever the GOP talking points are. But again, McCarthy hasn’t said what his plans are.

Reporters have wondered whether the select committee will call McCarthy, who had an angry conversation with Trump that day about the attack, or even Trump himself. There’s no reason a select committee can’t do either or both of these, although there’s political and legal issues at play here if they try, especially in calling Trump. So we’ll see what happens.

→ Infrastructure: Democrats are bringing a $715 billion infrastructure bill to the floor this week, the product of work by two committees — Transportation and Infrastructure, and Energy and Commerce. You can read a Democratic memo on what’s in the INVEST in America Act here.

Pelosi has promised that House Democrats would pass an infrastructure bill by July 4, and they’re living up to that with this legislation. To be clear, this bill will not become law. 

Basically, this is House Democrats’ marker for negotiations with the Senate, if and when that chamber passes a standalone infrastructure bill. The bipartisan Senate infrastructure package from the “G10” group had a near-death experience after President Joe Biden said he wouldn’t sign that bill unless a separate, multi-trillion dollar reconciliation bill that includes the American Families Plan also got to his desk as well. Biden then walked those comments back in a long statement on Saturday.

The bipartisan Senate bill hasn’t been drafted yet, and we’re already hearing that the pay fors used by the group to offset the cost of the legislation may fall short of what negotiators projected. This will be a huge issue in attracting Senate GOP support beyond the original five who signed off on the deal: Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Mitt Romney of Utah. 

Also, while Biden has walked back his comments on the timing of bipartisan Senate bill versus a reconciliation package, Pelosi has been pretty firm that the House won’t vote on the first until it has the second in hand. This is Pelosi from Thursday: “Well, as I said, there won’t be an infrastructure bill unless we have a reconciliation bill. Plain and simple. In fact, I used the word ‘ain’t.’ There ain’t going to be an infrastructure bill, unless we have the reconciliation bill passed by the United States Senate.”

Pro tip: Always believe that Pelosi will do what she says.

LOOKOUT

The groups to watch — and why

There are a few key groups in the House we’ll be watching this week:

→ Progressives. The left flank of the House Democratic Caucus is going to be in the limelight this week. We’re going to want to know their reaction to President Joe Biden’s statement that he will sign the bipartisan Senate infrastructure bill if it gets to his desk regardless of the status of the reconciliation package. We have to imagine they’re going to be peeved. The White House has made it clear that it’s up to the congressional leadership to sequence the infrastructure bill and the reconciliation package. That means a lot of the pressure from the left is going to be directed toward Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi is well equipped to handle it, of course; she’s been dealing with that kind of pressure for almost two decades as party leader.

→ Moderates. Trying to decipher how the House leadership will split the difference between moderates and progressives on infrastructure is going to be one of the dynamics we’ll try to understand. One issue where that’s key is the upcoming budget resolution, which will hit the House floor after the recess. Progressive Democrats in the House and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the Senate are pushing a $4 trillion to $6 trillion budget resolution for 2022. We spoke to leading moderates in the last few days who say they simply cannot vote for something of that magnitude. Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) have made clear that anything above $2 trillion is tough. So we’ll want to know what moderates will vote for and, furthermore, what progressives will be able to stomach. We have to imagine that the eventual size of a budget resolution will be something like $2 trillion to $3 trillion. 

→ The leadership. Pelosi, as always, holds the keys here to the House Democratic Caucus. She’s in the driver’s seat for what will be an incredibly interesting and high stakes few months in D.C.

RAGE

Jon Karl gets Bill Barr to talk — and Trump isn’t pleased

Bill Barr, Donald Trump’s former attorney general, spoke to ABC’s Jon Karl for an excellent piece he wrote for The Atlantic. 

Read it here, but here are some key excerpts: 

In a series of interviews with me this spring, Barr spoke, for the first time, about the events surrounding his break with Trump. … Barr told me that Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell had been urging him to speak out since mid-November. … To McConnell, the road to maintaining control of the Senate was simple: Republicans needed to make the argument that with Biden soon to be in the White House, it was crucial that they have a majority in the Senate to check his power. … 

“My attitude was: It was put-up or shut-up time,” Barr told me. “If there was evidence of fraud, I had no motive to suppress it. But my suspicion all the way along was that there was nothing there. It was all bullshit.” … 

“How the fuck could you do this to me? Why did you say it?” [Trump said.] “Because it’s true.” The president, livid, responded by referring to himself in the third person: “You must hate Trump. You must hate Trump.” … 

“You know, you only have five weeks, Mr. President, after an election to make legal challenges,” Barr said. “This would have taken a crackerjack team with a really coherent and disciplined strategy. Instead, you have a clown show. No self-respecting lawyer is going anywhere near it. It’s just a joke. That’s why you are where you are.”

Some very interesting stuff in this article, especially Barr’s interactions with now Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who broke with Trump over the former president’s election fraud claims. The Senate is out this week, so McConnell will be spared a week of questions from curious reporters in the Capitol. 

Of course, Trump raged about this article and Barr’s comments. Here are some highlights (or lowlights, depending on who you are) from a Trump statement issued Sunday night:

RINO former Attorney General Bill Barr failed to investigate election fraud, and really let down the American people. Even the scam that took place in Georgia of ballot stuffing on camera, he couldn’t see what was wrong with it. Just like he failed to understand the Horowitz report and let everyone down with respect to getting a timely investigation (where’s Durham?) on all of the corruption of the Obama-Biden Administration. … 

Now it was revealed that Barr was being pushed to tell lies about the election by Mitch McConnell, another beauty, who was worried about damaging the Republicans chances in the Georgia runoff. What really damaged the Senate Republicans was allowing their races to be rigged and stolen, and worse, the American people to no longer believe their vote matters because spineless RINOs like Bill Barr and Mitch McConnell did nothing.    

Bill Barr was a disappointment in every sense of the word. Besides which, Barr, who was Attorney General (lawyer) shouldn’t be speaking about the President. Instead of doing his job, he did the opposite and told people within the Justice Department not to investigate the election. Just like he did with the Mueller report and the cover up of Crooked Hillary and RUSSIA RUSSIA RUSSIA, they don’t want to investigate the real facts. Bill Barr’s weakness helped facilitate the cover up of the Crime of the Century, the Rigged 2020 Presidential Election! 

Barr’s comments are doubly interesting in light of what we now know about Trump and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ efforts to lobby Barr’s replacement, Jeffrey Rosen, to have DOJ intervene in the election. These efforts began while Rosen was still deputy attorney general, and then continued once Rosen took over as Acting AG, according to emails released by the House Committee of Oversight and Reform.

All of this could prove very interesting for the previously mentioned select committee on the Jan. 6 insurrection. That panel may not call Trump, or he could fight it if they did. Trump would clearly assert executive privilege if they did, which leads to the fascinating question about what a Joe Biden White House or Merrick Garland Justice Department would say there. 

But they could try to call Barr, since he’s already discussed this issue with a journalist. Again, that’s different from testifying before a House select committee. Trump may seek to block it, or Barr could. So many angles to consider here.

BIDEN’S WEEK AHEAD

Tuesday: President Joe Biden will speak about the infrastructure compromise in La Crosse, Wis. Wednesday: Biden will discuss “the devastating intersection of drought, heat, and wildfires in the Western United States, and strengthening prevention, preparedness and response efforts for this wildfire season, which is already outpacing last season in terms of the number of large fires to date” with western governors.

Friday: Biden will speak about the June jobs report, and will participate in a naturalization ceremony. Sunday: Biden will host a July 4 barbecue at the White House for essential workers and military families.

MOMENTS

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

12:30 p.m.: Jen Psaki will brief.

4 p.m.: Israeli President Reuven Rivlin will meet with Biden at the White House.

4:30 p.m.: Vice President Kamala Harris will fly from Los Angeles back to D.C.

5:50 p.m.: Speaker Nancy Pelosi will hold a photo op with Rivlin in the Capitol.

CLIP FILE

NYT

→ “Infrastructure Deal Is Back on Track After Biden’s Assurances,” by Nick Fandos

→ “Meeting Blinken, Israel’s Top Diplomat Aims to Fix Netanyahu ‘Mistakes’,” by Michael Crowley in Rome

WaPo

→ “Trump Organization attorneys given Monday deadline to persuade prosecutors not to file charges against it,” by Shayna Jacobs, Josh Dawsey and David A. Fahrenthold: “Prosecutors in New York have given former president Donald Trump’s attorneys a deadline of Monday afternoon to make any final arguments as to why the Trump Organization should not face criminal charges over its financial dealings, according to two people familiar with the matter.

“That deadline is a strong signal that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. (D) and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) — now working together, after each has spent more than two years investigating Trump’s business — are considering criminal charges against the company as an entity.”

WSJ

→ “Democrats Focus on Turning Tax Talk Into Action,” by Rich Rubin and Andrew Duehren

→ WSJ Editorial Board: “Biden Justice Plays Election Politics”

AP

→ “US airstrikes target Iran-backed militias in Syria, Iraq,” by Lou Kesten

What to watch: Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee and a prominent voice on Middle Eastern policy, said this about the U.S. action: 

“I expect to be briefed tomorrow by the White House on the U.S. military airstrikes along the Iraq-Syria border and look forward to hearing more about the circumstances. There is no doubt that President Biden possesses the ability to defend our forces abroad, and I continue to trust inherently the national security instincts of this White House. My concern is that the pace of activity directed at U.S. forces and the repeated retaliatory strikes against Iranian proxy forces are starting to look like what would qualify as a pattern of hostilities under the War Powers Act. Both the Constitution and the War Powers Act require the president to come to Congress for a war declaration under these circumstances.”

Politico

→ “‘Spray and Pray’: Republicans ramp up attacks on Biden on … everything,” by Chris Cadelago and Eugene Daniels

Enjoying Punchbowl News AM?

Subscribe 10 friends with your unique link (below) and get a Punchbowl News hat!

Your referral link is: 

You can see all the rewards in here!

Or share via

You currently have: 0 referrals

Editorial photos provided by Getty Images